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Saturday, February 8, 1997. Excitement was steadily growing in much of Hogwarts over the approaching Valentine’s Day, as well as the Hogsmeade trip that third-year students and above would get to make today since the holiday itself fell on a day of classes.

Harry and Hermione were in the Great Hall, sitting across from one another. As Ron had been led into the hall by Lavender and was sitting with her at another end of the table, it was therefore just the two of them this time. And they were both keeping silent as they ate their breakfasts.

Harry knew why he was being quiet. For one, it probably wouldn’t be very long before he started receiving letters from strangers who knew nothing about him but wanted him to be their valentine. People tried every year to no avail, and it never ceased to frustrate him. If they wanted to act like they cared enough about him to want to spend Valentine’s Day with him, then why couldn’t they just try to get to know him and be friends first?

The second part of his silence, though, came down to feelings of jealousy towards the Weasleys over having someone.

With Ginny, it was the same jealousy he’d felt over her since catching her and Dean snogging after that practice before the Quidditch match with Slytherin. Harry had figured, since that point, that meant that he liked Ginny, if Ron and Hermione’s interactions with each other were any indication. But he wasn’t selfish or ruthless enough to want to do something that could force a breakup between Ginny and Dean. Thus, he could only stew in his mind over the circumstances.

With Ron, however, it was jealousy that he had someone that appeared to care the world for him, even if Lavender’s ways of showing affection were too sickeningly sweet, but he didn’t seem to appreciate that fact. Over the past few days, Harry had occasionally seen Ron with a look on his face, even if only for a fleeting instant, like he wanted to be anywhere else besides with Lavender.

Those momentary grimaces made Harry think back to how Ron had gotten with Lavender not long after hearing from Ginny about Hermione snogging Viktor Krum, as well as wondering if he was right to think the two events were connected. Ron and Hermione had danced around each other, especially with the talk in that one Herbology class about Slughorn’s party, in a way that Harry had assumed they would get together. Thus, for Ron to have gone to Lavender so suddenly… well, now that he was pondering it more, there was certainly at least a bit of reason to be suspicious about things.

Harry shook his head. It wouldn’t do any good to dwell on those thoughts. He then pulled his gaze away from his food and looked at Hermione, who was staring at her plate as she steadily ate.

The almost overly flat expression on her face, like she was deliberately trying to keep it like that, made him curious. Was there something on her mind as well? Would she want to talk about it if there was?

His curiosity, though, wasn’t high enough to overcome the feeling that Hermione may not want to speak about things, if she was having troubles in her mind. But maybe he could at least put her mind onto something else.

“So,” he said at that point, “I wonder how many people will be at Madam Puddifoot’s all day today, since this Hogsmeade trip is technically for Valentine’s Day. You think it’ll be enough that the Three Broomsticks will be less crowded?”

He knew something was wrong when, even though it was just for a split second, he saw despair flash across her face. But it went away as soon as he saw it, before she looked up with the same expression she had previously been wearing.

Hermione responded, “Actually, Harry… I’m not sure if I’m going to go to Hogsmeade.”

His eyes widened as he dropped his fork onto his plate. That was not at all what he was expecting to hear.

“What?” he replied in confusion. “Why not, Hermione?”

She lightly shook her head. “There’s just some things that I really need to take care of first, and the time needed may run into the moment when we’re supposed to leave for the village.”

Her vague answer didn’t assuage any of his concern. And then, he couldn’t help looking towards the other end of the table, seeing Ron and Lavender at the far end as well as Ginny and Dean near the middle. His jealousy started to flare up again, but it died down surprisingly quickly due to the current circumstances. He needed to give his full attention to Hermione right now.

Turning back to her, he quietly said, “Hermione, if it’s something to do with Ron – “

“It’s not,” she quickly interrupted. She then, however, became a bit sheepish before adding, “Well, alright. I suppose he and Lavender are a tangential part of my concerns. But there are more important things on my mind that have little to do with them and are the main reason why I may not make it to Hogsmeade.”

His confusion simply deepened even more. He asked outright, “Hermione, what’s wrong? What exactly are you worried about?”

There was no response because, at that moment, the owl post arrived. And to Harry’s surprise, Hedwig was flying towards him with an envelope in her talons. The snowy owl dropped the envelope beside his plate on the left side, before she perched on the middle of the table between him and Hermione.

As Harry gave Hedwig a bit of bacon, Hermione stood from the table and said, “Well, I should be leaving. I need to get my tasks started if I want to finish them.”

“Hermione wait,” he instantly replied. “Won’t you tell me what’s going on?”

She just gave him a sad smile before looking away and saying, “I’ll talk to you later, Harry. See you.”

With that, Harry watched her leave the Great Hall, pointedly keeping her face forward the entire time and not glancing towards anyone else. Even after she was gone, he kept his gaze at the entrance for a few seconds before turning away.

He couldn’t help speaking his thoughts to Hedwig. “I wish she could have talked to me about what’s on her mind. I know we’ve had more arguments this year because of our stances on my Potions book, but that hasn’t changed the fact that she’s still one of my best friends.”

Hedwig gave a quiet bark before then lifting her right leg slightly. In fact, she lifted it in such a manner that she appeared to be pointing towards the letter, which he had momentarily forgotten was there.

Harry glanced from the letter and then back to the owl. “Wait, are you saying to read the letter?”

Hedwig barked again and bobbed her head up and down for a moment. Well, that was enough of a confirmation for him, even though he had no idea how this letter would relate to the situation.

Picking up the envelope, his suspicions immediately rose upon finding that the letter was unmarked. His first thought was that this was just another random person trying to get him to be their valentine again, and he had half a mind to just toss it and not deal with this right now.

