Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor any of the characters in this story, I only own the actual story. Everything else belongs to J.K Rowling. The lyrics in this song belong to Colbie Caillat and her song "I Never Told You". Read and Review please. Enjoy!
I miss those blue eyes,
How you kissed me at night.
I miss the way we sleep.
Like there's no sunrise,
Like the taste of your smile.
I miss the way we breathe.
Everything was chaos. Hermione looked around at the place she had once thought of as a second home, but now it looked like a nightmare. Most of the towers of the large, stone castle had crumbled to the ground. Dark black smoke rose from many areas of the school, fires were ablaze inside and out. The discarded bodies from both sides laid where they had fallen, Not a single person paid attention to any of the lifeless forms, there was no time, because letting your guard down for just a second could get you killed. This wasn't Hogwarts anymore, this was a battle arena.
Hermione held back any tears that would threaten to surface, now wasn't the time to cry, she couldn't look weak in front of the enemy. She was already deep in battle with the Death Eater, Yaxely. She remembered him well from when her, Harry, and Ron had snuck there way into the Ministry to retrieve the Horcrux that Umbridge wore ever so proudly. He had grabbed a hold of Hermione just as they were escaping, almost catching them; but she was smart enough not to let that happen. She knew that he remembered her too. The look that was in his eyes when he spotted her across the courtyard, he struck down anyone that stood between the two, whether friend or foe. It was clear that he wanted to kill the mudblood girl that had made him look like a fool. There was no one around to help her, Harry had gone in search for the ghost of Ravenclaw, and Ron was forced to separate with her when he noticed two Death Eaters taking on his own mother. Hermione couldn't blame either for leaving her on her own. Besides, she was a big girl and she knew how to handle herself in battle. Which she was proving by seeing Yaxely struggle against her own spells.
"Confringo!" Yaxely shouted, pointing his wand at her and a jet of red came directly towards her, but with a wave of her wand she defended herself "Protego!" the invisible wall formed and took the blast of the blasting curse. With another wave the force field faded, she pointed it back towards him and hollered, "Diffindo!" the charm hit it's target. A large gash ripped through Yaxely's chest and blood began to drip from the wound. He clutched and clenched his teeth tight, and shouted "You worthless mudblood!"
"Mobiliarbus!" He said right after that, except his wand wasn't directed at Hermione, it was whatever was behind her. She turned quickly to see that he had lifted a pine needle tree off the ground, and moved immediately to the side as he swung the tree at her. It hadn't hit her completely, but some of the branches caught her and ripped off the sleeve of her coat, and also left a couple of scratch marks on her face.
"Reducto." Hermione said, and the tree exploded, sending debris flying everywhere. She casted another shield charm to protect, and noticed Yaxely had down the same. At the exact moment he had taken down the shield, she flicked her wand at him "Furnunculus." and within seconds, the Death Eater immediately became covered in boils, he released a cry of pain as some of the boils swelled so big that they popped. Before he could do anything though, she hit him with a stunning spell, sending him flying back several feet. Before he even hit the ground, he was already knocked unconscious.
Not sparing another second to look at him, Hermione took off in a run in another direction, in hopes that she could find and help one of her friends. She ran up one of the large bridges. She had just made it halfway across when she saw red. Stopping, she looked to see a familiar man with messy dark brown hair with a single red streak held back in a loose braid. His plaid pants and black leather coat weren't to hard to miss either. He was standing at the end of the bridge. Hermione's heart skipped a beat and she froze on the spot. She hadn't expected to see him here. No doubt that he'd be here fighting, but she didn't think that she would see him herself. She didn't want to, because she didn't want to be forced to fight him. Hermione didn't have time to turn on her heel and run in the other direction, because his stunning bright blue eyes had found hers.
Time had stopped that very moment. It was just them standing there. In this moment of time, only they existed. There wasn't a battle going on around them, there wasn't any kind of chaos, there wasn't good, and there wasn't evil. Memories had begun to flood back into Hermione's mind.
-Flashback-
"It's a bit dangerous," A smooth, yet seductive voice came out of no where "to be wondering in these woods alone sweetheart."
