Disclaimer: Yeah, don't own them.
Hermione breathed a sigh of relief as the final bell rang.
"All right, quills down." She moved down the rows collecting rolls of parchment from the grumbling students. "Well, class dismissed." The students all collected their things and headed out the door. "Have a good night!" she called after them as a last thought. She shuffled the paper into a pile on her desk and began grading them immediately.
"Ennervate? No, that's not right," she absently said to herself while grading. She continued to grade three more tests. It was stuffy in her room and she had been restless all day.
She moved to the window to let in the breeze. As the room filled with the fresh scent of clean air she suddenly realized the cause of her nervousness today. It was Wednesday. Tonight Harry was proposing to Ginny. She looked out across Hogwarts' grounds. The sky was still gray above, still threatening a thunderstorm. Across the way sat Hagrid's hut, billowing smoke into the sky. She rested her hands on the sill for a moment. This is really happening…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I picked it up at the Goblin jewelry shop last night. What do you think?" He held the perfectly sized, perfectly glittering, perfectly right engagement ring. She took it lightly from his hand and examined the sparkling diamond. The ring was truly breathtaking.
"I'd say yes because of the ring alone." She slipped out still examining it carefully. Harry chuckled.
"Well I hope that's not the only reason she says yes." She blushed slightly.
"Of course not, Harry! Any girl would be lucky to have a catch like you." She said handing the ring back to him. "It really is a beautiful ring." He put it back in his pocket, almost sighing.
"I thought it was time. Five years is a long time to be dating." She nodded her agreement as she took a sip of her lukewarm tea. They sat there in silence for a moment and she felt her cheeks get red under his gaze.
"So, when are you going to ask her?" he stirred his tea absentmindedly.
"I was thinking next Wednesday, it will have given me enough time to return from Romania."
"You're being sent to Romania again?" she quirked up her eyebrows in surprise.
"There are always bad guys to be caught." She took another sip of her tea and wrinkled her nose at the cold temperature. Before she could do anything about it Harry had cast a warming charm on her cup.
"Thanks."
"So, what do you think about Ginny and me getting engaged?" He tried to ask as casually as he could. She pondered her words carefully.
"Five years is a while to be dating, and you've always wanted a family." She paused. Why was it so hard to say? She broke eye contact with the intense emerald and stared into the clouded depths of her teacup. "I'm, I'm really happy for you, Harry." He sat back in his chair; she hadn't realized he had been leaning forward. He smiled and nodded his head.
"Yeah, it's time isn't it?" he smiled taking another sip of his tea, the smile never leaving his lips. This is really happening…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She moved back to her desk and bit the tip of her quill pensively. The papers in front of her were forgotten. She looked over at the picture of Ron and her. It had been taken on New Years. They were smiling and laughing and every so often Ron would lean in to give her a kiss on the cheek.
She smiled a sad little smile, the kind she always smiled when she thought of him when she should be thinking about Ron.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Harry," she breathed. He was sitting on a fallen log. She could hear thunder grumbling in the distance. "Where have you been? Why did you leave the tent? I was worried." He remained stoic, not even flinching to acknowledge her presence. "Harry?" she slowly walked to his side as if approaching a blast-ended skrewt. She sat down next to him and studied his profile.
His raven black hair hung loosely in his face, the faint lightening bolt scar peaking through. His head was bent, his eyes fixed on something shinning and metal in his hands.
"What wrong?" he opened the locket before closing it again and turning it over in his hands.
"I'm just thinking." She paused, wondering if she should press on or just leave him be, but there was something about Harry that always made her want to know more. It was always like he had one more thing to say, always one last thought that he never let out. If Harry were a book she would read him cover to cover until she had memorized every line, every look, every sound of him. But reading Harry was about as easy as reading one of those screaming volumes from the restricted section.
"About what?" she heard herself ask before she could keep the words in. He sat there silently for a few moments and she was sure he wasn't going to answer.
"What if we can't get them all? What if he finds me before we're done? I wish people would stop treating me like I have some special power, like I know what I'm doing."
She had never heard him be this vocal, this honest. Often she would lay awake, hearing him shuffling around in the next room, wondering what kind of pressure he was under. She opened her mouth, thought twice, and closed it again. She picked up her hand and placed it on his shoulder, giving it a slight squeeze. He seemed to take comfort in this small action and she relaxed a bit.
"We'll get through this. I know we will." He looked up at her sharply-angrily.
"How? How can you say that? You don't know that. Don't lie, Hermione." His eyes bore into her and she refused to look away.
"Because I believe in you Harry, even if you don't." she said pointedly. Standing up and marching back to the tent. She could hear the faint beginnings of raindrops splattering the roof. He still hadn't come back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She sighed again, collecting the tests and various other piles of paper she shuffled them into her briefcase. Her heels clicked through the silent halls of Hogwarts as everyone was in the Great Hall enjoying the evening feast. She quickly made her way to her quarters. Dropping the briefcase by the door she took off her robes and dropped down on her bed. She was seventeen again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She was knocked on her back by a powerful curse. The hooded figure loomed over her, but before the shrouded Death Eater could finish her off Ron jinxed him with a body-binding curse. He helped her up and she smiled her thanks. Faintly she felt the warm, sticky trickle of blood down her neck. As soon as Ron had appeared he was gone again, amongst the many dueling figures. She saw an orange flash out of the corner of her eye as Luna Lovegood crumbled to the ground. She ran towards the Death Eater throwing any hex or jinx she could think of. Once the Death Eater was stunned she rushed to Luna's aid.
