Never the Same by FloatingBallofLight
Chapter One: Brown/Blue
It was a while before she saw him again. It was understandable. He had to do his grieving with his family first. Then he'd take a turn with her. Well, maybe. She still wasn't sure.
Harry and her wandered up to the Gryffindor common room, Harry immediately going up the stairs to fall unconsious in his bed.
Hermione remained on the couch in front of the fire, staring into oblivion.
Her mind was too full of thoughts for her to ever fall asleep, but that was the problem: she didn't know what to think about.
Apparently, just because the war was over didn't mean that she could get some shut-eye any easier.
It felt like hours (though it was most likely minutes) before he clammored through the portrait door.
She couldn't rip her eyes away from the orange flames as much as she wanted to, but she knew he was just standing there with his hand rubbing the back of his neck like always when he got nervous, contemplating whether he should sit down next to her, or just leave.
Deciding on the former, he took a seat far enough away on the couch to not look suspicious, but close enough to appear caring.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him eyeing her curiously.
"You alright?"
His voice sounded hollow and rough. Not at all what he normally sounded like.
She finally got her eyes on him and once they were there she found she could not look away.
"Yeah, Ron. I'm fine. Are you?"
"Mhmm."
You didn't have to be Hermione to know he was lying.
"No."
"What?"
"No. You're not fine."
A small frown graced his face as she said this.
"Oh. Well, I'm not yet. But I will be."
"Yeah?"
There was a long pause before he nodded his answer.
For a few minutes they just sat there gazing into each other's eyes.
Blue on brown.
Brown on blue.
And she knew it was true.
He would be fine.
They would be fine.