"I'm Not Giving Up On You..."

"I'm Not Giving Up On You..."

"Hermione, why are you trying so damn hard? Why do you want there to be an us?" Harry turned on his heel, raising his voice to her. The two of them were making their way down the corridor, just before lunch. It was quite deserted, a short cut - if you will.

"And why are you trying so hard to keep things subdued? Why don't you want there to be an us?" She answered his question, with an equally intelligent question. She followed him quickly, though his legs were much longer then hers, so she almost had to jog slightly with every one of his strides. Once she saw him turning around to face her, she halted quickly in front of him, almost clumsily.

"Maybe because I can already see the outcome." He said abruptly, his answer baffling her slightly. He then, with that, turned around once again, and began to make his way down the corridor, not even looking back at her to see if she was keeping up with him.

But, she was determined. She was going to find out what he meant, and she was going to make him realise where she was coming from.

"Harry, listen to me!" She called to him sharply, having lost a few seconds of catching up, and was now a few meters away from him, instead of right behind him. She stopped, becoming suddenly still after stomping her foot in frustration at him.

Her face was set, her mind was racing, she wasn't going to let him walk away and dismiss this completely. She wasn't going to let him walk away and shrug it off, like he always did. She wasn't going to let him forget about her feelings for him. She put her heart out on the line, and she would fight before she let it shatter.

Harry froze where he stood, further down the corridor. His head dropped slightly, and he closed his eyes, swallowing hard, as if he was preparing himself for something big. He took a deep breath, and turned around, opening his eyes to see Hermione standing there, a lone tear streaking down her left cheek.

He stared at her for a moment, a trace of meaning in his bottle green eyes.

"Fine, Hermione. I'm all ears." He said, his voice just above a whisper, as it echoed eerily off of the stone walls.

It was taking every ounce of his being not to blurt out how wrong he felt. He knew that he loved her, he knew that he wanted, no, needed to be with her. But he would never let her have the satisfaction of knowing that. He wouldn't allow himself to be the reason that she died.

Hermione took a deep breath and began to walk toward him, her gaze never leaving him, as her shoes tapped against the stone floor, and echoed off of the walls. Once she reached him, she stopped, only a foot or two away from him, and stood, looking him dead in the eye.

"I love you, you idiot. Don't you get that?" She said softly, almost into his ear, as she chuckled slightly at her choice of words. "I've always loved you. Ever since that day on the train, and I can see in your eyes that you love me too." She stared up at him, and he turned his concentration away from her, trying desperately not to meet her gaze.

"Harry, look at me." She whispered, her hand reaching for his chin and gently bringing it back, so his eyes would meet hers.

He couldn't fight her off, his body and heart wouldn't let him fight her off. "But what about Ron? What happened with Ron last year, then?"

"I was confused, Harry. You can't blame me for that." She answered back, soft but firm. She never let go of his chin, even though he wasn't fighting her off. She stared up into his green eyes, and began to become entranced with them.

"What if you're confused now, and you weren't, then?" He shot back softly, his eyes giving her a penetrating stare. It felt as if he could almost see into her soul, and it made her shiver.

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life, Harry." She answered back, sincerity etched in her gaze. Her hand dropped slowly down from his face, landing somewhere on his shoulder, making it's way down his chest, and finally back to her side.

Harry shivered from her touch, every fibre in his body absolutely tingling with joy. He wasn't supposed to feel like this, things weren't supposed to be this way, and yet they were. His head was screaming at him to act. To show her his feelings, without speaking them, for words just didn't seem to be enough.

Slowly, but surely, his head made its way to hers. The gap was closing between their lips, and within seconds, they met in a soft, gentle kiss. Hermione's hands slithered to the back of his neck, meeting there and clinging together, as his hands slid down to her waist, gripping carefully.

Harry began to press his lips firmer into hers, deepening the kiss slightly, both of them longing to keep the kiss going. Just as Hermione's tongue slid out onto his bottom lip, he came to his senses, and pulled away. He left Hermione to stand there, dumbstruck as he began to back slowly away from her.

She stood, transfixed, as she plundered for something to say to him.

"Harry?" Was all that managed to escape her now slightly pink and puffy lips. She looked perfect, standing there, somewhat dazed as her eyes remained glazed over with desire.

"Hermione, I can't. I can't love you." He whispered solemnly, knowing his words were a lie.

