Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
A/N: Hey, folks! This is the chapter you've been asking for. It's the last chapter and it's going to be sad! So the Kleenex warning from before applies here too. Enjoy!
CHAPTER EIGHT
I'll be back some day
Hermione woke up the next morning with a lump in her throat. She remembered the dream she had last night. The images of Harry, suffering, within an ace of death, raced through her mind. She hoped that what she saw wasn't true. Of course, it wasn't. Her Harry was safe and alive and he would come back soon.
Despite her worries, she tried to look cheerful. She had her meals, she attended her classes, and no one suspected that in the seclusion of her bedroom she still cried. She listened to the music in the locket many times in the row, falling asleep to the sounds. And when no one was looking, she would take Harry's picture out of her pocket and stare at it and then wash it with her tears.
So, again she was hiding in her dorm. This time, though, she was just sitting on her bed, analyzing her nightmare. A small knock on the door interrupted her flow of thoughts.
"Come in," Hermione called.
The door opened, and a tall girl with fiery red hair walked in.
"Hello, Ginny," Hermione said.
"Hi," she sat on the bed next to Hermione. "What are you doing?"
"Oh, nothing."
"Hermione?" Ginny asked cautiously.
"What?"
"Talk to me," Ginny said softly.
Hermione looked up at her and Ginny saw pain deep in those chocolate-brown eyes.
"I'm scared, Ginny. There is no news from Harry. What if he's in danger? You know, I had a dream last night. I saw him lying on the floor in some dungeon, writhing with pain." Her voice trailed off as she started crying.
"Oh Hermione, don't! It was just a bad dream. You know that Dumbledore would never let something happen to him, right?"
Hermione looked up at Ginny in surprise, but then remembered that she was the only one who knew about the note. Professor Dumbledore was no longer in control.
"You know, Ron and the others are really worried about you," Ginny whispered.
"I know," Hermione smiled through her tears.
Ginny smiled back and wiped away her friend's tears.
"Now, that's better. I hate to see you cry. Besides, I'm afraid when Harry comes back and sees how wretched you look, he'll change his mind about you and run off to that cow Alice Whitaker!"
Hermione laughed.
"Thank you, Ginny. I don't know what I would do without you." Hermione gave her a tight hug.
"You're welcome. That's what friends are for, right?" Ginny patted her on the back and then pulled away.
"You are not crying again, are you?" she asked suspiciously.
"No," Hermione laughed again.
"Good. Here, I brought you some raspberry pie from the kitchen. I thought you might be hungry. You barely eat these days."
She took a small parcel out of her bag. Inside laid a few slices of a freshly baked pie.
"Hmm, smells delicious!" Hermione said, feeling her mouth water. She was indeed hungry.
Ginny made sure that Hermione ate every crumb of it, all the time watching her with a smile. With her mouth stuffed, Hermione listened to her friend tell her recent school news that she had missed. Suddenly, she felt so elated and the fear was gone. It was just a dream and Harry was free from all danger and harm.
* * *
One morning, a few days later she woke up and felt someone tug at her blanket. She opened her eyes. It was still dark and the curtains were pulled down. She heard someone breathe heavily at the foot of her four-poster bed and the tugging resumed. She looked down. A small silhouette, draped in something shapeless, turned around and large round eyes looked at her fearfully.
"Dobby???" she whispered.
The house-elf looked positively distressed. He was wringing his hands in a very nervous manner.
"Miss Granger," he bowed. "Dobby is very sorry for waking you up, but Professor Dumbledore asked Dobby to take you to his office."
"What, now?"
"Yes. Dobby is very sorry."
"It's all right, Dobby," Hermione calmed him down. "Wait for me in the Common Room, I'll be there in a minute."
When Dobby left, she got out of bed and dressed quickly. She was nervous. She guessed that Dumbledore wanted to tell her something important, otherwise he wouldn't drag her out of bed so early in the morning. Maybe he got some news from Harry, she thought with a faint hope.
Quietly, she went down the stairs to the Common Room, where Dobby was waiting for you. At the sight of her, he jumped up and rushed to the hole behind the portrait, beckoning her to follow him. Dozens of flights of stairs later, they were standing before the Headmaster's office. The door stood ajar. Hermione stepped forward and stopped suddenly in the doorway. In the middle of the office stood the boy of her dreams. He had an athletic body of a Quidditch player and his long black hair stood up at the back.
Harry turned around. In front of him, leaning against the door-frame, stood Hermione. Her brown hair was a tangled mess. Her eyes, once warm brown, were now dull and stood out against her pallid skin.
"Harry?" she asked softly, afraid to believe her eyes.
She made another step forward and collapsed into his arms, with her arms around his neck.
"How could you?!" She suddenly screamed. "How could you do this to me?!! Disappear like this and not a word from you in two weeks! What was I supposed to think?!" she punctuated her every word with a prod in his chest.
Harry gaped at this sudden outburst, too shocked to try to stop her punch him. And he knew too well that he deserved it.
"I've been waiting for you all this time and you didn't even get around to sending me a note, to let me know that you're alive!" angry tears streaked down her face.
Harry had finally snapped out of his shock and grabbed her wrists. "I'm sorry, Hermione. I wanted to send you an owl, but it was too risky. The Death Eaters were probably after me and they could easily intercept the letter."
"But where were you all this time? Professor Dumbledore sent Aurors for you to the Grimmauld Place! He wanted to protect you!"
"I was at Godric's Hollow," Harry said quietly. "I went there to meet Voldemort, because I received a sign."
"I know," Hermione replied softly.
"You know?"
"I've read your note," she confessed.
He nodded.
"Did you fight with him?" her voice was shaking.
Harry shook his head. "He didn't come. I hoped he would. I mean, he was there once, fifteen years ago, and I reckoned he wanted to finish what he started. I waited for him, but he didn't show up."
"Why did you come back?" she asked, as tears clouded her eyes.
He took her face in his hands and stared deep into her eyes.
"I realized that what I did, was not fair. I left you without warning, without saying goodbye. And I just thought that if I got killed there, you'd be all alone. And I didn't even say goodbye properly."
"All this time I never stopped crying," she whispered through tears. "Last night I had a dream about you. I saw you in a dungeon, dying."
"Oh, Hermione, please don't. I'm here now. It's all right."
"I will never let you go," she sobbed. "Never again. You hear me?"
"I won't leave again," he promised. "We still have so many memories to make together."
She smiled, then stood up on tiptoe and brought her lips to his. Harry kissed her back eagerly. He crushed her in an embrace and silently promised himself that he would never be so stupid again. They would always be together and never apart. They had a whole lifetime ahead.
THE END