If You Love Me, You'll Understand Me

A/N Okay, I got some new ideas…don’t know if they’re any good so I’ll put them to public opinion… ;)

If You Love Me, You’ll Understand Me

Chapter 1

"I love him Harry," She leant back into his chest. Just feeling her against his sweater was heaven enough but hearing her declaring her love for someone else was…heartbreaking.

"How do you know?" He’d tried. "I mean, it could just be a crush or something…"

She’d sat up now and was adjusting her hair, tied back as always. "No, I know."

"But Herm…"

"Listen Harry. When you fall in love with someone, you don’t just leave it at that. You tell them."

"Hermione, I love you."

She sighed. "You don’t love me, Harry."

"Yes I do," he persisted, giving his every heartfelt word into it. "I do love you. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t…"

She’d pressed a finger to his lips. "Harry, I love Ron."

Harry felt his stomach knot. "But I love you Herm. I love you and I can take care of you, I can love you…I can understand you…"

"And that makes you a great best friend," She interrupted. "But I just don’t feel the same about you."

He felt defeated. "Platonic, never anything else." He sighed. "Ron isn’t right for you Herm…"

"Then who is?" She protested frustrated. "Who the damn hell is Harry?"

She got up and walked to the fireplace.

"Me. I’m right for you Herm. Please…just give me a chance."

He put his hand on her shoulder. She kept her back to him.

"Harry…I love Ron…and you can’t change that."

She could feel the tears brimming in her eyes.

"You don’t love him…I love you."

She turned sharply to face him, tears streaming down her perfect cheeks.

"If you love me then you’ll understand me, Harry."

Then it came.

"But if you can’t accept that I love Ron…then you’ll never understand me."

She walked as fast as she could, up to her bedroom, leaving Harry in the cold common room alone.

~)*(~

And there he stood, staring into the sunset watching the brilliant flashes of red and orange mixing with yellow and the dark purple clouds.

The words were haunting him. Each time he closed his eyes he thought of Hermione, those words and her tears.

He’d never brought her to tears before, but she’d provoked him to say it; to declare it.

She couldn’t love Ron. It wasn’t right, it wasn’t meant to happen.

There he was, on the roof of the Astronomy Tower, away from everyone, away from Hermione and Ron.

His solitude was his friend. Hermione wasn’t going to talk to him anytime soon and he’d be damned if he were going to say sorry for it.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning only brought him face to face with Ron.

"She’s angry at you," he stated plainly. "What did you do?"

Harry shook his head. "If she didn’t tell you, then I can’t."

They stood there for a moment, savouring the special connection between two friends.

"She said you had an argument," Ron moved next to Harry, looking out at the colours so far away at the edge of the sky. "She didn’t say what about, but she doesn’t want to see you for a while."

"If she didn’t tell you," Harry closed his eyes. "Then there’s no point in me telling you."

Ron contemplated it for a moment. "Whatever. You’re both mad at each other. What did you say to her?"

"We argued, that’s all you need to know," Harry replied, opening his eyes only to look into the dark distance.

"Hey, best friend alert!" Ron waved his arms around. "You’re my best mate, your problems are my problems."

Harry sighed. Ron wouldn’t give up, Harry knew he wouldn’t. Hermione would tell Ron eventually anyway.

"I’m your problem, Ron," Harry looked at his best friend, at present looking somewhat confused. "Do you really need me to explain it?"

Ron nodded. "How can you be my problem?"

Harry turned away from Ron, not wanting to see his reaction. "You love Hermione."

"I do," Ron nodded, still confused, wondering where this was going.

Harry breathed out. "So do I."

Ron felt a stab, a stab of betrayal. "Oh."

Harry let out a nervous laugh. "Is that it?"

Ron gulped. "How…why?"

"If I only knew…" Harry sat down on the floor, resting his back against the surrounding wall.

"How long?" Ron sat down next to him, apprehensive at first but this was Harry after all.

"Few months maybe, a couple of years," Harry rested his head in his hands, propped up his elbows on his knees. "I can’t remember when I didn’t."

"Why Hermione?" Ron said this in an almost inaudible whimper. He was getting upset but agitated.

"I’m not going through the list," Harry laughed once, a breathed out laugh.

"You could have any girl in school Harry, why mine?" Ron wanted to rip his guts to shreds, tear every likeable limb from his backstabbing, girlfriend snatching body.

"I don’t know Ron!" Harry shouted standing up. "If I knew, I’d stop. But I don’t know!"

Ron stood, matching Harry in size. "You lay a finger on her…"

"I wouldn’t ever act on it, Ron," Harry felt tears. Not only because his best friend was threatening him but also over the girl he loved.

"You did tonight! You told her!"

"I had to! I had to tell her, I had to tell someone; if it was her all the better. At least she knows!"

"She knows she can’t trust her best friend anymore!"

Harry stopped. The anger, the hate, the frustration, the love, the pain, the anguish, the heartache…flooded out of him as the guilt, the friendship and the care rose.

"She…she can’t trust me?" He asked, tears now free-falling down his cheeks. "She said that?"

"Yes, Harry! She bloody well can’t trust you! She said that she’d told you something very personal and that you threw it back at her. She thought she could trust you."

"I’m sorry, Ron…I’m so sorry," Harry wiped his eyes with his robe sleeve.

Ron smiled apologetically and placed an affectionate hand on his back. "It’s alright mate. No harm done, to me anyway."

Harry laughed, sending a wave of relief through him. At least one of his friends was talking to him.

"Thanks Ron."

"It’s okay," Ron assured and walked towards the door. "Stop blubbering like a girl and think about it. See you later."

Ron closed the door tightly behind him, leaving Harry alone again looking out to the distant sky.

Harry wasn’t sure how he’d got to bed. He remembered waking up in bed and looking up at the four poster bed’s material canopy.

Thousands of thoughts flooded through him. He thought about Hermione. How did she feel now? Could he ever take it back? Would she accept him as her friend when she knew what he felt? Would everything be different now? Would they be as close as before?

After several hours of pacing his bedroom back and fourth, he decided that the best way of stopping his emotion was by showing none at all…to Hermione anyway. He’d apologise first, but then he’d be void of any, staying away from her when he could.

Irrational thinking…

But he’d make it work, until the end of school anyway.

Graduation was only a week away. Next Friday he’d be away from Hogwarts for the rest of his life…until he became the DADA teacher of course.

An Auror maybe, he’d have to study the dark arts in University first, furthering his education. They’d have to accept him if he excelled in the dark arts.

He’d send of the application letter tomorrow, the deadline wasn’t for another week, plenty of time to approve entry.

After all the thinking, he settled back into bed, his mind decided on his next course of action.

Apologise.

AN Like it? Hate it? Please let me know!!

AN: Thanks for all your reviews on my last chapter. I got some really good ones from you. I love making angst for the couple. It just makes me appreciate the ending even more.

A special thanks to my friend Sarah who beta read this for me and pointed out where I slipped up so many times! Hugs!

Chapter 2: Once It’s There, It Can Never Leave

Harry managed to open his eyes to find the blinding Saturday morning light streaming down onto his face.

He rolled onto his back and stretched his arms up over his head, working out the sleep drenched kinks from his elbows and joints.

Sitting up slowly in his bed, he ran a hand through his unruly bed hair and tossed the covers to the end of the bed.

Kicking off with a start, Harry jumped out of bed and made a beeline for the bathroom; washed and showered.

After getting dressed in his blue jeans and a dark green shirt, his first instinct was to go and get Hermione for breakfast.

Cursing himself for thinking about her now, he stopped himself from reaching his door handle.

Instead, he brushed a hand through his wet hair, making it stick up slightly, like normal.

Harry retreated from the doorway to find a quill, his inkpot and his application form.

Rummaging in his drawers, he found the red and blue form.

He filled it out, including his N.E.W.T.S. and O.W.L. results. Finishing the form with his signature in the bottom corner.

Feeling satisfied Harry grabbed his robe from his bedpost hook and put the form into an empty envelope, applying the owling address to the front before running out of his dorm room door.

*~*

Hermione lay awake in her four-poster bed, staring up at the canopy ceiling of the bed.

All through the night she’d been thinking about Harry, about what Harry had said.

When Ron had come to see her, and she told him about the argument, she had tried to avoid the statement Harry made.

She did feel something for Harry; her love for him had been unrequited in her years before. It was in her sixth year that she felt it was time to move on, and there was Ron.

She’d given up on Harry, pining for his affection for years on end just wasn’t good enough for her. So afraid to make a move herself, she turned to Ron for not only comfort, but also for the love she craved from Harry.

He had given it to her, more than she’d expected to receive and it had overwhelmed her. She had already given her heart to Harry even though he hadn’t noticed.

When Harry had proclaimed his love for her, her world took a flying leap into the abyss of nowhere. It took every amount of restraint she had not to throw her arms around him, to hold him close to her and tell him…tell him the hell she’d been through, loving him and not feeling anything back.

But it was Ron’s name that ran through her head the whole time, even when she’d relaxed into Harry’s comforting arms, rested against his chest and letting the world fall from beneath her.

Had she told Harry she loved Ron to hurt him? To make him jealous even? Or did she really feel something for Ron?

"Argh!" She cried out, hitting the bed beneath her fists. "This is stupid!"

She rolled onto her side, letting her eyes fall on the photograph she kept by her bed. A photograph of Harry, herself and Ron near the Lake in their last year. The Lake was frozen over and snow littered the ground around them.

She smiled remembering the winter they’d had. They were all friends then with not a care in the world. They were all covered up from head to toe in winter robes and scarves. Mrs Weasley had sent them all gold and scarlet ones for the Christmas Holiday. The picture moved about, waving and blowing kisses to Hermione.

She frowned as she looked at the Harry in the photo. Something was there she’d never noticed before. As the picture moved, the photo of herself grasped Harry’s hand and laced their fingers together, brushing her thumb over his hand.

What was weird was that she couldn’t remember doing that.

She smiled at the happy looks on their faces though as Ron got hit in the head with a snowball.

She sighed again and rolled back onto her back.

As if waking her up, a light knock rapped on her bedroom door.

"Who is it?" She groaned out, twisting in the bed.

"It’s Harry," came the muffled reply.

"What do you want, Harry?" She asked frustrated.

"Just to talk," he replied.

"What about?" She kicked back the comforter and slipped out of the bed to put on her slippers.

Her bed attire was suitable enough for Harry to see her in. Plaid shorts and a white tank top. He’d seen her in them before anyway.

