A/N: Hi everyone, I just want to thank you so much for being so great, I'm so happy with the response I got from the first chapter. I hope I won't let you down with this or any of the future chapters. Anyway, I hope you like it, and I'm sorry if there are many grammar mistakes, I have no beta so… Enjoy and don't forget to leave your comment!
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all recognizable characters are the property of J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros, Bloomsbury, Scholastic, etc. I have no intent on making money out of this, just a way of releasing some stress.
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Hermione stared at the empty bed for what seemed like an eternity. Harry was somewhere next to her but she couldn't pinpoint where exactly; all her attention was focused on the object in front of her.
She had stayed a couple of weeks with Harry, scared to go to her own place, but she knew better than anyone that the time would come when she had to face her reality, and even though Harry's place was a nice escape to it all, she couldn't put it off anymore.
So here she was, in her parents' bedroom, staring at the bed that for years had been used by them.
Harry's hand came into her shoulder.
"How are you feeling?" he asked softly, barely above a whisper.
"I don't, I don't know… empty," she replied sincerely. Slowly she made her way to the bed and sat on it, feeling it inching downwards because of her.
"When I was younger I used to come here at nights whenever I had a nightmare, and I would make my way between them," she reminisced as tears made their way down her face. Harry hesitated but then sat down next to her.
"My dad would always complain that this bed wasn't made for three people, but my mom would say that there was always room for me," she hiccupped.
"Sounds like she had you spoiled," Harry said and Hermione smiled through her tears.
"What am I supposed to do with such a big house? I can't live here on my own, but I can't sell it, it has so many memories," Hermione said, looking around the place.
"You could always move in with me," Harry implied. Hermione shook her head.
"No Harry, as much as I like to live with you, I need to face this alone."
"You'll never be alone," he mentioned.
"I know, but I need to be, for a while… it's terrifying, but I need to do it."
"Then buy yourself a place, or, you could always go to Hogwarts, McGonagall told me they would re-open it for September."
"I don't think I'm going back to Hogwarts…
"What?" Harry asked in disbelief.
"I'm not going back. I know everyone thought I was going to finish my last school year, and for a while I thought about it too, but I don't want to… I can't go back," Hermione said sadly.
"Why not?"
"I don't feel like it's my place anymore, I don't know Harry… I just…
But both of them stopped talking when they heard a noise. Immediately Harry got up and pulled out his wand. Hermione mimicked his actions.
"What was that?" said Harry in a wary tone. Hermione shook her head.
"I don't know, let's go and see."
"Stay here, I'll go."
"Don't be ridiculous, I'll go as well…
"Really, there's no need…
Their discussion ended when they heard the stairs creaking under someone's weight. Harry unconsciously put himself in front of Hermione, wand at the ready.
The seconds passed by but nothing happened. They both had their wands pointed at the front door but no one came from it. Harry and Hermione shared a look.
"I could've sworn…
"Hermione?" came a voice from outside that made them both jump. The above-mentioned glanced sideways at Harry, confusion etched in her face for a second. The person outside called on her again.
"Who's that?" Harry whispered but Hermione made a hand gesture to keep him quiet. She walked to the door and ignored the what are you doing whisper Harry sent her. She stepped outside of the room.
"Ron?"
"What are you doing here? No… how did you know I was here?" Hermione said in disbelief. Ron was the last person she thought she would see those days.
"I…" he mumbled and looked behind her. Harry was just under the doorframe staring at him.
"Oh, you told him," Hermione said to Harry in an accusatory tone. He shrugged but didn't look sorry at all.
"How are you?" Ron said, trying to get her attention back to him. She glared at him.
"How do you think I am? I just lost my parents three weeks ago! And you have the nerve to show up only now?!" she asked with incredulity. She felt her blood boiling in her veins, and the fact that Ron didn't seem to feel bad about her made her feel ready to explode.
"I'm sorry."
"That's all you have to say?" This is unbelievable! Get out!"
"What?" Ron said astonished.
"I said get out, I don't want you here."
"But Hermione…
"OUT," she shouted, her face flushing in the blink of an eye.
"I think you better leave," Harry said quietly, standing next to her.
"But mate, you told me to…
"I think now it's not the time," he replied.
"You think? You think?" Hermione was fuming now. All she could see was red.
"Ron, go!" Harry commanded, looking at Hermione with an alarmed expression.
"I'll come back."
"Leave!" she shrieked and Ron ran down the stairs.
"Hermione, calm down," Harry tried to come close to her but she took a step back.
"How could you? Of all the places you chose my parents' house to reunite us?" Hermione screeched. She was livid, the image of Ron clouding up her judgment even further.
"I'm sorry, I thought you'd like to have him here…
"You thought wrong!" she interrupted him harshly.
"Hermione, I…
"Leave," she said somewhat calmly, trying to control the spasms cursing through her body.
"What?" Harry blinked in surprise. Had he heard her right?
"Leave Harry," Hermione repeated more firmly without shouting.
"But, Hermione…
"Please…" she said, clenching her fists to try to control her anger, "I need to be alone."
