Hermione Granger and the Two Lovers

Chapter Twenty-One

A clap of thunder, followed by a flash of lightning woke Hermione up. She glanced over at her clock; it flashed 3:27.

She sat up in bed, her heart pounding fast.

Hermione looked around the room. Apparently, no one else had been woken by the storm.

Hermione laid her head back down on her pillow. However, she found it very hard to get back to sleep after with the thunder roaring outside. To make matters worse, she was a bit afraid of thunderstorms. She had managed to keep her cool during their fourth year, when they had bad weather, but at night, sitting there, the only one awake; she felt alone and cold.

Hermione got up out of the bed and place her feet on the stone floor. Rain had poured in from the open window by her bed, which made the stone floor wet, and colder than usual.

Hermione hopped to the end of her bed, where she opened her trunk.

She quickly pulled out her pink bathrobe, and matching pink fuzzy slippers. She slipped the slippers and robe on and walked down the stairs to the common room.

Instead of finding the common room empty, like it usually was, she saw the silhouette of a boy staring at the fire

Slam! Hermione jumped as the girls' dormitory door closed behind her.

The boy quickly turned his face toward her. Hermione still couldn't make out whom the boy was, so she stood in silence.

"Hermione?" the voice said quietly. She immediately recognized the voice and let out a sigh of relief.

"Harry," she said. "What are you doing down here?" she asked him.

"Just... Thinking," Harry answered, staring back at the fire. "What's your excuse?"

"I couldn't get back to sleep," Hermione told him. "The rain woke me up, and I've never fancied thunderstorms."

Harry nodded, and sat down on the couch. Harry continued staring at the fire, seeming to be thinking very hard.

"You want to, er, sit down?" Harry offered, realizing that Hermione was still standing on the other side of the common room.

Hermione nodded and sat down next to Harry.

Hermione finally saw Harry's face, lit up by the dancing flames. Harry's eyes were glazed over with tears, just daring to overflow from his eyelids. Then, one, single tear fell from Harry's eye and he quickly wiped it away, obviously not wanting Hermione to see.

Hermione opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, but she was at a loss for words. She had never seen Harry cry before, not even when Sirius had died.

There was an awkward as they both stared at the flames of the fire wave in the breeze running through the common room.

"Remember when we'd sit here and just talk to Sirius in the fire?" Harry asked, breaking the awkward silence.

This was the first time Harry had mentioned Sirius since his death. Her and Ron had attempted to talk to Harry about it, but he avoided the subject at all costs.

Hermione nodded. "You miss him, don't you?"

Another tear slid down Harry's cheek, but, this time, Harry didn't wipe it away. Hermione watched as it slid down his cheek and dangled on his jawbone, until it eventually fell onto his robe.

"Oh, Harry," Hermione whispered, pulling him into her arms.

This hug felt different from any hug she had ever experienced. It wasn't a boyfriend-girlfriend hug. It wasn't a best friends hug. It wasn't anything like that. It was a brother-sister hug. Hermione had never experienced this kind of hug. Hermione had a sister, but this wasn't the same. She was almost positive Harry had never experienced this before either.

"Harry?" Hermione whispered. "I love you."

Harry pulled himself out of the hug and stared at her, a bit confused.

"You're the best big brother ever," Hermione added.

Harry smiled. "You're the best little sister ever."

Yeah... I love you too... but you don't have to say it every night.

-Simon Camden 7^th Heaven (1996)