p class="MsoNormal"Hermione was saying goodbye. She was saying goodbye to something – and someone – that she should've left in the past seven years ago. But she had been so tired of saying goodbye back then. So tired of constant farewells to people who left or died or somehow simply disappeared. War was like that. She understood it then, but she'd used it as an excuse for too long. As a crutch. She used her memories as a reason to hold on not because she couldn't let go, but because she didn't want to. That was the truth of it. That was her truth./p
p class="MsoNormal"And for so long, he had been her truth, too. A boy who was no good for her growing up to become a man who might have loved her, if he'd only believed in things like love. Hermione shook her head. Whether or not he'd ever loved her didn't matter. She wouldn't have wanted his love even if he'd offered it, in the end. She deserved better, and she wondered if somehow they'd both understood that. She liked to think that was why he walked away all those months ago. Not because he didn't care, but because he cared too deeply. It was an emotional fantasy in which she had indulged for the last time. That was her resolution this year. To let him go. And no one else even knew she was still holding on./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Hermione gazed up at the stars, mentally mapping out the constellations automatically. She smiled to herself, remembering the first time they'd really talked – up here in the tower. He was just a scared boy then, and she was just a scared girl. In some way she still was, but at the same time, Hermione knew better than to sell herself short. Never again, not after everything she'd accomplished. Not after the life she'd built. She knew what was important now, and she knew that the constant love of a good man was worth more than a game of hot and cold with someone she'd never really trusted at all./p
p class="MsoNormal""Why is this so hard for me," she whispered to no one, "Why do I still miss you?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" The silence of the Forbidden Forest offered no answer./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"In general, Hermione wasn't one for symbolism. Things were what they were, and that was that. But not now. Somehow she needed to see her hold on him letting go. She needed to feel it. Reaching into her pocket, she took out a crumpled piece of paper. It was the note he'd written her – the one where he said goodbye in a way that was somehow both kind and infuriating. Telling her she deserved happiness while implying that it was somehow her fault she hadn't achieved it. They'd never really spoken again after she received that note. It held every anger and frustration she felt toward him. Everyone knew when they stopped talking, because everyone had always been so surprised that they spoke at all. They thought it was an end to a friendship. Hermione didn't know how to explain that it was so much more than that, yet somehow so much less. She often questioned what any of it had really been worth to him./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Incendio," she said, igniting the note with a flick of her wand. She watched it in her hand for a momen, seeing the words shrivel into blackened edges. Then she let it go./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"It caught the wind and swept away on the night air. She watched until she couldn't see it anymore, willing every pent up hope, fear and hurt to float away with it. This had to be over now. She had a life to live, and he could never play the part she'd once thought he would./p
p class="MsoNormal""Goodbye, Draco," she said, feeling his name catch in her throat, "Goodbye. For good."span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"She turned and apparated, leaving the empty astronomy tower behind. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"And for so long, he had been her truth, too. A boy who was no good for her growing up to become a man who might have loved her, if he'd only believed in things like love. Hermione shook her head. Whether or not he'd ever loved her didn't matter. She wouldn't have wanted his love even if he'd offered it, in the end. She deserved better, and she wondered if somehow they'd both understood that. She liked to think that was why he walked away all those months ago. Not because he didn't care, but because he cared too deeply. It was an emotional fantasy in which she had indulged for the last time. That was her resolution this year. To let him go. And no one else even knew she was still holding on./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"Hermione gazed up at the stars, mentally mapping out the constellations automatically. She smiled to herself, remembering the first time they'd really talked – up here in the tower. He was just a scared boy then, and she was just a scared girl. In some way she still was, but at the same time, Hermione knew better than to sell herself short. Never again, not after everything she'd accomplished. Not after the life she'd built. She knew what was important now, and she knew that the constant love of a good man was worth more than a game of hot and cold with someone she'd never really trusted at all./p
p class="MsoNormal""Why is this so hard for me," she whispered to no one, "Why do I still miss you?"/p
p class="MsoNormal" The silence of the Forbidden Forest offered no answer./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"In general, Hermione wasn't one for symbolism. Things were what they were, and that was that. But not now. Somehow she needed to see her hold on him letting go. She needed to feel it. Reaching into her pocket, she took out a crumpled piece of paper. It was the note he'd written her – the one where he said goodbye in a way that was somehow both kind and infuriating. Telling her she deserved happiness while implying that it was somehow her fault she hadn't achieved it. They'd never really spoken again after she received that note. It held every anger and frustration she felt toward him. Everyone knew when they stopped talking, because everyone had always been so surprised that they spoke at all. They thought it was an end to a friendship. Hermione didn't know how to explain that it was so much more than that, yet somehow so much less. She often questioned what any of it had really been worth to him./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal""Incendio," she said, igniting the note with a flick of her wand. She watched it in her hand for a momen, seeing the words shrivel into blackened edges. Then she let it go./p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"It caught the wind and swept away on the night air. She watched until she couldn't see it anymore, willing every pent up hope, fear and hurt to float away with it. This had to be over now. She had a life to live, and he could never play the part she'd once thought he would./p
p class="MsoNormal""Goodbye, Draco," she said, feeling his name catch in her throat, "Goodbye. For good."span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p
p class="MsoNormal"She turned and apparated, leaving the empty astronomy tower behind. span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" /p