To Love and Betray

It was just before dawn when Harry walked down to the common room. He had been dreaming again, and after lying awake for an hour, he had decided to go down and sit in front of the fire. When he found Hermione, she was slumped over in front of the portrait hole, robes tearstained and wrinkled. He knelt down and brushed a stray hair out of her face, then kissed her gently on the forehead. Suddenly, he didn't care where she had been the night before; he was just glad she was back and safe. Smiling, he picked her up, cradling her in his arms, and carried her back up the stairs to his dormitory.

When he got there, he found that Ron, Dean, Seamus, and Neville were all still asleep. He laid her down in his bed and covered her up. Just as he did so, he heard Ron struggling in his bed. Harry quickly moved to block Hermione from view as the Head Boy sat up, sleep in his eyes.

"What're you doing up?" he asked Harry groggily.

"Oh, nothing," Harry answered nervously.

Ron seemed too sleepy to notice. "Ugh, I've gotta meet Flitwick in thirty minutes," he said checking his watch. "This Head boy stuff is tiring."

Ron got up and began to dress. Harry remained standing there, all the while trying to hide his bed from view. Ron didn't pay him any attention.

"See you at breakfast," he said after tying his shoe and he dragged himself out the door.

Harry sighed and then turned to look at Hermione. She looked very peaceful with her head rested against the pillow, her hair spreading out gently. He stroked her face lightly before closing the curtains around the four-poster to block her from view.

Harry ate an early breakfast that morning, feeling happier than he had in many months.

***

Hermione awoke a few hours later after the other three boys in the dorm had left. At first she didn't realize where she was; she was trying to remember the events of the previous night. She had been waiting outside Gryffindor Tower for Harry to leave the common room, and after he did, she had been crying just inside the portrait hole. She sat up immediately, realizing she was in a bed. How had she gotten there? She didn't remember going to bed. It wasn't until then that she realized she wasn't even in her bed. She recognized the array of Quidditch equipment, the rumpled blue bed covers...she was in Harry's bed.

She gasped. What was she doing there? Where was Harry? She pulled back the curtains to find an empty seventh year boys' dormitory. Shocked, she immediately ran out and blundered down the stairs. To her misfortune, she ran straight into Parvati Patil.

"Oh," Parvati teased. "What were you doing up there, Hermione? Trying to find Harry? No, wait, you weren't in our dorm last night. Were you sleeping with him?"

"Of course not!" Hermione bellowed, drawing the attention of the entire common room.

"Well then," said Parvati, crossing her arms. "What were you doing?"

"I don't see why that's any of you business," Hermione retorted, but she was making matters worse.

"Oh, I see," Parvati chuckled. "You don't want anyone to know about your personal life?"

"SHUT UP!" Hermione barked and she flew up the staircase to the girls' dormitories.

Parvati clicked her tongue.

"Well, Lavender," she said. "It seems our little girl is growing up."

***

When Harry returned to his dormitory from breakfast, he found that Hermione was gone, Disappointed, he returned to the common room and found Parvati and Lavender sitting in a corner, deep in conversation.

"Have either of you seen Hermione?" he asked them.

Parvati giggled. "Well I'd think you would know," she said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked, eying her.

"You tell me," said Parvati. "She was up in your dorm last night. Don't tell me you didn't know."

Harry turned red. Parvati smirked.

"So it's true," she said. "What were you doing up there?"

"Nothing!" exclaimed Harry. "Listen, I found her asleep in here this morning so I went and laid her in my bed. After that I went to breakfast. I didn't do anything more, I swear!"

Parvati tapped her foot. "Alright, Harry, if you say so. But I highly recommend going and talking to her. She's in our dormitory. I'll go get her."

Parvati dashed up the stairs. Harry sank down in the armchair where Parvati had been. Lavender stared at him.

"Harry," she said. He looked up.

"Yes?"

"Is something going on between you and Hermione?"

Harry didn't answer. He didn't want to lie to her too; he'd already lied to enough people for one day. He merely stared at the floor.

