Hey guys!!! After my Harry/Ginny story, I felt like doing something different. So here is my first ever one-shot, based on lyrics by S Club 7 (this is a bit sad, I know). But anyway, here it is.

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With You
Hermione Granger was walking through London, her face set in a sad expression, and some of her hair had come out of its ponytail and was poking out at odd angles. She reminded herself why she had to do this, but she still had butterflies in her stomach that made her feel as though she were about to throw up.

“He’s dying, Hermione,” Ron said, a pleading expression coming over his freckled face. “If you don’t go and see him now, you’ll never speak to him again. He’s in a coma, Hermione! He’s been in a coma for thirteen years! You don’t even have to talk to him! But he’s your friend, Hermione! And I know you’ve been avoiding seeing him all these years, so you don’t have to feel the pain. But I also know that if you don’t go and see him before he dies, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”

He was right, of course. But it still didn’t make her feel any better about what she was about to do. She glanced at her watch, and almost walked into the light post in front of her. It was the thirty-first of July. Harry’s birthday. He was going to die on his birthday. She suddenly felt very faint.

Still lost in her daydreams, she almost walked past the deserted shop window that housed the wizard hospital, St. Mungo’s. Taking a passing look at the ‘Closed for Refurbishment’ sign, she stepped through the glass into a brightly lit foyer. The healers were rushing around with clipboards and potion bottles, among patients with gruesome disfigurements, including one small boy whose head had swelled to five times its normal size, and a witch who didn’t seem to have anything wrong with her at first, but made a strange siren noise when she tried to talk.

She walked up to the Welcome Witch’s desk, where a kind, elderly witch with dark hair sat in place of the horrible lady who had been there last time.

“Hello, dear,” said the witch, “what can I do for you?”

“Umm… well, could you tell me where Harry Potter’s room is?”

The witch’s kindly expression turned to one of pity and sadness as she looked deep into Hermione’s eyes. “Oh, dear. I know why you’re here, of course. Such a pity….a fine young man….”

She continued to talk for a while, allowing Hermione a moment to think. But soon enough, she heard the witch’s soft voice saying, “…his room is top secret, of course. I’ll have to take you there myself….come along then, dear.”

Hermione followed her through corridors, not taking much notice of where they were going. Suddenly, she found herself asking, “Isn’t there anything you can do to save him?”

“Sustaining charms only last so long, dear. I’m afraid that unless he wakes up very soon, his body is just going to shut down.” She sighed. “And even if he were to wake up, his chances of survival would be very slim. He’s extremely weak, dear. I’m so sorry.”

Everybody’s got something
They had to leave behind.
One regret from yesterday
That just seems to grow with time

She stopped and opened the door in front of her, allowing Hermione to pass into the room. Behind her, Hermione heard the door click shut. The room was white, with coloured orbs floating near the ceiling. Unlike most rooms, his was filled with many bouquets of flowers and cards. Some of them were birthday cards. Hermione’s heart skipped a beat.

This, however, was nothing compared to the painful wrench she felt when she looked at the man lying in the bed.

The man had jet black hair, the colour of midnight. His eyes were closed, though Hermione knew that beneath his eyelids were eyes that were a bright bottle green. His round, black glasses were on his bedside table; his face looked somehow incomplete without them. She pushed back his dark, messy fringe; his scar was still there, the thin, lightning-shaped scar that had marked him different on that night so long ago.

It was as if he hadn’t grown any older since the last time Hermione had seen him thirteen years ago, as if he had escaped the ravages of time; his skin had no more lines than a fifteen year old, while she had not been so lucky. There were wrinkles about her eyes, and she knew she wore a weary expression from past troubles that refused to leave her alone.

Though this was not the same Harry that she had known all those years ago. His eyes were too sunken, his skin too pale, his cheekbones too pronounced. He had nothing of the depth or character that Harry had possessed. He didn’t have Harry’s purpose, or the stubborn determination which had set him apart from Ron and her. His face was blank and waiting, as if he had felt nothing for the longest time. He was the same, and yet different, in so many ways.

She sat down beside him, disturbed by what thirteen years had reduced her best friend to. She began to speak quietly.

“Remember me, Harry? I suppose you do. You never did forget things easily. Remember all the adventures we had, all the times we cried together? I bet you remember every smile, every word, every laugh, every moment that we shared. I bet you remember everything.

“We haven’t seen each other for a while, have we, Harry? I suppose you’re wondering what’s happened to me and Ron all this time, right? We got married! You weren’t even there for the wedding, were you, Harry? I wish you had been. Ginny looked so beautiful. I bet you miss her, don’t you Harry? I bet you miss all of us. I wish you could hear me, Harry. I wish I could speak to you one last time.

I bet you do too. It’s been really hard for us, Harry. I wish that all this had never happened. I wish that Voldemort didn’t exist. Because then you wouldn’t be like this. We could be happy, couldn’t we? You could’ve married Ginny, just like you always wanted. We could’ve had fun together, the four of us, the way we used to, before all of this happened. We might have had really normal lives. You might have been an Auror, Harry. You would have been a really great Auror. The best in the whole department, the entire wizarding world.”

There’s no use looking back
Or wondering
How it could be now
Or might’ve been

Hermione could feel herself choking up; the lump in her throat stopping her breath and making tears well up in her stinging eyes. She swallowed, wetting her dry throat, because she knew she had to go on.

