HP AND THE DEATH OF THE OLD RULE
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Author warning: Hermione and Harry’s thread are still here, beware! And Hermione is present in Harry’s, so be attentive. The good news is that they are converging in this chapter. Thank you for bearing with my creative writing!
Chapter 4
Of love and wounded pride
“This is your captain speaking, please fasten your seat belts, our plane will now be starting our descent towards Bucharest International Airport!”
Hermione opened her eyes. She had dozed off. She looked out the window again, but all she could see was a menacing black sky, and pouring rain. She started gathering her things slowly, and as she was putting her latest purchase away in her handbag ” a thick book entitled “Advanced charms for scientific research” ” the note she had been using as a bookmark slipped out. Seeing the familiar writing on it jabbed at her heart ” the painful heartache she had suffered a few hours earlier came back with a vengeance.
The plane finally landed, and Hermione slogged her way through the terminal, waiting patiently to take care of the formalities associated with Muggle traveling ” it wouldn’t have been her first choice, but her parents had insisted and even purchased the tickets: they felt more at ease with her traveling this way. They were somewhat scared since the happenings of the previous years in the Wizarding world, and even though Professor Dumbledore had done his best to explain much of what was going on to them, the general picture they had gotten was enough for them to be concerned with Hermione’s safety.
The customs officer, a burly man with no neck and a stern face, examined her passport thoroughly, then looked at her, and repeated this manoeuvre a few times before letting her go through. She started looking at once for the person that was supposed to wait for her. As she eyed around the terminal, she saw someone ” not Viktor ” holding a huge sign that just said “GRANGER”, in large colourful letters.
Slightly embarrassed at the sight of her name in such bold letters, she ran quickly to the man that was waiting for her. He was dressed with a black suit and tie, over an impeccable white shirt. By the hat he was wearing, she determined he was some kind of driver.
“Miz Granger, I prezzume?” He produced a flashy identification card, on which a picture of himself was smiling and waving enthusiastically… The card also indicated he was Otto Kraspen, from “Krum Broom Supplies International Inc.”
“Yes, I am, thank you.” Hermione lowered her voice. “But you should be discrete with this magic picture… We are in a Muggle airport!”
“Ov course! I’m not uzzed to this”, replied the driver, now looking around him nervously with suspicion in his eyes. “My name iz Otto; Mizter Krum could not come perzonally to pick you up, and he requested that I drive you to your hotel room. He will communicate with you next Monday, after you’ve had sufficient time to rezt.”
“Oh, that’s so nice of Viktor, make sure you tell him I appreciate that very much!”
Today was Wednesday. Hermione felt suddenly grateful that she would have a few days to be by herself. She needed to sort a few of her feelings out, and also to take care of her personal affairs. The house she had rented would not be available for another two weeks, and she still needed to sign the lease. She gladly followed Otto through a large door, adorned with a gold-trimmed sign that said “VIP only”, and after following a long and narrow corridor, they arrived to a seemingly very exclusive indoor parking area, where a long stretch limousine was waiting. Otto opened the door, and Hermione took her seat in the spacious car. She let out a long sigh, and closed her eyes for a moment. As the car sped along the expressway en route towards her hotel, she reluctantly took out Harry’s note from her handbag, and read it again.
Hermione, know that I love you, and that I care deeply for you. I would die before I would let anything happen to you. I can’t bear seeing you hurt.
As she read this last sentence over and over, Hermione broke down completely, and didn’t even try to hold back her flooding tears. She knew, somewhere deep within, that Harry hadn’t meant to hurt her. She also felt responsible, well aware that she hadn’t been forthcoming with Harry about her real feelings. “But all this can’t happen now”, she muttered to herself… “It ” it just can’t!”
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Harry had received the letter a couple of days after he had sent Hedwig from his study. He had been relieved to see that Hermione seemed to have come back to her senses.
Dear Harry,
Thank you for your note. You made the right choice, because seeing you would have made me more upset, and I don’t know what would’ve happened… For sure, I owe you some kind of explanation.
I would like us to talk more about this, but I’m honestly quite scared. Nevertheless, if you’re free tonight, let’s meet at the Leaky Cauldron around 7pm, and we’ll sort this out.
Hermione
“At least we’ll put this matter to rest”, he said to himself as he looked at himself in the mirror. He spent a few minutes studying the features of his face, concluding he wasn’t too bad looking. The hair however remained the same, unruly and untidy, a thick black mane sticking up on his head in every direction. He had given up on it a long time ago.
