Disclaimer: JKR owns all; including my appreciation and admiration.
A/N: These are a series of scenes that occur after the battle at Hogwarts; you might want to read Speeches and Kisses first.
Chapter 1: The Invisibility Section
The battle was over. Many had died; there was much sadness in the eyes of those who gathered in the Gryffindor tower, but there was joy also. Whispers filled the room after Harry Potter left the tower accompanied by a certain red head, and Hermione Granger was left standing beside her dearest friend; Ron Weasley. The Weasley family had been nearly torn apart by Fred's passing, but Ron who knew what evils had been undone was grateful that it had only cost him one brother. The rest of his family, and the girl he so loved were alive. He looked down into her smiling face and saw a single tear cascade down her freckled cheek. "Hermione, d'you want to go someplace else and talk?" He smiled.
She sniffed and nodded in response, and he led her with one arm around her out of the portrait hole of the Gryffindor tower. They turned corners in awe at the destruction of the castle of Hogwarts. The sun shone through deep gashes in the walls and windows that had been broken.
The pair walked together slowly, pausing to look upon the damage. When they descended one particular staircase, a sore sight met their eyes; a once beautifully intricate stained glass window of the Lady Ravenclaw lay in a million shards upon the stone floor. Hermione knelt down to pick up a large shard that lay at her feet. The piece was as big as her palm and upon it; Hermione could make out just three letters.
"This must have been a piece of the book she was holding," Hermione said, and then lifted her eyes to look at Ron. Ron frowned, and turned his gaze to the empty window pane where the glass had been. Hermione sighed, and Ron put a hand on her shoulder.
"Hermione; it's just a window." He took the shard of glass from her and guided her away from the sight and down the hallway. Suddenly Hermione's pace quickened and as she turned a corner she ran down a flight of stairs; Ron trailing after her. "Hermione what's the matter?" He called after her, "where are you going?"
"I just have to see something," she called back, and continued her pace. Ron raced after her until she halted at the end of a very familiar hallway and paused before proceeding into her favorite part of the castle. Ron followed her as she walked into the Hogwarts Library and watched as Hermione wandered about in utter disbelief.
Shelves upon shelves of books lay upon the floor, and countless books were strewn tattered and thrashed across the room. Windows were broken, tables overturned, and at the back of the Library there was a Grawp fist sized hole in the wall. Sunlight poured into the room illuminating the dust and destruction.
Hermione ran her hand across an overturned table, then picked a book up off the floor; smoothed out a few pages, and set it on a shelf. She faced Ron who was stepping gingerly around more broken glass. "I was hoping this place would be alright." She said.
"It will be," Ron said, "just needs to be fixed up a bit."
Hermione smiled, "It's going to take a long time until it's back to the way it was before." She sighed as she ventured further into the room. She leaned on one of the tables that hadn't been overturned and surveyed the wreckage. "I always felt so safe in this room, so at home…this was the one place I could always go to find answers…it always made sense..." Her eyes met Ron's, and he tried to smile back at her.
"We sure spent a lot of time here didn't we?" He sat at the nearest table and then looked across the room at a section of the Library that was completely empty. It took him a few moments before he realized that a portion of a fallen bookcase lay on edge, but more than half of it was missing. Ron chuckled and Hermione looked over to the spot Ron was surveying. "They sure are going to have a time sorting out that Invisibility Section," he said. Hermione laughed lightly, and then picked up another tattered book and ran her hand over its cover. Ron looked down at his hands as he spoke. "You know, during some of those long hours we spent in here late at night, studying…or trying to save the world, I always had a hard time keeping me eyes off of you." Their eyes met, and Ron rose from his seat and walked over to her. "Your hair would be all in your face and your eyes would be all droopy, and you were so tense and strained…it was all I could do to keep from just kissing you…" he brushed her cheek with his palm, took her hand in his and began to lead her across the room towards the Invisibility Section, "…problem was, you were always so focused on what you were doing to notice, and Harry was always around; we were never properly alone, so I used to daydream about taking your hand…" Hermione watched as Ron disappeared into the corner of the Library, and looked down at her missing hand momentarily before following him into invisibility. "I'd lead you to this spot, were no one could see us…and I'd do this." He cupped her face in his hands and brushed his lips across hers. Hermione's arms found their way around Ron's neck and he responded by deepening their kiss. They became not only lost from sight, but time and place as they found comfort and a new beginning in that one kiss.