That night, after Ron's little fit, Harry sat in a chair in the corner of the tent, watching Hermione, who had been extremely off since Ron had left.
None of what had happened made any sense to him. Yeah, Ron was wearing the locket, but for him to go off like that he had to have been actually jealous of Harry and Hermione, though Harry couldn't understand what it was about them that caused Ron to get so worked up over.
He then recalled how Ron said to Hermione that it was 'pretty damn clear' that she'd rather be alone here with Harry, rather than the three of them together. Though, Harry has trouble understanding what exactly he had meant about that. After all, she was sitting on a step hugging her knees, and had been doing so ever since he left.
Just as Harry thought this, the radio started to clear and he could tell that a song was starting to play, which gave him an idea.
He walked over to her, and then extended his hand. At first she seemed confused, but eventually took it, and Harry led her to the middle of the tent, after carefully removing the locket from around her neck.
She wasn't too excited about the idea of dancing, and Harry could tell as she was resisting the movements at first, though, it wasn't long until she loosened up and started easing into the dance.
Harry spun her, which caused her to laugh, but the song was already starting to fade, so they pulled apart. Hermione had intended on thanking him for the temporary distraction and then head back to her corner and continue sulking. However, as soon as she looked into his eyes, she lost any previous thought she had, and before either one of them could process the intensity of this moment, their lips met.
At first Harry felt guilty. He broke up with Ginny a while back to protect her from the dangers of the war. Now, he was in the middle of some forest nearly snogging his best friend.
Hermione, on the other hand, had also felt guilty, but only because this tension between Harry and herself was so strong that it drove their best friend away. The last thing she wanted was for Ron to feel as if he weren't a valuable part in the trio now that Harry and Hermione had developed new feelings for one another.
When they broke apart, Harry had been the first to speak. "I feel like the right thing to do would be to stop whatever this is, as those close to me have targets on their back and I can't see you get hurt-"
Hermione sighed. She was afraid this would happen. "Harry--"
"But," he continued "It's pretty clear that you already have a target on your back just for being my best friend. And besides, I trust you know how to take care of yourself."
Hermione smiled. "You've known me since we were eleven," she said "you should know that not only am I able to take care of myself, but you as well."
"Of course." Harry let out a small laugh "Which is why I'm not particularly worried about distancing myself from you in order to try and protect you. I know you're able to take care of yourself and on top of that, I doubt you'd let me."
"You're damn right I wouldn't let you." she said
"And I doubt I even have the strength to pull away to begin with." Harry had said in all honesty "I mean, you're really the only constant support I've had in my life....Ron comes and goes, and everyone is supporting the chosen one, not Harry."
Hermione's heart fell for him. He had been through so much in his life, but it was easy to forget because he'd never really made a big scene out of his troubles.
"I'll always be here for you, Harry." she said before pulling him in for a hug. "And don't you forget that."
