Harry, Hermione and Ron were on the run. They were determined to find all the horcruxes and end this war. They had found the slytherin necklace but needed to wait until they could destroy it. They were all walking and Hermione had the necklace. She had been acting colder towards them, Harry realized. He carefully approached her and tapped her shoulder.
“‘Moine, maybe you should take off the necklace, it has so much dark magic in it,” Harry said, his eyes trailing over her body. She was skinnier than before, she had huge bags under her eyes and her skin had sunken into her face. She looked ill. She nodded and gently raised her hands to her neck, Harry grabbed her hair and held it up, she unclasped the necklace and handed it over to Harry. She let out a shaky breath and Harry rubbed her neck.
“That thing is dangerous, we really need to destroy it, it talks to you and shows you fake worlds everytime you close your eyes,” she whispered.
“Here, I’ll wear it for now,” Ron volunteered, taking it from Harry and inserting himself between Harry and Hermione. Harry rolled his eyes, he knew his best friend liked Hermione but he didn’t cherish her the right way. Hermione was amazing through Harry’s eyes, she was intelligent and always knew just how much she could bend the rules her way before she would have to face the consequences. Harry truly liked her, he wished he could tell Ron but he thought Harry liked his sister. Harry handed off the necklace to Ron and watched as he slipped it on. Hermione found a good location to set up their camp for the night.
“Over here will be good. We can set the wards in between these trees so we are safe,” Hermione started reaching into her bag and finding the tent. Harry volunteered to go and set up the wards, he took this time to think about what everyone was sacrificing, mainly what Hermione had sacrificed. She had erased all memory of herself from her parents, she now had literally no family. No one in the muggle world would remember who she was and now she only had Ron and Harry. He set the strongest wards and noticed-me-not charms he knew and returned to the camp. The tent was set up with another notice-me-not charm up around it, as he got closer he heard shouting from inside.
“Ron, leave me alone! I’m trying to get everything set up!” Hermione said while trying to get Ron’s hands off of her shoulders.
“‘Moine come on, this necklace is making me think bad things, but you can help me just give me a kiss and it’ll all go away,” he pleaded while touching her. His hands traced her shoulders and got dangerously close to her chest.
“No Ronald. Go away before I make you,” she threatened, wand at the ready to hex him away. Ron still didn’t get the hint, Harry saw red. No one touched Hermione without her consent. He rushed in and dragged Ron away from her as she was trying to do work on their safe house.
“Ron you can’t go around touching whoever whenever. She told you No you need to respect that,” Harry scolded sitting his friend down on one of the beds.
“BS! You just say that because you like her!” Ron shouted. Harry was fuming.
“That is not why! You just need to have basic respect Ron,” Harry yelled back. Ron swung first fortunately he missed.
“You don’t understand Harry! I’m dealing with a lot of stress and worries. All your family is dead” Ron seethed, swinging at Harry again. Harry quickly jumped back and put more distance between the two of them.
“Then go be with them! We will be fine without you, Ron!” Harry yelled back. Hermione stood stock still. Ron started hastily packing his belongings. He threw the necklace back at Harry and started to storm out of the tent before stopping at the entrance and walking back to Hermione and getting all up in her face.
“Me or Him! Who are you staying with?” He yelled right in her face.
“H-Harry, I’m staying on this hunt,” she stuttered, body in fight or flight mode she was braced for an impact that never came. Ron stormed out of the tent and they all felt it when he left the wards. Hermione broke down crying as Harry ran over to her.
“Moine, hey hey shhh, you’re okay, I promise, I got you,” he whispered to her, holding her in his arms. Harry stroked her hair as she cried on his shoulder. They stayed there holding each other for a few more minutes. Harry realized she was freezing.
“Hermione, you should get changed, you’re freezing,” Harry mentioned. She simply nodded and went into the room area and switched into some pajamas. She looked stunning in Harry’s opinion. She could wear whatever she wanted and she would always look amazing.
