Good Enough - Realisations, Dreams and Future - Chapter 6
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Author's notes: Alright. First and foremost, I AM SO SORRY. I do realize that I have taken forever to finish Chapter 6… so to make it up to all of you (do not flame me please!!) I made a little place in my server, where you can actually listen to music that relates to the story. Just CLICK HERE.
This is sadly or gladly for others, the last chapter of the story. This is where everything is supposed to wrap up. I really do like the ending, in my opinion is sweet and it leaves place for your imagination to run wild (if you want) - it is fairly open to interpretation. So if you are a sucker for happy endings, you can imagine a little smut at the end… if you like tragic endings, you can imagine something else! Although if you listen to the music carefully (those Spanish/English speakers have the advantage) you will figure out a sort of happy ending.
I haven't posted lyrics to the songs, or the translations for the songs that are not in English, but if enough people ask me, I might post them!
I have enjoyed writing this (although I have taken forever!), and I hope people think I was good enough! Please read and review!! All comments are welcomed!! This might be the last fanfic I will write in a long while… I certainly will be busy looking for new design jobs, and working on new websites. If you wanna keep updated, please visit My Blog
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Previously on Good Enough…
Hermione couldn't believe it, she suddenly felt sick, and slowly backed away.
"Oh my God, Hermione! Are you okay?" Rob asked worried.
At the mention of Hermione's name, the couple stopped what they were doing and they looked at Hermione in shock. He stepped out of the shadow.
They looked almost like Christmas decoration in the middle of July, out of place.
"How could you?" She said with a hurt tone.
It was Tim.
"Let me explain…" He said almost pleading.
"Hey, guys…" He said nervously looking back and forth between Tim and Hermione. "I think you should talk this through in some other time, before anyone gets more hurt."
"Who is this guy? Are you cheating on me with him?"
"Well, I know you only for a day, but you seem a very perceptive person, and all, you know." He said. "You must have noticed it at times, if not completely."
"I know…" She sighed. "Maybe somewhere in my mind I knew…" She added with a tone of sadness and regret. "But sometimes you want to believe something so bad that you blind yourself… it happens with so many different things."
"Don't ever think you are not good enough for anyone." He said holding her face close to his. "I would say you were too good for me that's why I couldn't manage to tell you." He said almost crying. "I couldn't tell you something like this and hurt you; I just didn't think I could hurt you in a worse way than I already did."
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Tim was about to knock his door once again, when Harry opened the door and greeted him with a flabbergasted look on the face. Harry was in too much of a shock to invite Tim in, so he just made his way through to Harry's living room and sat down.
"Come to hit me?" Harry asked a bit scared of what Tim could do to him.
"Don't be thick, Harry. If I wanted to hit you, I would've done so already." Tim said while tapping the seat next to his.
"Why are you here, then?" Harry asked approaching him and taking a seat.
"I want to talk to you."
"About Hermione I presume?"
"Yes and no." He said. "It's about everything that's happen lately."
"What else happened, other than this whole thing?" He asked curiously.
And Tim told him what had been going on with Hermione since she moved out, how she was acting, until he reached the part where he accidentally came out of the closet.
"You WHAT?" Harry exclaimed.
"I'm gay, Harry." Tim said with difficulty.
"But how? You and Hermione… well, how?" He said very confused.
"I tried… but it wasn't happening, and then well, Greg-", Tim said a little uncomfortable.
"You and Greg, wow!" He said looking at Tim. "That Greg always seemed mysterious; I still can't put a face to his name." He said nonchalantly.
"You've spent too much time living with Hermione, mate. You are starting to sound like a female flatmate, and that comes from a gay guy." He said raising his eyebrow.
Harry laughed. This is when he realized how he missed having Hermione around him. Even when talking about girly stuff, he was always willing to listen. When he needed to talk, she was always wiling to listen, even if he wasn't much of a talker lately. He was sort of more like a shagger nowadays.
"The mind is a powerful thing, Harry." Tim said, cutting Harry's train of thoughts. "Make it believe that one plus one is three, and it will believe you."
"What are you on about?" Harry asked confused.
"Think about it… how many of Hermione's dating prospects have you liked before me." He said.
Harry thought. None, no nada boyfriends, except from Tim, it was funny how Harry had liked Hermione being with Tim with no telling her she could do better or anything like that.
