Summary: Hermione had once heard that a casualty in war would affect a family for a lifetime. If this was true, a thousand families' lives had been destroyed that morning. A look at the trio's lives post-DH.
Okay, well, I decided I'd redo this story. The plot will stay mainly the same, but I've added this chapter as a prologue. It will probably be about ten chapters when it's finished. Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: (Sighs) Do I even need to say it? This all belongs to JK Rowling.
Hermione glanced about the Gryffindor common room. So many people had died that morning and the room was filled with grieving people. Mrs. Weasley had long since been escorted home by Bill, Charlie, Percy, and Mr. Weasley. George was nowhere to be found. Hermione assumed that he was with Angelina. Harry held a sleeping Ginny close to him, next to the fireplace. Her face was tear-streaked and grief stricken. Hermione had never seen Ginny look so lifeless. As for Harry, well, he looked as a war hero often would. Neville and Luna sat off together in a corner. Over the past two years they had become extremely good friends through their differences.
She saw Lavender sitting off in a corner, alone. She was crying silently. Hermione did not feel like comforting the one girl who destroyed her life two years ago, but after the past months, it seemed like a petty argument. She moved over to where Lavender was and sat down next to her. Lavender looked at her with shocked, tear-filled eyes. Hermione just gave her a comforting smile and took her hand, trying to reassure her that everything would be okay. (A/N- Shudders. Okay, don't get me wrong. I HATE Lavender, but this just had to happen at some point. Please forgive me!) Lavender nodded and gave Hermione a watery smile. Hermione then stood up, and looked at the remaining people in the room.
She had witnessed so much in the span of a few hours thatshe wondered how her ever-buzzing brain could possibly comprehend anything else. She had once heard that one casualty in a war would affect a family for a lifetime. If this was true, a thousand families' lives had been destroyed that morning.
Families had been ripped apart, friends were lost, so much was there to be thought about, but Hermione's head was filled only with thoughts of Ron. She hadn't seen him since they had both run to Harry's side after the battle was over.
She cautiously crept up the stairs to the boys' dormitories. She walked into Ron's dormitory and found him sitting on his bed with his head in his hands. She wanted to be there next to him, to hold him and comfort him, but she didn't know what to do. You couldn't learn this from books. This wasn't like a member of your family, where you could mess up and be forgiven. This was more. This was Ron. Ron, the one she had kissed only a few hours earlier. Ron, her best friend of seven years.
She carefully placed a shaking hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sorry, Hermione. I should have been there for you at Malfoy Manor. I should have been there to protect Fred. It should have been me all those times. It's all my fault," he whispered, his voice cracking.
Her heart practically ripped in two as she saw a single tear fall from the end of his long nose and into his lap. She gently grabbed his hand and held it in between her own. "Ron, you fought so bravely. There was nothing you could do about-about Fred…"
"But I left you and Harry. I left you…"
"Well, I'll admit that was a bit, er…problematic, but we all pulled through in the end, didn't we?"
"Hermione. Let's just face it. I don't belong in Gryffindor. I'm just a coward. I'm a coward and I deserve to die." As he said this, she dropped his hands. When he met her gaze, she smacked him, hard, leaving a pink handprint on the side of his face.
"How can you say that, Ronald?! After the hell you put me through! Don't you realize that your dieing would only kill me more? I can't believe you'd be so selfish as to take yourself away from your family and the people who love you…people like me."
Ron touched his fingers to the mark on the side of his right cheek, and then he moved them to tilt her chin up slightly, so she was looking at him. Her face was now streaked with tears as well. He wiped the tears away with his thumbs and gently brushed his lips against hers. Although she was angry, she greeted his gesture warmly and leaned forward, deepening the kiss. It wasn't nearly as fiery as their first, but was exceedingly passionate.
It was Hermione who first broke the kiss. "Ron," she whispered, pressing her forehead against his, "You most definitely do not deserve to die." Ron smiled.
A weak smile had formed on Hermione's face as well. "Where do we go from here, Ron?"
"Well, I supposed we'll have quite a bit of mourning to do this week, but then we'll have to go get your parents, won't we?
"We?"
"Yes, we. Did you really think I'd let you go on your own all the way to Australia? What if you came to your senses and found some hot guy there and never came home to me?"
She hugged him. "Thanks Ron."
They must've fallen asleep at some point during the afternoon, because when the sun rose the next morning, they were still in Ron's bed. Hermione woke up first. As the morning rays of light drifted in from the window, she glanced about the room. Maybe there was a future to look forward to after all.
I think I've go the times right. Voldie wasn't defeated until 5:00ish in the morning, so I figure that Ron and Hermione probably got to bed at about noon…and then they slept until the next day. Thanks for reading! Please review! The more reviews I get, the faster I'll update!