"Hello everyone! My name is Luna and I'm here with a new Harmony story. This idea has been running around my head for days and finally I've been able to put it into paper. It was originally thought as a one shot but if any of you want to read more, let me know and also let me know what you'd like to see in this story. I have some ideas but nothing solid yet...

The story focuses on Harry and Hemrione as a couple (because I love them together) and mostly on what happens after the war. Still, the story begins on a night during the time Harry and Hermione spent alone while they looked for the the horcruxes after Ron left them. In my story, Ron doesn't find them with the deluminator so the first chapter takes place around the end of January and Ron's still gone. There will be some time jumping taking place, I've decided to try to make it more clear by writing the dates so that you more or less know what's going on. Let me know if you have any questions.
I'm looking forward to see what you think about it :)
Disclaimer: Of course, I don't own Harry Potter.

Unbreakable

I. January, 1998

It had been so cold that night, and she had been crying silently while Harry slept. She'd just had another nightmare, and one that had been too vivid to shake off and go back to sleep. If she closed her eyes in the darkness, she could still see him. Harry laying on the ground, his green eyes open without looking, he was empty, dead. And she was alone, next in line to be murdered in cold blood.

She was shaking under the blankets, not even her warming charms were enough to fight the cold and the fear that was taking over her. And then she heard him. He'd been struggling in his sleep again, low whimpering sounds echoing inside the tent and Hermione knew he was having another nightmare. Just like she had. His breathing became more and more ragged and eventually, he whined as if he were in pain.

"Harry" she whispered in the dark. She tried again, but her soft, shaking voice wasn't enough to pull him out of the dark universe that had been created inside his mind.

"No!" he mumbled trying to kick the blankets off as he grumbled a string of incoherent words.

Still shaking from the cold, Hermione climbed out of her bed and tried to wrap a blanket around her before approaching Harry's bunk bed.

"Harry" she whispered kneeling next to him "Harry, wake up. It's just a nightmare…"

"No! Please!" he cried in his sleep, still too caught up in the darkness surrounding him to wake up.

Her voice made its way into Harry's mind and suddenly it wasn't him who was under the Cruciatus Curse, it was her and she was calling his name, she was in pain, she was in danger, he couldn't save her, he couldn't save himself. All he could see was darkness surrounding them, Hermione's screams deafening him. He couldn't stand the sight of her in pain under his enemy's curse. He screamed something impossible to decipher and Hermione tried to shake him awake.

"Harry!" she spoke louder this time, he was crying in his sleep, his nightmare seemed to be getting worse. "Harry, wake up" she touched his face gently and it seemed to work like a charm.

He suddenly opened his eyes looking scared and confused. For a second, the only sound in the tent was Harry's heavy breathing. The first thing he did was reach for his wand but Hermione's hand stopped him.

"Hermione" he mumbled looking around for a threat "Are you ok?"

"Everything's alright" she whispered glad to have been able to pull him out of that nightmare. "You were having a bad dream"

"Bad dream…" he repeated with a sigh and closed his eyes for a second. She was right there, holding his hand, alive, safe. "I'm sorry. Did I wake you?"

"No, don't worry. I've been drifting in and out of sleep all night. If it's not the cold, it's a nightmare… Apparently I won't be getting any sleep tonight" she told him quietly, she was still shaking and her teeth started to chatter with cold. "Maybe I'd better get dressed and go outside to keep watch."

"No, wait" without having a really good reason, Harry reached out for her hand, her fingers automatically intertwining with his "Hermione, you're freezing!"

"I… um… Yeah. I might be a little bit cold."

He didn't say anything, he just pulled her hand towards him and she climbed into his bed without a word. It wasn't the first time. The first time they had shared a bed had been after escaping Godric's Hollow, the two of them had been too scared of losing each other to sleep on their own beds. Sometimes it was because of the cold, sometimes it was because of a nightmare, sometimes it was a little bit of both. And some other times, it was because of something neither of them could put their finger on. Being close to each other gave them a kind of warm, peaceful feeling that they'd been craving for more and more as time went by. They told themselves that it was to fight the loneliness and the cold, that if something bad happened it would be easier to apparate away if they were together, that since they had only one wand available the best thing to was to remain close. A hundred excuses rose to the surface of their thoughts every time they thought about it. And they didn't even think about it much. It was just something that had developed naturally. War was making a number on them, deep down, they were terrified of losing each other and all they could do to cope with it was being as close as they could as much time as possible. Apparently nothing had changed, but for no apparent reason their nightmares were frequently more about losing each other than about being in danger themselves and after a bad dream the only thing that could calm them down was the other's touch.

