As Hermione tried to stop her tears in the graveyard Harry stood in front of the gates of Hogwarts, with his hands in his pockets. He pondered whether he should go in or forget the reason why he was there in the first place. Ginny would be there. What if he ran into her, and she thought that he had come because of her? And how would he explain that why he was in the school didn't concern her in the very least?

Oh, Harry knew that he wouldn't be able to go by unnoticed- he had brought the invisibility cloak. He wished for a couple of seconds that Hermione was there with him, but he quickly discarded that idea. She had left the house early in the day, and hadn't told him where she was heading... that surprised him, but he hadn't said anything. She was a grown woman and could take her of herself. Besides, if she happened to need him, he knew she would call for him.

With a sigh Harry retrieved the cloak from his pocket, enlarged it and put it on; smiling sadly when he discovered that it no longer covered him completely. A fresh batch of memories from when Harry, Hermione and Ron were younger came to his mind, forcibly reminding him of why he had returned to Hogwarts. Harry tiredly rubbed his eyes and stepped through the gates slowly, and the memory of what Dumbledore had told him filled his eyes as though he was right in front of him.

“You are the worthy possessor of the Hallows.” Dumbledore patted Harry's hand, and Harry looked up at the old man and smiled; he could not help himself.

Was he? Was he the worthy possessor of the Hallows, after all? Could a worthy possessor of such items even exist? He wondered what Dumbledore would say if he knew what Harry was about to do, or not do. He still hadn't decided. For some strange reason Harry wanted Hermione's opinion on the matter, considering how it involved her on some levels. “Some levels?” Harry snorted under his breath. It involved her almost completely.

Harry continued to walk briskly through the grounds, lost in his thoughts, under the sun and in direction to the Forbidden Forest. Something that felt like guilt mixed with melancholy started bubbling in the pit of his stomach, but he couldn't understand why. He wasn't going to do anything wrong, right? He was only human... Rationalizing what he was planning to do didn't ease whatever he was feeling, but just like so many times before, he couldn't stop himself.

He needed to know. He needed to know if he could... If he just... Only to ask, to seek for reassurance... Yes, yes, it was only that. Harry had done it before, and nothing bad had happened. Why wouldn't he be able to do it one more time?

As the dark trees loomed closer, Harry glanced at Hagrid's hut. For a fleeting moment he wondered if he should pay the half- giant a visit, but decided against it just as quickly as the idea had come. He knew that Hagrid would notice something was not quite right, and Harry would end up telling him everything. He couldn't allow that.

“I'm only human,” Harry repeated to himself as he stared up at the trees and took out his wand. “Only human...”

*

Hermione breathed in deeply under the setting sun, in the doorsteps of Grimmauld Place. She was strong. She could do this- she could talk to Harry, and everything would be okay. She bit her lower lip as she tapped the doorknob with her wand, unlocking the door, and then opening it slowly. “Harry?” she called as she entered the house, closing the door behind her. “Harry, are you home?” There was no answer, but she could see that the living room lights were on, so she walked there. “Harry?” she repeated, taking a peek inside.

“Hermione,” Harry's faint reply came from the couch in front of the fireplace. His tone was strange; as though he was relieved she was there. Had something happened? As she neared the couch she distinguished the mop of black hair that she had grown to love so much, and then she noticed that Harry had something small in his hands.

“Harry, is something wrong? What's that in your-” Hermione stopped talking abruptly when Harry looked up at her sadly, opening his palm. “Is that-?” she asked breathlessly.

“The Resurrection Stone, yes,” he replied gruffly. Hermione stood frozen, staring at the stone in Harry's hand, without uttering a sound. Only a single thought was zooming in and out of her head: they could bring Ron back. She would be able to ask him if he was angry at her because she loved Harry! She'd be able to- to tell him how sorry she was, how much she missed him, how wonderful it was to see him again... and Ron would smile back, and say something funny, and the three of them would laugh and pretend that he was alive and well, with them...

“Hermione?” Harry asked, and only then she realized that she was starting to cry. He stood up, clenching the stone in his hand. “I- I was thinking...”

“You- We can't,” Hermione croaked at last, feeling the tears rolling down her cheeks. “We can't, Harry.” He looked hurt at her words.

“But- just think about it! I did it before, why can't I-?”

“Because it wouldn't be real,” Hermione retorted, trying to stop the flow of tears, but she couldn't. “The Dead were seeking for you, not you for them. Remember what happened to the Peverell brother that made the mistake, Harry-”

Hermione was sounding so much like Dumbledore that it angered Harry. He had thought she'd be okay with it; that she would understand!