But then, his rational mind quickly remembered that it was Hedwig who had brought this letter. All those valentines he received in previous years were always brought by other owls. But Hedwig herself had delivered this envelope. And with her great intelligence, she was smart enough to know that he wouldn’t accept a letter from just any random stranger, nor would she have even delivered it in the first place. Did that mean this was a letter from someone that he actually knew?

He took a deep breath and shook his head. Only one way to find out, he thought, as he finally opened up the envelope and pulled out the letter within. And thus, he began to slowly read.

Dear Harry,

You know, “dear” really would be the perfect one-word descriptor for you. Because I’ve truly realized how completely and utterly dear you are to me.

I admire your courage, so unyielding no matter what you have to face. You stand up for what you believe and know to be right, even when the entire world tries to call you insane for it like so many people did last year. You’ll go to rescue someone that you may not even know, no matter how impossible the odds, simply because it’s the right thing to do. In fact, one such rescue attempt is the only reason that I was blessed with the opportunity to begin learning who you are as a person, rather than knowing you just as The Boy Who Lived like so many others.

I’m glad to have gotten to know you some over these past years. I know how much you value your friends, and that you try as hard as you can not to take sides or do any other action that could force you into such a situation where you may lose one. Frankly, after everything that’s happened thus far in this school year, it’s a characteristic for which I’m very grateful you have.

I hate the circumstances with which you’ve so many times been forced to deal. You’ve lost your family to a madman, with your parents dying when you were an infant and your godfather being killed last year. The unwanted fame, which I know you would sooner get rid of because it was only gained from the death of your parents, that can cause the entire population of Britain to treat you like a pariah if they so choose it. The burden of having to face the same monster that killed your family, because that man wants you dead personally and won’t rest until he accomplishes that. I hate all of this for you, Harry. It sickens me, almost physically so, that a person like you has faced such a number of ordeals in your life.

And yet, even in the midst of all of that, you can still get up and face the day. You know exactly what’s in store for you. But even when I know that you would obviously prefer to have a quiet and normal life rather than all these troubles, you are still willing to face them so that others won’t be placed in the same position. And that inspires me, and really has inspired me for so long already, to want to face it all with you. I’ll stand up against anything and everything with you, so that you won’t be alone.

Harry had to pause there, staring in astonishment. What the hell was this? Who was this person that could give such high praise to him, and yet the praise was in such a way that the person seemed to know him for more than just his famous moniker?

He just shook his head for a moment and continued reading.

I had to tell you all of that, Harry. I needed you to see all of this so that, when you read my next words, you will hopefully see that they are completely serious. And so, here it goes…

I love you, Harry.

There, I said it, even if I’m still being a coward by doing it in a letter rather than face-to-face. But there’s still more that I need to say.

I love you, Harry. But what I truly want most for you is for you to be happy. And… I know that there’s always the chance that I may not be the person who can do that for you. Thus, I want to give you a chance to meet me on the eighth of February. Think of this as my offer to you to be your valentine, since the Hogsmeade trip for Valentine’s Day will be held on that day.

So, on the eighth of February, I’ll be waiting for you in a specific place. I will remain there all day until dinnertime. If you show up, then we can speak more once you are there. If you don’t, well… then I’ll know what your answer is. Whatever you choose, though, I promise that I won’t let it make things awkward between us on my end.

Alright, I’m sure you’re now just curious about the place to which I’m referring, so I’ll tell you.

Harry couldn’t help silently chuckling at that sentence. Well, whoever this person was, they certainly read his mind correctly. But when he continued, his jaw dropped in total shock at what he read.

Come to the first classroom that is nearest to the portrait entrance of Gryffindor Tower. You should remember which classroom that is. It’s…

It’s the same classroom you came to before, when you left the party that was happening in the common room, after Gryffindor beat Slytherin in the Quidditch match this year.

Well, that’s all I want to say here. From this point, I leave everything to your choice, Harry, and will accept whatever outcome you want.

Still, I…

At this point, even in his utter surprise, Harry still noticed what appeared to be a few teardrops that fell onto the parchment before the very last sentence, which was sitting all on its own near the bottom of the parchment.

I hope you’ll come.

As he finished the letter and dropped it into his lap, Harry’s gaze was completely unfocused as he tried to force his mind to work.

Hermione? Hermione had written all this, all these wonderful compliments? Hermione wanted to be his valentine?

Hermione Granger had just said that she loved him?!

A bark from Hedwig brought him out of his thoughts, though his astonishment still hadn’t lessened. Then, his mind finally connected another dot.

“She – and you know who I’m talking about, girl, when I ask – she actually gave you this and wanted you to deliver it to me?” Harry asked the owl.

Hedwig bobbed her head up and down in a confirmation, before she finally took off from the table and flew away.

Harry stared at her until she was gone, feeling even more shock at the affirmation. He then turned down to look at his plate again, trying to process everything. In the face of all that had just been thrown at him, what did he really want to do?

After a few seconds, he frowned in resolution. No, there was only one choice for him right now.

He needed to go see Hermione. Regardless of what either of them may say afterwards or what may even happen beyond that, he at least needed to see her and talk this out.

With that, he folded the letter up and shoved it into one of his pockets. Then, he stood from the table and walked out of the Great Hall. Ron had seen him leaving and said something to him as he passed, but Harry paid zero mind and just continued through the doorway to the entrance hall.

Once there, and sure that he was out of view of anyone in the Great Hall, he took off at a sprint back to Gryffindor Tower and the location of the classroom where he prayed that Hermione would be. He wanted to get there as quickly as he possibly could. For once, his luck actually seemed to think along the same lines, as he never passed another person and thus didn’t get in trouble for sprinting throughout the halls.

And soon enough, he was standing outside the door to the classroom, that same classroom where he’d found Hermione close to tears after they had seen Ron snogging Lavender in the common room during the Quidditch victory party.

