A/N: Dear Me! I just had to get this out! Basically, this is the only summary I can give you:

Harry loved Ginny, and he proposed to her almost immediately after the war, despite Hermione's wishes that he didn't. It wasn't the right time, according to her, and the two had their futures ahead of them. Going against Hermione's advice caused a rift between the trio, Ron siding with Harry, ofcourse. It ended them.

Three years later, Harry and Ginny are going through a hard time in their marriage. It's also been three years since Ron and Harry last saw Hermione. And suddenly things are different. Will Harry admit that Hermione was right? And is he...is he falling in love with her?

Basically, in my own words, Ginny and Ron remain likeable in this story. I'm sorry, but sometimes I get fed up with those stories where Ron and Ginny are so AU you've just GOT to hate them. I keep them likeable here, and related all that has happened to the fact that life is just like that. One minute you're so deeply in love with someone, the next it feels like a mistake. No, I don't like Ginny/Harry, and I don't like Hermione/Ron. I'm making Ron understand the fact that he and Hermione can't be together. He doesn't need to be hated for the relationship to just simply not work out.

This will be HARRY/HERMIONE eventually. I. Promise.

It just needed the intro. SO...Here we go.

_ The Day You Lost Me _

CHAPTER 1

"Finding Normal"

So much blood.

So much loss.

Hermione found herself tugging at her sweater. She could've sworn that she'd stretched it two sizes bigger in the last year. It was just so bloody…difficult. But it was over, and it was a fresh new start. She had the entire Summer to locate her parents, and bring them back to reality, and at the start of September, she – along with almost all students of Hogwarts, would return to repeat the year. Except that for her it wouldn't be repeating; she'd missed out on it completely the first time.

Trudging across the lawn of the Burrow, she found Harry standing, staring out at the vast fields. It was early, but many of the Weasleys were already awake. They didn't seem so alive though; they were still adjusting to the aftermath of the war. Having lost so many beloveds, having lost Fred. Hermione herself felt like a mist just floating between this family as it grieved. It made her feel uncomfortable, like she was trespassing. She knew she was more than welcome, and Harry more than her, but it still didn't feel right to impose.

"Harry?" she called out to him softly.

He heard her, and turned his head a fraction of an inch. When he turned back to gaze at the horizon, she knew she was welcomed to stand next to him. Taking her place at his right, like she had the entire past year, she relaxed. She looked up at him from the corner of her eye, but he was gazing at everything that lay ahead of them, deep in thought, a hardened soul.

"How are you feeling today?" he asked her, as he did every day, waiting for the day when she'd say she was all right. But, just like every other day, she didn't speaking, choosing instead to stand silently by his side.

"How're you?" she asked, echoing herself for the past two weeks.

"I've been thinking," he said, going against their usual routine. There was a change in his voice. He sounded worried, and his voice had gone off-hand. She looked up at him properly, and he looked down. "About…everything."

"That's a first," she said feebly, attempting a smile that only went halfway.

"Hermione," he said, suddenly serious. "I was thinking of asking Ginny to marry me."

Hermione froze. Harry Potter talking about marriage? He wanted to marry Ginny?

"Well, there's nothing wrong with that, Harry. After a few years, once both of you are done with your studies, there's no reason for you not to marry," she said, her mouth adjusting to the jabber she'd suddenly released. "I mean, it's not exactly unexpected. People…people…er…"

Harry just smiled at her. "Now, Hermione. I don't want to marry Ginny after a few years. I want to marry her now."

Hermione caught herself in time and managed to stop her jaw from dropping. This was too much. "Harry, with all due respect, I don't think now's the appropriate time. We've just come out of a war, for one thing –"

"And that's the reason I want to propose. Didn't you hear yourself, Hermione? We've just come out of a war! I've realized that there's no time to take chances, anymore. We're given one life, just one, and at some point it'll be taken away from us. I want to live, for Merlin's sake –"

"Harry, you want to live! Not get married! Not at seventeen! You're being – being –"

"Stupid?" he threw at her scornfully. "It's time we tried being stupid, Hermione. I love Ginny. And ever since the end of the war all I've thought about is life with her. A life lived in peace. I can't wait for that anymore."

