AN: one shot written for the QLFC season 9 round 9
Position prompt: BEATER 1: Giving a clock as a gift
Giving a clock as gift signifies that time is running out, and that's what i've taken as inspiration
Additional prompts used:
[word] Initiative
[word] Absence
Thanks to my fellow Puddlemere united team members for beta-ing.
WC: 1246
Titel/Link: Time Ends for Everyone
Hermione smiled as she and Fred left the small coffee shop. "Thanks."
Fred stopped to look at Hermione. "What are you thanking me for?"
"For dragging me out of the Burrow, for making me take this time to relax. I've missed just spending time with you. With everything else-"
Fred's lips on Hermione's stopped her mid sentence. First Hermione's eyes went slightly wide, but she quickly leaned in, enjoying the moment with Fred.
As the kiss ended, Fred looked straight into Hermione's eyes. "I'll always be here to make you relax. I knew when I asked you out the first time that I'd have to pull you away from the serious things in life to relax, and despite the fact that we might not see each other for some time, I plan on being here for you for a long time to come."
Fred gave Hermione a quick peck on the lips before pulling her along to a small trinkets shop that was only a few doors down.
It didn't take Fred long to find the perfect gift for Hermione as he noticed a set of two necklaces on one of the shelves.
The necklaces contained a small hourglass, which were fastened so that they could spin.
"When the sand has run through an hourglass, you turn it around and start over, and that's just like this relationship. Currently we're just a couple, and one day that will end, but it doesn't mean we'll end, because we'll start the next stage of our lives together," Fred said, putting one of the necklaces around Hermione's neck.
"You're not-" Hermione started. She hoped this wasn't Fred proposing due to the war; she wanted a romantic proposal without the war pushing them into things.
Luckily, Fred shook his head. "It's a promise. That no matter what happens during this war, we'll be there for each other."
Hermione looked down at the hourglass that now sat around her neck. "I'll put yours on for you," she said, taking the second necklace from Fred.
As Hermione closed the necklace around Fred's neck, a small pulse went through both of them. It wasn't a big pulse; it was so small that neither of them noticed, but the magic of the necklaces did take effect.
It wasn't until later that night when Hermione had gone to bed and sat playing with the necklace that she noticed that there was less sand present than before. Hermione turned the necklace in all directions and at various speeds, but no sand came out. Making a mental note to look into it after Bill and Fleur's wedding the next day, Hermione closed her eyes and let herself nod off.
Unfortunately for Hermione, the wedding the next day was crashed by Death Eaters and they had to flee, all thoughts of the necklace momentarily forgotten.
*hphphp*
During the next few weeks, even though Hermione played with the necklace everytime she noticed Fred's absence, she didn't have any time to do any research.
As time passed by and Hermione missed Fred more and more, she would catch herself playing with the necklace more often. Usually, it was when she felt the loneliest and wished that Fred would be beside her. Her mind would often wander to the things Fred would be doing to distract her or to make her laugh.
It wasn't until Christmas and Hermione was sitting alone just outside the tent keeping watch, that she looked at the necklace. As she sat there, thinking about Fred, she noticed that once again, the necklace had less sand in it than she previously remembered. About half the amount, if she had to guess.
Did this mean time was running out? Would the sand run out when she died? Did this mean she was going to die soon? Hermione didn't know, but the thoughts kept plaguing her. From that day onward, she would check the hourglass every night but not notice any difference to the previous one. Of course, the amount left in the hourglass was so low that there wasn't a lot left to go, and one grain of sand less wouldn't be obvious enough to see. Hermione was afraid that when she would finally be able to form a theory about the sand, it would be too late.
*hphphp*
It wasn't until after Dobby had rescued them that Hermione noticed a change in the amount of sand in the hourglass. Did the sand leave because she came so close to dying, or was it because time passed and she was getting closer to the day she would die?
As Hermione recovered from the torture at Malfoy manor, she searched her books for both clues to what the hocruxes could be, but also for clues to her necklace. Neither search was very successful.
It wasn't until just before she was ready to set off to Diagon Alley with Ron, Harry, and Griphook that Hermione realized that only one grain of sand remained. Still not sure what it meant, Hermione was afraid it would mean that her time was running out, so she took a deep breath before drinking the polyjuice potion. If she died, she would go out fighting; she just hoped that she would be able to see Fred one last time before dying.
*hphphp*
It was later that evening when everyone was collecting in the Room of Requirement that Hermione finally got to see Fred again.
Usually, Hermione let Fred take the initiative in their relationship while in public, herself preferring to keep it more lowkey until they were somewhere private, but for once, Hermione didn't care. She had missed her boyfriend and she wanted him to know, so as soon as Hermione spotted him coming in through the portrait, her face lit up, and without waiting for Fred to fully step into the room, Hermione sprinted the short distance into his arms, leaning in for a kiss, only slightly relaxing when she felt him return the kiss.
Hermione wished that time could stand still for a few minutes, but unfortunately, Harry started talking, bringing the couple back to the reality of the war happening just outside the castle.
*hphphp*
Time seemed to slow down as Hermione watched the spell hit the wall just behind Fred. Her eyes followed Fred as she was flung backwards, and stones began to crumble. She could only just make out Fred's form being thrown backwards into the rubble behind him.
Hermione blinked as the dust around her began to settle. "FRED!"
She quickly made her way over, but before she even reached her boyfriend, she realized that he was dead. She collapsed next to the body of her boyfriend, her hand automatically reaching for the necklace that he had gifted her.
"No! You can't be dead!" Hermione screamed.
She yanked at the necklace around her neck, breaking the chain. The last grain of sand had disappeared.
"No! You promised!" Hermione sobbed, "We'd have a next chapter."
She reached for the necklace around Fred's neck, noticing the almost-empty hourglass, and Hermione moved her empty one next to it.
As tears streamed down Hermione's eyes, the two necklaces met. As the two necklaces touched the hourglass around Fred's neck, it started to empty, and Hermione let the tears drop freely from her face.
"Hermione!"
Hermione turned her head slowly, too slowly to see the green light heading her way. It hit her just as the last grain of sand disappeared from Fred's hourglass.