I Don't Want To Lose You

a/n: Harry’s thoughts are red, Hermione’s, blue. Not much else to say…

Tonks looked up and down Starling Circle. She was waiting on Kingsley Shacklebolt to change shifts for guard at the Granger home. Ever since the fight in June and Dumbledore’s death, all the Order members (save Snape, of course) decided amongst themselves to test for Veritaserum and the Imperious Curse, along with guarding the Trio’s homes.

Tonks looked at her watch. Kingsley was twenty minutes late! She needed to go and needed to go NOW! Scrimgeour was strict on the entire Ministry, but especially the Auror Department since it was the most publicly criticized department. Looking at her watch again, she knew that something was up, but didn’t have the time to find out unless she wanted to explain why she was late because of “elf-riots” again.

So waving her wand in some complicated movements, she set a spell that would alert her when/if Dark Magic was used on this property and Apparated away. Little did she know, Kingsley was on Starling Circle, but he wasn’t in any condition to change shifts. Anyone could tell just by looking into his lifeless eyes.

The person sitting next to him was none other than Rodolphus Lestrange. He waved his wand once and a black glow came from the tip of it. Knowing his signal was sent, he smiled although his eyes were cold as steel.

A few minutes later, a pale faced witch appeared out of nowhere, with no sound of Apparation and at least 5 masked men behind her. Her smile seemed to be even colder than her husband, Rodolphus’ if possible. “Ready Bella?” he asked, standing up.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment all summer.” she replied.

“Good. Let’s go.” he said, crossing the street with Bellatrix and the others following behind. Stopping just before Tonks’ spell line, he bellowed “REDUCTO!” and the front door shattered to splinters.

Inside, Hermione had been sitting in the Study with her parents when she heard the front door shatter. She knew it wasn’t good and quickly decided to not find out why. Grabbing each parent by a hand, she Apperated them all out. Mere seconds later, the Study door blew open with an angry Bellatrix Lestrange standing in it’s place.

Hermione had Apperated them to the safest place she knew of besides Hogwarts. 4 Privet Drive. She only hoped that Petunia wouldn’t make too much racket while being forced to let the Grangers in. After Hermione knocked, Petunia opened the door with the falsest smile possible. “Are you here for Dudley? Oh he’ll be so pleased--”

Hermione interrupted with, “No not your whale of a son. We’re here to see Harry and shutting the door in our faces won’t help any because then I’ll only be forced to Apperate from right here on the doorstep for the whole neighborhood to see.” Her parents went from anger at Hermione calling a kid a whale, to astonishment when Petunia looked horrified and stepped aside. “Now, where’s his room? Oh never mind, I see it. It’s the one with the locks on the door right?” and all three Grangers went upstairs. Performing an unlocking charm, she turned to her parents, “Stay here. I have to see if he’s up to talking yet. He may not be considering he witnessed our Potions Master kill our Headmaster.” This wasn’t news to the elder Grangers. Hermione had sat them down at the beginning of break and told them everything she knew. At their nod, she knocked softly. “Harry? It’s me, Hermione.”

Opening the door, gave Hermione a sight she hoped to never see again. Harry sat on his bed, looking straight ahead, not focusing on anything with bloodshot eyes that had bags under them. “Harry? Can you hear me?” she tentatively asked. No answer. Walking over to him she could see Hedwig had gotten her own food, judging by the bones of various small rodents “Evanesco!” she said as she sat down next to Harry on his bed. “Harry.” Again, no response. “HARRY JAMES POTTER, you look at me this instant!” she said, getting quite agitated with him and his behavior. She could tell he heard her. He was just being stubborn and ignoring her. She got right in his line of vision, since she knew he wouldn’t move his head because that would acknowledge her presence, which he’d rather not do at the moment. “Maybe if I ignore her, she’ll go away. I can’t let her get hurt because of me. I need her too much.”

That was wishful thinking though, obviously. Hermione stayed silent while thinking “He’s trying to pull his protector act again. He doesn’t want me to get hurt again like at the Ministry. Damn Voldemort for instilling this fear that everyone he loves dies. Damn Dumbledore for not knocking Harry out instead of just a bloody body bind. Harry shouldn’t have had to see two of the most important people to him die right before his eyes! It isn’t right!” “Harry James Potter, you are not going to get rid of me that easily by simply ignoring me! I’m much more stubborn than that and you know it!” she said making sure not to blink so he understood the fire behind each and every single syllable she was saying.

