Behind Emerald Eyes

Anytime You Need a Friend

"If you're lonely and need a friend. And troubles seem like they never end. Just remember to keep the faith. And love will be there to light the way. When the shadows are closing in. And your spirit is diminishing. Just remember you're not alone. And love will be there to guide you home..." - Anytime You Need a Friend by Mariah Carey

"Harry...?" The silence was thick with a mixture of fear, nervousness and excitement. Harry was just standing there. Body frozen. With his heart pounding as the memories stopped flooding his mind and a pair of green eyes viewed a friend he had not laid an eye on in over five years. Hermione looked great. Her hair was straighter and sleeker, and her face was full but showed signs of lack of sleep. Harry noticed that her eyes were tired and shown with an uncertainty. She was just staring at him with her large brown eyes, mouth slightly open and her hand still clutching the door knob. Harry could hear a radio going inside the apartment and see another girl looking at him. Ginny was standing just behind in the hall, he could see the red of her hair from the corner of his eye.

"Hermione...?" With one word spoken from the both of them, it seemed like they were strangers meeting for the first time. Hermione looked the same as the clever witch from his schooling years. Even from this point he could see a small book case in a corner and a novel lying open on an armchair.

As they both stood there, a tear ran down Hermione's face. The girl from the apartment had left the table inside and was now standing beside Hermione. She looked no older than Harry himself and was quite attractive. At this point, he did not know if she was magical or muggle, so he quickly pulled his shirt down over his belt and wand. This action did not go unnoticed by the girl. She met his eye and smirked.

"I found your wand the moment Hermione opened the door. So, who are you?" Harry glanced at Ginny who was humming the tune to the Chudley Cannons. He opened his mouth to answer but Hermione did it for him.

"He-he is Harry..." she choked. She must have finally noticed she was crying because she swiftly wiped the tears away. The other witch raised her eyebrows.

"Harry? That wouldn't be Harry Potter would it? The Harry Potter who defeated the most feared dark wizard of our time at only seventeen? The Harry Potter who Hermione was best friends with up until the day when he mysteriously disappeared? The same Harry Potter who Hermione has nightmares about?" Harry stepped back, standing on Ginny' toe by accident. The red-head yelped with pain and swatted his arm. He murmured an apology then turned his face back to Hermione's.

"Nightmares?" Harry said. Anger was beginning to simmer inside him. If Hermione was having nightmares about him then him coming here was a mistake. It would only bring more fear into her if she was afraid of him for some reason. Hermione seemed to shake herself from a reverie as her eyes lost the shine and began to brim with confusion.

"Why are you here?" she said blankly. Harry sighed.

"Ginny brought me here. She found me in London and demanded I came back..." Harry looked deeply into her eyes. "That, and I miss you." Hermione seemed to visibly deflate. She stepped back from the door and let them in. Once Ginny followed Harry into the room, Harry noticed the other girl's eyes still planted on him. It made him feel uncomfortable. He hadn't been stared at like that since he left the Wizarding world so many years ago. And the feeling of being a nobody went well with him.

"Who are you exactly?" Harry asked feeling no sense of being rude. After-all, she was the one staring endlessly at him. The witch extended a hand and grinned broadly.

"Prudice Jacqueline Diamond Davies. So great to meet you!" Harry shook her hand with less eagerness than she showed. "Harry Potter. Like-wise," Instead, he turned his attention back to Hermione and Ginny. The two girls were embracing sisterly. Both their faces were shining with tear tracks.

"Its been too long..." Hermione murmured into Ginny' shoulder. "I know..." the red-head answered. When they parted, they both laid their eyes on Harry, joining the blue gaze of Pru Davies. Feeling like he was under a microscope, Harry found a seat at the table and sat down. Two plates of salad and chicken sat half-eaten opposite him. A song was playing on the radio. It sounder familiar but Harry couldn't put his finger on it. Hermione seemed to read his mind.

"This was one of the songs that the Weird Sisters sang at the Yule Ball in fourth year," she answered sitting down beside him and began toying with the lettuce. He didn't know what to say. Over the years he almost forgot what his friend's voice sounded like. What her face looked like. What their friendship had meant to him. Just being back in her presence made his mind and body relax and a sense of 'home' to take place. Back in the days when Harry, Hermione and Ron had never been sighted without the others, Harry had thought going back to Hogwarts meant he was returning home. But actually, it had been returning to the sides of Ron and Hermione that made him feel home. They were the reason he tolerated everything that annoyed him and survived everything that tried to kill him. And being back here, sitting beside one of the two people he truly 'loved' he finally felt home.

