DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN WHAT YOU RECOGNIZE AS ANOTHER'S. IF I DID, DRACO WOULD BE PLAYING TONGUE HOCKEY WITH HERMIONE RIGHT NOW...

A/N: Hi! I'm Catch =) hope you'll like it!

It Will Rain

"Ron, I'm sorry." Hermione breathed quietly, burying her mane of hair into the redhead's chest. "I'm sorry. I really am, but I need to do this." She lifted her head, tears falling from her doe-like eyes. They landed like silver bullets on Ron's outstretched hand, reminding him that this was real. That this was not the nightmare that he thought it was. "I need to go."

"Stay," Ron said, hugging her tighter. "I'll do whatever you want me to do. I'll be who ever you need me to be. Just... stay."

"I can't, Ron." She whispered, extricating herself from his grip. "I... I... I don't know who I am anymore."

"Yes, you do. You're Hermione. You'll always be Hermione."

"I'm not her anymore, you know. I'm not the old Hermione that you fell in love with. I'm not the old Hermione that fell in love with you." The brunette stated, the pain and confusion in her voice evident through the din of raindrops bombarding the roof. "She's gone. The war killed her. The war changed me."

"But you're still her," Ron insisted, "No matter what."

"No... I... I just... I need to leave."

"I need you, Hermione."

"No, you don't." She smiled sadly and somewhere deep in the recesses of his mind, the youngest male Weasley knew that she was right. She was always right. "You've got your whole future ahead of you. I don't see mine, but you... you don't have a single bend in your road. You know what you're going to become, and what you're going to achieve. I... I don't have that."

"I don't care about the future as long as I have you in it." The redhead said, clutching her wrist tightly. "Marry me."

"What?"

"Marry me, Hermione, and I promise I'll be yours forever." The redhead breathed as the brunette did a sharp intake of breath. " Marry me and I will never let you feel that way again. Just think about it. You and I, we're perfect for each other. Everyone bet on me and you before. They still do. I love you, Hermione, don't go."

"Ron." She protested as she gripped her striped blue and gray bag. It was a present from her parents; their last token. "The war left me with too much memories to cope with. I have to start making new ones. If I don't do this, there won't be a future for me."

"Is there any chance that I can be in those memories too?"

"No... I'm sorry."

The redhead did not speak. He did not move. He didn't even try to breathe. He knew that arguing with Hermione, especially when she was like this, would be futile. Besides, he knew about her dilemma – he was there when her parents died and when she suffered from the war after all.

"I hope you understand, Ron, I have to do this." Tears cascaded down her cheeks as she shook her delicate head. Ron smiled at her sadly – ruefully. It was a smile of remorse, but in it, there was already forgiveness. He loved her, and if she wanted him to let her go, he will.

Contrary to popular belief, Ron Weasley, thought lacking in the academics department, was not a total failure in sensitivity. He was ignorant, sure, but that didn't mean that he was totally so. He understood her, of course.

So when she made a move towards the door, he didn't stop her. He didn't call out to her. He didn't reach for her, even when everything in him called out to her. Sometimes, people were meant to fall in love – but sometimes, they're also meant to fall out of love.

Ron collapsed on the plush armchair, the tears finally escaping. He had wondered about this day before, he had imagined what it would feel like.

He imagined that it would crush his heart – shatter it, even. He imagined the pain, the suffering, the depression that he would go through.

And his imagination wasn't far off from reality.

His eyes, just like the gray clouds thundering outside, overflowed with tears. Tears of pain, tears of frustration, tears of loss.

After emerging as victors in the war, he had thought that they would stay together forever. That he would be with Hermione until he faced his deathbed. That he would be hers and she his until time stopped and death came. He had always believed in them. He believed that she would heal and that he would too. He thought that maybe, years after the war, he would be coming home to a house full of children. Hermione would be sitting on the porch, reading while little redheads with large brown doe-eyes ran around her, screaming happily. One of them would run up to him and call him 'Daddy' and the others would follow suit. Then Hermione would hug him and smile at him like he was 'Hogwarts a History'.

But even after a year of living together, Hermione refused to even breach the subject of marriage. She said that they weren't financially ready – but they were. He knew why she was really against the idea. Even after a year of happiness, she was still afraid that she might fall into the grasp of the sorrow of war.

