"Concentrate Potter!"
"I'm trying!"
Professor McGonagall paced around the room examining Harry. Harry was crouched down on the floor in Professor McGonagall's office. During the previous week McGonagall had set out to teach everybody how to transform into their animagus, then changing her mind. She didn't feel that they were yet ready to transform, so she had spent the past four days teaching them to clear their minds, which had proven to almost be an impossible task for Harry.
"Well try harder, Potter!" she spat. "I am asking you to clear your mind, not to pull a sharp object out of any orifices!"
Harry groaned and rolled his eyes. He had too much on his mind to clear it. Harry ran through the thoughts in his mind: Hermione, Voldemort, Hermione, Horcruxes, Hermione, Saving the World, Hermione and of coarse…Hermione!
"Oh Potter," she sighed. "That's enough for today. We will try again tomorrow for the SIXTH time!" She held her office door open. "Good day."
Harry happily got off the ground and left the awkwardness of the room behind. He poured out into the empty corridor wondering what to do next. He had finished with his lessons for the day, and seriously thought about going to the library to do some more research when his stomach growled and gave him the answer he was looking for…dinner!
He marched through the almost empty corridors and down to the Great Hall. He pushed the large wooden doors open to find it was almost deserted. Ron was sitting alone at the Gryffindor table pouring over the latest edition of The Quibbler. Luna and Hannah were over at the far Ravenclaw table laughing at something.
"Hi," Harry said, sitting down across from Ron.
"Oh hi," he replied with a mouthful of pork chop. He swallowed and smiled stupidly at Harry. "Did you clear your mind?"
"No," Harry sighed, piling mashed potatoes onto his plate. "I just couldn't concentrate, and then McGonagall getting mad didn't help. She thinks it so easy for me, and it's not." He twisted his fork in his food, and sighed. "I have too much on my mind!"
"McGonagall just doesn't get it," Ron said, ripping his bun in half with a monstrous bite. "She should know and all." He swallowed then took a large gulp of his pumpkin juice. "Talk to her about it."
Harry shook his head; he didn't want to talk about McGonagall or anything school related at the moment. He took a few mouthfuls of his dinner then pushed it away. Suddenly he wasn't so hungry anymore. Ron belched loudly then pushed his empty plate away. The girls gave him dirty looks from across the hall, and Ron blushed.
"Want to go see Hagrid?" Harry blurted out, as the idea popped into his over-stuffed brain.
"Sure," Ron shrugged, sliding off the bench.
The sky was grey and cloudy as they both ran down the steps of the castle, crossed the sloping lawns down to Hagrid's hut. They passed by several Auror's that were stationed at every entrance and around the grounds. Tonk's was stationed just outside the entrance of the South Hall, which made Professor Lupin very happy for his office was just one floor below.
They jogged up the wooden steps of Hagrid's hut when the door flew open. They were greeted by the back of Hermione's head, and a beaming Hagrid.
"Hello Harry! Hello Ron!"
Hermione whipped her head around to look at the two boys, and gave them a quick bleak stare. She was carrying a blue box. "Hi," she mumbled to them. Hermione was still avoiding Harry, and had barely spoken a word to him.
Hermione pushed past the boys and stomped down the steps. In doing so she brushed against Harry, making him feel weak again. He wanted to tell her how sorry he was. He wanted to hold her and make sure she never hurt again.
In the urge to do something he called out her name, "Hermione!" She stopped in her tracks, and turned to him.
"What?" she said coldly.
He panicked he didn't know what to say. He said the first thing that came to his mind. "I like your hair today."
He watched her bleak expression soften as she touched her hair. "Thanks," she mumbled before stalking off towards the castle.
Harry grinned then followed Ron into Hagrid's hut.
"Smart girl!" Hagrid muttered proudly, taking the kettle off the fire.
"What?" asked a befuddled Ron.
"Hermione, she's a smart girl." he repeated proudly. "She's got brilliant ideas in that head of hers!"
"Hagrid?" Ron asked. "What's going on?"
"Them Devilish Pixies! She wants ta raise `em up `n train `em up! Brilliant I tell ya!" Hagrid spoke proudly. "Harry…ya never told me ya were gunna use `em for the cruciaktis curse. If I'd known I wouldn't `ave given `em to ya!"
"Sorry," Harry mumbled.
"She can't do that!" Ron burst. "They're horrible; evil things!"
"Since they only babies…gunna try ta see if we can teach `em between good `n bad. Never been done before!" he replied. "…Brilliant girl!"
"How?"
"Dunno Harry," Hagrid said. "Tea?"
"…Mmm," Harry shook his head, turning down to his feet. Harry spent the rest of the hour in Hagrid's hut while Ron enjoyed tea and talked about all the new Quidditch moves he had learned about in Harry's new Quidditch books. Finally the rain began to pour down and Ron and Harry dashed back up to the castle to have a late snack before returning to the Gryffindor Common room.
