A/N: This chapter is special for two reasons-
One- It's a songfic chapter (not sure what the technical term for that is)
Two- The song was written by my friend (Her name is HiddenDisaster on Fictionpress)This is an amazing song, and I knew I wanted to use it in my fic before I started writing. Ok, so this is the feelings of what happened after Hermione left.
Chapter 16: Set Me Free
Song- I Want To Be Free From You
Wednesday, May 27 - Hermione –The Gryffindor
Why do hearts always have to break,
And why does nothing good ever last?
Why do people never give but always take,
And why does no one remember the past?
What's the point in love if it's always going to turn to hate?
Why is death our only certain fate?
It seemed to take forever, but eventually the rain stopped. The skies cleared, and Harry and Ron examined her, making sure she was unhurt and safe. She was welcomed back by the crew, and she slept for hours in her old cabin room. She slept on the floor, relishing the hard pain up and down her back. She like how it ached when she woke up, and how a puddle of tears awaited her in the morning. It reminded her she was still alive, no matter how it felt inside.
It took the combined efforts of Harry, Ron, and Cedric to force her to wake up. She wouldn't have minded sleeping forever.
Currently, Hermione was staring out the window, ignoring the "move on" speech she was getting from them now. How could they ask her to move on? Did they think they knew anything about what had happened to her? They were her friends, but they just didn't understand her anymore. Too much had happened. Perhaps one day she would talk to them about it- console in them. But, that day just wasn't today, and it wouldn't be tomorrow either.
The sun sank, and she realized that her friends had gone- given up for now. A cold tray of soup sat next to her. She didn't remember anyone bringing it in. The door was open behind her, and she finally felt the urge to venture past it.
Everthing went quiet outside as soon as her foot hit the floor- as soon as her face was lit by the afternoon sun. The crew did its best not to look at her, but it was obvious what was happening. They snuck glances out of the corner of their eyes, and they moved out of her way as she passed.
Tears welled up,but she didn't bother trying to hide them. It was the day after a fierce battle and it looked the part. Blood was being scrubbed out of the deck, but many places were still soakd in it. She saw tarps wrapped over long bundles of something, and didn't care to dwell on what just then. It wasn't until she caught Neville rushing to throw another tarp over something, that she found out.
There were dead bodies wrapped in white tarp all around her.
And then thesmell hit her, even though her nose was stuffed up from crying. She couldn't breathe- it was choking the air, the life out of her.
Some bodieshad already been thrown overboard, but a couple still remained. No, more than a couple. About seven. Her brain worked to register it- to produce a feeling. But, she was too worn to do anything but walk past them. She was too tired of crying her heart out- she had no tears left to spill. In a daze, she continued her tour of the ship and took it all in- the sights, the sounds, the smells.
Sheslowly made her way towards the other side of the vessel- Harry and Ron were standing there. She looked up, unshed tears in her eyes, but a determination not to let go- not to give up. She had to be strong. Her friends deserved at least that much from her. But, to do that, she needed to know a few things. She would move on, but she would make herself remember. She would make herself remember everything that passed since she woke up aboard the pirate ship Broken.
Hermione stared straight into their eyes, and steadied her heart beat.
Why is it that the ones we care about the most
Are always the first ones to go?
"How... How many, and... who?" Her voice was slow- careful, but almost steady.
Harry looked away- he couldnn't handle the pain in her eyes. "We're missing eight. We only have three... bodies here. They're... um... I, I can't..." Hermione laid ashivering hand on his shoulder. The names could wait for another day. For now...
There were seven bodies on board. There were three from this very crew. And, before she knew it, she was standing above the first. With shaking hands, she rolled the tarp away.
Give me a reason for my pain…
And she saw Dean's pale face turned up towards her. No... no, her mind whispered. And soon a battle between anger andsadness took over her body. She didn't know what to feel, or do, or say. Eventually, the anger that swelled up in her overran the sadness. Why does this have to happen? Why?
