Saturday morning couldn't have come quicker for Harry as he bounded down the stairs like the devil was at his heels to leave the house and head to Hogsmeade. He came to a halt when Molly stood in front of him and eyed him appraisingly. Before he could react, she conjured a scarf and wrapped it around his neck tightly.

"Don't want you to catch a cold, now," she patted his collar and adjusted the scarf quickly while he shuffled his feet, "and be safe, Harry. Don't forget to tell her we said hello and that we miss her too."

After she was done, she patted his cheek softly and stepped aside to let him out. In a flash, he was racing along the snow laden path like a giddy child. Once he reached the end of it, he took a breath to calm himself before concentrating on his destination. He vanished with a sharp crack afterwards, Molly watching the whole thing fondly.

As soon as Harry landed in the middle of a Hogsmeade that was completely covered in white, his eyes searched for Hermione. His gaze traveled far and wide in search of her before he finally found her standing in front of The Three Broomsticks looking around nervously. She hadn't noticed him yet as he began walking to her.

The world stopped in its place for him as it seemed like everyone else was frozen in their place. He crossed the street in what felt like slow motion with his hands stuffed in his pocket. He only had eyes for her and he could swear up and down that he had never seen a sight more beautiful. She was dressed in a thick knitted sweater with a burgundy scarf around her neck while her amazingly wild hair rolled smoothly like a waterfall down her head. Her cheeks were tinted pink from the cold, giving her the look of one of those women from those famous paintings he heard about. She was art.

When she finally noticed him, her luminous chocolate eyes widened in recognition before he became star struck at the radiant smile she wore for him. He didn't think it was possible for her to get any more stunning from when he last saw her but, here he was, proven totally wrong.

"Hi," Hermione cheerily greeted.

He thought her voice sounded breathless but it didn't make it any less wonderful. He missed everything about her, don't get him wrong, but her voice was almot always heard in his head and it was the most powerful sound in the world to him.

"Hey," he responded back, sounding hoarse as his throat suddenly felt devoid of moisture. He didn't trust himself to speak in front of her without mucking things up by yelling out an 'I love you' for the world to hear. "I missed you," he blurted out and then winced at his lack of subtlety.

"Oh, Harry, I missed you so much too." She hugged him securely at her declaration and he took the chance to smell her hair and savor the feeling of her body in his arms. He wanted to have her glued to his person permanently, irrational as it was.

Harry didn't know long they stayed like that but it still felt much too soon when she let go of him, her warmth leaving his body immediately. He shivered reflexively as the wave of cold hit him but instantly warmed up again when she locked their hands together and led him inside the tavern.

"I missed you." Didn't he already say that?

Hermione just giggled at him as she sat across from him in their booth. The sound of it was music to his ears but he faintly wondered why she couldn't have sat next to him instead of across. He pushed it away and decided to stop thinking, instead choosing to just bask in the presence of her.

"What have you been up to, Harry?" She started up a conversation with him as they sat amiably amongst the crowd.

"Nothing much, I've spent a lot of time with the Weasley's," he admitted bashfully. Somehow, he didn't want her to think he was just lazing around after the war.

"That's wonderful, you deserve some peace and quiet," she grinned at him, "Merlin knows you've been religiously opposed to that sort of thing for your entire life."

"I'll have you know that I don't avoid those things, they avoid me," Harry snarked back though with traces of a smile on the corner of his mouth.

"Too true."

Throughout their banter, the green eyed wizard couldn't help but notice how easy it was to be around her. In a sense, it always was easy to just be himself around her. They could banter, talk seriously, even argue, and he would never feel as comfortable with anyone else than he did with Hermione. For the longest time, she was the only part of his life that wasn't difficult to understand or handle. It was natural to be with her.

"And what have you been up to? Can't imagine you're setting Professors on fire or running an illegal dueling class," he jested to her.

"I'll have you know, Harry James, I did those things for you," she retorted faux seriously but he could see her struggling to contain the upturn of her plump lips. She bit her lip to keep from smiling and he nearly swooned completely.

Harry cleared his throat to regain some semblance of control over himself but surprised himself when he reached across the table to take her hand in his own. "Thank you," he whispered, not trusting his voice not to come out with a hitch.

"What for?" Hermione cocked her head quizzically and the sight was beyond adorable to Harry.

"Are you kidding me? You deserve a thank you for everything you've done and continue to do for me."

His passionate declaration left her stunned as she gazed at him with widened eyes. Harry didn't understand why she looked so shocked but her face changed to reveal a luminescent smile that lit his entire world up. Feeling bold, he continued to talk. "I'm so thankful you're my best friend."

When Hermione's eyes shifted to one of sadness for a split second, Harry became alert. He wondered if he said something wrong or if it was just a figment of his imagination. He wanted to think that maybe she didn't want to be friends with him anymore even though he knew it was irrational.

