A Whole New Beginning (Completed)

Chapter 2

Neither Harry nor Hermione could think as the kiss heated up. They were both consumed by what was occurring.

Hermione's arms reached up and wrapped around his neck, pulling him in closer. Harry put one hand behind her head, pulling her in closer.

After a moment he pulled away, opening his eyes as reality crashed down upon him.

'I just kissed Hermione! My best friend Hermione!'

"Harry," she breathed out, just as frightened as he was. "Harry, it's ok."

"I just kissed you," he said, standing up and running his hands through his hair. She stood up and grabbed his hands, stopping his pacing.

"Harry, it's ok. You're upset. There's a lot on both of our minds."

"This is not ok, Hermione! What about Ron?"

"Harry, no one has to know. No one saw us. It was an accident. Let's just keep this between us, and move on."

"I'm sorry," he said, shaking his head.

"Don't be," she whispered back, pulling him in for a hug. She felt his arms slowly drift up to pull her in for a hug before he pulled away.

"I'm going to start packing," he said, picking the Maraduer's Map from the table. She nodded, hearing Harry's unspoken question.

"I should do the same. Goodnight, Harry."

"Goodnight, Hermione."

She turned and walked out of the dormitory, moving as quickly as she could to her own. She couldn't believe what just happened.

Harry had kissed her.

She closed the door to her dorm behind her and flopped onto her bed, putting her hands over her face as she did so.

'He kissed me. Harry kissed me. How could I let this happen?'

She let out a groan as she sat up, shaking her head at her stupidity. Harry was her best friend. And they had just kissed one another.

'What's going to happen to us?' she thought. 'I don't want to lose him, but this will change everything.'

*****

As predicted, things between her and Harry had become a little tense. It seemed like neither could be around one another. Hermione thanked her lucky stars that Ron was so oblivious and didn't notice the fact that his two best friends were being awkward around one another.

The final dinner of the term came quickly. Upon entering the hall, the trio noticed that the usual décor that would be in there was changed to black, and the mood of hall was very tense.

"Are you going to be ok, Harry?" Hermione asked, knowing what would be taking place in the hall shortly.

"I'll be fine," he replied quietly, scraping his food around on his plate.

Hermione watched Harry closely as Dumbledore stood up and began the memorial to Cedric. She attempted to listen to Dumbledore, but found her thoughts focusing on her best friend.