All the fluids left in her body fled down her cheeks as tears. She ran to the next tarp, and tore the covering off it. The crew watched her in a shocked sort of misery. Another familiar face lay before her. This one's eyes were open, with a blank stare that haunted her mind. She ran around the ship- half mad- and threw off all the tarps. Her heart wasbreaking anew with every face she saw. Soon, the last one lay before her. She knew it would be bad. She could feel it. This last one would be the worst of all. But that feeling did nothing to stop her.
With a shaky hand, the white covering fell back.
Higgs. It was Higgs. Her friend. Her ally. A kind man. He didn't deserve this. Noone did. Why does it have to hurt so much? She had no answer as her legs gave out and, kneeling, cried over Higg's body. He looked almost peaceful in his eternal sleep- as if he had known he would be leaving. He still looked like Higgs. He looked just the same-only void of life. His face and all the others would haunt her soul- her spirit- forever. She would never be free of them.
Why when I try to seal away my box of pain
The seal always comes undone
Why when I try to step out of the rain
There is no where for me to run
I want to be free from you
I want to be free from you
I want to be free from you
Hermione thought there was none left- but the tears kept coming...
Set me free.
Wednesday, May 27 -Draco –Pirate ship: Broken
The candles had all burned out, and the sun was setting. Darkness settled over the cabin room as all silence continued. The door had been locked to keep everyone out, and it had finally worked. They'd finally left him alone to nurse his wounds. All of them but one.
Discarded bandages fell to the floor. The bleeding had already stopped along the numerous cuts and gashes around him. But the bleeding in his heart- it would never stop. She'd left him. After all that happened, and all they'd been through. She'd left him- just like that. He loved her. God, he loved her so much. The best thing that had ever happened to him, just ran away.
He would have been prepared to spend the rest of his life with her. He would have been faithful, he would have been happy. But it was over- all over. He couldn't take the pain.
And, besides that, he was missing men. Missing friends. They were either captives on the guard ship, or... lost forever. And, Higgs was among them.
Draco stared blankly at the same spot on the wall. It was wilting beneath his gaze. She's gone. They're gone. And what's left now? I'm an empty shell of a man. Betrayed by the one I loved more than anything else. Torn away from old friends. friends that didn't deserve their fate. What do I have left? What can I do now? Why me?
The scars in his heart burst open- and he went numb all over again.
Why do I feel so lost and alone
And I can't seem to find my way?
Sometimes I feel like I don't have a home
And I just need to get away.
You destroyed me, and now I have nothing to look forward to.
I have no life. I'm broken in two.
Draco lifted the letter in his hand. It was the only piece of her left behind. And, the fact that it tore him apart everytime he read it wouldn't make him stop. As far as he was concernedthe letterwas her. And she was everything to him, even still. The clumsily scripted words ran through his mind as he read it- recited it- almost by heart.
Draco,
There's a battle going on outside. My friends are out there killing each other. Ripping each other apart over me. I can't do this anymore, Draco. It's too hard. Please forgive me. Please forget me. Find someone new and forget all about me. You don't need me, and I don't need you. We'll lead our own lives now. Go in separate directions, and never turn back. Perhaps by the time you've read this, I'll have already moved on. Don't remain in my thoughts and I won't remain in yours. Goodbye Draco. Forever.
Hermione
The paper fell from his hands, and a lone tear traced its way down his face. He was alone now. Left to wallow in an eternity of pain. He would never escape it. He could never run from it. She told him to forget her. But that was impossible. He would think of her always. A picture of her face would continually run through his mind. Nothing would be alright again. That's the way it would have to be.
He told her he would love her forever, and no matter how she felt, he would stay true to that. She was the one, and he knew that now.
Draco clutched his hands, and slumped farther onto the floor. He was lost in this nothingness of black pain. Why when I finally have everything, I loose it all in one eviltwist of fate? Why!
I want to escape, leave behind all my sorrow
And enter a world of no tomorrows
Give me a reason for my pain…
Thursday, May 28 -Montague –Pirate ship: Broken
He was sitting in there. Just through that door. He was reading that note over and over again until it finally killed him. And here was his best friend, sitting in the hall, begging Draco with everything but his voice, to come out. Begging him to move on. To chose to be happy again.
