Hermione sat before the dying fire in the Gryffindor Common Room, busily doing her homework and trying to keep her mind occupied. Since realizing on the Astronomy Tower that she needed to keep living her life despite her worry for Harry, Hermione had been concentrated solely on her school work. It was all that she did.
Ron had been ecstatic when he saw his best friend finally doing something. But now he was starting to become anxious again once he noticed that Hermione's focus had switched from Harry to studying.
"This isn't healthy, Hermione!" he had yelled at her just a few hours earlier.
Hermione had ignored him. He had wanted her to move on, so that's what she was doing. It didn't matter how much her hand cramped around the quill or how tired her eyes were from staring at the small print in the textbooks, she was going to keep studying. It was her distraction.
Shaking her head, Hermione squinted and kept on reading from her Advanced Charms book. N.E.W.T.S were looming just around the corner and she knew she would have to perform many complex spells to pass. Not like Ron hadn't already stated that fact many times in the past weeks.
For a rare moment, a true smile spread across Hermione's face. To think that Ron is pushing me to study! She couldn't help chuckling at the thought.
She sombered quickly though, sighing deeply and turning back to writing notes on her piece of parchment. The scratching of her quill was the only sound in the Common Room, it being well past midnight and all of her Housemates asleep.
Pausing midsentence, Hermione glanced up at the large window across the room. Darkness was all she could see along with a faint sliver of silver that could only be the moon. She knew it was cold out, it had been raining all day, dark clouds always present. The day had exactly matched her mood but she didn't let on anymore, always acting happy though sorrow filled her heart.
Night had come though and no one was around, so now Hermione could drop the act. Her quill slipped out of her hand and dropped on the fresh ink, smearing the neat words. She wrapped her arms around herself, shivering.
Where is he? she thought desperately, not even wanting to imagine Harry fighting in the cold.
Or perhaps lying in the mud…… Hermione stopped herself from finishing the thought, cursing mildly under her breath. I told myself I wouldn't think like that again!
Depressing thoughts such as those would do nothing to help. Harry would come back, she had to keep believing that. His final promise to her was forever etched in her mind and she knew Harry would do everything in his power to keep that promise. Harry always kept his promises, one of the many things she loved so deeply about him.
Hermione sighed and stood up, making her way over to the fireplace. With a flick of her wand, the flames roared upward for a second before diminishing into a merrily crackling fire. The warmth could not reach fully into her though and Hermione still shivered, her heart feeling cold. Her brown eyes were blank and filled with unshed tears.
No matter how much Hermione convinced herself and everyone around her that she was doing fine, deep down she knew that her worry had never left. Hurt and sadness were still within her and threatening to spill over into full out anguish. With each breath she took, an ache formed in her heart in the void that had been placed there once Harry had left her.
As much as it hurt her pride to say this, Hermione needed Harry, she loved him too much to go on without him if he didn't survive.
With a soft sob, Hermione fell to her knees and placed her face in her hands. Tears started to slowly trickle down her face despite her attempts to prevent them. Her shoulders began to shake with an effort to restrain the sobs from becoming too loud, there was no need to wake her Housemates and have them question her.
And then it happened. As she kneeled on the ground, trembling and trying to hold back the ache, a voice spoke behind her.
"Please don't cry, Hermione."
Hermione froze and barely dared to breath. Very slowly she pulled her hands away from her face and stood up. Her back still turned to the person, Hermione spoke softly to them.
"Am I dreaming?" she whispered.
The person laughed softly and the sound sent chills up Hermione's spine. She hadn't heard that laugh in what seemed like forever.
"No, Hermione, you're not dreaming. Please, turn around."
Shaking, Hermione turned and her eyes came to rest on the most wonderful sight in her entire life. Smiling tiredly but joyfully at her, Harry Potter stood before her, his green eyes shining in the firelight and his messy hair still damp from the rain. His clothes were soaked and he looked like he was freezing but the most important fact was that he was alive.
He stared intently into Hermione's eyes, not knowing what to say to the woman he loved more that anything in the world, the woman he had left behind and the one he had returned to. He started to open his mouth but shut it quickly. What could he say?
Hermione took a tentative step forward, tear marks still evident on her cheeks. "Harry?" she said quietly, hardly believing her eyes.
He smiled gently at her in return and before he could make any other reaction, Hermione was rushing at him and jumping into his arms, hugging him tightly. Harry wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her firmly against his body, tears starting to come to his own eyes.
He realized suddenly how wet he was but he noticed that Hermione seemed not to care, only gripping him closer to her. He soothingly started to rub her back, just reveling in the closeness of her and that finally, after so long, he was back in her arms. The sound of her sobs suddenly reached his ears and Harry stared down at the top of her head in concern.
"Hermione?" he whispered. "Hermione, what's wrong?"
Hermione lifted her head and gave Harry a beautiful smile, looking into his eyes.
"Nothing, Harry," she said with a small laugh. "I'm crying because I'm happy to see you."
He dropped his head a bit, becoming serious. "I kept my promise."
Hermione bit her bottom lip and nodded her head. "I know, I know. You told me you would, I had no reason to ever doubt you, though I did at times."
"Oh, Hermione," Harry responded, wiping her tears away gently with his thumb, "do not feel bad about that. I easily could have…."
Hermione quickly put her finger to his lips and stared at him intently. "No, Harry, don't talk like that. You are here now, with me. You won the War and you returned to me, that's all that matters now. You came back."
She removed her finger from his lips and put her arms around his neck, leaning her forehead against his. Harry sighed with pleasure and closed his eyes. This was why he had come home. He had fought for this, for this feeling, to be back with the one person he loved above anything else and who loved him back with the same amount of love.
"I love you," he managed to say. He opened his eyes to see Hermione's reaction.
She smiled at him and ran a hand through his black hair, causing him to sigh. "I know, I love you too."
And then their lips were on each other, meeting for the first time since their kiss in the rain. That kiss had been a promise, sealing a goodbye but also sealing the fact that he would return. This kiss was about something different, also a promise but sealing a new one, that their love was true and their future was with each other.
The kiss started out very gentle and innocent but soon grew more passionate as their feelings for each other burst to the surface and escalated. Harry and Hermione were in their own world, only focused on the kiss and expressing their love to one another.
Eventually they pulled apart and stared into each other's eyes, breathing hard. A single tear made its way down Hermione's cheek and she hugged Harry to her once more.
"I've missed you so much," she said. "Don't leave me again."
"I promise, Hermione," Harry replied. "I'll never leave you again."
Hermione smiled into his chest. "I love you, Harry." Her voice sounded muffled.
Harry pulled away from her and put his finger under her chin, forcing Hermione to look up at him again. Once she was looking up at him, he spoke his next words firmly.
"I'll always love you, Hermione."
Then he kissed her again and this time she had no doubt in what Harry was saying.
THE END
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Author's Note: Thank you soo much for all the wonderful support of this short fic of mine! I
had a lot of fun writing it and I'm really sad it had to come to an end. Harry came home though and this is the
only ending I can think of for this fic. You can probably guess where it goes from here, lol. I considered writing an
epilogue but I really don't think it is necessary. I'm proud of how I wrote this and I really hope all of you
enjoyed it too! Now I can concentrate solely on the Heirs of Hogwarts, which I'm happy about cause chapters will
come along faster now. I start classes again on monday so hopefully I'll get a few chapters up before I start that,
though I will try to continue writing at college. Please review and look for the next chapter to Heirs within the next
day or so!
Much Love,
PhoenixFirebolt