A/N: This has been in my computer for some time now, probably since about mid-December. I finally got around to editing it and decided I might as well post it. Finally I've written something where no one is dead or dying and no one's left! It's not pure fluff, but compared to my other stories it's pretty close. Enjoy, and if you've got a minute reviews are always appreciated!
P.S.- Yes, I am aware that Fred and George aren't at Hogwarts anymore, but you'll just have to ignore the fact that they're there because the opportunity to use them seemed to good to pass by.
Disclaimer: JKR and Scholastic own everything, sadly.
Anything's Possible
'Wow, before we know it Hagrid's hut will be entirely covered in snow!' thought Hermione Granger, looking out the frosted window from her seat at the hearth, watching the fire cackling merrily. It was the ideal spot to do work because she was concealed by two large arm chairs, so as not to be bothered. But she hadn't been doing much work. She had been thinking about the increased tension and consequential distance between herself and her best friend, Harry Potter, which seemed to be entirely induced by him. She hadn't the slightest idea of the cause of it.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the very audible approach of the Weasleys. "Harry, you have to come with us!" Ron shouted, running down the stairs to the boys' dormitories, Fred and George in tow. Lagging behind them was a very annoyed looking Harry.
"Yeah mate, it'll be loads of fun!" piped in one of the twins, while the other finished, "You'll be right disappointed if you miss it!"
"Guys, I don't want to go! Do you know how cold out it is?" Harry protested. After allowing them sufficient time to groan, he thought of an idea-"I'll make you an offer; I'll go if you can convince Hermione over there to leave her books for once and join in too." Obviously he thought this was a very safe bet.
Hermione looked up from her parchment and textbook startled. Harry had not once glanced in her direction, and there was no possible way he could see her through the furniture. How did he know she was there?
"Where is she? I don't see her?" questioned Ron. When Harry pointed to the arm chairs, Ron rounded them and looked from him to her. He began to ask Hermione's unvoiced question, "How did you-"
He was swiftly interrupted by Fred. "Come on Hermione, don't you want the chance to clobber Harry in a snow ball?" "Doesn't that sound like loads of fun?" was George's addition, both of them peering over the tops of the chairs.
"Guys, I've got a lot of work to do. An arithmancy paper won't write itself, you know."
"Sure it will!" answered Fred and George together, and simultaneously waved their wands at Hermione's parchment. The words 'You know Harry really wants you to come' appeared on the sheet.
"What is that supposed to mean?" asked Harry hastily, trying to conceal a reddening face.
"What it means, dear chap, is that both of you are coming with us three whether you like it or not." answered George, a mischievous grin spreading across his face, and likewise for his brother. Ron tried to look like he was in on it too, but the confused look in his eyes gave him away. Harry and Hermione, next to each other now that she had stood up, were both regarding the twins quizzically. They were always up to something.
With their final words, each took a hand of Harry and Hermione, leaving Ron to gather the pair's cloaks, and proceeded to lead them through the portrait hole and the near empty corridors of Hogwarts, then out the front doors and finally stop at a large clearing in front of the Quidditch pitch. The grounds were nearly deserted as well thanks to the almost zero temperature.
"George, this is crazy! Do you know how cold Harry and I are right now?" Hermione asked exasperatedly, shivering madly.
"Not to worry my dear lady, I do believe Ronald was good enough to bring your cloaks." He turned to Ron who hastily handed them over, deathly afraid of that look in Hermione's eyes. Her and Harry snatched them quickly and put them on.
"So what exactly are we doing out here?" Harry asked, looking at the twins cautiously.
"Why having some jolly good fun in the snow, of course! Well you know that we find you a right good chap, Harry, might I say you're a tad on the uptight side sometimes? And Hermione, well where do I start? You usually act like you've got an iron pole up your arse-" Fred saw the way her eyes got a good deal narrower and thought better than to finish that, "-well, you know what I mean."
"Yes, so we took it upon ourselves to help you loosen up a little-" said George, before they both added "together." very emphatically.
Hermione looked at Harry next to her, wondering if he would be willing to forget whatever was going on between them for an afternoon and have some fun. When he realized she was watching him he visibly stiffened, and started to inch away. Obviously not. "Forget this guys, I've got work to do. Have fun." and with that she started to turn and walk back towards the doors.
Once she reached the first of the front steps, each of the twins grabbed half of her and lifted her off the ground, then they carried her back and set her down uncomfortably close to Harry. As soon as her feet touched the ground she moved a few feet away, so as not to scare him until he flinches into next week. "Just what do you think you're doing?" she demanded of the twins, placing her hands firmly on her hips and glaring at them fiercely.
"Well, if you're not here, that defies the entire purpose of 'together', now doesn't it?" replied George, while Fred nodded ferociously. Ron was still standing there looking utterly confused.
Harry surprised Hermione by being the next one to speak. "Well, I guess if you two are going to keep us out here we should make the best of it. What do you say to a snow fight, 'Mione?"
Hermione, happy that Harry seemed willing to be normal to her again, at least for a little while, accepted. Soon it turned into a full fledged snowball war, Harry and Hermione versus the Weasleys. Harry seemed to be enjoying himself for the first time in quite a while, at least while in Hermione's company. Before they knew it they had been out almost an hour.
All of a sudden George and Fred's wands began to blink red. "Uh oh, it seems we'll have to be going. Business to attend to." George said, answering Harry and Hermione's questioning glances.
"Yes, yes, urgent business. Ronald, I think we'll be needing your help as well." Fred said, and they dragged Ron off in the direction of the castle, both of the twins wearing large grins.
"Well, what do we do now?" asked Harry, peering after them.
"It sure would be a waste to go in now, I'm not even cold." said Hermione. She was reluctant to end their fun when Harry had been so open all afternoon.
