Disclaimer: Same as the first chapter. Except, the song is "Goodbye to you" By Michelle Branch, and the lyrics in Harry's flowers are "I think I love you" BY Kaci. She does a re-make of the song, I'm not sure who the original version is by. But I don't own it!

~*Of all the things I've believed in*~

~*I just wanna get it over with*~

~*tears from behind my eyes*~

~*but I do not cry*~

~*Counting the days that pass me by*~

~*I've been searching deep down in my soul*~

~*Words that I'm hearing are starting to get old*~

~*Feels like I'm starting all over again*~

~*The last three years were just pretend and I said*~

"Stand," muttered the young gentleman at Hermione's Blackjack table. Hermione or 'Ann' smiled politely at the man as she gave herself another card.

"Sixteen," she muttered, and gave herself another hit. Bust. Hermione paid the man his winnings and started a new round.

"Place your bets," She said lazily. After the man at her table had made his bet Hermione laid out the cards. Her showing card was an Ace. She looked up at the man before her, "Would you like insurance?"

"No," he said studying his cards. He had a King and a Three.

"Double," he said looking up at her. Hermione smiled and gladly laid out another card before the man; it was a nine, bust. Hermione flipped her remaining card over, eight. She had won that round. She collected the winnings as the man at her table left and decided, since her table was empty now anyway, she would go on a break. Actually, she thought as she looked down at her watch, it was almost time for her to get off anyhow.

She walked slowly back to the break room, keeping her eyes out for anything suspicious as she went.

She reached the break room and clocked out. She sighed to herself and went outside to scout the massive parking lot for her car. When she finally found it, she climbed inside and made her way to her small apartment across town.

Hermione made it to her apartment and pulled the keys out of the front door as she pushed it open. She walked inside and tiredly plopped down on her couch. She looked at all the pictures sitting on her end table; why she kept them out was beyond her, all they brought were sad memories full of sorrow and regret. She lifted herself up slightly and laid them all face down; she didn't need that tonight.

After a few minutes she got up, running a hand through her now, shirt hair, as she wakled down the hallway towards her bathroom.

After a long, hot, shower, Hermione climbed into bed with a book and read before going to sleep.

~*Goodbye to you*~

~*Goodbye to everything I thought I knew*~

~*You were the one I loved*~

~*The one thing that I tried to hold on to*~

Hermione awoke with a start the next morning as the alarm clock on her bedside table blasted in her ears. She frowned as she climbed out of bed and pulled on a white tank top, black mini skirt, and pair of black, knee high army boots. Then she grumbled incoherently as she looked in the mirror, she frowned and applied black eyeliner to her eyes; green eye shadow and mascara. Then she brushed her teeth and dabbed some lip balm on her lips.

She walked back into her bedroom and frowned, walked straight over to her nightstand and laid the picture of her in Harry's arms facedown. She put her hands on her hips and sighed, catching a glace at her clock.

"Holy shit," she muttered to no one as she saw what time it was. She took one last look in the mirror and grabbed a pair of small, hoop ear rings off her dresser. Then she ran into the living room, picked up her keys off the coffee table and flew into the kitchen.

As quick as she could she seized her purse off the table, grabbed a granola bar and threw it in her purse, along with the ear rings. And she was out the door and in her car in less than five minutes. She turned her music up as loud as it would go, trying to drown out the world, and pulled her sunglasses on as she drove.

She sang loudly along with the song that was on the radio as a tear slipped slowly down her cheek. She wiped it away with her perfectly manicured finger. But the lyrics stung, she couldn't believe how much she could feel through music. The lyric's pounded themselves into her ears:

~*I still get lost in your eyes*~

~*And it seems like I can't live a day without you*~

~*Closing my eyes and you chase my thoughts away*~

~*To a place where I am blinded by the light but it's not right*~

Hermione jammed the button on her radio, changing stations so she wouldn't have to hear anymore of that song, it had brought her to tears. It reminded her of Harry's eyes, the never ending pools of green she had so often found herself incessantly lost in. Hermione shook her head trying to extract anymore bothersome thoughts from her mind as she focused on the new song playing. To her fury it was "Paradise" By Kaci.

"And as I gaze into your eyes I realize it's paradise! No place on earth could be so nice!"

One second later "Forgotten" by Linkin Park was blaring from her CD player. She smiled contently to herself at long last.

***

Hermione walked inside the Casino and sighed dreadfully to herself, it got awfully boring dealing out cards all day. Every now and then someone interesting to talk to would come to her table, but again, this was rare. She clocked in and yawned as she pulled on her work shirt over her tank top and made her way to her table.

After opening the money bag that was in the safe beneath the counter and counting the money, she opened her purse and extracted her ear rings and put them on, then she started eating her granola bar.

