Disclaimer: Nope, still don't.

Believing in Each Other

Hermione had always been a very logical person – which was, currently, part of the problem. It was a problem of enormous proportions, a matter of life and death, existence or non-existence for all wizards... no, for all humans... no, the entire universe!

… well, at least it was important to her.

It was maddening, really. Her best friend – and don't you even think about mentioning anybody without messy black hair and emerald-green eyes – had just revealed a horrible truth to her: Every single thing she had ever learned within the magical world was a lie. Or, if not everything, then at least the vast majority of it. And since Hermione liked learning, that was a lot of information which was suddenly, frustratingly, irrevocably invalid.

It wasn't the details, either. Not something like "the incantation for the levitation charm is wingardium leviosa", or "stirring a potion containing centaur hair in one direction for more than five turns causes it to become toxic", or even "devil's snare is a dangerous plant" - no, it was the huge things. Incantations are important. Magic has limits. Magic has rules. All of those, and so many more... nothing but lies.

She was desperate. She was angry. At times, she worked herself up to a full-blown panic attack.

The bushy-haired girl had always listened to authority, respected her boundaries, followed the rules... And suddenly, the latter two, taught by the former, didn't exist. Truthfully, she felt helpless.

If there were no rules, no limits, what separated gods from humans? Where was the difference? Eternal life? She was nearly positive that one was possible, possibly even simple. Omniscience? What truth was there left to know? What secrets could possibly be hidden from one who sought them and possessed unlimited power?

Even omnipresence might be possible...

The human mind was never intended to comprehend either infinity or eternity, least of all both. Even attempting to get a glimpse at one of them could be classified as dangerous insanity. Managing to do so certainly should.

Still, there are things beyond infinity. There are bonds between people, magical people especially, which can overcome such distances effortlessly. On a side note, such bonds are not meant to be fully understood, either.

The instance Hermione decided to ascend to godhood, or something very close to it, and actually succeeded, Harry knew something was wrong with his best and closest friend. Anybody thinking about anyone else than a certain bushy-haired brunette, please try again in another universe. Maybe even another multiverse.

He didn't know exactly what had happened, but as inexplicable as the bond between such close magical friends may be, it invoked – or maybe created – certain instincts. At that very moment, his instinct was to find Hermione, and that the easiest way to do so would be for his magic to call her to him. So it did.

Slowly fading into existence, it was a very dishevelled, clearly exhausted and nearly panicking Hermione who fell into Harry's welcoming arms, nervously twitching and looking around. Slowly, as she comprehended where she was and who held her, she began to cry. Harry held her, gently stroking her back. Hermione didn't calm down, though – she no longer knew how.

"How Harry? How can you go on? Rules made everything so easy, there was structure, something to understand, something to prevent the bad guys from being really bad... And now they're gone! How can you just stay calm?"

Harry held her a bit closer.

"But there are rules, Hermione."

The brunette drew back a bit, looking into his eyes.

"There aren't, Harry. You were right with what you said on the train – whatever we believe will be our truth. How can I believe in any rules if I know that my belief is the only thing making them true?"

Harry gently smiled at her.

"Everybody is taught the same rules, and they are valid for all of them. Yes, they could believe them away, or however we would call that. Most of them do not know that, though – and the rest have decided to follow the same rules. We may not do so, but even for us, there are some rules. Do you know why?"

Hermione shook her head. She didn't know, and she had tried to find such rules.

"It's simple, Hermione: We have each other. If I ever give in to the temptation to abandon all rules, I hope that you will be there to call me back and rein me in, just as I would do the same for you. Yes, we can build our own set of rules, and it doesn't have to be based on logic, or even on a strong belief in the rules themselves. The core of our rules is the most precious and most stable thing we have: Our faith in each other. My faith that you will always be there if I need you, and your faith that I will always be there for you."

He drew her closer again, and Hermione rested her head against his chest. She heard his heart – it was still beating. It didn't have to, his magic could easily ensure that he could survive without a heartbeat, or even a heart for that matter. It was there, though, steadily beating, and for a moment, the young woman allowed herself to think that it did so for her. Not necessarily in a romantic sense, although everything was possible, but to reassure her, if nothing else.

In that one moment, Hermione understood. Where her intellect and structured knowledge had failed, Harry's instincts had been the superior knowledge. They completed each other, needed each other, and would always be able to rely on each other.

Maybe, the true rules of magic just worked on a much deeper level than any human could truly hope to understand.

Dedicated to tgcgoddess as my first ever reviewer.

This came about as a gift, combined with a misunderstanding, resulting in a challenge which was responsible for half a week of headaches: "What would Hermione do if she was freed from the rules?" Well, I as I'm still using canon Hermione, I think this would happen.

Oh, and as you might have guessed, I'm a Harmony shipper – sorry if that showed too strongly for your tastes.

Please PM me about any mistakes, as I believe that reviews should be about content, not grammar and orthography.