And Ron Weasley fell asleep on his plush burgundy chair, tear stains still evident in his beetroot cheeks. He still had a broken heart, he still had a clouded conscience – because he thought that he could have healed her if he was better –, he still loved Hermione. But somehow, he felt that he was set free – that he wasn't chained to shackles anymore.

"Ron! Where is she? I was supposed to meet up with her yesterday for the baby shower but she didn't show!" Ginny said frantically as Ron stepped through the fireplace and into the Potters' Residence in Godric's Hollow. " I tried to call her, but she wouldn't answer."

Harry placed a hand on Ginny's bulging belly. He told her to calm down for the baby, but of course, Ginny was as stubborn as she was fiery. Finally, after being hit on the back of the head, Harry gave up and sat next to Ron, saying, "What happened, Ron?"

"Did you two fight?" Ginny said frantically, wearing a path on the carpet. "Merlin, don't tell me you became a stupid idiot again! I am so killing you after we find Hermione."

"We didn't fight, okay." Ron said quietly, his voice a little broken. "She wanted to leave."

"She wouldn't want to leave if you didn't do anything!" Ginny shouted, placing her hand on her belly and looking terrifyingly alike the eldest Weasley Matriarch (Muriel died days after Victoire was born).

"That's exactly what I did!" Ron shouted more to himself than to his sister and best friend, but nevertheless, Harry placed a restraining hand on her shoulder."I did nothing. That's why she left."

"What?" Ginny said softly as she took in Ron's sobbing form.

"The war affected her more than we thought, Gin. She was hurting, and I did nothing."

"Oh, Ron." Ginny sighed as she collapsed beside her brother. "It's not your fault. We were with her too and we didn't notice. I didn't notice, and I'm the sensitive one."

"No Gin, you weren't the one who was practically married to her. It's like I won't see the sky again." Ron said, his large hands covering his face. " You weren't the one who asked her to marry you and got rejected!"

"She... rejected you?" Ginny spluttered. "But she was looking forward to it for months now. Ever since you moved in together."

"Then why would Hermione reject Ron if she wanted that?"

"Because she was broken and she knew that in order to keep everyone happy and unsuspecting, she had to pretend. You know Hermione, she would rather handle things on her own rather than have others help." A dreamy voice said from the fireplace. Harry, Ron and Ginny simultaneously turned towards the professional looking blonde. "I came as soon as I heard,"

"Heard?" Ron said skeptically, standing up and making room for the blonde. He crossed the room and sat on a high backed dining chair. "But she only left last night. How could you have heard about it?"

"The nargles whispered it to me, of course." Luna said seriously as she held Ginny's hand. Even after all these years of being a psychiatrist, she never let go of her belief of the wizarding supernatural. "Don't worry, she'll come back. Hermione would be struggling now, but she would find a way to come back."

"But I just don't know why she wanted to keep this so secret, even from me! I mean, I read her like an open book." Ginny sobbed, looking towards the gray London sky.

"Gin, Hermione has a lot of secrets, a lot more than all of us combined. She knew that you would grieve and only burden you if you knew about how she felt. She wanted you to be happy, Gin. I think she would have continued pretending until all of you would be sufficiently absorbed in your own lives. I guess she snapped earlier than she intended."

"Luna, can we bring her back?" Harry asked seriously, gripping Ginny's other hand.

"Harry, easy on the hand."

"Sorry, Love." Harry smiled apologetically. "Now, Luna, what do you know about this?"

"All I know is that she will probably go back to her muggle origins. If she wants to find herself, she'll most likely start in the place where her earliest memory took place. It's going to be special – somewhere she will feel that another Hermione lived there. She should have to feel safe there, but it should be somewhere special, somewhere only she knows."

"Her tree house." Ginny and Harry whispered to each other, exchanging looks of question.

"No," Luna sighed. "So many of us knows already. There has to be a place where she thinks that she would feel the old Hermione. There should be a safe haven from magic." Luna said, sighing. Of course she felt like a failure. She was a psychiatrist for crying out loud! She was one of the best, but of course, Hermione had always been cunning enough to escape her notice. "Trust me, guys. This is standard behavior."

"Since when did Hermione start being standard? There has to be something... there's always something."

"Harry, this is our best lead for now. We need to take it, fast." Ginny said.

"Then where do you suggest that we find her?"

