Midnight Cries

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. The wonderful world of Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling.

A/N: This is my first fanfic...ever! I hope you all like it!

It was nearly midnight while Harry lie in his bed unable to sleep. Most of the nights had been like this one...restless. Every night he would stay up thinking about Sirius, remembering him. He would lie in his bed every night thinking about the future. Would he even have a future? And if he did, would there be any reason to have one if everyone he cared about died? While he was desperately trying to push these thoughts from his mind for the billionth time, he had been listening to the frightening snores of Ron all night.

"Ron, shut up!" he muttered. Finally he decided he might at least get some peace and quiet if he went down to the common room. He pulled his blanket over his shoulders and made his out the boys' dormitory. As he approached the bottom of the stairs he heard something. Someone was crying. He peered around the corner to see who it was and to his surprise he saw Hermione sitting on the sofa with her face buried in her hands, tears dripping from her fingertips. His breath became shallow seeing her like this. What's wrong with her? He thought to himself. Slowly he walk towards her. He was now standing right beside her. She must not have even noticed him come in, for she hadn't even looked up. His heart shattered as he watched her sob into her hands.

"Hermione?" he said tentatively.

She looked up startled. "Harry!" she gasped. The tears running down her face were being illuminated by the blazing fire in front of her. She quickly looked away and started wiping her face with her sleeves.

"W - What are you doing down here?"

"Couldn't sleep." Harry said quietly. "Hermione, what's wrong?"

"Nothing Harry. I'm just - I - I..." she managed before letting her head fall to her hands and began crying even harder than before. Harry wanted to know what was wrong. Dropping his blanket to the floor, he knelt down in front of her and grabbed her hand.

"Hermione, please tell me what's wrong. You can talk to me you know."

"I know Harry. It's just I - I...it's nothing. It's stupid really."

"Hermione it can't be stupid. Nothing you say or think is ever stupid. And I've never seen you cry like this before. It has to be something important. Just tell me please. Maybe I can help." His eyes were boring into her tear filled ones pleading for an answer. He knew something had to be wrong. Hermione never got this upset.

"Harry, I -," she began.

"What?" he asked anxiously.

"Harry, I know this is going to sound so selfish but, I can't stop thinking about it. I just can't get it out of my head." Hermione said, sounding very tired and weak. "I know you don't like talking about it and I understand. And it's really not like you don't have enough to deal with, without me getting upset. But it's just been so hard to accept. And I know it has to have been even harder for you to accept -"

"The Prophecy." Harry said quietly gazing at her. She quickly met his eye. He didn't look angry. On the contrary he looked quite calm.

"Harry I - "

"Hermione it's fine." he said quietly. "I've thought a lot about it and I guess I just didn't know it really upset anyone else, that's all." Hermione looked at him in shock. Thinking back, the night Harry told Ron and Hermione about the Prophecy was such a blur. All he could remember was being hugged fiercely by Hermione and that was the end of it.

"Harry, how could you think that?" she shrieked.

"I don't know," he replied. "I mean I'm the one who has to kill Voldemort or be killed by him. If I die - "

"But you won't!" Hermione sobbed.

"How do you know that Hermione?" Harry asked, still with a quiet voice. "How does anyone know that? It's in the Prophecy...either him or me. I just have to accept the fact that he could kill me."

"No!" Hermione said getting to her feet. Harry stood up with her. Her voice was growing even more shaky and she looked as if she were about to fall over.

"Hermione - "

"Harry, you won't die! Y-You CAN'T die!" she sobbed. She took one step forward and lost her balance, falling towards Harry. Harry caught her in his arms and sat down with her on the sofa. She wrapped her arms around him and was now soaking his T-shirt with tears. "Harry, you just can't die." she said pulling away from him. She was looking straight into his eyes with such seriousness and such emotion, Harry thought he might start crying too. He quickly looked away trying to avoid her eyes. But it seemed Hermione wouldn't have it. She reached up and grabbed the sides of his face with her hands. There was no choice now, he had to look.

"Harry listen to me. You - have - got - to - kill - him." she said through clenched teeth. "He has to die...for everything he's done. For everything he's put everyone through. For everything he's put you through. Harry, I promise you, I will do everything I can to help you. You won't have to do this alone-"

"But I do!" Harry said now standing. "I do have to do it alone. This fight is between him and me! And you can't come!"

"But, Harry - "she protested.

"I won't watch anyone I care about get hurt anymore. Or worse die! I've already lost Sirius. If I lost you or Ron or even both of you...what would I have left? I've already put you in enough danger these past few years. You going into battle and getting hurt...again - it's just - it's not a risk I'm willing to take!"

"But it's a risk I've already taken Harry!" Hermione said looking up at him dispairingly. Then she got to her feet and looked him straight in the eye. "You don't seem to understand that we all have taken risks at our own will!"