He stood there for at least a minute or two, trying to catch his breath after running the whole way there. Of course, as he cooled down from the sprint, his nerves began to rise over what would happen now.

Was Hermione really going to be in this classroom? What would happen if she was? But what if she wasn’t? What if she hadn’t actually written that letter, and this was just a prank someone was playing on him to make him wrongfully think that someone could care for him like that?

He scoffed and shook his head. If he believed that last statement, then he had to believe that Hedwig would have played a part in things, and he couldn’t see the snowy owl doing something that would hurt him in such a manner.

“Man up, Potter,” he muttered, “and get this over with.”

Thus, he just tried to open the door. It was thankfully unlocked, so he quickly slipped inside, turning away immediately afterwards to shut the door and cast as powerful a Locking Spell as he could muster. As he stared at the door, he took a deep and slightly shaky breath to prepare himself. Then, he slowly turned around. And his breath hitched for a moment at the sight.

Sitting on the teacher’s desk, while a few yellow canaries circled her head, was Hermione Granger.

Even from across the room, their eyes locked. They both remained silent, never looking away from each other, as Hermione stood from the desk while Harry began slowly walking over to her.

“Hello, Harry,” she said, in a nervous voice. She then pulled her wand out and gave a flick, causing the canaries to vanish. “I was just practicing.”

As he reached her and stood a step away from her, he couldn’t help the tiny smile that came to his face as he said, “Yeah, they’re really good.”

His response, and the fact that he recalled her exact statement, caused her to let out a small laugh and her nervousness to go away. It was only for a fleeting moment, however, before she was quietly staring at him.

She timidly asked, “So, you read the letter?”

At first, he simply pulled out the letter from his pocket and unfolded it. Holding it up in his left hand for her to take, he said, “You mean this letter?”

Though she didn’t take it, she did glance over it. Once she was finished and looking up to him again, her face paled as she took a deep breath and quietly replied, “Yes. That letter.”

Her affirmation caused Harry to once again be completely shocked, as he put the letter back in his pocket. He was at a complete loss for words, standing there and staring at her with his mouth agape.

In fact, he apparently remained silent long enough that, eventually, Hermione dropped her gaze to the floor.

“You don’t feel the same,” she whispered with a tremble in her voice.

That caused Harry to blink out of his haze, as she continued, “It’s alright, I understand. I’ll – I’ll just leave you be. And I meant what I said about not letting this ruin our friendship.”

Hermione began to quickly turn away, but his Seeker skills allowed Harry to instantly reach out and grab her left hand.

He exclaimed, “Whoa, Hermione, hold on! Don’t leave. Just – just give a bloke a minute.”

He let go of her and then sat upon the teacher’s desk. Though he hoped that she would take that alone as a sign for her to stay, he still patted the part of the desk to his right. And though she waited for a couple of seconds first, he was thankful when she moved to sit next to him, her feet dangling slightly in the air as she pressed her legs together.

Once they were looking at each other again, his mind finally found where he should begin. “Why?”

She tilted her head slightly in confusion, though he kept going to clarify for her.

“Why did you write that? I thought – “

He cut himself off for a moment, knowing that none of them had ever spoken this out loud this year, but his next words needed to be said in order for this conversation to go anywhere.

“I thought you liked Ron. I thought you wanted him and that you two were going to get together, after the way you’ve both been acting towards one another this year.”

Hermione sighed and looked towards the floor. She wasn’t saying anything, so Harry remained silent as well, thinking that maybe she just needed to think over things first.

After a few seconds, she faced him again before speaking. “I think… after pondering everything that’s happened, I think it’s more that I was settling for Ron. And by settling, I mean that I thought he would be a guarantee if I wanted him as a boyfriend, since I knew he at least felt something towards me with his jealousy every time Viktor’s name was even just mentioned.”

Harry couldn’t help interjecting at that point, “So, when Ron suddenly got together with Lavender – “

“It was all my worst fears happening right in front of me,” Hermione replied. “That I’m such an unattractive person in every way that I can’t even get together with the one person that I knew felt something towards me, even if his feelings were hardly enough for me to try out an actual romantic relationship with him.”

His brow furrowed as Harry replied, “What makes you think you’re unattractive?”

This time, she tilted her head in exasperation, and her words were filled with bitter sarcasm. “The fact that the one person that felt remotely anything towards me – a person who is supposed to be my friend, mind you – could drop me in the blink of an eye to be with someone else, without caring at all how much it hurt me? That’s surely the best way to make a girl feel wanted.”

She then looked to the ground again and said more despairingly, “And listen to me now. Prattling on with this ‘woe is me’ attitude, when you probably don’t even want to be here in the first place.”

“Hermione,” he said firmly but also with confusion.

When she looked back up, he added, “I came here on my own, didn’t I? And I stopped you from leaving when you were about to, right? Does any of that sound like I don’t want to be here?”

He was worried when she remained silent at first. But eventually, relief started rising within him when a tiny smile graced her face.

She whispered, “No, it doesn’t. Whatever may happen after this, you did come here and then kept me from running away.”

He shrugged before replying a bit sheepishly, “Well, regardless of everything that’s happened this year or may happen after today, you’re still one of my best friends. And I could tell, when you said that you may not go to Hogsmeade, that something was bothering you, so I couldn’t help but be concerned.”

He was a bit surprised when, even though she didn’t say anything, her smile grew. He wondered what could have been on her mind to cause it, though he kept that curiosity to himself.

After a few seconds, Hermione became more serious. “Back to the topic at hand, though. If this is about Ron, well… at this point, he can have Lavender for all I care. The fact that he could so easily turn away from me for another girl is enough for me to believe that he doesn’t truly like me in that way. And trying to have a deeper relationship with someone like that is just asking for trouble.”

Sadness then came to her eyes. “And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry that you have to listen to me say all this. I know he’s your best friend.”

