So now you've got my heart
And it hurts cause it's still on fire
And now I cry
Cause there's nothing left but a "Goodbye"
Hermione hardly knew how the two weeks leading up to Lily and James' wedding went. Every few days Remus would claim her undivided attention for several hours and the rest of her time her time was split between spending time with James and Sirius and helping Lily to plan her wedding. God alone knew how Lily was managing it because Hermione felt exhausted. The emotional strain, she supposed, didn't help much. She had thought herself so very clever, trying to maintain an emotional distance from all of them and in the end she had failed. They had wrapped themselves around her heart like ivy and it hurt to think of leaving them behind, never to see half of the group again.
In spite of it all, though, the day of Lily and James' wedding dawned fairly sunny for January. There was a crisp frost underfoot but not the slightest sign of rain. This might have been her last day with all of them but she was determined that it would be a happy one. The sun was due to set at about 4:30 which gave Hermione about three hours after the ceremony to show say her goodbyes at the wedding reception and then leave.
Lily looked absolutely breath-taking in her wedding dress, she virtually glowed. Never had Hermione seen her so bubbly.
"Does it look ok?" she gushed as Hermione entered her room "I think I've finally sorted out my hair and makeup, they had to take my dress in again this morning. I told you that was the bridesmaid dress for you, how are you doing?"
"You look perfect" Hermione answered smiling "Are you nervous?"
Lily shook her head "I want to spend the rest of my life with James, however long that might be. I've known that for a long time, all I'm doing today is officially saying that"
"I was hoping you might be" Hermione joked "I had a whole speech prepared and everything. Well, never mind. Are you ready to go?"
It was a beautifully simple service, James' mother cried. It was a tiny church really, and the marauders and a handful of Order members more or less filled it. Both Lily and James had been a little nervous on the walk into the church but as their eyes met it was as though everything in the world just fell into place. Hermione let a few tears escape as she watched, knowing just how limited their time together would be.
As she watched them dance their first dance, though, she realised that they were too wonderful together. Perhaps this made up for the fact that they only had two years left to live, their lives were too good. She found some strange comfort in knowing that the little time they were given would be so perfect they might have designed it themselves.
"Are you ok?" a voice interrupted her thoughts. She turned to see Sirius standing next to her, also watching the couple on the dance floor
She nodded and sipped her glass of champagne "I can't think of a nicer way to see everyone for the last time"
"Would you honour me with a last dance?" he nudged her with his elbow
"When was our first?" she accepted his hand and they joined the numerous other pairs rotating around the floor
"In the Gryffindor Common Room on the last day of school" he feigned hurt "I'm appalled that you don't remember"
She laughed as she remembered being dragged around the room in that moment of reckless abandon. It felt as though it was years ago now, not mere months. "Oh yes, I'm surprised you remember that"
He grinned at her "I still think we would have been good together, but you spurned me for Remus"
"I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist him"
"It's too late" he clutched his chest "my heart is broken forever"
They lapsed into silence for a minute until Sirius caught sight of Remus standing in the corner "I don't know what he's going to do without you"
"He'll manage" she sighed "He's going to have good friends to look after him and one day he'll meet someone else and they'll be perfect for each other"
The reception was something of a blur after that. The goodbyes were exhausting; Lily clung to her so tight that they had had to be prized apart. Before Hermione knew it she was stood in that familiar Hogwarts corridor with Remus as the shadows lengthened
"You don't have to go" his tone was almost pleading
"I do" she sighed "I was never meant to be here to begin with, now it's time to go home"
"I'm going to miss you"
"I'll miss you too, but this is for the best" Her voice caught in her throat as the tears which she had held back all day finally spilled over "It never would have worked out anyway, what with you being a Pisces"
He laughed but it was forced and sounded painful and then he pulled her to him and kissed her with such passion that she knew that this kiss would be burned into her memory forever. She could have stood there forever but the sun was sinking fast so she did the hardest thing she had done yet, she took a deep breath and turned away.
The room of Requirement had never seen such a tense silence, Harry checked his watch for the hundredth time and glanced out of the window again.
"I think it's time" he said finally
"Right-o" said Fred, rolling up his sleeves as George drew his wand, the rest of the order followed suit
"Now does everyone know the spell?"
If Hermione had felt disorientated travelling backwards in time, it was nothing to travelling forwards. She thought later that the feeling was something akin to the way the room span if you closed your eyes after drinking too much. The Vanishing Cabinet was not huge and she had sort of folded herself up to fit inside. For a minute nothing happened and she wondered if this had all been some elaborate prank. Then there was a rattling and the cabinet began to tremble as though it was being shaken to pieces.
Just as she began to worry that there was every chance she might die cramped up in this tiny over-hyped wardrobe, the movement stopped and she was forcibly ejected onto a cold stone floor.
Hermione was sprawled on the floor, her face hurt. She was scared to open her eyes in case it hadn't worked, or worse, she had been sent to another time period again and was doomed instead to spend her life bouncing around history like some hideous real life episode of quantum leap.
A hand gripped hers, quickly followed by several others and she was pulled to her feet
"Are you ok?" a familiar voice asked
She finally braved opening her eyes and nearly shrieked with joy when she saw Harry, the Weasleys and the remainder of the order staring back at her
"Ok?" she choked "you're here, all of you. If you want I could fly"
She was buried under a wave of redheads, Ginny was crying. The twins took turns in picking her up and whirling her round. Over one of their shoulders she caught sight of Remus, holding Tonks' hand tightly. His expression was unreadable.
She turned away and her eye caught the ring glittering on Ginny's finger "Oh Harry" she gasped "you finally proposed"
He blushed and nodded "We'll have to catch you up on everything that's happened"
"I can't wait" she smiled
"Well you'll have to wait a little longer" Mrs Weasley interrupted "I imagine time travel can be quite tiring and Hermione looks pale. So let's just get her home and you can fuss over her tomorrow morning"
Molly Weasley's molly-coddling had rarely been so welcome.
A/N: AAAAHHH! so she's back. You'll have to wait a while to see how this plays out s I'm still refining the ending and playing around with some different possible endings. Anyway, Here's a teaser:
"What happened to you? You're so quiet lately." Fred whispered "I understand why you wouldn't want to tell Harry, Ron or Ginny, in case they're angry with you afterwards, but I won't judge you at all. So if you want an impartial ear, I'm happy to listen"
And I'll update ASAP