Once More with Parents - Valentines Day special
A/N - a short snippet from the alternate world created by Harry and Hermione during my story Harry Potter and the Balm of Time, which tells the story of how "other" Harry and "other" Hermione got together. It's a belated Valentine's Day present for you all. It's also completely un-beta'd so apologies for all the mistakes.
Harry felt awkward, awkward and uncomfortable and it was all his dad's fault. Ever since he'd asked Hermione to go to the Yule Ball with him, on his father's advice (read insistence) and against his own better judgement, he'd been feeling awkward and uncomfortable around her. The problem wasn't that they were going to the ball together, that part was fine, the part he was having trouble with was that she had misunderstood him while asking and had thought he'd meant as a date.
He'd been nervous and he'd fumbled his way through asking her and she had thought he was asking her to be her on a date. He hadn't meant it that way at all. He'd meant that they should go together as friends but she'd misunderstood and he'd had no idea how to correct her without hurting her feelings.
His father had been singularly unhelpful as well.
When Harry had told his dad what had happened, and asked for advice on correcting it, his dad had just laughed at him. When he had stopped laughing he still hadn't been any help, Harry could remember his father's advice on how to deliver the news vividly.
"Tell her the truth, then run as fast as you can for as long as you can. Make sure you have the Map with you when you tell her, so that when you stop running you can check and see where she is on the map and, if necessary, you can run a bit more." And all delivered with a grin big enough to nearly crack his face in half.
His father's smiling face seemed to mock him.
So Harry was stuck and he was now going on a date with a girl that he only thought of as a friend and there was nothing he could do about it. He really had considered telling her the truth at first, but that was until the morning after his botched request. The three of them had gone down to the great hall for breakfast together, as they always did, and no sooner had he clambered out of the portrait hole and started to walk down the corridor next to his friends then he felt a warm little hand tentatively take hold of his own.
It was not the first time that Hermione had held his hand, far from it, but on all other occasions they were running for their lives or otherwise involved in something scary or dangerous. In those cases she didn't hold his hand as much as she grabbed it, so the surprise of this tentative hold was twofold. First he was surprised that she'd done it at all when they were in no immediate danger and second that she'd done it so tentatively, with nothing like her usual assurance.
Harry had looked down at their joined hands in surprise for a second, before looking up at her. He had nearly dropped her hand and asked her what she was doing but one glance at her face stopped him. She looked so shy and embarrassed, so unsure of herself, and he couldn't bring himself to say something that he knew would make her feel bad. Her face was a brilliant shade of scarlet as she tried to hide behind her hair while still trying to gauge his reaction by peering at him through the tresses. Harry saw all of this in a moment, his mouth snapped shut and instead of taking his hand away he smiled at her instead and squeezed her hand.
He had just been trying to make her feel better, he'd explained to Ron and Neville later, she thought he'd asked her to be his date to the Yule ball and she didn't realise he'd meant just as friends. Ron and Neville thought the whole situation was hilarious and started making kissy faces at Harry whenever Hermione's back was turned. Harry wasn't surprised at this from Neville but he was surprised that Ron didn't seem the least upset and it was just one more reason for Harry to feel uncomfortable. Prior to this all taking place Harry had thought Ron fancied Hermione. He'd even checked with his friend that it was OK for him to ask her to go with him, as friends, before he'd asked and Ron's response had been surprisingly unconcerned.
So he and Hermione had been holding hands to and from all of their classes for the past fortnight, which was made even more awkward and uncomfortable by Ron, Neville and, to a lesser extent, the rest of their classmates constant teasing.
Now, as he stood waiting for Hermione in the Gryffindor Common room, he felt even more uncomfortable than he'd been feeling for the past two weeks (and that was saying something). His mind whirled with possibilities of different things that could go wrong, the most prominent being that she would try to kiss him or expect him to kiss her. Harry didn't think he could do it and if he couldn't she would want to know why and he would have to tell her he only liked her as a friend and then she would be embarrassed and she would think he'd led her on and she would probably hate him.
Harry wasn't just uncomfortable anymore, he was terrified.
He might not want Hermione as his girlfriend but he really liked having her as a friend and he was worried that the longer he maintained this charade the more likely she would be to never speak to him again. He was working himself into a real sweat thinking about it when he heard a noise on the staircase behind him and he turned to see Hermione floating towards him in robes of Periwinkle blue.
She looked like an angel.
Harry felt his mouth drop open as he stared at her but he couldn't help it, she looked amazing. The thought suddenly flittered through his mind that he might not have any trouble kissing her after all, if that was what she wanted. He hoped that was what she wanted. It was that thought that caused him to snap his mouth shut finally, and gulp. He did hope that she wanted him to kiss her and that thought was enough to make him feel more awkward, more uncomfortable and definitely more terrified than anything else that had happened in the past fortnight.
