Hermione pace-walked through the halls, her book covering her face. Exhausted, she sat on the hard ground when she reached the corridor. Lowering the book, her swollen, tear-stained eyes were revealed as she took in a deep breath. A shuddery deep breath. Her heart beat slowly, but it felt as if it had run a marathon. The sting in her brown eyes lingered as she read the page she had left off on.
She had come to the victory party to congratulate Harry and Ron, but just as she reached them...Her heart froze at the sight of Lavender Brown wrapping her arms around his neck and meeting her lips with his. A knot formed in her stomach, she felt sick and confused. Why was she feeling like this? Wasn't he the one who got all hot and bothered when she went to the Yule Ball with Viktor Krum? She didn't understand why she was fighting the urge to scream...all she wanted to do was run away. Her hand tightly gripped the book as she turned away to disappear back into the crowd.
A lonely teardrop stained the page. Now here she was, sobbing over some stupid boy. That was it, wasn't it? The reason? Was it because of the biligerant blonde, or was it something more? Why did she feel so intent on keeping away from him? Why was this bothering her? And why was it over an idiot like him? He was indeed an idiot, but something about him had changed since the day they met. She knew that she would always remember that first day, she laughed weakly at the thought.
"Those two people are from the past," she told herself, fighting to stay calm, "We've both grown up now and it's just time."
She looked up at the ceiling, where the birds fluttered and carried on. She wished she could be like them, carefree and happy without the sufferage of heartbreak and loneliness. She finally let the tears fall free, releasing the grief and pain inside. Her heart was broken, she knew now; there was no point in an attempt to prove herself wrong. Was she in love? Perhaps. Did she love him? Yes, she did and she'd known it all along. But now, everything was different. They couldn't be those two people anymore; it was time to move on.
She looked behind her to find Harry, who must've followed her into the room. He sat down beside her in a quiet manner with pity in his green eyes, his body still away from hers. She looked up at him with her red-rimmed eyes, looking into his sad green ones.
"How does it feel, Harry?" she managed, her voice breaking, "When you see Dean with Ginny?"
That was all she could say before collapsing onto Harry's shoulder, letting the tears flow again.
Harry placed a hand on her shoulder gingerly,"It feels like this."
Moments later, after watching her friend leave to join the others, Hermione opened the book. Her eyes only skimmed the paragraphs and quotations, but one sentence enveloped into her brilliant mind.
"The hardest part of love is letting go."
She smiled as the tears fell again, but the hurt in her heart was still there. And it would still be there. The knot slowly loosened as she lifted her finger and turned the page.