Bliss

Part 1

AN: Hiiiiiii guys!! This is a (rather long) oneshot about the evolution of Hermione and Avery's relationship following the events of the The Light. As it turned out, it's actually more of a two-shot since a few of you were asking me when I was going to write something new and this is taking me forever!! So I decided to split it in half and publish what I've got so far now!

Obviously you don't have to have read TL to understand this (I'm sure you can enjoy it if you're just a slut for fluff) but for those who came here from TL, this is for you.

When I introduced Avery, I never anticipated an original character of my own creation would receive such a warm reception but I can honestly say it means the world to me!! As someone who wants to publish one day, I'm using this entire experience to learn all that I can about world-building and character-building and you have helped me so much with that.

So, here it is, perhaps an unconventional couple, but one that survived all the torment and tribulations I put them through in my last fic. I hope you like it.

Bliss

Sometimes I have the strangest feeling about you. Especially when you are near me as you are now. It feels as though I had a string tied here under my left rib where my heart is, tightly knotted to you in a similar fashion. And when you go, with all that distance between us, I am afraid that this cord will be snapped, and I shall bleed inwardly. –Charlotte Bronte

October 1981

"You did it," Avery said numbly and she turned to face him. She hadn't realised it but she was trembling.

Though she hadn't seen him clearly (everything was faded and unclear), she blinked and his white face came into sharp focus. He looked drawn, like he couldn't believe what had happened. His dark eyes were wide and young and he looked at her and said again, "You did it."

Hermione just offered him a half-smile, though it wasn't quite real. She said, "I told you I was crazy enough to."

Avery's face softened and he looked at Voldemort's body, but the sight seemed to sicken him, for his eyes returned just as quickly to her face. "I never doubted you for a moment."

She looked at him in exasperation and said, "You insulted my intelligence more than once. And insinuated my plans were foolhardy!"

"They were foolhardy," he pointed out, though he was smiling slightly. "Every last one of them."

They shared an amused look, before Hermione felt herself grow solemn once more, and she whispered, "Now the monster's dead."

Avery raised his chin slightly as he remembered their conversation from so long ago. He said, in a voice as equally as quiet and final, "So does this mean it's the end?"

She let herself smile. "I guess it does."

oOoOo

November 1981

It was really quite impossible to think of a time before Frederic Avery. Though she tried, and sometimes she tried often, the smug Slytherin always seemed to permeate through every memory he was absent from, like water devouring a piece of paper.

There was no keeping him out, though Hermione found she didn't mind it quite as much as she thought she might.

He was always there, usually silent; a statue of strength and resilience, a tree with its roots planted so deeply and firmly in the ground, no tornado could uproot it.