AMOR VINCIT OMNIA; GRANGER

XVII.

( a strange dream )

HERMIONE WAS SURE that she fell asleep in her bed, in Grimmauld Place number 12.

She was sure that there was no way in hell that she could be standing on a big clearing that was unoccupied but herself.

As she turned and looked over her surroundings, she saw nothing but herself and the wonderful wildflowers that were blooming all over the clearing that seemed to stretch out endlessly, safe for a patch of trees that stood on the north side of this wonderful place.

The curly haired girl continued to look around in both, amazement and confusion. Was this all a dream? It must be, how else could she have landed in this clearing?

The peaceful silence was soon disrupted by a pair running out of the forest, hand in hand they looked over their shoulders, someone must have been following them and they had to get away from this place, fast.

They ran, closer and closer to Hermione and came to a halt right next to her, though it seemed as if they couldn't even see her.

She used that to her advantage and examined them from head to toe.

There was a woman and a man, at first glance, they both seemed familiar to Hermione. Both wore the clothes that people had once worn, in a time long passed. Their white, linen garments were dirtied at the bottom, as were the sandals they wore, it must have been because they were running through the woods.

"Do you think we managed to shake them off?" The woman asked nervously as she looked over the field, her eyes resting on the spot Hermione was standing at, giving her a small, albeit short smile.

As the two women looked at each other, Hermione held her breath in horror. This woman that seemed to be from another time, looked just like her. From the unruly curly hair, that she managed to put in a graceful braid, to the many freckles that were spread over their faces. It was almost as if this woman was Hermione.

"I'm not sure but we shouldn't rest here for too long, they could gain on us and come too close once again," the man, who was hugging the woman's waist, spoke as he nervously looked around.

Once again, Hermione had difficulty breathing. This man, who was protectively hugging the woman's waist, looked just like Milo. His dark skin shone under the sun and his eyes, that only softened when looking at Hermione, had the same dark color as Milo's.

Hermione wanted to cry at the sight of Milo. Even if she just saw him in this bizarre dream, she couldn't stop the sadness she felt when looking at the man she loved. He had hurt her by not talking to her again after what had happened after the third task, but she could understand him, or at least she tried to understand him.

They lost all contact but she still longed for his soft kisses, his calm voice, his sarcastic remarks . . . she missed him, but did not know how to contact him.

She wanted to shout at him. Wanted to hit him. Wanted to curse him and never see his face again. But despite all that, she wanted to bury herself in his arms and never let go again.

The sound of armor clamoring could be heard from the forest's direction. The woman and man looked at each other in panic. "We should split up, let everything blow over and maybe meet up again," the man, Milo, sighed in defeat. It would make no sense to continue running away from the soldats that were following him and his love. "I can't do this anymore. This whole hiding, running and putting you in danger. You deserve better, αγάπη μου."

The woman, Hermione, nodded, her eyes flitting around, but not taking anything in. "It would probably be the best, wouldn't it?" Tears formed in her eyes, as she put her hands to his cheek, wiping the already falling tears away with a soft smile. "Maybe, sometime all of this will be over and we can finally love each other, without having to hide it."

The man nodded, "Even if we won't see each other in this life, I will find you in all of our next ones and I swear to the old gods and the new ones that we will make it work. I love you."

They kissed and Hermione wanted to turn her head away, this moment was too intimate, it should not be seen by anyone but the unlucky pair. However, her eyes were glued to them. It was as if they put everything they felt, all the love, the pain, the sadness and the hope they still held into this kiss. Hermione wondered, if one day, Milo and she would share such an intimate moment.

The man broke the kiss first and walked away from the woman, in the direction of the forest with one last look he turned his back fully to Hermione's doppelganger.

The woman sighed, her shoulders slumping as she looked at his retreating form. As Milo, or the man, whatever, was lost in the woods, she took a deep breath, regained her composure, wiped her tears and faced Hermione, acknowledging her fully.

"I do not know where you are from, but I want to give you this advice, my sister. No relationship is easy, you and your partner have to want to make it work. You have to enjoy every single moment that the two of you have together, time doesn't matter. You never know when you could be spending your last moment together, so please, enjoy it. And never be afraid of fighting for something that you truly want. Be brave"

She hugged Hermione, placed a kiss on her forehead and disappeared, without another word being said.

Slowly Hermione felt herself falling and she opened her eyes, back in Ginny's and her shared room in Grimmauld Place. Her breathing was heavy and tears were falling from her eyes.

She hadn't even noticed that she was crying. What was she crying for? She didn't know and to be truthful she didn't want to know. Maybe she shed her tears for the woman, but wasn't she the woman on the clearing? Was she crying for her past self? Her present self? Her future self?

αγάπη μου = treasure (as a petname)

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here we goo

(again) a special thanks to @ryugathebeast for pm-ing me and telling me about their amazing idea about hermione and milo having been lovers in a past life and showing that through a dream. it really helped me introduce the second and more depressing part of this story :)

and thank you all for 1k readers!! seeing all the votes and reads and comments is always a great motivation to continue writing :D

love you lots <33

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ 𝖆𝖒𝖔𝖗 𝖛𝖎𝖓𝖈𝖎𝖙 𝖔𝖒𝖓𝖎𝖆!
hermione granger x milo bähr !
✎ᝰ. -NEPTUNXS