Title: Empty
Summary: Hermione waits for the tears which are yet to come.
Pairing/Characters:
Hermione/Parvati
Rating:
T
Warnings: N/A
Notes:
N/A


She refused to move as she looked around the near empty room. The room was too quiet, too depressing, too dead. The crimson walls, which once seemed full of life, only reminded her of the blood that was shed. The couches looked bare without bodies occupying them. There was a half empty, abandoned box of chocolates on a nearby table. Chocolates were scattered around the box and some were smashed into the carpet. Carpet that was once clean but now stained brown. There was a lack of anything, it was all so empty.

Hermione knew, logically, that not everyone was dead. Ron was still alive, as was Harry. Fred wasn't though, and George may be breathing but he wasn't really here. Colin was gone, as was Lavender. So many gone, the room just felt wrong

Spying a couch near the empty fire, Hermione made her way over there to sit. It was the first time she sat, too much to do. The final battle ended only hours ago and everyone was just now being given a chance to rest. She knew that Harry would be somewhere private and, Hermione could guess, he found himself an abandoned classroom, maybe up in the astronomy tower. Ron was with his family, grieving and Neville was most likely in the room of requirement with many of the other surviving students.

The Gryffindor tower didn't feel like home anymore for anyone. For those who were at the school this year, it was a place for the death eaters to hurt them. For Ron it was only a painful reminder, for Harry, another home destroyed. Still, Hermione found herself wandering up here, hoping and praying that there would be someone, someone to make it feel like the home she remembered. There was no one.

Hermione stared into the empty fireplace and shivered. She couldn't find the energy to light the fire, or find a blanket, though the cold was seeping into her very bones. She never thought of the common room as cold, not until this moment.

She could only feel numb about everything, she was yet to cry. The battle didn't stop for tears and neither did the clean up. Now, though, now was the time to cry but she couldn't. She just stared into the fire, wishing it was lit.

The portrait door opened but Hermione paid it no mind, she barely even heard it. She didn't hear the footsteps approaching her, nor the small gasp when the unknown person caught sight of her blue lips. She didn't even notice when a blanket was draped over her shoulders or the whispered words of a fire spell. She did notice the fireplace suddenly flare to life and she jerked back at the bright light.

"Hey, shh, you're okay."

The soft murmur calmed her instantly; she would recognise the voice of her girlfriend anywhere. Hermione turned to face her beautiful woman; she saw the tear tracks on her face and the red edges of her eyes. Hermione felt a small seed of jealously, why can she cry but I can't?

She instantly felt ashamed of her thoughts; Parvati was here, comforting her instead of with her family. Hermione frowned at that thought, not at all happy Parvati was here instead of with her family. She was sure Padma survived, Hermione remembered seeing her during the clean up.

"Why are you here?" Hermione was surprised by how dull, how dead her voice sounded.

Parvati was too if her frown was anything to go by. "I can go, if you want me to leave," she said.

Her voice was still low and it seemed to warm something deep inside Hermione. No, she thought, I don't want you to go. "You should be with your family," Hermione said instead. She refused to be the reason Parvati left her sister alone, especially after a day like today.

Parvati's face softened and she smiled sadly. "Padma is with Dennis, they're looking after each other."

Of course, Hermione thought. Dennis would be going through hell right now, as would Padma, being Colin's girlfriend. Hermione just turned her eyes back to the fireplace, the bright flames mesmerising her.

Parvati settles herself next to Hermione and pulls her close.

"I'm broken," Hermione said once the silence became suffocating.

Parvati didn't reply straight away, though her arm tightened around her. When she did, it wasn't the words Hermione was expecting. "So am I."

Those words cut straight into Hermione's heart and she felt a shudder run through her. Parvati, if possible, tightened her hold again.

"If it's a broken part, replace it, if it's a broken arm, then brace it, if it's a broken heart, then face it." Parvati whispered.

Hermione recognised the words, though she couldn't remember where from at this moment. They never meant as much to her as they did right then. Hermione could feel the tear finally start to prickle at her eyes and her nose start to twitch. She turned and buried her face into Parvati's stomach.

Parvati just ran a hand down her head, tangling her fingers into her hair as she cried. "You're okay, you're safe. Everything will be okay one day. I promise."


(w.c 892)

WolfWinks-xx-