The young wizards stood on the deserted beach as the sun began to set where the sky meets the sea. Harry waited for Hermione to speak or pull away, the young witch did neither. Finally, Hermione sighed and asked, "Since when are you the one taking care of me?" Harry was thankful to hear the smile in her voice and responded "Because you're finally allowing me to. No one can do everything for others and take care of themselves too, Mione. You've got to be taken care of too." Hermione turned to face him, feeling more at ease than she had since their journey began. Hermione smiled at him, her deep brown eyes finally twinkling, her hands resting lightly on his shoulders. A content smile spread across Harry's face as she said "Thank you, Harry. I've never had someone to take care of me other than my parents. And this," she paused, her eyes traveling to the letters on her forearm, "isn't something they can understand." Harry shrugged lightly, "I'm not Ron," he stated before turning his head and kissing the scar letter by letter. Hermione's breath caught in her chest as Harry's feather-light kisses continued to cover the new blemish on her otherwise perfect forearm. Hermione took a deep breath to find her voice and asked, "What do you mean?" Harry's ministrations ceased as he raised his jade eyes to hers, "I could never walk out on you, for any reason. I could never let you dismiss me and honor it when I could see the pain in your eyes. I could never blame for you anything, nor could I ever hurt you," Harry explained, his voice serious.
Hermione, slightly taken aback asked "What does Ron have to do with anything?" Harry sighed, seating himself in the sand pulling her down beside him. "After Ron left, you became so distant. You were hardly speaking to me and throwing yourself into finding a way to destroy the locket. I didn't understand, I thought you were upset with me because I'd told Ron to go if he wanted. I tried to help, but you pulled away when you finally began to act like yourself when I got you to dance with me," Harry explained, images of Hermione's smile as he twirled her around the tent parading to the front of his mind. Hermione pulled her jean-clad knees to her chest and turned to him, "I was angry at Ron for deserting us, for leaving us when we needed him. Having him there, kept my mind off of other things, things I'd been trying to avoid. When he left, those things I wanted to avoid came to the forefront and I busied myself with destroying the locket," she responded, her gaze traveling to the patterns her toes were making in the wet sand.
Thoroughly perplexed, Harry asked "Would you mind explaining, Hermione? I'm quite lost. Was it something I did?" Hermione raised her eyes to his tender gaze and felt warmth spread in her stomach. "I've been avoiding the fact that I don't feel more than brotherly love for Ron. With that knowledge, I had been trying to avoid what that also meant for me, then you and I danced and I let my mind shut down and then, it hit me. I needed to be alone, so you left. Then you came back with Ron in tow and the locket had been destroyed. Ron was actually begging me to forgive him and you, you looked as if you'd seen a ghost," Hermione explained cautiously, then adding "What did happen to the locket, Harry?"
Harry took a few minutes to push back the image of he and Hermione locked in a passionate snog sending a fierce blush to color his cheeks. Hermione watched the symbol of embarrassment flitter across Harry's face and waited in amused silence. Harry began to stammer, "Mm, uh, well you see," he took a shallow breath before recounting the images the locket had produced and its destruction. "How did Ron react to the locket's defenses?" Hermione questioned. "He took it quite well, considering what I spoke with him about on the hike back to the tent," Harry answered, attempting to swallow the lump that had appeared in his throat.
The hope had begun to flower in the depths of Hermione's heart at the blush that decorated Harry's sculpted face as he told her about the locket's image. But now, her heart had begun to race in anticipation, hoping that he would say what she'd longed to hear for so long. "What did you say?" Hermione asked quietly. Harry locked his eyes on hers, the green iris aflame with such intensity as he replied, "I told him that I was in love with you, but no matter what we needed him." Hermione got to her feet in the last minutes of sunset, the stars barely visible in the sky. Harry stood and lazily reached a hand out to her as the first wholehearted smile lit up Hermione's face in days, weeks even. Hermione closed the small gap between the two of them and gripped his scruffy face in her small hands and said slowly "Harry, I'm so in love with you." A smile lit up Harry's face as he lowered his mouth to hers in a tender first kiss.
The pair kissed for a few minutes, reveling in the taste of each other before Hermione pulled back and rested her forehead against Harry's. Neither spoke as their breathing returned to normal the sounds of the waves taking them to a place far away from the war, where the two of them is all there was. "Harry, I'm glad you came to comfort me. I still have to deal with this and I'm glad I don't have to do this alone. Then again, I've always had you at my side, haven't I?" Hermione spoke, resting her head on Harry's shoulder. Harry planted a small kiss on her forehead and responded, "You've always had me, Mione. You'll never lose me."
Hermione's heart leapt at his promise, though both knew there was a battle ahead larger than they'd ever faced before. They'd stand against Voldemort together with Ron as three halves of a whole and save the Wizarding World. In that moment, for the first time they were two souls, both with their share of scars that became a whole.