Suddenly, a small unused voice interrupted Hermione’s rant. “I don’t want to lose you.”

Surprised, she could only look at him as his eyes slowly filled up with tears. Finally she threw her arms around his neck and held on tightly, as her own eyes filled with tears. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” was all that could be heard from either one.

Sometime later, they pulled apart and Harry looked at Hermione; “Why did you come? I know it’s too early yet to leave.”

A/n: This chapter isn’t as in the character’s heads as much. Just the way it wrote itself.

Hermione sighed and looked away, then looked back at Harry. “My house was attacked. By Death Eaters, most likely led by Bellatrix Lestrange.”

Something in Harry’s eyes went cold and hard as he looked out the window. “They can attack me all they want, I don’t care. But they will not attack the one...s I love most!” Then his emerald eyes softened as he turned back to Hermione. “What about you? Are you okay? And your parents? Were they--”

“Harry! I’m fine and so are they. But the house isn’t safe anymore.” Her chocolate eyes filled with tears at the thought of losing her childhood home. “I can’t go home Harry.”

He could only hold her as she cried. Around ten minutes later, there was a knock at the door, “Hermione, is everything okay?” her dad asked.

“Yeah. Be out there in a few minutes.” Turning to Harry, she said “Can you unlock Grimmauld Place for us? You don’t have to stay there if you don’t want. I just need somewhere safe to stay until McGonagall opens Hogwarts up.”

Harry looked at her carefully. “Sure, and if you don’t mind, I’d like to stay there too. I know I should stay here until the protections wear off, but they only are at their strongest when I consider this a home. And last I checked, this is as far from a home as anyone, even Malfoy, can get; so the protections are pretty much useless anyways. Just let me pack really quick.” And he picked up his Advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts and Advanced Potions (Hermione managed to let Professor Slughorn give her a new book, which she switched with the Prince’s for Harry since he wanted little else to do with it or it’s previous owner, Snape) books and the picture of his parents dancing by a water fountain, and put them all in his trunk, closed it and picked it up. “Let’s go. I don’t want to be here any longer than I have to.”

When he opened up the door, he was greeted by two people who could only be Hermione’s parents, Roger and Miranda, since they looked exactly like her. Right down to the chocolate brown eyes of her dad, and the bushy brunette hair her mom had pulled back into a clip.

“You must be Harry. Hermione’s told us all about you… and Ron. Thanks for keeping her safe during the school years.” Her dad said, shaking Harry’s hand.

“Actually, it’s her keeping us out of trouble more than anything sir.” Harry replied, smiling the first true smile Hermione had seen since….before the prophecy and Prince had come between them.

“Well, let’s go before the Dursleys get some sort of cowardly courage gathered to call the police.” Hermione said as she rolled her eyes at the very notion.

Hermione charmed an old shirt of Dudley's to be a portkey. “Everyone grab a piece. Leaving in 3...2...1.”

Once at Grimmauld Place, Harry simply put a hand on the door, getting ready to turn the knob when everyone heard the sound of hundreds of ancient and rusty locks unlocking the house and everything in it. Then opening the door proved to be a bit of a task, seeing as it hadn’t been opened in over a year, at least. It took both Harry and Hermione’s dad pushing with all their strength to force it open.

After the old door finally gave way, the sight was most certainly a sight for sore eyes. Dust had settled everywhere and in layers. Faintly, Mrs. Black could be heard from the upstairs. Harry pointed his wand at each stair in turn and said “Scourgify!”, since walking up them beforehand would leave tracks as if walking in the snow.

Walking up the newly cleaned stairs, Harry and Hermione in front, as the elf heads may be somewhere nearby; lead Hermione’s parents to her and Ginny’s room, conjured enough clothes for the night and went to Harry’s room, since the possibilities of that night’s attack left Hermione quite scared, and after voicing these fears to Harry, he insisted she share a room with him until she calmed the fears. So upon entering the room, Harry claimed Ron’s bed, and Hermione sat down on the other one. Hermione conjured them both night clothes, they changed, backs turned away from each other, and went to bed.

