Life...Or Something Like It

May 2004

Hermione glanced at Harry with a slight smile. He was bent over his Potions homework with a concerned look on his face. It was time for seventh year final exams and Harry, even though Hermione had helped him time and again, he was still having problems. Ron was next to Harry, coaching him through the ingredients to make a Miniaturizing potion. It was one of the most difficult potions to make and as always, Professor Snape was adamant about Harry getting at least a dozen things wrong.

"Harry, all you have to do is add the beech root to the head of the toad and then you have it. It's not that hard," Ron was saying as Harry furiously scribbled the notes down on his piece of parchment.

"Okay, I got that but this bloody root has to go in somewhere doesn't it?" Harry asked.

"Yeah that goes in after the beech root and the toad head are boiled," Ron replied.

Hermione glanced one more time at her extensive notes for the next day's exam; sure that she knew exactly what to do. Studying just came naturally to her.

"Harry, why don't we just take a break," Hermione suggested.

Ron looked over at Hermione with his mouth agape. Hermione, taking a break from schoolwork? It was unthinkable. But then Ron glanced at Harry's furrowed brow and decided that maybe Hermione knew what she was doing.

October 2003

"Here, Ron, give this to 'Mione," Harry whispered and passed him the note. Hermione shook her head and rubbed a hand over her sleepy eyes. History of magic was always the most boring class, especially with Professor Binns teaching it. Hermione took the note and read:

'Mione,

Wow, this class is boring. Honestly I have no idea what Professor Binns is going on about. Anyway, I wanted to ask you to meet me at the Astronomy Tower at midnight tonight, I have something to tell you. Bye!

Harry

Hermione quickly wrote a reply back saying that she would be there and that Harry had better bring his invisibility cloak. She saw him unfold the note, read her reply and smile at her. Then Hermione sat back to think.

Harry had been coming to her for advice since the beginning of the term. Mostly it was because of his relationship with Cho Chang. They had been dating since the end of the sixth year and their relationship had been a little on the rocky side. Normally, Harry would have gone to Ron for advice but ever since the final exams of their sixth year, Ron had suddenly been infatuated with Lavender Brown and you could get nothing past him. So Harry had come to Hermione for help. He figured that since she was a girl, she could help him with why Cho was always so moody and why she always needed so much attention. So Hermione and Harry usually met up at the Astronomy Tower around midnight once a week or so to talk about Harry's relationship with Cho. During these meetings, Hermione would coach Harry on how to be a good boyfriend. She told him that girls liked flowers, not Quidditch posters and that they liked their boyfriends to be devoted to only them and to even look at a passing girl would result in hell.

Harry really didn't have any idea on how to be an acceptable boyfriend as he had no father nor mother to teach him about the opposite sex. So Hermione acted as his parental figure, telling him about girls and why they got so moody and giggled. It was a good thing that Hermione didn't have to tell Harry about the more detailed part of a girls life, apparently he already knew.

After the past few months, Harry became not only an acceptable boyfriend to Cho Chang, but he became the heartthrob of the school. He treated women with such a higher respect than most men did, that he drew girls to him as if he were a magnet. Soon enough, their midnight meetings at the tower became just a place to hang out and be alone. They were just friends and they talked about things other than girls and which flowers they would like the best.

Unfortunately for Hermione, Harry pulled her to him as well. Now we can't deny that Hermione is in fact a woman and does in fact have her own problems with men. Them being that they see her as a bookwormish , studious and somewhat shy girl. Hermione wanted a bit of what all her dorm room girl friends were going through. Lavender Brown, who was dating Ron, was always gushing about how cute and freckly he was. And Parvati Patil was (strangely enough) dating Neville Longbottom, who was, apparently a superb boyfriend. Hermione seemed to be the only girl in the seventh year that hadn't set her sights on someone. But she had.

All those nightly meetings with Harry had stirred something inside her. Something that she really didn't know had existed until then. Harry was one of her best friends; perhaps her very best friend and she had feelings for him. She hadn't discovered them until maybe her third or fourth meeting with him in the tower. Hermione had been coaching him on what pet names to call Cho when she realized that maybe she wanted someone to have a pet name for her. Someone like Harry. The moment that she realized that she had a crush on Harry, she blanked. She didn't know what to do or to say, she went mute and stupid.

