harry birthday, anina! ♡ (june 17th, 2017)
the sundown series. night four.
she asks in a worried tone, her mary janes scuffed and muddied from running in the fields. he has a sheepish grin on his face, his cheeks reddening. behind his back are some hand-picked flowers and a few overgrown weeds, straight from the earth.
“george isn’t as fun as you,” she says, a blush rising to her ears as she looks at her feet. “i like you more.”
“hermione, you’re adorable.” he ruffles her hair. “for you,” he says, and her eyes light up in delight as she takes the flowers from his hands.
“oh. that’s where you were. i’m sorry for doubting you.”
“that’s okay. i will never leave you.”
he asks, a frown on his face as he sits on a bench, beneath the night sky.
“ron and harry needed my help,” she says, and she holds out a box overflowing with delicious food. “forgive me. i got you something while i was inside.” she smiles as she sees a grin spreading across his lips.
“and you promise that i’m your favourite after ron and harry?” fred teases, lighthearted.
“ok, and before george, right?”
“don’t worry,” she smiles, leaning in. her eyes catch the sparkle in the moonlight. “i like you the most.”
“i’m sorry for doubting you.”
“that’s okay,” she laughs. “i will never leave you.”
she asks, her breath caught in anger and fear. “you could have been hurt!”
“hermione, i’m older than you. i can handle myself.”
“but fred,” she says. “look.” she gestures at the chaos around them, spells flying and wizards casting left and right. “it’s dangerous.”
“it’s not the first time i’ve fought in a battle, hermione. you need to trust me.”
“i do. i just don’t want you to get hurt.”
he wraps his arms around her small frame, giving her a gentle kiss on the head. she fits in perfectly, like a missing puzzle piece he’s had in his pocket all along.
“i know. but you need to trust that i can handle myself. we’re both brilliant wizards, aren’t we?”
“we are... i’m sorry for doubting you.”
“that’s okay,” he assures her. “i’ll never leave you.”
he asks, and he runs towards hermione and embraces her. “i told you to stay where you were!” tears streak down his face as he holds her tightly. he rocks her, slowly but surely, trying to make sure of himself that she’s still alive.
“they needed me,” she says, and she clutches his robes like it’s a lifeline.
“who? who needed you? i want you to be safe, hermione.”
“harry. ron. they all needed me. everyone.”
“you can’t throw yourself in danger like that, you could die.”
“you think that i don’t know that?” hermione erupts, and the strong facade she held onto before just falls as she launches closer into fred’s arms. “i know every single day that i could die, and leave you behind,” she says.
they walk together and sit in a secluded spot, away from all the violence and the blood. she finds her way comfortably in his lap, cuddling deep inside his arms and into the warmth she couldn’t find anywhere else.
“will you miss me when i’m gone?” she whispers into his chest, and her arms snake around his waist in attempt to hold him closer.
“you’re not going anywhere,” he says. “you have a whole life laid out in front of you. with me,” he assures her, soothing, running his fingers through her hair and wiping away the trail of tears down her cheek with his thumb. “we’ll fight through this. i swear.”
and in that instant, a deadly spell was cast and they hear screams echoing throughout the great hall.
“promise me, fred,” hermione whispers, and she reaches to touch his face; his eyes, his nose, his mouth. her gaze lingers on his lips and she pulls him in to kiss him softly, full of love and tenderness.
“i promise,” fred says, breathlessly.
“i’ll come back. i will always be there for you, but i need to go. now.” she says, after a yell of despair she swear is neville’s. “they need me.”
“go on now. i’m sorry i doubted you.”
“that’s okay. i’ll never leave you.” she turns her heel and walks into the catastrophe.
“you weren’t supposed to leave me.”
she says, the fight behind her finally finished, but this battle before her will forever be a mess. he’s still breathing, she tells herself. his heart is still beating and his hand is still holding hers. loosely, but still. they are together.
“you promised we would fight together.”
she brings his hand towards her lips, leaving a fluttering kiss on each finger and a hope of survival.
“if you love me, you’ll stay, won’t you?”
she asks, another hand resting on his chest, then stroking his face, trying to remember what he looked like with the flowers behind his back and a twinkle in his eye.
“look what happened to you. i told you to stay,” she laughs harshly, a hitch in her throat as a hiccup leaves her mouth, tears beginning to fall from her eyes and leaving marks on the bloodied ground.
“you say i’m always right, but you never listen, don’t you?” she says, a knot in her stomach and she can’t feel a thing. no emotions, no physical aspect of anything in front of her. the ache in her chest creates short breathes and she wants to feel happy, be happy because the war is over and everyone can go on with their lives again.
because she would run through the world with flaming torches and set the planet on fire if it meant for fred to come back.
“stay,” she says. “stay, stay, stay, stay.” each time, it grows more urgent with a new wave of desperation settling into her skin and the cruel face of reality finally coming to light.
“don’t go,” she murmurs, holding him close.
the looks on the weasley members are heartbreaking, reeling with sadness for another piece of family, but also mourning for what kind of future he could have had.
another future that fred and hermione could have established, gone and forever lost. the dreams and the hopes and the puzzles laid in front of them will now forever be incomplete because one piece of the puzzle is now lost. gone. and will never come back.
“FRED!” hermione’s voice broke, and the sobs came and then the anger.
“we still have so much more to do.”
“you can teach me more of your pranks.”
“we have so much more time to do anything we wanted.”
hermione laughs softly. “we can even take over the world if you wanted to.”
“i’m sorry i couldn’t save you.”
the tears stream freely down her face, and she tastes the salt through her lips. she presses a hand to his heart, one more time.
“NO,” she screams, and a clench of pain shoots through her lungs and all of a sudden she can’t breathe. she gasps for air, and then the memories of her and fred come rushing back.
hermione rolling her eyes at fred’s attempt to ask her out, rejecting him three times before she finally said yes. he brought her to a muggle amusement park, where she had the most fun in a long while. she came back to hogwarts with a stuffed animal as big as she.
fred holding her hand during dinner in the great hall, while the rest of their friends were swooning and whistling. fred only looked at her. he looked at her like the universe was in her eyes.
hermione and fred beneath the bright stars, a night after he convinced her to sneak out of the school. they sat together under one blanket, holding each other close.
“i know you love me,” hermione says, a last brush of a hand through fred’s flaming red hair, a last touch of his lips.
“and i should have loved you sooner.”
the words barely escape her lips, but they do.
“i’m sorry i doubted you. i’m sorry i doubted your love.”
and hours later, they had to drag hermione’s body away from fred’s, her hands trembling like she was eleven again, trying to search for fred in the forest, while he was innocently picking flowers for her.
wait for me fred, i’ll find you.
