Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Just the plot and any new characters.

To succeed you need to find something to hold on to, something to motivate you, something to inspire you. -Tony Dorsett

Waking up to the annoying sound of his alarm, Ron groaned and shut it off. Gentle rays of light filtered through his window and blinded him as he rolled over in his bed, trying to ignore the soft sounds of people coming up from the other levels of the busy Burrow.

This summer had been extremely busy and extremely perilous, with Voldemort gone, things were still dangerous. The Death Eaters were pissed and wanted the blood of every wizard who had participated in the war, especially Harry Potter. Though many knew Draco Malfoy was guilty of crimes, the Ministry had no real proof and therefore were forced to let him go, but kept him under intense surveillance.

Harry had obviously had to spend some of his summer with those Muggles, though he had taken it upon himself to isolate himself from everyone immediately after the war, staying away from everyone for at least five months with no word on how he was.

But Hermione had opted to stay with her parents. That choice had been fine until their house had caught fire just yesterday. Hermione was coming over today to spend the rest of her time here, along with her parents. She had spent the night at Sirius's house. The two were both coming to stay at the Burrow today, though Ron was oblivious to what time they were to arrive.

Ron almost succeeded in falling back to sleep when Ginny burst in and went over to his bed.

"Ron! Ron, wake up! Harry and Hermione are here, you twit! Wake up," she told him, shaking the bed and then pulling back the sheets.

Ron groaned. "Ten more minutes, damn it," he swore, pulling the sheets back over his head.

Ginny rolled her eyes and dragged the sheets off of him. Ron pulled a pillow out from under him and placed it over his head, groaning and swearing dark oaths to Ginny.

"You shouldn't swear, Ronald."

Ron opened his eyes in horror at the sound of Hermione Granger's voice. He took the pillow off his head and looked over at the door. Hermione and Harry were standing there, smirking at Ron. The situation wouldn't have been so bad had Ron actually been wearing more than just his boxers. Hermione seemed to have realized that and she blushed and looked down. She turned to Ginny.

"Come on, Gin. Let's let him get dressed," she whispered before leaving quickly.

Ginny grinned and left as well. Harry raised an eyebrow. "Chudley Cannon boxers?"

Ron went bright red and glared at his friend. Getting up, he sulked over to the dresser and pulled out some sweat pants and a white t-shirt. Shoving them on, he looked over at Harry.

"How long have you two been here?" he asked.

Harry shrugged. "Not long. Everything ok here?"

That's a loaded question, Ron thought darkly. "Nothing like what happened to Hermione. A few death threats, but that's it. No one's stupid enough to attack the Burrow. Death Eaters know Dumbledore's been here," he responded.

Harry nodded silently and the two left.


Hermione looked up from her book to see Ron and Harry enter the kitchen. Ron noticed the book and rolled his eyes.

"You haven't been here for more than an hour and already you've started," he remarked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked hotly.

Ron shrugged. "Nothing. I just meant that you just like to read."

"At least I can read," Hermione muttered.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Hermione looked up at him. "I've never seen you pick up a book, so I really don't know if you can read," she replied nonchalantly.

"Hermione-"

"Will you two shut up!" Harry snapped.

Surprised, they stared at him with wide eyes. Harry closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "You two haven't been around each other for more than five minutes and already you're fighting. Will you just shut up?"

With that, he walked out the back door. Thoroughly embarrassed by their childish behavior, Ron and Hermione sat in silence for a moment before Ron got up and walked towards the door.

"Ron," Hermione called.

He stopped and turned around, leaning on the door knob. "Yeah?"

Hermione bit her lip and then sighed. "I'm sorry," she muttered.

Ron nearly slid off the knob and hit the floor. Wide-eyed, he stuttered, "I… What?"

Hermione took another deep breath. "I'm sorry," she said a little louder. "I know you can read," she whispered.

For a moment it looked as if Ron would pass out from shock. Since when the hell did Hermione apologize? He took a step closer to her and looked her in the eyes carefully. Hermione stepped back slightly, alarmed.

"What?" she asked.

"Who are you and what have you done with Hermione Granger?" he asked.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "You're impossible," she muttered, turning around.

Ron reached out and took her arm. "Wait, I didn't hear what you said. Did you just apologize?"

