A/N: Guys! I am so unbelievably sorry about this. I can only hope this chapter makes up for it. But there isn't so much fluff, so be warned. However, I must confess I got an excuse this time: I got into writing school! So I've been working really hard with that, since it's a two year program. And I hope to become a published author soon. I will keep you posted. So, for people who think dreams don't come true, start believing differently. If you really want it and work hard enough, it will come find you when you're ready. And although the program does not guarantee me publication, I'm hallway there! So thanks to you, my fans, for never giving up on me, especially people who have followed from my first not so good stories, at least compared to the latest ones. .There's always room for improvement, right? I got to say that this chapter was inspired by a review submitted by an excellent writer, Harry 85, who said that it didn't matter if Hermione was or wasn't with Harry, she was still a Muggle Born, so Voldemort would go after her. And thou are correct.
There is also something else that caught my attention. Someone thought that Harry using wandless magic makes Harry
look ubiquitous and it represents power for power's sake. I agree with this to an extent. Here's my reason, and
I hope you guys understand. My problem is with the wands. I've been obsessed with magic since before HP and in my
opinion, you don't need a wooden stick to channel it. It's JKR's creative license and I respect it, but I
felt I had to express my understanding of magic too, sorry. Not to spoil it (I already did), but we will also see
Hermione using it. Ron? Let's not push it. I have always thought Hermione is more powerful than Harry, he just gets
more attention.
I hope you guys understand. Thank you for your feedback, and please take the time to review this one.
Chapter 5: Answers
Harry's breath hitched. He should have been angry, especially because of what they had shared just last night, but the vulnerable look in her eyes was telling him that she was scared.
"Hermione," he chose his words carefully.
She was asking this question for a reason, and he did not want his words to come back and bite him in the arse later. The hand that was not in her wound went to caress her cheek.
"How can you ask me that, after what we gave to each other last night?" he whispered.
"I need to hear it," she answered, the hand not on top of his coming to pull his hair away from his face, settling on his scar.
"Hermione, I love you more than anything. Although I wish things were different, nothing is going to change how I feel about you."
Hermione sighed, a lone tear escaping to her cheek. She had no doubts after last night, but hearing him say it was…amazing. She had wanted to hear those words coming from his mouth practically since their Second Year at Hogwarts, although she would never admit it out loud, and much less to the object of her affection.
If she only knew Harry had felt the same for more or less the same number of years.
His words gave her confidence to keep talking. After his revelation, she was going to make sure nothing, especially not Voldemort, would keep them apart.
"They don't have to be different," Hermione whispered.
Harry glanced at her, turning his attention away from her curls and her wound. He could see her mind at work, and should have said something. He did not want her to get hurt on his account again, after all. Yet, Hermione beat him to the punch.
"Look Harry, I love you. I think I always have."
So much for not admitting her secret. Hermione felt however, that her green eyed friend needed to hear it. Consequently she continued with her confession.
"No matter how much you push me away, that's not going to change. But there's one other thing that I can't change. I'm a Muggle Born."
"Hermione, I don't care-" Harry mistakenly thought that Hermione believed her status would play a role in his feelings for her.
"I know you don't Harry, but he does. That's why I bring it up. See? Even if I do not surrender to my feelings for you, I'm still in danger, because my blood is tainted. And after everything we have been through together, your distance from me will prove his point, you care about me, and he knows it's a different kind of love than the one you have for Ron. If anything Harry, he's expecting you to be predictable, and try to distance yourself from Ron, and me. He wants you to face him alone. Your mood changes when you are by yourself, the loneliness you have felt since your parents died, since they killed Sirius, surfaces to a more vulnerable level, so he can mess with your mind. That's the only way to bring you down." Hermione knew it hurt him when she brought his family up, but as a vulnerability, it had to be dealt with.
"And I suppose your magical abilities and my lack thereof have nothing to do with this?" Harry asked her, amusement evident in his voice. She had apparently given a lot of thought to this.
"Well, my magic stems from knowledge, yours is more instinctual, willpower, like what you did to my spell last night," Hermione chuckled.
"I'm sorry, I didn't meant to scare you." Harry almost looked ashamed. Hermione put her finger on his lips, while she shook her head.
"Harry, I'm not looking for an apology, I'm just trying to compliment you. Besides, don't you dare feel sorry for anything that happened." Hermione winked at him, getting closer to his body. "I'm just saying there is no use comparing our magical abilities, since he is going to underestimate both of us anyway. My point is is that you're not going to fight alone, and that no matter how much you try to protect me by pulling yourself away from me, I'm still going to be in danger, and I refuse to be in danger and be away from you."
Once more, Hermione's finger was on his lips before he could speak. Her lips momentarily replaced her finger with a light kiss.
