Worse Places

Worse Places

By Emwah

***

Plonk. Harry threw another stone into the crystal water, watching it fall as far as he could before it disappeared. The Squid didn't seem to mind, over on the far side of the lake as it was, and Harry had little better to do than watch the pebbles sink down into the depths of the waters, plummeting like his heart.

It was days like this that were truly ugly. When the sun shone brightly to glint on the water's surface, to pleasantly warm the skin on his arm like an itchy blanket, but without the itch and blanket. It was days like this when the water was still refreshingly cool so that if the sun got any hotter, you could just dive in and splash about with a carefree sense. It was days like this when the breeze wasn't warm, nor cool, but just right as it bent the boughs of a tree so that the shadows on the ground moved and the glorious sun peaked through, that made Harry want to scream at the unfairness of it all, the untruthfulness about it and how it looked as though everything was perfect.

"Wow, you look like your having a serious thought, Harry Potter."

"Huh?"

"I guess not."

Hermione Granger sat down beside him, smoothing her long skirt as she laid herself gently on the ground, kicking off her shoes and resting under the same tree as Harry, enjoying the soothing cool of the shade. Days like this reminded Hermione of happier times in her childhood, times she liked to remember and cherish.

"There are worse places, you know," Harry said rather suddenly, drawing Hermione's attention.

"Of course there are, this place is beautiful," she replied, twirling her fingers in the grass a little, tugging at the green blades and then patting them down again.

"I wonder if it will still be beautiful, day after day," Harry said, raising his eyes to one of the few clouds in the sky as it scudded across the big expanse of blue.

"What brings up this?" Hermione asked gently.

"I'm never leaving," Harry stated simply, before looking back down at his feet, all covered in dirt from his toes digging into the soil.

"Harry, you've graduated, of course you'll leave Hogwarts."

Harry shook his head and looked at his best friend, really looked at her with his emerald eyes the same colour as the grass that they sat on. "Not Hogwarts. Life."

Hermione cocked her head to the side, wondering where this was going. "Well, it's not as though you can send your life a postcard from the other side of the equator, Harry."

"I kept thinking," said Harry, shaking his head slightly and curling his knees up to his chest, "if I could just get good enough grades, I could do whatever I want. Life after graduation would be like being born again, but with freedom. I thought maybe if I trained hard enough, I could be a professional Quidditch Player. I was kidding myself."

Harry looked at the lake again, the way it all moved at one slight disturbance. He threw a rock, right at the centre and watched as the ripples swept out into a large concentric circle.

"I'll always be Harry Potter. I'll always be the kid that has to save the world. There will always be evil, even after Voldemort. And I'll always be on the front line of the war, because that's who I am. I don't get any other choices."

Hermione smiled. "That must be hard for you. I mean I could have any career I wanted. Well, maybe not Quidditch player, but pretty much anything else. The world is my oyster."

"You make me feel so much better," Harry said sarcastically as he moodily poked a stick in the earth. "Is there a point you're getting to?"

"Nope. I've nowhere to get to," Hermione said happily, handing over a small piece of paper to Harry.

Harry looked at her suspiciously before taking the parchment, unfolding it with a rustle and perused it.

"Hermione, you got accepted to be a Research Auror?" Harry exclaimed happily, unable to believe the news.

"I will be aiding the Aurors with knowledge," Hermione said in answer to Harry's question.

"Are you for real?"

Hermione smiled slyly. "Hey, aren't you going to be an Auror?"

"Hermione! My God! We'll be working together! This is going to be ... a problem." Harry dropped the paper back into Hermione's lap.

"A problem?" Hermione asked, uncertain she'd hear correctly.

"You can't be a Research Auror. The pay is ... bad and your talent would be wasted," Harry explained.

"Au contraire, I plan to work my way up the ranks to be Head of the Department," Hermione said, walking her fingers on the grass to show Harry how she planned to be promoted.

"Do you hear that? You're speaking French. Look at all the things you could do! You don't want to be a research Auror so you can be my work friend."

Harry smiled painfully. Hermione was sweet to think of him, but she needed to think of herself. She was always leaving herself last, giving her ticket to the person behind her until there was no one left at the back but her.

Hermione just smiled and lowered her head slightly, though still looking at the small waves on the water caused by the Giant Squid.

"Of all the things I can do, this is what I want to do most. And, while I do adore you, Harry," she said softly, while looking up at his face, "it's not about being close to you."

"This war," she said as she shook her head and looked up at the cloud that Harry had watched. "This war has just cleared up so much for me. I can't even walk down a street now without thinking about how long it will be until those faces I see are buried six feet under."

You've fought the evil Harry," she grabbed his hard and calloused hands in her own, looking him in the eye so he could see just how serious she was, "you've fought it for seven years now. I've helped some. And now that we're leaving school, we're supposed to know what we're going to do with the rest of our lives. And I know what I want to do."

"I want to help people, make the world a safer place for everyone to live in, fight the evils that constantly arise and not because I get paid for it and not because it's my destiny but because it's worth doing. And you do it because it's worth doing, too, not because you have to. It's a good fight, and I want to be a part of it."

"But all of your options - there are safer options," Harry said, squeezing her hand as he looked right into her rich, chocolate eyes.

Hermione nodded, knowing there were many safer places. "You'll protect me, I know you will. Plus Ron and his new job -"

"What's Ron's new job?" Harry asked.

"You didn't hear?" Hermione said gleefully.

Harry shook his head. "No, he scampered when I tried to ask him."

"Well, you'll have plenty of time to see him. After all, he's the Diviner of the ministry," Hermione grinned so wide all her magic-enhanced pearly white teeth shone through her lips.

"He's the what?" Harry asked incredulously, wondering if perhaps Hermione was lying to him.

In a mock-serious tone, Hermione said, "Oh yes, he'll be sure to tell you when there's evil afoot."

"Ron the Diviner."

"Looks like we'll all still be together, then," Hermione said hopefully, idly staring at the Giant Squid as he waved to them with a purple tentacle.

"Looks like."

Hermione breathed in the smell of the grass, of the breeze and of Harry and sighed. "There are worse places, you know."

"Worse places than the Ministry? I could live in the Ministry."

"No," Hermione said in a whisper that carried to Harry's ears, "I mean life."

Harry turned to face Hermione, biting her lip waiting for his response. In reply, Harry gave her a small half-smile, almost sad but with the prospect of hope and said, "With you and Ron, I think I can live in that, too."

***