A/N: Like I said, this is going to be fairly short and the storyline is not much complicated so I figured I'd make it to the second part soon (lol, though I know it is not soon enough, sorry! RL is a (insert beep! Here) ).
A Wrinkle in Time
There'll be no strings to bind your hands
Not if my love can find your heart
And there's no need to take a stand
For it was I who chose to start
I see no need to take me home
I'm old enough to face the dawn
Just call me angel of the morning, angel
Just touch my cheek before you leave me
Oh my baby
Just call me angel of the morning, angel
Then slowly turn away from me
(Angel of the Morning by Bonnie Tyler)
PART TWO
The light hit his closed eyes and he groaned in protest, squeezing them tightly in hopes of shutting that annoying ray out. Having no success in tuning the light off, he let his mind drift to calm awareness and felt an unusual weight half on top of him.
Still not opening his eyes, he frowned in surprise, and then the memory of last night hit him. Harry's eyes flew open and he pulled himself up so fast he thought he hurt his back and cringed… He frowned again, why was there no more pain?
At the sudden movement, Hermione gasped loudly and instinctively reached out for to her left, looking for her wand. War made people change… war made feeling-people die along with their loved ones, and Hermione and Harry were no different; they were just two people; two torn teenagers in the middle of a war, one they were bound to end at any cost… any cost.
When seeing his partner's blurry form reach out for her wand, Harry looked at her with sadness for a moment before extending his own hand to stop her darting arm. "Mione…" he said softly, "it's just me."
She exhaled a sigh. "Harry," the pretty brunette breathed, "don't do that plea-" She stopped herself and focused on her boyfriend with a puzzled expression. "What-"
"I have no idea," he responded to her question before she could finish and looked down at his body… whole and healthy, with the same clothes he'd had the previous night. "We still-"
Hermione looked at her own robes. "This is weird… I remember the battle…" she gestured with her hand. "I remember you-" Drawing in a breath, she put her hands on Harry's chest and rested her head there, sobbing softly as the trauma sunk in. "And I remember me…" she continued in a strangled voice and stopped herself again, pulling away from him and looking up with wide chestnut eyes. "What happened, Harry?"
The young man rubbed soothing circles on her back and occasionally kissed her head and smelled her hair. He couldn't be dead, for he still could feel her touch and sense her sweet scent. "I really don't know…" he admitted when she pulled away and trailed off, pulling her close again and laid his own head on hers for a few seconds, in complete silence.
A moment later, he tensed a little and Hermione gazed at him inquiringly. "What is it, Harry?" Hermione asked when noticing the change.
"I-I think I remember Ron… and Luna," he said hesitantly, not entirely sure he actually wanted to remember that.
Her eyes widened. "And they performed the Time Wrinkle spell!" the girl exclaimed in realization and her eyes started to get over-bright.
He shook his head, bewildered. "What's wrong?" he asked, wiping a tear from her pretty face.
"If the spell worked, it means that we were dying," Hermione explained, tears streaming down her visage freely, like diamonds on a silk surface.
Harry sat wordless and still for a moment. "Should've figured…" he only said quietly after the longest time. He bit his lip and stayed in silence for a moment more… taking it in. "It was too fast," the boy stated darkly and one single tear made its way from his beautiful and hardened green eyes as he drew Hermione nearer, holding her tightly as if she were slipping away from him.
She breathed into his body and swallowed the lump on her throat, pulling away a moment later. "It was, but Ron loved us enough to-"
"To give us at least a little time," he completed her sentence and a small smile tugged at his lips. "One in a million, that bloke," he said fondly.
"In two millions," Hermione corrected in a choked voice but smiled as well.
Silence fell between the lovers; a raindrop falling on the window could've made a louder sound. They just held each other until they felt they'd be ready to let go… which wasn't about to happen anytime soon.
