The Gift Of Honesty by neni

Rating: PG
Genres: Drama, Romance
Relationships: Harry & Hermione
Book: Harry & Hermione, Books 1 - 6
Published: 06/08/2005
Last Updated: 13/08/2005
Status: Completed

Imagine the summer that follows HBP is one that the theories from portkey have created - The
trio is at the Burrow but truths are being uncovered and Hermione Granger *hasn't* been
slaughtered by JKR ;)[Okay, i honestly suck at summaries! Bear with me!=p]




1. Reflections
--------------

**A/N:** hey guys! After having read HPB and JKR’s interviews I am more determined than ever
to write a good story for Harry and Hermione! I’m not jumping ship, I’m not losing hope and I am
still a firm believer of H/HR… after all, we still have one more book to go! This story is set
after 6th year and we are in the summer where Bill and Fleur’s wedding is about to take
place at the Burrow! I hope you enjoy it =)

**Disclaimer:** not mine … never will be!!

The sun outside was shining brilliantly onto the evergreen grass that could be found in the
backyard of the Burrow. Birds could be heard singing beautifully in the distance, whilst trees were
swaying gently to and fro by the tender breeze. This wonderful weather was quite a contradiction to
Harry Potter’s current mood.

Harry was sitting on the bed inside the room that he was sharing with Ron for the summer,
contemplating all the strange events that had happened the previous year at Hogwarts. ‘Hogwarts,’
his mind thought ‘my *real* home yet now it feels so – distant,’ he concluded with a sad shake
of his head, however his decision of not returning there for his last year seemed right and he had
no regrets.

“This is something I have to do,” he muttered to himself whilst getting up from the soft
mattress and closing the gap between the window and himself. Leaning his forehead onto the window,
with view that Burrow’s backyard, he allowed himself to close his eyes and breathe out a sigh of
frustration mixed with determination and fatigue. His breath fogged up a small amount of the window
and he traced lazy circles with his forefinger, while his mind began a journey of thought through
his 6th year at Hogwarts.

Flashes of faces made an appearance in the darkness of his mind – Ron, Hermione, Ginny,
Dumbledore, Snape – he jerked his head back and opened his eyes, yet they weren’t the friendly
emerald colour that his two closest friends knew. They held a glint of anger in them when a certain
greasy-haired professor entered his thoughts, ‘damn traitor.’ However, since this was supposed to
be a joyful day, he decided not to contemplate on that subject any longer. Two figures with hair
the colour of fire came into his mind’s eye, and anyone who could have seen him at the moment would
swear that he had a ghost of a smile etched onto his face.

His best friend’s sister and his best friend; two people that he knew practically ever since the
beginning of his trip into the magical world. This year, however, was very different than the rest
and he wasn’t sure that it was for the best. He had figured that Ron held feelings towards Hermione
that were a little more than friendship, yet he didn’t know how to react when both of them started
acting up on them; which is why he turned to Ginny Weasley. Albeit he always found her to be
attractive, he never considered her anything more than Ron’s younger sister. Nevertheless, during
his 6th year they started going out but that only lasted for a short period of time.
‘Things are better this way,’ his mind tried to reason with him, ‘she will be safe from
Voldermort,’ he concluded and it was true. If he wasn’t involved with Ginny then she wouldn’t be a
target. ‘Besides,’ his mind went on, ‘you both agreed that you work together better when you are
just friends and not romantically involved,’ this too, was true. After arriving at the Burrow,
Ginny took him by the hand and they had the deepest conversation that they ever had, coming to the
conclusion that what they had wasn’t what they expected.

“I guess what I had in my mind was exaggerated because of the fact that you were The Harry
Potter,” Ginny informed him sadly, yet Harry understood what she meant. When people have an idea
about something that’s very important to them, they allow it to take the form of something god-like
but in reality it’s just a normal, every-day thing. They parted ways being closer than before,
knowing that when the time comes, they’ll help each other find what they’re looking for.

His train of thought immediately switched tracks and Hermione Granger formed an angelic figure
that glowed in the gloominess of his mind. He felt his breathe catch in his throat before pulling
himself together and letting himself reflect onto this past year and what had happened between
them. ‘Things definitely changed here,’ he thought miserably, and started pacing the room
unconsciously. After having ran a hand through his unruly jet-black hair, he let out a sigh of
frustration.

“What the hell happened?” he wondered out loud. Things were more tense between them and even
more so when he arrived at the Burrow a week ago. They hadn’t talked as much, she would
continuously nag at him and not listen to his theories, and she hadn’t guided him as she had always
done in previous years. It was as if she was replaced by a new Hermione that was more closed to
herself than anyone else.

“Damn it,” he cursed and kicked the leg of the bed, immediately regretting it as his toe
realized what happened and a dull pain made its way there. Letting his shoulders sag, he dropped
onto the bed and cradled his head in his hands.

He must have fallen asleep because the next thing he knew was that he was hearing some sort of
commotion going on in the Weasley’s backyard. Rubbing his eyes, he got up and stretched his hands
while walking over to the window and looking out. People had started to gather and were taking
their seats for the small wedding that was about to take place in just a little over an hour.

“I guess I better get ready and go down,” he thought out loud and began to put on his dark green
robes over the jeans and t-shirt he was wearing. He wasn’t in the mood for a celebration, but was
in awe at how the Weasleys went on with life as if nothing serious was going on. Sure, the clock
downstairs was always pointing at “In Danger” but they were determined to go through this wedding
without any incident. He had heard many conversations between Molly and Fleur about how the seating
arrangements should be and what flowers had to be brought in, that he let out a chuckle of
amusement.

He was brought out of his reverie when he heard a step on the stairs creak. ‘They must be
sending someone to get me,’ he thought, and tried to hurry up the process of getting ready. Being
punctual was never one of Harry’s good traits! Looking himself in the mirror, he gave a
half-hearted nod of approval and tried to flatten down his hair, even though the mirror was trying
to convince him that he was fighting a losing battle. With running one last hand through his hair,
he managed not only to *not* tame his hair, but also to make his glasses go flying from his
face and onto the floor.

“Great, just great!” and as he fumbled his way on the floor trying to see past all the blurs, he
heard a crack underneath his knee and inwardly groaned. Finally, he managed to pick them up and
“saw” that they were at a weird angle.

“Bloody … damned…” he started a train of curses but stopped suddenly when he saw a figure on the
doorway watching him humorously. At least, he thought that they were watching him like that because
of the person’s sad attempt at trying to control they laughter, and his mind raced to the first
person that he could think of that laughed like that.

“Oh Harry honestly!” he heard and his suspicions were confirmed who this person was. “Reparo!”
Hermione gracefully said that offered Harry his new-fixed glasses.

“Thanks,” he told her with appreciation laced in his voice whilst putting them on. Suddenly the
unknown blurs all came in focus and he was slightly taken aback with her appearance. It was as if
putting on his glasses made him see clearly in more ways than one. Giving his head a slight shake,
he managed to put on a weak smile and turned once more to the mirror for a final look.

“You’re fine Harry,” he heard Hermione say, and looking at her through the mirror he couldn’t
help but wonder why there was such an empty look in her normally sparkling caramel eyes. He opened
his mouth to say something but was cut off by her saying,

“We really should be getting downstairs,” she started, “they’re about to get started with the
ceremony,” and with that she turned on her heel and left the door but stopping at the doorway
waiting for him. Harry made his way towards her, and together they left the room and went
downstairs.

Once outside, they found Ron and sat in the two empty chairs that he had saved for them.

“What took you so long?” Ron asked but Harry just waved his hand dismissively.

“Nothing,” he muttered and was grateful when from the corner of his eye he saw Hermione give Ron
one of her silencing looks.

The wedding started and everyone was admiring how beautiful Fleur was on her special day. Her
blonde hair was blowing gently in the light wind and the setting sun was giving off magnificent
colours that made Fleur truly resemble an angel.

Bill was looking up to her as if she was the only thing that he could see. Harry respected Bill
for what he had gone through, and even though he wasn’t back to his original strength and in a
wheelchair, he didn’t want to postpone the wedding any longer and so here they were. Especially
after seeing Fleur defend her love for him in front of Molly in the Hospital Wing, they were closer
than ever before and much stronger together, not allowing anyone to doubt the love that they had
for each other. Despite the fact that the scars were still visible on his face, he looked handsome
with his blue eyes shining off all the love that he had for the woman that was standing before him.
Hands laced together, they listened to the man that was marrying them with glances being exchanged
between them every now and again.

Finally, they were shown off to their audience as,

“Mr. and Mrs. Weasley” with applaud ringing all over the garden and congratulations being
shouted everywhere. The happy couple made its way down the aisle and Harry shook their hands as the
passed by, yet at the same time he was engulfed by sadness as he couldn’t help but wonder if he
will ever have the chance of experiencing such an event. Still, this wasn’t the time for him to
become selfish again, and so with determination he pushed back that bad feeling and allowed himself
to feel happy for Bill and Fleur, walking back to the reception area with Ron and Hermione on
either side of him.

