Signs from the Universe
A/N: Hi! This is just a quick one shot inspired by a scene in an episode of HIMYM 8. I just love how Ted came through for Robin here :) I also borrowed some quotes- so if you're a fan, see if you can spot them :) Apologies if there are grammatical errors-I tried my best to correct them so please forgive me if I missed any.
Read. Enjoy. Review :3
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Rain poured heavily over the park.
Everyone rushed to get out of the rain. All except for one.
Hermione Granger sat on a park bench near the playground, a green spade in hand. She was in a daze, and she certainly did not care if she was getting wet.
A tear made its way down her already wet cheek. And another. And another. Soon, she was sobbing.
See the thing with Hermione Granger is she isn't superstitious. But she does believe in 'signs from the universe' every now and then.
And right now, she was certain that the universe was shouting at her that she shouldn't get married, at least not to him.
The thought made her cry harder as she clutched her engagement ring.
Suddenly, the shower of rain stopped. Well, at least on her. She looked up to see Harry Potter, holding an umbrella, effectively shielding both of them from the rain.
"You know, being under the rain is more fun when you're with someone," he said.
Hermione sighed as she wiped her cheeks with her hands. "Harry, what are you doing here? I thought you had this meeting."
Harry shrugged and simply replied, "I cancelled it."
She gasped and said, "Why in the world did you do that?!"
"Well, you called," he replied, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"I said it was just a stupid thing," she protested.
"You know, when you say it's stupid, it's really important."
"What about your meeting? Isn't that important?" she shot back, crossing her arms defensively.
"Nah, it's stupid," he answered, grinning stupidly. Hermione rolled her eyes, but her lips were instantly tugged into a smile.
Harry beamed, obviously pleased with the fact that she was now smiling. So he turned and sat beside her, on the wet park bench.
"Harry!" she shrieked, "The bench is wet!"
"What's a little water? I've experienced worse. And I can charm my clothes dry later," he said with an eye roll, still smiling, "I'm a wizard too you know?"
He looked away from her, still smiling. Somehow, his warm hand found her cold one and now held it. This simple gesture made Hermione look at him.
And this led to staring at him. As she observed him, she still can't believe how different Harry looked. He looked carefree, despite working long hours in the Ministry. He was a far cry from the Harry she knew, five years ago.
"Do I have something in my face?" he asked, amusedly.
Hermione shook her head, her curls bouncing and said, "No. I was just thinking."
"Thinking about what?"
"About how different you look nowadays. How carefree you are, despite working your arse off in the Ministry," she replied honestly. Over the years, she had learned to be honest with him at everything, including with what she was thinking.
"You should be honest with your thoughts because you can't expect me to read your mind-I'm a horrible Legillimens," she remembered him saying.
"Well, it's all thanks to you," he said, smiling softly. He then pressed a kiss on her cheek.
"You know, you really made my life better. Easier, even. I don't know what I would do without you," he added and pressed another kiss, this time on the corner of her lips. He was a bit startled though when he tasted something wet and salty.
He looked up to see her crying.
"Hermione, why are you crying?" he asked softly. By now, the rain was gradually stopping, so Harry closed the umbrella, set it beside him and faced her once again.
Hermione didn't answer. She raised her hand to wipe her tears, but Harry already beat her to it.
"Hermione, love, remember what I told you? Tell me your thoughts-"Harry started to say but was cut off by Hermione.
"Because you can't read minds. I know that, Harry," Hermione said, smiling.
"Then tell me," he urged. He was about to take both of her hands when he noticed the hand shovel she was holding.
"Err… What is that?" he asked. Only then did he notice that there were freshly dug out holes around them. "What are those holes for? Is that even legal?"
"I'll put them back with magic!" Hermione replied defensively.
"You did this?" Harry asked, almost laughingly.
Hermione sighed exasperatedly. Harry held his hands up and said, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Are those holes part of the reason why you were crying?"
Hermione hung her head, her hair covering her face and smiled. He knew her all too well.