Hermione glared at him. "I said I'm sorry for what I said, now let me go," she growled.

Ron smiled and leaned in closer. "I'm sorry, could you repeat that, I don't think I heard that properly," he said.

Hermione tried to hide a smile and tugged her arm away. She hated that even though she wanted to be mad at him, she couldn't. "I'm sorry," she said louder.

He threw his hands in the air and let out a whoop. "Ha! Hermione Jane Granger has just apologized to me!" With that, he started running around the house, screaming it.

Hermione ran after him. "Ron! Ron, stop! It's not that big of a deal!" she begged, looking around for him.

He grabbed her around the waist and twirled her around. "Do you know how long I've waited for that moment where you'd actually apologize to me instead of me apologizing to you?"

"Ronald Weasley, you've never apologized to me, now put me down!" she screamed, kicking around.

Ron stopped and let her down so that she was right in front of him. Their bodies were touching and Ron's heart started racing so fast he was afraid she'd hear it. They stared at each other for a moment until Hermione blushed and looked down, straightening her shirt. Ron reached up and tucked a loose hair behind her ear and she looked up again in surprise. She was about to say something when someone called out. The two stepped back and looked down the stairs to see Fred and George staring up at them with identical grins.

"There she is!" Fred exclaimed.

Hermione let out a whimper before tearing off up the stairs with the twins after her. Ron moved out of the way and listened as Hermione screamed when they caught her. He then smiled when they brought her down, slung over George's shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Hermione gave Ron a look before she disappeared into the kitchen door.

"You two looked quite cozy."

Ron looked up to see Bill standing there with Fleur. Ron went completely red and glared at his eldest brother. He mentally cursed himself for letting himself get that close to Hermione in such an open place. He'd forgotten that Bill and Fleur were going to be staying at the Burrow until the Death Eater threat was over.

"We were just having a bit of fun," he muttered before heading off down the stairs.

Fleur smiled and turned to Bill. "Just zome fun?"

Bill rolled his eyes. "My brother's a prat," he commented before they went down.


Harry and Ginny burst out laughing as George dumped Hermione by them in a heap of angry frizzed hair. Hermione shoved her hair out of her face and glared at the twins.

"I missed you too," she muttered.

Fred grinned. "We'll be seeing you later, Hermione."

"Come by the shop," George added.

Hermione smiled. "I'll see."

The twins left and Hermione turned to Ginny. "I don't know how you do it," she whispered.

Ginny smiled. "Where's Ron?" she asked.

Hermione went red as the event that took place on the staircase came rushing back in a swirl of confusion. What had happened?

Harry and Ginny exchanged glances. "Hermione…"

She looked up and went slightly redder. "I'm sorry, what?"

Before they could respond, Ron came walking up, muttering under his breath. He sat down next to his sister and looked over at Harry, trying hard not to look over at Hermione.

"Did Dumbledore contact you at all?" he asked.

Suddenly everything went silent. The memories of the past horrors came rushing back and the promise of death that still loomed over them surrounded them, filling them with a feeling of dread.

Harry shook his head. "No… he didn't…"

Ginny looked over at Hermione. "Do they know who set fire to your house?" she asked.

Hermione shook her head. "All I know was that they weren't planning to kill us… just scare us. My mum isn't too thrilled about letting me go back to Hogwarts this year. We've been getting threats all summer and she's really scared."

"Well, you're safe here," Ron whispered.

Hermione looked up at him and he offered her a smile. She returned the smile and looked away, trying to control her emotions before she started crying. Ginny seemed to have noticed and moved over to her, taking her in her arms. At that moment, Hermione let go and started crying.

"I was so scared," she whispered.

A gentle breeze passed through the trees as Hermione let go of all the fear she had been holding since she had heard her mother scream that the house was on fire and that her father was trapped in one of the rooms. Ginny looked up at the boys who watched their best friend with a look Ginny had only seen once. During the war when Hermione's parents had actually been declared dead when the Death Eaters had kidnapped them. It was that need to protect her from hurt. From the pain she had gone through. That she was going through now. The two looked at each other and some how, they understood what needed to be done.

A/N: I hope you enjoy this story. Don't worry, I will finish Haunted and Numb.