A/N: Finally, I'm able to publish! This is for Samantha for the GGE. Enjoy, love. :3

EDIT - I just realized that I didn't have any line breaks, as they were all deleted when I transferred my work to here. Silly me. :/

Disclaimer: I don't own HP.

tears that must fall

by Brooke

[this fic is for Samantha in the GGE]

They first meet on platform nine and three-quarters, where Hermione is wandering aimlessly among throngs of people, lugging her trunk behind her and feeling completely, utterly lost.

Scarlet smoke, she thinks despairingly, remembering the passage in Hogwarts: A History that she has underlined over and over in glistening red ink with her brand-new eagle feather quill. Scarlet smoke, large train...

"You going to Hogwarts, too?" Hermione jumps, turning around to see a girl with a dark plait running down her back and serious brown eyes.

"Um…" starts Hermione, unsure of what to say, but she is soon interrupted.

"Well, of course you are," she continues, slapping her forehead. "Silly me. So... what house do you want to be in?" she says, abruptly changing the subject. "I'm Padma, by the way," she adds, holding out her hand. Hermione shakes it.

"Hermione," she responds, slightly fazed by the other girl's jumbled chatter. "Future Gryffindor."

Padma raises an eyebrow. "Gryffindor?" she says, doubt trickling into her voice. "Hm...I would think that you were more suited for Ravenclaw."

"Ravenclaw? Why would you think that?" (Hermione is secretly flattered.)

Padma openly eyes the book labeled Hogwarts: A History that is tucked under Hermione's arm and her black school robes. "No reason."

Hermione blushes, hastily hiding her book behind her back and making an awkward attempt to cover up her outfit. "Well...erm…I was entertaining the idea of being a Ravenclaw," she admits, "but it's the Sorting Hat's choice, isn't it? And I don't think I'm smart enough to be a Ravenclaw. Besides, Dumbledore was in Gryffindor." She knows that she's smart, of course - being the top in her year proved that - but with her peers being people who have lived and breathed in the Wizarding world for 10 years, she doubted that she would manage to be as smart as them.

"Huh. I suppose you are right. Dumbledore was in Gryffindor." Padma frowns, and then smiles brightly - a smile, Hermione notices, that shows off large buckteeth. The thought that somebody else shares one of her more...unappealing features is somewhat comforting. "Well, I'm not sure if this brings you any comfort, but I think that you could become a Ravenclaw easily. You have that look about you," she adds cryptically.

This piece of knowledge is very comforting, but before she can tell her so, there is the loud whistling noise, followed by screeching and a plume of red smoke. Padma looks alarmed. "Wow, we talked a lot." She starts to sprint towards the Hogwarts Express. "Bye!" she calls over her shoulder and her retreating figure is soon swallowed up by the overwhelming crowd of young witches and wizards scrambling to get onto the train.

Hermione stares into space for a moment, almost forgetting that she was supposed to be boarding right now, before regaining her senses and running towards the train, one hand clutching Hogwarts: A History and the other dragging her trunk behind her.

llll

When an exultant Hermione pulls off the tattered Sorting Hat upon hearing the word, GRYFFINDOR!, ring throughout the Great Hall. Out of the corner of her eye (she so did not turn to gaze at her!) she can see Padma clapping, looking amused and (is it possible?) slightly disappointed.

llll

"Best friends?" It's the beginning of first year, and the two are sitting under a tall oak tree near the Great Lake, doing their homework.

Padma smiles. "Best friends. Promise?" She glances at Hermione imploringly.

"Best friends," she says gravely.

"Pinky promise?" insists Padma, holding out her pinky.

Hermione gently hooks her pinky around Padma's. "Pinky promise. Best friends forever!" With one last firm shake, they release their pinkies, sealing their promise of friendship.

They don't even talk to each other anymore by the end of their first year.

llll

The next time they even talk to each other again is during the Yule Ball, when both of them hardly remember that day on the platform or the studying sessions or the promises or anything, really, but of course one of them does, because she comes up and taps the other on the shoulder. (She doesn't know how she feels about Hermione anymore.)

Hermione, who is in the act of pouring herself butterbeer, whips around, some of the butterbeer splashing the front of her periwinkle robes. She cries out, her hand inching towards her pocket, but Padma already has her wand out and is exclaiming, "Tergeo!"

The stain disappears instantly. Hermione looks up to see who cast the spell and sees Padma standing beside her. She straightens. "Sorry," she says apologetically. "It's just that these dress robes - "

"I know the feeling," says Padma, grinning. Hermione smiles back. Padma can't help but notice the startling absence of her two buckteeth, replaced by normal sized ones. "Um … what happened to your teeth?" Padma can't help asking, feeling almost disconnected from the stunning girl without the minor disfigurement to share.

"I don't think I know you…" Hermione starts, and then snaps her fingers, realization dawning on her. "Wait! I do know you! You're…"

"Don't say I'm Paravati," warns Padma.

