Chapter 3
When Harry woke up the next morning he opened his eyes just to shut them again a moment later. The sunlight was hurting his eyes too much. His head hurt like it had not for a long time and his first thought was that it had something to do with Voldemort. No, that could not be right, Voldemort was dead, he had killed him. But why was his head hurting like hell and he felt so sick that he did not dare to move? Thinking was difficult and painful and a part of Harry just wanted to go back to sleep, but he tried to concentrate and think about what had happened yesterday. There had been a ball. He had seen Ginny talking to Malfoy. Malfoy had proposed to Ginny. Harry felt even sicker when the memory hit him. A nice girl like Ginny married to that git! Harry remembered apparating home. He had destroyed the living room. Then there had been firewhiskey. A lot of firewhiskey. That must have been the reason he felt that awful. He had the first hangover in his life. Harry whished he knew the ingredients of the anti hangover potion. He knew there was one, because the twins had mentioned it, but Harry had never seen a reason to learn how to make it. Of course Hermione would know, although she never had to use this potion either. Hermione. She had been here yesterday. He had yelled at her. His stomach clenched when he remembered what he had said to Hermione. Oh god! How could he have talked like that to his most loyal friend? She just wanted to help him, like she always had and he had been a complete jerk to her. Harry remembered Hermione's teary eyes and the disappointment in her voice when she had said goodbye. He had made her cry. He had disappointed her by acting like a selfish git. What if Hermione thought she had had the wrong impression of him all along? What if she though he was not the friend she thought she knew? After the way he had acted Harry could not blame Hermione if she decided to end her friendship with him. The mere thought of losing Hermione terrified Harry more than anything he had ever experienced in his eventful young life. He had lost loved ones before - his parents, Sirius, Dumbledore - and now he had lost Ginny to Malfoy. He had grieved deeply for all these people, but never before had he thought he could not go on living after this loss. With Hermione it was different. She had been by his side since he was eleven and she had helped him through the worst times in his live. Hermione had kept him sane and had given him the strength to do what he had to do. Without her, he was lost. Harry knew what he had to do. He could not lose Hermione. He had to find a way to earn her forgiveness.
Two hours later Harry was in Diagon Alley, searching the shops for a gift for Hermione. He already held a big bouquet of pink and white roses in his hand, but he was searching for something special, something meaningful. He had really hurt her and he knew flowers and an "I am sorry" would not be enough to make it up to her. Usually Harry bought Hermione books for Christmas and her birthdays, but this time he wanted a more personal gift, something that expressed how much she meant to him.
Eventually the display window of a small jewellery store caught his eye. He had never noticed the shop before and he probably would not have considered going inside if he had not seen the sign in the window. "Memory jewels - wear your most special memories". Next to the sign were golden bracelets and necklaces with shimmering precious stones in various colours. Harry did not know much about jewellery, but the stones seemed to shimmer more than Muggle ones, almost like they were softly glowing. Harry did not know if Hermione cared about jewels, he had seldom seen her wear some and normally Harry would not consider buying her a necklace or a bracelet, because he knew that it would not do Hermione justice to just buy something expensive to make her forgive him, but this seemed different - more personal. Harry entered the shop and a young pretty sales lady smiled at him and asked how she could help him.
"I am looking for a gift for a very special young lady and your memory jewellery sounds interesting. How does it work?" Harry asked.
"It works a little like a pensieve. You put your wand to your head and think about a memory you want to put into a piece of jewellery. Then you hold your wand in a bowel with our special magic jewel liquid and your memory turns into a precious stone. Nobody knows which kind of stone it becomes, therefore we cannot tell you how much the piece of jewellery will cost - the more valuable the stone is the more of the liquid will be used for it," the young woman explained.
"Price does not matter. I need something really special. Is it possible to make a bracelet with several stones? There are many memories I want to include." Harry had shared so many special moments with Hermione that he would have trouble deciding for some of them.
"Of course, " the lady answered with a smile. "Your fiancée is a very lucky woman."
"My fiancée?" Harry asked confused.
"Is the gift not for your fiancée? You look a little... tired out. I thought you had your bachelor celebration last night and were buying your fiancée a gift. Forgive me if I am mistaken." The woman explained.
Harry did not answer immediately. Hermione his fiancée? He had never thought about her in that way. Suddenly Harry remembered Hermione's words from the night before. Is there no one whom you like enough that you could imagine sharing your home and life with? There must be someone you trust to take the responsibility of being a countess seriously and for whom you feel at least affection. Harry felt more than affection for Hermione. He trusted her completely and he knew no one who was more responsible, intelligent and compassionate than her. She would be a great countess. Harry had always enjoyed Hermione's company and he had always trusted her enough to share his thoughts and feelings with her...
