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A/N: I don't own Harry Potter because if i did this scene would definitely be in the movies and the books.

I had to write this! Whenever i watch that dance scene i just feel like putting my hands through the screen, grabbing their heads and make them kiss each other for infinite amount of time ;) But can't do that so had to settle with next best option; write!

Any/All mistakes are mine. Don't hate me for them.

And it's my first ever story so please review and tell me what i am doing right/wrong so i can improve. I really feel like writing for hobby and your help will be greatly appreciated:)

Ok on with the story...

Harry was sitting outside the tent, he was on guard duty again tonight. Lately he had been avoiding Hermione every way he could. They hadn't talked to each other since that night, the night his fears were confirmed; Ron had left them after declaring that it had been nothing but a waste of his time all along. He had already lost one best friend, he did not want to lose another. May be that's why he was scared of facing Hermione, scared that she might see the uncertainty on his face, the hesitation in his voice indicating all Ron had said to be true. He was also avoiding her so that he might not give her a chance to confront him at last about this wild goose chase and declare she too was tired of this useless errand and she was going back to home, to Ron, to safety. But there was none of that for him, no one to really go back to.

All life he had experienced just the extended source of safety in Hogwarts and extended source of family in Weasley, he had nothing really to go back to, nothing to call his own. His whole life had been one stretched road leading to a fight he had almost no chance of winning. It was like his life has been just a mission to defeat Voldemort, everything else was secondary to the greater plan. May be it was better that he be alone to do what he had been destined to do the night Voldemort marked his life a tragedy. But the selfish side of him did not want to go through this alone, he wanted someone to share his burden, to cheer him, to tell him that everything was going to be ok. He wanted Hermione to be alongside him like she had been in the past for countless times.

Tears unknown to him had started to fall from his eyes down his face. He felt so alone right now. Why did fate had to be so cruel to him. Why couldn't it be someone else, he deplored not for the first time. He shook his head like a stubborn child who had been denied his parents. He wanted nothing but to close his eyes and lose himself to the soothing darkness that surrounded him from all sides. But he knew it was not that easy, fate had thrust on him the unfortunate destiny and now he was the only one who could end it, and he couldn't very well turn from his own doom because even if he did, it will find him, Voldemort will find him in the end.

He knew he had to do this, with or without his best friends, one of which was currently mourning their other friend. He decided he couldn't ignore her any longer. They had to talk about it. He would give her a choice, to either stay or go, no hard feelings. The selfish side of him was screaming at him to shut up and stay out of it, but he could no longer listen to her incessant crying and not so quite sobs. She was his friend, his best friend. He should have gone to her ages ago and given her a shoulder to cry on. He felt ashamed now that he had emotionally abandoned the one person who had stuck by him through all this time and had questioned his wrong ideas but always followed through with him. She was the one and only constant in his life right now and he had abandoned her when she needed him the most. He had to rectify it. He would try to make amends by sharing her grief and sorrow. He will comfort her, let her know that he is there for her. He owed her so much more than his life, but he had to start showing her how much she meant to him, how much her friendship was precious to him more than any treasure in the world.

Harry got up from the laid out blanket, stood straight shaking off the snow from his hair and turned aside the flap of tent to enter inside. He was instantly aware of a low key song emitting from the radio placed at the far side of the tent. She was sitting right by the radio, her legs bent and head resting on her knees. She looked so sad right then that Harry felt a physical pang in his heart at seeing her like this. He looked around to do something other than stare at her. Spotting a chair to his left, he sat down and waited for Hermione to acknowledge his presence. But after five minutes she seemed just as distant and oblivious as ever. A different song had started on radio whose soothing music calmed him somewhat. Suddenly an idea struck him. He slowly heaved himself off the chair and made his way slowly towards her. By now the song had picked up a bit that it filled the tent with a melancholy tune. He reached out to her, extending one hand to her in an unspoken gesture for dance. She looked up at him, at-least acknowledging him. Her eyes were weary, unshed tears glistening in her eyes. After so many days of avoiding her, now he looked at her truly looked at his best friend who had changed so much in a span of a few days; she looked so defeated and sad that Harry had to physically force himself to keep looking in her eyes and not run away to hide from her seemingly questioning stare.