"Of course you aren't," scoffs Hermione. "Paravati is with Harry. Wait" - Hermione's eyes widen in recognition - "you're Padma! From - from the platform!" Hermione envelopes her in a bone-crushing hug.

"Took you long enough," says Padma gruffly, but she is smiling.

"How could I forget? You were the first witch I had ever talked to - well, first witch

my age," amends Hermione. "I mean, I did go to Diagon Alley for school supplies." She grins.

Padma smiles absent-mindedly. "So, where's Viktor?" she asks, suddenly noticing the absence of the Quidditch player that had accompanied Hermione through the door.

She points behind her, where an uncomfortable Viktor Krum is being harassed by Ludo Bagman. "There. Poor guy." She looks amused. "I decided to leave them alone."

Padma, whose eyes are following Hermione's finger, lets out a short bark of laughter. "Ha!" she observes. "And to think that Ron - " She notices Hermione stiffening at the mention of Ron. "Hermione?" she asks worriedly.

"Oh? No, don't worry about me! Continue on!" Hermione lets out a laugh that sounds like it was forced out of her chest. "What did Ron do?" Hermione's voice grows increasingly more high-pitched by each word. "Is Ron your date?"

Padma is taken aback. "Yes, but - "

"Oh, silly me." Hermione waves her hand, an action of indifference, but her fingers are rigid and seem almost melded together. "Of course Ron would have a date to the Yule Ball, because Ickle Ronnykins just has to go and waltz into the ball and be Ron!" says Hermione shrilly.

Alarmed and bewildered at her sudden change in attitude, Padma hastens to pacify the positively livid Hermione. "Ron isn't doing anything, I should know - "

Unfortunately, this seems to have the opposite effect. "Oh, I almost forgot," she flares. "You're his date, so you should know. It's not like I care, anyways," she adds, slamming her fist onto the refreshments table with so much force that the silver platters, laden with sweets, clatter. She spins on her heel and stomps off in a flurry of satin periwinkle.

Perhaps it's precisely because she isn't here - all that's left is the lingering scent of her lilac perfume - when Padma realizes why Hermione stormed off in the first place; she was jealous of her – Padma.

Hermione wanted Ron.

She can't help the sickening feeling that spreads throughout her whole body; she turns and walks away from the table, out the Great hall, up the stairs and into her dormitory, where she lays on the four-poster bed and wonders why she even bothered to hope.

llll

The last time she sees Padma is during the war against Voldemort, and the memory still brings a sharp bitter taste to her mouth and a pang of loneliness that echoes through her heart.

"Hermione!" Padma rushes up to her with a grin on her face that looks slightly strained with the stress of the battle. "Beating up those Death Eaters?"

Despite the heat of the battle draining all her enthusiasm (she had none in the first place) and energy, she somehow finds it in her to smile back. (Maybe it's because of Padma.) "Yup."

Several Death Eaters have started to swarm the two. "Back-to-back?" asks Padma, glancing nervously at the advancing Death Eaters.

Hermione ducks, narrowly avoiding a jet of green light. "Sure, whatever floats your boat," she says.

It's almost as if they were meant for each other in battle; They work in sync, almost as if they are one, shooting an array of colors from their wands and ducking appropriately or casting a strong Shield Charm (courtesy to the D.A.). Eventually, they float out of their back-to-back pattern and start to fight their way through the swarm of Death Eaters.

They do not talk. They don't need to.

But one girl doesn't see a green jet of light coming her way, and the other sees it too late, opening her mouth to utter a warning, anything, but she can't afford to have her cry lost in the heat of the battle.

There is only one choice left.

It's dangerous, and of course she doesn't have to take it.

She does.

Padma dives in front of an unsuspecting Hermione, the green light trapping her straight in the chest. Padma lays, suspended in the air, for a brief moment before crashing to the ground, her face slack and her eyes glassy.

And later, after Voldemort is dead, when Hermione has the chance run her thumb down Padma's cheek and wonder why Padma did it, it all clicks.

All the signs, all the smiles and laughter and broken looks - how could she have been so stupid?

The realization makes her legs wobbly and she falls to her knees, silent tears rolling down her face and splashing onto Padma's lifeless body.

She will never forget the girl who saved her life.

A/N: This took so long to finish. I actually like it quite a lot. If possible, please review! :3 Thank you!

CHALLENGES/CONTESTS:

[Build-A-Bear Challenge] Outfit - Preppy: Hermione Granger

[Disney Character Challenge] Thumper - Write about someone who is loyal to his (in this case, her) friends.

[Pick a Card, Any Card Challenge] Nine of Spades (BONUS) - Write a fic that ties up the end for an overlooked character

[Secret Admirer Challenge] Write about two characters admiring each other

[Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry Forum] Muggle Studies - write a pairing you enjoy (ot3, otp, etc.)

[New Years Millionaire Challenge] Write Femslash - $50

[Femslash Challenge] Write femslash

[January Scavenger Hunt] Favorite character death fic (it varies - it is currently half the Ravenclaw population of girls, as I love Ravenclaw as a house. :)

[Challenge Ticketing Challenge] Challenges: Too many