Bound to You

Author's note: I gathered the inspiration for this story while listening to "Bound to You" by Christina Aguilera. Although the song is positive, the lament in her voice made me write something a little more…melancholy. I always loved the Harry/Hermione pairing, and book 7 shattered it for me, so in a way this is my own sadness at the loss of the love that could never be. This is just an incredibly short one-shot song fic.

Harry lifted his eyes towards the skies, in hopes that maybe the stars could point him in the right direction. His thoughts drifted aimlessly and always managed to wind their way back to her. The war drained the entire wizarding world. Everyone changed, even those who had remained constant for so long. He thought that the end of Voldemort would set his life right, and that things would finally fall in place. He couldn't have been more wrong.

Ginny became cold and cruel after the death of her brother. It seemed that in some dark corner of her mind she blamed Harry. If he hadn't come into her and her family's lives then he would still be alive. The fracture in her family's closeness grew steadily each year that passed. The final straw was when he found her in the naked writhing embrace of none other than Draco Malfoy. The sneer that crept across her features, when she knew she had been caught, rivaled Malfoy's in terms of derision.

Harry closed off his heart for good after that. Ron and Hermione were there for him as much as they could be. Ron took Harry's side, and yet again, Harry's very existence caused another huge rift in the Weasley family. It, however, did not seem to affect Ron negatively. Now that Ginny was gone, Harry truly had nothing to distract him from her. He supposed in his own way he did love Ginny but not the way he loved her. She was forever out of his reach.

Harry remembered the first night he realized just how much he loved her. A clear starry night in sixth year, much like tonight. He acknowledged this is why his thoughts could not seem to stay away from her. They were on the astronomy tower chatting about anything and everything. He had an inkling Hermione had feelings for Ron, but felt confident he could win her affections. He knew Ginny was interested in him, but she couldn't hold a candle to Hermione.

Hermione was a bit peeved that Ron was having a tryst with Lavender Brown, and that is why they came up here, to kill time until he was done, and to distract Hermione. He listened to her explain each constellation's mythology and symbolism to muggle culture. She looked radiant, not what most would call stunning, but he knew the real her, thus knew the true radiance within. Her hair was wild, her robes over baggy to hide her figure, but her eyes…her eyes like the stars. Filled with hopes, dreams, love, despair, fear, anger, and longing. Such tumult inside her, yet the only place these emotions danced into existence was along the ocean of her chocolate eyes.

Harry knew that after all the things they experienced together that no woman could ever compare to this witch that he was bound to. He remembered dancing slowly along the balcony of the tower, a mix of trying to make her forget Ron and just to hold her in his arms. The sweet haunting melody couldn't have spoken more truly of his feelings than if he had actually had the nerve to tell her.

"So much so young, I've faced on my own. Walls I built up, became my home.

I'm strong, and I'm sure, there's a fire in us. Sweet love, so pure.

I catch my breath, with just one beating heart, and I brace myself, please don't tear this apart.

I found a woman I can trust, and girl I believe in us, I am terrified to love for the first time.

Can't you see that I'm bound in chains, I finally found my way.

I am bound to you, I am bound to you."

He remembered her smile, and leaning in to press his lips on hers. He was not expecting her arms to wrap around him and her response to his kiss. Her nervousness mirrored his. When their embrace ended, the starlight was gone from her eyes, fear and uncertainty was all he saw. He apologized for getting caught in the moment. It seemed that for a brief second disappointment flashed across her eyes, but it was gone so quick he was sure he was imagining things. Her nervous laugh and gentle slap on the shoulder were his only signs she forgave him. However, the starlight in her eyes never returned, not until she fell for Ron.

This witch who owned his heart and soul was never to be his. He felt the night sky above him was scrawling out before his eyes, that Hermione would never be his destiny. He sat back and watched his two best friends fall in love, and earlier tonight they became married. The anguish he felt was more intense than anything he had felt since before Voldemort's demise. The stars were mocking him and his unrequited love. With a single tear, he walked back into his flat, and shut the door trying to shake the invisible shackles and chains that were around his heart.

Hermione crept from the bed to balcony in their hotel room. She looked back to where Ron was sleeping soundly. The sea air whipped her hair and she stepped outside. The stars were gleaming like diamonds, while below their reflections danced across the mirror like surface of the ocean. The dancing stars reminded her of that night on the astronomy tower when Harry ended up making her question everything.

She ran her fingers across her lips as the memory played in her mind. The way his arms felt around her, the way his lips searched hers, the way his eyes bore into her very core when he looked at her. She was terrified. That was Harry after all. She had been sure he reciprocated Ginny's feelings for him. His actions shook her up. When he apologized she felt sure it must have been a mistake. After all Ginny was the object of every wizard's desire. She was beautiful, pure blood, and graceful, all things that Hermione considered herself lacking.

After that night she blocked Harry from her mind, she focused on her romance with Ron, once he realized what a trollop Lavender was. No matter what she tried though, her mind always lingered on that night, and memories of Harry. Glancing back into the room, she yet again wondered if Ron was the right choice. If she had had the courage to confront Harry she may have found that her fate had truly lied with him. She always felt bound to Harry, even more so after that night.

"Suddenly the moment's here, I embrace my fears.

All that I have been carrying all these years, do I risk it all?

Come this far just to fall, fall. Oh, I can trust, and boy I believe in us,

I am terrified, to love for the first time, can't you see that I'm bound chains.

And finally found my way, I am bound to you, oh, I'm bound to you."

She straightened her shoulders and assured herself that she followed the right path. Why risk everything for something uncertain. She loved Harry. She felt it in her bones, but her fears kept her from revealing it to him. She had Ron now. Wasn't that who she always wanted? Sometimes she wasn't sure, but she had to be. She looked at the diamond on her left hand and forced herself to believe that Ron was her destiny. She glanced back at the stars that controlled her fate one last time, and with a single tear walked back inside throwing the shackles and chains that bound her to Harry from her heart.

~Fin

"Bound to You" song belongs to Christina Aguilera. The characters of "Harry Potter" belong to J.K. Rowling. The inspiration and plot of the story are the only things that belong to me. No copyright infringement is intended. This is a source of Fan Fiction.