Hermione let out a gasp of surprise and turned around to see a man, but he wasn't just any man. This man had danger written all over him, the way his face smirked darkly told her to run away, to scream for her friends. Yet, her feet were glued to the forest floor. She couldn't help herself but take in his entire appearance. He was very tall, he probably stood a good foot over her. His hair looked messy, like he had never bothered to brush it in several days; it was tied back loosely and a red streak ran down the right side of his hair, it suited him. His eyes caught her attention more than anything. They were the lightest bluish gray pair she had ever seen before, and deep in those eyes read something that made a shudder roll down her spine. The outfit that he wore was very interesting to Hermione. He wore a pair of dark plaid pants with black boots, and a studded belt. He also wore a black leather coat over something that looked like a dark green vest; his left hand wore a finger-less black glove and a stag ring on his right.
"See something you like?" He said while raising one of his eyebrows in amusement at her. Hermione answered him with a quick shake of the head. The mysterious man 'tsked' and walked towards her, only for her to walk backwards, until he had backed her up into a tree. "Funny because…" He grabbed a lock of her hair and brought it to his nose and inhaled her scent "I like what I see." His eyes trailed down her body in delight. Hermione squirmed beneath him, a tint of red formed at her cheeks. "I-I have to go…" She said very softly in a nervous stutter. "Go?" He smiled and looked her in the eyes "I don't think you're going anywhere sweetheart."
"W-why?" She asked, fear was rising up in her chest and now she was wishing that she had taken off when she had the chance. "I'm a snatcher love," he chuckled "When I find someone in the woods, it's my job to snatch them and take them to the Ministry." His smile widened when he saw Hermione's face transform into pure horror "But of course, I've never come across anyone as lovely as you."
"Please…please don't take me there." Hermione begged, "I'll do anything you want." A leap of hope sparked deep inside her when she saw his face show a look of interest at her statement. "Anything?" He asked. "Yes, if you just let me go." She answered. The snatcher grinned mischievously "You're definitely going to be my favorite."
With that, he placed his hands on her hips and bent down and their lips met. Hermione's eyes widened in surprise, but it wasn't because he had kissed her, she knew he was going to do something like that, but she was surprised because of how gentle he was about it. A swarm of butterflies were flying all around her stomach, she could hardly breathe. She had only kissed a boy back when she was about seven years old, and kissed Viktor Krum, and neither of them kissed as good as this man. Ignoring the screaming in her mind, she accepted the man's kiss and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, she could feel him smile against her lips.
-End Flashback-
He had indeed kept his word with Hermione, and didn't turn her into the Ministry. But it wasn't an easy price. When she thought that the kiss was going to be enough, she had been very wrong because as the kiss continued on, he had begun to undress her and remove some of his own attire. She admitted to the man that she had never been with a man before, she had even told him that she was afraid. Then he had surprised her again by cupping her cheek in his hand and whispered to her that it was going to be alright. As he entered her, he went slow for her. When she whimpered in pain, he whispered calming and pleasurable words into her ear softly until the pain had faded away. It had been an incredible experience, and Hermione never would've thought that someone that looked so rough could be so gentle while taking her against a tree.
When they both had reached their peaks and got dressed. He had told her that he would not turn her in. Of course, he had backed it up by saying because she had caught his interest so well that he just simply couldn't give his favorite new toy to someone else. When Hermione had moved to go the other way, he stopped her by grabbing her arm and told her that even though he had quite an interest in her, he still wanted to see her every night at that same very spot. She was going to protest but he covered her lips with his finger, telling her that if tomorrow night she wasn't there, he would hunt her and take her to the Ministry.
Every night she met him, and every night they had performed and exercised their sexual desires.
But I never told you,
What I should of said.
No I never told you,
I just held it in.
They continued to stare into each others eyes. The same thought was clear, neither of them wanted to raise their wands at each other, neither of them wanted the other to get hurt.
Hermione saw him whisper her name, she couldn't hear it though. The wind had taken his words and carried them off to someplace away from there. She bit her lip, so badly she wanted to run to him. She wanted him to wrap his arms around her and tell her that things will be okay, just like he always did when Hermione would confess her fears to him when they would spends there nights together. She would admit that she thought she could die any day, and she wasn't ready when she had so much that she wanted to do with her life. He would take it all away just by encircling his arms around her, kiss her on top of her head and tell her that she'd be okay.
