"Cliché"
By: AnndeeGranger
Summary: Harry confesses his feeling for Hermione on her birthday, she doesn't respond as expected.
Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling, nor do I own Harry Potter (wouldn't mind the deed to Ron) and no infringement is intended.
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Wizarding London -20 September, 2005
Pop! Pop!
The sound of two instances of Apparition could be heard in the dark living room of a flat shared by two long-time best friends.
"Ah, what a lovely night." A female voice sighed, as her decidedly feminine form fell rather ungracefully onto the sofa with a soft thud.
The more masculine form plopped down beside her, "It was a nice night, hope you had a happy birthday, too bad it is past midnight and now it's over."
"It's nice to be the center of attention every once in a while." The woman admitted, stretching in the dark, and accidentally running one hand along her partner's thigh.
"Whoa there, Mione."
"Sorry, Harry." Hermione apologized as she silently illuminated the living room with a bit of light, her blush now visible.
Harry grinned, "You know if you want to cop a feel all you have to do is ask, a late birthday present and all."
"Honestly! It was an accident and it's not like it hasn't happened before." Hermione glared at him.
The grin on Harry's face only grew wider as he stared at her. Many would call her plain, most would call her pretty - with her big brown eyes and soft-looking skin - but as far as he was concerned, she was beautiful.
Hermione grew a bit uncomfortable under his penetrating green gaze, "Harry, when you stare at me like that I feel as if you're thinking of me starkers."
Harry laughed and gave her a seductive grin, "Maybe I am." He wasn't, not at the moment, but it wasn't as if he hadn't many times before.
"Like you really would." Hermione rolled her eyes at him.
"I am a man remember, and don't you go questioning my sexuality." Harry reached out and grabbed her hand, stroking the top of it softly with his thumb.
Oh I know, trust me. Hermione thought as her body hummed silently at his touch. "Of course I know you're a man Harry, I have accidentally walked in on you in the shower." She teased, reminding him of the few times over the past 7 years since they had been living together.
It was Harry's turn to blush, "Yet I've never caught you."
Hermione lifted a brown brow, "Are you saying you've tried?"
Without thinking Harry answered, "Of course I have." Then he let go of her hand and stared at her wide-eyed as he realized what he'd just confessed.
Hermione's mouth fell open, and then she closed it sputtering, "Harry James Potter, you perverted prat!"
"I didn't mean it like that!"
"How else could you have meant it?" Hermione asked, shocked and a bit pleased as well.
Harry ran a hand through his untamable raven locks, and adjusted his glasses with a sigh, "It's not like I contrive to see you…well nude, but well…I walk by the bathroom quite often when I know you're in the shower…I'm curious can you blame me?"
Hermione cocked her head to the side, her thick brown tresses falling to the side since she left it down that night, "But why by Merlin would you want to see ME in the buff? I'm not exactly Ginny you know."
"Because I think you're bloody beautiful, and any man that can see past the superficial would agree with me." Harry confessed.
Hermione blushed yet again, "You really think I'm beautiful?"
Harry simply nodded.
Hermione stared at her friend for quite awhile, thinking about what he had just told her and the feelings she'd kept squashed for years, feelings for him. She'd gotten involved with Ron, almost, at the end of sixth year and the summer before what would have been their seventh, but it turned out to be nothing more then a huge case of "what if". She could never have given her heart completely to Ron the way she needed, because most of it and now all of it, belonged to Harry. Not that she'd ever had the guts to tell him so.
Harry watched her watching him. He wondered if now was the right time to tell her what he'd discovered on the day that he'd defeated Voldemort and couldn't find her immediately afterwards - he was in love with her. He, of course, had kept it to himself because he was sure she didn't feel the same way and he didn't want to hurt Ron like that. However, earlier that night Ron, who was engaged to Luna Lovegood, which for some strange reason made perfect sense to Harry, told Harry that at 25 and now 26 years old, he and Hermione better get it together and get together.
"Harry?" Hermione asked, breaking the bespectacled man out of his thoughts.
"Hmm?" Harry responded.
