Together Now

Harry stopped in front of the door to the Astronomy Tower. He had a feeling that Hermione hadn't left the Astronomy Tower because he never ran into her on the way there. Harry took a deep breath.

'Please don't shut me out this time Hermione,' he pleaded silently.

'She won't if you don't get a move on!' his conscience scolded. Harry groaned. His conscience always popped out at the worst of times. He took another breath before reaching for the doorknob and opening it.

Harry saw Hermione in front of the window, a slight breeze playing with her hair. She wore a small smile on her lips. Harry had never seen someone so beautiful in his life.

'What are you waiting for, you dolt? Make yourself known!' his conscience popped in. Harry fought hard not to roll his eyes. But before he could do anything, he shut the door, making Hermione turn around.

'Too late for that,' he thought. Hermione wore a panicked expression and made her way towards the door. She cringed visibly when Harry blocked the door to prevent her from leaving.

"Hermione, why won't you talk to me?" he asked, trying to catch Hermione's gaze but to no avail.

"I needed time to think," Hermione replied, staring at the floor. Harry looked confused.

"What did you need to think about?" he asked. Hermione finally looked up, but Harry was dismayed to see that Hermione wore an expression of anger.

"Why do you care?" she blurted out, glaring. Harry cringed inwardly. Hermione hardly got mad at him, and when she did, it was mostly because she's worried about him. Harry took her hands, relieved that she didn't pull away.

"Because you're my best friend and I care very much about you," he said. Apparently, this was the wrong thing to say because he saw Hermione flinch and took her hands away from him.

"I know," she mumbled just enough for Harry to hear. Harry frowned. He was getting more and more confused by the minute.

"What do you mean, 'you know'?" He asked bluntly. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Do you really want to know why I've been avoiding you?" she asked. Harry nodded. Hermione groaned and moved away from him.

"Fine," she said. There was an odd silence, the two teenagers pondering on their own thoughts. Finally, Hermione broke the silence.

"I'm in love with this guy," she started. She didn't notice Harry wince at this.

"I don't know how long I've been in love with him, but I knew I was in love with him back in our 3^rd year. From there, I've hidden it from him, because I know that he has a crush on this girl in another house. It broke my heart when he kissed her. I tried to show that I didn't care because I knew that it would be better off that way if he was happy, even if it wasn't with me. I tried to get over him, I really did, and I THOUGHT I had, until he told me that he was in love with someone else again. I had to figure out if I was still in love with him, and guess what? I AM!" By now, Hermione had sunk to the floor and began crying. Harry knew he should comfort her, but he couldn't move by what she said. Something about it seemed kind of familiar...

"Hermione, are you in love with Ron?" he asked, half afraid to know if she would say yes and half anxious to know what she would say. He remembered Ron telling both of them that he was in love with Lavender, and he DID notice how Hermione practically dragged him out of the Common Room. Hermione gave a hollow laugh, breaking Harry's heart into pieces.

"Are you that daft, Harry?" she said, her eyes blazing in anger. Harry frowned again.

'There she goes again, confusing me,' he thought. Seeing as how Harry was confused, Hermione let out a frustrated breath.

"YOU'RE THE ONE I'M IN LOVE WITH, YOU PRAT!" she yelled out. When she realized what she said, her eyes widened, her hand clamped on her mouth and she ran for the door. Harry, who was INCREDIBLY shocked at what Hermione said, fell back into reality. With quick reflexes, he grabbed Hermione by the arm before she could open the door.

"What do you want Harry?" she spat, avoiding his gaze once again. For the first time in two weeks, Harry smiled genuinely.

"You never heard my side of the story," he said. Hermione looked at him, disbelief written all over her face.

"What side of the story?" she asked, yanking her arm from Harry's grasp and crossing her arms over her chest, leaning against the door. Harry's smile grew wider, making Hermione frown at him.

"If you're not going to say anything, then forget it," she said, opening the door again. Harry pushed it back, and since he was stronger than Hermione, she leaned back into the door, defeated.

"If you're going to tell me that you've told the girl you love that you love her, then let me wallow in self-pity!" she exclaimed. Hermione frowned again when she realized she never knew the name of the girl Harry's in love with.

"What's her name anyway?" she asked, now oblivious to Harry's grin.

