Harry Potter stared fixatedly at his best friend as she worked endlessly on yet another of their seemingly endless homework assignments. Some of her unruly brown curls had escaped from the tie she had tried to contain them with and he found his fingers practically itching to brush the strands away from her face. He forced himself to refrain. She didn't know he felt that way about her and any irregular occurrences would ruin his chances of hiding it much longer. Every day he got through without telling her seemed to him to be lessening his chances anyway, he practically had to bite his tongue to keep from shouting it from the top of the Astronomy Tower.
Forcing himself to swallow, he turned his head away from her, anxious to focus on something else, lest he give himself away.
The past few weeks of classes following the winter holidays had been packed for the seventh years and they were all running on very small amounts of sleep and very high numbers of cups of coffee.
The break in studying for NEWTs and homework, coupled with the warmth of the fire in front of him, the soothing sound of quills scratching against parchment, and Hermione's unconscious humming all combined to form an unbeatable siren's song, calling Harry into sleep.
Ron glanced up from his Charms essay and smiled when he saw that Harry had finally succumbed to the overpowering desire to rest. He nudged Hermione with his elbow and she looked up at him from her Advanced Potions essay. He pointed to Harry with his quill and grinned at her. She smiled in return, glad that Harry was finally sleeping. And, for a change, it seemed to be peaceful.
Unable to stop herself, Hermione put her essay down in her seat as she stood up and moved to the chair where Harry was lying with his legs draped over the armrests, across from the couch where she and Ron were sitting as they worked on homework. She brushed his hair back from his forehead, leaning down to press a gentle kiss on his scar.
As she straightened up she had to fight the blush that threatened to appear on her cheeks as she felt Ron's eyes on her. The redhead was aware of how she felt about their mutual best friend, just as he was aware of how their black haired best friend felt about the bossy, know-it-all brunette. He had tried, without success, to encourage both of them to come clean about their feelings but both parties had stated a firm belief that their feelings would not be returned as their reason for not revealing how they felt. Ron's urging to just give it a shot and hope for the best had gone unheeded by both of his stubborn best friends.
In the meantime, until they decided to understand what was right in front of them, he was content to watch them dance around each other, ignoring the obvious signs and choosing instead to play the dramatic suffering lovers doomed to have their feelings forever unrequited.
Ron actually found it all very amusing and he was having a hard time keeping a grin from his face as he watched Hermione tenderly brush a kiss against her sleeping love's forehead.
He had to bite his lip to keep himself from laughing as he saw a blush rising in her cheeks as she moved back to the couch and sat quickly, pulling her essay in front of her face to hide the crimson in her cheeks. She just ignored him as he snorted with laughter, her quill moving across her parchment as she tried to write more of her essay. Ron's unsuppressed guffaws of laughter quickly stopped her.
"Will you stop it!" she hissed, embarrassed, as she hit his shoulder weakly with her essay. He valiantly tried to stop, choking down his laughter. After a few seconds he lost control again and began to cackle loudly again. Other Gryffindors were beginning to look over at them as the sounds of anything but studying were foreign noises to the overworked students.
A movement across from them turned their attention away from their fellow Gryffindors and they both looked over at the chair to find that the commotion had awoken Harry. He was rubbing one eye, his hand pushing his glasses up. His other eye was squinting at them, trying to determine what had woken him up. When he moved his hand and his glasses slipped back into place he noticed that Ron was chuckling and Hermione seemed to be blushing brightly and shooting looks at Ron.
"What's going on guys?" he asked sleepily, stifling a yawn as he talked.
Ron continued to laugh quietly as he packed up his school things. "I think I'm going to go to bed," he said, standing up and looking back and forth between his two best friends meaningfully before grinning strangely and waving as he set off up the boy's stair.
"What's up with him?" Harry asked as he stretched a little in his chair, his arms reaching out behind his head. Hermione winced involuntarily as she heard his back crack several times.
"That can't be comfortable," she said instead. "Why don't you come lay over here on the couch?" She patted the cushion next to her that Ron had just vacated. A look she couldn't identify passed through his green eyes and he nodded slowly.
Wearily, he rolled onto his feet and seemed to trudge the few feet to the opposite couch. He lay down immediately, his head resting next to her hip on the cushion. He stretched his legs out in the other direction and hooked his calves on the armrest where the couch was just a little too short for him to lie stretched out comfortably.
He didn't complain however, just turned his head a little to the side to get comfortable, his eyelids drooping closed almost immediately. Hermione bit her lip as she saw how peaceful he finally looked and found tears welling in her eyes as she watched him begin to return to sleep.