“But that’s not going to happen, is it, Harry? It’s not possible to turn back time. You can’t be in two places at once. How could we be here, and not here at the same time? That’s what you said, remember, Harry? I do. I remember that day as if it were yesterday, when you saw yourself cast that patronus across the lake.

“It’s sad, isn’t it, Harry, that all that is just a distant memory, that will one day be lost forever. It’s sad that no matter how hard you try, someone will always get hurt. They all seemed to revolve around you, though, didn’t they, Harry? Your parents, Sirius, Dumbledore, Cedric, Mr Crouch, Voldemort. Everything seems to happen to you, doesn’t it? That’s what everyone used to say. But it used to make you upset.

“Please don’t be upset with me for saying that, Harry. I didn’t come and talk to you to make you feel angry with me. It’s your birthday, after all. Just think, all these years I’ve never sent you a birthday card. I wonder what you’d say if you knew that.”

She paused, suddenly disgusted by her behaviour towards her friend all these years.

“They say that people in comas can hear. Can you hear me, Harry? Have you heard every word I’ve just said? I hope you have. I’ve never really talked to you like this before. You wouldn’t open up when we were at Hogwarts. I guess I never did either. But I always knew what you were thinking, didn’t I, Harry? I knew you liked Ginny in sixth year, probably even before you did. I knew you had a crush on Cho, and I knew you didn’t really like her deep down inside.”

She sniffed, “But you never knew who I liked, did you, Harry? It doesn’t matter, I suppose. Nothing ever came of it. But I did always wonder whether he liked me too. Have you ever felt like that, Harry? All that time you were with Ginny, did you ever stop and think about what it would feel like to hold another in your arms? You probably didn’t. You were always a lot more honourable than me.”

She stopped, thinking of times past. “Or were you? I don’t know what happened to you after you left me at the Burrow while you went off to find the Horcruxes. Why did you do that, Harry? You knew that we wanted to be there with you. You knew you couldn’t get through it alone. And now look where you’ve ended up! You’re in a coma, Harry! You’ve been practically dead for thirteen years. Think about all the wonderful things you’ve missed out on. You missed seeing Bill’s little boy grow up. Your own god son! He was so adorable, Harry. And you’ve never even seen his face.

“You’re going to miss even more in the future. Don’t you remember, Harry? You’re the Boy Who Lived! Can’t you keep on living? What’s so important that you have to die now? Sure, you’d be with the people you love. Your parents, and Sirius; I’m sure they’d be so happy to see you.” By now, tears were streaming down her face, with no sign of stopping.

All this I know
But still I can’t find ways
To let you go

“But we love you too, Harry! Don’t you get it? Ron, Ginny, Molly, Arthur, Fred, George, Tonks, Lupin. And me. I love you, Harry. So you have to keep fighting. For me. For all of us. Imagine the look on Dumbledore’s face if he knew you’d given up.”

Hermione gasped, barely able to breath because of her wracking sobs. Out of the corner of her eye, she could have sworn that she saw Harry move.

“Please don’t give up, Harry,” she whispered.

For how long she sat there and cried, she did not know. She was consumed by grief, and she knew she had to say goodbye soon, because Harry’s time was now measured in not hours, but minutes.

“I’ve never heard you ask so many questions, Hermione,” said a quiet voice to her left.

The tears immediately stopped flowing from her eyes, and her heart seemed to stop beating. She looked up from her hands, not daring to believe what was happening.

“Oh, Harry!” she said, flinging her arms around his neck, covering his face with her bushy brown hair.

“Geez, careful, Hermione,” he said in a joking voice, “I’ve been in a coma, you know.”

Hermione laughed, half choking on the tears that had begun to drip down her cheeks again.

“I’m so sorry, Harry.”

“No problem,” he said, and Hermione noticed once again how weak he looked.

“You haven’t changed a bit.”

“But you have. You should worry less, ‘Mione.”

She smiled. “You’re sounding more like Ron every minute.”

“So, what’s been happening? How’s Gin? How’s this god son I’ve only just found out about?” Hermione noticed that Harry spoke cautiously, as if he had a hidden pain, and he knew he didn’t have long to talk.

“They’re all fine. They’ll be so happy to know you’re alright, Harry.”

He looked away. “Look, Hermione, I can’t lie to you. I don’t have long. I can feel myself fading away.”

“Harry-”

“No, Hermione. Please, just let me enjoy this last hour with you.”

So they talked. For the whole time, Hermione was dreading what the end of their conversation would mean. They talked of Quidditch, her wedding, and other events that Harry had missed. When he finally fell silent, Hermione’s tears fell freely. He said his final good-bye, his breathing laboured. Acting on impulse, she whispered in his ear.

“I’ve always meant to give you this, Harry, but I never had the nerve. Please don’t hate me.”

And then she kissed him. To her great surprise, he kissed her back, just like she’d imagined he would. It was passionate, and he varied the pressure with which he pressed his lips against hers. First gently, then harder, his lips soft, and his smell filling her senses with warmth.

When she finally pulled away, she heard him whisper in her ear. “I love you.” And as his eyes closed, and his last breath escaped him, Hermione could have sworn she saw him smile.

I never had a dream come true
Til 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

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The End!!!!
So how was it? Even if it sucked. Please?


Luv ya
chlo


xoxo