Written for the Houses Competition: Round 6: Spring Awakens
House: Hufflepuff
Position: Potions
Category: Drabble
Prompt: [Colour] Green
Summary: Hermione observes Harry's eyes throughout the years
Word Count: 541
Warning(s): Character death
Hermione was not one to miss things. She noticed many things, and one of them was Harry's eyes.
When she first met him, his eyes were a dull green, like moss in a forest. Knowing what she did now of Harry's home life, she knew it was because of the Dursley's. Harry had little happiness in his life, and Hogwarts was his last chance.
After their first encounter, they interacted little, but she noticed his eyes had brightened. They were now just a regular green, almost like the grass. She had wondered about it briefly before dismissing it. She had more important things to do, like study.
The next time she noticed Harry's eyes, he had just figured out something about the Philosopher's Stone. As they grew, she noticed that when Harry figured things out, his eyes became a bright emerald green, filled with satisfaction that he had solved things. She liked that color, because then she knew he was learning.
When he got angry, she noticed in their fifth year, his eyes became dark like seaweed. It was a scary look, and Hermione vowed not to anger him after that.
Sadness was not a good look on him. When Cedric died, and then Sirius the next year, his eyes became like pine, dark and cold and filled with grief. She didn't like to see him sad, and she knew Ron didn't either. They were rewarded with shamrock green eyes when they cheered him up, the color of happiness.
She didn't talk about her observations much, but she brought it up with Harry one time.
"Your eyes are like moss again," she informed him in third year, after he ran away from the Durley's.
He looked at her in confusion so she elaborated, "Your eyes are moss green. You only get like that when you're with the Dursleys."
"Really?" he said, sounding interested but not at the same time.
Hermione shook her head, knowing he would never understand. After that brief but confusing conversation, she never brought it up again.
There was also one more color she could identify. When Harry was determined about something, his eyes became basil green. It was a look she got familiar with after third year, when they tried to save Sirius. When Harry got like that, Hermione knew there was no stopping him.
After the war, his eyes were shamrock green or regular green. He was happy with life now that Voldemort was gone, and she was glad for that.
Then, when they were 25, things changed once again. Death Eaters, who they had been trying to capture after the war, attacked Diagon Alley and in the ensuing battle, Harry got injured. The Healers tried everything, but there was nothing they could do.
Hermione swore she would never forget his face in his dying moments. His eyes were a fern green, filled with contentment as he died surrounded by friends and family. And Hermione was glad that in the end, he had died happy. It was all she could ask for her friend, and she knew there was only happiness waiting for him on the other side.
And when she greeted him, years and years after his death, his eyes were once again shamrock green.