AN- This is the best I can do. I actually have a life now- I'm so busy I can barely find the time to write anything, let alone update old stories- but I wrote this one based on this amazing guy, who's proven to me that not everything is logical, and not everything makes sense or has a reason. Even that sometimes, it's okay to be a little crazy….<3
Harry Potter was crazy. There was no way, after everything he'd said and done and considered doing, that he wasn't. Hermione had known that Harry was crazy before they were even really friends, when he'd started chasing Malfoy down on a broom to regain Neville's remembrall.
"But…he'll be expelled!" She had stated, terrified, to Ron, as she had watched Harry take off after the Slytherin.
Ron shrugged, his eyes on the two black dots in the air. "Maybe."
"He doesn't even know how to fly! Not really!" She pointed out, watching with stark terror as he continued to shout taunts to Malfoy. "And I'll bet Malfoy's been on a broom since he was old enough to work one…"
Again, all Ron did was shrug. "Probably." He continued to watch as Malfoy threw the ball and Harry dove to catch it, and began cheering as soon as he did, dismissing Hermione immediately to congratulate his friend with the rest of Gryffindor. Hermione, however stayed behind and approached the group at a much slower speed, wondering why Harry, who wasn't even a close friend of Neville's, would risk his education and scholarship at Hogwarts on such a stupid little thing. A part of her screamed that he just did it to show off, but that didn't fit with the image she had of him- plus, he hadn't even known how to work a broom. There was no way he could've expected to be able to show off.
There was that time in second year, when Harry had claimed that he'd heard voices, and Hermione had again questioned his sanity. Even in the wizarding world, where pictures moved and magic was real, it wasn't a good sign to be able to hear things that others couldn't.
And then there was third year, when Harry had claimed to have seen his father cast the patronus spell across the lake that saved them. Again, Hermione had begun to wonder about her friend.
Everything Harry did was cause for concern, from his tendancy to dive into dangerous situations that he shouldn't have anything to do with without any forward thought, to the way he sometimes had visions, and said things he couldn't remember. From the way he seemed to think that he was worthless when he was the wizarding world's savior, to the way he sometimes seemed to think of everything differently.
But this was just going to far.
"You want to what?" She asked, jaw hanging.
Solemnly, he stated, "I want to go swimming."
"But, Harry…..we have the awards ceremony in a few hours." She stated, incredulously. "You're receiving the Order of Merlin, First Class! The entirety of the wizarding world press is going to be there- Merlin, most of the Wizarding world will be listening! They're expecting a small acceptance speech, at least, which you haven't even written! And you want to go swimming?" By the end, Hermione's voice had taken on a slightly hysterical edge, but Harry's green eyes just watched her with an amused sparkle.
"Ummm…yeah!" Harry replied, his smile reaching his eyes for the first time since Voldemort's death. "It's hot out, and we're by the lake, and I'm bored…I want to go swimming!"
"But….there's a giant squid in there." She pointed out, eyeing the murky waters warily. "And merpeople….and grindlylows…..and all sorts of creatures and dangerous things! You can't seriously want to swim in that." Her skin crawled at the very thought, as she watched a large, fat toad hop onto the nearby banks of the lake. Harry shrugged, still smiling.
"Yeah, but it's not like I haven't gone swimming in it before, remember?"
"And don't you remember how fun that was?" She asked, wondering where Ron was. This was the sort of thing that he and Harry did together, while she watched and laughed and shook her head. She didn't actually DO any of their crazy stunts- she just watched them.
But Ron was probably busy writing his own acceptance speech at the last minute, somewhere inside the castle with the rest of the remaining Order and his family. It was mid-August, and after Voldemort's defeat the survivors had gathered and healed and celebrated inside the castle that many of them thought of as a second home.
"Please, Hermione!" Harry pleaded, already pulling his shirt off over his head.
Hermione made the worst mistake she possibly could have made- she turned her back on Harry Potter. "You're more than welcome to." She replied, knowing that whatever she said would never stop him from doing as he pleased. "But there's no way you're talking me into getting in there!"
"Why not?" He wheedled, moving unnoticed behind her.
"Because it's all muddy!"
"So?" He replied, as though this really didn't matter.
"I'm in my clothes!" She pointed out, eyeing her short-sleeved top and jean shorts- she really should go get changed for the ceremony.
"You're a witch- you can transfigure them! Or just swim in them, and do a cleaning spell when we get out!" Harry argued, inching closer still.
Hearing the plea in his voice, Hermione reconsidered and turned to make a final argument to Harry that might let her off the hook, to find that he'd already snuck up behind her, and was only inches away. Squealing as he picked her up and flung her over his shoulder with only a little difficulty, Hermione lightly pounded on his back, and absently wondered when Harry had gotten in such good shape, and how Harry could look so good without a shirt on.
And then, she was unceremoniously dumped into the murky brown lake. "HARRY POTTER!" immediately, she turned to tell him off…and found that he was right behind her, a handful of mud and gunk ready to throw. "Oh, you'd better not!" She warned, already knowing that it was hopeless.
Splat.
"You're done for!"
"You're crazy." She stated later, laying next to him, still soaking wet and muddy, on the thick grass. "Absolutely insane."
"Maybe." He replied absently, grinning. "I really like you, you know." He stated seriously, turning on his side to face her.
"And I really like you too, Harry, and I didn't mean that as an insult." She agreed, startled that such an obvious comment might have bothered him.
"No, I don't mean I like you. I mean I really like you, as more than a close friend. I mean, I like being with just you, like this." Shyly, he held her hand. It was different for before, she noticed. Their fingers were laced together, and the sun felt so warm and comfortable on her face, and even though she knew that by now, the award ceremony would be beginning, she couldn't bring herself to care.
She had everything she needed, everything she wanted, right here. Why go somewhere else?
"Then you must be crazy." She stated, smiling, and wondering if he was serious.
Again, Harry just shrugged and smiled his lazy smile. "Yeah, probably." He was leaning over her, his other arm balancing him. "Wouldn't you be, too?"
After everything they had gone through, Hermione thought, they deserved to be a little crazy. Maybe even she was a little crazy….
But maybe, a little crazy was a good thing.
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