Harry sat at the long table watching Neville losing horribly to Ron in a rough game of Wizard's Chess. Harry had lost to Ron in the previous match of Wizard's Chess, not just because he was almost the world's worst player, but because he spent most of his time watching Hermione.
She was sprawled on the rug in front of hearth in a combination of reading a muggle book and playing with Crookshanks. He sat in front of her and every time she turned the page he would paw at it sending her into a fit of giggles. She would sit up and gather him up in her arms and rub his tummy until he was purring like a motor. This made Harry smile.
After Neville lost his third match Harry decided to go up to bed. He pulled off his school uniform and put on his pajama's and then slipped into bed. He lay there for hours alone in his dormitory with everything racing through his mind. The Horcruxes and where he could possibly find them, his lessons-how was he going to manage to do them all and his extra ones? Then Hermione popped into his mind.
Why did he have these feelings for her? When did these feelings for her start? Did it all happen that night he saw her in the purple socks? How could he be hit with a sudden emotion at one moment? The truth was he didn't know. He started running everything through his mind. From the moment he met her until he saw her last night sprawled out on the carpet.
There was one memory that seemed to stick out in his mind more than the others. It was last summer at Bill and Fleur's wedding, when Harry had a serious wardrobe malfunction.
~*~*Flashback*~*~
"Hurry up, Harry!" Hermione hissed. She was leaning against the second story banister and the Burrow and was waiting for Harry right outside the bathroom door. "The wedding starts any moment now!"
Harry pushed the door open, and gave her the "I-look-stupid" glare.
"Oh heaven, Harry!" she gasped. "What happened?"
"I think Mrs. Weasley picked up the wrong size for me!" Harry said monotonously
"I'd say so!" Hermione mumbled into her hand, trying to fight back the laughter.
Harry was standing in the bathroom doorway glaring dimly. The pants and jacket of his navy blue suit appeared to be at least three inches too small. "What am I going to do?"
"Relax, Stretch, I can fix this," Hermione chuckled whipping her wand out.
"Hey!"
"Sorry," she replied.
Hermione pushed Harry back into the tiny bathroom and closed the door. "Stand up straight," she ordered as she knelt down to fix Harry's pants. Hermione ran her wand over the material as it slowly stretched to the length she wanted. Harry felt a tickling sensation on his skin where his material expanded; making his foot jiggle as he tried to stifle a laugh.
"Will you keep still please," Hermione asked.
"Sorry," he mumbled, and she moved up to fix his sleeve.
"Give me your arm, Harry."
The second floor bathroom was very cramped. Harry and Hermione were mashed together between the toilet and the sink. This bathroom definitely not made for two people to be in at the same time.
Hermione finished the left sleeve and moved onto the right one. Harry smiled at her when they made brief sudden eye contact. He noticed she was wearing a lavish pink tank top and a pretty white and pink floral printed skirt. Her hair was pulled back in a pink elastic and she wore silver hoop earrings that matched the silver chain around her neck.
"You look nice," he said.
"Thanks," she smiled. "You will too once we get this fixed. Could you turn please?"
"Oh," Harry said, as he turned. "Sure."
Harry turned and Hermione ran her wand over the back of his suit, expanding the length of the shoulders. She ran her wand down the length of his spine, and even lower down his behind and the back of his legs, which made him jump a little bit.
"Sorry," she said quietly. "…Had to be done."
"It's okay," he choked.
"Ok turn around again," she asked. He did and she smoothed out his jacket and readjusted his black tie. "You're done!"
"Thanks, Hermione," he said, examining his suit.
Just then the music started from out in the yard.
"Oh shit!" Hermione gasped.
The two of them glanced at each other before they both tried to run out of the tiny bathroom at the same time resulting in both of them falling out into the hallway.
Harry groaned then looked over at his best friend. "Hermione are you okay?"
She was laughing harder then Harry had ever seen her laugh before. "Yeah, I'm fine. Lets go, we have to get outside."
Harry helped her up not able to hide the smile caused by her eccentric laughter. They ran down the two flights of stairs and through the kitchen, where Harry knocked over a stack of fancy plates. Hermione burst into a stronger fit of laughter and repaired the plates with a flick of her wand. They ran out into the yard and saw Fleur's sister gracefully walking down the isle scattering flowers. They found there seats and pushed past the other guests offering half hearted `excuse me's' and apologies.
Harry sat down in his seat ignoring all of the angry glares from around him. Hermione tried to scoot past him to grab her seat when she lost her balanced and fell into his lap. He let out a faint `oomph' in surprise, and watched her try to hold back more laughter. He held back a cheeky grin and helped her into her seat.
