Disclaimer: Harry Potter and the associated milieu belongs to J. K. Rowling and various publishers. I'm just borrowing the characters and the world for my own fun.
Post-OOTP, Seventh year. Voldemort is... gone.
Harry Potter knew he was in trouble. While there was nothing new with that – he had certainly had his share of problems during his six and half years in Hogwarts – it was different this time. This time the problem had nothing do to with Dark Wizards or anyone else but Harry himself. And as usual when he had a problem he counted on his best friend, Hermione Granger's help. She was after all said to be the smartest witch of the century.
When you wanted to find Hermione, the library was the first place to look at. Especially now that it was only four months to the NEWTs (the final exams of Hogwarts) she had taken almost permanent residence in the said library. And that's where Harry found her; sitting in front of a table, surrounded by heaps of books and rolls of parchment, deep in thought while reading an old dusty tome. He noticed the very slight change in her demeanour as she noticed him–she probably had her wand ready to be used in a blink of an eye. The war ended a few months ago, but it has left it's marks on us, he thought sadly.
"Hi, Hermione," he said lightly.
"Hi, Harry," she replied still staring at the book. After a few seconds she raised her head and looked at him with a small smile. "You ok?" she asked, noticing that he was carrying two cloaks.
She's on a good mood today, he thought with some relief. If she was on a foul mood while studying, even a herd of dragons couldn't drag her away from her books. The smile also lifted his spirits like nothing else could these days. "Yeah. I just, uhm, wanted to talk to you about something. In private, I mean," he said.
"Of course. I really need a break to think about something anyway," she said while stretching her back and arms. She carefully rolled the parchments on the table and put them on her pack. She took a quick look around and cast a spell on the books she had on the table. The books vanished and Harry noticed some of them appearing in the bookshelves around them.
"Uhm, Hermione, you know you're not supposed to use magic in the library," he said, slightly shocked as Hermione always obeyed the rules in the library, especially when it came to the treatment of the books.
She rolled her eyes in a very Hermione-like fashion (another thing which gave Harry a warm feeling inside these days). "Yes, I know, but I've seen Madam Pince do the same several times while closing the library. The rule should only apply for younger students, as anyone above fourth year can use a banishing charm."
Yes, for a one or two books at a time, but two dozen at once? He thought, but didn't say anything. Her slightly superior attitude was after all another of those things that made him smile inside (and sometimes outside, too). "So, shall we go outside? It's a cold, but nice day and I don't think there's too crowded there," he asked offering her one of the cloaks he was carrying.
"That sounds good," she said and took the cloak as they started to walk towards the entrance hall.
"That book you were reading, it didn't actually look like standard NEWT material?" he asked.
"Oh, no. Just some background reading. It discussed an alternative theory on emotion based charms," she said.
"Like the Patronus charm?" he asked.
"Exactly. The theory represented in that book is that the emotion behind the charm helps to channel the magic needed by the charm," she said.
"As opposed to?" he asked. He was quite interested in this topic, as Patronus charm was one of his favourite spells. Dementors were some of the foulest and most evil Magical Creatures after all.
"Well, the other theory is that the emotion actually powers the charm," she replied.
He thought about it for a moment, before asking, "what's the difference? I mean, in both cases you need a strong emotion to cast the charm?"
She launched into a lengthy lecture about the differences between the theories and her own view on the matter.
While talking they had passed the entrance hall and were halfway to the lake already. Harry thought he should stop Hermione from going further into her "lecture mode" or he'd have a two hour lecture on charms theory. "Yeah, that makes sense," he said quickly before she could go any further.
She was distracted from her thoughts by his interruption and she remembered why they were here. "Sorry," she said sheepishly. "so, what was it you wanted to talk about?" she asked.
"Well, I seem to have developed an... addiction," he finished after a pause.