“So are you, Hermione,” Harry instantly replied. “You don’t have to apologize for getting things off your chest.”

Then, his next thought caused him to look towards the floor this time, before he added, “Considering how much you had to put up with from me last year – or every year, really, if you think about all the dangers people face because of me – I probably owe you a few more sessions where I listen to all the complaints you have about anything that’s on your mind.”

He continued to look away from her. Thus, he was surprised once again at her next action.

He felt her take his right hand into her left one. His head immediately whipped up to look first at their joined hands and then back at her. He was caught off-guard by the tender smile on her face.

And she quietly said, “Don’t forget what was in the letter, Harry. I’ll stand up against anything and everything with you.”

As she gave his hand a squeeze before letting go, he looked at her in astonishment and asked, “Why?”

That little question brought forth the second part of his worries over the letter, and he got off the desk and stood in front of her as the words burst forth from him.

“I don’t understand. All those words in which you made me sound amazing – and doing so in a way that showed you actually knew me rather than knowing just the famous figurehead that most people see me as – as well as saying that you would stick by me through anything. Why would you say such things to me, when I don’t deserve them?”

Her expression seemed to be both sad and sympathetic. She remained silent as she slowly, and almost daintily so, slid off the desk and onto her feet.

Looking up into his eyes, Hermione whispered, “Well, first off, I think that you do deserve it. But I suppose that you probably won’t be convinced just by that.”

Harry couldn’t help huffing out a quick laugh. Just like with the letter, she already knew exactly what was on his mind. But he gave no other response and let her keep speaking.

“Thus, I guess I’ll start by giving you some more background on things.”

She took a deeper breath for a moment before continuing, “So, you know now that I won’t be trying to get together with Ron. But that only came after some thinking over the past month, maybe since the disaster that was Professor Slughorn’s Christmas party. I began to think afterwards about what I was doing, and why I was trying to go after Ron. And to help with that, I sent a letter to my parents, asking them about how they knew for certain that they loved one another.”

Her mouth curled slightly upward at that point. “Mum and Dad ended up agreeing upon and telling me a few things. Obviously, there was a mention that the other person made them happy. But more than that, there was also a factor of how the other person’s happiness was more important than their own. And finally, they spoke about being truly willing to face anything for each other.”

The smile dropped as her expression sobered up. “Getting that letter caused me to realize… none of that was going to happen between me and Ron. I think that I was looking just to make myself happy by trying to gain Ron as a boyfriend, and it simply made me miserable in the process. And in Ron’s case, he was obviously looking out for just his own happiness by getting together with Lavender.”

Harry finally jumped in at that point, wanting to say something. “If it makes you feel any better, I’ve seen times over the past few days where it looks like Ron is almost dreading the fact that he’s with Lavender. That look of dread or annoyance only lasts for a moment, but I’ve seen it multiple times.”

He raised his eyebrows in a bit of confusion when Hermione actually chuckled for a moment.

She then said, “Well, that’s his problem to deal with then. It won’t change my mind about not being with him. The old saying ‘be careful what you wish for because you just might get it’ is a cliché for a reason.”

She quickly became serious again, though. “But back to my story. The words from my parents also caused me to start thinking on whether there was or could be anyone for which I would do the same things that they listed. Someone who not only could make me happy, but was also someone who I would want nothing more than to make them happy and to help them throughout anything they may face.”

Harry’s eyes had steadily grown wider as she spoke that last batch of statements, and when she stopped, he couldn’t help murmuring, “That’s exactly what you said you wanted for me.”

A timid smile rose to her face, as Hermione nodded. Then, her eyes glanced down and away for a moment before she seemed to come to a decision. And afterwards, she took his hands into hers while continuing to stare up at him.

She replied, “Yes, that’s right. The time I spent thinking led me to realize that… you’re the most important person in my life. It hurts me whenever I see you be sad or get hurt. It makes me happy whenever I get to see you be happy. And I would follow you into whatever danger there is, just like I did when I went with you to the Department of Mysteries last year even when I begged you not to go and to think that it could be a trap, in order to ensure that you have a chance for happiness.”

The reminder of what she went through last year caused Harry to look away in shame. A squeeze of his hands then got him to turn back to her.

When he did, Hermione gently said, “Harry, no. I didn’t bring that up to make you feel guilty over what happened. I just wanted to show you that, even when I disagreed with you, I still went to the Ministry with you because I didn’t want you to face something without me.”

He didn’t know what he could say to that. Luckily, though, it seemed that she didn’t expect him to respond, as she continued on.

“But my ultimate point in all this is… you want to know why I could write all those things about you, even though you think that you aren’t worthy of them?”

She took a deep breath and became timid again. “Because… that’s what it means to love someone, Harry. When the faults in someone else no longer matter because they make you happy, and the pain they feel rips through your own soul because you want nothing more than for them to be happy. And that’s why I said – “

She abruptly paused for a moment. He could see the beginnings of tears in her eyes as she added with a whisper, “That’s why… I love you, Harry.”

The fact that she actually said those three little words caused Harry to choke up, and his mind shut down once again. After a few seconds of silence, she let go of his hands.

“I love you,” she repeated. “But like I wrote in the letter, what I care about more is you being happy. I know that all of this has to be a lot to take in when you’ve probably never thought of me in that way. I know that this also could be awkward to hear because I’ve been so harsh towards you over that Potions book when maybe I shouldn’t have, and I’m so sorry if that may have strained or hurt our friendship in any way.

“And I know that you would probably rather be with Ginny, if the looks I’ve seen you give to her when she’s with Dean are any indication. I will say that… you shouldn’t fall into the same emotions as Ron and myself. If you’re only feeling jealousy that she’s not with you, then you should reexamine your feelings and think about whether you truly do want to be with her. But if you think that she would make you happy, and you would rather wait for a chance to be with her…”

Her eyes were shining more and more from the tears within them. And at that point, Hermione turned around, facing the teacher’s desk and putting her back to him. She then placed her hands on the desk and leaned forward just slightly.

