Impending

Leaning against the entrance to the Great Hall, Harry smiled as he watched her. She was standing by a window with her eyes fixed on the setting sun. She was unnaturally still and her breath was strangely even despite the news they had received just days before. Hermione Granger really was beautiful and he loved her.

She heard him approach and turned. "What are you smiling about?" she asked quietly as her hand reached out for him.

"You," he told her honestly as he let himself be enveloped by her arms. He held her close to him and kissed her hair. "I love you."

He looked over her head to the grounds of Hogwarts and at the long shadows that would become darkness, at the knobby trees of the Forbidden Forest, and at the clear, moonless sky. Soon, Death Eaters would Apparate to the edge of Hogwarts' grounds and the final battle would begin. He didn't want to think of the people who would die in this battle... classmates, teachers, friends... His hands tugged her closer to him and he felt her fingers grasp tightly the black of his robes.

"Harry…" she murmured and he knew that she realized where his thoughts had gone. "Stay here just a while longer. It's almost dark."

She kissed him then, when he agreed and sat beside her. There was sorrow in her kiss and hope and love, all for him. She didn't speak to remind him to be careful and quick, nor to tell him that she would guard his back for as long as she could. She didn't even ask if he'd practiced his Apparation skills. He kissed her too because she didn't speak. Words would have been in vain between them. There was too much to say in such a short time. He poured all he was into the kiss and felt her hands hold his face gingerly. He realized she was shaking.

"You could have chosen someone else to love," he told her.

She shook her head and laughed. "No, Harry. I couldn't have. You know that."

"I love you," he whispered.

A sob wrenched from her body. It was the first tears he'd seen from her since they'd found out the date of the attack. He kissed her cheeks and lips and told her that he loved her again. She threw her arms around his neck and shuddered in his arms.

"Oh, Harry." She sniffled as she nestled into the crook of his neck. "Promise me."

He nodded. He didn't need to ask her what for. "I promise," Harry told her. "I will. We will. Forever."

"I love you."

Her voice was nothing more than a whisper, a gasp of breath before they felt the hair on their necks rise in alarm. Popping sounds echoed against the walls of the castle as a quiet warning before the gloomy cool of the Dementors presence and the guttural roar of the giants. Together they drew out their wands and with their hands clasped, they moved to the door.

They saw around them the people of Hogwarts drawing their wands and standing as one army. At the forefront, Ron was already poised for attack, wand pointed at the door as he watched Harry and Hermione join him. He nodded to them and they grimly met his eyes.

"This is it," Harry murmured, ignoring the burning of his scar. "This is it."

Hermione reached toward Harry again and she found his hand. She squeezed it once as the doors to the Great Hall burst open and the three of them, with an army of students and teachers behind them, went into battle.