In Harry's Arms

In Harry's Arms

I felt someone's eyes upon me. Turning around, I saw Harry. He realized that he was staring and I caught him blushing slightly, before he quickly looked away. It figured it would be Harry. Lately he had been either looking at me like he wanted to say something, or just plain staring at me.

"Harry? Are you okay?" I asked.

"Umm, yeah, I guess so," he replied, still looking embarrassed.

"If you say so...." I trailed off and went back to my work.

"Mione?" I heard Harry say uncertainly.

"What?" I was starting to get annoyed with him. He kept on interrupting me when I was trying to finish my schoolwork.

"Will you go to the ball with me?" he asked hopefully. So that was what he had been trying to ask. I should have guessed. It was the same way Viktor had looked when I was in my fourth year here at Hogwarts. I automatically knew what to say.

"Of course, I will!" I answered. His whole face lit up.

"Thank God," he sighed. "I've been trying to ask you since we first heard about the ball, but was so afraid you'd say no. After the whole Cho incident, I was so scared that no one I like would ever go with me."

Accidentally, Harry had let me know that he really liked me. I was so excited.

It was the night of the ball. And I was finally going with someone I really liked. I had been called down to Great Hall early, as I was Head Girl. I had to dance the first song with Draco, as he was Head Boy. I had told Harry earlier in the week, when we were busy chucking snowballs at Ginny and Ron.

"Harry? Since I'm Head Girl, you know that I have to dance the first dance with Draco, right?" I asked, ducking a stray snowball.

"Yeah. But I know you, you're just dumping me already!" he replied jokingly.

"Harry! You know I wouldn't do that!" He blushed, sheepishly.

"'Course I do. Hey Mione? Do you think you could charm these snowballs to follow Ron and Ginny around all day?" He had that devilish glint in his eyes.

"Already on it," I said, returning the look.

Harry and I had decided that he would just meet me down there after the first dance.

Well, the dance wasn't that bad. To tell the truth, Draco has become a whole lot nicer after the war. He and Harry were the only two brave enough to stand up to Voldemort in the last battle and kill him. Since then, I have considered Draco one of my friends.

Two hands shutting gently, but firmly closed over my eyes, interrupting my thoughts.

"You're looking quite nice this evening. Either that or someone spiked the eggnog," a deep voice whispered in my ear. It was Harry. I turned around and hugged him.

"Hi, Harry!"

"Hermione, why is Ron skipping around the room with Draco? And why are they singing 'Feliz Navidad'?" Harry looked remotely puzzled.

"Don't look at me. Maybe it was the eggnog..." We looked at each other and burst out laughing.

"Do you want to dance?" he asked through his laughter.

"Of course," I responded. We headed out onto the center of the dance floor.

A slow song came on, and Harry's arms snaked around my waist, pulling me closer.

"Harry, I..."

"Herm, I..." We got no further.

"Kiss, kiss!" something shrieked. The traveling mistletoe had followed us.

Rather than protesting as I thought he would do, Harry leant in, and I felt his lips touch mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck and deepened the kiss before he could pull away.

"Harry..." I gasped at the feeling of kissing him. That's all it took. I felt Harry's tongue slip into my mouth. When we finally did pull away, I noticed everyone staring at us. But I didn't care and neither did Harry.

"Oh wow. That was one hell of a kiss," I managed to say, still shocked by the thrilling sensation of kissing Harry.

"Yeah." He too, seemed slightly dazed. "Hermione? What were you going to say before?"

"Just that I am so glad that it's possible for our friendship to be something more than what it was a week ago." His face lit up and I saw that same boyish look of amazement, the one that he had worn when he first saw Hogwarts, flicker across his face.

"My thoughts exactly," Harry said. The two of us ended up dancing and talking together for the next two hours. As the ball was nearing it's finish, Harry leaned in and whispered in my ear. "Let's go outside". I nodded and we headed out. It was snowing lightly, and combined with the lights from the school, created a mystical, yet eerie glow all around us. I let out a slight shiver. Harry picked up on it right away.

"Are you cold?"

"Not with you here," I answered truthfully. We huddled close together.

"Mione? I'm kinda confused as to where 'we' stand. I mean, it just seems like everything is happening all at once, and it seems like everyone I care about always gets hurt, or killed by something. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"Shhh, no matter what happens, I will be here. Harry, I've always liked you. A lot, but I was to afraid to say anything to you, in case you rejected me. But now, I don't have any second doubts about you and me." I looked up at him, waiting for his response to my words.