The next morning, Hermione woken up more refreshed than she had since before she started worrying about Harry after he revealed the prophecy. She had a weird dream, but for the life of her, all she could remember was the color emerald green.

When everyone woke up and was fed (courtesy of Harry; the Dursleys were actually good for something: Harry’s cooking skills!), they went to Diagon Alley to get school supplies, some of Harry’s money, wizard robes for all four, and pet supplies. Then with the muggle equivalent of Harry’s money in tow, (after sending the Wizarding stuff to Grimmauld Place) and the Grangers' promise to pay Harry back as soon as possible, although he wouldn’t be the one to remind anyone should they forget, they headed to Muggle London.

In Muggle London, the four of them split themselves and the money up to do everything quicker. Harry and Hermione went off by themselves, since Harry had never actually bought muggle clothes nor got much of a choice of what he owned, he needed help picking out his new wardrobe. The first thing Hermione said as soon as her parents went the other way was “You, my dear, dear friend need a new wardrobe. No not just some of this and that, I’m talking new everything.”The load was even, although it looked far unbalanced since her parents had been buying and choosing their own clothing for quite some time now, so they took charge of both their clothing and the food and kitchenware shopping because who knows what kind of cooking dishes were in Grimmauld Place.

The shopping trip proved to be a great success on both parts. There was now enough food to feed a small army, and everyone had plenty of clothing for all occasions.

So after a fulfilling dinner, all four adults sat down and went over everything from the beginning since facts get screwed up or forgotten over time and it helped to have another, pure muggle point of view on things.

Once everyone knew all Harry and Hermione knew, they kicked ideas around until well past midnight and Hermione was fast asleep on Harry’s shoulder. Saying “Good Night” to her parents, he carried her up to their room and when he tried to lay her down on her bed and get into his own, she clung to his neck even tighter. ‘When did she put her arms around my neck?’ When he tried pulling away, she whimpered as though someone was hurting her, so he stopped trying to pull away and she calmed down almost instantly, as Harry laid down next to her. As soon as he stopped moving, she snuggled closer, and all of a sudden a random thought floated through his head. ‘This is what defeating Riddle is all about.’

But he was far too sleepy to realize the implications of that particular thought.

Hermione woke to the feeling of something beating against her cheek. She opened her eyes and saw that she was laying on Harry’s shoulder with his arm around her waist. Noticing that he was still asleep, she allowed herself to get lost in her thoughts. ‘How did we end up like this?’ When she felt a slight stirring, she looked at Harry again, only this time he was awake.

“Morning ‘Mione.” he said with a slight rasp of sleep that for no apparent reason made her heart beat a bit quicker.

“Morning Harry.” she replied, as though they woke up like this on a daily basis. Neither said much for quite some time, and while Harry was lost in his own thoughts, he hadn’t realized that he was tracing invisible patterns on the small of Hermione’s back, where her shirt had ridden up a tad during the night. Hermione noticed, as it was all she could think about throughout the entire silence.

By the time they went downstairs, Hermione’s parents were already there and sitting down to breakfast. At the sight of food, Hermione remembered something. “Harry, no one else knows what happened! We have to owl the Weasleys, Tonks, McGonagall--”

Harry interrupted her. “Mione, we’ll do that, I promise. But let’s eat first so the owls don’t look like Ron wrote them while eating. Okay?” he said putting his hands on her shoulders.

She calmed down and agreed. Unknown to either teen, her parents shared a knowing glance and looked at the two.

Meanwhile, Harry and Hermione had filled their plates and began to eat. The entire time, they discussed what to say in the owls and what was necessary to be left out. Then, after writing them and sending an irate Hedwig out with the letters, the four occupants of 12 Grimmauld House decided that the only course of action they could take at the moment was to sort through the library and decide if it was to be deemed helpful or not. Hermione’s parents were grateful as this allowed them to help as well although various things still needed explaining, but made the work go quicker.

Three hours later, and they were no more closer than if they’d read random issues of ‘Witch Weekly’. Hermione took one look at Harry and saw he was almost at wit’s end with the lack of progress. So she suggested that her parents go make lunch while they continue the work.

As soon as the older two left the room, Hermione turned to Harry and said one word; “Spill.”