At that point, Harry heard her speak with a slight shake in her voice. “I’m sorry to say that I’m too much of a coward to be able to physically watch you walk away. So, I’m going to stand like this and let you come to whatever decision you wish to make. If you don’t want to be with me, well… as I mentioned, I promise that I won’t let everything that happened today make our friendship awkward on my end. But if you’re willing to give me a chance… here I am. I’ll be your valentine and more, if you want me to be.”

With that, Hermione grew silent.

This finally allowed Harry a chance to fully ponder everything that just happened. And oh boy, he thought, what an everything it was.

Hermione loved him. She not only wrote a letter stating as such, but had full-on verbalized her feelings to him here as well. She wanted him to be happy. And even though she knew that she was facing rejection right now, she was still allowing him to do whatever he thought would make him happy.

So, to that end… what would make him happy?

He thought first about Hermione herself. Frankly, she was right when she said that he had never before thought of her that way. But as he pondered everything about Hermione and his friendship with her, he was actually beginning to wonder why he had never given her that kind of thought.

First off, Hermione was completely backwards about her attractiveness. She was actually attractive in every way. Sure, she may not have been the most stunning looker of all the girls at Hogwarts. But she was still pretty, and in her own way. Her figure was slim but not overly so. Her hair was thick and voluminous, but it was also tamer in comparison to the bushiness from when they were younger, and it now looked more like wavy curls. And whenever she was happy, her brown eyes would shine with a sparkle, and her entire face would seem to just light up. No, Hermione had grown, or was still growing since she was still just seventeen, into a pretty young woman.

But unlike a lot of other girls, Hermione had so much more to her beyond her appearance.

Obviously, there was her intelligence and the fact that she was probably the smartest student at Hogwarts. And that intelligence had helped him out so much and kept him alive through all these years. There was also, however, her belief in doing the right thing. She talked about him standing up for his beliefs, but she had been right there with him every time they needed to make a stand or take a risk that would get them in serious trouble. Helping to smuggle Hagrid’s dragon out of Hogwarts, brewing Polyjuice Potion and stealing ingredients from Snape, the Time-Turner adventure to rescue Sirius and Buckbeak, starting the D.A. last year to go against Umbridge. If she wanted to be proud of him for standing up for what was right, then she should be just as proud of herself.

Thinking on all of that led Harry to another huge aspect that made Hermione such a wonderfully attractive person.

Her loyalty.

She really had been with him through everything. In fact, wasn’t she really the only one to be with him through everything? In fourth year, after the Goblet of Fire had spit out his name as a champion for the Triwizard Tournament, no one but Hermione had believed him about not entering his name. When he needed to learn the Summoning Charm in one day for the first task of the tournament, she was with him nearly the entire time, only ever leaving his side for the classes that she didn’t share with him.

Not to mention, there were the instances of her wanting what was best for him. The Firebolt incident in third year had only happened because she had been concerned for his well-being, even if he’d been too angry at the time to think about that. There were the times in fourth year where she would ask him about his progress with the tasks, and he knew that she was doing it out of fear for him. Last year, she came to Grimmauld Place during the holidays to try and help him through the pain of his vision of Mr. Weasley being attacked. And Harry now realized that she had come straight to him last year, remembering how there was still snow in her hair when he first saw her.

So, with all those great qualities, how could Hermione think that she was unattractive? Anyone would be lucky to have such an amazing person like her.

This, however, gave Harry a new question. Could he really be the person for her when he had never before given thought to her like this?

And that, unfortunately, led him to his feelings about Ginny.

As soon as Harry thought of the Weasley girl, that familiar surge of emotion rose up, the same that he’d felt upon seeing her and Dean kissing in the halls after Quidditch practice. This time, however, Hermione’s words about examining his feelings replayed in his mind. And unexpectedly, the surge quickly disappeared. He couldn’t help blinking at the turn of events, but as this allowed him to think more rationally about Ginny now, he wouldn’t turn it away.

So, he already knew that he definitely felt jealousy about Ginny being with Dean. But after everything that Hermione said regarding her reflections on what happened with her and Ron, Harry now wasn’t sure if this kind of jealousy was a good thing for him. Thus, he began trying to really think on what he knew about Ginny and why he would want to be with her.

Soon after he started his pondering, he frowned as he realized that there weren’t really many reasons. OK, Ginny was certainly a pretty girl, there was no doubting that. She at least knew him some, though he also couldn’t help thinking about how Hermione would know so much more. Ginny was also more into Quidditch, but one common interest wasn’t necessarily a full indication of a well-fitting relationship.

Thinking back more to that first time where he’d felt his rush of jealousy, however, also caused Harry’s eyes to widen as he realized something else that could have been a factor.

The day that he and Ron caught Dean and Ginny snogging was just a few days after a certain Herbology class. A class in which Ron and Hermione danced around one another with their conversation about Slughorn’s party. A class in which Harry truly believed for the first time that the two of them might get together, and their friendships would be forever altered with him being shut out from them.

So, could he have latched onto Ginny simply because he didn’t want to be left out if Ron and Hermione became a couple, and Ginny was simply the closest person he could try for that would also allow him to keep his friendships as they were, as well as her simply being pretty on the outside? And if he now had a chance to try things with Hermione, did Ginny have anything that could compare?

Basically… was he willing to throw Hermione away for just the hope that he could be with Ginny?

The answer came so quickly that, if it had been a physical object, it could have knocked Harry off his feet.

No, he wasn’t willing to do that.

That answer, however, also brought a slowly-growing smile to his face. No, he wouldn’t do that to Hermione. The two of them were best friends. He cared enough about her that he couldn’t stand to hurt her like that.