Harry had said her name, going on four times before she snapped out of it, went completely red in the face and murmured that she had to leave and sped down the stairs and back into the common room. It had taken her a few days of avoiding Harry until she confronted him and lied to him, saying that she was just about to throw up and she ran to the common room so she wouldn't throw up all over him. She knew it was perhaps the lamest excuse that she had ever come up with, but it was all that she could think of at the time, and she certainly wasn't going to tell him that she was head over heels in love with him. That really wouldn't do.

So, she had sucked up her feelings, hid behind her books a little bit more and vowed never to tell Harry or anyone about her feelings. She knew that he would never feel the same way and she would always be Hermione, Harry Potter and Ron Weasley's best friend. The months passed and Hermione and Harry still met at the astronomy tower to discuss life, friends, and school work and just about everything else. If anything, Harry was like someone Hermione could tell anything to, even if she did love him. At least she had him for that. So as you can tell, Hermione wasn't expecting anything different than the usual that night at the astronomy tower.

Later That Night

"Stop it 'Mione, you stood on my foot!" Harry hissed as he opened the iron door to the tower.

"Sorry, I didn't see it there," Hermione whispered, under the security of the invisibility cloak. She reveled just being in such close proximity to him and she had trouble concentrating on where to she set down her feet.

With not a bit of trouble and with the experience of months, the pair climbed the stone, spiral stairs to the tower and burst out of the doorway, flinging the cloak onto a nearby table that housed a telescope. They went to their usual places, sitting on the wall on the east end of the tower, where they were insured security.

Since it was a warm night, Hermione took off her scarlet bedroom robe and placed it on the ground to sit on. Underneath she was wearing muggle nightclothes. Them being tiny spaghetti strap pale green shirt with matching boxer shorts. Harry, who was turned the other way, also set out his robe for sitting purposes. He was only wearing a pair of boxer shorts with little red dragons flying around on them, occasionally blowing out a spurt of fire. Hermione stifled a giggle at his backside when one of the fire spurts was aimed at a particularly sensitive place.

Harry sat down to face Hermione and his mouth fell open. Since then, it had been too chilly not to wear their robes on the tower. He had never seen Hermione in her nightclothes before and for once, he was glad that she did. Hermione was no longer the small girl with the underdeveloped body and fluffy hair. She had filled out nicely, with long legs, shapely hips and a generous bosom. Her skin was tanned a lovely golden color and her hair was now just merely a bit curly at the ends. Her brown eyes had a teasing sparkle when she looked at Harry. Harry didn't know what to say, he was stunned.

Hermione on the other hand had definitely never seen Harry in only boxer shorts. He too had filled out from the skinny, underdeveloped boy that he had been. Due to playing Seeker on the house Quidditch team for so long, he had developed long muscles in his arms and legs and his torso was a sight to behold. His abs were firmly formed and his pectoral muscles were not too small but not to big. His skin was a deep tan that clashed wonderfully with his green eyes and black hair. Hermione's breath caught in her throat and she didn't know what to say or do, she could only gaze at Harry.

They both at the same times averted their eyes when they realized that they had been staring at each other. Hermione looked down at her hands and examined her nails self consciously while Harry let out an embarrassed cough. Hermione didn't know what to say and apparently, neither did Harry. Finally, Hermione looked up and smiled.

"Wasn't Binns awful today? Kept droning on and on," she managed.

Harry, who was glad that she had spoken up, smiled back.

"Yeah, I think I was asleep most of the time. But then again, so was everyone else."

"Well, it's a good thing that I took some notes or you and Ron would be bad off. I think some of what he was teaching today will be on the final," Hermione said. She always talked of school work when she didn't know what to say. It was a subject that she considered safe.

"Mione, I need to talk to you," Harry said suddenly looking very serious.

Hermione just nodded and stretched out her legs until the tips of her toes touched the stone wall. This was her usual sitting position and she was getting comfortable to listen to Harry.

"Cho and I broke up."

Hermione's head, which had been down, suddenly snapped up with amazement. Cho and Harry had broken up? She definitely didn't see that one coming. From what she knew, Harry was being the absolute epitome of boyfriend. She wondered what could have gone wrong.

"Well, what happened?" she asked.