“Harry… Could you sleep beside me?” Hermione asked, she felt incredibly vulnerable, but she was still cold and she felt warm whenever Harry held her.
“Of course Hermione,” Harry said, gently holding her shoulders and guiding her back to the bedroom. “We’ll set alarms so we’re safe,” he said, sitting her down on the bed as he changed into more comfortable pants. She curled up into a small ball with her back facing Harry. He quickly came down and started to spoon her. He felt her body shaking before he heard her crying.
“Shh Hermione, it’ll be okay, he’ll come back,” Harry assured. She turned to face him,
“I don’t want him to come back, that was the first time a man has ever made me feel truly scared, I thought he was going to hit me…” Hermione whispered into his chest. Harry honestly did not know what to say.
“You know with me you are never in danger of things like that right? I would’ve kicked his ass before he was able to lay a hand on you, I promise you that,” Harry promised, he stroked her hair and held her closer to him. His hands drifted up and down her back.
The duo kept up this routine, every night they would work together and continue on the move together, attempting to find anything new and come up with a worse case scenario plan. Hermione was always there to comfort Harry when he woke up with a nightmare, she would make him tea and trace wand configurations on his back. Harry would attempt to guess which one she was doing but was nearly always wrong. The two would eat together and then some days they would dance. They crossed over Hermione’s birthday in late September and Harry made her a cake with frosting that read ‘Happy Birthday ‘Moine!’. She cried. That night Hermione woke up in the middle of the night due to a nightmare.
“AHH! No NO!” she screamed into the dead of night, Harry woke with a start right beside her. Hermione’s eyes were darting everywhere trying to place where she was. She continued to hyperventilate and not be able to place where she was.
“Hey Hermione, it’s Harry,” he said calmly. He was attempting the same techniques she used with him. He rubbed her back but she just looked more startled. He was struggling to see her like this. She looked so small and fragile, she looked terrified of everything in this dark, tiny, tent they were calling home. Harry did the one thing he could think of to help calm her down. He just kissed her. He grabbed her waist and lifted her into his lap without leaving their kiss. His hands were all over her, in her hair along her back, trailing just under her shirt, he honestly wasn’t sure what to do. Hermione moaned into his mouth and shoved her hands into his disastrous hair. His hands confidently rested along her lower back underneath her shirt. Harry pulled away and started trailing kisses down her neck.
“H-Harry, mm… Harry,” Hermione moaned. He was perfectly okay with listening to her moan his name all night long. He bit down and sucked hard on her pulse point. He felt her gripping his hair even harder when he did. He pulled away to see her eyes blown, her hazel eyes now just had a very thin hazel ring around the pupil and she was looking at him like he was her favorite.
“Hey Love, welcome back, thought I lost you for a second” he whispered in her ear, gently biting her ear. She was panting and she leaned on him.
“Harry,” she whined against him. He laughed as he kissed her gently. She tasted like black tea and chocolate. He was cupping her face, fingers running just over her cheek bones.
“Hermione,” Harry teased, as he kissed her forehead. Harry laid them back down with Hermione still in his lap but now she was lying on top of him. She attempted to move but Harry held her against him. “You’re a perfect fit right here, don’t bother moving,” he mumbled against her hair. She nodded and yawned before sleep overtook them. Hermione woke up first and slowly moved off of Harry. She gave him a light kiss before leaving the bedroom part of the tent. She made some breakfast, simple porridge and black tea. She added two sugar cubes into Harry's cup. She was pouring the tea when two muscled arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her into a sturdy chest. She leaned her head against his shoulder as leaned down to kiss her neck.
“Harry, mm we have to -mm- pack up and..mm. head to the next spot.”Hermione attempted to say as Harry continued kissing up and down her neck, making sure to suck a little harder on the already swollen hickey.
“Of course dear, whatever you wish,” he said against her neck, removing himself from her back and sitting down at the table. She rolled her eyes as she brought over tea and breakfast.