He just couldn't believe it… dying, dead. This wasn't supposed to end like this. They were supposed to end the war and go off and live quietly and happily ever after. They were supposed to get married and have two or three children, and get a little cottage in Hogsmaede, surrounded by peace and magic; two terms that had ever come together in the same package as long as either remembered.
After a while, he thought he gathered enough courage to pull away and started to do so… but then a deep emptiness took over as soon as the warmth of her body left his so he pulled her to him again. "I love you, Mione. This wasn't how I'd planned it," he whispered against her hair; the last of his tears leaving his eyes.
She chuckled. "This definitely isn't how I had planned it either," she sobbed back. "I wanted to be with you forever."
At that little comment, Harry's eyes flew open and he lifted his head a little, finally wrapping his brain around what his best friend had done for the two of them. Indeed, he had understood it but hadn't really seen it. Harry pulled her away; a shudder run through his body but he managed a smile. "We can have that… at least for a while," he said softly.
Hermione frowned, and then her eyes widened as well in realization. "You're right! He was-Ron really did it," she exclaimed and wrapped her arms around the man she loved. "We can have it," she whispered.
After a moment of taking in the whole of her, he pulled away abruptly, much to Hermione's surprise, with a wide grin and stood from the comfortable bed, still holding her hand and thus pulling her to a sitting position.
"What's the-" she started but was cut off by Harry's open palm and she obliged, wondering what he was up to. She watched quietly as he made a complicated hand movement and then got down on one knee, with his closed fist held in front of her. She gasped and grinned, waiting for his action.
"Hermione Jane Granger, would you do me the honor of spending the rest of your-time with me and only me? I promise you I'm yours, as I have always been," he said and opened his hand. A golden glow emerged from his fist and a beautiful purple butterfly fluttered away, leaving twinkling stars as it flew and vanished in the air. "Would you marry me?"
She stared in wonder at the small show he'd put up and listened to his proposal with gleaming eyes. She had dreamed about this more than once but her dreams and fantasies were nothing compared to this moment, to his words, to the look in his eyes… those beautiful green eyes.
The ring was absolutely striking in its simplicity: silver with a small diamond rock in the centre. The rock was held between intertwined and delicate leaves, and on the inside it was engraved in calligraphic letters: "Toujours à toi" in remembrance of the summer she'd spent as an exchange student in Beauxbeatons, after which they had both discovered their feelings for each other.
"I had it made earlier this year and was planning on giving it to you after graduation," he explained. "Ron knew, that's why we kept sneaking to Hogsmaede… Remember how you told us off the two times you caught us? And that you got upset we hadn't taken you? Well, here's your explanation," he said with a smile.
"I-it's beautiful, Harry. I don't know what to say…"
"Yes could be a good start," he said hesitantly.
"Oh, silly! Of course yes! I love you!" she exclaimed and threw herself at him, kissing him all over. "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. I will marry you!"
He gathered her in a tight hug and laughed at her reaction. "I love you so much!" he echoed her words.
Suddenly, Hermione pulled away. "We should go somewhere, right now!"
Harry laughed a little more and helped her up. "First we got to go and get you a dress as beautiful as you… which is almost impossible."
"Oh, you're just trying to win me over!"
"I thought I already had!" Harry said indignant and Hermione hit him on the chest playfully. "Off we go then!" Harry exclaimed, pushing as far back in his mind as he possibly could the fact that this wasn't really real and that sooner or later the spell would be over, and so would all of this. Better get the best of it instead of-
Hermione smiled brightly at his boy-at his fiancée. There was a small shadow in her smile; the same that was in her eyes, but she pushed it away as she felt his hand taking hers. Better make good use of this time instead of-
-of crying over spilled milk.
OOC: The Italics are the thoughts, just to clear doubts before they even come. The fic has now become a four part one because the second part would be WAY too long and out of the format I chose.
Hope you liked it and you are very welcome to join me, AmyNoelle and MetroDweller at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BrainstormQuill