He exited the house through the backdoor, and jumped on his broom, a brand new Firebolt that had proven to be ” to him, anyway ” the best broom there ever was. He looked around, and felt at peace seeing the restored water fountain, and the multiple gardens; Dobby had been working hard to bring back their original, astounding look, and his efforts were now being rewarded: flowers of all sizes and colours were blooming in full force all around the walled enclosure. On top of being a space where Harry could come and relax, the yard had yet another feature, a practical one: with the help of Professor Dumbledore, Harry had charmed the high brick walls surrounding the yard in such a way that anybody taking off towards the sky would be concealed until he reached an altitude of around a thousand feet, which was sufficiently high to keep any flying wizard from prying Muggle eyes. He had taken the habit of flying whenever he could, and since the roof of the Leaky Cauldron was protected in the same way, he usually flew there.
Just before taking off, Harry was struck by a crazy idea. He impulsively dismounted his broom, and approached one of the rose bushes adorning the middle of a spectacular flowerbed. He waved his wand, and murmured “Accio rose!” An astonishingly spectacular pink rose, with hints of dark red on the edges of its petals, detached itself from the bush, and came to rest delicately on his hand. He secured it gently inside his flying cloak, and went back to his broom.
He suddenly felt stupid and embarrassed. “Come on, Potter, get a grip! This is not Cho, or anyone like that… This is your friend!”
He reasoned, however, that the gesture could help Hermione feel better after the way she had left him at the hospital.
“Besides, I don’t think anybody ever gave her flowers ” except Krum, of course…”
Harry took off with a swift kick of his ankles, amazed at the colours of the night sky above him in this early evening of July. After twenty minutes of an exhilarating flight in the cool summer air, Harry landed lightly on the roof of the Leaky Cauldron. He checked his watch, and noticed he had nearly half an hour to spare. Entering the Cauldron, he went down the familiar wooden stairs and entered the main room through the back. Tom, the wizard with whom Harry now owned the place, saw him at once. Since he spent a lot of his time there, Harry had thought it a good idea to invest some money into the place. He was now a proud co-owner, but left most of the management duties to Tom and his staff, who did an excellent job. Harry’s investment, however, had been used to give the place a refreshed, younger look, and a more modern one as well. Business was soaring, and had never been better.
“Hello Harry, how are you tonight? Are you going to be using your usual spot?”
Harry thought for a moment, then shook his head. “No, Tom, I’ll take one of the private parlours in the back. I’m meeting Hermione Granger, and we need to talk about important matters ” away from prying ears…”
“Sure Harry, take the corner booth in the lounging area, there’s nobody in the section, and we’re not expecting a big crowd tonight…” Tom added, “I’ll make sure to tell Mrs. Granger where to meet you.”
“Thank you, Tom.” Harry sat down in one of the squash, comfortable leather chairs and took out the rose to make sure it hadn’t suffered from the flight. He delicately rested it on the small table beside him, and saw that it was intact ” and still breathtakingly beautiful. Tom soon came back with a tall mug of butterbeer, and Harry took a long gulp, thirsty after taking in so much of the evening’s fresh air.
His thoughts wandered to Hermione, and the reason he was there. He felt weird about meeting her, and scared at the same time. They were going to talk about personal issues, which was a rare occurrence with Harry ” and Hermione. He tried to remember when was the last time he had had an open talk with Hermione about anything else than school, Voldemort, Ron, or other subjects of the same genre.
Harry came to the conclusion they had never ” ever ” taken time to discuss feelings, emotions, and such. “Wow! I guess this will be very inter ”“
“Hi Harry, I hope you haven’t been waiting long…” Hermione said as she approached the booth.
For a moment, Harry was taken aback. Hermione was wearing a light blue dress, and had tied her hair into a neat bun, a style that for once allowed her best features ” her face and eyes ” to really shine. Made of a jeans-like fabric, the dress itself was very simple, with long sleeves, a high neckline and a slight pull-in at the waist; it fell nicely in a narrow line that stopped just above the knee. Yet, it was so rare for Harry to see Hermione in a dress that he thought she just looked radiant. For one rare moment since becoming Hermione’s friend, Harry saw her for what she really was: very simple but yet, beautiful, charming, and very attractive.
“Wow, Hermione, I didn’t know this was a formal meeting”, Harry said with a pretend sarcastic-tone, “I would have dressed a lot better!”