"It's none, is it? You haven't liked any of them." Tim said knowingly. "Now, ask yourself the question." He added softly.
They stayed in silence for a while, until Harry sighed.
"Did you figure it out, Harry?" Harry didn't answer. "Did you? Or do you need a kick in the head?"
"I did, okay!" Harry said infuriated.
"So what's your explanation then?" Tim asked. Maybe, just maybe Harry could wake up.
"Subconsciously, I knew you couldn't take her away from me." Harry said softly. "You could maybe occupy a physical place in her life, but you could never take her. Not completely."
"Is that enough of a kick in the head for you?" Tim said smiling warmly.
"Yes…" Harry said chuckling.
"Alright, then…" Tim tapped him on the shoulder. "Let's go out for something to eat. It's lunch time, and I'm starving." He added. "And you look awful."
Harry laughed. He knew he looked like a hag, Ron had pointed it out, and so he got ready and went out for lunch with Tim.
On the other side of town, a black-bluish-haired man walked hesitantly with a paper on his hands. He looked down at the paper, and up again. He was following directions. Finally, he found the house he was looking for and knocked on the door. A woman opened the door slightly and stared at Rob for a while.
"Mrs. Granger, I presume? My name is Rob, I don't know if Hermione's talked to you about me." Rob said.
"I'm sorry, but Hermione has not been in the mood for talking lately, dear." She said worried.
"I don't know if maybe I could talk to her, try to cheer her up maybe?"
"I'm sorry, young man, but I can't let you in. Not to be rude or anything, but you could be anyone… I hope you understand." Mrs. Granger said a bit sorry.
She was never the one to deny anything to Hermione's friends, but she learnt the hard way not to let anyone new in, even if they claimed to know Hermione. During the war, Harry was the main target for Death Eaters' attacks, so it didn't surprised Hermione that she and her family were in potential danger of getting killed. She put protective charms in her house, and she told her mother not to let anyone new in the house, otherwise all will be in danger. Hermione's father never understood, he dropped the ball and almost lost his life at the hands of Voldemort's minions.
"I understand, Mrs. Granger. You don't have to worry about it." He said politely. "Do you think you could tell her I'm down here, maybe she will come down?"
"Okay, I will be back." She said closing the door.
Her mother went upstairs, and it only took a few minutes for her to come back and invite Rob in. She said Hermione wasn't feeling like going out of her room, but pleaded Rob to convince her to cheer up, whatever has been happening. Rob went upstairs and softly knocked Hermione's door, as it slid open. She was lying in her bed, wrapped in her blankets. She turned.
"Hello, there." She said with no energy at all.
"Hello…" Rob said coming closer to her. "I figured you weren't gonna feel so cheery." He sat beside her, and tapped her in the arm.
"You figured right." She said turning her back to him. "Why are you here?"
"To cheer you up, silly." He said smiling. "I'm here to get you out of this smelly room!"
Rob held her hand and pulled her up. Hermione went back to bed.
"I don't want to go anywhere." She said cuttingly.
"Oh, come on! At least let me try!" He pleaded, holding her hand and trying to pull her out of bed.
"Really, Rob! I'm not in the mood of doing anything." She complained.
Rob was losing this battle, but he still had an ace under his sleeve. He let go of her hand, and knelt beside her bed, looking at her with puppy eyes.
"Stop looking at me like that…" Rob didn't change his expression. "I'm not going to budge!"
"Aw, come on! You need to lighten up!" He said making a funny face.
"Would you stop that?" She said trying to hold her smile.
"Come on, you know you want it…" He teased her. "Let's go out. It'll make your mom happy." He added making another funny face.
Hermione was failing miserably on hiding her smirk, and Rob knew it. He pulled her out of bed.
"Come on, just smile…" He said softly. "I won't tell anyone that you smiled in your time of depression." He got her on her feet. "God forbids that people know that Hermione's life can make her smile!"
"Oh, bollocks!" She exclaimed. "Okay, fine! I'll be down in a minute."
"No tricks, Ms. Hermione…" He said looking at her and raising his eyebrow.
"No tricks! I promise…" Hermione added kicking him out of her bedroom.
Minutes later, Hermione got ready and they went out. Mrs. Granger was very thankful with Rob, and Hermione blushed a bit at how her mother was acting. Sometimes parents can't be so embarrassing~
"Your mother is cool…" Rob said starting off conversation once again.