"Sir?" the sales lady asked confused and interrupted Harry's thoughts.
"Oh, ahm, no, Hermione is... she is a friend." No, that sounded too common, too meaningless. "The most loyal friend a person can wish for," he added.
The young woman smiled in a way that looked like she knew something he did not know, but she just said "Then let us create a special bracelet for your very special friend."
The woman placed a bowl with a shimmering golden liquid in front of Harry.
Harry thought a moment about the first memory he wanted to include into the bracelet. There were so many special memories he had shared with Hermione. Eventually, he started with a memory of their first big adventure when they had saved the Sorcerer's stone from being stolen by Voldemort. Just before Harry had faced Voldemort for the first time, Hermione had hugged him and asked him to be careful. It was the first time in his young life that anybody had been this affectionate with him and for the first time since he could remember he had felt... loved. Harry put his wand to his head and put his memory in the bowl. The liquid inside shimmered bright red and a moment later a red gem stone appeared in the bowl.
"A garnet. It symbolizes loyalty and reliability," the saleswoman explained.
Harry smiled. "Your magic liquid surely knows what it is doing."
Harry thought for a moment and then put a second memory in the bowl - the memory of Hermione helping him save Sirius in their third year. It turned into a pale blue stone - an aquamarine which symbolized courage according to the saleswoman. The next memory was from their fourth year, when Hermione spend hours helping him prepare for the Threewizard Tournament. It turned into a tiger's eye, which stands for patient work to achieve a goal and strength in difficult situations. He included his memory of the fight in the ministry when Hermione once again risked her life with him and of that awful moment when Hermione got hit by Dolohov's curse and he had feared she was dead for a moment. It turned into a ruby - a stone symbolizing courage, friendship and love. He thought about all the times when Hermione had helped him with her sharp mind, especially during the time when he searched for the Horcruxes. The memory turned into a sapphire, symbolizing wisdom. In the end Harry thought about the moment when he had just defeated Voldemort. He had been exhausted, heartbroken because of all the lives this war had cost and had had no idea what life would hold for him now. In this moment he had seen Hermione, who had simply run over to him and hugged him - forgetting all about propriety. In this moment, Harry had known that he had a future and that this future would include Hermione - forever. When he put this memory in the bowl, it turned into a perfect diamond.
Half an hour later, Harry stood in front of Hermione's house. He took a deep breath to try and calm his upset stomach. He didn't know if it was due to apparating with a hangover or if it was just nerves because he did not know how Hermione would take his apology, but he felt awful.
The maid answered the door and asked him to wait for Hermione in the parlour. He did not have to wait long. A minute later Hermione appeared in the room, leaving the door open.
"Good morning Harry, to which do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" Hermione asked stiffly. Harry sadly registered Hermione's formal tone, but felt even worse when he turned to look at his best friend. Hermione looked nearly as awful as he felt. Her eyes were red and she had dark circles under her eyes - she had obviously spent the majority of the night crying.
"I came to apologize for my behaviour last night. I am truly sorry," Harry said and held out the roses to Hermione.
"It takes more than an 'I am sorry' and flowers to make up for your behaviour towards me last night," Hermione answered angrily, not taken the flowers.
"I know," Harry answer remorsefully. "I should not have talked to you like that. You are my most loyal friend and telling you it is none of your business how I behave was more than wrong. Of course it is your business. You have always been by my side when I needed you and risked your life for me again and again and now you criticize me and I yell at you. Please forgive me. I value your opinion more than anyone else's and I need you by my side. I think I have never truly told you how much you mean to me and even now I am not able to find the right words. Therefore, I got you this," Harry said and gave Hermione the box containing the bracelet. "It is not just a piece of jewellery," Harry hurried to say. "The gem stones are memory charms, each contains a special memory I have about you. You can see the memories by touching the charms with your wand. It is my way of telling you how much you mean to me. Without you, I am completely lost. Please tell me that I have not lost my closest friend."
Speechless, Hermione used her wand to watch all the memories Harry had put into her bracelet. When she finally looked up, she had tears in your eyes.
"Of course you have not lost me, Harry. I will always be your friend, no matter what."
Harry sighed relieved and fought the urge to hug Hermione, in case somebody walked by and saw them through the open door.
"Thank you, Hermione."
"So, have you thought about what you want to do now?" Hermione asked and Harry nodded.
"Yes, I have. Can we go to the garden to talk?"
A/N: Yes, I'm back to writing again. Sorry for the really long delay. Next chapter will have Draco POV and either Harry or Hermione POV, I'm not sure yet. So, what do you want? More Harry or do you want to know what's going on in the head of our favourite bookworm?