Hermione snuggled against him and their arms soon found their usual position around each other. She let out a breath she didn't even know she had been holding and buried his hand on her brown curls. They were safe, no nightmare could reach them now.

"Better?" Harry asked once she was under the blankets. She nodded, but her teeth were still chattering with cold and she was still shaking so Harry held her closer against him enjoying the warm feeling of her head resting on his chest. After those last moments of his nightmare, he felt blessed to be holding her alive in his arms.

"Thank you" she whispered once she stopped shaking and her temperature seemed to start going back to normal.

"Blimey, Hermione! You're feet are freezing" Harry cursed under his breath when her almost frozen bare feet made contact with his legs.

"Sorry" She said trying to put some space between them but Harry didn't let her.

"It's ok, they'll warm up in a few minutes" he said as he allowed her to warm her freezing cold feet against his skin.

"What were you dreaming about?" she asked quietly.

"The Cruciatus Curse..." he answered in a very quiet whisper "The worst kind of pain imaginable." he sighed "Then you were there, under the curse and all I could do was watch" Harry shook his head trying to vanish the picture from his mind and held her tighter for a moment.

"We're ok" Hermione whispered taking a deep breath, revelling on the feeling of being in his arms, safe, away from harm.

"I know. It's just that sometimes I..." but he didn't finish and Hermione's curiosity got the best of her.

"Sometimes you what?" she asked looking up to meet his eyes.

"Don't worry about it."

"Harry..." she said gently "Tell me."

Harry gave a little sigh and nodded, she rested her head against his chest again and waited for him to talk.

"Sometimes I think you should have gone with him" Harry said almost noiselessly, there was no need to clarify who that him was. "When I think about what could happen to you, the danger I'm putting you in..."

"Shh..." she interrupted him before his thoughts went too far on that direction and her hand found his, their fingers automatically intertwining "I chose to stay, Harry. I chose to come with you on the first place" she closed her eyes for a second, breathing in his sweet smell "There's no place I'd rather be right now" she finished almost inaudibly, surprising herself with the truth of her words.

"This might be the most selfish I've ever been, but I'm glad you're with me, Hermione."

She smiled and shook her head softly.

"You don't have a selfish bone in your body, Harry Potter."

"You said you'd been having nightmares too?" he asked once a few minutes had passed.

"Yeah..."

"What was it?"

"It doesn't matter" she said, fighting the small lump that formed in her throat at the thought of her nightmare, Harry's face empty of life, dead. Her worst fear coming to life in her mind "I just don't want to lose you" she breathed out in a broken whisper.

"Hey... We're here, we're alright" he rubbed her arm gently. "You're ok?"

"Yes" she said, concentrating on the steady rhythm of Harry's heartbeat "I've just been having a rough night."

Harry nodded in understanding and they fell silent. He'd been getting used to that feeling, to her light weight on his chest, to holding her and stroking her hair when she was scared at night. He thought about her having nightmares about losing him, if he stopped to think about it for a second, it was his worst fear too. After losing so many people in his life, he should be the one to say that every lose is survivable, but her? He couldn't even bare to think about it.

Everything was so quiet and serene that Harry almost thought she'd fallen asleep but just as if she'd heard his unspoken question, she spoke.

"This is nice" she said and Harry felt the ghost of a smile playing on his lips. He had almost forgotten what it was like to feel nice after so long on the run but right there at that moment, he realised that he totally agreed with her.

"It is" he said and he gave her a small kiss on the top of her head.

He held her a little bit closer and buried his face in her hair. After spending more time alone with him and sharing his bed some nights, Hermione had learned how much Harry craved physical contact. Apparently, after an entire childhood without the comfort of a loved one's touch, Harry seemed to find utter happiness in a little bit of contact. She rested her palm against his chest gently, feeling his heartbeat on her hand, and used her fingertips to lightly caress his skin through the thin layer of fabric of his t-shirt. Harry sighed deeply and relaxed under her innocent touch, all nightmares forgotten for a blissful moment.

Hermione smiled. She felt glad to be there, in his arms, feeling the warmth of his skin against her. She could imagine herself with him like that the night after that, and a thousand nights after that. There was a rightness to being with Harry that she had only felt a few times before in her life.

And then realization washed over her.