Hermione slumped in her seat and looked around. She saw a young man rush into the room, and look around, he spotted her and walked towards her quickly. She sighed in an 'oh boy here we go' sort of way. He sat down across from her cheerfully.

She studied him for a moment, she studied everyone; studying was her second nature. He had spiked brown hair, a nose ring, and piercing gray eyes. they reminded her of someone but she wasn't sure whom. 'Draco?' she thought to herself questioningly.

"Hi Ann-Marie! How have you been?" The man in front of her asked. Hermione was startled, she had gotten weird vibes she didn't like from this guy. He made her feel strange, happy, sad, anxious, nervous.

"How do you know my name?" she asked hesitantly.

"It says it right there on your name tag Hermione!" The stranger chided positively giddy.

"Oh," Hermione said feeling silly. 'Hey! Wait a second! He called me- Hermione.' She had half a mind to call backup… but something else held her back. She looked deeper into those gray eyes and almost lost herself in them. Defiantly not Malfoy they reminded her of. She could see mischief dancing in them, and she had never been able to read Draco's eyes.

"Why-why'd you call me that?" She sputtered out finally.

"What? Hermione? Because that's your name," he stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. She blinked at him.

"Well… how would you know that?" Hermione was beginning to feel really nervous and was about to call for backup, but those eyes… they were so familiar! She knew them from somewhere she was sure of it.

The man's tone softened as he spoke again. "How would you expect me not to know?" he asked gently his voice cracking slightly, filled with emotion. Hermione stared in horror.

"Harry?" She gasped before promptly fainting.

~*Goodbye to you*~
~*Goodbye to everything I thought I knew*~
~*You were the one I loved*~
~*The one thing that I tried to hold on to*~

Hermione woke slightly dazed and confused. She looked around generally and blinked, she seemed to be in her Break Room. But how had she gotten here? 'Oh God,' Hermione thought and leaned back so she was lying down again, as she remembered what had made her faint.

"Oh you're awake!" Harry commented as he entered the room a glass of water in his hand. "Here drink this," he said handing her the water. Hermione only too happily obliged and gulped down the water. But questions were soon spilling out of her mouth like a waterfall.

"How did you know where I was? Or that it was me? Why are you here? Why do you look like that? You are Harry aren't you?" Hermione would have continued but she was cut off as Harry tried to answer some of her questions.

"I can't tell you how I knew… yet. But I found out. And yes, it is me, and I look like this, because I didn't want you to get mad and run as soon as you saw me," Harry answered. Hermione goggled at him for a moment before recovering her ability to speak.

"B-but why?!" she burst out. Harry looked uneasy and Hermione was quite glad he didn't look himself because she was sure she would be in tears if he did.

"Because I have something I have to tell you," Harry looked around uneasily. "Can we leave here? Is there somewhere else we can go?" He asked cautiously.

"I- yeah," Hemrione said standing up and hastily wiping a tear from her cheek. She walked out of the room and up to her co-worker Melanie.

"Ann! Are you okay? You look so pale! Oh and you're shaking!" Melanie squealed as Hermione walked up to her.

"Actually Melanie, I'm not feeling so well. Would you mind covering for me if I took off for the rest of the day?" She asked, no pleaded, but she hadn't lied, she really did feel dreadful. She felt as if she was ready to vomit and laugh, and cry all at the same time.

"Oh of course! You go on home honey! I'll take care of everything! You just go get well!" She insisted turning Hermione around towards the door. Hermione smiled kindly at her and walked to the lobby where Harry was waiting.

He smiled nervously at her, and took her hand in his. Hermione snatched her hand away from him, how dare he? She glared at him and saw he looked absolutely crestfallen. She frowned and walked past him and out the doors.

Harry scrambled along behind her as she made way to her small, silver Toyota Celica. She reached it and climbed inside and waited for Harry to do the same. When he just stood there awkwardly she sighed and yelled at him.

"Well what are you waiting for? GET IN!" Harry did as he was told and was soon sitting next to her in her car. Hermione turned the keys in the ignition and music blared or "Paper cut" by Linkin Park to be exact. Harry jumped and looked up at her shocked. She quickly turned the music down some before pulling out of the parking lot and heading for her apartment.

"What is that?" Harry exclaimed.

"Music," Hermione answered softly.

"No, I've heard music. that is not music!" he interjected. Hermione ignored him, disgusted. But after a few minutes she noticed him bobbing his head to the music.

"Where are we going?" he asked suddenly.

"To my apartment I need to lie down, I don't feel so well," Hermione snapped.

"Oh, I'm… sorry," Harry whispered. Hermione looked sideways at him for a moment, he really did look… well, sad.

