Forever | A Harmione Fanfiction

Chapter 1

"C'mon Harry. You've got to finish this assignment!"
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all sitting in the Gryffindor common room, working on their transfiguration essays. Hermione, as usual, finished hers within half an hour, but the boys slacked off, only completing about six sentences. Ron looked ready to fall asleep, and Harry was not far behind.
"Hermione, it's a Saturday! Can we at least get a break? I'm hungry." Ron complained.
Hermione seemed completely annoyed.
"Fine. But if you don't finish it, it's your own fault." She scolded.
"Coming Harry?" Ron asked as he got up to leave.
"No, I' ll stay and finish mine up. I've only got a couple more sentences." Harry answered, looking around at Hermione and giving her a lopsided smile. You could obviously tell by looking at his essay, he wasn't nearly done.
"Okay. See ya later then," Ron said as he went to the portrait hole and into the hallway, heading toward the Great Hall.
"You could have gone with him you know. I wouldn't have minded." Hermione said, looking up at Harry as soon as the portrait hole closed.
"Nah. I'd prefer staying here with you. So what do you wanna do?" Harry asked her, setting down his parchment and quill.
"Harry! You're supposed to be doing your essay!" She scolded him. "You're beginning to get just as bad as Ron!"
"Please, Hermione? It won't be long. Let's go for a walk and get some fresh air. It's too nice of a day to get wasted." He said, giving her another grin. She couldn't refuse at this point. Harry was well aware of her weaknesses.
"Fine." She relented. "But only for a little bit. You really need to finish that essay."
"Sure, and you could help me on it. I have no idea what I'm writing about-" Harry was cut off my Hermione's voice.
"Harry! We've been working on it for hours! And you can't just copy off mine! You won't learn anything!" Hermione yelled at him.
"Okay, okay." He said, putting his arms up in surrender. "But can you at least give me a little help? I won't tell Ron, if that's what you're worried about. I know he could be a little...irritating to you sometimes." He said, pouting and hoping she would give in.
She rolled her eyes. "I know fully well that Ronald is irritating. And, yes, I'll give you help. But you're doing most of the work." She said, pointing an accusing finger at him.
Harry grinned again, his green eyes sparkling. "Now that we got past that," he started, getting up and holding out his hand for her, "I believe you said you would accompany me on a walk?"
Hermione took his hand, smiling up at him, and got lost in his emerald eyes. She never noticed how pretty they were before.
A crash sounded across the common room, and they quickly lost their eye contact. They both looked across the room to see Ginny Weasley, who had dropped a stack of books, staring at them.
"Hey, Gin." Hermione called across the room. Ginny seemed to be giving Hermione a death glare, and Hermione seemed to know what it was about. "Let's go, Harry." Hermione told her friend, who happened to be watching the two girls with confusion. She eyed Ginny as she grabbed Harry's hand and walked out with him.
"That was weird." Harry said as he was pulled through the portrait hole.
"Yeah, well, she still has a bit of a crush on you," Hermione said, remembering how her and Harry had gazed into each other's eyes. It didn't seem to her something that just regular friends did.
"At least she could still be in the same room as me now," Harry said, smirking. A smile appeared on her somewhat angered face as she remembered Ginny was always running from Harry. Hermione didn't even know what caused her anger in the first place.
At this point, they made it outside. Harry led her over to a tree sitting near the Black Lake. He sat down, his back against the trunk, and pulled Hermione down with him.
"I thought you said a walk?" Hermione asked, turning her head to face him.
He shrugged. "I don't feel like walking anymore." He said, giving her a weak smile. Hermione saw right through him.
"What's wrong, Harry? And don't just say nothing. Because I know you Harry." She asked, gazing up at him.
Harry looked up at the sky. "It's just-" he sighed. "Sirius." His voice cracked on the name. She bought her body closer to his and leaned her head on his shoulder. Their fingers were still entwined. She smiled at their closeness.
"All summer I've been thinking how his death has been all my fault. How if I'd listened to you, he would still be alive. But there's always that stupid 'saving people thing' that gets in the way. He never really had the chance to be free. And I never had the chance to live with him. It's times like these I really wish we had the time turner." He confessed with a frown.
"Harry." She got up and kneeled in front of him. Hermione looked deeply into his eyes and sighed. "I'm getting tired of saying this, but I'll say it as long as it takes. It's not your fault. You have to understand that." She held up a hand to stop Harry from interrupting, because he looked like he desperately needed to say something. "Stop it. It was Sirius's choice to go to the Department of Mysteries. And besides, I'm sure he wouldn't want you sulking over his death. He would want you happy, enjoying yourself." She paused. "And think about it, Harry. He finally gets to see your dad, after about fourteen years without him." Hermione told him, smiling. This appeared to finally have an effect on Harry, who now had a smile of his own.
"Thanks, Hermione." He said as he got up and hugged her tightly. "I'm really glad you're my friend." Hermione frowned slightly at the mention of "friend." She wasn't fully sure why. But her stomach lurched when realized what the problem must be.
"And I'm really glad I saved you from that troll," he whispered in her hair, causing her to shiver. He seemed amused at the affect he had on her. Her smile had returned from his humorous comment. They both knew that he would have saved her life anyway, good person or bad.
At this point it had become dark, and they both began watching the stars. She would steal glances at him, and he would sometimes return them with a smirk.
"We should go in now. It's getting cold out." Hermione broke the silence as she got up, shivering. Harry followed suit, and there was a mischievous glint in his eyes as he saw her shaking from lack of warmth.
"Let's go then," he said with a smile. Harry quickly grabbed hold of her, and slung her over his shoulder.
"Harry, what are you-!" She cried out. Harry just chuckled as he set off back toward the castle.
"HARRY JAMES POTTER! PUT ME DOWN!" She squealed as she began pounding on his back. Hermione got more frustrated as she saw that Harry just grinned at her.
She tried squirming out of his grip, but failed miserably. Hermione stayed still for the rest of the trip, knowing it was useless to try to get away.
When they reached the portrait hole, Harry said the password, and walked into the common room, in between the girl and boy dormitories. He put her down grinning.
"You're a prat, you know that?" She said, whacking him across the head.
"Well, now I do. You should get some rest. That was probably quite a workout for you getting back up here." He said with a smirk.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Prat."
She stood on her tiptoes as she reached up to kiss him on the cheek. Warmth spread throughout her body as her lips met his skin.
"'Night," Hermione whispered to Harry, then set off up the stairs. She missed the giant smile plastered across Harry's face as he bought his fingers to the place Hermione pressed her lips.
That night, Hermione laid in bed, restless, wondering what to do about her new crush.