**A/N:** I know it was a bit short, but hopefully the next chapters will be longer! Please
review even if it’s just to say “I like it!” “I hate it!” :p neni =)



2. Heart To Heart
-----------------

**A/N:** thanks all of those people who actually took the time to review my story! And I’ve
replied to all of you, seeing as I have tons of free time now that it’s summer hehe, hopefully I’ll
be able to keep this up! Now, I have to warn you guys that I don’t actually reread what I write! I
just write then post! So excuse any grammar mistakes, etc :) This is MUCH longer than my first
chapter! Hope you enjoy =) Oh and, R/R please neni =)

**Disclaimer:** not mine … never will be unfortunately!

The wedding reception had ended an hour ago and Molly was left downstairs finishing cleaning up
the house, while Ron, Harry, Hermione and Ginny left for their rooms. Once Ginny and Hermione
entered the solace of their bedroom they both flopped onto their beds, exhausted by the day’s
events.

“I admit,” Ginny started, “that I was wrong about Fleur. She isn’t *that* bad,” she
concluded. Hermione turned her head to the right so that she could face Ginny on the opposite bed.
Stretching her arms above her head she replied,

“I respect her for what she did with Bill. Not giving up on him I mean,” she continued when she
saw the baffled look on Ginny’s face, “when he was attacked by that werewolf. Even though his face
will never be as handsome as it once was, she has stuck by him through thick and thin, no matter
what. I just hope that I find someone like that one day,” she trailed off, choosing at that time to
get off the bed and walk over to the mirror that was situated on the other side of the room.

Ginny propped herself on her right elbow and took this moment to study Hermione. She wasn’t the
same person that she had known these past years and something was definitely amiss, yet she
couldn’t exactly pinpoint what. She seemed more closed off to herself, less talkative and just
seemed to have given up, to put it bluntly. Settling on the decision that asking what was wrong was
the right course of action; she sat cross-legged on the bed and opened her mouth.

“Hermione?” she tentatively asked the auburn-haired girl. When a gentle ‘hm?’ came back as a
reply, she voiced her question, “is there something troubling you?” she finished with a slight
wince as she wasn’t sure if it was the correct approach after all.

Hermione was stopped mid-way of taking off her earrings and just stared back at her reflection
in the mirror. ‘True,’ she began thinking, ‘I look as if I just saw a ghost,’ bringing one of her
delicate hands to her face and touched her pale cheek. As if startling herself, she was made to
look at her almond-shaped eyes that lacked the once brilliant spark of energy that could be found
when she read something new in a book or received the newest version of “Hogwarts: A History”. Now
they are simply, ‘dead,’ her mind chipped in. Deciding not to lie outright about it she merely
answered,

“It hasn’t been easy on any of us this past year.”

“Well no, but I feel as if you have withdrew yourself from everyone. We haven’t been as close as
we have been the other times that you came to visit. We haven’t had a personal conversation in
days, when all we seemed to be doing is talk about the silly things that girls talk our age!”

Hermione suddenly spun round to face Ginny, taking her by surprised and frightening her by the
angry look that had replaced the empty pools of caramel,

“Well we aren’t like most girls now are we?” Looking at the shocked look on Ginny’s face, she
immediately regretted talking to her like that and changed tactics, “I’m sorry Gin, I shouldn’t
have talked to you like that. What I meant to say was - ” but was cut off by Ginny bringing up a
hand.

“You don’t have to apologise Hermione. As you’ve already said, it hasn’t been easy on any of us
and it’s bound to have an impact on our lives. I just thought you would have trusted me enough to
tell me what’s wrong,” she concluded with a faraway look in her eyes as if sadness had suddenly
overwhelmed her and couldn’t bring herself to look Hermione straight in the eye.

“Gin…” Hermione began but trailed off as she realized that she couldn’t say anything true to
make Ginny feel better. ‘Merlin,’ he though, ‘why is this so difficult? I was always the logical
one, vowing to myself that I’d never let it affect me this badly! Seems like I failed, and in the
process I have her one of my closest friends!’ It was true, even though Hermione had two males and
her best friends, she was still a girl and needed female comfort. That’s where Ginny came in, ‘But
this year it’s been different,’ her mind offered, ‘You haven’t been as close as previous years, you
haven’t even had one decent conversation with her. Face the truth, you’ve drifted apart.’ “Look
Ginny, I know that we’ve grown apart this year but I don’t want to lose your friendship,” she
informed the redhead truthfully, looking into her eyes and waiting for her reply. Ginny took her
time in looking straight back at Hermione, their glance never wavering until finally Ginny seemed
to be touched by Hermione’s honest plea,

“I don’t want to lose your friendship either,” she told her, and with that the two girls hugged
each other tightly, unwilling to let go. It represented a promise that they’ll never do anything to
hurt one another on purpose, and a symbol of true friendship. Neither was sure who initiated the
hug nor who broke away first, but when they did, both laughed as they noticed the other’s
tear-stained face.

“I’m glad that’s out of the way,” Hermione said trying to lighten up the atmosphere, while
wiping away a tear with the end of her sleeve.

Sensing that this was a good time to bring up a subject that she was very curious about , Ginny
brought her knees to her chest and leaned back on the head of her bed,

“Hermione, are you serious about not returning to Hogwarts next year?”

“If it actually remains open you mean?” Ginny nodded her head, “I am,” she informed her without
a shadow of hesitation, “Harry needs me to protect him. He needs both of his best friends there and
I’m willing to do it with no questions asked.”

“I don’t understand why you won’t be returning back there that’s all. Harry didn’t mention
anything to me about why he’s doing this, just that he is.”

Hermione couldn’t help but feel a slight hint of satisfaction in the pit of her stomach, yet
simultaneously she felt guilty in doing so after their hug and promise. Not allowing herself to
plaster a smirk on her face, she turned her gaze to the window and began speaking,

“It’s not my place to tell you Ginny it’s Harry’s, but I will tell you this,” she leaned closer
to her, “it’s very important that we leave as soon as possible so as to get a head-start. I think
of it as the beginning of the demise of Voldermort, and if Harry’s hunches are right, then we have
good chances of winning this war. All we have is each other, and even though Harry doesn’t want to
admit it, Dumbledore was one of the very few people that he had left in this world to guide
him.”

“It’s hard to believe that we won’t be seeing him anymore,” Ginny commented on Dumbledore’s
death, “I was so used in seeing him around Hogwarts that it’s just unbelievable to think that he’s
truly gone. I just felt so safe with him around.”

“You and me both Gin.”

Ginny suddenly let out a yawn of exhaustion, causing Hermione to chuckle sadly. With no more
words being exchanged between them, they got ready for bed and slid under the safety of their
covers.

“Goodnight Hermione.”

“Goodnight Ginny,” though Hermione was wondering to herself how in the world she was going to
manage to go to sleep with all the thoughts that have been going through her head at light’s
speed.

Meanwhile at the boys’ room, Harry and Ron were getting ready for bed themselves.

“Harry, did you see how Hermione was today?” Ron asked out of the blue, causing Harry to go on a
fit of coughs. Patting his back, Ron managed to somewhat help Harry thus allowing him to
answer.

“Err, what do you mean?” Harry asked, averting his eyes from Ron and trying to find something in
the room to keep him occupied. Suddenly the room began to feel very small, the walls were beginning
to close in on him and he found that he was having difficulty breathing. He couldn’t figure out for
the life of him what was wrong. It was a perfectly normal question to be asked, especially if the
person who asked it was his best friend’s boyfriend and his, in turn, best friend.

An image of Hermione in her robes abruptly filled his mind’s eye and he couldn’t think of an
adjective less than “beautiful” that could describe her. He always cherished the word beautiful
because he thought it was such a over-used word, that sometimes held no meaning whatsoever. Sure he
often thought of girls as ‘pretty’ but never in his life did he call anyone beautiful, other than
Hermione. Ginny was another story, one that he will always hold dear in his heart as she was quite
a number. He admired her feistiness, her mischievousness and being so adamant about something that
she would go through anything to prove her point. They had gone out together for a short period of
time, yet he was proud at the way that their relationship had gone. It wasn’t the catastrophe that
had occurred with Cho Chang, and maybe one day he will be able to build a steady relationship with
someone.

“… simply wonderful,” Ron’s conclusion seemed to bring out Harry out of his dream state, causing
him to flush in embarrassment as he realized that he hadn’t heard a word that Ron was telling him
about Hermione, and by the looks of things he had said quite a bit. Trying to figure out how he was
going to reply to Ron’s expectant look, he was saved the trouble by Molly shouting at them through
the closed door.

“Come on boys, it’s time to go to bed! I don’t want anymore chatting going on this evening!”