“Do you know what direction we need to head in to find a Hufflepuff goblet?” Hermione asked as she slowly drank her tea, Harry was playing with her feet under the table.
“I think it's about 30 kilometers west, we’ll be walking quite a bit to the apparition site.” he said as he ate. They quickly packed up their house and continued on, Harry gently took her hand and they walked and talked all day. Harry glanced around before pulling Hermione to the side of the path behind a tree. His lips immediately attached to hers, his hands landing in her back jean pockets.
“‘Moine do you know how long I’ve stared at your ass while on this hunt?” Harry asked hypothetically, squeezing her ass through her jeans. She fell against his chest with a quiet moan. He pulled her in closer and kissed her deeply. Pulling her front flush against his. Her hips bucked accidentally, they both groaned at the contact.
“A while?” she asked as he kissed down her neck.
“Mhmm,” he hummed against her neck. They continued to make out against the tree, Harry’s hands messed around with her button when Hermione pulled back.
“Harry, we have to get the apparition point. This can happen later,” she whispered out. Harry backed off of her, and nodded in agreement. The duo talked about everything and nothing at all. He learned a lot about Hermione, how she would stutter over her words when she got excited, when all talk of her parents made her grow somber, all light in her eyes went out. He recognized how Hermione had bright, light brown eyes with hints of green and yellow. When she talked about magic there was a sense of childhood wonder. And she listened so intently, Harry was talking about stories about his family and his parents. She gave him all her attention, her eyes shone with focus on them, she listened with her whole body. When Harry talked about something truly sad her shoulders shuddered slightly as she took in a deep breath to stop from crying. He learned about her experience in the muggle world when she was a child and the struggle she had transitioning into the wizarding world. Soon enough they were at the apparition sight and holding onto each other to get to their new camp. This one was hidden deep in the forest, with limited exposure to any sort of civilization. The duo got about setting up their camp, Hermione performing the difficult spells to protect them and make their camp unable to be seen, while Harry set up the tent and made sure everything was in place. He started making whatever food they had in the tent, which consisted of four cans of soup, some pasta, tea and porridge. He cooked one can of soup and laid out the plates for them. Hermione walked back into the tent with minimal noise and came up behind him. She laid her head against his sturdy back and let her arms wrap around his stomach.
“Mm cold,” she mumbled as her hands drifted up and down his sweater. Her hands made their attack as they slipped underneath all of his layers to his warm bare stomach. The warm September nights were coming to a close as the chillier October evenings crept in.
“Jesus ‘Moine you’re freezing,” Harry shouted as he tried to jump away from her frosty hands. He turned to face her and grabbed her hands and squeezed them between his warmer hands. He grabbed his wand with one hand still holding her two hands together and cast a temporary warming charm over her and focused more on her hands. Once she was warm he held her close and stroked her crazy curls.
“We should eat, I made us soup,” Harry whispered gently as he shifted his body weight. They both sat down and ate in companionable silence. All the noise that filled the tent was the gentle slurping and swooshing of the soup, their breaths in sync and the sounds of an owl outside in the forest. Harry was seated on his bed, his back resting against the wall, staring at a map and crossing off their previous location. He continued to stare at the map and compare it with their previous clues of this hunt. He sat there pondering and writing down vague notes and where the next location could possibly be. He felt his bed dip down and felt Hermione lay down in between his legs. His hand out of habit went into her curls and started separating the knots. He looked down at her and saw what book she was reading, ‘Hogwarts a History’, he smiled at the nostalgia. She quietly yawned and Harry gently pushed the book away from where it was hovering above her face and ran his fingers over her eyebrows and down her nose.
“Harry, I'll fall asleep,” Hermione whispered as she shifted onto her side and held one of his legs to her chest, her head lying right in his lap.