Hermione pulled into her parking place at her apartment complex and quickly headed inside for her couch where she laid down and closed her eyes. After a few minutes of silence, she opened her eyes to see Harry hovering above her.

"So can you tell me why you're here now? Or, what you have to tell me?" Hermione asked rather harshly. Harry got down on his knees so he was almost eye level with her. Then he took her hands in his and looked her in the eyes.

"Harry," She choked out.

"What?" he asked, his voice deeper than normal.

"I- You- Change back, this is too weird," she said at last. Harry sighed and dropped her hands as he stood up and walked over to mirror she had hanging on the wall. He took his appearance charms off one by one then he turned around and looked at Hermione and felt his heart drop into his stomach.

Hermione stared at him, silent tears steaming down her face. Why was he doing this to her? Didn't he know how much it hurt? How bad he had hurt her? He crossed the room and sat down next to her. He gazed into her eyes, and started speaking softly.

"I came to see you because I had to tell you that… that the biggest mistake I ever made was letting you go. I've regretted it everyday since, and my life has been hell without you. I miss you; all I think about is you. Hermione… what I'm trying to say, is that- that I love you Hermione Granger, I always have, I was just to dumb to say it before and I'm sorry for that. And I would understand if you could never forgive me for how stupid I was, but I just had to tell you. I had to see you again. And I hope with all my life that you can find it in your heart to forgive me, and give me another chance, because you're the best thing that ever happened to me, and I'm miserable without you," Harry poured out.

~*Ohhh yeah*~
~*and It hurts to want everything and nothing at the same time*~
~*I want what's yours and I want what's mine*~
~*I want you but I'm not giving in this time*~

Hermione was stunned to say the least. He had said it. He had finally told her he loved her. But it was too late, she had waited too long to hear those words and she had given him his chance; he had lost it. She looked back into his unfaltering gaze.

"Harry, don't you get it? I have no heart anymore, you ripped it from me and tore it to shreds! How can I find it in my heart to forgive you when I no longer have one?" Hermione said before she broke down into uncontrollable sobs. Hermione looked up and to her great surprise saw Harry leave. She couldn't believe he was leaving!

Hermione got up and walked to the bathroom, where she opened her medicine cabinet, and picked out a bottle labeled 'Dreamless Sleep potion'. She gulped it down and went into her room and crawled into her bed, where she fell asleep instantly.

***

Hermione awoke groggily and clambered out of bed, unsure of what had awoken her. She became aware of a soft upbeat melody drifting from her kitchen.

Wondering how long she had been asleep she looked at her alarm clock, it was 7:53. She had practically slept all day, she though bitterly to herself.

She walked into her kitchen to investigate the noise. As she drew closer she could make out some of the lyrics to the song:

"I think I love you!
So what am I so afraid of?
I'm afraid that I'm not sure of
A love there is no cure for
I think I love you
Isn't that what life is made of?
Though it worries me to say
I've never felt this way"

'Where on earth is this coming from?' Hermione wondered as she entered the kitchen. She quickly found the source of the song; it was a bouquet of flowers sitting on her small bar.

She looked closely at the flowers, puzzled, not only had they not been there before, but they were set together to form a perfect heart shape. It was a dozen roses, yet almost everyone was a unique color and attached to each stem was a little card. Hermione noticed a small piece of paper lying next to the vase of flowers and picked it up with shaky hands.

'Dear Hermione,

I can only say I'm sorry, but I cannot clearly express how deeply sorry I really am. It's truly impossible to put into words (trust me, I've been trying for hours) and I deeply regret what I have done. I never meant to hurt you in that way, and my only wish is that I could make it up to you. But seeing as how I'm sure you don't want anything to do with me, (and I don't blame you) I thought it better to just give you this and perhaps give closure to all of this… and help re-mend your heart.

So let me say: I sent you roses with several different meanings in mind. The song itself expresses some of how I feel an felt. The flowers altogether represent your heart which I am giving back to you. While each rose by itself represents one piece (since as you so harshly put it I tore it to shreds this is my only way of putting it back together). While yet even farther, each color, has it's own meaning and special part of our relationship. The meanings have been marked on each rose itself. With deepest love, regret and remorse,

Harry.'

Hermione dropped the note as tears slid silently down her face. She inhaled deeply a few times and composed herself before she started to read the cards on the flowers.

She reached for the Yellow rose first, which she was drawn to, as she had never seen a yellow rose before. She gently opened the small card and read:

'Yellow; to our friendship. For the wonderful friendship we shared for so many years. It will always be one of my happiest memories.' Hermione couldn't help but smiled slightly through her tears as she reached for the next flower.

'Red; for the love that we shared for so many years, may we never forget it.'

'Blue; for sadness and despair, regret, loses, pain and so much more, may we move on and be strong, ready to face what lies ahead.'

