i love you; dramione

i love you

"I love you."

No. Hermione couldn't accept it, so she ran, leaving him alone in the dark in the Forbidden Forest.

She couldn't understand it. Love. It was a fear stronger than Voldemort.

Hermione has been in love before. With multiple people at that.

First with Harry, her best friend.

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She couldn't understand this feeling. It grew over the years, unexpectedly creeping in on her. She'd sneak glances when he wasn't looking. His pale skin, crimson cheeks, crooked smile, messy hair. He was perfect. Even his flaws. His scar, his anger, passion, chewed lips.

She loved Harry, and not just as a friend. He welcomed her into his small group of friends. He would tease her on small things. Her hair, so she tamed it, her teeth, so she had them fixed, her eagerness, so she calmed down. There couldn't be anything else he could pick at because he stopped picking at her. It must mean something right?

No.

It started in fourth year when she noticed. When she'd look at him, he was looking away of course, but when she followed his gaze, he was looking at Cho Chang. The Ravenclaw Beauty. A Sight for sore eyes. He'd confide in Hermione, asking for tips to ask Cho to the Yule Ball. She helped of course, wanting to be a good friend.

Around the same time, she'd been asked by Viktor Krum, quidditch star, to the Yule Ball.. She asked for time to think about it, he gave her time. The glimmer of hope increased when Harry informed his best friends that Cho had already been asked. I have a chance, she thought. imagine her disappointment when he announced his date was Parvati Patil. She still dressed beautifully, but in the arms of someone who wasn't Harry. All eyes were on her except his.

Little did she know, someone she'd least expect was ogling her.

Hermione had a broken heart by the end of the year. Unrequited love was the worst kind.

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Fred Weasley was her second.

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Tall, red-headed, lean, hilariously funny, cute. George was the same, but more on the sweet side. Fred though, he was fire itself. The way his eyes lit up when talking about invention or pranks. The way his adam's apple bobbed when laughing. She especially loved the look he gave when he came up with a master plan. It was mischievous, dangerous. The only problem was, he was her best friend's brother.

"Off limits." That's what Ron said. His rules. She followed rules sadly, but that didn't mean she couldn't admire from afar.

She wasn't aware she was breaking her own heart. She admired, studied, and made up scenarios of Fred. She was falling in love.

Her heart beat faster when he was around. Her palms sweated when he looked at her. Her mouth got dry when he was playing quidditch.

She was reading while watching the boys practice for their upcoming game. She oblivious to the fact that their practice was long over and to the fact that the same red-headed boy she'd been fawning over for the past year was watching her. He mounted his broom and flew to where she was.

"Hello pretty lady." Hermione looked up to see Fred floating above her smirking. She started to blush. She tried to say something, anything but was too flustered. Her lips were parted and was staring up at his. He started to lean, so close. She was finally going to get the guy, that was until his words popped up into her head.