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-ADHARA TURNED AROUND AT THE SOUND OF FOOTSTEPS. It was almost two in the morning, but since she wasn't sleepy, she decided to go to the Astronomy tower, which was where she was now at.
"It's curfew, darling." Adhara pointed out when she realized who it was.
"I don't care anymore," said Hermione tiredly, walking over to her. "I just want to get away from there."
Her girlfriend frowned in concern. "Why? What happened?"
"Rumors of you and Parkinson are running around and I don't want to hear them anymore," mumbled the girl, who was now in her arms.
Adhara stilled, her eyes widening. "You don't believe them?"
"No. Not anymore."
"What?" Adhara asked, looking confused and alarmed as she pulled away. "You trust me?"
Hermione nodded as if it was obvious. "Of course. I have for weeks. This isn't the first time I'm hearing a rumor and ignoring it."
Suddenly feeling very guilty, Adhara looked away.
She wanted to believe that she didn't know why she felt guilty. But she knew. She felt guilty because when Hermione finally trusted her, she ruined it.
Hermione, noticing this, frowned. "Addie, are you alright?"
Adhara shook her head rapidly, in shock over the mistake she did a week ago. "I thought - I thought you didn't trust me? Since when have you started trusting me?"
Looking even more confused, Hermione answered, "When I realized that in a relationship, trust is one of the biggest factors." She answered back. "Addie, what is going on with you-?"
"I cheated on you." Adhara blurted out.
Hermione's lips parted, while Adhara rubbed her face anxiously, waiting for a blowup from the girl in front of her.
But instead of that, all she got was a small, broken whisper of, "What?.."
Adhara finally made eye contact with her again. "I cheated on you." She repeated herself, putting a hand over her chest, trying to stop the pain her heart was in. The guilt her heart was feeling.
"With who?" was all Hermione could ask in return, but she knew the answer. "When?" She asked instead. "When did you cheat on me with Parkinson?"
She sighed and admitted, "A week ago."
"Oh," said Hermione, looking away in an attempt to cover up the fact that she was on the verge of a breakdown. "That's alright. I mean.. it's not like I didn't expect this to happen."
"Hermione.. what?"
"I forgive you."
"No. No. No." Adhara said with widened eyes, stepping away from her even more. "You've got to figure yourself out I- I made a choice, Mia. It wasn't even a mistake. I knew what I was doing and I did it anyway. You've got to realize that. You've got to realize you're worth more than this."
"Addie, are you asking me to break up with you because you cheated?"
"Yes. That's exactly what I'm asking."
"I- I can't do that!"
"Then let me do it for you. We should take a break, Hermione Granger."
The said girl's tears were finally flowing freely. "Addie, I don't care you cheated!"
"Hermione, what is going on with you?! I deserve a slap or a hex, but you're doing nothing! Why?!"
"Because I love you!"
Adhara's face fell and so did Hermione's. "But you know that I can't.. I can't feel those feelings.."
"That's because you're hiding them and stopping yourself, Addie. Quit thinking about my mistakes and how I hurt you.. start thinking about how you should heal from the hurt I gave you. Hurt makes somebody stronger-"
"I didn't want to be stronger. I wanted you. I wanted you to hold me through my nightmares. I wanted you to help me wash the blood from my hands after what I did. I wanted you to.." Adhara's eyes teared up. "I needed you to save me."
It was silent for a minute. Then, Hermione said, "I'm so sorry, Addie.. I had no idea.." and walked up to her, giving her a hug.
The taller girl hugged back. "I'm sorry for hurting you." She said. And she actually meant it.
"It's alright. I deserve it."
"We should focus on ourselves before we try to fix whatever we had going on between us," whispered Adhara. She closed her eyes, trying to stop her tears from falling.
"I agree."
"I'm so sorry." Adhara repeated in a whisper.
Hermione hugged her tighter. "Like I said, I deserved it for not being there for you when you needed me. I'm sorry as well, Addie."
They became silent after that, holding onto each other.
Until Hermione broke the silence and asked, "Do you think.. do you think you'll love me back one day?"
Adhara thought about it for a second, then replied, "I don't know. I think I can love you if I just figure everything out.. I really don't know."
"I love you, Addie. With all the broken pieces of my heart, I love you. And I won't make you feel the same way. Your heart is yours.. I won't force you to give it to me."