"Hermione," Harry said, cradling her face, making her face him, "Tell me."
She sighed heavily and said, "Okay."
"Start with the holes. And the hand shovel," Harry suggested, dropping her face gently and holding her hands instead.
"When I was young, we often go to this park. When I turned nine, I received this pretty locket from my Aunt Janet. She said that her husband, Uncle Jeremy, gave it to her when they got married. She told me to keep it, and when my wedding comes I can have my 'something old.' That afternoon we went to this park and I chose to hide it here, so when my wedding comes I can have that something old. But now, it's gone," she said carefully. There was another thing, but she wouldn't dare say it especially to him.
Silence enveloped the duo. Softly, Harry said, "Hermione, I know it's not just that."
"Damn Harry, you know me too well," she laughed somewhat bitterly.
"Likewise," he answered and then motioned for her to continue.
After another heavy sigh, she continued. "You see, as I grew old, I started seeing that locket as a sign from the universe. I told myself, that if that locket would still be there when I'm engaged, then I'm meant to be with that man."
"That's absurd! You're Hermione! You don't believe in things like this," Harry cried.
"I know… But, what if the universe really is sending me a sign, that I'm not meant to be with… you. Or that, we shouldn't get married, not yet at least?" she said softly, almost whispering.
"Are we seriously talking about this? Hermione, do you doubt my love?" Harry asked, his eyes flashing with hurt.
"No, I'm not. It's just that, what if we aren't ready like everyone thinks? We're still young Harry-what if this is the universe's way of telling us of what everyone thinks?" she replied, her voice raising an octave.
Harry was silent for a moment. He thought of deeply of what she said. Seconds turned into minutes and a minute turned into a full ten minutes
"Then damn the universe," he suddenly said, making her look at him. "I don't care what the universe and what everyone thinks-I love you and I will marry you on the 15th of August. And there's nothing stopping me," he said with such finality Hermione almost believed him.
Almost. But she still didn't.
"Harry! The universe is practically screaming at me right now! The locket disappearing is a sign Harry. It's a freaking sign that maybe we should consider our plan of getting married," Hermione said, her voice bordering hopelessness.
"I can't believe you Hermione. You're the most logical person I know and then a missing locket becomes your undoing?" Harry said with his voice raising as he looked away from her.
Hermione winced when he heard him shouting, but she replied, "It's a sign Harry, and you know it. And you know what I can't believe? That you of all people couldn't understand what I'm feeling. You were the one who believed in these signs-"
"Maybe it's dumb to believe in them," Harry said softly, cutting Hermione off. Hermione stopped and stared at him.
He turned his head and stared back at her.
"The last time I believed in a sign… was when we danced in that tent," he started, his gaze never faltering. Somehow, his hand found hers and he now held it tightly.
"I can still remember everything I felt while we were dancing… How in that moment, I realized that I developed romantic feelings for you. When the song ended, I wanted to hold you in my arms, and never let you go. I wanted to tell you what I felt, but then I spotted Ron's Sneakoscope, innocently lying where his cot used to be. I could've sworn I had thrown it out when he left, so I took it as a sign-a sign that what I felt for you should never be told."
Hermione gasped softly at his confession. They had been together for two years, yet he never told her about this.
She opened her mouth to say something, but she stopped when Harry squeezed her hand, telling her that he wasn't done yet.
After a deep breath, he continued, "So I kept everything inside. After the war, I tried to convince myself that what I felt was caused by being so close to you during the hunt. But I can't. That time, I was so sure of what I felt for you. The night after you and Ron broke up, I started looking for yet another sign-the sign that I should tell you my feelings. But months past, and no sign came. Then one night, you called me, saying you had a date with this bloke-that was the time I convinced myself to forget waiting for the bloody signs and just go for it-to trust my instincts and just tell you what I felt… And the rest, as you know is history."
"What I'm saying here, Hermione is maybe there aren't signs. Maybe we shouldn't give meaning to every little thing-maybe a locket's just a locket and a bracelet is just a bracelet. Maybe we don't need the universe giving us signs to know what we want or to direct our lives. Maybe, just maybe we already know what we want to happen in our lives and the direction we need to take to make it happen."
