I'll be you summer sun forever
"You're warm," Harry whispered.
Hermione's laugh reach his ears quickly, her arms around his neck, swaying to the music.
"It's the blue fire." She said, nonchalant.
"No," Harry shook his head. He sighed heavily, gripping her harder. "It's you. It's always been you, Hermione."
The statement felt like something else to both of them. Hermione's breath hitched, before she slumped forward and leaned her weight onto him. Harry cursed mentally, hoping he hadn't made things awkward between them. He separated from his companion to twirl her slowly, before catching her again and hugging her body to his.
"This is a beautiful song." Hermione spoke up, minutes after their last conversation. Harry nodded into her head, looking over at the radio, wishing it didn't have to end. Hoping that the melody had somehow resolved every little problem that had arisen ever since they started this mission.
He begged for the song to give him the courage that evaded him every time he stared at Hermione's lips.
It ended too soon for that.
He felt Hermione stir from his embrace, and his arms opened up reluctantly. He stared at her, analyzing; her eyes looked as tired as they had since they had escaped to Grimmauld Place after the wedding, and her hair was as ruffled as her clothes. She had layer of dirt and sweat form yesterday, when they evaded the snitchers on the other side of the forest, and her hands were stained with ink.
She looked beautiful.
The radio station started giving off white noise, and Harry walked over to turn it off. Sitting down on his bed, he faced Hermione and saw her standing there, looking at him just like she had been before he had taken her hand and dragged her over to the middle of the tent.
"We have to talk about it, Harry," Hermione said, walking towards him slowly. "You can't—you can't run from it."
"I know I can't, I have it in me," He mumbled, dispirited.
Hermione sighed, passing a hand through her hair and kneeling down in front of the young man. "We just have to find a way to…to get it out. I've got some books I haven't scoured yet, there must be—"
"And if there isn't?" Harry interrupted, irritated. "If there's no solution to this—this thing but dying?!"
It got silent after that. Harry breathed hard, rubbing his eyes furiously to stop the tears from forming.
Finding out he was a Horcrux was a blow their plans. They put a stop to their research on destroying horcruxes and instead made it their mission to find out a way to get it out of him, safely. It had been a week since then, and they had nothing.
"I refuse to believe that." Hermione deadpanned.
Harry chuckled humorlessly. "Just because you refuse to believe it doesn't mean it's not true. I have to die, Hermione, but I'll take him down with me."
He turned to look at her. She had a hard look of determination on her, familiar to him because he had seen it each time there had been something to overcome in their years at Hogwarts. Her hands shot up from the ground quicker than he could dodge them, and she held his face in place, looking him in the eye.
"You are not dying," She said, gritting her teeth. "You are not dying. Even if I have to revive you from your grave myself, you'll come out of this war alive, do you hear me?"
Her voice had so much conviction in it that Harry believed her. Her jaw trembled for a few seconds, and he—instinctively—reached for her and gripped her in a fierce hug. He nodded into her shoulder, whispering reassurances.
Hermione gripped his shoulders, and separated herself slightly so that she could look him in the eye again. "Don't do anything stupid—Just…just don't do anything that can't be fixed, okay?"
Harry heard her plead for what it was: Don't die.
"Okay, okay, I promise," He whispered, nodding, and followed his instinct for the first time; he placed a soft kiss on her forehead before hugging her to himself again.
She was warm.
0oo0o0o0o0o0o0o
"I'll go with you."
"No," Harry shook his head.
They were standing in the rubble of what once was the entrance of the Great Hall. Ron, standing just a few meters away, had his wand trained in front of him and looked at every direction, checking for threats. Harry reckoned he could let his guard down, just for a few seconds.
The black haired man sighed. "You—you have to kill the snake. Kill the snake and then it's just him."
Hermione shook her head, tears running down her dirt stained cheeks. Harry stepped closer, his own eyes moist, and threw Ron another look. His best friend was still covering their backs, but by the way his back was tense Harry knew he was listening in to the conversation.
"You—you promised," Hermione's pained voice brought his attention back to her. "There was to be a way, Harry, please don't—"
"There's no time," Harry whispered, stepping even closer. "He's—There's been too many deaths, Hermione, I can't let this go on. If you go and kill the snake after I'm…gone, then that's it. He'll be dead and everything will be over."
She wasn't breaking down, not really; she couldn't afford to, in the middle of a battle, but the tears that kept coming and the way her voice broke made it clear to both men that she was struggling.
Harry reached out and squeezed her arm in what he hoped was a comforting way, before turning away quickly. He couldn't stall the inevitable for long.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Hermione mumbled, reaching out and hugging the black haired man from behind. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."
"Wh—what?" Harry questioned, stepping out of her embrace and looking at her.
"I'm sorry I didn't find a way—I failed, I thought—" She said.
"No, no," Harry said, forcefully He took one step and engulfed her in a fierce hug, whispering to her. "You did everything you could, you always do. I'm…sorry. I'm sorry for…for all of this."
It was getting harder to leave by the second; the way Hermione was gripping him and Ron's heavy and despaired look made Harry curse everything and everyone that had led him to this moment, in the midst of walking to the enemy that would finish him off at just seventeen years old.
He was afraid and angry, and yet he would go through with it. He had to.
"I'll call the radio after all this is over," Hermione whispered. The tears had slowed down slightly. "I'll ask them about the song, and—and we'll dance it again, without the cold and the hunger."