"Last night," She heard him slump against the door. "Can I come in?"

She sighed loudly, and walked to the door leaning against it slightly, as if feeling him on the other side.

She closed her eyes for a moment and savoured the comforting silence form the oak door. She could feel him on the other side; she could hear him breathing. It was a sort of bliss just listening to him.

"Promise you won’t try anything?" She asked, placing one hand on the door handle.

He let out a small, muffled laugh. "I promise."

She turned the handle and opened the door. She was greeted with a refreshed and wet haired Harry staring back at her.

She felt her knees go a little weak seeing him with his original, unique and one of a kind smile.

"Come in," She gestured.

He grinned wider and stepped inside, sweeping past her.

His black robe blew against her naked legs. It was cold and it made her shiver.

She closed the door behind him and walked to her bed, sitting on it cross-legged. Harry remained standing near her bedroom window, looking out over Hogwarts summer ground.

"Hermione, I…" He turned to look at her, feeling his insides beat down onto his stomach. Her deep cinnamon eyes staring up at him with anger surely but a flicker of hope underneath her curled eyelashes.

"You what?" She folded her arms across her chest, as if protecting herself, from him.

"I…" He stammered again, watching how her hair bounced so gently off her shoulders, leaving the waves curling out onto her bare skin.

"Just spit it out, Harry!" She was getting mad now. He was stood inside her bedroom; staring at her and stammering like an idiot.

He clenched his fist tightly, digging his short fingernails into his palm. Why should he apologise to her? He hadn’t done anything wrong! Except tell her his deepest emotion…towards her. She could at least show him some emotion, some compassion.

"I want to know why," He brushed his unclenched hand through his hair and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms.

"Why what?" She asked, confused.

"Why is it so wrong for me to be in love with you?"

She stopped looking confused. The confusion turned to anger or annoyance. "I’m not going through it again, Harry."

"You didn’t give me an explanation last night," he stated calmly, looking up at her. "Don’t you think I deserve one?"

She bowed her head to look at her feet. "What do you want me to explain? That I love another man or that I love your best friend?"

"I want you to explain why it was him over me," Harry straightened up, replacing his hands in his pockets, suddenly feeling guilty.

Hermione crinkled her brow in confusion again. "What do you mean?"

"Why Ron? Why couldn’t it have been me?" His voice was coming out angrily and almost desperate for an answer.

"Because!" Hermione flung her arms up in the air and stood up, walking to her desk and leaning against it, directly opposite him.

"’Because’ doesn’t qualify as an answer, Hermione," Harry raised an eyebrow to her. "Why Ron?"

"He was there Harry!" She raised her hands to her head, clutching it as if in pain.

Harry felt the familiar knot in his stomach. "He was there?"

"He was there! He loved me Harry! When you didn’t!" She clutched at her chest, feeling tears in her eyes.

He gulped down his fear, his adrenaline, everything that had sustained him from breaking down in front of her.

"There has not been a single time I can remember when I didn’t love you, Hermione. Not one." He pointed down at the floor as he said it.

"Then why didn’t you tell me?" She buried her face in her hands.

As if recomposing herself, she looked up to the ceiling and sniffed away the tears.

"I really don’t want this conversation now," She closed her eyes. "Please go."

Harry edged close to her and raised a hand to touch her shoulder.

"Hermione, I…"

She looked at him, into his deep emerald eyes questioning his very soul.

"Why didn’t you tell me?" She asked quietly. "Why didn’t you?"

Harry reached out and stroked her bare shoulder. "I…I was afraid."

"Afraid of what?" She asked calmly again. "Harry, I loved you. I loved you with everything I had."

"Then why didn’t you tell me?" He asked, smoothly, caressing his thumb over her skin.

She sighed. "I watched you, go out with Blaise, Lavender…every girl that took the Harry Potter fancy. Even Ginny," She gave a small laugh and rested her chin on her fist. "And I was jealous of every single one."

Harry watched her eyes sparkling, glistening as moisture covered them.

"I guess I never really tried to get you, Harry," Hermione let her arms fall to her sides. "I gave up eventually…eventually being last year."

Harry tried to speak. "Herm…"

She raised a hand up, stopping him. "Let me finish."

"You even confided in me about them, how well it was going, and as a good friend," She gave a small laugh again. "As a good friend, I played along."

She stood up straight, coming toe to toe with Harry but still having to raise her head a little to look up at him. Her 5’5 frame compared to his 6.

"And you have the nerve to tell me that my love for you is platonic and nothing else," She shook her head and laughed dramatically.

"You put me through near hell loving you, harry. And you want me to throw away what I have with Ron for you? Seriously Harry, what are you thinking?"

Harry closed his eyes a little, wishing that the dull thudding in his chest would fade. The tension growing between them was almost agonising.

"I’m asking you to forgive me," He asked, looking back down at her. Into her eyes, he fell deeper into the brown soft eyes. "I was…am an idiot."

"Why are you apologising?" She asked, snapping at him. "It wasn’t your fault it turned out this way. You didn’t know." The sarcasm rang out like Quasimodo’s bell.

Harry felt his chest tighten around his lungs. He breathed out calmly.

"All I asked for was a simple explanation," Harry breathed again. "And I got one."

He turned from her, looking in her eyes one last time.

"So there’s no point in me staying, is there?" he walked to the door reaching out for the door handle.

A hand came down on his shoulder.

"Don’t do this," Hermione’s voice pleaded.

Harry turned to face her, his face hovering centimetres away from hers.

"Don’t do what?" He asked softly.

"Don’t let it end like this," She replied, just as softly as his question, if not more so.

"It’s not the end," He smiled gently. "Remember?"

She breathed out, her breath becoming ragged with his lips only mere inches from her own.

"I can’t seem to remember anything right now," She confessed, looking up into his green eyes, feeling lost within them.

"We’re only eighteen," He took one of her hands in his, smoothing the back of her hand with his thumb. "It isn’t the end, it’s only the beginning."

"This isn’t a fairy tale, Harry," She replied, lacing his fingers with her own.

He stepped as close as he could to her.

"But there’s magic," he smiled again. "We’ll see each other again, Hermione."

"Can you promise me that?" She asked, squeezing his hand tighter.

"I can promise you that I’ll love you forever, no matter who you’re with," He kissed her forehead lovingly.

She closed her eyes in the small amount of tectonic bliss she experienced.

He pulled back and looked at their clasped hands.

"I can promise you that I will always be here, by your side, when you need me," He raised her hand to his lips and kissed it softly.

"And I can promise you that I will always be your friend," He let go of her hand and stepping back.

She immediately missed his warmth.

"Will things ever be the same between us?" She asked, closing her arms around her waist, hugging herself.

He chuckled a little. "I don’t know. It depends on whether we want to end up the same way or not."

"Do you want to? End up the same way I mean."

He scratched the back of his neck. "In the years to come, if we still love each other, then I guess nothing can stop us really."

"What’s stopping us now?" She asked the question that was both of their minds.

"Everything I guess," he looked to the window. "And everyone. I think we need some thinking space first."

She followed his gaze, to see Ron and Lavender with Seamus and Dean walking back towards the castle, laughing and joking on the green grass in the summer’s day.

His smile brightened. "They look happy."

"Happier than I am," Hermione replied, looking back at Harry’s smiling face, watching the sunlight from the window dance across his face, lightly touching his features.

The scar just above his jaw line from a fall down the stairs; a scar that slit through his eyebrow from a vicious attack from Voldemort then finally, his lightening bolt on his forehead.

All of them, memories of his past. All a unique experience that defined him into the man that stood before her. The man that truly held her heart in his own.

"Look!"

Harry pointed out of the window to the flock of owls carrying the morning post to the castle. A hundred owls or so flying in perfect formation.

He turned back to her. "This is where we say goodb…"

She shook her head and moved in towards him again, pressing a finger to his lips.

"Shh," she smiled, tearfully. "This is where we say see you later."

He grinned back in understanding. "Okay."

He leaned forward and captured her lips with his for a moment, pouring his heart and soul into one earth-shattering kiss.

"See you later, Hermione," He whispered, pulling away slowly, savouring the contact.

She looked into his deep hue green eyes, watching the flame dance in them. The flame being a loving ember, a compassionate sign of undying love forever kept inside.

She gasped when she saw it. It flickered there for just a moment, but it showed her everything.

It was at that moment, she realised forever was in his eyes.

"See you later, Harry," she brushed away a loose lock of black hair, falling across his scar.

He smiled his undeniable smile once more before walking backwards, towards the door, not turning to open it, but standing to the side a little.

He took one last look at her, basking in the moment they’d just had.

Then he turned and walked out of the door, closing it shut behind him.

Instead of walking down the stairs, he leaned his back against the closed oak door and remembered.

Committing every detail to memory. He wanted to remember the moment the world stood still for them.

*~*

Chapter 3: The Scarlet Train

"Illegal!" Ron shouted as Harry moved his Queen in an L shape. "An illegal move for Mr Potter! Resulting in an extra move for the Chess Master!"

Ron leaned over the chessboard, lifted the Knight by its sword and placed it next to Harry’s Queen. The knight hacked the queen to pieces.

"Two moves away from total victory!" Ron grinned evilly and rubbed his hands together. "I can just taste the victor’s prize."

He looked over to Hermione, who was reading by the fireplace in one of the big armchairs.

She threw him a death glare back. "Grow up you two."

"The Lady is perplexed," Harry chuckled. "Sir Ronneth? Have you done some vile act to dishearten her Ladyship?"

"None that I knoweth Sir Harold," He laughed back. "My Lady doth seem out of sorts."

She smirked at the two boy’s jest but hid it behind her book. Hogwarts: A History of course.

"Won’t you two grow up?" She asked, turning the three-hundredth page.

The two boys just laughed at her and continued with their game.

Hermione peeked over the top of her book to look at her two best friends. Both had grown a lot since their first year. Both we’re now young men, not addled little boys. They no longer needed her telling them to go to bed or to not sneak out after dark for food.

She smiled when she saw the two of them, her boyfriend and her best friend playing their favourite game together.

With only a day left in the old castle, it felt out of place to be going home already.

She’d be back soon though. Taking on the Charms teaching position as Professor Flitwick was retiring.

Ron would be going off to play for Puddlemere.

Harry…

Her mind froze as she looked at him. Laughing and joking like normal, like everything was all right with the world.

She knew they couldn’t be together. Deep down she knew it. But why did it feel so right to kiss him?

