English is not my first language so I apologize in advance for any mistakes. I write it in this language as it is better received.
Harry ran down the stairs to his room when Draco told him that he had seen Hermione's old van pulling into the garage. He imagined how sad his friend must be after the previous day's outrageous and pompous event. She is a wonderful, selfless woman, always looking out for the good of others while forgetting herself in the process. Just as she had been doing weeks ago.
Ron Weasley and Lavender Brown were married yesterday afternoon in an outlandish, pompous and vulgarly luxurious ceremony in the center of Magical London. Everyone had attended, from former schoolmates to very important politicians, as well as people intimately close to one of the bride and groom. That was the case of Hermione. It was a surprise to see her there, no one expected her after what the youngest of the Weasley brothers had done to her.
Hermione had been standing at the door for fifteen minutes before knocking or rather, before Harry came out to get her. She was wet, the rain hadn't helped, her eyes were puffy as were her lips and her nose seemed painted a soft red. She was shivering slightly and even if they had assumed it was from the cold there was clearly something else there. He had dragged her inside his house to make her comfortable on the couch she always chose when she visited them. Now Harry had sat down on the double sofa across from her, with coffee too cold to drink. His gaze was fixed on her friend's chocolate eyes that seemed to be staring too intently at the ornament on the wall. He knew she wasn't really seeing anything, she was in shock and he was going to wait for her to say a word no matter how loose it was.
At this point they had been in that position for a little more than an hour and a half, both of their legs were numb due to how badly they were sitting. Draco had approached them twice; the first time to greet Hermione and give her a big hug, which to Harry's surprise was reciprocated, and the second time to bring them tea and coffee, he knew them well enough to know their tastes.
Harry sighed deeply and rubbed his eyes with the outside of his hands in an attempt to dispel the tears that were wanting to escape. It broke his heart to see his sister suffer like that. He set the now cold cup of coffee down on the small table in front of them as he inwardly cursed not having applied some spell to maintain the correct temperature. He summoned up some courage and decided to break the silence.
"Mimi, you know you can talk to me. I would never judge you, I would never criticize you either. I am here for you, always. Please tell me something. "
The wind was swaying the branches of the jasmine tree next to the window causing it to be struck repeatedly. The storm raging outside was raging; the sky was not gray, it was tinged with a darker, more torturous color. A perfect desolate storm that accompanied Hermione's distressed state.
She stared at the remnants of tea permeating the bottom of her cup. She looked at them hoping that Parvati had been right and that the answers she needed were hidden there but she knew she would find nothing. She looked up and for the first time stopped at Harry's eyes, so green, so vivid, so familiar, so warm. She longed to be able to hide the pain and lie with her eyes but that was never her strong suit.
"Hermione" her name slipped out like a supplication" talk to me. Let out everything inside you, cry, scream, anything." his voice fully reflected what he felt, his role as a worried and hurting brother was palpable. He stood up carefully and trying not to throw anything on the floor sat down on the small table. He placed one of his hands on her knee and squeezed gently. "Tell me what you feel, please. I want to help you but I can't do it if you won't talk to me."
Hermione for the first time in days felt that she wasn't alone in the world, that she hadn't been left as a haunted ghost wandering around. With a broken sigh she placed her hand on her brother's, accepting the affection. She knew she couldn't deny this man what he was asking for, it wouldn't be fair after so much.
With a lump in her throat, tears struggling to escape her eyes and chest subdued in the face of throbbing anguish she blurted out the first words. "It hurts, it hurts so much." her voice was hoarse, breaking slowly, word by word. Harry, now holding her hand in his own, began to make circles with his thumb in an attempt to instill comfort.
"Take it easy, honey, you can say anything. Don't keep anything that makes you hurt, let go of the thorns what I'll see what I can do with them." I pull aside a lock of her hair and tuck it behind her ear "I'll always be there for you."
"He hurts me, Harry, he burns me up inside. Ron completely destroyed me. It hurts every part of me that I can feel. He just used me, I thought that... I thought that after so much time sharing together he didn't use me anymore, that he loved me, that he felt for me what I felt for him. But it wasn't like that." her voice came out soft but steady, as if she was running out of energy trying to keep from breaking down. The tears were still held back but he didn't know how much longer he could wait for his sister to burst out. "He promised me he wouldn't hurt me, Ron told me he loved me and that he couldn't love anyone else as long as I existed. He swore to me what Lavender was no longer in his life, that she was part of the past and meant nothing to him. That he chose me and always would."
Harry closed his eyes as his friend seemed to hit him with a wave of pain that he didn't expect, or rather, didn't want to hear or feel from her. He paid attention as his mind generated a compilation of the times Ron had had suspicious attitudes at work. The many times he had caught Ron talking to Lavender in a blatant manner. He had confronted him by receiving vague excuses. He had also talked to Hermione but one way or another, Ron always got his way.