“Yes Mum” / “Yes Mrs. Weasley” was the boys’ replies, and with that they lay down in their beds,
tucked under the covers. Harry was glad that Ron didn’t pursue the subject any further, yet he had
a feeling that they would talk about in the morning. ‘All the better, I’ll have the night to think
of a way out of answering,’ he thought to himself proudly.

After about an hour of tossing and turning, Ron’s frequent comments on “big blue eyes” and “cork
necklaces”, Harry got tired of pretending that he could actually go to sleep and instead got up. He
had a strange feeling that he wasn’t alone in not being able to get some sleep, and so he decided
to raid the kitchen.

As he was descending the flight of stairs, his mind traveled back to occasions this year where
he felt things that he was sure he wouldn’t have felt otherwise. His mind raced back to the
incident where he passed by Ginny and Dean while exiting the portrait hole under the Invisibility
Cloak and feeling displeased. Back then he wrote it off as being jealous of Dean, but looking back
on it now he hadn’t had any reason to had done so as he genuinely liked Dean.

“I shouldn’t be keeping this things to myself,” he muttered while entering the Weasley’s
kitchen.

“What things?” a kind voice came from the kitchen table and Harry wasn’t able to stop himself
from jumping in fright. Growling in discomfiture as their reply was giggling in humour; he came at
a stop at the kitchen table, pulled a chair from underneath it and sat down. “Well Harry,” Hermione
pushed on, “what things are you keeping to yourself?”

Just as Harry was about to retort, he caught sight of her teasing smile and realized that she
was just messing with him, “Don’t worry Harry, I was just teasing. Honestly, I’ve figured by now
that when you’re ready to share something with us you will without us pressuring you to do so,” and
for the first time that day, Harry felt truly at ease.

“Is that pumpkin pie?” Harry couldn’t help himself from asking, his stomach coming to his aid
and growling. He realized that he hadn’t eaten well today, and he was aching for a piece of hot
pumpkin pie to please him. Watching Hermione nod in reply, he went to get up and fetch a fork when
Hermione placed her hand over his in order to stop him from getting up. Bringing the fork up from
her plate, she hesitated only a moment before scooping up some of her pumpkin pie and turning
towards Harry.

Alarm signals were going off in both of the two teenagers heads, but neither could fight the
undeniable force that was bringing them together. Harry was surprised only for a second before
licking his lips in anticipation and then opening his mouth to greet the fork that was filled with
the ever-so scrumptious piece of pumpkin pie. The look that was being held between them never
faltered, giving both of them ample of time to study each other. It was the first time in months
that they were able to be alone and spend some real quality time together without any
interruptions.

Harry, not being able to take the silence any more, took the fork from Hermione’s fragile hand
and picked up a piece himself. Before returning the favour, however, he broke the heavy silence
that hung in the air,

“What happened to us?” Hermione was surprised by the way that his thick voice broke into the
air, flinching at hearing how sad his voice was. She nearly flipped back at the look that was
radiating off his eyes, as if he was a lost child that was looking for reassurance by his special
friend; his special space; his rock that would always be there when he needed it. Not finding the
appropriate words to answer him, she hung her head in defeat and 3 little words escaped her mouth
before being able to stop them,

“I don’t know,” Harry looked up to find her fiddling with a piece of thread that was hanging
from the bottom of the tablecloth and chewing her bottom lip, a sign that she was definitely
nervous.

“So you’ve felt it too?” he egged on, encouraged by the fact that she hadn’t simply shouted at
him and left, “That we haven’t been the same this year?” Hermione took her time in collecting her
thoughts before replying,

“Yes Harry, I’ve felt it too. It seems that all you could think about was Ginny and her
relationship with Dean. If it wasn’t that then it was biting my head off whenever Quidditch was
mentioned,” she ended a little more harshly than she intended, but Harry wasn’t fazed by it. It was
the closest thing that resembled to a conversation to have transpired between them, and he wasn’t
going to mess it up.

“You can’t deny the fact, though, that you were also caught up in your boyfriend’s escapades
with Lavender and throwing fits whenever you found them alone and together!” He went to continue
but halted at the look of confusion that could be read off Hermione’s face. He saw her face
transform from confusion to comprehension and finally humour, though he couldn’t understand what
she found so funny.

“Oh Harry, you can’t possibly think that I’m going out with Ron!” When she saw the incredulous
look on his face she went on to explain, “I can understand why you would think that, especially
after my out of character scenes of jealousy, but it’s not what you think,” she paused a bit to
relax after noticing that all of a sudden the room seemed too hot, catching onto the fact that she
was probably blushing by the look of satisfaction on Harry’s face. “I admit that I was jealous and
hurt that Ron was going away with Lavender so many times and leaving us behind, and yes I thought
that I liked him as he had shown on occasions that he harboured feelings for me that went beyond
friendship. I was surprised to see that he had gotten over me so quickly, and I was hurt. When they
finally broke up, I was happy and thought that this was my chance to see if we could work out
together,” she stopped to take a sip from her pumpkin juice, clasped her hands together on the
table and continued, taking note of Harry’s interest in hearing her story. “Then we had that day to
go to Hogsmeade and take our apparition test, and I thought ‘this is our chance,’ but it didn’t
work out. I realized that choosing to go out with Ron was only the easy thing to do and not the
right,” she didn’t give Harry the opportunity to ask what she meant by that as she continued
straight on, “you see, I only thought I liked Ron because of the fact that he had already shown
interest in me, and you need to understand that when girls find a guy who shows that they like
them, they get flattered and start thinking about what could happen. But it was wrong of me to do
so, and I told him so though I don’t believe he has accepted it yet,” she finished her story and
returned to finishing her pumpkin juice.

“Oh,” was the only thing that Harry could think of to say, and he smacked himself inwardly for
the show of lack of vocabulary in front of her, “I’m sorry Hermione,”

“For what?”

“For everything. I haven’t been the best friend to you this past year and now I find that most
of it was based on a misunderstanding. Some friend I am,” he concluded, his hand toying with the
fork that still held the pumpkin pie.

“It takes two,” she replied, a knowing smile on her face, and Harry was happy to find that her
eyes weren’t the empty pools of caramel that he had seen the past week. ‘Finally, they’re beginning
to resemble the sparkling colour that was so filled with life,’ he thought to himself, though he
couldn’t blame her if she never felt the same way as she did when they were 11 years old. Life was
playing a cruel game to all of them and they were forced to grow up much quicker than was
necessary, go through things that most people in their world will never face. Such things made them
close off the rest of the world, grow colder yet also it made them stronger, made them realize that
they should take no-one for granted.

“Harry, I admit too that I haven’t been the best friend that I have been throughout the past 5
years, but I can promise you that everything will change. If you let me that is,”

“I don’t know Hermione, things were awkward between us this past year. Do you really think that
we should give it a try one more?” Hermione was so shocked to hear those words come out of Harry’s
mouth that she coughed in her pumpkin juice, immediately hear Harry’s chuckle.

“You’re having a go at me aren’t you?” she asked, pretending to be mad at him but her charade
not pulling through as a smile was tugging at the corner of her lips.

“Hermione,” Harry breathed out, leaning forward so that the fork that he was holding was
opposite her mouth with those full lips slightly parted in anticipation. Hermione opened her lips
and gracefully took in the piece that he as offering her, the fork being pulled back by him rather
sensually. Neither were sure what to say next, but both of them knew that no words were needed to
acknowledge to fact that they were back on track to fix whatever went wrong the past year, both
determined to not let their friendship get lost.

Rays of red sunlight began to creep into the kitchen and that seemed to break the couple from
the reverie of watching pools of emerald green and caramel with golden flecks in them. Neither had
realized how long they had been sitting on that kitchen table simply talking.

“We should be getting back up,” Hermione said, although rather unconvincingly.

“Yeah or else Mrs. Weasley will get suspicious of what we were doing,” he told her, wriggling
his eyebrows suggestively, causing Hermione to break into a grin and pushing his chest in order to
get past him.

“Oh please Mr. I-think-I’m-so-hot,” she teased back, “if I didn’t know any better I’d say that
you were watching me before I came downstairs and decided to come after me and get me alone,” she
finished with a wink and raced up the stairs as quietly as she could, though her giggles could be
heard.

“Is that so?” Harry asked and flew up the stairs at neck speed, enjoying the fact that they were
able to joke once again as if they didn’t have any worries in the world. Finally reaching her
before she had the chance to open her bedroom door, he flung his arms around hers thus not allowing
her any movement whatsoever. “You were saying?” he asked in between deep, ragged breaths.