It wasn't as one would imagine it to be. It was not a sudden awakening, it didn't feel like a breaking point, it didn't even surprise her. One moment she was there, enjoying the comfort of being held in his arms on a cold winter night when all they had was each other, the next moment she knew it. She loved him. It was as easy and fascinating as breathing in his fresh smell. It was cold, they didn't have enough to eat and everything was pretty much terrible, but there was no place she'd rather be other than next to Harry. On some level, she had always known it, she'd loved Harry even before she knew what love meant but all of a sudden that silent notion had become real in her head, ringing like a bell in the silence.

She felt at peace being with him like that, she never wanted it to end. Love. It was amazing that she remained so calm even after such realization had hit her.

"Harry?" she asked looking up and his eyes met hers.

She looked into his green eyes and she felt herself falling into depths of his gaze. She was suddenly reminded of all the times she'd been about to lose him, the fear, the pain. And she knew, even though she wanted to ignore it, she knew that she'd come close to lose him again soon. They were in the middle of a war, she didn't know how much time they had and suddenly she was filled with an impending feeling of urgency. She couldn't stand the thought of losing another minute.

"Hey…" he said with a worried look when he saw the storm of fear and emotion in her eyes "Are you ok?"

"What are we doing? What is this?" she asked in a thin voice.

"I'm sorry, I'm not following you."

Hermione took a deep breath trying to organize her ideas. She gave herself almost five minutes to try to come up with a coherent string of words but it just didn't come. It was so simple, yet so complicated. She loved him. How was it even possible that she hadn't noticed it before?

"Can I… Can I try something?" she asked looking deeply into his green eyes.

"Hermione, you're not making sense" Harry muttered looking at her with a worried frown.

"Shh. Please, close your eyes" she hushed him.

Looking back to it, she almost wished that it had been more surprising, more memorable. But it didn't, it had been as simple and natural as breathing out after taking a breath in.

He trusted her, so he did as she said and because she loved him, she closed her eyes and kissed him. Just like that. She closed the small distance between them and rested her lips against his for a moment. There weren't fireworks of stars shining behind her eyes but it still felt like magic. They remained frozen there for a endless moment and then Hermione looked up at him again.

"I love you" she said, her voice calm and peaceful and something inside of Harry's heart fell into place for the first time in a lifetime. He closed his eyes for a second, feeling the magic of those words running through his veins.

It was amazing that he wasn't even surprised by it. So natural, so easy… He pulled her closer to him and their lips met again. This time, they danced around each other, lips moving slowly, starting to explore. Hermione's hand went from Harry's chest to his black hair and his hands found their place around her waist, keeping her as close to him as possible. She felt so warm in his arms, so full of life. Kissing her was like holding on to life itself. He felt alive and weighless. He felt love washing over him, the kind of love built on friendship and trust. Every thought that had been scattered around his brain suddenly fell into place. That was why he couldn't stand the thought of losing her, why she was the only one who could actually comfort him after a nightmare. It was the most intense, pure, magical feeling he'd ever experienced.

"Say that again" he pleaded when they stopped kissing.

"I love you" she whispered slowly, gently caressing his cheek. Harry leant into her touch and Hermione smiled, unable to stop herself from giving him another warm lingering kiss. Kissing Harry felt new and thrilling but at the same time there was a warm familiar feeling around it, as if they had been doing it for their whole life. Nothing had ever felt so fitting in her life.

"No one's ever said that to me" he whispered so softly that for a moment Hermione thought that she had imagined it.

"Not even…?"

But she couldn't finish her question. Harry's lips were on hers again and that was worthy of being remembered as their first kiss. Harry shifted until he was half on top of her and he pressed his lips to hers. His kiss instantly deepened and became hungrier as Hermione's hands started to run over his back. She returned the kiss with a passion she didn't know herself capable of and soon her hands had managed to get Harry's t-shirt out of the way without even knowing how she'd done it. She didn't ponder upon that fact for too long, since Harry's bare skin on her hands made the tips of her fingers tingle as if she had just been hit with a perfectly cast Cheering Charm.

Suddenly, years of silently wanting him exploded inside of her and all she could think about was how intoxicating Harry was, how she needed him closer, how she wanted him more than she'd ever desired anything.

"Wait…" Harry breathed out, his forehead resting against hers, their breaths mixing in the small space between them "Wait. This… this is crazy."

"It is" Hermione said reaching up give him another tender, hungry kiss.

"This is wrong" he mumbled "What about…?"

