Disclaimer: I own nothing. It's all Jo's. No mine. Jo's. Alrighty? Ok.
Hey guys!! This is my IMPROVED version of Best Friends. I hope you enjoy it, and I'll update as fast as I can, but I don't have the right text document to post it, so I send it to my friend when she's online. So bear with me, kay?
Also, I know I'm not the best speller in the world, so their might be a few mistakes. I'm also not the best writer in the world, I'm a 14 year old girl. I'll leave all the expertise to Jo. So...here is chapter one!
~*~Best Friends- Chapter 1: The Point Of No Return~*~
We sat like that for a few minutes. Him in the lake, and I sitting on the soft green grass, just staring into each other's eyes. When finally the reality of it all had sunk in, that I had kissed Harry, I felt my stomach lurch. Whether it was a happy lurch or a nervous lurch, I didn't know.
To rewind a bit, here's what had happened. I had been studying out by the lake, nothing out of the ordinary there. Not that many people were out, seeing as how it was my off period. I found myself staring into the lake every once in a while, so I decided I'd take a break and slowly wade knee-deep into the water. That didn't turn out to well.
It seemed that the Giant Squid was getting a bit lonely. I figured that out when his tentacles wrapped around my ankle and started dragging me out to the center of the lake. Luckily, Harry Potter, one of my best friends, was coming down to the lake to ask me a question and saw the whole ordeal. So, as he ran, he took off his robe and shirt and jumped into the lake after me, his wand in the pocket of his jeans.
He stunned the squid and pulled me out of the curled up tentacle before I was dragged down into the depths of the Black Lake. He swam with his arm around me to the side of the lake, all the while I was spitting water out of my lungs. He set me on the grassy edge of the water, making sure I was alright. And that's when it happened. Right after I assured him I was fine, he leaned in and bloody kissed me. This brings us back to where we were.
I tore my eyes away from Harry, not sure if I was happy or disappointed that I did so. "Umm, I have to go," I said, pushing myself up from the ground. I turned around, the breeze making me shiver slightly, seeing as I was wearing my drenched school uniform. I hugged my arms as I walked, tears beginning to form in my eyes. Isn't this what I wanted? To be the girl Harry fell in love with?
Yes, it was, but now that it was happening, it just seemed...different. What if things didn't work out? That would completely destroy our friendship, and I cherished that too much to put it at risk. There was only one solution. Not to be.
The thought pained me; it killed me on the inside. I had suffered so long. I'd been around him every day of every school year for six years, not able to be his, to be held in his arms, only belonging to him in my dreams. And then today happens. He kisses me. And I kiss him back, possibly ruining our friendship forever with just some silly attraction that would never flare up. I shook my head sadly, a lone tear rolling down my cheek. What happened back there, it had felt so right, so...perfect. But it could never happen. Just the thought of him made me die a little inside.
It was as I heard him calling my name that I realized my worst fear had happened. I couldn't look at him, couldn't listen to him, I couldn't even think of him, without causing my heart pain and suffering. Our friendship could never be the same. It was changed, it could never go back to how it was. Past the point of no return- no going back now; our passion-play has now, at last begun...I desperately pushed the opera out of my head. I had to get away, go somewhere where I could be free, no thoughts of Harry at all.
That would have to wait. I could see Harry's shadow approaching me. I quickly wiped the forming tears from my eyes. I couldn't let him see me like this. I began to speed up, ignoring him calling to me. How could I have been so stupid? Why did I kiss him back? With that one gesture, I ruined six years of beautiful friendship! God! I am such and idiot!
These thoughts only made more tears accumulate in the hazel orbs that are mine. I hurried to wipe them away, hearing Harry's quickening footsteps. He was going to confront me. That was the last thing I wanted at the moment. I needed time to gather my thoughts, sort out my emotions. I needed at least a day, but it didn't seem like I was going to get the required.