And the thought that caused him to fully smile for a moment afterwards was… he cared enough about her that he would rather see her happy.

He still had doubts about whether he was really the person that was right for Hermione. However, he was willing to work at things in order to make her happy. Maybe that was all that mattered right now.

Thus, with a nod, his decision was made.

Coming out of his mind and finally focusing his gaze back on Hermione, he could see the tension with which she was holding herself. She’d hung her head and was now looking down at the desk, but beyond that, it seemed as though she hadn’t moved from her initial position after turning her back to him.

Harry took a long, silent breath. Well, time to see what would happen from here.

With that, he stepped closer to Hermione, leaving hardly any room between their bodies while still not actually touching her. That caused her head to raise up and look slightly to the right for a moment before snapping back to face forward. It was like she wanted to look behind her and check if he was still here, but she was still too afraid in case she would get rejected and have to watch him leave.

Hopefully, he could wash all those fears away.

At that moment, with a smile growing on his face again, he finally spoke. “Yeah. Here you are.”

He heard her take a deep and shaky breath before she asked, “Harry? You’re still here?”

Rather than answer her question directly, he had something else that needing saying.

“Hermione, you know what being with me would be like. My fame means that articles, like those from Rita Skeeter in fourth year, would be written about you, only they would be a hundred times worse. People may constantly judge you and the reasons for why you’re with me, even if they’re wrong to do so. And of course, there’s the fact that I’m going to have to face and kill Voldemort, because he’s never going to stop coming after me. You’ll have an even bigger target on your back than you already did from just being my best friend and a Muggleborn. Are you sure that you’re willing to deal with all that?”

He was certain that she could probably hear the hint of dejection in his voice by the time he finished. He couldn’t, however, let things go any further without first giving her a chance to back out.

Of course, he thought while chuckling in his mind, if he really knew Hermione, then he knew what kind of answer she would give.

For probably thirty seconds, there was only silence in the room. Neither person moved at all. Harry wondered what could be flitting through Hermione’s mind right now, but just like she had said to him, he would accept whatever decision she wanted and not let it make their friendship awkward on his part. Having her friendship was too important to him.

But then, to his momentary surprise, he saw Hermione stand up straight. She took a deep breath and then slowly turned around to face him. As they stared right into each other’s eyes, he could see nothing but determination in her expression. And after a few more seconds, she quietly responded to him.

“I know what you’re trying to do, and it’s not going to work. You’re right, I do know what I would have to endure by being with you. And I never would have admitted my feelings if I cared at all about any of that. I want to be with you, Harry. No matter what obstacles will get in our way.”

Yep, Harry thought as a small smile came to his face. Something like that was exactly what he figured Hermione would say. When she put her mind to something, she wouldn’t rest until she accomplished it.

But apparently, his reaction wasn’t quite what she was expecting.

Her brow furrowed in confusion as she said, “You’re smiling.”

That just caused his smile to grow. He looked down and away from her, though the grin never left his face. After a few seconds, while still looking towards the floor, he spoke to her.

“You know, you were right earlier. I’ve never before seen you in the same way that you see me.”

“Oh…” he heard her say, in a small and crestfallen voice.

He turned back to her and found her looking at her feet. He knew what she was thinking that he would say next. But hopefully, his actual words would make her day.

“But now, after everything that’s happened this morning, it feels like I’m actually, truly seeing you for the first time.”

A quick gasp left her, as her head immediately snapped back up. Her eyes had widened, and her mouth had dropped.

Afterwards, it seemed that all she could do was to whisper a little, “Harry?”

He tried to look at her as tenderly as he could. Then, he reached up and placed his right hand on her left cheek. She gave another gasp and also began to blink more rapidly, as though she couldn’t believe what was happening.

Only then did he finally continue. “I’m really seeing you. And I have to tell you… I wish you could see exactly what I do, Hermione. Because it’s a hell of a wonderful sight.”

Her breathing was becoming much shakier, and this time, tears actually began to stream down her face. But her reaction didn’t actually worry him, because the huge smile that she was now wearing said everything that he needed to know.

At that moment, Harry couldn’t help glancing down at her lips for a second before then looking back into her eyes. A third gasp left Hermione, but she didn’t say any actual words. Rather, he saw her eyes do the exact same thing to his lips. And once she was staring into his eyes again, he knew that there would be no better time.

Thus, he slowly leaned down and kissed her.

It was a gentle kiss for the first couple of seconds. But then, Hermione stepped up to press herself against him and opened her mouth further, granting him access to her tongue. He couldn’t resist deepening the kiss and giving her what she wanted. As he did, Hermione’s arms wrapped around his neck. Her left hand stayed at the back of his neck, while her right one dove into his messy hair and came to rest on the back of his head. And all the while, they continued to slowly but hungrily kiss one another.

This… even when taking into account the fact that Hermione was technically still crying right now, Harry thought this was nothing at all like his kiss with Cho. This was passionate, happy, loving…

It was right. There was no better way that he could describe it. It felt right, and all he wanted was to do whatever he could to make Hermione happy and earn more kisses like this. And from the moans that he could occasionally hear coming from Hermione, he was certain that she felt the same.

Eventually, the need for oxygen forced them to pull their mouths away, though they still kept their hold on one another. They just stared at each other as they gasped for breath, not saying a word.

After at least a full minute, their breathing finally returned to normal, and Hermione’s tears had stopped. And at that point, Hermione cried out, “Oh, Harry! Even though I’m certain as to what this means for our relationship, will you still give me the words? Please?”

He smiled at her and, thinking back to her letter, knew what he could say. “Hermione Granger, will you allow me to be your valentine and more?”

She laughed at the question, knowing why he asked it. She then happily responded, “Yes, I would love that, Harry. And will you allow me to be your valentine and more?”

