A Great Deal of Bravery

Author's Note: Firstly, I do not own plot, characters and miscellaneous details from Harry Potter. That joy and privilege belongs to Ms Rowling. Secondly, I hope you will excuse the Weasley bashing that occurs in this fiction, but after going on a bit of a Harry/Hermione and Hermione/Snape fanfiction spree this past fortnight, I had the idea - particularly relating to the former pairing - that the Weasleys are incredibly presumptuous when it comes to their 'adopted' children and I thought this story would be a good opportunity for me to explore a Harry/Hermione pairing story that goes against Weasley interference without character assassination or OOC Weasley bashing. Anyways, all will be made clear over the nine chapters that I've planned for this story and most importantly, I hope you enjoy it enough to leave some reviews, as quite honestly these are the only things that make my day!

Happy reading,

DAENERYSTARGARY3N

"It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends." ~ Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

The saviour of the wizarding world was lost. He was truly lost in the castle he had learned to call home. While he wandered the halls of the battered building, he simply let his legs carry him wherever they went since his brain had resigned control over his body. Harry had no idea where his legs were taking him but in the wake of Voldemort's demise he had nowhere he had to be so was content to just walk.

"Harry? Harry, where are you going?"

The Boy Who Lived heard the voice call his name but somehow the words did not register. He knew it was Hermione's voice of eternal and unrelenting care that beckoned him away from his taciturnity but he could not force words of reply from his lips to answer his best friend. All his remaining energy went into putting one foot in front of the other.

As his journey continued he became aware of echoing footsteps from behind him, following him. He turned and looked at his pursuer but Hermione's battle-worn and scarred face bore no signs of irritation or anger at his unexplained trek through the castle but concern and the willingness to follow wherever he chose to go shone from every pore.

"Where are we going?" She asked, once he did not look away from her and begin his hike again.

"I don't know, 'Mione," Harry croaked hoarsely, "I just need to keep moving. If I'm moving…"

"If you're moving," Hermione continued with surety, "they can't find you to bother you."

Any other friend or acquaintance and her words would have been uttered as a question, but Hermione Granger, heralded as the brightest witch of the age, knew him so well that there was no doubt in her statement. She had followed him without faltering once in all the seven years they knew each other, a feat no other had managed. Harry remembered that fact in that moment and accepted that hers was the only presence he could tolerate while he was preparing his mind and body for a world with no threat, no Voldemort, no fight.

He held his hand out to her in friendship so they could walk side by side. Hermione Granger had no business following him anymore, she had more than earned her place at his side and deserved to be seen as his equal and a true heroine to the wizarding world.

"It's been hours, Harry. The battle's been over for hours and people are beginning to clear out and go home. The Weasleys except Ron and Ginny, they're waiting for me to find you and bring you back, have just taken Fred back to the Burrow. You know they're expecting us to go back there with them."

"I know. Let's go back to the Entrance Hall," Harry decided, once more feeling the pang of obligation, "let's take them home. They'll all need us to cope with losing Fred."

Hermione nodded, her thoughts returning to her boyfriend waiting with his sister for their partners in the Entrance Hall. She loved Ron, she did, she was sure, but the prospect of being confined in the Burrow with a large family in the throes of mourning made her belly hurt. It was only the knowledge that Harry would be with her among the sea of grieving Weasleys that kept her from running for miles.

Harry observed Hermione's expression change from concern for him to outright fear and anxiety. He knew Ginny was waiting for him and that they were back together as they'd both hoped, but his mind drifted to his immediate future of crying redheads, days where his friends would be inconsolable and the Burrow would be inescapable.

Both found themselves soon enough in the vast Entrance Hall and in the suffocating embraces of their ginger boyfriend and girlfriend, completely and wholeheartedly wishing that their foreseeable futures in a warless world entailed more than wallowing in sorrow with a family that was not their own.