Harry looked at her, hurt evident in his face, but he didn't say anything else. He walked down the stairs and out of sight. She heard a crack indicating he had Disapparated out of the house.
Slowly, she made her way to her parents' room and she tumbled down in the bed, anguish sobs escaping her lips as she screamed in frustration.
--
"Thank you for coming Luna," Hermione said as she drank from her coffee. She had chosen a muggle coffee shop and had asked her old schoolmate to join her.
It had been a month since the ghastly attempt at a reunion at her house. She hadn't talked to Harry ever since.
Hermione felt guilty about the way she treated Harry but she had been so mad that he had told Ron to come over. She couldn't understand how he'd done such a thing, but after reflecting over things she thought he'd thought that's what she needed at the moment. Still, he had no right to bring him over to such a sacred place…
She had stayed all that month at her house, coping with the fact that she was all alone now and that's how things would be from now on. Her family contacted her and she was glad they'd done it, she'd completely forgotten about them in her own grief and hadn't realized they were going through the same thing. It was a nice way to move on, being with people who shared the same pain she was feeling.
But as nice as it was being with her family, Hermione felt she needed some contact with the wizarding world, and since she wasn't on speaking terms with either of her friends, the only person that came to mind was Luna.
The girl smiled warmly at Hermione as she sat down in front of her and raised her hand to call the waiter.
"I'm glad you contacted me Hermione, I was worried about you," the blond girl said.
"Yes, well... I didn't know who else to talk to."
"And you thought about me? That's so sweet!" Luna beamed. Hermione smiled, Luna was such a positive person.
"But really, how are you? I found out about your parents and I'm so sorry. I sent you a letter and the Quibbler's edition for the month," the girl continued.
"Yes, I got them, but I didn't feel in the position to reply to anyone," Hermione said.
"Oh well, at least tell me you read the magazine," Luna said. Hermione looked away; she had always thought the magazine was kind of ridiculous, but telling that to Luna was and awful thing to say.
"I haven't really had the time to read, I've been with my family and looking for a place to live, so...
"Oh right! How's that going? Did you find a place that suits you?" Luna asked eagerly.
"I was... I was thinking on going to college," Hermione said afraid.
"Like in a muggle college?" Luna said wide-eyed.
"Yes, my parents wanted me to, since in the magical world there aren't any." Hermione shrugged.
"Oh, and what are you going to study?" Luna said as she popped a cup of coffee out of nowhere. Hermione looked alarmed. "Don't worry, nobody saw me, and the waiter never came, so..." she shrugged.
"Well, I want to be a dentist" Hermione simply said.
"That's interesting," Luna chipped happily.
"Really? You're ok with it? I thought you were going to talk me out of it."
"Why would I? After all it's what you want to do with the rest of your life. Besides, it's more than what other people want," the girl finished as she sipped on her coffee.
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked suspicious.
"Harry," Luna simply said.
"What about him?"
"You still haven't talked to him?" Luna said surprised.
"No, we haven't talked in... a month," Hermione said ashamed. Luna regarded her for a moment with her protuberant eyes.
"Harry's a mess" Luna said. Hermione looked at her surprised.
"What do you mean?"
"He misses you," she said playing with her hair.
"You saw him?" Hermione asked trying to sound nonchalant but failing miserably.
"Yes, two days ago. He's sad, he said you were mad at him but he didn't know if he should approach you...
"What he did was wrong," Hermione immediately said getting on the defensive.
"Bringing Ronald to your house? He did it out of concern; he thought it was the best for you."
"Well he thought wrong," Hermione said, getting agitated. She breathed once to try to remain calm.
"You have to understand, he's also grieving," Luna said. Hermione blinked once.
"He didn't lose his parents."
"No he didn't, but a lot of people died during the war, people dear to him, and he's upset too." Luna regarded Hermione for a moment before staring off into space. The brown haired girl didn't know what to say. "Oh, and Lupin, wasn't he close to his dad? So that's the next thing closest to a parent he could have," Luna finished. Hermione felt terrible, she had completely forgotten that other people besides her parents were gone, people Harry deeply cared about.
"I'm such an idiot," she said, feeling her world cloud over her.
"No you're not, you're just so sad about your parents that you didn't see Harry is in pain as well," Luna explained in her dreamy voice.
"What am I supposed to do now?" Hermione asked desperately. How could she amend such a mistake?
"You could go and visit him," Luna suggested.
"Oh, right," Hermione said and broke into a smile. "Thank you Luna, would you mind if I leave right away? I have to apologize to someone."
"It's okay, go, I'll finish up my coffee here." She smiled. Hermione hesitated but went over and hugged the girl.
"We'll be in touch," she said as she let go. Luna beamed again.
"That would be nice, say hello to Harry," she replied. Hermione left and Luna, out of boredom, made some biscuits appear on the table. The sound of plates crashing down on the floor caught her attention. The waiter was looking at her, the tray he was holding askew, and a look of disbelief plastered across his face.
"You should try these, they're filled with coconut cream," Luna said, her mouth full of the biscuits. The waiter's eyes went blank and he fell backwards.
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