Love in Blindness by E. C. R. Potter

Rating: PG
Genres: Angst, Romance
Relationships: Harry & Hermione
Book: Harry & Hermione, Books 1 - 4
Published: 14/12/2002
Last Updated: 14/12/2002
Status: Completed

With his dying breath, Voldemort takes away something precious from Hermione. Now, through her
loss, Hermione with Harry's help discovers something to make up the loss. Slightly angsty
H/H.




1. Part 1
---------

**~ Love in Blindness ~ Part 1**

“Its over, Voldemort. You’re finished!”

17 year old Harry Potter stood over his archenemy, his green eyes blazing. The Dark Lord glared
at Harry and pulled himself up to his feet. Around them, the snow-covered Forbidden Forest was
silent, not a single creature intruding on the duel. Near by, a trembling Hermione Granger and Ron
Weasley silently watched the scene, sole witnesses to the final battle between the Dark Lord and
the Boy who lived.

“I’m not the one who’s finished!” Voldemort hissed. He raised his wand in an attempt to fire the
killing curse, but before he had the chance, Harry fired a powerful burst of magic that slammed
into Voldemort’s body. The Dark Lord was flung back some thirty feet and crashed into an old oak
tree with a sickening crack. With a hideous twitch, Voldemort’s body fell limp.

Exhausted yet triumphant, Harry turned around to face his two best friends. The look of sheer
terror and worry on Hermione’s face had been replaced with a small smile. Before Harry could say
anything however, Hermione’s face suddenly took on an expression of alarm.

“Harry look out!” Without a single thought of hesitation, Hermione shoved Harry out of the way.
In the process, a final curse fired by Voldemort slammed into her face.

With a cry of pure rage, Harry blasted Voldemort away, finally finishing the Dark Lord once and
for all.

* * *

The days that followed were a time of celebration for the wizarding world. The Boy Who Lived had
finally defeated Lord Voldemort, whom had been terrorizing the world for decades. Wizards and
Witches all over Britain went out and celebrated in public and major magical corporations let all
their employees have paid vacations to enjoy the celebrations. Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge
declared January 23rd, the day of the final defeat of the Dark Lord, a holiday and even Hogwarts
cancelled classes for a week.

However, there were two people that did not join in the celebrations. Harry Potter and Ron
Weasley were worried sick about Hermione who was in a coma in the Hospital Wing. Ron was very
upset, spending his time either raving around the Gryffindor Common Room or the hallways whenever
Madame Pomfrey kicked him out of the Hospital Wing. He even lost his appetite.

Harry however was outright hysterical. He spent the next few days sitting next to the comatose
Hermione holding her hand tightly neither eating nor sleeping. In fact, if it weren’t for his
breathing people might have mistaken him for some king of statue or have thought he was petrified.
After many failed attempts at trying to get Harry to move, Madame Pomfrey had given up and simply
allowed him to stay in his chair.

For the longest time, Harry simply sat as if he himself was comatose. Eventually, after about
three days, Ron finally came to his senses and tried to convince Harry to move, with encouragement
from the other Gryffindors.

“Come on Harry, you’ve got to eat something,” Ron said. Harry didn’t move let alone acknowledge
Ron’s presence. He simply continued staring at Hermione still as a statue.

Ron turned to the people in the doorway, namely the other seventh year Gryffindors Dean Thomas,
Lavender Brown, Neville Longbottom, Parvati Patil, and Seamus Finnigan. They shrugged and urged Ron
to continue.

“Come on Harry,” Ron urged. “You can’t waste your life like this, especially now that
You-Know-Who’s gone. What would Hermione say about you wasting away like this?”

Harry still remained completely still. Ron sighed sadly and was about to leave when Harry
suddenly spoke.

“She shoved me out of the way.”

Relieved to finally get a reaction out of Harry, Ron turned back to his best friend and said,
“Yeah, I know. I was there.”

“She shoved me out of the way,” Harry said. “It should’ve been me who took the effect of that
curse. I’m supposed to be the one lying on the bed here, not her! Its my fault she’s like this!” By
this point he was practically yelling.

