With his eyes open wide and his face cold with sweat, Harry stared up at the ceiling, breathing fast and feeling his heart pound. His head was swimming, and he felt as if he ran for miles on end, even though he was only lying there in his warm bed. For a brief second, he wondered why he was feeling so tired and fatigued, but then it came back to him in a rush: the sound of a book tearing apart… the awful smack when hand met face… the cheers from the onlookers… then the pleading, trembling voice of that sweet little girl, suffering at the hands of those awful children…
Hermione…
Feeling the tears once again threatening to make their appearance, Harry whipped off the bed covers and bounded out of it, barely noticing how cold the carpet was against his bare feet. He knew that what he just saw was a dream, but he had a deep, gut feeling that all of it actually happened. He knew in his heart that Hermione actually did suffer horribly through all that.
"She's a nightmare, honestly. It's no wonder she doesn't have any friends."
Harry glanced over at Ron's still-sleeping form. He still remembered those words Ron vehemently spit out six years ago, back in their first year. And no matter what, Harry still remembered and always would remember Hermione's face, screwed up and stricken with tears, as she bumped into him and walked onwards, clearly having heard what Ron had just said. It all fit now…
Without another word, Harry rushed out his room and slammed on the hallway light switch, looking around wildly and trying to remember where Hermione was sleeping. He was so excited and agitated that he couldn't think clearly. All he wanted to do was to find Hermione.
One closed door at the end of the hall looked familiar. Another flood of excitement seeped into Harry quickly as he leapt through the hallway, not caring if the loud thumping of his feet woke anybody up. "Hermione…" he involuntarily whispered, finally laying one quivering hand on the doorknob. Just saying her name made electric tingles prickle throughout his entire frame.
He wrenched open the door, and the stream of hallway light immediately illuminated the room. With a huge sigh of relief, Harry saw Hermione on her bed, sleeping. She looked even more beautiful now than she did in the rain.
Harry stumbled towards her and dropped himself down on one side of the bed, wrapping an arm around her and laying there, his green eyes only focused on Hermione's sleeping figure. Her eyes were closed, and she was breathing in and out slowly, with the pattering of the rain filling the room. Without meaning to, Harry quietly slipped himself partway under her bed covers and tangled a pajama-clad leg with one of hers. "Why didn't you tell me, Hermione?" Harry whispered painfully, staring straight at Hermione's face, which was only a few inches from his own. With one hand he slowly reached up and touched Hermione's left cheek, where the bruise happened to be just moments earlier, in his dream. It was empty of any disfiguration now, but Harry still saw it fresh in his mind. He caressed her cheek with his thumb and shifted even closer to her, and half his body was now on top of hers. He leaned in even more, so that his forehead touched hers. "Hermione," he said softly, trying to wake her. He gently shook her. Hermione's eyes snapped open, but she didn't even react as her brown eyes landed on his green ones.
"Harry…" Hermione whispered very quietly. "What are you doing here?"
Before he could stop it, a sudden wave of some sort of compression filled his head, and he immediately recognized it as threatening tears. Harry, not wanting to cry in front of Hermione but also not wanting to take his eyes off her, kept his eyes wide open. As if on cue, the tears then started to gather at the back of his eyelids. He wondered how long he could keep them there.
"Harry?"
Harry then saw the love and concern in those pools of hazel-brown, and he just couldn't hold the tears any longer. The glossy drops trickled down his eyes, as the realization came to him that he didn't want to waste any more time in his fantasy with Ginny. Hermione was there for him all along, even when nobody else was. She risked everything she cared about to come along with him and fight with him, because she cared about him more than anything. And while the tears continued to flow down his face, he felt warmth unlike anything he felt before fill him to the core.
Hermione reached out and wiped the tears off Harry's face tenderly. "Harry, what's wrong? Did you have a nightmare? I have some Draught of Peace left in my bag, do you--?
"Hermione," Harry said, his voice cracking, "It's nothing like that. Hermione… I-I saw you… And, Hermione… I want you to know that you're the most beautiful girl I know."
"Harry, don't joke around," Hermione whispered. "I'm not beautiful at all. Tell me what happened instead."
"Hermione," Harry said, more tears cascading down from his eyelids, "I saw you… in a playground. A Muggle playground."
Hermione stayed silent, but Harry noticed that her face seemed to tauten slightly. "What, Harry?"
"You weren't what you look like now. You looked younger. And you were sitting all alone, eating a peanut-butter sandwich." Harry's voice was quavering uncontrollably.
"How do you know this?" Hermione asked very softly.
"I saw it. I saw you. And…" Harry had to gulp down more tears before he said the next part. "I saw a little boy come up to you and tear your book up in front of you. He called you ugly."
Even though Hermione didn't say anything to this, Harry noticed that the memories were capturing her face, as if what she was hearing was not new to her. Her brown eyes were glistening slightly. Was she about to cry too?
"The boy hit you," Harry gasped out, as if the pain was real and he was feeling it. The heart in his chest was beating faster than ever, and he felt tingly all over as the tears continued to fall and soak her bed sheets. His breathing was coming out as sobs now. "Oh, Hermione, I never knew…" He felt his love for her reach its breaking point, and he thought he would burst from it. The sensations of feelings rushing through him left him almost delirious with his love for her.
Harry then felt Hermione's warm body slowly envelop him in a gentle embrace. Harry heard sharp intakes of breath coming from her, and he realized that those awful memories were still fresh within her mind. And in response, he just clung to her tighter.
"I need you," Harry heard himself say. "I-I love you."
Hermione sobbed all the more harder as she buried her face into his neck. Harry didn't mind the wetness soaking down his neck and through his shirt, but he continued to hold her, realizing with a sharp pang that he was probably the first one that said that to her in a long time.
"Kiss me, Hermione," Harry croaked out, desperately wanting to feel his lips on hers and desiring with all his heart to show Hermione that he truly thought her as valuable and beautiful. "I want you."
Hermione slowly lifted her tear-glazed face upwards and smiled. Harry grinned back through his own tears. And Harry then felt his eyes close as he leaned forward, capturing Hermione's warm lips in a chaste caress. Both Harry and Hermione laid there in that tear-soaked bed and kissed desperately, as if they wanted to feel each other's love more than anything in the world.
As they let go, Hermione smiled again. "Harry?" she murmured, with the last of her tears trickling down her chin.
"Mmm?"
"I love you too."
A jolt tingled through Harry as the realization hit him like a blow on the head. She was the first person ever that said that to him, and she said it with such conviction. Nobody else, including Ginny, ever said that they loved him. And he smiled back at her as he wrapped his hand around hers, before saying, "And I think you're beautiful, Hermione. The most beautiful girl in the world."
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A/N: The end! Hope you enjoyed it, and please review!