Playa de Recuerdos
By Anne U
Written for the Summer Writing Series Challenge, http://www.livejournal.com/community/pk_h_hr_swsc/
Keyword: beach. Inspired by this drawing, http://www.boomspeed.com/muddgutts/BeachHHr.jpg, by my good friend Muddgutts. Approximately 590 words and yes, this is the whole story.
The sun was hot on the young man's skin. He perched on his elbow, leaning over toward the young woman in the pinkish bikini, wondering how the two of them had gotten to the point of lying on this blanket, on this beach in the Yucatan.
His mind flooded with memories of everything that had led them here. How they spent five years being best friends, sharing classes, studying together, and having adventures most kids their age couldn't dream of. Then followed two years of him focusing on preparing to meet his fate - a fate that had been prophesied before he was born, a fate that only he could fulfill, the same fate that made him try to push her and everyone else away from him to keep them safe from harm.
Only she wouldn't be pushed, wouldn't be kept from harm, wanted to share the bad as well as the good with him. "I'm already a target," she told him more than once. "I've been a target since you saved me from the troll. Don't try to keep me away, because I'll never leave you." Every time she told him this, she buried her face in his jumper and hugged him harder than seemed possible for such a slip of a girl.
When push finally came to shove, though, she let him go out alone to do what he had to do, but not before making him a promise - that when (not if) he came back, and if (but only if) he wanted, she hoped she could be more than just his best friend. And then Hermione did something she'd never done before and kissed him on the lips. No stars exploded behind his eyes; no rockets rang out in the night sky. But the softness of her lips wrapped his heart in a blanket of peace and calm. That was when Harry Potter finally understood about "the power he knows not," the power that Harry possessed in abundance but which Voldemort had never known and would never know…the power that eventually saved Harry's life while enabling him to defeat Voldemort forever….
Six months later, Harry and Hermione lay on this beach, soaking up the sun as if they'd never had care in the world. Leaning up on her elbows, Hermione looked out toward the ocean. "It's so beautiful here, isn't it?" she sighed. "After everything you've gone through, I'm glad we were able to get away from England and come here."
Harry leaned closer to her, his left hand resting lightly on her abdomen, and admired the view. "The ocean's very pretty, but I'd much rather look at you."
"Oh honestly, Harry…that's…very sweet of you," she muttered, her face almost as pink as the spaghetti straps on her bikini top. She looked deeply into his eyes, frowning slightly. "You've been very quiet this afternoon. What have you been thinking of?"
Closing the distance between them, Harry leaned toward Hermione and captured her lips in a kiss as soft and sweet as the one he'd just remembered. "Just thinking about all the years I've known you," he whispered, trailing kisses down the side of her neck toward her collarbone, "and wishing it hadn't taken me seven whole years to figure things out."
Hermione leaned back a bit, exposing more of her neck to him. "Always happy to help. Anything else I can do for you?"
"Mmmmmmm," he sighed, nuzzling her ear as he laid her back on the blanket. "I'm not sure, but I bet I'll think of something."
~~Finito~~
