Memories in Hong Kong

Memories in Hong Kong

Hermione Granger stared out of her flat window. Rows and rows of towering buildings could be seen. The roads were filled with incessant beeping and car engines. Streets heaved with people doing their mundane activities. The sky was barely visible due to the staggering towers. But, Hermione knew she was lucky to be living in Tai Po, where the flats weren't so high and streets weren't so full as the areas in the inner rim of Hong Kong. Though Tai Po was not amongst the favourites of the Chinese people, it suited Hermione well. Sure, the buildings were very old in this part of Hong Kong but it was home. Life here was completely to the one she had lived in England, which was exactly what she had come here to find.

Life in Hong Kong had been her escape from the past. The past she had tried to leave behind in England. However, what Hermione had discovered was that you couldn't leave memories. They were always there, living and existing in the back of your mind. Though they didn't haunt you, they constantly followed and once in a while, they would resurface to remind you of everything you were trying to forget. She didn't hate her memories; they were filled with much love and happiness but somehow, tied to all that was pain, grief and loss.

Hermione bit back a sob as the memory of him came rushing back. No. Please not today, she silently begged to her mind. Remembering him had torn her heart apart and recalling the memories was more than she could handle. She had loved him. She had loved him with every inch of her core existence and he promised that he would never leave her. He had promised. And, he broke it. He had left her and moved on.

Hermione choked as a sob escaped through her mouth. The sob twisted into a strange smile as she recalled one of their many arguments before everything had begun. They used to have so many stupidly petty arguments that had outraged her for the first six years at Hogwarts. He constantly insulted her and he had always known which buttons to push.

"You're such a dike! You think you're so damn clever!" he hissed at her.

"Do one, you ignorant prat!" she spat in reply.

She couldn't even remember what had even caused that particular argument. Nevertheless, Hermione would have betted a 100 galleons that he had in one way or another provoked her first. She had tried her best to avoid him in the first six years of schooling.

Then one day in the seventh year came the catalyst. It changed everything their relationship had depended on. His views on what she was didn't change in that one-day, it took him over a year and Hermione often questioned whether he had ever let it go. She doubted he had because he had been brought up to hate the people that she belonged to. But by then that was the last of their worries.

After the catalyst, a new friendship founded and it constantly evolved and into the pain she felt for him to this day. Death was her enemy. It had taken away the one she truly treasured. They had had plans on a life together. A life that could have changed the relationships in the wizarding world.

Hermione's alarm clock suddenly rang cutting through the silent air. She trudged to her bedroom and slapped her hand down on the clock. She had woken up hours before her alarm clock had ringed. Sleep was a luxury these days. Sleep didn't envelop Hermione as it had done when she was young. Mostly, she slept around two hours a night. The sleepless hours had taken a toll on her appearance. At thirty-three, Hermione was too young for the trials that she had endured and the lines showed it on her face.

She rummaged around her bedroom drawers for some lip balm. Hermione had developed a habit of chewing on her bottom lip whenever she was sad, worried or bored. Running a hand over her lips, Hermione felt how dry and chapped they were. She stuck her head in the drawer and peered for the lip balm. Another object caught her eye and she reached for it.

A pink shell glinted in the daylight throwing a thousand memories in Hermione's direction. Her mind flew back to the day she had spent with him at the seaside. It had been a lovely day. The sea had been warm, the tides were gentle and a soothing breeze had flittered around them.

"Do you believe in reincarnation?" she asked him, as she stared at the gulls that were flying above her.

"I don't know," he replied. "I don't know what I believe in."

"You believe in us."

He stared at her. "Yes. I believe in us."

Hermione grinned as she waded out into the water. "Do you think I could have been a bird in my past life?" she asked him, imitating the gulls around her.

He shook his head not saying anything.

"Say I'm a bird."

He watched her. "No."

"Say I'm a bird."

"You're a bird," he told her.

She laughed delightedly and ran back to him, jumping into his arms when she reached him. Her arms cradled around his neck and her forehead against his, she whispered, "Now say you're a bird too."