Hermione looked down at herself, then back up to meet Harry’s eyes. “Oh, no, no! I had to meet people from Krum Broom Supplies today in London, and that WAS a formal affair, so that’s why I’m dressed this way. I came straight here after, and didn’t have time to change. I’m much more comfortable in jeans and a sweater, as you know.”
Harry replied, “I’m just kidding, of course. You look…” Harry became very much aware, all of the sudden, that he was about to pay Hermione ” his friend ” a gentlemanly compliment. “You look beautiful ” stunning actually ” I hope you know that.” He now caught himself really looking at her anew ” still his friend, but nevertheless a really cute and attractive girl. Harry thought she had nothing to envy Cho, or Parvati Patil, or any of her classmates.
As she sat down, Hermione bit her lip and gave him a friendly tap on the shoulder. “Oh, get off it! You don’t have to be extra-nice with me, I don’t deserve that.”
There was a moment of silence. Harry didn’t quite seem what to say. Why was it now difficult to start a conversation, why was there a queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach? He then remembered the last time they had met, and focused on the fact that the air needed to be cleared. But then, he suddenly remembered something else.
“Oh! I almost forgot, I brought you something, I thought you might like this, I got it from my backyard,” he said as he gave Hermione the rose he had clipped from his garden.
Hermione’s eyes went wide, and she instantly blushed into a nice shade of purple at the sight of the rose. She took it from Harry’s hand, her eyes now shining with tears. She looked at it for a very long, awkward moment, trying to compose herself.
“Thank you, Harry, it’s so beautiful… It’s lovely!” she said finally, in a whisper barely audible. Hermione’s heart was pounding, as she was completely overwhelmed by the gesture. With the exception of Viktor Krum, who gave flowers like a factory, nobody had ever given her flowers ”not even Ron ” in a gesture so simple, and yet so meaningful and heartfelt. Harry had taken the time to choose a flower from his garden, with the sole purpose of giving it to her. She fought back the tears as hard as she could, not wanting to make Harry uncomfortable. She took out her handkerchief, and wiped her eyes delicately.
Harry had expected a more cheerful reaction. He didn’t do well with tears… Why did girls ” and now, even his best friend ” absolutely want to cry when they were around him? He seemed “gifted” in that area, and that was exactly why he had NOT enjoyed his few moments with Cho a couple of years back.
But this is Hermione, he thought to himself. I should be able to deal with HER tears, at least. He tried to stay with it, feeling as uncomfortable as ever.
“Hermione… Are you okay? You seem somewhat… on edge these days… What’s going on?”
Hermione looked up at him with a forced smile, despite her puffy eyes. “Oh, Harry, I’m just… These last two years have been really draining, and now my emotions are getting the best of me. And I had this HUGE decision to make, and the stress of it all has been a bit too much…”
Harry got the impression she was carrying a heavy burden, and that she wasn’t telling him everything. He could relate, however, to her last statement.
“Yeah, tell me about it! I’ve been wrestling myself with wanting to yell and scream at someone, and yet I feel so empty that I could just wail until I have nothing left… Everybody thinks I’m this big hero, this amazing wizard, but inside I feel like I’ve been deceiving everybody. I feel like I’m dead inside, like I’ve nothing left to give.” Harry had spoken with some shame, gazing at the table in front of him; looking up at Hermione, he was surprised to see her hanging to his every word… The background faded and all he saw, suddenly, were her bright brown eyes glittering with tears. He read trust, compassion, desperation, and even ” it couldn’t quite grasp it ” something deeper in them. He felt his heart race as a memory flash of his last battle with Voldemort came back to him… The same eyes, speaking to him, saying “I… I love you!”
Hermione’s voice brought him back from his thoughts. “You’re still my hero, you know. I learned courage and strength of character by looking at you. I learned to fight by fighting with you. And… I am still here because you saved my life, so many times… No matter how discouraged or how despondent you get, I know who you truly are.” Hermione choked, and bit her lip quite hard. She finished her sentence in a whisper. “And that’s enough for me.”
Somehow, these words had a very profound effect on Harry. He took in Hermione’s words, and it dawned on him that he didn’t need to do things people expected of him. He just had to be true to himself, true to what his parents would have raised him to be… True to what his best friend, a ravishing young girl he was barely beginning to discover in depth, knew of him. And that was enough for him too.
