Disclaimer; I don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters, except the characters my mind has made up for this fiction. The characters, story, plotline, and books all belong to J.K. Rolling, respectfully.
A/N; This is just something I came up with at school, thought it'd be cool to write it. Hope you guys enjoy; A one-shot fic.
Numb Me
She knew that it would never bring him back, she knew that she had to move on, but most of all she knew that this was a bad idea. She was standing in a room, upstairs in a church, waiting to go down and get married to a guy named Jack Dinnium. He was handsome, he was sweet, he was romantic, kind, caring, and attentive. He would be a good provider, and would never leave her struggling. But he wasn't him.
She remembered the last time she saw him, standing in the doorway of her flat. He had to go on a mission for the Order, and he was only supposed to be gone for two or three weeks. He, of course, couldn't tell her what the mission was or the details of it, lest she get caught and put in danger. She was fine with that though; the less she knew, the less she worried. She convinced herself that he was just going back to work, at his old job that he now only kept for cover. She told herself that he'd be back, and once he was, that they could get married just like they were planning. She told herself anything but the truth.
But at night, in her dreams, the truth came out whether she wanted it to or not. The truth that he could be captured, killed, tortured, or controlled by the imperio curse. The dreams haunted her, and she lost more than one night of sleep over them. But she just ignored them during the day, going about her business like always. The dreams were only there to scare her, and she wouldn't be scared.
A week went by, and she sat rigid. She wasn't afraid, no, she was not. She was just deeply worried. She always got like this when it was almost time for him to return. She worried that this time, instead of him returning, another member of the order would visit her, and give her news of the bad kind. But it hadn't yet, and even though she had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach, she stayed optimistic.
A week and a half had gone by, and still she stood strong. She waited, only three days left to wait. Then, the final day came, and instead of her beloved knocking on her door, she found Mrs. Weasley there, in tears. She asked her what was wrong, and then, she fell to the ground and blacked out. Mrs. Weasley was there to tell her that her love was not coming back this time. He had been lost.
She had spent weeks crying, hurting, and crying more. She couldn't believe that he was gone. She just simply couldn't. She held onto a small amount of hope, when she was told that there was no body found. But that soon died away as two years went by. Now she had numbed herself to the pain of loss.
Now, here she stood, in front of a mirror in a white wedding gown. Tears brimmed at her eyes, and wistfulness shone on her face, but that quickly went away. There was no use in dwelling on it. She'd cried her fair share as it was, and she'd cry no more for something that could never be again. She only wished that it was her love, instead of Jack, that was waiting for her out there. But it was not to be.
So, instead, she steeled herself, made sure everything was in place, and then turned to her mother, who was standing back with tears over flowing. She smiled sadly and hugged her mum.
"I'm so proud of you, darling. I know you wish he was here, and I know you still miss him, but it's better for you to move on. Jack will be good to you." Her mum told her, and she simply nodded. She feared that if she talked, the tears would come.
All too soon, the wedding march began. She made her way down to the doors, where her father was waiting to walk her down the asle. She took his arm and breathed deeply.
"Ready pumpkin?" Her father asked, and she again nodded wordlessly.
As the doors opened, and they took their first step, she looked around. People were dressed in bright colors, blues, lavenders, whites, pinks, greens, and yellows, and the hall was decorated in white streamers, pink and white roses, white and pink balloons. She looked toward her destination and saw her groom. He was dressed in a white suit, with a black tie, and had his black hair swept back from his face. She felt the uncanny urge to deck him and everyone else there, for being so happy when she was so miserable. She had only agreed to this wedding because she needed to move on, because she was tired of being alone. She didn't love Jack. Her heart was forever stolen. It was with him. Always with him.
"Who gives this bride to this man?" The preacher asked kindly, an old man of about sixty with grey hair and deep wrinkles, but a kind face.
"I do." Her father said, and put her hand in Jacks. Now she really wanted to deck him. He was grinning like a fool, and she couldn't bear to look at it, so instead, so kept her gaze on the pale roses behind him. To escape this ceremony, she began to count the roses one-by-one.