Harry glared at her as she saw through his façade so easily. Not even Ginny had been able to do such a thing! Then he sighed heavily, and replied “This is frustrating. We’ve been here all morning and not one bit of information has been helpful. I don’t know of any other place to look.”

“True, but have you exhausted all your resources?” Hermione asked, thinking. As if on cue, a tawny owl flew through a window nearby and dropped a letter on Harry’s lap before flying out the window again. Harry opened it and read it silently at first before Hermione said “What?”

“My parents supposedly left provisions on their will for when I came of age. I have to go to Gringotts to claim everything else and decide what to do with it all.”

“When do you want to go?” she asked, gently putting a hand on his arm, as though to give him strength.

“After lunch. Will you come with me? Please? I don’t think I can do this alone.” he replied, looking more scared than she’d seen him since the night before last.

“Sure. Let’s go eat and tell my parents and see if we need anything else while we’re there.” at his nod, they went and told her parents as they all ate sandwiches.

At Gringotts, Harry walked up to the first empty teller window he saw and said “I’m here to see about claiming some things from a will.” They were led to a room with two chairs for them, a table and a chair that could only belong to the goblins as it was tall and had stairs to get in it.

“Name?” the intelligent creature asked.

“Potter. Harry Potter.” Harry replied in a strained voice.

“Place your thumb on this piece of parchment, please” the goblin said, not acknowledging that he stood in front of the Boy-Who-Lived; and for that Harry was grateful. He placed his thumb on the parchment, only to jerk it back when it glowed a golden color. Nodding, the goblin added, “Okay, please wait right here while I get the representatives for the wills.”

“Wait, I thought that my parents had a joint will. Is something wrong with it?” Harry asked, becoming worried.

“No nothing is wrong with the will your parents left, but it says here that you’re also the main beneficiary of an Albus Dumbledore’s will.” the goblin replied, looking at the parchment in his hands.

“Okay. Thanks for explaining it to us.” Hermione spoke for the first time the entire visit. She pulled Harry to sit down in the nearest chair, sitting next to him as the door to the room shut. “Harry? Look at me. This isn’t your fault. Yes, you witnessed it and yes you shouldn’t have to go through it, but doesn’t make you any less worthy of what’s happening.”

“Yeah, I just thought I’d start getting over all this.” he said, as the tears rolled down his cheeks. Hermione could only hold him as he silently cried, as though still at the Dursleys.

By the time the goblins representing the wills walked into the room, Harry had calmed down, to the naked eye. To the most experienced one, however… well, that was a different matter altogether. He held on to Hermione’s hand while she absentmindedly rubbed small circles on the back of his. “We’re ready to begin.” He said in a slightly strained voice.

“I’ll read the Potter will first because some of what is in Professor Dumbledore’s will may depend on it.” at Harry’s nod, the goblin continued, “We, James and Lily Potter, being of (mostly) sound mind and body, write this will in the event of our untimely demise. First; Godric’s Hollow is to go to our son Harry; there is a library that he is to give to his future wife because if he’s anything like James, she’ll need it. Harry is to also go through the rest of the house and distribute what he doesn’t want as he sees fit. The Head of Gryffindor House is to receive ten thousand galleons for use on the Quidditch team. The Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is to receive a hundred thousand galleons to start a muggle-born scholarship fund. Sirius Black and Remus Lupin are to get all of James’ prank supplies and are not to show Harry until he’s of age! All of the businesses are to go to Harry unless he deems someone else more suitable to run any of them. Any other funds left is for Harry to distribute where he deems necessary. After this will is read, he is to receive a letter from me, Lily, to be read by himself save anyone he wishes to be present.” And an envelope appeared on the table. Then the goblin stepped down from the chair and all but Hermione left the room.

Harry handed the letter to her and said a single word, “Please”, but she understood his request nonetheless.

Opening the letter, she read it out loud.

Dear Harry,

If you’re reading this then Voldemort has succeeded in killing us. Please know that both your father and I love you very much.

Voldemort wants to kill you because of a prophecy that he has heard part of; which includes the both of you. If you haven’t heard it yet, then go to Dumbledore, or the most senior Order member, whoever, just so long as you hear the prophecy in it’s entirety. If you’ve heard it, then you understand the urgency behind that request. Please do what you can to stop him.