"But" she sighed "I know I was never his first choice, I wasn't even up to Lavender's standards once. We both knew that and we pretended otherwise; I pretended to take care of what we had because for me it was too important and Ronald pretended because he didn't want to lose the person who crawled around begging for his love. I wanted to be for Ron what he was for me. I wanted him to see me, to dwell on me, to pay attention to me, to realize how I felt about him. I wanted him to love me, to really love me." his voice became huskier, he left the softness to give way to helplessness and sadness at its peak. "I waited for him so many nights, Harry. I waited for him to have dinner, to watch a movie, for him to tell me about his day and me to tell him about mine, I waited for him to go for a walk, I waited for him to just be with him but I wasn't the person he wanted to share those moments with." The tears finally won and began to slide down her cheeks, slowly meandering until they got lost on her chin. "I wished I was good enough for him but I guess he always knew."
"What did he always know?"
"He always knew that I wasn't worth it, he always knew that he deserved so much better than I. What am I more than just a nerd?" the completely broken voice of Hermione shattered Harry's heart. "I just wish he would have told me straight out, right from the start and not left me alone on the bed in my apartment, naked in more ways than one and feeling like I was just an object to unload on. He left me without even giving me a word of farewell, without giving me a last look. I was so full of pain and so empty, Harry, he knew."
As she finished the last sentence she threw herself into Harry's arms and wept, clinging to her brother as if her life depended on it. Her sobs took him back to the darkest memories of the war only this time her break wasn't from physical torture. Draco, who was in the kitchen, felt his skin bristle and couldn't stop the tears from pooling in his eyes. It was painful to hear her cry, both Harry and Draco were sure that this was how they would feel if a Dementor was nearby.
Hermione's mind had been brewing several thoughts before arriving at her friends' house, thoughts that in no way would make her proud. When she returned to her apartment after the wedding she felt that everything had lost its meaning, that everything she thought she had was gone. Without her parents, without Ron, without a job she was forced to quit to attend to the needs of that man who only used her to unload, without anything. But something let her know she was wrong, that she wasn't alone; a picture on her nightstand, there she, Harry and Draco were on one of her birthdays. They were both hugging her and kissing her cheeks as they smiled. She knew right away, she had somewhere to go, she had people who loved her, she had a home. Her brother would always be there for her, he had promised her and he always delivered. Harry had always managed to be a calming force for her and Draco with just a look managed to instill comfort.
Harry, Draco and Ginny had been among the few who had seen Hermione and Ronald's true relationship. What to many was a simple friendship rooted in the heroism of those who managed to win the war was, in reality, a relationship of years of almost living together. Ginny was the most supportive of the relationship because, being Ron's sister and wanting Hermione in her family, she always believed that at some point everything would be perfect, that they would work hard at their relationship and the world would see them for what they were. Harry was always more neutral, always trying to be alert so that in any situation Hermione would know that she had his support. And Draco was a particular case because he hated Ron, he knew that Hermione didn't deserve to have someone like that in her life. On more than one occasion the Malfoy heir had made it clear to the youngest Weasley that he would not shake his hand to use all his resources to destroy him.
When Ron and Lavender announced their engagement at one of the meals with the Weasley family Harry almost killed the redhead, only desisting when he felt his sister's hand on his arm as he gently shook it off. The night before they had dined the four of them together, even Draco had feigned a retch when Ron kissed Hermione. The wedding speech let them know that Lavender had no idea about her husband's relationship with Hermione.
She pulled away and tried to wipe her face with her hands under Harry's watchful eye. He saw nothing but his sister, his loyal companion, he was never going to leave her alone. He knew Draco thought exactly the same way he did.
Draco entered the room and approached them both with some tissues so they could wipe the tears from their faces. He sat down on the armrest of the couch where Hermione was and pulled her to him in a hug while Harry still held her hands. They stood like that, in silence, for several minutes.
"I really wish I could have been enough for him." she commented hoarsely as she moved away from Draco, picked up the tissue again and lay back on the couch in a vain attempt to relax her muscles.
"Hermione, you just have to be enough for you, for no one else." replied Draco as he caressed her back in circles.
"And you are already enough. You're an amazing person and anyone should be honored to share the world with you." Harry squeezed his hand and smiled at him.
"Thank you for bearing with me and putting up with my crying. Even James must not cry as much as I do." Hermione smiled for the first time since the engagement. "And thank you for letting me in, this...you guys...you really helped me a lot." she wiped her tears again and her friends mimicked her.
"You have nothing to be thankful for, Mimi, we will always be there for you. Both Draco and I and even James who loves you. Whenever you need us here we will be here. We love you and there won't be a life where we won't walk together."
Draco stood up and walked to the coat rack next to the door, took a small package from his briefcase and returned to his previous position. "Here." he held out his hand towards Hermione.
"What is it?"
"White chocolate with nuts, chocolate always does good and this is our favorite. Eat. I'm going to get your room ready because you're going to stay with us, you don't have the option of leaving."
Hermione smiled at him and looked at Harry. "Thank you both."
"You're always going to have a place with us."
Hermione smiled broadly her eyes filled with tears but no longer with sadness. The pain was still there, she felt it and she knew it would be there for a while but she also knew she wasn't alone and she didn't have to suffer it within four walls with cold memories. She was going to recover surrounded by love.