"Hermione, I-!"

She cut him off. "I know..." He turned his emerald eyes to the witch beside him and sank into the familiar brown pools of her eyes. Something clicked between them. They both leant in at the same time and wrapped their arms about the other. Harry rested his head on her shoulder, in the sweet smelling hair that floated about her head. She was holding him so tightly, and he her, that they both forgot to breathe. Hermione's head was buried in the nook of his neck and her tears were soaking his skin. Not that he minded. It felt so good to be close to her again and to feel the touch of her skin on his, that he almost forgot why they were embracing. Why they hadn't talked or seen each other since seventh year. It was as if they were back at school. Back before the time of Dumbledore's downfall and before the death of Voldemort. They were friends like always. Harry could almost hear Ron's bickering and see his bright red hair. Hermione's shaking body brought him from the memories. She was crying so hard onto his neck that she was struggling for breath. Harry pulled back slightly. Hermione looked up at him with puffy red eyes and tear-streaked cheeks.

"I'm so sorry, Harry!" she sobbed, hiccupping. Harry smiled.

"There's nothing to be sorry for! What's done, is done. And there's nothing we can do about it now." Hermione attempted to smile back but she just whimpered and sank her head back under his chin. Harry looked passed her to the two witches watching their reunion with glassy eyes. He raised an eyebrow at Ginny who was silently crying. She smiled toothily back, not noticing a tear about to drip from the end of her freckly nose. Harry turned to Pru who was watching their embrace with a curious expression. She leant towards Ginny and whispered something in her ear, so softly Harry heard nothing but Hermione's soft sobs. Whatever the witch said, it made Ginny snort then shake her head. Pru straightened up and continued her watchful gaze, a wicked smile on her face.

.............................................

It was half an hour later and Hermione's face was still streaked with tears. In this time Harry had informed her of his life away from the Wizarding world and all the hassles it brought with it. He told her how he lived as a muggle, working long hours as a Security Guard and sleeping the morning hours away. He told how he missed them. And thought of both she and Ron, every day since he left. This brought fresh tears to her eyes. They silently slipped down her pink cheeks, being swept away by a mane of brown locks.

Hermione told him of her life as a Professor. She told him what she taught, how she did it and how satisfied it made her feel. She told of her travels and her life in France. Just the expressions that lit up her face made Harry remember good old times. But when she came to the part about missing him, and Ron, and everything about London, it sank down his heart. Her eyes dimmed and her head bowed as she told how she felt when he left because of her.

"That day was the worst of my life. We lost Dumbledore and you in one day. But we also were freed of Voldemort and the terror he spread through the world. I was so angry that you had cast a charm that I couldn't break. I felt useless! I could hear all the Aurors, Death Eaters, dark creatures and students fighting, screaming and dying. All I could do was listen, hoping against hope that one of the bodies falling was not yours. I should have been thankful that you most likely saved me from being killed by Voldemort or one of his followers but I wasn't! You knew how it felt to be held back, to be stopped from fighting a war you were involved in! That's how Ron and I felt, Harry!

"Then when the barriers fell away and we were able to see the battle ground, it was terrible! Bodies lay everywhere! I saw people I had had lunch with the previous day, fallen and dead at my feet. There was blood everywhere! And with the fire taking over the forest and dragons soaring the skies, I believed you were dead. Voldemort the victor. Then when I saw you alive and Dumbledore and Voldemort dead, I knew it was over. You had killed the most feared dark lord of our time and you hadn't even finished school! You had defeated him. Stopped the war! But all I could say and do, and did, was to yell at you for keeping me from fighting! I was so angry at you and so blinded to the bigger picture that I caused us to break-up our friendship! Ron and I had been so selfish that day! I wish I could turn back-!"