I’ll leave you with this piece of advice: if there’s anyone (and I stress this word) who you’re feeling less-than-platonic feelings for, then don’t hesitate! Act on them before it’s too late!

Remember, we’ll always be with you and love you no matter what.

Mum

Hermione was near tears by the time she finished the letter. Looking over the time-worn parchment once more, she gasped. “Harry, your mother wrote this the night before Halloween. The night he killed them.” and that one single fact broke the barriers that both had been keeping up, if only for the other’s sake. They held each other as they cried for James and Lily, for the muggle caretaker of the Riddle house, for Bertha Jorkins, for Cedric, for Sirius, for Dumbledore, but most of all for each other because they both felt that the other one should have never had to feel such pain and grief.

Once they were all cried out, Hermione got up and opened the door, then walked back to her seat. But she didn’t sit in it this time. She passed it up and sat down in Harry’s lap, resting her head in the crook of his neck as he wrapped his arms around her waist without a question because he knew they both needed the comfort that could only be from one another. “We’re ready to continue.” she said, not moving her head from it’s resting position on his neck.

“Professor Dumbledore wished that only the parts of the will be read that pertained to those present, it shall be fairly short. To Harry Potter he, also, left a letter to be given after the reading. To Hermione Granger, he left his personal library of texts and documents ‘to keep your loved ones safe’. Here is your letter, Mr. Potter; and Miss Granger, shall we deliver the library to your house or put them in a vault?” the goblin asked, handing Harry another piece of parchment.

“Send it to 12 Grimmauld Place’s Library. We’ll sort through it later. Thank you for meeting with us on such short notice. Is it possible to read the letter somewhere else, more comfortable?” She asked, knowing that Harry would prefer that greatly.

“Yes, we understand completely. Professor Dumbledore’s death affected us all greatly. Please, if you ever need our help with anything, don’t hesitate to ask. Few other witches or wizards have ever treated us so kindly as you have and not expected something in return.” the goblin truthfully replied, shocking both teens as they’d always acted this way and never thought of how it affected others.

Ten minutes later, they were back at Grimmauld Place and explaining everything to Hermione’s parents. Then Harry wordlessly handed the letter to Hermione, knowing she’d understand the request again. She shakily opened the newer-looking parchment and began to read, for the second time that day:

Dear Harry (and I suspect Miss Granger as well),

I know that no matter how I died (I’m using past because there is no other way for you to receive this letter) you probably feel as though it’s all your fault. I’ll say this now. It is not nor never will be your fault unless you, of your own free will, were the one to actually kill me. I’m off to the Next Great Adventure, now, joining your parents in watching over you as you live the rest of your life. Understand? Good. On to other matters of the moment.

I’ve been thinking about ‘the power he knows not’, and I believe it’s a love Tom never got the chance to experience, not even in his time at Hogwarts like so many of his peers did. I also believe this power has been around since your First Year, so look that far back and find one constant in the past six years; that will be the power, I’m sure of it.

Hermione was crying again; as was Harry. She had crawled into his lap around the ’power he knows not’ part. He just hugged her; as her parents left the room, forgotten and unheard. Harry picked the letter up to read the greatest wizard of all time’s handwriting one last time. What he saw made him gasp, much like Hermione did when she discovered the date of Lily’s letter. Dumbledore wrote this the very day they went to that cave! ’He knew he was going to die! But did he know Snape-- No! He couldn’t of! Snape looked and was too cold-hearted that night!’

“Harry? What is it Harry? You’d best not be blaming yourself Harry James Potter!” Hermione said, breaking through his thoughts.

“I’m fine. Just remembering that night is all.” He replied. He didn’t want to burden her more with the thoughts he had about the killer of the greatest wizard in all of the Wizarding world.

“Who do you think is the ‘power he knows not’?” she asked, steering the conversation away from Dumbledore.

“The only things that have been constant all six years has been Hedwig…and you.”

AN: Sorry it's so late folks. I'll be honest and say I forgot until earlier today. *sheepish* better than I used to be though right? *is hopeful* Right. *grins* On with the story!
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“Me? What about Ron? Ginny?” she asked, shocked not at who he trusted, but who he didn’t.