"Hermione, wait," Harry said, stepping in front of me, his eyes pools of concern. He looked down at me, sadly, lovingly. I couldn't stand it any longer. Just looking at him, being so close to him, it drove me mad. I shook my head.
"No Harry, I-I have to go," I said, my eyes focused on the ground. I avoided looking up, whether it be at those green emeralds or that bare, muscular torso I knew was right in front of me. I hoped he would step aside and let me walk towards the castle, seeing how distressed I was. But that was not the case.
"Hermione, we need to talk," he said, his hand gently tilting my head up to look at him. My eyes, not wanting to look at his torso for fear of becoming weak-kneed again, looked into his. I felt myself melting. Why must I be in this situation? "Hermione, I've known you for six years now, and every summer, I can't wait to come back to Hogwarts, because I know that you'll be here. For the last four years, it's been driving me mad to be so close to you, but not able to hold you. It's torture, and I can't stand it for another minute," he took a deep intake of breath. "Hermione, be my girlfriend?"
That was the exact moment my heart ripped in half. I stood there, looking at him, wanting to run into his arms, crying, telling him I did. But I couldn't. Our friendship was already damaged from what had happened earlier, and I didn't want it to forever be destroyed by some silly little romance. The tears I was holding back stung my eyes. Why did I have to fall in love with my best friend? Why? What had I done to deserve love that could never happen? The hot tears threatened to escape. I had to get away quickly. I shook my head. At first, I couldn't find my voice, but it came to me in mere seconds. "No. Harry, I can't. I'm sorry, really, I am, but it's...it's..." the tears started rolling down the cheeks as I broke away, turning around to face the forest. What should I tell him? That there's someone else? No, he'd find out that I was lying. The truth? It was the best thing I had. "I value our friendship too much," I told him, my back to him. "I can't throw it away for a romance that won't last," The tears were pouring out of my eyes now.
"Hermione, who said it wouldn't last?" Harry asked, hurt apparent in his voice. "I've never felt this way about anyone before," he said, walking over to me, the grass crunching under his feet. "Not about Cho, or Ginny, only you," came a voice in my ear. It alarmed me how close he was, my heart rate quickened as I walked further away. "But I understand your decision," Harry said to me, his voice in the same spot where he was a few seconds ago. "And I guess I have no choice to accept it. Just know this, Hermione, I will never give up on you," he said. I heard his footsteps get quieter as he walked towards the castle.
After checking to make sure that Harry was out of site, I ran. I ran far, to a rock cluster on the other side of the lake. The spot was deprived of sun, and got occasional blasts of wind. It was the perfect place for anything. I threw myself down in the soft dirt, wanting to hide there and never come out. I felt like dying. The hurt reflected in Harry's voice, well, it was enough to kill me with guilt. At the thought of Harry, all my self composure collapsed. I began sobbing uncontrollably. I had just pushed away the love of my life, my best friend. He had spilled his heart out to me, and I had turned him away. I was a horrible person; I didn't deserve a person like Harry in my life.
I curled up, hugging my knees, just crying my eyes out. I was grateful that I was the only person I knew of that knew of this spot. I took no warning of the approaching storm clouds. They were moving fast, it had been sunny fifteen minutes ago, but then again, weather is a strange thing. As thunder roared across the sky, I heard many frightened screams. People were splashing around, trying to get out of the water before lightening became an issue. I glanced through the rocks, seeing figures wrapped in towels running for the castle. As I watched, my mind wandered, where could Harry be? I hoped he was inside. The picture of Harry how he had been entered my mind. His wet, messy black hair, that bare, muscular torso, and those emerald jewels that served as his eyes, filled with concern and love. Just the thought of him was enough to make me cry once more.
I lifted my head as I saw a bright flash of light in the distance. Lightening. I shuddered. Lightening was one of my biggest fears, though no body knew that...no one except Harry. It began to drizzle, so I stood up and leaned on a rock, not wanting to get muddy. I grabbed my wand, which had been behind my ear, and set off for the castle.