Hermione looked at his hand with weary cautiousness, not understanding the gesture, but like she always went with whatever Harry was asking her to do and put her hand a bit reluctantly into his warm hand. He reached out to her with his other hand too, and soon he was pulling her up from the floor. She willingly went along with him. She did not understand why Harry was doing this after so many days of reining silence between them, but she didn't have the energy to question him. He pulled her to the center of the tent and reached with his hands to her neck. For a moment she had an absurd thought he was going to do something inappropriate like removing her shirt, but she quickly admonished herself when Harry simply unclasped the locket around her neck and let it fall on the ground not caring where it fell. The whole time their eyes never left each other. They were both conveying through their eyes what their words could not say. He was apologizing to her for leaving her to grieve alone, she was telling him all was ok that he was already forgiven. She could never stay mad at him.

He was pulling her along with him now, moving her arms for her to rhythm of the chanting music. She wanted to just go to her bunk bed and cry into her pillow do anything to distract herself from this hole in her heart. But Harry was determined now, he would not let her wallow anymore. They were all they had left now and they had to learn to share their pain, grief, happiness.

The song was really at its peak now. He moved more swiftly, pulling her along, jumping now and then like a child around her. That got a smile out of her at last. He was loaded with relief at her smile. All was not lost. Gradually she began to move her hands of her own accord in rhythm to the music and in harmony with Harry's movements. Soon they were laughing and dancing, laughing at Harry's ridiculous attempts at dancing by twirling himself around Hermione's hand and crossing his legs left and right. She didn't know, but Harry was doing all of that just to see her smile and hear her tinkling laugh, which he had missed like mad for past days.

The song was forgotten now and they seemed to be in their own world, holding on to each other and swaying on the spot to the fading song. For a moment Hermione had forgotten everything else around her, it was only Harry in her vision and mind right now. Resting her head on his shoulder and swaying together, she felt contented after a very long time.

Harry was feeling like he had come home. The dread of loneliness that had plagued him few minutes ago was a distant memory now. Resting his head on her shoulder, taking in the soft and silky smell coming from her, he felt he wanted nothing more in his life right now than to just stay here frozen in this beautiful moment with her. It was perfect. This moment was perfect.

With the feeling of contentment came a strange urge to keep holding her like this forever. He finally let his mind to think what he had always avoided to think. In his arms was the person who had always been at his side, trusting him, following him with pure faith and loyalty. She had never asked for anything in return, just friendship. He had not been blind, then, and he sure as hell wasn't blind now. He had selflessly put himself aside after Ron hinted that he fancied Hermione. Now he knew he had acted cowardly back then; instead of following his heart he had turned away from the best thing that could have happened otherwise. But now he was here and Hermione was here. He had never been this intimate with her before, surely they had hugged throughout the years, but this was a whole different level of intimate embrace between two people who had been separated from each other for far too long. Being this close to her had brought back all those repressed sentiments on to the surface.

The song had ended a while ago, and that realization dawned on both of them almost at the same time. They pulled back slowly from each other, feeling a strange reluctance to do so. Their eyes met and it was like Harry was blinded by the raw emotions in her eyes; sadness, anger, happiness, desire and dare he think love were chasing each other behind those liquid orbs. It was like some invisible force was pulling him towards her, he seemed drawn to her lips like a moth to a flame, a parched person to goblet of water.

