~A/N> Happy Halloween everyone! This was written for Lisa, as a treat on her favorite day of the year.
As Hermione walked to the Great Hall, she could hear the music wafting softly down the corridor. Fidgeting with the skirt of her costume, she looked at the note she held in her hand and read it for what must have been the hundredth time.
"Chide me, dear stone, that I may say, indeed
Thou art Hermione; or rather, thou art she
In thy not chiding, for she was as tender
As infancy and grace.
Will you join me, my Hermione, at the Halloween Masquerade Ball? If thine answer is yes, meet me in front of the Great Hall's door's at eight, as I will be dressed as your humble husband, Leontes.
Hermione's heart raced in her chest, as it had everytime she'd read the note since receiving it, and she had to take a deep breath to calm her nerves. Adjusting the bodice of the costume, she looked down at the dark blue silk that fit snugly around her torso, only to flare out in the most beautiful skirt she had ever seen. She had never seen an actual costume from the Shakespeare play The Winter's Tale, from which the quote in the invitation came, but she knew that if she were to see a picture it would much resemble the dress she was wearing now. Realizing that she was now standing in front of the Great Hall doors, she looked around to see if anyone stood waiting for her, only to be met with an empty entrance hall and corridor. Wishing she had worn her watch, but knowing it would take away from the costume's authenticity, she turned back to the Hall's open doors to watch the other Hogwarts students dancing to the music the Weird Sisters were playing. She smiled as she saw Ron, dressed as one of his favorite Chudley Canon Quidditch players dancing with Luna, who currently resembled a breathtakingly beautiful wood nymph. She laughed to herself as she remembered the look on Ron's face as Luna met him in the Head Boy and Girl's common room after they had gotten ready for the Ball together. During the last battle with Voldemort, Luna had proven that even though she was in Ravenclaw, she had the bravery to be a true Gryffindor. She had saved Hermione and Ron from Dolohov and Bellatrix, who had attacked suddenly and viciously on the Astronomy Tower. Hermione knew that had Luna not shown up when she did, she and Ron would be dead; had they died, they never would have been able to help Harry defeat the evil bane of his existence.
Harry. She felt her eyes burn with unshed tears as she thought of him. He may have survived the battle, but a part of him had died with Voldemort, and no one knew what to do to help him. Madame Pomfrey said it had something to do with the Soul Eradication spell he had used to destroy the final horcrux, and she didn't know if he'd ever be back to his old self, the Harry they all knew and loved. Blinking quickly, Hermione wished that he would have agreed to join them that night, since the Ball was also a celebration of Voldemort's defeat. Harry had risked everything to save the world from evil...he deserved to be able to live a normal life now, even though he had no idea what a normal life for him would be. He deserved to be happy, and she longed to be the one to give him that happiness. Shaking her head, she tried to stop thinking of Harry. She was about to meet her mystery date, and it wouldn't be fair to him to be thinking of another wizard when he had gone to such lengths to impress her.
"Why doest thou look so sad?" whispered a male voice from behind her. He was standing so close that as he spoke, his warm breath tickled the back of her neck, causing a shiver of awareness to run through her.
"I'm not sad," she replied quietly, without turning around. "I was just watching my friends as they celebrate, and thinking of those that could not be here tonight."
"I see," he said in reply. "Do you think that you could put those thoughts aside tonight, and let yourself be free to have fun with me?"
"Who are you to presume to know me so well as to say that I don't have fun?" she countered quickly, feeling a quick flash of anger at his assumption. Suddenly she felt his hand on her arm, tugging gently as he tried to get her to turn and face him.
As she realized that the skin on her arm tingled where he touched her, she heard him quietly say, "I daresay that I know you better than anyone else at this school...maybe I know you better than you know yourself."
When her head snapped up to look at the mystery wizard, the one who dared to assume that he knew her so well, she gasped. There, dressed as Hermione's husband Leontes from The Winter's Tale, was Harry. "But...but you said you wouldn't come. You said that you didn't deserve to celebrate. You..."
The tears that she had successfully staved off before now returned, but this time they escaped from her eyes to trail down her cheeks, making her eyes shine with the mixture of sadness and surprise that she felt at seeing him standing in front of her. Removing his hand from her arm, he reached up to gently wipe away the tears as he said, "I said that you may have felt like celebrating the fact that I was a murderer, but I wouldn't have any part of it." Staring into her eyes he said, "I was an arse for saying that, and for treating you the way I have the past few weeks. You've been by my side for seven years, and you've always been there for me. I finally realized a few days ago that the one thing that I've been looking for all my life had been right in front of me for years."
