Who: Hermione and Harry (wittymione & ilovemagic) What: Figuring out where they stand with one another When: Friday evening Where: Hermione's room Status: Ongoing Rating: TBD... some kissing already
Harry couldn't get her out of his mind. Their first kiss may have been awkward, but not all of them had to be that way. If she was still willing to have him. And Harry hoped that she was. He took a few breaths and tried to overcome his stress before raising his hand to knock on her door softly, three times. He had never felt this nervous about seeing his best friend before.
Hermione was anxious when she heard the knock at the door. She had been avoiding Harry a bit, though she couldn't quite admit to herself why. And when she looked out the peephole and saw him standing there, she took a deep breath. She ran a hand through her hair quickly and pulled the door open. Her smile was tight when she saw him standing there. "Hey Harry," she said softly, stepping back so he could come in.
"Hey," he echoed her, trying not to sound as nervous as he felt. Harry sensed her nervousness, though, and knew she might be able to do the same. "How have you been?" he asked after walking hesitantly over the threshold. This was awkward already. But it didn't have to be, he reminded himself. He forced himself to take a breath and try to relax his tense muscles. Then he gave her a genuine smile.
When Harry smiled at her, she felt like her world was complete. She was home with him. She felt the muscles in her face relax. "I've been good. Busy," she amended as she shut the door. She led the way down the hallway to her room. There were books and papers littering her desk and bed. She quickly picked up the ones from the bed and deposited them on the desk. She sat down, and indicated that he could do the same.
"I suppose you've been looking for ways to get out of this place?" he guessed, looking at all the papers. Of course. It was just like Hermione to lock herself away in the library. He took an armchair in the corner. "Have you found anything at all? The older you has been doing a lot of work too. Came up with something about er... theories of time and space. I didn't understand it all," he confessed. Harry wasn't very bookish, so it was lucky he had a friend who was.
She nodded and listened, then nodded again. They were on familiar ground for her. "I've done quite a bit of research, and I've come up with basically the same thing. She and I have even talked about it. She has been here a little longer, so has a bit more information," she said ruefully. She wasn't necessarily jealous of the older her... well, ok, she actually was. But still.
"Makes sense. Er, about her having more information because of being here longer," he added. "The older me is here now too." He figured she would find that interesting; he certainly did. He wanted to talk to his older self, but he didn't, at the same time. He didn't want to know what all he was in for, in the future.
"Really?" she asked, her eyebrows shooting up. "I, er... I didn't know that. When did he arrive?" She wanted to know if her older self and his older self were together, but she was afraid to ask.
"A few days ago. I think older you went right to his flat, so they could have dinner together," he offered. He wasn't sure where they stood on the relationship question either. But it was a nice thought, them doing something so homey together.
"That's nice," she said, smiling. "No Rons yet, I take it?" She really missed her friend, but she was also very nervous about seeing Ron again. Especially since she had learned that he had feelings for her back home.
"I think there is one, from our year," he replied, shifting uncomfortably at the thought. "I haven't talked to him yet, though." Harry was not very fond of Ron after learning his future with Hermione. He felt guilty for holding that grudge against his best friend.
"Oh," she said, feeling her face fall at the thought. "I, uh, guess we should talk to him. I mean, it's only right," she said, looking down at her wringing hands in her lap. "Harry... we should talk about what happened."
Harry nodded wordlessly, feeling guiltier by the second. He had avoided Ron on purpose because of what he knew. Harry watched her become less relaxed. "All right. I want to talk about it, actually. It's why I came by." He resisted the urge to look down at his feet shyly. He was determined not to be awkward.
"Oh?" she whispered, her eyes darting up to meet his then back down again. "Do you... do you regret it?" she asked shyly, feeling her face flood with color.
"No. I don't." Harry kept his green eyes focused on her for emphasis. "Do you?"
She looked back up quickly at the word 'no'. He looked honest and intent, and she felt a small smile spread across her lips. "Not at all," she said, feeling more confident.
Harry smiled in return. "That's good to hear." He smoothed back his untidy hair self-consciously. "I was afraid that maybe... maybe you didn't like it, or something."
"I have never liked anything more," she admitted, feeling her cheeks heat once more. "I mean... I've liked you for a long time, Harry." She was being matter-of-fact, to help curb the nervousness.
Harry felt the warmth rising to his own cheeks. He had never kissed anyone else before, but he really enjoyed it with Hermione. "You were avoiding me, though," he said, also in a matter of fact way. "Did I do something wrong?"
"No... I was scared that I had. That you would come to your senses and realize that I was the wrong person to kiss... that you had only kissed me because you were happy to see someone from home," she confessed, biting her lip as she looked at him forlornly. She still worried about that.
