I Love You, I Love You Not

I Love You, I Love You Not

Chapter 6

Jingle bells

Christmas soon reared its jolly head and all the students were in a jolly mood. Harry and Hermione were sitting on Hermione's bed on the night before the students would be leaving for Christmas Break.

"So... you're going home tomorrow... for three weeks... and I'm staying here, alone... for three weeks," Harry said softly as he stared out the window at the snow falling steadily. Hermione looked at Harry; the expression on his face was of such sadness. Hermione didn't answer him and after a while he looked at her.

"Hermione?" She was trying with all her might not to laugh. She gently shook her head. Harry couldn't help but smile slightly.

"What? What was that?" Harry said teasingly. Hermione jumped up.

"I'm not going home for Christmas!" she yelled. Harry jumped up as well.

"Wh- Why?" he asked, disbelievingly.

"Cos my parents sent me a letter the other day, saying that I should stay... I dunno why. I take it you're happy?" she said with a smile. Harry smiled the biggest smile he had ever smiled and then enveloped her in a hug that took both of their breaths away.

**--*-*-*--**

The next day Harry, Hermione, Ron and Julia were sitting in the Great hall, eating their breakfast. Ron sighed.

"I'm surely going to miss this food," Ron said and the whole Gryffindor Table laughed at him (those who could hear him, anyway). Hermione had told Ron and Julia about her change of plans. Julia then looked at Hermione.

"So... Hermione. What are you going to do this break?" Julia said in a tone only Hermione could hear. Hermione looked at Julia as if she was going mad.

"I'm probably just going to hang out with Harry, Julia... why?"

"No reason... was just wondering," Julia said innocently.

"You know, Julia... sometimes I think you're mad," Hermione said and then continued eating. Julia was about to take a bite of her toast when she threw it down suddenly and stormed away. The trio looked after her, not knowing what was going on. Hermione then decided to follow Julia to find out what was wrong.

When Hermione exited the Great Hall, Julia was nowhere to be seen. Hermione decided to look for her in the girl's bathroom. When Hermione entered the lavatory, Julia was coming out of one of the cubicles. Julia smiled weakly and Hermione was shocked to see how pale her face was.

"Julia... what's wrong?" Hermione asked. Julia rinsed her face and then turned to Hermione.

"I don't know. I've just been sick these last couple of weeks," Julia said.

"Have you gone to see Madam Pomfrey?"

"Yeah... but she's not here...she's on some kind of seminar."

"Oh." Silence fell between them.

"Should we head back?" Hermione asked after a while.

"Ok," Julia said and they left for the Great Hall. After a while it was time for the students to fill the carriages. They all said their good-byes and Harry and Hermione looked on as the carriages grew smaller in the white snow.

**--*-*-*--**

Harry and Hermione were sitting the Common Room, the silence surrounding them like a large quilt. Hermione was reading a book and Harry was staring out the window.

"I'm bored," said Harry.

"Join the club."

They both began to laugh. After a while, when Hermione was still catching her breath, an idea popped into Harry's mind.

"Hey! Why don't we go do something?" he asked.

"Jeez Harry... how many 'smart pills' did you drink this morning?" Hermione said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, and rolled her eyes. Harry stuck out his tongue at her and she copied the gesture.

"No man... let's go do something exciting, invigorating... something fun," Harry said.

"Anything in mind, Harry?"

"Come to think of it... actually I do have something in mind... let's go outside and..."

"No, Harry! Not a snowball fight," Hermione said, interrupting him. Harry laughed.

"No, not that... um... just come," he said and, as he stood up, pulled Hermione up with him.

He started to run, pulling her with him. After a lot of running, they were outside. Hermione was out of breath but mustered enough strength to pull her free from Harry's grasp.

"What are you doing? And where are you taking me?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips.

She caught Harry unaware by her actions but when he looked at her, he couldn't believe how beautiful she was: her cheeks and nose were rosy red and her chest was heaving up and down slightly. He then noticed that she was only wearing a small t-shirt and a jean and that snapped him out of his reverie.

"Uh... Accio cloak," he said and, when he caught the cloak, handed it to her.

