Revolving
As the World Turns (Around You)
There's someone I've been missing,
And I think that they could be
The better half of me.
~Come Home – One Republic
You know I never believed in true love before I knew of the existence of magic, to me it was illogical. Life was a series of choices and there could be any number of people who were perfect for each other but never meet and then of course there were the hundreds of people that did meet that were absolutely wrong for each other but somehow still hit it off. No, to me there was no true love just the love that we choose for ourselves. But the magical world changed all that, screwed with my perfectly acceptable belief and turned it on its head, proved it wrong... proved me wrong.
That was the thing about the magical world, everybody had there other half... literally.
Now you're probably expecting some horrible cliché about soul mates and 'the one' and you're right, it is a horrible cliché and unfortunately for me it's also horribly true. In the magical world it was common knowledge that there was one person designed specifically for you. They were in essence, the missing part of you.
How did they know?
Each and every magical being had a mark, something uniquely indicative of the other person, something shared just between the two of you. Normal things really, some people had the exact same shade of hair color, some had the same birth mark, the same tattoo, sometimes the same name even. It can of course be less tangible though, like an absolute obsession with the same obscure Quiditch team or in the case of someone I know a common love of lemon drops. Each thing is obvious, clear from the moment you meet, there is no one that makes you feel the way they do.
And that is my problem.
There were people in the wizarding world who quite clearly don't get their happy ending and I have begun to think that perhaps some people were designed for someone who was designed for someone else. Maybe this 'mark' pointed more than one person to the same individual, maybe some of us were destined for an unhappy ending from the day we were born.
Now to save time I'm just going to come right out and say it, 'I'm hopelessly, helplessly in love with my best friend, Harry Potter'.
And like all smart people you're probably wondering when the 'but' comes in... well, you see the thing is he thinks he's supposed to be with someone else.
Right now you're probably confused so I will take you back to the beginning, when my life was tossed on its end.
It was the first week of term and Hermione was still in awe of the magic that was openly displayed at every turn. Her vivid green eyes followed every new discovery with delight, Hogwarts was massive and absolutely overflowing with all things weird and wonderful. That was why at this very moment instead of being in her transfiguration class she was wondering the corridors hopelessly lost. Everything about this place changed constantly, the stair cases moved, corridors just simply disappeared and class rooms seemed to jump from one end of the castle to the other overnight (she later learned that everything settled down somewhere near the end of the second week, apparently the castle was rather excitable).
She had been lost for the better part of an hour before she finally came across a classroom that was in use and while it wasn't the class that she was looking for it did have a teacher that could point her in the right direction.
She moved closer and peeked through the gap in the door to see inside. At first glance there was nothing unusual about what was happening inside, the room was full of third years and the teacher, someone she didn't recognize was giving a lecture. She moved closer intent on getting the directions she sought until something the teacher said stopped her in her tracks.
"... the 'mark' is something that you have from birth that points you specifically to your life mate. It could be something physical or it could be a peculiar personality trait but either way it is clear cut and precise. No mark has ever been recorded to be wrong and when the time comes you will know." There was a brief pause while the professor gaged the reaction of her students before she began again. "A prime example of the mark is shown on two of the schools professors, Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore, who both have a predisposition to love lemon drops, a muggle sweet, not otherwise found in the wizarding world..."
Hermione did not listen in any further, suddenly terribly afraid of what she had just learned. While most people would be comforted to know that there was someone out there that was made with them in mind she was smart enough to know that it couldn't always work out. Even at her young age she had seen the signs, there were far too many unhappy people in the magical world for there to always be a happy ending. Professor Snape came immediately to mind, it was obvious that he carried a great burden, she suspected that his love never came.
It was years later that she found out her fear was well founded.
They were seated in the common room, photo albums piled around them, talking about their families. Some had a lot to say (Weasleys) some had very little (Harry) and some were happy to just listen.
"... and that is my great great aunt who gave her husband a third arm when he asked for her to pass the pumpkin juice one to many times." Neville finished tallying off all the members of his family with a grin while pointing at a moving photograph of a rather surly looking witch who was wearing what looked like a sandwich on her head.
There was silence except for the turning of pages as the group continued to reminisce over old times until it was broken by Hermione. She had seen the unhappy look on Harry's face as each person revealed family member after family member.
"I only have my parents", she said while pointing to a photograph taken of them on a picnic, they all looked happy as they waved at the camera. She hoped that this would put him at ease or at the least take his mind off of the many membered families that all wizards seemed to have. "We don't look very alike but I have my mother's eyes."