That was all that her mind had dwelled on over the past few days. The kiss they’d shared after the blow out in her Head Girl bedroom.

She couldn’t go into her room without watching the memory of it play out again before her eyes.

It also didn’t help when Lavender sent her a copy of ‘My Heart Will Go On’ by Cèline Dion.

The heart may go on, but can’t it just take a long walk off a short pier?

After the line, ‘You’re here, there’s nothing I fear,’ Hermione had thrown it in the trash, almost flinging it out of her CD player.

She figured it would make a good Frisbee if she wasn’t so hacked off.

Suddenly, Ron flung his arms up in the air shouting in triumph, and waking her from her silent thought.

"In your face, Potter!" He shouted. "And again, the Master wins!"

Hermione watched Ron do a victory dance around the common room, shouting "Indestructible Me!"

Harry stood calmly, smiled a little and packed away the chess set.

"I’ll beat you one day," he countered. "When I find the Ultimate Strategy Guide."

Ron considered Harry’s statement. "I might just write one of them, someday."

Hermione stood up and closed her book.

"I’m going to bed before you go for his throat, Harry," she laughed, giving Ron a quick peck.

Harry stretched his arms up, deciding to face the wall while the two lovers embraced.

"I’m off to bed too, guys," He walked towards his Head Boy bedroom and opened the door. "Don’t wake me too early."

"We won’t, ALAC," Ron chuckled.

Harry and Hermione both decided to look puzzled.

"No, Ron," Hermione corrected. "He’s called Harry. Something hit your head?"

Ron chuckled again. "ALAC. Stands for Almighty Loser at Chess."

"So I’m an Almighty Loser now?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "I can whoop your ass at football (soccer), Ron."

"Hmm," Ron pondered. "I’ll have to see about that."

He questioned his mind for a second. "My back yard in the summer. I’ll beat you."

"Good luck," Harry laughed. "See you tomorrow."

He walked into his room and shut the door behind him.

"What’s football?" Ron asked Hermione, turning to face her.

Hermione laughed a little and shook her head. "You shouldn’t have bet him to play you know."

Ron just grinned. "I’ll beat him. How hard can it be?"

She gave him a quick kiss, feeling the guilt tie up inside her stomach.

"Night, Ron," She smiled before going into her bedroom.

She walked inside and shut the door behind her.

Tonight was their last night inside these walls. It didn’t seem real to be leaving after all these years.

She’d come back though. Without a doubt, she was coming back here. There were too many memories buried inside the stone walls to forget.

After changing into her pyjamas, Hermione lay down in bed, staring up at the canopy above her bed.

Her eyes slowly drifted closed as she thought about the smell of the old books in the library; the familiar noise of Neville’s exploding cauldron; Draco bouncing as a white ferret; all the potion lessons; levitating a feather for the first time; using her wand to fix Harry’s glasses on the train then again in Diagon Alley and finally Harry.

Harry, her best friend no matter the occasion. The guy who stuck by her through thick and thin. The guy who was there for her night or day when she needed him. And the guy she loved.

With her eyes shut and her mind slowly drifting to the old memories encased in the stones, Hermione feel asleep.

The platform bustled with students climbing off the train at Kings Cross station.

And there stood Hermione, Harry and Ron holding their luggage. No more would they be catching that lovely Scarlet train to Hogwarts.

"Well," Ron started. "We’re all off our separate ways now."

"I guess we are," Harry replied, adjusting Hedwig’s cage as she flapped patiently.

"Hey, cheer up!" Hermione smiled brightly. "It’s summer. We’ll see each other again. This isn’t a goodbye time."

Ron laughed. "Hermione’s right. This shouldn’t be a goodbye."

Harry remembered his conversation with Hermione only a week ago.

"This should be a ‘See you in the summer’," Harry grinned back at Ron and Hermione, letting his eyes fall finally on her.

"But what if we really don’t see each other again?" Hermione’s smile faded. "What if something happens to any of us? What if we move away somewhere and forget about each other? I mean, it’s very probable with all the memory charms around and then Voldemort still coming after Harry, it’s a big deal saying goodbye here and now. What if…"

Harry laughed at her. "We won’t forget. There’s too much to forget."

"I second that," Ron chirped.

"We’ve been through to much to let it fall to pieces because we grow older," Hermione hugged Ron closer to her.

Harry averted his eyes for a moment but then brought them back to look at his two best friends.

"Then we make a pact," he grinned. "We make a pact right now that cannot be broken."

"If you think it’ll work," Hermione held her hand out, palm facing down. "A pact it is."

Ron placed his hand on top of his girlfriends and Harry followed suit, placing his on top of Ron’s.

"Wherever we go, whatever we do, we’re here for each other, not matter what. We’re here," Harry said, sounding almost recited.

"Together," Hermione smiled.

"Together," Ron and Harry repeated, breaking their hands away.

The train whistle blew behind them and they turned to watch the Hogwarts Express chug away one last time.

"Well children," Ron grinned. "This is where the magic ends and real life begins."

"Don’t be daft, Ron," Hermione grabbed hold of Ron and Harry’s hands.

"Yeah," Harry agreed. "There’s magic in everything."

"Especially when you live in the Wizarding world," Hermione squeezed her two best friend’s hands a little as they pushed their trolleys through the barrier to the Muggle world on the other side.

Harry spotted Sirius waving at him, then Mrs Weasley and the twins Fred and George and finally Mr and Mrs Granger.

The three sighed at once.

"Here we go," Harry smiled at them both.

"See you later Harry," Ron chirped giving his friend a hug and a manly pat on the back.

"Later Ron," Harry patted Ron on the back as well, returning the gesture.

As they pulled back, Harry looked at Hermione. He didn’t want to hug her. He was too afraid of not being able to let her go.

She smiled at him. He grinned back, wrapping his arms around her waist and embracing her tightly.

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "See you soon, Harry."

"See you soon, ‘Mione," He smiled back into her hair.

Harry was the first to let go. As he did, Hermione grabbed his hand and shoved a piece of paper in it, concealed from Ron.

The three broke apart and walked to their designated adults.

They waved at each other again, waving to their families and watching them all together for one last time.

Sirius bear hugged Harry, nearly lifting his feet off the ground.

"How’ve you been Harry?" He set the boy back down on the ground and grabbed hold of Harry’s trolley.

"Great. My last year gone though," Harry looked at the piece of paper folded up in his hand.

He unfolded it and read it.

The heart wants what it wants

Yours forever,

Hermione

"Yeah but you’ll be back," Sirius laughed.

Harry smiled at the paper before looking up to look for Hermione among the sea of students.

He spotted her with her parents. She was looking at him with the brightest grin on her face.

She waved to him and he waved back.

"Any regrets?" Sirius asked, pushing the trolley towards the exit.

Harry grinned back at his godfather. "Only one, and I’ll tell you later."

**

AN…Sorry for the delay in getting this out but I’m having to write between 2 hour studying sessions every night. Just for the delay though, I’m posting three chapters.

Enjoy and please R&R.

Chapter 4: The Arrangement

"Harry!" Sirius called from the living room. "Harry! Come here!"

Harry walked from the kitchen to the living room, drinking from his mug of coffee.

"Yeah?" He asked brightly.

Sirius waved his hand at Harry. "I’ve got something for you."

He opened the huge cabinet near the window and pulled out a small box. He smiled wide as he handed it to Harry.

Harry looked at it questioningly. "If you’re asking me to marry you…"

Sirius laughed. "Open it, fool."

Harry grinned as he opened the small box.

Inside, surrounded by cushions of silk was a golden lion’s face, it’s mane encrusted with diamonds. Harry tugged at the lion’s face until it came free from the box. It was a golden ring with a gold chain attached to it.

Harry looked up at Sirius. "Was this…"

"Look at the inscription," Sirius suggested.

Harry looked inside the ring band. A small sentence was inscribed.

‘A True Gryffindor.’

Harry smiled widely. "Was this dad’s?"

Sirius nodded. "That was our James’s. He told me to keep it safe if anything happened to him, so I could give it to his son one day."

Harry lifted the chain over his head, letting the ring bounce against his chest.

"It did have a sister," Sirius continued. "But it disappeared the night…well…you know."

Harry unconsciously raised his hand up to his scar. "Yeah, I know."

It had only been a week at the Marauder Manor. Everything was going great. Harry and Draco had decked out their new dorm room in Merlin’s with furniture.

Harry tried to keep himself busy. He tried painting his new room or trying to fit the carpet by hand in the living room. He even resorted to re-furnish the bathroom himself but to no avail, resulting in a phone call to the plumber.

He thought about her constantly. He’d lost count of the times he’d ran to the phone when it rang, only to fin it was Ron or one of Sirius’s girlfriends. There had been a few times when it had just rang once and hung up.

Then he’d wait patiently by the phone for it to ring again.

Everything he tried and everything he thought about always ended up with him thinking about Hermione.

The paint in his room for instance.

Draco and Harry had caught the Floo network down to their dorm, bought the paint from a nearby hardware store and had brought it back to their dorm to paint Harry’s bedroom.

When Harry had finally got round to opening the can, it was a deep blue colour almost night blue.

His first thought just happened to be, ‘Would Hermione like this?’

He’d screamed.

A manly scream obviously.

It had made Draco pop his head around the door anyway and ask what the hell Harry was doing.

"Sounds like bloody medieval torture in here," Draco shook his head.

~)*(~

The new term rolled around too quickly. Hermione had red through all her new textbooks, and planned her first class, the topic and how much she’d teach them on the first day. She was simply sitting at her desk, watching the dark clouds roll by leaving a trail of stars behind.

She was wishing for someone like her in her Charms class, a little bushy haired girl with her hand always raised to answer her question.

It gave Hermione a smile to think about it.

She’d thought a lot about everything over the summer. Hardly seeing Ron and Harry, she had nothing to do. Her muggle friends couldn’t compensate for the two lads.

She’d mostly been thinking about Harry, wishing she wouldn’t be thinking about him, which in turn caused her to think about him; a never-ending cycle.

She’d lost count of the times she’d sat by the phone and willed it to ring; picked it up to dial only to find herself hanging up before she heard the ring.

She quietly closed the book that lay open on the desktop. A flash of purple caught her attention and she opened the book again. All over this inside cover was various ink scribbles.

Hermione Ann Potter,

Hermione Ann Granger-Potter,

Professor H.A. Potter,

Mrs Hermione Potter

Mrs H.A. Potter

She grinned a little as she placed her quill back into her inkwell realising that several ink blotches were present on the inside cover as well.

