His Arms, Her Comfort

Chapter 4

Rigid and shell-shocked, she stared at him as if she had never seen him before. Her reaction made his heartbeat quicken, but he had been expecting it. Hell, he was shocked, too. That did come out of nowhere...which was strange as he had never felt so certain in his life. He wasn't doubtful, not at all, but was rather astonished at his nerves for telling her just like that.

But he was in for a real surprise.

With bated breath, he watched her silent figure. Gradually, she grinned with disbelief, before uttering a single word – "No."

"What?"

"No, you don't." She steered her gaze away from him. "You...you can't."

"What are you talking about?"

"You can't say that, Harry!" she exclaimed, then sighed, her voice trailing off. "Y-you can't say that..."

"But why not?" He frowned, his arm reaching for her as she pulled away. "I mean it, Hermione. I...I love you. I do."

But she shook her head, baffling him. Why was she finding this so hard to believe?

"Look –"

"No, no," she interrupted him, still shaking her head. "You can't. You can't tell me that. Not...not after all this time."

"I know." He sighed. "It seems sudden, but, trust me! I-I really mean it."

And he did. He was in love with her. Maybe it had happened along the way. Or when they'd met for the first time. Or just right now. The timings of his feelings didn't matter to him. What mattered was their presence. They were there. He loved her. With every fibre of his being.

But then again, how could he not? She was the light to his darkness. The peace to his troubles. The blood to his veins. She showed him hope when he became blind to it, fought through his shell when he wanted to shut everyone out, and uplifted him at his lowest. She made life worth living. She made him believe that he could end this war if he really tried to.

She didn't know it, and neither did he until now, but she was more than just a best friend to him. She had become his heart and soul.

So he'd surely die if she stepped away.

"Hey," he said, catching hold of her hand while she refused to look at him. "Listen. I know this is all very...confusing. I–I'm confused, too. You're the most important person in my life, and well...you know how thick I can get when it comes to feelings. I don't know how to express them, but I did! For you. And I'm completely sure of what I've said. I just took a lot of time to realise it. It...it cost me to lose Ron to understand I'm in love with you, Hermione. I've always been in love with you."

 He finished speaking and waited for her response. Nothing.

But she had listened to him. She was just thinking. Her breath had become hitched at his words. Oh, he sounded so sincere! When it came to him, she used to imagine a lot of things. She had lost count of how many times she would fantasise about him telling her he loved her. Getting lost in such dreams had become her favourite thing because a part of her knew they could never happen.

Until now.

Her body had turned frozen. She didn't know what to say, which was ironic because his confession was laced with her once wishful thinking. They had been best friends for so long. Brother and sister-like. Nothing else. Things were bound to become complicated.

So hearing him say he loved her out of the blue was more than she could process. Unlike him, she had always known it was love what she felt for him. He wasn't the most important person in her life for no reason at all. But now, seeing that his feelings were mutual...