Title: An Inevitable Fate
Chapter Two: Life and Fate Collide
Author: KissThis
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Rating: R - if not now, then later. Just shut up and read it.
Pairing: Wouldn't you like to know?
Setting: 6th year in Hogwarts.
Summary: Hermione. Is. Dying. She doesn't know when, but it's a depressing inevitability. Can she summon the strength to tell her friends? And what of all the things she's never going to get to do? Can she get her life in order before it's over? You'll have to read, now won't you?
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Disclaimer: JK owns everything. *cries* Yes I know...depressing isn't it?
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A/N: Wow! I had so many reviews just for my first chapter! I love you all! Kisses!
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Special Thanks: I must be retarded or something because I CANNOT come up with chapter title. Meg had to help me out again -- thanks babe! Love you lots!
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With her newly acquired textbooks for the upcoming school year and Withenthorp's Detailed Works shrunken down to a miniscule size in her purse, Hermione walked down the streets of Diagon Alley with Ron and Harry flanking her on either side.
"Finally!" Ron exclaimed, "We were in there so long I almost forgot what natural sunlight felt like."
Harry chuckled, "Yeah, Hermione. What were you and Draco talking about in there anyway?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
"Don't give me that look!" Hermione exclaimed smacking Harry's arm playfully. "We're talking about Draco here."
Harry looked unconvinced.
"He has a point. You two were back there a long time." Ron interjected.
Hermione stopped walking and stared at her two friends in fake-outrage. "Honestly, you two! I was going to treat you two to ice cream at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream parlor, for putting up with the trip to Flourish & Blotts, but now I don't think I will--"
Ron and Harry simultaneously latched onto her arms and unleashed their twin, puppy-dog faces on her. Hermione rolled her eyes in an act of annoyance, but couldn't stop herself from smiling. "You two are the biggest babies."
"Works every time."
Hermione laughed good-naturedly and led the way to Fortescue's. Ron and Harry held back and watched their best friend stroll on ahead -- dancing and basking in the warm summer sunlight. The two boys shared a moment of silence as they watched her with eyes unclouded by fake emotions.
Ron turned his face to Harry and gave him a look that told Harry -- without words -- how Ron really felt about Draco and what he believed went on between him and their best friend while the two of them were elsewhere.
"Right there with you." Harry muttered back -- but there was no humor in his tone. He turned back to Hermione.
She was skipping down the cobblestone street humming a light and airy tune that automatically made Harry think of summer. Her white knit purse swung carelessly at her side - it's embroidery fringe sashaying back and forth.
She looked back at them over her shoulder and laughed -- caught up in the merriment of the moment. Harry wished he could freeze time so that he could always remember how she looked at that exact point in time. Her legs were long and tan from spending the summer at the beach. The blue of the dress complimented her perfectly. He wanted to remember how the one strap of her dress sliding off her shoulder made her look even more beautiful and carefree. The sunlight shining through her hair made it glow and shimmer as the sausage curls bounced across her shoulders. Her face the perfect-shape, her eyes closed as she laughed, and a smile on her lips. The smile that only she could master and perform - it was earthy, soft, and pure.
She was a goddess.
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Knowing that he was going to see her again was what had kept Ron going through the painfully long months of summer. If he hadn't already been staring unabashedly at her, he would have anyway after hearing her laugh. It was the most beautiful sound he had ever heard. It was the smooth and unforced laugh that let him know how at ease she felt. Even though he had been deprived of her company all summer, that one laugh she gave looking over her shoulder, made up for all of it.
He watched her as she danced and skipped through the streets. She danced for herself and no one else. Sure steps, and certain movements she waltzed gracefully through the crowd. The sun danced for her on her skin making the tan turn to bronze. The wind danced in her hair twisting it into complicated patterns about her face. All nature danced as she danced and she never took notice.
Through everything the trio had been through only she had managed to retain the childhood innocence so many wished they could have back. It cloaked in her a warm glow and everyone could see it but her -- just like she was glowing now.
She was an angel.
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"HERMIONE?!"
Hermione smiled and embraced her fellow Gryffindor "Seamus. How are you?" She sniffed slightly. Musk and white chocolate.
His Irish accent was still strong and thick after all these years, but Hermione had learned to listen passed the accent over the last six years. "Already missing the open hills."
"That's right! You went back to Ireland this summer -- how was it?" She inquired curiously as Harry and Ron caught up with her.
Seamus Finnigan shrugged indifferently, "A lot less crowded, to be sure, but it doesn't compare to be here with you and everyone else."
"Hey Seamus!" Ron greeted giving the shorter boy a high-five. Harry did likewise.
"Boys," Hermione muttered. She was about to ask why they couldn't just hug like girls did, but let it slip as the rest of the group came racing through the crowd.
After greetings had been passed around between the group of friends they made their way to Fortescue's and sat comfortably around the largest table and bantered about their summers. Hermione sat back from the table and listened to her friend's happy voices as they detailed their personal vacations. She stayed out of the conversation, preferring to study her friends without their knowledge.
Sitting directly across from her was Ron, with Lavender and Dean beside him. Then came Seamus and Parvati, and then Neville and Padme. Sitting on either side of her was Ginny and Harry. They've all changed so much. She thought sadly to herself. But still -- she couldn't help but feel exceedingly proud that her friends had amounted to be such wonderful people.
