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See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer.
"Nothing can change fate. Nothing."
The words echoed, over and over, in her head. Her sleep was fitful yet deep. The words took on a melodic quality. They sang themselves in her dreams. The chorus echoed, and Hermione found herself standing in the Great Hall. The song crescendoed, and harmonious strains emerged. She stood as candles appeared around her. They gave a heavenly glow over the Hall, which seemed much less school-like, and much more holy. The vision transcended the boundaries of her imagination. As the chords reached another orchestral swell, she gazed up the aisle. There, waiting for her, were two perfect lines, one of women in burgundy gowns, the other of men in elegant tuxedos.
"Nothing can change fate. Nothing."
The chorus continued. As the vision expanded, she slowly realized what this view was. The people sitting on either side of her stood, and turned to look at her. The music swelled, no longer becoming louder, but broadening in tone. She gazed slowly up the aisle again, almost knowing what she would find, but still feeling the need to make sure. Sure enough, standing there before her, was a tall, handsome man. She couldn't see his face, but she knew. She always had.
She suddenly sat up, finding herself in the glow of sunrise in the hospital wing.
"Harry," she whispered.
Her peace was interrupted once again by the constant bustling of Madame Pomfrey. "Up early, I see. Couldn't sleep, maybe? Perhaps because of all of the visitors? People getting my patients riled up? Why, I can't even heal my own patients anymore."
Hermione rolled her eyes.
Madame Pomfrey strode over to the bed. Placing a hand on Hermione's cheek and her wand on the girl's forehead, she said, "Diagnosa." The wand spat out a readout that Hermione thought looked very much like that of the laser clock her Muggle father had bought for his dental office. Madame Pomfrey read it, clicked her tongue, and checked the small sensor Hermione had over her pulse.
"Well, it seems that you will be able to leave today. Take this potion before bed-" she handed Hermione a small blue bottle- "and come see me tomorrow evening so that I can complete the records. I will summon Miss and Mr. Weasley to assist you in returning your things, and yourself, to your dormitory. Take care of yourself. Do not overexert yourself, please." She paused, and smiled slightly at her young patient. She looked so young and vulnerable, yet so old and strong in life experience. "Miss Granger, I just wanted to express to you my feelings. Your case was a miracle. You arrived here millimeters from death. I know that I helped you recover, but I will admit my skills as a Healer alone would have never been able to keep you alive. I do not know how you are alive today, but I believe that it is a miracle."
Hermione smiled modestly. This had been a life-changing experience. She had been so close, but now that seemed so distant. She needed to focus now on life. She gave Madame Pomfrey a hug, which caused the old Healer to gasp in surprise. Hermione wondered whether she had ever been hugged in her life. Madame Pomfrey turned and left the room. Mere seconds later, and at breakneck speed, two--make that four--hyper, enthusiastic redheads burst into the room. Ron and Ginny were first, followed closely by Fred and George. Or maybe it was George and Fred.
"Hermione, we're so happy for you! You get to leave!" Ginny threw herself at Hermione in a huge hug, and Hermione saw the tears in Ginny's eyes.
Hermione smiled. She looked at them all, and realized just how thankful she was that they had all survived the war. Her eyes traveled up to the very lanky and tall forms of Fred and George. "How on earth did you get here? How did you know? With you two not at Hogwarts..."
"... the school is much more boring," Fred grinned. At least, she thought it was Fred.
"And of all people, Hermione, you should never doubt our ability to get anywhere on any notice. As far as knowing when, it was intuition. And as far as getting here, well, that's for us to know..."
"... and you to only find out if you're lucky."
Hermione laughed. "Honestly, Fred."
"I'm not Fred."
"I'm Fred."
"You are? I thought I was."
"Shut up, George," muttered Ginny, slapping one of them gently on the shoulder.
Hermione laughed, but then looked at the oddly quiet Ron. Glancing back at Ginny, Fred, and George, she said, "I really don't think I need quite this much help."
