Dedicated to Sarah. Thank you for everything. I may not be there in body, but I am in heart and soul. Hugs. Happy day!:)
Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition
Team: Pride of Portree
CHASER 3: Use the title of a story written by your Chaser 1 for inspiration.
Optional prompts:
2. (colour) pastel pink
4. (word) eternity
11. (dialogue) I should have told you sooner
Word count: 3000
Beta: Thank you so much Aethra, Oni and Heather!
Thank you Sarah for the title.
AN: I used my Chaser One's story title called Forever in a Summer Place. It inspired me to create a land of forever, Eternal Summer, and I thought to question the notion of eternity, of living forever. I used Hermione Granger for it because I can see her questioning an abstract notion such as eternity and forever.
For her pink means going back to her childhood, to the innocence she had lost, to the nurturing love of her parents. Sometimes she wears pink because she wanted to be seen as more than just brains. Pink for her means calmness and healing.
Eternal Summer is a pink world because pink is calming, healing. It gives hope, peace and happiness that's why humans transported their forget to go back to our world and remain there. It heals their hearts and souls.
Severus was healing I associated it with the pink flowers and Hermione's pink blush. With her nurturing and tenderness.
Colour (pastel) pink meanings that I used:
The color pink is the color of universal love of oneself and of others. Pink represents friendship, affection, harmony, inner peace, and approachability.
Both red and pink represent love. The color red represents heat and passion, while the color pink represents romance and charm. Hot pink is used to communicate playfulness, while light pink is used to communicate tenderness.
The color pink represents caring, compassion and love. The pink color stands for unconditional love and understanding, and is associated with giving and receiving care. Since pink is a combination of red and white, both colors add a little to its characteristics. It gets the lust for action from the red color, and the white color gives it an opportunity to achieve success and insight. Passion and power from the color red, softened with the purity and openness of the white color completes pink color meaning. The deeper the pink color, the more passion and energy it radiates.
Pink is romantic and intimate, feminine, loving, caring and extremely considerate. It tones down the physical passion from the red color and replaces it with a gentle and loving energy. The color pink is insightful and intuitive and it shows tenderness and kindness from its empathetic and sensitive nature.
In color psychology, pink is a sign of hope. It is a positive color that inspires warm and comforting feelings. The color pink gives the feeling that everything will go well or be okay. Most people have heard of the saying "everything is rosy"
The pink color has a calming effect on our emotional energies and can relieve feelings of anger, aggression and neglect. There are studies confirming that high amounts of pink color can have a calming effect on the nerves and even create physical weakness in people. Pink has successfully treated violent and aggressive prisoners by placing them in rooms with pink walls over a certain period of time. Overexposure to the color may have the opposite effect though.
Pink helps people get in touch with their thoughtful and caring side, either through the need to receive, give or care for others. Please pay attention if you have a friend who often wears pink, as it may indicate a need to be accepted, supported and loved.
The color pink represents the sweet and innocent in children and our inner child. It is the color that symbolizes uncomplicated emotions, inexperience and naivety. The pink color can also take you back to your childhood memories, often associated with care and thoughtfulness from your mother or a maternal figure.
The negative side of pink color meaning is that it may represent a lack of willpower, self-confidence and self-esteem. It can indicate a sensitive and overly cautious nature.
Pink may also give you peace, relaxation and satisfaction
It eliminates erratic disorders.
Brighter pinks are youthful, fun, and exciting, while vibrant pinks have the same high energy as red; they are sensual and passionate without being too aggressive. Toning down the passion of red with the purity of white results in the softer pinks that are associated with romance and the blush of a young woman's cheeks. It's not surprising that when giving or receiving flowers, pink blossoms are a favorite.
Pink is the color of happiness and is sometimes seen as lighthearted. For women who are often overworked and overburdened, an attraction to pink may speak of a desire for the more carefree days of childhood.
For the Eternal Summer land I used as inspiration the Jaipur city from India, "the Pink City" who had amazed generations. Also I used the first part of its name as character name.
"Trust in dreams, for in them is the hidden gate to eternity. "
Khalil Gibran
O0O
What is eternity? What is love?
What was forever? Where was this happiness; where was it in their lives?
"Why?" Hermione couldn't understand. "Why? Why?" she muttered again and again.
