Just Knowing

Title: Just Knowing

Summary: He knew then, and she silently agreed, that he would be able to do it. He knew that it wasn't impossible. If a feeling so pure as this was possible… if love was possible… then anything in the world was possible.

Rating: PG

A/N: This is just another quick one-shot that took me a while to perfect. For some reason, it wasn't satisfying me for a long time. But, I think I've finally got it right.

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“Make it happen.”

“I can't…” whimpered Harry. He was slouched on a couch in the common room, exhausted, drained, wand lying alone and abandoned on the floor.

“Yes, you can.”

Harry looked up at Hermione. There were tears in her eyes; it seemed almost as though she was feeling his pain. But he just couldn't do it, the spell was too difficult.

He shook his head; he was overcome with failure. He knew that she wouldn't allow him to give up. After all, she never gave up. She was the smarter one, obviously. If someone was going to save the world, it would be Hermione. She was the one with all the brains… she wasn't stupid and reckless like him.

Why was she standing like that? So tall, defiant, strong… so unlike him at that moment. How could she be so strong at a time like this? There were only weeks - days maybe - until… until…

“You can do this, Harry. You need it for the battle.”

Battle.

The battle.

The dreaded battle that could change the course of his life… end his life, even. And the whole world was depending on him to win. If he lost… he would be a complete failure. He turned away from her.

He could hear her trying to hold back her sobs. She wanted him to win, he knew that. But he just couldn't! It wasn't possible.

“You can't just give up. You need to just try -”

“Are you telling me that I'm not trying?” asked Harry, turning to look her in the eye again, “You think I'm not trying?”

“No. I just thought that maybe if you -”

“Maybe if I what?” he was getting angry now. He stood up and faced her. “Ever think that it might just be impossible? Ever think that maybe there could be a chance that I might not be able to do this?”

“I don't know what the word impossible means and I don't feel like looking it up.”

Silence.

He'd done it again. He'd taken his anger out on her; innocent Hermione who was only trying to help. How she could stand to be his friend, he didn't understand. He was always such an insufferable, grumpy hero with a `saving-people-thing'. He knew now that she was right. He knew now that she was always right.

Silence. But it wasn't an awkward silence. It was more like a calming silence; more like an asking-for-forgiveness silence. Well, that's what it was for Harry.

“I'm sorry,” he muttered, bowing his head.

“No. No, it's okay. Don't be sorry.”

“No, you're wrong. I should be sorry. I've been so rude to you. I've been… taking you for granted.”

There it was again: silence.

He raised his head again and saw her looking at him intently, her eyes searching his face; her beautiful, wonderful, deep cinnamon brown eyes. How had he not noticed it before?

“You are beautiful,” he said, not looking away.

Hermione looked down, blushing, “Thank you but you don't have to say that Harry, I know I'm just a plain girl…”

“I think you're beautiful.”

And, oh, but she was. Her hair may have been bushy but it caught the fire light so well and it shined like the stars in the sky above. Her smile could light up any room; it could light up any heart. She could do anything she wanted; she could be anything she wanted. But all the while, she could be beautiful.

Harry cupped her chin with his hand and tilted her head up carefully to face him. There were fresh tears in her eyes. But they weren't tears of pain and sorrow, but instead, tears of happiness, rejoice. He could make her happy.

That's what everyone needed these days: just a bit of happiness and a smile here and there. Even if the world ended tomorrow, why couldn't today be a happy apocalypse?

“I don't know what I would do without you,” Harry said in an almost whisper. Her smile widened.

“I couldn't survive without you, either,” she said, even more softly than him.

And then he kissed her. And it felt right. It felt perfect, like nothing else in the world could fit so well. Nothing else in the world could be so… so faultless and wonderful as this. The feeling of her lips on his - and vice versa - was the happiest, most wonderful sensation ever.

And they both knew, silently and simultaneously, that they could do this forever; that they could be together for the rest of their lives. And that this would never get old; it would never get boring either.

He knew then, and she silently agreed, that he would be able to do it. He knew that it wasn't impossible. If a feeling so pure as this was possible… if love was possible… then anything in the world was possible.

She knew, and she told him without words, that she would be with him no matter what happened.

After all, there's nothing better than not knowing what's coming next.

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Credit:

“I don't know what the word impossible means and I don't feel like looking it up.”

I stole that little line from the move “Flight of the Phoenix” and kind of tweaked it a bit. I heard it and thought that Hermione might say something along the lines of that.

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