To Destroy » Dramione

|02.| Request

Hermione couldn't possibly sleep. Not only was she reminded of so many things in one night, especially things she'd like to forget, but she was also carrying a heavy burden. Malfoy was the last person she expected to see at the Leaky Cauldron. If she knew he was going to be there, she would have told Ron she was done with her shopping. Christmas didn't even sound exciting anymore, and as she rolled over onto her side — the shopping bags right next to her bed — she couldn't help but think about everything. The war. Her parents. Fred. Voldemort. Snape. Lupin. They were always in her thoughts, always there, reminding her of the horrific things she and her friends had lived through. Why did we survive? She wondered to herself as her thoughts clouded over with happy memories she shared with the people she lost. "Why did I survive? I didn't have a twin that would miss me," she muttered aloud before a tear rolled down her nose at the memory of Fred. The memory that still hurt like a burning hell.

Rolling over onto her stomach, she shoved her face into her pillow as she began to sob. She hoped that someday she could forget about the past and focus on the future. After all, what was the use of having come so far if one single face could make it all crumble again? Perhaps it was the fact that as she watched Malfoy reading the Daily Prophet, there was a sadness and emptiness in his eyes that she could relate to. Perhaps, she thought as she continued to cry, we're not as different as we once thought.

Eventually, Hermione fell asleep.

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"Obliviate," she whispered as she pointed her wand at her parents — the same parents she wanted so badly to save from being caught up in the war. As she whispered the spell, she watched her face disappear from the portraits lying around the house. Her disappearance was an indication that she removed their knowledge of her successfully. 

Hermione woke up suddenly in a blanket of sweat as she thought about the dream she just experienced. It wasn't unusual for her to dream about using obliviate on her parents, and she had to remind herself of this in order to calm down. Her breath was ragged, and her skin was sticky. However, if she continued to tell herself that she was okay, there would be a time where she'd eventually believe it, right?

Pushing away the duvet, she placed her feet onto the cool floor, before burying her face in her hands. Memories and nightmares and memories. That was all that flooded her mind, and she couldn't stop the tears from falling down her face as she sat on the edge of her bed. Barely ten minutes had gone by since she woke up, and she was already crying. She seemed to cry a lot, especially after she gave up the Firewhisky since it no longer numbed her pain. But crying didn't matter, as long as she pulled a brave face in front of her best friends. Everything was okay then.

Wiping away the freshly fallen tears, she walked into the bathroom before stripping out of her clothes. If there was one thing that could make her feel slightly better, it was a hot shower.

However, five minutes later as she lathered her hair with shampoo, she suddenly heard a knock on the door. She assumed whoever was there would eventually leave, but the knocking only increased and got louder each time. "I'm coming, for Merlin's sake!" She exclaimed while rinsing her body free of soap and shutting off the water. The shower wasn't anywhere near how long she would have liked, but it would have to do for now. After all, you can only hide among the mist for so long before you have to walk into the waterfall.

She wrapped a towel around her body — her brown hair dripping water onto the floor — as she attempted to dry herself. Whoever was at the door continued to knock loudly, and it began to piss her off. So, instead of using magic, she merely took her time to dry off and got dressed. By the time she was ready to answer the door, it had been over twenty minutes since the person first knocked.