“Mate, if it weren’t for you...”

“If it weren’t for me Ron,” Harry chocked back a sob. “Hermione would be up and well nagging you
about not studying for the N.E.W.T.s or something like that! Not lying here. Not lying here...”
Slowly, Harry became quiet and resumed his previous statue like state.

“Harry,” Ron was about to say something when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around, Ron
was startled to find Albus Dumbledore standing behind him.

“Let him be,” Dumbledore said. “He will come out of it when he is ready. Until then, we should
just leave him alone.”

* * *

Days passed and still Hermione did not wake up nor did Harry move. Finally, the day came that
marked a full week from the final defeat of Voldemort. A full week of staying awake finally
catching up to him, Harry was dozing with his head on Hermione’s pillow when he felt movement next
to him.

Harry’s head snapped up to see Hermione stirring, soft moans escaping from her lips. Her bushy
brown hair started to shift, giving it a golden glow like a halo in the sunlight and her eyelashes
started to flutter.

Ecstatic, Harry smiled his first genuine smile in a week as sprang from his chair. He considered
calling Madame Pomfrey but decided against it; for some reason he didn’t understand why, he wanted
to make sure that his face was the first face Hermione saw when she woke up.

“Hermione?” he whispered.

“Harry?” Hermione moaned. Her eyes were still closed. “Is that you?”

“Yes, its me.”

“Oh Harry,” Hermione sat up and threw her arms around Harry. Though her eyes were still closed,
she was able to tell where he was by the sound of his voice and the feeling of his presence. “Oh
Harry, I was so scared,” she gushed, tears leaking out of her closed eyelids. “Are you OK? Did he
harm you in some way?”

“I’m OK,” Harry said. “You’re OK, we’re all OK, Voldemort’s gone. He can’t harm any of us
anymore. Everything’s going to be all right from now on.”

Hermione smiled through her tears and opened her eyes. Her smile was soon replaced with a frown
and she said, “Um, Harry, is it night? Could you turn the light on, I can’t see anything.”

Hermione felt Harry tense. “Hermione, its one in the afternoon. The sun’s out.”

Hermione started shaking, as if she was suddenly frightened of something. Feeling a chill creep
up his spine, Harry pulled back and looked into her eyes for the first time.

Her usually bright chocolate brown eyes, were dull as if there was no sign of life in them.
Harry was shocked as Hermione started to tremble, tears leaking out of her dulled eyes.

“Harry? What’s wrong with me?” But she already knew the answer. Both of them did, the fear and
shock hanging over them like an omen.

Hermione was blind.

**To be continued...**



2. Part 2
---------

**~ Love in Blindness ~ Part 2**

“What do you mean you can’t do anything?!” Ron Weasley shouted. “You’ve got to be able to do
something for her!”

Madame Pomfrey sighed sadly. “I’m sorry Mr. Weasley. I’ve tried everything I know and nothing
has worked. If this blindness had been caused by some physical accident I could fix it easily, but
I have no idea what curse You-Know-Who used on her to cause this.”

“It is my belief,” Dumbledore said, “that not even Voldemort himself would know what curse he
used. He must’ve simply shot the first curse he could think of with his dying breath, not caring
what damage it caused so long as it caused harm.” The old headmaster shook his head. “I’m sorry,
there’s nothing more we can do for her.”

“How are we supposed to tell her?” Harry muttered bitterly. “How are we supposed to tell her
that? She’s already had so much sadness in her life, including the murder of her parents two years
ago. How are we supposed to tell her that she’s blind for life?!”

“Harry...” Ron placed a hand on Harry’s shoulder but Harry viciously brushed it off.

“Its all my fault!” he shouted. “If it weren’t for me, none of this would’ve happened! I
should’ve just never existed!”

“You know that’s not true!” Ron shouted. “If it weren’t for you, You-Know-Who would still be
around! You’ve saved the bloody world again!”

“Mr. Weasley is right, Harry,” Dumbledore said. “If it weren’t for you, Voldemort would still be
in control and we would all be far worse off.”

