Pure

I do not own Harry Potter

He hated hearing her being tortured. The sound of her shrieking in pain would haunt him till the day he died. After Dobby rescued them and they made it to shell cottage, Hermione concealed herself in her room and refused to talk to anybody. Only Harry and Ron knew the reason of her self imposed solitude. When Bellatrix was interrogating her, she engraved the word mudblood on her arm, and Hermione felt violated. She came to terms with the fact that she wasn't wizard born, but having the vile, prejudice and racist curse on her arm made her shrink into her form in shame. Now every time she walks into the street and people will see her scar, they will know her true background. The lesser witch. The inferior one. The sub human. The one unworthy of studying magic or being magical. She was marked for life and she hated that. She spent most of her time crying in her bedroom.

Harry too imposed on himself a time of solitude. He felt guilty and ashamed that he let Bellatrix defile his best friend. He never spoke to anyone about this, but he loved her more than his own soul. He wanted to go into her room and be a source of comfort but he was unable to face her…

Two days have passed since then and everyone was getting increasingly worried. That night, Harry had another nightmare. He dreamt that Hermione was being tortured by Bellatrix again and engraved that vile word on her arm. As the dream progressed, Harry and his friends were aging. Harry has married a faceless woman while Ron married Luna. Hermione on the other hand ended up alone. Because of her scar, no one wanted to marry her. As they grew older in his dream, Harry and his nameless wife raised a bunch of kids and those kids grew up and gave birth to grandkids, as Hermione became an old maid. Finally old age kicked in. Harry and his wife were content with their family life, while Hermione grew old alone. As he gave her one last glance at the nursing home, he could see her sit there sadly leaning forward with her hands in her lap as she slowly faded out of existence. She was gone. At that moment, Harry felt like he died inside and realized he made a dreadful mistake. It felt like he waited too long but couldn't figure out for what… the next thing Harry knew he was crying in his sleep. Several minutes went by before he cried himself awake. He opened his eyes with a gasp. He placed his hand on his forehead in an attempt to catch his breath. He was covered in a cold sweat. He took deep breaths to try to get his breathing under control. He sighed deeply.

"I would never let that happen… I can't let it happen… I love her too much… I would do anything to prevent her from ending up like that… I have to fix her arm… even if she doesn't love me back at least she'll have the chance to be happy. Regardless of who it's gonna be with…" he vowed to himself and sat up. He hurried to the bathroom to drink some water from the tap and take a quick shower. It was two in the morning as he passed by Hermione's bedroom. He stopped in his tracks to hear something that bothered him.

"Oh no… she's crying again…" he thought sorrowfully to himself. He had to act. He grabbed the door handle and gently turned it and entered the room. The room was dark and he could see Hermione's form lying on her bed, weeping into her pillow. Harry approached her silently and gently sat down on her bed. Getting her attention, Hermione drew her wand and aimed it at Harry's face, briefly illuminating it. Surprised at first, Harry didn't put up a fight. Instead, he gently removed the wand from her hand and wrapped his arms around her as he cradled her in them as she cried and he made soothing sounds to sooth her.

After she calmed down a bit, Harry spoke.

"I'm sorry Hermione…"

She sniffed and rubbed her nose.

"It's not your fault Harry…" she said sadly, her nose stuffed.

"It is." He disagreed. She looked up at him.

"I got you into this. I couldn't stand hearing you scream in pain as Bellatrix tortured you. Now I can't live with myself knowing what she did to you, and knowing that it was because of me…"

Hermione rested her head in his chest and grabbed into his shirt like a teddy bear.

"It's not your fault Harry…"

"It is." He persisted.

"No, it's not Harry…" she began.

"But…"

"Harry please listen to me." She cut him off and he was silent.

"I joined you on this quest because I wanted to. We both know you can't go at this alone. I hate this scar too Harry, but if getting it means saving your life then it's worth it and I'd do it again if I had to…"

Moved by his words, Harry didn't know what to say. He sighed and shrugged.

"I just can't stand to see you get hurt Hermione. It pains me…" she smiled sweetly at him. She embraced him in a hug.

"You're the best Harry. You're the most selfless person I've ever known…" she said with a voice and heart full of emotion. He smiled at her and returned the hug.

"Thanks Hermione…"

"When was the last time you let somebody else share the selflessness Harry? You may be a hero Harry but you're still human. Even a hero deserves a break once in a while right?" she smiled at him.

"Right." He smiled back and separated from the hug to face her. He then glanced at her arm.

"Listen Hermione. I know how much it pains you emotionally to have that scar. But I promise you. As soon as this war is over, I will find a way to get your arm back to the way it was. I swear by Merlin I will fix you up…"

He could see Hermione's eyes glittered in the moonlight. She smiled for joy and embraced him.

"Harry…"

"I know Hermione… I know…" he said honestly.

That night Harry fell asleep in Hermione's bed. From that moment on, the duo was closer, everyone could see something was going on but couldn't tell what.

Soon the battle of Hogwarts began. Harry feared for Hermione's life more than he feared for his own. When he surrendered himself to Voldemort he prayed to God that the evil monster would have mercy on her, forever regretting, not telling her how he felt or not being able to fix her arm. He hoped she wouldn't die alone like she did in his dream.

To his amazement he had the chance to go back. When he did he took Voldemort by surprise. After some dueling and attacking, the final battle began. It looked like Harry was gonna lose. At the last moment, Neville killed Nagini and the final showdown was about to start. The two great wizards launched their attacks. Despite being close, Voldemort has lost and has died.

In the ensuing weeks after the battle, everyone worked hard to repair the castle. Everyone except one person. Harry. He spent most of his hours in the dungeon, trying to find a potion that would cure Hermione's scar. At first she didn't knew where he was. It took her a few hours to find him. By that time she was worried sick and she embraced him in a hug. He gladly returned it.