Hermione descended the final step toward him and as she did his hand rose toward her, seemingly of its own volition, she took his hand with a smile and he tucked it into the crook of his elbow before leading her towards the portrait hole. He hadn't said a word yet and it suddenly occurred to him that he should say something, but when he began to speak his words failed him.
'You look...' his mind ran through the possibilities. Amazing, fantastic, perfect, radiant, beautiful.
'Really pretty,' he finished finally feeling stupid. There were so many better words he could have used. Internally he berated himself for his poor word choice and general stupidity, but then he saw Hermione's smile and his internal voice was silenced.
'Thank you, Harry,' her smile was still shy, but it was beautiful and increased her overall perfection beyond words. Harry was struck dumb, thankfully he hadn't lost control of his limbs yet and he continued to guide her faultlessly towards the great hall.
She looked away from him then glanced back from under her lashes. How had he never noticed how long her lashes were, or how beautiful the clear brown of her eyes? A blush rose across her cheeks as their eyes met again.
Harry barely noticed the crowd which gathered around them in the entrance hall, and he was (for the first time ever) completely unaware of the multitude staring at him as he led Hermione to their seats. Thankfully his tongue started to work again over dinner and he was able to talk and joke with her almost the same as he normally would. Her beauty hadn't dimmed at all, if anything it had increased now that it was surrounded by the beauty of the great hall, but he somehow found that being back in the great hall and eating had put him at ease.
When the dancing started it was not terrifying at all, in fact Harry found that he enjoyed it so much that he kept Hermione on the dance floor long after the other staff and students had joined them there. Song after song went by and still they danced, neither of them speaking a word, until at last Harry realised that he was feeling tired and worried that Hermione would be as well.
'Do you want to find somewhere to sit?' He asked her at last, his voice was low as he tried not to break the spell that had swirled around them for the past hour as they danced.
Hermione nodded and Harry led the way into the gardens.
They found a low stone bench surrounded on three sides by rose bushes and sat down. He still held her hand in his and as they sat there in the cool night air, with the stars stretching to eternity before them and the smell of roses surrounding them, he absently stroked the back of her hand and marvelled at the softness of her skin.
He wanted nothing more at that moment than to kiss her, but he had no idea how to begin. He looked over at her and she smiled at him, he found himself being irresistibly drawn in to her but then she spoke and her words snapped him from the moment with all the delicacy of a bucket of cold water.
'I thought, during the past fortnight, that you didn't actually want me as a proper date for tonight but just as friends. You seemed so surprised that first morning when I held your hand, but then you didn't ever say anything and ... I wasn't sure.' she smiled at him, 'I'm still not really. Harry, what did you want when you asked me to come with you tonight?'
Harry couldn't speak, he should have known that she'd notice his behaviour over the past two weeks. But what could he possibly say now that wouldn't spoil everything? He didn't want to lie to her but telling her the truth seemed like the stupidest thing he could possibly do. Really, he had no choice, she was his friend and she deserved honesty.
He screwed up all of his Gryffindor courage and told her the truth, 'When I asked you,' he began, 'I was asking you to go with me as a friend,' Hermione looked mortified and moved to stand up, but Harry stopped her, holding her hand tight.
'Please let me finish?' his tone was calm but his eyes were begging.
There eyes met and she paused then, without saying a word, she sat back down.
'When you held my hand that next morning, I was surprised, but...' Harry trailed off and shrugged, 'I didn't mind and you looked so shy and I couldn't bring myself to tell you that you'd misunderstood.'
Hermione looked away and Harry heard her sniffle, 'is that all you wanted to say?' she asked, a definite sob in her voice, 'Can I go now?'
Harry still held her hand and now he began to stroke it, Hermione looked down and Harry could see surprise on her face.
'That's not all I wanted to say.'
She looked over at him, her mouth forming a silent O.
He smiled at her then, it was so rare that she was without words.
'When I told you earlier that you looked pretty tonight, I lied. You look beautiful and I'm honoured that you are my date. When I saw you tonight I was glad that you'd misunderstood me. I was glad that you thought this was a proper date, cause at that moment I really wanted it to be... I still want it to be. So, if you can forgive me for being a stupid git, I'd really like it if this was a date.'
His heart pounded in his chest while he waited for her response and when it came, in the form a smile spreading slowly over her face, the beat of his heart only increased its pace.
'I think I'd like it if this was a date too.'
Harry felt an answering smile spread over his own face and the two teens sat smiling at each other for a second until Harry suddenly remembered his intention from earlier. Now seemed like the perfect moment to carry out his plan, the only problem being that he'd never actually made a plan.
He took a deep breath, 'Hermione, since we're being honest, can I ask you something?'
She nodded, still smiling, 'Of course you can, Harry.'
'Would you mind if I kissed you?'
'I wouldn't mind,' she replied, in a voice little more than a breathy whisper.
He leaned forward then and their lips touched for the first time. It was soft and sweet and Harry was lost... but, thankfully, Hermione was there to find him.
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