Disclaimer: I do not own the story line or characters. They belong to JKR and NS.
A/N: Thanks for the reviews. I know it's taken forever, but I've barely had time on the computer. Hope you all like this!
A Year to Remember
Chapter 9
April slowly crept up on Harry and his finally days at Hogwarts were coming closer than he would have liked. He spent all of his spare moments in the hospital wing with Hermione. She hadn't left in weeks. Other people came by once in a while but it seemed so lonely in there to Harry, even when he was with her.
"What do you want to do today?" Harry asked her as he sat beside her bed.
"Do you have my diary," Hermione said quietly, "I'd like to read from it."
Harry nodded and walked over to his book bag. He pulled out the gift she had given him a month before. He took it everywhere with him as a source of comfort. Hermione moved to the side of her bed and lightly patted the other side. Harry sighed and slowly lay on the bed with her. He wrapped his arm around her gently and opened the book.
"Pick a page," he whispered in her ear, kissing her temple.
She slowly took possession of the book and lightly flipped through the pages. She smiled genuinely as she stopped at a certain page. She pointed at the passage and handed Harry the book.
"This is what I want read at my wedding," she stated, "read it."
Harry took the book in his hands and read out loud.
"Love is patient; love is kind. Love is not jealous, it does not put on airs, it is not snobbish. Love is never rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not prone to anger; neither does it brood over injuries. Love does not rejoice in what is wrong but rejoices in the truth. There is no limit to love's forbearance, to its trust, its hope, its power to endure. . ."
Harry stopped and gazed lovingly at Hermione. She was the prime example of those words.
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After being kicked out of the hospital wing again at midnight, Harry lay on his bed and flipped through Hermione's diary. It was the most amazing piece of art he ever read. Not only were her words inspiring but Hermione had an artistic flair that Harry didn't even know about. Pictures lined the margins of most pages and sometimes took up the whole page. Harry smiled lightly to himself as he read a page from Hermione's fourth year.
March 15
The gang has been at it again. How can people find pleasure in bringing other people down? Does it make them feel more important? If it does I can't see how. I've always been treated this way so I don't take it too personally anymore unless it's truly harsh. Before I left for Hogwarts back when I was 11, Mom gave me a note, and in the note was a message. I still have the note, and I keep it with me all the time. It went like this:
People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; do good anyway.
If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies; succeed anyway.
The good you do will be forgotten tomorrow; do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable; be honest and frank anyway.
What you spent years building may be destroyed overnight; build anyway.
People really need help but may attack you if you help them; help them anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you may get kicked in the teeth; give the world the best you've got anyway.
Mom always knew how to cheer me up. She said the passage was from a sign on the wall of Mother Teresa's children home in Calcutta. Mother Teresa may be a muggle but she seriously works some miraculous deeds. She makes being good to others seem so simple. I want to be more like her more than anything. I'm sure she got kicked in the face a few times, but she kept going and only got stronger. I can be strong. I will be strong. ~Hermione E. Granger
"You are strong," Harry muttered, his eyes glued to the last sentence, "you have no idea how strong you are."
He flipped through again and landed on a page from sixth year.
October 7
I've been doing some thinking and there's a lot I want to achieve in my life. So, I'm making a list of everything I want. My hopes, dreams, loves, fears, just everything.
Witness a miracle
Fall in love
Get married in the church Mom grew up in
Write a book
Learn to play the guitar
Join the Peace Corps
Discover a cure for cancer
Stay in school as long as possible
Befriend someone I don't like
Outlive Daddy
Harry stopped there. The list was wonderful but somewhat depressing. He wanted to help Hermione so he read her list
over a few times. He began to think and an idea sent him to Dumbledore's office.
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"Hermione, what are you doing here?"
Harry walked into his Transfiguration classroom Monday morning to greet a strange surprise. Hermione was sitting in a wheelchair at the front of the classroom in her Hogwarts uniform. Class didn't begin for another ten minutes so no one else was in there yet.
"Dumbledore visited me yesterday," Hermione smiled at him, "he said that since I still have strength in me, I could go back to classes if I wanted. And I do want to stay in school for as long as possible, so here I am."
Harry gazed at her in amazement. He had asked Dumbledore if it was possible for Hermione to go back to school but the old man hadn't given him a clear answer. Harry smiled the widest smile he had in ages and bent down to kiss her forehead. He sat next to her and they began to chat away, acting like they had a few months earlier, before her illness took over their happiness.
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Weeks went by and May had suddenly turned up. Hermione's body was still very frail but she had so much strength in her heart and her mind that she still kept up in her classes. Harry couldn't help but watch her in amazement as she accomplished so many things. She did, however, appear with bruises on her arms and legs. The smallest touch or bump went straight to her bone and left painful marks that lasted for days. Harry tried not to hug her long or hold her hand too tightly. One day she appeared with a tiny bruise on her lip. Harry suspected it was from kissing her too hard the previous day so her remained to small pecks on the cheek or forehead or his favorite spot: her temple. It never bruised, no matter how many times he touched it. It was his comfort zone on her.
Graduation was soon approaching and Harry wished that he could fulfill her list completely. He couldn't give her a miracle or teach her to play the guitar. He didn't know how to anyway. She was too weak to join the Peace Corps and she wouldn't be able to find a cure for cancer. Outliving her father was the least likely to happen of any of them but it seemed to be the most painful reality for all to endure.
"I wish there was something more I could do," Harry whispered. He was sitting in front of the fire one night with Ron, talking about all of his problems. For the first time in a while, Ron was being a true friend. It was a large comfort to Harry. The whole gang in fact had talked with Harry and they all began to treat him and Hermione with the respect they deserved.
"You're doing so much already," Ron yawned. He looked at his watch. "I think it's time we should get some sleep. Besides, you've got to start working on your speech tomorrow."
Harry nodded and followed Ron up the stairs to the boys' dormitories. Dumbledore had asked him if he would give the valedictory speech at the graduation ceremony that was taking place on the first of June. He had so much that he needed to say, but he didn't want to talk to anyone but Hermione or the gang. He had never spoken in public before and the thought truly frightened him.
The following day, he watched Hermione read her bible in the common room as he worked on his speech. He had nothing. He gazed at her as she sat content and peaceful in her chair. Memories of the past year flooded his mind. Memories of the prank, then the play. Hermione's smiling face and their first kiss. The day she told him she was sick and the day she collapsed in his arms. Harry's vision began to blur as he choked back tears. Her diary lay before him and he opened it up to the list. He read it over for the hundredth time and then looked up at Hermione. He looked back at the book and then back at her. Suddenly he hit a brainwave and he knew exactly what he was going to say at graduation.