Breath on the Wind

Breath on the Wind

By: Kinoryo

The sky was cloudy and her heart was set in stone as she made her way up the stone steps to the snow-white cathedral ahead of her. She was late, she knew, it had taken her forever to get there. All that morning she had sat in her room thinking of all the reasons that she shouldn't go, and yet somehow she found herself there, now thinking that she should turn back.

Hermione stood in front of the giant oak doors and pulled her coat tight as a cruel December wind bit at her cheek and she slowly lifted a hand to pull the door open. She hesitated once she'd grasped the cold metal handle in her hand and then took a deep breath and pulled, dashing inside before she could change her mind.

The inside of the room was dark and lit only by candles: sunlight striving to make it's way through the stained glass windows. People she knew were clustered on the benches closest to the front, nearest to Harry's coffin, and the others she'd never met (and Harry'd probably never met) were bunched up on the back rows, with several standing because there was no more room left. Some of the strangers in the back glanced back at her as she entered, but for the most part ignored her entrance completely.

Hermione stood by the nearest pole and leaned on it slightly as she looked on at the proceedings. The minister was standing at the very front and there was Harry's casket, and Harry inside it. Her insides squirmed at the thought and she had to look away, tears threatening her eyes. She promised herself she wouldn't cry anymore. She'd cried for four days straight when he'd died and since then she'd distanced herself from everyone else and tried desperately to detach herself from emotion. She was failing miserable as memory after memory came flooding back into her brain.

~

Hermione ducked as a snowball whizzed by her left ear. In the distance she could hear Harry's laughter. She smiled as she began the makings of her own snowball. The snow was causing her small purple mittens to turn darker shades and her fingers were frozen together.

Hermione stood up, snowball poised in her hand, and she looked around for Harry, but he was nowhere to be found. Splash! A snowball collided with the side of her face and she heard Harry's laughter again. She whirled around and threw her snowball as hard as she could in the direction of his voice. She smiled triumphantly as she heard an "Oh!" of surprise that told her she'd hit him. Hermione used her soggy mittens to wipe her face clean and when she looked up Harry was running full speed at her. She screamed as he tackled her into a pile of snow.

She grinned up at him as he lay on top of her pinning her down with his entire body. Then his lips were on hers. Her eyes popped and Harry suddenly jumped off her.

Hermione shakily sat upright and looked up at him.

"What was that for?"

Harry just shook his head in shock and Hermione watched numbly as he turned heel and ran in the opposite direction, tenderly touching her lips where he'd been moments before.

~

~

Hermione looked up from 1,000 Magical Herbs and Fungi as Harry came walking across the library toward her. She could tell by his expression that something was wrong. His eyebrows were furrowed in a concentrated and worried way and his mouth was pressed in a line thin enough to rival Professor McGonagal.

Hermione slowly closed her book, not taking her eyes off him as she placed the book aside. He came to a stop in front of her and she now saw that he was breathing rather fast.

"Harry, what's wrong?"

Harry looked her straight in the eyes and Hermione gasped when she saw that they were clouded over with tears. He closed his fists tight and she saw the muscles in his jaw clench.

"It's time..."

~

~

"I want to fight with you!"

"You can't it's too dangerous!"

Hermione seized his left sleeve and heaved him around to face her. His eyes were cold and distant and she almost gave in but she had to do this.

"I'm fighting with you whether you like it or not," she said, "and there's nothing you can do to stop me."

Harry's face grew angry and he grabbed her upper arms forcefully as if to shake her. She tried not to wince as he began to scream at her.

"NO, YOU WILL STAY HERE!!!"

"NO I WON'T, HARRY! YOU DON'T HAVE CONTROL OVER ME!"

"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?!?!"

"What am I doing to you, Harry," she asked, aware of the tears in his eyes.

"I don't want anything to happen to you. I love you..."

~

~

"Harry..."

Hermione knelt on the bloodstained grass next to Harry who lay spread-eagled on his back in the middle of the battlefield. Bodies littered the ground around them and the sky was turning a crimson hue.

"Harry, speak to me," she commanded, seizing one of his hands in hers. He moved his head slightly to look up at her. He smiled weakly and raised a trembling hand to wipe away one of the tears making their way down her cheek.

"We did it, 'Mione. We won."

"You did it, Harry. You won."

Harry smiled and shook his head, his eyes closing.

"I couldn't have done it without you,"

"Oh, Harry, that's not true..."

Hermione was cut off as Harry began to cough up blood over his tattered robes.

"Harry! Hold on, help will be here any minute to patch you up, just hold on.

"I can't hold on anymore, Hermione."

Hermione was beginning to panic. Harry's breathing was getting shallower and she knew right then that this would be her last chance to talk to him. She choked on a sob.

"Oh, God, please no. You can't leave me, Harry, you can't leave me!"

Harry smiled and cupped his hand to her face again.

"I'll always love you, Hermione, and I'll never leave you."

Hermione tried to say that she loved him, too, but all she could do was cry. She watched as her tears splattered on his arm and robe.

"I love you," he whispered, and then his hand went limp and it dropped to the ground.

"Harry? HARRY!!! Harry wake up!!! WAKE UP!!! HARRY!!! I love you too, Harry, wake up!!!"

~

Hermione brushed the tears away as she stepped back from the pillar. She couldn't stay in here anymore. No more.

She opened the front doors with more force than was necessary that caused the whole congregation to turn and stare and all they could see was a bushy head of brown hair flying down the front steps of the church as the doors banged closed again.

Hermione ran, not really caring where she was going. She didn't go far. She made her way to a cliff over the ocean and there she found a stone bench. She walked over to it and looked at it. Carved deep into the top of it was the word Peace. She sniffed and sat down on it.

She cried. All the memories, the terror, the heartbreak, the pain came rushing back into her mind more powerful than they had been in the moments they'd actually occurred. Her whole body shook with her sobs.

"Hermione..."

Hermione looked up sharply. That voice. No, it couldn't be. A cold breath of wind caressed her face and she looked beside her. Her eyes grew wide.

Harry was sitting next to her, not quite solid, but a sort of transparent milky-gray. He looked the same as he did the day he...

"Harry?"

"Don't cry, Hermione..."

His voice sounded so far away, and yet he was sitting right next to her. Hermione blinked but he didn't vanish.

"Why are you here, Harry?"

"To tell you I love you."

Hermione's eyes grew wide and there were so many questions in her brain, but somehow the answer came out automatically.

"I love you too, Harry. I always have."

He smiled.

"I'll always be here, Hermione."

He leaned forward as if to kiss her and she didn't know how else to respond except to do the same. She closed her eyes and when they connected it felt like a warm breath on lips, and then it was gone. She opened her eyes. There was nobody beside her.

Did I just dream that? She asked herself. She turned to look out at the ocean. The sun was setting and the clouds had parted to reveal a watercolor sky. Hermione smiled and shook her head, sure of her own insanity, and yet finally relieved that she had what was written of the bench, peace.

She stood up and began to make her way back to the church when a breeze of December wind whipped her hair behind her and she heard a voice on the wind.

"I love you..."

Hermione looked around but no one was there. She smiled to herself, maybe she hadn't been dreaming after all.