Just a short story I decided to write, hope you guys like it! (Thank you to the amazing Selina, who beta'd the story for me!)
The first letter she wrote him was a short one. She told him about her day and how things were going. But she didn't send it, because she didn't know where he was. He'd been missing for two months. A year after they got married, he received a mission and had no choice but to go, leaving her alone with the constant fear she would never see him again. She stayed with Ginny, since neither of them wanted to be alone. Harry was on the mission with Draco, and was also gone. Ginny missed him terribly, but Hermione believed she missed Draco even more. At times, she would just suddenly start crying, be it in work or when reading a book. She would hug and smell Draco's clothes just to have a little of him with her, and sometimes she could barely breathe with the pain that filled her heart.
She wrote the first letter five months after the first one. It said:
Dear Draco,
Ginny slept with another man and she thinks she's pregnant. She says everything's fine but I can hear her crying every night. She wants to kill the baby, because she can't bear the thought of being a mother to a baby that isn't Harry's. I told her you and I could adopt him, when you get back, and she said I was delusional.
It's weird without you here, but it's been a whole week since the last time I cried. I really miss you and I wish you were here. I hope you're alright. I love you.
Forever yours, Hermione.
Ginny decided to abort the baby and didn't leave her bedroom for a whole week. When she finally stopped crying, Hermione decided to talk to her and comfort her. They watched the telly together and cried. Days later, Hermione decided to go back home.
The whole place smelled like Draco. One night, she thought she saw him in the shadows, so she decided to write another letter.
Draco,
I saw you today. It was probably just a hallucination, and I'm probably going insane. Ginny said I should see a doctor and see if things get any better. I'm back at home and your smell is everywhere. I can't stop thinking that coming back was a bad idea, but I can't leave. It makes me sad but it also gives me hope. I love you.
Yours, Hermione.
Her friends invited her out from time to time, and she always said no, until one day they finally gave up. She saw a doctor once a week to help her get through with everything. She took pills, and she thought of overdosing once or twice. Maybe it would be easier if I didn't feel anything anymore, she thought, but she still had hope.
On their second anniversary, she wrote another letter.
Dear Draco,
It's our anniversary today and I think I'll go insane if I don't stop thinking about you. I tried calling Ginny but she won't answer the phone and I don't know who else to call. I took the calming pills but they don't seem to be working anymore. Remember that panic attack I had the night before our wedding? Well, this is a lot worse. I need you here.
Yours, Hermione.
Two years after he went missing, her hope was gone. She cried the entire day and smelled all of his clothes. She listened to his favorite songs and watched his favorite movies, looked at their wedding photos, and smelled his clothes again. It started with one pill and then with all of them. A few minutes later, she felt dizzy and passed out. When she woke up, he was sitting on the bed next to her. Her eyes filled with tears.
"Are you back?" she asked.
"No." There was a slight tinge of sadness in his voice.
"Are you real?"
"No." He repeated, and vanished. And then, she once again passed out.
She woke up in a hospital bed, and found Ginny crying next to her. It didn't work, I'm still alive, she thought. She placed her hand over Ginny's and cried with her, wanting desperately to fall asleep again, and never wake up.
Harry came home on August 23, three years after they went missing. Draco wasn't with him. Harry said they lost him around June, and that was it. She didn't want to hear anything else.
She wasn't sure how long he had been missing, and she wasn't sure when she last ate. Everything seemed unreal, time seemed to warp, and now his smell was almost gone. There were no more tears to cry, and no more hope to hold on to. Harry and Ginny had a baby and everyone seemed to be living their lives the way they planned. Sometimes, Hermione wished she had the strength to move on and start over, but she dismissed it as soon as she thought about it.
One day, a letter came in. On a crumpled and dirtied paper with bad writing were the words I'm coming home, I love you. She didn't believe it. It's been too long. Maybe she was hallucinating again. But deep down, her hope grew a little. Two months after she received the letter, Draco came back. Wounded and almost unrecognizable under uncut hair, dirt and grime, but alive and back. With her.
Two years after they had a baby, her name was Hope.