"You have the rest of your life ahead of you, Harry! Both of you are still in school, and it'd be nice for both of you to finish before getting married."

"Who's to say that we can't do both? There's no rule in Hogwarts about being married, is there?"

"That's not the point –"

"Then what is?"

"I'm just – I'm just telling you to consider this for a moment, Harry. You can marry Ginny after a few years, when both of you are done with school, and when both of you have jobs! It's the logical thing to do! How else would you support each other? And what about your dreams of becoming an auror? Marriage is a commitment, Harry. You can't just time in and time out of it!" She paused, gasping for air. "Will you – will you atleast consider what I've said before you go and throw yourself into a situation like this? Because if you do, there's no turning back."

Harry grunted at her, staring off at the distance again, and it took everything in Hermione not to punch him there and then. He said nothing to her and, giving up, she turned and walked away.

"I don't want to turn back, Hermione. Too many things behind me I'd rather not see again," he said abruptly.

Pretending she hadn't heard him, Hermione made her way back to the Burrow. Harry would come to his senses. Surely, he had to. Not even a month ago the entire wizarding world had laid their faith in him, and he'd done exactly as they'd hoped. The media would have a field day if he announced an engagement to Ginny. It made her come to her own conclusion, however, as she reached the door to the kitchen.

War really did change people.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

"Ginny," Harry said that night at dinner. Everyone had been silently eating when he'd said that. They'd just begun and he couldn't put off his task any longer. Ginny jumped at him calling her name, and looked up from her meal with a questioning expression.

Hermione managed to keep herself looking down, whereas everyone else had turned their attention to Harry and his love.

"Yes, Harry?" Ginny said unsurely.

Harry debated whether to continue, given the situation. Stumbling, he got out of his chair, and made his way around, so that he was right behind Ginny. She scooted back, so she could look at him properly, and then made a sound between a gasp and a shriek as Harry knelt down on one knee.

Molly looked ready to faint. She was gripping Mr. Weasley's arm so tightly, Hermione was surprised no blood had come to show yet. Ron's jaw had dropped, along with every other Weasley brother, while Fleur simply smirked.

"Harry, what are you doing?" Ginny hissed, her cheeks burning red to match his. Harry fumbled with a box, pulling it out of the pocket of his jeans, and held it out to her, his hands shaking terribly. At this point, Hermione looked up, daring him mentally to do it, and ignore everything she'd said to him this morning.

"Ginny, I love you," Harry said, ignoring Ginny's previous question. He opened the box to reveal an engagement ring with a very generous looking diamond. "And…and…well, that's basically it – I love you. So, Ginerva – will you marry me?"

Ginny gasped so audibly Hermione was scared she'd sucked in all the air she could and would soon faint. But then she was gripping Harry at the shoulders, trembling just like him, and kissed him straight on the lips infront of everyone. A kiss that, needless to say, spoke of tremendous passion and devotion. Once they parted, Ginny said, blushing furiously and grinning all the same, "Yes." She pulled Harry up into a bone-crushing hug. "Yes." She kissed him, and this time he responded with just as much enthusiasm.

"Yes?" he asked sheepishly.

"A million times: Yes."

Harry was grinning as well, and Hermione had to admit that the two looked positively smitten. Something straight out of one of Shakespeare's dopey love stories. She had nothing against Ginny, no, but she thought that atleast somebody should make a point of saying that the two get married afterwards, and not as fast as their brooms could get them to a Church.

"Merlin!" Mrs. Weasley half-shrieked and half-sobbed. She was crying now, trying to wipe away fresh tears in vain. She knocked her chair back, and hugged Harry, crying deeply into his shoulder. "Harry – oh, Harry you'll be my godson! You'll officially be a part of our family!" she sobbed happily.

Mr. Weasley smiled at Harry, giving his silent blessing, and more hugs were passed around.

"Come here, mate!" Ron said when he'd reached Harry, giving Harry a big hug, welcoming his best friend as a brother-in-law.

And Hermione, why, she hadn't moved an inch. She felt oddly torn. On one hand, she was happy – more than happy – for Harry and Ginny. On the other hand, it felt as though Harry had slapped her face, and Hermione did not like that feeling at all. Excusing herself from the table with some claim of feeling sick, she hugged Ginny weakly, barely touched Harry, and made her way upstairs.