Hermione looked behind her shoulder and found Harry’s grin in her viewpoint, so she decided to
play his game. Turning herself in such a way that made it clear she wasn’t going to run away, she
came to face him and found that they were nearly nose to nose. Both of them were panting and
breathing deeply, yet they never broke eye contact. They became very aware of their position yet
neither of them had the power to break it up. Hermione swallowed as Harry’s eyes were traveling
back and forth from her eyes to her lips. His hands still had hers arms pinned to her side so that
she couldn’t move, though that seemed to make her realize that even though she wasn’t capable of
movement, her mouth was still working.

“I *said,*” she began, “that you probably wanted me to get me alone.”

“Is that so Miss. Granger? Well then I can neither deny nor accept such an idea. Though I do
have something in mind.”

“Oh? And what is that Mr. Potter?”

But whatever it is that Harry had in mind of doing Hermione never knew because at that moment a
creak was heard somewhere in the house, meaning that someone was already awake and coming towards
them. They broke away from each other immediately as if they were doing something they shouldn’t
have, and even though that was partly true, neither of them wanted to admit it.

“Thanks Hermione,” he told her, and with a peck on the cheek, he turned towards the stairs and
by taking them two and a time, he disappeared. Hermione, on the other hand, was left on her doorway
staring into space as the spot of where he kissed her was burning. Knowing that they were both
treading on a very thin line, she could suppress the toothy grin that overcame her face and so she
entered the room quietly, closing it behind her.



3. Emotional Turmoil
--------------------

**A/N:** Okay, here’s the second-last chapter of “The Gift Of Honesty”!! I hope you like it!!
I haven’t been able to update yesterday because I had an accident that has slowed down my typing
*cough*dog bit hand*cough* but I couldn’t stay away too long!! I enjoyed writing this chapter
though it brought up some memories that were kind of bad for me, yet this helped me right it better
=) Please R/R!!

**Disclaimer:** not mine … never will be ;)

Harry awoke around noon, with a huge grin plastered all over his face. ‘Did last night really
happen?’ he wondered to himself, and he didn’t have to wait long for the confirmation as the funny
feeling in his chest started building up again as soon as she thought about that delicious pumpkin
pie.

A sudden swift of movement occurred and Harry realized that he wasn’t alone, subconsciously
turning his head around towards Ron’s bed only to find that he had already got up. A burst of
sunlight entered the room causing Harry to shut his eyes tightly at the brightness of it all, while
in the background he heard the soft giggle of his brown-haired best friend.

“Get up, Harry!” he heard her say, “It’s almost 12 o’clock and Mrs. Weasley has been complaining
all the day that you hadn’t had the chance to have breakfast so she sent me up here to get
you.”

“’Stoobright,” was his reply, only that it came out as something between a mumble and a
yawn.

“What?”

“It’s too *bright*,” he told her again, only this time slower and with a good articulation
of the words.

“Yes well, it’s a thing called the ‘sun’ that comes out in daylight,” she teased him, and he
immediately caught the hint that she was talking about his last night roam in the house. ‘So it
really *did* happen,’ he mused to himself, and he couldn’t help the smile that was beginning
to form on his lips.

“And what exactly are we smiling about, Mr. Potter?” Hermione asked him, as she turned around
with mock indignation and arms akimbo. ‘Two can play this game, Granger,’ he wickedly thought to
himself, and a strange glint appeared in his eyes. He sat up on his bed and pretended to sigh out a
sigh of frustration, running a hand through his unruly, black hair and was silent for a moment.
Finally, he looked up to see two caramel-coloured eyes filled with apprehension, causing him to
twinge a little but decided to go through it nevertheless.

“Do you really want to know?” he asked, and once he saw Hermione nod furiously, he waved at her
to come closer. She didn’t need to be told again, and without a second thought she sat dangerously
close to him on the bed. It took Harry a few moments before he could gather up his thoughts, but
once he did he acted on them.

He jumped out of the bed as if he was flying on his Firebolt at top speed and at the same time
he flung out one of his arms, thus catching Hermione around her middle and throwing her onto the
bed. Without giving her any time to react, he began tickling her without showing any mercy while
her screams and giggles could be heard all over the Burrow.

It was one of those times that teenagers needed in order to get rid of the stress and worry that
seemed to be dominating in their lives. In this small fraction of time, it didn’t matter that
Harry, Hermione and Ron weren’t going to return to Hogwarts because they needed to go in search of
the Horcruxes. It didn’t matter that there was a Dark Wizard on the loose trying to murder Harry
because of some prophecy. It didn’t matter that the tension was so thick in the house that it could
be cut with a knife, every time a person from the Order made an appearance.

Hermione was desperately trying to escape from Harry’s tickles but to no avail as his grip on
her was too strong.

“And *that’s* why, Miss. Granger, I was smiling,” he informed her with a triumphant look on
his face, as if managing to tickle her was a huge success. Tears were streaming down her face from
all the laughing that had just occurred, and only managed to nod her head slightly in response to
what Harry had just said.

“Please,” she started telling him and in between breaths, “let me recompose myself.” When he
gave her a ‘yeah-right’ looked she continued pleading, “Come on Harry, what will the Weasleys think
if I went downstairs looking like this after I was in your room?” and once she saw his eyebrows
getting lost in his hairline, she gave him a trademark look that she reserved only for the
occasions that she was right (which was nearly all the time) and when she left other people
speechless. It served its purpose and Harry loosened his hold on her but all of a sudden he found
that the tables had turned on him.

Hermione acted rather quickly when she felt Harry letting her go from his grip and using that to
her advantage she overturned him so that *he* was lying on the bed.

“Where’s that constant vigilance that Mad Eye Moony had taught us?” she asked him, her voice
filled with tease, “Pay-back time Harry,” she barely finished her sentence when she started
tickling him everywhere she knew that he was ticklish. As she couldn’t quite reach his neck, she
hesitated only for a moment before climbing on him and straddling him, which worked fine as he was
less capable of movement. They were both so caught up with each other and so focused in winning the
other, that neither of them heard the footsteps that were climbing the stairs towards them. In
fact, it was the owner of the footsteps that had interrupted them early in the morning!

“Admit it, I won!” Hermione was trying to get Harry to admit that she was better in tickling him
than he could ever be, but it seemed that he wouldn’t have any of it.

“Never!” he retorted and continued struggling to get out of Hermione’s grip, which proved to be
fruitless between their laughing.

“What is going on here?” a stern voice made both of them look up in surprise, immediately
causing their cheeks to flush with red as they realized how their position must look, “Hermione, I
sent you up here to wake up Harry and bring him downstairs so that he could eat something before
lunch,” Mrs. Weasley scolded Hermione, whilst at the same time trying to conceal her smile as the
two teenagers tried to scramble out of the bed and as far from each other as they could.

“I’m sorry Mrs. Weasley, but *Harry* needed to be taught a lesson as he thought he could
win me.”

“Oh? Is that so?” Mrs. Weasley turned towards Harry and waited for his explanation. Harry and
Hermione visibly relaxed when they saw the kind and humourous look that was written on her
face.

“Eerr… yeah, don’t blame Hermione, Mrs. Weasley, it was my fault.”

“I guess that you all need this at such a time. I have eggs and bacon saved for you in the oven
Harry. You can eat it once you’re ready and have come downstairs,” and with that, Mrs. Weasley left
the room but kept the door wide open in any case.

“Well,” Hermione started, “I’ll see you downstairs then Harry.”

“Okay,” he replied, and as soon as she was out of sight he began to get dressed. ‘Now
*that* was embarrassing,’ he thought, ‘what if she tells Ron? Or worse, Ginny?’ his mind began
to make up different scenarios of what would be the outcome of such a thing, and he could feel his
heart pumping blood at maximum speed. So fast, actually, that he was beginning to feel a bit
light-headed. Steadying himself on his cherry-coloured chest of drawers, he mentally chastised
himself for going overboard with his imagination. ‘Everything will be fine,’ he kept repeating to
himself.

Once he arrived downstairs, he stopped at the entrance of the kitchen and took in the sight that
was before him. Ron and Hermione were sitting together on the couch, talking about something that
clearly was meant to be kept between them, while Ginny was shooting strange glances at them in
between bites from her plate. As soon as her eye caught Harry, however, she let out a
not-so-discreet cough that made Ron and Hermione jump.

“Hi Harry,” / “’Morning mate” was the two Weasley’s greeting, whereas Hermione gave him a soft
smile with her eyes bursting from happiness that could be read a hundred miles away. ‘So,’ Harry
began thinking, ‘she was talking to Ron and now she’s clearly very happy. I see,’ he trailed off,
suddenly his hunger forgotten but took out the plate from the over nonetheless, as he didn’t want
to make Mrs. Weasley worry about him any more than was necessary or was doing at the moment.

As he sat down next to Ginny, her scent made its way up Harry’s nostrils, making him remember
how good she smelled when they were dating. Entering a dream world, he didn’t notice the glare that
Hermione sent his way once she saw that he started staring into space right after he sat next to
Ginny. Waving a hand in front of him she said,

“Harry? Earth to Harry…”

“Huh? What?” he replied, shaking his head in order for his thought to be cleared, “I’m sorry,
did you say something because I wasn’t listening,” he told her and was glad to see that his stab
didn’t go unnoticed by Hermione.

