A/N: Okay, I'm really sorry this took so long…I have too many things to do and not enough time in the day to do them all. I'm sure you all know what that's like. Thanks so much for your patience. Also, I'm really sorry that this chapter is so short, but I think it needed to be broken up this way. Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long to write as this one did…but you never know. Anyway, my little rant is over. Thanks again.
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"Hermione." Hermione was pulled away from possibly the best dream she'd ever had in her entire life. She'd been dreaming that she was lying next to Harry under her favorite tree by the lake at Hogwarts, and Harry was telling her how much he loved her.
"Hermione." She was hesitant to open her eyes. She didn't want that wonderful image to disappear. It was too late though. The late afternoon sunshine from her dream was completely erased and replaced with darkness.
"Hermione!" She sighed and reluctantly opened her eyes. She groggily looked over at Harry next to her and realized that at least part of her dream had been true. The whole Hogwarts-lake-thing was completely bogus, and Harry certainly wasn't saying that he loved her (yeah right, in her dreams…oh wait…it was), but Harry was most definitely lying next to her. At least that was a plus. However, she realized then what it was that had awakened her. She'd heard her name. Finally fully awake, she realized where it was coming from.
Harry.
He was having another nightmare. He was thrashing around and calling out her name. Hermione started to panic. She needed to wake him up. She grabbed his shoulder and started shaking it, gently calling out his name, much like she had only a few hours earlier. His eyes flew open, and he looked around with a panicked look on his face. He saw her in front of him, and relief quickly washed over his features. He hugged her tightly, which took Hermione by surprise. Harry wasn't usually the one to initiate such kinds of physical contact (he wouldn't hesitate to punch Malfoy or something of that sort, but he rarely initiated a hug if the person he was hugging wasn't crying or something). Granted, it was a pleasant surprise; but a surprise nonetheless.
Hermione would never have wanted to say or do anything to end this moment. Harry was hugging her. She was in heaven. However, she found that even in heaven, breathing was kind of important, and Harry's viselike grip was making that rather difficult. She contorted her arms so her hands were on his arms and she attempted to gently loosen his grip.
"Harry…" she began with breathless discomfort. She was finally in the arms of the man of her dreams; however even Harry wasn't worth suffocating for. She didn't finish her sentence though, because she realized he was shaking. Harry Potter. First crying; then hugging; now shaking. This had been one strange night.
"Harry?" Hermione said, abandoning the fight for air. Breathing was overrated anyway. Just as Hermione put her arms around Harry to calm him down, he pulled away slightly. Hermione took a deep breath; grateful for the ability to fill her lungs to their full capacity. "Harry, what is it? What was that dream about?" Hermione didn't really want to hear all of the gory details because it was obvious that the dream had involved her in some way (most likely being tortured by Voldemort), but she thought that talking about it might help Harry so he wouldn't have another nightmare like the one he'd just experienced. She was just trying to be a good friend. She looked into Harry's eyes when he didn't answer right away. He was just staring at her; he wouldn't take his eyes away from her.
"I love you, Mione," he said without hesitation. Hermione froze. Did he just say what she thought/hoped/prayed he'd said? She couldn't believe it. After all this time and all of the torture she'd put herself through, he did love her back. She hoped to Merlin that she wasn't making this up in her head.
"Oh, Harry," she said quietly, willing herself not to cry. She just couldn't believe it. "I love you, too." He didn't cringe in disgust when she said that; nor did he run away screaming. So she hadn't imagined it. He really had said that he loved her. However, he didn't seem as emotional about it as she was. He just smiled at her like he always did. It wasn't an I-love-you-with-all-my-heart-and-never-want-to-live-without-you smile; it was more like a hey-Hermione-I-think-you're-swell kind of smile. She didn't really care though. She'd finally told him how she felt. She hadn't known how much her unprofessed feelings had bogged her down until she felt the enormous weight lifted from her chest when she'd said that she loved him.
Before Hermione knew what was happening, she saw Harry lean toward her. She couldn't believe this was happening. He was finally going to kiss her. After all of this time, she would finally know what it was like to kiss Harry Potter full-on the lips. Her heart was pounding in her chest. At any other occasion, this probably would have embarrassed her and she would have hoped that no one else would notice that her heart was pumping double-time; but now it didn't matter. Not with Harry. She didn't care.
He inched closer to her and she instinctively closed her eyes. She was trying very hard to suppress the giddiness she felt all of the sudden. This was finally happening. After all this time, Harry was finally going to kiss her. She lifted her chin slightly and tilted her head so they wouldn't bash noses (She couldn't believe that there was actually a chance that she could smash her nose into Harry's as he leaned in to kiss her. This was better than she'd ever imagined). She inched her face slowly closer and took a breath. This was it. She suppressed one last fit of giggles before she felt Harry's lips on her. Only, his lips weren't on hers. They were on her forehead.
Harry Potter was kissing her forehead.
There must be some sort of mistake here. Was Harry in desperate need of an anatomy lesson? The lips are BELOW the eyes and nose, not above them.
Hermione felt him move away. However, she kept her eyes closed; hoping, no, praying that there would be something else. When you've just confessed your love to someone, you don't just kiss her on the forehead. That's something that your grandmother or great aunt Bertha would do before pinching you on the cheek. Even friends are more touchy-feely than that.
Hermione's eyes remained closed for a few more depressing seconds. She finally gave up, realizing that she wasn't going to get anything else. She opened her eyes and looked at Harry, trying hard to mask her immense disappointment. He smiled that smile at her again, the hey-Hermione-I-think-you're-swell one. Then he closed his eyes and went back to sleep. And that was it. That was all that was left of the moment: Hermione looking with a mix of shock and disenchantment at her sleeping best friend as she realized that's all she'll ever be to him: a best friend.
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