"Come one, Harry," Lavender coaxed. "You can tell me."

He still didn't answer.

"Do you love her?" Lavender blurted out. She was going to let Hermione's secret slip. "Because she loves you."

Harry looked up at her in shock. "What makes you think that?" he demanded.

"Let's just call it girl's instinct," was Lavender's reply. "But trust me, she does."

"Sound's more like gossip instinct," Harry retorted.

Lavender frowned. "Fine. If you don't believe me, ask her yourself. Here she comes now."

Harry turned around to see Parvati practically dragging Hermione down the staircase. Being slightly stronger, she finally succeeded in pulling the struggling girl over to where Harry sat. Lavender moved quickly so that Hermione could take her place.

"Now," Parvati said sternly, suddenly resembling Professor McGonagall. "You two are going to talk about this. I'll be watching, so neither of you try to leave or I'll have you in a headlock. Harry, I think Hermione has something to tell you first."

With that, Parvati and Lavender left them alone.

Harry turned to look at Hermione. She was crying into her hands. He moved his chair right beside hers and put his arms around her. She leaned against he shoulder and sobbed.

"Oh, Harry!" she cried. "I'm sorry! I didn't want it to be this way!"

"What do you mean, Mione?" he asked soothingly.

She looked up into his bright green eyes. "I shouldn't tell you, for both of our sakes, but I don't think I can hold it in much longer."

She grabbed his face and kissed him lightly on the lips. "I love you, Harry Potter."

Harry was breathing hard. Lavender had been right.

"W-what?" he stammered.

"I love you," she repeated. "I don't know how or why, but somewhere along the line I fell in love with you. I only hope that you don't hate me for it."

"Of course not, Hermione!" he exclaimed. I could never hate you. The thing is, I..."

He stood up abruptly.

"Excuse me, Hermione," he said. "I need to be alone for a while. He ran out through the portrait hole to Merlin knows where. Hermione watched him go, tears welling up in her face. He didn't love her back. She knew it. That's why he had run off. She had just spilled her guts for nothing.

"What happened?"

Hermione looked up. Parvati was standing there, looking concerned. Hermione glared at her.

"This is all your fault!" she snapped and dashed off to the dormitory, tears dropping all the way.

***

Harry returned to the common room late that night, long after everyone else had gone to bed. He had walked all across the castle trying to figure out what in the world he was supposed to do. Sitting in front of the fire, he hoped against hope that Sirius's head might appear there to give him advice. But he knew this was a pointless dream. His godfather had been dead for almost two years, so he could not possibly be able to help Harry. There was no one left for Harry to turn to now.

He loved Hermione; he knew that for sure, and was thrilled when he heard she loved him in return. But Harry was by no means prepared to deal with it. Hermione had always been his best friend; she, he, and Ron were an indivisible trio. Now, however, his feelings for her had changed drastically, and he wasn't quite ready to accept it. He only hoped that Hermione wasn't hurt. Still clueless as to what to do, Harry resounded to going to bed. It was going to be a long week.

***

Harry and Hermione hardly talked that week. The little conversation they did share was only when they were paired up in class, and then it was only about the task at hand. Ron took notice of their indifference towards eachother, but whenever he tried to ask one of them he always got the same response: "Nothing, Ron. Everything's fine."

It wasn't until the next weekend that the silent spell was broken.

Hermione was awoken on Saturday morning by something scratching her arm. She automatically assumed it was Crookshanks and thought to get up and feed him, but when she opened her eyes she saw that it was none other than Harry's faithful owl Hedwig. Curious, she untied the letter from her leg and read it.

Meet me in the common room as soon as you get this letter.

Harry

Hermione jumped out of bed at once, not caring what it was Harry wanted, but just happy he was speaking to her again. She quickly threw on a tanktop and jeans before running downstairs to meet him. When she got there, she found him smiling at her by the window, his Firebolt rested against the wall.

"Did you want something, Harry?" Hermione asked, trying to sound calm.

He responded by walking over and hugging her tightly. She nearly melted in his arms, thinking that maybe things weren't lost afterall.

