To live past 19 #The2017Awards

Fading light

Draco and Hermione return to Hogwarts soon before the classes start. Hermione and Draco were still amazed with how much they had done in one single night. But Hermione could definitely not lie, it was one of the best experiences she's ever had. Now that she though about it, many of her best and fondest memories had all been with Draco lately. Hermione definitely wasn't complaining, but what she was worried about was which memories Draco will decide to keep once she's gone. Would it be all the amazing things they had done together or would he linger on the pain of her decease?

Hermione strolls down the hallway towards the dining hall absentmindedly, trying not to wince at every step she made and every breath she took. Hermione had woken up every morning in the past few week in agonizing pain and every day it seemed to be getting worse. That morning Hermione took over an hour trying to get herself out of bed and to school, because of that she had almost missed breakfast. Hermione walks through the ginormous doors of the dining hall as the last few people started to head to their classes. Hermione couldn't decide as she looked around the empty space if she was happy that she was alone or not. Hermione loved the silence more than any usual person would and appreciated it when she had the silence to herself. But today for some reason Hermione really wanted someone to be there with her and Hermione didn't care if it was Draco or Ron at this state. She just needed someone.

She places herself at the Slytherin table and grits her teeth as she tries to sit down. The pain becoming unbearable and Hermione finds herself starting to lie down on the bench to relieve the pain in her body and at this stage you could also say her mind.

Hermione stays silent or a long time and other than her heavy breathing Hermione can hear the storm raging on outside the castle walls. She takes comfort in the sound of the rain hitting the windows harshly and the wind whistling its indecisive melody.

Hermione is well aware that the first lesson has started but she couldn't get herself to care. Her grades have reached the maximum low for her. Not putting any work into assignments or even looking at the books to learn for the exams can to that to ones grades. They were just numbers. Hermione found herself hating numbers. Everything was numbers nowadays, grades, how many friends one had, what size you were, how old you were, How many hours you have done this and that, days even had numbers, just like her days had and they were counting down and not counting up.

Hermione feels her head throbbing with pain and the feeling as if her brain decided to go on a trampoline in her head. Her back pain was killing her, worse than any Period pain she had ever experienced and those had been pretty painful. The worst pain was in her chest, it felt as if someone had staked her multiple times through the chest and filled those holes with flesh heating ants that were eating her form he inside out. Hermione couldn't stop the tears from falling and Hermione couldn't care less if someone saw her at that moment. There were other priorities.

Hermione realized at that moment what her priorities were. They weren't her grades, her future career, surviving the war they all endured or even trying to please the people around her, friends or teachers. It was her happiness and her happiness alone at this rate. The only problem was that she wasn't happy. Maybe it was the physical pain, but maybe it was the mental pain. But at that moment Hermione couldn't make herself feel it. At that moment she felt nothing. And she was okay with that.

Hermione's eyes blur without her noticing as she stares into nothingness. The unlit candles lie bare in the Background on the ceiling. The smell of breakfast lingers in the air making her feel ill at the thought of eating at that moment.

A sudden violent cough erupts from her throat and she jerks forwards from her lying position on the bench. Her chest and throat burning from the raw pain. She tries to cover it with her sleeve and She isn't surprised when she finds the familiar blood staining her white sleeve. Her arm falls back to her side and she lets her head fall to the side as well, so that she was looking at the other tables in the Great Hall.

Before Hermiones eyes could fully close she could see a faint silhouette of a woman running towards her, almost tripping over her cloak. Hermione couldn't help but let out a raw and quiet chuckle. Her eyes close and she hears Headmistress McGonagall cry out her name, panic and hysteria lacing her voice. Hermione had no idea why she suddenly felt so light and felt like laughing all of a sudden. Hermione could feel her smile linger on her lips, even if nothing was particularly funny, as she lost consciousness.