True Love

True Love

~~

Everybody's got something, they had to leave behind,

One regret from yesterday, that just seems to grow with time,

There's no use looking back, oh, wondering,

How it could be now, oh, might have been,

Oh, this I know, but still I can't find ways to let you go.

~~

It was the end of Hermione's seventh year at Hogwarts. She was scared, for she did not know what she wanted to do once she graduated. All she knew was, she didn't want him to leave.

"Please, don't leave me! I love you! I don't ever want us to be apart!" Hermione pleaded.

"Listen, baby. I love you with all me heart, but I must go. After graduation, I have to leave England. There isn't anything left here for me, now. All it is," he sighed, "is old memories and new fights. Since I was framed, I can't be here. I'm staying just long enough to graduate, and let you know how much I love you."

"Please! Please, honey! I need you to stay! Or let me go with you! We could run away to America together! Please, I don't want you to leave me!" Hermione sobbed.

"Hermione, I must go. Please, understand."

~~

I never had a dream come true,

Till the day that I found you,

Even though I pretend that I've moved on,

You'll always be my baby,

I never found the words to say,

You're the one I think about each day,

And I know no matter where life takes me to,

A part of me will always be with you.

~~

GRADUATION DAY:

"The graduating Gryffindors' for this year are: Hermione Granger, at the head of her class, Harry Potter, our savior and beloved, Ron Weasley, an extraordinary student, Neville Longbottom, a faithful friend, and Parvati Patil, a great witch. Please come and take your degree from your Professor," Dumbledore announced.

All the graduating seventh-year Gryffindors walked up to the podium and took their degrees from Professor Mcgonagall. Hermione had tears welling in her eyes, but she didn't want him to see her crying. She took her degree and shook Mcgonagall's hand. Mcgonagall saw the tears welling in her eyes and pulled her closer for a hug. "It'll fine, Hermione. Harry loves you. He always will. I promise you, this will all work out."

~~

Somewhere in my memory, I've lost all sense of time,

And tomorrow can never be, 'cause yesterday is all that fills my mind,

There's no use looking back, oh, wondering,

How it should be now, oh, might have been,

Oh, this I know but still I can't find ways to let you go.

~~

GRADUATION PARTY:

Hermione walked around aimlessly for a while, not talking to anyone. Almost everyone tried to congratulate her, including Draco, to her surprise, but she just ignored them and kept walking. She needed to talk to him, but she couldn't. She couldn't stand to have him leave. She needed him to stay. He was the one she loved, the one and only. She wasn't sure if he was making the biggest mistake of his life by leaving her, or if she had made the biggest mistake of her life by falling in love with him.

"Harry, I need to talk to you," Hermione sobbed, finally getting enough courage up to go talk to him.

"Oh, Mione, please, please don't cry. I'm sorry. Now, what is it?" Harry asked, wrapping his arms around Hermione.

"I hate you, Harry. I hate you, because I love you so damn much! How can you do this to me? I love you! And you're just going to leave me? I don't want you to go! I need you to stay! I cant live without you, Harry! You are my only reason to live right now, and if I lose you..." Hermione cried, pushing Harry away. "I need to feel your kisses in the morning, Harry. I need to eat your horrible tasting breakfast each day, only because it's so cute how you try and try and never get it! I need to feel you by my side when I go to sleep. I need to study with you when tests are coming, because you are the only person who can keep me calm. I need to come to your Quidditch games, and wave to you from the sidelines, and blow you kisses through the entire game. I need you to be by me when I'm sick. I need to be by you when your hurt. I need you to comfort me and convince me that Voldemort's gone when I get scared! I need you to cuddle with me each night before we go to sleep! Harry, please, don't leave! Ron needs you, too!"

"Hermione, I love you, and I need you, too. But I cant stay. If I stay, they will kill both of us, and Ron, and Ginny, and everyone all of us care about. They will kill Dumbledore and Professor Mcgonagall. They wont stop, Mione, until everyone we care about is dead. I'm not going to let that happen, Mione! I can't! If I do, then I wont be considered a savior anymore, but a murderer. I don't want anyone to die, Mione. And if they killed you, I wouldn't be able to handle that if they didn't kill me. If they kill you, I wouldn't be able to live. Please, Mione, understand that I love you with all my heart, and I always will, but I cant stay. If you come with me, then they will find you. The only way they can hurt me is by hurting you, and if they don't know that I love you, then they can't hurt anyone we care about. Do you understand?" Harry asked, kissing Hermione's forehead gently.