She was transfixed, watching Harry like this, emotionally exposed to her right then, his eyes were blatantly telling her what she refused to understand. For once she did not want to know, doing so would mean shattering the previously built foundations. She had always wanted to see that look Harry was giving her right now. She had loved him from the very start when he had helped her escape the troll back in their first year. After that it was a downward tumble for her, falling fast and hard for him. But she had never let anyone know, to everyone else she was the logical and know-it-all girl. Who could have fancied her. So she had kept her feelings close to her heart, seeing Harry with other girls and comparing them to herself, never saying anything. He never noticed her so she tried to make him notice her when she started going out with boys, but he remained ever the ignorant of her feelings. That's when she really tried to move on by accepting Ron's offer to get together, knowing in her heart, she would never be able to get what her heart desired the most.

Tonight all those feelings had exploded inside of her, screaming at her to act on them, to at-last let him know how she felt, so she could at least get closure. But she did not want to lose his friendship. He was all she had left now. If he rejected her, she did not think she could take it over the still fresh wound from someone else's departure. She could not risk it. Harry may be emotionally vulnerable, but she could not indulge him, not when she felt so deeply for him. This was one thing she would deny him. So when his lips slowly moved towards her own she stepped away and turned to leave. But his hand that was still entwined with hers stopped her from doing so.

"Hermione" he whispered her name with such tenderness that she almost broke down her resolve, almost.

She blinked back tears, no this could not be happening, not after all this time, when she had decided to move on, he had to come and throw down her house of cards. "Harry, I can't", she pleaded with him, begging him to stop, refusing to look at him knowing that doing so would destroy her will to be strong enough for both of them.

"Why not?", his confused and hurt voice carried over her shoulder to her ears stabbing her heart with shards of his raw emotions, and all those feelings she had repressed for so long, surged up and took over her mind and body completely, and the intense atmosphere between them seem to crackle with charged air.

Suddenly those two words had broken down her every last crumbling wall of defense around her heart. She could not take it anymore, this was too much, this storm of emotions was going to drown her if she did not let them out tonight. May be she wasn't strong enough. Why did she always had to be the sensible one, the logical one, her mind supplied annoyingly. So with that she let it all go to hell.

With a swiftness of wind howling outside the tent, she turned towards him, and taking his face in both of her hands, kissed him full on the mouth, unleashing all she felt into the kiss. It was like she had started breathing again after holding her breath all these years, her heart was beating frantically; rejoicing at this moment. She did not care for anything else right now. It was like a revelation. She had been given the elixir of bliss and she was going to enjoy it and let the chips fall where they may later.

Harry was stunned that she had given in so easily, but it only lasted a moment after which he returned her excitement with his ferociousness and poured all that he had to tell her into that kiss. He did not want to hold back tonight. It might be his only chance and he aimed to milk it for every last precious second.

Hermione's hands were roaming his back, one hand close to where his shirt ended and was beginning to tear it away from the confine of his jeans. His one hand threaded through her hair lightly massaging her scalp with tender but frenzied movements. She moaned a little at that which only spurred him on. His other hand started unbuttoning her shirt. It was a bit difficult task to do with only one hand, but she beat him to it, opening her shirt by unbuttoning all the way in such a fast pace that Harry just stared at her. But Hermione was far too gone to care about anything as trivial as clothes. She had pulled his shirt out of his jeans and now jerked it upward with such force that Harry's glasses nearly dropped on the ground.

Looking and touching her newly exposed skin for the first time, he almost fainted with wonder. He could not believe he had never noticed Hermione before. In his mind he had always thought of her as that eleven year old he met on the train. But now looking at her he discovered that she had really grown into a woman. His hands reverently moved on her skin reveling in the softness of it. He wanted to just have a few years to touch her and memorize the touch of her hands on his skin, the suppleness of it, the delicious way their bodies melted into each other. His mouth descended from her lips down to her neck, caressing the skin there with his lips making love to her skin with gentle strokes of his mouth. She was moaning softly now and her breath was coming shallow and fast. "Harry, " she moaned loudly indicating her impatience with him. He captured her lips again effectively silencing her protests.