'Green; for envy, we all have it and it's a rope walk in every relationship, yet we always got through it.'

'Pink; for happy summers days spent by the lake or in the garden.'

'Orange; for bitter pasts, old boyfriends/girlfriends, secrets and all those little stings that relationships are made of.'

'Brown; for rainy days spent inside snuggling.'

'Black; for my mistake, the downfall of our relationship. For deepest remorse.'

'Purple; for big accomplishments; our first cottage, your job offer, for won Quidditch Cups, and Top Marks in every class. For our getting together.'

'White; for hope. May you always have it with you and never let it leave. Hope is the greatest strength through anything, may it never falter for you.'

Hermione sniffed and wiped away a tear as she read the last card. She noticed there were two yellow roses as well as two red, which made up the dozen.

She listened closely to the words of the song they sang as she sat there crying and she realized that, perhaps she had been too hard on Harry. Just because she had been ready to admit her love for Harry, she shouldn't have pushed him so hard. He had had a hard life, and as the song said, there was no cure for love. Harry had never known love as a child, it was all new to him.

Hermione nearly laughed at herself and her in-depth reading into music and song lyrics. For she realized it had taken that song for her to see Harry's point of view. She had been so wrapped up in herself and how hurt she was that he didn't love her that she could never see it. She felt unbelievably guilty, she knew he loved her, he had shown her everyday, so why did she so badly want to hear him say it? How could she have been so selfish?

"Isn't that what life is made of?
Though it worries me to say
I've never felt this way"

Hermione marveled at Harry, he was always so creative; who would think of a gift like that? And he blamed it all on himself, he held no anger or hostility towards her at all.

Hermione cried harder as the reality of what she had done sunk in. He had tracked her down, and come to find her even after everything she had put him through, and she again had turned her back on him! He was undoubtedly the most sweet, perfect, caring, romantic man she had ever met, and just because he was shy, and liked to be sure of things, she had let him get away from her once again. Hermione remembered the black rose, deepest remorse, that was what she felt right then.

"Hermione?" Someone asked softly from behind her.

~*Goodbye to you*~
~*Goodbye to everything I thought I knew*~
~*You were the one I loved*~
~*The one thing that I tried to hold on to*~
~*The one thing that I tried to hold on to*~

Hermione spun around and saw Harry standing behind her, tears falling from his own eyes. Stunned, Hermione just stood there staring at him blankly as if he wasn't real.

"I'm sorry! I shouldn't have come… it's just… I-I'm leaving in an hour to go back to London and I just wanted to say bye." Harry stuttered.

Hermione inhaled a long deep breath, her first sign of registering anything that he had said; of his being there. And then she flung herself into his arms, wrapping her arms around his back, and crying into his shoulder.

At first, Harry was sure he had imagined her throwing herself into his arms, but after a moment it became apparent he hadn't. He slowly lifted his arms and wrapped them around her small, shaking build. Then he led her to the living room and sat her down on the couch, where he continued to hold her and tell her he was sorry, and it was okay now.

Eventually Hermione found it within herself to speak.

"Harry, I'm s-so sorry! I love you and I've missed you so much it's not even funny. And I was so selfish! I shouldn't ha-have made you feel obligated to tell me anything you weren't ready for! Harry, I love you and I don't want to lose you again." She sniffed.

Harry stared at her, not believing his own ears this time. But then as he stared into her eyes and saw the pleading in them, he knew he hadn't.

"Oh 'Mione! I love you, too! And I should have told you sooner! It was stupid of me not to, but I wanted to, I really did." Harry murmured. Hermione stayed in his embrace for awhile and neither spoke, they just relished being in each others arms again.

"Promise?" Hermione whispered after several minutes.

"Promise what?" Harry asked tenderly.

"Promise me, that I'll never lose you again," she explained.

"It'll never happen, I won't let it, I promise," he assured her.

Harry didn't make his plane that night, he stayed with Hermione for a few days before returning to London. Hermione joined him several months later, when her undercover job ended and she quit, refusing to except anymore jobs for a good while.

~*Goodbye to you*~
~*Goodbye to everything I thought I knew*~
~*You were the one I loved*~
~*The one thing that I tried to hold on to*~
~*and When the stars fall I will lie awake*~
~*Your my shooting star*~

A/N: PLEASE REVIEW! I would really appreciate it! I hope you liked my story, heh. Anyhow.

CentralsPrincess15: Thanks for the review!

thefly : LoL, yeah Harry is pretty silly, but so is Hermione, but see! They worked it out. Now! Where's your second chappie? LOL

AdeleighTheIrishPrincess :Aww! Thank you! I hope there wasn't.. umm too much angst.hehe.

hurry up: Erm. Glad you liked it! Hope it was soon enough! Hehe.