A/N: Thank you loads for the reviews and follows, and your negative opinions about Hermione (not that I'm complaining!)
Well, here comes the next installment of KYD. Hope you enjoy it!
It was New Year's Eve and Harry was all alone.
Every year, he woke up on the first day of cold January to find his sister cuddling with him in the bed. They had been doing this ever since Elena turned five.
He then made her a cup of hot chocolate with three marshmallows.
They always had a day out in the cold weather, or sometimes in the snow, before retiring back into their beds.
However, it wouldn't be same the next day; Elena was gone.
His little sister had decided to leave him all alone.
Their funeral was held the week before, and Harry was unable to utter the words of his speech, knowing that Derek, Elena and their unborn child had left him speechless after their unfortunate deaths. He was supposed to move on and live the life he was previously living. However, Harry found it hard to overcome his sister's death than that of his parents'.
Elena was the only soul who had always stood by him and supported him to whoever he was today. She was his pride and joy, that one person he was ready to sacrifice his life for.
When Elena had promised him that she would never leave his side, she lied.
Even Derek was being missed by Harry. That young gentleman was a fine young man, an amazing junior to him. The day he asked Elena's hand in courting, Harry happily gave him the permission to keep his sister happy. Elena needed a man like Derek in her life. Harry knew that Derek's promise of protecting his sister was true and he was doing that job pretty well.
However, lord had decided to take away three innocent young lives at once.
Neither of them deserved to die so young.
Hermione attended the funeral as well. Harry had caught her eyes, puffed up from crying as he delivered a goodbye speech for his sister and brother in law. He was glad to see her as she gently looked back at him in pity. However, they never shared a conversation.
There were so many unsaid words between them.
So many apologies.
What hurt Harry's broken heart was that everyone was leaving him.
First his parents, then Hermione and now Elena.
It didn't take Harry much time to realize that he was a lonely man.
He now sat in his living room, right in front of the crackling fireplace; it was the only thing which was keeping him warm. There was a large bottle of Guiness' left empty on the table as his emerald green orbs stared at the dancing flames. It was almost midnight in another half hour and people in London right now were getting ready to welcome the New Year. And here he was all alone, completely drunk, mourning like a dreadful drunkard.
The doorbell rang a couple of times but Harry didn't bother to answer it. Who could it be at this time? No one had ever asked for his well being in the past three weeks; all except for the Queen, Ron and his colleagues. Harry really wanted to answer the door. However, he wanted to know the world that he was dead for the moment.
He closed his eyes as the knocking and the sound of doorbell kept echoing his head. Suddenly, a voice he had never expected to hear entered his ears.
"Harry? Harry are you there? Lord please don't be dead! Harry please open the door!"
His drunken head wasn't giving him illusions.
It was actually Hermione.
And she sounded-concerned?
"Harry please open the door!" She practically moaned and to Harry, it seemed as if she was crying in desperation.
His Hermione was crying for him.
He then gingerly got up and tried to keep up his steps as he walked towards the door. The moment he opened, his heart skipped a few beats at the sight of the woman he loved. Hermione stood in front of him with puffy eyes and red nose, a scarf tied around her head. She had indeed been crying. Her small frame was wrapped up in robes as her freckled cheeks glistened with tears as they fell off her cheeks.
"Harry!" She exclaimed and threw herself at him, hugging Harry tightly for her dear life. "You scared me!"
Harry never returned the hug as his stiffened body tried to contemplate what exactly was happening.
"When you were not answering the door," Hermione continued to ramble, not making signs of breaking the embrace. "I thought that-" she sobbed hard.
Harry cleared his throat and broke away the embrace. He noticed Hermione's look of question as his bloodshot eyes met hers.
"Why are you here?" He asked gruffly, showing no emotion on his face.
"I-I wanted to see you." Hermione sniffled and then closed the door. "I've been wanting to see you for a long time but I kept chickening out whenever I saw you."
Harry nodded and turned away, walking towards the living room. Hermione understood that he wanted her to follow, so he took off her boots and hung her robes and scarf on the hanger by the door.
The sight Hermione's eyes met saddened her; Harry was sat by the fireplace on the sofa, with a glass of whiskey in his hand. His eyes looked dead. She knew how it felt when a loved one died tragically in an accident, that's how her parents died, and that's how his parents and sister died. As much as she disliked Harry's bad habit of immense drinking, Hermione thought it was best if she let him grieve the way he wanted.
"Have a seat." Harry drawled, motioning at the sofa in front of him and Hermione quietly took the seat.
The two sat in an awkward silence, the crackling flames being the only source of sound in the room. Hermione couldn't help but intently looked at Harry, who gravely kept staring into the fire while sipping his drink.
"I'm sorry for Elena's loss." Hermione softly spoke, staring at the ground. "She was too young to die."
"She was." Harry agreed. "Ellie was pregnant." He further added.
"I know." Hermione said with a nod. "She had already appointed me as the godmother of her child."
Harry nodded and took another sip from the glass.
"How are you dealing with the loss?" Hermione softly asked. Harry didn't answer but instead got up from the sofa to retrieve a bottle of champagne from the small cupboard by the kitchen.
"Do you want some champagne?" He drawled.
"No, thank you."
