House: Gryffindor
Class: Astronomy
Category: Drabble
Word Count:
Prompt/Prompts: (Pairing- Romantic) Fred Weasley/Hermione Granger
Warnings: AU Set in the 1500s, Vague descriptions of death
WC: 782
Light So Blinding
The first time I'd seen her, I'd known she was otherworldly. She didn't belong to this place. Her brown eyes had glinted with a knowledge that far exceeded this nondescript earth that the rest of us called home. Even her name spoke of a time when the gods dained to walk among us. Hermione.
She'd tried to bring life and a light to our small corner of the world, to open our eyes to the possibilities beyond the scope of our town. But when you've lived in the dark for a long time, the light can be blinding.
The adults had been wary of her offers to teach them to read, but the children had flocked to her, eager to learn at her feet.
I had always been just a big kid, so I'd found myself drawn to her as well.
"Why are you here?" I'd asked her the first time we'd met.
I'd come later in the day when the children had already run home for supper. She'd been surprised to see me, but had welcomed me in with a smile.
I'd broached the question as she'd poured me tea.
She'd blinked in confusion, or maybe at the abruptness of my question.
"You could be anywhere. Why here?" I'd elaborated.
"It's where I thought I was needed most," she'd replied simply.
I had felt a deeper connection with her after our first meeting together than I had since…
I had told her about George, then. I had never talked to anyone about him since his death, but I'd wanted her to know.
She hadn't said sorry, she'd just reached across the table and pressed her hand to my chest. "I can feel him."
She'd always said that loving me was like getting to love two people at once. There was depth to my soul, she used to say.
She had always said things like that, things I couldn't understand. I had never felt the need to. I just liked listening to her talk.
"Hermione?" I'd asked her one night. We had been lying beneath the stars, her head nestled beneath my chin as she pressed her body into mine.
"Mmm," she'd hummed.
"Is…is what people say true?"
"What do people say?" she'd asked.
She'd known what they said. And she'd known that I knew she knew. But she wanted me to say it.
"That you're…magic."
Her laughter had been like wind chimes sent dancing in the wind. She pressed her lips to my neck.
"You're being too kind. I think we both know that's not what they say."
I hadn't wanted to repeat their words. Not to my girl.
"But is it true?"
She had been still beside me, the laughter gone. I think she'd been trying to decide whether she could tell me. I had known, of course. I'd always known, since the first time I'd seen her.
"Yes." The simple confirmation had fallen from her lips, like a heavy weight.
I had reached for her hand where it lay clenched on my chest. I'd uncurled her fingers with a steady pressure, bringing them to my lips.
"Then we can't stay here."
I'd felt her hair brush my chin, her breath on my skin. "Are you sure?"
"More sure than I've ever been of anything."
She'd pressed herself against me harder. "I love you, Fred."
"I love you, Hermione."
The people in the town had been scared of her and scared people do stupid things.
The rumors and suspicions had turned into accusations. They'd come for her in the night. I'd fought them as they'd dragged her from my arms.
The light of the fire had filled the night, reflecting off the metal gripped tightly in the hands of the townspeople. Their cries had risen and fallen with the movement of their makeshift weapons as the charges were read.
Witchcraft.
I'd been tied up and forced to my knees. I'd wanted to close my eyes, but I couldn't abandon her.
I'd met her eyes. She'd smiled at me. As the flames had licked at her feet, her eyes never left mine. Her face had been contorted in agony, but she never let one scream escape her lips.
The fire had consumed her.
Sobs had wracked my body as I'd crumpled helplessly to the ground.
As they drag me back to my knees, I know that none of us deserved her. As the cold metal touches my skin I wonder if I'll get to see her again. In that other world.
A/N: I know that in Harry Potter they have a spell that makes flames harmless, but I thought that took away from the reality of the burnings.
