Fulfilling Obligations (Harmione)

Chapter 49: Worth The Wait

Very little was said as Harry and Hermione walked back towards the warm glow of Hogwarts. Forgoing the Invisibility Cloak in the cover of darkness, they made their way largely by memory, not once stumbling over the uneven turf despite a serious deficiency of attention. Both of their minds were rather employed on other tasks, gathering and prioritizing thoughts and emotions that they knew would be relevant in the coming hours.

Their hands remained entwined all the while.

Hermione, for one, was a bit dazed, and frankly rather confused as to why she was so dazed. Hadn't this been what she had been working towards? Helping Harry finally move past his guilt?

So why was she so astonished that it had worked?

She snuck intermittent glances at Harry as they walked, considering this very thought.

Perhaps after having existed for so long in one state of mind, her body was taking a very understandable intermission to adjust to these new circumstances. After all, so much of the last decade (and then some) had been spent inoculating herself to what had then been an unchangeable law. Just as the world was round and gravity held her feet to the grass, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger simply could not be.

And yet, here they were.

Suddenly she felt it reasonable that a ship could sail straight off the edge of an ocean, or perhaps float straight off its surface.

The unchangeable had changed, and the unattainable was suddenly, literally, in her very grasp.

Sweet Merlin.

Hermione took a rather deep breath that she hoped would be both calming and go unnoticed by Harry through the howling of the wind.

The manner in which he squeezed her hand suggested otherwise.

She glanced in his direction to meet the green eyes already aimed towards her, and the smile he gave her was equal parts reassuring and nervous. It was a smile she would have more likely associated with a Harry twenty years his junior, and the effect did indeed take years from his face.

The fact that any part of his expression conveyed nervousness did nothing to alleviate Hermione's own butterfly-filled organs. Rather, her nerves increased ten-fold, the butterflies wreaking havoc on her senses until her very limbs were quivering with anticipation.

Anticipation?

Get ahold of yourself, Granger, she thought, blushing. You're getting ahead of yourself.

She snuck another look towards her dark-haired companion as they finally drew near the entrance to Hogwarts.

The moonlight cast part of his face in shadow, and the other part was cast in sharp relief, as if expressly for Hermione's viewing pleasure. Her eyes wandered indiscriminately: to Harry's dark locks, which were in a rather great state of disarray from the wind (or a greater state than usual), to the thin scar traced across his cheekbone, to the refined line of his stubble-darkened jaw, to the laugh lines at the corners of his emerald eyes (ill used in the last months), and finally to the emerald irises themselves. They were shaded with intensity, distracted.

By...her?

How was it possible to feel so warm in such cold weather? Her abdomen positively burned, and she could hardly wait to escape the confines of her outer-things.

Yes, just her outer-things.

Still blushing quite prominently, Hermione dropped Harry's hand and brushed past him with a sigh of frustration as he opened the door to the entrance hall. Not a single word had escaped her lips and yet she already felt utterly embarrassed.