"Yes, Harry, but I don't care if they kill me! I would rather die than live without you! Please, Harry! We could run to Austria, Greenland, Canada, Mexico! Anywhere! We could live in the Muggle world! I just don't want to lose you! Please! We can do something! We can get proof that you didn't kill Lucius! Harry, please just let me try!" Hermione pleaded.

"Hermione, nothing will work. If they find me, they'll kill me. That's the way it is, that's the way it will always be! I'm sorry, Mione, I must go. I love you, and I promise that I will always. I will never forget you."

~~

I never had a dream come true,

Till the day that I found you,

Even though I pretend that I've moved on,

You'll always be my baby,

I never found the words to say,

You're the one I think about each day,

And I no know matter where life takes me to,

A part of me will always be...

~~

HARRY'S DEPARTING DAY:

Everyone came to see Harry off to America. Everyone, that is, except Hermione. She went home, and locked herself in her room. She had nothing to live for now. Her beloved had left her, and she couldn't stand to be without him.

Hermione sat all day in front of the television. She tried to keep her mind off Harry, but she couldn't. Her eyes kept traveling to the picture of them together that sat on her desk. Finally, she got so fed up with that picture, she took the picture out of the frame, the frame that Harry gave her on their anniversary last year, and threw the frame out the window onto the sidewalk. She threw the picture in the empty fireplace, and it burst into flames in mid air. Nothing reached the floor of the fire place except ash.

How could he do this to me? She kept thinking. I thought he loved me! He even gave me the pendant for everlasting love! Why, if he didn't mean it?!

After a while, Ron came over to keep her company. "Come on, Hermione. It's fine. You'll be okay," Ron promised. "He did this for you, Mione. He wanted you to be safe."

"I can't be safe without him! He was my only protection! The only thing that could shield me from all the hardships of the world! I know it sounds selfish! I can't help that love is a selfish thing! Ron, how can I do this? How can I live without him?" Hermione cried, clapping her hand over her eyes to stop her tears.

"Hermione, the first thing you have to do is except it. If you don't except it, then you'll just be living in denial for the rest of your life! He's gone, Hermione, and he isn't coming back. He can't, or all of us will die. He did this for you, Hermione. He loves you, but you two can't be together in this lifetime." Ron hugged Hermione tightly. Obviously he was trying to except it himself.

"Thank you, Ron. I love you. You're the closest thing to a family I have right now. No one else understands..." Hermione whispered. "They just don't understand. It's harder to know that he's alive and well, and that I could be with him this very second, then knowing he's dead and I can't be with him. You're the only person who understands me. You're my best friend, and I don't ever want to lose you."

"Don't worry, Hermione, you wont. I promise."

~~

You'll always be the dream that fills my head,

Yes you will, say you will, you know you will, baby,

You'll always be the one I know I'll never forget,

There's no use looking back, oh, wondering,

Because love is a strange and funny thing,

No matter how I try, I try I just can't say good bye, no no no no!

~~

SIX MONTHS LATER:

Dear Ron,

I'm doing a lot better. I've come to grips with the fact that Harry's gone. I don't like it, but I'm getting used to it. I miss him so much. I just want to hold him in my arms one more time. I guess that will never happen.

How are you? I hear that you have a girlfriend. How is it going?

I miss you. I'll write again later. Good bye.

With Love,

Hermione.

~~

I never had a dream come true,

Till the day that I found you,

Even though I pretend that I've moved on,

You'll always be my baby,

I never found the words to say,

You're the one I think about each day,

And I know no matter where life takes me to,

A part of me will always be with you.

~~

TWO YEARS LATER; HOGWARTS REUNION:

Hermione almost didn't come. She didn't want to. It would bring back too many memories of her and Harry. The last night they spent together was in her dorm. She couldn't bring herself to go up to take a look. The only reason Hermione even went was because Ron didn't want to go without Hermione being there.

Hermione wandered around for a while. She let Ron and Penelope (his wife) be alone for a while. She got really bored and went out to the lake, where Harry first confessed his love for her. She saw a silhouette in the darkness. She was a little scared. No one else would come out here, because it wasn't the most cherished memories for others.

Hermione approached cautiously. As she got closer, the silhouette became more visible. "This lake is beautiful, isn't it? I have so many memories here, I just wish I could sit here with her one last time," The man said. He had a deep, booming voice, but at the same time, gentle and kind. He was sitting against the tree that Hermione had carved her and Harry's names into. "I loved her so much." The man turned around to face Hermione. The only thing Hermione recognized was a little scar on the mans forehead.

"Harry!" Hermione shouted, collapsing onto the man's lap. "Oh, Harry! I've missed you so much!"

"I love you, Mione," Harry whispered. "I'm back, and everything's fine now."