Harry was peacefully cooking dinner in the kitchen of the Marauder Manor when the familiar ringing of the Muggle phone sounded.

He carefully put his sauce spoon down in the pan and walked to the wall phone, taking it off the hook.

"Hello?" He asked, placing it between his shoulder and cheek as he wiped his hands clean on the tea towel slung over his shoulder.

"Harry?" An all too familiar voice questioned. Instantly, a smile formed on his face.

"Hermione! How are you?"

"I’m fine thanks. And you?"

"Never better."

She coughed a little. "Ron and I were hoping you’d like to come over…to the Burrow this weekend. Ron’s come home for the week and wants to play you at football."

Harry chuckled. "He really thinks he’ll win?"

"He says he’s been getting tips from Oliver Wood," there was a smile in Hermione’s voice.

Harry grinned. "Yeah, course I’ll come. When?"

"This Saturday," Hermione replied. "Mrs Weasley’s cooking us a big picnic dinner as well to eat out on the lawn. She says you can bring Padfoot as well."

"On a leash?" Harry laughed, walking back to his cooking with the portable phone.

Hermione laughed with him. "I think human form might be best. Pig would have a heart attack seeing him again."

"Are we staying the night or something?" Harry slung the kitchen towel back over his shoulder.

"Yes. I’m staying with Ginny and you’re in with Ron."

There was a short silence.

"What have you been up to then, Herm?" He asked, picking up the sauce spoon and stirring the bubbling liquid a bit more.

She breathed out. "Nothing much. I got a new schedule from Dumbledore for my Charms class. I’ve got to teach the seventh years some warding charms this year."

"You’ll be teaching Colin Creevey," Harry chuckled. "Two guesses at what he wants his career to be."

"Hmm, let me think," She chuckled back. "Would it be a photographer for the Daily Prophet?"

Harry laughed again, stirring his bubbling concoction. "You’ll be teaching Ginny as well."

"I know," Hermione replied down the receiver. "I’ve already promised her that I’ll give no special treatment to anyone."

"Sure you aren’t turning into a Snape?" Harry asked.

He heard a small muffle down the phone then a cookbook flew at the back of his head, smacking him lightly.

"Hey!" he exclaimed, rubbing his head. "That was unfair!"

Hermione laughed almost hysterically down the phone. "Your own fault."

"I guess it’s a lesson," He shrugged chuckling. "Never mess with your best friend when she’s a Charms professor."

"A good lesson learned," She replied.

Another silence that lasted mere seconds.

"I’ve got be going," She broke the silence. "Give my love to Sirius."

"Will do," Harry smiled. "I’ll be at the Weasley’s by floo on Saturday."

"Good!" She replied with the smile. "See you soon, Harry."

"See you soon," He grinned.

The phone went dead with a click.

Harry replaced the phone back on its stand and returned to his cooking.

Chapter 5: The Girl Shines Through

For Hermione’s liking, Saturday rolled around all too soon. She was, on one hand, looking forward to spending sometime with Harry and Ron. On the other hand she was spending a weekend with Harry and Ron.

Harry, being the object of her undying affection.

And Ron being her boyfriend.

Where was the justice in that?

"Hermione!" Molly Weasley cried as Hermione stepped out of the chimney, and dusted her denim skirt down, placing her overnight bag on the floor.

"Hey everyone!" Hermione received a very big hug from Mrs Weasley, then from Ginny.

Hermione looked around the very familiar kitchen. Everything was perfectly normal for the Weasley residence apart from a black hold-all that caught her attention straight away. ‘Harry must already be here,’ she thought.

"Oh, Herm, the lads have just started the game," Ginny exclaimed clutching at her friend’s arm. "I’m going to watch. I’ve never seen football before."

Ginny opened the back door and walked outside.

"Ron’s outside with the lads, dear," Molly stated, walking back to the table which was littered with picnic food and a basket.

"Do you need a hand?" Hermione asked removing her robe and hanging it on the robe rack. It was good she’d worn it or her white shirt would be covered in soot.

Molly waved her hand at Hermione. "Don’t be silly, dear. You’re a guest. I’ll float it outside in a few minutes."

Hermione gave her a big smile before exiting the kitchen through the back door.

It was a very sunny day, not a cloud in the sky. Ginny was sitting on the grass, plucking out small blades and twisting them mindlessly between her thumb and index finger.

Hermione walked up to her friend and sat beside her, watching the boys playing on the lawn.

George (she thought) was in goal, using two muggle lawn gnomes for the posts. Fred was in the opposite goal, using one bound and gagged live gnome and a red jumper for posts.

Ron and Harry were tackling each other for the white football whilst Mr Weasley, Bill and Percy were stood on the pitch, watching to see who got the ball.

"I didn’t know Bill was home," Hermione stated, turning to Ginny, but looking out of the corner of her eye at Harry.

Ginny nodded. "He’s got two weeks off so he Apparated home yesterday. Everybody’s really proud of Ron, for getting in at Puddlemere."

Hermione smiled. "Yeah. He really deserves it."

She watched Harry run down the lawn with the ball and shot towards Fred (she thought). Unfortunately, Fred did a dive and caught the ball.

She chuckled a little as she watched Harry fake anger.

Ron was laughing at him. He was wearing white shorts and a white T-shirt. Harry was in blue shorts and a black sleeveless T-shirt. It looked like a vest.

Molly walked outside hovering the picnic basket and a blanket in front of her. Hermione and Ginny stood up so they could lay the blanket down.

"Dinner!" She called.

The lads immediately broke up their game, Fred and George were arguing over who won.

Harry and Ron ran over to the blanket as it settled on the floor.

"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed, noticing her for what appeared to be the first time.

He enveloped her into a hug, tightening his arms around her protectively. She kissed him quickly on the cheek.

"Don’t I get anything?" Ron asked with a wide grin.

Hermione shook her head jokingly and hugged Ron.

"It’s great to see you both," She smiled as they both picked up a sandwich and sat down beside her.

"Great to see us?" Harry chuckled. "We’re two weeks in!"

Hermione shrugged. "I’m still not used to being apart from you two for days. It doesn’t feel right."

Harry bumped her with his shoulder. "Mushy pup."

She let her jaw drop in shock. "Me? Mushy? You can hardly talk!"

"When did I ever get ‘mushy’ on anyone?" Harry took a swig of a glass of lemonade.

Hermione simply looked at Ginny. "Your curtain call."

Ginny laughed. "You are mushy Harry."

"Stop ganging up on him, girls!" Fred said whilst George ate some cake.

Everybody was sent into rages of laughter.

"Don’t worry about it," Ron said. "What score were we at anyway?"

"5-2 to me, Harry and George," Percy replied, pouring some butterbeer into a pint glass.

Harry looked up into the sky for a moment, then brought out his muggle sunglasses from his pocket.

"Are we playing to 10 gentlemen?" Mr Weasley asked, after having a nice conversation with his wife.

They all heard a scrambling noise from the goals. Everyone managed to see what the scrambling noise was. The supposedly bound and gagged gnome had escaped and was hoping over the hedge into the neighbour’s garden.

"Well, we’re a post short now," Bill said sadly. "Anybody willing to sacrifice a shirt?"

After a few moments of hesitation from the lads, Harry stood up and took his T-shirt off. He threw it to Bill.

"There you go," He smiled. "I was getting to hot anyway."

"Any excuse to flash, ey Potter?" Bill laughed. He ran up to the missing post and put the shirt down on the grass. "The game commences!"

Hermione realised that as the boys ran back onto the lawn to play their game, she wasn’t the only one staring at Harry’s bare chest. Ginny was too.

Only it wasn’t just bare. He was wearing a chain with what looked like a ring on the end.

"When did he get such a fine body?" Ginny asked, taking a swig of butterbeer from Percy’s pint glass.

Hermione shook her head. "Probably all the Quidditch. Gods, no wonder everyone was after him."

Of course, Hermione already knew what his chest looked like. You don’t be friends with a boy for seven years and not see him change his shirt once in a while in front of you.

The innocence ploy seemed to working on Ginny, though. She didn’t suspect a thing.

"So," Ginny turned back to Hermione just as Ron scored. "How long have you fancied Harry?"

Hermione nearly choked on her lemonade as she turned back to Ginny, who raised an eyebrow at her.

"What?" She asked. "Fancy Harry? That Harry?"

Ginny nodded. "The one and only, Harry Potter. How long?"

"I don’t fancy Harry," Hermione lied, gulping down the rest of her drink so she couldn’t drown at Ginny’s next statement.

"Oh Herm," Ginny shook her head smiling. "Nobody is as protective as you, or as devoted to that boy as you are. You can’t try and kid me. Come on. ‘fess up."

"I don’t fancy Harry," She lied again, shaking her head.

"Okay, okay," Ginny relented holding her hands up in surrender. "Just make sure you tell Ron. He’ll get hurt otherwise. I won’t tell him."

‘She rumbled us, girlie,’ Hermione’s mind interfered.

"How did you do that?" Hermione asked smiling. "How did you find that out?"

Ginny shrugged. "Girls know girls. Plus, I went through the same thing. It’s good to know you’ve got someone to talk to."

Hermione smiled brightly. "Thanks, Gin."

"Does Harry know?"

Hermione nodded. "That’s what we were arguing about in the common room that night."

"Ah," Ginny replied, picking up another sandwich. "What’re you going to do about Ron?"

"I have no idea," Hermione looked up at the boys.

Harry looked so happy. Ron was having a riot playing football. She’d really miss them. This would really be the longest time they’d be away from each other in seven years.

Sat there, on the Weasley’s lawn, it didn’t seem like seven years had gone past since she'd ran into their compartment looking for Neville's toad Trevor.

They were really the best friends she’d ever had or ever would have.

They were an essential part of her life now and they couldn’t change that, no matter how much Ron ticked her off sometimes.

"Do you love him?" Ginny asked.

"He’s all I can think about," She replied. "There’s just something about Harry that makes me…go soppy on the inside."

Ginny chuckled a little.

"What?" Hermione asked, watching her friend laughing.

Ginny stopped laughing for a moment and cleared her throat.

"I asked you whether you loved ‘him’," Ginny smiled. "And you immediately assumed I meant Harry."

Hermione felt her cheeks glowing.

"I thought I was in love with him once," Ginny clasped her hands in her lap. "But I was wrong. I’ve found who I’m in love with. Jeez, that was a shock."