Harry started laughing, and called Tom. “Bring us a round of butterbeers, mate…”
Hermione looked at him in a strange way, as if she didn’t get what had just happened, and not sure whether to feel upset or not. “Did I just say something funny? Why are we celebrating?” Didn’t Harry realise that she had just spilled her guts on the table? That she had come very close to revealing a big part of the deep secret she was carrying?
Harry gently cupped Hermione’s face with his hands, and looked at her straight in the eyes: “Hermione, YOU may have just saved ME, for once! This is why we must celebrate!”
Hermione didn’t quite understand, but remained silent. The beverages arrived, and after they had both taken long gulps, Harry was suddenly taken with an idea.
“Hermione, are you hungry, did you have supper?” Harry himself hadn’t had anything to eat since lunch, and his stomach was starting to remind him.
Hermione smiled, and with glee replied, “As a matter of fact, no!”
“Then, let’s order! My treat!”
Harry called Tom back, and they ordered dinner from the menus he provided. They ate, talked and laughed about life, about becoming friends and their successes and failures in school, and they reminisced about their adventures and the high ” and low ” moments of their relationship. Time seemed suspended, when suddenly, after desert, Harry kept silent and locked his eyes on Hermione’s, looking at her somewhat differently than he always had.
He broke the silence. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think we were on a date!”
Hermione blushed and smiled timidly, but sighed heavily and looked away without replying. Somehow, Harry felt the time had come to talk about the question that was the reason of their meeting.
“So… About me breaking you and Ron up. Would you care to elaborate?” Harry was grinning, and had a sparkle in his eyes as he said it.
Hermione nearly choked on her drink. “Right, that IS why we’re here, isn’t it…”
“Indeed.”
Hermione bit her lip again, apparently torn by what she was about to say. “Well, as my intimate relationship with Ron progressed, I increasingly felt that you, Ron and I worked well as friends… Ron and I argued, and you were the buffer between us. But without you ” Hermione looked down, apparently embarrassed ” Ron and I could not sustain a relationship. You were the glue that held us. So that’s why I said it was because of you…”
Harry was perplexed. Her answer didn’t seem to validate the emotion with which she had said it at the hospital. “I don’t understand your reaction, then… If it was so simple, you could have just explained it to me!”
“It’s just that I didn’t expect such a direct question about this, and I have a few unresolved issues on the subject with Ron… I just took me by surprise, that’s all.”
Unsure, Hermione looked up at Harry for a sign that she was off the hook. She desperately hoped that Harry would not want to go further.
“Yeah, Ron is somewhat in the dark for the reason of your break-up”, Harry brooded, looking at the wall behind Hermione, and trying to add everything up.
Hermione’s face turned aghast with disbelief and anger. “What do you mean, he’s in the dark? He’s the one that told me he couldn’t compete with you… That he refused, in his love life at least, to always be second-best. And that I had to rethink my friendship with you if he was going to stay with me…” Hermione was fuming, and her eyes were teary again. “What did he tell you, anyway?”
Harry was as dumbfounded as Hermione. Why would Ron lie to him, and play this whole “I don’t have a clue” part?
“Er, Hermione, I don’t know what to say. Ron just said that you both came to the conclusion that you were just friends, and that there was never an ‘official’ break-up. He told me that you both left for the summer holidays, and that was it!”
Hermione was almost screaming now. “That stupid, selfish, mean git!! That’s not the half of it! I can’t believe him!”
“Why don’t you calm down, and try to explain to me what happened?” Harry had never seen Hermione so upset, and suddenly felt like he had ventured on a field of land mines, and that he was about to cause a chain reaction from which they could perhaps never recover.
Hermione closed her eyes, and took a deep breath, and started her story. “Well, we started dating and everything was fine for a while, I guess the novelty of it and all. But Ron is right on one thing ” we did realise, after Christmas, that we couldn’t continue as boyfriend and girlfriend. We were sitting together at some point in January, reminiscing about when we met and how we became a trio after the troll incident in the girls’ bathroom, how life as friends of Harry Potter had impacted us. I was about to bring up the dilemma of our own relationship, but I first made a comment that I intended as a joke ” I said, ‘I guess our life will always have to include Harry!’ Right after I said that, Ron became red in the face and exploded. He started ranting about the fact that he would not let himself be overshadowed by you again, and that he was tired of living up to your image. And then…”
Hermione choked, and paused for a moment. She looked up at Harry with a pitied expression on her face, as if she was about to say something that would probably hurt him. “And then he told me that I should look deep within myself to find out what you really were for me. He said that he was fed up of always hearing me talking about you, that the sound of ‘Harry this, and Harry that’ was driving him nuts, and that he thought maybe I should be with you, not him. I was appalled, of course, and I gave him a piece of my mind. That’s when I told him that if he really thought that way, we’d best go our separate ways…”
Harry couldn’t believe it. Ron, his best friend, had not only lied to him, but he had managed ” once again ” to use him as a scapegoat for his own insecurities. Not that he was entirely surprised: Ron had done it before, in their fourth year, and they had spent quite a bit of time not speaking to each other.
