The pain had decended into calm now, the breathtaking numbness of it all was overwhelming, how it would hit him suddenly out of nowhere and just break him for hours at a time.

He closed his eyes, leaning forwards against the banister of the old stone balcony tower, letting the dark orange horizon warm the pigments of his skin against the harsh Scottish wind.

He felt a presence beside him and he didn't even have to open his eyes to know who it was when that unmistakable soft skin brushed against his hand that was clutching the bars and covered it, a thumb stroking gently over his knuckles.

"I never realized just how beautiful it is" he said, slowly opening his eyes as the stunning glittering of the lake against the sun hit his pupils, the heartstoppingly gorgeous backdrop of mountains and Hogsmede in the distance.

The sense of home.

And yet he had a feeling that there was something that was ten times as beautiful stood next to him.

"We spend seven years here, we fight, we cry, we laugh, we study, we eat, we sleep and yet we never really look" she said, her voice quiet and crackily... but at peace.

"I love you so much" he breathed, shaking his head as two tears dripped from his eyes, tears he didn't even know had been there.

"Oh Harry" she sighed, her thin, slender arms cuddling his, her head burying sideways into the crook of his neck as she nuzzled his face against her bushy curls blowing in the wind.

"I love you too" she whispered, turning her head so she could look out across the grounds as well.

"He was in love with you Hermione" Harry said in a harder, more clear tone as he drew in a shaky breath and she nodded against him.

"I know" she replied simply and he could feel her warm tears against the skin of his neck as they rolled down his t-shirt. He pulled his arm from her grasp and wrapped it around her tightly, bringing her into him to warm her up as they continued to take in the beauty of their school.

"I'm going back to Private Drive, and then I'm going straight away, I need to start looking as soon as I can" he said, feeling like she should know, like someone should know where he was going and what he was doing.

She pulled away from him, an irritated look in her eyes and he frowned.

"Harry, you're my best friend and I've always admired your courage; but sometimes you can be really thick" she said, her hands cupping the sides of his neck as she leaned their foreheads together.

"When are you going to get it into your head? We're in this together! He's gone Harry andI need you. You need me Harry so I'll be there all the way. I'm coming back to the Dursleys with you and you're coming to my parent's house with me" she said in a shaky voice, the tears streaming down her face silently as she pressed a wet, chaste kiss to his lips.

"And then we're going to the Weasley's for Bill and Fluer's wedding, no arguments. We need to have this Harry, we need one more day before we leave; just one day with our family" she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly.

"And then we'll leave straight after, I promise" she said in a muffled voice against his neck as her fingers laced in the back of his messy hair.

He breathed in deeply, threading his arms around her waist and nodding once.

"Alright, one day" he answered quietly and she smiled weakly.

"One day"

It was solemn really, for reasons he couldn't explain. These people despised him, they thought he was a freak of nature... and yet he was sad to be saying goodbye to them, to this... to the house.

Hermione was waiting in the park a couple of streets over, he knew he wasn't alone and yet, somehow, he felt completely isolated.

He drew in a shaky breath, looking around the completely empty room for the last time. There weren't any pictures anymore, Hedwig sat behind him in the hallway in her cage. The bed was gone, the drawers were gone along with the wardrobe with the door Dobby had broken back in second year.

There was no sign that he had ever lived there, just as it always had been.

But he had.

Living here, had been horrible at the time, hell, boring, lonely; but it was a part of him, he had grown up here and he had no idea who he'd have turned out to be without it.

Slowly, he took one step back out of the room, remembering that Moody had stood here just two years previous magically unlocking his door to take him back to Sirius, who was now gone as well.

As he moved to close the door, he caught the glint of the street lamp reflecting through the window off his glasses and for a split second he saw Ron's smiling face and big amber eyes glaring at him from the flying Ford Anglia and it took him everything he had not to burst into tears right there.

Instead, he swallowed hard, pushing the grief down inside him like he'd been doing every night for the past month, and closed the door on the young scrawny boy with nothing but baggy clothes and an inquisitive face to his name. That innocent child who had no idea of the horror of the world, was long dead.

"Okay, we're being watched, I saw about ten different men walk passed a second ago that kept touching their sleeves" Hermione said, walking straight up to him as he reached the gate of the park, taking out a purse and turning away from the street, letting him drop his trunk, Hedwig and the firebolt inside.