“Love that’s fine, just rest, I'm gonna try and figure this out, just sleep Hermione,” Harry confirmed, running his fingers through her hair. She just nodded and dozed off to sleep. Harry continued his notes before slowly succumbing to sleep himself. He slowly slid down the mattress and pulled Hermione flush against his chest. He felt like a protector every time he held her. It pushed him to continue to be the best version of himself possible as he watched over her. He always wanted to be there to protect her and keep her safe from any danger or harm. He tucked her into him and held her protectively as he fell asleep.
Hermione woke up early the next morning, she had slept great all curled around Harry, she looked up at him and tried to commit his relaxed and gentle expression to memory. She gently kissed his chin before moving up his face. She placed many kisses on his cheeks and nose before moving down his neck. She bit gently on his pulse point before sucking enough to bruise. Hermione felt Harry’s hand move to the back of her neck and bring her lips to his. Hermione moaned into his mouth. He released her mouth and trailed down her neck leaving bite marks and light bruises against her pale skin. Hermione let out a choked breath. She was in sweatpants and a thick sweater as Harry was in jeans and the same sweater he wore yesterday.
Hermione’s hands lifted the hem of his shirt, she made eye contact with Harry as he gently nodded his head, she removed it from his body. Her sweater also leaves her body leaving her in just her sweatpants. Harry gasped and flipped them over before starting to unbutton his jeans. Harry placed his hand just under the waistband of her sweats, his thumb rubbing circles on her hip bone. His hand moved from her hip down between her thighs. She was soaking wet.
“Crist Hermione,” Harry moaned. He worked a finger inside of her and helped to ease her nerves. Quickly she was a moaning mess around his fingers. She was beautiful as she orgasmed around his fingers. He kicked his jeans off and peeled her sweats the rest of the way off. She gazed up at Harry with large eyes, they were vulnerable and nervous but they were filled with trust.
“Hermione, can I..?” Harry asked hesitantly. Harry was staring at her patiently.
“Yea, yes you can,” she whispered. Harry gently pushed inside her. He moaned and she gasped. Harry waited for Hermione to adjust to him.
“Are you okay?” Harry asked, stroking her face.
“Yea, I’m okay, you can move,” Hermione responded. Harry moved gently at first before they were both able to gain some confidence. Hermione was thrusting back against him. They were both moaning and Harry collapsed on top of Hermione.
Harry rolled off of her and gently pulled the blanket around the both of them. He cradled her to his chest and they slept lazily together for the rest of the day. It was special for both of them. The next few weeks the duo grew more intimate and learned new things about each other. They whispered secrets to one another in the dead of night and talked about an imaginary future they could share together if they were lucky. Mentioned going exploring all throughout the world to experience cultures, Hermione said she wanted to go back to school and become a master at charms because she found them fun. Harry talked about starting a leisure life, a family, steady job, maybe going to help others somehow. They learned each other's tricks with each other's bodies creating mental maps and leaving evidence of where they had been. They became all too familiar and basked in each other frequently. This was one of the one pieces of pleasure they both allowed themselves.
So it was a shock when Ron Weasley showed back up outside their tent, with Harry in tow with a broken necklace, with all intentions to help them with their hunt again. Hermione walked up to Ron and tore into him, she was upset he had abandoned them as if they weren’t all worried about their friends, classmates, mentors, and family. She walked away from them to the edge of their wards.
“Lemme talk to her Ron, we’ve both been through the same thing,” Harry mumbled as he left Ron at the tent and followed after Hermione. He followed her until she was stopped at a tree at the edge of their wards.
“‘Moine, he’s back…” Harry trailed off gagging her reaction.
“What about us now?” she asked. “Ron has feelings for me, but I dunno, I guess I sorta thought this was a relationship…” she said, staring up at Harry.
“I also thought it was a relationship ‘Moine, I don’t know how to let Ron know.” Realization dawned on both of them. “Oh merlin ‘Moine. I’m gonna miss you,” Harry whispered as he reached for her. She cried into his shoulder as they realized this part of their relationship would have to come to an end. With Ron back and to be cautious of his feeling they could no longer be together, they had to pretend that it never happened. Hermione held on tight, his neck had become her favorite place she would cuddle in there in the freezing night and just slept so soundly.