Ignoring the people around them still, he had taken a few steps up the bridge towards her. Hermione shook her head and took a single step back, causing him to stop. She wanted to be next to him, she didn't want him to stop but she knew that he had to. Not when the battle was going on. If everyone saw them together as something besides enemies, they'd be both immediate targets for both sides. She knew that Scabior knew that too.
She knew his name, he had told her a long time ago of his name. It was on a night where he confronted Hermione about who she really was, and when he had done that, she knew that he knew exactly how much she was worth money wise. But he didn't take her away from the forest, instead he had once again taken her by another surprise. They had been meeting each other in secret just about every night for the last two months, he had met her at their usual spot, but he told her that he had something special for her this time around. He placed a blindfold over her eyes and guided her for about five minutes and finally relieved her of blindness and shown her what he had been leading her to.
It had been a tent.
When she had gone inside of it, she only saw a rather large sleeping bag with a few pillows. Scabior didn't enchant the tent. It was normal. Hermione had figured out that he was proving something to her. That if she chose to continue to be with him, that he couldn't give her everything her heart would desire, she would just have to deal with something a little less.
-Flashback-
Hermione turned and kissed him with all the passion that she had in her. Not one person in her entire life had ever done anything this nice for her. She wanted to think that it was romantic, but she knew that they couldn't love each other, they weren't allowed to. Both of them were on the opposite sides of the war, their love was forbidden. Which had made it all the more desirable for Hermione. He was something that could take her away from all of her pain and suffering, when she was with him, there was no war. He made her forget about it all during the hours they would spend together.
For the first time though, he had broke away from the kiss and flashed the Dailey Prophet in her face. Hermione looked at it to see that her face was plastered on the front page alongside with her two friends. The three of them were the most wanted. She swallowed hard and thought that all of the time she had spent with this man, was about to be over. No snatcher in his right mind wouldn't turn her in for all of the money she was worth. That's why for the last couple of months she had never told him her name, and he never asked her.
"Hermione Granger." He said calmly as he looked down at Hermione. She was waiting for him to tell her that he was going to take her away now, that he was going to finally break the deal between the two of them, that he was taking her to where she would probably die at. "You're much more beautiful in person, these papers don't do you any justice." He added. She looked up and met his eyes, she saw only adoration and lust. He tossed away the enchanted newspaper and kissed her fully on the lips, backing her into the tent and laid her down on the sleeping bag, not once did he allow his lips to abandon hers. During the heat of their kiss, they begun to rid each other of theirs clothes until both were pressed up against each other, skin to skin.
Hermione ran her nails down his back as he had thrusted into her without any warning but she was used to that by now. She wrapped her legs around his waist and moaned continuously as his penis was moving in and out of her womanhood at a steady pace. He was just the right size for her, he was big enough that he filled her completely but he wasn't so big that he would hurt her and she was fine with it. He bent down to kiss her on the throat and gave an occasional moan himself once in a while.
"I want you to moan my name…" He spoke softly into her throat.
"I…I don't know your name…" Hermione half moaned. It was true, she didn't. She never told his name and he had never asked, so she never bothered to ask him for his name. It picked at her mind a lot, but she knew that she couldn't ask for his name without giving away her own. Now that he knew who she truly was, she guessed that now he was ready for her to know his name as well.
"Scabior." He whispered so seductively that a shiver of pleasure rolled through Hermione's body, it was like his name was ecstasy itself.
She arched her back into his body and moaned "Scabior…" her moaning his name had caused him to let a low growl rumble deep in his throat and he quickened his pace. Scabior's head traveled past her throat and his lips locked themselves onto hers. Hermione couldn't help but moan into the kiss. He just felt so good inside of her, she couldn't bear it. The way be thrusted in and out of her, his strong arms wrapping themselves tightly around her small frame as she wrapped herself around him. Scabior had so much power, so much that he could probably destroy her easily if he wanted to. Hermione knew it, but she also knew that he didn't want to do it. If he wasn't willing to take her to the Ministry by now, then she knew that he wouldn't want anything horrible to happen to her. Scabior was the shadow that silently promised to protect her in any way that he could.