Harry said nothing but it was clear that he had calmed down. With a sad sigh, he said, “I’ll go
tell her,” and gloomily walked into the hospital wing.

“H-Harry, is that you?” Hermione called out as Harry walked into the room. Harry felt his heart
break as he glanced at Hermione curled up on her bed. She looked so small and vulnerable, and it
was clear that she was terrified. Harry could only hope to imagine what she was going through. He
remembered a time back when he was about seven when the Dursleys had locked him into the cupboard
with the lamp broken for three days. The sheer darkness during that time had been so frightening.
How could he tell Hermione that she was going to spend the rest of her life in that darkness?

“Yeah its me,” Harry said. He lost his voice in his throat and couldn’t continue speaking. It
was clear however that Hermione instantly figured out what Harry was going to say, the silence
giving her the dreaded answer. Tears started to stream down her cheeks as silent sobs shook her
body. Harry made his way over to her and wrapped his arms around her. Hermione leaned her head on
Harry’s chest and continued crying as Harry also let a few tears fall from his eyes.

Finally, Hermione spoke, “Well I suppose it can’t be completely bad, right? At least I’m still
alive.” She managed a small smile though the tears did not stop.

“Yes,” Harry said. “I’ll help in whatever way possible so that you can live your life just like
all of us.” He bent over and kissed her hair.

* * *

Classes started again and life at Hogwarts soon returned to normal. Although Hermione was
excused from classes for the time being, it was clear that she didn’t want to be. She may have lost
her eyesight but she had certainly not lost her thirst for knowledge.

Madame Pomfrey helped Hermione change into her standard school uniform, helping her into the
holes in the clothes that Hermione couldn’t see. Unfortunately, the first class Hermione had was
Arithmancy, meaning that she couldn’t be with Harry and Ron who had Divination.

Using her wand, Hermione managed to easily maneuver her way through the castle with the use of a
handy guidance charm. The sight of a girl walking around with her wand sticking out in front of her
in her hand was a slightly weird sight but since Hermione couldn’t see the expressions of other
people, she really didn’t care what she looked like. By delving into her studies, she could keep
her mind off of the fact that she was blind and she just might’ve been able to get through the day.
Dumbledore had given her a special reading charm that worked like the muggle form of reading called
brail. With this charm, Hermione simply ran her finger over the words of the book and the words
formed in her mind. Thus, she was able to pursue her favorite hobby.

After a successful Arithmancy lesson, Hermione was in much better spirits than she had been in
days. Using her wand, she was navigating through the hallways hoping to get to her next class when
an eerily familiar voice called out, *“Expelliarmus!”* To her alarm, Hermione’s wand flew out
of her hand. Furthermore, someone suddenly pushed her down the stairs. She landed in a crumpled
heap at the bottom of the steps and moaned in pain. Tears sprang in her eyes as she tired to pull
herself back up despite the pain in her sprained ankle.

“Ta-ta mudblood. No getting up yet,” sneered a familiar voice.

“M-Malfoy?” Hermione said. The fear was clear in her voice as she tried to pinpoint where
exactly Draco Malfoy was. “W-where are you?”

“Awww, what’s the matter? Can’t the mudblood see?” said Malfoy as he circled around Hermione. He
had never seen Hermione so scared before and it gave him a certain sense of power over her.

“P-please, can I have my wand back?” Hermione whispered, more tears falling out of her eyes.
Malfoy for his part couldn’t be believe that he had reduced Hermione Granger, whom had always
simply ignored his taunts and had even slapped him once, to begging. Her blindness had clearly
rattled her more than even she herself had realized.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Malfoy said. He paused to give the illusion as if he were actually
considering it and said, “No, I think I’ll just torment you a little more. You know what? In fact,
I think I’ve got a better use for you now.” A sick grin adorned his face as he grabbed Hermione’s
arm and yanked her to her feet. Hermione yelped in pain as Malfoy proceeded to drag her away, the
terror on her face clearly visible.