"And what have you been looking for?" she whispered, trying not to let the hope that was in her heart grow as he spoke. She had loved him for so long, knowing very well that he would probably never return her feelings. How could someone who never knew love possibly love someone else? So she had simply stood by him, showing him in a way she thought he could understand how much she cared for him...through friendship.
"Someone to care about, someone to share everything with, someone to...l-love." As her eyes widened, he gently cupped her cheek with his right hand and his thumb moved back and forth in a loving caress. "When I finally beat Voldemort, as I watched him draw his last breath, I felt as if something was ripped out of the very core of my heart and soul. It left me feeling empty, uneasy, and-even though I knew that you and Ron were there for me- alone. I...it's so hard to explain, but I felt worthless and undeserving and I-I didn't want to live anymore." As he heard her sharp intake of breath at his admission, he moved so that his face was closer to hers, only an inch inbetween their bodies. Moving his other hand so that it was cupping her cheek as well, he held her face in his hands and said, "Then I thought about you. You, my bookworm of a friend who always came up with a way to save me when I thought nothing could; the person who wouldn't abandon me when I tried so hard to push you away, and it felt as if that hole inside of my heart and soul suddenly closed. 'The power he knows not' is love, my love for you made me whole again, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let that get away from me. I love you Hermione."
The trickle of tears had become a torrent now, but instead of being borne of sadness, these were borne of pure joy. Smiling at him through those tears, she reached out her hand and gently ran her fingers down the side of his face, feeling the slight stubble that proved he was no longer the young wizard she met on the train their first year. "I love you too, Harry."
All it took were those five simple words. Harry felt as if his heart may explode from the sheer happiness he was feeling at that moment and without a second thought, he closed the distance between them and pressed his lips to hers for their first kiss.
At the feel of his lips on hers, Hermione felt her knees weaken; when her lips parted and his tongue tentatively touched hers, she would have fallen to the floor had he not wrapped his arms around her just moments before. As the kiss deepened, the sound of applause reached their ears and they pulled apart slowly. Looking over her shoulder, Harry felt his cheeks warm as he saw that everyone in the Great Hall had just witnessed their kiss and was now clapping and cheering with smiles on their faces. Seeing him blush, Hermione turned only slightly and seeing their audience she turned back and buried her face in the crook of his neck.
"About bloody time you two!" Ron exclaimed as he walked up to them, slapping Harry on the back as a way of congratulating him.
"Thanks," Harry replied with a wide grin, wincing as Ron's hand came in contact with a spot that was still particularly sore from the battle. After congratulations from Luna and comments from quite a few other students, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Luna decided to take a walk in the brisk autumn weather.
As Hermione and Luna spoke to each other in hushed voices, Hermione showing Luna the note Harry had sent as an invitation, Ron looked down at his best mate and said, "You had us all pretty worried."
"To tell you the truth, I was worried myself," he replied, not quite meeting Ron's eyes. "The past few weeks have been a living nightmare. Having a part of your soul ripped out is something that no one should ever have to experience."
"So you're okay now?" Ron asked quietly.
"I think so," Harry replied. "If I'm not one hundred percent better, I'm sure that Hermoine will help me the rest of the way."
"I'm sure she will too," Ron agreed. "But remember, if you ever hurt her, I will kick your arse."
Laughing for the first time in a very long time, Harry met his friends gaze then and said, "I wouldn't dream of ever hurting her."
"Good," Ron grunted. "Wouldn't want to have to beat up my best mate."
The four continued to walk in companionable silence down to the lake, Ron and Luna walking over to sit at the base of one of the trees by the water's edge as Harry and Hermione continued to walk around it. When they had walked quite a ways more, Hermione stopped and as Harry looked down at her she stood on tiptoe to press her lips to his. A short time later they pulled apart, both a bit breathless, as Hermione smiled up at him. Returning her smile he said, "What is it?"
Pausing for a moment, becoming very serious, she said, "I just...well I...welcome back Harry."
Staring at her for a moment, understanding exactly what she meant, he said, "I should be thanking you. It's because of you that I'm back." After sharing another kiss, he looked into her eyes and said, "I love you, Hermione."
Smiling at him as the moon shone on her face, revealing the tears that once again escaped from her eyes, she held his hands tightly in hers as she said, "I know, and I love you too, Harry. I always will, no matter what."