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It was that nebulous time that could be anywhere from one to four in the morning when Harry was woken up from a nightmare suddenly.
Harry had assumed for some reason that once Voldemort was defeated his nightmares would stop but of course Harry was never that lucky. He knew that he wasn’t getting back to sleep anytime soon and he could feel the pull to walk around a bit, if only to release some nervous energy.
Quietly, Harry grabbed the invisibility cloak from a tucked away compartment in his suitcase and made his way down to the common room. He felt like he was in fourth year again, running off in the middle of the night to wander around in the woods to try and escape his perpetual nightmares.
Harry stepped into the common room under his cloak to see Hermione sitting peacefully on the couch reading. She looked exhausted. The war had taken a toll on all of them. Harry moved as slow as he could to slide by her and out the door.
“I know you’re there, Harry,” Hermione said just as Harry had reached the painting. Harry cursed under his breath.
“Hey ‘mione.” Harry popped his head out of the invisibility cloak, there wasn’t any use for it now that Hermione had made his presence known. He smiled awkwardly.
“Can’t sleep?” Hermione put her book down and looked up at Harry with sympathetic eyes, “Everything seems much too quiet this year.”
“Yeah,” Harry looked down at the ground.
They shared a pensive moment. It was melancholy and quiet at the castle since Voldemort’s defeat. Hogwarts didn’t feel like the same place not only because it looked so different after the destruction inflicted on it during the Battle of Hogwarts but also because everyone save for some muggleborn first years were deeply shaken by the year that had passed.
Harry knew he had to stand as a role model on moving forward from the traumas of war but it was hard to do when he himself was so stuck in the past, some nights he would wake up thinking it was still just him in the tent with Hermione and would feel the urge to check on her this would cause an irrational anxiety to settle in his chest until he saw her again.
“Do you want some company, Harry?” Hermione broke his train of thought and he looked up at her, she looked like she could use the break as much as him.
“I- yes. Yes, that would be nice,” Harry gave her a lopsided grin, “Just like old times?”
“Absolutely”
The invisibility cloak was a bit cramped but Harry and Hermione had spent a lot of time together wandering around the school in this cloak so they happily whispered jokes to each other while wandering down the halls. The paintings were all sound asleep by now. Once they reached far enough from the castle that they were comfortable that they couldn’t be seen they removed the cloak and Harry tucked it away in his pocket
“The forest is so serene at night,” Hermione said. She was right, a blue hue dusted the fog that hung around the dark green trees, it was a sight to behold.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of forests,” Harry said.
“Haven’t you had enough forests to last a lifetime?” Hermione asked with mirth.
Harry thought back on his travels across the English countryside and the nights he spent with Hermione even as he grew sick of the endless aimless wandering the forest was always there as a comforting presence.
Harry finally spoke, “I think the woods were grounding for me last year last year.”
“I’m glad there was something to keep you stable, last year was a lot.”
Harry avoided Hermione’s eyes as he stared out at the forest in front of them, there was more than a calming landscape that had kept him sane last year but Harry felt like those feelings were too private to broach for some reason.
A silence settled over the two of them neither making a step towards the forest. Harry felt frustrated, he didn’t want this evening to be depressing like everything else around Hogwarts had become so Harry indulged in a childish whim.
“Race you to the big tree over there!” before Hermione could even respond Harry was off.
“Hey that’s not-! Harry!” Hermione’s confusion dissipated into giggles as she chased after him “What are you, six?” Hermione shouted down to him as he raced down the hill.
“You’re just jealous that I’m winning,” Harry said in a sing-songy voice. Hermione picked up her pace but Harry had too big of a lead. “Victory!” Harry shouted back at her as he nearly tackled the tree he was aiming for. Hermione snickered at him as he brushed dirt off himself.
“Yes but I’m not covered in dirt so who’s the real winner here?” The words didn’t hold any malice, they both beamed at each other. Hermione reached out a hand and helped Harry up off the ground. “Plus I would have won if you weren’t such a cheat.”
Harry made a face of mock offence, “How could you accuse me of something so heinous!” he said wiping an imaginary tear from his eye.
Hermione rolled her eyes at him, “Please, everyone knows I would have swept the floor with you in a fair race,” Hermione shook her head, “You’re ridiculous.”
“Oh yeah?” Harry took that as a challenge, of course he did.
Oh Lord what have I started? Hermione thought to herself.
“Race you to that pond!” Harry said darting away but this time with Hermione following close behind. Both of them were slowed by their incessant giggling.
