Disclaimer: Not mine. Never will be.

Author's Note: I am so terribly sorry. I've had a massive case of writers block in addition to a thousand other things that have been going on, plus school and debate, so again really very sorry. I had a huge amount of trouble carving Harry out. I had no idea how he would act, both with Hermione and not. So I settled for something Semi believable.

It was inevitable, they said.

I loved him, he loved me.

We were a pair, meant to be.

Not anymore as you can surely see.

It was something no one could forsee,

A terrible tragedy,

I found him under a willow tree,

My love, sprawled in the shade, his heartbeat absentee.

Closed were his eyes, which had once sparkled and laughed and teased me.

Gone was his soul, severed from its tethers and set free.

I wailed and knelt at his knee.

Begging and Bargaining, hoping for an answer to my plea,

But alas, such an answer was never meant to be.

For when the days had passed one, two, three,

We set my love adrift upon the kindly, gentle sea,

With him went my life and my heart's key,

For our love was fated never to be.

"Hermione" he responded softly, ignoring the genuflecting Neville, his voice surprisingly soft. His eyes were gentle as they roamed her body hungrily, before he turned to Neville. "Would you be so generous as to grant us some privacy, my friend?" He addressed his Capitan, more command than question.

Neville rose and bowed "Of course. My Lord, My lady" he acquiesced, hurrying from the room.

As the door closed quietly behind Neville, Harry strode forward, dropping to His knees before her, clasping her hands in His own. She sensed his magic washing over her, entwining with her own, ensuring that she had no injuries. It was comforting in its familiarity, but frightening in its power. She pulled her hand from his grasp reaching out to caress his face, fingers dancing from His jaw and the scar that sat across it to the worry lines at his eyes, before she extended her hand to brush his hair back. He leaned his cheek into her palm, closing his eyes.

"You have gotten taller" She said simply. And he had. He was now perhaps a foot taller than her 5'3', his shoulders broader and stronger than she remembered. His scarred hands engulfed her much smaller ones.

His eyes opened slowly, their bright intensity taking her breath away. "When I saw you last, you were not there. Your body was there, but you were empty. Just a shell." He whispered harshly. "I have not seen you in the three years hence, and I have missed you dearly." Rising to his feet, he pulled her to him, resting his forehead against her own.

She let out a choked sob, her heart breaking with grief, her very soul lamenting for the time they had lost, the sorrow overwhelming. Overwhelming Sorrow for the pain her dearest friend had endured, Sorrow for the world that had suffered his wrath.

"I missed you, horribly, Harry. I missed you every day" She whispered as tears shining with firelight escaped down her face leaving glistening tear tracks down her cheeks. Her eyes opened slowly, as her tears were gently wiped away. His eyes bored into hers as he brushed her hair back from her face, stroking his fingers across her brow.

"Do not cry, Hermione. I will give you the stars themselves if you will but dry your eyes, forevermore." He ordered desperately.

She gave a laugh that was almost a sob, racking her body as she shook her head, before leaning it against his chest. "You have never been very sympathetic to crying girls." She muttered quietly, her heart heavy with remembrance of his various romances. She felt him frown against the crown of her head, before he pulled back from her, searching her face with his forceful stare.

A sudden chill engulfed the room as his aura darkened suddenly, as though he was abruptly furious. His voice was hard as he spoke. "You are not just any girl off the streets. You are special. You are Hermione. My Hermione." He took a deep breath, holding her gaze, and she was entranced as the emerald green fluctuated with gold. "I promise you the stars to cease your tears because to hear your sorrow rends my soul. For no other reason. For no other person. Do you understand?"

She nodded before drawing away from him, and turned toward the roaring fire, which, despite its size, did nothing to ward her against the unnatural cold that had descended.

They stood that way for an immeasurable amount of time. She fought with herself, hating the hope that had bloomed within her at his words, hope for something she had longed for since the first day they had met. A hope she had suppressed over the years, knowing she was much to plain, much to boring, for her wonderful, exciting friend to ever see in the way she had prayed for. Yet she could not hope for these things, for the boy had become a man of great, and terrible power. Power he had devoted to things her very soul rebelled against. How could she still care for him in such a way, even with her knowledge of what he had done? Was she a monster for even those fleeting thoughts? Eventually she could stand it no more and she spoke of the first thing she could think of.

"Neville, he spoke, he mentioned others… others who knew me well" She stuttered out, turning back to him, and though the chill began to recede he only raised an eyebrow to her statement. She swallowed, dreading the answer to her question. "May I inquire as to whom he referred to?"

The cold receded farther as Harry stared at her silently for a moment, before the corner of his mouth turned upward, just the slightest bit.

"I hold the loyalty of many, Hermione" He answered. "Many who fight for equality beneath my banner, many who fight in your name."

She crumpled to her knees, devastated by the confirmation of Neville's words, desolate with the knowledge of her part in the Fall of the World. The Fall to Darkness. Head buried in her hands she grieved, mourning in her guilt.

The Dark King, Sorcerer Supreme, The Imperial Guardian of the World held her as she wept, as she keened, as she sobbed. He held her until she fell into blessed sleep.

And because she was blissfully unconscious she does not see his actions. She is unaware as he places a circlet of silver round her head, as he lays her gently in the bed, covering her carefully. She does not feel his lips press against her own. She does not know of the gem in the circlet, full now, of her magic and his, that ensures he will always be able to find her. She knows naught of his touch to her temples, ensuring that she dreams of him, only of him, always of him. She does not know.

Author's Note: Okay so I'm gonna let ya'll decide Ron's fate. He's dead, but whether he died fighting at Harry's side, or against him is your choice my dear readers. Also, would you like Luna to be introduced in the next chapter? I'm still trying to decide.