She did not notice at the time but a certain professor who had been walking past at the time gave a double-take. McGonagall left the tower with a smile on her face and a warm heart, she knew that at least one thing in the life of Harry Potter would bring some light in the hard times ahead.
At the beginning of third year they 'officially' received the talk for the first time. And it had the entire class in an uproar for weeks afterwards. Ron having grown up with magic took it all in stride (though he did avoid girls more than usual for a month or two), Harry however was left shell-shocked, unable to believe that anyone could be meant for 'him'. He couldn't bring himself to believe that he had an other half and within hours of hearing the lecture was determined that he must be the exception to the rule.
Hermione however was no longer awed by what she had known since her first week at Hogwarts but accepted it with quiet grace leaving no one aware that she was secretly rebelling against this as of yet unknown tie.
It was later that year that she discovered the truth. Harry, Professor Lupin and she had run into one another on the way to visit with Hagrid. It had recently come out that the Professor was none other than Moony of the Marauders and had in fact known both of Harry's parents. They had been happily chatting away for the last twenty minutes, just reminiscing over old times when he said something that caught Hermione off guard.
"They were wonderful people, your parents. I've not met anyone quite like them..." He was quiet for a minute, lost in his own thoughts, "You look just like James, you know. Except the eyes... you have your mother's eyes." He smiled sadly before heading off to whatever business had brought him outside in the first place.
His words would haunt Hermione for many years afterwards... his mother's eyes.
They were green, Harry's eyes were green.
Killing curse green.
She wondered that she had not noticed before..
Fourth year brought many trials for the Golden trio, the tri wizard tournament was hard on all of them and Harry was rejected by most of the school, including one of their own. Ron abandoned them out of jealousy and his jumping ship seemed to prove to the entire school that he truly was guilty of cheating. Throughout this time she was the only person who stood by him, she couldn't really help herself. Not only did she believe that he hadn't put his name in that cup but by that time she was already completely in love with him.
One would think that coming to that place, coming to love him, would have been easy, particularly after finding her mark but it was far from it. She had always believed in independence, that she did not need a man to complete her and then she was thrown into a world that it was a widely known and accepted truth that you had an 'other half'.
When she had found out she had rebelled against the idea, determined that she would not fall in love simply because some mysterious mark told her that she would. She had been so sure that she would fall for whoever she fell for, that she would not put herself into a place where she would conform to that ridiculous idea.
The problem with that plan had been that she had already placed herself where she had promised herself she wouldn't and by the time she found out what her mark was in third year it was already too late. She was already in too deep with Harry to turn back and she had found that despite her beliefs to the contrary, she really didn't want to turn back. She had already made her choice and magic seemed to agree.
So here she was with Harry, supporting him as he went off to fight a dragon. She was terrified for him, as if his life wasn't filled with enough danger as it was without having to compete in a tournament designed for students that were far older than him. Ugh. Why had Dumbledore allowed this?
As it turned out she should have been more worried about the dragon, after all was said and done Harry had come out on top and the dragon was left looking a lot worse for wear. Harry had hardly a scratch, now the only trouble was keeping him that way.
The first task down and she felt like the second task was looming over them already even though it wasn't until after the new-year. Neither of them could figure out what it was going to be despite the fact that they had spent hours mulling over the subject. Even the egg was no help at all, the only thing it did was give anybody listening an awful headache.
And to add to her never ending list of troubles the school simply had to put on a ball. A ball that she was sure she would never get a date for. Her first and most coveted option, Harry, was also coveted by the rest of the schools female population as well, in other words she had no hope.
She watched for weeks as he lamented his inability to find a date before he finally decided and when he did, she wished that he hadn't. Silly she knew, to lament something that she did nothing to prevent but in the end she did not have the gumption and allowed things to progress without her.
So in fourth year Harry Potter asked Ginny Weasley to the yule ball... and naturally she said yes.
Hermione was devastated but she understood, there was little she could do to change what had some to pass and she felt foolish for thinking things would be different. That he would willingly choose her. Hadn't she herself wanted to fall in love without the aid of magic or fate.
She decided to give him his chance.
After all, not all marks had happy endings.
Now none of this seems worth noting, a simple date at fourteen most likely nothing would come of it, right?
Wrong.
Ginny was a third year. Ginny had just, for the first time heard about the 'mark'. Ginny had dreamed about being Mrs. Potter since she was a baby.