"You won't win this Harry. I know what you're going to say, it's for my own good. That's just who you are. You spend so much time worrying about others; you forget to take care of yourself. Let me do that. I know I can't replace what you've lost, but I can offer you comfort, a friend to lean on. And you need that." Hermione shrugged.
She knew that there was not much she could offer that could make up for what he had lost, and she was not going to pretend there was anything that could compare to his parents or Sirius, but she would make sure to be there for him. Someone had to. And she was glad to be there.
"Hermione, you've done that, always done it. And I am sorry that I've never said how grateful I am-"
"Hey, hey, what are friends for?" Hermione whispered, her hands caressing his face once again.
She was not doing this to make him feel bad. Again, she was glad to be there. He just needed to hear it.
Harry however, suddenly frowned.
"Friends. Just…friends?"
Hermione chuckled.
Finally, she was getting through to him. And not even Dolohov would ruin it this time. Voldemort could go screw himself, or Bellatrix could do it for him, she didn't care which. He would not mess with Harry anymore. Riddle would just have to find something else to do with his time. And Bellatrix was just a suggestion.
"You tell me, Potter."
"How are we going to tell Ron?"
"You mean when. Between Quidditch and Luna, he has no time!" Hermione laughed. She still loved her ginger haired best friend to pieces. But she would lie if she said she hadn't noticed a change from a trio to a duo the last few months, not that she minded, and least of all now. Harry was talking to her again.
And she would make sure it stayed that way.
She smiled, finally closing the gap between her and her former best friend.
Ron would welcome them with open arms, she was sure of it. Whom she was worried about however, was Ginny.
Nevertheless, their other friend would have to wait, because now, Hermione was ready to indulge in what she had wanted to do since she woke up that morning and found Harry next to her.
Kissing Harry's chin seemed like a good start, and before she knew it, she was lying on her back against the mattress, Harry paying extra special attention to her throat.
It seemed he did not have a problem with how things turned out.
She sighed as she passed her hands through his hair.
Nope, if Voldemort was not going to come between them, then Ginny would definitely stay out of their way; she would make sure of it.
She was sorry about Harry's timing, of course. But she would never apologize about loving her best friend, especially if he loved her back.
****
A sunny afternoon found Hermione in the common room, furiously scribbling in her parchment while she finished her History of Magic homework.
With Quidditch practice keeping both her friend and her now boyfriend busy, there was no better time to get things done. Besides, she had the distinct impression she would not get anything done tonight anyways.
Hermione blushed furiously as the memories of last night and that morning came flowing freely into her mind once again.
Luckily for her, she was the only student who, it seemed, worked on homework Friday afternoons.
But she would have been better off in her bedroom.
"You couldn't just deal with it, could you? You had to steal him away from me."
Hermione gasped as Ginny suddenly spoke. Her arms crossed, her foot tapping the red-colored Gryffindor carpet, the redhead looked ready to pull off something more than her famous Bat-Boogey Hex.
"Hello Ginny," Hermione said curtly. A temper tantrum just would not cut it in this situation. And she knew the redhead, as much as she loved her, she was Ron's sister after all, thrived on drama.
"Are you going to answer me?"
Hermione bit her lip apprehensively. She really did not want to upset her more than she was. But she would not display fear either.
"Answer what? It's a statement, albeit a wrong one at that. I am sorry that you lost Harry Ginny, don't get me wrong, but I will not apologize for loving him. I have, for a long time, and I stepped aside, for you, because I thought he really wanted to be with you. But if he loves me too, then there's no reason to stay apart."
Ginny scoffed, and Hermione was finding it very difficult to keep her temper in check. She had never been one to get carried away, temper-wise, in petty problems, such as this one. But if Ginny kept pushing, she wouldn't make any promises.
"You think he loves you? He has seen the way you look at him, and he likes the attention. He's Harry bloody Potter after all. Once he has gotten his fill, he'll go back to being just friends. You'll see."
"Whatever Ginny. I understand you're mad, but let's not push it, all right?"
"Yeah right. Some friend you are. How you got him, I'll never know, bushy haired like you are, always buried in books."
Hermione just sighed, pursing her lips while tightening her hold on her feather. Ginny just wanted to pick a fight, and she would not give her reason to. Yet, her task was getting more complicated by the second.
"You probably made him feel guilty about that wound again, didn't you?"
Hermione stared at her, her mouth still pursed, but her breaths coming in short hyperventilation.
How dare she? How dare she imply that she had used her wound when Harry hadn't wanted her precisely because of that? She had gone for Harry that night. And just as she had told their mutual object of discussion, she would do it again in a heartbeat.
"You did, didn't you?"
Apparently, Ginny had mistaken Hermione's silence for admission.
" Figures. You know, sometimes I wish Dolohov would have just finished the job."
That did it. Something inside Hermione snapped, and before she knew it, Ginny was standing against thin air, pushed against a wall.
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