She was coping by denial.
He played along.
"It can be our song," Harry said, losing himself on a fantasy. "We can pay it at dinner, or—or at some get together with friends. Ron can make fun of us because of it."
The red haired man looked at them again; his jaw was tense and his hair was matter in blood and mud, with his eyes glazed over. He walked over to them, now that he had been brought into the conversation, and put his arms around both his best friends.
"I already have some good jokes about it." Ron said, clearing his throat and smiling sadly. Harry nodded, releasing a wet chuckle. Hermione sniffed, and stepped back from the hug, followed by Ron.
Harry sighed deeply, looking at his two best friends one last time before finally turning away and walking fast through the rubble.
When he met his parents, godfather and honorary uncle in the forest, a part of him wished he didn't have to join them yet.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
"Your death was the most likely outcome, but it was never a sure thing, Harry. A living being as a horcrux was unheard of, and thus there was no way of knowing that you would walk out of this confrontation alive. I, for one, am glad you did."
Dumbledore sat there, smiling lightly in his bright white robes, regarding the young man next to him.
"You can either get on the train and go on, or go back. It's up to you."
Harry didn't have to think it through.
"Voldemort is still at Hogwarts, and…I've left some people behind." He said, still stunned by the fact that he had survived yet another killing curse. "I—this is real, isn't it? Or is it all in my head?"
"Of course it's all in your head, Harry," Dumbledore laughed, getting up from the bench and walking towards the static train. "That doesn't mean it's any less real. Good luck."
Harry closed his eyes for a second and suddenly he wasn't in a bright white King's Cross, but laying on the dirt ground in the Forbidden Forest.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
The battle was bloody and difficult, but eventually Voldermort's body slumped to the ground unmoving and his followers scrambled to escape the war zone.
Harry stumbled through the battlefield, tired and wounded but with a relieved smile on his face. The debris around him made it a little difficult to go back inside the remains of the Great Hall, but he managed to get inside without injuring himself further.
The halls were laden with the bodies of the fallen, and Harry felt his elation dwindling down a little; there had been too many casualties, most of them students and teachers, and since he started fighting Voldemort he wasn't sure who else had perished in the battle.
Hermione. Ron. Ginny. Neville. Luna.
His friend's names started swirling around his head, pushing him harder to try and find them. He entered the Great Hall to thunderous applause; everyone looked worse for wear but there was an undeniable happiness in the atmosphere. Harry hung his head in embarrassment, smiling shyly to his fellow students while his eyes roamed the groups of people.
An arm wound itself on his neck.
"Mate! I can't believe it!" Ron bellowed. "You—you git, you went to the forest and yet you're here!"
Harry laughed, and hugged his red haired best friend fiercely before stepping back. "I know…I'm just glad all of this is over."
Even if he was addressing Ron, his eyes kept sweeping the Great Hall, trying to find his other best friend. Ron noticed.
"She's outside, in the back," He said, nodding to the big hole on the far right wall. "McGonagall asked for volunteers to put out fires and fix some unstable walls of the castle before they bury us alive in here."
"Oh," Harry said. "I'll, uh, wait for her to be done, then."
"Don't be daft," Ron shoved him towards the hole. "Go to her. You guys left things pretty…miserable."
"That's one way to put it, yes," Harry exhaled, suddenly nervous. "I'll be outside, then, if McGonagall needs me."
"I'll make sure nobody bothers you, now go!"
Harry's right thigh had a cut that had been bothering him for hours, but he was refusing to visit Madam Pomfrey before going to Hermione. He walked through the hole on the stone wall and kept walking until he found himself outside the castle. There was rubble everywhere and some of the patches of ground looked entirely burned, along with Hagrid's hut in the far end of the yard, but it was easy for him to locate his bushy haired best friend.
She was standing close to the edge of the Forbidden Forest, putting out small fires and levitating rubble to a neat pile to her right. She looked exhausted, and there was blood spattered across her jumper but there was no visible injury.
Harry didn't need to take one more step; she turned around before he could even start his way to her, and Hermione broke into a run and slammed herself against him in a hug that knocked the air out of his lungs, and yet it felt safe and reassuring.
"I'm sorry," Harry wheezed, gripping her waist and trying to pull her even closer to him. "I'm sorry—I know I'm here now but—"
"Stop," Hermione interjected, separating slightly from him and wiping her eyes. "Stop. It's—You're here now. You're here and you're alive…You're alive, Harry!" Her laugh sounded especially glorious with the way her voice held both disbelief and happiness, and it was addicting.
Harry started swaying, taking her with him, chuckling. Hermione gave him a confused stare, but nonetheless followed his pace slowly.
"Harry, stop, your injuries—"
"You said we'd dance it again," Harry interjected softly. "I'd wait more but with how the whole thing went down, I don't think they'll leave me alone for a while."
"We don't have the song." Hermione said, but she still followed his pace, twirling around and leaning against him, a smile on her face.
"We can search for it later," He answered. "It's not going anywhere…and neither am I."
Hermione sighed contently, stopping the dance to just hug him against her. Harry gripped her fiercely, relieved and happy.
She was warm.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0oo00
Inspiration taken from Taylor Swift's "Forever Winter"
I've been swamped by school this last month, and I thought I'd do a little fic to get back into writing. This was the result. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Thank you for reading.