"I don't care" Hermione interrupted him locking her arms around his neck "Don't you feel this?"

She kissed him again and then pressed a string of light kisses from his lips to his heart and back, Harry shivered at the contact. He felt real in her arms, she made him feel more alive than he had ever been.

"Does this feel wrong?" she asked him barely an inch away from his lips.

He didn't need to answer. His lips crashed into hers and she arched her back to feel him even closer. She needed every inch of his skin pressed against her, she needed him.

And for that blissful moment they weren't the Boy Who Lived and The Brightest Witch of her Age, they weren't two people playing a key role in defeating the most powerful dark wizard in the history of their country, they weren't on the run, they weren't alone. They were just a boy and a girl, filled with youth and love and curiosity. They were suddenly driven by the most all-consuming, intense kind of passion. And the world around them seemed to vanish. Nothing mattered other than the sweet and warm feeling of pure pleasure pulsing through their veins. Eventually, Hermione reached for her wand and with a flick, she vanished the rest of their clothes enjoying the paradise of being in contact with his skin.

"I love you too" Harry whispered in her ear while she trailed kisses down his neck.

Her heart fluttered at his words and when she looked up again she was beaming. They were both covered by a thin layer of sweat, breathing heavily and feeling half dazed from the pleasure of exploring each other's body. They were everywhere, kissing, touching, caressing, squeezing, stroking. All at once and still so delightfully slowly.

There was no need for questions to be asked. Harry's gleaming green eyes met Hermione's gaze and he saw forever reflected in her eyes. He wanted to live, he wanted to keep this feeling forever. She gave him her silent approval and he kissed her as deeply and ardently as he could. She kissed him back with all she had and, with a heavenly movement, he thrust inside her. She arched her back and met him halfway, digging her nails into his back and gasping at the overwhelming feeling of him.

"You're ok?" he fought for breath as he pressed small butterfly kisses on her left shoulder.

She nodded before she took his face between her hands to kiss him again. She'd never get tired of the feeling of him, around her, inside her, everywhere. They easily managed to leave behind the clumsiness of the first few minutes and found a perfect rhythm. Their hearts were racing, their breathing getting heavier and heavier. Hermione felt it first, a pang of sheer, endless pleasure shooting through her body, shattering her thoughts and shaking her whole being all at the same time. She spasmed and the relaxed in Harry's arms who fell on top of her only two minutes after that, totally consumed and overwhelmed. They were both dizzy and shaking and they clung to each other almost desperately, frightened to close their eyes and lose the magic of the moment.

"Everything's going to change" Hermione whispered after a long moment of blissful silence, her hand was still buried in Harry's wet hair gently stroking his scalp.

Harry, who had been pressing light kisses to her chest, looked up to meet her eyes and smiled.

"Do you really love me?" he asked sounding totally serious for a moment.

"Yes" she answered without missing a beat.

Harry reached up to kiss her again, a long loving kiss that neither wanted to end. When they had to end the kiss because the need for air was too strong, Harry dropped a string of chaste kisses from her lips to her left ear and then he took a deep breath.

"I never want this to end… I love you" he whispered in her ear.

"Harry…"

"Shh…" he closed his eyes for a second, allowing his Gryffindor courage to take over "Marry me" never had a combination of words felt so perfect on Harry Potter's lips, he could feel the thud of his racing heartbeat all over his body, he'd never feel something as intense in his entire existence.

"What?" Hermione's voice broke.

"If this is what love feels like…" Harry sighed looking at her directly in the eye "I want this, I want this forever. Promise me we'll survive the war… promise me after all this is all over you and I…"

"Yes" she interrupted him knowing that that small, three lettered word would change the course of her life forever.

"Really?" he asked and she nodded, tears shining in her eyes at the thought of having hope, having something to look forward to after the war was over. "Will you?" he asked again, because he couldn't believe something good was finally on the cards for him.

"Yes" she beamed and their lips collided in another brief kiss "Yes I will" she kissed him again "As soon as this is over" and again "I…" and again "... love you."

For the first time in what felt like forever, they were filled with hope and joy and the kind of strength only love can provide. That night they made love again before they fell asleep tangled in each other's arms with smiles shining on their faces and the promise of a bright future after the war burning in their hearts. Dark times were ahead of them and they didn't even know if they could keep their promise. They knew deep down that everything could be taken from them by the war, but that night, that wild, sheer feeling of hope and love that burned inside them, that could never be taken away. That was the kind of power that would make them unbreakable.