"What? What the hell are we going to d-"

"Shut up and walk" she hissed, stowing the purse back in her jacket pocket and grabbing his elbow, marching him down the road and pulling him into an alleyway, shoving him against the wall.

"We don't know if their are any magical anomolies that are going to allow them to follow us so we can't apparate, we can't use the floo network back at your Aunt's house because its also being watched... we're going to fly" she said quickly in a hushed tone, looking back and forth down the cobble stones, brown eyes narrowed in fear and adrenaline.

Her breath could be seen in the cold night air and she'd pulled her hair into a plat. She was wearing a simple beige, combat style jacket with an emerald green turtle neck jumper, and tight fitting jeans with dolly shoes.

It was only then that Harry realised how much she'd changed.

"Harry, focus!" she hissed, tapping his face sharply and he glared at her.

"Ow!" he exclaimed as she took the Firebolt out again and slammed it against his chest, her hands shaking.

"Hermione, you hate flying" he said with concern and she glanced nervously at the broomstick, nodding.

"Well this will be a good time to get over it then wont it?" she said, gesturing for him to mount it.

He felt her climb into place behind him, chest pressed against his back and he knew she was absolutely terrified, if the tightness of her grip around his waist was anything to go by.

"Don't worry, I wont let you fall" he said softly, gently kicking off from the ground and she whimpered, burying her face in his neck.

"Get your wand out" he yelled through the rushing wind and suddenly her head snapped up as around twenty people surrounded them. Harry dived low, flying at unbelievable speed along a street, not worried about muggles seeing them or what the ministry were going to do; it was life and death... death being the more likely considering how fast he was having to ditch, duck and lift to dodge spells.

"Impedimenta" a voice yelled from behind them and he just missed it, taking off to higher altitude, not even appreciating how amazing it felt to be back in the air when he was flying; all he wanted to do was get Hermione safely back to the burrow.

He felt a buzz of magic shoot passed him and caught a glimpse of green light.

Holy shit they were fucked.

"Avada Kedavra!" he heard Hermione shout hoarsley and he almost gasped if he didn't think the wind would suffocate him if he did.

They had fought, dueled, caused pain. But not once had they killed.

Yes, this was getting serious. It was kill, or be killed.

He heard a broom drop with a dull thud from the air behind him and a shout of anger before another one of Hermione's spells hit someone else.

They were outnumbered, but not outskilled.

Hermione Granger was a very, very powerful witch. But Harry had to admit, they had been stupid to think that they still had time to walk casually around the streets without deatheaters attempting to assassinate them.

They reached the edge of the city and Harry flew higher, trying to lose a few of their attackers amongst the clouds and he felt Hermione cast the same spell she had in their thrid year Quidditch match to give him ultimate visibility.

He had no idea how she had time to though, nor did he have a clue how he was managing to dodge spells so easily when they were coming at him from behind.

They were flying over fields now and he knew it would only be a matter of minutes before they reached the Burrow and he'd be damned if they followed them all the way.

In a split seconds decision, he built up all the magical power her could in him, forcing it to flow through the broom and it was scary how his theory had worked; he could actually feel the power tingling at his finger tips.

Then he dived.

He and Hermione were literally a complete blur of slight colour as they plummeted towards the ground and he could hear the wooshing of broomsticks behind him and the spells had stopped; they were all working too hard to keep up with him to try to kill him.

And just, a single half a metre away from the ground, Harry pulled up hard, using all the strength he could force from his muscles, pulling every one of them in his body as they yelled in protest against the brake hoarse power.

And every single person on their broom that had been following hit the gorund full pelt with sickening crunches and smacks; Harry even felt blood splatter against his face as he pulled back up, building up speed again, flying just beneath the clouds this time.

Slowly, but surely, the Burrow came into view and Hermione was sobbing into his shoulder, her hands vibrating violently against the muscles of his stomach and she clung onto him tighter than ever.

"It's okay, we're here" he shouted and he slowed down to try and calm her a little, wooping down elegantly and landing messily on the grass next to a small pond.

He jumped off immediately, pulling her with him.

Her face was covered in tears and sprayed blood residue, her jacket a little ripped and there was a hole on the material of her shoulder revealing a nasty looking burn.

He pulled her to him, drawing his wand and vanishing the broom the little way over the field to the house that was their destination.

