“Waiting”

By: LuvFantasy

A Harry and Hermione Fanfiction

Two girls sat alone at the table in the library, a large stack of books on either side of them. The younger of the two, a redhead, was busily penning an essay on potions for Professor Snape; while her companion, a 17 year old with curly brown hair which hung loosely down to her shoulders earnestly scribbled away into a rather thick leather book, every now and then looking up and casting a furtive glance towards the other end of the room where two seventeen year old boys were engaged in a chess game.

“Check.” The red head said smugly, moving his knight forwards.

His black haired opponent, rubbed his green eyes in amazement, “How’d you do that?” Harry demanded.

Ron laughed, tapping his knight, “Your move.”

Harry’s eyes shot over the board, and then a faint smile spread over his features. Harry pushed the rook forwards, quickly dispatching the knight. Ron’s eyebrows shot up,

“What!” He exclaimed, “I never—what!”

Harry laughed, “Your move, Ron.”

Hermione looked back down at the book, a sad smile painted upon her features. Dipping the quill into her inkstand again, Hermione started a new line:

‘When we were only First Years, things seemed so easy; so simple. We were friends, the Golden Trio. We kept nothing from each other, everything was told. Never in our wildest dreams did we expect that one day we would be entangled in a web of lies and romance so thick we could hardly think or even act rationally. Or at least, that is what I believed.

In Second Year, I began to feel something. It was strange and queer. Whenever he smiled or laughed, whenever he touched me accidentally—it sent shivers down my spine. I didn’t know what it was nor what it meant. Yes, me, Hermione-The-Know-It-All was stumped. Over the year, it grew steadily, and upon my return from being petrified, I finally showed it out in the open. When the doors swung open and I stood there, scanning the crowd for him, I was overjoyed to see that he had already spotted me. He was smiling, standing up, opening his arms. Without thinking twice I ran into them, wrapping myself in his embrace, never wanting to let go. He had done all those wonderful things while I was frozen. He had solved the riddle, he had faced off Voldemort and lived, he had saved Ginny, but best of all, he had come back to me alive. That was when it hit me that Harry James Potter wasn’t just my ‘brother’, he was the boy I cared for the most in the world, the one I wanted for myself, but best of all, he was my best friend. As he smiled, pulling me in tighter, I remember thinking this isn’t Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, or even Hero-of-the-Wizarding-World, he’s just Harry…My Harry.

Third Year was when I realized just how deep my feelings for him were. That night in the Shrieking Shack I found out I was willing to lay down my life for him, and I found out he was willing to do the same for me. As he pulled me towards him again that night when Professor Lupin attacked us, I found myself lost in his embrace once again. I buried my face in his chest as he wrapped his arms about me. And I felt safe, but most of all, I felt joy.

Fourth Year brought many hardships. Not only was I forced to watch as Harry’s life was continuously put in danger during the Tri-Wizard Tournament, but I was also forced to listen to Harry’s obsession with Cho Chang. When he first spoke of her, I felt my heart crumble and break. The smiles he gave her secretly were stabs in my chest; the furtive glances slices through my heart. Cho was everything I wasn’t. She was beautiful, a quidditch player; a girl who any boy would love to date. And Harry had seen her. He hadn’t noticed me, waiting for him in the shadows of his mind. He had found a goddess instead—so I did the only thing I could. I took advantage of Viktor Krum’s obvious feelings for me and turned them to my own advantages. It was a horrible thing to do as I think back on it now, but I was desperate. Harry had walked away from me and I hadn’t even put up a fight. I tried to make him jealous, but that didn’t work. I went to the ball with Viktor, but Harry didn’t notice. So I tried to force myself to love Viktor, something I knew in my heart I could never do.

Fifth Year was even worse. Harry was having nightmares of Voldemort and he started dating Cho. So I tried the last good trick I had up my sleeve to get his attention; my wits. When Dumbledore was replaced it gave me the perfect opportunity. I masterminded the idea for the D.A. and proceeded to monopolize on it. In doing so, I killed two birds with one stone. Harry was ecstatic, and Cho was ready to scream because I had ‘ruined her perfect little date with The-Boy-Who-Lived’. But things did not last well for long. Sirius Black was killed at the Ministry of Magic and Harry was crushed. Seeing the boy who had been the object of my affections for so long now in so much pain torture for me, and I slowly sank down into a hole of depression just as deep as the one Harry was in.

I am most ashamed of my actions in Sixth Year. Harry was no longer dating Cho (which was a relief) but instead, he had given an interest in Ginny—the girl I had considered to be my friend and ally. They began to date, and I nearly went mad with pain and anger. So I repeated my actions of Fourth Year in a much more horrid manner, something I am greatly ashamed of and shudder to think of. Ronald Weasley. The boy I loved as much as a brother, but thought nothing more of. Ron did not hide his affections for me very well, and like with Viktor, I took advantage of them in an effort to get Harry to notice me. I cheated for Ron to get on the team, I invited him to the party, I played the part of the jealous girl when he snogged Lavender and set birds loose on him. But Harry didn’t notice at all. He was too entranced with Ginny, who like Cho was a beautiful quidditch player.

So now, as my seventh and last year at Hogwarts begins, one might ask what I will do this year in a mad attempt to get Harry to notice me. Well for one, I am slightly better off than I was these last three years. Harry is single once again, and right now, no girl holds his affections. He and Ginny broke up over the summer, and much to our surprise, not a day later the youngest Weasley was seen in the presence of Draco Malfoy no less, who appears to be infatuated with her. But, on a more serious point, as I look over these pages, I realize that when I changed my character in a foolhardy attempt to get Harry to notice me, he never did. It was only in first, second, and third year, when I was myself that Harry noticed me. Those years it was Ron who didn’t really care what I did with my life. The ‘New and Improved Hermione’ Harry didn’t see, rather, it was Ron who fell in love with her. So, instead, I think I will become myself again this year. Ron’s feelings for me will pass, and maybe-just maybe the Head Boy of Hogwarts will pay more attention and turn around to see that the Head Girl has been waiting for him…as she always has.’