Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. What, you think if I did we would have such pairings at the end? *rolls eyes*
A/N: This is a collection of one-shots about moments in DH that I thought could turn into Harry and Hermione being together, if only JK had wanted it to happen. So…hope you'll enjoy! They'll always start with a small part quoted from the book, just to let you know where we are at the moment.
Where Deathly Hallows Could Have Turned Harmonian
Feeling Alone And Finding Each Other
Harry glanced at the dark shapes they made on the floor beside him. Ron had had a fit of gallantry and insisted that Hermione sleep on the cushions from the sofa, so that her silhouette was raised above his. Her arm curved to the floor, her fingers inches from Ron's. Harry wondered whether they had fallen asleep holding hands. The idea made him feel strangely lonely.
As he got up, and thought about the mission pending upon them, he started wandering in the house, as silently as he could so to not wake up his companions.
As he dwelled upon the search of the Horcruxes they would need to start soon, he kept seeing Hermione's fingers so near Ron's, and he couldn't shake the image out of his head.
He tried distracting himself entering a room that was labelled "Sirius". He felt a sort of excitement at entering his godfather's room, and cautiously opened the door. As he stepped in, he noticed the room had been searched like the rest of the house. He spotted a sheet on the floor, and started reading. It was a letter, and he sat on the bed to read.
As his eyes scanned through the words, he guessed it had been his mother to write it. She described how he had liked to play with the little broom Sirius had gifted him, even if he was one year old at the time, he already loved flying. Harry smiled sadly at the image that was forming into his head.
He longed to have something like that, a family he could call his own, a little kid playing around and making a mess, a loving wife which would share laughs, and hugs, and tender moments with him, and would help him raise his kids with the love he had never experienced at the Dursleys'. And then, the image of Ron and Hermione sleeping so close, their hands almost brushing, returned, like a cold shower to his heart.
He felt sudden sadness sweep over him, and he shut his eyes. He knew he had no right to keep them apart, he had Ginny after all, right? But would she wait for him? More importantly, would he really want her to?
These questions haunted him, and he felt his eyes burning with tears threatening to spill. He didn't know if Ginny would wait for him. The more he thought about it, the more he reasoned she probably wouldn't. Not for too long, at least. As for the most important question…he didn't know. Sure, he was in heaven when he was with her. But, if he had to imagine himself as a married man…well, he didn't picture himself with her. There was only one person that had stood by him no matter what, and he felt like she would be the most qualified to fill the place of the loving mother of his children.
He knew then, that what he had felt and tried to deny in fifth year, when he had seen her hit by Dolohov `s curse, was true. It scared him to death, because being anywhere near him meant to be in danger, but to be emotionally attached to him was far, far worse. If Voldemort found out about his thoughts…what he dreamed to have with her, now…no, he should not know. Plus, there were her and Ron's feelings to count.
He didn't think he had the right to tear them apart. If they were growing so close…who was he to deny his best friends happiness?
Maybe…maybe it was better to leave them alone, safe, and go on his quest on his own. As he carefully folded the piece of paper, another little remembrance of his mother, and put it into his pocket, he slithered silently to the kitchen. He had left there his rucksack with his all treasured belongings, a piece of Sirius' mirror, the Marauder's Map, the photo album Hagrid gave him…he put the letter with these other things, grabbed his wand, and turned, ready to leave and probably never see Hermione and Ron again.
Only, he found himself face to face with a bushy haired witch whose face he knew all too well.
"Where were you going, Harry?" she sternly said.
He could not respond her, not looking into her eyes.
"Leaving" he said, dropping his gaze to the kitchen's floor. He then moved to slide past her, but she blocked him.
"Why?" she asked, demanding. He was about to burst into one of the rages he had grown accustomed to in the last two years. Didn't she know what she did to him? Didn't she know how hard was for him to see her and Ron grow closer and closer?
Probably not. He didn't, too, till few minutes before.
"I need to" was his icy reply, and she was hurt by his tone. She moved, letting him pass. He did, and was on the threshold, ready to Disapparate somewhere else, unspotted by the Death Eaters keeping watch on the little square for signs of them.
She called out to him again.
"Harry" she said softly. He made the mistake of turning to look at her. What he saw broke his heart, and his resolve to leave vanished.
Tears were flowing down her cheeks.
"Don't you trust us anymore?" she whispered. "We promised you we would help you, and yet you try to sneak out without even a word…"
He walked back toward her. He closed his arms around her figure, pulling her close, and mixing her tears with some of his own.
"I do trust you, Hermione. I trust you to go on with life, whatever might happen to me. You have Ron, he will take care of you, I know it" he said, another attempt at following the path he had chosen.
"Why are you saying this?" she asked, confused.
There he was, angry again. Trying to keep his emotions in check, he spoke.
"I've seen how the two of you are growing closer. I won't stand in the way of your happiness, Hermione. You two did crazy things to follow me through the years, it's the least I can do" he said, through deep breaths who ought to calm him, but failed miserably.
"What if I want to keep following you?" she softly said, clinging to his shirt, by now stained with tears.
He was rendered speechless by her retort, and she looked up at him. Their eyes locked, and when green met brown, Harry knew he would have not the strength to leave her behind. She was too big a part of him, much more than Ginny, and he would miss her immediately.
"I'll stay" he softly said.
She gave him a faint smile, and he grinned back, sheepishly. He would treasure her smile much more than the objects in his rucksack, from that moment, and would do anything to keep her smiling.
As she took his hand, he felt safe, feeling her soft fingers on his rough ones. He gave her a squeeze, just to make sure it was real, and she smiled at him again.
Then, she stood on her toes, and pressed her lips to his own. He couldn't believe it was real, but the sensations were too strong for it to be a dream. Then, he felt her arms lace around his neck, and pull him even closer. He put his hands on his waist, and did the same, so that their bodies were pressed together.
Running an hand through her hair, which he discovered he loved to touch, he deepened the kiss, and if he had felt in heaven kissing Ginny, when his tongue touched Hermione's, it was like he was far beyond that. He felt complete, and powerful. He felt like he could take on an hundred Death Eaters, if only she was on his side.
The kiss never broke, and he was now caressing her back, while she moaned slightly in his mouth. Her eyes were closed, and as Harry cracked his open just to look at her, he really thought she was an angel. His angel, from now on.
They kept coming for more, and their tongues danced around each other, in a frenzied rhythm, while Harry kept caressing her, now on her sides. As he did so, he brushed the side of her breast, and froze. He was sure she would slap him now.
The hit never came.
"It's ok" she reassured him with a smile and a faint blush that he could barely detect, the only light in the room being that of her wand now lying on the floor, before assaulting his mouth again.
"I've never really liked Ron, Harry" she said then, panting. Her lips were swollen, as his were after all, and her eyes glazed.
"It's always been you," she added then, "but you wouldn't pay attention to me…so I guessed you'd never like me back" she confessed. "This is why I've been growing closer to Ron. If I couldn't have you…he would have to do"
He grinned, and pushed a tendril out of her face, behind her ear. "Sorry for making you wait" he said, before claiming her lips again, and she smiled before kissing him back.
They had already lost hours of sleep, but neither cared. They had found each other, and the feeling of content filled them both from head to toe.
As she returned to the room where Ron was, they decided it was better to let him sleep, and not have the shock of seeing them together as soon as he woke up. They moved to Harry's old bedroom in the house, and snuggled contentedly, his arm draped over her, her head on his chest.
"I love you, Hermione" was the last thing he could say.
"I love you too, Harry" she sleepily murmured, before sleep took them.
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