“Ron couldn’t trust me enough to believe that I didn’t enter the Tri-Wizard Tournament, because all he could see was I got another thing that he didn’t. Ginny has only really ever seen me as Super Harry, Chosen One to Save the World, because that’s all Molly ever told her. They all see me as Savior of the World first, James and Lily’s son second, and just Harry third. I know people like Hagrid don’t mean it because that’s all they’ve ever really known, but sometimes it’s just frustrating. You don’t see me like that. You see the reverse, just Harry first, James and Lily’s son second, and Chosen One last. Half of them think I’m just a kid who actually wants the attention, while the rest are expecting miracles from me! You and Hedwig are the only two who see past all of that all the time and know what I can do, so you don’t expect anything more or less.”

Hermione was stunned to say the least. She knew Harry trusted her with his life, as she did with him, but she didn’t know he put that much thought into it. But she was also surprisingly happy and pleased because of it, though she had little right to be. “So now what?” she asked, changing the subject.

“To be honest? I don’t know. Maybe Dumbledore had something in his library. When is it supposed to get here?”

Just then a ‘thud’ was heard behind Harry. Hermione looked over his shoulder and said “Now. Do you want to go through everything now?”

“After dinner. Until then, what about the Weasleys? Should we have them help or just Ron or no one at all?” he replied, hoping against hopes, with no inkling why, that she’d say no one at all.

“Not yet. They know we’re safe and that’s all that matters. We seem to actually accomplish something without Ron and Merlin knows the last thing either of us needs is a hopeful Molly and Ginny.” the bushy headed witch replied. Silently she added ’Besides, I kind of like it when it’s just us.’ while some slight suspicions began creeping into her mind.

Just as the four of them were sitting down to dinner, a recognizably tawny brown owl flew through an open window. “Ron wrote back.” Harry said as he got up to catch the hyper-active animal. The task was easier as Harry had hit his final growth spurt recently.

Opening the letter, he found not Ron’s messy scrawl; but Bill’s. What the letter held only made him pale. Hermione saw and asked “Harry, what happened? What did Ron say?”

All Harry could mutter was “Not Ron…Bill…Ron and Ginny mad at us” and handed Hermione the letter, as he sat back down.

Hermione read it aloud;

Dear Harry and Hermione,

Good to hear everyone is fine. We knew there was nothing to worry about when we checked at Privet Drive and Mrs. Dursley told us you’d stopped by. But now, it seems that you’ve unknowingly set off a muggle time bomb (so to speak). When Ron and Ginny read what you did say, or shall I say what they think you didn’t say, well to say they were mad would be an understatement. They almost Apperated over, and would have if it weren’t for the wards on the house. Then they fought us so much that we had to eventually give them sleeping draughts. As of this letter, they are still out, but you do know them. They’ll be there a minute after waking. I figured best warn you so you can try to hide or something.

Bill

At that very moment, two pops sounded from the foyer. Mr. and Mrs. Granger looked from Harry to Hermione, slightly worried about what could, and probably would happen. Suddenly, the kitchen door flew open and revealed a sight to behold. Ron, with his face almost as red as his hair, and Ginny with her face blank, save the iciness in her eyes.

Harry moved to stand in front of Hermione, as though to protect from dangers unreleased.

“You--I trusted you!” The petit redhead yelled, pointing at Hermione.

“We haven’t done anything wrong Ginny.” Hermione exclaimed, as she moved to stand next to Harry.

“Then why not tell us to come over. Instead you just send a single owl almost two days later! It seems suspicious to me. Like you’d rather be together than with us!” Ron yelled.

“Like Hermione said: we did nothing wrong! Last I checked, we weren’t going out with either of you. Right Hermione?” Harry said in a forced calm, as he looked at the brunette next to him for conformation.

“Right. Ron, it was your idea to wait awhile before we got together. You told me you’d write, but you never did, so I got over you! And Ginny, you and Harry broke it off more than 3 months ago. You were fine with not being apart of this, so I don’t see why you’re complaining any. We just wanted to actually accomplish something, which is hardly done with you around. Neither of you actually contribute to research time, except to complain and distract us, and frankly, I’m sick of it!”

Ron left with a loud pop first, Ginny following close behind. Hermione turned towards her parents and said in a wry voice, “That was Ron and Ginny if you couldn’t guess. Sorry about that though. They have a…tendency to see what isn’t there.” Her parents briefly glanced at each other, as though saying much more than Hermione or Harry heard.