"Her name is Hermione Granger," he replied. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Right, so if you're going to tell me that you've..." She stopped mid-sentence. What Harry said clicked inside her head. She turned to Harry, wide-eyed. He was now grinning from ear to ear. He leaned towards her until they were inches apart.

"That's right Hermione, I'm in love with you," he whispered. But before Hermione could reply to that, Harry's mouth claimed hers.

It started out as a gentle, soft kiss, but grew more passionate as the seconds ticked by. Hermione pulled Harry closer to her, and the only thing Harry could do was give in. They pulled apart moments later, gasping for breath. Harry smiled and took in Hermione's flushed face. He bent down and kissed her on the neck, making her gasp.

"So... You were jealous when I kissed Cho?" he teased and yelped when Hermione bit his shoulder. He pulled away and looked at Hermione, who was smirking.

"Tease me again, and I'll never help you in potions," Hermione said. Harry just shrugged and kissed her again.

~*~*~*~*~*~

As Harry and Hermione sat at the Gryffindor table the next morning in the Great Hall, they didn't know that they were in for a surprise.

Lavender, who was on the verge of putting a piece of bacon into her mouth, stopped mid-way and raised an eyebrow at Harry and Hermione's intertwined hands. She smirked at them once they sat down.

"Seeing as how you didn't hold hands when you guys were best friends, I'm guessing you're an item now," Lavender stated. She squealed in delight when Harry and Hermione blushed. Forgetting her bacon, she turned to Ron, who was oblivious to the world around him when food was in front of him.

"You owe me ten galleons darling," she said, poking him HARD on the shoulder. Ron looked at her, as if seeing her for the first time.

"Why?" he asked while chewing. Lavender was torn between disgusted and amused.

"I won the bet you thick-headed boy," she said as-a-matter-of-factly.

"What... OH!" Ron cried, looking at the still-blushing couple. He smiled, then swallowed whatever was in his mouth and stood up, looking at the Slytherin table.

"Oy! Malfoy! YOU owe MY SISTER ten galleons!" he yelled out, causing the teachers in the high table to either look at him in interest (Flitwick), chuckle merrily (Dumbledore) or to look at him in disgust (Snape and McGonagall). Draco stood up from the Slytherin table.

"GET OFF IT!" he yelled back. When Ron shook his head, giving him a lopsided grin, Draco looked at Harry and Hermione, who were still holding hands but now shared a confused look. Draco snapped his fingers.

"Darn it! Lost 10 galleons to my girlfriend!" he exclaimed, loud enough for Ron to hear, who raised his fist in victory. As soon as he turned around, however, he saw Lavender, Parvati and Ginny, their arms crossed and a hand outstretched. Ron's glee faded and sighed before turning to Dean, Neville and Seamus, who was watching everything and was quietly leaving the Great Hall to avoid the scene.

"You three! Come back here! I'm not paying for ALL of them!" he yelled out. All three boys groaned and came back to the table, fishing out their money. Hermione, who was the first to recover, grabbed Lavender's arm.

"You guys made a bet ABOUT US?" Hermione cried out. Lavender giggled.

"Of course silly!" she replied. When Hermione gave her the "McGonagall" look, she sighed.

"Okay, this bet has been going on since 5^th year. The girls made a bet that you and Harry would end up together on the sixth year while the boys made a bet that you two would get together on the seventh year. Apparently, we won," she beamed when Ron RELUCTANTLY handed her ten galleons. She turned back to Hermione.

"And then, Ron, Ginny, Draco and I made a bet about when you two would stop being prats and admit that you love each other. I bet a month, Ron bet 3 days, Ginny bet 4 weeks and Draco bet never," she giggled, partly because of Draco's bet and partly because Hermione's mouth was now hanging wide open and Harry's eyes were wide open.

"So, I must pay Ginny, since she won the bet," she sighed, and went over to dump her 10 galleons that she won from Ron to Ginny, who was grinning so wide that it looked like her face was going to break. Hermione turned to Harry, her mouth still open.

"Can you believe this? They made a bet... about us... and not only once, but TWICE!" she exclaimed. Harry, who got over his shock, smiled at his new girlfriend and took her hand.

"Who cares? We're together now and that's all that matters," he said before pulling her in for a kiss, much to the amusement of everyone. (Girls squealed, guys smirked, Dumbledore chuckled and McGonagall scoffed).