"Is she alright?" Harry's whisper tickled the back of her neck, or maybe that was the blood.
"I think, I don't know what hit her." She turned around but Harry wasn't there. The invisibility cloak. "You're going after him aren't you?"
"I have to." She turned back to Luna, the radish earring dangling precariously from her ear.
"Not alone." She said defiantly. She thought she felt lips press the top of her head lightly, but she wasn't sure.
"Be careful." He whispered in her ear. She knew he was gone. She could no longer feel his presence.
"Harry!" she called out feebly. Ron met her gaze across the room. His look mirroring hers-helplessness. This is really happening…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Miss Granger?" she heard the familiar call of Dobby through the door. She sighed, opening the door. She mustered a smile for him as he held up a tray of pumpkin juice, chicken, mashed potatoes, peas, and pumpkin pie.
"Oh Dobby, you didn't have to…" Dobby shook his head vehemently.
"Mr. Harry Potter told Dobby to watch over Miss Granger, and Miss Granger was not at the feast tonight." She smiled the same sad smile.
"Well thank you very much Dobby." He turned to leave.
"Oh and Dobby, thank you very much for the socks." She lifted her pants to reveal a blue sock with books on it and a green one with cats. "I love them." The little elves eyes shone with tears of happiness.
"Thank you very much Miss Granger!" She closed the door, placing the tray on her desk, not really interested in eating tonight. The clock chimed seven and Hermione imagined Harry was probably pouring another glass of champagne for Ginny, toasting to them. She shut her eyes tightly, digging the heels of her hand into her eyes. Lightening flashed outside her window as rain beat against the panes.
She was fine, really, most days she was perfectly happy with her life. It's not like she was a bad girlfriend to Ron. She loved him. It was only those infuriating moments when she would detect a particular scent that she associated with Harry in which these memories, these feelings, would come flooding back to her. Harry always smelled like the crisp, clean air after a rain shower.
She knew it was awful, and she always felt awful after she had been fully pulled out of her reverie. He was happy with Ginny, and she was happy with Ron, and that was the truth. But days like these always brought a "what if" quality with them. She wasn't dumb. She knew she had feelings for Harry and she was pretty sure he harbored feelings for her. She could tell by the way he always made time for her, by the way he would make up reasons to write or talk to her. She was sure he could see through her façade. She was always checking up on him, and she often let herself touch him too much when they did see each other. It was just so hard sometimes.
They would never, ever, do anything to hurt the Weasleys and it was an unspoken agreement. They could be happy without each other, as soon as they gave up that "what if", as soon as they moved on. However, she had been trying to "move on" for the past five years.
It just seemed so final. This was the last night she could think about him, guilt-free. Tomorrow he was officially someone else's, but tonight he could be hers. For just a few hours more.
She lit a fire and curled up into her bed, hugging her pillow. Tomorrow the storm will have blown over, Ron would come home, Harry would be engaged, and Hermione could return to normalcy. The feel of his lips against hers haunted her on nights like these. The crackle of the fire seemed to taunt her. She closed her eyes. She loved him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The sharp smell of anti bacterial spells burned her nose as her eyes flicked awake.
"Hermione!" Ron jumped to his feet. "You're awake." He grabbed her hand and squeezed it. She smiled at him.
She saw Harry make his way to the other side of her. He smiled brightly as he looked down at her. "What happened? The last thing I remember is Harry ki- is Harry." Ron brushed a piece of hair away from her face and looked at her adoringly. Harry's smile faltered.
"A rogue Death Eater hit you with a curse while everyone was celebrating. He was aiming for me." Ginny appeared at his side and took his hand, squeezing it gently.
"It's good to see you, Hermione." She said brightly. She then turned to Harry and put her free hand on his bicep. "Don't blame yourself, Harry." His eyes met with Hermione's briefly. His look said it all. If it had been different, if everything had been different… she nearly nodded in understanding. She turned to Ron and smiled brightly at him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She turned over and stared out the window, wet with rain. She tried not to imagine Ginny with the sparkling ring on her finger, kissing him passionately as tears of joy slip from her eyes.
This is really happening… Harry is engaged, and you can't bring yourself to do anything about it. You're too selfless, too loyal to ruin Ron and Ginny's happiness. This is really happening… and all you can to is wait until morning when everything will be okay.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry snatched the book out of her hands.
"Harry! Give that back." He laughed as he held it high over his head.
"Workaholic."
"Famous arse."
"Over achiever."
"Under achiever."
"Bookworm." She crossed her arms in front of her in mock offense. She put on her best upset face.
"Heartless git." She sniffed. He laughed lowering the book. "I hate you." She said narrowing her eyes at him.
"Come on Hermione, you know I was kidding. Anyway, you know I love you." It was meant to be teasing and playful, but it came out with all the seriousness that the words truly meant for him. She took the book from his hands.
"I know." She said softly. "Me too."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Merlin, how she hated nights like these.
A/N: Alright, expect one more story to complete the now triple shot thinger that I'm writing. Tell me what you think? Please?