"Do you, Jack Alan Dinnium, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife. Through good times and bad, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?" Asked the preacher. Hermione barely heard it.
"I do." Was the confident reply Jack gave, and now her hand twitched.
"Do you, Hermione Jane Granger, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband. Through good times and bad, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?" He asked her.
Hermione frowned. She had thought she caught sight of something near the doors, but she just figured it was her imagination playing tricks on her. She sighed softly and went back to rose counting, until Jack cleared his throat and brought her back to reality.
"Oh I'm sorry." Hermione sad, her face growing red. "I..er..I.. I do.." She stuttered. She really, really, didn't.
Jack lifted her hand and slid the ring on, and Hermione gulped. She REALLY didn't want to be doing this. She wanted to be at home, in her bed, missing her love and being comforted by her cat. She didn't want to be here.
Hermione took the ring offered to her by her maid of honor, Ginny Weasley, and slid the ring slowly onto Jack's finger. It was almost over. She was almost in the car, driving off to wherever with Jack for their honeymoon, and she couldn't have been sadder.
"If anyone who bears witness shall disagree to this union, let him speak now, or forever hold his peace." Hermione only wished someone would. The tears were back as she thought of how close she was to forgetting him, to moving on and marrying someone else. She held her breath and simply hoped.
"I object!" Said a masculine voice from the side. Hermione let her breath out and thanked heaven someone finally did the right thing. This was rediculous, she shouldn't have ever agreed to this. Hermione turned and looked at who objected, and her eyes grew wide.
"Harry?" She asked curiously. Why would he object? He was one of the ones who encouraged her to move on.
"And what reason do you have for objecting to this union, young man?" Asked the preacher irritably.
"My reasoning?" Harry smiled and looked at Hermione as the doors to the church opened. Hermione looked curiously at Harry, then at the door to see who else had showed up. Her breath caught in her throat, and the tears spilled over.
"Here's my reason now." Said Harry, as the tall lanky red-head made his way down the asile.
"Hermione.." He said, staring at her. The world seemed frozen, as Hermione stared into his brown eyes.
"Oh my gosh.. How did you..? Oh god, Fred!" Hermione yelled as she threw down her bouqet and ran into his arms. "I've missed you so much! How are you here? They told me.. they told me you were.."
"No, I didn't die, love. I was wounded badly, and had to take refuge. Everyone with me was killed, so they never knew that I was alright. It took a long time, but I finally was able to come back to you. Harry found me." Fred told her, all the while holding her tightly in his arms.
"I can't believe you're really here.. finally. I wanted it to be you, Fred, I wanted it to be you so badly. Everyone was urging me to move on, and I thought.. I thought it was what you would want me to do.." She hiccuped through her crying and he held her tighter. "I accepted Jack's proposal because I needed to move on, for you, and for everyone else.. I was a wreck, Fred, a complete wreck without you.. I'm so sorry, please forgive me.."
"There's nothing to forgive, 'Mione. If I had been dead," He paused as she gripped him tighter at those words, "had I been, I would have wanted you to do exactly what you did."
"I.. I don't know what to do now.. I promised Jack.. but I love you.. and I also promised you.. I.." Hermione was cut off by Jack, who was smilling.
"Hermione, its alright. Go and be with your love. You don't owe me anything, I always knew there was someone else who had your heart. I'm happy you've got him back." Jack told her, as he walked up to Fred and held out his hand. "You take care of this girl, now. She's a real sweetie and she deserves to be loved."
"Thank you." Hermione wispered as Fred shook Jack's hand. "Thank you so much for understanding."
She pulled away from Fred and hugged Jack, then beamed and took Fred's hand.
"Believe me, I will. I think she'd kick me arse if I didn't." Fred laughed.
Hermione was so happy, for the first time in two years. She had Fred back, and now they really would live happily ever after. Or as happily as you could, with a war going on.
But they'd deal with that as they went, hand in hand.
A/n; 'Tis finished!