"Why?" Hermione asked, drinking a bit of Ginny’s butterbeer.

"It’s…its Draco," Ginny said quickly.

Hermione nearly spluttered her drink for the second time. "Draco? As in Malfoy?"

Ginny nodded. "I’ve been going out with him for the past year."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "How come you didn’t tell me? Someone must have known to keep everybody from finding out."

Ginny pointed to the bare chested guy running around on the lawn.

"He knew," she stated.

Hermione looked astonished for a moment. "Harry knew? How come he didn’t hex his brains out?"

"Harry offered to keep it a secret for us. Honestly, nothing gets past that boy. He even made me walk up to a unicorn when he first found out."

Hermione laughed. "Only virgins can approach Unicorns. He’s really protective sometimes."

"He’s great friends with Draco now," Ginny brushed some grass off her leg. "He’s sharing his dorms with him in Merlin’s."

A.N: - Okay, this is basically a chapter where important stuff happens, that’s mainly really boring. Small pieces of H/Hr interaction are also present.

Chapter 6: Walk In The Night

A gratefully received dinner surprisingly cooked by Fred and George had followed the game of football out on the yard.

Thankfully, Harry wasn’t the only one looking at his soup suspiciously, but he had no reason too.

Fred and George related to Harry about their Chudley Cannons offer and they couldn’t refuse it. The pay was enormous and they’d be away in East Europe battling it out on the sandy Quidditch pitches.

They were sad to be leaving, leaving everyone behind for months at a time but it was no different to Ron and Harry’s professions. The only one who seemed to be staying behind was Hermione.

~)*(~

During the night, Harry had broken off from the Weasley family jokes and laughs to take a stroll outside on the large fields surrounding The Burrow.

Ottery St Catchpole was a pleasant place at nice. There were no nutcases like you’d find walking the streets of London at night, guys demanding your wallet or anything.

Harry hadn’t really seen anyone at all, just a few commuters from the big cities returning home to their quiet cottages.

After a few minutes of walking around the long lanes, he found a park bench to sit on.

Leaning his head back he looked up at the night’s sky, so comfortingly black and dark blue. The moon and stars were shinning brightly tonight.

Harry thought of Remus…poor Remus would be stuck in the Marauder Manor with Sirius, chained to a wall probably, or maybe he’d finally twigged the counter potion to treat his werewolf condition.

Unconsciously, Harry twirled his father’s ring around his fingers. Still attached to the gold chain, it looked out of place against his dark green robes. The lion’s head looked like it was almost calling out to him, roaring at him.

"Harry?"

A voice from behind him jolted him from his thoughts.

Harry craned his neck to the side to see his visitor. It was Hermione with her brown hair blowing in the slight breeze and her dark red robes hugged closely around her.

It was surprisingly chilly for a summer’s evening.

Harry smiled widely and gestured to the seat next to him. She took it, sitting herself down on the wooden bench and letting her hands fall into her lap.

"It was great today," Hermione stated noticing the Lion’s head on Harry’s chain. "All of us being together again."

"We’ll all be together soon again," Harry smiled happily, leaning back against the wooden bench and draping and arm over the back of it. "We’re eighteen now. Let’s go for a drink sometime."

Hermione laughed. "Oh Merlin, I’ll have two drunkards for best friends."

"I’ve got all the studying to do still, remember?" Harry chuckled. "I’ll probably die of stress."

Hermione patted his shoulder. "You’ll do great. As I’ve said before, you’re a great wizard Harry. Don’t doubt that."

The two friends smiled at each other knowingly. Hermione took Harry’s hand in her own.

"So, when are you going to show me your new flat anyway?" She asked watching him smile.

"It’s a dorm room," Harry corrected. "Draco will probably be bothering me to have you all over for dinner or something."

"Ginny told me about her and Draco," She stated leaning back into the bench, realising she was also leaning on Harry’s arm, but he didn’t shift it.

Harry grinned wider. "I was wondering when she would. It was only a matter of time."

"You kept something that big from me throughout our seventh year. Arranging all those secret meetings for them and so forth."

Harry shrugged. "It wasn’t difficult and I made another good friend from it. Who would have thought that me and Draco would become close friends?"

"Draco and I," Hermione corrected pulling her robes tighter around her. "So, when are you having us over for dinner?"

"Maybe soon," Harry chuckled moving his arm around her shoulders, hugging her close to him. "You’re cold."

He sat up and removed his robe, draping it over her shoulders elegantly. "That’s better."

She smiled. She found it amazing how they both knew each other so well that they could tell what the other was thinking or wanting at a moment’s notice.

Hermione looked up into the night’s sky for a moment. "How’s…" She began shuffling a little closer to him.

"Remus is fine," Harry grinned looking up into the night’s sky, noticing the moon again. "He sends his greetings and says he’ll see you back at school."

Hermione looked confused. "See me back at school? Is he taking another job there?"

"You’ll see," Harry smirked.

The two just sat in silence for a while, listening to the familiar humming of Ottery St Catchpole by night.

It was those moments that really got to Hermione. The moments between them where nothing was said because nothing needed to be said. Everything was plain and open.

It was in those moments that it was apparent that Harry, once the vulnerable young boy, was now Harry the strong and loving young man.

"We better be heading back," Harry smiled, standing up. He reached out a hand to her.

She took his hand and stood up with him. He wrapped an arm around her waist. She followed suit and they walked pleasantly back to the Burrow knowing that everything was right with the world.

And that nothing could stop them from being together in the end…

Nothing and no one.

When Harry and Hermione arrived back at the Burrow, Sirius was there with Remus, although their expressions weren’t happy.

Harry hung up his and Hermione’s robes at the door and walked inside to find his two guardians sat on the Weasley’s living room sofa surrounded by the Weasley family.

"Got word from the Ministry, Harry," Arthur Weasley said. He was standing by the fire. "Fudge just called. They’ve…seen You-Know…"

"Voldemort’s been spotted, Harry," Sirius interrupted. Ron flinched at the mention of his name. "By Aurors all around Yorkshire."

Hermione sat down next to Ron on the armchair, sitting on one of its arms. "Yorkshire?"

Remus nodded. "Minister Fudge says that the Aurors have not only spotted his Death Eaters but him as well. They were all called back before further confirmation could be obtained but…

"But the fact is that he’s been spotted," Arthur stated. "And it’s caused havoc down at the Ministry. Luckily, nothing has gone public yet. The sightings were this morning and later in the afternoon."

Harry felt awe-struck. Just when he thought he’d been left alone to finish his education, Voldemort pops up again.

"Death Eaters have been seen in London too," Sirius exclaimed. "Seems like they’re going for the whole load this time."

A hand took Harry’s. He looked down to his hand to see Hermione’s hand in his.

"Everything will be all right, Harry," she smiled.

"Yeah," Ron grinned. "It’s not like he’s been seen around here or anywhere near you."

An awkward silence enveloped the room and all eyes fell upon Harry.

"I’ll make some tea," Mrs Weasley bustled into the kitchen.

"We need to return to the Ministry in an hour," Arthur looked back into the fire. "Fudge needs us to make a report."

Remus and Sirius nodded simultaneously.

"Could Harry stay here a while longer?" Sirius asked as Mrs Weasley came back into the living room carrying a tray of cups and a large teapot.

"Of course," Arthur poked the fore with one of the pokers. The embers lit up again from the smouldering ashes. "Anything to keep him safe."

Hermione’s hand on Harry’s squeezed a little. "I’ll stay too."

"I live here, but me too!" Ron chuckled.

Sirius, Arthur and Remus had left for the Ministry of Magic during the evening after a good cup of tea.

Harry thought there was something magical about Mrs Weasley’s tea. It always made him feel happier and tired.

At around two in the morning, the trio had finally relented and trudged up to bed taking their overnight bags with them.

Ron drifted to sleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Hermione kissed him on the forehead.

"Do you want me to come to your house with you tomorrow?" Harry asked as he walked Hermione back to her bedroom.

Hermione smiled and nodded. "That’d be nice. Do you want me to come to the manor with you?"

"Yeah," Harry chuckled. "We can play hide-and-seek."

The two reached Hermione’s door and she pushed it open, revealing a sleeping Ginny tucked up in her bed.

Hermione went to walk inside but felt Harry’s hand clutching onto hers.

"Don’t be afraid, Hermione," He smiled, his unsure smile. "Nothing will happen."

She looked at him, looked into his green eyes. His eyes always told the truth about him, he could never mask the emotion his eyes held.

"I’m not afraid," She replied. "I’m scared. I don’t want to lose you, Ron or anybody else for that matter. I know everything will be fine."

She pecked Harry on the cheek before walking into her room. Biding him a goodnight she shut the door.

Chapter 7: The Crystal Ball

Hermione, Ron and Harry had got dressed early in the morning and were rushing around the Weasley’s kitchen trying to find something edible for a quick breakfast.

"You know," Ron said with his mouth full of toast. "This is the earliest I’ve ever got up. Out of school that is."

"Get used to it," Harry grinned swigging down some fresh pumpkin juice.

Hermione walked quietly down the stairs, trying not to step on anything that would instantly blow up. You never knew what the twins would leave lying around for some unsuspecting victim.

"Morning," she greeted cheerfully and sat down at the kitchen table. Picking up the pitcher of pumpkin juice, she poured herself a glass. "Who’s house first?"

Ron swallowed his toast. "The Manor first. We can floo straight there, no messing around with The Leaky Cauldron’s system."

"They really have to clean the soot out of there," Harry commented, placing a cooling charm on the pitcher. "But, the Manor has some floo warding charms up. We’ll have to Apparate to the little cottage on the North Sea bank. Shouldn’t take us five minutes to walk from there."

"A cottage?" Ron asked, looking up from his nearly devoured breakfast. "A massive Manor and a cottage? On the North Sea Bank?"

Harry shrugged. "It’s an old work cottage. Sirius’ dad used to do some woodturning and stuff down there before he retired. It’s a nice old cottage. Furnished and everything just needs a woman’s touch."

"Sounds nice," Hermione commented, stealing some bacon from Ron’s plate. "Looks like you’ve got yourself your own little hide-hole Harry."

The three flooed to the old cottage, using Harry’s special floo powder, which granted them access to the Marauder Manor’s floo network.

Hermione was the first to land. A safe landing, upright and on her feet before Ron came crashing through the fireplace and tumbled her forward, landing flat on her face.

