The 7th Year

Chapter 1

It was a cloudy February day. Harry, Ron, and Hermione just had their first class, History of Magic. Today's class had been exceptionally boring.

"Don't see why Dumbledore doesn't just sack him," Ron grumbled.

"Oh Ron, Dumbledore would know when to sack Binns..... if he ever does," Hermione replied while making sure the notes she took were still in order.

Before they got into another big argument, Harry changed the subject. "So what do we have next?" he asked them.

"I have Arithmancy. You two have Divination," Hermione answered. Harry and Ron groaned.

"She's still here???" Ron asked disbelievingly. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Thank God it's only for an hour," Harry responded as they left Hermione and went up to the North Tower.

As usual, Professor Trelawney made predictions of Harry's death. This time he was going to be killed by a herd of hippogriffs. Harry ignored her and thought about the past year. He had been in the Triwizard Tournament that was held on Hogwarts. He had seen Lord Voldemort rise again and had seen Cedric Diggory get killed. Cho Chang, Cedric's girlfriend, her transferred schools to try to forget about what happened. Over the summer, Harry and Dumbledore had defeated Voldemort when he had come to the Dursley's to kill Harry. It was peaceful in the magical world again. Or at least as peaceful as it usually was.

"Harry!" Ron hissed, jarring him out of his thoughts. He looked up. Professor Trelawney was glaring at him. It was amazing how much her face looked like Professor McGonagall's at that moment. Suddenly, the bell on one of the tables nearby rang. Class was over. Harry breathed a sigh of relief and escaped the sweltering classroom before he lost points for Gryffindor.

Ron was wondering what exactly Harry was thinking about, but decided not to ask. Instead, he asked "What's next?"

"Potions," Harry replied with a groan.

Snape was in his usual bad mood and by the end of class he had taken thirty points from Gryffindor due to the fact that Neville Longbottom had made his levitating potion explode, causing three tables and seven Slytherins to float upward, not including Neville himself. Ron, Harry, and Hermione backed away from him for fear they would also float in the air, which would most likely cause Snape to take fifty more points.

At the end of class the trio headed to the Great Hall for lunch. Harry sat next to Hermione and Ron sat across from them. In the middle of his lunch, Ron glanced to his left. His younger sister Ginny was sitting in Draco Malfoy's lap at the end of the table. Last year, Ginny had announced that she and Draco were a couple. Ron and Harry were by far the least happy with this, but finally (after much begging and pleading) accepted it. By now no one was surprised that Malfoy had moved from the Slytherin table to the Gryffindor table. Even the Slytherins didn't care anymore. Malfoy is more bearable now... Ron thought absently.

Then his gaze settled on Harry and Hermione. His two best friends. Harry had grown over the summer, and Hermione, well she had definitely changed. Along with her smaller, straight teeth she had gotten in her fourth year, her figure had become very slender and her hair was no longer bushy, but instead long and wavy. She had turned into a beauty. Even Ron had to admit that. He only thought of Hermione as one of his best friends. It was surprising that she still didn't have a boyfriend. Viktor Krum was just a good friend. He sighed, then looked at his watch. Crap. He had ten minutes to get to Herbology.

* * * * *

That night in the Common Room, Hermione kept looking at Harry out of the corner of her eye while doing her homework. God, she was so in love with him. She was surprised no one knew, but she hoped it would stay that way, at least for now. She had no idea if he felt the same way.

Meanwhile, Harry was thinking along the same lines as Hermione. He had loved her for awhile now, and he wished he had the guts to tell her.

* * * * *

That night, they dreamed of each other. Unfortunately, when Harry woke up, he noticed Ron standing over him. This can't be good, he thought, but said "What's up Ron?"

Ron hesitated, then said "Harry.... did anyone tell you that you talk in your sleep?"

Harry's eyes widened. He whispered "No...." feeling deep down that he must have said something about Hermione.

"Well," Ron began slowly. "Earlier this morning I woke up. I heard you, so I went to see if you were okay. When I listened closely, you were murmuring 'Hermione...' and groaning." He paused, glancing at the mortified Harry, and continued. "Anything you want to tell me, mate?"