"Cho just got boring. All she wanted to talk about were clothes and boys and stuff like that. I didn't know that she was so shallow and vapid and then suddenly, today, when we were sitting under the willow tree, I just realized that I didn't want to be with her anymore. So I asked her where she thought that this relationship was going and she just got this horrible look on her face. She said that she really liked me and she wondered why I had asked that question. I thought about it for a minute and then said that I wanted more. I wanted someone who would talk to me about Quidditch if I wanted to. I told her I wanted someone who cared more about life and not someone who was so materialistic. I thought that she was going to hit me when I told her that but then she smiled. She said that that was the way that she was and she wasn't going to change it, not even for Harry Potter," Harry said ruefully.

"It was a good thing that you told her about that. You should always communicate with a person when you are unhappy," Hermione agreed.

"I think that she was mad at me at first but then we talked about it and agreed that even though we liked each other, we never should have let it get that far. Did you know that I was thinking about asking her to marry me? Yeah, I was," Harry said after he saw the look of shock on Hermione's face.

"Why didn't you ever tell met that? I mean, I could have talked to you about it or something," Hermione said, feeling a little put out.

"Actually, don't get mad, but I was just thinking about it. I never would have done it without asking you, Mione," Harry said quickly to assuage Hermione's hurt look.

"So Harry, is that what you were going to tell me? That's a big thing; I imagine the whole school knows now. You're going to have a hell of a time fending off the women," Hermione said jokingly.

"Not really," said Harry quietly, once again, not looking at Hermione.

"Not really what?" Hermione asked.

"That's one of the things that I wanted to tell you, but there's something else. It's really important and I should have told you right away, but I didn't and I think that's going to make it a lot harder," Harry said, looking at Hermione.

Hermione got a little squirmy because she knew this was about another girl and she knew that that would mean another little piece of her heart would be broken. But she took it, swallowed a sob and looked Harry square in the eye.

"Hermione, I love you."

Hermione sighed with relief. Of course he loved her, they were best friends.

"Aww. I love you too Harry. You're like my brother. I would do anything for you. So who's the lucky girl?"

"You. You Hermione. I love you. More than a friend. I love you like I loved Cho. But I think I love you more than that. You are so easy to talk to, you listen to me and you respect what I say. You are so beautiful and smart. I love you," Harry said, grabbing one of Hermione's hands in his own.

Hermione was in shock. She didn't know what to think. Actually, she didn't think that she was thinking. (A.N. Lol, maybe I don't either). Harry loved her. More than a friend. This was what she had been waiting for. She had dreamed about this for months, and he finally said it. Slowly she smiled.

"You love me?"

"Yeah," Harry grinned sheepishly, "I have for months now. I was just dating Cho and I was so confused. Please, say you love me back!"

"I love you back," Hermione said and smiled and her once limp hand grabbed his, her eyes were misting up. This was what she had wanted for so long. It was like a dream.

Harry's face broke out into a full mega watt grin and he stood up, picked up Hermione and pulled her up against him. He was a full head taller than her but he lifted her up off the floor and pressed his lips down onto hers. She sucked in a shocked breath but then relaxed into the kiss. It deepened and when Hermione opened her mouth to breathe, Harry slipped in his tongue. Hermione was hesitant at first but then she responded. Her head began to feel light, like she was floating and she was aware of a burning sensation that ran from the roots of her hair to the tips of her toes. She threw her arms around Harry's neck, abandoning all pretenses. Harry set her back down on the ground and as they kissed they settled on the ground, using their bedroom robes as blankets. Harry moved on top of Hermione, who settled herself underneath him. The kissing became more fervent and Hermione's hands moved up and down the sides of Harry's body, feeling the muscles underneath his bare skin.

Then Hermione pulled away. She looked up at Harry's glazed eyes and his happy face with the kiss swollen lips. She pulled herself up to a sitting position but she placed her arms around Harry's waist. She leaned her head into his chest, like she had done so many times in her dreams and sighed contentedly. Harry had his arm around her and was lightly tracing patterns on the warm skin of her arm.

Hermione didn't want to break the silence but she had something on her mind.

"Harry, how long have you felt this way about me?" she asked, biting on her bottom lip in confusion.

"Erm... Well, for about two or three months now. Why do you ask?" Harry replied, bending down to give Hermione a kiss in the hollow of her throat.

