Supporting her by the arm, Ron led Hermione out the back door of the Shell Cottage and walked her over to the chair he had set out in front of the garden.
“Here we go.” Ron smiled as he eased Hermione down onto the chair.
“Really, Ron, this isn’t necessary,” Hermione insisted. “I’m perfectly capable of walking on my own now.”
“Yes, I’m sure you are,” Ron agreed. “But humour me just a little while longer, won’t you?”
Hermione smiled up at him despite her irritation with being handled like an invalid by Ron. She took in a deep breath of the cold sea air, and stared out over the distant ocean for a few moments before turning her attention to the beautifully kept garden. “It really is lovely here, isn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Ron nodded in agreement. “It really is.” He knelt down next to her and placed his hand over hers, which she had folder over her lap.
They sat there quietly, admiring the picture perfect view they had of the garden and the sea. After several minutes, Hermione commented, “The gardenias are starting to come along nicely.”
Ron nodded, “Yeah, their blossoms are really starting to show.”
“Those are the petunias.” Hermione smirked and pointed to the flower bed next to them. “Those are the gardenias.”
“Oh.” Ron’s face turned slightly red. “Well, I never really did pay much attention to when Mum planted in the garden.”
Hermione slipped out her bottom hand from her lap and patted Ron’s hand, giving it a gentle squeeze as well. They fell back into a pleasant silence until Hermione finally asked, “Where is Harry? Not sitting along the cliff again?”
“I suppose so,” Ron replied. “He goes there nearly every day. I suppose Dobby’s death hit him pretty hard.”
“Well, of course it did. Dobby was Harry’s friend. He saved Dobby from a life of cruelty. Dobby saved Harry, he saved all of us. I can’t even begin to imagine how Harry must be feeling.”
Just then, Harry came up from his usual spot over by the cliff and made his way towards the garden gate. Ron stood up and brushed off his knees. As Harry drew close, Ron placed a comforting hand upon Hermione’s shoulder while looking over at Harry. “Hi Harry. Doing all right?”
“Ron,” Hermione whispered curtly.
“What?” Ron looked down at her and whispered back, “I just asked if he was feeling all right.”
“I’m fine,” Harry answered as he walked towards them.
“Of course you are, Harry.” Hermione took his hand into hers. “No one is suggesting otherwise.”
“I know.” He gave Hermione a weak smile, and then turned his attention to his other friend. “Ron, do you mind giving us a minute. There’s something I’d like to talk to Hermione about, alone.”
Ron stared at Harry with an air of disbelief. He turned his attention to Hermione who had allowed her hands to drop away from Harry’s and was now reaching up to take his hand. “It’s all right Ron. I’m sure it’s nothing, really.”
Ron was not so sure, but he nodded anyway and said, “That’s all right, I was going to help Bill with…” he trailed off, then turned, and walked towards the house.
Hermione watched Ron until he was in the house, then she turned her attention to Harry. “What did you want to talk to me about?”
Harry continued to stare at the back door of the cottage a moment longer before stepping in front of Hermione and bending down so he was eye to eye with her. “Hermione, I want you to know, if there had been anything, anything at all that Ron or I could have done to keep Bellatrix from torturing you like she did, we would have done it. We would have taken your place in a second. You know this, don’t you?”
“I know Harry.” She smiled slightly and blinked rapidly to chase away the tears that threatened to escape. “Is that all that you wanted to tell me?”
“No.” He stood up straight and turned away from her for a moment, looking down at the flower bed.
She could tell whatever it was that Harry wanted to say, it was not easy for him. Then it dawned on her why he wanted to speak with her alone, and her expression hardened. “If you’re going to ask me to leave with Dean and Luna, I’ll tell you right now, the answer is no.”
“I want you to go with Luna and Dean to Ron’s Auntie Muriel’s house,” he said with a commanding tone.
“No!”
Harry spun around and stared down at his friend, coldly. “This is not a request, Hermione. I’m telling you, I don’t want you with me anymore. You’ve suffered enough. You’ve done your part.”
Hermione’s nostrils flared, “And I’m telling you, that I’m not leaving. I don’t care how mean you try to make yourself look. I said I’d see this through until the end with you, and I’m not going back on my word.”
“You don’t understand. I don’t want you with me anymore,” Harry tried to sound as angry as he possibly could. “You’re… you’re nothing but a burden to me.” He looked off to the side, unable to meet Hermione’s gaze.
Hermione gasped as tears sprang from her eyes and ran down her face, but when she saw that Harry wasn’t able to look at her, she felt a hint of resolve return to her. “Look at me and say that.”
“What?”
“I said look at me, Harry. Look me in the eyes and tell me I’m a burden and you want me to go away. If you can look me in the eyes and say that, then I’ll leave and you’ll never see me again, I swear,” she said with forced composure.
Harry drew in a deep breath, then after a few seconds drew in another. Steeling himself, he leaned forward and placed his hands just above Hermione’s shoulders onto the back of the chair so his face was just inches from hers. He looked at her and said. “You’re a burden and I don’t want you with me anymore.”
He started to straighten up but before he could Hermione reached up, grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, and pulled him back towards her. “Look at me. Look at me!” her voice cracked. Harry did as she said and his heart broke seeing a river of tears running down her face. “Now say it, while looking me in the eye and not staring at my forehead,” her voice continued to tremble.
Harry stared her in the eyes and all the resolve he had spent the past few days building up for this moment shattered and was swept away with the cool spring breeze. His own eyes began to well up in tears, and suddenly, his legs were no longer strong enough to support him. He fell to his knees pressing his face to Hermione’s lap and wept. “I-I can’t bear seeing you get hurt again.” He wrapped his arms around her lower waist and held on for dear life. “I’d rather die than have you suffer again because of me.”