Ginny lied.
The 'mark' is known to change from couple to couple, it had no single form thus when Ginny told Harry that she had his matching mark he believed her, sight unseen. After all he had no reason to believe she would lie about such a thing.
In the wizarding world it was considered one of the worst crimes (comparable to an unforgivable curse) to lie to another about the mark. Keeping a person from their soul-mate was rated on about the same level as murder and if found out, got the person sent to Azkaban rather quickly. Therefore it was a rare thing indeed for someone commit such an act, which was why Harry did not suspect for a moment that anything was amiss. Why should he question such a blessing when he had thought that there was not a chance that there would be anyone for him? Not even when she refused to show him the 'lightning bolt scar', claiming that it was somewhere too private for him to see.
Hermione spent the next two years following the ball in the shadow of the younger girl. She was hurt deeply, to be made for someone who was made for someone else was hard load to bare but it was her lot and she bore it with grace.
She never told anyone, not even as the rest of her classmates began to pair off one by one. The few that did notice her 'mark' either wrote it off or (in the case of the professors) looked on her with pity. Few people understood what impact being the unnecessary 'extra' could have on a person.
She still acted the same, she still got the highest grades in the school, she always had her head in a book, she still followed the others in their bid to destroy Voldemort and she remained unswervingly loyal to Harry through it all... but something left. Hermione wasn't quite Hermione anymore, the spark that used to light her green eyes had vanished.
She was packing up her books after defense class, trying to be as slow as possible so that she would miss the inevitable sappy reuniting of couples in the hall as they met up after school finished for the week, when Professor Snape called after her.
"You're not the first to be unlucky in love, Miss Granger." She turned to Snape looking at her, not with pity like the others who knew but with understanding. "I was in love with my best friend too..." He watched her carefully for a moment before rolling up his sleeve to reveal a birthmark about the size of a thumb. It was in the shape of a lily.
Snape rubbed the mark absently, deep in thought and then seemingly out of nowhere he said, "...she had a mark just like this one. It was part of the reason her parents called her Lily... the only problem was that.." he paused as thought he was swallowing something painful, "..James had a scar in the same place she had one, both identical and both by garden shears." He chuckled humorlessly, "We were both made for her.. I just wasn't the one she chose."
She looked at her professor with tears welling up in her wide jade eyes, knowing that he spoke the truth. He had confirmed her theory, not everyone had their other half, and by all indications they were both among the unlucky few.
The tears in her eyes spilled over and she gave him a watery smile before leaving without a word.
It was two weeks later that Ron came up to her grinning like a madman with Luna Lovegood on his arm. It turned out that they had found in each other a unique and somewhat bizarre mutual love for the 'Chuddley Canons' flavored (if it was possible to have a flavor that tasted like a Quiditch team) beans which were standard in the Berty Bots every flavor bean boxes.
They had been in a hallway amongst a common group of friends (Dean Thomas had a friend in Ravenclaw who was friends with Luna) who had been splitting a box when they both leaned in to grab the very distinct orange bean.
From then on they spent every waking moment together, caught up in getting to know the person that was considered their perfect match and Hermione lost her last ally. It wasn't that she wasn't happy for them, she truly was, it was just that she was snow the only one of her friends that wasn't matched up and she knew without a shadow of a doubt that there was no chance that she would.
She was walking back from the library late that night (again trying to avoid the throng of new couples) when she overheard a conversation behind a tapestry in one of the halls. Now she wasn't normally one to eavesdrop on private conversations but when she heard the voices of two people who were generally not on speaking terms, she couldn't help but listen in.
"You know it's true. You've know for a long time now." Draco Malfoy was half whispering, half yelling as he tried to make his companion see reason.
"NO, why would fate or destiny or whatever it is pair me up with you!?" The reply was vicious, Ginny was clearly against whatever Draco was suggesting.
"I DON'T KNOW! But they did, we both have the mark to prove it.." Hermione almost gave herself away, she was shocked. Ginny couldn't possibly have Draco's mark, she was supposed to have Harry's.
Hermione ran away, not wanting to hear anymore because listening to them gave her hope.. and hope was a dangerous thing for the heart when that hope turned to disappointment.
Despite trying not to get herself hopeful, Hermione couldn't quite help herself and as a result she spent the next few weeks trying to spot the mark that Draco and Ginny supposedly shared. It took a while (mostly because she didn't spend a great deal of time near anyone in Slytherin House) but she eventually discovered that it was in fact true.