Hermione involuntarily shivered when he kissed the sensitive skin. "I ask it because after all I have taught you about how to be a great boyfriend to Cho; you were really just thinking about me?"

"Yeah I guess so. I loved Cho and I still care a lot about her, but not in the way that I care about you. I didn't mean to lie to you when I explained that everything was alright with Cho. I just didn't know how to tell you how I felt about you," Harry said, squeezing Hermione tighter in his arms.

Hermione languished in the comfort of Harry's arms wrapped around her. If someone had told her that at midnight that night, Harry Potter and she would be in a position like this, she would have laughed it off and told the crazy bugger that he was mad. She thought about the answer that Harry had given her and thought that it was acceptable. Then she decided to tell him something that she wouldn't have dreamed of telling him if she were under different circumstances.

"The first time I knew that I loved you was when we were talking about pet names. D'you remember that?" she asked.

Harry thought for a moment and then smiled. "Yeah, I asked you if it would be alright for me to call Cho sweet buns and you said no. But I knew you thought it was funny 'cause you got that cute little half smile that you get when you're trying to be stern."

"Well, sweet buns definitely isn't a name to call a girl, especially one that you love and respect," Hermione said a bit haughtily.

"So why did you know that you were in love with me then?" Harry asked, cleverly wrapping his legs around Hermione's waist, as if he wanted to trap her in.

"Because nobody, except for my father, ever had a pet name for me. And it was something really stupid. I just wanted someone like you had Cho and Ron has Lavender. Nobody wanted me and it hurt. It seemed like all anyone expected of me was schoolwork and seriousness when sometimes all I want to do is just go have fun," Hermione confessed.

Harry frowned. He knew that she loved to study and be serious but he did also suspect that she wanted to do something different. He thought about what he would do for fun. Of course, Quidditch. But Hermione didn't like to fly. That was okay, he could think of something else. Going to Hogsmeade was always fun but Harry didn't think that Hermione wanted to go and have a fancy dinner and then a romantic carriage ride, or anything like that. He was sure that she would want to do something out there and not so ordinary. Then it came to him.

"Mione. Do you want to come with me to Hogsmeade tomorrow? I know you probably have some serious homework to do and so do I but I would really appreciate it if you would come with me," Harry asked, rather politely.

"Yes, I would love to go, of course. But what will everyone think when they see us together. Do you want them to know about us, if there even is an us," Hermione said with her eyes downcast.

"Great Muggle, Mione! Do you really think that I'm embarrassed of you? Of course I'm not. I've been waiting for the moment I could be with you this way for so long that I don't care who says what," proclaimed Harry.

Hermione's downcast eyes were suddenly sparkling. "You mean you don't care if people see us together? We can have a regular relationship?"

"Of course we can. How can you think that I could be so mean! I love you Hermione and by the time tomorrow is over with, I think most everyone will know about it."

Hermione then looked at her wristwatch and gasped. It was almost three in the morning. They had to get to bed. She looked up at Harry who was wrapped around her in the most comfortable fashion and regretted what she said next.

"Harry, I think we should go. It's almost three. If we're going to Hogsmeade tomorrow then I think we should get some sleep."

Harry let out a yawn and then grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, I guess we should go, but I don't want to."

"Neither do I, but if you don't want a hag coming with you to Hogsmeade tomorrow, then lets go get some sleep," Hermione said jokingly.

She stood up and then held out her hand to help Harry. He grabbed it and literally sprang up from the floor. She grinned. Ever since the fifth year, Harry had been doing tricks like that to amuse himself and his friends. He was very flexible and seemed to be like the human pretzel. Then Hermione blushed. He would be very good at something else too. She thought and then shook the thought from her head.

Harry went to get the discarded invisibility cloak and wrapped it around himself and Hermione. They walked side by side to the iron door with Harry's arm around her waist and hers around his. They walked in that fashion until they got to the Gryffindor common room entrance where the fat lady was snoozing with a slight snore. Harry made a quiet noise in his throat to wake the sleeping woman and she opened her eyes with a jolt.

"Harry Potter and Hermione Granger! I knew it!" She crowed and all the other pictures around them woke up, looking interestedly to the couple in front of the fat lady.

