Chapter 2 - Christmas
December 19, 2000
Hermione awoke at noon the next day to an owl tapping her window. She opened the window, grabbed the letter, and the owl flew off. She opened the letter and read:
Hermione,
Both you and Harry are coming here for Christmas, and there will be no fighting. You can just ignore each other-that's fine-but I will not have you two ruin our Christmas. And both of you are family, so there's no getting out of this.
I've sent a similar letter to Harry. We'll see you on Christmas!
Love,
Molly
Hermione sighed as she finished reading the letter. There was no getting out of this one-her parents had been killed by Death Eaters, so she couldn't use them as an escape.
Hermione crumpled the letter into a ball and threw it away, then lay on her back on her bed, staring at the ceiling. I've heard you say you never loved me in my head every second for the past two years of my life. Those words haunted her. How would she have felt if Harry had told her he never loved her-that it had all been a lie?
"Oh my god," she whispered as her eyes rapidly filled with tears. She had actually said that to Harry, and it made her feel sick and ashamed of herself. If she thought her last two years were bad, she couldn't imagine how much worse it would've been if Harry had said those words to her.
"Just a pathetic teenage crush?" she asked herself disbelievingly. No wonder Harry didn't want to talk to her, she had completely destroyed his heart.
She needed to make this right somehow, and for help she needed…
"Ginny," she said with her head sticking out of the Burrow's fireplace. "Con you come over?"
"Sure thing," said Ginny.
Ten seconds later found Ginny in Hermione's living room. "What is it?"
"Harry…he…he…he was going to propose to me!" Hermione wailed.
Ginny gasped and covered her mouth with her hands as her eyes went wide. "You talked to him?" Ginny asked, and Hermione could only nod her head as she sobbed. "And that's why he was scared?" Another nod. "And-and you…said those...things…to him." Hermione's sobbing got much harder. "Oh my god, Hermione," Ginny whispered.
"I…I…I s-still l-l-love him!" Hermione finally managed to choke out through her sobs.
"Hermione," said Ginny softly, "I don't want to get your hopes up, so I'm going to tell you…he probably doesn't love you anymore, with what you said and all."
"I know!" Hermione cried with an agonized wail.
"But…you still have to apologize to him." Hermione nodded. "Maybe he'll eventually forgive, and you might be able to start from square one again. It could take a while, but you might even get lucky and have him fall in love with you again. That's your best bet. But his previous love for you…I'd probably put that at nonexistent now."
Hermione cried for a while, and Ginny got up and made her a cup of tea. Once Hermione had calmed down, she and Ginny talked about what they were getting who and laughed at the thought of what Fred and George's pranks were going to be this year.
As soon as Ginny left, misery began to creep up on Hermione again, along with a nauseous feeling at the thought of what she had said to Harry that night. Ginny was right, she definitely had to apologize.
Hermione allowed herself a small smile as she thought of the possibility that she and Harry could be friends again, even if that took a while.
Over the next few days, Hermione either Christmas shopped or wallowed in self-pity. And then, finally, it was Christmas.
December 25, 2000
Hermione woke up at 5 AM, because the Weasley family Christmas traditionally started at 5:30. She just kept on her pajamas-another Weasley tradition-shrunk the gifts, put them in her pocket, and flooed over to the Burrow, where she put the gifts under the tree and unshrunk them.
All of the Weasleys were drinking tea or coffee, already sitting in the sitting room, chatting excitedly. "Hello, Hermione dear," said Molly with a smile on her face.
Hermione beamed at all of them. "Merry Christmas, everybody!" She took an empty seat on the sofa, next to Ron.
Harry showed up five minutes later and all the talking suddenly stopped, the Weasleys waiting with baited breath.
But Harry's face split into a huge grin as he said, "Merry Christmas!" and took a seat next to Ginny.
They all just tore into their gifts at once and said thank you to whoever got it for them before moving to the next on-another Weasley tradition.
Hermione had had somewhat of a dilemma when deciding whether or not to get Harry something. She was glad she didn't though, because Harry hadn't given her anything either.