He chuckled and said, “Yes, I would love that, Hermione.”

Her happy tears started flowing again, and she shifted her arms to simply hug him around his neck. Then, she pulled herself fully into him again and placed her head in his neck. Harry moved to tightly wrap his arms around her waist in response.

For Harry, the hug felt just as right as their kiss had. As new as this was for him to think of Hermione like this, he could also tell that it probably wouldn’t be very long before he may be completely lost in Hermione and would have her become his entire world.

He couldn’t tell how long they just stood in silence and hugged one another. But eventually, considering that all this with Hermione was new and was something that he’d only first considered today, Harry realized something else that he needed to say to her.

“Hey, Hermione?”

She pulled her head back to look at him. “Yes, Harry?”

He sheepishly said, “I know that you’ve told me outright that you love me. But I’m not sure if it would be right at the moment for me to say the same thing to you just yet because, like I said before, I hadn’t thought of you in this way before today.”

He then turned more resolute. “But I know that I love you as a best friend. And I’ve realized from everything today that I want you to be happy and that I want to make you happy.”

The timidity returned before he ended with, “Is – is that enough for now? Are you willing to wait on me for a little bit, until I feel like I’m ready to say those three little words to you?”

To his surprise, she smiled at him and softly responded, “Harry, the fact that you are willing to be in a deeper relationship at all with me is more than I ever expected would happen. I can wait for as long as you need, as long as we’re together. And thank you so much for your honesty. I’m not sure how many people would do something like that after someone else has told them about being in love with them.”

He shrugged his shoulders and said with a hint of confusion, “Well, if I can’t be honest with someone, even if I’m worried about how they may react to whatever I tell them, then I really shouldn’t be in a relationship with them, right?”

Her smile grew a bit as she nodded. “Indeed, Harry, that’s right. And as long as we both stick to that attitude, then…”

She trailed off for a moment, as her own timidity returned. “Well, I like to think that we could last for a long time.”

The left side of his mouth curled up slightly before he replied, “I certainly won’t say no to that.”

Hermione gave a happy sigh before she curled up against his chest. Again, the two just silently stood and held one another for a while.

This time, Hermione was eventually the one to break the stillness. She pulled her head back to look at him, and Harry was confused to find her wearing a small smirk on her face.

At that moment, she said, “You know, I guess I was right.”

He raised one eyebrow before saying, “You often are, but what are you right about this time?”

She giggled for a moment and replied, “What I said last year about you not being a bad kisser.”

A quick laugh immediately left him at the statement.

He then gave his own smirk to her. “Well, I could certainly say the same for you.”

She became shy and shuffled her feet a bit. “Really? That was my first kiss, so I was worried about being really bad when I know that you’ve already kissed one person.”

Her response instantly filled his entire being with confusion. “What? You’ve never kissed anyone before?”

A little sigh left her. “After everything that I told you today, Harry, is that really so surprising?”

He immediately said, “It is to me, because Ginny told Ron and me that you snogged Viktor Krum.”

“What!” she exclaimed with bafflement. “When did she ever tell you that?”

He gave his own sigh before recapping for her what happened when he and Ron came across Ginny and Dean kissing in the halls after Quidditch practice.

When Harry finished, Hermione was frowning in what appeared to be a mixture of confusion and frustration.

She said to him, “Well, I don’t know why she would have thought that, but Viktor and I never at all kissed like that, nor were we even remotely together as a couple. We were never anything more than friends. Now, he did kiss me on the cheek one time, after we left the Yule Ball. Unfortunately, Ron also saw that happen, and it was one of the reasons that started the fight between us in the common room, which we were still having by the time you came back to Gryffindor Tower that night. But I specifically told Ginny over the past summer, when this kind of subject came up one time, that Viktor only ever kissed me on the cheek once.”

But then, her eyes widened, her gaze became unfocused, and she began muttering more to herself.

“Wait a minute. You said that she and Ron were yelling at one another about kissing in public. I bet Ginny thought that telling him Viktor snogged me would be the best way to make Ron angry, didn’t she?”

Her eyes remained large, but her brow now furrowed almost in anger. “And Ron did get angry about it, because that was around the time that he started being severely cold to me for no reason. And soon afterwards, the victory over Slytherin took place, and Ron jumped straight into Lavender’s arms.”

Her gaze finally refocused on Harry. “That’s why he’s with Lavender, isn’t he? Because he was so jealous from wrongly thinking that I had been with Viktor and that Viktor had kissed me. That’s what happened, isn’t it?”

Harry couldn’t help becoming sheepish again before he replied, “I don’t know anything for certain, Hermione. But I’ll admit that I thought that same thing for the first time this morning, when I thought about Ron and Lavender at one point during breakfast before I started talking to you.”

Hermione didn’t respond with words. She just turned her head away, shaking it as she gave a frustrated sigh. Harry kept quiet, hoping that this didn’t spell bad things for himself and that Hermione believed him when he said that he’d only first thought about that scenario this morning.

To his surprise, though, Hermione huffed out a little laugh as the right side of her mouth lifted in a half-smile. She then shifted her gaze back to him.

She said, “It doesn’t matter now, whether that is what happened or not. Ron made his choice when he decided to kiss Lavender that day.”

Her smile then became more affectionate. “And I’ve made my choice today, by giving you that letter.”

His mouth curled upwards a bit as he said, “I’ll make certain that you don’t regret that choice.”

“I know you will, Harry,” she replied. “And you wanting to work like that is exactly why I’m not worried that I’ll ever regret it.”

Her praise and faith in him left him speechless. So, rather than trying to say anything, he just leaned in and kissed her again, causing them to lose themselves in bliss for another minute.

Once the kiss ended, they were both wearing happy grins on their faces. They remained like that for a few seconds.

Afterwards, Harry sighed and pulled out of the hug. He looked at his wristwatch to check the time.

