Right Here Waiting (A Harmione Fanfiction) [ON HOLD]

Chapter Twelve

Harry

Harry woke up to something moving next to him.

He was drowsy, his eyes still closed, but against his chest he could feel something squirm. He grunted as it continued to wriggle. Once he found his senses again, he felt the familiar cushion of a bed, and his head resting on a soft pillow. His nose was filled with the sweet aroma of lavender, and he also had the great realization that he was holding the wriggling thing, and his sleepy mind decided to hold it tighter in an attempt to make it stop. Whatever it was, the thing was small and strangely fuzzy. Harry's brows furrowed as he wondered what it was.

Suddenly, the thing hit his stomach with what felt like a very sharp elbow. "Ow," Harry groaned.

He opened his eyes, and was taken aback when he found that his face was resting on a bed of curls, and his nose was smelling the hair's shampoo. So that was what was so fuzzy, Harry thought drowsily to himself. He blinked. What was he holding? Why was he holding it? He rose just slightly and found his arm wrapped around a body. He was holding, not a thing, but a person.

And that person was no other than Hermione Granger.

Harry jumped back, surprised, and all of a sudden he found himself in her room, on her bed, sleeping, with her. He moved to the other side of the bed, as seeing Hermione in bed with him had caused a great amount of shock. Memories from last night came running into his mind, and he widened his eyes. He remembered he had woken up to hear Hermione scream for him in the other room. He thought she was in danger, so he brought his wand and rushed to her room. When he found her, she looked terrified. Her eyes were wide with fear, hot tears running down her cheeks.

She looked so frightened. Harry remembered he'd been so confused, because nothing was there to scare her. Then it dawned on Harry that she must've had a nightmare.

Harry understood the fears of nightmares, as he had plenty of them as a child, and still to this day. Though, when he was still a student his nightmares were visions from the eyes of Voldemort. Now, his nightmares were memories from the past. Like the war, the deaths of his loved ones, and all the horrific events that had happened during his hunt for Voldemort's Horcruxes.

After the war, after Harry was able to defeat him, he had thought the nightmares would end. But soon he realized they would never really disappear. He realized he'd just gone through so much trauma that the memories would haunt him wherever he went. He soon realized that Hermione was going through the same thing.

Now he understood why she looked so exhausted lately. He noticed it more during her stay, but ever since the war, she wasn't as lively and bright as she had been before. Now that Harry had gotten a closer look, she had always been so drained, her eyes had dark circles under them, and he had noticed that sometimes, when Hermione and he were alone, he would always find her closing her eyes for long periods of time, in search of rest.

This had worried Harry, but now he finally knew the reason behind her behavior. She couldn't get any sleep, because her nightmares would keep her awake.

He looked behind him and found her, sitting up, her brown eyes wide just as his had been only a few moments before. She was blushing, her hair a mess of curls, her lips parted slightly. Harry just smiled. "Goodmorning," He said to her.

She blinked. "I- Harry, last night... I can explain-"

Harry nodded as he pursed his lips. "Hermione, you know you could have told me about your nightmares, right?" Harry asked as he looked at her meaningfully, "I could have helped you."