But if it was this hard for Montague to accept what happened, it must be impossible for Draco. The pain on the other side of the door was almost tangible- floating through the edges of wood.
Poor Draco. How could he ever come back from this? How could he forget the woman who had touched him deeper than anyone else ever could? There were to many questions left unanswered. Questions only time could know.
Why when I try to seal away my box of pain
The seal always comes undone
Why when I try to step out of the rain
There is no where for me to run
I want to be free from you
I want to be free from you
I want to be free from you
Higgs –Somewhere far away from us all
It was a semi-conscious state. Half aware, and half at the complete peace of a final resting. He had passed, he had known he would. And, yet he didn't want to go. He wanted to go back. He wanted to see the end of the story. He wanted to know whether it ended in happiness or pain. He wanted to find the truth in it all.
But, he had left too early for that.
In his half awake mind's eye, Higgs saw Hermione. She was crouched in a dark corner, tryin to disapear. Knowing what she'd done, but not knowing how to make it right again. And, Draco. Cowering from life, not wanting it to slap him in the face again.
Higgs had been alive long enough to see her leave. Just barely long enough. He had seen the ship's part ways he had seen the hearts break all over again. But was that really the end of it all? He wanted so much to believe it wasn't. Wanted so much to believe he had imagined it all.
Draco and Hermione were made for each other. They needed each other. They wanted each other.
So, why did she leave? She loved him. She loved him deeply. And she gave it up.
Oh why when I let someone else in
I end up getting broken?
When she let go of him, shelet go of a part of herself. Over the course of her time on the pirate ship, she had changed. She had let people in. Including Draco. She'd opened her heart to it all, and now it was gone. Higg's mind blurred more. He was drifting farther away. Soon he might be too far away to remember who Draco and Hermione were. Too far away to see their faces in his mind's eye.
By then, he felt the real regret settle in. Hermione. She gave it all up and left them. She broke so many hearts in one foul swipe. How could she do that to so many people? And why?
Why when I try to open my eyes
I end up losing everything in sight?
Why when I gave you my all
You pushed me down and watched me fall?
But, by now, Higgs was too far away to feel anything. He was finally gone. Soul, spirit, everything. Left for a better place, but with one last, crazy thought on his mind.
It could still work out. All they have to do is try, and love would do the rest.
Narrator- Sunday, May 31
A couple of days passed by. Draco and Hermione still wallowed in their own misery. But it wouldn't last forever. It couldn't.
Sometimes when you think that all is lost, a final thought propels you forward to do great things.
You have nothing to loose, and everything to win back...
Sunday, May 31 -Draco –Pirate ship: Broken
Waves flew by at a record speed. Wind lifted the sails andthrew it forward as a man directed it towards land. He was in search of something. Something he had been missing. Someone he just couldn't let go.
Why when I try to seal away my box of pain
The seal always comes undone
Why when I try to step out of the rain
There is no where for me to run
Draco steered the ship towards Hermione. He remembered her. From three years ago. He didn't know how he hadn't seen it before. Back in a port city, in a swelteringly hot alleyway. He'd first met her there. He'd first kissed her there. And, he still remembered the place.
That was the day Draco had given up his father's way, and found a whole new crew. That was the day he had changed from cold and unbroken to someone completely new. That was the day his life had changed. Maybe it was a sign, ora clue. Or, maybe it was a hint from something extrodinary.
He might not believe in fate, or destiny. But he believed in Hermione. He believed he could find her, and get her back. He believed that if he didn't try, he couldn't live with himself anymore. He believed he could walk through heaven and hell, and never stop looking for her.
He believed his love could bring his pirate's true treasure back to him.
I want to be free from you
I want to be free from you
I want to be free from you
Set me free.
The end is coming FAST- and don't think you know the ending, because i'm 99 percentsure you don't. But, don't worry, they'll at least see each other again. As to whether they end up together at the end- well you'll just have to read and find out.
I'll write individual thanks to my reviewers next chapter.
Tastetherain