"Oh, please! My mother is cool?" She said smiling incredulously.
"Well, she is…" He said shrugging his shoulders. "She worries a lot about you…"
"Well, that is called concern, and it's because she cares about me…" She said as-a-matter-of-factly, stopping on her tracks to turn and face him.
"Yeah, she does." He said. "She loves you too, you know" Rob said thinking that he was stating the obvious.
"Uh-huh… love is overrated, you know." She said turning around once again.
"What? Whoa~" Rob put her hands around her and spun her to face her. "Why do you say that?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
"Hey, hold on a second here." He said letting her go from his grasp. "Just because life isn't so good today, doesn't mean you have to lose hope on finding someone to care for and that cares for you back… as YOU would put it.
"Can we just drop the subject? I really don't feel like discussing this out here…" She said softly.
"You're right" He added quickly. "I'm sorry."
Hermione started walking away, and Rob had to speed up to catch up.
"I did promise you cheering you up!" He said putting his arm around her. Hermione smiled.
They had lunch together, and afterwards they went for a leisurely walk around the park. Rob was telling Hermione some silly jokes and making faces for her to make her laugh; he was doing a good job at easing her worries. However, on the other side of the park, Harry was just saying goodbye to Tim, and was heading home when he spotted a bushy-haired woman. His head automatically turned and his eyes began to follow her and her mysterious blue-haired man. They were laughing, she was having a good laugh.
"She's forgotten all about you" said a voice like his.
"Little mud-" he interrupted another voice.
"She'll never take you back…" said another voice, this time very much like uncle Vernon's.
Harry's heart cracked as he saw them passing by, as she was passing by NOT thinking of him.
"Harry, I…" he heard a distant voice very much like Hermione's.
Harry turned around and went running back home.
He opened and slammed the door shut, as he breathed heavily in and out. He smashed what he could in his living room, and crashed on the sofa. He took one of the cushions and held it against his face. His scream got muted by it.
"It was a lovely day, Rob." Hermione told him while standing on the front door of her house.
"It was my very pleasure to do so, Ms. Granger…" He said smiling charmingly.
"Now, you are doing that just to bug me!" She said tapping him on the arm.
"Oh, yes indeed, Ms. Granger." He said with a playful smile. "I love bugging people"
"Well, you are doing a fine job at it!" She said playfully exasperated. "Goodbye, Rob!"
"Goodbye, Hermione" He said. "I will call you sometime in a couple of days. I gotta do some business that might take some time…"
"Oh, Mr. Business man, it's fine! It will give me time to think and re-evaluate my life."
"Well, that doesn't sound too much fun, isn't it?" He said with a hint of a teasing tone.
"You know me… they don't call me Hog-" She stopped herself before she could finish.
"Don't call you what?" He said.
"Oh… it's just - people don't call me a know-it-all for nothing…" She said realizing that Rob, as kind as he could be, didn't know her at all. And that whatever thing she might be feeling for him, it was just skin-deep. "Goodnight, Rob." She said with a hint of sadness.
"Goodnight, Hermione."
Later that night, Hermione had a dream. Harry was there…
He took her hand. "I promise you I'd be around…" She heard a faint echo. Everything faded away into blackness and the memory of being with him… only him. "I wish I could touch you again…" Another flash of him and her. "I wish I could still call you friend"
Harry held her hands, looking deeply into her eyes. "I won't forget you, my friend" - He approached his face to hers and gave her a soft kiss.
That last kiss, I'll cherish.
Until we meet again… I keep your memory.
Hermione woke up with a sudden gasp. It was early in the morning. You visit me in my sleep…
She stayed there, taking her hand to brush her lips softly to try to recall the sensations of Harry kissing her once again. I miss him… who knew? She sighed soundly.
How did everything turn out this way? Not long ago everything seemed okay, she was friends with Harry Potter, one of his best friends, if not the best-est, she had a relationship with Tim, but NO! He had to be gay, right? Hermione was broken-hearted. She will never be good enough for anyone in this universe; her eyes started swelling up with tears.
She turned away from her door to look at the clock on her wall.
1:00 P.M.
Knock-knock
Hermione didn't answer. She just hugged her pillow, thinking that whoever was knocking her door would just go away, as that same someone kept on knocking her door.
