Healing the Broken

Epilogue

"Come on, Hermione." Harry says, tugging on her hand.

Hermione was still staring down at the headstone. All of the others, all of whom had been dressed in black, had slowly filtered out and left. Teddy went back with Ron and Luna, so that Harry and Hermione could be alone, and so the pair had been staring down at the freshly dug grave for quite sometime.

A picture of Andromeda had been put up, and no one had yet bothered to take it down, so Hermione swoops it up and into her hands and had been looking at that too. It was a good picture- Andromeda looked beautiful. Her long hair was let down and straightened, and her smile was bright and happy, so that it made it seem like her eyes glittered.

Hermione's eyes glittered too- but hers glittered with tears.

Harry's feet had gone numbing, for had had stood for the entire three hour time that everyone had been here, and for another hour after they all left. "Hermione, love, let's go home."

She sniffles. "Love?"

"Well, I love you, so... yeah." Harry says, and pulls on her hand again. "Come on."

"I feel bad leaving."

"Don't."

"You can't just choose not to feel bad."

Harry nods. "Sure you can."

Hermione just shakes her head, her feet still unmoving. "No... no, I can't leave. I can't think of any reason to leave."

"Well I can." Harry says.

"Oh?"

Harry wraps his arms around her from behind. "Ron and Luna told me they'd babysit Teddy- keep him over for the night. And we'll be home alone." He kissed her cheek softly, but it wasn't really a kiss. He just pressed his lips against her cold, smooth skin, and kept them there, and so when he spoke, the hum of his voice vibrated her skin, and the warmth of his breath spread on her cheek. "I feel like it's been forever since we've had a moment alone."

~~~~~

And so basically, that was how Harry ended up getting Hermione home. He lured her away from the grave, and drove her all of the way home. They didn't talk much- the sadness of Andromeda's funeral was still washed up on them.

"Do you feel bad?" Hermione asks, as Harry took a right.

"About?"

"Going home and making out right after her funeral?" Hermione asks bluntly, staring out the windshield ahead.

Harry reached over and took her hand. "I need something to distract me from the sadness that I feel. And from my personal experience, you are the most distracting human being I know."

And that was the only words that they said.

When they got home, Hermione set her things down- her jacket, her purse. She kicked off her heels. Then she went into the bathroom and washed off her makeup, and changed her clothes. She was now wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt, rather than the black dress. Her hair was taken out of the elegant style and tossed up in a messy bun.

When she came out, Harry had changed into his 'lounging clothes' too. He stood up when she came in.

"So." He says, taking one of her hands and swinging it.

"So." She replies.

Harry grins. "Am I going to get that kiss I requested?"

"I dunno, are you?"

And then Harry leaned forward, almost enough to touch her lips, but not quite. His lips hovered above hers for a second, and he exhaled. He could practically hear her heart racing.

Harry closes the gap, and presses his lips to her soft ones, kissing her slowly, almost like he was considering it. Hermione kissed him back, and soon, the kiss wasn't slow, and he could feel her smile.

Harry presses her against the wall (this had become a new thing with him, after he had seen how well it helped for him to deepen the kiss in the past) and lifts her up, wrapping her legs around his waist. She locks her hands behind his neck, and he feels the flutter of her eyelashes as she gets closer to him.

At some point, Harry had placed his hands under her legs to hold her up. He kisses her slower, and then breaks away from her for a second. "I love you Hermione. Always have, always will."

"I love you too Harry- always."

And as he kisses her, he murmurs that single, powerful word to her, and she whispers it back. "Always."

YES! I did it!

No, you did not read the chapter title wrong- this is an epilogue. This book is over. Peace out.

Yes, I do have more to say, and yes, it will be in the acknowledgements that you should most definitely go read. Toodles!

-Magisky