Scars That Heal (Dramione Fanfiction) [COMPLETE]

32 - Folded Hands

*Trigger Warning - Funeral, Mentions of Death*

The next few days passed without event. Hermione slipped back into her routine, minus her immense work loads. Her life felt brighter; the dark corners of the library were more often empty, and everything was punctuated by laughs and smiles from her friends. It was happier, to put it simply, but it felt like something stronger, more resilient than just contentment. It finally felt as though Hermione had breathing space again. Her sleep had come back to her and she hadn't had a nightmare yet, so there had been no further meetings in the Tower, although she now desired them more strongly than before.

But when she got up on Saturday morning, that boulder was lodged firmly between her lungs again. All the room she now had for deep, soulful breaths had been taken up by a swelling of solemness, because today it was her father's funeral.

So much had happened now since her father's death that Hermione had almost forgotten the bitterness, but it came back as soon as her mind turned on that morning.

Hermione lay in her bed, looking up at the canopy of her four-poster and hoping, praying, that she could make it to the end of the day. Just one more day, she told herself, and you never have to think about him again. It felt incredibly selfish. She wasn't allowed to dislike him for making her feel like this; Patrick Granger was gone, and all she had left were her memories of him. But now they were stained photographs, tainted so the stories behind them lost the glow. Thinking about her father for more than a moment felt like having a sour-tasting liquid thrown over her, soaking into her and spoiling everything. But it didn't matter. Just one more day and he would finally rest - and with that, so could she.

Hermione looked through her wardrobe at all her weekend wear. She had to find something black, but most of her clothes were grey or muted blue, sometimes tawny or navy. Eventually she settled on her only dress and performed a complex charm on it to turn it black for the day. It didn't exactly work, and a patch on the shoulder remained cream, so Hermione tied her dark grey scarf around her neck and allowed the edges to flow over her shoulders.

Frowning at her face, Hermione grudgingly admitted to herself she ought to wear make-up. It was a formal occasion, and her eyes were circled with shadows this morning. The only even vaguely make-up-like things she owned, however, were an array of lip balms.

"Ginny?" she whispered into the room. There was a snort and a murmur, then a contented sigh.

"Ginny!" she said, a little louder, and there was a groan and some barely disguised swearing.

"What time is it?" came a hoarse voice.

"No idea. I need help, Gin." Hermione said quietly.

"Can't it wait? I'm bloody tired..."

"It's my dad's funeral, and I need help with my make-up."

"...Give me a minute."

After some shuffling around and more swearing as Ginny head-butted the bedpost, Hermione was seated in front of the mirror in the dorm with a bleary-eyed Ginny scowling at her own reflection.

"I'll tell you who else needs some covering. Geez, I look tired. Now, stay very still and don't open your eyes unless I tell you," Ginny instructed as she got to work. For once Hermione was grateful for her roommate's extensive make-up collection, which normally spread itself over multiple surfaces and caused the majority of arguments in the dormitory. Hermione felt herself relaxing into the feeling of brushes, spoolies and sponges padding at her face, and tried to avoid looking at herself until Ginny had finished.

"Okay. See what you think, I have no idea what you wanted." Ginny said a little apprehensively. Hermione opened her eyes - which felt quite heavy - and looked at her reflection. Her first point of focus were her freckles and moles - or, more rather, that they had disappeared, and were replaced with smooth bright skin. Her eyelids were darkened with brown eyeshadow and enhanced with tiny flicks of eyeliner, framed with curled and darkened eyelashes. Hermione's lips were a muted pink, and suddenly she appeared to have cheekbones. Overall, she looked like an enhanced greyscale version of her normal self, and it suited her current mood perfectly.