Fleur who was now walking down the isle shot Hermione a very fierce look. Warning Hermione with her eyes if she did anything to ruin her wedding day she would tear her limb from limb. For some reason that Harry didn't understand, this sent Hermione into almost hysterical laughter. She tried to stifle her laughter in his shoulder. Harry held back the biggest grin of his life. This was very unlike Hermione, but he didn't care, he liked it!
~*~* End Flashback*~*~
Harry smiled at the memory; it was one of his favorites. But he still didn't understand why he didn't start to have feelings for her until a few weeks ago. Had he felt this way all along since the wedding? He had no idea. Then something hit him. He reflected back to the Yule Ball in fourth year when he actually realized that Hermione was a girl. Then his mind floated back to Bill and Fleur's wedding and it hit him. That was when it really hit him. It was at Bill and Fleur's wedding when he saw Hermione as a woman for the first time.
She was no longer the little schoolgirl he had met on the train over six years ago. She had grown into beautiful, intelligent, strong woman who was capable of doing anything-because she was Hermione Granger, and he was in love her!
Oh my god I'm in love with her, he thought to himself. I love her!
Now everything made sense! He had been in love her since the moment they both tripped in a rush to get out of the bathroom and he heard her laughing. He had just been too blind and angry at the world to see it with everything going on. But now he was bursting with emotion. He wanted to run around and tell the world that he was in love. But he couldn't, he had to keep this to himself.
"I love Hermione Granger!" he said to himself, smiling like and idiot. "I love her!"
Harry fell asleep that night and had a very pleasant dream!
***
Harry opened his eyes the next morning and saw clouds hovering outside his window. He glanced around his dormitory and saw that Ron must have already gone to breakfast. He rolled over and pulled on his glasses, then glanced at his watch, it past was noon! He must have been having a very good dream if he slept in that late!
He pulled himself out of bed and began rifling through his trunk in search of his housecoat and towel. He decided a nice hot shower before joining Ron for lunch would be a great start to what he thought would be a wonderful day.
The first thing Harry planned on doing after lunch was to track down Hermione and give her the biggest apology she had ever received in her life. But there was no need for this, for when he entered the Great Hall for lunch he found her sitting across from Ron hovering over a large red book.
"Hello," he said, sitting next to Ron.
"Hi," replied a dismal Ron. "Four more Dementor attacks last night." He handed the Daily Prophet over to Harry. Hermione pulled her book down long enough to give Harry a frown. "One of them was Slughorn," Ron added.
"WHAT!?" Harry roared, snatching the paper from his best friend.
"He was found in a bathroom inside a muggle shop just outside Diagon Alley," Ron said sadly.
"What was he doing in a muggle shop?" questioned Harry.
"Buying supplies," Hermione said from behind her book.
"In a muggle shop?" Ron challenged.
She groaned and pulled her book down. "No, Ronald, in Diagon Alley" she let out an annoyed breath. "I was in the library with Ginny yesterday before going down to see Hagrid, and we over heard McGonagall telling Madam Pince that Slughorn was going to Diagon Alley to buy supplies. She said something about needing a certain potion to clear a certain somebody's head."
Harry gulped. "You mean…"
"Yes, Slughorn was killed because somebody doesn't want you to achieve transformation." Hermione said dismally. "Somebody has eyes inside this school and knows you haven't been able to transform and intends to keep you that way."
A chill ran down Harry's spine, he knew that when Hermione said somebody she really meant … Voldemort.
"How did he end up in a muggle shop?" Ron asked.
"I don't know," she said, barely above a whisper.
***
A few hours later Ron and Harry decided to get in some flying time before the sun went down, to try and lighten the mood of this horrible day. Harry knew nothing would make this day better. He was grateful though that Hermione was speaking to him again, only if it was during those few minutes in the Great Hall.
The girls had decided to come outside to watch the boys fly around and to get some fresh air. Harry watched Hermione and Luna walking a head of him up the lawns toward the pitch. Ron was in a brisk walk beside him. And he turned to see Ginny walking slowly behind him with a book clutched tightly in her arms. She looked utterly depressed, and Harry couldn't blame her, she had been quite fond of Slughorn.
Harry felt the anxiety pooling at the bottom of his stomach, knowing that at that moment Voldemort might be somehow watching him. He almost wanted to vomited at the thought. He wished Dumbledore were here. He looked across the lawns and caught sight of Dumbledore's large white tomb, which almost glowed, in the cloudy afternoon light. He felt a pang of pain hit him.
When they finally reached the pitch, rain began to lightly sprinkle down. The girls climbed the stands until they reached the very top and Harry and Ron mounted their brooms. Harry was glad to feel the familiar rush of wind blowing in his hair; it had been months since he had been on a broom.