Hermione bit her lip, "Would you give me one last - now belated - birthday present?"
"What, half of Flourish and Blott's charm section wasn't enough?" He joked.
"It's not materialistic." Hermione laughed, "Thank you again by the way, it's all the new books I'd wanted to get myself…you always know exactly what I want. Anyways, I was wondering if you would answer a question honestly." She bit her lip.
Harry shifted so he was sitting closer to her, "Of course Mione, what is it?"
Hermione bit her bottom lip once again, both afraid to ask the question and of its answer, "Have you ever thought about what it would be like if we were, you know together?"
Did Ron talk to her too? Can she read my mind now? Harry thought as he blinked at her, surprised that she'd asked. Then again if one of them were actually going to bring it up, it would be her. "Honestly?" He asked.
Hermione nodded.
Well if she wanted honest, she would get honest, every last inch of it that he had been holding in for the last seven years plus, "Every day for the past seven years."
Hermione blinked and stared at him shocked.
Harry took a deep breath and plowed head long into what he was sure would be the death of their friendship as they now knew it, "The day I finally got rid of The Ultimate Git and I got back to Hogwarts, and couldn't find you, I went ballistic and started turning the castle inside out trying to find you. It wasn't until I did and saw that you were safe that I knew that nothing meant anything to me if I didn't have you in my life. It was that same day that I realized that I loved you, and I mean truly truly loved you. I've been head over heels in love with you for probably at least ten years now, maybe longer. I couldn't live if you weren't in my life, I couldn't breath if I didn't get to see you every day, and I'd rather go back to living in a cupboard under the stairs if I couldn't hold you every now and then. I've wanted to kiss you, love you, confess all to you every damned day for seven years and my dreams are filled with images of what it would be like if I did and you felt the same way, but I never said anything because I didn't want to ruin our friendship and I didn't want to hurt Ron." Harry finally took a breath and stared at Hermione, waiting for any type of reaction.
Hermione balked at him, stared at him, then burst into a peel of hearty laughter, "Oh Harry…oh I can't believe you just said that."
Harry felt his heart sink and his ego begin to bruise, "I've just poured my heart out to you Mione, and you're laughing at me. You know if you don't share my feelings for you, you could just politely say so." He moved to the other end of the sofa completely.
"Oh Harry, no." Hermione said, reaching out to grab his hand, this time she was the one soothingly rubbing her thumb over the top of it. "It's not that. I do feel the same way for you. I figured it out shortly after the summer following sixth year. You were the reason I couldn't give Ron the kind of love he deserved, my heart already was mostly yours. I've thought about us being together every day for eight years, so I guess I beat you huh?" She grinned.
Harry could not help but give her a grin in return, moving closer to her as his heart began to soar.
"Just like you, I didn't think you could feel the same way and I didn't want to hurt Ron, but he's happy now with Luna." Hermione continued, "Harry, I'm in love with you too."
Harry's smile practically lit up the room as he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her across the couch. She yelped in surprise before it was cut off as he pressed his lips to hers in a kiss that was both loving and passionate. A kiss that set both their bodies humming as lips meshed with lips. One set demanding, the other soft and pliant.
As they broke apart, eyes dazed, Hermione's lips slowly worked back into a smile, "Well…even if it was just a kiss…it was sure worth the wait."
"Mione?" Harry grinned, kissing her again, softly this time.
"Hmm?" Hermione asked against his lips as she returned the kiss.
Harry pulled back a bit, "Why were you laughing?"
Hermione, whose eyes had closed during the second kiss, opened her eyes, which were shining brightly, "Oh…well it's just that you're whole speech, well it was kind of cliché you know."
Harry laughed, "Well I'll make sure to write down my proposal when the time comes so you can proofread it."
"Don't you dare." Hermione smacked him, "Sometimes I like cliché." She murmured before bringing his lips back to hers.
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A/N: The whole idea for this fic was a little plot bunny that got into my head about the cliche lines usually used when one or both H/Hr confess feelings for each other.
A/N2: Thanks to LadyStarlight and Joanie for their beta skills.