"Yeah. We're having too much fun to stop now. I vote we keep at it."
"Okay." replied Hermione, before she nailed Harry with a well placed snowball that hit him right between the eyes, covering his glasses in snow.
As he reached up to clean off his lenses, he said "So that's how you want to play!" and hit her with two large snowballs right in the stomach.
Soon the fight had started up full force again and snowballs were flying everywhere. As Harry bent down to retrieve more snow, Hermione hit him right on the top of his head, and he landed laying down on his back. Hermione rushed over and jumped on top of him, straddling her legs over his chest. "Victory!" she yelled, throwing her arms up over her head.
"Okay, okay, you won!" Harry exclaimed, pushing her down just enough so that he could sit up and so that she was sitting on his legs.
Hermione became very aware of their closeness, so close that she could feel his warm breath on her face as it cut through bitter cold of the wind. She also became aware of the fact he was doing nothing to remedy the situation as usual. She took the moment to watch him, and felt her heart swell as she saw that light in his eyes that she had so missed the last year. A wide grin was planted on his face. She also began to take note of the fact that she could see every small freckle on his nose and how pure white snow dotted his jet black hair.
Before she knew it her lips met his. It was a kiss like nothing she had ever imagined. It was soft and gentle at first, but the heat grew as it lingered on. She explored every contour of his lips, then his mouth, then his tongue. She moved her hands to the back of his neck and entwined her fingers in his soft hair. He wrapped his strong arms around her stomach, gently stroking her back.
She pulled away slowly, looking into his eyes. She saw an emotion in them that she couldn't quite place. They sparkled brightly, and she soon became aware of the fact that some time had passed without either one of them saying or doing anything. "Harry-" she began slowly before he interrupted her.
"Oh 'Mione, I'm sorry. I really shouldn't have done that. Bad idea." He muttered the last part to himself, putting up his walls once again and starting to push her off of him.
"No Harry. No. You're not going to push me away again. There's a reason why you kissed me, and I want to know what it is. You aren't just going to dismiss me like that again." she said, maybe a tad more harsh than she intended.
"I don't know why I kissed you. It just seemed like it was the right thing, and apparently I was wrong. Sorry. We should really get back to the castle."
"Harry James Potter, don't do that to me! I want you to answer me. Why on earth would you think it was wrong?"
"Come on, Hermione, are you honestly going to tell me that you would be interested in me? There's a joke."
"What if I am interested in you?" she asked, suddenly not minding the idea. She had always felt something special with Harry, and after that kiss she thought she knew what is was.
"Are you?" he asked skeptically, though Hermione thought she saw a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
She sat for a minute looking at him, before she answered quietly, "Yeah, I think I am. I felt something in that kiss, Harry, and I know what it was."
"What was it?" he asked so quietly she could barely hear him.
"Love, Harry. I love you." she said, taking it all in. It was almost to much to comprehend. At first she couldn't believe she said it, but she knew it was true. She didn't know how, but she knew.
"I...I ...love you too." he stammered, barely believing this could happen. He'd never said those words to anyone, but at the same time he also knew they were true. "I love you." he repeated, more to reassure himself than her.
Before he could think about she had pulled him into another deep kiss, and all of their emotions were unleashed in it: love, passion, understanding. After the kiss was over he picked her up and carried her over to softer ground near the frozen over lake and they lay for a while, her resting her head on his chest and him playing lightly with her hair. Neither wanted to speak for a while, all they wanted to do was revel in their new found closeness.
Slowly, Hermione turned around in his arms so she was facing him and said "Harry, I want to talk about something."
"Anything, love."
"Why have you been so distant with me lately? Why have you been so intent on making distance between us and making yourself miserable?" she asked gently, not wanting to push him but wanting answers all the same.
"I don't know Hermione. With this whole war coming and my having to fight Voldemort by myself-"
"Whoa." she interrupted, not sure she's heard him right. "What do you mean? There's no way
you're him fighting , especially by yourself! Dumbledore will fight him!"
"He can't do that. I'm the only one that can."
"Wait a minute, you're not going to go all heroic on me again. There's no way you can fight Voldemort! Why on earth would you think that?"
"You know that prophecy we found last year?" When she nodded he continued. "It said that I'm the only one with the power to destroy him, and that at the end one of us must kill the other. When this is all over I have to either kill or be killed. That's why I didn't want you near me. I think I knew that I loved you on some level and I was trying to protect you. I still am."
"Oh Harry." she whispered, laying her head on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry. We'll get through this, together. No way am I leaving you now. You can push me away and try to protect me as much as you want, but I'm not going anywhere." she said, though she was near tears. She couldn't believe that he was expected to do so much by himself. It was too much to handle.
"Oh 'Mione, please don't cry. I promise this will turn out okay. Look at me." She turned her eyes back to his. "I love you, and you love me, and that's all we need to get through this. Okay?" She nodded slowly. "What do you say we get a cup of hot chocolate in the kitchens? We've been out here really long, and I'm not sure I can feel my toes anymore."
"Okay." she said and took his outstretched hand to help her up. She leaned into his side and wrapped her arms around his waist on the walk back up to the castle. He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead and together they headed back into the castle. Somehow they both knew everything would be alright now. They had each other, and that was all that counted.
"So what do you suppose Fred and George were up to earlier? Do you think they were really playing matchmaker?" Harry chuckled at the thought, but in his mind made a note to thank them.
"Anything's possible." Hermione replied.
"Indeed it is." Harry answered, and held the door open for her as she entered the warmth of the castle at his side. Nothing in the world felt better than to have her there with him.
A/N: Okay, that was my first attempt at writing something happy. I'm not sure how good it really is, since obviously I'm a bit biased. Please review, I'd love to hear everyone's opinions.
Take care and God bless.
~Christine