I guess I should tell him, Harry thought. He is one of my best friends. He cleared his throat. "Yes... but first swear that you will not tell a soul or I will force-feed you that poison Snape told us about last week."

Ron looked at him. "That serious, huh?" he said calmly.

Harry sighed. "Yes. I... well... I... like Hermione," he said in a rush, looking down. "A lot. More than a lot. I've liked her ever since our third year. And I don't want to tell her because I don't want to ruin our friendship." He finally looked back at Ron. He looked like he had been Stunned. Finally, he closed his mouth.

"Wow, Harry... that much?"

"Yes."

"Harry," Ron said quietly. "I think she likes you too."

~*~*~

Harry jumped up. "What??"

"Well... 1. She's always looking at you, 2. She's starting to read books upside-down whenever you're around, and 3. It's obvious." Ron said, counting on his fingers.

"Really?.... but I dunno Ron. I want to find out for sure."

"Then ask her," Ron said impatiently.

"I can't..."

"Ugh! Fine, I'll ask her."

"Don't tell her I like her yet though."

Ron sighed. "Fine."

Hermione was in the library, as usual. She was pretending to read, but she was only concentrating on Harry. His laugh, the way he pushed his glasses up on his nose, his lips....

She had never been kissed, but she knew she wanted Harry to be her first... Hermione smiled.

"Uh... Hermione?" someone said, making her jump. She looked up and saw Ron standing in front of her.

"Hi Ron," she answered. "What's up?"

Ron hesitated, but finally blurted out "Do you like Harry?"

Hermione dropped her book. She felt her face redden. She asked quietly, "Is it that obvious?"

Ron's mouth dropped. "You... you... do?"

"Yes, Ron. I've liked him for ages. Liked him a lot more than 'like' actually.... I can't believe I'm telling you this," Hermione turned even redder and fell silent.

Ron closed his mouth. They like each other! he thought. But how to get them to admit it...

He decided to go back to the Common Room and think. Thank God it was Saturday. He'd finish his homework on Sunday. He turned around and left, leaving Hermione to her own thoughts.

~*~*~

All through dinner, Ron saw Harry and Hermione glancing at each other. He and Harry had a conversation about Quidditch, but Hermione had been very quiet. She cleared her throat, causing Harry and Ron to jump and look at her.

She said quietly, "Harry... I can't stand it anymore. We need to talk."

"Alright," replied Harry, looking happy, surprised, and a little confused. He followed her out of the Great Hall and into the Common Room, which was deserted. Hermione sat down in the chair closest to the fire. Harry sat down next to her. For several minutes they stared at the fire in silence. Finally, Hermione turned to look at Harry. Harry was shocked to see tears in her eyes.

"Hermione..." he said softly. This caused the tears to spill down on her cheeks.

"Harry," she began slowly, her voice wavering while the tears ran down her face. "I want you to know something. It might ruin our friendship, but I hope it won't." She let out a breath and continued. "Harry... I love you."

Harry stared at her. "Really?"

Hermione was crying openly now. All she could do was nod.

Before Harry knew what he was doing, he got up and strode over to Hermione's chair, leaned down, and kissed her. He felt her gasp, then put her arms around his neck.

This was Harry's first kiss. He felt light and happy. But after a moment, Hermione broke the kiss. Harry opened his eyes and found himself looking into cinnamon colored eyes.

"Does this mean you love me too?" Hermione asked in a small voice. Harry laughed.

"Yes Hermione," he answered, and he kissed her softly. Then, he grabbed her hand and led her to his dormitory.

* * * * *

A half hour later, Harry and Hermione were lying on Harry's bed passionately kissing. Harry had brought her in and used a locking charm on the door and a silencing charm around his bed. Then they had both climbed on it. Hermione had removed Harry's glasses and they had been kissing for awhile.

Hermione broke the kiss and moaned. Harry started kissing a sensitive spot on her neck, shifting a little on top of her. She giggled. The spot Harry was kissing tickled.

Harry pulled his head up so he could look at Hermione.

"So I guess we're a couple?" he asked, sounding hopeful. Hermione grinned. He took that as a yes and leaned down to kiss her again.