“It’s eight thirty,” he said as he looked back to Hermione. “Time for people to start making their way to Hogsmeade.”

He couldn’t help becoming shy as he added, “Do you – do you want to go together with me? I know you wrote in the letter that you would be waiting here all day, but you also said to me, before you left the Great Hall, that you had tasks in the plural to complete, so I wasn’t sure if maybe you had other things that you wanted or needed to take care of.”

His nerves started to die down when Hermione giggled and then replied, “Waiting here for you was the only task that I had. And yes, I would love to spend the day with you.”

But then, his blood began to flow in a different direction when she tilted her head, smirked at him, and spoke in a sultry tone. “Of course, who says that day has to be at Hogsmeade? Instead of going on that trip to celebrate Valentine’s Day, we could have a little celebration all to ourselves here in the castle. We certainly have a good room on the seventh floor of which we could take advantage.”

Then, she stood up on her toes until her lips were very nearly brushing his own. “And I definitely wouldn’t be averse to learning just how much I enjoy snogging the person that I’m in love with, as well as how good of a kisser you truly are.”

He took a slow breath, trying to push down the flaring desire within him so that he could think, and said, “You mean that?”

She nodded her head and hummed a confirmation.

He smiled and replied, “Alright then. A day for just you and me. I could go to the kitchens later and pick up a lunch whenever you get hungry later, Dobby would probably be all too willing to help out.”

She raised an eyebrow and said, “If he does so, you’ll at least try to get him to take some kind of payment for his help, won’t you? Even if I already know that he will probably refuse and end up not taking anything as well as saying that he’s just happy to help you out, you’ll at least make the effort?”

He gave her a nod. “Yeah, Hermione. I’ll try for you.”

She smiled and replied, “Alright, then I’m OK with that for lunch.”

He gave a smile and nod in return. Then, he said, “So, how about we make our way to the Room of Requirement now?”

She leaned in and pecked him on the lips. Then, she said, “I would love to.”

With that, they walked over to the classroom door. Harry pulled out his wand so that he could undo the Locking Spell, but before doing that, he realized something else that needed discussion.

He said to her, “Hermione?”

Her brow furrowed in a bit of concern. “What is it, Harry?”

He hesitantly replied, “How – how do you want to handle our relationship when it comes to the rest of the school? Do you care about them knowing about us from the very beginning? I’ll do whatever it is that you want.”

Her loving smile told him that she appreciated what he was trying to do, but she remained silent as her eyes looked away. She appeared to be thinking things over.

After about five seconds, her gaze returned to him as she asked, “How about we wait until dinnertime before we do anything publicly that would clue people in to our changed relationship? I think us having one day to just enjoy ourselves, before we have to deal with all the judgment from outsiders as you had mentioned, is reasonable. What about you?”

Both the confidence and the affection in her answer eased his nerves. Thus, he returned the smile and answered, “Yeah, that sounds just fine to me.”

She nodded, but after another moment, her expression became pensive. “You know, when Ron finds out about us, it’s very likely that he’ll be livid, given the way he and I have acted towards each other this year. Are you willing to deal with that and whatever he could say about you for being with me?”

Harry glanced away for a moment. But to his slight astonishment, that was all the time he needed for thought. What was essentially the same question he’d previously asked himself popped into his mind again. And the answer hadn’t changed at all.

Was he willing to throw Hermione away just because Ron may not like him being with her? No, he wasn’t.

Thus, he looked at Hermione and answered, “He wanted to be with Lavender, so now they’re together. You and I wanted to be with each other, so now we’re together. If Ron doesn’t like that – hell, for that matter, if anyone else doesn’t like it, it’s their problem, not ours. I won’t leave you just because someone else may not like me being with you.”

His next words were quite gentle. “You went against the world for me, when you believed me without hesitation about not entering the Triwizard Tournament. I won’t mind fighting the world for you, if anyone decides to put you down for being with me.”

She looked as though she was speechless. But the happiness in her entire expression made him feel like he had accomplished the greatest achievement in the world.

He decided to let her work out her mind on her own, like she’d allowed for him when he was making his decision. Thus, he merely asked, “So, should we continue what was supposed to be our journey to the Room of Requirement?”

She silently laughed and just nodded her agreement.

He turned back towards the door at that moment. But then, he thought of a final thing that he could say to her. “One last thing actually, Hermione?”

Her gaze became questioning, as she nodded for him to continue.

He gave her one more kiss, a soft and gentle one. And when he pulled back, he whispered, “Happy early Valentine’s Day, Hermione. Thank you for giving me something so wonderful by wanting to be with me.”

Her smile became a bit watery as she gave him a similar kiss of her own. And afterwards, it seemed that her words had returned to her. “Happy early Valentine’s Day to you, Harry. And thank you for doing the same and wanting to be with me.

Harry just happily nodded and then finally unlocked the door.

Thus, they began the journey to the Room of Requirement. Harry noted that, even if they weren’t yet doing anything that could make people wonder if something had happened between him and Hermione, his luck still seemed to be wanting to help him since they weren’t passing anyone in the halls.

As the two of them leisurely walked, Harry couldn’t resist reflecting on all the events of this morning. None of it was certainly anything that he ever would have expected from what was originally supposed to just be a normal Saturday trip to Hogsmeade. But he would be damned if he didn’t say that he now felt the happiest that he had in a long time, and he certainly could tell that Hermione felt the same.

He grinned in his mind. For once, he could actually see a brightness in his future, rather than the bleak outlook he had basically kept since Voldemort’s resurrection. Whatever he needed to do to ensure that the brightness was what laid in wait for him and Hermione, he would do so.

And maybe… maybe, he thought with happiness, she wouldn’t have to wait as long as she may be thinking for him to give her that three-word phrase which she deserved. Maybe it wouldn’t take too long at all.