Meant to Happen Vs. Meant to Last

Disclaimer: It’s JK Rowling’s not mine. I should think that’s obvious by now.

A/N: This is my response to all of the angst fics that have been filling up the newest fics page for the past week or so.

Watching the water of the great lake had become one of the few things that Harry Potter could associate with peace and tranquility during the great war against Voldemort. By the end of the final battle the losses had been high, but Harry and most of his friends had been fortunate.

However, the reason Harry was looking out at the lake today was to remember all of the good times he had shared with one of those lost friends, Hagrid the half-giant man that rescued him from the bleak life he had lived with the Dursleys.

As he watched the Giant Squid reach one great tentacle out of the water a tap on his shoulder signaled that he had gained some company. Hermione sat next to him on the large flat rock by the lake before she said, “I miss him too.”

Harry managed a small smile as he reached over and patted her knee. After long stretch of silence Harry said, “I only regret one thing about Hagrid; and that’s how things happened last year.”

Hermione frowned slightly, her nose crinkling as she replied, “I think we can both agree that last year was not our best year.”

Harry laughed, “Oh come off it, you finally got Ron like you wanted and I managed to get a month or so with Ginny. It wasn’t all bad.”

Hermione sighed, “Well, you saw how well the thing with Ron went. We dated for a month and had three kisses, each one more awkward and horrible than the last.”

Harry grinned, “Well, I think you two got together because it was just sort of one of those things that were meant to happen, even if for only a short time.”

Hermione smiled faintly as she teased, “Yes, well dating Ron was more like dating a brother than an actual crush.” She poked Harry in the side gently as she scooted closer, “What about you and Ginny? That must have been like dating your sister.”

Harry gave her a dubious look, “Just because she is Ron’s little sister, it doesn’t make her mine. I mean I didn’t ever really know her all that well until this year, and we all see how that turned out.”

Hermione smiled sadly, “Harry, there was no way of telling that she had altered her perfume to act as a watered down version of Amortentia.”

Harry shrugged, “I guess in the end it didn’t matter, Ron caught her red-handed trying to spike my drink with some actual amortentia at the wedding and it was all over from there.”

Hermione sighed and looked at him hopefully, “That night wasn’t all bad, was it?”

Harry wrapped an arm around her shoulder and said, “Nah, our dance at the reception definitely made me feel a lot better. I only wish I had thought to do it at the Yule Ball. But, between Ron and Krum that night I thought it was better safe than sorry.”

Hermione sighed, “I think we could have been spared a lot of heartache if you had danced with me, but I can understand your reasoning.”

Harry shrugged and said, “I’ll admit I’ve made my mistakes in the romance department, but so have you Mrs. McLaggen.”

Hermione faked gagging for a moment, “Yes, well it was obvious I had to do something to get Ron’s attention. Then I even confounded McLaggen at the trials, and I thought I was going to die when you figured it out. I had never been so mortified in my entire life. Here I was Ms. Rules, and I even gave you a hard time about muffilato. Then I went and confounded someone to help Ron make the team. But, if you think about it in a way I helped you out too.”

Harry arched his eyebrow, “How so?”

Hermione grinned, “Well, if you had been forced to choose between the two then you couldn’t have won. I mean you choose Ron and everyone accuses you of favoritism, and if you choose McLaggen then Ron hates you.”

Harry shrugged, “I had planned on both making the team, but you sort of took that decision out of my hands.”

Hermione frowned but nodded, “Yes, last year wasn’t our best year. I mean you used that spell on Malfoy that almost killed him, and you didn’t even know what it was.”

Harry merely nodded, “Yeah I think we took the low road last year. But, I think we’ve more than made up for it this year.”

Hermione sighed as she glanced over her shoulder back at the partially rebuilt version of Hagrid’s hut. She finally said, “That’s the one bad part about having regrets, most of the time you can’t do anything to get rid of them.”

Harry nodded before he said, “This year has been the best of my life though. I never thought I’d laugh so hard as when we went to Snuffles’ place for Christmas and we saw the look on Molly’s face when we kissed. She looked at Ron expecting him to be furious, and she looked at Ginny expecting her to be heartbroken. Of course, Ron was eating and Ginny finally had to explain what she had done leaving Molly in a daze for the rest of the holidays. It certainly hadn’t been the one big family that Molly had dreamed of.

Hermione smiled slightly as she cuddled into his shoulder and asked, “Why do you think we’ll always be together Harry.”

Harry pondered for a long moment before he replied, “I guess that’s the one thing I’m certain of when I look back at the past six years; when you stuck by me every time, even when I was wrong, if only to protect me from myself. I had always taken that for granted until last year, when we both pulled away from each other. I know I was terrified of losing you after what happened in the department of mysteries, and I think you were terrified of losing me after you heard the prophecy.” Hermione could only nod; it had been a scary time after Harry had told them the prophecy. It was after her Harry filled fantasy courtesy of the twins that she knew she needed to move on from Harry, if only for a time.

Harry continued after a moment, “Having what we had for most of our first five years disappear like that, I mean it forced us to finally get over the dependence we had on each other and move on to Ron and Ginny. I mean looking back Ron and Ginny were always two flings I guess I knew would happen. But, I also kind of knew that they weren’t meant to last, they were only escapes from what we knew was right.”

Hermione crawled into Harry’s lap and asked, “That’s why were meant to last.”

Harry smiled as she began to lean in and he murmured, “Jealousy and bitterness don’t make lasting love, but what we have does.”

Their lips finally connected as they kissed for several long heart-stopping minutes before Hermione pulled away and with a smile said, “You know, you still have to be properly introduced to my parents.”

Harry groaned, “I’m certain your dad can finish Voldemort’s job, can’t he?”

Hermione propped her arms up on his shoulders as she rose to her feet before she said, “What’s one more adventure?”

Harry grinned as he too slowly rose to his feet, “I’d say that loving you is going to be our greatest adventure yet.”

So it was like that, as the buck-toothed bushy-haired bookworm and the knobby- kneed raven-haired hero walked into the sunset, and to think all of it had started with a scar.

A/N: There you go the ending of book 7, completed as an epilogue and ending with the word scar. This is going to be what I tack on to book 6 if book 7 ends up as a bust.

I hope you all liked the fluff and little bit of angst mixed together. Thanks for reading and please take the time to review.