"Hermione, no," he said, shaking his head and absentmindedly rubbing his hand on his knee. "That's not it at all. I've always fancied you. It's just... this place is different. More relaxed. It's easier to be ourselves."
She nodded, then patted the bed beside her for him to join her. "I agree about that, but I have been so scared of you changing your mind. I mean... you've always liked Ginny or Cho. I didn't think I was your type," she said. Nerdy, bookish, Ron's crush.
He paused only for a moment before standing up and walking toward her. "I wouldn't change my mind. Cho and I... we have nothing in common, really." He shrugged and took the space next to her on the bed. "And Ginny... she's pretty, yeah, but we don't have much in common either."
"And we do?" she asked doubtfully, eyeing him up close now that he was right beside her. She could feel her stomach turn in knots at his nearness, and the urge was almost overwhelming to touch him.
"I think so. And what we don't have in common, we sort of use to balance each other out. I would probably break a ton of rules if not for you. More than I already do," he quipped with a little smirk playing at his lips. "And we're both smart when we need to be. Hence why we kept the Time Turner to ourselves in third year."
She nodded with a pensive sigh. "I see your point. I just... I never thought you would reciprocate my feelings. I thought I would have to hold them inside forever, always the best friend," she said honestly.
"You don't realize how... how good you are," Harry said, having some difficulty and thinking he should have come up with a more descriptive word for her. "You honestly don't see how attractive and fun you are, Hermione. And I want to change that." Harry took her hand gently, hoping she would understand.
Feeling the warmth from Harry's words and touch, Hermione felt tears fill her eyes. She smiled as she looked at him, his face blurry from the unshed waterworks that were building. "Oh, Harry," she said softly, squeezing his hand back.
They were happy tears, obviously, so he didn't worry as he normally would have. The sight of Hermione crying had always really worked at him and made him feel upset too. But this time, it didn't. "You don't need to feel bad about anything. I want to be with you, and I don't care who you marry in the future." Harry offered her an encouraging smile.
She beamed back at him, and before she could think better of it, she leaned forward and placed her lips on his for their second kiss. Her free hand wrapped around his neck as she pulled him closer
His arms wrapped gently around her waist, becoming tighter as he got more into the kiss. This was even better than their first one, being that they both had sorted out their feelings for each other. A hand ran up to play in her hair before he pulled back, the smile not leaving his face.
She was breathless and excited, and she was embarrassed at herself for not wanting the kiss to end. Ever. But she reigned in her emotions and managed to subdue herself. "Wow," she breathed, her eyes searching his, all traces of the tears gone.
"Likewise." Harry grinned at her and went to hold her hand again. "Now you believe me?" he teased. Nothing pleased him more than the genuinely happy look on her face.
She nodded emphatically, both of her hands clasping his. "I am the luckiest girl alive," she said, feeling rather daft for saying so, but knowing it to be completely true.
"You are? I think I'm the luckiest boy, then. And if you're going to be the luckiest girl, maybe you'd better come out of the library every so often so I can see you," he teased. His face fell a bit when he had a thought. "How d'you think the Ron and Ginny here will take it?"
"Ginny's here too!?" she practically meeped, then groaned. "Ok, I don't know, but we're going to have to tell them. And talk to them. They are our best friends, and they deserve to know. Do the other Hermiones know?"
"I hadn't mentioned it to them yet," he answered. "And for some reason, Ginny thinks I'm dead. She's older, though. I think from after she's done with school." Harry shrugged. He wasn't as worried about her reaction as he was the other Hermiones, and Ron.
"Oh," she said, her brows furrowing with thought. "That's... weird. You think Ginny may be from some sort of alternate reality?" It was highly likely... she had heard some weird tales and read about that during her research.
"I think so. The other you said that Draco told her I was alive, and that I won the war. Must be from one of those wormhole things that you talked about. Erm, the older you, I mean." He had that clueless look in his eye that indicated he had understood nothing of that explanation.
She laughed, releasing his hand and patting it gently before reclasping. "Oh Harry. I don't think I fully understand it either, to be honest," she said, feeling more relaxed than she had in weeks. This felt so right, and so good.
"Good. Because I definitely have no idea what she was on about," he replied with a laugh.
Hermione nodded, leaning forward on impulse and kissing Harry's cheek. "We won't worry about that for now. I think we should plan on what we're going to say to everyone though," she admitted reluctantly.
His cheek turned pink when her lips touched it. "Okay. Good idea..." he agreed. "I'm going to have to work on that, definitely. I have no idea what to tell the other Hermione..."
"Which other Hermione?" she asked, almost instantly jealous. Of course, why wouldn't another version of herself be into Harry? She would be stupid to not be.