Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters, places, etc. They are the property of the great J.K. Rowling.
A/N: Hey guys! It's been a while so I hope you forgive me if I seem a little rusty. I should get the second and final part of this story up within the week unless I'm convinced to update sooner. As always, I love to hear what you think so please review! Enjoy the story.
-Azusena
She was lying on her bed when he first entered her room from the common room they shared. She looked so peaceful in sleep; nothing like the expression of pain that had washed over her face a few hours earlier. How would he tell her? He wondered. How do you tell your best friend that someone they loved so much was no longer around? How do you tell someone that they would soon be alone?
She stirred then, waking him from his thoughts as suddenly as she woke herself. He didn't even flinch when her eyes shot open and she snatched her wand from the bedside table. She centered it on his heart before he had time to speak. Not that it would have helped if he had said anything, of course. She wouldn't have heard it. She still was not awake enough to recognize his voice and understand the words he was saying.
This is what the war had done to them, he thought. This is what the world had done to countless witches and wizards in England and throughout the world. They woke with their wands in their hands seeking danger immediately. He had nearly hexed a healer last week when she had accidently woken him while draping an extra blanket over him.
She lowered her wand. Her eyes still filled with hope at the sight of him. He both loved that hope and hated it. He hated himself for not being stronger, for not being able to feel that hope himself. Sometimes he longed to curl up into a ball and forget the world; to give in to the pain and suffering around him so he could join the hundreds that had already given their lives for the cause. At the same time though, he need it. He needed to see the hope in her eyes like a drowning man needs air. He was drowning without her. Drowning in his fear and insecurities, but he was their only hope. And she was his only hope.
She had been studying him as he thought, taking in his bedraggled appearance and the pain in his eyes. "Who?" she finally asked. She sat up and reached for his hand.
"Do you remember where we were?" he asked her; his voice no louder than a whisper. He let her take his hand and stepped closer to her side.
She seemed distant as she tried to recall the events of the night before. Her expression crumbled and soon she was firmly ensconced within his arms. "My mother?" she whispered already knowing the answer. He nodded once before sobs racked her body and he held her tightly for what seemed like hours before she finally ran out of tears.
"I knew it was going to happen," she said looking into his eyes. "They loved each other too much to be separated for long."
"I'm so sorry, Hermione." He said flatly. "I should have been there sooner. I should have been able to stop it."
"No" she whispered once. "Stop it… She didn't want to live any longer not without him. Even if we had gotten there in time she wouldn't have lived for very long."
"I'm sorry you've lost everyone. If you hadn't been friends with me, this never would have happened.
She looked up suddenly holding his eyes with her own. "Harry, I wouldn't give up my friendship with you for anything. I will always miss them… all of them, but I still have you."
"But you won't," he objected, "not for very much-"
She cut him off. "I will always be with you, Harry, just like you will always be with me. You need to accept the fact that if you die you won't be saving me. You might save everyone else, but I would follow you soon after." She shook her head scarcely able to imagine it. "I wouldn't be able to live in a world without you in it."
Harry leapt up from the bed tearing his hand from her grasp. "No." The word sounded like a gasp coming from his mouth. Nearly everything around her shattered at once and the pieces flew around him as if to protect him from her words, but not one piece flew near her. Even in a rage Harry would never hurt her. He let out a hoarse cry and just as suddenly as it had started the pieces fell back to the ground. Harry was sitting in a small circle surrounded by debris. His eyes met hers and for the first time since the war had started, he was crying.
"You can't die," he whispered. "What is the point if I don't save you? How can I continue knowing that I won't be doing it for you?"
Hermione leapt out of the bed. She didn't seem to notice the broken glass that was swept away before she ever took a step.
She crouched beside him and took him into her arms. He clutched her to him. "You just have to live, Harry," she whispered. "If you don't want to live for yourself, live for me…"
They crouched on the floor for hours neither breathing a word. In the morning, they both rose from the floor, wincing as they stretched cramped muscles. He knew what he had to do.
"Stay here." He whispered before depositing her on her bed and waving a hand to put everything back to how it was before he destroyed it the night before. There was a new light in his eyes as he walked away from her.
He turned slightly before he left the room. His eyes met hers and he smiled slightly. "Hermione… I-"
"No," she said hurriedly, "tell me when you come back."
She said it like it was a certainty and for her it was. She knew that while Harry might not go to every possible effort to save himself, he would do everything humanly possible to save her.
He nodded and stepped out of the room.
It wasn't until he left the castle that Hermione dared to murmur the words. "I love you, Harry Potter." She said to the empty room.
A/N: Let me know what you think and I may be convinced to update sooner.
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