After classes were over for the day, Harry decided to talk to Hermione, though the only problem was that she was in her dorm studying because it had been loud in the common room. She had stayed there until dinner, though Harry had went to the Quidditch pitch as the Triwizard Tournament cancelled the Quidditch games for the season.
At this point Harry was desperate. He really had to talk to her...it was almost as if he couldn't sleep without knowing if she was okay or what she'd been doing for the day. And as creepy as that sounded, Harry knew there was no point in denying it, though he'd never admit it to anyone but himself.
The watch on Harry's wrist had now had the time as 11 o'clock, so he had went to the common room and tried to figure out a way to talk with Hermione. Since the steps were charmed making it impossible for him to go up, he knew he couldn't just walk up.
It didn't take Harry long to devise a plan. He stayed in the common room, though he had aligned himself so that he was standing directly under her dorm room door.
"Hermione" he whispered, but there was no answer so he tried again, a little louder this time. "Hermione!"
A few seconds later, Hermione emerged from her room in her pajamas and a bath robe.
"Harry!" she said smiling, which had certainly taken him off guard as he expected her to yell at him for being awake at 11 o'clock on a school night.
"Hey, 'Mione." He smiled back at her, with his neck craned back to see her from the landing.
"Why are you awake?" she asked coming down the stairs "Did you have a nightmare? Are you okay?"
Harry smiled, as Hermione was now right in front of him and thinking something horrible had happened, when in reality he had only wanted to talk with her.
"I just wanted to talk with you, Hermione." He said, and took a seat on the sofa, and naturally Hermione followed.
"Of course. I should've come down so we'd have the chance to talk, but--"
"But you didn't know I would be away after dinner." Harry finished "Don't blame yourself. We're equally to blame."
She looked down at her hands and let out a soft laugh. "Thanks, Harry." she said, and then looked back up at him. "Now what is it you wanted to talk about?"
Harry instantly froze. He honestly hadn't thought of what to say, since she was what he wanted to talk about. Although he had kept his feelings to himself, he started to fancy Hermione at the beginning of the year. Though what would she think if he had said it so bluntly? So, that only left Harry with one option, which was to bring up the topic subtly.
"I haven't thought much about what it was I had wanted to talk about exactly." he said "But, lately I've been wondering why everyone sees us as more than friends. I mean, sure Ron had lied and said we were dating, but it hadn't really surprised anyone." He said, taking a breath "Don't you find that odd? Even just a little?"
Hermione had furrowed her eyebrows as if in thought. "Honestly..." she trailed off "Well, what made you think of this?"
Harry had mentally kicked himself for not being subtle enough. "I...er...I don't know. I was just thinking."
There was a long pause before either of them said anything.
"Harry?" Hermione said, finally breaking the silence
"Do you think you have to be a certain age to fall in love?" she asked "I mean, some people will tell you that you're too young to be in love and that you don't even know love at such a young age...but then you have people who are high school sweethearts and have been in love since they were like 15."
Harry took a moment to process all of this. "Well, my parents had been dating in Hogwarts and they then got married and had me. And Mr. and Mrs Weasley were also dating in Hogwarts and well...they have the perfect family."
Hermione smiled. "Do you think they knew it then?" she said "That they would grow up and get married?"
"I think everyone thinks that about every relationship they're in." he said and they both laughed "But, I think it's all just a matter of luck, really. Whether you meet you're 'soul mate' earlier in life rather than later."
"I never knew you could be so wise." she said standing up from the sofa. "Goodnight"
Hermione kissed him on the cheek and went back up the stairs, remembering every word Harry had said...
