Written for Lily! Happy birthday, love!

Pairing: HermioneSeverus

Written for the 365 drabble event at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardy #6. Ball gown

Words: 1,096

I finally found someone worthy of my love and now he's gone forever

Hermione stared at the dark black marble tomb in front of her. Every now and then she started a weak attempt to wipe away the tears that were rolling down her cheeks, but no matter how hard she tried, new ones continued to form in her beautiful brown eyes.

Lost in her own thoughts, the young witch didn't even care about the chilly wind that was blowing through her bushy brown hair, nor did she realize the sound of footsteps approaching her.

"You loved him, didn't you?"

Utterly startled by the unexpected voice that tore her away from her thoughts, Hermione jumped up; holding her wand in a defensive gesture.

But when her tear filled eyes finally recognized the blurry form of the person in front of her, she visibly relaxed and lowered her wand in relief.

"Merlin, Luna. You startled me."

The blonde-haired witch closed the remaining distance between them.

"I'm sorry. But there were so many thoughts running through your mind that you didn't even realize that I've been calling your name a couple of times already."

Hermione's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh, I really didn't – "

"Don't worry," the other girl interrupted in her calming voice. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Though obviously you are not."

Despite her best efforts, Hermione started sobbing and Luna didn't hesitate to take her friend into her arms.

"Sooner or later the pain will… well, it will get easier," the blonde witch whispered into her ear and softly rubbed Hermione's back.

They stood like that for a couple of minutes; both oblivious to the freezing midnight-air.

"When did it start?" Luna then asked in order to distract the shaking witch with some happy memories. "Your relationship, I mean?"

Hermione sniffed once more, but she wiped her tears away and carefully touched the marble tombstone with her small hands.

"I think… I first started realizing that I was falling for Severus during our fourth year…"

...

"You've ruined everything, Ron! And you," Hermione hissed and turned to Harry furiously. "Where have you been? Oh, never mind, off to bed with you!"

With tears streaming down her cheeks she removed her uncomfortable heels and sat down on the cold and empty staircase; the blue ball gown she had worn for the Yule-ball completely forgotten.

The last thing she before she buried her face in her hands was Ron's mumbled, "they get scary when they get older…"

This was her final breaking point. Ignoring the tears, she tucked her legs closer to her body and started sobbing. Luckily, by now all the other students had retreated to their dormitories, so apart from a few ghost who were sending her a couple of odd glances, she was completely alone in the dark corridor.

At least that was what she thought before a strong, but soft hand carefully touched her shoulder.

Her heart skipped a beat, and when she turned around, she saw a man standing there she hadn't expected at all.

"Professor Snape! I – I apologise for still being here… I thought, well, I – "

"It's alright," he said in his usual deep voice to interrupt her; then the black haired man surprised her even more by sitting down next to her on one of the stairs.

"He will understand," Severus didn't look at her. "Weasley will understand what a wonderful young woman you are. And if he doesn't, well, then the fool doesn't deserve you."

Hermione's teary eyes widened. Never had she expected him to say something as personal to her as this.

Then he turned his head, and his eyes remained fixed on hers for only a second longer than they were supposed to. He seemed to hesitate, but finally he carefully reached out his hand and wiped away a tear that was rolling down her cheek. "He's not worth your tears. Keep that in mind."

With that, he gave her one last look and vanished in the dark again.

…

Shaking her head, Hermione turned her attention back to Luna.

"That was the moment when I realized that there is so much more to him than the unfair and cold-hearted potions master," she explained softly.

Luna didn't say anything, she just gave her friend a kind smile.

"After that, things just happened… I came to his office to speak to him about the one or other potions essay and soon we started talking about… well, everything actually. And one day I realized that he was right. Ron would never understand me the way Severus did. Once I was able to see him for who he really was, it was hard to not feel anything for him. And now I know that he is the only one worthy of my love."

Luna chuckled. "I guess that's what usually happens. But why did you keep it a secret? I mean, admittedly, there was quite the age difference between the two of you, but that's nothing unusual in the wizarding world."

Hermione sighed, but luckily the tears had stopped falling. "I told him the same; that I didn't care about the age difference. It took some time… but the night Professor Dumbledore died… he came and told me the truth. That he only killed him to gain Voldemort's trust. And he admitted that he loved me." Here the young witch swallowed hard.

"It was the first time he kissed me," she recalled and a small smile was playing around her lips now. "And he explained that he wanted to be with me. But the upcoming war, the Death Eaters and Voldemort… he was afraid that someone would use me against him. That's why he wanted to keep our relationship secret. And I didn't care; as long as I could be with him."

Upon feeling that the brown eyed witch once again started to shake, Luna tightened her arms around her body.

"And now he's gone," Hermione whispered and her eyes were once again filling with tears.

Luna sighed. "He is," she said, then pointed to the grave that was by now enlightened by the moonlight. "But he's never gone completely."

The brown haired witch tore her brown eyes way from her lovers grave and looked at the younger witch confused. "He's dead, Luna. And there's no coming back from the dead."

Luna nodded once more, but there was a sparkle in her eyes that gave Hermione new hope. "You are right, there isn't. But that doesn't mean he won't continue living in your heart."