by: Brittany
A young girl sat by a window in a castle tower, gazing out towards the
heavens. It was a beautiful night, sprinkled with sparkling stars and shining
with a glorious moon, but the girl was not contented by this view. A tear
silently glided down her distraught face as her thoughts trailed.
"Why?" she asked softly.
"Hermione? Is that you?" A worried voice made Hermione jump sharply
and hastily rub her eyes. She didn't want anyone to know that she had been
crying.
"Harry," Hermione said blankly as she watched one of her best friends
proceed down the boys' dormitory staircase. "What are you doing up so
late?"
"The question is, what are you doing up so late crying?" he said
swiftly, moving towards her quickly with a concerned expression.
"I - I wasn't crying - "
"Yes, you were, Hermione," Harry said softly, grazing her wet cheek
with his finger. "Don't lie. Why were you crying?" When she didn't
answer, Harry sat down next to her on the couch. She sat with her back to him,
crossing her arms defiantly. He put his hand on her shoulder lightly and
whispered, "You know you can tell me anything."
A few quiet moments passed before Hermione turned around and fell into Harry's
arms, sobbing. He hugged her tightly to his chest.
"Oh, Harry, I'm just so worried about you and V-Voldemort. S-since he's
been back and a lot of people have died, I've been having nightmares about
you... well, about you dying." Hermione let the tears trickle from her
closed eyelids freely and she clung to Harry tighter. "I can't sleep
anymore at night. I don't want to think about it, I don't want to see it, and I
don't want to live it."
"You're not going to have to live it," Harry muttered.
"How do you know that, when you have barely escaped Voldemort all those
times you faced him?" Hermione whispered, terrified. She sat up and looked
at him with such concern in her eyes Harry had to look away. "Answer me,
Harry!"
"I - I won't let you live it. I promise you, Hermione Granger, that I
won't. And you can count on that."
Hermione shut her eyes tightly and collapsed into his arms again. They stayed
that way for a long time, until eventually Hermione had fallen asleep in Harry's
lap. He stroked her hair and her cheek gently.
"Sleep, Hermione," he breathed. "Dream good dreams. I'm not going
anywhere. I'd never, ever leave you."