AN-
Come Home
"I'll be back soon love, I promise." Ronald Weasley mumbled into his wife's bushy hair and sighed.
"I know you will... but I'm scared for you, what if-" he cut her off with a long finger on her round pink lips.
"'Mione we both knew what we getting into when I became an Auror, sometimes I'll be in danger but isn't it worth it to destroy the last remnants of the Death Eaters?"
"Of course it is but I wish it didn't have to be you and Harry risking your necks again, and I know Ginny feels the same way-" She was cut off again but this time by her new husbands soft lips on hers, she abandoned all protest and threw her arms around his neck, trying to communicate her desperation.
"Bye love, we'll be back before you know it." Ron tried to feign his usual easy grin but it was clear that Hermione wasn't buying it at all. He embraced her one last time and gently kissed her forehead, savouring their last moments together. No matter what anybody said, since Voldemort's death nobody was any safer, the last few dangerous and deranged Death Eaters were continuing their old ways.
"Ready mate?" He called to Harry, who was saying similar goodbyes to his heavily pregnant wife. He nodded and briefly brushed back a strand of Ginny's flaming hair and whispered something in her ear, then bent down and kissed her swelling belly. He straightened up and turned to the door. The two men swiftly exited and seconds later their wives heard the loud crack signalling their apparation. Ginny broke down immediately, collapsing into Hermione's arms. She stroked her best friends head soothingly, tears silently sliding down her pale cheeks.
A week dragged by, with no word from either of the aurors, but in way Hermione felt this wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Whatever they were doing was top-secret and as long as they were unharmed, they wouldn't be mentioned in either the Prophet or the Quibbler. Ginny on the other hand was a panicky wreck by day three. She spent hours on end pacing around the house that they shared, only pausing occasionally to be forced to eat by Hermione. This worried her immensely as she was getting close to her due date.
"Ginny... try to calm down, this isn't good for the baby," Hermione pleaded with her one day when she refused to eat.
"No, Harry leaving in the first place, that's what's bad for the baby!" she screamed, tears streaming down her cheeks. Hermione didn't know what to say to this and sank down on the sofa. She buried her head in her hands and concentrated on breathing normally. She suddenly felt a pair of slender arms wrap around her shoulders and looked up to see Ginny resting her head on her shoulder, she looped her arms around her best friend and they remained curled up together, united in despair until the room grew dark. They stared out of the large window at the bright crescent moon, as if it could bring news about the aurors. But it remained as stubbornly silent as ever.
"Seriously mate, why are we walking? We're wizards! Can't we apparate?" Ron moaned for the hundredth time as the small group of aurors tramped tiredly up a demanding hill somewhere in Ireland. They had been searching for the Death Eaters for almost a month and tempers were running high amongst the group.
"Because they have a tracking spell on one of us so they'll know where we are if we use magic. I'm not telling you again Ron!" Harry muttered in exhasperation, resisting the temptation to stick Ron's wand somewhere unpleasant if he didn't stop complaining.
"Everyone shut the hell up and get into position!" Came a hoarse whisper from the front. The effect was immediate, Ron's face became a business-like mask and his hand drifted to his wand. The company strained their ears to catch any trace of the disturbance, half hoping they were not about to come face to face with a group of manical Death Eaters, half wanting to finish the job quickly so they could return to their families. The leader gestured for them to surround the crest of the hill and they all obeyed with speed and precision. However Ron felt uneasy, this is far too easy, he thought. His suspicions were right.
"Did you really think we would make it that easy for you? You aurors are worthless. However this will make good sport... Crucio!" Ron ducked instinctly but was too slow, the full force of the spell hit him in the chest and unbearable agony seared through him. A cruel laugh sounded above him but it was cut off by a shriek of anger. He turned his head slowly and saw Harry pointing his wand on the now disarmed Death Eater. The cloaked figure screeched and ran at Harry with only their fists for weapons and grasped him around his throat, gleefully crushing his larynx.
"Don't you fucking dare you swine!" Ron shouted and fired a bolt of red light from his wand. The Death Eater yelled as the spell hit their back and there was a sickening crack. They dropped to the ground motionless.
"This is going to be a long night..." He shouted across at Harry with a wide grin on his face. A grin that didn't quite die when it happened.