"Soddin’ twit," she mumbled standing up and brushing some soot from her backside and front.

"Sorry love," Ron smiled apologetically and kissed her on the cheek.

He stepped back momentarily to look around only to be hit by Harry stepping out of the fireplace. The two banged heads.

"Ow," They echoed each other rubbing their foreheads.

Harry clambered out of the wrought iron fireplace and looked around. Apart from the soot in front of the hearth everything was clean and tided.

"Have you spent some time down here?" Hermione asked, appearing from one of the doorways.

"Just a few days," Harry picked up one of his books from the desk and placed it back in the bookshelf.

"I can tell," Hermione grinned. "It has the distinct ‘Harry’ feel to it."

Ron had disappeared into the kitchen, probably to find something to eat. It was a welcome absence. He’d been whinging all morning about not being able to Apparate after getting his licence.

"I have a distinct ‘feel’ then?" Harry asked chuckling. "Sirius just thought it would be nice if the cottage was lived in. It was getting very lonely on it’s own."

"Why don’t you move in then?" She replied picking up another of his books and thumbing through it quickly, trying to find a page that grasped her attention.

Harry wondered if she could read it at light speed by now. She probably got enough practice in and out of school.

"I might just do after Merlin’s," he looked at her. Even the back of her head, which was all he could see presently, was beautiful. Then it dawned on him that he really was pathetic pinning away for her…but then he realised that she was doing exactly the same for him.

Cliché’s are life’s way of poking fun at you.

"Want to join me?" He asked. He suddenly felt stupid but the words had just tumbled from his mouth. Stupid idiot words that he had no control over.

He watched her sigh. Her shoulders sagged a little and her arms crossed in front of her. She played mindlessly with one of the stray pieces of hair that had fallen down past her ear.

She turned around to look at him and leaned against the old oaken desk. Surprisingly, she was smiling. It looked like a happy smile but with Hermione, one could never really tell what that actually meant. Her brain worked in mysterious ways.

"I wouldn’t mind that," she smiled lovingly. "But I’ll be at Hogwarts remember?"

To add a bit of comic relief to the intense moment, Harry hit his forehead with the ball of his hand.

"You know, I completely forgot," He grinned. "I completely forgot that my best friend will be away from me for months at a time!"

The two laughed as Ron walked in with a sandwich in his hand. Whatever the sandwich was, it was dripping what looked like spaghetti sauce over the ’24 Hour’ clean floor.

"I won’t be that far away," Ron managed taking another bite of his hideous concoction of a sandwich. "And besides, this place has four bedrooms! Room for all of us!"

Harry and Hermione just looked at each other.

Something told them that Ron hadn’t quite got Harry’s meaning.

"I still say Apparating would have been easier," Ron complained as the three walked up to the Marauder Manor.

"But Splinching Ron," Hermione countered. "You’re not very experienced in it and Splinching could be a possibility. It’s a risk I’d rather not take."

"Aww," Ron smiled. "Is that cause you love me so much?"

Hermione stiffened a little. She looked at Harry. He wasn’t looking back. She breathed a sigh; and did it all within a second then replied, "Something like that."

She received a playful punch on the arm from Ron, and an almost inaudible sigh of relief from Harry.

~)*(~

The large Manor seemed to loom over the three. It wasn’t massive but it wasn’t exactly small either.

"Bloody hell," Ron gazed at the large stone manor. "Buckingham Palace or what?"

Harry laughed. "Not quite, Ron. The Queen doesn’t live here."

"Yeah," Ron stifled a chuckled. "She lives with Mr and Mrs Granger."

The two boys laughed whilst Hermione threw them both death glares. "Hardy flamin’ har."

"Wow!" Harry laughed. "Miss Granger used imperfect grammar!"

That only fuelled their laughter. Hermione walked ahead of them.

"That’s Professor Granger!" She called as she disappeared behind a hedge.

Harry used his multitude of keys and door charms to open the huge doors. A simple ‘Alohomora’ charm couldn’t have broke it in a million years.

"You think you’ve got enough security on it?" Ron asked, raising an eyebrow at the huge oak doors.

Harry sighed. "When you see doors like these, do you think it’s to keep something out?"

Putting on his scariest, flame green eyes, Harry turned around to stare Ron in his eyes. Hermione could barely keep down her laughter. Harry was a scary bastard when he wanted to be but he couldn’t scare her, not in a million years.

"Or is it, to keep something in?" To add to the effect, Harry threw his head back and cackled loudly.

Hermione managed to catch Ron’s scared expression before it melted into amusement, but for a moment he really looked frightened of Harry.

Ron his arm and scowled. "Evil git."

"I do try," Harry laughed as he pushed open the large doors to reveal the huge foyer.

Hermione and Ron walked in, Harry closing the doors after them. The foyer was gigantic. It had a large staircase in the centre leading up to the first floor landing. Several paintings were chatting to each other; a Knight in one painting was clipping his toenails.

Harry however, was reading his owl post, which was sat neatly on the side table by the door.

"Wow," Ron gasped, staring at himself in the marble flooring.

"Go up to my bedroom if you like," Harry didn’t seemed phased by the magnificence of his house. Well, of course he wouldn’t, he’d got used to it.

"Upstairs I take it?" Hermione asked, placing her hand on the pine banister.

Harry nodded. "Reach the top and it’s the second on the left."

Ron and Hermione walked upstairs, Ron still gaping in amazement. Harry was following behind reading some owl post as he trudged up the staircase.

"This is huge!" Ron gaped, taking in the hugeness of the first floor landing. He stood counting the doors down either side. There were six on either side of the staircase.

"This way," Harry pointed to a dark red door.

Hermione opened the door. Instead of the room coming into view, a huge white owl flew at her, knocking her down to the floor screaming.

Harry rushed to her side, calming her down as Ron examined the white owl, which had perched herself on the staircase railing.

"She’s got a message," Ron stated, unclipping the scroll from the owl’s leg. The owl chirped thanks in return.

He handed the message to Harry once he’d stood. Harry unrolled the parchment and glanced it over.

"It’s Sirius," Harry exclaimed, reading over the rest. Hermione leaned against the wooden railing, trying to catch her breath.

The white owl hooted, and nuzzled Hermione’s shoulder as if to apologise.

"It’s alright," Hermione grinned, stroking the white owl’s back and head. "Just don’t do it again, okay? You gave me a heart-attack."

Harry handed the parchment to Ron. "There’s a note on the back from your dad. They’ve spoken to the Ministry and they’re on amber alert until further notice. Sirius and Remus are staying at the Ministry in case something happens. Mr Weasley’s coming home."

"Oh that’s good," Hermione sighed. "So nothing major then?"

Harry shook his head. "Only sightings. Until something happens, all they can do is station Aurors in the areas."

"And are they doing that?" Hermione asked pulling her fingers away from the white owl’s nipping beak.

"So Sirius says," Harry sighed and scratched the back of his neck. "Fudge isn’t being reluctant about this one."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Figures. It’s Yorkshire and London, two leading cities for Muggles and Wizards."

Harry nodded again before turning back to his bedroom door, opening it to reveal a large golden and scarlet bedroom.

"So, no one went light with the paint then," Hermione stated crossing the bedroom to find yet another of Harry’s desks. On top of this one however, was a blue inkbottle and a tankard filled with different quills including the Eagle quill she’d given him. That put a smile on her face, after all the years, he still had it.

Several pieces of parchment were strewn about the table with ink scribbles already on them. The thing that grabbed her attention though was a crystal paperweight sitting on top of a leather bound hardback book.

She picked it up and examined it. Inside was a swirling purple blackness, it looked like rolling smoke. Suddenly, a few golden letters strung themselves together forming the words ‘You’re A Fool’.

She was about to place the ball back down on the desk and mutter something about idiotic tourist traps when the golden words re-strung together to say ‘But Give It Time…He’ll Be Home Soon’.

Raising an eyebrow at the crystal ball, Hermione set it down on the desk.

"Hermione?" Harry asked, walking over to her. He touched the small of back, meaning it as a friendly gesture but she jumped at his touch so he removed it. "Sorry. What’re you doing?"

Hermione pointed to the crystal ball. "I was just looking at that. What is it anyway?"

"Oh," Harry grinned, picking up the small ball and holding it in his palm. "This, my friend, is a one of a kind ‘Thought Ball’. It tells you what you think about a subject, then the outcome of it."

He held it up to his face and peered into the smoky blackness. "It says ‘You’re A Quick Learner’. Now it says ‘And It Will Help You In Your Profession’."

Hermione cocked an eyebrow. "So, it’s a form of Divination? Completely imprecise and tells you absolutely nothing about your real life, therefore has no idea what it’s saying?"

"Was that rhetorical?" Harry asked, placing the ball back down on his leather book.

She smiled and slapped him playfully on the shoulder. "Don’t we have to be somewhere now?"

Harry nodded and went to his large four-poster bed, dipping down underneath it and retrieving a large black holdall.

"How many of those do you have?" Hermione asked, realising that Ron was no longer in the bedroom with them. "And where’s Ron?"

"I have three of these," Harry replied heaving the bag up onto his trunk and unzipping it. "And Ron has gone to find food, for himself and for the owl. The kitchen big enough, he’ll be in there for hours."

Harry pointed his hand at the two wardrobes and called "Accio Jeans!"

The wardrobe doors opened sharply and out flew his deep blue jeans, which folded themselves up into the holdall. He then walked to the wardrobe and began unpacking his things manually into the holdall.

"What was the point in that display of magic?" Hermione asked, sitting down on the bed and feeling her feet rise off the ground as she sank into the mattress. "What the…"

She gripped onto the nearest bedpost and dragged herself back up to her feet then clung on for dear life. "Harry, your mattress just tried to eat me."

Harry grinned and laughed. "It’s not adjusted yet, I haven’t been sleeping in it, so the House Elves don’t bother to readjust it until I get back."

"Some warning signs might be good," she muttered standing up as Harry closed the wardrobe doors and zipped the holdall shut.

Chapter 8: Because Of Who You Are

The three flooed directly to Hermione’s house, falling one by one out of the huge Victorian fireplace in the dining room.

"How many times have you flooed in your lifetime, Ronald Weasley?" Hermione scolded, standing up to brush herself down.

"Couple of hundred," He winced as he got to his feet. Harry’s foot hand landed in the small of his back.

"And how many of those times have you fallen flat on your face?" She continued, walking to the dining room door and opening it. "Mum? Dad?"

