Never Too Late
Chapter 1: Reminiscence
A warm breeze flowed throughout Hogwarts giving the notion to the students that summer is almost here. In one room in particular, the class was going exceptionally difficult, compared to everywhere else, as all the students were taking a test. The professor of the class stood at her desk. Her long brown curls with highlights were tied into a ponytail. Her face, even though in her mid thirties, still showed youth while her eyes showed experience. Experience in knowledge and applying, experience with friendship and love, experience with loss and pain.
A chime rang in the room; the professor clapped her hands together. "Okay class, time is up. Roll up your parchments and leave them on your desk as you leave. You will get your grades back next week. Enjoy the weekend."
All the students quickly got up and left the room eagerly. As professor collected the scrolls, she failed to notice another person enter the room. "Oi, I honestly don't think you could pay them to stay afterwards."
She turned to look with her chocolate brown eyes widened. "RON!" She ran over to him and embraced him with a huge hug.
"Calm down, Mione!" He laughed, as he got free from her grip. "Oh, I'm sorry. Professor Granger."
"Shut it, Ron." Hermione said with a smirk. "Why are you back in Scotland?"
"Oh first you tell me to shut up, then ask why I'm even here. Some friend you are." He laughed. Hermione just gave him another look before he straightened up. "I brought the wife and kids to see their grand-parents."
Hermione forgot that her best friend was married and had three kids with her. "You didn't have anymore since the last time you saw me, right?" Ron gave that smirk that confirmed that he did.
"She wanted a little girl, instead we got twins." Ron said with a sort of pride behind his words.
Hermione laughed, "How's Quidditch going?"
"Not much for family life, being out for half the year. But I sure can spoil them." He smiled. "I got a hot tip that I may be traded to the Cannons soon. They were really impressed of me during our last game. They had to send a Bludger on me, just to get me out of the way to score."
"I feel sorry for the Bludger, hitting that thick skull of yours wouldn't be pleasant."
The two laughed at Hermione's comment. "So Mione, what do you have planned tomorrow?" Ron said after clearing his throat.
"Grading, grading, and oh yes, grading. Today was the last exam before summer and I get them back to my classes before the end of the week."
"Mione, Mione, Mione," Ron said while shaking his head, "you think you could that big noggin of yours out of the books for one day and come visit me back at the Burrow. Mum invited the rest of us so it's mainly a small reunion."
A reunion sounded nice to her, but not the one Ron was talking about. A reunion of the three is what she had in mind. "I'll show up tomorrow, around Noon sound good?"
"Perfect. Mum will be tickled." Ron said excitedly. "Well I need to get back to the Burrow. I bet the boys are causing a lot of ruckus already."
"Alright then, I guess I will see you tomorrow Ron. Good bye." She said while giving him another hug.
"See ya, Mione." Ron left the room, leaving Hermione alone again. She was used to it by now. She had no husband, not even a boyfriend. Her work was her life, her work and something else.
She went and sat at her desk, laying the scrolls upon her desk. She skimmed through the first few before deciding to stop with the "normal" way of grading like all the other teachers do. She unsheathed her wand and flicked it at her quill. Gradus!
The quill and scrolls began to animate. The scrolls would open up and let the quill mark on them for wrong answers. This freed Hermione to think about tomorrow. To think about the past that she wished she could relive.
She went back seventeen years, back when she herself attending Hogwarts. She was walking down the stair of her dorm. She was Head Girl that year; he was Head Boy, like everyone would have guessed. Being the famous Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, you had the wrap of always coming through, always succeeding. That was one of the many things she loved about him. His determination. That and his emerald eyes that whenever she looked into, would pierce right into her soul and melt her from within.
That night she walked down those stairs was special to her. It was the Yule Ball. The outcome of the one, during her fourth year, made Dumbledore decide to bend the rules and make it every year, open to third years and up. She walked down those stairs that night, feeling like she was a princess going to the ball with her prince. She was dressed in an elegant violet robe with a lace undergarments, white gloves that extended to her elbows, poofy shoulders, long shirt, the works. She remembered seeing his face when he gazed at her. That twinkle in his eye was proof enough for her to know that he loved her, but that didn't stop her from wanting him to say it, which he did whenever he had the chance. "Why did he leave," she said to herself.
"Thinking of him again, I see." Said another voice in the room that snapped Hermione back to reality. She looked at the doorway seeing it was another familiar person. His platinum long blonde hair, slicked back and tied into a ponytail, only belonged to one person that she knew.
"What are you talking about..I simply..I was just.I am." she struggled to lie her way out of it.
"a lousy person to come up with excuses. Don't deny it, your eyes always get puffy like that when you do." He said with a half smile.