Once in her room, she dropped onto the bed, shutting her eyes as the whole year played in her head. One war and they'd all been stripped of everything that made them children. They were soldiers, and more importantly, survivors. Hermione just wished it went back to the way things were before.

She thought of her parents, as all thoughts nowadays somehow drew back to. They were in Australia, living a happy life, knowing nothing about their daughter. They were living in what Hermione understood was termed as "the bliss of ignorance". They did not worry themselves to sleep wondering if she was alive, or hurt, or missing them. They only had each other, and whatever life Hermione believed they'd managed to scrape up between the two of them.

The obvious resolution was for her to find them, and wake them up from this ignorance. A big part of her just yelled to have her parents back, to be able to throw herself into her mother's arms and cry about everything that had happened to her throughout the year. A part of her wanted her father to speak to her, and tell her that everything would be all right, and make those promises of always being there if she needed him. She wanted to spend the Summer with them, as well as the following Christmas. She wanted to hear their voices. Feel their hugs. She wanted them to be there for her, like they had, since as they constantly told her: She was their world.

And as she'd constantly tell them: They were hers.

That thought brought a pinch of pain. She could recall them laughing at that response. When she was a child, up until before she had to leave for Hogwarts, they'd hug her, and give her a kiss on the head, and assure her that it'd be that way till the very end.

But when she began studying at Hogwarts, and when she'd met Harry and Ron, that changed. Her parents would chuckle at her claim that they were her world, and tell her that she had a new world now, and possibly a new life. And that one day she'd grow up, and she'd be a different person. She'd be a powerful witch, instead of a lawyer, or a doctor…or a dentist, as they had hoped and planned. But despite all the changes, they swore that she'd always be their little girl.

Now, everything was different. She felt like such an…orphan.

She could not bring herself to think about all their letters, with their words, with their love, telling her how much they missed her. She couldn't bear to imagine the pain they must've felt when she was gone for more than half the year, and then she'd either come back for Christmas and be too busy thinking of Harry's latest problem, or she wouldn't come back for Christmas at all. Then she'd be back during the Summer for the shortest amount of time, before running off to meet Harry and Ron. It riddled her with guilt.

She felt so selfish.

And she hated it.

Tears had sprung from her eyes without her noticing, and she found herself crying softly. She. Hated. Everything. She didn't want to be a part of this world anymore. There was no calling for her in the wizarding world. She was sure that prejudice against muggleborns would lessen now that most of the prejudice people were either dead or imprisoned, but it didn't matter to her. It was something she knew no pureblood nor half-blood would ever understand: as a muggleborn, she was a human. A human who'd started out with life in a completely different matter. A life she found herself wishing for yet again.

But there wasn't a calling for her in the muggle world either. Her parents were goodness knows where now. She'd dropped them off in Australia, but she didn't dictate where they could and could not go. They could be in China at the moment, for all she knew.

She also knew that it was possible to track them down. It would take time, maybe even years, but it was possible. However, a small part of her reacted to that fact. Was it worth it, then, to bring them back? And tell them every stupid thing she'd done? All the dangers she'd put herself it? Was it worth to bring them back to a daughter who'd seen and done too much to ever be their little girl again? Or would it be better, for all of them, if her parents just stayed the way they were, happy and content with their life and without a Hermione Granger?

"Hermione."

It was Ron. Hermione hid her face in her pillow. Oh, Ron. Was there anyone in the world she hadn't hurt? Right after the war she'd cleared things up with him. Yes, she liked the kiss they shared during the final battle, but no, she didn't like him. Not that way. It was adrenaline, she supposed. Ofcourse, there'd always been that part of her, especially during their sixth year, that wanted to try and kiss Ron. There was a part of her that had that silly crush on him. But now things had changed. She wasn't looking for a relationship. And after the war she had counted off the people she never wanted to part from her life, and in her eyes, starting a relationship with Ron wasn't a way to stop herself from losing him. If they fought, if they had a spat, could they ever look each other in the eye again?

But, being Ron, he played his bit well. He tried to be understanding, but she knew he was hurt. And, like a best friend, he pulled himself through, atleast every time they were around each other.