Knock-knock
A lone tear trailed down her face. Suddenly the door opened. Hermione turned to see who had disturbed her privacy, and then she turned away as quickly as she could. It was Harry. He looked at her and closed the door as he walked inside.
"Hermione, I-", he whispered in the silent room.
"What the bloody hell are you doing here, Harry?" She said sounding sharp and tired, and not looking at him.
"I needed to see you…" He answered softly.
"Why?" She added bitterly. "Needed to see me at my lowest?"
"No!" He quickly answered. "Never…" He added softly. "I wanted to talk to you…"
"About what?" She said trying to forget everything that had happened.
Harry sat down on her bedside. This made Hermione a little nervous and she got up and sat down on her bed, for the first time looking at Harry. He was looking at her how he used to look at her, with loving care, concern and perhaps-
"I heard about what happened with Tim…" He said trying to make conversation.
For Merlin's sake, Harry! What is wrong with you, mate?
Hermione turned away uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry." Harry added quickly. "I was stupid…"
He held her chin and softly made her turned her face towards him.
"I'm sorry, Hermione…" He said with raspy voice. "I-"
"I know, Harry…" She interrupted him. "You didn't mean it." She added. Deep inside, she had started to accept she will never be good enough for him. She will accept what she could, even if it was only his friendship. I miss him… all of him.
"No, Hermione…" He said in a whisper, still holding her chin and looking deep into her eyes. "Let's face it…" He said with a slight smile on his face. "If I hadn't meant it, it wouldn't have happened."
It took a while for the words to sink into Hermione.
"It took me long enough to realize this by myself." He said half-laughing, trying to control his own newly-form tears. "'Cause let's face it, Hermione… you were the one that really help me with this sort of stuff…"
This earned him a half-laugh from Hermione.
"So…" He added with a long pause. "I'm sorry…" He said as his voice broke, and small tears started falling from his eyes. "I'm sorry because I lied to you not once, but twice."
At this point, Harry's tears were trailing down his face as he sat down next to Hermione, still holding her close to him. She was also shedding her fair amount of tears.
"I lied to you when I pretended nothing happened between us…" He said breaking. "And I also lied to you when I told you I hadn't meant to sleep with you."
Harry's thumb ran across her cheek to dry the tears on her face.
"And I was so afraid…" He said shaking his head. "I was so afraid of so many things, Hermione. I was afraid of losing your friendship, afraid of losing your support and advice, afraid of losing all of you because I would never be good enough for you… always just a burden to you."
Harry slipped to the floor, making Hermione try to lift him up.
"I was so afraid of not giving what you really deserved, I was so afraid I was going to put you in some sort of stupid danger and hurt you. But I didn't realize that by lying to you, I was hurting you myself."
Hermione was in tears, but that didn't stop her from shaking Harry this time. She looked at him straight in his eyes, and with great determination.
"Harry!" She shouted. "Never put yourself down like that."
I can do it on my own private time, but I won't allow you to ever say that.
Harry was taken aback. If he could make her believe what she just had told him... He slowly stood up and got closer to her face. Harry could feel her hot breathe coming out of her slightly opened mouth. He was heaving. Gradually, he moved his hands. His thumbs tracing the contour of her face as he moved his head to softly kissed her.
Hermione tried to push him away, but she gave in. He was not forcing her to kiss him. He was just pressing his lips against hers, until her innocent kiss became more passionate, full of need to make the other feel better. Her lips parted for him, but still he did not enter her. He needed her to understand it. He was not here because he wanted her, he was here because he not only wanted her, but he also needed her, he needed to be with her, and he needed her to know she was more than he could have ever asked for.
She felt the tenderness and love of that kiss, and felt the need to express her true love for him, her true caring. She wanted him to know that she wanted to be with him forever, that she needed him, his friendship and his love for her… just like it was before and so much more.
They briefly opened their eyes, and communicated everything they needed, the look in their eyes was all they needed right now.
"Hermione…" He whispered against her lips. "You mean so much to me…" He added softly as he started leaving a trail of feather-like kisses all over her face.
"Harry…" She said softly. "Please…" She added as he stopped placing kisses and settled where her shoulder met her neck.
They held each other, taking each other's scent.
"I love you so much." Hermione said out loud.
Both of them held their breaths. Harry laid next to her and held her close to him. Hermione didn't mean to say those words out loud… but, if she hadn't meant it, it wouldn't have happened.
"I love you, too"
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The End.
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