“Let her go, Malfoy!” called a voice that sounded like a song of angels to Hermione. It was
Harry, his green eyes blazing with rage and His wand pointed at Malfoy’s face. Behind him, Ron
looked like he was ready to throttle Malfoy.

“Don’t you dare touch her!” Harry hissed.

Malfoy smirked and shoved Hermione into Harry’s arms. He threw her wand at their feet and
stalked away, laughing.

Hermione burst into tears and buried her head in Harry’s chest. “H-Harry,” she said. “I-I was so
scared. I’ve never been scared of Malfoy before, but I w-was begging. Because I couldn’t see him I
was so scared. I-I don’t know if I can live like this.”

“Its OK, Hermione,” Harry said soothingly. “He’s not going to hurt you anymore. I won’t let
anyone hurt you anymore.” Harry noticed Hermione’s sprained foot and scooped her up. “Come on,
let’s get you to the hospital wing.”

Harry proceeded to carry Hermione toward the hospital wing and Hermione leaned her head on
Harry’s shoulder, drawing in his warmth and security. Behind them, Ron trotted along, his former
angry faced now laced with a sense of epiphany. Ron had been studying the way Harry was looking at
Hermione closely and had come to a conclusion.

“Well what do you know?” Ron muttered to himself. And despite everything, Ron couldn’t help but
smile.

**To be continued...**



3. Part 3
---------

**~ Love in Blindness ~ Part 3**

The months flew by and Hermione quickly fell back into her standard routine. Despite her
handicap, she easily balanced studying for the N.E.W.T.s and her Head Girl duties quite easily. She
added a few charms on her clothing, which gave her a mental picture of her location in the castle,
making going from place to place a lot easier. Almost immediately, laughter returned to Hermione’s
face and the area of the Gryffindor table that was always reserved for the trio was finally
relishing in the defeat of Voldemort.

It happened one afternoon just a few days before the graduation ball. Hermione had just
completed her final N.E.W.T. exam and was in high spirits when Draco Malfoy crept up behind, a sick
grin adorning his face; it was clear that he was hoping to pick up from where he had left off a few
months earlier. However, just when Malfoy was about to raise his wand, Hermione spun around and
shouted, *“Expelliarmus!”*.

Malfoy was flung back into the wall while his wand flew into Hermione’s hand. “Tat-ta Malfoy,
not this time,” she said with a smirk on her face.

“G-Granger? How...” Malfoy spluttered. He tried to hide his fear but it was rather pointless
since Hermione couldn’t see his face and she could easily sense his fear.

“I have my ways,” Hermione said with a smirk. She walked up to Malfoy and raised the two wands.
Malfoy tried to shield himself with his hands but Hermione simply tossed his wand back to him.

“So long, twitchy little ferret,” she said. As she walked away from a shocked Malfoy Hermione
tried rather unsuccessfully to stop the giggles that escaped her lips. About a minute later,
Hermione smiled as she heard two sets of very familiar footsteps run up to her. She knew in an
instant that the footsteps belonged to Harry and Ron.

“Hermione!” Harry shouted. “We just saw Malfoy, what happened?”

“Oh, I just had a little run in with him,” Hermione said as if it were the most obvious thing in
the world.

“What did he do to you?! I’ll kill him!” Ron hissed as he cracked his knuckles.

“Nothing happened, Ron,” Hermione said. “He tried to do something to me but I just gave him a
taste of his own medicine.”

“Are you sure you’re all right?” Harry asked.

“I’m fine, Harry.”

“Well if he, or anybody else ever tries to hurt you,” Harry said. “I promise I’ll stop them and
make sure you’re safe.”