"Are you serious? I have liked you ever since you went with Viktor to the ball in our fourth year. I was so jealous." he sighed. "But that was then, and this is now. And somehow, we are together now," and he pulled me into another breath-taking kiss, this one more passionate than the first.

Some time later, I realized what time it was. "Harry! We have to go in now.

Ron will be looking for us," I said, regrettably. Harry sighed.

"I suppose you're right. Let's go." After one more kiss, we walked slowly, hand in hand, up to our common room. Ron was already there, waiting for us.

"Where were you two?" he said. Harry and I glanced at each other, neither of us willing to share this special moment yet. I turned to Ron, and burst out laughing.

"Ron, were you snogging Lavender again?" I said in a motherly tone. His mouth gaped open.

"But, but..."

"You might want to get that pink lipstick off you face before anyone else sees you," I smirked. Ron, naturally, turned a bright, tomato red. He went quickly up to the boys dorms, and Harry and I collapsed on one of the sofas, me on top of Harry, laughing hysterically.

"That... was...great..." I gasped between giggles. Harry couldn't even talk, he was laughing so hard. A couple of minutes later, Ron came back down and just stared at the two of us.

"What? Are you really together now?" It was our turn to blush. Ron continued. "I am so happy that Ginny got over her crush on you! Thank God. Herm? Not to be rude, but I am soo sick of you!" Seeing my glare, Ron hurried on. "I mean, Harry has been talking about you non-stop for... forever."

"That's so sweet!" I exclaimed. I kissed Harry lightly. "Hey, it's almost midnight. We should be heading to bed."

"Oh really? Or are you just saying that because you want to go to bed with Harry...?"

"Ronald Weasley! You take that back!" I yelled, and, laughing, chased him all the way up to the stairs that led to the boy's dorms. Ron and I walked back down the stairs to where Harry was waiting for us.

"Hey, our presents are already here! Let's just open one each?" I begged.

"Sure," Ron answered. Ron reached for a present with his name on it. It was from Dobby.

"Love the socks, Ron!" I said. Dobby had knitted Ron socks, one lime green with his initials on it, the other bright red, with broomsticks.

"Look, he also baked me cookies! Hey... these are good!" Ron replied, his mouth already full of cookies. Next Harry opened his. It was from me, so I already knew what it was. Now I just had to wait for his reaction.

"Thanks, Mione. I needed a new quill!"

"You're welcome. But there's something else." Harry reached deeper into the box and pulled out a pocket-sized book.

"It's a book that shows you what the person you are currently thinking about is doing. It also has some of their thoughts in it," I explained.

"I love it. But you know, it will only show you!" Harry said, jokingly. He leant over and gave me a peck on the cheek. "Now you get to open something." I reached over to my pile and picked out a present. It was Harry's. I reached into the bag and pulled out three things. The first was a cloak.

"It's an Always Warm Cloak. No matter how cold it is outside, it keeps you warm," Harry said. The second was a copy of The Revised Hogwarts: A History. There was one page book marked. It said: "Hermione Granger, a genius Muggle-born girl in her seventh year, has recently broken the record for the most number of possible N.E.W.T.S. to achieve. She is currently the Head Girl at Hogwarts, and has been working on a project on the freedom of house elves. She has requested that in this book, we include the facts about our house elves and that request has been granted. See page 476 for more information on her project, and the S.P.E.W. organization."

"Oh my God! Why haven't I found out about this? Thank you so much, Harry!"

He grinned at me.

"Herm? Open your last present later, okay?" I nodded, confused.

"Well, I'll leave you two to say good night then," Ron said smirking.

"'Night, Ron," we said.

"You can open your last present if you want. I just didn't want Ron to see it yet."

"Alright," I said. I unwrapped the tiny box. Inside there was a beautiful necklace, with a glittering diamond. "Harry? This must have cost a fortune!" He laughed.

"Well, yeah, but you're worth it. I saw it in a Muggle shop and thought it would look perfect on you."

"Thank you," I said. "I love it." Harry sat down on the couch and pulled me onto his lap.

"Harry! It's 1:00 already! We really have to get to bed." I moved to get up, but Harry's arms stopped me.

"Harry! Let go of me!" I exclaimed.

"Nope. You're staying here with me!" Giggling, I tried to get up once more, than gave up.

"Fine. We'll just have to sleep here on the couch." I relaxed in his arms, feeling my eyelids droop. I slipped into sleep, feeling Harry's warm breath on my neck. I knew then that it would be a wonderful Christmas, and that this was where I wanted to stay. In Harry's arms.