Title: Peace

Pairing: Mention of Hermione x Ron and Harry x Hermione

Characters: Harry Potter & Hermione Granger

Prompt: Transfiguration – Vanishment #Task: Write an AU where a person has left the wizarding world (ii) and unexpectedly meets an old friend/ family member after several years. Minimum 500 words, maximum 3, 500. Write about a character who acts exactly as they appear, despite a well-meaning person trying to change them. [object] Dragon egg, [word] prehistoric and [colour] fawn.

Warning: AU!

Word Count: 1, 548

Harry assumed that he would one day run in to Hermione again. He knew that he would run into all his friends and family at some point. The idea of him leaving the wizarding community behind to never be seen again just wasn't possible. There were plenty of reasons for that. His mere identity stood in the way of his plan working and his ability to draw in things and people he wanted to avoid. The fact that he was going to see them at some point or another was constantly in the back of his mind and Harry had imagined so many different scenarios. Luckily for Harry what happened was something he couldn't have imagined at all.

Harry hated going to the dentist. The only thing he hated more than dentists was aching teeth and for the sake of his teeth he went to the people who were called doctors and payed them to mess about with their fingers in his mouth. Going to the dentists also never failed to remind him about Hermione.

He was walking out of the corridor, white walls and white floors, when he heard his name spoken by a voice that he could never forget. Harry looked up from the floor, eyes widened and mouth open, and saw Hermione Granger.

"What." Hermione stopped. She looked almost as shocked as he felt. "What are you doing here?" The moment the words left her mouth she looked like she regretted them and she clenched her jaw in frustration. "That's not what I meant to ask. I meant, where have you been?"

To Harry it felt like the world stood completely still. He looked at Hermione and he knew that it was her. There was no denying that those were her brown eyes staring back at him with confusion, although her curls weren't as wild as when they were children and teenagers it was still her curls. Her lips were pressed together in a thin line and would occasionally part but only for a few seconds. A fawn coloured bag was slung across her chest and Harry wasn't surprise to see a prehistoric looking book. He was all the more confused when he saw what he assumed was a dragon egg.

"Maybe I should be asking you what you're doing here." He stated and nodded towards the bag. "Are you and Ron repeating our favourite adventures?"

Harry laughed but Hermione said nothing. Eventually the smile fell from his face and Harry awkwardly scratched his neck while trying to come up with words that wouldn't sound like absolute shit when spoken out loud.

"I needed to get away." He eventually said and looked down on the ground. "I was sick of being controlled and I just wanted to get away from everything that had anything to do with magic, Hogwarts and the community. I needed some peace."

"Us to? Or maybe it was only me that you wanted to escape-" The vulnerability in her voice caused Harry to look up. Hermione's head was tilted to the side and she fidgeted with her fingers as they rested against her legs.

He quickly shook his head. "Absolutely not!"

"Then why did you just leave? We haven't seen you in years, we thought we had done something to make you angry and we have been so afraid that something happened to you and now…" Hermione paused the increasingly aggressive ranting to take a deep breath. "Now you're just saying that you needed to get away and that's why you decided to shut us out of your life for almost five years. That's such a shitty thing to do Harry. We were friends. We would have understood if you needed to get away and we would have accepted it. How could you have thought that we wouldn't have? You're a bloody moron Harry. I honestly don't think you've ever said or done anything more stupid than this."

Her cheeks had turned into a shade of red as her breathing was laboured. Harry, in spite of having been screamed at, smiled at her. Harry batted his dark eyelashes at her and looked at her with those emerald eyes with complete and utter adoration. "I've missed you Hermione."

"Do not look at me all cute like that." She said and wagged her finger at him. "I am angry at you and you have no right to do anything that would somehow make me less angry. You kissed me Harry and then you just left. Do you have any idea of what that was like?"

"No," Harry shook his head. "No, I don't."

Hermione turned her back on him and rubbed her face with her hands. A laughter escaped her as she looked around at the walls. Some of which had paintings or photos with writing about dental hygiene. Hermione laughed again.

"This is insane." She said once she turned back to look at Harry again. "I haven't seen you in five years and we meet at the dentist."

Harry laughed. "Probably not the best dentist ever because you and I are the only ones here."

"Thank Merlin for that. I want to believe that I have enough control to stop myself from screaming at someone when I'm in a crowd of people but I can't guarantee anything." She crossed her arms over her chest and eyed him with a facial expression bordering between a smile and a frown.

Black messy hair, emerald green eyes, short nails because he couldn't stop biting them, he was tall and still on the skinnier side although there was no denying that he was more muscular than he had been five years ago. He wore ripped jeans and an ordinary black shirt with long sleeves. He looked just like her Harry and at the same time he looked nothing like her Harry.

"I didn't leave because we kissed." Harry said as he scratched his neck again. He looked up at the corner of the roof and he pushed his left hand into the pocket. "That was actually one of the things that made it harder for me to leave. Not that it matters anymore. You married Ron, right?"

"Yeah," Hermione held up the hand and Harry saw a shiny ring. "Then why did you leave?"

Harry laughed. "I told you that Hermione. I left to get some peace. I wanted to back away from the wizarding world. I was tired of all the attention. I have always been given attention for things that I was never truly completely responsible for. As a baby, I got attention for making Voldemort disappear, technically my mother did that, then came Hogwarts, I always had you and Ron with me, then the war and again I was never alone. I knew they would do something that would give me even more attention and I just didn't want it. I wanted to go away."

Hermione removed the distance between them and wrapped her arms around his waist for a hug. "We would have helped you do that." Harry carefully hugged her back with his arms around her neck. "You never listen do you? We've been telling you for years that you can come to us when you need help. Did you learn nothing?"

Harry's body shook as he laughed. "I'm incorrigible."

"Yes," Hermione laughed. "I guess you are."

"So, where are you going with that dragon egg of yours?" Harry whispered in her ear.

"Charlie Weasley. He's visiting the family and promised to take the egg with him when he goes back to Romania." She took a deep breath. "Do you want to come? I'm sure they'll be happy to see you."

She untangled her arms from him and took one step back. There was a certain pleading in her eyes and Harry was almost convinced but shook his head. "I don't think so Hermione. At least not today."

"Okay."

"You're not going to argue with me about it?" Harry raised an eyebrow. "This is very unlike you Hermione."

The brunette rolled her eyes. "If you need to stay away then I'm going to let you do that. Am I angry that you left? Yes. Am I angry because you chose not to come with me? Absolutely. But it's all up to you and if you, for some stupid reason, still wants to take care of yourself then I'm okay with that."

"You've changed Hermione." Harry commented with a smile that barely hid how emotional he felt.

"You've changed too." Hermione replied with an honest smile. Harry leaned down to kiss her forehead and put his hands into his pockets while walking by her. "Harry…"

He turned around, the door was half-open and the sun light up half of his face. "I hope you find it." Hermione said and nodded. "Peace. Because after everything you've done for the wizarding community you have truly earned it."

"Thank you." Harry gave her one last smile. "I'll see you soon."

"Yeah, you will." Hermione felt her heart getting heavier for every step that he took away from her. It took every ounce of will power for her not to follow him and eventually he vanished out of sight.

The boy who lived. The chosen one. Her best friend. Her biggest 'what if'. Harry James Potter.

The end