I haven't really realized until this moment that I absolute shit at finishing chapter fics. But, this one I'm extremely interested in. And I PROMISE you that I will see it through. And at the moment, I'm working on chapters for my other two unfinished chapter fics. I'm getting there guys! Don't be disappointed! Anywho, this is a rather odd couple for me, but maybe that's why it's so exciting. Please enjoy, and for the love of Puff the Magic Dragon,

Reviews are sexy.



She was dying. Around her the world was shuddering to a halt, sending her flying at 1,000 miles per hour into the atmosphere. She felt herself floating away, like a dead autumn leaf dancing to the ground. She was that leaf. She felt herself lightly hit the ground, the smell of grass and dirt almost overwhelming her heightened senses. She was dried up, pale and waiting. Waiting for someone to save her. Waiting for someone to give into the temptation of stepping on a crispy autumn leaf. It couldn't be long now. She shivered, the particles of the leaf sighing in their weary stupor.

I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.

She was still floating. But, this time as if on a cloud...as if at any moment gravity could decide to work and she would go hurtling to the ground. She closed her eyes and willed it to be so, but she didn't fall.

I'm sorry.

Her eyelids flickered, but the cloud remained, her fingers twitched...her blood started to circulate.

Shit, no, please, no.

She felt herself being drawn away from the cloud, away from the comfortable space. She felt pain, a pain that crept up her spine...but it was more than that, it was as if the pain wished to consume her whole. As if the pain itself would completely destroy her. She felt something stabbing her arm as she was wrenched harshly back into reality.

Fuck.

She knew where she was, but her eyes refused to open, so she let them stay closed.

Maybe I'm just here for a moment...maybe I'll go again.

But the pain was becoming sharper, the stabbing becoming more persistent. She knew that they had saved her.

Fuck.

Again, she was here, in this bed...needles pricking her arms while strangers in white uniforms frowned down at her, inwardly scowling, wishing that they could be anywhere else.

I'm so fucking sorry.

As if they knew. As if they had one fucking idea of what it felt like to float on that cloud...to be the leaf on that ground. She knew though...she knew. It was these trips that got her through. Through suicide, she could live, she could breathe easy again, she could try to be normal, to function.

I'm sorry, so sorry.

She let her eyes slide open. She was used to the shock of bright hospital lights, but she moaned all the same. Coming back was always the worst part. After you've died, life looks a little bit more grim. But, at the same time, each time you came back there was that little sigh of relief, buried deep within you, that made you know that there was something special about living.

Please, come back.

She gave a weak smile to the nurse standing right above her, and what she received in return was disgust. She didn't flinch, she was used to disgust, it's all she ever got these days.

Hermione...

The whisper was a flash, but she smiled in spite of herself. There was always that little whisper, right after; telling her that, yes, indeed, there was something worth living for, she just had to wait for it, and well; if she died in the meantime, she wouldn't know the difference, would she?

She closed her eyes and let red hair fill her mind...red hair, ivory skin, soft pale freckles dotting a petite sloping nose and eyes the color of moss, or seawater after a storm. She felt her hands travel down planes of smooth skin and delicate curves. She sighed, sinking into the bed. It briefly entered her mind how uncomfortable this bed was compared to the cloud, but she pushed it away, thinking of her...of her beauty.

"Erm. Hermione?" the voice was deep and cracked a bit on the last syllable of her name.

Hermione opened her eyes again and looked towards the sound of the voice. At first all she saw was white dots, but gradually they faded and she saw that she was looking into the face of none other then Ron Weasley.

"Ron?" she asked, trying to put a touch of enthusiasm in her voice to mask that she wasn't at all happy to see him.

"Um...hi." he answered, running his long fingers awkwardly through his disheveled red hair.

"Hi. What are you doing here?" she asked, rather sharply. She knew that they were far past casualties, they'd reached that point many years ago. In fact, the last time she'd seen Ron was many years ago.

He reached his hand into the pocket of his jeans. Hermione grimaced at how out of place he looked in muggle clothing, and how obviously out of touch he was with what was to be worn, and what wasn't.

He pulled out a small gold galleon. "Remember?" he asked, holding out the gold piece to her. She looked irritably down at the tubes sprouting from her arms.

"OH! Right..." he said, fumbling with the coin. "It's...from the D.A...you made them...so we could all communicate witho-"

She cut him off, "Yes, Ron, I remember, but what does that have to do...-"

Now it was his turn to cut her off. "I'm trying to bloody well explain, aren't I?" he looked down at her, a confused, yet fearful look plastered onto his face. She thought she saw a glimpse of the boy she once knew in that look, but the next moment it was gone, replaced yet again by his very adult awkwardness.

"Right." He started, trying to look everywhere but her eyes. "Well, I was looking through old school things, you know, memories..." he stumbled a bit, looking at the coin for what appeared to be strength. "And well. I found the coin...and I thought, well, this is interesting. I'd thought I'd lost it during that last day...Well anyway, almost the moment I picked it up it started to glow...and well, right away, somehow I knew that it was you calling. So, I ran downstairs to look at the clock..."