"What do you want Draco?"
"Me, like everyone else here, want you to get on with your life. Settle down with someone and start a family. Do something besides pursue a hopeless dream." Hermione was shocked by his words, yet not surprised at all from hearing them. She knew that it was getting hopeless to find him. It is approaching twenty years since the last time she saw him. The last night he smiled at her, the last night in the war against Voldemort.
"Look," Draco said breaking her silence. "Everyone wants him back. Hell even me and I resented him all those years. But face it; it's not going to happen"
Draco's words pinched a nerve within her. Tears flowed from her eyes. "I need to go." She got up from her seat and quickly grabbed her bags. She raced towards the door.
"Hermione!" He said, raising his voice. She stopped right before the door. "Have you heard anything from her?"
Hermione shook her, "You'd be the first one to know." She said before she left the room. Draco stood there in the room with the sun setting in the windows. He looked down at the ground; sadden by her response from her answer. He quietly left the classroom.
Hermione got herself to calm down before she reached her door in the faculty dorms. She undid her locking charm and dropped her things next to the door. She walked into her one bedroom, one bathroom apartment. She entered her room and fell on to it, immediately hugging her pillow, crying.
A small tapping came from the window of her bedroom. Hermione turned over to see it was an owl that she recognized. She quickly let it into her room. It flew over to her nightstand next to her bed. Attached to its foot was a note. She took the note from the owl and it immediately flew out the window. On the front of the note, the initials "G.W." were written above Hermione's address. She opened up the enveloped and quickly read the letter. She looked up from the letter after finishing it and said to herself, "He's alive."
She read the note again, to be sure that she wasn't delusional. She quickly raced to her desk and first wrote a note to Ron:
Ron,
I am truly sorry but I won't be able to make it tomorrow. Something has come up and I have to leave the country. I will send back a letter when I get back to Hogwarts but I intend to be gone the whole week. Give me blessings to your family and extra hugs to your children.
With Love,
Hermione
The next note she wrote was written to Draco. She was short and to the point on this one.
Draco,
She's okay. I am going to go meet her this week. We will be back next weekend.
Hermione
She wrote another note, telling Headmaster Dumbledore of her absence and that she is sorry. She thought to herself that he would understand, due to the cause and nature of why she is leaving. She quickly packed a few bags and left her room, locking it behind her.
Chapter 1: Reminiscence
A warm breeze flowed throughout Hogwarts giving the notion to the students that summer is almost here. In one room in particular, the class was going exceptionally difficult, compared to everywhere else, as all the students were taking a test. The professor of the class stood at her desk. Her long brown curls with highlights were tied into a ponytail. Her face, even though in her mid thirties, still showed youth while her eyes showed experience. Experience in knowledge and applying, experience with friendship and love, experience with loss and pain.
A chime rang in the room; the professor clapped her hands together. "Okay class, time is up. Roll up your parchments and leave them on your desk as you leave. You will get your grades back next week. Enjoy the weekend."
All the students quickly got up and left the room eagerly. As professor collected the scrolls, she failed to notice another person enter the room. "Oi, I honestly don't think you could pay them to stay afterwards."
She turned to look with her chocolate brown eyes widened. "RON!" She ran over to him and embraced him with a huge hug.
"Calm down, Mione!" He laughed, as he got free from her grip. "Oh, I'm sorry. Professor Granger."
"Shut it, Ron." Hermione said with a smirk. "Why are you back in Scotland?"
"Oh first you tell me to shut up, then ask why I'm even here. Some friend you are." He laughed. Hermione just gave him another look before he straightened up. "I brought the wife and kids to see their grand-parents."
Hermione forgot that her best friend was married and had three kids with her. "You didn't have anymore since the last time you saw me, right?" Ron gave that smirk that confirmed that he did.
"She wanted a little girl, instead we got twins." Ron said with a sort of pride behind his words.
Hermione laughed, "How's Quidditch going?"
"Not much for family life, being out for half the year. But I sure can spoil them." He smiled. "I got a hot tip that I may be traded to the Cannons soon. They were really impressed of me during our last game. They had to send a Bludger on me, just to get me out of the way to score."
"I feel sorry for the Bludger, hitting that thick skull of yours wouldn't be pleasant."
The two laughed at Hermione's comment. "So Mione, what do you have planned tomorrow?" Ron said after clearing his throat.
"Grading, grading, and oh yes, grading. Today was the last exam before summer and I get them back to my classes before the end of the week."
"Mione, Mione, Mione," Ron said while shaking his head, "you think you could that big noggin of yours out of the books for one day and come visit me back at the Burrow. Mum invited the rest of us so it's mainly a small reunion."