She sighed and stirred her straw around her glass. The ice rattled around in the empty cup and she sighed. She saw Harry glance worriedly at her out of the corner of her eye, but the kind gesture only made her feel worse.
How can I tell them?
The top of the straw bent beneath her angry fingers. They clenched the plastic so tightly her knuckles were white.
I can hardly believe it myself.
Her heart thudded painfully against her chest and all the anger; pain and confusion came flooding through her. She didn't know why this was happening. Why did it have to be her? The rage boiled inside of her. Her honey-colored eyes were fixed on a point in the distance, and she was barely conscious of anything else around her. Her nail sliced through the straw and dug into the flesh of her palm.
"Hermione?"
She came hurtling back to reality so fast she almost got whiplash. Her friends were staring at her in concern. She swallowed slowly and willed her face not to redden. "I must've spaced off..." She mumbled as an excuse.
Her heart wouldn't stop pounding.
"Do you want me to get you some more lemonade?" Harry asked, placing a hand on hers.
BaduumBaduum...Baduum...
She wrenched her hand from his and practically leapt to her feet. She fumbled to push the chair away from the table so she could stand without toppling over. Her eyes darted around the table.
She saw concern...worry...
Her eyes glanced at Harry and her pounding heart cracked. He looked so hurt. His emerald eyes slowly raised to meet hers, but she couldn't stand to look at the emotion in them and she ripped her gaze away.
"I-I'll get it myself..." She whispered.
BaduumBaduumBaduumBaduum
With her glass gripped tightly in her hand she staggered away from the table. She walked a few steps, but had to stop to regain her balance against a table. Sweat beaded on her forehead. She took a shaky step forward and the glass slipped from her hands and shattered on the pavement.
"Shit..." She muttered. She heard the chairs behind her grating harshly against the concrete and the hurried footsteps of her friends. Her knees buckled and her hand slipped off the edge of the table. Thankfully she was unconscious before her falling body impacted the hard ground that was rushing up to meet her.
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"I'm all right you guys...really." Hermione accepted the cool rag Ron offered and held it to her forehead. "The heat was just getting to me. That's all."
She turned to Harry and smiled, "I guess I did need some more lemonade after all." Harry smiled too, and Hermione visibly relaxed at his silent forgiveness.
"You shouldn't let yourself get so dehydrated, 'Mione." Ginny scolded. She stole the rag from Hermione's grasp and leaned over her friend so she could dab the cool sloth along her temples.
"Thank you, Ginny." She told the girl in a quieter voice. The redhead paused her ministrations and looked down at the older woman smiling softly up at her. Ginny grinned and two light spots of blush appeared on her cheeks.
"It's nothing..." She mumbled and busied herself with cooling Hermione's face.
Hermione curled her feet around the legs of the metal stool she was sitting upon. She turned to Ron and Harry, but addressed all three of them. "I am sorry. I didn't mean to give you a fright."
"Don't worry about it." Ron insisted, leaning against the counter of Fortescue's.
She meant to grin at him, but she was only halfway through the action before she winced and stopped. Her lip had gotten cut open when she hit the pavement and it hurt like hell.
"Here. I can fix that." Harry pulled out his wand and slid his stool closer towards her. Holding it close to her mouth his whispered some words, Hermione couldn't quite catch. Looking down she watched a blue light spark from the tip of the wooden tool and instantly a tingling numbness covered her lip.
She squeezed her eyes as the warm magic tickled. When she opened them again Harry's bright green eyes were only inches apart. Her breath caught in her throat as she watched emotions she couldn't quite place dart across the pools of jade. He drew his wand back from where it had been resting lightly on her bottom lip and moved his thumb up to graze her lips gingerly.
Her eyes never left him.
"All better." He whispered more to himself than Hermione.
"Thanks." She replied. Her lips pressed against his thumb as she spoke and he quickly withdrew it. Hermione's eyes darted to his hand. They were shaking as he put his wand away.
Recovering quickly Hermione started to turn and open her mouth to ask Ron something, but stopped short. Ron was staring at her. His gaze was so hard it made her shrink back in surprise. She glanced up at Ginny, but the younger girl was just as confused as she was. Her own gaze kept darting in between Harry and her brother. Ginny looked down at Hermione and then back up at the two boys.
Hermione was immediately uncomfortable. The silence stretched on and their stares became harder to bare. Finally she slid off the stool and grabbed her purse. "I'm late." She said in a rush. "I'll see you guys on the train."
"I'll walk you." Ron offered snapping out of the daze he had been in.
Hermione shook her head firmly, "That's ok, I brought my car anyway."
"You're still weak Hermione. You should rest a while longer." Harry insisted standing up.
Hermione took a step back. "I will see you both tomorrow." She repeated, and walked out of the outside dining area of the Ice Cream Parlor and out into the dazzling sunlight.
Ginny hopped off of her barstool and slid a bar of pink, stylishly over-sized sunglasses onto the bridge of her nose. She stopped in between Harry and Ron who where still staring at Hermione's retreating form.
She made a disgusted noise in the back of her throat and hit them both upside the head before she too jogged out onto the busy streets of Diagon Alley.
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I hope you like it! Kisses!
KissThis