A/N: While for a very long time I've been reading fanfiction and for an equally long amount of time I've been considering writing one, this is my first attempt. Just read...and if it strikes you to review, please do.
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'Don't Try to Make Me Leave'
"I tear my heart
open, I sew myself shut
My weakness is that I
care too much"
-Scars, Papa Roach
Knock, knock.
"Harry, I want to speak to you," she said.
Silence greeted her.
"Harry, you couldn't possibly stay in here forever."
Silence.
"Harry, open this door now."
She pressed her ear to the door and nothing but silence pressed back.
"Harry, I'm breaking this door down on the count of three. One...Harry please open the door, two...come on Harry, open the door, three...oh alright."
She extracted her wand from the inners of her robe, pointed it at the door and muttered "Reducto!" The door blew apart, Hermione's magical ability reducing it to dust, and she was left with a clear view of Harry's dormitory room.
A clear of view of Harry's empty dormitory room.
Cool air rushed past her as she stepped into the room. She glanced at the five identical beds arranged around the room and picked out Harry's. His trunk lay at the foot of the bed, his schoolbooks piled up haphazardly next to it, and the arm of his dress robes lay limply on the floor, peeking out from underneath the bed. A strong gust of wind reminded her of her purpose.
"Harry?" she called.
No reply.
Her attention was brought to the open window by another swift breeze. He flew out, she thought. And upon searching the dormitory for his distinctive Firebolt and coming up empty-handed, her suspicions were confirmed.
She exited the room, intending to try to speak with him again as soon as possible.
-
He had heard her calls at the door, but he wasn't about to speak to anyone, especially her. I'm sorry Hermione, he thought regretfully, and flew out the window on his prized Firebolt.
-
The common room was glittering with the light from the fire. Harry sat up late finishing an essay that was due the very next day.
"Harry," the familiar voice called.
Silence once again greeted her.
"D'you need any help with that essay?" she asked.
"No," he said.
"Can we talk?"
"No, not right now...the essay, you know?"
"Oh, right."
"Yeah."
Hermione turned from the room and quietly walked back up the stairs to her own dormitory room. She sighed heavily.
-
It was the only way to keep her safe, he argued to himself. She must stay safe, he resolved, no matter how much it hurts me. He frowned, no matter how much it breaks my heart.
-
Harry and Hermione hadn't had a conversation for almost six months. A real conversation, that is.
It was a Saturday of a Hogsmeade trip, but Hermione stayed back, knowing Harry had too, hoping to get a chance to speak with him.
She knocked on the door again, and upon receiving no reply, pushed it open. She went straight to Harry's bed and saw a sheet of paper lying on his pillow.
To Ron,
I'm off to battle Lord Voldemort, as it has always been written. Whether I return or not has yet to be determined, but please don't follow me. This is my fight.
Ron and the rest of the Weasleys, you have been my family when I had none. For this, I thank you. The key to my Gringotts account is hidden in the large sock with snitches on it. Please take it, and please use it.
Please give the Marauder's Map and the Invisibility Cloak to Colin. Tell him to take lots of pictures, because pictures are memories.
And to Hermione...tell her she has all of my love and always has. But tell her that I needed her to stay safe, which is why I was so cold. And I'm sorry. Tell her that I'm so sorry, and that I hope she can forgive me.
With everything,
Harry
Shellshocked, she read it over twice more before she sprang from the room and ran down the stairs, before she realized she had no idea what she was going to do. Find Harry, she thought. Fast.
She knew what she had to do...Person-to-Person-Apparition. Very difficult, and Hermione knew only the theory, she knew it was her only hope. She had read a sufficient amount on the subject to know that even a well practiced Apparitioner would find this extremely difficult. The consequences of performing it incorrectly were indeed lethal.
She concentrated strongly on Harry's face and whole body, bottle-green eyes, untidy black hair, wiry frame, average height, and focused all her thoughts on being in his presence.
Pop. Pop.
She was transported instantly to his side.
"Harry!" she shouted.
"Hermione? What are you doing here?" he said.
"I...I...I read your note," she spluttered out.
"Nobody was supposed to come looking for me," he growled out, looking around anxiously.
"I needed to see you," she said in a whisper.
"Well go back! This is dangerous. I used everything I have to keep you from here, and here you are. Please leave," he finished in a voice just as quiet.
"No, I'm here, and I'm helping. Don't try to make me leave."
Harry and Hermione stood face to face, staring at each other when a jet of green light bounced through the forest. It bounced off two trees before Harry noticed it zooming towards them. Before he could act, it had hit Hermione in the lower back. A look of shock appeared on her face and she collapsed to the ground.
"No," Harry whispered, tears stinging his eyes. "Not when I tried so hard."
-
Harry lay in the Hospital Wing two weeks later. The battle was finished, Voldemort had gone down once and for all. As he lay there, all his thoughts centered around Hermione, whose funeral was to take place that day. It's my fault, he thought, Voldemort took away everything I cared for. But he did not win. But oh, Hermione, you shouldn't have shown up.
-
Harry stood at the podium, speaking, just as the sun was setting over the mountains.
"Hermione will always be remembered by those who didn't know her at all as a know-it-all. But by those who knew her, she will be remembered as bright, witty, and clever, but most of all as a girl who was full of heart. Her endless campaigns to help the house-elves were nothing compared to the support she gave me over the years. And so I leave her here to rest, at peace, and forever hope you remember the Hermione Granger that holds my heart and always will."