“Harry what happens if I can’t sleep, it’s so freezing in that tent and you just- you’re so warm,” Hermione rambled as she pressed kisses to his neck. He feverishly kissed her forehead and they stayed in that moment.
“‘Moine, it’ll be okay, but we should head back now.” Harry mumbled. They walked back hand in hand before dropping their hands to enter the tent. The trio stood in slightly awkward silence before Ron spoke.
“‘Moine, you look great, I’ve missed you.” He said as he reached to pull her into a tight hug. She responded weakly before pulling away. Harry’s lips were in a tight line as he watched the whole interaction.
“Thank Ron, I missed you too. I’m glad you’re back,” she whispered, stepping back on more steps to be equal distance away from both boys. Harry wanted to yell at Ron for coming back, he wanted to hold Hermione against him again, he wanted to tell her everything would be perfectly fine, he wanted her to not hug Ron and not miss him, but he couldn’t voice any of these concerns now.
“I’ll take the first watch and we’ll leave tomorrow morning,” Hermione mumbled, walking off to go sit around the wards. Harry and Ron sat in silence, wandering around the tent and setting up a third cot.
“You and her never did anything right?” Ron asked Harry, as he made his bed. Harry hesitated.
“No yeah, we never did anything, we just got closer as friends,” Harry confirmed, blinking back the unshed tears.
“Thanks mate, I’ve liked her for quite a while now, maybe after all these bollocks we can finally be together,” Ron said hopefully as he folded up his clothes. Harry wanted to scream, yell at him, tell him that Hermione was the best thing that has ever happened to him, yell at Ron and say he can’t have her, but he didn’t, the two of them had acknowledged that their little relationship had ended.
“No problem, you get some sleep, I’ll meet ‘Moine when she comes back,'" Harry whispered. Harry sat in the freezing cold tent, he read Hogwarts a History and waited for Hermione. She came back after another hour outside.
“Hey, your watch?” She asked as she walked into the kitchen and grabbed a saltine cracker.
“Yea, uh.. Just so you know I told Ron we never did anything, he asked and he said he likes you so I didn’t want to screw that up for you just in case,” Harry said quickly as he stood where he was.
“Thanks Harry,” she said as she tried to walk past him. He grabbed her hand. She was cold to the touch. He pulled her towards him, holding her face in his hands.
“‘Moine, just one more time, please?” He begged as he held her in his arms. She nodded and leaned up for their lips to meet in the middle. They kissed passionately before pulling away and Hermione headed to bed and Harry headed out to keep guard.
Weeks had passed, horcruxes were destroyed, the battle had just ended. Harry was alive. Hermione was alive. Hermione and Ron had kissed in the Chamber of Secrets. Everything was over. They could become normal young adults. Go to school, get a job, start a family. Everyone was in the Great Hall, lots of people were hurt or dead. Harry watched as he saw recognized friends now gone, mentors gone, family gone. Ginny ran into his arms as she sobbed over Fred’s death. He held her and whispered comforting words to her. Ron was holding Hermione’s hand as he stood there stock still.
A few weeks had passed and life was slowly going back to normal. Harry and Ginny were continuing and growing within their relationship. Ron and Hermione had broken up after deciding that while yes they had both had crushes during their time at school they were honestly better off as friends. The Golden Trio stayed close. The boys went on to become Aurors, while Hermione worked on rebuilding the wizarding world and passing new policies for muggle-born children, creatures, and half-breeds. Hermione was walking the path of becoming the new Minister of Magic in a couple of years if she continued to pass bills and speak out about the war criminals. Harry quickly rose in the ranks of being Aurors and within a few months he was leading his own squad all over the UK. Ginny had tried out for one of the professional quidditch teams and made it as a chaser. Ron was content to stay where he was, he was an Auror and he and Susan Bones were in a relationship.