Hermione lay awake in bed every night, just praying to anyone who would listen,
"Oh god please let him come home soon, I can't live without him, if anything happens to him I don't know what we'll do..." she subconsciously lay a hand on her stomach, hardly daring to trust her instincts...
She was on the brink of sleep when suddenly she was shocked back to life by a faint crack. She sat bolt upright and strained to hear the approaching footsteps that would either be the best news she had had ever received or the news that might kill her. She leapt out of bed and stumbled down the stairs with Ginny hot at her heels, she wrenched the door open. Her breath caught in her throat as she took in the sight of the ragged man on the doorstep.
"Hermione I-"
"Wheres Ron? Harry tell me what happened!"
"I'm so sorry, we were surrounded by them, Ron took out one of them... broke his spine, but after that..."
"Harry... Is he alive?"
"Just... He's in St. Mungos... He's in a coma." Harry stared resolutely at the ground, refusing to meet anybodies eyes. She felt empty, as if she wasn't real. Suddenly her legs gave way. She was saved from hitting the ground by Harry and Ginny quickly grabbing her. She steadied herself and stepped down the path. She closed her eyes and spun gracefully on the spot. The world went momentarily dark and a crushing force surrounded her, but she welcomed the discomfort for once, it helped take her mind of the horrible possibilities running through her head. The pressure in her head relented and she opened her eyes.
"Please come home Ron"
Darkness surrounded him, there didn't seem to be any way out. He could hear the distant sounds of low chatter and the occasional sob. Maybe he was in St. Mungos? That would make sense... He had been vaguely aware of being carried away from the hill in Ireland on a stretcher but after that everything was hazy. "Oh god Hermione's going to kill me... I promised her I'd come home..." He increased his efforts at getting out of the dark.
"Ron! Oh Ron what have they done to you?" Hermione! He could hear her despair and ached to reach out to her... Something inside of him snapped and a bright white light appeared in the distance.
"Ron!? Oh god... Get a healer over here! Please help him!"
"Hermione... Don't cry... I will come home! I promised!"
His chest contracted and he sucked in a ragged breath, his eyes flickered open slowly and he smiled weakly at the woman holding his hand. She had tears rolling down her cheeks but a beaming smile etched onto her face.
"Hermione...I'm so sorry..."
"What do you have to be sorry for? All the Death Eaters were arrested and you took down one alone! I'm not angry at you for doing your job... I just wish it wasn't so dangerous..." She smiled weakly and bent down to plant a gentle kiss on his lips. "Now you have to rest, or you'll be stuck here longer. And I need you to come home soon."
Three weeks later Ron was discharged from St Mungos and he finally went home with his wife. A celebration was held that night for many reasons,
"Ron! You're back!"
"Alright mate?" Harry grinned from the door,unable to hug him as his little sister was currently doing.
"Ow Ginny geroff! Yes I'm back!" He laughed at her enthusiasm but he noticed there was something slightly different about her.
"Ron, you haven't noticed have you?" She sighed in exhasperatoin, folding her arms over her stomach. He still didn't notice.
"Notice what? Ow don't hit me Gin, Harry restrain your wife!" He recoiled from the sharp blows he was raining on her. Harry stepped forward, holding a tiny bundle gently, as if it was the most precious thing in the world. Then Ron realised.
"Ginny... You had the baby?! I'm an uncle?! Wha-" He stopped dead, dumbfounded by this realisation.
"We've called him James Sirius, and we want you two to be godparents!" Ginny's eyes were sparkiling with happiness and she couldn't keep herself from giggling.
"Of course we'll be godparents! This is brilliant!" he turned to Hermione, "Did they tell you while I was in hospital?" She nodded laughing.
"I was forced to keep it a secret!"
"Yeah right... Ow!"
"I was! Anyway I have some news too... For all of you..." She paused and gazed around at the assembled crowd, her gaze lingering on baby James.
"I'm pregnant!" She finished joyfully as two pairs of arms rushed to enfold her all at once. Ron stared at her with amazement, his mouth a perfect 'O' of surprise.
"Hermione... That's the best news I've ever heard!" He shouted and lifted her of the ground and swung her in a circle before planting a kiss on her laughing mouth.
"See... aren't you glad you came home now?"
The End. Please Please Please review!!!
Fabala93