"Harry, I'm sorry, but I've moved on! I have a boyfriend, and I love him! I've gotten used to you being gone! I love you, but I've moved on." Hermione rolled off of Harry's lap.

"I was afraid of that." Harry's voice got lower and started cracking from slight tears. "I'm sorry I left, Mione. I just wanted to show you this, and give you this." Harry pulled out a newspaper, and a small box.

Hermione read the newspaper slowly.

HARRY POTTER IS BACK! The headline read.

After Harry Potter was framed for the murder of Lucius Malfoy, he disappeared for two years. Last week, Detective Skeeter found evidence that Harry was not the murderer. Lucius had committed suicide, after his son, Draco Malfoy, disowned him for becoming a Death Eater. We have found Harry Potter and told him the good news. He has returned to England, and is now trying to find his beloved, Hermione Granger. He has asked us to put the following in the article:

Hermione Granger, I love you with all my heart. I always have. Please, take this ring, and marry me?

Hermione started to tremble. "Yes!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

Harry hugged Hermione as tight as he could. Neither of them wanted to let go.

Finally, Ron interrupted. He ran out of the Castle towards the lake, in search of Hermione. When he saw two silhouettes in the darkness, he approached more cautiously. Finally, when he was about ten feet away from them, he saw that the figure was very, very familiar. "Harry?" Ron asked.

"Ron!" Harry called, running over to his confused buddy.

"Harry...? How...?" Ron stammered.

"Here, read this." Harry handed the newspaper to Ron and went back to Hermione.

Ron just stared at the newspaper blankly. "Why? Why did you bother coming back?! We were doing perfectly fine without you! We don't need you back!" Ron yelled. He ran back to the building, throwing the newspaper down.

"Ron, wait! Please!" Harry called, running after him.

"Harry, I'll talk to him," Hermione smiled gently.

Hermione chased Ron into the building. "Ron, please. Don't do this. This is hard for him, too. Do you know how mush strength it took him just to leave? Plus the fact that he knew that we would probably be really pissed at him when he came back, and he was afraid that I would be taken! I am, but I don't love Draco. He's changed, but he isn't what I want. But the point is, he left because he didn't want us to get hurt! And now he came back because we would be safe with him back, and he knew that we all missed him, and he missed us! Ron, please, don't do this! Remember? You were the one who told me that he left for our sake. Now he's back for our sake, and his. Please, Ron, please?"

"Hermione, he cant just waltz back into our lives! He's been gone for two years! You have a boyfriend, I'm married now, he knows none of this! He doesn't know what we do for our livings, he doesn't know who we are anymore! He doesn't know that Draco is changed, he doesn't know anything about us except what we WERE like! He doesn't know what we're like now!" Ron spat.

"Ron, he can figure it out! He WAS gone for two years! He can learn about us again! He'll get it, just give him a chance!"

"Hermione, I don't want him back! I don't want to give him a chance! He left us! He's gone! That's that! He's dead to me!" Ron shouted.

"Well, I want him back! He is back, and he is staying! He was your best friend, and you're just going to let him go? You don't know him anymore, either! You don't know how much he missed us! Call me when you come to your senses!" Hermione screamed. "And until then, you're not invited to the wedding!"

"Hermione! You can't marry him! Not until you get to know him again!" Ron yelled.

"I know what's important! He loves my and I love him! And I'll get to know him again, thank you very much, Ron Weasley!" Hermione's voice had a hint of disgust in it when she said Ron Weasley.

"Hermione, you're making a big mistake!" Ron shouted after her as she stormed out of the room.

Hermione stopped right outside the door and collapsed on the floor. She began to sob.

"Mione, please don't cry," Harry muttered, sitting down next to her and holding her against his chest. "It'll be fine, Mione. I promise."

"Harry, Ron's right!" Hermione sobbed. "We aren't the same anymore! You aren't either! You can't just waltz back into out lives and expect us to drop everything! I'm sorry, but I can't marry you, not yet anyway."

"Hermione, that's fine. And I knew that all of you would be different, I'm willing to deal with that. I want to be back here, and know everything about you, but that will take some time. I know that. I'm willing to take that time, though. I'm not expecting you all to drop everything, I just want to be with you again."

"Harry, I hate you so damn much!" Hermione smiled.

"I know, Hermione, I know."

~~

I never had a dream come true,

Till the day that I found you,

Even though I pretend that I've moved on,

You'll always be my baby,

I never found the words to say,

You're the one I think about each day,

And I know no matter where life takes me to,

A part of my will always be with you.

A part of me will always be with you, oooohhh.

~~

END.