Taken to Heaven
The angel that had collected her from her death bed had been kind but not very talkative as she had led Hermione Weasley to the place called heaven. Hermione thought just how beautiful the angel looked and she wondered where people had ever got the idea of the Grim reaper from.
The angel had said few words since collecting her and leading her to this strange yet warm and beautiful place.
"I have a failure for you," the angel said as they reached a set of magnificent gates.
'Must be the gates to heaven' Hermione thought and then the words of her collector registered in her mind 'failure' the very word was one Hermione had spent her entire life trying to avoid being called, it was her worst nightmare, to be a failure. Thinking about it she could not work out how she could be classed a failure, she had always excelled at school and then in her chosen career as a healer. She had been a dutiful wife and as far as she knew she had been a good mother. She had always been a hard worker, being a failure was not what Hermione was and of that she was fully convinced.
The angel that had collected her passed her through the gates and informed the gate keeper she was to go through the system before she was put before the 'One'. "The 'One' will judge her on what has been and how bad she failed in what was to be."
The gate keeper handed Hermione a long sheet of parchment and told her to take it with her where ever she went. And so Hermione's journey through heaven began. She had been taken in to several different areas and offices and each time she had been asked a few questions, after eight different areas and departments Hermione looked down at her parchment and found that the name of all the departments she had been in had appeared along with a report on what had been decided by that department, for all but one of the places she had been to there was the dreaded word 'failure' stamped in red.
Only once was her parchment stamped 'Success' and that was the first department she had entered where they had shown her, her first eleven years of life, it had seemed to take just a few seconds for the years to pass before her eyes and then she received the 'Success' stamp.
They had then moved on to another department and then the next ten years, she had watched again as the next ten years of her life quickly passed before her eyes, and though she had finished her education with the highest marks ever and she had helped Harry Potter to rid the world of an evil wizard before she married Ron Weasley, she received a 'Failure' stamp on her parchment.
It had been the same again as she watched the next twenty years flash before her eyes ten years at a time. The birth of her two children and their first few years growing up.
She had watched as her children had attended Hogwarts just as she had done, she shed a tear as she watched both her children struggle to pass any exams. She had watched as her children both lived short lives, both dying in their very early twenties. And Hermione cringed as time after time she found the word failure stamped on her parchment.
By the time Hermione found her self waiting in a huge white walled office she had eighteen failures and just the one success, Hermione had been devastated and still could not see where she had failed.
Two tall handsome angels came into the office and quietly led her out and in to a large white chamber. The walls were made up of white marble, a huge archway every few feet, the floor seemed to be made of polished white glass and she could see her reflection quite clearly. She could see no ceiling above. What she saw was just a light blue sky. At the far end she could see someone sat upon a large throne like seat and she knew she was in the chamber of the one they all called the 'One'. At each side of the 'One' stood an Archangel, Michael on one side and Raphael on the other.
"Ah Hermione Jane Granger, I expected great things from you. Would you care to explain why you have failed so dismally in the life you were given?" an amazingly musical and golden sounding voice asked.
Hermione did not know how to answer, "I never thought of my self as a failure, I worked hard not to be one. All through school I studied hard, I passed all my exams with the best grades. I helped Harry Potter to vanquish an evil dark wizard. And I think I was a good mother to my children. I worked hard all my life as a healer I don't understand where I failed," she answered the voice.
"But you did fail in the life I gave you. Where was the greatness I gave you. Where are your descendants that were to help protect my world. Why was your soul mate, the one true love I gave to you so positively denied by you?" the voice questioned.
Hermione did not understand what was happening, if this was the voice of the one who created the world then why did he not know that her children had died, and the stories of her being the greatest witch of the age were just the fantasies of her school mates. No Hermione could not understand where she had failed and she said so.
"So you fail again even here," the voice told her quietly.
"I'm so confused," Hermione answered as she shed more tears.
"You were never meant to marry Ronald Bilius Weasley. Did you not remember all the hurt he caused you as you grew up. The children you had together were most definitely not meant to be those of the bully who was destined to have a lonely life because of his hate and jealousy. Those beings died because they were just too human, there was no spirit, no soul in them, they were not yours to have." she heard the voice telling her.
