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
Am I Disappointing You?
Harry began to suspect that Ron and Hermione were having conversations without, and about, him. Several times they stopped talking abruptly when Harry entered the tent, and twice he came accidentally upon them, huddled a little distance away, heads together and talking fast; both times they fell silent when they realised he was approaching them and hastened to appear busy collecting wood or water.
Harry could not help wondering whether they had only agreed to come on what now felt like a pointless and rambling journey because they thought he had some secret plan that they would learn in due course. Ron was making no effort to hide his bad mood, and Harry was starting to fear that Hermione, too, was disappointed by his poor leadership.
That night, during her watch, he was thrashing restlessly in his sleeping bag. Ron was already fast asleep, and snoring.
He, instead, couldn't help wondering if his best friends were right, and that he was really a poor leader. He could not lead them to find the sword, he could not lead them to the other Horcruxes. He really was a low excuse of a person in charge of things.
Hermione was still reading the book Dumbledore had left her, The Tales of Beedle The Bard" , at the light of her wand, and she suddenly jumped when someone put an hand on her shoulder.
Turning hastily, she found herself looking up into Harry's green and worried eyes.
"I'm sorry" he said, grave.
"For what?" she replied, confused.
"For scaring you, just now" he said, shrugging. "And for disappointing you"
"Harry, what are you talking about? You have not disappointed me!" she said, closing her book. She sensed this talk would take quite some time.
"I'm rubbish as a leader. Don't have a plan, don't have the bloody idea what we will do next. I'm crap at this, Hermione, and I can say you and Ron are tired of wandering aimlessly through the country. You're right to be"
She stood up, and looked directly into his eyes.
"Harry, you could never disappoint me. I know it's not an easy task, I knew that you had not a clue about what to do when we left. But I want you to know, I'll stand by you always. I'm not going anywhere, if this is what you fear"
"But…" he started.
"No buts, Harry" she softly said. "you can't do this alone, and you know it. But you, and we, also know that you're the only one who can do this"
He felt anger welling up inside him. Was this how everyone considered him? An object, a weapon to do a particularly nasty work? He was tired of it.
He shook his hand free from hers, and stomped away without a word. She called after him, but he did not stop. She wanted to follow him, but Ron was sleeping, and they could not leave him alone and defenceless, in case someone came. But she was torn, because she wanted so much to run after Harry and make him go back inside with her.
He walked quickly through the forest, and it helped him clear his thoughts. He knew what Hermione really meant, in his heart. He was just to ready to burst at every little thing, those days, and he was scared about how much it felt good to vent his frustration on the others.
Half an hour later, Hermione, who was now absent-mindedly scanning the pages of her book, noticed a light approaching. Taking her wand, she waited, and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, when she noticed it was just Harry.
"You've come back" she flatly greeted him, returning to her book. She was hurt by his previous actions.
"I'm sorry, Hermione. I didn't mean to go away like that, it's just that…" he stopped. Sighing, he passed an hand through his hair, a thing his father did often. Maybe his descending from James was finally catching up with him.
Finally he spoke again.
"It's overwhelming, you know? Having the weight of the whole world, not only the Wizarding one, on your shoulders"
She looked up at this, and turned to him, nodding, but he didn't even notice, deep in his thoughts.
"You yearn to be a normal teenager, and the BAM, you have to kill the most wicked and blood-thirsty Dark Wizard ever, without training, without someone wiser than you to ask advice to. Without a guide, you're expected to find a way to accomplish what no one else could"
She took his hand in his own again, and this time he didn't free it. He let her rub it gently, comforting him like she could.
"I know" she whispered to him, and he nodded.
"You've always understood me, Hermione. Since first year, you knew I was "Just Harry", not the great Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived. Without you…I don't know if I'd be here now. I don't know if I can do this, if you leave"
"I won't" she said, moving closer to him, and hugging him, trying to convey how much she cared for him, and that she could never let him face this alone. He returned the hug naturally.
"But Hermione, I am leading you and Ron nowhere. And soon or later, we will make a mistake and be caught. It almost happened, after breaking into the Ministry"
"So what? If we are caught, it's something we will face later. I won't leave you alone, Harry. I could never do it" she said, and now tears shined on her eyes. She wiped them away angrily, trying to be the strong girl she had always been.
"Why, Hermione? Why you want so much to be on my side? What did I do to deserve it?" he asked, confused.
"You're really silly, Harry" she said, giving him a shaky smile. "When it comes to girls, you really need lessons"
He was bewildered, and kept moving his mouth, but no word came out.
"Because I love you, Harry" she said, looking straight into his eyes.
"What? I thought you fancied Ron!" he said, utterly shocked at the revelation.
"Ron? He's grown up quite a bit lately, and has started acting like a gentleman, yes. I suspect it's the book Fred and George gave him, he's trying to woo me with it" she smiled, still keeping her arms around him.
""Twelve Fail-Safe Ways To Charm Witches"?" Harry asked, amused.
"Yeah, that one" she laughed.
Harry was struck by how beautiful she was, partly under the moonlight, laughing softly like that. He felt guilty about thinking like that when he had Ginny waiting for him, but he could not stop those thoughts.
Then she was serious again. "But, Harry, honestly. Me and Ron are like brother and sister, at least from my side. I know he won't like it, but he will have to live with it" she said, determined.
"What's in me that makes you love me?" he asked, remembering what she had said, and moving back in her hug so that he could properly look at her face. She blushed scarlet red.
"It's not something in particular. It's who you are, of course not the hero, but the young man you've become through the years" she said, looking down, embarrassed. "You're caring, and always trying to make the people around you happy. You'd give anything to have a family of your own, and yet you are willing to sacrifice it all, just to save the Wizarding World. For these and many other reasons I love you, Harry" she ended, finally looking into his eyes.
He was speechless. No one had said such things to him, not even Ginny. He could not look away from her chocolate orbs, and slowly but definitely, he moved his head toward hers. It was like they were magnetically drawn together, as she stood on her toes to close the distance more, and finally their lips met.
It was sweet, at first, sweeter than anything he had tasted. For a moment he had a fleeting image of Ginny into his head, but it was immediately swept away by the sensations the kiss was giving him. He pulled her closer, their bodies almost melting one into the other, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss.
As their tongues met, Harry felt a surge of extreme happiness fill him, like raw, primal light that blinded him from the inside. If he thought kissing Ginny was pure ecstasy, this was something much more than that, something he had no words to describe. He battled her tongue fiercely, wanting to taste as much of her as he could, while she was running her hands through his messy black hair, and he hoped she would never stop. He caressed her body, needing the physical contact, and he knew that he had found it, the kind of love that had united his parents till they were dead.
He was finally content, and he would give anything to have a family with her. New hope ignited into his soul, and he could, for the first time since they left for their quest, see a light at the end of the tunnel and he could for the first time see himself conquer Voldemort.
As they parted, he rested his forehead on hers, never letting go of her body.
"I love you, Hermione" he whispered, and looking into his eyes, she knew it was true.
"I will defeat him. I have to, now" he said, with a slight grin, and she smiled too.
"This is the Harry I know. This is the Harry I want to see" she said, before claiming his lips again.
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