The Friendship That Grew

Harry couldn't sleep. He had been tossing and turning for so many hours. He was wide awake. Bored and ill-tempered, he got out of bed, changed into his ordinary clothes and put on his Invisibility Cloak. He decided to take a short trip to Hermione's hill.

The Hogwarts corridors were dark and there was an almost frightening air to them. Still, Harry bravely wandered through them, thinking about life in general. As he approached the Entrance Hall, he became aware of some soft breathing behind him. He spun around - and saw a small, thin figure in a black cloak. This figure seemed to be heading to the same place that he was going to.

He wasn't sure whether it was a student or a teacher so he merely carried on. When he reached the hill, he took off his cloak and sat down. He heard the figure behind him gasp and then pace around. Harry already knew who the figure was.

“It's even more beautiful at night time, isn't it?” he told the figure.

“Yeah,” answered Hermione, settling herself beside Harry.

“I wish I could sleep up here one night. It would be a fascinating experience,” Harry continued.

Hermione stared at him.

“Wh - what?” she stammered.

“You know, on my own,” replied Harry.

“Oh. I thought you meant - um, it doesn't matter,” Hermione was blushing furiously, making her look incredibly sweet.

They sat in silence, but this time not an awkward one. Then, Harry had an idea.

“Can we learn some Potions?”

Hermione burst out laughing and began rolling on the floor.

“At this time of night?” she said incredulously, collapsing into a fresh wave of giggles.

Harry nodded eagerly.

“OK, Harry Potter. Your wish is my command!”

This session didn't last very long. Harry noticed Hermione was shivering and offered to give her his cloak. She had refused and had somehow ended up on his lap, her hands around his neck, and her head in his chest. Absent mindedly, Harry began to stroke her hair.

“You want to talk about Viktor?” he whispered to her.

“OK,” murmured Hermione, “I really like him. I used to have THE hugest crush on him in the fourth year, even though I wouldn't admit it to you or Ron or anyone, in fact! But now…after a year of not seeing him, I don't know what my feelings are. I mean, he is incredibly nice and charming but I think he wants to go further with me and I don't want him to. You get it?”

“Yeah,” said Harry thoughtfully, “Is he upsetting you?”

Hermione bit her lip and thought for a few seconds.

“Yes,” she said finally.

“Then break up with him. You don't want him after you the whole time. That's what I'm going to have to do about Cho.”

Hermione nodded and looked up at Harry, who was now staring into the distance. He looked so charming, and he was such a good friend. She suddenly had a strange urge. She took hold of his chin gently, and tilted it towards her. Then, she reached up and kissed him softly on the lips. The kiss lasted for about thirty seconds. Then, they both broke apart, shocked at what had just happened.

Oh my God, thought Hermione. Have I gone mad? I just kissed my best friend!

“Sorry,” they both said simultaneously.

“No, it was my fault,” they said again. Then, they both smiled at each other. A secret smile. A special smile.

Hermione put her head in her hands and sighed.

“I have no idea why that happened and I'm really sorry about it,” she apologised humbly.

Harry laughed and shook his head.

“What are we like, Mione? Snogging in the middle of the night! Ha! And we're just friends. But don't fret about it. That kiss was just to comfort both of us. There was no ounce of romance in it, right?”

Hermione looked and felt a little doubtful, but she didn't say so. Instead, she nodded and tried to laugh along with Harry.

They walked back to the common room together, hand in hand, under Harry's Invisibility Cloak. Harry kept on squeezing Hermione's hand reassuringly, a thing that gave Hermione great pleasure. Harry's hand was warm. In fact, his whole body was warm and she wouldn't have minded if she was pressed up against him again.

He was a great FRIEND to her. She was glad that they had such a good RELATIONSHIP. She didn't know what would happen if they were IN LOVE with each other.

All these words kept on jumping out at Hermione. She ignored them. Harry was her best friend. She liked more than she liked Ron, she had a deeper understanding with him. But she could never fall in love with him. Their friendship was strictly platonic.

Hear that, Granger? PLATONIC!!! Want me to spell it for you? And sound it out? P - L - A - T - O - N - C. Pla-ton-ic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Even so, Harry was a good kisser. Furious at what she had just said, Hermione smacked herself.

“Night, Hermione,” said Harry.

“Goodnight, Harry,” Hermione called back.

As soon as he had disappeared, she let out a long breath of air and then a low whistle. Then, she pressed herself against the wall. What she needed at this precise time was a good book to read. And some homework to read over. She rushed to her room, got out all of her schoolbooks and went off to the library, where she stayed for the rest of the night.

Harry still couldn't sleep. Thankfully, neither could Ron at this point. Hearing that Harry was awake, Ron crept over to his bed, where he immediately began to question his whereabouts before he had just slipped in.

Harry quickly explained that he was talking with Hermione and Ron, hoping that there had been some good kissing going on, left the subject alone.

The two boys decided to whisper and make plans on how to murder Viktor Krum and make sure he left Hermione alone. They had great fun making up numerous, gory ways to torture him and kill him.

I could do that in reality, thought Harry.

Eventually, both Harry and Ron were exhausted so Ron returned to his own bed and they both slept peacefully for the rest of night, Harry dreaming of Sirius and feeling deserted.

A/N Hi everyone!!! Thank you so much for all your reviews and helpful comments! I hope you're enjoying the story so far! Sorry that this chapter is a bit shorter than the others! I was kind of in a hurry to finish it! It may take me until tomorrow to write the next chapter so I've spoilt you all today by posting two chapters in the course of an hour! Aren't you lucky readers???!!!