Title: When Every No Turns into Maybe
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Harry/Hermione
Rating: PG
Warning: Spoilers for Deathly Hallow: Part 1
Word Count: 270
Note: After watching the movie for the second time and finding the Nick Cave song in youtube, I could no longer resist writing this.
Title comes from a Vienna Teng's song, Stray Italian Greyhound.
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He did not remember the beginning.
Like the song, it drifted into his consciousness, first mere quiet whispers growing into the length and breadth of sung verses. She sat curled on wooden steps, silence and sorrow an impenetrable shroud over her bowed head. The heavy locket lay hidden, unseen, pressed between her chest and drawn knees.
And then he was on his feet, the thought, the idea a slow swirl in his mind. Her acceptance of his hand’s offering was little more than charity, a conscious effort to indulge a friend’s whim, but she did not resist his fingers’ touch to her nape. He thought her numb, frozen, as he was.
His first sway was awkward-the flash of ludicrousness on her face confirmed as much. But his grip was firm, gentle but unrelenting, until he stumbled and a reluctant smile fissured the surface of her apathy. Her laugh, when it came, was the mirrored sound trapped in his throat, at the tips of her warm, guiding, tangible fingers. Then it died but something else swelled in its place, alongside the warmth of their aligned bodies. She breathed softly, in and out, the ghost of a caress on his neck, and there was eternity here, in the silent beat and faded scent of her perfume.
He saw the moment reality sunk back into her eyes, the weight of the world condensed into one wisp of thought. Then she moved out of his reach and the distance was mocking him-once more.
The music ended with the soft flap of her leaving. Alone, he found himself hoping that nothing else did.
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