Disclaimer: These characters are owned by JK Rowling, not Mrsnorrispaw…too bad.

Where Do We Go from Here?

"Just leave. You're embarrassing yourself now…" those words echoed in her head. She could not escape them. That day, would not leave her sore mind. Yet, she survived on that memory, as painful as it was, as horrible and weak as she had been, it was still a memory with him.

Hermione Granger, a bushy haired twenty-five year old, lied in her bed waiting for sleep to come upon her, but to no avail. This was every night: feeling exhausted all day, dragging herself home, forcing herself to bathe, although that often did not happen, and laying in bed suddenly awake with anxiety. Any moment where she stopped her constant activity it all came back to her.

It was bad enough that everything reminded her of Ron. Words that escaped his mouth only once suddenly were associated with him. Red heads altogether made her cringe; she couldn't even listen to any Weird Sisters songs, knowing Ron's love for them. Any encounter with something that was Ron-soaked caused her chest to tighten, her breath to become short and shallow, all she wanted to do was run away- and she did.

Three years ago she ran away far enough that she wouldn't see him everyday moved on with his life, loving someone else. Still she was close enough to run back into his arms if he called for that. What have I become? Her poor broken heart demanded, I was never like this before- I crumbled before his feet. I was only his, not my own. Is that not how love is? Never before have I thought of marriage, of children; with Ron that's all I could think of. I wanted him forever, he had me, and how could he waste that how could I mean so very little?

That was all she was, she realized, nothing.

The moon's pale glow cupped her trembling body; it listened to her silent tears. Tonight she would not lash about screaming and hyperventilating. She cried like she did at Dumbledore's funeral, without asking why this had happened but finally accepting it as over. His life was over, and now, so was hers.


Hermione was running far and deep into the outskirts of Hogsmeade. She was being lead by a large, freckled hand, squeezing her every so often as if the action pushed love through one hand to the other. She giggled nervously, where were they going? Surely this was unacceptable by Hogwarts standards, but she didn't care very much now. Suddenly, the running stopped, Ron pulled Hermione close to him, grabbing her waist. They watched to snow glisten down on Hogsmeade, this was defiantly not allowed. Her body raddled with nervousness.

"You cold?" Ron asked. She nodded lightly, her brown eyes huge and innocent. He pulled her closer, wrapping his coat around their entwined bodies. Automatically, she rested her head on his thin chest. His heartbeat lulled her into a euphoric state. He pulled away after what seemed like only a few spare moments, Hermione resisted the urge to moan at her displeasure, wishing they could stay like that forever.

"We have to get back I think," Ron informed still holding her hips; it was as if he knew she wanted to tell him, he could read her thoughts. "It'll be five soon, you know they don't like it when we're late, can't lose house points and all that." Hermione could not speak, only watch his lips, his gorgeous eyes, his wind-kissed cheeks…

Hermione groaned, it was too early to wake. Her day was going to be worse than usual, she had dreamed about him. Often her dreams were not sporadic images and words pushed together, they were memories she repressed during the day. She did not want to go to work, she did not want to leave her bed, but the idea of having another dream about him, remembering all of the good times, was worse than going about her day. She sighed deeply, moving Crookshanks off of her feet and stumbled to the bathroom.


An owl arrived that afternoon addressed to a Ms. Granger. She never received owls anymore, everyone just gave up on her eventually, and she followed soon after. A rush of hope and fear raced through her little blue veins, perhaps it was Ron.

Dear Hermione,

I know that it has been very long since we have spoken, but I have a sabbatical coming up and was wondering if I could see you. I miss our friendship so much I would really enjoy your company again if it isn't too much trouble. If you're free tonight I would, again, love to see you. Please respond quickly.

Victor Krum

She did not expect this. She and Victor Krum had a small relationship in the past, far in the past. She broke his heart, but they continued to be friends for quite sometime. But after she began dating Ron, she mostly cut off all relationships, other than her most important. Poor Victor was thrown to the side again. She felt horrible that she had done that, so she said she would happily see him again that night, to catch up on old times.

Hermione was happy to have someone other than Ron to think about. She wondered what Krum was up to, how his life was. The last time they had spoken, he was in a very serious relationship with spunky blond witch. Either way, at least she mattered to someone- even if it wasn't the one.