A/N: Song lyrics are from "O Children" by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, and is owned by them. The wonderful HP universe is the property of JK Rowling.
Ron left eleven days ago. Fewer than eleven words had been exchanged between Harry and Hermione in those days since his departure. When Harry was on watch for the night outside the tent door, he could hear Hermione mumbling Ron's name in her sleep, often followed by an anguished whimper. Harry was positive Hermione knew that he knew about it, but he never brought it up because she would shatter into millions of shards the second his name was spoken. The tent suffocated Harry more and more each night they went without speaking.
He constantly flipped between thinking about finding the Horcruxes and ways to cheer Hermione up. He was rapidly losing faith in finding both.
~*~*~Two nights later~*~*~
Harry entered the tent, having just finished casting the last of the protective wards. Hermione sat on the steps separating the eating area from the rest of the tent, her arms wrapped around her knees and head bent towards the radio by her feet. The radio was tuned into a muggle station. She had an expression of melancholic thought as she stared past the radio to the bunk Ron had occupied. A spark of thought hit Harry as the next song began playing. He stepped closer to her and held out his hand at her eye level. Confusion swept across her face at his offered hand. She took it with a gentle touch and stood, sadness still lurking in her eyes. Harry reached behind her neck to unclasp the locket and then tossed it onto the bottom bunk.
They maneuvered to the middle of the tent space as the song reached the refrain. Harry began pulling and pushing Hermione's arms opposite one another and with very little rhythm to the song. She changed their hands into a more traditional position, which allowed him to lead her in erratic circles around the tent. With many exaggerated arm swings and many silly spins, Harry managed to wriggle out a real smile and laughs from Hermione.
Hey little train! We are all jumping on
The train that goes to the Kingdom
We're happy, Ma, we're having fun
And the train ain't even left the station
The weight of Ron's absence had been crushing both of them for the last two weeks. Harry was familiar enough with the feeling—Ron treated him in a similar fashion during the Triwizard Tournament in their fourth year until he got his head screwed on right and came back around after the first task with the dragons.
But this was different for Hermione—even with the entire Lavender fiasco that occurred during sixth year. Him dating another girl was manageable, but accusing her of being with Harry, just because Ron was echoing Ginny's pain of being broken up with before they left to hunt Horcruxes was infantile of him to do. She felt like something in their friendship had become broken and forever irreparable because of this accusation, whether or not it was true. It affected her more than she would have liked, but it wasn't like it wasn't a somewhat true—if a few years late—thing to say; she had had a crush on Harry for the first few years at Hogwarts, but once he didn't give any indication he felt the same way, she let it go.
And yet, look at where they were now: just her and Harry, alone in the tent, both of them single and sad. Hermione almost could have laughed at them if she didn't know the real situation. Still, it was nice to be a little carefree and dance with him, even if it was in very poor fashion.
Finally the song wound down, repeating the chorus more and more faintly. Harry and Hermione slowed their spins and moved closer together. She tucked her head into the crook of his neck and held onto his shoulder. He pulled her tighter to him, swaying gently on the spot. They stayed like that a few minutes longer after the song had finished and the station had gone fuzzy on the radio.
Hermione kissed him on the cheek once before pulling away from him and leaving the tent to go on guard duty, accio-ing one of her books, a blanket, and the locket to her. Harry gave a little sigh and ran a hand through his ruffled hair before deciding to call it a night. As he lay in the dark of the tent on his bunk, he almost thought he could hear Hermione sniffling; but if she was, he had no intention of interrupting her. With thoughts of Hermione and him dancing and her in her dress from the Yule Ball, Harry fell into a sleep full of happy dreams.
While Hermione sat on guard duty outside the tent, she mulled over tonight. Harry had done her a huge favor by getting her dance, as it took her mind off their fruitless hunt for Horcruxes and Ron's abandonment of them. The locket couldn't even drag her down as much right now because she felt much lighter after dancing.
She and Harry were both mature adults and could handle themselves and knew what was proper and what was not. Ron simply did not understand that and took things in the wrong way and shouted out his conclusions before he'd even tried talking to either of them about his thoughts first. Sometimes, it was endearing, but the fight before he'd left had been brutally honest and Hermione still didn't know how to feel about him and the things he'd said.
It didn't matter anyhow; Ron was back with his family, where he'd wanted to be the whole time, and Harry and Hermione were continuing the hunt for Horcruxes, just as they needed to be doing.
With that thought, Hermione settled in a little deeper into her blanket cocoon and delved into her novel, keeping an ear ready for any disturbance. Thoughts of Harry and Ron swirled in her head for the rest of the night.