Hermione gently ran her hands over Harry’s back and slowly lowered her head onto him. “I didn’t suffer because of you, I’ve suffered with you. We’ve all suffered because of You-Know-Who. It’s his doing, not yours, and as long as he is alive, everyone is in danger, everyone suffers.”
Harry drew in several deep breaths and recaptured control of his emotions. When Hermione felt him settle down, she sat up straight, allowing him to stand back up.
Hermione stared up at her friend for a moment, and then added, “Dumbledore gave the task of destroying the Horcruxes to the three of us, and I’m not stopping until we’ve seen that task through. Are you?”
Harry smirked. “No, no I’m not.”
“Then it’s settled.” She gave a rye grin. “Besides, you know you can’t manage without me. Neither you nor Ron knows how to make a decent cup of tea.”
Harry couldn’t help but give a short laugh while he wiped his eyes and his nose with his sleeve. “You do much more than make good tea, so much more.”
Hermione’s smile grew. With some effort, she started to stand and Harry immediately lent her a hand. “So what do we do now?” she asked.
“We wait, until Griphook gives us an answer.”
Hermione nodded. “Well, it’s getting a bit too chilly for my taste. Shall we go inside?”
“You go on ahead. I’ll be along shortly.”
“You’re not going to spend the rest of the day sitting out by the cliff again?” concern echoed in Hermione’s voice. “I know you miss Dobby but you have to let him go. He wouldn’t want you troubling yourself so.”
“I do miss Dobby, but that’s not what’s troubling me.”
“Oh?”
Harry hesitated a moment and then shook his head. “I’m just not sure if not going after the Elder wand was the right thing to do. It felt right at the time but the more I think about it, the less sure I am.”
“Harry.” Hermione placed her hand on his shoulder. “I’m certain you did the right thing. That wand has a long, bloody history of evil attached to it. You don’t want to go down that route to defeat You-Know-Who. You just don’t.”
“But what if I can’t defeat him now, because he has that wand? What if Dumbledore left us those hints about the Elder wand, and the stone and invisibility clock in order to make sure he didn’t get his hands on them?”
Hermione thought about it for a moment, then slowly smiled, leaned forward and kissed Harry on the cheek. “We’ll sort it out. I know we will.” She gave his shoulder a squeeze and then turned to walk back into the house, but she stopped after a couple of steps and looked back at Harry. “By the way, remember, Dumbledore defeated Grindelwald, even though Grindelwald had the Elder wand.”
“What? Are you suggesting I’m as great a wizard as Dumbledore?”
“No, I’m suggesting no such thing. What I am saying is that the wand can be defeated, we just need to figure out how.” She smiled and continued on her way inside the house.
Harry hadn’t thought about that before. How did Dumbledore defeat Grindelwald when Grindelwald had the Elder wand? Was Dumbledore that much more powerful then Grindelwald? This just raised more questions for Harry to consider as he turned towards the back gate and made his way back to the cliff.
Hermione let out a small sigh as she watched Harry walk out of sight before she opened the door and stepped inside. Closing it securely, she looked out the door’s window pane one last time before turning towards the sitting room. She gasped. “Ron, you gave me a fright.” She caught her breath. “What are you doing just standing there?”
Ron didn’t answer but the sadness in his expression seemed to say it all.
“Oh.” Hermione smiled and gestured to the back yard. “It was nothing, nothing really important anyway. Just some things Harry wanted to get off his chest. That’s all.”
“Y-You love him, don’t you?” Ron’s voice quivered.
“What?”
“Harry, you love Harry.” This time it was not a question.
“Well, yes, I do,” she smiled sheepishly. “I mean really, what’s not to love?”
Ron hung his head. “Yeah, right. What’s not to love? He’s brave, and true. A lot truer than I am. Bet he’d never abandon his friends, or act like a totally selfish prat.”
“Ron?” A troubled expression played across Hermione’s face.
“When this is all over, when we’ve stopped You-Know-Who, well, when Harry stops You-Know-Who, I promise, I won’t get in the way.” Ron’s eyes turned all red and he struggled fiercely to keep from letting his tears escape.
Understanding struck Hermione like a mallet, and she rushed forward, wrapped her arms around his waist, and buried her face into his chest. “Oh Ron.” She held him tight.
Ron did not know what to do. He stood, dumbfounded with his arms out to his sides. When he felt Hermione’s body quiver against him, he brought his arms up to hold her close. “I’m sorry, Hermione. I didn’t mean to upset you. I just wanted you to know, I wouldn’t get in the way of you and Harry.”
“Stop,” Hermione whimpered. “Just stop, you fool. You’re such a fool. Didn’t reading that book teach you anything about girls?”
Ron gasped. “You knew?”
“Of course, I knew.” Hermione slowly looked up at him. “I do love Harry. He’s like a brother to me. I feel like I can talk to him about anything, and not worry about embarrassing myself. It’s different than say, being with a boyfriend.” She blushed slightly, but enough for Ron to notice.
“Boyfriend?” A smile crept across his face.
“I think I got a bit of a chill from being outside. Would you mind getting me some tea?” She smiled.
“Tea? Uh… no, not at all. Go sit by the fireplace and I’ll be right there with your tea.” Ron gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze, and then hurried off to the kitchen.
Hermione wiped her eyes dry, and smiled. “Oh Ron, you really are an idiot.” She smiled warmly, and headed for the sitting room, making herself comfortable in the large, overstuffed chair in front of the fireplace.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: The Shell Cottage by aamishi
Chapter Notes: Just want to extend my thanks to Harry_Kissed_Ginny for beta-reading this standalone fic. Please take a moment to let me know what you thought of it. Thanks so very much.