i want to say thank you to my readers! This is the last chapter of the story ... for now! I'm working on the next chapter of their love story, and you guessed it, it will also be a song-fic (do I really have another genre?).

*.*.*.*

six

I've been the archer
I've been the prey
who could leave me darlin'
but who could stay

He manages to escape the hordes of people surrounding him, and he finds himself in the Common Room in the Gryffindor Tower — or rather, what's left of the Gryffindor Tower. He takes in the sight of the comfortable couches and armchairs and the fireplace. He sees the parchment scattered around the floor and the books thrown around the room.

It must have been a frenzied moment, getting dragged out of bed late in the evening only to hear that the Golden Trio was back in the castle and Lord Voldemort was close behind. Now … now he sees the room in a different light.

How different his life could have been if there never was a Lord Voldemort.

He hears a gentle knocking and his head turns towards the sound of it. Hermione is standing there in the empty portrait hole, smiling ever so slightly at him. Her hair is falling out of her braid and she has bleeding cuts and bruises forming on her face and arms. He smiles in return and holds his hand out to her. She looks surprised, but she takes it. He pulls her into a tight hug and sighs, breathing deeply into her neck.

who could stay
who could stay
who could stay
who could stay

For once in Hermione's life, she can't find any words to say what she wants to say.

…

Okay, that's not true, there are so many words flying in and out her head, but none of them feel right. She only knows how she feels.

"Please, don't ever scare me like that again," she mumbles into his shoulder as tears make her eyes burn. "I wasn't … I didn't …"

"I know," he murmurs and rubs her back. "I know 'Mione."

She pulls away from him and lets out an exasperated breath, some of the tears falling. "But you don't know!" He is surprised at this slight outburst, but she continues without acknowledging it. "You don't know how I felt looking at your body, thinking you were actually dead, and thinking how I was never going to be able to tell you everything I wanted to tell you, like, like, like how I'm going to miss your smile and your eyes and your jokes and how you make me feel so so safe when I'm in your arms and how I sleep so much better when you're near me and how much I love —"

She stops short of finishing her declaration, panting hard because she never breathes when she rambles. She's never said it out loud, only in her head. She realizes he doesn't know she rebuffed Ron's attempt at kissing her in the chamber when they destroyed the cup. But the war is over and now they can live, because baby, she does, she does, she does love him.

you could stay

Hermione has this wild look in her eyes that makes Harry understand what she is saying before she even says it, because of course he knows. He doesn't stop when all his instincts pushed his body into hers and kisses her — for real. He's kissing her hard, his hands in her hair and around her waist.

This is real, this is real? this is real, oh my god, this is real! Hermione's mind can't seem to form any other thought than this singular one.

And she's kissing him back because …

"I love you," she mumbles against his lips before pulling further away from him, "I love you. I love y —"

He's grinning and kisses her again, mid-declaration, gentler this time, his hand cupping her cheek. "I love you, too."

Her heart soars and she can't help but giggle. Their foreheads rest against each other's and he brushes some of the stray hairs away from her face. Her brain is darting from question to question, wondering what they're going to do about Ron and Ginny and the dead warriors and the destruction of the castle and the Elder Wand and the future, but then his hand grips her side a little tighter, pulling her out of her thoughts.

He's smiling at her, his boyish grin gracing his features, and all her worries Disapparate. Oh, she loves him, so so much.

"What do we do now?" She asks in a whisper.

Harry shrugs his shoulders and takes her hands in his. "I dunno," he whispers back, "Maybe breakfast?"

oh
combat
I'm ready for combat