"Wait a minute, I'm not on the clock." Hermione cut in, raising one eyebrow. At this point the nurses were staring at them...not in shock, but in a snide cockiness that sent an angry shiver down Hermione's spine.

"You are. Mum added you and Harry after...well, you know..." he smiled weakly before continuing. "Your name was pointing towards mortal peril...and well...okay, I'll admit, I panicked, okay? I tapped into your thoughts. Yeah, I can do that now." he added seeing the skepticism on her face.

"And...I saw that you were here...and well, I came over...because to be honest, there's a message I've had to deliver anyway...I just haven't been able to see where you were...I'm not that good at it, the only reason I could see this time was because your defenses were down."

"You've been trying to find me?"

"For years."

"You know, Ron. You're really thick. Why didn't you just write?"

"Would you have answered?"

Hermione thought about this for a moment and then realized that, yes, indeed, Ron had outgrown some of his schoolboy ignorance.

"No." she answered, finding some reason in his expression to tell him the truth.

"What's you message?" she added, finding herself curious, if only for his connection with her...her...her...

"I have several. The first being that we're godparents." he let the words hang in the air for a moment.

"...To Harry and Ginny's baby boy, James."

Hermione must have stopped breathing, because the next thing she knew she was gasping for breath, holding onto the frame of the bed for support. Several of the nurses had rushed over in alarm.

Ron had realized his mistake.

"I guess...bugger, I guess I should have told you that they had gotten married first. That was the other bit of news..." he trailed off, looking alarmed now at the lack of color in Hermione's face.

"Are you...I mean...did you..." he seemed unable to finish his sentence, but Hermione held up her hand for him to stop anyway.

"Just need to...just give me...need to breathe." she stammered, trying to force air into her lungs. She was still clutching the bed frantically, and Ron was looking around, quite at a loss for words.

After several minutes had passed, Hermione looked up at Ron again.

"Godparents, huh?" she said, trying to push a smile onto her face, but realizing halfway through that it wasn't going to come.

"Yes...and they're expecting another child. They're...they're going to name him Albus." he said the words with care, still trying to pinpoint exactly what had made Hermione so upset.

This time she was ready for it, she didn't even flinch. "Oh?" She asked, pulling the covers tight around her shoulders.

"Yes, Ginny's due in March." at the sound of her name, Hermione couldn't help but flinch a little, and Ron seemed to have noticed it. But, he chose, however to ignore it.

"Is that all?" Hermione asked weakly, now trying to prevent tears from starting to form.

"Well...no...there's two more things. The next one...well, I don't really know what it means. Ginny said to tell you..." he looked up at the ceiling, as if trying to remember a complicated equation.

Hermione's heart stopped. She couldn't control the shaking that had now taken over her body, she looked up at Ron, the warm tingle of anticipation surging through her veins, making her head spin.

"She said to tell you...'Dogs always find their way home.' Does that mean anything to you?"

Hermione felt her entire body go numb, but she didn't miss a beat. "No, it means nothing, just gibberish."

"Oh..." Ron said, looking disappointed, he'd obviously been looking forward to finding out what the message was.

"You said you had 2 more messages, what's the last one?" Hermione was having trouble speaking, but she wanted nothing more than for Ron to leave.

"Oh..." Ron had turned suddenly scarlet and he hastily shoved the golden coin back into his pocket.

"I just wanted...just wanted to ask...well you know we've always had kind of a thing...didn't we?"

Hermione was dumbfounded...was he really bringing this up? She signed inwardly, bracing herself.

"Kind of." she answered, trying her best to look at him blankly.

"Well...I mean...don't you think maybe you'd like to...I don't know...come back with me?"

No sooner were the words out of his mouth that Hermione knew where her immediate future lie. There was only one little thing she wanted to clear up.

"Ron, I'm flattered, really, but, can you give me a week...come back. In one week, and I will give you my answer."

Just as fast as the scarlet jumped into Ron's face, it drained and left him paler than before. A wide smile grew across his face, spreading to every inch of him.

"Brilliant!" He answered, shoving his hands into his pockets again, the smile still plastered on his face.

She gave him a weak smile in return, trying to signal with her eyes that it was time for him to leave.

He seemed to get the hint and he started to back out of the small hospital room. The nurses gave him scorching looks.

"Next week then?" he smile grew.

"Next week." she confirmed.

He turned to go, almost running into the frame of the door.

"Oh, Ron?" she called, before he was fully out.

"Yeah?"

"Tell Ginny something for me will you?" she drew a breath, ragged and short, "Where her home is, there will always be someone there to love her."

"What's that mean?" Ron raised a pale eyebrow.

"Oh, just some gibberish to shoot back to her." Hermione said again, smiling as convincingly as she could.

"Where her home is, there will always be someone to love her...got it. Later, Hermione." he turned again and with a last flash of his cotton yellow shirt, he was gone.

"Later Ron..." Hermione mumbled, for the first time a real smile exploding onto her face. Her body trembling with happiness for the first time since that night at Hogwarts...for the first time since she had seen Ginny's face...for the first time in 10 years.

And if anything was certain, this feeling would stay until next week, mixing with the butterflies and rushing through her like a bullet.

She let her eyes close, and she was submerged in bliss.