They raced each other around the forest laughing and calling out random targets in an attempt to catch the other off guard. Begrudgingly Hermione had to admit that Harry ran faster then her, he was a quidditch player after all, but that didn’t stop Hermione from winning a few times anyway.
Harry had just called out another target when he immediately ran straight into log and crashed face first into the dirt.
“Oh my God, Harry are you okay?” Hermione ran over and helped Harry up, his cheek had a small cut down it’s side and his glasses were broken in the center not even to mention the mud caking the entirety of his face, Hermione quickly cast a quick non-verbal spell to fix the glasses and took out a pack of kleenex from her bag and started to wipe the mud from Harry’s face, it was a quiet and intimate moment as Harry watched Hermione work.
Once the mud was wiped from Harry’s face Hermione smiled suddenly becoming self-conscious of the closeness between the two of them.
“Uh, maybe we should take a break from all that for a bit?” Hermione said breaking the silence with a shaky voice. Harry agreed with a nod.
The two sat down on a log by a small pond, in truth, it was more like a large puddle but the moonlight reflected off of it creating the illusion of depth.
“Maybe running around in the forbidden forest wasn’t one of our brighter ideas,” Hermione said fidgeting with her skirt. Harry laughed.
“I don’t know, I quite enjoyed face planting into the mud.”
“Harry, I was worried, you did nick your face quite badly,” Hermione gently touched the cut on his cheek, “We probably shouldn’t injure ourselves when we’re out in the middle of nowhere.”
“I’m sure we’ll figure out a way to get back to Hogwarts, I’ve wandered further than this before,” Harry glanced around, “I think?”
Hermione laughed in spite of herself, “We’re very lost, have you done this before?”
“I used to do it a lot, especially during fourth year when my nightmares were really bad.” It wasn’t a time Harry liked thinking about.
“Why tonight then?”
“Violence and war doesn’t exactly make someone have less nightmares.”
Hermione moved to wrap her arms around him, he embraced her in return.
“Oh, Harry,” Hermione said, “you deserve so much more than what life has given you.” Hermione pulled away from the embrace and smiled earnestly at him though the expression was tinged with embarrassment at the sudden display of affection.
Harry had a feeling of fondness for Hermione and the way she could speak plainly, maybe not in manner but in substance, sweep over him. Through all the deceit and obfuscation that had plagued his life Hermione had always been by his side. A memory surfaced in his mind of her in fourth year passionately defending him to their fellow Gryffindors, it made him feel warm. Even when no one else was there for him, Hermione was, After a long pause Harry finally spoke.
“You know Hermione, back last year when we were looking for horcruxes it was you who kept me sane. The forest was nice but I would’ve gone insane just staring out into endless trees. I needed a friend...you know?” Hermione smiled at him and rested her head on his shoulder, he stiffed for a second before relaxing into it, resting his head on top of hers.
“I needed you too, Harry,” Hermione said.
The two sat in silence for a while watching light dance over their pond or puddle in the distance.
“Hermione, thank you,” Harry said.
“For what?”
“Just being there for me, I guess.” Harry fell silent, he didn’t know how to articulate all the feelings he had for Hermione, the complicated jumble of fondness always seemed to paralyze him. “And I guess, being someone,” Harry felt lost finishing that sentence, “I really care about you, I- uh…” Harry’s mind was screaming at him to shut up so he did, embarrassed.
“I love you, Harry.” Harry looked at her startled, she was avoiding his gaze and fiddling with her skirt again and it occurred to him that he loved her as well, somewhere in all the hours upon years they spent together growing a closer and stronger bond he had fallen in love with her. “It’s okay if you don’t-” Hermione tried to elaborate.
Harry reached down to touch Hermione’s jaw silencing her worries, suddenly he felt incredibly anxious, “I- uh, can I kiss you, Hermione?”
Hermione laughed, “Yes, I’d like that,”
Harry kissed Hermione hesitantly, it was a brief kiss but it left both of them grinning like idiots.
“I love you too, Hermione,” Harry said.
“You know, we still need to find a way out of...wherever we are.”
“Yeah but I’m sure being lost in the woods won’t be so horrible with you, it’ll be just like old times.” Harry shot her a grin.
Hermione shook her head, “something like that, maybe a little nicer.”
It started raining down in heavy sheets not long after that, the pair ran back up towards the castle covered by only the thin sheet of the invisibility cloak laughing at their own antics and poor decisions.
Harry kissed Hermione on the cheek with a hesitant smile as they parted ways in the Gryffindor common room. The two were exhausted all day afterwards but neither would trade that night for the world.