"But Hermione, you - "

"Harry, I just - I...I can't lose you. I WON'T lose you." Hermione was now trembling from head to toe with a sad, fearful look on her face. They stood staring at each other in silence for what seemed like eternity. Hermione was crying fiercely. Harry didn't know what to think. He couldn't believe that she cared so much. The stupid Prophecy had upset her more than it did him. Suddenly he noticed himself being brought into the deepest hug. He felt all of his bottled-up emotion spill out into tears. He held onto her and didn't want to let go. "Hermione...I don't -", he started fighting through the tears. "I don't w-want to d-die."

"Shh...I know Harry." she said through her own sobs, hugging tightly. "I know. You won't. Harry, you aren't going to do this alone. There are so many people who are with you, who love you. I'm with you - I love you." she said holding him tight.

At these words he held her even closer. She loved him? No one, besides his parents and Sirus he would have guessed, had ever told him they loved him. Slowly pulling away, he looked deep into her big brown eyes. Then he whispered, "I love you too, Hermione."

"Really?" she asked trembling.

Not breaking the connection between their eyes, he leaned closer to her, their noses almost touching. "Yes", he said breathlessly. Her eyes were so beautiful. Without any hesitation, he brought his hand up to her face and cupped her cheek, brushing away the tears from her eyes with his thumb. He sat there holding her face in his hands for a moment. He had wondered how he never noticed just how beautiful she was. They were both staring into each other's eyes, knowing without words what was about to happen. Reading one another's eyes, they both leaned in at the same time. Their lips met so softly, so naturally. He felt every part of him awaken as he kissed her. He couldn't believe this was happening.

They broke apart for a brief moment to look at each other and both managed smiles through their tears. They leaned in again, their lips met and they were kissing within their own world. His hand was still on her face moving its way to the back of her neck and the other was around her waist. Hermione's hands had found their way around his back and into his hair. Their kisses seemed so natural, like they had done it so many times before. While they kissed it seemed as if every worry they had confessed to one another just moments ago were disappearing. The time just seemed to fly by into the wee hours of the morning. As they broke apart, Hermione placed her hands on his face. She leaned her forehead against his, still crying in happiness. He reached up and placed his hand on the small hand that was cradling his face. He held it there, entwining his fingers with hers, then brought it down to his lips and kissed it softly. Hermione smiled and spoke first.

“That was...exactly how I imagined it would be." she said with a grin on her face. He smiled at her.

“Hermione," he whispered. “When - I mean, how long have you - loved - "

"For a while Harry.” Hermione said. “I've always loved you. I just never really noticed I felt that kind of love until 4th year I suppose. I mean you had to face Voldemort all on your own. I was just terrified afterwards. I never wanted to lose you.”

“How about you? I mean, When did - or - " she asked anxiously.

"Hermione." Harry said imediately. "You know I've always cared for you right?" She nodded. "Well, like you, I did feel something, I'm not sure when. Maybe every so often I thought about it, but I sort of got the impression that Ron fancied you. And even with all the bickering you both did, I thought that you might fancy him back. So I just sort of tried to push you to the back of my mind. It wasn't really until last year that I didn't have the strength to suppress my feelings for you." Tears began to swell up in his eyes. "Hermione, I thought you had died. In the Department of Mysteries. I thought I'd lost you. I thought I'd never get to tell you how I really felt." he said, drooping his head and staring at the floor, avoiding her tearful gaze.

"Harry, I'm not going anywhere." she said pulling his face back to her gaze. "And even if something does happen...I know now how you feel. You know how I feel."

"Yes, but still...I can't lose you either Hermione." Harry said.

"Well then we'll just have to take care of each other, now won't we?" she said with a grin. He nodded and gave her a sweet kiss on the lips. "I love you." he said pulling away.

"I love you too, Harry." she said smiling.

Hermione began to shiver. With a small grin on his face, Harry picked up the blanket he had brought down from his dormitory off of the floor, sat down on the sofa and motioned for Hermione to curl up next to him. She quickly hurried towards him and cuddled up next to him, lying her head on his chest and wrapping her arms around him and across his stomach. As he wrapped the blanket around the both of them, Hermione let out a little giggle.

"What?" Harry asked looking down at her grinning.

"You thought I fancied Ron?" Hermione asked turning her head towards him. She was laughing.

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Chapter 2
"You thought I fancied Ron?" Hermione asked turning her head towards him. She was laughing.

"Well, yeah." Harry answered. "During the Triwizard Tournament you always seemed jealous when Ron took interest in Fleur, and during the Quidditch World Cup...all those other Veela's. Remember? And - "

"Harry!" Hermione said hysterically. "Of course I got jealous. I was jealous of you and Cho too you know."

"But you never seemed jealous of me and Cho. You even helped me out with her! And, that still doesn`t explain why you were upset when Ron noticed girls." Harry said, looking shocked.

"Okay, well first of all, of course I was jealous of you and Cho. I mean I didn't think you'd ever like me if you went for girls like her." Harry noticed the nasty tone she used when she said "her", she really must not have liked Cho.

"And second, I was upset with Ron because he was being so shallow. He was only noticing the really pretty girls. And well...when I sort of figured out that he liked me...I started thinking that if Ron were moving on from me, having higher expectations and noticing that Veela girl Fleur; then I thought that I really had no chance with you."

The beautiful smile she had on her face only moments ago had now disappeared and she looked sad again. Harry lifted her chin slowly, willing her to meet his eyes.

