The trio stepped into the cave, Harry first, then Hermione, and then Ron.
"Wait!" Said Ron, "I'll go in first." He said bravely, Harry know this was another attempt to impress Hermione that would never work, but didn't say anything, just let Ron go in ahead. The cave was dark. The three of them stuck close together, as they could scarcely see right in front of them, even with their illuminated wands. They walked on for hours in the pitch dark. Harry squinted to make out Ron ducking through tunnels and jumping away from what Harry could assume were occupied spider webs. Finally they turned a corner. There was a hole in the roof of the cave, about the size of Crookshanks, through which a stream of sunlight revealed that something here was missing.
"Where's Hermione?" Asked Ron in a slightly worried voice. Harry looked around the corner from which they'd just emerged, but his wand wasn't bright enough to tell if there was anyone there.
"Um…" Said Harry, "well, Hermione's got a good head on her shoulders… better than both of us combined… I'm sure she's all right." Ron gulped and nodded. They looked around for the most inviting tunnel to move on, when in the distance, slightly to the left they heard a girl scream. Both boys gasped, and Ron ran ahead into the tunnel that sounded closest to where the scream had come from. Harry followed, as closely as he could, but Ron was a few feet ahead of him. Harry ran down the same tunnel Ron had disappeared into. When he reached the end he saw two room-like tunnels side-by-side ahead of him. The one on the right was brightly lit, so Harry assumed that Ron was in that one. He stepped into that room and saw first, his friend, Ron standing in the middle of the room, wand dangling at his side. Ron was looking down, open-mouthed, and shaking, all color had drained from his face. Harry looked to see what had Ron so shaken up. First he saw a wand lying on the ground with streams of bright light shooting from the tip, whoever owned this wand must have used the charm, "Lumos Maxima." Next to the wand was a large red figure that Harry couldn't make out. As his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw that it was a girl. No. The girl's clothes were soaked in blood.It was hard to make out the girl's age or features as her face was covered in cuts and scratches. He stepped farther in, Ron didn't move an inch, as Harry stepped forward he could make out familiar wavy brown hair. Then familiar brown eyes, and soon a familiar face altogether. What? He thought. He felt a pain in his chest as he realized that she didn't appear to be breathing. He stared at Hermione for a moment before he looked up at Ron, who was still shaking terribly. Harry, knowing full well that Ron's feelings for Hermione, despite their constant bickering, went much deeper than they might seem, walked over to attempt to comfort Ron. "Maybe she's all right." He suggested, "I… I'll check her pulse." Ron nodded absently, never taking his eyes off of Hermione's mangled body. Harry knelt down, took a deep breath, and reached for Hermione's wrist. He didn't get to feel for a pulse, though, because as soon as Harry reached around Ron, Hermione's body disappeared and was replaced by a hooded figure. The room went dark again as the wand on the ground disappeared. Harry squinted again in the dark. What the- Then he realized what was going on, "Riddikulus!" he yelled. And he turned to Ron as the dementor disappeared from sight. "See? Ron, it's ok! It's just a boggart, your boggart has changed, see?"
"Ugh!" said a voice from the corner of the room. Hermione brushed dirt and leaves off of her clothes, then looked up. Harry had already run over to greet her. "Oh! There you are, Harry!" He hugged her. She looked at him strangely.
"You had us so worried!" He told her.
"What? Why?"
"Never mind, it's just… you were gone… and then…the scream."
"Yeah, I took a wrong turn somewhere, I couldn't see anything in there! And then I tripped over a…I think it was a dead rat… into this awful smelling plant… anyway, it doesn't matter." Harry wondered why Ron hadn't run over to greet Hermione the moment she arrived, the way he had. Apparently Hermione thought the same thing. "Where's R-" but she couldn't finish. She couldn't finish because Ron had shoved Harry aside and kissed her. They broke apart after a few seconds and Ron pulled Hermione tightly close.
"I missed you, Hermione." He said. Harry saw an expression on Hermione that she didn't wear often; confusion. But she seemed thrilled about whatever had just happened, and she leaned her head into Ron. Harry shook his head, smiling. He should have seen this coming. He knew they had a long way to go, but he let his friends enjoy this moment, before they would have to go on in their long quest to defeat Lord Voldemort.