"No!" Harry cut her off, shaking his head and clasping her hand. "No, there is no use saying that. If we turned back time and you did things differently, if we all changed the way we acted back then, we may not be together now. Something might have happened that caused us to split up in a different way. One of us could have been killed or a larger issue could have destroyed our lives. Then we may not have ever forgiven one another! No, its better this way. With the years we have been apart, it only made our friendship stronger. It made our hearts and our minds truly understand what it was like to have you around. Back then, when i always had you and Ron around me, I took our friendship for granted. I never truly understood what you and Ron meant to me.

"Now I do..." Harry grinned sheepishly, "though its been good not having you bossing me around and telling me to study twenty-four-seven!" Hermione swatted his arm and grinned wryly through her tears.

"I can't believe I almost forgot the sound of your voice and how green your eyes are!" she said, sniffing away her tears. Harry grinned sadly and turned to Ginny. She was at the other end of the table, talking animatedly with the Pru Davies witch. She was smiling as she talked and making hand actions as if to visualize her point. Even from here, Harry could see her hazel eyes glittering with joy. He sat so enchanted by the swaying and sparkling of her sun-set locks, that he wasn't able to convert his gaze elsewhere quick enough when Ginny turned and caught his eye. She grinned as he blushed and turned back to Hermione, face burning.

.............

"So you have been living with a muggle house-mate?" asked Hermione later that evening. The sun had been replaced by a large glowing moon that hung high in the sky like a crystal ball encaged in a body of dark. The stars scattered about the deep blue expanse like tiny pin-pricks of candle flame suspended in the atmosphere. Harry and Hermione were sitting on the low balcony watching the people in the street head home out of the cold. Hermione was wrapped in a blanket while Harry pulled his coat tighter around his body. Ginny and Pru had left a few minutes before, heading down the street for some drinks and late night treats.

"Yeah, Dave Ream," Harry answered, leaning against the guard rail. "He's been a great mate, smart and not one to ask too many questions. Too smart sometimes..." Harry gazed at the night sky, pin-pointing the tiny mass of gas that was Sirius. "I swear he almost discovered who I really was a few months ago. I had left my photo album on my bed and he asked if he could borrow a book of mine. So I sent him in. He was gone for a while so I decided to go and see what was keeping him."

"What happened?" Hermione breathed, gazing at him with large brown eyes. The moon sat reflected in their depths. The stars sprinkled with the specks of gold.

"I found him sitting on my bed looking through the pages. I could see them moving from where I was standing," Harry sighed. "I forgot that muggles can't see the photographs move. It was close though, too close. He could have found my wand or an old school book or something. But I guess, some part of me wanted him to discover my secret. It was so hard to keep it inside me, knowing one day the information would build up and explode or something. It was just too hard. And I felt so alone. "

Hermione moved over on the swinging bench she was sitting on and made room for Harry to sit. He took the spot reluctantly. She covered him with part of her blanket and leant into him. Her warmth somehow filled the gaping hole in his chest. It made him feel home. He smiled and placed an arm around her. They both looked out to the endless night sky. An owl hooted in a tree below. Just inside, two witches entered the apartment and made their way to the kitchen. From that point they were able to see the couple curled up on the bench outside. The elder's face grew amused and the other's puzzled.

"And you said they were just best friends?" One said while the other stayed silent.

The next morning bloomed bright and early. The couch Harry had slept on was quite comfortable and only one thought made him pull himself up and get ready. Hermione and Ginny were already up and about. Hermione had served a small breakfast with juice while Ginny gathered their things. Pru had already left to work leaving the three friends to let them-selves out. Once breakfast was over and their things packed, they exited the apartment and the whole building. Out in the street below, a cool wind whipped at their sides as they squinted through the rushing wind. Without a minute to pause they piled into the taxi cab that had pulled up beside them and joined the line of traffic heading out of the town.

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Hey all its me here, who else! I think this chapter will be shorted than the others because I want to get Ron's point of view out. I started writing that chapter like over a week ago because I was so eager to get out Ron's view as he is my favorite character before Sirius! Well, hope you liked this, I'll try and make the next chapter longer!

Also I was highly disappointed in the previous chapter! I only got TWO reviews!!! Its either I'm an extremely bad writer, some people don't like chapters in other peoples POV or some of you can't be bothered writing a review! Or all of them! If I don't get more than four reviews, and that is still low, for my next chapter, I may not continue this story, easy as that!

Well, chow!

DW