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.
Oh, this one has an higher rating version, it's posted under the title of the one shot, and the rating is NC17. Thought a bit of smut could do no wrong to raise our spirits a bit, lol.
Where Deathly Hallows Could Have Turned Harmonian
Touch of Love
She hesitated, but recognised the dismissal. She picked up the book and then walked back past him into the tent, but as she did so, she brushed the top of his head lightly with her hand. He closed his eyes at her touch, and hated himself for wishing that what she said was true: that Dumbledore had really cared.
Sitting there, Harry kept playing with Hermione's wand, while deep in thought. He wondered if he had ever been seen as more than a weapon by anyone close to him. Sirius, probably, loved him really, like the son he never had. But that was because he saw his father, his old friend James, in Harry.
Lupin, another of his father's friends. Sure, the werewolf had been good to Harry when he had taught him the Patronus Charm. But was it out of love? Or was it to better prepare Harry for his destiny? The Order knew Voldemort liked to use Dementors to install fear in the population, and if Harry knew how to defend himself from them, he would be more effective in his quest.
Tonks…well, she liked him, he could say, but they knew each other for too a short time for it to be love.
Then, there were the Hogwarts professors, McGonagall, Flitwick, Hagrid…the Transfiguration Professor had probably followed Dumbledore's lead in making Harry feel loved when he was really just protected till he could accomplish what his destiny required of him, or die trying. Flitwick., well, he couldn't honestly say there could be love. He was a good enough Professor, but nothing more.
Hagrid…the matter was different. Hagrid was his first friend in the Wizarding World, and an old friend of his parents too. He probably really cared for Harry, in his own way. Probably Hagrid really loved him.
Then there were the Weasleys. Well, Molly and Arthur had always made a point to let him feel like the Burrow was his house, and their sons were all good to him. Charlie and Bill, he barely knew, Percy was a git but he was to everyone in his own family so he didn't really count. The twins, they were funny, but love? Sure, they liked him enough, bit no real love there.
Ginny and Ron…well, she kind of loved him, yes. For the title he ahd, though, and not for the real him. So, no, although she was his ex girlfriend and he had enjoyed their time together, and thought of her now and then still, he could not honestly fool himself thinking that was love.
Ron, he had twice shown he cared for Harry but not loved him enough to stand by him no matter what. A good friend, the redhead was, but when it really mattered for Harry that he stood by him, he had deserted the raven haired wizard.
And then there was Hermione. There was no doubt that she loved him, as a friend, of course. She was the one who had never left his side. And he knew she kind of fancied Ron, so having to choose had been really hard for her. Still, she chose to stand by him, even if that meant upset Ron and have him leave in that way.
So, the only ones he could reckon really loved him were Hagrid and Hermione.
And he treated her so badly once she told him she had broken his wand. Merlin, in the haste of the escape from that house and Voldemort's clutch, anything could have happened, and he knew what he said to her before was true. She had really been fantastic, and saved his life once again.
He pictured her face, fresh tears falling down her cheeks because she thought he was angry at her. He had been, but after this reasoning, he knew he had no right to. Her breaking his wand had been an accident, and if he had not lost it in the first place, it would have not happened at all. So, he was to be blamed for it as much as she was, at least.
Sighing, he finally opened his eyes, her light touch on his head still filling his heart like everyone of those gestures she often did, and that, now that he thought of it, showed how much she really cared for him.
He would find a way to destroy the locket and find the other Horcruxes. He owed her that. She had even sacrificed her parents' memories of her to be able to follow him on this trip, and the least he could do was to assure it came out as a success.
But then, another question filled his head. Who did he love? For whom he would risk it all, and sacrifice everything he had?
A reasoning led him to the conclusion that he would do that only for Hermione, and Hagrid. Sure, if something happened to the Weasleys he would be devastated. But if Hermione was to be killed, he would be as good as dead, in that same moment. It would be like a Dementor had kissed him, and taken his soul away.
The mere thought of her lying on the floor lifeless like she had been in the Department of Mysteries, made him shiver. No, he would not let the Death Eaters or Voldemort hurt her. He would die for her.
And that was all he needed. He knew he had found the answers he wanted, and he stood up, just to find himself in front of the girl who had filled his thoughts till moments before.
"Hi" she said softly. He noticed it had become dark by now, and that he had been thinking the whole afternoon, without even realizing it.
The stars shone upon them, and the moon could be seen through the branches of the trees.
"It's my turn now" she sad then, to break the awkward silence. He lit her wand, fleeting thinking how well it responded to him even if it wasn't his own.
Her face now partly illuminated, he wondered how could have he missed she had become a pretty girl. Well, more than pretty, actually. Her gold curls now were not so bushy anymore, and he wondered how would be to caress them.
Her cinnamon eyes stared back at him, slightly confused, and he felt he could drown in them, and die happy. Her whole face had an ethereal glow in the light of the wand, and he compared her to an angel.
Then, there were her lips. As she bit on the lower one, one of her typical habits when she was nervous, he felt his resolve crumble. He stepped closer, and circled her waist with one arm, pulling her to him, and then tilted his head to meet her lips.
He then realized what he had done, and immediately broke contact.
"Hermione, I'm sorry" he said. "It was stupid of me, with you fancying Ron…"
She smiled at him. "Who said I fancy Ron?"
"Well, you wept so much when he left, and those glances you gave him in the past days…plus I saw the two of you sleeping with your hands so close at Grimmauld, I thought you had fallen asleep holding hands…"
He was rambling now, and he hated it, but he couldn't stop.
"And then, you were so jealous last year when he was going out with Lavender…"
Hermione laughed. He was bewildered at her behaviour.
"Why are you laughing?"
"Harry, honestly! I love Ron, yes, but as a brother! I could never fancy someone I bicker so much with, and no I was not jealous over Lav last year. I was simply disappointed in his way to choose girlfriends. I tried to make him understand beauty is not all, and then he goes and dates Lavender, of all the Hogwarts girls she's probably the most shallow, together with Parvati!"
"So you don't fancy him?" Harry tentatively said.
"No, Harry, I don't." she said with a smile. "What about Ginny though?"
"What about her?" Harry asked, confused.
"Don't you fancy her?" Hermione asked, and it was Harry's turn to almost laugh. "No, Hermione, I don't. She's hot, ok. But as you just said, there are more important things to seek in a girlfriend"
"Oh" she said, surprised.
Harry chuckled, then moved his hand to cup her cheek.
"So you're not upset if I kiss you again?" he asked, and she gulped at the intensity in his gaze, shaking her head.
Their lips met again, and she laced her arms around his neck, kissing him back. It started sweet and tender, but it was soon heated and hungry, as she flicked her tongue on his lips asking for entrance, and he eagerly complied. Their tongues battled in their mouths, while he caressed her hair, and found them as soft as they looked, and she fisted some of his unruly locks, pulling him closer to her, their bodies now flattened against each other.
Harry marvelled in the softness of her lips, as his hands developed a mind of their own and started caressing her back, eliciting a soft moan from her. They kept snogging their brains out for some minutes, and both felt truly happy.
As they sat at the entrance of the tent, Harry wrapped an arm around her, pulling her to him. She rested her head on his shoulder.
"Thanks" he whispered.
"What for?"
"Loving me like no one else does" he breathed in her ear, and she smiled.
"Anytime, Harry" she said, snuggling closer. "Anytime"
As they took watch together like that, Harry felt for the first time in ages happy and believed he could do it. If she was on his side, he could defeat Voldemort, and he would.
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