Epic Love Story
She stood extremely still within the shadows, the deep, broken sound of her breathing the only sound to corrupt the stillness of the night, each breath more painful than the last, not that she felt the pain. She didn't feel much of anything anymore. To be honest, she was sick of it. All of it. She was sick of seeing complete strangers look at her with such pity in their eyes, sick of her friends checking in on her every day, even though she always did what they asked. Come out to dinner with us, Hermione. You'll feel better. Just come for a walk with me, the fresh air will do you good. Come to the party for a little while, you know he'd want you to. And she always went. She would see the gentle smile on the quirky blonde girl's face, hear her silent plea. She would look into the eyes of her best friend, see the sadness beyond the smile he plastered on his face. She knew he was not over it, but that he was doing slightly better than her. Her brave, red headed friend who really had tried his best to be there for her, even though they both knew that he would never be able to make it okay. But she always did what they asked, always followed the rules. She figured that if she couldn't be okay, she could at least make things a little bit easier for her friends. She didn't want to add to her pain.
A car horn blared in the distance, creating a harsh noise against the once silent night, yet if one were to look at her they would assume she had somehow been unable to hear the sound. She blocked out most things these days, anyway. She used to love sounds, especially the sound of his voice. She used to listen to soft, classical music to calm her down, until she found out that the gentle notes of his low voice could have the desired effect even faster. She remembered his laugh, she remembered that she could be standing metres away from him within a sea of people and still be able to hear that laugh through it all.
She talked animatedly with Luna about the young girl's latest travels, genuinely interested in how her friend has been over the past few months in countries all over the world. Hermione Granger, the smartest witch of her age, still drinking in any new information to cross her path. She knew that people thought of her as a book worm, an insatiable know-it-all, but she found these moments of intense concentration to be rather peaceful, as it was a time where she was involved in only one activity, where she could block out the world. It was one of the reasons she loved reading so much. She found herself slightly startled when a noise broke though the bubble of information she had created, before a grin spread out across her face as she caught his eyes. He continued laughing at whatever had amused him so intensely, but turned to look fondly at her, sending a wink in her direction. Luna smiled, knowing that two of her greatest friends were finally realising where they were supposed to be, as he moved across the room to stand at Hermione's side.
A lone tear escaped down her cheek, and she internally chided herself. She had promised herself that she would no longer cry, that was part of the reason she was here. She slowly bent to her knees on the well kept grass, staring at the objects she had placed on the floor moments before, the objects that would set her free. She had kept all her promises, because no one was ever game enough to ask that one question, to make her promise something that they thought her too smart to ever do. They thought she was too responsible, too dependable and good, to ever do something that could possibly impact someone else in a negative way. Well, she was sick of that, too. Sick of being the one who had to do what others wanted, always putting them before her wellbeing. Why couldn't she be selfish for a change? He was selfish. He went out when she begged him not too, pleaded with him to wait until a safer time, that this was not part of the plan, that it was not his duty as an auror to conquer any evil that just happened to come his way, that he had already defeated the purest of evils, and that was all that anyone had the right to expect from him, and that they shouldn't have even had the nerve to expect that from someone so young. But he hadn't listened, he had pulled out his wand and entered the building, giving her a quick kiss and promising her that everything would be fine, that it was all very simple. But it wasn't. It was the most complicated situation in her entire existence, and it was one that she still had yet to comprehend. He was selfish, and he had lied to her. Why would he do that?
"Hermione, I grew up with horrible people, and throughout my life I ran into a number of people who were just as bad, many who were so much worse. But from the day I saw that cute, bossy girl on the train who was helping a boy she had just met to find his toad, I realised that the evil in this world could be balanced out by good. You have the purest heart of anyone I have ever met, and you make me happier than I ever let myself believe I could be. I can't imagine my life without you by side, and I hope I'll never have to worry about that. Hermione Jane Granger, will you marry me?"
"Yes, yes! Of course I'll marry you!" she exclaimed, refusing to wait for him to stand as she leaped into his arms, wrapping her own tightly around his neck as the momentum carried them backwards, her on top of him, him lying on the grass. He held up the most beautiful, silver diamond ring she had ever seen, and placed it gently onto her finger, both of them smiling and laughing between kisses of joy.
"That's the only time you're gonna hear that kinda sappy stuff from me, by the way," he told her with a smirk, running his hand though her curls.
She scoffed, knowing what a lie that was. "Yeah, right," she told him, before covering his lips with hers before he could speak again.
The memories kept coming to her, over and over again, constant reminders of what she could no longer have. Did she not deserve to have that? Did she do something wrong? Why couldn't they just finally be together, like the hero and his object of affection got to be like in the fairytales? She didn't understand why her fairytale had ended the same way as a horror movie, but she was determined to make it right. She refused to let her story end that way, she would fix it.
She opened the bottle she had stolen, the strongest contents available from the hospital, dryly noting how working as a healer could have its perks. She adjusted her position to lean against the concrete slab behind her, before bending her knees in front of her and resting one hand in her lap, while the other slowly tipped the contents of the bottle into her other hand.
One to ease the pain, just to help her feel a little bit better, for all the times she had to force a smile in front of her worried friends.
Two for the stares she received whenever she made the effort to leave her house, for the pity she received from people she didn't know, who had no idea of the depth of her struggles, who had no right to look at her that way.
Three for who was left of her friends, who she hoped would forgive her, who she prayed would realise that they could not provide her with what she needed, that this was the only way to get it.
Four for all the times she saw these friends crying when they didn't know she was looking, for all the times they had to pretend to be fine, just for fear of breaking her even more.
Five for the nightmares, the constant screams playing over in her mind, for having to hear her own scream when she woke up every night.
Six for all the horrible thoughts she had against him, for calling him a liar, for thinking him selfish. He was the most loving man to ever grace her with his presence, and her anger and sadness made her think things that she knew were untrue, even while thinking them.
Seven for the all the kisses she had missed over the last few months.
Eight for the numbness she constantly felt, broken only by sharp bursts of pain, before returning to a world of darkness where nothing mattered.
Nine for all the beautiful promises he made, for the wedding that they hadn't planned early enough, for the children that they didn't have a chance to create.
Ten for the injustice of it all, for the ending that he never deserved, that she didn't deserve or understand.
Eleven, just because she can.
She stared momentarily at the bottle of bourbon in front of her, his favourite, before realising that she would have no use for it, that the pills were doing their job on their own. She turned slightly against the gravestone, turning to stare at the inscription beneath his name, the one that she herself had chosen those short months ago.
'Beloved friend to all, never to be forgotten, impossible to erase
Soulmate to Hermione Granger, a bond that will never be broken, even by death'
She felt her heart rate slowing, her breathing become incredibly light as she started to feel sleepy. She smiled softly, finally content for the first time since his death. She would be with him again, in a place where they would never be able to be torn apart. She could finally be Mrs Hermione Jane Potter, hell, she could be whatever she wanted, and that is what she wished for, to be with Harry Potter, the man who she had tried to live without, but was unable to do so. The man she had loved since she was eleven, first a love of friendship, then a love of those who were destined to be together. The smile slowly became larger as she found her world becoming lighter rather than darker, as she looked into a sea of emerald green that she never thought she would see again.
She had done it.
She had transformed their tale of horror into an epic love story.
And she was glad.
'Hermione Jane Granger-Potter
Missed deeply by her friends, but re-united with her greatest love.
May they live eternally together, in a world that transcends the end.'
A/N – I've never done a dark fic before so I hope this is okay! Thanks for reading.