“I can take care of myself, Harry,” Hermione sighed. But then she smiled and said, “But thank
you for being my knight in shining armor anyway.” She stood up on her tiptoes in an attempt to kiss
Harry on the cheek. However, since she couldn’t see where Harry’s cheek was she ended up nailing
him somewhere else. Hermione was completely shocked the instant she realized that the soft surface
her lips touched was none other than Harry’s own lips. She also felt the shock that went through
Harry’s body. However, before she could pull away to wallow in her embarrassment, she felt Harry
start to kiss her back and his hands starting to roam her back. Before she could even remind
herself that this was her best friend she was kissing, Hermione was kissing Harry back in a flurry
of passion and her hands were buried in Harry’s messy hair. Tongues started to duel as the boy and
the girl tried to get closer to each other than they already were. Their clothes were very
constraining and their hands soon started to fondle with each other’s robes...

Ron cleared his throat very loudly and Harry and Hermione immediately sprung apart, their faces
very, *very* red. Ron looked at his watch and said, “Hmm, two minutes. Not bad for what I’m
assuming is a first kiss.”

“U-um...um, I’ll see y-you later, Harry,” Hermione said, her face very red. She quickly gathered
her books and scrabbled away toward the sanctuary of Gryffindor tower.

Harry meanwhile simply stood there looking shocked for about a minute when his face suddenly
broke into a wide grin as if he had suddenly solved the greatest mystery in the world, which he
probably had. Ron, seeing Harry’s reaction rolled his eyes and said, “Its about bloody time!”

* * *

All too soon, the night of the graduation ball came. The ball was set, like all dances in the
Great Hall underneath a star filled ceiling that simply twinkled. Dumbledore had given Harry and
Hermione, the Head Boy and Head Girl, full charge of organizing the dance and they had made sure it
would be an affair people would remember for a long time.

Hermione strode out of her dorm toward the Great Hall with a feeling of uneasiness. Since she
couldn’t see, she had to completely rely on Parvati and Lavender to help her dress up and she had
absolutely no idea what she looked like. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust their tastes but Parvati
and Lavender tended to dress in clothes that were far too revealing and wear way too much make
up.

Feeling nervous, Hermione started to descend the stairs toward the Common Room as elegantly as
she could where she would be meeting Harry and Ron. As she descended the stairs, her sharp ears
picked up the sudden silence that came over the two boys. Hermione couldn’t help but grin as she
pictured their reactions, their jaws dropping and the two of them gaping like fish.

In fact, Harry and Ron had plenty of reason to gape. Lavender and Parvati had taken their job of
dressing Hermione up seriously and quite frankly she looked beautiful. She was wearing a strap-less
midnight blue dress robe that hugged her body closely and yet was completely decent. Her normally
bushy hair had been tamed and pulled into an elegant bun though a few curls still framed her face.
She wore a very slight hint of makeup, namely a light shade of lipstick and a slight amount of
blush on her cheeks.

Harry was the first one to find his voice, “Hermione, you look absolutely...absolutely...”

“Amazingly stunning,” said Ron with a huge grin.

“Beautiful,” Harry finished, a smile on his face.

“Thank you,” Hermione said while blushing a little. “I sure wish I could say the same for you
two.” Since she couldn’t see how her two best friends were dressed, she had to rely on the
reactions she heard from the other girls in the common room. In fact, Harry and Ron were also
looking very handsome, Harry in his bottle green dress robes and Ron in his new sky blue ones.

“Shall we proceed,” Ron said as he and Harry looped their arms around Hermione’s arms.

“Yes, lets go,” she said.

* * *

The dance turned out to be a great success for the majority of the Hogwarts residence. Dinner
was great, the decorations were good, and Dumbledore had even hired a magical orchestra.

This was the last event the seventh years would participate in at Hogwarts before commencement
two days later. After that, the seventh years would be going out to the rest of their lives. While
eating her dinner, Hermione’s thoughts wandered toward her immediate future. Harry, Hermione, and
Ron were going to share a flat in London where Ron would start work at the ministry while Harry
began auror training. Hermione’s sudden blindness had disrupted her future plans so she wasn’t sure
what she would be doing after graduation. Whichever, she wasn’t all that worried about her future
since her outstanding N.E.W.T. scores meant that she could probably do anything she wanted. She
would be O.K., so long as Harry was with her all through the way.

“May I have this dance?” Harry’s voice cut into Hermione’s thoughts and she was a little
startled.

