Author: Hallie Marie

Author E-mail: hypergal1987@hotmail.com

Title: Don't Stop

Genre: Angst

Summary: Harry watches Hermione as she goes through a day.

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If you wake up and don't want to smile,

If it takes just a little while,

Open your eyes and look at the day,

You'll see things in a different way.

Don't Stop, thinking about tomorrow,

Don't stop, it'll soon be here,

It'll be, better then before,

Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone.

Why not think about times to come,

And not about the things you've done,

If your life was bad to you,

Just think what tomorrow will do.

Fleetwood Mac - Don't Stop

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Harry Potter watched as Hermione Granger slowly woke up. The sun was shining brightly, yet she did not have a happy look on her elegant face, far from it in fact. Hermione rubbed her eyes and stretched her arms. She looked longingly at the empty spot beside her in the bed.

Hermione got out of bed and walked over towards the window. When she reached the window she stopped and looked out at the beautiful day. She sat down on the window seat and stared out at the prairie beyond the small house. Her eyes traveled from the prairie to the woods, looking as though she were wishing for someone to come running out of them. Harry watched her every movement.

Hermione turned around and walked straight towards Harry. The young man side stepped to get out of the young woman's path. Hermione opened the closet and took her time picking out her clothes for the day. She set the clothes down on a chair beside the bed and went in to the bathroom.

Half an hour later Harry watched as she walked into the room covered in only a towel. Harry walked silently out the door, making sure not to even breathe loudly, and down the steps into the lavish kitchen. Harry leaned against the counter top, taking in his surroundings.

After ten minutes Harry heard small feet plodding down the stairs. His eyes softened as he saw two little children, around three and six years of age, a boy and a girl. The girl, who had long red hair and dark brown eyes, called for her mother.

Soon Hermione could be heard walking down the stairs. As she entered the kitchen Hermione bent down and scooped up the small boy. The toddler grabbed a handful of his mothers hair and tugged as hard as his little arms could tug. Hermione smiled sadly as she untangled the child's fingers from her hair. Soon she set him down in a high chair situated by the table. As Hermione strapped her son in to his chair her daughter came up behind her and gave her a hug. Hermione turned around and knelt down so that she was at eye length with the six year old before hugging the small child.

Hermione then started to make breakfast for herself and the two children. Harry watched as more life came to Hermione as the morning progressed. She was but a shell of his Hermione, something that he hoped would change.

After breakfast Hermione put the little boy into his playpen, got out a box of crayons so the little red head could draw, and went up to the attic. Up in the attic she found a big purplish-gray box. She picked up the box and went back down to the first floor. She entered a room that looked to be an office and sat the box down.

Hermione slowly lifted the lid off of the box. Dust filled the air, but Hermione didn't seem to notice. One by one Hermione took pictures and assorted objects out of the box and dusted them off. After each piece she dusted off more tears came to her eyes.

Upon looking at one picture in particular Hermione wiped a batch of tears from her eyes. She started to put the contents back into the box leaving one picture out when the little girl ran into the room waving a piece of paper in her hands.

"Mummy, Mummy, look what I drew!"

"Oh, Heather, that is a beautiful picture. I think I'll pin it up above my desk," Hermione said, more tears leaking from her blood shot eyes.

"Mummy, that's you, and that's Daddy, I'm right there and Jamie's right beside me. Will you show this to Daddy when he comes back?"

"Honey, Daddy's not coming back."

"Yes he is Mummy, I can feel it!"

"How about you go draw another picture, okay baby."

"All right Mummy." Heather skipped back into the living room, happy as can be, leaving her mother with more tears in her cinnamon brown eyes.

Hermione walked out into the living room and on the mantle, sat a picture of Harry. He was making goofy faces, causing the little boy in his playpen to laugh. Hermione watched, with a smile on her face, the scene unrolling before her eyes. She took the picture that she had in hand and conjured up a frame before setting it on the mantle beside the picture of Harry.

It was a picture of Harry and Hermione, together, on their wedding day.

"Oh Harry," she said in a whisper, "please don't be dead, be alive. Even if you can't be here now, be alive, be alive." Hermione turned and walked into the kitchen to make lunch.

"If only you knew, if only you knew," Harry said silently before leaving the familiar house. He would be back. No matter what, he promised himself, he would be back.

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Don't stop, thinking about tomorrow,

Don't stop, it'll soon be here

It'll be, better than before

Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone

Don't you look back

Don't you look back

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