“What did he do after that?” Harry asked.
“Well, he just said ‘fine, then’, and that was it. After that, we were so busy with exams and other things that we avoided each other…” There was a long, awkward silence. Hermione was clearly uncomfortable, and looked at her watch. “Oh, my, look at the time, maybe we should call it a night. I still have a lot of things to take care of tomorrow, I’m leaving soon as you know.”
Harry felt a pang in his stomach as she said it. But there was one thing in her explanation of their break-up that was bothering him, and before he could stop and think about how to say it, it just came out.
“Hermione… Um, is there any truth in what Ron told you? Do you think, maybe, that he was onto something?”
Hermione’s face turned beet red, but she quickly tried to hide behind her usual self-righteous attitude. “Of course not, Harry Potter! You’re my friend ” even my best friend, I must admit… But I would never do anything to jeopardize what we have. To imply otherwise is ludicrous!”
There was something ambiguous in her statement that left Harry really puzzled… He replied tentatively, looking at the floor. “Cause, er, Hermione, if there was something more, I would be more than ”“
Hermione now looked like she was going to have an anxiety attack. “BUT HARRY, DON’T WORRY! There’s nothing!” Hermione quickly interjected, “we’re FRIENDS!”
Harry realised he was hitting a wall, and that he wouldn’t be able to get through ” at least not tonight. He even got scared of what he had been about to say.
“Well, I guess it’s getting late, like you said. Let’s go.”
Harry walked Hermione to the front entrance. She gave him a soft kiss on the cheek, as they usually did when they parted way, and she walked off into the night. As he climbed the stairs to the roof of the Leaky Cauldron, Harry wondered if their evening ” as nice as it had been ” had solved anything at all. One thing was becoming certain though; their relationship was changing, and Harry had no idea what to expect next.
As he got to the roof, Harry sighed as he looked at the stars… Something else was definitely wrong with Hermione. Tonight was Friday, July 31st. For the first time in six years, she had forgotten his birthday…
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“Cm’on, mate, we’re going to be late !” said Ron as he ran by Harry’s room. Harry had invited Ron to live at Grimmauld Place for the summer, since Ron had to wait until he knew for sure if he was going to play Quidditch professionally. It was more convenient for him to be in London, and Harry was glad to have at least one other person, besides Dobby, living with him in the huge mansion.
Harry had decided not to confront Ron yet with his version of he and Hermione’s break-up. Ron had been training really hard to make the Chudley Cannons, and they would announce in only a few days if he had made the team or not. Furthermore, he didn’t want to cause a stir just as Hermione was about to leave for Romania. There was enough unresolved issues between the three of them without adding a few more.
Today, however, would be dreadful anyway. Hermione was finally leaving for Romania, and they were preparing to all go and bid her farewell at the airport. Harry had to face the fact that he was going to lose Hermione, at least a little bit. The thought made him sick to his stomach, and yet he couldn’t fathom exactly why. I should be happy for her, he thought. I shouldn’t be so self-involved that I can’t rejoice with my friends. But the pattern was the same, it seemed, as it always had been: someone he cared about was leaving him, and he was almost incapable of accepting it. Furthermore, there was something about his feelings for Hermione since their evening at the Leaky Cauldron that made her departure even more painful. Without being able to tell what it was exactly, he definitely felt he was loosing more than a friend.
“I’m coming, I’m coming!” They had to be wearing Muggle clothing to get to the airport, so Harry had chosen to wear jeans and sneakers, and a loose fitting shirt on top of a white t-shirt; as always, there was nothing he could do with his hair.
As Harry was coming down the stairs towards the entrance hall, members of their gang started entering the mansion one by one. They had all insisted to be a part of Hermione’s farewell “committee”. Of course all the Weasleys were present, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Ron, Fred and George and Ginny; Neville and Luna had also wanted to be there, and Harry was glad to see that even Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, as well as Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown had shown up to bid her goodbye.
