Hello again! It's been like five minutes lol, but I just finished the last little touches to the chapter so I thought I may as well post it. I'm going to try and work on the Epilogue as soon as I can, but I'm not entirely sure when I'll post it. So look forward to that!

All of my work is unbeta'd at the moment, so if you notice any mistakes please feel free to PM me and let me know. Thank you :D

Please leave a review and let me know what you think ;)

My tumblr: indiebluecrown. tumblr. com

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, and only the story line belongs to me. I added in the lyrics of 'Count Me In' by Early Winters at the end, so I just want to have a disclaimer saying that it doesn't belong to me either. (It's one of my favourite songs currently.)

For Lais and Dis xxx you darling, darling friends of mine.

Everything just fell back into place, like it used to be before all this mess.

"I'll make some tea, you go get changed out of those wet clothes," Hermione said with a tight smile, and she averted her eyes quickly as she hurried towards the kitchen. She did a bit of fumbling about since she didn't know where everything was.

Well, almost like it used to be.

Ten minutes later, Harry's hair was still a bit damp since he had run some shampoo through it quickly-washing it for the first time in two days. His chilled bones had warmed from his scalding hot shower, and he had tipped his head back into the spray as the shampoo rinsed from his hair and the soap ran off his body.

Now he was dressed in a pair of black, loose, cotton pyjama pants, and and his old Quidditch Jersey from school, his feet bare and his glasses still a little fogged from the steam in the bathroom. Nervously he had brushed his teeth-twice.

Hermione was staring out of one of the living room windows, a cup of tea in her hand, but she made no movement to drink it. Harry paused in the corridor, still in the shadows, and he simply watched her. This may be the last time she would ever speak to him, and he wanted to remember her like this, just like this.

Inhaling deeply Harry stepped out into the light, anxiously pushing his glasses backwards on the bridge of his nose.

Hermione sensed him then and she turned around, a gentle, easy smile on her face, but her eyes were worried, filled with uneasiness. Which of course worried him.

"Are you okay, Hermione?" Harry asked, gesturing to the cream sofa and she padded over to it, sinking into it and then she put her cup of tea on the dark chocolate coloured coffee table. Harry watched the steam curl and drift off of the milky brown liquid, but he shook his head and returned his attention to Hermione.

He noted that she had taken off her boots, coat and jumper. All that she was left in now was a white camisole, her black jeans. Her wild curls were pulled back into a high ponytail, going in all kinds of different directions, a few had sprung free and were now framing her face.

"Why wouldn't I be-" Hermione frowned, but then she cut herself off as she understood perfectly, crystal clear, "-because I'm here."

"Yea," Harry said dumbly, biting his lip.

"I wanted to tell you something-"

"I want to tell you something," Harry interjected, "is it alright if I go first?"

Hermione's brow puckered but she nodded nonetheless, twisting so she was facing him entirely. His eyes glanced at how she was wringing her hands in her lap, she's nervous, he concluded. Why?

Right, okay, just say that you've wanted to tell her this for a very long time, and she's brilliant and that you think she's the most amazing person ever. Simple. Not simple. This is the farthest thing from simple. Damn. Okay. Just breathe and then tell her how you feel. Harry was getting caught up in his head again, so he dug his fingers into his palm and took a deep breath.

"I'm in love with you," Harry blurted out, well that's nowhere near what I wanted to fucking say, thank you mouth for mucking that up so badly. It wasn't anything like what was going through his head, it wasn't anything like what he had imagined this moment to be in the countless times he had played this scenario in his head. Hermione's eyes widened exponentially, her mouth parted and she simply looked dumbstruck.

Harry didn't know what to do so he just kept talking, "I mean. I'm an idiot, and I should have told you months ago and I am rambling, and this is not going like how I imagined it would. I just. You just. You shine. You shine brightly, and I'm always drawn to you in a room, no matter how many people are there. You are the light that shines through the doom and gloom. You are beautiful and smart and talented. You're so much better than I am, and you deserve to be happy, you deserve someone like Nott to make you happy. You deserve-" Harry didn't know where he was going with that train of thought, most likely more things that he hadn't planned on saying-but he was cut off abruptly. Hermione leapt forward, her arms around his neck and her lips crashed against his. It was shocking and their teeth hit each other, but it wasn't enough for him to let her go. Godric, he was never going to let her go. Never.

Harry's arms wrapped around her waist, and her shirt was riding up slightly so his fingers met bare skin. Her beautiful mocha skin.

Her fingers were buried in his hair, and she was smiling into their kiss, it was soft and it felt like home. A burst of warmth was building in his stomach, his body relaxed and sagged with relief. He slowly laid back on the couch, and she climbed in his lap, her knees on either side of his hips.

Then they were laughing breathily and everything just fit. It just fit.

"I love you too, you messy haired idiot," Hermione laughed, but she began to cry happily at the same time so it was a bit watery.

A crack of thunder engulfed them then, and made both of them jump, Harry instinctively pulled Hermione closer, and she buried her face in the side of his neck, her arms cradling his head. Her breath was warm against his skin, and he could feel her chest rising and falling against his. He was drawing nonsensical patterns on the exposed skin on her back-moving into the dip from the small of her back and back up again.

It was where he belonged, with her, right here with her. Always with her.

The thunder rolled and boomed, and the lightning violently flashed as it shot towards the ground, and all he could do was hug her. Hug her and take in her scent.

She still tasted like vanilla and honey.

Half a mile out, knee deep in, hooked on a dream that is reelin' me in. Oh is this how we begin? Flowers on fire in black and white film.

Curtains of rain on the pier, watching the skirt of the day disappear. Caught like a wheel in a groove. I'm crankin' it big but it don't wanna move.

Count me in, oooh, count me in, oooh, count me in.

Thank you for reading this story. Really. Thank you.

Love,

Indieblue xxx

Sunday, September 11th, 2016.

November 24th, 2016 - This is a just a little note to let you all know that I kind of really like how open ended this was, whilst having some closure, so I don't think I'll write an Epilogue since I don't think it would do this justice. Again, thank you all so much for reading this story *hearts*