All characters in this story belong to J.K Rowling.
Hermione opens her tired eyes and scans her pristine apartment. She slides out of her bed and crosses over to her calendar. In bold print, the words, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" is circled in red. She gives a sad smile as she remembers when she and Ron wrote those words.
"Happy birthday indeed," she mutters bitterly to herself.
Exactly three months to this day, her fiancé, Ron Weasley, died of Acute Myelogenous Leukemia. They had been so happy together. It was brutal blow when they found out. She closes her eyes trying not to remember that day but fails terribly.
She and Ron walk into the clinic, hand in hand, to get the results from their annual check-up. She crosses the room towards receptionist at the counter. Hermione gives the woman their names. The lady glances up and smiles. There is no hint of recognition in her eyes as she is a muggle. Hermione and Ron did not like being in the public's eye all the time, so it was refreshing being around people who didn't know them as Harry Potter's best friends. They walk over to the waiting room still hand in hand and wait. After about ten minutes a female doctor walks in.
"Ronald Weasley, and Hermione Granger?" She announces.
"That'll be us," Ron says smiling.
Hermione smiles teasingly and says, "I wouldn't have guessed."
They made their way across the room, and the nurse led them into an office. "Dr. Mors will be in here shortly to see you." She said.
After another three minutes Ron asks mockingly, "Do these muggle doctors always take this long to see their patients?"
She scowled at him, "For your information Ronald, Doctors are extremely busy people. And no, they normally do not." She ended hotly.
He looked over at her and grinned, "You know I'm just yanking your wand Hermione," he looked around and said, "Where are we anyways? Last time we were here the room looked more well, white."
Hermione was wondering the same thing. "I think we may be in the doctor's office." She concluded.
Right then a middle aged man walked in, "Hello, my name is Dr. Mors," he looked a little hesitant to go on, "Uh, I called you to my office to tell you that you and Miss Granger seem to be quite healthy."
"That's it?" Ron asked incredulously, "Why couldn't you have just called us or mailed us the results?"
"Well, you see Mr. Weasley," the doctor began," when we received your lab results we found an excessive amount of white blood cells, which would possibly indicate signs of Leukaemia. We're running extra test just to make sure. But from what the results show… he has Acute Myelogenous Leukaemia. " He ended.
She and Ron were stunned. This couldn't be happening. No! This isn't happening! Oh but it is, she told herself. She looked at Ron. He had a look of disbelief and pain on his face. Hermione felt tears well up in her eyes. Her poor, poor Ron. None of this should be happening, least of all to him. But there was still hope. Yes! He said there were possible signs of leukaemia. This got her out of her daze. She looked back up at the doctor and said, "How long would he have if he had Leukaemia?" It was a simple question but it tore at her heart.
"It depends on how far along Mr. Weasley is. It could be months, years even. I won't know until I get the lab results in." He said.
"But you said I had that Acute Myelogenic Leukaemia stuff!" Ron shouted, who had apparently come out of his shocked stupor. "How long do I have then?"
" From what the charts show you are in the later stages of the leukaemia. You have one year."
Those blasted words destroyed her supposed happy future. Those four measly words were the reason for the great Ron Weasley's down-fall. She walked over to her worn out recliner and plopped down onto it. Hermione stared into space and wondered the same question that's been haunting her subconscious for weeks, "Why?" Why did this infernal disease claim her Ron as its own? Cancer is not even supposed to be able to touch purebloods. Only in rare cases has it ever been recorded that a pureblood was diagnosed with the disease. She for one didn't believe in pureblood supremacy. But it seems they do seem to have a stronger resistance to muggle diseases. A traitorous tear leaked for her eye. Hermione quickly wiped it away. She couldn't look like a sobbing mess when her friends came over. She quickly got up and made her way to the kitchen. Hermione opened a cooking book and flipped to the marked page. Strawberry a L'Orange has been said to be quite good, so she decided to see for herself.
"Okay, First I need to get the cake mix," she told herself. Hermione followed the instructions to the dot. There's no way she would mess up her cake. It was after all her twentieth. She was no longer a teenager. But she was still young and still had a long future, no matter how bleak it seemed at this point. She meticulously cut the required fruit for the cake and added it. She liked cooking it always seemed to remind her of her Hogwarts days. Everything seemed to be a lot happier back then, even when you could see the war in the very near future. Within an hour and a half the cake was done and her apartment was decorated.
She again sat down on her recliner and again her thought centered on the red head. All her questions and hopeless dreams were about him now days. She couldn't go a minute without thinking of him. She was hopeless. A knock at the door woke her from her thoughts. She walked across the room and put on a smile and opened the door. She was greeted by smiling faces and happy wishes for her birthday. The last to come in was Harry.
"Happy Birthday, Hermione." Harry said while hugging her.
"Thank you," She answered, "Hey, thanks for coming. I know you're really busy being an Auror and all. I just really appreciate it." She said
"Hermione, you're my best mate. Of Course I'm going to celebrate your birthday with you!" He said exasperated. Then a look of concern and pity crossed his face. "Ron would have wanted you to enjoy your birthday. Come on, join the celebration. It is after all for you." He said teasingly."
Hermione smiled weakly, "I know. It's just hard." She said sadly. So many thoughts ran through her head. All about him, but she couldn't go through life wishing for the impossible. Ron wouldn't be proud if he saw her like this. She is Hermione Granger. She has been through much worse than this. Damn it all! She was the Brightest Witch of her Age! She is not going to go through life acting like some blubbering fool. She did have her future ahead of her, and she will seize that future and make the most of it. "Yes it is hard," she continued, "But I have to put my brave face on, and walk though life with my head held high." She said confidently. "I will not let this defeat me."