"Harry," she whispered, not wanting to wake him if he was already asleep but not wanting him to sleep uncomfortably either. A tiny sliver of green appeared below his glasses as his eyes cracked open slightly. "Put your head in my lap, you'll be more comfortable," she said quietly, sliding her hands under his shoulders to help him slide his head onto her lap. He used his feet to push against the armrest and slide his body up the couch a little, leaving his shoulders leaned against her thigh, his head in her lap, face turned away from her body.
He dimly felt her gentle fingers sliding his glasses off his nose and he nuzzled her leg in thanks as he heard her place them on the table in front of them. His eyes slid closed again as her fingers slid slowly into his hair. She paused momentarily, waiting tensely for some sign that he approved of what she was doing. A quiet moan, accompanied by his head tilting up slightly, moving her fingers, gave her his answer. With a quiet smile she twirled his unruly black hair around her long fingers, dragging them through his hair, smoothing it out while being careful not to pull it. His breathing slowed down and was steady and deep as he drifted back into dream world.
Still idly playing with his hair, her mind was free to wander uninterrupted. There was still a sizable group of people in the Common Room but she knew without asking that none of them would bother them. Her status as Head Girl, if not his as The-Boy-Who-Lived, guaranteed them privacy whenever they wished it.
Now, more than ever, she appreciated that. It gave her time to sort through her confused thoughts. She knew she cared for Harry and she knew that he cared for her but she was afraid that his feelings couldn't match the depth of her own for him and that if she revealed just how deeply she cared for him and how much she loved him, he would withdraw from her. His friendship was the most important thing in her life. She couldn't even imagine what she would do if she were to lose it.
Harry's head moving in her lap drew her attention and she frowned as she noticed that a sweat had broken out on his forehead and his shoulders were rigid against her leg. His own legs jerked a little and his head turned quickly to face the other direction. A groan escaped his lips and she unconsciously began stroking his hair again.
"No…" he breathed out, his voice sounding anxious. "Not…Hermione," he gasped, his head turning quickly again as his listener stiffened above him. A sob tore through him and, gasping, he sat up quickly as he snapped back into consciousness, narrowly missing hitting Hermione as his head shot forward.
"Harry?" she asked cautiously, her hands running across his shoulder blades, gently massaging his tense shoulders.
His head snapped around at the sound of her voice and his arms immediately wrapped around her, pulling her to his side quickly. He held her tightly to his chest, resting his cheek against her hair, whispering words that she couldn't quite make out.
"Thank Merlin you're okay," he finally said where she could hear. She put her arms around him, soothingly rubbing his shoulders in an effort to calm him.
"It was just a dream. It's okay. I'm here." He didn't respond, just held her, trying to convince himself that she was really there and whole and safe. After a few moments she slowly pulled back.
"Harry? What's wrong?" she asked, unthinkingly running her hand across his cheek. His eyes slid closed and he leaned into her hand. Her eyes widened in surprise and her jaw dropped.
Was it possible that he might actually return her feelings? Not wanting to lose the feeling of him resting in her hand, she rubbed her thumb across his cheek and was surprised to hear a low groan slide between his lips.
"Harry?" she asked hesitantly, leaning down a bit to look into his face. "Harry, are you okay?"
His green eyes opened instantly, seemingly to suddenly realize where he was and what was happening. "Hermione," he said, not meeting her eyes, looking into the fire to avoid her searching brown gaze. "Did I say anything while I was sleeping?" he asked glancing at her face before looking away again. Hermione frowned and lifted her hand to turn his face back towards her.
"Harry, was your dream about me?" she asked, not letting him look away from her. A strange look entered his eyes as she spoke, a look she'd never seen there before. Sighing heavily, he nodded his head, turning his eyes away from her. She just held his chin tighter, moving her face so that she could look into his eyes. She was surprised to see tears welling up in his eyes. He blinked and a tear broke and ran down his cheek, reaching his jaw line and touching her fingers.
Forgetting about making him tell her his dream, she leaned forward quickly, pulling him into her arms. She felt his head rest against her shoulder, his arms sliding around her as he broke down. "Oh Harry," she murmured, one of her hands sliding into his hair, trying to soothe him as she had done earlier.
She heard his choking sobs and her heart broke. Her arms tightened around him and she felt his hands grip the cloth of her shirt as he held onto her. "I love you Hermione. Please don't leave me." His sobbing plea made her heart skip a beat and she could hear the blood pounding in her ears. His breathing had been shaky and his voice was hoarse but she had understood every word he had said.
