The Empty Parchment

I am in love with him. She thought sitting there tapping her quill against the parchment. But how do I tell him? How do I tell the boy that has been my friend for so many years that I love him? How can I put into words the way he makes me feel when he's around, when he talks to me, when he smiles, even when he coughs? Why is this so very…

Her thoughts were interrupted with the portrait hole swinging closed loudly behind her. She jumped a little and saw her best friend Ginny walking in.

“Hey Hermione!” Ginny said walking up to the couch Hermione was planted on.

“Hey Gin. Where have you been all night?”

“Oh Dean and I were having a fray. I just couldn't stand it so I walked away.”

That's the usual, Hermione thought to herself. She knew that Ginny and Dean had tiffs over nothing at all, all of the time. She also knew that being the tantrum filled redhead that Ginny was, she had a special talent for running from arguments. “Oh I'm sorry to hear that,” she finally said while looking down at the empty parchment.

“What are you writing… or trying to write there?” Ginny asked finally sitting herself beside Hermione and looking at her curiously.

“Oh, nothing really. Just brainstorming a few things for class and not getting anywhere. I think I'm catching a cold or something, my mind has been lagging for some reason recently.” She stated briskly. Oh nothing, just trying to tell you ex-boyfriend that I love him no matter how stupid he can be sometimes. She thought, knowing those words could never escape her mouth, especially to Ginny.

“Uh huh. Well if you won't tell me the truth then I should just go up to the dormitory before Dean comes looking for me. Night Hermione.”

“Night Gin.” Hermione said staring back down at the parchment.

She watched as Ginny climbed the stairs and once she was out of sight, resumed her thinking of what she could say that would not scare Harry away.

Harry. She wrote on the parchment. “Well that's a start,” she said to herself aloud.

Finally she knew what she had to say. She started scribbling furiously on the parchment letting her heart go wildly and hoping that her brain wouldn't interfere for once in her lifetime. She pushed out any thoughts of consequence and just let her heart's wishfulness win for once. Hermione let all of her guards down to this piece of parchment she hoped that she could give to Harry, the friend she had felt so strongly for.

After an hour passed she finally was done. She turned over the piece of parchment five times to notice how very long the letter was. Hermione started reading it to herself until she heard the portrait hole swing open once more and she jumped, unaware that anyone else was still up.

“Ello Mione.” Dean said, walking into the room with a sad air permeating around him. “Why are you still up?”

“Oh nothing, just catching up on some writing I've been meaning to do,” she said, quickly hiding the parchment in a book nearby.

“Right,” Dean said having not listened to what Hermione had told him since he was in his own little exasperated world. “Have fun with that knitting then.”

Dean climbed the stairs slowly dragging his feet and Hermione watched him knowing that she should follow him, but she realized how exhausted she was and decided to let him be. For she had much more important things to do besides trying to comfort the uncomfortable.

The next morning Hermione awoke in her bed to the sun shining brightly on her face. She knew that no matter what she had to do this today. She didn't know why she had to do it today but she just felt like if she didn't she'd regret it for the rest of her life. With that she climbed out of her bed and walked to her trunk to get dressed and then headed down to the common room.

The room was mostly empty being that she had, for the first time in the history of her being at Hogwarts, slept late. Most of the others were either finishing up breakfast or outside enjoying the nice weather already. Most of them except for the one person she needed more than anything.

“Good morning sleepy head,” the messy haired lad that owned her heart said seeing her enter the dormitory. It even crossed her mind that he was actually waiting for her to come down before going anywhere.

“Mornin'. Did you just wake up too?” she asked.

“Oi' no I've been up for hours. Just enjoying the nice… fire.” Harry hesitated on making up an excuse for the real reason that he had been sitting in the common room. For of course Hermione's guess was right that he was in fact waiting for her to wake. “I found something in my book that I wanted to talk to you about.”

Of course, he just wanted me to do his homework for him. Why else would he be waiting for me? Hermione thought to herself while walking to him.

Instead of seeing homework sitting out though, she saw her own handwriting on a piece of parchment that he was holding. At seeing it she gasped and blushed and was close to moving away to shrink into a hole or something.

“No, don't you walk away Hermione. So you did write this?”

Hermione nodded and plopped down in a chair across from Harry hoping to keep distance if he got angry at her.

“And you really…” he trailed off looking at the parchment. “feel that `without you Harry I don't think I'd ever know what happiness was with all the darkness around. I want to be with you. I want to kiss you and cuddle with you and have you hold me. I want to love you openly.'?”

Hermione blushed more furiously, as if that were possible, and nodded awkwardly at her words being read aloud by him.

Harry slowly put the parchment down and walked to her. He bent down next to her chair and rested his hand on her cheek, as if trying to put out the blush that had risen there. He looked deep into her eyes and she began to tear up, realizing that she did love him so much that it even hurt.

“I want to love you openly too Hermione,” Harry finally said. He then rose up and kissed her. He kissed her softly and perfectly, just the way that Hermione had always dreamed it would be like. It was as if he knew exactly what to do with the pressure of his lips against hers, and this made her cry.

“Why do you cry?” he asked her while wiping away her tears.

“I.. I.. pictured it would be like this.. but I was too.. sc… scared to ever try. I didn't want to ruin things with us. I even thought you would be mad, that I would threaten our friendship with something as foolish as real feelings.” She said in between gasps of her tears.

Harry smiled at her and even laughed a little as he continued to look at her deeper. If only you knew how long I've wanted this moment to come. Bloody hell I wanted it to happen years ago. He thought. Then he kissed her again. Deeper, more passionately. He wanted to keep kissing her for years to come, but was disrupted by a noise of someone clearing their throat behind him.

Slowly he turned around to see Dean and Ginny standing there with not a look of shock, but to his surprise, a look of triumph on their faces.

“It's about bloody time that you guys stopped hiding behind your cloaks from each other,” Ginny hissed walking over to the couch and sitting down.

Dean laughed and then made sure to give Harry a pat on the back before taking a seat next to Ginny. “Ya, I guess Voldemort should return more often if it's going to bring people to their senses about each other.”

Embarrassed, Harry cringed at this comment and looked at Hermione sporting his infamous puppy face. Hermione took this as a cue to brush his cheek and give him a good snog for comfort.

"Well at least we're not fighting all of the time.. right now." Hermione stated reproachfully at the couple sitting across from her.

"Oh right. Like that's going to last long. Everyone knows that fighting is a part of relationships. Getting through them builds that needed strength and support." Dean retorted, looking at Ginny to smile his endearing smile.

"Oh don't make excuses for your insanity Dean." Ginny teased, pecking Dean on the cheek despite his clearly shocked look.

This brought laughter all around, and the feeling they all shared - after this, no matter what happened with the war, they were all going to work out fine with love on their side.

-->