"How else could you explain all those nightly escapades? How adorable! I'm sure that everyone will be quite pleased to have two of the most popular students together."

The other portraits nodded in agreement as they smiled and jabbed their elbows into their companions when they saw Harry's arm around Hermione. Harry's jaw went rigid with embarrassment and Hermione blushed a little about the ears.

"Bamboozle," Harry said quietly and the portrait opened but not without the fat lady calling good luck to the new couple.

"Mione. That was embarrassing. I never thought that pictures might congratulate me on my choice of girlfriend," Harry said as they walked down the stone corridor to the common room.

Hermione just smiled and felt a warm feeling go through her when Harry called her his girlfriend. They entered the deserted common room and stood at the foot of the staircase that split the boys from the girls. Harry cleared his throat and looked down onto Hermione.

"You don't know how happy I am, Mione. Honestly, I've waited for this day for so long and it's really hard to believe that it's finally happening," Harry said. (A/N: I know, a bit corny, but it's true love.)

"I know how you feel Harry. It's difficult for me to believe too but here we are," Hermione said.

Harry bent down to press a kiss onto Hermione's lips and then started up the stair case. Hermione just smiled and began up her side. The night had turned out much different than she had expected. The fact that Harry was her boyfriend pleased her and scared her a bit too. What will everyone say when they find out? Especially Ron. I expect that he'll be happy for us, but who knows. He's been so obsessed with Lavender lately.

Hermione opened the door to the seventh year girls' dorm room and shut it quietly. Parvati thrashed a bit and Lavender said something incoherent but all in all, they were asleep. Good thing for Hermione though. She had been going out almost nightly with Harry and still nobody had found out a thing, although Ron had told Lavender of all the notes that Harry and Hermione wrote each other and Lavender thought that there was a torrid affair going on. Hermione let loose a little giggle. Now there was a torrid affair. But it would only be that until the morning. Then everyone would know. Hermione yawned silently and threw her robe onto the foot of her bed. She pulled back the covers, slipped in, and pulled the drapes that concealed her from the world, back. She settled down into bed and rubbed her cheek against the soft satin of the pillow. Life is good. She thought.

May 2004

"Harry, what's the matter. You know you can tell me," Hermione asked as the pair strolled down to the grounds and the lake.

"Nothing really. Just that I'm not ready for the Potions exam," Harry responded.

"If you think about it, you and Ron are never really ready for the exam, but for some reason you both seem to pass it, don't you?" Hermione asked, looking at Harry playfully.

Harry laughed out loud. "You know damn well that the only reason that we pass is because of Dumbledore."

"Maybe so, but still, something else is bothering you. What is it?"

They had reached the deserted beach of the lake and Harry began to skip stones into the water. The giant squid waved a tentacle out at them as if in greeting but then submerged it again. Hermione knew that Harry had something to tell her, so she waited patiently where the grass met the sand, for Harry to tell her what was wrong. Whenever he got like this, sort of like a clam, nobody could open him up. He just stayed silent until he was ready to talk. When her feet began to hurt, she delicately sat down on the grass, talking little nothings to Harry.

"Lavender told me today that Ron got an offer as a keeper on the Canons. I think he's going to take it. Besides being in the Ministry of Magic, that's the only other choice that Ron has. But since both make so much money, I don't think he'll have problems choosing," Hermione said, smiling at the thought of Ron on a professional Quidditch team.

"Yeah," Harry finally said, "Ron told me this morning. He didn't want me to tell you until he came up with an answer. He said that since he is almost 18, he didn't want you to see him indecisive."

Hermione let out a snort of laughter. "Ron, indecisive?" she said teasingly.

Harry laughed and then suddenly, as if someone had flipped off a light switch, he became serious again. Hermione smothered her laughter and tried to put on a serious face, but she couldn't help a bit of a smile. She didn't understand Harry. After about six months of serious dating, she still didn't understand him. Even when he was his happiest, he was reserved. Maybe it was just how he was, but Hermione thought differently. She thought that knowing that Voldemort was out there somewhere, biding his time, made Harry reluctant to get close to anyone lest they get hurt or killed by Voldemort who was trying to get to him.

"Hermione?" Harry asked.

"Hmm?" she replied, lazily stretching her arms out towards the sky.

"Will you marry me?"