She felt warm tears prickling the corner of her eyes and her bottom lip began to tremble, though
she couldn’t understand why this would happen now of all times.

“I… nothing,” she mumbled, and averted her eyes from Harry, taking sudden interest at the white
tablecloth in front of her. Harry felt bad at once when he saw what his words had done to her, but
couldn’t think of a single thing to say to her to make her feel right. The scene that would soon
play out in front of him, made him regret saying that to Hermione even more.

“Hermione” Ron started saying, obviously nervous about talking to her, “do you want to go for a
walk outside?” he finished, his face as red as his fire-red hair, but clearly pleased with himself
for managing not to stutter and just say it.

“Sure,” she replied with a defeated voice, though her eyes held a knowing look. Harry eyed them
suspiciously, though none of them gave him the satisfaction of looking at him and feeling anxious.
Instead, they walked outside together where they stayed until the early afternoon.

Meanwhile, Harry decided that he really needed to be alone, brushing off Ginny when she asked
him if he wanted to talk. He went to the very top of the Burrow where the veranda was located, that
held the view of the Burrow’s forest. It had been a while since he had time for himself without any
interruptions. He supposed that he liked it better when he had friends surrounding him, something
he had learned the tough way during his life. Being nearly of age, he had gone through things that
most people didn’t go through in their lifetime, and that made him a bit wiser on subjects like
life and friendship and companionship. After Sirius and Dumbledore’s death, he came to the
conclusion that no matter how hard he tried to push people away from him or closed himself off;
people will always care for him. He wouldn’t give Voldermort the satisfaction of knowing that he
was alone and emotionally weak by being by himself with no-one to confide to or have any emotional
support. ‘Love,’ he thought. If he learned anything from his two best friends was that love was the
greatest thing on this earth and the only thing that will help him defeat Voldermort. It was the
kind of love that he had for them, where he knew he would gladly sacrifice himself so that they
could live on.

He was taken out of his train of thoughts when he saw two figures – one with flaming red hair
and the other’s was colour auburn – in the distance returning from their walk. It seemed that Ron
was walking ahead of Hermione and in a hurry as well. All of a sudden Harry began to feel dizzy,
and immediately realized that Hermione was going through an emotional turmoil at this very moment.
He didn’t know how he knew this, but he felt weird, as if he was going through the same thing that
Hermione was going through yet it felt like he was having an out-of-body experience. Carefully
getting up so as not to cause himself a head rush, he walked as fast as he could back downstairs
and out into the garden before giving Hermione the chance to enter the Burrow. As Ron passed in
front of him, he paused for only a second, but it was enough to see the look on his face which was
dipped in comprehension and peacefulness.

Closing the door behind him, he took Hermione by the hand and led her to a few chairs that had
been left after the wedding. They both sat down without any questions, yet neither of them dared to
break the silence that had engulfed them. It was clearer to Harry now that she was in touching
distance, that something was very wrong with her, as his feelings grew only stronger. Kneeling in
front of her, he put one hand on her shoulder; an action that surprised her and allowed her to have
eye contact with him.

“I’m sorry about before,” he told her honestly, feeling compelled that he should apologise first
before getting into another conversation.

“Then why did you say it?” she asked, her eyes filled with pain, making Harry slap him mentally
once again at the idiotic thing he had said.

“I don’t know Hermione, I really don’t.”

“Well that’s not good enough now is it?”

Harry got up and started pacing in front of her, “look, I really don’t know what got into me,
but I’m trying to apologise to you. At least accept it; please don’t stay mad at me. I don’t know
if I can stand it,” he finished and took in a huge amount of air as he had said that sentence with
one breath.

“I won’t hide the fact that what you said hurt but I accept your apology Harry,” she told him,
and was happy to see the smile forming on his lips. Not being to contain herself, she opened her
arms and he was gladly gathered up in them, both of them content just to be in that hug that seemed
to last for a while. Burrowing his head in her stomach – she was still sitting on the chair while
Harry had knelt, once again, in front of her – he took in her scent that seemed to be consisting of
vanilla and summer. This seemed to create a realization for Harry that dawned on him like a ton of
bricks. Tightening his arms around her waist, he once again mumbled an apology that only resulted
in Hermione stroking his hair and trying to tell him that it didn’t matter anymore.

After a while, the two of them parted and Harry brought up a chair so that he could sit next to
her, while silence hung in the air. However, it wasn’t an uncomfortable one, as they were simply
enjoying the small joys of life as was this one; sitting with your best friend outside in the
garden and watching nature take its course. Harry took a chance and glanced sideways at Hermione
who seemed to be lost in her thoughts and so he took the chance to ask a question that had been
etching away at him for the better part of his stay at the Burrow.

“Is something the matter?” he simply blurted out, causing Hermione to wince visibly at the
question that he had just posed. She didn’t answer instantly, but merely stared up at the sky-blue
that held the royal sun in its sea. If Harry hadn’t seen her react to his question, he would start
doubting that she had even heard him, but he didn’t say anything. Patience was one more thing that
he learned and so he decided to wait her out, rewarded when she appeared about to answer him.

“Do you ever think about the future, Harry?” whatever he was expecting for an answer, it surely
wasn’t that and so he was obviously flabbergasted. It was his turn to be silent for a few moments
until he assembled his train of thought concerning this subject.

“I do,” he answered her truthfully, “I don’t want to because I don’t know if I ever get the
chance to have a future, but sometimes I can’t help myself,” he turned himself on the chair so that
he was sitting sideways on it yet facing Hermione and continued, “Yesterday at the wedding, I
caught myself wondering if I will ever have a wedding, or if I’ll ever have the joy of having
children.” Hermione was listening to him intently but made no action of interrupting him,
encouraging Harry to continue, “I always pictured myself having an outdoor wedding on an evergreen
hill with everyone that I know being present. It would be a small ceremony and the press wouldn’t
know about it because I don’t want a big fuss, but I do everyone that I know to be there and be
happy for us.” He paused a bit and looked at the horizon, as if his dream was hidden somewhere in
there. He turned and saw Hermione’s eyes covered with a thin sheet of tears, and he was surprised
when he found that he wasn’t embarrassed opening his heart to her, and so he went on with his story
– his dream, “I also want to live in a cottage and have 3 children with a dog and cat,” he chuckled
a bit before going on, “I always like the name ‘Jack’ for a dog, even though it’s common, and ‘Amy’
for a cat. The dog will preferably be a Golden Retriever and it will always be happy and playing
with my children, yet when it needs to protect us it will do so.”

“What about your children? How will they be?” Hermione asked gingerly, not wanting to intrude on
his dream but also eager to find out his deeper thoughts.

“Well, I always imagined having a girl as a first-born and then a boy. And as for the third
child, I always liked the idea of adopting a child that isn’t as fortunate.”

“That’s very kind of you Harry, but I guess that’s just who you are,” Hermione told him, and as
soon as he heard those words, he felt elated at the fact that she was being honest with him,
praising him and not laughing at his fantasy, “Have you given any thought about what job you want
to take?”

“Well, I guess everyone is expecting me to become an Auror but I just don’t know. Sure, I feel
like I’m going to be doing something worthwhile if I become an Auror, but I’ve had enough with
fighting the bad guys. I always toyed with the idea of becoming a Professor at Hogwarts after
everything is over. I mean, I know that there’s a chance of Hogwarts not reopening this year, but
I’ll make sure it will open after Voldermort is defeated, there’s no-way that I’m going to allow it
to remain closed.”

“Defence against the Dark Arts?” Hermione asked, although it seemed that she already knew the
answer to that.

“Yeah, it just seems - ” he was cut of by Hermione finishing off his thoughts,

“Appropriate that you would want to share you thoughts and knowledge with children so that they
are aware of what they might encounter in their lives.”

“Exactly,” he told her, a look of awe in his eyes at how much she seemed to know him, “How-”

“Did I know that?” she smiled, “Being best friends for 6 years with you, I’d like to believe
that I know you really well. I’m sure you feel the same way Harry,” she finished, looking a bit
flushed but contented that she said it.

“I do feel the same way Hermione,” he told her, “I’m really lucky to have friends like you and
Ron, I can’t think of anything that could top having such great friends,” he finished seriously,
and Hermione bit back a sob. Neither knew what to say anymore, so they sat back in their chairs and
just gazed at the horizon silently, lost in their thoughts. The silence was broken when Hermione
came to the decision to ask Harry something that she couldn’t quite understand about him, even
though she *did* have an opinion about it. It seemed that her internal battle whether or not
to ask him showed on her face because Harry told her, “Just let it out,” and Hermione, with a
genuine smile, felt optimistic.