And, he did.

Hermione smiled as she placed the shell back into the drawer. It was at that moment in time, she had known what it felt like to be in love. The feeling had come rushing up towards her and had hit her unexpectedly. She had staggered around for a few days after that carrying the heavy emotion but soon realised that it was not a burden to be carried. It was the gateway to one of the most treasured things that existed on earth and in heaven.

Promising that he would never leave her was not the only thing he had promised Hermione. He had promised her a home. He had disliked his Manor home because of its dark, corrupted secrets. However, she had taken a liking to it because what she saw existed in the house was different to what he had viewed. She had seen: purity, light, and most of all, hope. The Manor lived in shadows until Hermione made him promise that one day they would transform it and live in it. Half of the promise was kept; the Manor was renovated. It was repainted white with blue shutters and each room was lavishly decorated with love. They even transformed one of the rooms into an adjoining baby room. They had filled the Manor with their hopes and dreams.

Except, dreams don't always come true and hopes are idealistic wishes. Three weeks before their wedding day and the day they were going to move into their new home, he was taken away from her. Death wandered onto his doorstep, telling him that his time had come and Death took him away. Took him to a place where he could move on from this world. Took him to a place without her. Hermione cried everyday for a month after his departure. She hated him and his promises and she hated Death. Her heart had been torn apart that day and it had never been mended since.

The sound of the key turning in the front door sprung Hermione from her reverie.

"Mum?"

Her fourteen-year-old daughter appeared in the bedroom doorway. "Mum? Are you alright?"

"Yes. I'm fine, sweetheart."

Her daughter stared inquisitively at her but made no comment. "Lai asked me to go to Shai Tin with her. Would that be okay?" She glanced at her mother, "I don't have to go."

"No, it's fine. You go." Hermione glanced at her watch. "Be home by six though."

Her daughter grinned and kissed her on the cheek. "I'll see you later, mum."

Hermione watched her daughter as she left. Serenity was the spitting image of him. Long, white blonde hair, pale skin, pointy face and a tall and lean frame. The only difference was her eyes. Her eyes were her own - large, rich, dark espresso brown eyes. Much like how Harry had been the vision of his father but had had his mother's emerald eyes.

The name, Serenity, suited her daughter's character precisely. She was very different to her parents. Both had been proud and fiery. Serenity did her best not to get involved in arguments, she was never proud, arrogant or bossy and she never bragged. She was much the polar opposite of her parents. Her name had been pretty much a sum up of what their relationship had become. It was no longer the raging storm but a peaceful settlement had been replaced.

Glancing out the bedroom window, Hermione reminisced how different life was in Hong Kong compared to England. There was no countryside. There was no need for cars as public transport was highly reliable. English people did not crowd the streets but people of a completely different colour and different language. Most of all, he wasn't here. His soul lived on the other side of the world as she remembered her last day in England.

Hermione walked across the lush green grass in the park. Her plane was due to leave in six hours, and she was enjoying her last few hours in England. She needed to leave this place. It was no longer her home; everything that had been was gone. The only important thing in her life was her baby daughter. She had given birth to Serenity last year at nineteen. She had never planned to become a mother so young. She had never planned to get married so soon, however that hadn't happened. Her fiancée was dead. His ashes had been carried away by the wind. It was the one thing he had ever made her promise. His spirit could then finally be set free from all the oppressions he had been brought up in his life.

She stared at the pond and the life that crowded it. The ducks, swans and plants. The sun shone down on the water making it sparkle like a thousand jewels. Hermione smiled at its beauty.

A proud, elegant and handsome swan began swimming towards her. Hermione looked at him curiously, and she walked towards him. He was beautiful as he ruffled his angel feathers. When he reached her side, he looked at Hermione steely with his beady eye. She beamed at him as she admired his magnificence.

Suddenly, she gasped, as the realisation dawned on her, hitting like a dagger in her heart. A lone tear fell from her eye and onto the swan's head. His head reached over and pecked her cheek. "Hello, Draco," she whispered.