Hermione's mind was racing as she tried to work out what the voice meant, but she felt lost. She had thought she had lived a good life, she had followed her heart in all things. But then she suddenly remembered how she had felt in her early years as Harry's friend, she remembered how she had buried the feelings for him that she thought she was to young to feel, and suddenly she began to understand. Those strange feelings as she had hugged him during their first battle with Tom Riddle were not the fantasy of a young girl. They had been real feelings and she should have let them grow and not held them back. The feeling she got being on the back of a hippogriff and clinging tight to Harry, hugging herself to him and feeling something stir inside her. It was a feeling she had suppressed, buried deep inside where it would never bother her again.
Suddenly Hermione was brought out of her thoughts as the voice spoke again, "Step forward child, let me show you what your denial and marriage did."
Hermione stepped forward and a huge screen like wall appeared in front of her.
"Watch closely, and listen carefully Hermione Jane Granger," a new and strange voice commanded as pictures began to appear on the wall.
The triwizard champions were entering the great hall and Harry was staring at her and Krum. A look of what she could only call hate, directed at Krum flashed across Harry's face as she turned and smiled at the professional seeker. Harry tripped over his own feet as he danced with Parvati because he was watching her in the arms of Krum.
"You should have been with Harry, if you had just waited for him to ask you, or if you had not ignored the love you were given and gone with Harry, Krum would have had no reason to be jealous and turn his wand on Cedric or Harry, he would have fought the imperious charm he was under." the strange voice said.
A change of scene and a beaten Harry James Potter appeared out of no where in front of the huge crowd desperately clinging to the body of Cedric Diggory, and as Dumbledore tried to help Harry, Hermione heard Harry's thoughts.
'Hermione help me' repeated over and over in his head until he realised he had made it back to the school.
"They should have reached the grave yard three minutes earlier, before the evil one was ready and Cedric should have lived, look at the consequences of your mistake in choosing Krum, time lost in the maze cost a life."
The scene changed to when they were in Grimmauld place and she watched Harry enter the room she and Ron were in, she felt the surge of jealousy that coursed through Harry as he saw her get up from the bed she had been sitting on with Ron. 'What the heck are they up to' he thought as she seemed to leap away from Ron. She felt the jolt of pleasure he got when she hugged him but as soon as she let go and stood once again with Ron the jealousy returned.
Another change of scene and they were fighting in the department of mysteries, she felt Harry's heart stop when the spell of Dolohov hit her younger self. She felt his over whelming despair as he watched her fall, and then the great flood of love and surge of relief when Neville said she was alive.
The scene changed to the sixth year and Harry alone in his dormitory, lay on his bed in the dark, and she could hear him as he asked himself why he still loved someone who wasn't even talking to him about things any more. She felt his tears as he thought she no longer wanted to be his friend, she heard him as he confessed to his empty room that he could do nothing with out Hermione by his side.
"If you had not been so distant with him because of a simple book, if you had trusted and believed in him and helped him, Draco Malfoy would never have had the chance to be able to let those death eaters into the castle." Said the voice
And then came Harry's heart breaking sorrow as she showed her jealousy for Lavender Brown. She felt his pain increase as he watched her wanting Ron to kiss her and not Lavender. She felt his confusion as he tried to replace her with Ginny. She felt his heart shatter as he watched her in Ron's arms at the funeral of Dumbledore and she heard him thinking of going after Riddle all alone. It was her being in Ron's arms that made him end it with Ginny, he did not want Ginny to feel the pain he felt that day.
"Why did you deny your love for him, you had the opportunity to be with Harry, why did you choose Mr Weasley?"
Then they were in the tent during the hunt for the Horcruxes. She felt Harry's hate for Ron every time she was alone with Ron and talking about Harry behind his back. He had known they were saying awful things about him. She felt his hate when Ron deserted them, and then she felt his hopes rise as she chose to stay with him. She felt his love being renewed each time they held each others hand, and she felt his joy and elation as they stood at his parents graveside and she slipped her arm around him.
And then she felt his joy die completely as she turned and kissed Ron during the last battle, his despair as he walked out of the castle to die at Voldemort's hand.