"We need to think of something. We need to look for her. We need to bring her back."

Then Ron, who had stayed eerily silent stood up from his chair and leaned towards the windows. "You know guys, back then, I thought that if I lost her, I would stop at nothing to bring her back. Because I wouldn't be able to feel the sun again and the sky won't be able to show itself to me. I thought that I would feel shackled and bound by her even when she was away, but I feel... free. You have to understand that she wouldn't do this if she knew that we wouldn't be able to take it. She wouldn't have... left if she wasn't sure that we would be able to cope."

"Ron," Harry said, turning to his best friend. He raised a dark eyebrow and stared at the redhead. "You know something."

"I do," he said softly, his eyes still lingering on the stormy clouds. "If you really want to bring her back... did she ever tell you that she plays the violin?"

"What? No!" Ginny stuttered, standing up abruptly.

"Well, she did." Ron sighed. "Didn't you ever wonder about the creepy violin sounds near the Astronomy tower? It was her."

"Where then?"

"You know perfectly well that if Hermione doesn't want to be found, she wouldn't be found."

"I know." Ginny said softly. "But we still have to try."

"Her school's auditorium. I went with her there during one of her charity concerts."

"Harry?"

"I'll just need to take my wand. Luna and I will go. Ginny, stay here and try to contact Neville and the others." Harry kissed Ginny before she opened her mouth to protest. "Stay here."

"Be careful." Said the dazed red.

"I will. Love you." And with that, Harry and Luna rushed off into the midnight air.

"Luna, are you sure about this?" Harry said as he and Luna climb up the stage steps. "She could be anywhere by now."

"She could be, but I know that she would have at least stopped by a place like this."

"Alright. You go look at the instruments. I'll check the back stage."

Luna nodded and rushed towards the old and worn objects. Harry, meanwhile, headed towards the stage doors.

Harry had never expected that Hermione would leave like this. He had always thought that she was stronger, more solid, more stable than the rest of the survivors. She had seemed impasse to him at times, but it was understandable, she had lost her parents after all. But nevertheless, her disappearance still came as a shock to him, even now as he walked through the creepy space.

"Harry! Come here for a bit! I think I found something." Luna's voice wafted through the air. Instantly, Harry bounded across costumes and trinkets and appeared beside the blonde. "It looks like a letter."

"Let's open it."

"I... can't." Luna said after a breath.

"Take off your gloves, maybe it needs to be touched by skin."

Luna pursed her lips an took her silver gloves away. Slowly, she pried open the sealed envelope and a single piece of parchment fell off. Harry bent down and read.

Nice try, guys.

If you're reading this letter, I must be anywhere in the word by now and while I'm writing this, I think I'll enjoy some sun in Laos.

But that's not why I'm writing this letter.

You have to understand that I don't want to be found. I need to look for something that's missing in my life, as cliché as that may sound. I need to look for me. I lost the old Hermione because of the war and I need to look for her. I need to see me again. I need this break. And Harry, I know that Ginny will need me, but I promise that I'll help her.

Tell Ron that I loved him truly and deeply. And that sometimes, people are meant to fall in love, but not to stay in it. I know that he understands why I'm doing this. And tell him to move on. He deserves so much better in life.

Tell Harry – and if you're reading this – to take care of Ginny. Don't let her eat peanuts and stop making her drink chamomile tea. I love you, and I'm sorry.

Tell Ginny to stay calm and take care of the baby. And that I'll be there for her when the time comes.

Tell Luna that I'll be back, no matter what. And don't stress on missing the fact that I was miserable – I didn't even realize it until a month ago.

Tell the others that I'll be fine, and not to fret. I can do this.

Love,

Hermione

P.S. Don't try looking for me anymore, it's no use. I love you all, remember that.

P.P.S. Don't forget to feed crookshanks for me. Thanks!

Harry sighed and reread the letter again. Luna, meanwhile, was off into dreamland again.

"I guess that we'll just have to wait for her."

A/n: There you go! Too dramatic? Too lackluster? Too … gaaah? Tell/PM me!

ALSO! Before anyone attacks me and says that I'm copying another story... I'm also a resident in Wattpad under the name StarsFallToo I tried to synchronize my user names, but SFT is already taken here, and ICYIYF is loooooooong =/

Next update is tomorrow... ore on wednesday =)