Night-time Wanderings
I wrote this for the 'Pairing One Hour Challenge/Hardest Challenge Ever II', my pairing was Ron/Hermione and my prompt was Forbidden Forest.
Ron sat on his bed, the curtains pulled around him, staring into space. Trying not to think, trying to suppress the memories from the previous few months. It was almost a relief when Harry and the rest of the Gryffindor boys entered, chattering about their latest homework assignments. He had no desire to join in however, and was glad his friends respected his privacy when the curtains were drawn.
It was odd to be back in Hogwarts, studying and taking classes as they had before the Second Wizarding War began proper, but when the opportunity was given to them to return and re-take their missed year, he jumped at the chance, and that Hermione encouraged them to finish their education only improved the idea. Living at home in the current atmosphere would do little to help the thoughts and memories that refused to leave him alone. Not that he disliked his family, he loved them dearly, but he needed to have his own space for a while, to come to terms with the events of the war. That, and he couldn't bear to look at George.
Ron waited for the dormitory to go completely silent before daring to pull back his bed covers and tiptoed out of bed. He found himself unable to sleep more often than not, and took to wandering the castle and grounds, unwilling to be confined to his bed, not able to sleep, during the early hours. He grabbed his wand from under his pillow, pulled on his shoes and fastened his cloak around him, wincing at the fabric rustled, but luckily none of his dorm mates stirred.
The common room was empty, as he expected, so no one was able to question why he was out of bed at such an hour. The Fat Lady grumbled about the inappropriateness of the time as he swung the portrait open, but he did not reply. Tiptoeing through the empty castle, he was careful to avoid any professors – their year on the run gave him a lot of practice in concealing himself when he did not wish to be seen. He automatically made his way to the entrance hall, the past few weeks of term he had spent discovering the grounds, exploring parts he had never been to. If it weren't for the circumstances, he would have been amazed that there was so much of the grounds he had never explored.
Slipping out the door, he made a quick check of the sky, glad the moon was bright enough not to need a lumos charm – he had no idea what sort of punishment trespassing in the grounds would receive him considering the new security measure now in place, and knew that no matter how they had served the wizarding world with defeating Voldemort, this did not make him exempt from the Hogwarts rules – which he had learned the very first day after an unexpected meeting with Professor McGonagall whilst on one of his wanderings. There was another reason he was glad he did not need a light charm – he pointed his wand at himself, murmuring the incarnation for a shield charm. The war was over, Hogwarts was supposed to be safe, but it wouldn't hurt to be careful.
Once the charm was complete, he made his way directly across the grounds towards the forbidden forest, his destination clear in his mind. He soon found it, a small clearing only a little way into the forest, close enough to the edge that he would feel safe.
Now that he reached his destination, he had nothing to keep his mind clear. He briefly wished he had been taught occlumency like Harry had, if only to keep his own memories out. The Ron he had been the past few months was unlike he ever believed he would be. He found himself struggling to make it through each day, he couldn't even meet the eyes of his family. His feelings were conflicted, but none were positive – he was ashamed he had left Harry and Hermione, he was weary to the bone of everything he had been through the past year, and he was grieving the loss of his brother. He did not tell anyone, but he often wished it had been him instead of Fred, for he couldn't bear to see George alone, he always seemed so lost without his twin.
"Ron?" A voice floated through the trees, a voice he could place anywhere.
"Hermione?" he replied, as she found her way into the clearing, her wand light momentarily blinding him. "What are you doing here?"
A blush creeped up her face, "I followed you. I hope you don't mind, but I've been really worried about you."
"Oh," he said, slipping his wand back into his pocket.
He expected her to tell him off for leaving the safety of the castle, or for breaking the rules. Instead, she pulled herself onto the low branch he was sitting him, placing her hand on his arm.
He smiled to himself. No matter what the world threw at him, he knew he could rely on Hermione, she was there when he could not bear to see anyone else. He was mortified when he first broke down in front of her, one afternoon at the Burrow, but she had been so supportive. Since then she had made it her duty to look after him, and she had been brilliant; quietly sitting with him when he did not want to talk, holding him when he couldn't take it anymore, soothing him as he let the tears fall.
This night was no different. She stayed with him, on an uncomfortable branch in the Forbidden Forest he knew she was terrified of, until the sun rose over the trees.