"Don't say it," she said hastily, shaking her head as tears rolled down her cheeks. "If you say that I'll spend my life waiting for that favor to be granted." Her thoughts turned to the England she was coming home to, and the coming war she was meant to be a part of - a war she didn't expect to help win, not if the hints about the future Hermione had given her here and there were to be believed.

It stood to reason that she would wait anyway, but it was better for both of them not to dwell. They had been indulgent enough with one another and were currently reaping the painful fruits of that - it was best not to add more to it here in these final moments, not if he expected her to loosen her arms and let him leave.

"I promise though, that I won't forget you." He would never live in her world, and she would never live in his, except in memory. It would have to be enough.