After everyone was done opening their gifts, half the Weasleys went to cook breakfast while the other half set the table. Hermione took a deep breath, then walked up to Harry, who was examining a joke book that one of the twins had given him.
"Harry?" she asked tentatively.
Harry closed the book but continued to look down at it. "I…I want to apologize for what I said to you. It doesn't matter whether or not I thought you were going to break up with me-nothing gave me the right to say that awful stuff to you. And…I regret every word-I wish I could take it all back. But life doesn't work that way, and I can only hope that one day you can forgive me." Harry was still looking at the book, which flustered Hermione a little. "Um…I've really missed you, and maybe…we can get lunch sometime…as acquaintances? And then…I guess we could see what happens?" she asked, her heart banging against her ribcage.
"I…I don't think so, Hermione," said Harry heavily.
"Oh, I understand," said Hermione hastily. "You need time? I can give you time."
Harry finally looked up, and Hermione noticed that he looked weary and…so defeated. "I didn't mean it like that, Hermione. I meant…I don't think it could happen…as in ever. Every time I see you, I hear those words. I just…I can't do it."
Hermione stared at him, numb with shock, before slowly nodding and hoarsely saying, "Okay," before stiffly walking into the kitchen, still numb with disbelief.
"Hermione?" asked Ginny, looking concerned. "Are you okay?"
"I…I have to go," Hermione whispered.
"What happened? Is it Harry?"
A choked sob issued from Hermione as her eyes rapidly filled with tears. She hugged Ginny tightly, then began sobbing into her shoulder. Ginny rubbed her back and pulled out a kitchen chair, sitting Hermione in it. "What did he say?" Ginny asked softly.
"He…he…he…he'll n-n-never be a-able to f-forgive m-m-me!" she cried.
Ginny sighed sadly. "Go home, Hermione. I'll make your excuse to mum, and you can get your gifts later. Go get some sleep."
Hermione nodded and apparated straight to her bedroom before crawling under her blankets and immediately falling asleep.
When she woke up it was dark outside. She looked at her alarm clock-it was already 9:15, so she had slept for about 14 hours. She got up and sat in a chair near her window, dully staring at the falling snow but not really seeing it.
How was she still alive when she was in this much pain? Surely she should be dead by now.
As she thought of Harry, the tiniest of smiles crept on her face. What was he doing right now? Was he reading in bed with a cup of hot chocolate? Was he watching TV, maybe A Charlie Brown Christmas? Or maybe-
Crack! Hermione almost fell out of her chair as somebody apparated directly into her bedroom. Her eyes widened and she stood up as she saw who it was. "Harry?" Or maybe he was coming to talk to her.
He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Your words hurt me, Hermione, but…staying away from you hurts even more." Hermione felt hope bubble in her stomach. "These past two years, I've…I've tried…moving on. I thought coming back and seeing you, and…and finding out why you left me would help. But as I was laying in bed thinking, I realized something. I…I realized…that…despite everything…I can't live another second of my life without you, Hermione."
Harry pulled Hermione close to him and pressed his lips to hers, and she froze in shock before kissing him back, her heart pounding like mad. Harry broke the kiss after a while and hugged Hermione close to him, and she hugged him back. "Please," Harry breathed into her ear. "Please promise me that you'll never do something like that again-that you'll never leave my side. I…I don't think my heart could take it," he whispered.
Hermione's lips trembled and a couple tears rolled down her cheeks. She shakily breathed back, "Never, I promise. I love you, Harry."
"We all make mistakes, and I don't want to let one ruin both of our lives. I love you too, Hermione," he whispered.
They kissed again, and this time Hermione broke it off, feeling oddly tired even though she had just slept for 14 hours. "Will you stay with me tonight?" she asked softly.
Harry smiled at her. "I'll stay with you every night."
Epilogue - 6 Months Later
Harry and Hermione were walking barefoot on the beach together hand in hand, watching the setting sun make the water shimmer. Hermione thought Harry was acting strangely-he kept zoning out and fiddling with something in his pocket.
But Hermione wasn't worried. She already knew that she was going to say yes.