Hermione deepened the kiss as she thought about it and wrapped herself tighter around him. She wasn't supposed to feel anything for this man, she wasn't supposed to even be having sex with him. But it wasn't his threats that always kept her coming back to him, it was something else that she didn't even know.
"Scabior!" She cried out when he thrusted hard into her one good time, he knew when she would start thinking and it was always a way to snap her right out of it. Scabior's kisses traveled from her lips, across her jaw line, and down her throat until he was sucking on one of her breasts.
"Come for me sweetheart…" Scabior spoke in a whisper against her breast. Hermione did exactly that, it was hard not to when he kissed her body the right way, he moved himself in and out of her, the way his voice sounded like pleasure when it rolled off his tongue. Then she felt that she was ready for her orgasm, as it begun to erupt in her, her legs tightened around him as tight as they could, her nails clawed themselves down his back and she let out a loud moan. This wasn't just any orgasm to her, this time it felt as if the whole universe had stopped itself for that exact moment, and then it swirled right back into motion. Hermione had never felt something like that before.
Not too long after, Scabior had reached his end as well. He kissed her on the lips before he pulled out of her. She expected him to get up and start getting dressed, handing her clothes in the process like usual; but Scabior rolled onto his side and pulled Hermione up against him so that her head rested right underneath his chin. Only right then did she realize just how perfect their bodies molded with each other.
She knew that she couldn't stay here much longer though, in an hour or so Harry would be getting up, and if he didn't see Hermione there, then who knows what would happen. And that's when something else hit the pit of her stomach.
"I'm leaving in the morning." She said nervously. Scabior made a noise in question, slight irritation was noticeable in it. "I'll be back though, in a few days." Hermione answered his silent question. "Don't get into trouble." Scabior said.
That's all that was said. They laid there together for a while longer, listening to the distant noises of the forest around them. Then they finally got dressed and Scabior had whisked away the tent that they shared together. Hermione smiled softly at him, she knew that this was time for her to say goodbye to him, just like every other night. But this time it was different. It was as if she wanted to say something else, it was stuck in her throat. It was like something from deep inside her really wanted to tell him something. Hermione couldn't bring herself to it though. So instead, she carried her gaze to the ground. Scabior walked over to her and gave her a lingering kiss on her cheek. Every time they separated, her would never kiss her on the lips. It was his way of saying that if she wants an actual kiss, that she would have to see him again. He looked at her, as if he knew what she was thinking. He searched her eyes and gave a small smirk.
"See you soon beautiful." With that he walked away whistling a soothing, melodic tune.
-End of Flashback-
The next day before Hermione had left with Harry, she had tied her pink scarf to a tree. She told Harry that it was for Ron, but deep down she knew that it was for Scabior. It was a silent promise to him. Unfortunately though she had returned, just on very bad timing. Harry had apparated Ron, himself, and Hermione to the same exact spot that she had left the scarf. They had just escaped from the Lovegood's barely missing capture. When she looked around, she felt very uncomfortable. Not because she noticed her pink scarf was gone, but because she had returned back to the familiar forest about two days before she had originally planned. It had cost her too.
Hermione had turned to see that Scabior was a few feet from her, behind him she saw many other snatchers. But she didn't miss the look that flashed in his eyes for a brief second. It was fury. And she knew that he was mad. He was mad because he had no power over her anymore as of then. He men had seen her and her friends, he couldn't just let them go. He had to do his job or else he would get killed himself. Which led to the gang of snatchers to chase, and capture them all. Scabior thankfully had made sure that no real harm had come to her, and didn't act like he knew that she was lying when she told him that she was Penelope Clearwater, a half-blood. But when Greyback and himself noticed the stretched out scar on Harry's sting jinxed face, any power Scabior had left of the situation was lost. Hermione and her two friends were taken to Malfoy Manor.
The horrible memories of being in that house were all to painful for Hermione. She felt her scar on her arm tingle a little as she remembered the torture Bellatrix conflicted on her. She remembered staring into Scabior's eyes that had been full of regret just before he was thrown out of the room. It had been the last time Hermione had seen Scabior until now.
And now I miss everything about you,
I can't believe it, I still want you.