On both of their left cheeks, right there for the world to see, were a matching set of freckles mapping out the dragon constellation (ironically enough). Subtle enough not to be noticed by anyone who wasn't looking for it but so obvious that anyone could see. She was surprised that no one had discovered it yet, or at least suspected but then Ginny was with Harry so it wasn't reaally that surprising at all.
The sound of laughter drifting up from the common room did nothing to improve her mood, it just made her feel even more out of place amongst her fellow students. She sobbed quietly to herself, glad that her dorm was empty for once so that she could have a good cry in peace. There hadn't been many opportunities for her to let loose her feelings about the matter in past months, with the war looming over everyone there had been little time to wallow in self-pity but today had been particularly stressful as she had watched Harry snuggle up to Ginny on the couch in the Gryffindor common room.
She let out a sigh.
Harry.
She was still nowhere closer to finding the ending she desired. Logical as she was, it hadn't taken long after discovering Draco and Ginny's matching marks for her to realize that just like Lily, Ginny might possibly have the marks for both men. And the choice between them was just about as clear as the fact that Hagrid was a half giant.
She would and in fact, had picked Harry.
She looked out over the frozen lake, breathing in deeply to try and calm herself. Cormac McLaggen, a boy known to have already found his other half (a poor Hufflepuff girl) had tried to shove his tongue down her throat after Quiditch practice just minutes ago. He seemed to be under the strong delusion that she was interested in him in some way, thankfully he seemed to take the hint after she had given him a rather good wallop, much like she had done to Draco in third year.
Even having vented her anger then, she was still frustrated now as she sat down on a fallen log, kicking at the snow beneath her boots. The toad had had the gall to tell her that he was as good as she was ever going to get while bringing up the fact that the person who shared her mark, whoever they may be, obviously didn't want her or they would have come forward by now. Just thinking about it made her want to go back and show him one or two of the more creative things she could do with her wand, something about dark places and the inability to reproduce crossed her mind.
There was a soft rustle and then she was enveloped in the scent of sunshine and freshly cut grass, a scent that reminded her of summer. Harry. She never understood how he managed to smell like her favorite season all year round but she wasn't going to complain.
He sat down beside her as he waited for her to cool off a little more, offering his unwavering support. Yes, he may be with Ginny but he was still there for her whenever she needed him (a fact that annoyed Ginny beyond reason). He refused to abandon her even when she was at her worst, instead he would remain silent until it passed before cheering her up with silly tales of his obese cousin. They never failed to make her laugh and often he laughed right along with her.
"I may or may not have done something really...'twin-ish' to a certain student that is greasier than Snape." He said out of the blue a few minutes later, while looking innocently at his untied shoelace.
She turned to stare at him incredulously, wondering if he could possibly mean what she thought he meant. She opened her mouth to ask just that but he beat her to it.
"One could say that the harassing git has aged prematurely and yet another could say that he has simply gone bald." There was a twinkle in his eyes now as he spoke as though he was mentioning the weather. "Still others might say that he was hexed by the Quiditch captain... but I doubt anybody will manage to uncover the real truth of the matter, after all you can't believe everything you hear."
She was giggling by the time he mentioned the word 'bald' and by the time he had finished speaking all together she was all but crying with laughter. The mental image of a bald Cormac was just too much and she almost wanted to run back to the castle just to see it for herself.
Harry who had broken into laughter right along with her wrapped his arm around her shoulders in a bid to keep upright, as they were both dangerously close to landing face first in the snow. When they finally sobered up instead of letting go, he merely squeezed her tighter and tucked her head beneath his chin.
"You have to know though, 'Mione, that what he said wasn't true. Whoever wouldn't want you would have to be the dumbest man alive." He was deadly serious now and she could tell that he honestly meant every word. "I'm sure that he's out there Hermione. He just doesn't know that it's you yet."
Hermione looked down at her lap, unsure how to take his words. He was everything that she hoped for and he truly had no idea that her mark was meant for him, he honestly thought there was someone else out there for her.
"Harry... what if there isn't? I mean what happens if there's no one? Have you ever wondered..." She cut herself off, there was no way she could ask that. Harry was too good for that, he would never think along such terms. Ginny was one of the few good things in his life and he deserved the happiness that she brought.
Harry regarded her carefully for a moment, looking into her eyes that were a mirror image of his own. She didn't know what he saw there but when he spoke it was as though he read her mind.