“I don’t want you taking this the wrong way, but… sometimes I can’t understand you,” when she
saw the bemused look on his face she tried to explain it better, “You see, sometimes you’re hot and
then the next second you’re cold. Like today, when I came into the room you were more than happy to
see me and we were getting along just fine, when all of a sudden in the kitchen you do a 180 turn
and say harsh things. I just don’t understand it,” she concluded, giving Harry all the time he
needed to find a decent answer.

“It looked as if you and Ron were cozy at that time,” he spat out, not intending it to sound as
an innuendo but miserably failed.

“So we return to this?” she asked spitefully, “Couldn’t just trust me when I explained it to you
last night, just had to take one more jab at it, didn’t you?” and with that, she got up from the
chair and started walking back to the house, determined not to let Harry see how much she was
affecting her. Determined not to let him see her cry after everything that she had gone through
this past year; trying to forget about him although she hadn’t succeeded.

Harry was torn between running after her or letting her vent off, though he decided the former
one was the best course of action. Getting up from the chair, he took four large strides and
reached up to her, catching her arm and making spin round as she let out a gasp of surprise. He
wasn’t taken aback when he saw the tears trickling down her face in a sad and slow river, and so he
was able to get a firm grip on her, not allowing to go anywhere else until she heard him out.

“Yes Hermione,” he began, “we *have* returned to this because you didn’t trust me enough to
tell me what’s going on between the two of you,” he put up a hand so that she couldn’t interrupt,
“I’m not talking about last night, I’m talking about what I walked in this morning when I came into
the kitchen. I saw you two talking in low whispers and when Ginny let out that cough you
immediately stopped. Do you know how it feels to have your two best friends talking behind your
back? I thought that you were talking about me and it hurt, I admit it, though what hurt most was
the fact that you didn’t tell me about it.” He finished and when he looked up at see Hermione, he
was surprised to find anger hiding behind those caramel pools. It was so radiant that he could
actually feel the anger radiating off her.

“You are a bastard Harry,” and Harry saw her free hand coming towards his cheek a second too
late. Hermione tried to get free but Harry didn’t let her, if anything that slap made his resolve
even stronger so he just held on tighter, despite the fact that his cheek was stinging as hell.
‘Could it be that only this morning we were carefree and not angry at each other?’ he couldn’t help
but wonder. “How *dare* you say that I don’t trust you enough?” Hermione said, “How
*dare* you say that when last night I told you things that I haven’t told anyone? How
insensitive *are* you?”

These words seemed to shock Harry so much that he let go, giving Hermione the chance that she
needed to break free. Taking one step back, she looked at him sadly and shook her head, whilst
murmuring ever-so-quietly, “Maybe taking the easy way out is better…” trailing off as she began
walking back to the Burrow. When those words registered in Harry’s mind, he made the connection and
anger boiled up inside of him, making him shout out,

“Maybe you’re right!” Hermione was stopped in mid-track, turning around and pointing a finger at
Harry.

“Don’t pretend that you know what I’m talking about because you have no clue!” she practically
yelled at him, but Harry wasn’t fazed. Instead, he shouted right back at her,

“Then enlighten me Hermione! What is so hard about it?”

“Loving you so much is so bloody hard!”



4. Foolish Games
----------------

**A/N: last chapter! I hope it’s what you guys expect ;) The song is one of my all time
favourites, Foolish Games by Jewel!**

*You took your coat off and stood in the rain,*

*You were always crazy like that*

*I watched from my window,*

*Always felt I was outside looking in on you*

*You were always the mysterious one*

*With dark eyes and careless hair,*

*You were fashionably sensitive, but too cool to care*

*You stood in my doorway, with nothing to say*

*Besides some comment on the weather*

*Well in case you failed to notice,*

*In case you failed to see,*

*This is my heart bleeding before you,*

*This is me down on my knees*

*These foolish games are tearing me apart*

*Your thoughtless words are breaking my heart*

*You’re breaking my heart*

**“Loving you is so bloody hard!”**

Those words seemed to echo in his mind as if she had come right up to him and bellowed them in
his ear. His eyes were wide open and his eyebrows had shot up in surprise when he finally
comprehended what she told him.

She, on the other hand, brought up a hand to cover her mouth as she let out a shocked “oh” when
the realization of what she had just done dawned on her. ‘This can’t be happening,’ she began to
think frantically; ‘I can’t believe that after so much time of trying to hide it, I finally let it
out. Damn you Hermione for being weak,’ she mentally reprimanded herself, while anger and
disappointment filled her. She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t notice Harry clumsily
grab the chair that they had been sitting on mere moment ago, and sit on it as if he was in a daze.
His words seemed to do the trick as her attention was focused back on him,

“You – you love *me*?” he stuttered, as if he couldn’t believe that such a fact could be
true, ‘Hermione Jane Granger,’ his conscious mind began thinking, ‘you’re best *friend* for
six years loving you?’ ‘Is that *so* hard to believe?’ the subconscious part of his mind
butted in. Come to think of it, he *hadn’t* given it that much thought so that he knew what he
did and didn’t believe. However, his mind began to think of all the things that had occurred
between the two of them this past week; from the pumpkin pie escapade to just now when they had
that heart to heart talk about the future. ‘It all adds up doesn’t it?’ he thought, yet his facial
expression remained expressionless as the full weight of what was going on hadn’t settled in just
yet.

“Harry?” Hermione’s tentative voice brought him out of his daydream and making him take a good
look at her face. She had fear written all over her, as if her sudden revelation would have
devastating effects on the both of them and their friendship, “Oh damn me!” she said frustrated,
causing Harry to take a double-take as he had never heard her swear before, “One weak moment and
look where it got us!”

“No, Hermione,” he told her quietly and got up from his spot on the chair, closing in on
Hermione, “you weren’t being weak, you just exploded from all the emotions that you were feeling
and had bottled up inside of you for so long. I should know, after all, you were the one who was
telling me these past years not to keep everything inside and just express myself, but I didn’t and
I distinctively remember occasions when I just vended off at anyone who happened to be in front at
that unfortunate time,” he finished with a slight smile, hoping that she wouldn’t be scared off and
run back inside. It seemed to do the trick as she managed to crack a small smile at him and take
the chair that he had previously occupied and sat. A heavy, uncomfortable silence fell between them
and neither of them knew how to break it. However, after a long period of just staring at their
feet, Hermione decided that she should tell Harry the truth that she had kept hidden for so
long.

“I guess I should start at the beginning huh,” it wasn’t a question but rather a statement so
that it was easier for her to start talking. Harry nodded and at the same time he dropped down on
the grass so that he was sitting opposite her and cross-legged. Hermione cleared her throat and
commenced at once, “I think it was right before you were about to go and face Quirrel in our first
year that I knew you were going to be someone very special in my life. We were only 11 years old
then so I couldn’t possibly know what love was, but I knew that I had this strange force pulling me
towards you, though I couldn’t figure out what it was. Then in our second year that basilisk had
attacked me, putting me out of the battle yet when you saved Ginny and I came halfway through the
feast, I was so proud that you figured out what my clue meant. I felt that I was somehow important
to you, since you trusted me enough to take what I had written on that piece of parchment and make
sense out of it,” here Harry interrupted her so that he could say,

“But you *are* important to me Hermione!”

“Please,” she informed him, “just let me finish and then you can say whatever you want,” the
pleading look on her face caused Harry’s heart to clench ( ‘Now why would it do that?’ ) so he
granted her the silence that she wanted, smiling at him and moving on, “Third year came and went
but not before we had the chance on flying on Buckbeak so that we could save Sirius. I remember
being so scared but holding you felt so right to me, like I was being protected by the strongest
person on earth. I felt safe with you up there, and I knew that I wasn’t going to harmed or fall
off the side,” she let out a sad chuckle but continued nevertheless, “At the end of that year, I
started thinking you as someone who was more than a friend to me.”

Harry’s eyes widened at this apocalypse as the realization of her having romantic feelings for
him for nearly 3 years now came to him at full impact. However, he didn’t dare butt in her
confession, allowing her to keep going.

“Fourth and fifth year were somewhat the same, as in both years I had other people trying to
tell you and the rest of the school that we were either going out or had feelings for each other. I
admit that I was so frightened that you were going to get scared and keep your distance from me but
on the other hand I was hoping that you would realize that they were true, that way you might start
seeing me as someone more than a best friend.”

It was at this moment when Harry’s head was filled with faces of Cho, Rita Skeeter and Viktor
Krum telling and asking him if there was something going on between Hermione and himself. He had so
vigorously told them that they were simply best friends, not knowing how much it must have been
hurting Hermione listening to these defenses and backing him up, ‘I’ve been such an awful friend to
her,’ he thought sadly. It was as if Hermione had read his mind because she chose that moment to
say,

“Don’t think that it was your fault, you couldn’t have known how I felt,” she gave him a
reassuring smile and moved on, “Still, it hurt to listen to those words come out of your mouth.
Nevertheless, I forced myself to put your wellbeing and happiness over mind. I had to make sure
that when you faced Voldemort, you would come out victorious. The world needed you to be safe and
so did I, so I put my feelings aside and tried in every way that I could to help you,” she paused
so that she could take a breather and to also recompose her thoughts as the most difficult part of
her heartfelt confession was going to be the next one.