"Thanks," she said. "But you still haven't answered my questions," she said with a slight smile as she put the cloak on. Harry nodded and smiled.

"You're quite right," he said.

**--*-*-*--**

"Harry... no!" Hermione said, putting her foot down, literally.

"Oh, come on, Hermione," Harry pleaded, his Firebolt in hand.

"NO! I will NOT go flying with you!"

"Hermione... please? Just around the pitch. It will be fine... I'm here," Harry said and smiled sweetly, giving her a blast of his infamous puppy-dog eyes.

"Ok... fine," she said and rolled her eyes. Harry almost leaped up from joy and they walked to the pitch. With every step she took, Hermione grew more terrified. She had always hated flying but that was only because she could never master it.

"Hermione... come on," Harry said, snapping her out of her trance. They were on the pitch and Harry was already on his broom. Hermione gulped as she walked closer to him and, once by his side, stood uneasily. Harry chuckled slightly. Hermione wanted to slap him then and there but decided against it.

"Just sit here," Harry said and motioned to a spot in front of him. She sat down slowly.

"You comfy?" Hermione nodded.

"Well then... here we go," Harry said and kicked off softly. Hermione gasped as her stomach lurched. Harry held the broom in front of Hermione so that his arms were around her tiny frame and she felt warm and comforted.

They were halfway around the pitch. Harry loved the feel of the wind in his hair and was caught off guard when Hermione leaned into him, but it felt amazing to him. Hermione couldn't believe that flying felt so great; she felt so safe in Harry's arms. When they were fully around the pitch, Harry flew up instead of down.

They were very high up and Hermione started to get worried. Harry then held her around her waist. Hermione looked up at him and got frightened when he gave her an evil grin. When Hermione looked back in front of her, Harry gently tipped the front of the broom down and flew down at full speed. They were going very fast... too fast for Hermione.

The ground was coming closer at an enormous pace. Hermione closed her eyes tightly, not knowing what to do. Just as she thought she was about to die, Harry pulled up. They were flying horizontally again and Hermione could feel the longer grass hit gently against her shoes. Hermione blew out a breath and Harry chuckled.

He came to a stop and let go of Hermione. She quickly jumped off the broom and stood a few feet away from him with a scowl on her face and her arms crossed. Harry was standing with the broom in his hand and was looking at her, a naughty smile playing across his features. He thought she looked so cute standing there, looking all angry. She stared at him a while longer.

"What?" he asked, raising his hands in a questioning manner. She looked at the broom and then looked at him again.

"Oh! Didn't you like it?" he asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm. She rolled her eyes and looked at a patch of grass not covered with snow. Harry walked over to her and placed his hands on her upper arms. She looked at him.

"Look... I'm really sorry if I scared you," he said honestly. She looked into his eyes and could tell that he really meant it. She smiled, lowered her arms and he smiled back.

Emerald and chocolate locked together; they were lost in each other's eyes. Unconsciously both of them inched closer. Their lips met very softly. Harry deepened the kiss by snaking his arms around her waist and pulling her closer. She raked her fingers through his hair and then settled her arms around his neck, standing on tiptoe. Harry parted his lips slightly and Hermione seized the moment by slipping her tongue in. They kissed passionately for a while and then broke apart, both slightly out of breath.

Hermione went down and stood on her feet. They were still looking in each other's eyes and, at that moment, they both knew that this was right. Hermione smiled at almost the exact moment that Harry smiled. He let go of her waist and she his neck. He found her hand and laced his fingers with hers and jerked his head slightly towards the castle. Hermione nodded and they walked back to the castle together.

When they reached the Common Room, they sat on one of the large couches. They just sat there for a while; admiring the fire and stealing glances at each other every now and then. Harry then turned to Hermione and took a deep breath. Hermione looked at Harry expectantly.

"Hermione... I don't have a long speech written out or anything, but what I want to say comes from the very bottom of my heart." He paused for a moment.

"I love you." Hermione gasped inaudibly. The moment those words left Harry's mouth, she realized that she felt the same way.

"I love you too, Harry. I was just too stupid to realize it," she said. Harry smiled.

"You? Stupid? Never," he said and kissed her once again.

To Be Continued