A reunion sounded nice to her, but not the one Ron was talking about. A reunion of the three is what she had in mind. "I'll show up tomorrow, around Noon sound good?"
"Perfect. Mum will be tickled." Ron said excitedly. "Well I need to get back to the Burrow. I bet the boys are causing a lot of ruckus already."
"Alright then, I guess I will see you tomorrow Ron. Good bye." She said while giving him another hug.
"See ya, Mione." Ron left the room, leaving Hermione alone again. She was used to it by now. She had no husband, not even a boyfriend. Her work was her life, her work and something else.
She went and sat at her desk, laying the scrolls upon her desk. She skimmed through the first few before deciding to stop with the "normal" way of grading like all the other teachers do. She unsheathed her wand and flicked it at her quill. Gradus!
The quill and scrolls began to animate. The scrolls would open up and let the quill mark on them for wrong answers. This freed Hermione to think about tomorrow. To think about the past that she wished she could relive.
She went back seventeen years, back when she herself attending Hogwarts. She was walking down the stair of her dorm. She was Head Girl that year; he was Head Boy, like everyone would have guessed. Being the famous Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, you had the wrap of always coming through, always succeeding. That was one of the many things she loved about him. His determination. That and his emerald eyes that whenever she looked into, would pierce right into her soul and melt her from within.
That night she walked down those stairs was special to her. It was the Yule Ball. The outcome of the one, during her fourth year, made Dumbledore decide to bend the rules and make it every year, open to third years and up. She walked down those stairs that night, feeling like she was a princess going to the ball with her prince. She was dressed in an elegant violet robe with a lace undergarments, white gloves that extended to her elbows, poofy shoulders, long shirt, the works. She remembered seeing his face when he gazed at her. That twinkle in his eye was proof enough for her to know that he loved her, but that didn't stop her from wanting him to say it, which he did whenever he had the chance. "Why did he leave," she said to herself.
"Thinking of him again, I see." Said another voice in the room that snapped Hermione back to reality. She looked at the doorway seeing it was another familiar person. His platinum long blonde hair, slicked back and tied into a ponytail, only belonged to one person that she knew.
"What are you talking about..I simply..I was just.I am." she struggled to lie her way out of it.
"a lousy person to come up with excuses. Don't deny it, your eyes always get puffy like that when you do." He said with a half smile.
"What do you want Draco?"
"Me, like everyone else here, want you to get on with your life. Settle down with someone and start a family. Do something besides pursue a hopeless dream." Hermione was shocked by his words, yet not surprised at all from hearing them. She knew that it was getting hopeless to find him. It is approaching twenty years since the last time she saw him. The last night he smiled at her, the last night in the war against Voldemort.
"Look," Draco said breaking her silence. "Everyone wants him back. Hell even me and I resented him all those years. But face it; it's not going to happen"
Draco's words pinched a nerve within her. Tears flowed from her eyes. "I need to go." She got up from her seat and quickly grabbed her bags. She raced towards the door.
"Hermione!" He said, raising his voice. She stopped right before the door. "Have you heard anything from her?"
Hermione shook her, "You'd be the first one to know." She said before she left the room. Draco stood there in the room with the sun setting in the windows. He looked down at the ground; sadden by her response from her answer. He quietly left the classroom.
Hermione got herself to calm down before she reached her door in the faculty dorms. She undid her locking charm and dropped her things next to the door. She walked into her one bedroom, one bathroom apartment. She entered her room and fell on to it, immediately hugging her pillow, crying.
A small tapping came from the window of her bedroom. Hermione turned over to see it was an owl that she recognized. She quickly let it into her room. It flew over to her nightstand next to her bed. Attached to its foot was a note. She took the note from the owl and it immediately flew out the window. On the front of the note, the initials "G.W." were written above Hermione's address. She opened up the enveloped and quickly read the letter. She looked up from the letter after finishing it and said to herself, "He's alive."
She read the note again, to be sure that she wasn't delusional. She quickly raced to her desk and first wrote a note to Ron:
Ron,
I am truly sorry but I won't be able to make it tomorrow. Something has come up and I have to leave the country. I will send back a letter when I get back to Hogwarts but I intend to be gone the whole week. Give me blessings to your family and extra hugs to your children.
With Love,
Hermione
The next note she wrote was written to Draco. She was short and to the point on this one.
Draco,
She's okay. I am going to go meet her this week. We will be back next weekend.
Hermione
She wrote another note, telling Headmaster Dumbledore of her absence and that she is sorry. She thought to herself that he would understand, due to the cause and nature of why she is leaving. She quickly packed a few bags and left her room, locking it behind her.