"..Ever wondered what it would be like if there was no mark?" He paused waiting for an answer and when she nodded carefully, he continued. "Sometimes.. I question it. There have been times when I wonder why fate or whoever it was picked her for me. We are so different.. but they did and it doesn't matter now what I imagined could have been because I know it will never be."
He smiled down at her sadly and in that moment she wondered how he could have missed what was written clearly in her eyes.
But he did miss it and that was that.
The year continued on in the same manner it had before, everyone rushing from place to place, exams and the news of war in every morning paper. The only change seemed to be in the schools golden couple, a new tension had sprouted between Ginny and Harry that no one could explain.
For weeks there were arguments in the hall, bouts of silence and then sudden make-ups. The process was repeated again and again until one day right out in the great hall they had a massive row.
"IT'S NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL!" Ginny growled the famous Weasley temper once again coming to the forefront.
"THEN TELL ME WHY YOU DID IT! YOU CAN'T JUST GO MESSING WITH PEOPLE LIKE THAT! Even if it was harmless, you could have at least told me!" Harry practically never yelled and to see him so angry scared her more than anything ever had before. His eyes were wild and you could feel the magic just sparking off him causing any of the students nearby to retreat to a safer distance, only if he truly let go there probably wouldn't be a safe distance.
"It was stupid.. I know that." Ginny was quieter now, sniffling as she spoke, "I didn't mean to hurt you...I just love you... so much."
Her crying seemed to diffuse Harry and he slumped slightly. "Did you really think that I would never find out? Why couldn't you have just been honest?"
There was silence as they looked at each other before he sighed and took her in his arms, already forgiving her for whatever she had done. It wasn't until later that Hermione learned what they had been arguing about.
Apparently Neville Longbottom had mentioned how beautifully green his pet toad's eyes were (terribly odd yes but a certain Miss Bones loved it), which Harry quickly replied with them being brown. The ensuing argument lasted long enough for Professor McGonagall to get involved, she agreed with Neville which in a series of twisted events led to Harry getting his eyes checked for color blindness. What they found however was an obscure and strange charm that made any green eyes that Harry looked into to appear brown (with the exception of his own).
This inevitably led back to Ginny who had placed the charm, leaving behind her magical signature. Hermione was sure that she was the only one who suspected the purpose of the charm and Ginny refused to tell anyone why she had done it.
But Hermione knew and with that knowledge came the smallest seed of doubt.
The weeks that followed were hard on Hermione, harder than usual that is. Muggle born students were becoming targets for the pure bloods who believed the lies Voldemort spewed and she had more than one close shave, the Daily Prophet news grew worse as the days past but what hurt her most was that Harry barely spoke to her at all.
Since their argument in the great hall Ginny and Harry had been closer than ever, one was rarely seen without the other. Ginny seemed to be determined to mark her territory and tossed filthy looks at Hermione whenever she even thought about talking to her best friend.
Little things came to her attention that she hadn't noticed before. Things like the way she always seemed to shift whenever someone mentioned the 'mark' in her presence, or the way she bragged to the other girls that she was with Harry Potter, or the way she seemed to think she was entitled to whatever she wished, whether that be good grades (even if she hadn't earned them) or new clothes. She set standards that few could live up to and despite her upbringing there was a certain distain when she was in the presence of muggle-born students that chilled Hermione to the bone.
Things that she had never thought anyone in their right mind could do were suddenly things that she suspected of the young red-head. Where once she saw an innocent girl desperately in love with her other half she now saw the slightest hint of madness, a cunning that was worthy of a Slytherin. Above all though she saw that Ginevra Weasley was an incredible actress.
She began to research the mark more thoroughly, dove herself into discovering the one truth that she had missed that could turn the tables of this little war.
She began to hope.
She discovered the answer the same day Harry did.
In all recorded history the mark was something that was definite, a completely solid similarity between the people. The mark was identical on each person, whether it was afore mentioned love of lemon drops or a physical mark, between the couple it was always exactly the same.
Snape's birthmark, James's scar, Draco's freckles, even Ron's love for Chuddly Canons sweets were entirely identical to that of their partners. Identical right down to where they were placed.
Ginny claimed to have a lightning bolt scar to match Harry, but even if she did, to truly be 'the' mark, it would have to be in the exact same place as his. She would have to have a scar right smack dab in the middle of her forehead...just like Harry.
