I'd meant this to be a little piece of fluff, but apparently, my brain and fingers hate me (I'm pretty sure my keyboard is conspiring against me as well).

So, anyway, here you go. FYI: Her dream is in italics and (parenthesis).

I Promise

She wakes up in a cold sweat, chest heaving, eyes brimming with tears and wonders why the world is spinning. The nightmare flexes in her mind like a headache with a different sort of pain and all of the sudden she's surprised she can breathe.

"It was just a dream," she tells herself quietly and looks up at the ceiling where the dim light from the rain clouds outside highlights the splotchy white pattern. "It was just a dream."

("Harry? Where are you going?" she asks, ignoring the rubble and sounds of destruction around her.

"I have to go, Hermione. This is it." He turns then and the shadows cover her face, blocking him from view.

"When will you be back?" She jumps as she hears a cry of, "Avada Kedavra!" behind her and he looks in her direction. From the angle he's at though, the only part of his face she can see are his eyes and the scar above them.

"I won't be."

The words shake in her ears and she shudders, drawing her arms around herself and gripping her wand tighter. "You can't leave me here. I love you."

"That's why I have to go." The words are just a whisper and he turns then, his back facing her and starts off, out of the crumbling castle and into the dark stillness of the night.

Before he's completely out of sight, she sees a flash of green light and a harsh voice that doesn't belong to him. And, at the sound of a body hitting the stone walkway, she falls to the ground and sobs because he's gone.

He's gone and she's alone.)

With the dream still on her mind and his parting words still in her ears, she reaches out beside her, blindly grasping the sheets that have taken his place. They're still warm, she notices, and she sits up quickly, a panicky fear that she's alone and that he's really dead settling over her like a cold wave.

She gets to her feet and shivers when she hears the sound of the shower running in the bathroom down the hall. When the hope fills her she can't help but run down the hallway and push her way into the bathroom.

He looks at her in shock when she pulls back the shower curtain—even more so when she climbs in and wraps her arms around his waist, burying her face into his back.

"Hermione?" he asks, turning in her arms and lifting her face so that he can look at her. "You're getting yourself soaked." He almost stops the water and gets out when he notices that she's crying. He reaches up and cups her face, brushing the tears away with his thumbs and leans down closer to her. "Honey, why are you crying? What's wrong?"

"I had a nightmare," she manages to tell him and leans down onto his chest, still crying. "You died."

He makes a face then, like he finally understands, and wraps his arms around her, brushing his fingers through her wet hair. "Oh, sweetie…Shh…It's okay. I'm right here. I won't leave you."

"Do you promise?" she asks and the child-like fear in her voice breaks his heart.

"I promise."

He leans down then and kisses her with everything he's got because he does promise. And when he whispers, "I love you," when he breathes into onto her skin, her clothes, her heart, she feels the world stop spinning.

Sappy and sad. I apologize deeply.