Harry seemed to have sensed this as he moved closer to her so that when he looked up, he would
be directly looking at her eyes that now held a hint of disappointment and sadness. Despite the
fact that he was trying desperately to think of something to say to her so that she could feel
better, he wasn’t successful as she began to tell the tale of their 6th year, which was
the year that had just passed.

“And so 6th year came – not one of the best years that I have had at Hogwarts, I
admit,” and she looked down to see him nodded and agreeing with her. Feeling her stomach doing a
flip-flop from joy, she willed herself to go on and not to keep stealing glances of him as she was
explaining her feelings to him, “I had vowed to myself that I should try and forget about you as
nothing would ever happen between us. To you, I was your female best friend that had the brains and
would always be there to help you no matter what. I wasn’t Cho Chang, prettiest girl in the school
or Ginny Weasley, Quidditch player and feisty sister of Ron’s best friend. I was, and am, Hermione
Granger, best friend from Harry Potter and Ron Weasley.”

Harry winced a bit at this, as he realized that he really *did* take her for granted that
she would always be there for him. Never once did he think of what she might be feeling and why she
was always being so willing to help him. He couldn’t believe how stupid he had been. Here he was,
all this time thinking that he was being treated unfair by the world, thinking that his problems
were the worse; he didn’t once stop to think that maybe Hermione was going through a harder ordeal.
Of course, he always treasured the fact that he had Ron and Hermione in his life. ‘Seriously, I
would give my life for them,’ he thought, nodding his head in agreement with his silent
thought.

“And so, I decided that I should keep my distance from you this year, not as a friend but as
seeing you as something more,” Hermione continued, resulting in Harry snapping his head up once
more so that he could show her that he was listening carefully to what she was saying, “I started
spending more time with Ron and fighting more frequently with Ginny. I - ” she began, but found
that her throat was clogged up and her eyes began to well up with tears. Not wanting Harry to see
her cry, she brought up her left hand and used the sleeve of her shirt to wipe the tears away
before they escaped down her face.

“Ron was showing such jealousy whenever he would find us spending time together or when other
boys showed an interest to them, that I thought I should try getting involved with him since you
were clearly enamored by Ginny. Remember when I told you last night about what was right and what
was easy?” she asked, waiting for him to acknowledge this so that she could move on, “Well Ron was
the easy way out. However, we didn’t even have the chance of getting together as it was clear to me
that there was no future for us. We were too different and we fought all the time. Honestly, do you
know how tiring it is for a girl to keep fighting with her boyfriend? It’s not healthy,” she said,
trying to make a joke which actually worked as Harry let out a laugh but her eyes betrayed the
sadness that she was feeling.

“I just couldn’t do it Harry,” she confessed, and at this point her voice broke as the tears
that she had been holding back for so long started to pour down her face. She took no action in
wiping them away as she knew more were to come from her caramel pools. “I couldn’t put my feelings
aside and I surely couldn’t hide the fact that I loved you anymore. I couldn’t pretend that they
weren’t there because they were, and if anything they were stronger than ever before. Try as I
might in hiding them and trying to find a diversion for them, they were always there nagging at my
brain for trying to overrule my heart. We’re nearly 17 years olds Harry!” she told him, “we’re not
11 and naïve anymore. I’m at an age where I can tell the difference from an infatuation and love,
despite my immature acts this past year where I tried to forget about you. You’re just someone who
can’t be forgotten about Harry, you’re just too special,” she concluded, not able to continue
anymore as she felt that her heart couldn’t take anymore of this pain and humiliation of confessing
her love to him as he blankly stared at her.

Harry’s mind was trying to process everything that she had told him, that he was silent for
quite a long period of time. It wasn’t that he didn’t feel the same thing, he just didn’t have the
time to think and analyse their friendship and what a relationship with each other could mean for
the trio. Come to think of it, he always *did* have a special bond with Hermione that had deep
roots in both of their hearts. It wasn’t a friendship that you come across everyday, one that is
filled with trust, loyalty and faith in each other and have a basis of love. He was replaying
everything that she had just told him in mind again, along with scenes from the last 6 years that
he had known her and it was as if a puzzle was coming together. Little bits of pieces that held
precious moments and details all came together to form the larger picture of love.

Harry was dumbfounded to say the least and actually he was so surprised that he made no movement
to show her that he had realized what she confessed and how he felt about her. Sadly, Hermione took
this to mean that he didn’t have any romantic feelings for and just didn’t know how to tell her
without damaging their friendship; of course, being Hermione Granger meant that you put your
happiness second and think of everyone else, and this is what she was going to do,

“You don’t have to say anything Harry,” she held up a hand in order for him to understand that
she didn’t want to be interrupted, with the classic look on her face that dared anyone not to
listen to her, “I understand what you’re thinking and I will make this easier for you. I won’t
mention this to anyone and I will try to put it behind me, no matter how hard it will be. I’m not
saying that I can get over my feelings for you, but I will try not to act on them again. Our
friendship is too important to me to let it get destroyed by my ranting. If I can’t have your love
as a soul mate, then I’m lucky to have your love as a best friend and as someone who will always be
there for you,” and with that, she got off them chair, leaning down to kiss Harry on the cheek and
walked off. Before she got too far however, she muttered a phrase that made his heart tighten,

“Harry, when you were describing you ideal wedding to me, I couldn’t help but think of my
fantasy that was taking place in a similar environment as yours. Only, my groom had a face and it
was you,”

Harry didn’t know how long he sat out there after she was gone, but when he suddenly felt a cold
breeze hitting his sides, he realized that it was night and that he should probably be getting
inside. He didn’t want the Weasleys to get worried. While walking back to the house, he couldn’t
help but think of what Hermione had said. It was one of those moments where your brain just stops
thinking and you feel that you are at a loss of what to say. Deep down, he knew that he loved her
more than a best friend but he just didn’t know how to express it. When you grow up with the
Dursleys, you don’t actually get taught of what true love really is. However, when he would sit up
late at nights and skim through his parents’ photo album, he could see the love that they had for
each other in their eyes.

“In their eyes,” he muttered to himself, smacking himself mentally at what a fool he has been.
It was the same look that Hermione had been holding in her eyes whenever she looked at him and he
was just too blind to see it. With a new determination in him, he broke into a dash and entered the
Weasley’s kitchen in such haste that he didn’t see Mrs. Weasley, the result being crashing into
her. What he also didn’t notice was a figure standing and looking down at him through the window,
wiping their tears away as he left from sight.

“Harry! Watch where you’re going! And where have you been young man?” Mrs. Weasley demanded, and
Harry felt a bit intimidated by her. Taking a gulp of air, he answered as best as he could,

“I was outside having a talk with Hermione,”

“Hermione has returned from your chair over an hour ago, what kept you?”

“I was just thinking some things over, Mrs. Weasley,” he told her vaguely, hoping that she
wouldn’t continue this interrogation. It seemed that his wish was granted as she relaxed and told
him,

“We’ve already had dinner but I saved you a plate. Do you want me to heat it up for you?” she
asked kindly, his disappearance quickly forgotten. Even though he hadn’t eaten since lunch, Harry
didn’t feel hungry and turned her offer down, quickly going up the stairs to the girls’ room.
However, he met a dead end when Ginny came out of the room once he knocked, and informed him that
Hermione didn’t want to talk to anyone now.

“Please Ginny,” he begged, “I really need to talk to her,” and was pleased with himself when he
saw compassion in Ginny’s eyes.

“Harry, even though we aren’t going out anymore it doesn’t mean that I don’t love you in a
brotherly way but it also doesn’t mean that I’m going to put Hermione’s feelings aside so that you
can talk to her. She clearly stated that she doesn’t want to talk to anyone now. Please don’t
intrude in her private space; she needs to be alone now. It isn’t easy when a girl pours out her
heart to someone. Give her time, talk to her tomorrow. I promise you things will be much easier
then.”

Even though he still had half a mind to go in there, he decided that he should respect
Hermione’s wishes and so he retreated to his room. He flopped onto the bed, not bothering to
change. Thoughts were entering and exiting his mind at high speed, though the conclusion he came to
every time was the same. He didn’t actually realize just how tired he was and so he casually
drifted off to sleep.

He woke up the next day around 11 and saw that Ron was still sleeping in the bed next to him.
Deciding not to wake him up just yet, he made his way to the bathroom so that he could take a
shower. Once the cold water hit his body, he found that he immediately relaxed and his thoughts
weren’t as jumbled as they were yesterday. He finished rather quickly and when he entered the room
that he shared with Ron, he found him sitting on his bed.