He threaded one arm underneath her legs and lifted her easily, trying not to cry himself when she continued to cry into his chest, slender arms practically choking him. Her sobs were silent now and he knew she was trying to soothe herself before they reached Molly and the others, knowing that they would have a field day with them when they saw what a state they were both in.

"Shhh, it's okay, we're home" he breathed, pressing a quivering kiss to her dirty forehead as he walked, trying not to jolt her body too much.

"Harry! What in Merlin's name happened?" Molly exclaimed loudly as he pushed passed her through the door, going straight to the living room and setting Hermione down in a sitting position, crouching in front of her and cupping her face in his hands, looking at her, checking her over.

"Harry James Potter, you tell me right now what just happened! You can't just show up like this and expect me not to be livid!" Molly said again, following him and standing beside them, watching him as he handled Hermione like she was a broken doll, but at the same time his touch showed that he respected her power and knew that she could look after herself.

There wasn't even a word for what the two were, there just wasn't a word to describe them.

"You okay?" he asked firmly, his thumb smudging the blood spatters a little and she nodded, pursing her lips in an attempt to stem her own tears.

"Right, Mrs Weasley, can you fix her burns?" he asked, standing up athletically to full height and going back through to the kitchen just as Ginny came running down the stairs towards him, grabbing him.

He allowed her short hug but pulled away quickly, searching the cupboards for something to stop the bleeding in his leg; he hadn't even realised that he'd been hexed until he'd been carrying Hermione.

"What the hell happened?" she asked, identical to her mother and he glanced at her distractedly as he pulled out a kitchen chair, yanking up the leg of his jeans, ignoring Ginny's sound of shock as she saw the gash in his calf muscle.

"We were followed, just as we hit the air we were surrounded by... wait, is Remus here?" Harry asked emotionlessly, wiping sweat from his brow and yelping in pain when he shamelessly poured the antiseptic potion on his wound, acting as though he didn't see the steam coming off the cut as the solution did it's work.

"No but he's- Mom flooed him the moment she saw you coming on the horizon- Harry, what-"

"You are never going to fucking learn are you?" an angry voice came as the front door slammed open and Remus Lupin came marching in, his fist autimatically colliding with Harry's face before he crouched down and began healing the tear in the man's flesh.

"What did you do that for?" Ginny said loudly, not impressed with the fact that Harry was rubbing his jaw and chuckling slightly.

"That wasn't as hard as the last one you gave me for going to that cave with Dumbledore" he remarked tiredly, his voice a little crackily, his skin going slightly pale from loss of blood.

"Think yourself lucky I didn't break your fucking neck Harry" Remus said although the anger had gone as he siphoned off the blood and looked around in alarm.

"Where's Hermione?" he asked.

"In the living room, Molly's fixing up a burn on her shoulder" he informed and Remus narrowed his eyes, slapping Harry's face again.

"Why is she helping Hermione with a burn when this hex pierced all three layers of skin?" he asked, the frustration back with a vengance and Harry looked at him as though it had been a stupid question.

"It's Hermione" he said solidly, like it had been an obvious answer.

Silence froze Remus's vocal cords and in that second, Ginny's heart broke.

It didn't matter if Harry only saw Hermione as a sister, the man would never love Ginny like that, he would never speak with such conviction and fierceness when speaking her name.

Jealousy was a bitch... an inconvenient, innapropriate bitch.

"Of course it's Hermione" Remus said under his breath, a small smile pulling up the corners of his mouth slightly and he grabbed Harry's face, pressing a rough, fatherly kiss to his forehead.

"You gotta stop doing this to me kiddo, I have a heart attack every time I hear you're in these situations" he said messing up his hair even more.

It seemed like such an important moment, such a stunning encounter between two men who weren't even related by blood, but could love each other so easily like father and son, especially after Sirius... she felt the need to leave the room.

She knew Remus would look after him anyway, at least for the moment.

"The floo still works" the words slipped from her soft lips and pierced his eardrums through the silence and she let go of his hand as she stepped out of the fireplace, numbly looking around.

It was so... normal.

And Harry was comforted, overjoyed that she'd had this life before this horrible situation they'd been thrown into, that his best friend had been able to have a proper childhood with parents that loved her.

"Hermione darling, is that you?" Marrianne Granger called, appearing in the doorway, smiling at her daughter in relief before looking at Harry, her brow furrowing remarkably like Hermione's did when she was confused.