"Bloody girls," Ron muttered following his girlfriend.

Harry stood up off his backside and brushed his clothes down. He waved his hand over the soot on the hearth and it disappeared in a small whirlwind. He laughed at his own skill.

Remembering he was present in someone else’s house, he quickly followed after his two friends to find them just outside the front door, conversing with Mr and Mrs Granger.

"Harry!" Mr Granger greeted holding out his hand for Harry to shake. "Long time no see, lad. Where’d you run off to last summer? We were expecting a visit."

"We were at a Quidditch convention in Brussels," Harry replied as he received a hug from Mrs Granger.

"Well, it’s lovely to see you again Harry," Mrs Granger grinned happily. "Ron was just telling us about Merlin’s Academy."

Hermione’s mother was indeed very pretty. She had long brown hair like her daughters, tied back in a ponytail. She didn’t look older than her mid-thirties and neither did Mr Granger. He had flecks of grey appearing at his temples but Harry reckoned that every bloke must get them living with Hermione.

"It looks amazing doesn’t it, Harry?" Hermione asked. "I mean, all the libraries it has, there must be about a dozen full to the brim of magic books and research books."

She threw up her hands. "Right that’s it! Sod Hogwarts! I’m going to Merlin’s."

They all laughed.

"Well, since we’re on the floo network now, you’ll have to come and see us every chance you get boys," Mr Granger smiled. "Go fishing and the like."

"Wouldn’t mind seeing a football match sometime," Ron offered. "It’s very interesting. All those players and the ball. A lot of running around of course."

Mrs Granger and Hermione both rolled their eyes.

"Don’t get him started on football," Mrs Granger grimaced. "You won’t make it out alive."

"Come with me, Ron," Mr Granger laughed guiding Ron into the living room, talking about the ‘great English game’.

"Oh Merlin," Hermione rolled her eyes again. "Sorry if you wanted to do anything today, Harry. They’ll be at it for hours."

Harry shrugged. "I wasn’t going to plan anything anyway. Go with the flow, you know."

Hermione cocked an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Are you taking an English course at Merlin’s? You need it, Harry. How can you stand all that improper grammar? It drives me insane!"

Harry shrugged again. "I try not let bother me much."

Hermione groaned and shook her head. "Now you’re just doing it to annoy me."

"Oh how did you guess?" He grinned receiving a playful punch from Hermione.

"Hermione?" Mrs Granger called from the kitchen.

"Make yourself at home, Harry," Hermione said walking towards the kitchen door. "Don’t destroy anything."

Harry waved as he watched her disappear through the doorway. Immediately, his expression changed to concern as he rushed to the dining room and locked the door behind him.

Once safely inside, he went to the fireplace and waved his hand over it using a few well-chosen words. The hearth burst into flames and Harry had to shield his eyes because of the bright red flames.

Instantly, Remus’ face appeared in the fireplace, his expression a grim one.

"How’s everything, Harry?" Remus greeted as he always did. "How did my letter find you?"

Harry snorted. "The owl scared Hermione to death when it fluttered out of my bedroom."

Remus gave a small laugh. "Did you manage to conceal the other letter?"

Harry nodded. "Under the flap of the envelope covered in invisibility powder. Is it true?"

"Yes, I’m afraid it is," Remus said solemnly.

"Dammit!" Harry smacked the mantelpiece with the palm of his hand. "This shouldn’t be happening now."

"Have you told Hermione and Ron?" Remus asked eyeing Harry with concern.

Harry scoffed. "How can I tell them that? They’ll be in even more danger, probably because they’ll look for it."

"The Ministry has a proposal if you’d like to hear it," Remus stated. "They say it might be useful to you."

"I’ll come down now then," Harry smiled sadly. "I’ll just say my goodbyes and join you."

Remus nodded an all right then his face disappeared. Harry waved his hand over the flames again, and they evaporated into nothingness.

He took his glasses off for a moment and pinched the bridge of his nose. He could feel a headache coming on. Quickly replacing his glasses, he unlocked the dining room door and went straight to the kitchen.

Mrs Granger and Hermione were talking at the kitchen table.

"I’m sorry to interrupt," Harry said politely, causing the two to notice his presence. "I’ve got to go to the Ministry, Herm."

Hermione’s smile dissolved into a worrying and panicking expression. "Is something wrong? Has something happened?"

She stood up and crossed the room to him, looking at him with concern. "Have they found Him?"

Harry shook his head. "No, they just want to see me about something. Mr Weasley will tell you when you get to the Burrow."

"So something has happened?" She asked, chewing her lip.

"Will you be alright getting to the Burrow with Ron?" Harry asked, his watch suddenly became very interesting to look at.

"Yes, of course we will but…"

Harry began to walk to the front door, Hermione following him by mere footsteps.

"Harry, stop right there," She said, standing in front of the doorway. "What is all this about? The Ministry wouldn’t call you in unless it was something dire."

"I know," Harry nodded. "I can’t tell you right now. Mr Weasley will tell you, or I will when I get back. I've got to go now but I promise everything will be fine."

He kissed her on forehead then apparated out.

Mrs Granger screamed a little when she saw him disappear. "I will never get used to him doing that."

Hermione laughed a little and directed her mother back into the kitchen to finish her cup of tea.

When Harry arrived at the Ministry, everyone was rushing around in a near panic. Clerks were holding massive folders, lugging them from one end of the office room to the next frantically searching through them as they went.

Harry found Remus, Sirius and Minister Fudge in his office talking avidly about something. Harry knocked before entering and the talk immediately stopped.

"Ah, Harry," Mr Fudge stood up from behind his desk and held out his hand. "Good to see you here, my boy."

"Good to see you too, sir," Harry replied sitting down next to Remus.

"Let’s not tarry with the small talk," Fudge started, shuffling some papers on his desk into a drawer out of the way. "We are in need of Aurors, Harry."

Harry nodded. "And you need me?"

"It’s not as simple as that Harry," Sirius said. "It gets a bit more complicated."

"We have certain branches of Aurors," Remus stated, clasping his hands around a folder on his lap. "The one you’d fit into would be the Phoenix squadron."

"But in order to join this," Sirius explained. "Your memory must be erased from the world."

Harry looked shocked. No one would know him. "What about my friends? My family and…"

"We’d know," Sirius gestured to himself, Remus and Fudge. "And so would Dumbledore, Hagrid, Snape and McGonagall, for your protection. But to the rest of the world, you’d just be Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived."

"What about Hermione and Ron?" Harry stood up and began pacing the room. "I mean, after all my years at Hogwarts, building up all those relationships for nothing."

"You’d be protecting them Harry," Fudge replied. "Look what happened to Dean Thomas and you didn’t even know him all that well. Hermione and Ron…"

"Hermione and Ron would be killed just to get to you," Remus said sadly. "I hate to say it Harry but it’s true. Hermione is a muggle-born and one of the best witches of the new age, pureblood and muggle-born alike. Voldemort wouldn’t think twice about it."

Harry’s heart was thumping quickly in his chest. A thousand images flashed through his head, images of death and blood running across his hands. They’d die because of him.

"You’d be saving them, Harry," Sirius said. "They’d know you as the Boy Who Lived with no memory of ever knowing you or meeting you. It’s better than seeing them die."

"As soon as the threat of You-Know-Who is eradicated," Fudge stated. "We can remove the charm, but it could take days, months or even years. You need to think about this Harry."

He’d be saving them, saving their lives. This was all because he was Harry Potter, all because of who he was. It wasn’t fair, if he were anybody else, anywhere else he’d live a normal life, without all of the pain.

Voldemort wouldn’t know whom to go after; Hermione and Ron would be safe to carry on with the rest of their lives with no more fears. It was worth it, worth bearing the loss of them, their friendship.

And that was that, he was decided.

"You don’t have to answer…" Remus started but was interrupted by Harry.

"I’ll do it," Harry said, his eyes glistening with tears. "I’ll go through with it. If anything happens to me, if I die or anything, I want them to be protected."

Fudge nodded and turned to Sirius. "Would you go over the procedure with him?"

Sirius and Remus accepted and led Harry out of Fudge’s office.

"You don’t have to do it, Harry," Sirius tried. "You can refuse. I don’t want you to…"

"If it protects them, then I’ll do anything," Harry brushed a few tears away from his eyes.

Remus clapped a hand on Harry shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "James would be proud of you Harry. Not many people would risk this much for their friends."

"The only family I’ve ever known have been with me in these seven years," Harry smiled sadly. "I’d protect them with my life, like my mum protected me, like they’d protect me. They were there when I needed them most, this is the least I can do to repay them."

"What about Hermione?" Sirius asked.

Harry turned to look at him. "She’ll ask me why I’m doing this and I don’t have to, she’ll try to reason with me, to tell me it’s a stupid thing to do. I love her, I don’t want anything to happen to her."

"Then we’ll start the procedure tomorrow."

A/N… This is the last chapter of this story. I’ve enjoyed writing it although I’m not much of a romance writer. Enjoy!

Chapter 9: I’m Sorry

Hermione and Ron flooed back to the Burrow later on in the afternoon. Strangely enough, they managed to clamber out of the fireplace without the slapstick comedy.

"It’s Harry’s fault," Ron laughed. "It only happens when Harry’s with us."

Hermione only managed to smile sadly back at her boyfriend. She was worried about Harry and the Ministry. He’d only been called in a few times, during dire attacks on the muggle-borns. It scared her to death sometimes. He would be gone for hours, sometimes days without a word to tell anyone where he was.

"Hermione?" Ron asked, grimacing a little. Hermione stirred out of her thoughts. "We need to talk."

Hermione nodded. "I know."

Ron sighed heavily. "I need to apologise, Herm."

"Why?" Hermione asked, expecting a lecture about worrying about a grown man.

"Because I haven’t been paying enough attention to you," Ron smiled sadly. "And I need to completely honest with you."

Ron leant again the kitchen table. "I’ve…I’ve been seeing Lavender."

Hermione’s face fell. "Lavender? As in Lavender Brown?"

Ron nodded. "I’m so sorry. Its just…there isn’t a spark between us Herm. I don’t think there ever was. We were just…superficial…looking for something on the surface, you know?

"We both know that we were never really in love with each other. I mean, I love you Herm but I’m not in love with you. Not in the same way I am with Lavender."

Hermione couldn’t really feel bad about this. She’d been questioning their relationship, falling for his best friend wasn’t exactly the perfect way to maintain said relationship. "I know."