Every so often, Harry would choose the wrong combination and the potion would explode in his face, leaving it covered in soot and grime. Every once in a while, Hermione would come in to check on him. Every time he looked increasingly tired. After a week of hard work she tried to talk him out of it.

"Harry, I truly appreciate you trying to help me but you don't have to. This project is preventing you from eating and sleeping enough…"

"I'm not giving up." Harry said as he stirred the contents of his cauldron. Hermione looked at him. Then she leaned upward and kissed him on the cheek.

"I'll be in Gryffindor common room if you want some company." She said. He turned to smile at her.

"Thanks Hermione." He said to her and she left. She had doubts Harry would be able to succeed. Even Madam Pomfrey said it was impossible to cure. But she was moved by how much Harry cared. He was determined to make her better again. When he looked into her eyes, she saw him look at her with emotions she hasn't seem from him before. Adoration, deep appreciation, love… she could see it now. He loved her. He truly did. That's why he was doing this. She sighed with happiness as she skipped up the stairs, knowing her prayers have finally been answered.

Later that night, Harry was hard at work, comparing his cauldron to an old potions book he borrowed from the library. After adding one more ingredient, to the cauldron, its color turned clear and was still. He laughed.

"Alright! It worked." He cheered. He looked at his watch. It was eight o'clock at night. Hermione should still be up. He ran out of the dungeon and headed for the common room. He reached the fat lady at record speed. He was about to give her the password, when he heard a cheerful voice say

"Harry!" he turned around to find Hermione looking at him.

Harry laughed.

"Hermione!" he called out and brought her into a bone breaking hug and spun her around.

"Harry…" she croaked sheepishly.

"I did it. I did Hermione!" he said cheerfully.

Hermione coughed.

"Harry please, you're crushing me…" she said. Startled, Harry let her go and smiled at her. There was an uncharacteristic, joyfulness in his voice and on his face. Amused, Hermione asked

"Harry, what is going on?"

"I did it!" he repeated.

"Did what?"

"What do you think? I found a formula to fix your arm!" he stated joyfully. Surprised, Hermione stared at him.

"You what?" she asked, not able to believe what she heard.

"You're about to get your arm back to the way it was." He stated happily. Hermione stared at him in shock.

Harry grabbed her arm.

"Come on, let's go." He said cheerfully and puled her down the stairs. Hermione could not help but be amused by how almost childishly cheerful he was. It's almost like he was a different person. Like he discovered another world. Something he's never had before. Then it hit her. Happiness. He's discovered happiness. Joining in the fun and joy she ran beside him into the old potion's lab. In it awaited an old cauldron with an unfamiliar potion in it. Harry pulled Hermione into the room and to the table. He took a sponge and dipped it in the cauldron, took it out and squeezed it.

"You ready?" he asked and she nodded. Despite being unfamiliar with the potion, Hermione knew Harry wouldn't rush at her like that if he'd made a mistake. Despite her doubt, she trusted him all the way.

Harry placed his hand gently on her arm. She never knew his hands felt so soft to the touch. He rubbed the sponge gently against her scar, like he was wiping a window. When he removed it, they were both shocked and happy to see the vile mark on her arm fade away, replaced with Hermione's usual skin. Pretty as it always was. She smiled joyfully and jumped in the air.

"I can't believe it, it worked!" she shrieked joyfully and examined her arm. Then she gazed into his eyes and threw herself into his embrace.

"I'm not a mudblood anymore…" she sighed happily.

"You were a never a mudblood Hermione. To me, you were always as pure as gold…" he said to her happily. She could feel herself melt into his embrace by his words. Now she realized, was the time to tell him.

"I love you Harry… I love you so much, you're my most important person in the whole wide world…"

Harry smiled happily and kissed her hair.

"I love you too Hermione. I love you more than life itself…" he confessed happily. They separated from the hug and peered into each other's eyes. As green met brown, the two faces felt compelled to join one another, as they drew near till Harry's and Hermione's lips touched each other. It was a numbingly electrifying experience. As soon as they kissed, they could feel all sounds and the rest of the world just fall away. They kissed each other with as much love as they could muster, as they made out slightly in joy… before long, Harry let Hermione's tongue enter his mouth and vice versa as they explored each other's mouths, not wanting to let go. But alas, after five minutes they did, the lack of oxygen getting the best of them. They peered into each other's eyes and then fell back into each other's embrace and basked in it.

"Thank you Harry…" she said.

"Of course Hermione… of course… I did it because I love you. I didn't want you to be marked for life…."

"Thanks to you I am not. But I got a big bonus to that as well…"

"And what's that?" he asked playfully. She chuckled and kissed him gently.

"You Harry. I love you more than you'll ever know…"

"I love you too Hermione, I love you too…" he said happily as they melted in each other's embrace. After a long pause Hermione's spoke.

"Hey Harry?"

"Hmm?"

"Did you always have a cheerful side?"

Harry smirked and brought her closer to her as he rocked her in his arms.

"Yes Hermione, I did. It was suppressed, but now it has been released. Aside from that I haven't changed…" he said happily to her as they danced slowly in his arms. She smiled sweetly at him and kissed him slightly on the lips and rested her head in his shoulder as he continued to rock her in his arms.

"Good…" she said happily.

"Never change…"

And he never did…

The end…

So there it is. The reason why I wrote this is because I never liked the fact that Hermione had that scar carved on her arm. She was always my favorite character and it pained me to see that happen to her. So I wrote this fanfic to create a world where this wrong has been solved and corrected.

As always reviews are most welcome…

Peace out….