By the time Harry finished, Hermione had tears prickling in her eyes. Harry smiled at her and pulled her into a tight hug.
They were silent for a few minutes, until Hermione spoke up.
"When did you become so wise?" she asked as a tear slipped down her cheek.
Harry chuckled and tightened his arms around her more. "So… Have I erased your doubts?"
Hermione pulled away from him, flashing him a teary, yet brilliant smile and said, "Completely."
Grinning, Harry pulled her close and kissed her.
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One year later…
Hermione sighed as she ran her fingers through Harry's unruly locks, reveling at its softness. They were in their living room, resting from a tiring day of work.
They were currently on the sofa, with Hermione sitting by the end and Harry sprawled across it, mostly taking up the space. He had his head on Hermione's lap as they watched a movie. But halfway through the movie, Hermione noticed he had fallen asleep.
She took this moment to study him. Sometimes, she would wonder how in the world someone like her found someone as amazing as Harry. There are also times when she would think if she ever was worthy of him. However, every time she would have this thought, it would be briefly followed by a memory-that faithful day in the park, where she had her doubts of marrying him. But the thing was they did get married, despite objections from some people like Mrs. Weasley and the wedding was probably the best day of her life.
She smiled, thinking about how Harry opened her eyes that day in the park, and how she would've regretted it if they cancelled the wedding.
Her thoughts were broken when she felt Harry shifted from her lap.
"Hey sleepyhead," she greeted him with a smile as he opened his eyes, blinking several times to adjust his sight.
"How long was I out?" he asked, smiling back.
"Just a couple of minutes. You can still see the climax of the movie," Hermione said as he sat up and wrapped his arms around her, bringing her closer.
"Why do you have to choose a romantic-comedy? That's why I fell asleep-why can't we watch National Treasure or Spiderman 2 instead?" Harry asked her.
"Well, you chose the movie last time," she pointed out.
He grinned and said, "Point taken."
Soon, the movie was finished. As the credits rolled, Hermione stood up, stretching a bit as she yawned.
"That was a great movie," she said.
"It was okay. Not better than National Treasure or Spiderman 2 though," Harry replied, pouting.
Hermione laughed, pinched his cheek and said, "You'll get to choose next time, you big baby." She yawned again and said, "I'm going to bed now."
But before she could take another step, Harry grabbed her hand and pulled her back to the sofa.
"Harry!" she shrieked playfully.
"Don't you want to go and do what typical married people do?" he asked huskily in her ear. She laughed and said, "I'm tired Harry, and we have work tomorrow."
Harry groaned but didn't let her up. For a few minutes, they stayed like that, with her sitting close beside him, her head on his chest and his arms around her.
Harry sighed contentedly and said, "Hermione…"
"Hmm?"
"Remember your locket?" he said, "That something old you wanted in the wedding?"
"Yep. That was my sign from the universe. What about it?"
"Well… What would you say if I had it, all this time?"
Hermione gasped as she pulled away to look at him.
"You… What?"
He smiled as he dug his pocket and produced a silver locket. "I didn't realize it… until yesterday when you showed a picture to me. The Dursleys brought me to that same park a couple of times, and I remembered digging something out."
Hermione found herself smiling as the locket dangled from his hand.
"Do you still take this as a sign?" Harry asked her.
She shook her head and said, "After what you told me before? No, I'm just glad you had it."
Harry beamed at her and they went back to their original position, with the locket in Harry's hand.
"I'm just glad you had it. I don't take it as a sign. It's just a locket from my Aunt Janet," she said.
"You know what… The locket did help us. It helped us get rid of the fears we had before getting married, and it helped me tell you the truth about how I really fell in love with you," Harry told her softly.
Hermione tightened her grip on Harry's hand.
This right here, she thought, was the sign from the universe.
And right in that moment, the universe was screaming to her: You've made the right choice.