Tears were still flowing out of my eyes as I remembered one day last year when I had gone with Harry to watch him practice Quidditch, seeing as Ron was busy stuck to Lavender. Well, it had started raining while he was practicing. I had stood up, figuring we were going to leave, but Harry just continued flying around. l sighed, shaking my head. I had told him to get down, seeing as it looked like it was going to get worse. He had laughed and kept flying around the pitch, enjoying the rain. Then it had started thundering and lightening. I had gotten very jumpy. I had pleaded to Harry to get down and get inside, but he had laughed and ignored me. I then left the bleachers, wanting to get inside, when I heard someone calling me. It was Harry, his broom was in his hand and he was running after me. He asked what was wrong and I reluctantly told him about my fear of lightening. He had apologized and sheltered me with his robes as we walked back to the castle.
After I was done reminiscing, I realized that it had begun to rain harder. I began heading for the castle, seeing as I was already soaked, and did not feel like catching pneumonia or staying out here with lightening. I walked towards the castle, the wind whipping my hair around my face, my tears blending in with the rain drops. I like the rain, I thought, No one can see your tears.
I walked through the giant oak doors leading to the inside. There was the delightful aroma of chicken noodle soup coming from the Great Hall. Not even bothering to dry off, I walked in, my stomach growling out of hunger. I looked around for a place to sit. Seeing Ron waving me over, I started in that direction. I was so hungry that I didn't even notice who was with him. I sat down across from Ron, grabbing a bowl of chicken soup. I began eating as he talked.
"Hey Hermione," Ron said. "We were getting worried about you, didn't know where you were at. Harry said he saw you down at the lake and didn't know if you came in."
Harry. As I took another spoonful of soup, I had trouble getting it down, seeing as there was a lump in my throat. I looked up to see Ron, and next to him, Harry, his face looking sullen and serious. I quickly turned my eyes down towards my soup. "Well, I'm fine," I said. "You couldn't honestly think I would stay outside during this weather."
Even though I was still focused on the soup I was eating, I knew Ron was observing me skeptically, wanting to say something about my appearance. "Longer than I did," I added, wanting to put an end to the conversation. I grabbed a roll, breaking it in half and taking a small bite of it.
"Why where you out there so long anyway? You're soaked!" Ron said, making his comment on my appearance. I chewed the piece of bread, thinking of my answer. I used the first that came to mind.
"I love the rain," I said shrugging. "I felt like staying out there, listening to the roaring thunder. It's peaceful. And there's nothing like a good lightening show," I lied. I slowly looked up to Harry, hoping he wouldn't rat me out. He kept quiet, however, he was staring at me intently. I couldn't help but blush furiously and look down once more. "Is this the end of the interrogation?" I asked, a hint of annoyance in my voice.
Ron looked at me oddly again. "Yeah," he said. I saw him looking between me and Harry, no doubt wondering what was up. "So..." Ron said. "What do you two want to talk about?" he asked, I could tell he was feeling a bit awkward. I shrugged, continuing to stare at my soup as I ate. I heard no reply from Harry. I glanced out of the corner of my eye to see that he was still shooting glances at me. I shifted uncomfortably.
We sat there in silence for the next few minutes, all casting glances in one another's direction. I drained the bowl of all the liquid inside, the broth warming my dying insides. I stood up, still not looking at Harry. "See you tomorrow," I muttered to the two boys, starting off.
"Tomorrow? It's only noon! We've still got a whole day ahead of us!" Ron called after me, rising from his seat. As I stopped, about to turn around and respond with the answer on my mind, Harry had already said it. "She's probably going to go study for N.E.W.T.S," I heard him say.
Later that night, as I was lying in bed, tears coming to my eyes, I knew that it was too late to fix everything. Our friendship was broken, and could never be repaired.
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