They'd won the war, but at what cost? Her parents were gone, and she couldn't do a thing. The sense of loss that filled her hurt so, so much. Why did all these terrible things have to happen to all the good people? Why? It hurt, and she wanted it all to go away; she wanted to be happy again. She wanted to be a child, to think that her parents could do anything, that they'd always be there.
She had been devastated to learn that her memory charm couldn't be reversed without repercussions. There was a chance it could, but was she willing to take it? She hadn't been ready four years ago, and she wasn't any closer to feeling ready now. She had plenty of worries. What if they resented her for sending them away?
So she lost herself; she closed her eyes, and she let the tears fall. Hermione thought back to her childhood and how happy she had been despite the fact that she didn't have any real friends.
She had always loved the color pink. It made her feel...carefree, like the little girl she was. All her worries, all her work...they disappeared. Pink made her a princess.
And when she opened her eyes, she was no longer in her room, but rather another world.
She was in a pink world, just like her childhood bedroom, and she was wearing the pink dress she had worn at the party they had thrown before she left for Hogwarts for the first time. She hadn't worn pink dresses since; it felt too childish. She didn't make a habit of wearing dresses, or even colour, at all. Sometimes, though, she felt the need. Though lately she had avoided the colour pink, particularly after seeing that toad-like woman; the colour had been ruined for her.
But now...now it felt again like her safe place. Hermione felt protected by it. Still, her mind was filled with tumultuous thoughts.
What was eternity? Was it something that lived forever? Was anything set in stone? Was happiness eternal? Were sadness and madness?
And this place-Hermione looked out her window-it wasn't her hometown. In fact, it was completely unfamiliar.
She quickly ran out of the house into the street. Her eyes hadn't fooled her. Everything was indeed pink.
Around her were beautiful houses, from tiny cottages to grand palaces reaching towards the horizon, all coloured in pink. There were gardens with fuchsia and coral flowers. It was beautiful.
"Hello!" a kind voice said, making her turn.
A girl in a pink dress and water-lilies woven in her hair was standing in front of her.
"Hello," she responded, eyeing her suspiciously. Hermione still didn't know where exactly she was or what had happened to her.
"I am Jai." The girl introduced herself. "And I welcome you to the land of Eternal Summer!"
"Eternal Summer? What does this mean? I was just in my room!"
Jai nodded. "Yes, you were, and still are. Your body is, at least. Now, though, we're talking about your mind. Eternal Summer is a land beyond time, a magical kingdom where humans can only arrive here with their mind. It is an ancient land, and the magical people who live here are far more powerful than anything you've ever seen. But we are peaceful. You wizards, witches, and even non-magical people have found a way here through your pain. You connected with the part of you that comes from here. Eternal Summer is the place where magic was born and given to eternity. A spark is in everyone, even if they cannot use it. If you are here, it's for healing. We've gotten many people here from the wizarding world lately; people who have a lot of pain in their minds and in their hearts."
Thinking of everything she'd lost, Hermione understood.
"And..can I go back?" she asked. She had to know; she couldn't abandon everyone.
"Yes, you can," Jai said. "Call me when you want to go back. Or...do you want to go now?"
Hermione looked back to her childhood house, then to the pink world in front of her. She shook her head.
"I want to explore a bit."
Jai nodded and started walking away.
"Hey! Jai!" Hermione shouted making the girl turn. "Why does this house look like my house? If Eternal Summer is in another realm…"
"Because you created a mental link with it. This is a magical house, one of the connection points between our worlds."
She smiled at the younger girl. "Enjoy your stay."
"Maybe… maybe we should let her be for now. Hermione will return...when she is ready." Harry's voice quivered. It was hard; he loved her like his own sister, and she truly was his sister in all but blood. He loved her, and he wanted to protect her. It was his fault; a few tears threatened to fall, wanting to join the last few years' cascade.
"I cannot give up! Not now! You have to understand; she saved my life! Harry, she saved my life! She changed me! I had no purpose in life, not anymore… not after I realised you had to die. I wanted to die as well. And then...she came. Like a knight in shining armour. And I never… "
"Severus, do you really think she has a chance to recover? Do you think she will come back to us? Don't you think she would have if she wanted?" Harry said, biting back tears. It wasn't often his fears snuck up on him, but lately the fear that Hermione would never wake up from her state haunted him constantly.
"I think so; at least that's what I and everyone else wants to believe. She's Hermione Granger; she's a fighter! If anyone can pull out of this state, it's her! I think...she just doesn't know how. Who knows what she's seeing?"