"I don’t want anything to change between us," Ron said. "You’re still, first and foremost, my friend and that’ll never change. I’m just sorry I didn’t figure this out sooner."

Hermione smiled and wrapped her arms around her friend’s neck, hugging him tightly. "Nothing will ever change Ron."

There was a sharp knock at the door. The two sprang apart and Ron went to open it, smiling a little at Hermione.

He opened the door to find Remus standing in the doorway.

"Evening, Ron," he smiled. "Can I speak to Hermione for a moment?"

Ron nodded and opened the door a bit wider for Remus to step inside. He was drenched, soaked from head to toe. They could the rain pouring down onto the roof outside.

"Do you want me to leave for a minute or something?" Ron asked when they were all in the kitchen.

"If you don’t mind," Remus replied. "It’s nothing personal Ron, it’s just Hermione…"

Ron held up his hands in surrender. "I know. Don’t worry."

He quickly ran up the stairs to escape the awkward moment.

Hermione turned back to Remus and regarded him with confusion. "This is about Harry isn’t it?"

Remus nodded again, performing a drying spell on his robes. "It’s important."

"And it’s about the Ministry I take it?" She questioned further, taking her cloak from the hat stand.

"Harry wants to see you Hermione," Remus stated. "At the Marauder Manor. He…he wanted to tell you this alone."

Hermione’s expression fell. She wore the same panic look as before, when Harry was first leaving for the Ministry earlier that day.

"Has something happened?" She asked donning her dark blue robe.

"You better hear it from him," Remus noted solemnly. "I’d tell you but…"

"I understand," she smiled and walked to the foot of the stairs. "Ron?"

Pattering was heard as Ron came down stairs carrying his Chudley Cannons scarf in his hands. His eyes were bloodshot and it was apparent that he had been crying lightly.

"Ron? What’s wrong?" Hermione asked.

Ron held out the Chudley Cannons scarf to her. "Just got an owl from Harry. Give this to him will you."

That just added to Hermione’s worry. She turned back to Remus who had his head bowed down to the floor.

"Tell him I’ll tell everybody else," Ron whimpered sniffing back some more tears. "Got to him Hermione. He needs you."

Harry sat alone in his bedroom, hands clasped in front of him. He was reciting a small speech, what he’d say to Hermione, how he’d explain the situation.

She could surprise him and take it really well, or not even care. Why should she? No one cared about him. The last seven years had been the best time of his life and he was giving them up.

He walked to his bedroom window and looked out over the Manor’s gardens. Just that day they’d walked up the garden paths laughing together.

He remembered first meeting them both on the Hogwarts Express seven years ago. Funny how it didn’t seem that long. He felt like the scared eleven-year-old again, afraid to face his future, afraid to face a singing hat.

That made him laugh a little. He was so afraid of not fitting in with them that he focused on only that. It was only when Hermione and Ron became his friends that he was just himself.

They saw him for Harry, not Harry Potter. They saw the real him, not some icon, Voldemort’s Challenger, the Wizard Champion.

The pain pattered down against the windowpane, drumming against the glass. Harry felt caught in the rain, was that possible? To be caught in something so fragile. He opened the window and placed his hand outside feeling the rain drip onto his palm.

Once he brought his hand back inside, he felt the water run down his arm to his elbow. Strangely enough, it was warm…warm like his own tears.

A small pop caught his attention behind him and he turned around. Hermione was standing in the middle of his bedroom holding a Chudley Cannons scarf.

She looked at him and tried to speak. Her mouth was opening and closing, trying to form words but none came out. She ran to him, dropping the scarf on the floor and wrapping her arms around his neck.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her for a moment, breathing her in as if for the last time.

"I’m sorry," he whispered in her hair, feeling his tears fall from his cheeks.

"What are you sorry for?" she asked pulling back a little to look at him. She noticed his bloodshot eyes and the tears falling down his face. She brushed the tears away with her fingers. "Do you want to tell me?"

He nodded and broke away from her, turning around and closing the window. He gestured for her to sit down on his bed as he sat on the damp windowsill.

"The Ministry wanted to see me today," he began crossing his arms protectively over his chest. "They offered me something, and I…I couldn’t turn it down."

She picked up the Chudley Cannons scarf from the floor and placed it on the bed next to her.

"Is that Ron’s?" Harry asked standing up and crossing over to the bed. Hermione held the scarf out to him.

"Yeah, he asked me to give it to you," she smiled sadly as Harry sat down next to her holding the scarf in his hands.

"His pride and joy, signed by the players," Harry smiled stroking the wool scarf. "He was going to get Krum to sign it at the next game."

Hermione laughed. "You’re given that prestige now."

Harry nodded. "I guess so."

Hermione took one of Harry’s hands in her own and made him look at her. "What’s going on, Harry?"

"The Ministry have offered me an Auror position," Harry continued, trying not to look at her whilst he spoke.

"That’s good news isn’t it?" Hermione asked looking confused.

"I suppose in a way it is," Harry said leaning against one of the bedposts. "And in another way it isn’t. It’s for the Phoenix Squad.

"But Fudge proposed something else as well. To keep everyone safe, to protect everybody…I’m…I’m having my memory erased."

Hermione dropped his hand. Her face turned a ghastly pale and she looked away from him. "You can’t go through with it! I mean…it’s not…they can’t…can they?"

She looked back up at him. "Why?"

"It’s not my memory," Harry corrected in a small voice. "It’s yours. Yours, Ron’s…everybody that’s ever known me really. It’s like you’ll never have known me for these past seven years."

Hermione shook her head. "No, no I can’t let you do that!"

She stood up and paced around in front of the bed. "I’m not letting you do that to me, Harry! Not ever knowing you…it’s…it’s like Hell, my world would collapse."

Her body felt numb. She didn’t even feel her tears falling from her eyes rapidly. She felt the dampness on her cheeks.

"I’m not letting you do it!" She shouted burying her face in her hands. "To me and the world you’ll just be Harry Potter, Boy Who Lived again. I don’t want that, Harry! I want to remember you, to remember everything we did together…I want to remember my Harry, the Harry I know."

"By tomorrow, you’ll never even have known me," Harry smiled sadly. There were lots of emotions running through him; loss, pain, anger, love…

"You can’t do this, Harry," Hermione pleaded, tears streaming down her cheeks. "You…you can’t let everything we’ve ever done be for nothing!"

Harry turned to look at her. "I’m sorry. I really am."

He reached up a hand to stroke her cheek and for a moment, she leaned into his hand but she pushed it away.

"You’re not sorry, Harry!" She said. "You’re just trying to protect us again and you don’t need too!"

She took his hand. "You’re our friend because we wanted you to be, because this is how it was meant to be. Ron, you and me…you can’t let everything just fall away! It isn’t right and it isn’t…it isn’t fair."

"I’m sorry," he whispered brushing his thumb over the back of her hand. "I need to do this, Hermione. I’m not just trying to protect you, I’m trying to save you."

Hermione looked confused and angry. "Save me? From what? We’re with you willingly. Not because we have to or had to but because we want to. You keep trying to save us from you, Harry, but who’ll be there to save you from yourself?"

"What would a life be like with me?" Harry asked with frustration. "I’m a hunted man, a guy permanently on some maniacs death wish list! You’d be killed just to get to me, Hermione, and I don’t…I don’t want that to happen."

He felt the tears stinging his eyes again, he tried to regain his composed exterior but his walls were cracking.

"I don’t want to see you hurt because of me, can’t you understand that?" a single tear cascaded down his cheek and dropped to the floor. "I want to see you happy and have a good life. I don’t want to see you hurt."

Hermione encircled her arms around Harry waist. She clung to him so tightly, dreading that he might disappear. That tomorrow she’d never have loved Harry, her Harry, and not Harry Potter. She’d never even have known him.

"I love you, Harry," She cried into his shirt. "I love you, I don’t want you to go, I don’t want you to ever leave me."

"I love you too," he sighed clasping her hands with his at his front. "But I have to do this."

"Then never forget I love you," She whispered into his shirt. "I won’t forget if you don’t, and when this is all over, I want you to remove it."

He nodded. "I will. I promise."

"No matter how much you don’t want to," she continued nuzzling her face into his back. "I want you to remove it."

He raised one of her hands to his lips and kissed the back of it softly.

"Take care of yourself," he smiled sadly, breaking her grasp around his waist and turning to face her crying eyes. "I’ll be around, so don’t worry."

She smiled a little. "You’ll be around…but I won’t know it’s you, will I?"

"No," he shook his head. "No, you won’t…but I’ll be there."

"Like you always are," she leaned up to kiss him, catching his lips with her own.

They kissed for a moment, just savouring the contact, the last intimate contact they’d have for a while. Although, they didn’t know how long it’d be. The war could end in days, months or even years.

It felt like a final kiss, a defining moment on their relationship. They both felt it, from that moment they were together, souls joined and shared.

Harry tried to pull away, but Hermione grabbed onto the front of his shirt and pulled him to her lips again.

"Don’t go," she whispered against his lips. "Don’t go."

He kissed her again avidly, snaking his arms around her waist as hers went up around his neck.

"I love you," He gasped, taking in a short breath. "Forever."

"I know," she replied, pulling him down onto his bed.

She broke the contact with him for a moment. "Give me something to remember us by."

Harry looked confused for a moment. "What?"

"Show me how much you love me," she kissed him again. "Now. Show me. I can…I can bare it a bit more if I know just how much you love me. I know you understand me, Harry."

He stroked her cheek and tucked a loose strand of her dark, brown hair behind her ear then bent down to kiss her again with all the love he could.

In moments, their clothes were strewn about the bedroom, forgotten as they showed each other, as best they could, how much they loved each other, how much they’d miss each other and how much they’d missed during their last year of denial.

They tried to convey a thousand words, a thousand unspoken emotions that couldn’t be described, and for that night, they were just themselves as they surrendered to one another in a final battle. The final battle for each other, to succeed in completing what they’d set out to do when they first realised what their friendship had become.

And after it all, he lay next to her, watching her dream. He felt completed somehow. She’d be the one he’d miss the most, she was the one he couldn’t live without and he remembered what Sirius had told him.

"To the world, you may be one person. But to one person you may be the world."

~) Fin (~

A.N à Hey everyone! Thanks for reading this. It’s been great hearing from you all about how much you enjoyed it. I’m not sure whether to pursue a sequel or not, should I or shouldn’t I? I’ll leave it up to you lot!