A Hand To Hold (1)

Part 2

I sat up quickly trying to catch my breath. I felt the beads of sweat drip down my forhead, i had another nightmare. It had been a recurring event this summer, especially since everything that happened last year with the dementors. When I looked around i noticed how dark it was, i must have woken up in the middle of the night...again. My efforts to go back to sleep have usually become unsuccessful, so i gave up trying most nights.

All of a sudden i saw this small light come from across the tent. I got out of bed, hoping not to wake everyone. I slowly walked out of my room to see Hermione was awake and reading a book. Of course she is reading.

"You should really be sleeping" I whispered walking closer to her

"So should you" She responds not taking her eyes off the book

"Well i have a lot on my mind. I woke up and haven't been able to fall back asleep" I explained to her still whispering

"Really? Do you want to talk about it?" She asks immediately shutting her book

She walks out of her room and walks towards me. I couldn't help but notice how cute she looked in her pajamas. She had a pair of pink shorts on and a matching t-shirt, her hair is tied up in a ponytail only making her more breathtaking.

"Not now....but i do feel a bit of a walk. Care to join me?"

"Sure. I think i need a break from Ron's incredibly loud snoring" She says quietly as she walked back over to her room

We both put our shoes and coats on before walking out. I took her hand in mine and we walked past all the tents making sure not to be loud. We walked till we reached this nearby pond and took a seat right next to it.

Hermione's pov

Harry is holding my hand! I don't know why this makes me feel so happy? Just the way i feel right now makes me never want to leave his side.

"So what book were you reading?" Harry starts the conversation

"The history of qudditch. I wanted to see why everyone liked it so much"

I wanted to learn for him so he could talk to me about quidditch, i know that sounds lame trying to learn a sport for a boy.

"Interesting"

"Harry what's on your mind? I know you have been having nightmares, i've noticed them for days but i didn't want to say anything" I admitted honestly

"It's just everything that happened last year with the dementors and Voldemort. I keep having these dreams of Voldemort coming back and killing everyone. Sometimes i just see him and i have no idea where he is but.... I just know he is there. I can't do anything Hermione, he is just taunting me. I try to help everyone like I'm expected to, but i never can. I usually wake up in a cold sweat and can never go back to sleep" He explains

"Harry you don't need to be afraid. He knows coming back is a mistake. You shouldn't have to live up to anyone's expectations, you should just live your life the way you want. As for your dreams, i know you can do anything you set your mind to. Don't you remember the troll? Ron would have forgotten about me, but you didn't. I wish i could take these dreams and thoughts away from you, since I'm unable to, just know that I will be here for you if you ever want to talk. I'm sorry everyone is putting all this pressure on you. But you should just be Harry, not the Boy Who Lived" I tell him, i can see the frown disappear from his face instantly

"What did i do deserve you? I love you Hermione. You are such a great friend" When he says that, it made my heart sink a little

"Thank you....so on to other topics, do you ever want to be here? You know competing in the world cup?" I asked trying to start a new topic

"Yeah. I think it will be cool. I am so excited for tomorow. Ron has been talking about it non stop" He says

"I'm looking forward to it as well. Maybe watching the game will make me start to like quidditch"

After sitting by the lake for a few more minutes he finally said something.

"We should probably head back. It's still the middle of the night and if we want to get a few hours of sleep, we should go" He says standing up

"Yeah. But what about you? You said you can usually never fall back asleep" I agree as he helps me stand

"Well I think tonight all i needed was you. I mean....to talk with you. It helped talking with you. We should probably go back" He says nervously

As we were walking back to the tent, i suddenly felt my foot catch on something. I must have tripped over a rock or something. I felt this instant pain in my side like i landed on something sharp.

"Ow!" I nearly cry holding my stomach

"Hermione are you okay" Harry asks me worryingly landing on the ground next to me

"Yeah but I think i fell on something sharp. My side hurts alot and i think it's bleeding"

"Come on" He says helping me up

He grabs on to my waist and my legs, lifting me up bridal style. I had no idea he was strong enough to carry me. He walked back to the tent and he sat me down in the livingroom hoping not to wake everyone else. I looked at my hand and i could see blood, it must have come from my stomach.

"Hermione I don't want you to feel awkward about this, but i need you to lift up your shirt. I have to see how badly you're hurt. That's the only way...."

"Harry it's fine. I could never feel awkward around you" I tell him as honestly as i can

Well that's a complete lie but i could see how flustered he was getting and i didn't want to make it any worse by embarrassing him. I then laid down and i lifted my shirt up until it was only covering my breasts. I could see him hesitating before looking at my stomach. He cleared his throat before he started moving across my stomach.

Apparently I landed on a few rocks and a broken glass bottle, i could barely see anything outside because it was so dark. He moved his hands slowly across my stomach and picked out all of the glass, I could tell he was trying not to hurt me. As i felt his hand moving farther towards my waist, i started feeling something in my stomach. He was just being so gentle and it felt good to have his hands on me. I must be going crazy or something.

He left and grabbed some wipes before cleaning up the scratches and eventually placing some bandages on my stomach.

"Good as new....well as new as it can get, since i can't preform a healing spell on you quite yet"

"Thank you so much Harry. I told you, you are always there for me" I tell him

"I guess you're right then"

"I will see you in the morning" I said pulling my shirt back down

"Yeah you will" He gives me a kiss on the cheek before heading back over to his bed

He just kissed me on the cheek! I can't believe it. He is just so sweet and cute....uh oh.