Intro:
Harry Potter has reached the climax of his life. In this G rated story, one problem will be addressed. Will Harry ever realize his feelings for Hermione? If you want to reply to this story write me at nuclearkitty@classicnet.net Now onto the story…

Eye Contact

By Nuclearkitty

We find our beloved trio sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room. Ron and Harry were immersed in a game of chess while they are writing Professor Snape’s paper. Hermione was reading a cozy Arithmancy book and looked pretty relaxed for once. Harry noted the pleasant look on her face. Once their eyes met and Harry looked away quickly. Hermione couldn’t get into her book afterwards, so she pretended to read while she studied the boy in front of her.

‘He always looks away. Maybe he doesn’t like me and he doesn’t want me to get the wrong idea?’ Her brown eyes stared at him unconsciously while she thought about Harry’s behavior.

In Potions the next day their eyes met again and yet again Harry looked away. This time Hermione detected a blush on his face. Hermione was becoming very concerned. ‘Maybe he just wants help and doesn’t know how to ask?’ She didn’t notice that she was spilling the contents of her vial on the floor.

“Ten Points off of Gryffindor, Ms. Granger!”

Once she saw Harry talking to Ginny and squeezed her glass of pumpkin juice so hard that it hit Malfoy at the Slytherin table. Only to find later that Harry was confronting Ginny about Malfoy.

She was beginning to think that she was slowly losing her mind. She felt ecstatic when his eyes held hers, but she felt oddly alone when he looked away. She know longer felt just companionship towards him. After all would a friend long for their best friend’s touch? How odd that she felt relieved when Ron began to date Luna, but felt cranky when Harry dated Cho. She knew she had feelings for Harry, and she was beginning to realize that she was getting to the point where all of her comfort came from him. Even the books that quenched her thirst for knowledge could quench the new feeling that sprung from the crush of old.

It was at the Quidditch Pitch that she admitted to herself that she had fallen hard for him. He had broken his glasses again and instinctively she ran to fix them before the game. She was about to wave her hand when she got a good look at his eyes. A lump formed in her throat and she squeaked while she spoke the spell. Quickly she made some excuse and made a hasty retreat to the stands. Harry must have noticed because his game was affected. He was excellent of course, but at times he would just fly around with an absorbed expression. Sometimes Hermione wondered why he was looking for the snitch in the stands.

Hogsmeade hadn’t sounded that thrilling that weekend. Ron and Luna were there together and both Harry and Hermione agreed they would feel uncomfortable around the two lovebirds, so Hermione talked Harry into studying with her. Harry agreed only if she would help him with the latest Potions assignment. Hermione had promised to tutor him, but she couldn’t concentrate. Sometimes their knees would brush and when she put on her serious face he would fiddle with his quill or –his favorite- mess around with the curls that fell down when she bent over. He would do anything to make her flustered. One moment she gave him the beady eye and the next moment she would be all red in the face. She declared to him that that was the worst studying session she ever had, but she couldn’t stop smiling the rest of the day.

‘Maybe he’s starting to return my feelings’ she thought hopefully in DADA. She was beginning to see more subtle things from Harry that she must have missed before. She noticed how he made a point to sit in between her and Ron at the table and how he was starting to confide in her more. She began to think that soon, maybe he’ll return her feelings. Her anticipation for that day grew as the year was coming to a close.

A month past and she felt like crying. He hadn’t any feelings for her, she felt like such a fool! She didn’t have the heart to go to the feast, so instead she went to the lake, the one romantic spot that she had hoped would be where he would confess. She began to cry softly at first, but soon it was replaced by heart wrenching sobs. ‘Hold yourself together.’ she told herself, but the thought of Harry not caring for her brought her right back where she started. Soon her tears mingled with the rain. She wiped her eyes and started to trudge back towards Hogwarts.

There he was! ‘He must be searching for me’ Finally after what seemed like ages he caught sight of her and closed in the distance between them.

“What are you doing out here?” He asked in a scolding tone, though he gave her a hug.

“I just needed to think” She noticed that he didn’t take his arms off of her.

Time seemed to freeze when he made eye contact. This time though he didn’t look away.

“You’ve been crying” He whispered, entranced.

She blushed. Her knees felt weak when he looked at her like that. She knew now why he used to look away. The feeling she felt when those green eyes seemed entirely focused on her was indescribable.

“Harry…”
 

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Author’s note: I think I’ll leave you there to draw your own conclusions.