He looked sadly at the bed that held the brightest witch of her generation. He had never thought he'd ever love someone else, not after Lily. But somehow, the brown-haired witch had gotten past the layers that he had built around his heart. How cliché that sounded!
Hermione Granger had saved his life on the second of May in 1998, despite the fact that he had been an enemy up until that night, and he hadn't been nice to her either. On the contrary, he had been the most awful to her.
And still she had held onto him. She had saved him, and she had spent days and nights near his recovery bed. She had chosen to be a healer so she could help others, she said; it hadn't occurred to anyone she had done so to hide herself from the help others would have offered.
Hermione Granger, the best healer St. Mungo's had, was trapped inside her own mind, suffering for the losses of the war. Just like anybody else and yet...until it had happened, no one had known there was a problem in the first place. She had been so ...herself. Maybe the only thing out of place was her wearing pink, but… it was just a colour. Wasn't it?
"I wish I had told her sooner; maybe then she wouldn't be here, like this!" Severus exclaimed, forgetting Harry was in the room.
Harry smiled sadly. Everyone had noticed that the sour Potions master had fallen for the beautiful witch who had saved his life. The only one who hadn't was the girl herself.
It was hardly believable, but love made you blind, love made you as fearful as it made you strong; the ways of love affected everyone and anyone. Even if said person was the brightest witch of her generation.
Harry slipped out the room, leaving the two behind. After almost three years of watching her staring blankly and not responding, he had lost hope of her ever coming back to them. If only…
"I wish I had told you sooner," Severus said, taking her hand into his. "I should have told you sooner how I felt," he murmured. "I wish I hadn't been afraid. And now...now it may be too late."
Their relationship, for a lack of better word, had started right after the battle, but the feelings, oh, the feelings had appeared much later. Severus had been so angry at first; he had raged at her, screamed and called her names and tried to bring her down from her healing studies.
He had thought he had died, only to wake up and find out he was not at all dead and that he had been in a coma for a year. A year later, everything had changed. He had learned that she and her friends had gone back to finish their seventh year (how had she convinced the two boys was beyond him) and that she was not only apprenticing to become a healer, but that she was the one assigned to care for him since she had saved him.
Severus had tried everything to make her stop, to somehow renounce her oath and let him be, let it go. Even though a year had passed, Nagini's bite had left him weak. He no longer had a purpose, so he had lashed out at the only person he could: Hermione Granger. But she had defiantly resisted. She was definitely a very determined person.
He had continued for a month, day after day, until one morning she had come in with a pink blossom. She gently set it in the vase on his bedside table.
She came to him, a small smile on her face, and put her hand on his arm as soon as he opened his mouth.
"Please stop. I should have told you sooner, but no matter what you say, I won't give up. You deserved a chance; I do not regret saving you, and I wish you wouldn't either. I want you to get better, Severus," she had said and then left the room.
He was left staring at the closed door and the pastel pink blossom in front of him.
Ever since then she had brought him a pink blossom every morning along with a radiant smile, and he felt himself change. He was calmer, more joyful, and...peaceful. Something had changed, and his heart had opened.
Hermione had continued to come every day for another year until he had been released. In the meantime, she worked hard in her apprenticeship and was recognised as a genuine healer on her own.
They still met every weekend for a cup of tea and to discuss various topics until one day, he discovered he loved the pink blush on her cheeks and the way her face lightened up when she smiled.
Severus felt himself changing. He wasn't angry at the world anymore. What point was there? He kept his promise to Lily. Harry had survived, hadn't he?
Severus hadn't told her how he felt; he hadn't thought she would want to know; he didn't know how would she react, what she'd say.
"I wish I had told you, I..I..really should have told you sooner how much I love you," he said again. How had he not noticed the state she was in? How had no one noticed it?
And suddenly he was angry: angry at Hermione, angry at the world, and, most of all, angry at himself for not seeing it, for not seeing anything in the three years before her mental collapse. Severus wanted to hit the wall and drop the vase, break the flowers… Why did pink remind him of her? Why?
And why did she leave him? Why didn't she say anything?
"Questions without answers," murmured Severus. He was so tired. After three years of watching her, he felt so weak, so tired...he just wanted to sleep. He sat in the chair near her bed and touched the pink blossom in the vase. He had started bringing one for her every evening when he came; he imagined her smile upon seeing them. Sometimes it helped. Sometimes, it didn't.
