Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Hermione Granger stared at the white marble building from which she had received her learning for the past seven years. There had been good times and bad, joy and sorrow. This was the school where she learned about much more than magic; it was where she learned about life. It was where she had learned with every end there is a beginning; where she learned that there was no good without evil, that good and evil were in fact two sides of a coin, where one cannot exist if the other does not. It was where she learned where there was black and white, but life was lived in varying shades of grey. It was where she fell in love with the teacher who had taught all these things to her, and it was where she must leave.
For every end there is a new beginning. He told her that last night, when she had informed him that she was going to stay so she could be with him. He held her when she cried and sobbed the question of why he did he want her to leave. When he tears subsided he sat her down and told her that they could not be together. He did not want to endanger her life. When she had screamed at him, calling him a coward. He told her he would be more of a coward if he allowed her to stay. It wasn't a matter of his feelings for her, he informed her, but of how to keep her safe. He never divulged his feelings, but he loved her with all his heart.
He watched her now, from the outside of the train. His black cloak swirled around him and he said nothing as he stood amongst the whispers of the students who had never before seen him come to bid goodbye to the leaving students.
He stood tall and proud, oblivious to the wind and rain that was so unusual for this time of year. Hermione watched him tears streaming down her face, tears that he longed to dry, but couldn't. It tore at the soul he thought he no longer had to see her in such torment but he knew in his heart that it had to be done. It was not forever, but until the Dark Lord was vanquished. He wasn't afraid of dying in the war; he wouldn't dare. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. She would find a way to bring him back so she could kill him for leaving her.
As the train began to pull away, he heard her voice, faintly upon the wind.
"Aeternum vale"
He smiled softly. "Nothing is forever, Hermione. You should know that by now."
A/N: I was looking at Latin phrases and I saw this and it totally spurred and idea. "Aeternum vale" means "farewell forever" and I thought that would be great to use for a one-shot. Review, or not.