"I need to show you something," he whispered in her ear. He returned to the spot where he had been standing and flung open the windows.

The fresh morning breeze whipped in and caressed Hermione's face. The sky was clear and blue, and it appeared one of the most beautiful days she had ever seen. Harry grabbed his Firebolt from its resting place and swung his leg over.

"Hop on," he told her, patting the part of the broomstick behind him and just above the bristles.

She hesitated, not knowing exactly where Harry's was going to take her, but the look on his face gave her to know she had nothing to fear. She walked over and sat down easily behind him.

"Hold tight," he instructed.

She did so, rather enthusiastically. She wrapped her arms about his waist, holding him tight as she could and burying her face in his back. With a sudden jolt, they took off out the window and were soaring high above the grounds outside Gryffindor Tower. The grounds lay magnificently before them, spreading out to the far reaches of the horizon. Hermione had never seen this view before; the last time she had been this high was riding the thestral to save Sirius, but then it was too dark to see and she was too scared to notice. But now she hadn't a care in the world as she flew across the landscape with Harry. It was as if they were flying away from the world and all its troubles. Harry guided them across the lake, and as she glanced below them she could see the giant squid basking in the morning sun. She laid her head against Harry's back, smiling, and let the wind whip her face as she enjoyed this moment with the Boy Who Lived and the Boy Whom She Loved.

"Look down," he suddenly said.

She did. Upon doing so she saw that they had reached the far bank of the lake, but all she could see was dozens of dead trees lying about the grass. However, as she looked closer she saw that they all came together to form four words:

I LOVE YOU HERMIONE

She gasped. Harry was laughing.

"It took about a week to do," he explained. "That's why I've been ignoring you so long."

"But, Harry," she said. "How did you manage?"

"Grawp," he replied.

"Grawp?"

"Yeah. Hagrid's got him pretty well trained now. You can practically carry on a conversation with him. All I had to do was tell him where and what to write and he did. Don't worry, we didn't kill any trees. Most of them were already dead when we found them."

"Oh, Harry!" she cried, kissing the back of his neck, which she noticed was turning red. "I can't believe it!"

He suddenly aimed the broom downward and they descended into the carefully placed arrangement of trees. After they had dismounted, Harry turned to face her, placed his hands on her cheek, and kissed her softly on the lips. It was brief, but it was sweet, and for a short moment Hermione felt weak at the knees.

"We need to talk," he said, pulling her down onto one of the logs. Now it was his turn to confess.

"Is it true?" she asked him, indicating the message.

"You better believe it, Hermione," he said, grinning. "It took me until about three minutes after I left you that day to realize it. At the time, I wasn't quite sure about it, but now I have no doubt. I love you, Hermione Jane Granger. I love you more than life itself. I need you like I need air. I can't live without air and I can't live without you. I'd fight a thousand Voldemorts to save you. I'd give my soul to the dementors to keep you safe. Just please tell me that you still love me, too."

"Harry," she said gently. "If you love me that way then I love you twice as much. But I'll let you know that if Voldemort tried to kill you, he'd have to kill me first. However many battles you fight, I'll always be by you side."

Harry sealed the deal by kissing her forcefully on the lips. He thrust his tongue into her mouth and explored its interior, relishing in her taste. She followed suite with equal or more power as they kissed more and more passionately. She climbed on top of him, winding her body around his and they fell off the log into the soft grass. Hermione was still on top of him and the feeling of her body on his gave him a tingling sensation. She ran her hands through his hair and down his back and he began to feel and rub the bare skin under her shirt. It was the most pleasurable moment he had ever felt. He felt nothing else; not another worry occurred to him as they rolled over each other along the bank of the lake. Harry felt as if he and Hermione might make love right there by the lake, but he was proven very wrong.

"Well, well, well," came an oh-too familiar voice from over their heads.

Harry and Hermione felt a sudden surge of guilt as the real world came flooding back. They looked up at the person who had just intruded.

"Fancy seeing you two here," Ron said.