After all the things we've been through,
I miss everything about you,
Without you.
Hermione could see the same look of regret etched on Scabior's face. Except she noticed that he wasn't looking at her, he was looking her arm. She looked down and noticed that she had rolled up the sleeve, the word 'Mudblood' was still on her arm, it was a scar that would never go away, it was one of the torture methods Bellatrix had inflicted on her. It's not your fault. Hermione soundlessly told him. A part of her though, knew that he didn't fully believe that.
A large crack of what sounded like thunder, boomed across the school grounds. Looking in the direction it had came from, she could see that the Astronomy Tower had collapsed. Whatever had caused the tower to fall had managed to also shake the ground, because Hermione could feel the bridge underneath her quiver slightly and a few cracks were made along the sides. That's all that it had taken, Scabior made a half run to her. Panicked at his sudden advancement, she pulled out her wand and directed it at him immediately. A flash of surprise came across his face, but it faded when he directed his own wand at her, understanding that if they did this, it would ease any kinds of suspicion. Neither of them wanted it still.
"Stupefy." Hermione whispered, the spell shot at him but he dodged it with ease. Judging by the warning look, she could see that he was about to send an unforgivable curse her way. Her suspicions were right, the all to familiar jet of green light flew right past her when she moved to the side quickly. Both her and Scabior continued to have their own kind of deadly dance together, both knowing what each other seemed to be thinking. What was more important was that they seemed to be convincing everyone else around them. Frustration was building up on Scabior's end, he wasn't turning up the heat with Hermione, but he was trying less and less to dodge her attacks. Causing Hermione to make her efforts at attacking him to cease little but little.
"Do it!" Scabior shouted at her. His impatience finally getting to him. The charade of theirs was going on long enough and no one had interfered. This only meant one thing, one of them had to kill the other. She shook her head, sending another half-heartedly jinx his way, only for him to dodge it effortlessly.
"I said do it!" He shouted at her again.
"NO!" Hermione screamed back at him. She knew what he wanted, she knew it all to well.
"If it ever comes down to it, where we have to fight each other in battle and one of us have to go, you take care of it."
Scabior's smooth voice floated in her head. She remembered the night he had told her that. They knew that someday there would be a battle, and no doubt both of them would be fighting. When had told Hermione what she would have to do, she slapped him across the face. She was hurt by the idea that he would think she could do such a thing, to him of all people. She couldn't do it. He only justified himself that she had much more of a life to live than he did, but she wouldn't listen. Instead, she stormed off back to the camp in pure anger.
Now, was that exact situation that they had discussed before.
I see your blue eyes,
Every time I close mine.
You make it hard to see,
Where I belong to when I'm not around you.
It's like I'm not with me.
"You filthy mudblood!" Scabior roared, the insult stung Hermione, even though she knew he was trying to get her mad enough to do something. He aimed another curse in her direction, except she wasn't going to try to dodge it now, she closed her eyes. When nothing happened, she opened her eyes to see a shield formed in front of her. "Leave her alone!" A soft, yet firm voice said. She turned to see who it was, it was Neville. Ron was right behind him as the two ran up the bridge to Hermione's aid.
She looked at Scabior and back at her two friends, she wasn't sure how to feel. Relief that her and Scabior wouldn't have to decided who would harm who? Angry that her friends came to her "rescue" when she could handle herself, when she didn't want anyone to interfere in her only time with Scabior? Sad that someone wasn't going to make it out alive?
"What are you doing?" Hermione asked Neville, anger evident in her voice.
"I need you to come with me Hermione." Ron answered instead of Neville. Her gaze shot to her tall red headed friend, confusion written across her face. "I had an idea, it has to do with the Chamber of Secrets, but I can't go by myself, I need you." Ron explained.
"Ain't nobody going anywhere!" Scabior yelled, aiming a curse at Ron, only for Neville to intercept it and counter attack. A couple of Death Eaters came from behind the snatcher and immediately aimed spells at their direction as well. What surprised Hermione was that Neville seemed to be able to handle himself against many enemies at once. He certainly had changed since she'd last seen him. "Go!" Neville ordered at her and Ron, "I can handle this, get to the Chamber!"
