Title: Final Goodbye
Author: Mary
Time: 33 minutes
Challenge #3 from the 30minutemuse LJ Community: First Lines (my choice: You back away, clutching the prize in your left hand.)

***

You back away, clutching the prize in your left hand.

The expression on your face is a mixture of sadness and excitement. He knows that expression. He’s seen it before. Sadness that it’s finally over. Excitement about future possibilities.

And that future is indeed possible now. With this single item, the dream you’ve been holding onto is now within reach. Of course, it means giving things up. Secrets you used to hold.

His face is just as it always is, with his features schooled to mask any emotion except for distaste. But his eyes are different, and you know without question that you’ve hurt this man more than he thought he could be hurt.

You try to say something, but the words won’t come. You want to tell him how you feel, but you don’t have to. He already knows. He always knows what you feel before you do. Maybe it’s the long years he spent living a double life. Those hours spent carefully studying others.

He just stands there and waits for you with his hands uncharacteristically thrust into the pockets of his trousers and his shoulders slumped inelegantly.

The overall aura of defeat doesn’t suit him, and you tell him so, earning a soft smile for your effort.

It wouldn’t have worked between us, you hear him whisper. And all you can do is nod almost imperceptibly and stare at the stone floor beneath your feet. There isn’t more than an arm’s length of space between you, yet if feels like a great earthquake has broken apart the world, and you’re on opposite sides of the rift.

Gathering your courage, you close the distance and reach up to cup his cheek with your right hand. It may have worked, you say quietly. It might still. Someday.

Perhaps, he says just as quietly.

The soft smile appears again, and you briefly entertain the idea that you would rip the parchment in your hands into a thousand pieces if he would smile like that every second for eternity.

He tells you that you’d better go. The train will be leaving soon, and you can’t miss it.

You nod again, and take a deep breath. You stand on your toes and kiss him softly - a final goodbye for the man who taught you more than just how to make a proper potion. Clutching the parchment tightly, you touch the tips of his fingers gently with your free hand, and leave without looking back.

It isn’t until you’re on the train, surrounded by your friends, that you’re able to read it again. It’s nothing more than the standard acceptance to a top-notch wizarding institution, but the scrawl at the bottom in his unmistakable handwriting nearly brings tears to your eyes.

Congratulations, Hermione.
You’ll do well. It has truly been a pleasure knowing you.
Yours,
S.S.

On your left, Harry notices and asks what could be wrong. After you shake your head, Ron playfully teases you. Probably just sad that there’ll be no more homework, he grins. You can’t help smiling as the pair try to recall all that took place in your seven years at Hogwarts.

But your thoughts linger on the man in the dungeons, and your gaze keeps returning to the jet black ink in front of you. You make a promise that one day, after you’ve grown up, you’ll return to him. And quietly, you fold up the letter and prepare to face the world.