After a long while the rain pounded down harder until he could hardly see in front of him. He was surprised that the girls were still in the stands. He was soaked to the bone but he didn't care, he enjoyed the freedom he felt he had been denied for months.
He heard a yell and he looked across the pitch to see Ron hovering by the stands asking Hermione if she wanted to go for a ride on his broom. To his surprise he saw her climb on the back on his broom. He felt jealously brewing within. He moved forward a little bit and watched Ron zoom around the pitch with Hermione holding onto him for dear life.
Harry moved a little closer. Some of these moves that Ron was trying to pull were dangerous, especially in this weather, and Ron was never the greatest flier. Ron was soaring gracefully across the pitch then violently pulled up vertically into a dangerous Quidditch move. Harry heard the most terrorizing scream escape from Hermione, and saw her slipping from Ron's broom.
Without a thought he shot in her direction. It all happened in almost slow motion for him. He watched her lose her grip on Ron's robes, slowly falling off the tail on the broom. Ron turned the nose of the broom down hoping to keep her on. But his plan failed, she fell forward against his back, then lost her balance and slipped off the left side of the broom before he had a chance to catch her.
Harry heard another violent scream escape from her lips. She was able to grab a hold Ron's foot and was dangling in mid-air. She screamed bloody-murder for help. Harry thought he heard her crying his name. Ron was able to reach down and pull her up until he had a good hold around her waist, before Harry could reach them. As he quickly headed for the ground Harry could hear Hermione screaming and shouting curse words at Ron as he touched the ground.
Harry heard Ron mumbling apologies for the beating of the rain. But Hermione was just screaming and cursing at him.
"JUST GO AWAY RON! LEAVE ME ALONE!"
As Harry landed he saw Ron stalking away. At the same time he felt bad for Ron knowing how guilty he must feel, and at the same time he wanted to pulverize him!
Hermione stood in the middle of the pitch panting heavily and completely drenched.
"Hermione!" Harry called as he jogged in her direction. "Are you alright?"
She nodded without saying a word. She wanted to cry.
Harry put a comforting arm around her and led her towards the Gryffindor changing rooms. Inside he sat her down on the bench and looked her over. She didn't have a scratch on her, but she was badly shaken up.
Harry headed over to the cupboard and pulled out a musty smelling towel. "Hermione…say something, are you sure you're alright?"
She said nothing. She stared at the floor and was shaking horribly.
"Hermione?"
She got up and ran into Harry's arms. "Oh, Harry!" she whispered.
Harry was shocked, as her arms wrapped around his middle, and she buried her face in his chest. It took him a second to register everything as he wrapped his arms around her. He pulled the towel tight around her trying to keep her warm. Having her in his arms felt like he had finally found was he had been searching for his whole life.
He ran his hands over her back, trying to comfort her. He felt her shaking in his arms followed with a sniffle and he knew she was crying. He wanted to hold her forever and never let go.
Then the stupidest thing he could say spilled from his lips. "You don't have to always yell at Ron like that, you know?" He couldn't believe he was saying this. How stupid was he?
She pulled away from him. "What?" she gasped. "Harry, he almost DROPPED me!"
What the FUCK are you doing you, Git! His brain screamed at him. You're ruining the perfect moment you ass!
"HARRY!" she screamed, pulling him away from his thoughts. "WHAT ARE YOU GOING ON ABOUT?"
"You were being foolish!"
"FOOLISH!?" Hermione shouted. "Harry, he nearly dropped me 200 feet!"
"Yes you were being foolish!" He was almost yelling now, but he wasn't infuriated. He just felt he needed to make this as clear as possible to her and he didn't know why. "You didn't have to be scared, you know why?"
"WHY?" She roared. "TELL ME HARRY WHY I DIDN"T HAVE TO BE AFRAID OF FALLING TO MY DEATH!?"
"BECAUSE I WAS THERE! AND I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU!" He yelled, so she could him over her own screams.
She quieted, and her angry face softened. "…You love me?"
"…And I would NEVER let anything happen to you!"
Without realizing what he was doing he grabbed her face and pulled her into a deep passionate kiss, which he never wanted to end. His hands found their way into her wet tangled hair as he pulled her mouth harder against his. When reality got the best of him he pulled away. Only inches from her face he stared into her eyes as he panted heavily. He watched her face as she tried to register what had just happed.
He was bursting with emotion as he also tried to register what had just happened. He was going to die if he didn't do something. With that he suddenly turned and stalked out of the changing room, leaving Hermione wet, alone, and confused in the changing room to dwell upon everything that had just happened.
A/N: I really hope you liked it. If you were wondering, I reposted this chapter because I wrote it in a rush and there were some spelling mistakes that were annoying me. I know that this chapter may be a little confusing but I will clear everything up in the next chapter when we hear Hermione's side of everything.
PLEASE REVIEW!!
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