Ron grabbed Hermione's arm and tugged, trying to make her turn the opposite direction back towards the school, but she resisted at first. She locked her eyes with Scabior's. She didn't want to leave, she didn't want to go with Ron, she wanted to stay where he was and make sure he would be alright. Scabior gave her a meaningful look, the same kind of look that always held something deep in them. It only lasted a few seconds before he turned his attention to Neville "Alright boy, let's see what you got, shall we?" He looked back at Hermione real quick and winked at her "Be seeing you beautiful."
"Like hell you will." Neville responded, before engaging battle with Scabior.
After a couple of more gestures to move to her arm, Hermione finally ran away with Ron down from the bridge. Once they were off the bridge, something was tugging at her chest, it was like a small force was trying to get her to turn around. As if on cue, a loud crack was heard that caught Ron's attention and made him stop and turn around, which she did as well. Neville, Scabior, and a few other Death Eaters were deep in battle with each other. Neville was keeping up very well with the rest, Hermione could see that every few seconds he was was backing away to the end of the bridge, and the wizards he was fighting didn't notice very well; they only walked a few paces forward after certain distance would be made. It didn't take a know-it-all like herself to figure out what Neville was doing.
But I never told you,
What I should have said.
No I never told you,
I just held it in.
When Neville's feet reached the grass, and off the stone bridge, he aimed his wand at the bridge, shouting a spell.
The next few seconds seemed to had lasted hours. Neville's spell hit the center of the bridge, and it begun to collapse with the Death Eaters and Scabior on it. All of them looked underneath their feet questionably before realizing what was happening, the floor underneath them was leaving piece by piece and none of them couldn't do anything about it. One by one, they all begun to fall with the crumbling bridge. Hermione screamed a silent protest towards him, but he couldn't hear her, no one could.
-Flashback-
"You're afraid of confrontation, aren't you?" Scabior chuckled.
"Excuse me?" Hermione asked, arching her brow at him.
"You heard me," He answered "You're afraid to admit something that you think could lead to something un-expecting, or doing something first that might cause humiliation."
"And you're full of it." She huffed, crossing her arms across her chest and turning her head in a different direction stubbornly. Scabior let out another chuckle and stepped closer to her so that his breath lingered right across the top of her head. "It's one of the things I like about you beautiful," he moved a lock of her hair behind her ear "It's one of the things that make you still innocent." He placed his hand on her chin and directed her head to face him, he then brought his lips down to hers, and she didn't fight it at all. She never did anymore. Hermione knew that she didn't want to fight him. Scabior broke the kiss seconds later, "You don't have to feel that way with me, I want you to say it." he whispered.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Hermione said, which was partially true, she really didn't know what got Scabior to talk like this tonight. She had a small theory that maybe he suffered a hex to the head while chasing down a muggle-born.
"You might not know what I'm talking about now, but you'll know when the time comes." He smirked arrogantly down at Hermione and gave her his usual kiss on her cheek and stepped away from her. "You think too much to realize what a part of you is trying to tell you, but I'm fine with it."
"Because I know that you feel it, even if you don't know it yet." Scabior winked at Hermione and walked into the dark forest and out of her sight, the only thing she heard was his fading whistling a soothing, melodic tune that he always whistled just for her.
-End of Flashback-
A tear streamed down Hermione's face, she broke free of her grip from Ron and ignored his confused protest. She ran just passed where Neville stood and stopped just at the very edge, another step and she would fall as well. She looked on, and watched as Scabior once again left her, and disappeared into the dark trench below. This time was different. There was no kiss to her cheek, there wasn't a silent promise of seeing her the following night, there was just darkness.
Ron was there by her side again, trying to tell her they had to move quickly, and this time Hermione didn't try to stay there anymore. It hurt too much, and there was nothing there for her anymore. No matter how hard she would look into the darkness, she wouldn't be able to see a beautiful pair of light blue eyes to look into.
And now I miss everything about you,
I can't believe that I still want you.
After all the things we've been through,
I miss everything about you,
Without you.
Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. The war had long since been over. Harry finally defeated Voldemort and the wizarding world was back to its formal glory. Students were attending school again, shops on Diagon Alley were back in business, and happiness hung in the air wherever you went; even Knockturn Alley didn't have it's usual gloom anymore. Each and every surviving Death Eater and any other follower of Voldemort were safely locked away in Azkaban. Romance had made it's way back into the hearts of witches and wizards as well. Harry and Ginny officially began to date, Neville found love with Hannah Abbott, and Ron had gotten back together with Lavender Brown. After Voldemort had fallen, Ron had asked out Hermione first, but she turned him down. She admitted that she had harbored feelings for him before, but they weren't there anymore, she didn't feel right about anything anymore. Nothing ever felt right after that night of the final battle at Hogwarts for Hermione. She wasn't right herself. Most people guessed that it was trauma from seeing so much death at once. Only Hermione knew that, that wasn't the full truth. She was suffering from some kind of trauma, but not from seeing too many deaths, it was from witnessing her blue eyed snatcher falling into the dark trench and out of existence. It took a toll on her, she was so used to seeing him, she was to used to feeling him.
After several weeks Hermione stopped expecting him to show, teasing her for how silly she was thinking that he could die so easily.
She stayed at the house her parents lived in. They were still in Australia, Hermione thought it was for the better to let them continue the happy life they were living without her. Hermione didn't isolate herself completely of course, once or twice every week she would go and visit her friends. She even managed to get herself a job at the Ministry. Hermione felt that still being with her friends from time to time, and putting herself in a working environment, would keep her mind busy and wouldn't be as alone as she felt. But no matter how many people surrounded her, she would always see Scabior every time her eyes were shut. He would appear in her dreams repeatedly, haunting her of their nights together and the night he fell to his death. Sometimes Hermione dreamt that he was reaching for her just as the bridge was collapsing, but every time her hand would almost reach his, Scabior would fade away; causing her to always wake up with a jolt and a cold sweat.
No spell or potion could save her from her nightly agony.
CRACK
The loud cracking sound was made in the dark quiet street, just a mere second before Hermione appeared out of no where, her feet touching softly onto the front steps of her home. She let out a small sigh as she pulled her house key out of her pocket and slipped it into the key hole, stepping inside the doorway after she unlocked the door. After locking the door, she dropped her purse to the floor, not really caring about it right now. She'd pick it up later and do something with it. Hermione did the same by kicking off her heels and slipped off her coat, carelessly leaving the items there as well.
She walked into the kitchen and made herself a glass of water and sat down at the island that sat in the middle of the kitchen. She just sat there, staring into nothing.
"Hermione Granger." The velvet voice that she loved to hear so much echoed through her memories.
Hermione's grip tightened around the glass, she bit her lip. Tears threaten to leak from her eyes but she held it back, she promised herself before that there was no use crying over him. Crying couldn't bring him back, crying wouldn't help the pain that would still throb in her chest. It's not like we loved each other…it was just passionate intercourse we had…that's all. She thought to herself. But a fairly large part of herself told her that she was only lying to herself about it.
"He's gone now, why does it even matter what we had?" This time she said aloud. Hermione always carried conversations like these with herself when she was alone. She would always deny it whenever her thoughts wondered to having more than having anything more than just simple fondness for one another. To her, it wasn't possible to love him. It wasn't possible to fall in love that way. It wasn't possible to feel that way for him, when there was no way he would feel it too.
Memories flooded through her, the first time Scabior had kissed her and how surprisingly gentle it was. The way he would touch her, he was never rough with her. In fact, there were many times during sex he would hold her hand while moving in and out of her. How he would hold her in his arms for some time without any given reason. When he kissed her on the cheek, to give her hope of the next evening. The time he admitted to her that he would never remove her scarf from around his neck when he wasn't near her, the scent was what kept him going. Then the images of the way Scabior looked at her when they both stood at the bridge, also how he was willing to die first before ever causing her harm on purpose. Finally his infamous smirk was the last thing to glide into her thoughts as his voice spoke once again.
"You think too much to realize what a part of you is trying to tell you, but I'm fine with it. Because I know that you feel it, even if you don't know it yet."
Hermione couldn't hold back the tears anymore, they poured down from her eyes down her cheeks so suddenly. For months she had kept them locked away, never releasing the salty liquid, never letting herself feel what she had been feeling all along.
