Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

Foreword: I am nearly finished with the next chapter of my in-progress story, "From the End to the Start". However, while I was writing it, I took a break to read some new stories that were popping up. Something I have noticed in many Harmony stories where Harry and Hermione are in the tent is that many writers play up the drama of the situation by having shouting matches and misunderstandings between our two favorite characters. I decided to try something a little subtler, but I question if I actually managed to pull it off.

Drifting

by Romantic Silence

"Don't you feel as if we've drifted apart?"

Hermione stopped chewing the barely edible meal that she had cooked and looked up at Harry. He gaze at her curiously, a smidgen of melancholy filled his eyes. Hermione swallowed her food and placed her utensils down. Suddenly, she didn't feel hungry anymore.

Having been alone with Harry for weeks now, their time spent together gave way to a painfully poignant understanding between the two of them. Who was this person they were with? It felt like that they were two complete strangers forced to live with one another out of obligation and survival. Something had happened to their relationship, of that, Hermione was sure of. It led her to think when it all happened. When did she and Harry ceased their intimate friendship?

The witch sighed and answered, "Yes. I have noticed." She avoided meeting his eyes. "When do you suppose it began?"

"I don't know." Harry replied. "It just... happened."

The two ended their dinner there. They stood up and began cleaning up after themselves. It was unfortunate that they were unable to finish, but Hermione made sure that she would place a stasis charm on the food so they can eat it the next day. A bout of silence descended upon the two teens, Harry's question giving the two of them food for thought.

Hermione settled herself on her bed, lying down against the board. She stared after Harry who sat at the entrance of the tent. It was his turn to keep watch. Her thoughts turned to their relationship. She knew that she had never given much thought to how strained it was between the two of them. They had been so busy over the last couple of years that it was almost impossible to ponder over their own personal life.

"Harry?" Hermione called out to him.

"Yeah?"

"Take a break for a moment."

Harry complied. He arose from the chair and walked towards Hermione. Both witch and wizard could feel the tension between them. It was uncomfortable and suffocating. Hermione felt guilt over it, knowing that she had attributed to the current atmosphere with her sobbing the last few weeks. She had failed keeping the three of them together. Hermione didn't even think about the possible romance between her and Ron; her head was solely focused over their broken friendship when he left them both.

Surprisingly, Hermione felt a weight on her bed and found Harry sitting next to her. She scooted over to the side, giving him some room. He took advantage of it and moved closer inward. Their shoulders were touching one another. For some reason, Hermione relaxed and she leaned close to Harry, her head laying on his shoulder. Harry settled into position, his head now resting against hers. Hermione couldn't help but mentally remark how easy it was for her and Harry to be physically comfortable around one another. Their current position was something that they not found themselves in for some time, but yet it was so incredibly easy to fall into routine.

Before she knew it, Hermione was talking. "Remember in Third Year after one of your Quidditch practices, you were all muddy and wet from the rain, but, still, you decided it would be fun to suddenly hug me and get me all dirty?"

A throaty chuckled erupted from Harry. "I remember that. You were absolutely angry. You wouldn't check my homework for a week."

"Oh, it was originally a month, but the way you pouted and looked at me with those eyes of yours, I felt pity for you and settled for a week."

"Really? I guess I was lucky. I don't know what I would have done if that had lasted for a month."

"You would have failed Herbology and Transfiguration for sure."

"Professor McGonagall would have given me months worth of detentions if I did fail. She always expects her lions to do their best."

"Can you blame her?" Hermione smiled. "She sees us as her 'cubs'."

"You were her favorite though. She once mentioned that you were the only girl in our year that wasn't concerned with boys and how pretty you looked."

"Ah yes, I was much too in love with books to care for anything else. Well, except you, of course. Thinking about it, you were always above books."

"Really?" Harry grinned.

"Of course."

"I'm honored that I'm more important to you than books!"

Hermione lightly elbowed him. "Prat."

"Well, I'm glad you never concerned yourself with your appearance."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Hermione raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Are you saying I'm ugly?"

Harry snorted. "Never. To be honest, I always thought you were beautiful in your own little way. I kind of liked your wild, bushy mane."

The witch's cheeks turned a slight hint of red. "Thanks. That means a lot. You know, I may not worry as much as other girls, but I do get a little insecure about it from time to time."

"You shouldn't. You're a gorgeous person, Hermione. Both in and out."

"If you thought so, why didn't you ask me to the Yule Ball?" Hermione suddenly asked. "I always thought you were going to ask me if you couldn't ask Cho. I would have love to have gone with you."

"Well, I thought about it, but I thought you wouldn't want to go with me!"

"What? Of course I would have!"

"When everyone told me that we had to get dates, I thought that meant we couldn't go with friends or something."

"You took until the last minute to start asking around, so I finally said yes when Viktor asked."

"If I had known you were waiting for me, I would have asked you."

"I know, I know." Hermione shook her head. "I forgot how impossible you were with girls back then."

"Hey!" Harry blushed. "I don't think I'm still good with them."

"I suppose. Viktor was older, so he treated me courteously during the Ball."

"Speaking of which, did you really snog him?"

"Heavens no! Who said that?"

"Ginny."

"I swear, she can be bad as Lavender and Parvati sometimes." Hermione sighed ruefully. "I told her that I pecked him good night is all. He was very handsome and charming, but I didn't really fancy him in that sort of way."

