Title: Hermione's Truth
Rating: T
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Regulus/Hermione
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: Don't own 'em - not making any money off 'em. Dern it.
Word Count: 727
Summary: Hermione has to face something that she always expected but has been avoiding for a long time.
Notes:
Hogwarts School Witchcraft and Wizardry: Charms Class - Write about facing something you've been avoiding for a long time. It can either be a problem/secret/person/health issue or anything else.
Life Game Challenge: Prompts Used - News
The Getting Around Challenge
Fanfiction Writing Month: Character Used - Regulus Black
365 Days of Drabbles Challenge: Prompt Used - Whisper
The truth is a whisper in her mind. Hermione doesn't want to believe it; she has been avoiding believing it for so long.
She knows if she tells her friends, the news would not only devastate them but confuse them as well. How can one girl be so far into a future that she doesn't belong in, at least not as a child? If she had survived the first war, she would have been in her thirties right now.
Instead, she's only eighteen.
The truth comes in little snippets, dreams of what should have been. She sees herself standing next to Professor Dumbledore, sees his wand pointed at her, hears the incantation of an advanced memory charm, one that makes her believe that she was born in 1979 instead of 1961. She sees herself at nine, sent to a future she doesn't truly belong in, not at the young of an age. And she sees herself accepted by muggle parents that aren't actually her parents, a result of what can only be two more memory charms, expertly administered.
Her memories come back bit by bit, and she knows she doesn't belong here. She had a destiny in the past, one that was stolen from her and now she wants it back.
She knows her friends will miss her, but she doesn't care right then. It's not their faults, but she knows she should have never met them, never became friends with them.
Hermione works diligently, finding the right spell, one that will not leave any heartache behind her. The spell she finds will send her back to the past, the place she belongs, and her memories will change as if she had always been there. Once she arrives, she won't know any better. She'll have friends and family there, and it will be like she had always been there. She'll have the memories of a girl born in that era. She'll forget about Harry and Ron and her muggle parents, and she knows they will forget her, too. They'll never know the pain of losing a best friend or daughter because in their memories, they would have never met her.
She doesn't say goodbye to anyone. Instead, she does the spell quietly one night and before she realizes it, everything has changed.
Hermione looks at everyone, knowing it will be the last time she sees some of them. She sees a grinning Sirius Black coming towards her, and she knows some people she will continue to see quite often.
"What are you doing here?" Hermione asks happily.
"I can't see my favorite brother and my favorite girl graduate?" he asks, mock seriously.
She rolls her eyes. "You're here for the food, aren't you?"
"Maybe," he admits sheepishly, grey eyes merrily twinkling. Her lifts her up and spins her around. "I'm so proud of both you and Reg. Are you going to be made an honest woman?"
"Of course. Regulus wouldn't have it any other way," she says, her cheeks flushing at the mention of the younger Black brother.
"Siri, hands off the girl."
Sirius drops her and backs away, smiling when Regulus puts his arm around Hermione's waist. "Sorry, Reg. Couldn't resist getting one last feel before she becomes Mrs. Black. When will that be anyways?"
"Soon, I hope," Regulus says, staring into Hermione's eyes.
"I hope so, too," she whispers leaning towards him and letting him take control of her lips in a gentle caress.
When she pulls back, Regulus' eyes are loving and even a bit dreamy and Sirius is making remarks about how the two of them should get a room.
Sometimes, she still feels like her life is too good to be true, especially when she looks at the amazing man she has. She doesn't know how she got so lucky when it came to capturing Regulus' heart, but she doesn't think about it too hard most of the time.
And when things seem weird, as if something just isn't right, she simply shrugs it off, believing that her mind is trying to tell her to not get too comfortable because she can lose all that she has received. And she won't live her life in a constant state of fear.
She's not sure how long her happiness will last, but she knows she will enjoy every moment of it until it's gone.