Both hands around her waist, he guided her to the single bed at the far left of the tent without breaking the kiss, the whole way. When her legs encountered the edge of the bed, they stopped kissing and finally looked at each other again; the only thing their eyes reflected back was desire, pure flaming red hot desire. Without leaving his eyes, her hands reached her own waist and she unzipped her jeans, motioning him with her eyes to follow her steps. He immediately complied, fumbling with his jeans' button that had decided then to not yield to his demands. Hermione had lowered herself on the bed and was watching him with such fire in her eyes that Harry was surprised he did not burst into flames. When he finally got out of his jeans, he slowly moved over her and hovered there, kissing her once again. Her hands flew to his hair and gripped them, holding him there, their bodies molded together, providing delicious friction to the front of their bodies. When his hands moved from her chest down to her womanly core, moving around it in unpracticed movements, she let out a breathy sign so he knew he was doing something right. He was really in pain right now and could not help but grind himself in agonizingly delicious back and forth strokes against her.

They were a tangled mess right now, his hands around her head, his lips mapping the smooth curves of her chest, her hands clawing at his back in order to hold back the moans that were constantly coming out of her now. When Harry could wait no longer he moved over her in suitable angle and his movements slowed down, his eyes found hers, asking her once again without words if that was what she wanted. Her head moved in affirmative nod. "Go slow, " she panted, and he nodded. He knew they were both new to this and it might be painful for her so he was going to be careful. With a self control Harry did not know until now he possessed, he moved slowly into her, stopping when Hermione gasped. "Keep going, " she said with short breath. When he was fully inside her, he waited for her and then began to move slowly, scrutinizing her face for any sign of pain, but her hands gripped his hips hard and pushed him down on her indicating she was alright.

They began to move together, awkwardly at first, but then they chose their rhythm and danced to it with grace of a sensuous waltz. After reaching the euphoria together, they collapsed back into bed, eyes closed, still savoring the after effects of their lovemaking. After their breadths had been stabilized, Hermione moved into his arms again, laying her head on his chest and Harry encircled her by putting his arms around her, leaning his head on hers and kissed her hair. "Good night, " he whispered.

"G'night", her only reply before sleep took her over. Harry followed soon after, a smile on his face even after he was asleep long after.

When he came out of dreamless sleep the next morning, he found himself in an unfamiliar position; he was not alone in bed and it was uncharacteristically warm around. He opened his eyes and met the bushy mane of brown hair clouding his vision. The actions of last night came to his mind and he smiled at the still fresh and sweet memory of them together like that. He had doubts before that they might not be compatible, the spark might not be there, their feelings might be what just of friends. He had feared that they might be embarrassed when it felt nothing but a huge mistake on their part, but all those fears had been swept away in the torrent of their joining last night. With a sigh of contentment he closed his eyes and took in the whiff of her hair that smelled of vanilla and rose.

His stomach growled suddenly and he decided to appease the monster. Slowly extricating himself from her arms, he stood back from the bed and watched her for a moment. She looked so peaceful and calm that he could not remember the last time he had seen her like that. Both of them had slept dreamless after a very long while. He bent towards her and lightly brushed his lips with hers. A small smile crept onto her face and he couldn't hold back his own smile.

He went to a Muggle cafe in a nearby town for breakfast. He thought they needed a respite from the same colorless diet they had been consuming lately, which majorly contributed to their grumpy and sour moods. He decided on two cappuccinos and some hot rolls and muffins. He had to confound the Muggle into taking the galleons he had to offer. They were gold so they more than compensated for his fair, he thought guiltily. When he apparated back to the tent, he saw Hermione was still sleeping. Not wanting to let the drink go cold, he decided to wake her up. Taking one cup of cappuccino in hand, he made towards her and placed the steaming cup near her face. After a few moments her face scrunched up a little and her nostrils tried to follow the sweet scent coming out of the cup. "Coffee" she mumbled before slowly opening her eyes and coming face to face with Harry holding coffee.

