Confessions

Warning: Mild sexual situation!

...

Harry woke up at the crack of dawn feeling very well-rested though he still has a splitting headache. He rubbed his bandaged head. He felt a weight on his chest and an arm around his waist. When he looked down, brown curly hair obscured his view. His eyes widened considerably as the memories from last night came crashing down on him.

He had kissed Hermione! No, wait... Hermione had kissed him first!

Multiple conflicting emotions ran through his mind but joy overpowered all of them. He grinned stupidly. One of his hands began to caress her unmanageable brown locks. He heard her sigh in content and snuggled closer to him, her head burrowing itself under his chin. He let out a little chuckle as he admired the young woman. One of his lifetime dreams was now fulfilled and he didn't even need to take the first step. Hermione had kissed him first. His head still couldn't wrap around the idea that Hermione would have shown interest in him.

Then he frowned. This was supposed to be a good thing, right? They both have mutual interest in each other.

But then why does he feel like another weight had been added to his shoulders? Before, he felt like he was carrying the whole world on his shoulders- now, he felt like he was carrying the universe on his shoulders. Then, a snake-like face was brought on the forefront of his mind, smirking evilly at him. Voldemort.

No, he can't do this. He won't. They can't be together while the war is still raging. She was already being hunted down as a Muggleborn and as his best friend- what more when Voldemort found out she was his girlfriend? The bloody wanker will make his life miserable. No, he can't do this to Hermione.

Although it pained him to do this, his decision was final.

He grabbed her and that was gripping the waistband of his pants and gently pried them away and set them on her side. With his other hand, he rested it on her head. Gently, he began to sit up so as not to wake her. She moaned and burrowed her head on the crook of his neck, her lips caressing the sensitive skin on his neck.

"Harry..." she moaned softly. Harry froze. Her warm lips began to apply pressure on his pulse point in a kiss. A small smile appeared on her face as she sighed and settled down once more. A shudder violently went through him. He waited for a few more seconds then had successfully laid her back on the bed. A small frown marred her peaceful face as her arms flailed around the bed, obviously searching for his warmth. Harry held out a pillow towards her and she took it. She hugged the pillow towards her, burying her face in it then smiled. She was obviously sniffing it as the pillow probably smelled like him.

"Harry..." she murmured his name once again. Harry smiled sadly then kissed her forehead.

"I'm sorry," he whispered softly then sighed.

He gently got up from the bed and searched for Hermione's bag. He found the little object on Hermione's bed as well as his wand. Stripping his shirt which was caked with dried blood, he pulled out a checkered green button-up shirt from the bag and began to dress. He went into the loo to look at his appearance in the mirror. When he found himself presentable, he tried to remove the bandage from his head. No scars were found which made him smile. Hermione sure had outdone herself.

He exited the loo and glanced towards his bed where Hermione still slept peacefully. He sighed. She must have been planning to stay up all night to watch over him so she was exhausted. He let her catch up on her sleep while he went outside to whip up some breakfast for both of them.

...

Hermione woke up to see the empty spot on the bed beside her. She bolted upright. Where was Harry? Did he regret what they did last night? No, he didn't. He had kissed her back and asked her to stay with him. No, he didn't regret it. She could feel it. She knows now that he feels the same way about her. Then there's the problem of his saving-people-thing. She was expecting that he'll try to push her away to try to protect her. Hermione grimaced. Yes, he'll do just that. She knew him since they were eleven. She practically knows more about him than he does. She knows he'll try to push her away. But she'll be damned if she let him. She loves him too much to let him hurt himself. She steeled her resolve and anxiously anticipated the inevitable confrontation.

"Harry?" she called in a raspy voice.

"I'm outside!" a voice called out from outside the tent.

She immediately wore her sneakers which was found on the floor beside the bed and walked outside to find Harry in front of the fire, eating a bowl of soup and a sandwich. When he saw her, he smiled.

"Good morning. You hungry?" he said.

Hermione smiled back, joy bubbling up inside her. His smile always brightened up her day. She sat on the ground beside him when he offered her a bowl of what she thought as mushroom soup and a plate of turkey sandwiches. Breakfast was met with an awkward silence. Neither seemed to gather enough courage to speak up.

When they were finished eating and cleaning up, Harry turned to Hermione with a serious expression.

"Hermione... we need to talk," he said.

Hermione nodded. This was really going to happen. Harry will try to push her away. She readied herself for her responses. Harry led her inside the tent and they sat on two separate chairs parallel to each other. Harry rested his elbows on his knees while maintaining eye contact with Hermione.

He sighed. "Hermione... We can't-"

Hermione cut him off, her arms crossed over her chest. "No."

Harry's eyes widened in surprise. "What?"

"I said no, Harry. You can't push me away."

Harry sighed again. "Hermione, listen to me..." he tried once again.