“Morning,” Harry greeted him, a dashing grin to go along with it.

“What are you so happy about?” Ron mumbled, as he was in a grumpy mood.

“Well, it’s not everyday that a guy turns 17 right?” he informed him, his grin getting wider as
a look of realization came on Ron’s face.

“OH mate! I’m so sorry, it’s just that I just woke up and… Oh bloody hell, happy birthday
Harry!” Ron told him, his spirits suddenly higher. Harry thanked him and told him that he’d be
downstairs if he needed him.

“Err, wait for me will you? Just let me change into some clothes and I’ll be down with you in a
moment,” even though he found this rather strange, he went along with it as he wasn’t about to let
anything ruin his mood today. In reality, he had two things to be happy about today. One, it was
his seventeenth birthday and two, he was going to have a chat with Hermione that will hopefully end
in a bright note.

“Ready,” Ron informed him, and Harry could have sworn that he was being extremely cheerful for
Ron. It wasn’t that he wasn’t a happy bloke, it’s just that Ron isn’t the morning type. If he had
to say the truth it’s –

“SURPRISE!!!!” it took a minute for him to realize what was going on, but when the full effect
kicked in, his hand immediately rushed up to his mouth to cover his mouth that had his jaw hanging
dangerously. What happened next was like a domino, as a chorus of ‘happy birthday’ was going round,
people coming up and giving him hugs. When Hermione came to wish him, he could have sworn that he
felt a bolt of electricity shooting through him and he was fairly certain that she had felt it too
by the shocked looked on her face when they parted.

He was very surprised at everyone who had managed to come to his surprise party. Even though
this year had dampened everyone’s mood, they hadn’t failed to show up, showing him that no matter
what happened in life there are always good things to look forward to. If you don’t have that, then
you have nothing left. People from his year at Hogwarts came to wish him and even some that were a
year older or younger. He had spotted Luna at the back and Katie Bell talking animatedly with the
Weasley twins.

Once the first greetings were said, the party was in full swing and Harry really felt that he
was having fun. He could pretend just for today that he wasn’t a target of a madman but rather he
was just a normal 17-year-old boy who was celebrating his birthday. Try as he might, he couldn’t
seem to locate Hermione in the crowd as every time he tried to look for her another person came up
and talked to him, wanting to find out how he was doing and how his summer was. No-one dared to ask
the thing that was on their minds, as this day was one of happiness.

At last, he spotted his bushy-haired friend talking, or rather listening, to Luna’s ramblings
but just about as he was going to tap her shoulder, Mrs. Weasley’s voice could be heard as if it
was magically amplified, ‘obviously it was as she *is* a witch,’ his mind informed him rather
ironically.

“It’s time for cake everyone!” and that was the signal that everyone had been waiting for so
that they could break into a chorus of,

*Happy birthday to you*

*Happy birthday to you*

*Happy birthday dear Harry,*

*Happy birthday to you!!*

He bent down in front of the table that held the cake, ready to blow out the candles when he
heard a voice call out,

“Make a wish!”

Laughing out, he silently made a wish and then blew out the candles with only one breath.
Everyone erupted into applause and he felt giddy as though he was a young child having a real
birthday party.

Once everyone had eaten their cake, the party was back on and chatter filled up the place as
music floated into the air. Harry began distressing as he realized that he might not have the
chance to talk to Hermione tonight, and that it might have to wait until tomorrow. But then again,
he *was* Harry Potter and whenever an idea came to him he would follow it through. He went up
to George who was, apparently, taking music requests and whispered a song in his ear. When he saw
the confused look on his face he made a motion with his hand to show him that he’ll be right
back.

Running back upstairs, he opened Ginny’s chest of drawers where he knew Hermione kept her CDs
and chose the one that he had been looking for. As he was about to leave, he thought he should
better take the small stereo with him as he wasn’t sure if the Wireless could actually play any
Muggle CDs. He returned downstairs and instructed George to play the song and showed him how to
operate it. George gave him the thumbs up and a sly grin to go along with it.

When he heard the familiar strings of music float through the air, he felt his heart start
racing a marathon as he suddenly felt very nervous. Letting out a breath, he began walking towards
Hermione where she was talking with Lavender. Tapping her on the shoulders ( ‘You’re hands are
trembling!’ ) she whirled round to see who it was, and when she realized it was Harry her eyes lit
up as if a light had switched on inside of her. However, they were replaced by bemusement as Harry
didn’t talk to her to tell her what he wanted.

“What is it, Harry?” she asked, and Harry was saddened to hear that her voice was made up of
misery and confusion. He didn’t let that hold him back as he showed her his hand, which is the
international gesture for asking someone to dance. Hermione merely looked at him, and for a second
thought that she would reject him but when he saw her smile, he breathed out a sigh of relief.

Taking her hands and guiding them around his neck, he was pleased to see that she was trembling
too even though she hadn’t made any movements to get away from him, which he took to be
encouraging. He slipped his own arms around her waist, and for a moment they simply danced silently
to the slow song that was filling the air. The silence, however, made them look into the other’s
eyes, trying to extract whatever information they needed in order to start a conversation. It was
at this moment when Harry realized that Hermione always looked at him as if she could see and read
his soul, as she had a look of comprehension on her face, her eyes begging him to let her enter it.
They were so deep with emotion that Harry couldn’t believe what a fool he had been for such a long
time. ‘You, my friend, are one lucky guy,’ he thought, and he really was. He didn’t know anyone
else who had such a great friend as Hermione, waiting for him to come to his sense and realize what
he felt for her. No matter how hard it had been for her to see him being so dense, she didn’t give
up and merely waited.

“Hermione,” he started, “I have to tell you something,” and when he saw her nod hesitantly he
continued, “When you were talking yesterday about me, all I could think of was what a great friend
I have.” When he saw her eyes being averted from him, he took one of his hand and put a finger
under her chin, so that he could tilt her head up towards him, forcing her to look back at him. It
worked, so Harry was encouraged to keep talking as he might never have another chance at doing so,
“A great friend that has always been there for me, no matter how dense. Never once did I question
your loyalty and your faith in me, because I knew that you were there for me no matter what. Not
even back in fourth year when Ron doubted me, you stuck by me even though it gave people enough
rope to trash you. I could start talking about how much you mean to me but we would be stuck here
forever, but whatever I’ll say will pale in comparison to what you really mean to me. Forgive me
Hermione,” but Hermione didn’t have the chance to ask what he was asking her to forgive her about
as she felt his lips crash onto hers.

It wasn’t the typical first kiss that you see in movies where it’s slow, gentle and sweet. This
was rather desperate as if Harry was trying to show her how much she meant to him, and he tried to
pour all of his feelings into that one first kiss. She was shocked at first, and somewhere in the
back of her mind she could feel all of the eyes resting on the both of them but she found that she
didn’t care. Snapping out of her surprise, she allowed herself to enjoy the kiss when she felt
Harry’s tongue begging for entrance to her mouth by running his tongue onto her bottom lip.

She could feel the butterflies in her stomach flying about, but she could also feel Harry’s warm
hands on her waist. She tightened her hold around his neck and at the same time allowing his the
entrance that was begging for. That was all they needed for their tongues to start dancing together
as they tasted each other for the first time. Harry pulled her even closer to him as if he couldn’t
get enough of her, but the need for air forced them to pull apart.

Once they did, they simply looked at each other and they finally gave each other their most
heartfelt smile that they saved just for them. It was as if they had a secret smile to share and
this was one of the many times to come that they did. It felt so right to them, like everything was
happening just the way it was supposed to.

“I’m sorry it took me so long Hermione, but a guy can be rather thick when the girl that he
loves is involved and I really do love you but it took you to - ” he was interrupted by Hermione
widening her eyes and asking him to repeat what he just said. He gave her a lopsided grin that made
her heart melt, and leaning closer to her he whispered,

“I love you,” and with that he gave her a quick peck on the lips, whilst cupping her face in his
two hands. As the song was dying down, he let one of his hands trail to his neck and hold her
petite hand, in comparison to his, lacing their fingers together. Hermione had tears in her eyes as
she couldn’t believe that after all those years of waiting and wishing, her world was finally
coming together. The person she needed most in her life was there for her and suddenly it didn’t
matter anymore what she had gone through to get here. Ever so softly, she used her free hand to
massage Harry’s cheek and whisper,

“My Harry…”

**Á/****Í: I admit, maybe I ended it a bit lame but it’s nearly 2AM here and I seriously
wanted to get this story done! I actually had fun writing this and I came to realize that it’s not
how many reviews you get, but how much fun *I* had in writing this :) And I hope that you had just
as much fun in reading it :) Hopefully, I have matured as a writer!!! Keep loving people and have
fun in your life ;) neni =)**