"Tell me why." Hermione demanded, the volume in her voice raising slightly, breaking, as she swallowed back a lump in her throat. She had handed him the power to virtually kill her with mere words. "Tell me why, Harry James Potter."

"I - I... I don't want to lose you, Hermione. I would rather be your friend, and keep you safe. Then love you, and have to give you up." He continued, shaking his head slightly as he tried to pull himself together.

"What are you talking about?" She asked, her voice becoming softer once more.

"If Voldemort knows that I love you, he'll use you as bait, Hermione. He'll kill you, or harm you, to get to me." He answered back painfully. It even hurt to utter those words, let alone think about how he would manage to face it, if he was confronted with this.

"Don't you think I deserve the right to make my own decisions? Don't you think I've taken all of the risks into account? Hell, it's a risk just being your friend, just being close to you... but I bare it, every moment of every day, because I wouldn't have it any other way, Harry. I bare it, because I love you..." Her voice trailed off, as more tears burst the boundaries of her eyes and slid down her cheeks to join the first.

"You may be able to bare the risk, but I wouldn't be able to bare... losing you." He answered, his voice breaking also, as his face turned a tinge of red from emotion.

"If you choose to give me up, now. If you choose to give up on what we have, then you're still losing a part of me, Harry." She whispered, her tears now engulfing her. As she felt her heart began to break, she let her bag drop off of her back, and onto the floor. She turned on her heel, and began to walk away, breathing heavily. She had to get away from him right now, it was too painful to lay eyes on him.

"Hermione, wait." Harry called to her, as she began to walk down the corridor.

"What?" She answered. Halting, but not turning to face him. She wiped some of her tears off of her cheeks, waiting for him to reply.

Harry walked toward her quickly as she turned to face him. In seconds, his lips were pressed against hers once more. She obliged the kiss, smiling on his lips carefully.

"I don't want to lose a part of you." He said quietly, pulling away slightly. He watched her carefully, waiting for her reaction.

"Then don't. Give this a chance, give us a chance, Harry." She smiled up at him slightly, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing a kiss to his lips, whispering on this. "Don't give up, because either way, I'm not leaving your side."

Harry's heart burst with warmth. He seemed to have strength in Hermione, and she was right. Either way, whether they were going out or not, she would still end up defying him and being beside him through it all, she always managed to do that anyway. And he needed her, he loved her.

He had made up his mind, he was going to take the chance. Smiling down at her, he replied, "If this goes any further then right now, you're going to have to send that Terry Boot guy packing." His smile instantly turned into a grin, as he heard Hermione chuckle.

"I'm one step ahead of you Harry, I already told him in Charms to leave me alone and stop pining for me. Now, I don't know if he's listened, but it definitely shut him up." She smirked, as she picked up her bag, and they began to make their way down the corridor.

"Well good, because if he touches you, I'm punching him into next week." Harry said, wrapping an arm around her waist, as she did the same to him. He felt good, having said that. Hermione laughed, and it only made him grin broader.

Sure, Voldemort was coming, and sure, Harry was counting the days to his doom. But he had learned to live with it, he learned to accept that he was the 'Chosen One'. He learned to take all the glares from the Slytherins, all the stares of awe from the first years, and all the encouraging smiles from the teachers and Gryffindors in his stride.

He accepted the fact that he'd never be normal, or live a normal life. He accepted the fact that he couldn't change his destiny. And now, he had accepted the fact, that no matter what he did, he couldn't run from love, and that Hermione and Ron were always going to be there, beside him, taking every blow they could. He couldn't stop them, and at the same time, he was glad he had such great friends to be there beside him always.

He had to be honest with himself, he loved Hermione and he couldn't change that. So, why should they both suffer because of his stubborness?

All he could do, was live one day at a time. All he could do, was prepare himself for the worst, and hope it would be enough. Because in the end, he knew, they would still be there, fighting beside him, and he didn't want to let them down.

As they were making their way down to the Great Hall, out of the blue, half way down the marble staircase, she whispered, turning to him and smiling.

"And don't worry, Harry. I'm not giving up on you..."

A/N: Yup, I know, another one. I’ve just... got ideas buzzing around in my head, lately, and I have to get them out on paper, or I’ll explode, pretty much! *laughs* So, basically, that’s why I’m writing loads of small fics. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed reading it, as much as I enjoyed writing it! I’ve finished writing chapter 4 of Twisted Logic, and I should be posting it shortly, so, if you read Twisted Logic too, then updates are being made soon! Right, well, please, please, PLEASE R&R! I want your opinions!