"No, Harry. You listen. I love you, okay? I really do and I know you feel the same way about me. You kissed me back last night and asked me to sleep with you. So, no. I won't let you push me away, Harry."

"Hermione, it's too dangerous for you to be with me!" This time, Harry stood up and so did Hermione.

"If I really gave a damn about that, we wouldn't be having this conversation. No, Harry. I won't let you do this to yourself. You love me and I love you. What more do you need?"

"I need to keep you safe, Hermione. You're already in danger for being my best friend! What more if we were together-"

"Well, you already said it yourself, Harry. I am already in danger so it doesn't matter if we were together. Stop trying to deny both of us what we really want."

"He'll use you to get to me! No, Hermione! We can't be together."

"Stop it, Harry! Just stop it!" Hermione screamed, tears streaming down her face.

At the sight of her tears, Harry faltered a little. He hated seeing her cry- how much more when he's the reason why? His heart clenched and he felt like throwing up. But it had to be done.

Hermione launched herself into his arms and sobbed. Harry had to physically restrain himself to wrap his arms around her and comfort her, his hands clenched tightly at his sides. Hermione buried her head on his chest, soaking his shirt with her tears as she sobbed uncontrollably and kept shaking her head. "Harry... don't do this to me. I can only take so much. Please... don't push me away."

Harry shook his head, his throat drying up. "I'm sorry, Hermione. I won't put you in any more danger. I'm asking too much of you already. I'm only doing this to protect you, Hermione. I'm sorry."

Hermione shook her head violently. "No... I won't let you do this to me, Harry- to us." She raised her head to look desperately in his eyes. "I know you think you won't survive this war because of the prophecy. But, Harry, sod the prophecy! We'll both find a way to help you survive this bloody war, Harry, even if it's the last thing I do. Just... please don't push me away. I can't take it!"

Harry stared sadly into her teary chocolate eyes. He was about to say something when her mouth covered his in a desperate kiss. Her hands grabbed both sides of his face and pulled him closer towards her. Her tongue probed his mouth in a desperate way to make him respond to her ministrations. She was practically trying to remove his tonsils with all the passion she poured into the kiss. Harry battled with himself to remain unresponsive to her kiss even though he wanted to gather her up in his arms and never let her go again.

Hermione moaned and whimpered with his lack of response. When Harry gathered enough strength to push her away, she grabbed the front of his shirt. She trailed kissed from his jaw towards his neck, nibbling occasionally. She took his earlobe in her teeth and nibbled on it, her hands gripping his shirt tightly in an effort to keep him close. Her tongue languidly trailed down his neck and sucked on his pulse point.

This time, Harry groaned and closed his eyes. Hermione smiled at this. He couldn't remain unresponsive to what she was doing and she knew it. She unbuttoned the top buttons of his shirt as her tongue sucked on his Adam apple then latched on her tongue on his collarbone, sucking on it with wild abandon. At this point, Harry's hands managed to grip her waist in a desperate effort to stay upright. Hermione continued to unbutton his shirt while trailing kisses down his broad chest and washboard abs. Her hands wandered over his torso as she sucked on different parts of his neck.

Harry weakly tried to push her away. "Hermione... stop," he whimpered.

Hermione shook her head and pushed him on his seat, straddling his waist. She latched her mouth on his once again and practically tried to suck the life out of him.

Harry pushed her away once again. "Hermione, that's enough!" he said in a stern voice.

As if electrified, she scrambled away from him with her mouth agape. What was she doing? It was too much, wasn't it? Judging from Harry's stern stare, she had gone too far. In her desperate haze of trying to make him understand her, she had practically taken advantage of him. His shirt was unbuttoned with one side hanging off his shoulder, bruises adorned his neck, his hair stuck up on all angles, his glasses were crooked, and his lips were red and swollen.

A hand covered her mouth and she sobbed once more, making Harry soften his gaze. He sighed. "Hermione..."

Hermione shook her head, tears streaming down her face once more. "Harry... oh, Harry, I-I'm sorry." And she ran out of the tent. Harry stood up and frantically buttoned his shirt. He followed her out of the tent.

He froze at the sight before him. Hermione was being held by her hair, her wand on her throat, her face pale with fear. The figure holding her was a Snatcher. Fenrir Greyback grinned maliciously at him along with four other Snatchers. They had their wands pointing towards him.

"Well, well, well... if it isn't Harry Potter... oh, how handsomely we will be rewarded when we deliver you to the Dark Lord," Greyback snarled. "Accio wand!"

In an instant, Harry's wand came flying out from his trousers and into the werewolf's hand. Harry looked at Hermione, fear bubbling up inside him. He had to protect her!

"You got me, okay? Do anything you want with me! Just let her go!" Harry demanded.

Greyback laughed without humor in his voice. "No, I think I'll keep the Mudblood, Potter. She looks rather juicy herself." The other Snatchers laughed along with him.

Hermione's scream was the last thing he heard before he lost consciousness.