"Please Hermione," he whispered, "come back to us. To me." He closed his eyes, his mind full of dreams and thoughts about her.
And that's how they would find him in the morning, his hand intertwined with hers.
Hermione wasn't listening to what he was saying; she was busy exploring the wonder of the world of Eternal Summer. It was so beautiful and peaceful. It calmed her, just being there. She had this sense of pure joy, hope that could be felt in the air. It made her forget all the bad memories slowly, but surely. Hermione could understand why one would get lost into this magical world. Why it was called Eternal Summer.
The place seemed to hold all the answers to her questions. It was amazing. Beautiful and pure. She had never seen anything like it before.
Hermione was completely amazed, not only by this city, but also by Jai's appearance. She wanted to study it more, to discuss with the people who had chosen to live there.
Could she live here too? Could she choose this place? Forever?
But what was forever anyway?
Jai had told her that she could go back at any time she wished; she was free to choose. So why not stay for a little longer? To stay a bit in a place like this, where everything was so peaceful…
"Hermione? Hermione? Hermione!"
Someone was calling her name. But who? She had yet to see anyone she knew here. In the past three hours, she had explored Eternal Summer, and she still had so much to see. For the first time, she had felt completely free!
Hermione turned around, and to her surprise, it was someone familiar!
"Severus! "she exclaimed, happily.
He looked at her and frowned, a worried expression on his face.
"What am I doing here? What is this place? I don't understand... I was at St. Mungo's...holding your hand…" he said, confusing Hermione.
"St. Mungo's! But...what do you mean?" she asked a feeling of uneasiness setting in. Something wasn't right.
He reached her and embraced her tightly, lifting her up in the air.
"I don't know where I am, but I missed you so much!" he murmured into her hair.
Hermione took a step back and looked at him in shock. What happened to the grumpy man who was terrified of touch?
"Severus? Since when are you a hugging person?"
Severus looked at her, a haunted look in his eyes.
"Since I spent the last three years staring at your body and blank eyes, thinking I may not get to speak with you ever again."
"What do you mean? You're scaring me," she whispered, the sour feeling in her stomach increasing.
"I think that's my fault, and for that, I'm sorry," a voice said from her right, making both of them jump a bit and turn towards it.
Hermione recognised Jai, who was still dressed in her pink dress with water-lilies in her hair.
"Jai?"
"I'm sorry," the other girl said, "I should have told you sooner. Time here passes differently. For your mind has been three hours, but ...for your body it's been three years. I'm sorry," she said again, a guilty look in her eyes.
Hermione was speechless. Three years? She'd been incoherent for three years? From Jai's prior explanation, she had thought that time wasn't passing here. Isn't it why it was called Eternal Summer?
"What? How...why?" Hermione was at loss, Severus even more so.
"I'm sorry,"Jai repeated. She looked at the house behind them and waved her right hand. Then she pointed to it with the other.
"You can go back through that house. All you need to is to go to sleep and think of the people you're going back to see."
Hermione nodded.
"Thank you Jai. I'm glad that I met you. Maybe one day we'll meet again."
The girl looked from Severus and Hermione and gave a small smile.
"Maybe, but I somehow doubt it. I'm glad that I met you too. Take care," she said hugging her.
Then she went to Severus, and to his surprise, hugged him as well, but as she did she whispered in his ear. "You should tell her as soon as possible."
And with one last smile and a whispered 'goodbye' she vanished, leaving them alone.
Severus looked at Hermione, a question in his eyes.
"This...world," she said, gesturing to the world around her, "is called Eternal Summer. It's in another realm. And our world is connected to it with a mental link. The connection is opened by pain in both heart and mind. Time passes differently here. I've been exploring this world for roughly three hours, and it seems I've been staring at the walls for three years."
Severus could only nod.
"I'm sorry; I never intended to leave you all alone."
"I know," he murmured, taking her hand into his."I'm sorry too. You were there for me, and I wasn't when you needed me. I was too scared of my own feelings. I should have told you sooner, Hermione. I love you."
Hermione smiled and brought him closer, hugging him.
"I love you too, and it's alright. I can go back now. We can go back."
Together, they started walking towards the house. It would be some time until sleep claimed them, but they had a lot to discuss and a lot to catch up on.
What is eternity? A time without an end, outside our existence, says the dictionary, but if you ask me, eternity is a forever within numbered days.
Eternity means nothing without true love and friendship. And they last for always and always.