It was past midnight and Harry was pacing in the Gryffindor common room. He couldn't sleep. It had been almost sixteen years since his parents had died, and he had adjusted a lot over that time. But somehow that night, sleep just wouldn't come. He was restless with the feeling that he had no real memories of his parents.
"Harry?" He heard a soft female voice behind him. He almost drew his wand out of his pocket, but he relaxed when he realized he knew that voice. He turned around to face a groggy looking Hermione in sweatpants and a t-shirt that was clearly too small for her. Her hair was tied in somewhat of a knot on the back of her head, but a couple of strands of her curly brown hair framed her face. He forced a smile. Lately he had realized how much he cared for her. Every time he looked at her, every time they touched, he always felt his love for her grow stronger. He had realized not too long ago that he had been in love with his best friend for six years. But he was afraid of ruining their friendship. I mean, what would happen if she didn't feel the same? Which he knew she didn't.
"What are you doing up?" He asked her, sitting down on the couch and motioning for her to sit beside him. She joined him and curled up beside him, her head resting on his chest, and his arm around her shoulders. She folded her legs beside her on the couch. It was torture for him to smell her skin and feel her body and not be able to kiss her or tell her how he really feels.
"I just heard someone downstairs. I wondered who it was." She yawned.
"You should go back to bed. You look exhausted." He said.
"Nonsense. If you're up, I'm staying up." She waved her hand.
"You don't have to…" He trailed off.
"But I want to." She said firmly, looking into his emerald eyes. "So, tell me, what's tonight's midnight pacing about?"
He hesitated, "My parents. I keep feeling so lost without them. I have no real memories of them."
"Oh Harry I'm sorry." She said stretching one of her arms across him and hugging him sideways. "I didn't know it had been troubling you lately."
"Yeah, I have. I don't know, all these years and…I still feel like this. Is it stupid?" He asked, turning from the fire to meet her gaze.
"Of course not, Harry, don't be silly. You have every right. I wish you didn't have to go through this. I wish I could take away all this…pain. I hate that you have to go through it." She told him.
"I don't know what I'd do without you…or Ron." He told her, "I don't think I would've ended up this well off. I don't know what I'd do if anything ever happened." She smiled at his remark.
"You don't have to worry, Harry. I'm here. Ron's here. We're here for you. Always. Never, ever forget that, promise?" He laughed and she smiled at her success of getting him to cheer up.
"I promise." He confirmed. "Good." She said.
They both gazed into the fire for a while, unaware of how much time was passing by. Nor did they care.
"We should probably go to bed." He told her after awhile, breaking his intense stare at the fire.
"Yeah." Hermione agreed, yawning.
"I'm sorry I kept you up." He apologized to her.
"Don't be. I'm glad you're okay. You are aren't you?" She asked hopefully.
"Yes, thank you." He answered. "You know, sometimes I just wish…"
"What Harry?" She asked.
He shook his head. "Never mind."
"Tell me." She pleaded.
He hesitated but started over. "Sometimes, I just wish I could be with them again. Just for one more hour. One more day, anything."
She let his words sink in for a moment before a light bulb went off in her head. She excitedly jumped up from his arms, "What if you can?" She asked with a grin. "What?" He asked. "What if you really could see your parents for just one more hour, one moment in time?" "How?" He asked confused as he got up and stood across from her.
Her eyes grew bright. "A potion, I'm sure there is one. You could drink it, and maybe you could somehow, I don't know, slip into a place where you could see your parents again. Have an hour with them."
"Hermione," He said hesitantly taking her arm, "That can't be possible. Someone, Dumbledore would have…" She moved closer to him.
"Maybe they didn't think you were ready." She said simply, "Or I don't know, but, I could always
check. I mean I think I've heard in some wizard fairy tale of such a potion. I could help you make it. You could
drink it, Harry. We can do this if we want to."
"I don't know, it seems a little surreal." He looked at her strangely.
"Honestly Harry, don't look at me as if I'm crazy. I'm going to look it up. Tomorrow. I'm going to figure this out." She said, kissing him on the cheek and letting go of his hand.
"Night." She said before disappearing up the stairs.
"Night." He said as he did the same on his stairs, even though she couldn't hear him.
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