Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Harry Potter but I do own this little plot.
Author's note: I'm really sorry it took so long for this chapter to come up. But I hope you guys like it. For M, who was the inspiration for Damien.
The cold, stiff breezes of autumn danced down the granite street walks, ruffling the red-golden leaves on the trees easily, taking some away and leaving some to float to the ground. The street was already littered with countless maple leaves as it was. A tall, red brick building stood on the side of the street, imposing and stern, especially with the wire fence that surrounded it.
A tall man with dark hair and steely grey eyes leaned impatiently in the cold against the fence, hands stuffed in the pockets of his jacket for warmth. He shifted his weight from one foot to another imperceptibly, hoping to keep warm. Carelessly, he pulled one of his hands from his jacket pockets to check his watch, only to stuff it back in and sigh, his breath making little puffs in the freezing air.
Just then, a loud, jangling bell sounded, its shrill ringing slicing through the stillness of that morning, making a relieved smile cross the face of the man. He straightened easily, just as throngs of students came bursting out of the doors of the building and out onto the sidewalks. He scanned the crowd for her, and smiled as soon as he had caught sight of her, giving her a small wave. She descended the stairs and walked over to him, smiling slightly as he gave a quick peck on the cheek.
"Hey," Damien smiled, motioning for her to give him her bag which she gratefully did, as it was bulging with medical books, quills and parchment. "How was your day? Did your professor like your essay on the effects of lacewing in a potion?"
Hermione Granger smiled back, her hands stuffed in her jacket already. "Yeah he did," She frowned slightly, brow furrowed. "But then again, maybe I did write that essay a little longer than he expected. But are two rolls of parchment more than what he asked for a little overboard?"
"No, not at all." Damien reassured her, reaching out for her hand as he did so. "Shall we go to Lila's for some coffee? I think I just lost my nose to the cold, just waiting for you. Its either that or I've become a snowman."
Hermione smiled, but slightly distractedly. She had had a lot of things on her mind lately and it had not just been her essays that were due at the medical college she was now attending so that she could become a Healer at St. Mungo's. It had also been Ron and Luna's wedding, and Harry. But so far, she didn't feel that it was right to discuss her issue with Harry with Damien, at least not now.
It's been a long three years, Hermione thought ruefully, as she let her breath come out in a long sigh. Three years since Harry had gone missing. The searches had all proved futile and the Order, the Aurors, Ron and herself had had to give up eventually. It had been hard to get her life back on track for a while. Nothing had seemed to cut through the blanket of sadness, regret and hurt that had shrouded her for a while and Hermione who had always loved studying, could hardly even bring herself to read but spent all day just doing nothing but thinking.
Merlin knows I've been doing too much of that lately, she thought wryly, as her lips curved in sad smile.
But then all that had changed when Professor McGonagall had appeared at Grimauld Place with a piece of news for Hermione. The headmistress of Hogwarts had managed to get Hermione an interview to enter the very prestigious college which trained Healers. All Hermione had had to do was just to pass the written entrance test and get through the interview and she would be studying at the college.
Although Hermione had not finished her last year at Hogwarts because she had taken the year off to help Harry with his hunt for the Hoxcruxes, Professor McGonagall had specially approached the headmistress of the medical institute who had been an old friend and personally assured the headmistress that Hermione had been one of the smartest witches at Hogwarts and she was more than happy to help Hermione catch up with the work she had missed in 7th year before allowing her to try out for the medical institute.
It had felt a little odd, getting back into the habit of studying again but it had allowed her to get her life back into a semblance of order once more. She began to feel better, almost normal in some sense, and after she had sat through the tutorials with McGonagall for her 7th year work, Hermione was more than happy to have been accepted into the medical institute where she had quickly risen to top her class as she had done in Hogwarts.
Ron too, had taken those tutorials and graduated with surprisingly good NEWTS…enough for him to enter Auror training almost immediately. He was now a full-fledged Auror, and a very good one at that. He had met Luna Lovegood, one of their older classmates, who had now taken over her father's magazine, the Quibbler as head editor. Within minutes, he had asked her out and finally after 2 years of them dating, proposed and she accepted. Hermione couldn't have been any happier for Ron. He did deserve someone like Luna, who although could prove to be rather eccentric at times, was a lovely and kind person.
A lot had happened in those three years, Hermione reminisced. And one of those things had been Damien.
She remembered her first day at the medical institute. At that time, she was still considered a somewhat celebrity, given her friendship with Harry. So many of the students in the medical institute had come up to her, just to ask all about her adventures during the Hoxcrux hunt or how Harry was like and how sorry they were that he was gone. Hermione had simply smiled tightly, a characteristic feature she'd learned from McGonagall and replied that she had to go to class.
But Damien was different.
Their first encounter had been in the hallway. Hermione was feeling rather lost, seeing as the medical institute was such a huge place with so many people. Just as she had decided to flag down a nearby student, she'd felt a light tap on her shoulder and turned.
"Hey, are you lost?" He'd said, breaking out into a smile. "Can I help?"
And that was how it had all really begun. He had been the first, upon knowing her name, to not ask her how she was coping with Harry's disappearance or what kind of adventures she'd gotten into on the hunt. Damien was a year older and had graduated from the medical institute a year ago. They remained friends for a while, but after that Damien had asked Hermione on a date.