But I never told you,
What I should have said.
No I never to you,
I just held it in.
Hermione let out a choked sob, "I love him…" her tears dripped onto the islands granite surface, "I always loved him and he knew it…"
"Why did he leave me then!" Hermione cried out loudly, hoping maybe someone could answer her. There was no reply. "He didn't have to die…he didn't have to die that way!"
She pushed herself out of the stool and away from the island, trying to wipe away her tears with her sleeve. Glancing at a mirror on a distant wall she could see that her face was wet and beat red. It didn't stop the tears from flowing though, she couldn't stop the tears no matter how much she wanted them to. Her chest felt like it was going to rip apart, it was so painful to experience the pain of heartbreak. Realizing how much of a fool she had been for now admitting that she loved the snatcher, just for it to be far to late to do anything. Why didn't she help him when he was falling? Why did she let Neville fight him? Why did she walk away from him?
Hermione threw her glass of water at the mirror, causing both the glass and mirror to shatter into pieces everywhere. She was disgusted with herself. She let her pride and stubbornness get in the way, and it was her fault that he was gone from the world. Leaning against the counter, she slowly slid down until her body was on the floor. Her crying never ceased until exhaustion overcame her and she fell into a deep sleep.
When Hermione woke up, she looked up at the kitchen window to see daylight poking through the curtains, then she glanced at the clock on the wall to see it was a quarter passed seven a.m. She picked herself off the floor and looked around the kitchen, several shards of the broken pieces of the mirror and glass were scattered everywhere. Hermione pulled her wand out of her pocket and with a little wave, the mirror was put back together and resumed it's place on the wall as well as the glass that now placed itself on the countertop. Looking in the mirror, her face was back to it's pale self, but her eyes were red from crying all of the crying that she did. Remembering why she had cried, she felt a small sting of pain in her chest, but she couldn't cry; she cried several months worth of tears last night.
So many tears for one man…Her voice whispered in her mind. Even though she had no more tears left, she couldn't help but still feel the uneasy pain. She couldn't help but miss him as much as she did.
The wind chimes began to ring lightly against the outside on her back patio. She walked to the door that was just on the other side of the kitchen and opened the doors wide and awaited for the cool breeze to greet her body, it never flowed past her though. Confusion entranced her mind. How did they chime, if there's no wind current? She thought, looking over at the silver pipes that hung from strings on the patio. They were still now. It didn't make sense. With the amount of time that passed for Hermione to walk outside just when they were ringing, they would still have some kind of movement now. She walked a couple of steps and ran her fingertips lightly against the pipes, a very light chime sung for a few seconds.
And now I miss everything about you,
Can't believe that I still want you.
After all the things we've been through,
I miss everything about you,
Without you.
Hermione hummed in slight annoyance before turning around to walk back into the house; only to pause with a tiny gasp escaping her lips. On the opposite side of her patio, on the branch of an apple tree that had begun to grow just sometime ago, was a pink scarf. It was her pink scarf. The scarf that she last saw wrapped around Scabior's neck on the night of the battle of Hogwarts.
That's when Hermione heard it.
The whistling of a soothing, melodic tune.
AN: I hope that all of you enjoyed reading my newest Scabior/Hermione story! This has been the longest fanfic I've ever written, and I believe that this is the longest Scabior/Hermione fanfic written by far (correct me if I'm wrong please) so I feel very proud! Just to inform most of you, my other fanfic "Stars Won't Glow" has been deleted because I wasn't happy with it. So I'm going to be re-writing the fic and then posting it back up. I also have three more fics on the way! Be sure to keep an eye out. Anyways, what did you guys think of the story? Did the ending tear you up a bit? I certainly was crying while writing it (mainly because the whole scene was playing in my head). Haha, I look forward to reading all of your reviews!
PS. I know most of you probably want me to write a sequel to this fanfic. I'm going to tell you right now, that I probably won't. Mainly because at the time being I'm re-writing Stars Won't Glow as well as three other fics. I also believe that sometimes endings should be like this and kept at it. Because sometimes when someone writes a sequel, it's not as good. Which is what I fear. I'm not saying it's for certain, but for the time being I have no plans on writing a sequel to this fic.
Have a good day! :)