ch07

"Shhh," Harry said, stopping her before she could finish, "don't say it again. Not yet." He felt Hermione's body tense up and started stroking her hair again. Gently, reassuringly and continued, "This whole situation, this… this war we seem to be caught up in, it's changing everything. We've been lucky, 'Mione. Despite all our losses and pain we've just barely managed to stay one step ahead." His eyes had been closed as he spoke, like he'd been searching for the right words. Then he opened them and looked directly into Hermione's and said, "Some changes, however, are too fast for us to keep up with, let alone stay ahead of. And I believe today was one of them.

"You know how I feel. I can't hide that from you anymore, and of my feelings for you I have no doubt." Hermione opened her mouth to say something but harry placed a gentle finger on her lips. She gave Harry a pout but remained silent. "Thank you." He said, acknowledging her pout with a smile, "But Hermione, you're different. You've been hurt and left alone on top of everything else you've been forced to deal with. With all of that it's natural to want to cling to somebody, I know sometimes I do."

Harry saw her face clouding in indignation at his presuming to know her feelings. He knew he'd better get to the point fast. "Please don't misunderstand me; I want to hear you tell me you love me! Nothing would give me greater joy, but I want… No, I'm begging you, please wait. We will defeat Voldemort!" He said, conviction burning through in his voice. Hermione heard no doubt, and she believed him, her ire fading just a little in the face of it. "And after," he continued in the same voice, "if your feelings are still the same, I would be overjoyed to have you tell me you love me. Over and over again if you wish and I will never tire of hearing it."

"Harry… Hermione sighed. There was so much she wanted to say. She wanted to tell him what an idiot he was, as if she would have allowed anything to have happened between them if she weren't already absolutely sure of her own feelings for him. She wanted to rail at him for thinking he knew her own mind and heart better than she did. But I won't, she thought to herself and felt her body relax against his. Harry's been through so much more. He's lost so much more. And yet he still gave so much of himself so selflessly, We've still so far to go, and if he needs this time to keep a level head then I want to give it to him.

"fine, if that's what you want I'll wait." As Harry drew breath to speak, Hermione interrupted him, "But!" gently placing a finger over his lips. "Putting all that aside, at the moment I'm a little sore, very tired, and extremely comfortable." This last she said while snuggling more fully against his body.

All it took was one look from Hermione and Harry knew that moving from the cot at any time in the near future would be a very bad idea. Not that he had any plans to move himself, at least, not for a while. Once she was sure he had gotten the message, Hermione gave him a little smile of satisfaction and laid her head back down on his chest, her cheek resting above his heart. She closed her eyes and almost immediately her breathing slowed and deepened. Within seconds she was asleep. Not long after, Harry himself followed her under.

It was early evening when Harry woke again, though Hermione still slept soundly. He managed, moving slowly, to extricate himself from beneath her. Once he was out of bed, he saw to it that she was covered and warm, then dressed and headed back outside to keep watch again…

And so the movie goes on…