Bittersweet Chocolate
Chapter 3: Through Thick and Thin
Hermione's eyes flew open to focus on the constant drip from the ceiling. The puddle it formed was creeping slowly and softly towards her. The water was a thin film of mucky glass; nothing would stop it. Believe me, she thought, we've tried.
She averted her attention to the flourishing moss on the other side of the stone cage. It had just blossomed in the last few years! Seems like only yesterday that he had pointed it out. He had said, "Look! Look what company we've got!" Or was that just yesterday? She couldn't bring herself to remember.
Everything she had remembered so far was all peaches and cream, but times weren't always so forgiving. She forced herself to look back on them- this was all she had left.
*
She remembered seeing the New Kid for the first time. He was definitely cute, with a very different style that she couldn't quite put her finger on. He had a mop of blonde hair that fell in his eyes, and a broad grin that seemed to be plastered on his face. His name was Dylan, and she would never forget it.
Lavender had pointed him out during lunch. He was a transfer student from America, and had been placed in Gryffindor. And he was a seventh year student, just like them. Hermione couldn't take her eyes off him, and once their gazes met, she knew he felt it too.
"So you've noticed the new kid?" Harry took his usual seat next to her. She snapped back into reality like a rubber band. For some reason, she couldn't look Harry in the eye. There was a pit in her stomach that she couldn't pinpoint.
"Uh, yeah, I have." She stuttered, glancing in his direction once more. He was looking at her again. She forced herself to turn to Harry. "Have you met him?"
"Yeah, I ran into him in the hall! He plays guitar, and he has a funny accent. I suppose he thinks we all have funny accents, but…" Harry drifted off when he realized Hermione wasn't paying attention any more. "Herm? You okay?"
"Oh, yeah. I'm just worried about the history exam." She flustered and pushed her food around her plate.
Later that afternoon, Dylan caught up with her in the hallway. It was the first time she had heard him speak, and she wasn't disappointed.
"Hermione, right?" He asked her, holding out his hand. Wow, he's even more gorgeous in person.
"Uh, yeah, you're Dylan?" She took his hand and shook it.
"Yeah! I saw you at lunch. You're friends with Harry Potter?" He asked.
"Yeah, he's my boyfriend!" She wanted to smack herself the second the words escaped her mouth. But she didn't understand why, because she didn't want to be involved romantically with Dylan. She loved Harry. She loved Harry. Didn't she?
"Well that's never stopped me." He smiled. She smiled warily. There was an uncomfortable pause. "Where are you going?"
"Library, report for Potions. You?"
"Me too. Maybe you could show me the way!" It was more of a question than a statement.
"Sure! I'd be… glad to."
They talked in the library for over an hour. He intrigued her. They enjoyed the same things, and were avid students and readers. She found out that he was an exchange student that won a scholarship to bring him here. He told her about America, where he lived in California. He went to Salem Wizardry Academy, the most elite academy on the continent.
"You are amazing." He said. They were back at the tower and were alone.
"Thanks." She blushed. She could tell he was going to kiss her. He was leaning in. Now was the time to say no. He had closed his eyes. Now was the time to back up. But she did none of those things
He kissed her.
And she kissed him back.
*
Hermione was making a list of pros and cons with Harry and Dylan. And so far, the only pro she could come up with for Harry was that she loved him. But for Dylan, she had so many pros; he was smart, he was really cute, he was a great kisser… The list continued down the page. But she loved Harry. She was going to tell Dylan that she couldn't see him anymore today. She was going to walk up to him and say, "Its over."
"It's over, it's over, it's over…" She repeated out loud.
"What is?" Dylan was standing at the threshold of her room.
"Dylan…" Hermione started, but she just couldn't spit the words out.
"What?" He asked.
"Nothing." She smacked herself mentally again. She had ruined the moment.
"Good." And just like that, he spun her around and kissed her again. And she kissed him back. The little voice in the back of her mind was screaming at her, this is so wrong! But why did it feel so right?
"Hermione?"
Hermione broke the kiss to look in the doorway. It was Harry.
"Harry! I can explain!" She fumbled towards his retreating image. But then she realized that she couldn't. She couldn't explain her behavior and she couldn't explain why she just could not let go. They say you never know what you're missing till it's gone, and in that split second she could think of a million reasons why Harry was just so much better than Dylan.
She turned to him, her eyes brimming with tears, "Maybe you should go." Dylan nodded, silently, and left. She was alone, and the emptiness inside her filled her stomach with a painful lurch. The air she breathed didn't seem to fill her lungs at all. She was devoid of love, and all she had to give away were her tears.
*
Like I am now, she thought solemnly. She was devoid of all happiness and the love that once filled her like a Thanksgiving dinner was gone once again. Except this time, she wouldn't get it back. There's no turning back the hands of time… But in some way, there was. She could remember every detail and relive the moments, but then again she could not change them. Turn back the hands of time.
*
"Harry," she started, touching his shoulder. He shrugged it off violently.
"Don't touch me!" He spat.
"Harry, please! I'm so-"
"Sorry? So am I. I'm sorry you believed all the lies he told you. Salem Academy? Ha! He's a reform student from Florida, sent here because he'd gotten kicked out of all the other schools in America." He looked at her, and his eyes softened slightly. But once he blinked, the green orbs were once again filled with anger. The breath was drawn out of her lungs. Dylan had lied to her the whole time, and she hadn't even known? What kind of scum-
Suddenly her anger turned to sadness. "Love is giving someone the ability to break your heart but trusting them not to, and I broke that trust. I broke the chain and I am so…sorry. I'm so angry at myself that I could just," She stopped. Telling him this wasn't getting her anywhere. "Love is about forgiveness. I love you. I just hope you could find it in your heart to forgive me too."
Hours turned to days, and days into weeks. Dylan left the evening before, but she couldn't say goodbye. She didn't think she would be able to. Was it possible that the man she met so long go wasn't the man she thought he was? How he lied to her- she couldn't believe that, but he said something to her before he got on the train. He said that he lied because he liked her. Now the ridiculousness of the statement had sunken in, but then it was like a light bulb. He lied because he liked her, not because he loved her, like Harry said he always had. Always. Not just a mutual liking, it was love. Once again, she went to Harry.
She crept to his dormitory, as silent as she could muster, praying that McGonagall wasn't awake and that no one was in the common room. She pushed open his door, and tip-toed to his bed, where she took his hand and softly, so softly, kissed it. His eyes fluttered open and, without a word, Hermione led him to the landing.
"I could never have gone on very long, you know. I could never love him like I love you, and he could never love me like you did." Hermione said.
"No one could love you like I do." He whispered in her ear. She led him to her bed and drew the curtains around them. And all that mattered was that they were together. Forever this time.
*
That was what brought them together, but what brought them here? She couldn't quite pinpoint the date, however, she could pinpoint when it happened. And if you could picture the irony, it happened the morning after that night.
The thin film of water covered the floor, so Hermione sought higher ground. She climbed, without much stealth whatsoever, to what was once a window, but it had been filled in. Filled in to keep them in, and others out. Them.
The water was coming in much faster now. What was once a slight drip was now a steady trickling of clear freshwater. Hermione came to the realization that she may drown in here, but that would only bring her happiness. There was nothing left for her any longer. Nothing but her memories. And even those could never do.