George--or Fred, she didn't really care anymore, she was so confused--laughed. "Of course not, fair maiden. We actually were only here to bug you a bit. But while we're here, we might as well take your bag up to the tower. We have some catching-up to do with a certain poltergeist and a few ghosts. And maybe even a few teachers, the ones who haven't threatened to kill us."
Hermione laughed again. She was finally starting to feel lighthearted again. But then she saw Ron. Ron nodded his brothers to the door, and signaled for Ginny to go, too. Lowering her eyelids slightly, she did so, and closed the door behind her.
"Ron," Hermione said, in her familiar self-assured tone. The tone that reminded him so much of his mother. "What is it?"
Ron smiled weakly and sat beside her. "I'm so glad to know that you're fine and you're going to be coming home to the Tower."
"That is not it," she answered, a little less assured. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing is really wrong, so to speak. I'm just a little bit worried about Harry. And I wanted to warn you."
Her face melted. "Warn me about what? What's wrong with Harry?" She felt a weight fall on her chest.
"Hermione, you've been in here. You haven't seen... well, you know there were a lot of losses from that battle. Harry saw the number of empty chairs in the Great Hall, the number of canceled classes due to lack of teachers and students. He is feeling guilty. There's nothing he could have done, but it is still affecting him in a horrible way. I wanted to tell you to be careful. It's going to hit you, too. Don't feel guilty."
She pressed her lips together, in an effort to hold back emotion.
"Harry is isolating himself somewhat. I understand his grief, and I know that he needs time, but he has to understand that this wasn't his fault. And... there's another thing."
She nodded. "What is it?"
"Well, I.... he hasn't been telling me much, but he has been talking about you. He just keeps saying that it's his fault that you were so close to dying. He keeps saying things about how he screwed up your destiny."
Her eyes widened slightly. Tears formed slowly. "Really?" she asked softly. She wouldn't meet Ron's eyes.
"Yeah," he said. "He says that he messed up your life. He said that everything was his fault, and your destiny was screwed up, because of him. Hermione, do you know what's going on here?"
"Yes," she whispered almost inaudibly. "I know what's going on. I know that he feels guilty. None of it is his fault. And he didn't... he couldn't... how could he think he messed up my destiny? It was my choice. At least, some of it was. And the rest of it... it was neither of us." She looked up. "Nothing can change fate."
Ron looked confused. "What are you on about? I've listened for the last two bloody days of Harry rambling on in code, are you going to let me in here and give me a clue?"
Hermione looked at her lap again. "Don't curse, Ron. I can't tell you everything yet, because I think that Harry will want to be there when I tell you the whole thing. I can tell you that when Harry got his scar, I got one too. It was part of my destiny to protect Harry in this final battle, to complete his mother's protection spell. If it took me dying, I would. It wasn't my choice to be marked by the spell to complete the charm, but it was my choice to go into that battle, knowing full well that chances were that I wouldn't come out alive. I survived, though, we both did, but it turns out that the connection of the protection spell has other effects on both of our fates."
Ron's blue eyes widened. There was fear evident. "You aren't..."
"...No, we aren't going to die or anything. But Harry feels that his being born, and Avada Kedavra'd, and protected by his mother has forced me into a fate that I don't want. He feels bad and thinks that it's his fault. But it's not, and I don't feel any regrets. And our fates will be forever intertwined, but neither will turn out badly. If we were going to die through this, we would have already."
Ron was obviously still worried, but Hermione saw an element of peace in his eyes. "Well, I'm glad that neither of you did. Since you obviously have much more of a handle on this than I ever will, you should probably talk to him." She gave him a sisterly hug. He grinned, and she immediately knew that he was going to say something stupid.
"So, did you two ever talk about that little... tomato transfiguration that Ginny and I walked in on? Honestly, I always saw it coming."
Her eyes became as big as dinner plates. She smacked his shoulder. He gathered the rest of her things, and waited as she slid off the bed and put on her shoes. He smiled at her and followed her out of the pristine room, turning off the magical light. He filled her in on school news (an awful lot of which was about a certain Miss Lovegood) as they walked.
She knew what she had to do.