Cold. Wretched. Dark. That's how she felt; that's how she was. Her limp limbs wrapped around her, frozen, cradling her for what was to come. She was trapped in pure darkness. Alone, with nothing to save her. Except for the trickling ember of light slithering its path into her shattered soul, into her broken heart. That little burning flame. Draco.
She was once the flickering fire in his heart. But then the icy cold washed over her, drowning her in the depths of devastation.
And once he too was choked by the same inky cloth of raven chaos, now stretched around the soft flesh of her pale neck.
Initially, he had been in her place, left with only the misty memory of their fragmented love, strangling in his suffering that she had been gone.
But now it was she, pained in the position of his loss, the loss of her lover lacing her life tightly.
Their love once stitched the couple together, once bringing them to fight for their affection, fight for their love that was forbidden- according to her so-called friends and her wicked foes.
But now the seam was broken. And all was lost. Her lover was lost to her; she was forgotten and deprived of everything but ebony blackness. Voldemort had been defeated but life was still as black as before. Everything and nothing had changed.
Reflecting on the past, I see?
She shuddered instantly as his crackly voice crept through her thoughts.
"P-please go away," She stammered in fright, rubbing her freezing fingers together as if it would kindle warmth within her soul.
How could I go away? I can never leave you. You need me, 'Mione. You need me here. And I need you.
"Stop it. Please," she repeated once again sternly, tears collecting at the corners of her eyes.
It wasn't him. No, it wasn't him anymore. He was gone. She was all alone.
I won't stop. 'Mione, please listen to me. It's me; it really is.
"Stop it at once!!!" She screamed, holding her ears tightly as if it could shut his voice from her mind, as if it could stop her from hearing him.
As you wish...but I'll be back. Because I can never leave you, my love.
She wiped her tears, trembling in terror, as silence swept across the now-empty room.
Empty room, empty like the world she survived in today. No friends, no tutors. Practically no one to be found.
The only thing that remained besides her shattered soul was the shadowy silhouette sliding through her half-open door to the dim room.
It talked to her, slipping into her mind ever-so-gently, as if her thoughts were merely ripples in a river and its words a finger swirling circles around it.
She tried to ignore it, but she couldn't. Because even though she knew it wasn't his voice, wasn't him at all- for he was gone, she was sure-, she couldn't help but hope it was, dream that it was Draco all along. His voice washed over her these days, washed over her like the foaming waves of the bitter sea, engulfing her eventually.
Biting her lip gently, she stood up from her cross-legged position on the floor, stood up in the still night, as she walked over to the dreary kitchen. Tugging the door of the fridge open, she pulled out a bottle of water completely iced over. Freckles of frozen frost danced its way up the spout of the bottle, embellishing the simple thing with intricate designs galore.
Hermione, please.
"Not you again," She scowled, her chewed fingernails gripping the bottle roughly.
Love, please. It really is me.
"No!!!" She shrieked, the jug dropping to the marble floor, an explosion of shining water and shards of ice pooling by her fuzzy socks.
Will you believe it's me if I call you 'Mudblood'? Will you believe it's me if I do this?
Tendrils of lengthy grey fingers clutched her waist, silvery hands leading up to the shadowy soul behind her.
She stayed still, breathing heavily, as cold kisses tingled down the back of her neck to her right cheek. Closing her eyes, she shifted all of her weight against the weightless spirit, falling against its chest.
I will always love you. Even if I'm gone.
She stiffened suddenly, turning around to face the spirit.
"Draco," she sighed softly, gazing tearfully at the faded soul embracing her warmly.
Yes, 'Mione?
"Please don't ever leave me. I love you," her words escaped her mouth, as she stifled a sob.
I won't. I'll always be there with you, spiritually, my love.
She viewed his translucent face, his blond locks ruffled against his sharp cheekbones, his eyes- crystal lakes of grey waters- twinkling against the ocean of blackness rippling through his robes. Her own brown orbs were misted, as he placed a hand onto her wet cheek, caressing the soft skin as she smiled sadly.
"Why?"
Her question lingered in the frigid air as his hand remained still on her face.
You know why, 'Mione. I'll always be here in your heart. I won't ever leave you, if you'll allow me to stay, of course.
"You're right. I do know the answer why we can never be together the way everyone else can. The way Ginny and Harry can. The way everyone else in this bloody world can," she whispered uncomfortably.
So you'll finally admit it? And set yourself free?
"Yes."
He stood there, waiting, as she braced herself for the terrible swords of statements piercing its path out of her aching heart.
"Because you're dead."
Tears began rolling down now, streams of sadness running down the sides of her face, down to her very heart.
I'm what?
"You're dead!!! You're freaking dead and it's all my bloody fault!!! If only I hadn't left Hogwarts that day, if only Ron hadn't been misinformed by those cursed first-years, if only we didn't confess our affection for each other, if only I remained with Ron rather than leaving for I longed for his friendship and your romance, if only I-"
Clash! The shadowy lamp instantaneously crashed against the ragged rug, exploding into millions of fragments all around the floor.
Hermione, you did not cause any of this! Please, don't blame yourself for any of this! We were both lost in love, blindly searching for each other in a world where things like this cannot be. Where love like this will cease to exist. But, my dear, one day, we will be stronger than ever. One day, we will be as strong as the thread of love that still holds me onto you.
"And will our love glisten? Glisten just like the trickling tears on my face at this moment? Glisten like you did the day I realized I was in love with you? Glisten like the day I first met your little devilish demeanor inside your small self? Glisten like the burning flame of you etched into my throbbing heart?"
Will it glisten? Perhaps, for our love is like the shining stars amidst the silvery sky, always there even as the night passes on and the days come and go. Perhaps it will glisten. Just like you do for me.
She nodded, kissing his airy cheek, as he faded away once the mystical morning returned.
She no longer felt cold, wretched, and dark. No; she now emitted warmth and glittering light, angelic happiness clouding over her.
For she had accepted their fate. And waited forever in the cyclic movement of their romance, the cyclic movement of their togetherness which continued to glisten even as their love could not be showcased.
And one day, they'd end up together. Forever, shimmering in the glittering world above. And glisten.