After hearing the last word her brain started coming up with possible things he could be addicted with. Alcohol or drugs? No, she would have noticed those. Eating? No, as far as she remembered he had eaten normally. And besides he hadn't gained any weight? Sex? Definitely not! Someone would have noticed if he had started... well, uhm, never mind. No I'm going this the wrong way, she thought. Have I noticed anything different in him lately? But try as she might, she couldn't think of anything different in him lately
"Uhm, what exactly are you addicted to?" she asked finally.
"I think it needs a bit of an explanation and I think I should start from the beginning," he said. "I think it started in our sixth year. I didn't notice it back then, but now that I think back at that time, it was there already. And I guess it makes sense; after the OWLs there was only two years until the NEWTs and then we'd be out of Hogwarts. Before that I hadn't really thought about ever leaving Hogwarts, it felt like I'd be here forever, but anyway," he noticed he'd started babbling and decided to get on with the story.
"Sixth year wasn't too bad and we spent most of the summer at Number 12, but then at the beginning of this school year I started spending a lot of time with Dumbledore, getting ready for Voldemort, and I felt just awful. At first I thought it was just the separation, after all missing something important to you is just normal. But it didn't go away after the final battle, after all returned to more or less normal. Actually the feeling just seemed to get stronger, and it still does. And now with our last year nearing the end, I just don't know what to do," he finished sadly.
What? Was Hermione's first thought. His explanation didn't make any sense at all. "Harry? What exactly do you miss? And could you just say what you're addicted to?" she asked.
"You, of course," he replied as if it was obvious.
Hermione was taken a back by his revelation. "You're... addicted to me?"
"Yes," he said in a slightly anguished voice. "I didn't notice it during sixth year or last summer as we were together most of the time, but last autumn I spent so much time with Dumbledore that I only saw you briefly once or twice a day. You know, I felt like there was something missing and I felt unhappy and only thing that seemed to cheer me up was these... little things I noticed in you all the time. I thought it would return normal after the battle, but it didn't, I still notice all the little things and they always make me happier."
"Little things? Like what?" she asked perplexed.
"Like the way you roll your eyes, or how you sometimes sit reading on the couch in the Gryffindor common room. You look so adorable, curled comfortably on the couch with a book on your lap. And your hair is always, uhm, somewhat tame in the morning, but gets more bushier during the day. And then there's your smile... that's one of the things I like most about you–" he would have probably continued for the rest of the day if he hadn't been stopped by something unexpected.
While she had been listening to him, something had stirred inside of her and she did something impulsive, something that she'd never be able to explain to herself later. She kissed him.
She didn't have much experience on kissing, at least on practical level, so she worked on instinct instead. She closed the distance between them, tilting her head barely in time to avoid bumping their noses together, and pressed her lips against his. Her hands had a mind of their own and they wrapped around his neck, while she started to move her lips against his. He was surprised, but he too was working on instinct. He reciprocated almost instantly and put his arms around her waist. They enjoyed the kiss for a moment, before he pulled back.
"Oh no," he said with a horrified face. The thought that perhaps she had made a mistake had barely registered in her head before he continued. "Why did you do that? Now I'll get addicted to that too and I can't just go around kissing my best friend," he finished with anguished voice.
"Harry?" she said softly and waited until he looked at her. "I don't think you're addicted," she said with a hint of amusement in her voice.
"Huh? But, what about–" he started..
"No, I think you're falling in love with me," she interrupted him.
"Oh." His eyes widened as he comprehended her words and suddenly realized that she was probably right.
"Is that... good?" he asked in a timid voice.
She smiled widely at him. "Yes, because I think I'm addicted to you too," she said, before kissing him again.
The End
A/N: I know, it's silly but I have an excuse: this is the first piece of fan fiction I've ever written (unless you count some really short doodlings, which I don't). I originally thought that this was too silly to be published and just let it rot on my hard drive for several months, until I read it recently and did some editing, and here it is!
Hope you enjoyed reading this and thanks in advance for the reviews.