"It was your kiss that led Harry out to Voldemort, it was the power of his love for you that gave him the courage to face death and to come back to face it again. You knew in your heart what had happened but still you did the wrong thing," came from the strange voice.
Hermione was in tears as she began to realise where she had failed Harry, and then there was the final pain sh caused him. The last really true feeling Harry James Potter ever allowed himself to have was on the day she and Ron had asked him to be their best man. The cruelty of it was not lost on her as she felt the heart break Harry was feeling as Ron and her held hands and she smiled at him. She had betrayed her soul mate in the worst possible way.
But the things she was being shown did not end there. The scene changed to the Wedding of Harry and Ginny, and she heard Harry asking forgiveness from the heavens for marrying someone he did not love. She watched as Harry Potter changed from the great wizard he was supposed to become into an ordinary wizard, no longer fighting evil, instead he seemed to just drift through his life feeling empty. The only thing that could be called love he ever felt again was the shallow love for his children. Even that love died as his children, just like hers died while still young. There was no longer any greatness in Harry James Potter because she had not been there to help him and encourage him.
She watched as Harry was asked for help from the ministry in their fight against a new dark wizard, and he refused saying it was no longer in his power. He told them he no longer had the one thing he needed most, she heard the words in his head that the ministry did not hear, she heard him say her name, she and the love he had for her was the power that Voldemort did not know.
Hermione was again shedding tears as she felt the immense love she should have given to Harry released from the chains she had it locked in, and then suddenly it was gone and she felt empty inside; somehow it had been taken away from her.
Then she heard as whispered voices said that her true children wished to speak with her, looking up she saw the angel that had collected her talking to the 'One'.
The huge screen disappeared from view and a small door appeared in the middle of the chamber and opened. Four beautiful little children walked in and stood before her. Each of the children had characteristics that reminded Hermione of herself or of Harry or of them both, the one she thought the eldest looked almost exactly as she had pictured Harry as a child with messy black hair and bright green eyes.
As she watched, each of the children stepped forward and asked her a question. The youngest, a little girl who had black bushy hair and deep brown eyes stared up at her.
"Hello mummy, why is daddy so sad all the time?" the little one asked before stepping back.
The next little one stepped forward, again a little girl, she had lovely long black hair and the brownest eyes.
"Hello mummy, will you keep on making us sad?" she asked then stepped back.
The third child stepped forward, a little boy who had sad green eyes and short brown hair.
"Hello mummy, will you be sad as well?" the little boy asked a tear falling from his eye.
Then the eldest one stepped forward and he looked so like Harry that Hermione felt like her heart was breaking again.
"Hello mummy, will you make things right for us?" he asked before surprising her and stepping forward with his arms held out to her.
Hermione dropped down to her knees and gave the little boy a hug, "I wish I could but it seems I failed you all, you and your daddy," she said as she closed her eyes and felt her tears fall. She was surprised when she felt the other children join her; she was enveloped in embraces from the children that she had never known, the children that should have been hers and Harry's.
Hermione heard the voice as it told the children it was time to go back, she looked up as the children were going and pictures of Harry filled her mind, pictures of when he had helped her get through things, for all the years before she had married Ron, Harry had been her tower of strength and her rock, she saw all those occasions, he had even held her in a comforting hug in their sixth year, the very year she had hurt him so much, and he had put all his own pain to one side as he held her and comforted her while she cried because Ron was kissing Lavender Brown.
From somewhere way down deep inside her, Hermione felt the stirring of her first immature love for Harry James Potter, the boy who had always taken care of her.
It was the first feelings she had held for him during their first year as friends, the feelings she had locked away deep down inside as she left him to fetch help during the search for the stone, it wasn't much but she clung to it like a lifeline in her despair.
She called goodbye to her children as they walked to the door, and she felt her heart aching, then she heard the voice of the 'One' calling her.
Before she knew what had happened she was standing right in front of her maker and judge, her eyes looking down at her feet. She felt sick with what she had done to Harry and the world, and her unborn children, and herself.
"So child you still have love for him I see, even though all your love should have been taken away, because of the way you feel I have an offer for you, to save you from eternal heart ache, are you interested?"