She dropped the book she had been reading and raced from the library, straight to Gryffindor tower, not knowing what she was going to do but certain that she had to do something.
As it turns out she didn't have a chance to do anything, as what she came across in the common room was nothing that she was prepared for.
The room was a mess, chairs and tables were overturned, wallpaper was hanging from the walls where it had clearly been ripped, windows were shattered and the shards of glass were scattered amongst the debris of parchment and books that had the misfortune of being used at the time of whatever had happened. Students were hiding behind the scattered furniture, trying to avoid the cause of all the devastation.
The cause that happened to be Harry.
He stood front and center in the room, looking ready to explode though it appeared as though he already had. Ginny stood shaking before him in nothing but a scrappy nightgown that she clutched tightly together but still standing her ground with a sneer on her face.
They stared at each other in a tense stalemate, neither willing to give ground, both wanting to win this fight. It looked like they had gone to war and Hermione would have been horrified at the damage Harry had caused if it wasn't for the look of callous uncaring mixed with childish petulance on Ginny's face.
She could guess what had happened, Harry wouldn't normally allow himself to let go this far, especially not around Ginny. In fact her tantrums usually kept him in check but they wouldn't if her knew. Knowing would make him infinitely harder to manipulate, knowing would make him dangerous.
Ginny should have been angry, she should have been heart broken, she should have cared, or at the least been very scared but instead she looked as though someone had taken a toy that she didn't want but was annoyed anyway on principle.
"What you did was unforgiveable, Ginny." Harry was breathing heavily and clenching his fists tightly, trying to control himself. "Do you have any idea what you've done?...What you have cost me?"
"I did it for you, for us!" She replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world. She didn't care that she had lied to him and there was little to no fear of what would happen. She had in her delusion begun to see it as her right to have Harry.
The thing with Ginny was that she had grown so used to manipulating Harry behind his back for so long that she no longer had any reverence for the power he possessed. While he was an average boy, he was definitely not an average wizard and where most people had enough self-preservation in them to respect him, she had long forgotten.
So she was somewhat surprised when the room became a whirlwind of flying objects as Harry once again lost a handle on his rage. Hermione could feel her feet being pulled from underneath her as the little tornado grew larger but thankfully she never left the ground as at that moment several of the professors, including Dumbledore, entered the common room to see what had set off the castle wards.
"Mr. Potter! Calm yourself!"
And just like that it all stopped and Harry without a backwards glanced turned to leave. He barely spoke above a whisper but everyone heard him anyway, "No, you did it for you." And then he was gone.
He didn't notice that Ginny now sported an uncomfortable looking rash and seemed to be missing a large junk of hair due to one of the many flying objects (being rather sharp) grazing her head.
It took her almost four hours to find him, she checked the Quiditch pitch, the lake, the kitchens, the room of requirement and even the library but as is always the case, he was the in the last place she checked, the owlery. He was talking to Hedwig, calmer now than when she last saw him but also decidedly not himself.
"Harry?" She asked carefully, not sure if he had noticed her presence yet.
"Hey," he didn't turn to look at her, "guess you heard, huh?" He acted as though they were talking about the weather, no emotion in his voice.
"Yeah, I heard." She didn't bother to mention that she had also seen, he never liked it when she saw him break down like that, he was always too worried that she would get hurt by his temper.
He turned to look at her then and smile sadly while patting the ground beside him. They hadn't had the chance to speak in weeks yet there was still the overwhelming familiarity between them as she sat down next to him. It was always like that, no matter how long they were apart they were always the same when they got back together again.
They sat in silence for a while, just happy to have the other back again. It was comforting to know that this would always be the same, that no matter whether things worked out the way she hoped, she would always have her best friend.
He started talking again, seemingly out of nowhere. "I got so caught up in the idea that someone was made to love me, made for me.. I never thought to question it. Even though it didn't always feel right.. I just assumed... No matter how many times I wondered what could have been or how on earth my other half could possibly have been her. I always just accepted it because I never thought that anyone would lie, I especially never imagined that she would... She seemed so innocent." He dropped his head into his hands, attempting to hide his emotions.
".. and it's funny because when I found out, it was as though I should have already known because knowing that she wasn't.. felt more right than anything in our relationship ever had... I'm not even sad that it's over, just that I missed so much because of her."
It was silent for a moment before Hermione drew the courage to ask what she had been wondering since the whole fiasco had begun. "H-how did you 'figure it out'?"
