It Started With A Dance

Chapter One

Harry's P.O.V.

'I can't believe he left again!' I thought bitterly, how am I supposed to know what to do I've always been left in the dark. I sat down in one of the chairs with multiple emotions flowing through me. I'm angry at Ron, but I'm hurt that Hermione was having similar thoughts. I shouldn't be surprised I know she will never reciprocate the feelings I hold for her. I look over and I see her crying, no matter how much her words may have hurt me I can't stand seeing her like this so I do the first thing I can think of.

 I walk over to her and the radio, I change the station until a love song comes on. I hold my hand out and she takes it. I see the terrible necklace around her, and I remove it throwing it to the ground without a second thought. Slowly we take our hands and begin dancing with one another, her face is painted with pain, sadness, and hurt. All I want to do is bring a smile to her face I start moving our arms goofily around spinning and twirling like little kids.

 Her beautiful smile finally starts to break through and I feel my heart swell at the fact that I was able to at least bring her a tiny bit of joy in the midst of all this darkness. Near the end of the song we slow down again and she's looking at me with those brown eyes that have taken me since third year when we went back in time. I look down at her lips, those lips that I have thought about taking every single day for the past 4 years. Without realizing what I am doing I close the distance between us choosing to be selfish  for once and I take those sweet lips into mine, and for a second it feels as if I am walking on Cloud 9.

 My moment of bliss however comes crashing down as the beauty before me doesn't respond and pushes me away looking at me with anger. "Harry James Potter! Just what in the world do you think you're doing?" I feel my happiness turn into sadness immediately. I knew that this would be the outcome, but I chose to listen to my heart and be selfish and now it's going to cost me my best friend. I see her staring at me with her anger and she is waiting for a response. 

I have already gotten myself in this mess there's no way out of it except for cleaning it. "Hermione, how do I say this." I pause looking for the right words to say. "I'm waiting Harry." she says in the same tone she uses to scold me for waiting until the last minute to complete an assignment. I try approaching her to grab her hand but she takes a step back, it hurts but I understand she doesn't feel the same way. 

"Hermione, I've had feelings for you for a while now I just never acted on them. I am not really sure what came over me I walked over to you with the intention of cheering you up and I was just overwhelmed by you before I knew it I was kissing you." I dare to look at her and I can see that her expression has softened and her brain is moving  trying to process what I have just said. After what feels like an eternity in silence she speaks up.

"Harry I never knew." I chuckled in response her eyes snapped up to me so I responded. "Hermione that's sort of the point nobody was supposed to know I have been keeping this quiet ever since third year." Her hand shoots up to her mouth. "Harry how were you able to keep that quiet for so long without even showing a hint towards it." "Through a lot of hard work Hermione, you have no idea the amount of times that I wanted to tell you, show you, and express my feelings towards you." She blushed at my comment. "Hermione I didn't mean it that way, I just wished you could have known how I felt from the moment I felt it but I knew it couldn't happen." I look up at her once more and I can see the tears in her eyes at the unspoken mention of Ron.

 I sighed knowing that I would never have Hermione's heart and I would simply have to live with the feeling of how her lips felt against mine. I turn on my heel grabbing the locket off the floor and head towards the tent's entrance to take the night shift. Just as I'm about to leave the tent I look back towards her and say "I won't apologize for it Hermione. I know you don't feel the same way and it might be fruitless but I could care less I will carry a torch for you Hermione always and forever." And with that I headed out of the tent and began keeping watch.

Hermione's P.O.V.

I stand in shock as Harry makes his way out of the tent his words to me echoing inside my mind. 'I will carry a torch for you Hermione always and forever' Were his feelings really this serious? How come it took him showing me to finally figure it out? I feel terrible because for all this time he has been keeping this to himself and I blindly have asked him so much about Ron and hinting that I wanted a relationship with Ronald Weasley, the boy who has currently walked out on us once more in our time as The Golden Trio.

 I look towards the tent entrance and see Harry's shadow sitting right outside his head turning left and right every few seconds trying his best to keep us safe to keep me safe. I head towards my bed and sit still pondering in the events of the last couple of hours. Since third year? Have I really been blind to Harry's emotions. Slowly it's as if all the puzzle pieces starting falling into place. 

We had gone back in time together and Harry had cast that Corporal Patronus which could only be fueled by a large amount and what bigger amount of happiness then true love for another. Fourth year the look of relief on Harry's face when he realized that I had believed that he could never put his name in the Goblet and the way he practically stared at me during the Yule Ball, looking back I can see it was a look of jealousy. Our terrible fifth year when I had been struck down I don't exactly remember the events after since I was unconscious but Neville recounted to me that Harry had become nearly paralyzed when he saw me go down.

 Last year when we lost Dumbledore at the funeral, I saw Harry looking at Ron and I with pain in his eyes and in the moment I thought that it was the pain of losing his mentor but now I could see that he was looking at us, at me with the pain that I was in another's arms. Tears began to pool in my eyes once more as I realize the circumstance in front of me. My best friend Harry James Potter was in love with me, and when it was revealed to me rather than trying to properly speak with him through it I had simply turned him away even stepping away from him as if he was going to hurt me. I felt terrible but the damage was done and knowing Harry he was in no mood to speak now. There was a choice in front of me but before I could make any decision I needed to rest to make sure that my mind was ready to and prepared to make the right one.