"I'm sorry." he said softly. He was looking at her with such intensity she thought she might pass out. His gorgeous emerald green eyes were mesmerizing.

"Harry," she said. "Don't be sorry. You don't have anything to be sorry for. You did nothing wro-"

She was cut off by his deep emotional voice. "I hurt you." he began. "I made you sad and - "

"But you didn't even know Harry." Hermione said.

"And that's what I'm sorry for Hermione." he said. He was holding her hand, entwining his fingers with hers.

"I should have known." Hermione was now staring at their tangled hands. Then she looked up at him.

"Harry," she said smiling. "I wasn't exactly sending out the signal that I was in love with you. There's no way you would have figured it out."

"But - " he started, while she continued.

"Even if," she continued playfully, "you had gotten passed how dense you are when it comes to relationships."

"Me? Dense?" he said defensively.

"Oh come on Harry!" she said, looking at him with disbelieving eyes.

"Well I wasn't completely dense. I mean there was this one time I suspected you liked me in fourth year. It was the night before the third task, Krum kept asking me if there was anything between us. He said you `talked about me very often'” Harry said with a sly grin on his face. “He seemed really jealous.” Harry now wore a triumphant grin. Hermione blushed.

"Well, he actually had a right to be. I did talk an awful lot about you." she said smiling at him. "But other than that, you were still pretty dense."

"Alright. Okay, maybe I was a little dense." he admitted. "But, I got over it. I mean, look at us now."
He held her closer to him while she silently agreed by taking his free hand in hers. She held their hands out in front of them and smiled. "You're right." she agreed moments later. She turned her gaze back towards Harry and kissed him softly. "Look at us now. This doesn't even seem weird. Does it?"

"No."

They sat in silence for awhile, just holding each other. Harry broke the silence with a frightening thought.

"Hermione?"

"Hmm?" she replied. Her eyes were closed and she was dozing off in Harry's arms.

"What are we going to tell Ron?" he said in an almost frightened voice. He knew Ron had fancied Hermione. It was plainly obvious to everyone except Ron.

Hermione smiled inwardly and simply replied, "The truth."

"Well I figured we'd have to tell him the truth, but I mean...he fancies you. He'll be really upset." Harry said trying to understand why she wasn't so worried.

"Harry, if you're wondering why I'm not worrying so much, it's because I know Ron will be really happy for both of us." Hermione said reassuringly.

"How do you know that?"

"Because he told me." She sat up to look at him. His expression was so priceless. He was so confused.

"When?" he asked.

"Over the summer." she replied. "Ron and I had a little "heart to heart". Hard to believe I know. But, he actually did confess his feelings for me."

"He did? Did anything happen?" he asked nervously. What if she and Ron had dated over the summer and didn't tell him.

"No. Of course not." she replied. "He told me how he felt and I told him how I felt."

"Which was?"

"That I loved you of course!"

"And what did he say? Was he angry?"

"No. Actually he gave me a really big hug and told me that you and I would be really great together...if it were to happen. So we agreed that we'd just be best friends - nothing more and nothing less." She smiled and gave him a quick peck. "Besides, he's moved on.""What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"Well," she said curling up next to him again. "You didn't hear it from me, but Ron has got his eye on a rather...er...unique Ravenclaw girl."

"Luna?!" Harry exclaimed.

"Mmm hmm." Hermione replied.

"Why didn't he tell me?" Harry asked. "And when did he start liking her back? I mean he always thought she was weird."

"Well after everything that we had talked about, he confessed that he had been thinking about Luna and how brave she was back in the Department of Mysteries. At first I thought it was a little weird but when he started talking about her, he just wouldn't stop. But every time he said her name he seemed to have this huge smile on his face. So, the next day he owled her and asked her out on a date. And he hasn't told you yet because he thought you already had enough on your mind."

"Oh, I guess I understand that. He still should have told me." Harry said.

"Well, now you know." Hermione said giggling.

"Wow, Ron and Luna? Who would've thought those two would get together."

"Well certainly not me." Hermione replied snuggling closer to Harry.
Harry's heart was leaping. Here, now, in his arms was the most wonderful person he had ever met. He loved her and she loved him. He held her close to him and rested his cheek on the side of her head. Hermione sighed with a smile.

"I love you Harry."

"And I love you Hermione."
They both sat in silence completely content with only the presence of one another, until Harry spoke.

"You know what?" he asked her.

"No, what's that?"

"I'm glad Ron snores so loudly."

"Why?" she asked puzzled

"Because if it weren't for his snoring I would never have come down here and this never would have happened."
They both laughed at the thought of Ron's horrible snoring."We'll have to thank him." Hermione said.

"Yeah." Harry said yawning and holding Hermione closer.

At 2 o'clock in the morning, Harry sat with his arms around a sleeping Hermione, listening to the gentle hum of her breathing. He had someone who loved him again. It didn't make the pain of losing Sirius go away, but the love of Hermione, the love she had for him made everything seem a lot easier. With a mind free of fear and sadness at last, Harry nodded off into a peaceful sleep.

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