Here we go! The last chapter. Will Hermione tell Harry it's her? Or will she run away again, like last time? Read to find out! I warn you- the ending is very cliché. Very, very cliché. Please don't kill me because of it, OK?
*kisses*
lil_irish_girl
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When Hermione reached room number 123, she knocked twice. When she heard a muffled "come in," she pushed the door open slowly. Harry was lying on the bed on his back, his eyes closed.
"Are we tired?" she asked teasingly.
"What?" Harry mumbled, then jerked upright as his eyes focused on Hermione. "Oh, Mia, it's you. No, I'm not tired. I just needed a place to think and it was either the bed or the floor."
"Well, you made a good choice then," Hermione replied mock-seriously. "Because the floor is much too hard."
Harry laughed.
"What would you like me to sing to you tonight?" the young witch asked.
"You can choose what you sing, Mia," Harry replied. "I don't mind in the least bit."
"OK," Hermione said, nodding. OK, Hermione, she said to herself. You planned this. Now don't screw it up. She began to sing.
The strands in your eyes that color them wonderful
Stop me and steal my breath
And emeralds from mountains thrust towards the sky
Never revealing their depth
And tell me that we belong together
Dress it up with the trappings of love
I'll be captivated, I'll hang from your lips
Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above
And I'll be your cryin' shoulder
I'll be love's suicide
And I'll be better when I'm older
I'll be the greatest fan of your life.
When she stopped, Harry looked at her curiously.
"Why did you pick to sing that song, if I may ask?" Harry asked, still gazing at her, thinking hard.
"You can ask," Hermione replied, choosing her words carefully. "When I was in school- Hogwarts, of course- my best friend had many nightmares. This was the only song to get him to sleep. This song was the first one I could come up with the first time he had nightmares and apparently it worked."
Hermione sang me that song when I had nightmares, Harry thought. But that has to be just a coincidence. "What kind of nightmares did your best friend have?"
"He had nightmares about saving the wizarding world," Hermione whispered in a barely audible voice. "He was the Chosen One, and one can guess how torturous nightmares about that can be."
"Mia?" Harry asked. "Why-?"
"My name's not Mia," Hermione interrupted. "It's-" Come on, spit it out. "It's-" Say it: Hermione Jane Granger. Hermione Jane Granger. Aren't you supposed to be a Griffindor?!? "Hermione Jane Granger," she said in a hurried voice.
Harry sat there for a little bit, processing the words. Then his eyes grew wide. "'Mione?" he whispered.
"Yes?" Hermione answered, holding back tears.
"Oh, my God, I didn't recognize you! Merlin, I'm such an idiot. I should have recognized those eyes anywhere. Why didn't you tell me it was you in the first place?" Harry hurried off the bed, ran up to Hermione and gave her a hug while she cried openly on his shoulder.
"Oh, Harry," she replied. "I was afraid. I decided that after I ran away I would never see you again because it would be too painful. And then you came here- where I work and I was overjoyed to see you. But all of my feelings came back and I knew that you would never feel the same way about me because you had Cho and Ginny and you could've had any other girl at Hogwarts, and I figured why would you choose me? So I sang you "I can't make you love me" at graduation and I ran away."
Hermione slowly looked up to find that Harry was laughing softly.
"Yes," she said quietly, pulling away from him. "I know it must sound silly and I knew that you would never feel the same way. So I'll just go now."
She spun around and started walking towards the door when Hermione felt a hand on her arm.
"'Mione, no," Harry said as he turned her around. "I'm not letting you go again."
That being said, Harry crushed his lips to hers. Hermione moaned softly as she opened her mouth to him. Their tongues clashed greedily, each trying to devour one another. They broke apart a couple minutes later, each of them breathing heavily. They collapsed on Harry's bed, and he protectively wrapped his arms around her.
"Why did you run away?" he asked softly.
"Because I knew the feelings that I felt would never be the reciprocal," she answered matter-of-factly. "But what you just did completely blew that out of the water. But I'm still wondering why you did that."
"Because-" he began, his voice cracking slightly. "Because," he tried again, now whispering. He gently kissed her temple, forehead, eyelids, cheeks, nose, and finally a soft kiss on her mouth. "Because I love you, 'Mione."
Hermione gasped as she began softly sobbing.
"Hermione?" Harry asked as he gingerly wiped a lone tear from her cheek. "What's the matter? Baby, what's wrong? You know I can't stand to see you cry."
"I'm not crying because I'm sad," Hermione murmured as she kissed Harry on the lips apologetically. "It's just that I never imagined that you would be calling me baby, or telling me you love me. I love you, too, by the way. I just never thought it could be that way. That's the main reason why I ran away."
"Sweetheart," Harry said, using his finger to guide her chin up so that she was forced to look at him. "You didn't have to run away. I loved you back- I love you now. You could have saved us ten years of this- tension- between us. But I think I know a way to make up for it."
He sat up and slowly got off the bed. Harry held out his hand to Hermione, who took it and soon they were both standing at the foot of the bed, facing each other.
"Hermione Jane Granger," he began. "I love you with everything that I am." he took her hands. "These hands are the ones that I want to be holding for the rest of my life." he placed his hands on both of her cheeks. "This face is the one I want to be looking at for the rest of my life." he put his hand on her stomach. "This is where I would like to put a baby." he kissed her. "In the near future," Harry added in an undertone that was just audible, making Hermione giggle. He got down on one knee and took her hand. "Hermione," Harry said as he took out a small box made of velvet. "Will you marry me?" the box was opened to reveal a simple diamond ring.
Hermione's eyes shined bright with tears as she vigorously nodded her head. "Yes, Harry," she said when she had regained her voice. "I would love to marry you."
Grinning broadly, Harry scooped Hermione up so that he was cradling her like a baby- one arm around her shoulders, one around her knees. She nuzzled his neck lovingly. He groaned.
"You might want to stop that," he warned, smiling.
"And what might you do if I don't?" Hermione answered, now showering his neck with small kisses. Harry lay her gently on the bed and straddled her.
"Because then I might have to just show you how much I love you." he kissed her again as his hand snaked up underneath her shirt and began making absent-minded circles on her soft skin.
"Is that a threat or a promise?" the young woman whispered seductively as she pulled back slightly to look in his eyes.
Harry thought about this for a minute, then smiled. "A promise."
"Till death do us part?"
"Till death do us part."
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There we go! All done. Please review and tell me what you thought of it. I am now currently working on a new fic called "Thunderstorms," which you should be seeing on portkey in the near future. Thanks to all of you who reviewed- I love you with all my heart!!