AN1: Inspired by me listening to the song Almost Lover on repeat again and again and again and again and again...

Dedicated to: My heart in the hope that it will heal to just a scar soon so that if someone manages to steal it from behind the iron bars it is now locked behind, it won't BLEED ALL OVER THEM! (Although they deserve that much if they stole it.)

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter nor do I own this song.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Goodbye Hermione." Draco said as he kissed her lips for the last time.

Those two words, those two simple words, absolutely broke Hermione's heart completely beyond repair. Hermione couldn't respond with the 'Goodbye Draco' that she knew was expected. Instead she maintained her stony silence and nodded stiffly, acting coldly polite, not utterly heartbroken. Only as he walked about and disappeared from sight did she let her tears fall and let loose her sobs. In her mind, Hermione chastised herself. She should have known better than to get with him, to almost fall in love with him, and she should have known better than to let him blind her to reality. Mentally she tried to compose herself, at least on the outside, but it was to no avail. She hadn't almost loved him, she did love him. (Or at least she thought she did.) Regardless, it was tearing her apart to have him leave her, especially after all that they had shared. Picking herself up from the pot of darkness and loneliness she had just found herself lost in, Hermione trudged back to her flat.

She had just reached her pathetic bedroom and no sooner was she through the doorway did she fall to her knees and start a fresh wave of sobs and tears. It seemed as if every memory—good memory that is—that she had of them together flooded her head. She tried to picture his faults but none came to mind. Instead she remembered the first time they kissed; how surprisingly soft and sweet his lips were on hers. Then the first time that she'd gone all the way with him; how gentle and tender his hands and lips were when they explored every secret spot on her skin and on her body. Even now, even though he had just broken her heart, she wanted the best for him...despite the fact that in his mind, it wasn't her. But didn't he still want the best for her? As far as Hermione was concerned, he was the best for her. Now he was gone, and he took the best of her with him. With thoughts of Draco still in her head, Hermione nodded off into a restless sleep.

The next day, in fact, the next week wasn't any better for Hermione. The day Draco broke her heart was Saturday, today was the Saturday after. In that time she rarely left her room, and when she did, it was to feed Crookshanks and occasionally get something to eat for herself. That past week, Hermione lived off of her heartbreak. Nothing she could eat would stay down so she settled for surviving on her misery. Just the memory of his cold goodbye caused Hermione to start her day with a fresh round of tears. The images of him and how they used to be were so painful. Just two weeks ago his grey eyes sparkled with mirth as he led her through the crowds and to the dance floor of their favorite bar. The way her held her close, and his intoxicating scent was overwhelming, even in her mind.

She got up to brew herself a pot of coffee, maybe that would relax her. The walk to the other side of the flat was pure agony for Hermione. She remembered why she had kept herself holed up in her room. Every room she passed held a memory of something they had done together. Along the walls were multiple pictures of them together: he always had an arm draped around her and she was always somewhat flushed in the pictures. Grabbing her favorite picture of the two of them, frame and all, she hurled it at the wall and watched as it fell to the ground and smashed. But she wasn't done. She used her wand to fix it and then threw it again. This repeated about ten times. What irked her most was that a simple 'Reparo' would always fix the picture, but it couldn't fix their relationship.

Suddenly, coffee didn't sound so appealing anymore. For Merlin's sake, she couldn't even walk through her house without him on her mind. He was gone from her life forever, just like that. It seemed so easy for him to just leave. Was it really that simple for him to walk in and then promptly walk out of her life? It sure as hell wasn't easy for her to deal with. She'd bet all the money she had, (which admittedly wasn't much) that only she was struggling. Daily she was haunted by his presence and yet he was probably just fine.

Steeling herself to be strong, Hermione tried not to think about him and began to collect every single picture of them, every article of clothing he'd left at her house, every single thing that reminded her of him that she wouldn't need in the future and proceeded to put it in a trash bag. Once it was filled to the brim with everything she could find Hermione made the trip to the communal dumpster down the block. By using all of her grief and exerting it as force, she threw the bag into the bottom of the empty dumpster where the glass of the picture frames made a satisfying sound as they all broke. Taking a deep breath, Hermione turned her back to all of those memories and images and she headed back to her flat. She stopped once to whisper to no one the two words she that she had needed to say, and then some.

"Goodbye Draco. Goodbye my almost lover."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

AN2: Review?

lovelove, Amanda