Hermione spent the last year sleeping around with a bunch of wizards and muggles. Seeing the love of her life be in a happy relationship with someone who she considered to be a sister can make your mental health take a toll. She slept around and it was all over the prophet. She would get drunk and just sleep with whoever wanted her. She was irritated, she wanted to cry constantly but she couldn’t. She woke one morning to see that Harry and Ginny were engaged, to be married in the summer after Harry’s birthday. Hermione called into work and cried all day. The sex got really dark and bad after that. She cut herself off from all of her friends as she seemed to fall behind in life, even though she had a flourishing career in the ministry. She hadn’t talked to Harry, Ginny or Ron in at least a month. She knew this because she passed them at the ministry and she would turn one way and lock herself away in her office before they could talk to her.
She and one of her faceless dates were back at her flat. He had her pinned against the couch and she was trying to push him off her but he shoved her back down. After the war and her unseen trauma that she could not handle was being pinned and held down. She thrashed against him as he pinned her arms above her head. He was kneeled over her legs so she couldn’t knee him or do anything. She was trapped. She was crying silently as he pressed himself against her. When her front door smashed open.
“Get Off of Her!” Harry’s voice bellowed out. He roughly grabbed the bloke and threw, literally tossed the man, off of her. She gasped in relief and grabbed a throw blanket from the back of the couch. Harry shoved the shocked and half naked man out her front door and locked the door multiple times.
“What the fuck Hermione?! What are you thinking? Do you even care about your image anymore?” Harry aggressively asked.
“You’re ENGAGED!” Hermione yelled as she shoved against him. “That’s all I am thinking about. Harry you DO NOT get to tell me what I can do with my body! You gave that right up when you got engaged to Ginny!” she defended herself as she backed away from him. “I got the goddamn wedding announcement in the mail today, I was just trying to see if that guy would be a good plus one.” she sneered at him.
“Hermione, you're better than this,” Harry rationalized. She grabbed the prophet and shoved it in his face.
“Fuck Harry I love you! I never stopped loving you! Me and Ron never worked but you stayed with Ginny! You made it work and now I am alone and you and Ron will have your happy married families.” Hermione screamed at him. Her hands pointing to her chest to emphasize her point. “Damnit Harry just go! I am no longer your job! We’ve barely talked clearly, we are drifting away and our way of lives are different. So fuck just g-” she was harshly cut off by Harry crashing his lips against hers. She had her hands gripping and pushing against his chest. She broke away.
“You’re getting married, Harry, stop!” Hermione shouted as she got some distance between them.
“I am not happy! We are always a part and I am so proud of Ginny but I need more and I deserve more and so does she,” Harry defended as he reached for Hermione again. “I also have not stopped loving you. Every time I see you in the prophet with some new bloke, god Hermione do you know what that does to me? It fucking hurts!” Harry explains as he holds onto her arms.
“Of course I do! I’ve had to see you and Ginny flaunt around your ‘perfect’ relationship and then the fucking wedding announcement Harry!” She yelled as she hit his chest. “Wait, you still love me? Like the same way from when we were on the run?” She questioned as she stopped smacking his chest.
“Yes, me and Ginny have already talked and we’re calling it off, we’re both too busy and she realized she is not just into men,” Harry explained, pulling her closer and resting his forehead against hers.
“Harry.. Things may not be the same, are we willing to risk this?” Hermione questioned, as she held onto his flannel over shirt.
“Hermione, I have always loved you. So yes, I am willing to risk our friendship if it means we both get to be happy together. Me and Ginny have actually called off the wedding, she came to me already.” Harry explained taking her hands into his. His green eyes pierced her honey ones. He leaned in and kissed her with so much pent up passion. Hermione responded equally, her arms reaching around his shoulders. He held her close before whispering,
“I love you Hermione, and I can’t wait to grow together with you.”
“I love you too Harry, always have and always will.”