I was hovering, neither here nor there.

I should move on. I know I should. Lingering on in this world where I no longer belonged would just cause me pain. Hell, screw me, it would cause her pain. And causing her pain was the last thing I wanted.

I know it would kill her to see the one person she loved, no longer really alive but just a lingering apparition now, who could never really give her everything she deserved in life.

I knew her enough to know that if she knew about me, she would not care; she would leave everything, this world, its joys, its pleasures to be with me. But I could not let that happen.

So it was simple really.

Hermione could never, ever know about me.