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A cool breeze ruffled the walls of the tent, the door wide open from where Ron had stormed away moments before after she refused to leave with him. Sure, they had gotten into spats before, but there was something different about tonight. Hermione couldn't shake the feeling of dread as she stared out the door, hoping that Ron would come back through it. However, the longer she stood there watching, the smaller her glimmer of hope became.
"He's not coming back," Harry groaned, carding a hand through his hair. He should have kept the Horcrux instead of allowing Ron to wear it so long. It was Harry's fault that Ron was out there on his own. "I should go after him."
Hermione spun on her heels and narrowed her eyes at him. "Absolutely not. I don't need both of you to be out there wandering the forest without any sense of where you are or what could be hiding in the shadows."
"It's my fault that he's out there," Harry said, shrugging his shoulders as he met Hermione's eyes. He could see anger and concern reflected in her eyes, and it broke his heart. They were both worried about Ron, but she had a point. Nothing could be done about bringing him back to the camp now, and it would have to wait until morning. "It should have been me."
Hermione let out a sigh, shaking her head as she walked across the tent to where Harry was standing. She paused just in front of him and looked up at him with a half-hearted smile. "But it wasn't," she said, pressing a gentle hand to his chest. "We can't change the past; we can only move forward."
"If we had a time-turner," Harry began, raising a brow. He stopped when Hermione smacked him in the chest playfully as she laughed.
"We don't have a time-turner," she laughed, "and even if we did, I think a better use of it would be to go back and stop Tom Riddle from making the Horcruxes in the first place."
Harry thought about what she said and shrugged, nodding his head. "You do have a good point. But you're right, and we can only move forward."
Harry studied her face - she was tired. Normally, Hermione hid her exhaustion from him, but tonight she was letting him in, which warmed his heart. Since they first met on the train heading to the castle, Harry had watched her from afar since they first met. He could tell she was smart then, but now that he had taken the time to get to know her, he was able to see her true genius. But her intelligence wasn't the only thing he had noticed on the train.
He had noticed just how truly unique Hermione was. When they were younger, Harry wouldn't have said that Hermione fell into the traditionally beautiful category, but he wouldn't have said she was traditionally ugly category either. She was unapologetically herself. He and Ron had never been the most appreciative of her or had gone out of their way to make her feel like she was something special. Looking at her now, Harry regretted every hurtful word he may have ever said about the beautiful witch standing before her, fighting her damnedest not to shed a tear about their friend who had stormed away from them a few moments ago.
"What's going on in that head of yours?" Hermione asked, cocking her head to the side as she studied Harry's face. She felt her cheeks flush when he smiled at her. She glanced down, jumping when she felt Harry's fingers at her chin, directing her face back up to look at him.
Harry leaned down and kissed her before she could utter anything more. Without warning, without permission. Without even deciding to do it, but simply because he couldn't have done anything else, he needed the breath she was holding. It belonged to him, and he wanted it back.
After a moment of resistance, Hermione gave into the kiss. She wrapped her arms around Harry's neck and moaned softly as she felt his hand move to cup her cheek. His other hand found purchase against the small of her back, pulling her body tight against his. They remained wrapped up in one another, enjoying the moment as they explored each other for the first time.
Hermione pulled away first, needing to catch her breath. She rested her head against Harry's shoulder and took a few shallow breaths, keeping her eyes closed. She was afraid that when she opened them, she would realize that this was all a dream and the reality of their situation would settle back in. A shiver ran down her spine when she felt Harry's lips against the top of her head, kissing her softly.
Leaning her head back, Hermione looked up at Harry with a soft smile on her face. For the first time, Hermione was at a loss for words. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out, which made Harry chuckle before pressing a chaste kiss to her lips once more.
"I've wanted to do that for a long time," Harry whispered, pressing another kiss to her cheek.
Finally finding her words, Hermione squared herself up to Harry without moving her arms from his shoulders. "What took you so long?"
"I never dared to do it," Harry replied, shrugging his shoulders as he offered a smile.
"What gave you the courage now?" Hermione asked, smiling softly as she reached up to brush her thumb against his cheek.
"I didn't want to have any more regrets about this journey. Ron shouldn't have been wearing the Horcrux long enough to affect him. None of us should be out here, freezing in the middle of a forest being chased by Death Eaters, but here we are," Harry replied, leaning into Hermione's touch. "And you said we shouldn't focus on the past. I wanted to move forward."
"And forward started with a kiss," Hermione whispered, pressing up on her toes and taking Harry's lips with her own once more. She smiled into the kiss as she felt him wrap her in his arms tightly, picking her up as he spun them both around.