"Funny, I always thought that you and Viktor were dating our entire Fifth Year."

Hermione laughed and shook her head. "No, none of that. We were pen pals and it was interesting to hear some of the curriculum at Durmstrang. It's very different from Hogwarts."

Suddenly, Harry stilled and quietened. In a low murmur, he said, "It was during Fifth Year when we started drifting apart wasn't it?"

"What do you mean, Harry?"

"Fifth Year was when you became a prefect and we started studying for O.W.L.s. On top of that, we had Umbridge and the D.A. We didn't have a lot of free time to talk and just... hang out with one another."

As Hermione opened her mouth to object, the full weight of Harry's words impacted on her. Harry was right. Looking over her memories, Hermione could see that they didn't nearly have as much fun together as they did the first four years. Even with the Tri-Wizard Tournament happening in Fourth Year, they still had time to simply socialize and just be themselves. All that changed the next year.

"You know," Hermione began as she cuddled closer to Harry. "I was really disappointed when I learned you didn't make prefect. I thought you were perfect for it and I was looking forward to patrolling the hallways with you and everything. I thought we could have made something of ourselves together. Then from there, we would both be Head Boy and Head Girl."

"Really?" Harry asked quietly. "I never really knew how much you wanted me to be prefect."

"Of course I wanted you to be prefect. We would have been great together."

We would have been great together. The sentence made her heart beat faster than normal. The way she had worded it implied something else entirely. Once again, her thoughts had strayed into forbidden territory: the thought of her and Harry together. It was a subject that ran through her mind since Rita Skeeter began the rumors in Fourth Year.

"Together..." Harry repeated in a low whisper.

Harry grew silent, stirring Hermione to look up. His eyes were glazed over, lost in thought. Hermione prodded him with a gentle nudge, but there was not effects of her actions. She called his name, "Harry?"

"Why haven't we ever taken the plunge and date each other?"

It was that question. Hermione had asked herself the same thing plenty of times before. There were numerous reasons why they never did. However, she knew that all of them were excuses one way or another. If she was perfectly truthful with herself, Hermione knew that there were sparks between the two of them. Even in their strained state, they were still able to connect on a level that hardly seemed fathomable.

"I don't know. Why haven't we, Harry?"

"I remember when you were hit with that curse with Dolohov." Harry said, ignoring the question. "You had no idea how scared I was. If it wasn't for Neville telling me that there was a pulse, I would have broken down right there."

The incident that happened at the Department of Mysteries was something that Harry nor the rest of them ever talked about. It was a painful memory for all of them considering the loss of Sirius and the struggle they had overcoming the Death Eaters. She could still remember the brief moment of pain that coursed through her caused by the curse before she collapsed and became unconscious.

"If you had died, Hermione, I don't think I would be alive right now."

Hermione turned her body and faced Harry. She soon wrapped her arms around him in a gentle hug, squeezing him with her hands. It was not long before Harry reciprocated the gesture and held her in his arms as well, the feeling of his body against hers allowed her to forget about what they were currently going through. There were still many words still left unsaid, but for some reason, Hermione knew what Harry was trying to say.

As Hermione's face nuzzled into Harry's chest, she had an epiphany. The revelation made her chuckle. She stared up at Harry, grinning at him. "Harry, you know how my patronus is an otter?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, otters are part of the same family as weasels." Hermione laughed again.

Harry's eyes widened and he laughed also. "That's funny."

"It is, isn't it?"

They remained in each others' embrace for a few more minutes. However, it was not long before Harry said he had to return to his post, having had enough time to rest. Hermione watched him as he stood up from her bed, hugging her briefly before he turned and began walking back to the front of the tent. Harry told her to get some sleep. He left her once she was under her sheets and he dimmed the lights.

"I love you, Harry." Hermione told him.

Harry stopped and turned, smiling at her. "I love you too, Hermione."

Satisfied, Hermione settled into her bed. For the first time in weeks, she didn't cry herself to sleep. Instead, the tear-stained cheeks were replaced with a content grin adorning her features. That night and for the next few nights onward, Hermione found herself sleeping peacefully despite the despair that clung around them.

There was hope now.

Afterword: Harry and Hermione managed to lay down the foundation of a possible romantic relationship in the future. Also, I would like to explain why Hermione laughed and Harry grinned when Hermione said her patronus was an otter. Many canon shippers can construe it as a symbol of Hermione's love for Ron while Harmony shippers would contend that it is a symbol of her love for Harry – include "P" at the end of otter and you get Potter! However, I see it differently. I think the otter represents the confusion of Hermione's feelings for both boys. Many would feel that it is a blatant representation – both in-universe and in our reality – of Hermione's feelings for Ron. It is true. It is a representation of her feelings, but I don't believe it is romantic. Otters and weasels are from the same family and thus one can conclude that Hermione's feelings for Ron are actually familial in nature. It is not uncommon for some people to confuse intimate platonic feelings for romantic feelings. With that in mind, Hermione's feelings for Harry are a lot more subtle and harder to see. Hence it is represented with the clever inclusion of "P" to the beginning of otter to understand. Not many would see it, but it is there. Thus, deriving from this point, we can conclude that at the time of her first casting of her patronus, Hermione was confused over what she felt for her two best friends. Perhaps it is not what J.K. Rowling intended, but as you can clearly see, this is yet another example of the characters running away from the writer.