Mementos
By Misha

Disclaimer- Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling and is not mine, however much I might wish differently. However, I am not making any money off of this, so please do not sue me!

Author's Notes- This is just short angsty Hermione piece set in the Trio's seventh year. Harry is dead and Hermione is given the task of sorting through his belongings. This is definitely H/Hr angst. Well, that's all, enjoy!

Pairing- Harry/Hermione

Rating- PG-13

Summery- After Harry's death, Hermione must sort through the mementos of his life.

Spoilers- All four books.

Hermione let herself into the Gryffindor Head Boy's chambers and just stared.

Dumbledore had told her gently that someone had to sort through Harry's things and she had asked for the job. It broke her heart to do it, but she'd rather it be her then anyone else. She couldn't bear the thought of anyone else going through his things and discarding the mementos of his life.

Not that his life would ever be discarded, after all he was Harry Potter, the great hero, the savior of the wizarding world. No he would never be forgotten.

But no one else would ever remember as she did. She didn't remember him as a hero, but as her best friend, the man she loved... The man she would have married, if only things had been different.

She looked around the room and saw all the memories that they had shared.

She remembered the nights they had made love in this room. All the times they had stayed up all night talking about everything under the sun and planning their future. The future that they would never share now. No all that they could have had was gone.

Hermione blinked back tears. Now was no time to cry, she had cried enough. Now she had to be strong, she had to do this.

She slowly moved over to the chest of drawers and began to go through it. Harry's clothes and robes she placed in a pile, she would give them away. His school books would have the same fate.

But his personal belongings... They would take more thought.

Her hands lingered on his invisibility cloak, torn over what to do it with. Ron, she decided finally. Harry would want Ron to have it.

She gently placed it on the bed and then picked up the next item.

She sorted through smaller things, things that Harry had loved and decided what to do with them. It was all she could do to fight the tears. His personal book collection she divided amongst his friends, keeping several items herself, mainly because she couldn't bear to see anyone else have them.

Hermione paused when she found Harry's photo album full of pictures of his parents. Her hands stilled over it and she decided to give it to Sirius, knowing that he would appreciate it. She kept the photos of herself with Harry and Ron, figuring that no one would object.

It was strange going through the pieces of Harry's life and taking them apart. Each little thing reminded her of him and brought back her grief. The grief that she doubted would ever go away.

She pulled a little velvet box out of the drawer and opened it slowly, what she saw caused tears to fall down her cheeks. A beautiful gold and emerald ring was nestled in the satin lining.

Hermione closed her eyes, remembering a conversation she and Harry had had only a few weeks before his death.

"What kind of engagement ring would you like?" Harry asked, fiddling with her hair as they lay in his bed.

Hermione shrugged, cuddling closer to her boyfriend. "Not a diamond." She declared. "I've never liked diamonds."

"All right." Harry said. "I've never really seen you as the diamond type, not unique enough for you."

"Are you serious about this?" Hermione asked. Harry nodded, turning so that he was staring into her eyes.

"Yes. 'Mione, I've always assumed we'd get married someday and we graduate at the end of this year..." He paused. "Does the thought bother you?"

"No!" Hermione exclaimed. "Harry, nothing could make me happier than to marry you."

She leaned over and kissed him gently.

"So, what kind of ring do you want?" Harry repeated when they pulled apart.

Hermione paused. "Emerald." She said finally. "To match those gorgeous eyes of yours."

Hermione opened her eyes and looked down at the ring. She couldn't even begin to figure out when Harry had bought it.

After a long moment, she shakily took the ring out of it's box and slipped it on her engagement finger, just as Harry would have done, had he lived.

"I'll never take it off." She whispered, with tears in her eyes.

She just sat there for a long moment, staring at the ring on her finger and then she gathered herself together and continued her task.

It was strange going through the pieces of Harry's life and dissecting them.

She decided that the Firebolt would go to Ron and she herself would keep Hedwig. Various little things were divided amongst his other friends.

Finally, after more than an hour, she was almost done.

The only thing that remained was a drawer full of letters. They were tied in two neat bundles.

Hermione opened the first to see that they were all in her handwriting. She began to leaf through them and realized that Harry had kept almost every letter she had ever sent him. She put them into the pile of stuff that she was keeping for herself, she'd read them later. If she tried to do it now, she knew that she would almost certainly fall apart.

She reached the other pile and saw that they were all in Harry's handwriting. She frowned and picked up the first one and began to read it.

Dear Mum,

It seems strange to write this, since you will never read it. But, I needed to get it all out and well, I'm not that much of a fan of diaries.

Besides, I can imagine that you're here and that you're listening to me. I've dreamed about that so many times.

I'm a fifth year, you know and I'm at Hogwarts. I'm a prefect, I was terribly surprised when Dumbledore told me. But I'm glad, because it gave me an excuse to spend more time with Hermione as she's the female prefect.

I haven't figured out how to tell her how I feel about her, that I love her. What will I do if she rejects me? She's the most precious thing in my life.

Even as the rest of my world seems to be in ashes all around me, Hermione is a constant. She's my rock.

I know you'd like her. She's really smart and kind, yeah, she's bossy, but... She means well.

I wish you could have met her. Of course, I wish I could have met you, but... At least it's not as horrible as it was before I came to Hogwarts. At least I know now what you looked like and a little about your personality.

Before you were a complete stranger, but now it's different-now you're my mother.

I love you,
Harry

There were tears in Hermione's eyes as she put down the letter.

A quick look at the others in the pile revealed that they were all the same. They were all letters to Harry's mother.

She gently placed them with the other pile. She'd take them with her and read them later. She wanted to read what Harry had written, because she was sure that this was a close to a diary as he got and she was dying to read his thoughts and feel a little bit closer to him.

Then, she sighed. She was finished.

It didn't seem right. It had taken much too little time to sort through the mementos of Harry's life. It should have taken longer. She shouldn't have had to do it at all.

It took a long time for her to pull herself together.

Forcing herself, she began to the piles out of the room. She took everything back to her room, she was distribute it later.

Finally, when the room was empty, she stood there for a long moment, just looking at everything.

"Goodbye, Harry." She whispered after a long moment. "I will always love you."

Tears fell down her cheeks as she turned away and left behind her an empty room that gave no indication of the boy who had lived there for too short a time.

The End