If I Never Knew You
Disclaimer: All is property of Disney, JK Rowling,
Alan Menken Lyrics & Stephen Schwartz
Harry stared into Hermione's eyes.
Those eyes that he had stared at since the moment they had met.
He couldn't believe he had been such a fool to never have realized it before their fifth year.
No wonder Cho wouldn't talk to him, he so obviously only had eyes for her.
But all of that turmoil was over now.
The only thing that was important now was Hermione.
Hermione, wearing her scarlet dress robes and the smile that was too perfect, showing her happiness affect everyone around her.
She held him close, whispering things in his ear everyone once in a while.
"I can't believe we're graduated," she said softly in his ear this time.
Harry smiled to himself.
"No kidding," he smiled as he watched Ron dance with Parvati closely.
Ron winked at him.
Harry laughed silently.
Ron and Parvati had been avoiding their feelings for each other for two years, and finally, only a month before, had Ron taken all his courage and kissed her.
They had been together ever since.
Parvati had insisted that she was trusting what Professor Trelawny had told her in their first Divination class, but Ron just teased her, saying that she was scared of her feelings for him.
"What are you laughing at?" Hermione whispered.
He could hear her smile.
"Just the newlyweds."
She giggled softly in his ear, knowing who he meant, seeing the two over his shoulder.
Harry let himself float away in a bubble of happiness for the rest of the song.
He remembered when Hermione had first told him of her feelings.
He couldn't believe that it was happening, that the girl of his dreams was telling him that he was her Romeo.
And he definitely remembered the kiss that followed.
Then his mind wandered to the battle with Voldemort in their sixth year.
Voldemort had captured her, as bait. For him.
He had taken it, knowing full well that his life meant less to him than hers, knowing that his life would be meaningless without her.
But, amazingly, they had gotten through that alive.
Then another thought popped into his brain.
What if he had been sorted into Slytherin?
What if he had never really met Hermione?
Harry pulled her closer to him, and tried to push the thought away.
If I never knew you
If I never felt this love
I would have no inkling of
How precious life can be
And if I never held you I would never have a clue
How at last I'd find in you
The missing part of me
In this world so full of fear
Full of rage and lies
I can see the truth so clear
In your eyes So dry your eyes
And I'm so grateful to you
I'd have lived my whole life through
Lost forever, If I never knew you
Hermione rested her head on Harry's shoulder.
She wished she could read his thoughts.
I'll bet they're really fascinating, she thought to herself, suppressing a giggle.
She let her mind drift away, remembering everything that had happened to them in the past two years...
Harry started running, took a leap, and the next thing she knew, he was on top of the troll...
Harry threw the invisibility cloak over their heads, and her cheek touched his. Good thing it made her invisible, that way he wouldn't be able to the scarlet of her cheeks...
Harry blushed pink as she leaned in to kiss his cheek at King's Cross...
Then, a thought came to her, that made her jerk her head up from his shoulder.
What if she had never met Harry?
If I never knew you
I'd be safe but half as real
Never knowing I could feel
A love so strong and true
I'm so grateful to you
I'd have lived my whole life through
Lost forever, If I never knew you
Harry couldn't get the thought out of his mind.
What if he had never met her, the love of his life? What if there was no Hermione?
He couldn't figure out which would have been worse, not knowing her at all, or losing her to Voldemort that time in sixth year.
Hermione, sprouting whiskers and a tail...
Hermione, laying frozen in terror in the hospital wing...
Hermione, screaming for help in the Shrieking Shack...
Hermione, dancing with Viktor Krum...
Losing her would be a lot worse than not ever knowing her.
Hermione, looking at him disapprovingly at the first breakfast of the second year...
Hermione, saying "no" every time he and Ron begged to copy her homework...
Hermione, scrunching her nose up in concentration as she figured out the potion logic puzzle on the way to the Philosopher's Stone...
I thought our love would be so beautiful
Somehow we made the whole world bright
I never knew that fear and hate could be so strong
All they'd leave us where these whispers in the night
But still my heart is singing We were right
Hermione couldn't stop thinking about it.
What if she had never met Harry?
I mean, I always would have known who he was...but what if I had never actually met him? What if we had ended up in different houses?
What would have happened to us then?
Or...what if I lost him? Which would be worse?
Losing him, definitely. No contest. It would kill me to lose him.
She snuggled closer to Harry, her eyes still wide in deep thought.
If I never knew you
If I never knew this love
I would have no inkling of
How precious life can be
As Hermione snuggled closer, Harry blinked.
Wait a tick, he thought, No. It wouldn't be worse to lose her.
I wouldn't be who I am if I didn't have her.
I wouldn't be as happy, I wouldn't even be alive.
How many times has she saved our lives, he wondered.
She meant too much to him.
To not have her in his life, he knew he would feel a void, somehow, something he would never fill and never understand.
But not having her ever would be torture compared to losing her.
It's quite a contest, though.
There's no moment I regret
Since the moment that we met
If our time has gone too fast I've lived at last...
I thought our love would be so beautiful
Somehow we'd make the whole world bright
Hermione felt Harry's breath on the back of her neck.
Then she blinked, startled.
If she had never met Harry... she wouldn't be the same.
There was no way she'd be the same.
She would have no friends, she would still be the top of her class, because that's what she'd always be doing- schoolwork. She wouldn't smile, wouldn't have fun...
Would be a nobody.
She would have no life if it wasn't for him.
He had changed her life the minute he had stepped into it.
She would still be alive though, because all the times that her life had been threatened it was either his or Ron's fault...other than the kidnap in the sixth year. He couldn't help who he was, he couldn't help that the Dark Lord would go to any lengths to kill him.
She would be a completely different person.
She liked the way she was.
She sighed.
It is a contest after all, she thought, and I think I would rather lose him than have never met him.
I thought our love would be so beautiful
We'd turn the darkness into light
And still my heart is singing We were right
We were right And If I never knew you
I'd have lived my whole life through
As the ending of the song approached, Harry pulled back from Hermione slightly.
He stared into her brown eyes once again.
And all he saw was love.
That, and the glistening of a few tears.
"Hermione, what's the matter?"
She sniffed, then laughed throatily.
"Nothing. I just had a few unpleasant daydreams, that's all."
He gave her a look of slight confusion, but he wasn't going to pry.
"Oh, Harry, I love you. You know that, right?" she exclaimed, wiping the tears from her eyes.
Harry smiled, and, in the back of his mind, wondered if they had been thinking the same thing during the song.
"Yes, Herm, I know. I love you too. I never want to ever lose you."
He pulled her close and kissed her forehead.
"Right back at you," she said, smiling again.
They began to dance again, not knowing what their future would hold, but just hoped that it had them, together.
Empty as the sky
Never knowing why
Lost forever If I never knew you