Hermione mumbled something he couldn't understand. He put a hand on her back, trying to comfort her. She was crying and hiding her face in her pillow wasn't going to hide that from him.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Hermione pulled her face away from the pillow, looking down, her hair shielding her face from him. She felt terrible. She probably looked terrible as well.

"Ron," she called out to him. "Tell me something. Is it selfish of me to not want to find my parents?"

"You…don't want to bring them back?" he asked, generally surprised. He worried that he wasn't getting it at the moment. Hermione was so hard to understand sometimes. Only Harry could decipher what she usually meant, and as Ron recalled, even Harry had been wrong almost half the time.

"I don't want to bring them back to this!" Hermione squealed, cursing her stupid voice at that moment. She beat the pillow with her fist. "I don't want to bring them back when they're so happy right now."

"Why wouldn't they be happy here?"

Hermione sniffled. "What've they got waiting for them here?"

"You."

"It's not enough to bring them from the happy life to a life filled with trouble and pain."

"Hermione," Ron said sternly. "I don't say this often – I'll admit I was born tactless, but you will always be enough and you will always be worth it. Especially to your parents."

Wow, Ron, Hermione thought. He sounded so different then. Like he too had grown up and matured into a…non-prat. She laughed at the thought. It was a very different night from two nights later, when the three of them – the golden trio – were having the biggest row in their entire history together.

O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O - O

"What the bloody hell do you have to be on him so much for?" Ron snarled at her, to which Hermione rolled her eyes.

"I'm not 'on' him, Ronald! I'm just telling Harry he still has options!" Hermione retorted.

"You're trying to control his life!" Ron spat.

"Ron –" Harry began, ready to take his place inbetween their row.

"And you're letting him run off without any guidance whatsoever! This could be a mistake! You both should atleast wait it out!" she yelled at them.

And then Harry turned to her. He was so close, seeing as how he'd been standing inbetween them, though facing Ron. He was angry.

"SHUT UP, HERMIONE!" he bellowed at her, color rising in his cheeks as he yelled.

"This is Harry's choice, and he's made it!" Ron added.

Harry glared at him, before turning back to Hermione, ready to defend himself.

"Accept the fact that I have a different way of attaining happiness from you. You may find it in graduating, or studying, or working. I love Ginny, Hermione. I love the thought of marrying her, whether or not you think it's 'the right time'. Either be happy for me, or just get out of my life," Harry told Hermione flatly.

"I'm sorry I'm not as happy as all of you are, Harry. I'm sorry I'm the only person here who doesn't seem to be feeding off this sham in order to hide my sadness. Or my pain," she said, darting her comment at Ron. "I'm thinking about you and Ginny and –"

"That's all you do, Hermione!" Ron roared at her from behind Harry. "All you do is think, and think, and think! And what good has it done to you? There are some things in life you can't handle by using your brain, or logic, because in the end you'll be the stupidest of them all!"

"Just because I actually consider the future, Ronald, does not mean I've got no emotions! I'm just prepared so that if it does end poorly, I won't look like the sorry loser who let herself get into it too much –"

"Just – just – both of you shut it already!" Harry yelled. He turned to Hermione, and looked her in the eye, not breaking contact. "Just tell me, Hermione," he said softly, silence coming over the room. "Just tell me one thing. When Ginny and I get married…on the wedding day…will you be there, or not?"

Hermione looked down. She would not say yes. She couldn't.

"You're willing to lose me and Harry over your stubbornness?" Ron asked as well, almost pleading her to say yes and accept Harry's decision. No more damages, no more loss.

"You can't do anything about this, Hermione," Harry added. "What's done is done. I'm marrying Ginny, even if this means goodbye."

"Harry," Ron began, redirecting his approach, "Seven years…"

"Hermione, I care about you deeply. But if you can be stubborn, so can I. I don't want to lose anyone, you know, not after getting this far."

She looked up at him, no tears, no smile. She wasn't going to break. Something was different amongst the three of them. Something was different between her and Harry.

"Harry," she said heavily, stepping backwards, her hands behind her back. "Good luck with everything." She sidestepped him, and made for the door, before exchanging a glance with Ron, and adding, "Ronald."

Then she was gone. Apparated.

Hermione Granger was gone.

A/N: Review? Please? Review? Yeah? Yeah? Yeah? Hi!