"Brought you this, " he held out the coffee, which she took with a grateful smile and took a sip of it. She closed her eyes at the taste and moaned at the aroma of her favorite drink. Suddenly her eyes opened to look at him sharply,"you didn't steal it, did you?"

"What, no I did not steal it. I paid for it, " he sputtered indignantly. Hermione kept prodding him with her questioning eyes to elaborate his method of paying, to which he relented "with galleons, Hermione, but it's technically money you know" He added the last bit to mellow her and it worked a bit. May be Hermione with coffee was easy to handle after all, he thought absently.

"I would have made you take it back, but I have already tasted it so have to make do" she sipped again to hide her smile from him but he saw it anyway.

"While you are at it, have some of these too", he motioned to the table where a small assortment of muffins and rolls were present. Her eyes lit up at the mere sight and she beamed at him before kissing him swiftly without thinking. He was surprised at her casual display of affection, but he was not complaining so he kissed back. May be they were going to be all right after all.

She pulled back after a few seconds or was it hours, and looked surprised at herself too for doing that, but soon it was erased when Harry grabbed her hand and pulled her to the table. "Come on before everything gets cold", to which she replied by punching him playfully in the arm. They sat down opposite to each other and ate for a while in silence, enjoying the delicacy of their breakfast they had come by after what felt like ages.

When they were finished at last Harry vanished the empty paper bag and cups. "Let's sit outside, the weather is really nice outside" She nodded "Okay" and they both went outside, Harry carrying the snitch and Hermione followed with tales of Beedle the bard book. Harry honestly didn't know what more she could pick out of that book, but he had long since stopped to ask about it.

They both sat down near the mouth of the tent on the gravel crunch of autumn leaves strewn on the ground. The air was mildly cool and chirpy with birds singing in the branches above them. Sky was perfect blue with small patches of fluffy clouds, perfect weather for flying, Harry thought wistfully.

"Harry?" he hadn't noticed that his brief lapse of emotions had not gone unnoticed by her.

"Just remembering quiditch practice, Oliver would drag us out of beds around this time to practice for upcoming matches. Sometimes he would wake us so early it was still night and Fred and George would just nod off after his first round of game talk. I just saw how today was the perfect weather for flying had we been back there" His voice had gone from cheery to melancholy the next, remembering Hogwarts had brought back the memory of someone that they had silently agreed to not to talk about.

Hermione moved closer to him and put one hand atop his and looked at him softly,"You know I never understood the fascination surrounding Quidditch. It's just a game!" She said with mock exasperation, her eyes shining with playfulness.

"And yet you still came up to watch every game back then", he retorted smugly.

"Well, someone had to watch you from hurting yourself up in the air. You know with you being the magnet for trouble and all", she supplied mischievously. Harry stared at her and then they both burst out laughing, not caring for the moment that they were runaway rebels wanted by the government and ought to be quite and careful. Clutching their sides after laughing so much they laid back on the ground side by side.

"It feels good to be like this", he voiced, a tinge of smile laced in his words.

Hermione turned towards him, resting her weight on the elbow and glanced at him through her hair that were swaying in the gentle air that had picked up."like What?" she asked.

"To be carefree for a while, laugh at absurd things, to be able to enjoy just being here with you" He had closed his eyes and was enjoying the feel of fresh autumn wind on his face. He did not want to scare her anymore by showing the intensity of his emotions clearly evident in his eyes.

"It does", she agreed and then lowered her mouth to his and softly kissed him on the lips.

He had felt tingling of her hair on his face before his lips were met with the softness of a gentle kiss. He responded with equal compassion. He was lost in her kiss, but it soon came to an end. She was smiling at him with such mirthful eyes that it was quite infectious and soon he was smiling too.

She kissed him once more before resting her head on his head just like she had last night and softly whispered, "It feels good to be like this".

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