"H—Harry...I have to tell you something," Hermione began quietly. She pulled away her hands from his, stunning him and making a deep pain shoot into his heart, before chewing on her lip nervously. "I hate keeping things from you," she told him nervously.

Sensing that she was struggling to express herself, Harry looked at her comfortingly and tried to add some levity to the situation. "Hermione, every time you want to tell me something and you don't think I'll agree with it, you look like you're about to confess to a crime," he lightly said with a short chuckle.

She still didn't look any better at his lame attempt at a joke. This was bad. Whatever she had to say was clearly putting her in distress. Clearly, humor wasn't the answer to this. He leaned over the table and said, "Hermione, this is us. We're best friends, you know you can tell me anything. Nothing will make me stop lov—being your friend," he corrected himself lest he give away his feelings to her.

"I know that but..." Hermione started but hesitated again. Harry only looked at her with imploring eyes, trying to silently tell her that he would always be her friend. "What I'm about to tell you will test the limits of that."

Despite feeling more than a bit of trepidation at her statement, Harry didn't stop looking deep into her eyes to find out the truth. He wasn't worried that she wanted to end their friendship anymore, he didn't think it was possible anymore. They were two sides of the same coin, forever intertwined, and eternally together.

"Hermione, just tell me. I promise you that I'll always be here, I'll always be your best friend. Nothing will change that."

"I...I" Hermione tried again to explain but the words didn't want to come out. Harry, in response, leaned even further over the table and she did the same until their foreheads were lightly resting against each other. He was sure he could kiss her and had to restrain himself with every fiber of his being not to do so. He couldn't ruin their friendship especially when she had something important to tell him. He would have to wait.

"I...I'm moving to the States."

The wizard felt his soul leave his body at her confession. She was...leaving him? Harry wondered where the notion came from. His worst fear was coming through; Hermione was leaving him behind. He always knew she was ambitious and destined to do great things but he hoped he could have walked beside her as she accomplished all the things he knew she was capable of. His soul felt like it was burning as he thought of her going off without him and the sneaking thought that he didn't mean as much to her as she did to him.

"Why?" Harry croaked, pulling back from their position because the mere presence and feel of her were making him die a little inside.

"There's this...program in New York City for advanced healing that uses ancient runes and Professor McGonagall recommended me and I have an interview with them and if they accept me..." Hermione began but then babbled out hurriedly.

The soul searing pain inside Harry quickly ignited the flame of fury in his heart as he looked at the woman who he loved that clearly didn't feel the same for him. She was leaving him behind and that meant he wasn't as important to her as her career. It felt unfair to think that of her but he didn't know what his life was like when he wasn't the important thing in hers.

"And you're just going to go, just like that?" He asked more harshly than he intended.

"Well...I haven't been accepted yet."

"Please, we both know you're more than qualified and that they'll accept you. My question is 'why'?"

"Why?"

"Why do you want to leave England? Why do you want to leave me—us?"

Hermione couldn't answer that question. She remained silent and avoided his eyes completely, desperately wishing to be anywhere else but with him. He was hurting her just by the anguish she could see in his eyes on his face, anguish that she knew was caused by her news.

"You're not even going to give me an answer?" Harry again asked, this time with every intent of sounding strident.

"Harry...it's not that easy for me to say."

"Then make it easy, just tell me what's so bad about me and this place that you feel the need to just up and leave," Harry said through gritted teeth, his anger too far gone for him to even hope to rein it in.

"There's nothing that's bad about you or here, but..."

"But?"

"But...I think this is what's...best for me."

What's best for her was to be away from him. It was quite the leap to make and a small part of himself told him that he was being an idiot but he was hurt by the statement. She just told him that her being away from him was the best thing for her. He wanted to curl up into a ball and sob his heart out but he wouldn't let her see him like that.

"What's best for you is to leave me behind?"

Hermione gasped at the accusation but Harry knew it wasn't because of shock, it was because he read her like a book. He was right. She wanted to leave him behind. He rose from the table sharply and glared at her, "you know what, Hermione? You go ahead and do what's best for you, that's all any of us can do, right?"

He left her after his verbal assault and strode out of the tavern, begging with everything in his soul that she would follow him and tell him that she was playing some sick joke and that she would stay with him forever. There were so many things she could do in England and almost all of them would make use of her skills. Heck, he even heard Minister Shacklebolt talking about her as his potential successor even though she was still in school. But no, she didn't want any of that. She just wanted to leave him.

Harry didn't know how he made it back to The Burrow but when he did, the miserable look on his face was enough for Molly to know something clearly went wrong during his visit. She had never seen the boy in such pain before and she wondered if Hermione told him that she didn't feel the same for him when he confessed his feelings. She didn't want to believe it was so but the absolute hurt the boy was wearing seemed to be proving her otherwise.

When Harry got like this, it was best to leave him alone for a bit until he really got out of hand. When he was ready, she would talk to him and hopefully understand what happened.