"Who is this?" she asked kindly, embracing Hermione tightly and pressing a motherly kiss to her lips.

"Oh, this is Harry" Hermione said, a little distracted but with a small smile all the same.

"You mean the Harry that we've heard so much about?" Marrianne asked, her honey brown eyes lighting up as she moved towards him.

He held out his hand awkwardly for a few seconds before he was suddenly being hugged fiercely by the new woman.

Hermione laughed, shrugging her shoulders from over her Mother's shoulder.

After about three minutes, the woman pulled away and grinned widely at him, her eyes tracing his scar indiscreetly.

"Hermione was right, you are very handsome" Marrianne said happily and Hermione coughed, biting her lip, blushing scarlet and looking at the floor.

"Why thank you Mrs Granger" he said, amused as he watched Hermione's reaction and she glared at him through her embarassment.

"Darling, what- oh, Hermione, we were so worried! Richard Granger exclaimed, as he too noticed Harry.

"Wait, if this is one of them, where's the other one? We haven't seen you in so long" Richard asked, kissing Hermione's hand tenderly.

Harry froze immediately, his hands beginning to sweat as his heart gave a painful jolt.

"M-mum... R-Ron... he... he died last month" Hermione struggled, swallowing tightly. This was the first time she'd been able to say those words without crying and Harry wondered if she too had been practicing at burying her grief for the sake of others.

"What? Oh dears, that's awful!" Marrianne said, her eyes genuinely sad as she looked at Harry.

But unlike the other looks he'd gotten from everyone else, they were not sympathetic, more like she actually felt his pain, like the woman who was so like her daughter, could see everything he was trying to hide from the world, from the people he loved.

"But why are you here?" Richard asked while he shaked Harry's hand, putting his arm around his wife as they gestured for them to sit on the sofas of the cute little living room.

"D-Dad, we're kind of... we're going..."

"Mr Granger, what Hermione is trying to say is, I'm taking a small vacation. She'll be staying at the Burrow where she'll be safe and I'm going away for a small... holiday. I have a lot I need to sort out in my head and Hermione makes Mrs Weasley feel closer to Ron" he lied easily, ignoring Hermione's outraged look.

"You see, the thing is, there's something going on in the wizarding world, something terrible. A... war of some sorts. I'm sure Hermione has told you about you-know-who and his followers, but I don't think she's explained what they do. I am not going to either as they are too evil for you to have to hear. What you should understand before we do this however, is that I swear to you, I will get Hermione back to you safe and in one piece. I think that is probably the only thing I'm guarunteeing or promising about what I'll do during this war" he said strongly, feeling Hermione moving to interrupt him, but taking her hand and squeezing it so that she would shut up.

"Hermione has always spoken of you fondly. She loves you most in the world and I am doing this because I won't have it weighing on her conscience. You are amazing people and you, like many others, deserve to be happy and safe. I hope one day you can forgive me for this" he said, his voice wavering as he took out his wand slowly and the Grangers began to move back a little in shock.

"Harry, wait-"

"Obliviate" he said firmly, feeling a very sudden drain on a recourse in his blood he'd never felt before and he knew it was a very complicated spell.

"Harry" she whimpered, hiding her face in his shoulder as Marrianne and Richard's eyes went out of focus and their memories faded away from them, the picture frames ridding themselves of Hermione's photo's, every trace of little girl Hermione growing up vanished from the house and from her parent's lives... it broke his heart all over again.

Slowly, he moved back to stand in the fireplace again, hearing Hermione shakily summoning all her things from upstairs and letting them float into the purse she held open as Harry began to speak.

"Your names are Wendell and Monica Wilkins; you have never had children and do not aspire to. You are going to move to Australia where you will own a dental studio and live in a bungalo; number 234 Greendase Place where it's safe and friendly. You have no friends in England and all your relatives are dead, you're going to be happy" he finished, lowering his wand and in a woosh of fire, he and Hermione were gone.

She giggled, a couple of curls escaping the hair pins at the back of her head and framing her soft, oval face intricately as she took another sip of wine.

"I can't believe I did that! It was only a few months ago as well! Oh God" she sighed, laughing as her head dropped forward to lean on his chest.

"I mean, McLaggen Hermione, freaking Cormac McLaggen!" Harry said and she shook her head with an embarrased, humorous groan.

"I know, it's awful, but I wanted a date!" she said with a sigh and he raised his eyebrows.

