A/N: Hello! This is a Harry/Hermione one-shot, but it's not romance. I hope you like it, and please leave a review!
Disclaimer: It all belongs to J.K. Rowling, minus the plot!
It Almost Feels Like Flying
Harry was breathing hard.
Why did this have to happen?
Everything had been going well, they had defeated Voldemort, and his body was still lying on the ground outside of Hogwarts. They had rounded up the last of the remaining Death Eaters and put them in Azkaban.
Every last one of them.
Or so they thought.
Harry was talking with McGonnagall when he heard her scream, an ear-splitting sound that made his heart wrench.
He whirled around, immediately calling her name, not knowing where she was but hoping, just hoping that she was alright.
"Hermione!"
He saw her, falling to the ground with a sterling silver dagger sticking from her abdomen, Bellatrix Lestrange grinning manically above her. Before Harry could even comprehend what he was doing, he shot stunner after stunner- any and every spell or curse he knew- at the Death Eater, knocking her unconscious from the force of them all.
Ignoring everyone else, he ran to her side, gently lifting her head and placing it in his lap.
He carefully pulled the knife from her already-deathly pale skin and let it drop to the ground.
"Stay with me, 'Mione, okay?" he asked quietly, his voice soft.
He knew, by the amount of blood he saw, that no spell could save her.
"Ha…rry?" Hermione whispered, her golden chocolate eyes slowly growing dimmer.
"It's gonna be alright, 'Mione," Harry said, despite knowing the truth. "It's alright."
Hermione whimpered, and Harry thought he'd do anything- anything- to take away her pain. But she didn't cry, merely looked up at the clouds.
"Harry, I don't want to go," she whimpered.
Harry barely felt the tears falling down his cheeks. Her brushed the curls form Hermione's face and rubbed slow, soothing circles onto her cheeks with his thumbs, hardly noticing Ron walk over and kneel by Hermione's side.
"It'll be okay," Harry told her again. "It almost feels like flying, doesn't it?"
She never had enjoyed flying, but at his words, she smiled, and finally let a single tear trail down her cheek. Harry glanced at Ron and saw that he was crying, too, gripping Hermione's hand with both of his and holding it to his lips.
Harry looked down at Hermione again and saw that her eyes were trained on the clouds.
"Just like flying," she whispered, and Harry gave the smallest, saddest of smiles.
He watched, helpless and heartbroken, as her eyes slowly lost their twinkle, and their life.
He watched as the bookish, brilliant, brave girl that was his best friend slipped from his fingers and floated up to the sky, soaring over the clouds, finally free.