a/n: Since this is the last of the "short chapters" I figured I'd post two in one day. I just finished writing chapter 5 (it's about two times longer than this one), and I'm very happy with how the story is progressing. Thanks again for the reviews!
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Chapter 4: pining potter
Harry paced around the kitchen, lost in his thoughts. For all he knew, the world had ended. Everything had been flipped upside down - black was white, white was black, the sky was green, and the grass was blue. Nothing made sense, but at the same time everything made sense. This…love or whatever it was felt right, and he knew it. Harry was also sure that it was love, this wasn't just a crush, and that was the main problem. A crush he could get over. After all, he had gotten over Cho pretty easily hadn't he? But love…love for his best friend...that was another story.
"Now this is just bloody brilliant. I. Love. Hermione. Granger. I love Hermione Granger! My best friend, Hermione Granger! I can't tell her, it'd ruin everything. But I have to tell her! I have to give her the chance to share this feeling, to tell me she loves me too, that I'm not the only one feeling all this..."
He continued to walk in circles around the kitchen table, occasionally muttering aloud to himself and wringing his hands. To an outsider, Harry Potter would look quite insane at the moment.
"ARGH!" he shouted as he hit his foot on the corner of the table and came crashing down onto a chair. He furiously rubbed the injured foot and swore under his breath.
"Harry? What're you doing on the floor, Harry?"
Harry heard Ron's confused-sounding voice float through the kitchen, and felt a stab of anger at the stupidity of the question. However, the anger subsided into fear when he saw Hermione peering at him from above, obviously barely stifling her laughter. He wondered if she'd be able to tell he loved her just by looking at him. She was the smartest witch in Hogwarts for a reason…
"Is everything all right, Harry?"
Her voice shook him out of his musings, and he realized he had been sitting on the kitchen floor for over a minute. Getting up quickly, he muttered a quick, "Yes," and sat down on one of the kitchen chairs.
"It's getting dark outside, Hermione and I figured it was about time to come back. Besides, you'd just run off on us in search of some more Butterbeer…" Ron trailed off, looking at Harry as though he was an interesting creature in Hagrid's class.
"Really, I'm fine. I just forgot we had more Butterbeer out there. There's nothing wrong with me," Harry said while looking from Ron to Hermione.
Ron merely shrugged, walked over to the sink, and deposited the empty bottles of Butterbeer. Hermione gave Harry a look that clearly said, "I know something's wrong with you and I'm going to get it out of you sooner or later."
That look didn't escape Harry, and more to distract Hermione than anything he said, "I'm going to bed now - Ron, are you coming?" He stood up from his chair and stared pointedly at Ron.
"Yeah, it is getting kind of late now. Good night, Hermione."
"'Night, Ron."
As Ron walked out of the kitchen, Harry turned to see Hermione watching him closely. Once again his traitorous body reacted before his brain could, and before he knew what he was doing he had walked over to Hermione and pulled her into a tight hug.
"Thanks for everything, Hermione…really, thanks. Good night."
And before he did any other extremely stupid things Harry let her go and walked right out of the kitchen and up the stairs, leaving a very confused Hermione standing behind.
Hours later Harry was still wide awake, lying on top of the covers of his bed. Ron's snoring echoed throughout the small room, but that wasn't what was keeping Harry awake. He turned onto his side, and stared out the window at the stars. The now-familiar image of Hermione standing in the kitchen talking to Ginny entered his mind once again. She looked so good, so different, and it was haunting Harry. He could almost smell her lilac perfume as he breathed in deeply and closed his eyes. Harry decided that if thinking of Hermione wouldn't put him to sleep, nothing would. He quietly got out of bed, and crept down the stairs towards the kitchen.
After a minute of standing in the deserted kitchen, Harry decided to take a walk down to the creek where he, Hermione, and Ron sat earlier that day. It wasn't until he was halfway there that he realized he was wearing nothing but a pair of boxers and a t shirt. He briefly thought of turning back to The Burrow, but rationalized that it was the middle of the night and the chances of someone else being outside were slim to none.
How very wrong he was.
As Harry approached the apple tree, he saw that he was in fact not alone outside. Another person was sitting against the tree and staring into the running water nearby. That person was the girl Harry wanted to see more than any other, yet also the person he wanted to avoid the most - Hermione Granger.
His breath caught in his throat at the sight of her - she looked beautiful. Hermione was wearing a pure white t shirt and a pair of white shorts, and with the way the moonlight reflected off her hair how her eyes were closed Harry thought she looked like an angel. Part of him wanted to silently sneak back up to the house and leave her in peace; the other part wanted to jump her right there and snog her senseless. Harry's mind fought a brief but furious battle over what to do, and in the end he settled for something in the middle.
"Hey," he said softly, not wanting to startle her or give her a reason to hex him into next week.
Hermione's eyes flew open and she jumped slightly at the sound of his voice, but as she turned and looked into his eyes her face broke into a gorgeous smile. Immediately Harry's knees went weak and he had to sit down rather ungracefully to keep from collapsing. Once he had regained his composure, he stole another look at Hermione. She had her eyes closed again, and he couldn't help but wonder what she was thinking about. Not wanting to sound rude or nosy, he let it go and watched her sit in silence.
A few moments later the sound of Hermione's voice broke through the night air. "I guess I'm not the only one who couldn't sleep."
Harry wasn't sure whether to take that as a question or a statement, and he decided that nodding his head would be a sufficient answer. Obviously Hermione found it okay as well, and she scooted closer towards him under the tree. At this Harry found he was actually moving his arm around her as though to hold her close to him. He briefly wondered how on earth he managed to move his arm when he was having trouble with the simple task of breathing. Hermione snuggled into his chest and Harry relaxed, happy knowing that his actions wouldn't get him jinxed into oblivion by the cleverest witch he knew. "And the prettiest as well…"
"Hmm?" Hermione's voice made Harry jump. Had he said that out loud? "Oh no, oh no oh no oh no," he thought as he tried to come up with a plausible story as to why he had said something like that aloud.
"I…er…what I mean is…um…the night is pretty," he managed to blurt out. "The night is pretty? She probably thinks I've gone as mental as Ron now," Harry thought furiously to himself as he waited for Hermione's response.
"Yeah, it really is lovely out here. It's nice to take a break once and awhile and just…I don't know…relax."
Harry breathed a sigh of relief at her words - she didn't think he was a complete moron. Well at least she didn't let on if she did. He decided that nodding was the best option again - after all, he didn't want to risk another bout of idiocy in front of the girl he was secretly in love with. They sat in a comfortable silence together, listening to the sounds around them and enjoying the company of one another. He didn't know how long they were out there for, but he knew that as long as Hermione was holding onto him like this he never wanted it to end. He contemplated telling her about the prophecy but quickly decided against it. Harry knew he wanted Hermione to be the first person he told, but he didn't want to ruin the perfect mood and situation - he would definitely tell her soon though, it was something he couldn't keep inside forever. "And neither is the fact that I love her," he thought with a small sigh.
They made their way back to the house when the sun was rising. The fact that he was holding Hermione's hand didn't escape Harry, and he wore a broad grin on his face the whole time. When they reached the door to the kitchen he dropped Hermione's hand and turned to face her.
"Thanks for sitting with me, Harry, it was really nice," Hermione said with a genuine smile. She reached up and hugged Harry tight.
He couldn't help but feel a rush of pleasure as he held on to the girl he loved, and he pulled her towards him holding her even tighter. He vowed to not only tell her about the prophecy, but to confess his love as well. As she let go of him and he watched her walk into the kitchen, Harry knew that he would never love anyone else as much as he loved Hermione Jane Granger.