“I know you want to use it, too!” he accused, sounding like a child having a tantrum.

“Of course I want to use it,” she told him barely above a whisper, feeling slightly insulted at his attitude.

“Then why-”

“Because it's not natural! Because we would both die in the end!” Hermione finally exploded. “Whoever you want to bring back,” she added, more calmly now, “doesn't belong to our world anymore.” Hermione sniffed and stopped talking, trying to resist her own urge to use the stone to bring Ron back. Harry gazed at her for a couple of seconds and then turned around and went back to the couch, throwing the stone on the coffee table before sitting down. “Promise me you won't use it, Harry,” Hermione broke the silence. He didn't reply.

So much for her plan of asking Harry how he felt about her, Hermione thought miserably as she moved to sit in the armchair placed diagonally from the couch. She sunk back into the chair and drew up her knees against her chest, not looking at Harry; she refused to even glance at the stone, afraid that she'd be tempted by its power.

Silence...

“Harry? Why didn't you... Why didn't you try to make me feel better, when... when Ron left during the hunt?” Hermione realized that she was blushing furiously, so she tried to hide her face among her hair.

“I don't know,” he replied flatly.

“Oh.” It had bothered her, looking back, how Harry had seemed to ignore her sobs during the night and sometimes during the day. Why wasn't he doing anything? Didn't he care about her? She had comforted him whenever he felt down since she was eleven, even when he didn't want to admit that he needed someone; and when she was the one in pain, he simply chose not to acknowledge it? Oh yes, it had hurt.

“I guess... I guess I was just being an ungrateful git. Sorry.” she heard Harry add as an afterthought. She stopped herself from agreeing with him; what was the point of being bitter about it? At least he had apologized.

Pause. A longer silence...

“Why didn't you leave?” Harry asked almost as if he hadn't realized he was speaking.

“What?” Hermione said, confused.

“When Ron left. Why did you stay?” he clarified. Hermione raised her eyebrows and then frowned.

“Because you are my best friend. It wasn't a matter of duty; it was a matter of friendship, and of loyalty,” she responded. Harry nodded slowly and looked down at the stone. “I-”

“Only of friendship?” he muttered audibly, interrupting her. Hermione widened her eyes and closed her mouth, feeling as if someone had knocked the air out her lungs. Did she dare hope...? Could it be that he also....?

“Excuse me?” she squeaked. Harry stood up and Hermione followed suit immediately, under the impression that he was going to leave. He couldn't go, not now- not now, Harry, please. Not now...

“Nevermind,” he mumbled, turning his face away from hers. Hermione felt her heart beating so fast and hard that it hurt; she was so close- should she tell him?

“Don't,” she managed to say. “Harry, please...” her hands were shaking, and she had the feeling that she'd start crying again any second now. Harry finally bored his eyes into hers, and the green orbs were opaque, and sad, and held nothing of Harry in them.

“Please what?” he wanted to know. Hermione seemed so disheartened, so scared... So suddenly fragile. She bit her lower lip, silently begging something of him. Could it be what he thought it was? “The stone... It just felt so wrong, you see?” Harry started, letting his shoulders sag. “I don't know... I wanted to apologize, and...” a knot in his throat made it so difficult to speak, and he knew that he was talking nonsense, but he couldn't stop himself. “I simply... I just wanted to know...” he tensed when he felt, more than heard, Hermione stepping closer to him; so close that their bodies almost touched.

“I love you too,” she confessed. It took more than a couple of seconds for Harry to take in what she had just whispered, and when it did sink in, the adrenaline that suddenly decided to run through his veins made him feel light headed.

Had she-

But how could she know-

Did she truly-

“Hermione, I-” he could only get out. She was crying again, and he did what he should have done nearly two years ago, during a rainy night: he clumsily put his hands around her body and pulled her into a hug. His body was shaking as badly as hers, but he didn't care.

Next he did something that came completely unexpected to him, like it was a natural reaction: he slightly broke the embrace and leaned over to her entire face. Starting from her forehead, to her chin, over her eyelids and both cheeks; gently kissing the tears away. He soon found himself kissing Hermione's lips with surprising force, and Hermione returned the kiss eagerly. When oxygen became the priority they broke the kiss, forehead against forehead. Harry's hands were on Hermione's cheeks, and he closed his eyes when she covered his with hers.

“Waiting... so long...” Harry nearly choked on his own words, barely opening his eyes to see Hermione smiling.

“I know, Harry... I know.”

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A/N: Damn, I loved writing this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I also hope that it didn't seem too rushed? Only one chapter left for this one... Don't forget to review to tell me what you thought of it!