Harry chuckled humorlessly, "She always used to tell me that her 'mark' was somewhere private, that I couldn't see it unless... well, you know. I believed her, like everything else, I didn't question what she told me. I honestly don't know what she was thinking, I had always wanted to wait.. for what I'm not sure but I wanted to wait. I guess she got impatient. She showed up in my dorm this morning...in her.. ah, birthday suit." He laughed bitterly again, still finding nothing funny but needing to vent his anger in some way. "It's strange, I barely even noticed that she was naked. I just took one look and thought 'she's not the one'. There was no mark."
He fell silent again after that, letting her process what had happened. She couldn't believe that they had all been so blind, Ginny had fooled everyone for years, just stating things without proof and getting away with it. She told so many outright lies and we believed her just because we had a basic belief in the goodness of her character.
"I can't believe I never saw it. I watched you guys for so long, I questioned it, saw things that should have made me doubt her claim but I never saw that. Not until you had already figured it out at least. I should have done more... I could have saved you so much trouble." Hermione was disgusted with herself, she should have worked it out sooner, she was the smartest witch of her age, she should have been able to see through it all. She should have known.
"Nobody saw Hermione, this is not your fault. Not even Dumbledore suspected anything, there was no way you could have known." He was right, she knew that but she doubted she would ever forgive herself for not being there when he needed her.
"Never again! We'll make certain next time, be more careful." She nodded as if that decided the matter and there was nothing more to it. She was like that with most things, particularly studying but the reminder of something that was so essentially Hermione was all that it took for him to blurt out yet another startling truth.
"I know this is inappropriate and all kinds of other things... but I al-always, sort of wished that she was you." Her eyes widened in disbelief, shocked that he had ever once thought of her like 'that'. He was not the kind of man to think of a woman who wasn't his and he had been with Ginny for so long. He was Harry and she was just Hermione, the friend. It didn't matter that she had his mark there wasn't anything in the world that could make her believe herself worthy of that kind of attention. There had always been hope, (no matter how much she tried to squash it) but even now, with Ginny well and truly out of the picture, she was still not sure that he would ever look at her with that kind of potential.
He looked down again, sure that he had just overstepped some boundary and quickly continued in the hopes of salvaging some dignity. "I know it's impossible, what with your 'mark' being out there somewhere but I sometimes just thought that the whole deal was complete bullocks and that I should just go with what I felt.. but I see how happy it makes all of them" Here he made a sweeping gesture with his arm event though there was no one else there, she understood anyway. "and I would never want to take that away from you."
He turned to look at her, trying to covey with his eyes that he meant every word but stopped short when he looked into her bright green orbs. It was the first time that he had really looked at her since the charm on his sight had been removed and to say that he was shocked would be as close to the truth as words can convey.
He blinked, blinked again, stuttered and fell silent. He shut his eyes and started to count backwards from ten and just when she was truly starting to get worried he spoke again.
"T-their.. their green." He swallowed hard, "Your eyes.. are green." His own eyes took on a far away look, "I guess I remembered that they were, when we first met all the way up to the beginning of fourth year. I just never really thought about it.. and I saw brown for so long..."
Hermione watched him process, having seen it before she knew better than to interrupt, he would get wherever he was going without her help and be all the better for having come to his own conclusion. She saw the expressions as they crossed his face, surprise, confusion... realization and wonder and then.
He came back to the present now looking angrier than then he had been all that long day. "She knew! She knew it was you and she still lied."
Hermione remained silent through all this, her new found hope keeping her quiet until Harry stood looking about ready to kill the little witch who had caused all the trouble, at which point Hermione stood with him and grabbed onto his arm.
"Harry! Harry!" She finally got his attention by placing her hands on either side of his face and looking directly into his eyes. "It's alright, they'll take care of it. She won't get away with it. I promise."
He calmed down easily enough, the contact she had with her hands seeming to help the process along where usually it took a great deal more to make even the slightest dent on his anger. He slumped forward, wrapping his arms around her and burying his face into her unruly curls. Taking a deep breath, bringing her scent of parchment and vanilla along with it, he whispered his thanks into the skin of her throat leaving a trail of goose bumps along her skin as he spoke.
She shivered gently, the mood between them changing rapidly from comforting to nervous excitement. This was something that they had never explored and even though their touches were meant to be innocent they still sparked something, started something that made both their breaths catch and their insides do little flips.