The two teens sat back down, but hadn’t started eating yet, just stared at the food on their plates. Finally, Harry cleared his plate and said, “I’m going to go look through Dumbledore’s books.” then left the room.

Hermione watched with sad eyes, then did the same, telling her parents, “I’ll go help.” and left.

Miranda looked at Roger and said, “Normally, that would be suspicious, but something tells me that they really are going to go sort through the books, among some other things.” and at his nod of agreement, she added, “Let’s go start reading those dentistry quarterlies we bought yesterday. Who knows how long we’ll be gone from the practice, and we will want to be up-to-date when we return.” then they got up and left the kitchen as well, knowing (after it having been explained) that Dobby was around and would more than happily clean up the meal.

Meanwhile

Hermione walked into the library, cautious of what she’d find. She saw Harry taking books from the useless pile behind him and throwing them in the air, then shooting curses at them. Picking up a book from the need-to-be-looked-through pile, she sat on the comfy chair across the room and began to read, knowing he would talk when he was good and ready.

An hour later and fifty books lighter, Harry sat next to Hermione's chair on the floor, and sighed. She absently ran her fingernails over his scalp lightly. Doing this awoke new feelings in the both of them; he, for the first time since that morning, felt at peace and happy. She noticed how silky and soft his hair was and wondered how it would feel under more-than-platonic circumstances before she could stop herself. 'Bleeding hell… Harry started talking before she could think more on the subject.

“I figured they’d be mad, but not nearly as mad as they were. Maybe we didn’t truly know the depth of their feelings. But then why’d Ginny let me go so easily?” he said, bouncing subjects quickly and randomly.

“I honestly don’t know Harry. If it were me,” both minds mirrored much the same wonderment on that, “I’d argue with you a bit before letting you go. She just let you go like a pet who’s run off.”

“Thanks. I’m a pet now.” Harry replied dryly.

“You know what I mean. I meant that she didn’t act at all heartbroken; as though she could find another if you didn’t come back to her, or…” and Hermione let the rest go unsaid.

“Yeah, now that I think about it, she didn’t fight me at all on the idea. I was grateful at the time, so I didn’t dwell on it, but looking back it does seem too easy. And what about Ron?” He asked, turning the tables on his best friend.

She sighed and was quiet for a moment, as though pondering the question herself. “I think Ron liked the idea of a girlfriend rather than me as a girlfriend; and I’ll admit I only went along with it because I thought someone might actually see me for me and not the bookwormish friend of The-Boy-Who-Lived.”

“But I see you for you. The bookwormishness is just bonus.” Harry replied, confused slightly.

“Oh Harry.” Hermione said, smiling softly. She knew he wouldn’t understand right away and that was okay given his upbringing. “I don’t want a best friend who sees that. I also want someone who will want to be there with me well into my years, who will know when to pull me away from my books or to give in and join me, who will understand why I have to help the house elves, and why I have to help you. That’s more than just ‘see’, although that’s the best word I could think of; that’s ‘love’.” And then the bushy-headed witch went back to her book, signaling the end of the conversation and not noticing the mixture of emotions playing on her best friend’s face.

'I want to be there with her into her, and my years; I know when she’s had more than enough research, despite what she thinks; I know why she fights for the house elves, because she sees them under the same control as the Wizarding world, the control of fear and magic; I know why she helps me, and not to say she’s helped save the world, but because she wants me to have the life both her and Ron have lived, one with family all around. Does that mean…that I love her? And in a more-than-platonic way? Then it hit him. He did love his best friend more than platonically. He realized that while he would kill for Ron, he’d die for Hermione, and that scared him; but then he looked at her as she read, and he knew it was the utmost truth which eased him some.

While Harry was discovering all of this, Hermione was trying to read her book but found it quite hard to do with Harry staring at her. She wondered briefly what he was thinking, then decided he’d probably tell her before the night was over, and went back to reading her book.

Harry was terrified. In the past two hours, he fought with his other best friend (who was rapidly losing right to the ‘best’ part), destroyed fifty books, talked about Ron and Ginny with Hermione, and realized he loved Hermione. The first three were tough enough alone, much less the last one, which was the terrifying bit. What if she doesn’t feel the same way? and thoughts like that kept floating around in his head the rest of the night.