There For You

DISCLAIMER: Not mine. Never will be. Or else Heron shippers would be in serious trouble, hee hee hee.

Summary: Ok, here's a little ficlet I wrote to try to break the writer's block I've encountered since starting my other story, Slayer Serendipity. Um, it's a song fic, the song being There For You by Flyleaf. It's a wonderfully beautiful song, listen to it if you get the chance. It is, of course, Harry/Hermione. It's in Harry's POV, until almost the very end. The song lyrics are marked as so: -lyrics-...so yeah. Enjoy!!! Oh, yeah...and Review please?! As an early birthday present???

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He felt his heart plummet when he saw her. She was sitting on the Weasley's deck, quite a ways from the Burrow itself. He considered himself lucky that he found her at all. But here she was; hugging her legs to herself, leaning her head on her knees. Although her back was to him, he could almost already read her expression. She wouldn't be crying...no, not crying. She'd be...thoughful...if not slightly melancholy. Well, a perfect birthday this is turning out to be, he thought to himself. Yes, it was her birthday. And what a perfect sight Ron had treated her to; he and Luna falling out of a broom closet, entwined in each other's arms. She'd handled it with grace, he had to admit. And now here she was. Seeing her shift to get more comfortable, he unhesitatingly made his way toward her, nudging her slightly over so he could sit next to her. Feeling him next to her, she unfolded her legs so she was simply sitting, legs hanging off the deck. He put his arm around her and gently pulled him closer to him. Sighing slightly, she lay her head on his shoulder. He was astounded by her comfortable they each were with this, at the lack of awkwardness. He couldn't help but wonder if it would have felt as natural if he had sat with Ginny this way a couple of months before.

-Sometimes I'm a selfish fake-

Thinking of his previous actions, he felt a pang of guilt. To think that he had practically abandoned her, selfishly chasing the facade of what "could be" with Ginny, which he should have known could never be.

-You're always a true friend-

She had always been true to him...even when he felt like she wasn't, in hindsight, he should have known that she only had his best interests at heart. When everyone else had abandoned him, or so he'd thought, it was always comfortingly apparent that she hadn't.

-I don't deserve you-

He suddenly realized how much he took her for granted...he didn't deserve her. She stayed by his side, and he knew without a doubt, that she would never leave. He didn't know if he would have even been able to return the stability and comfort that she had provided to him over the years.

-'Cuz I'm not there for you-

He thought about the fiasco(es) that had occurred at Hogwarts between her, Ron, and Lavender, and wished he had been there for her; that he had comforted her.

-Oh, I wish I would be-

If ever before he had felt the need for a Time-Turner, it was now stronger than ever. He wished he could turn back time, to erase any of the pain she'd felt while having to go through that ordeal alone. Even more, he wished he had the power to be able to be there for her as well as she deserved.

-I wanna be there for you-
-And be someone you can come to-

He was brought back to reality from the epiphany he'd been having by Hermione shifting in his arms. She was now gazing at the sky. Following her lead, he also gazed up.

-Swirling shades of blue-
-slow dancing in your sky-

The sky was one he liked to think of as theirs; a sky not at all unlike the kind they had spent countless days at Hogwarts taking walks around the lake under. A sky a perfect blue, seemingly neverending; with lighter whirls of the clouds, moving slowly, gracefully.

-The sun kisses the earth-
-and I hush my urge to cry-

Not to be forgotten was the sun. It's warm rays were washing over her, and were almost transforming her. In the sun's light, he was able to notice things he had never noticed before. The sun was bringing out the highlights in her hair...golden, some almost red. And her eyes...he had never noticed the golden flecks situated in them. He felt his own begin to tear, at the thought of what he had just realized...and the realization that he could have saved her all the pain she had suffered, had he only realized it sooner.

-'Cuz I hear the whispered words-
-within your masterpiece, Beautiful-

Millions of conversations suddenly seemed to stream through his mind, conversations it seemed she had been hinting at something, something he'd been too daft to realize at the time. But now he had...he only need to find the words to say it...how he felt...

-You speak the unspeakable through-
-"I love you, too..."-

Suddenly the look in her eyes changed, she herself realized that he had finally realized it. She could see him at last seeing her, truly, for the first time. Almost shyly, she clasped his hand in her own, and looked in to his eyes. Knowing how he felt and that he would not be able to get the words out himself, she said simply,"I love you, too."

That said, she lay her head back on his shoulder and continued to stare out over the water. Harry sighed contentedly, knowing at last that everything was right. His Hermione was in his arms, and that wasn't going to change anytime soon.

-I wanna be there for you-
-And be someone you can come to-
-The love runs deeper than my bones-
-'Cuz you are beautiful, don't you know?

FIN

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