It had taken them years to get here and while their relationship had been strictly platonic in the past it was no great leap and took no time at all for them to move into this no realm where touch meant something else entirely.
Harry seemed to freeze for a moment before pulling away from his hiding place to look once more into her eyes. He looked uncertain, almost scared. He had been hurt so much in his life, been through so much, nothing good had ever come easily to him and this had been no exception. But still this seemed almost too easy to him.
He was beginning to pull away when she made up her mind and before he could an inch she had placed her inexperienced lips against his. It was clumsy and short but it left her even more breathless than before and when she opened her eyes he was still there, staring down at her in awed disbelief.
And then he was kissing her again, arms around her and hands buried deeply in her hair. She had expected him to fumble, to be nervous like he was with anything 'girl' related but he wasn't. The quiet power that he seemed to emanate made an unexpected appearance and what followed held them silent for what felt like hours.
She couldn't get close enough, the feelings building inside her seeming to demand as much contact with him as possible. Harry must have felt the same way because it was only seconds later that she felt the cold stones walls of the owlery pressed against her back as he pushed for more contact. His fingers left her hair and sought skin, any skin that was available to him and whatever he was doing with his lips caused the last of her already foggy thoughts to cease.
She was just wrapping her leg around his hip when a loud cough brought them back to earth.
Hermione froze mortified to be caught in such a position, she buried her face in Harry's shoulder hoping that whoever it was would ignore her existence until she could pull herself together. Harry however seemed to find this amusing and chuckling all the while he turned towards the door.
"Professor Dumbledore" Harry spoke just Hermione had managed to get her color down causing her to start blushing all over again. It just had to be the Headmaster didn't it?
"Sorry to interrupt this... ahh meeting but we need to discuss what is happening with young Ginevra." She was sure she heard a note of amusement in his voice as Dumbledore spoke heightening her embarrassment even further.
His words had a very different effect on Harry. He immediately tensed up and tightened his hold on her as though afraid of having to let go.
"Hermione may come too. I believe she may have some information on the matter that would be pertinent to tell the Minister." He smiled understandingly at the two of them before turning to leave, clearing meaning for them to follow.
"Scrimgeour is here, sir?" Her curiosity finally overcame her humiliation as she followed them back toward the castle, her hand firmly placed within Harry's.
It was three extremely busy days later that Ginny was sent to Azkaban. No amount of pleading (even on the part of Dumbledore himself) changed the anger that the wizarding society as a whole felt about what she had done to the Chosen One.
Even after Harry himself asked for leniency for the sake of her true soulmate it was refused. Lying about the mark and deceiving someone's other half was not taken lightly. Draco Malfoy was granted visitation but it was no surprise to anyone that he refused, to have you love, love another was one thing but to leave your own soulmate for someone who was not, was a true curse. It was heard many years later that he had found another unlucky as he and that he lived out his days in France.
The Weasley Family was devastated though they could not condone her behavior and though it saddened them all they did not argue her sentence. Emotions were a powerful thing among wizards and what she had done could very well have turned their only hope against them and started another war outside the one they were already fighting. Some of their greatest wars were caused by love stolen and the only reason the current one had not yet come to a head was that none of the casualties had partners. A small miracle.
The outcry within Hogwarts was equally loud and it wasn't long before new measures were put in place to stop a reoccurrence of this behavior. Each new couple was to speak to a professor and verify each mark beyond dispute. It was with great relief that the students one by one discovered that there hadn't been anymore lies told regarding this thing that was so close to their hearts.
"Hermione.. Hermione." Someone was tapping on her shoulder and a familiar voice was whispering in her ear but she was so comfortable and warm she simply did not want to move.
"Five more minutes.." She turned her face deeper into the warmth only to feel it shake with suppressed laughter.
"Hermione, you'll make us late for the train." That caught her attention. She bolted upright and began to search the room for her things. Today was their first day back at Hogwarts, having chosen to return for their seventh year (a year late) now that the war was over.
"Why didn't you just say so?!" She scuttled about pulling on clothes and tossing things into their respective trunks as she went.
"I was waiting for the fog to clear." She turned to find Harry still lazing in their bed wearing only an amused grin.
He took her breathe away. It had been like that right from the start, no matter what he did he always amazed her and for some reason he loved her (mark or no mark). He had proven to her that there was reason behind it all, that sometimes magic knew better than they did and that people really did have someone to complete them. Because he did...
It turns out that they were late for the train.. but it wasn't completely her fault.