Always the pragmatic man, Mr. Weasley had made arrangements with the Ministry to set-up a portkey to get from the house to the airport. It was going to bring them at the lowest level of the indoor parking garage, where nobody ever reached anyway.
“Okay, gather round, gather round, all of you. Place your hand on the back of this chair, and make sure you don’t let go! We don’t want to lose you somewhere and have to send a search party!”
After ten or twelve seconds of friendly pushing around, everybody was set and good to go.
“On the count of three: one, two ” three!!”
Harry felt the familiar jerk in his stomach area, and everything around him faded in a whirlwind of colours and sounds. That didn’t help his already queasy stomach. When they landed on the hard pavement of the parking garage, Harry had to really concentrate and take a few deep breaths to not vomit right there. After a few minutes, he got up and everybody made their way towards Terminal #21, where Hermione was to take her flight to Romania.
Apprehension was mounting within Harry as they approached the waiting area near terminal #21. He had let the others walk ahead, trailing behind so he could avoid any surprise. He kept looking left and right, and all of the sudden she was right in front of him.
“Hermione!” Harry said, “Where were you, I was looking all over for ””
He didn’t have time to end his sentence. She grabbed his arm, and dragged him aside towards a sitting area where the others couldn’t see them, at least for a few minutes. He looked at her, and thought she was more beautiful than ever. Why, he wondered, was this the first thought that came to mind these days?
“Harry,” she started, “There’s no other way to say this. I ” I’m so sorry ” I lied to you the other night… About my break-up with Ron, I mean. The fact is, I didn’t tell you exactly everything.”
Harry looked at her indignantly, and blurted, “What?? Are you nuts? What if I had gone to Ron to confront him, what would he have said? Hermione, you almost never lie, what the hell is wrong with you?”
Hermione’s face showed genuine guilt, and she looked childishly embarrassed. “I ” I didn’t mean to do it, it’s just that I was really scared of your reaction.”
Biting his lip and trying to look past what Hermione had just told him, Harry replied, “So what is it that you ‘forgot’ to tell me?”
“I didn’t tell you what I answered Ron when he accused me of always talking about you…” Hermione was looking really frightened now, and she kept avoiding Harry’s gaze. “I did give him a piece of my mind, but then I ” when he told me ‘maybe you should be with Harry’, I simply said… ‘Maybe you’re right, Ron.’”
At the very same moment she said this, her flight number was called on the intercom, beckoning all passengers to prepare for boarding.
Hermione’s face became panic-stricken, as she realised she had started something that she wouldn’t be able to finish. “That’s my flight, I have to go Harry! We’ll have to write each other or something…”
Harry was aghast with confusion, anger, fear and ” strangely ” a slight hint of giddiness or happiness, he couldn’t tell which. Not thinking, he did something he had not planned to do at all. Overtaken by something deep within him, he threw his arms around Hermione, and held her in a strong, powerful hug. He buried his face in her hair, and whispered, “Don’t leave Hermione, please don’t leave.” As he said it, he started sobbing, and found that he could not stop. After what seemed to be an eternity, he pulled back and looked straight down in her bright brown eyes, and thought he saw in them something he felt himself…
What followed happened as naturally as it could have. He slowly moved his head to kiss her on the cheek, but somehow their lips met, softly and tenderly, and he felt Hermione’s arms wrapping themselves gently around his neck. Time froze, and they were soon lost in the most amazing moment of both their lives. Harry felt like his heart would burst if he continued, but yet couldn’t imagine getting away. This was extraordinarily wonderful ” even in his wildest dreams, he couldn’t have imagined how sweet and the amazing this feeling was.
But suddenly, flustered and horrified, Hermione drew back, and said ” in a barely audible voice ” “Oh no, what have I done! I can’t, I have to go… I really can’t! I’m sorry, bye Harry.”
Harry was shocked, and hurt. Not realizing what he was doing, he let the pain his wounded pride and his anger get the best of him.
“What? You’re just going to leave like this? First my parents, then Sirius, and now you? You’re just going to LEAVE? You’re so selfish… From the first day that Ron and I met you, I knew you considered yourself above us, and I see now that you’ve come full circle! You’re leaving without a care in the world for your friends. Well! Have a nice life, Hermione.”