A/N: A Harmony oneshot inspired by Alessia Cara's "Stone." Hope you like it!
Quick disclaimer: Neither Romione or Hinny happened in DH in order for this story to work. K, now that that's out of the way...
Tallyho!
And I will follow where this takes me
And my tomorrows long to be unknown
When all is shaken, be my safety
In a world uncertain, say you'll be my stone
Harry sat in the Gryffindor common room, staring at the burning embers of the fireplace. He didn't understand: the war was over, Voldemort was dead! The entire wizarding world was celebrating… so why wasn't he?
He figured it had something to do with the utter loss he was feeling. So many people had died; people he cared about and loved. Hogwarts was in shambles, classrooms downstairs were filled with the corpses of people who had died in battle, and Aurors patrolled the halls and grounds, looking for any straggling Death Eaters.
Harry looked at his watch and saw that it was just after four in the morning. Other than the sound of his breathing, Gryffindor Tower was silent. He assumed the rest of the common rooms were the same. He envied them; he envied that they could sleep so easily after everything they had just gone through. He wished he could just sleep everything off and wake up brand new, thankful for the new day in a new era. But he couldn't sleep.
Ever since he was a baby, his life had been tied to Voldemort's. Now that Voldemort was dead… he didn't know what to do. He had his whole life ahead of him now; he could plan for a future that, up until yesterday, he wasn't so sure he was going to have. His options were wide open… and that's why he felt so lost. He didn't know where to start.
"Harry?" A new voice said.
He jumped and looked to the source of the voice, smiling when he saw who it was. "Hey, Hermione."
She smiled at him and sat next to him on the couch, putting the blanket she had been holding over both of them. "What are you doing up?" She asked.
He shrugged. "I couldn't sleep. You?"
"Same," she said. They sat in silence for a moment before she spoke again. "How are you holding up?"
He sighed. "Honestly, I feel so lost. For as long as I can remember, my entire life has been about defeating Voldemort. Now that I have, I don't know what to do next."
"You have your whole life ahead of you now. You can do whatever you want."
He chuckled. "I know. That's the problem. I don't know what I want to do next."
She took his glasses off his face and cleaned them with her shirt as she spoke. "You don't have to know what you want, Harry. The important thing is that you now have the opportunity to do anything." She whispered a reparo charm on his glasses and they were back to perfect condition.
"Thanks," he said as she handed them back to him. "What are you going to do, Hermione?"
She sighed and rested her head back on the couch. "I'm going to come back and retake my seventh year, for sure. And I have to get my parents from Australia and bring them back, and then… I don't know what'll be next. I might go to University for a while before I decide on a career."
"University?" Harry asked. "Really?"
She nodded. "It was something my parents and I talked about a couple summers ago. I just have to go the Ministry, they'll write up the appropriate documents and then I can apply to any muggle University I decide to go to. Once I'm done, I can rejoin the Wizarding world and get a job anywhere, assuming I have the proper NEWTs."
He chuckled. "Your NEWTs will be great, Hermione."
Her lips quirked in a small smile. "Thanks, Harry." She rested her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her comfortingly. They sat in another comfortable silence for a few minutes, just enjoying each other's company. Just when Harry thought she had fallen asleep, Hermione sat up. "Wanna go for a walk?" She asked. He nodded. "Grab your shoes and I'll meet you back down here, okay?" She said.
They parted ways at the stairs and he quietly shuffled around his room, putting his shoes on, grabbing his repaired wand, a jacket before returning downstairs to find Hermione waiting for him. She smiled at him and held her hand out for him. He took it and, together, they walked out of the portrait hole and out onto the grounds. They nodded at the Aurors that they passed but didn't talk much as they walked out of the castle but they never once let go of each other's hands. They walked to the Black Lake and watched the water ripple as Hermione skipped a rock across it.
"Hermione," Harry started. "Can I ask you something?"
She looked at him and smiled, encouragingly. "Of course, Harry."
He bit his lip before speaking. "Would- could I come with you? To University, I mean?" She raised her eyebrows at that. "It's just that… it'd be nice to get away for a while, you know? And, it'd give me a chance to live like a normal person for a while. No mad man trying to murder me every year, no ridiculous tournaments, no stupid Ministry interference. It'd be nice to live normally for a while."
"You'd have to give up Quidditch temporarily," Hermione warned him. "And you wouldn't be allowed to use any magic in public."
He chuckled and nodded. "I know; I'm okay with that. As long as I've got you there, I know I'll be fine."
She laughed. "You, of all people, should know that I'm not going to let you copy my homework while we're at University, Harry."
His face lit up at that. "You'll let me go with you?" He asked, hopefully.
She smiled at him and squeezed his hand. "Of course, you can come with me, Harry! I wouldn't tell you no! You can only come with me though, if you promise to retake your seventh year with me."
He laughed. "Done." He pulled Hermione into a tight hug which she wholeheartedly returned. "Thank you," he said quietly.
"Of course, Harry," she said, pulling out of the hug and looking at him. "I'm not going to desert you. No matter what happens next, we'll get through it together, just like we always have."
A weight was lifted off his shoulders at her words. He may not have known where he was going, but at least he'd always have Hermione to rely on and know that she would always be there.
He brushed a loose curl behind her ear. "Hermione, I- I never thanked you for everything that you've done for me."
"Harry, you don't need to-"
"I do, though." He swallowed before speaking. "Ever since we were eleven, you stuck by my side and have helped me without question. There's no doubt that, without you, I'd have been dead a long time ago." Her grip on his arms tightened and she was fighting tears. He wiped a stray tear away before continuing. "There aren't enough words to express how grateful I am for everything you've always done for me. You are such a brilliant and beautiful person and, now that you're done saving my arse, I know you're going to go off and do great things and save other people's arses." She chuckled at that.
Harry took a deep breath. "Hermione, I- I don't know what I'm going to do now. I don't know what I want to do for a living or where I'm going to live or anything else for that matter but I do know one thing: I love you. And, I know that I don't want to live without you. And I-"
He wouldn't be able to finish his sentence as Hermione cut him off with a kiss. He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Harry wasn't sure how much time had passed as they kissed but all he knew was he didn't want it to end. But, alas, they did need to breathe.
When they broke for air, they rested their foreheads together. "Promise me something," she said.
"Anything," he replied.
"Promise me, no matter what happens, you won't leave."
He looked into her eyes and caressed her face with both hands. "I promise you, Hermione, I'm not going anywhere. Whatever happens now, we'll get through together, just like we always have."
She smiled and pulled him in for another kiss. They didn't talk much after that, just sharing kisses and watched as the sun rose over the Black Lake. A new day in a new era. They didn't know what would happen next. But they did know that they had each other and together, they'd find their rightful place in their new world.
The End.
Hope you liked it! Please review!