Scarcely daring to believe it could be possible, she breathed his name, questioning. "Harry, what do you mean? I'm not going to leave you," she said, trying to assure him while ignoring the wild panic that was running through her mind at the thought of his other statement.
"Voldemort," he choked, tears soaking into her shirt as he cried. "Voldemort made me watch while he killed you." His sobs were tearing at her heart, tears leaking out of her own eyes as she listened to him. His voice strengthened and he pulled back a little, face tear streaked but determined as he said, "I won't let him, Hermione. He can't take you from me." He fell forward onto her shoulder again, hugging her to him tightly. "I can't lose you," he breathed, scarcely audible.
"Harry, you won't lose me," she said trying again to reassure him. "Voldemort can't take me from you. I love you Harry. I'll never leave you."
Harry's breathing stopped and for a second she was terrified that she'd somehow lost him. "You love me?" he asked, his voice muffled by her shirt but she could still understand the words, what the question meant, even the way her answer would totally change both of their lives.
Hermione pulled back to look into his face, tears streaming out of both of their eyes. Never taking her eyes off of his, she swallowed and took a deep breath. "Yes Harry. I love you." The simple sentence seemed to echo in his mind for a long moment as he struggled to grasp the meaning of what she was saying. As it penetrated his mind, he grabbed her tightly, pulling her back into his arms. Holding her, he began rocking back and forth gently, his fingers buried in her hair as she whispered words of reassurance and love into his ear.
**********
Ron yawned widely as he walked tiredly down the boy's stairs toward the common room. It was too early to get up, no matter what Hermione said about the importance of studying for NEWTs. The only thing he wanted to concern himself with this early in the morning was sleep. And if sleep wasn't an option he would settle for food. His stomach growled audibly as he reached the landing of the stairs and he groaned as he rubbed his abdomen soothingly.
He stopped walking as he reached the bottom step and caught a glimpse of the intertwined bodies on the couch.
Harry and Hermione were stretched out together on the sofa, arms around each other with blanket covering them. Her head was resting on his chest while his arm was wrapped around her shoulder. Harry's knee was poking out from under the blanket where it was bent to curl around Hermione's leg. From the shapes he could make out through the blanket, Ron guessed that Hermione was lying in between Harry's legs and he was using his to hold her there.
Smirking to himself, Ron moved across the common room and seated himself in an armchair across from the sofa. His smirk became a grin moments later when Hermione begun to stir in her sleep.
Pushing her head up slowly, Hermione blinked quickly, trying to clear her head. The slow, steady heartbeat that she could feel thumping below her helped her remember and she smiled as she looked down at Harry. He was still sleeping peacefully and she couldn't resist leaning down and pressing a kiss to his cheek. His green eyes opened a sliver and he smiled up at her.
"Good morning," she whispered, running her hands through his hair.
Ron grinned widely and chose that moment to enter the conversation. "Oh yes it is. Apparently better for some than for others."
Hermione and Harry's heads simultaneously turned to look at their grinning red headed friend. They both started to explain but stopped when Ron's grin widened.
"Did you two actually think that I didn't know? You have both been coming to me and complaining and groaning about how the other one will never return your feelings. I was just waiting for you both to get it together," he said, his blue eyes smirking at them. Hermione rolled her eyes and Harry smirked back at his best friend.
Ron's stomach growled again and the friends laughed. "Hungry, Ron?" Harry asked with a grin. The red head grinned sheepishly and stood up.
"Well you two are the reason I haven't eaten breakfast yet," he retorted, extending his hand to the still embracing couple on the couch. Hermione laughed and took his hand, letting him pull her off the couch onto her feet, bringing the blanket with her. Harry got up and helped her fold the blanket and put it on the back of the couch.
The group of them crawled through the portrait hole, taking up their normal walking positions, Harry in the middle with Hermione and Ron on either side of him. Glancing down at where his hand was entwined with Hermione's he sighed.
"What's up Harry?" Hermione asked, squeezing his hand.
"No matter what changes, this will always stay the same right?" he asked, gesturing between the three of them. Ron grinned and slung his arm around Harry's shoulder.
"Of course not; no matter what happens we'll always have each other. Nothing will change that," Hermione said, hugging Harry's arm as she leaned forward to look at Ron. He looked back at her and winked.
"Yeah, mate. Nothing's going to change us," he reiterated Hermione's statement. Harry smiled and laughed again as Ron's stomach growled again.
"Nothing changes," Harry repeated, grinning at his two best friends as they continued to walk to the Great Hall.
AN: I found this thing on my hard drive and decided to go ahead and finish it. Review if you feel inclined - it is much appreciated.