Harry poured himself some drink and tried to walk back to his seat. Unfortunately, his leg hit the table and he nearly tripped when Hermione caught him by the shoulder.
"Easy there." She murmured. "You shouldn't drink too much."
"You don't have the rights to say about whatever I do." Harry growled under his breath.
Hermione chose to ignore his comment and steered him towards the stairs. "Harry, you're extremely drunk, all you need is a nice sleep-"
"I can't sleep alright!" Harry shouted, feeling a bit sorry for Hermione as she flinched at his behavior. Her eyes widened in fear while her lips quivered.
"Let's get you to bed." She said softly and Harry did nothing but to quietly follow her lead to his bedroom. Hermione was being nothing but patient with him and Harry appreciated that.
The moment they entered the bedroom, Hermione sat Harry on his four poster bed. The two remained quiet as she gave his unshaven stubble a caress with her palm and then smoothened his hair with her fingers.
"You should really try to get some sleep." She murmured and then proceeded to unbutton his shirt. Harry gulped awkwardly when she pushed the shirt by his shoulders ending him up in his trousers and vest.
"Why do you care?" Harry managed to ask as his throat went dry. "Why do you care about me?"
Hermione merely smiled and tilted his chin to meet his beautiful, handsome face. "Because I love you." She said simply.
Harry gave out a humorless chuckle and said "Which doesn't explain why you were with two other men even after you kept loving me."
Hermione frowned as Harry kept intensely staring into her eyes "Harry-"
"You don't know how it feels when your loved ones leave you and you stay true to them." Harry's voice started to quiver. "I was always true to you Hermione-"
Hermione's eyes swam in tears as Harry continued. "Why is that those who love you the most cause you most of the pain?" He asked her innocently as tears started to make their way down his eyes. "I'm alone Hermione. Everyone left me on my own." He sobbed. "Fir-first dad. Then mum, then you. Now Ellie. I loved all of you, I still do but-"
Harry had never shed tears in front of Hermione, not even when his father died. And today, he felt vulnerable, he felt weak. He was embarrassed to cry like a little child in front of her.
Really soon, he felt her moving between his legs and wrapping her comforting arms around his neck. Harry cried harder as he buried his head into her chest and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist.
"Oh Harry!" Hermione cried, shedding a few tears herself, placing kisses on Harry's messy mop of ebony. "You're not alone." She soothingly rubbed his back. "I'm here for you. I'll always be here for you."
"Ellie lied to me Minnie." Harry cried into her chest. "She said the very same thing. She-" he sobbed harder.
"I'd never leave you sweetie." Hermione cooed. "I'd never do that-"
"It's all my fault-"
"Harry don't blame yourself. I'm the guilty one here." She felt Harry shaking his head against her chest. "No, please let me finish. I should have told you about Draco and I then we wouldn't have seen this day coming-"
"Minnie, I left you. You were broken-"
"Yet your love for me had always been true." Hermione continued. "You kept loving me while I found comfort in other's arms. I feel like the worst wanton alive-"
"Hermione," Harry looked up at her and sniffled. "You're anything but a wanton. You're that woman who brings out the best in me, the woman I love-"
"I don't deserve you-"
"But I do Minnie. I've always deserved you, and your love."
Hermione stopped crying when Harry sat her on his lap and kissed her fully on the lips. She couldn't help but respond immensely, wrapping her arms around his neck, missing the feel of his lips on hers. Moans were emitted from their mouths as their tongues battled and their arms held each other's bodies for their dear lives.
Harry broke away and started to place kisses along her neck while his hands untucked her shirt from the skirt and his fingers started with the unbuttoning.
Hermione kept moaning out his name as shivers crept up her spine when Harry started to slide the shirt off her shoulders and played with the hooks of her brassiere.
"Harry!" She moaned when her lover kissed her passionately on the lips, sucking out her soul from the body.
Harry breathlessly broke away and looked into her chocolate brown eyes. The very same he had fallen in love with more than a decade ago.
"I love you." He finally said it after a decade long wait. "I love you so much Hermione. I wanted you to know before we went further."
Hermione gave out a teary laugh as he rested her forehead against his. "I love you too." She said and kissed him briefly on the lips. "I always have."
"Then please stay Minnie. Always stay by my side," Harry said, brushing the soft curls off her face. "Promise me."
"I swear on my life Harry." Hermione said with a smile. "I swear on you. I need you as much as you need me."
Harry chuckled and resumed kissing her with all the love, lust and desire he had ever felt for this woman. She took off his vest while he unhooked her brasserie and threw it on the floor. For a moment, she stopped and looked into Harry's emerald orbs which had darkened with desire.
"Are you sure?" She asked him softly. "You're drunk."
"I'm positive." Harry replied and kissed her forehead. "This is the very first proper drunken decision I've ever made."
"No regrets?"
He smiled at her and shook his head. "No regrets."
Their lips then latched onto each other's again, knowing that there were many more happy moments to come that night and the nights after.
A/N: It was quite expected, wasn't it? Anyway, they had to get together during difficult times.
The title of this chapter comes from the song 'Softly Softly' by Ruby Murray.
Anyway, keep updating me of my progress while I'll do the same. The next chapter has already been written and will be posted pretty soon.
Until then!
P.S: 'What If' finally released in Dubai, however all the theatres where the movie is being played are miles away from where I live. *fangirl woes*