“What?”

“May I have this dance?” Harry asked again.

Although Hermione knew that Harry was an abysmal dancer, she blurted out, “Yes,” as she tried to
suppress the quickening rate of her heartbeat.

Harry grinned and pulled her out onto the dance floor just as the orchestra started to play a
slow romantic tune. The two wrapped their arms around each other and started swaying softly to the
music. All this time, Hermione was having a serious case of the butterflies. She hadn’t been this
close to Harry ever since that first kiss they had shared a few days ago; that wonderful kiss which
they had mutually decided not to talk about until the right time.

As the two continued to dance, Hermione couldn’t help but think, ‘Is this the right time?’. Her
heart was racing and there was a lot of heat in her cheeks. Finally, Hermione struck up her courage
and said, “Um, H-Harry...” when Harry’s lips suddenly descended on hers.

At first, Hermione was too shocked to do anything, but she soon recovered and started to kiss
him back. In an instant, the rest of the world disappeared and all who existed were Harry Potter
and Hermione Granger. They seemed to have forgotten the rest of the people in the Great Hall whom
all had their eyes on Harry and Hermione, the music now silent. The kiss wasn’t as steamy as their
first one, but it was still enough to convey all the passion and the feelings that the two were
baring to each other. Tears started to build up in Hermione’s eyes as a beautiful feeling of bliss
filled her, as if Harry were the matching piece of the puzzle to her life. When the two finally
parted due to lack of oxygen, there was only one thing Hermione could possible say, “ I love you,
Harry.”

“I love you too, Hermione.” Abruptly, the entire hall broke out into a huge applause, much to
the embarrassment of the two at its center.

**To be continued...**

.



4. Part 4
---------

**~ Love in Blindness ~ Part 4**

Four years later, Harry and Hermione were now married, and living in a small house in the
suburbs of London. Harry had just completed auror training but since dark wizards were in a short
supply those days, he had a lot of time off. Hermione was now a writer and had even gotten a few of
her novels published, all of them topping the bestseller lists. Her most popular works were
non-fiction novels written about the trio during their Hogwarts years, all written in third person
from Harry’s point of view. Currently, she had completed the book about their fourth year and was
working on the fifth-year book. As for Ron, he was now assistant head of the Depart of Magical
Sports and was living with his fiancée near Diagon Alley.

“Mommy! Lookit!” came the delighted squeal of a two year old boy. Hermione sighed sadly. She
longed so much to be able to see her son’s face or whatever it was that he wanted her to look at.
She loved Jason Ronald Potter dearly but it was sometimes very difficult holding him and not being
into look at the child whom was living proof of the love between Harry and Hermione.

“Mommy, lookit,” Jason said as he leapt into Hermione’s lap. Hermione smiled and hugged her son
close.

“I wish I could, love” Hermione said. She bent down and kissed Jason on the head. Jason seemed
to be waving something around in his hand. While Jason squirmed around jovially in his mother’s
arms, Hermione’s thoughts wandered back to a time only a few months after they had graduated from
Hogwarts.

*~~~~~*

*“How are you feeling, love?” Harry asked. They were walking around the lake at Hogwarts, a
place that held a lot of meaning to the two of them.*

*“Wonderful,” Hermione said. She longed to be able to see the view. “Harry, could you describe
everything?”*

*“OK,” Harry said as he wrapped his arms around Hermione’s waist. “There are stars in the sky,
of course. There’s the Great Dipper over the lake. The moon’s just risen above the castle, not
quite full but close. Its reflecting on the lake very clearly which is very still tonight. It’s
very beautiful Hermione, though I admit, not as beautiful as you.”*

*“Oh Harry,”*

*“I’m serious Hermione. I love you and I’ve been thinking about that a lot recently.” He
suddenly seemed a little nervous as he continued talking. “There’s nothing I want more than to
spend the rest of my life telling you how much I love you. And I’ve been thinking about that for
some time now. So, Hermione...”*

