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Watching her sleep was something of a fascination of his. When Hermione slept, she was at peace. It wasn’t always that way. It had taken her years to get to this point. Her nighttimes were filled with horrors Antonin could only imagine. The fact that he had once been the cause of her pain, that he had once featured in her nightmares, wasn’t lost on him. He regretted the fact that he had once held a wand to her throat. Yet still, Hermione forgave him. His absolution and savior all wrapped into one. The fact Hermione was even curled up in his bed, sleeping soundly, was a miracle to him.
That she could forgive him for what he and his comrades did to her during the war baffled him. Yet ever the angel she was, Hermione had slowly forgiven him. They had healed together years after the war as they clashed and came together.
It shouldn’t work, yet somehow it did. He was brass and abrasive. She was soft and gentle. In theory, they wouldn’t work. Yet, somehow, someway, they managed to make a life for themselves in their little cottage in the woods. It wasn’t for everyone. The life they lived. Cut off from nearly the entire wizarding world. Yet it was their own little slice of heaven.
The fact she stayed with him year after year only made Antonin love her more. The longer Hermione stayed, the more he fell for her day after day.
Hermione noticed Antonin watched her more often than not when she was in the library. When she was doing simple tasks like cooking or cleaning, his eyes would follow her around the room as if he instinctually knew where she was at any given moment.
It was endearing that he couldn’t help but watch her movements. Of course, Hermione knew some of it was a carryover from the war. Always watching one’s surroundings. Yet the longer it happened, the more she knew that Antonin was watching her simply because he cared. A man of few words, he let his actions do most of the talking.
Yet when Hermione found him looking at her when she wasn’t paying attention, was when she noticed his devotion. Such a look of love on his face when Antonin thought he was alone with his thoughts. The way he went out of his way to make her days and nights easier. The tiny little things no one thought about were his way of atoning for his mortal sins.
His absolution and salvation wrapped up into one being.
It was a powerful feeling to know she was loved that much. That she, Hermione Granger, meant that much to one man. It felt like she had the world in her hands, even if she felt she didn’t deserve it. Antonin had given her just as much as Hermione had given him.
Whether he realized it or not.
Her savior who had pulled her back from the darkness that threatened to surround and consume her at every waking moment.
Her savior and absolution all wrapped into one.