Initially, Hermione had turned him down. Damien was a good friend…and besides she was still in love with Harry even if he was missing. But as time had passed, and Harry remained missing and Damien kept persisting, she'd finally given in. She was still in love with Harry but it was getting harder to resist Damien. She'd felt so guilty, but as Ron had pointed out, Harry wouldn't have wanted Hermione to remain a nun all her life for him. He would have wanted her to be happy, even if it was with someone else. And besides, Harry didn't even know that Hermione had felt that way about him. They'd been dating for about 2 years now.
That was another one of her problems right now. After three long years, she couldn't believe that this was actually happening to her. It was almost too terrible to think, but it was slowly coming true.
She was forgetting him.
She could still remember how he looked, of course. Hermione felt that no matter how hard she tried she could never forget the way he looked, with his messy black hair, sparkling emerald eyes and trademark grin. But she was forgetting how he used to greet her, how her name sounded when he said it, his scent, how he acted when he was cheerful about something, or even sad about something.
She was forgetting his mannerisms, what had made the mental picture of Harry so real in those first few weeks when he was missing. It was getting harder and harder for her to conjure him up in her mind once more, not just as a picture, but as a living image.
She had been so horrified to realize it and tried so hard to remember his every little movement, every little thing he did. She could only feel a great sense of relief when she did eventually remember something she had forgotten, no longer the wistfulness she used to remember him with. It was tearing her apart, guilt at not being able to remember almost everything about him.
Hermione had been so absorbed in her thoughts that she hadn't heard Damien calling her.
"Hermione?" She snapped out of her thoughts immediately, to meet his concerned gray eyes. "Is something wrong?" She felt like confiding in him, but she knew that he probably wouldn't understand and discussing it would just make her feel even worse.
"No, nothing's wrong." She let out a pent-up breath of frustration. "It's just been a really long day, that's all."
"Don't worry, Herms." Damien smiled gently, as he squeezed her hand reassuringly. "We've all
been there at one time or another. It'll come to pass."
"I know." Was all Hermione offered as they stepped into Lila's. It was a small coffee shop Damien had introduced her to on their first date and was only a few blocks away from school. It was a cozy little bistro where she and Damien frequented to study or just to talk. As she sat down at their usual spot, Damien stepped up to the counter to pick up two steaming cups of coffee and bring them over to their table.
Hermione smiled quickly in silent gratitude and lapsed back into her thoughtful silence. It was almost as if a door had been opened in her brain somewhere where all her problems had come spilling out. She was so quiet, between her thoughts and her gentle sips of coffee that she didn't notice Damien's furtive glances towards her and his hand slipping into the pocket of his jeans.
"Hermione?" She looked up a tad disturbed, her brow slightly furrowed.
"Yes, Damien?" She placed her cup of coffee on the table that was in front of her. "What is it? I'm sorry I wasn't paying very much attention just now… I was a little preoccupied…"
"No, its fine." Damien smiled as well, almost nervously. "I…I just wanted to ask you something."
And with that, he went on one knee before her, all the patrons of the Lila's and did the thing Hermione would have never expected him to do.
Which was to propose to her.
"I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Hermione." He looked as if he would like to say more but couldn't. "Will you marry me?"
He produced a diamond ring from his pocket that was simple and elegant. Hermione stared at the stone which was shining in the dim lights of the restaurant. She knew that she was probably staring at Damien right now, slack-jawed because…well, she'd never expected this. Not ever in her wildest dreams had she anticipated this.
Damien must have sensed her apprehension, but rather than babbling on like most nervous guys would have done, said very seriously, "I won't get up until you say yes."
She could hear the murmurs of ascent in the background, some of the patrons urging her to agree to it. But that wasn't the foremost on her mind. What was on her mind was the intense look of hope and determination on his face. The one that she was all too familiar with having seen it on Harry's face for the past 7 years of her life in Hogwarts…
And just like that, she could see him once more in her mind. It was almost as if some imaginary door had been opened and now she could see him so clearly. How his jet-black hair always stood up at that annoying but adorable angle, how his emerald eyes could go from being gentle to being so intense, like there was nothing in this earth that mattered except the subject he was focusing on. How his lips always curved in a smile that made her feel slightly dizzy, or how it could become a smirk that teased her relentlessly. How he always used one free hand to run it through his unruly spikes when he was nervous or even anxious. How he always smelt of fresh soap and a tinge of cologne.
The mental picture was so strong, so overwhelming that she didn't even notice that tears had begun to stream down her cheeks. He looked so real in her mind that she could almost see him walk through the door of Lila's right now. She was so caught up in that image that she was only jolted back into the present by the sight of Damien's worried face that now held a tinge of apprehension.
"Hermione?" He asked worriedly, "Did I say something wrong?" He was quiet suddenly as realization seemed to dawn on his face. "You don't want to marry me."
Yes. Hermione didn't realize she had said this out loud, until Damien's face looked up back at her, hopefully.
"Yes, what, Hermione?" His voice was laced with anticipation and hope.
She shut her eyes, willing the tears to stop flowing, willing the mental image that was seared into her brain to dissipate. She knew she would regret this. But yet it felt as though her mouth was working separately from her brain, her heart and she could not stop it.
"I will…."She managed to choke out. "I'll…marry you."
She didn't know why she had said that in the first place. She was so confused. Hermione felt like she was being dragged apart, by her feelings for Damien and her feelings for Harry which had seemed to reappear after the mental image had reappeared. She felt so numb; she barely felt Damien's arms pulling her into a hug, or the cheers of the patrons.
And somehow, it occurred to her that she had probably just crossed the fine line between love and like.
Okay, this should be nice and long. Hope you guys liked it and please don't hate me for doing this to Hermione! I promise everything will work out eventually! Please review.
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