Hermione looked up into the golden glowing face of the one who had made her and she felt the love and comfort sweeping from him in waves, and she suddenly felt at ease, she tried to speak but all she could do was nod her head a little.
Two angels suddenly appeared one standing each side of Hermione, without a word they led her back out of the chamber they were in, and she was then led to what appeared to be a small office where she was left to wait.
Hermione had no idea how long she had been waiting in the small office, it seemed as though time did not actually exist here and yet she could remember the wait, she was just pondering on the oddness of it when the door opened and a bearded man entered.
Looking at his notes the man nodded to her as he rummaged around on the desk, "Now where did I put those rules?" he asked himself as he moved files that she had never even noticed being there, "ah here we are."
Sitting in a chair that appeared the man looked up from the desk at Hermione "Well sit, sit," he said as a chair appeared in front of her.
Hermione did what she was told as the man lifted yet another file from the desk and started to read, she was beginning to wonder how long she would be here before she heard about the offer that the 'One' had mentioned, she had no idea what it might be that was required of her, but she was willing to do anything she could if it helped Harry and her children, it was as she had these thoughts that all the love that had been taken from her came back to her, rushing through her and filling all the vast emptiness she had felt.
"Hermione Jane Granger, is that correct she heard a voice saying, she looked up to see the man was waiting for an answer. "You are Hermione Jane Granger?"
Hermione swallowed hard and nodded "Yes sir, I am."
"Ah good, now then it has been a while since I had to do this, almost a thousand years I think," the man said as he turned a page in the file he was holding, he then held out a piece of paper to Hermione "please read these rules."
Hermione stared at the paper for a while before speaking "Excuse me sir but this appears to be blank."
"Please not sir, no sirree, not sir. 'Peter', that's the name, some times called Simon or the rock, did you say it was blank, hmm well that is odd, very odd, would you mind just waiting?" the man said getting up and leaving the room.
Hermione sat and enjoyed the feeling of love that seemed to fill every inch of her being, once again she did not know how long she waited before the man returned, sitting once more behind the desk he lifted a file and began to read.
"Hermione Jane Granger, would you sacrifice the love you now feel, would you sacrifice your place here in heaven if you were guaranteed the happiness of Harry Potter and the souls that should have been your family, would you give all that up, and spend eternity in the other place, the place of fire and pain, emptiness and desolation, would you give it all up, never to feel the warmth of love again," Peter asked reading from the file.
Hermione thought of the four little souls who had never had any life, she thought of their sadness and she thought of Harry who had gone through his life without real love, she thought about the love she had for him and had kept buried, she looked around her and felt the beauty of heaven, taking a deep breath she nodded her head.
"If that is what it takes," she said quietly.
Peter nodded his head and rose again, leaving Hermione once more as he left the room, this time Hermione concentrated on the feeling of the love she was filled with and she tried hard to memorise how it felt, hopefully she would take her memories with her, they may be all that was left for her where she was going to end up.
When Peter returned he was smiling, he handed Hermione the same piece of paper he had given her before "Now Hermione I want you to read these rules," he said as he sat down again.
This time the paper was not blank and she began to read,
'Hermione Jane Granger, you will be rewarded for your selfless love, you will not be sent to the other place, instead you will be sent back to a time of the makers choosing, once there you will be given the chance to relive your life in the way it was meant to be, this chance at living your life again will also give others who should not have died the chance to live out their lives, no one must ever know, you must never try to reveal what you have seen, if you agree to this place your signature on the bottom of this paper.'
Hermione felt a great wave of relief as she finished reading, she was more than willing to put things right, and if in doing so she could bring happiness back into peoples lives then she would not mind facing any future she herself had. She was about to ask Peter for a quill when a golden pen appeared in her hand, having signed the paper she handed it to the man sitting quietly at the desk.
"So Hermione you agree to the terms, good, are there any questions you have before you leave?" Peter said as he folded the paper and placed it in the file.
"Will I retain my memories?" she asked
"Those that are returned do not usually keep their memories, it has happened but only a very few times," Peter replied as he closed her file.
As the file closed Hermione glimpsed the final entry on her Parchment and she smiled as she read 'Success' stamped on it, she was about to ask Peter how she could put things right if she had no memory of the mistakes she had made, when the room began to spin.