*Hermione suddenly gasped when she felt Harry slip something onto her finger. She felt it and
realized that it could be nothing more than a diamond ring.*

*“Will you marry me?” Harry finished.*

*After a slight pause, Hermione whispered, “Yes,” then louder, “YES!” Tears were streaming
down her cheeks now and a beautiful smile adorned her face. She turned around planted a strong kiss
on Harry’s lips. Soon their tongues were dueling and clothes were being shed as they whispered “I
love you...I love you...” over and over again in between kisses. And for the first time in their
lives, though far from the last between the two of them, Hermione and Harry connected with each
other with everything they had to offer the other. And their love sang that night near the Hogwarts
Lake.*

*~~~~~*

“Mommy.” Jason’s voice cut into her recollections Hermione snapped out of her thoughts. She
smiled and hugged Jason close. She was also looking forward to their daughter that was due to come
in about 7 months.

“Yes, Jason?” Hermione suddenly realized what it was that Jason was waving around. “Jason, is
that daddy’s wand?” she asked, her voice a little stern.

“Yeah!” Jason said.

“You know you’re not supposed to take it.”

“Oh, let him have his fun, Hermione,” Harry called from the kitchen, the merriment in his voice
obvious. “After all, it’s still going to be years before he gets one of his own.”

“That’s not the point,” Hermione said. “He’s still too young to be waving such a thing. We both
know that Jason is a very powerful wizard. The chances of him doing something dangerous are...”
Hermione never had the chance to finish what she was saying, for suddenly, Jason accidentally
blasted a burst of magic out of the wand into Hermione’s face. She screamed and fell backwards.

“Hermione!” Harry shouted as he dove forward and caught his wife before she hit the floor.
“Hermione, are you all right?”

Hermione took a few breaths trying to get her heartbeat back to normal, her eyes shut tight.
“I-I’m OK,” she said. “I just suppose I was lucky.” She slowly opened her eyes.

And the first thing she saw was a pair of very familiar green eyes.

Shocked, Hermione blinked expecting to the eyes to be a part of her imagination and that she
would be back in the darkness again. The eyes were still there, behind a pair of wire-rimmed
glasses. She was looking at Harry’s face, which she hadn’t seen in four years. He still looked
exactly the same, only older and more refined. The scar on his forehead had faded and was now
barely visible.

“H-Harry?”

Harry knew. The instant she had opened her eyes he had seen the spark in those beautiful brown
orbs he hadn’t seen in four years. “Hermione?” he whispered, hope creeping back into his voice.

“Harry,” Hermione said, tears now flowing out of her revived eyes. “Harry, I can see. Oh Harry I
can see!” She flung her arms around Harry cried tears of joy and kissed him deeply. After she
pulled back and spent some time studying his face before she looked up and glanced at a large
mirror hanging on the living room wall. A beautiful young woman with long wavy brown hair and
lively chocolate brown eyes stared back at her. Hermione couldn’t believe that she was looking at
her own face again, after all these years.

Hermione’s eyes scanned the room, taking in everything from the white wallpaper and the aqua
carpet and the various pictures of her, Harry, and Ron on the walls. She saw a picture of their
wedding day and was finally able to marvel at how beautiful she had looked in the white wedding
gown. Finally, her eyes rested on a small boy standing nearby, watching her with a curious
expression on his face. He looked just like Harry, especially the green eyes but his hair, though
messy, had her brown color.

“Jason?” she whispered.

“Mommy? What are you doing? Why are you crying” the boy asked.

More tears rolled down as Hermione drew her son into a strong embrace. “Oh, you’re so
beautiful,” she whispered, as sobs rocked her body. But they were sobs of joy.

Harry wiped a few tears out of his eyes as he also wrapped his arms around his wife and son.
“Hermione, love, are you OK?” he whispered.

“I’ve never been better in my whole life,” Hermione whispered. “And its not going to end, right?
It’s going to happiness forever, right Harry?”

“Yes it will be,” Harry said. “I love you, Hermione.”

“I love you too, Harry.” And from then on, it was happily ever after.

The End