"It wasn't one of your smartest ideas I'll admit" he said softly, enjoying the feel of the evening breeze blowing gently on his face. She wrapped her arm around his waist snugly, smiling as Luna came up to them without her father, who was deep in a very animated conversation with Arthur Weasley.

"Hello Hermione, is this your new boyfriend?" Luna asked shamelessly and Hermione nodded slowly, on the way to being rather drunk.

"Yeah! Uhhh, this is... Barney?" she said, frowning a little and Harry chuckled.

"Yeah, I'm Barney; won't you say you love me too" he remarked and Hermione spat out the wine she had in her mouth, almost choking on it as she laughed and he couldn't help but adore the sight and sound.

It had been a long time since he'd seen Hermione so happy and relaxed; she'd been right, they did need this one day.

"Oh right, I see, it's a disguise. Hello Harry" Luna said cheerfully and it was his turn to cough in suprise.

"Excuse me?" he managed to splutter and Luna simply grinned at him.

"Well no one else can make Hermione laugh like that, and it's kind of in your mannerisms, I'm just used to them by now. But it was convincing, I didn't see it straight away" Luna said happily, blonde floaty wringlets sparkling with jeweled flowers.

"Right... uhh, thanks I guess" he said, a little confused and taken aback.

"So I'm not dating Barney then?" Hermione hiccoughed, pretending to be sad and Luna simply shrugged, walking off to talk to someone else while Fred and George approached them wearing frilly robes in honor of Ron.

"I'm not dating Barney anymore" Hermione pouted and Fred looked completely flabbergasted while George grinned cheekily.

"Why don't you date me instead Granger, I do this wicked thing with my tongue-"

"Alright George, how about not tempting her to go all slutty huh?" Harry intergected and George looked playfully offended.

"So what's it like wearing a Weasley crown then?" Fred asked, getting over Hermione's random musing and looking at Harry.

"Wierd, it's strange not being able to see the scar in the mirror" he said, taking a swig of Butterbeer and catching a daydreaming Hermione as she stumbled a little.

"Aww, you'll always be little scar head to us ickwe bwuvva" the tipsy twins teased, tweaking Harry's cheeks but having to aid him in stopping Hermione from kissing a ministry official before they could really annoy him.

"Why don't we just sit down over here then Hermione, yes?" Harry said with a wry chuckle, apologizing to the ministry member and taking her over to one of the unnocupied tables, handing her a glass of water.

"You know the other day, when you told my parents that I loved them the most?" she said, her voice suddenly more solid and soft as she tilted her head sideways, sitting back in her chair, an adoring half smile lighting up her face as her eyes sparkled brilliantly with compassion.

"Yes" he said quietly, not realising that he was staring right back, almost transfixed.

"It's not true. I love you the most Harry Potter and it'll probably be the death of me, but I don't care" she said thoughtfully, looking a little worn out, but like she was lost in her own musings and it was all centered around him.

"And do you remember when I pulled you back to hug me just before you went with Dumbledore the night he and Ron died?" she asked again and he nodded once, unable to stop from looking at her.

"It was because I couldn't let you go without knowing you are loved by so many, and so much... but no one more than me" she said, shiny, breathtaking tears of love welling up in her eyes.

He knew she was drunk and it was probably what had caused her to be so outgoing, but something about what she was saying told him that she knew exactly what she was talking about, and that every word was the truth.

"I don't know what I felt for Ron, I wanted to be with him, I wanted to be his girlfriend. But I'll never have that now... and it's okay-" she leaned forward, taking his hands on the tablecloth, tears escaping and slipping gently down her face like little transparent jewels and she was absolutely gorgeous.

His best friend, sister, and so, so much more.

Probably his saviour, his reason for fighting and living, his everything.

"It's okay because after everything, after all the pain and the things we're forced to do, I know I'll have you. And I could never want anything else" she said, choking on her words a little, or choking on her emotion. Either way he couldn't actually speak for how much it was making him feel.

"And it terrifies me everyday that I can't put a label on what I feel for you, I can't figure out if you're my best friend, or my soulmate... or both. But I'm going to be there too Harry, I'm going to fight with you. And if you have to die, I'm going to stand beside you and hold your hand and I'm going to die right along with you"

And as his own tears dripped down his own face, he'd never believed or loved anyone so much in his life.

And he doubted that he ever would.