Hey everyone! If you don't already know, I'm a HUGE Romione shipper. I'm currently writing another story about them, but I'm having a bit of a writer's block, so I decided to just think up a new one, and rest my brain until I get more ideas for the other one. Please enjoy, this takes place after the war. This contains books and movies details.

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter series.

Hermione wandered around the castle with a sense of security. "It's over," she thought, "Voldemort is dead." All the worry that was within her had vanished over the course of the hour, and she felt, for once, safe. She looked around with relief upon her face when she saw not even the slightest bit of student bodies on the floor. The number of student's deaths were decreasing, whereas, she felt no guilt whatsoever when she saw numerous bodies of the Death Eaters. She of course, felt a teaspoon of pity. She understood that many wizards and witches were forced to be on Voldemort's side due to their fear. "No," she thought, "That is no excuse for them; they still set out to kill innocent people, there is no forgiveness in that." She sighed. She then immediately forgot what she was thinking about when she saw the people in the portraits on the walls nodding in approvable as she walked past. Some even bowed down. Hermione could hear some of them whisper to each other,

"That girl right there, she is said to be the brightest witch of this age!"

"Ah," the other responded, "Another Lily Potter of course!"

Hermione's face reddened, she had never been compared to Harry's mother, but she knew that it was a compliment, seeming as though she had heard Harry's mother was particularly bright. She was also part of the Slug Club! Hermione smiled as she continued forth. She saw all the shattered glass and the broken bricks on the floor. Huge parts of the castle were destroyed. As her eyes scoured the castle, it caught the glim of a shine. She walked on over and picked it up. It was a broken part of a mirror. She looked into it as she saw a small vacated room. Her fingers closed around it as she remembered it to be the mirror Harry had kept near his ankle. She sighed happily. She silently thanked Aberforth for sending Dobby, who had risked and cost his life for the three. She wiped a single tear that filled up on her left eye. She put the mirror in her pocket. She gave up on looking for something salvageable. "What a mess!" she thought; she'd hate to be the person to clean this all up. She then laughed to herself, "We can just use magic!" Her moment of laughter faded when she thought about what had occurred the past few days. All of the heart-wrenching memories she remembered, like how they had almost gotten killed in Malfoy Manor, how she was cornered by the insane Bellatrix Lestrange. She shuddered at the sight of the horrendous scar on her arm. It still ached with pain. However, the pain wasn't nearly as bad as her remembrance of it. She continued to ponder, because that wasn't all that raced through her mind. She still remembered the look on Harry's face when he told her he was going to the Forbidden Forest. She couldn't contain her tears. She had always kept in the back of her mind an assumption that Harry was a horcrux, but for once hoped that she was wrong. She thought she was just being completely mental. She couldn't bear to lose her best friend, and when she saw him, at his "death" in Hagrid's arms, she wanted nothing more but to find Ron, and collapse in his arms. "Ron!" she gasped to herself, "I completely forgot." She blushed; despite all the horrors that went on during the battle, the one thing- one person that kept her going was Ron. Ron, the boy she had fancied since second year, with his gorgeous blue eyes, and his glowing red hair. She never had the courage to actually go up to him and confess her feelings. She was far too nervous and she always hoped that Ron would make the first move. It was different today, when he showed concern for the house elves; she couldn't hold her feelings in anymore. Hermione closed her eyes and replayed the kiss in her head. She had the urge to find him, just to feel his soft lips against hers once more. She wanted Ron to hold her, tight as he can, so they wouldn't ever be apart. She couldn't imagine a life with magic, without him. What is she saying? Magic has been her whole life, and now a boy has come in and taken over her thoughts. She shook her head, "Not just my thoughts," she thought to herself, "Ron Weasley has my heart." She debated in her head whether or not she should be the first one to say that she loves him. Her thoughts came to an end when she heard a sudden movement. She turned around and froze as she saw a Death Eater standing a foot away from her. She silently gasped, and slowly reached for Bellatrix Lestranges's wand. Before she could grasp it, he stopped her.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." He growled while raising his wand. His eyes followed her every hand movement, her coordination. Hermione quickly examined the man who was a second away from potentially killing her. His head was bleeding severely, and his leg looked broken, she had no idea how he could possibly be standing. "Drop it on the floor." He commanded.

Hermione stood still with her hands to her sides, breathing intensely.

"Now!" he shouted. Hermione jumped, with her hands shaking, she grabbed the wand and tossed it beside the Death Eater.

"Th- that's Bellatrix's wand," he stuttered while eyeing the wand. His mind then began to process on how Hermione could have gotten her wand. He widened his eyes once he figured it out. "Y-YOU KILLED HER!" he screamed stepping closer to her, with his wand directly pointing to her heart.

"N-no!" she replied with her voice failing her. "I didn't!" she squeaked.

"You're one of Potter's friends, yeah, that's you, ain't it? You're the mudblood who helped him defeat the Dark Lord?"

Hermione whimpered and whispered, "I didn't kill her."

"SHUT IT!" he snarled. He took a deep breath and said, "Imagine it mudblood, me, killing Harry Potter's girlfriend, what an honor. I'll be recognized by all of the Dark Lord's followers, I'll be- I'll be remembered. AVADA-"

"STUPEFY!"

The Death Eater's body was flown backwards against the brick wall of Hogwarts. The force of the spell knocked him out, leaving him unconscious on the floor. His wand flew to the other side of the corridor. Hermione had held her breath, and then finally gasped for air. She thought to herself, "I know that voice." She turned around to see a tall, red haired boy holding his wand out, pointing it to the Death Eater, in case he sprang back up to fire any shots.

"Ron." Hermione whispered softly. He took his eyes off the Death Eater and stared into hers. His face filled with concern,

"Mione," he whispered back.

Not wasting a second, she ran and leaped into his arms. Ron caught her and grasped hold of her tight. He swung her around a bit before setting her down. His nose caught the scent of her hair, even going through a war, her hair smelled lovely. He closed his eyes and hugged her tightly once more before letting her go.

"Ron," she said breathlessly. She avoided his contact, and she stared at the cracks of the floor. "I almost di-"

"Don't! Don't say that, you didn't. Why did you go off wandering on your own? Blimey Hermione, don't do that again!" he snapped. Hermione could tell the anger in his tone, but she knew it was only because he was worried.

"I just, I wanted to take a look around." She whispered.

"Please, next time, ask me to come along." He pleaded. His voice had broken. He placed his finger on her chin and lifted it up, praying he could see her eyes.

Hermione looked up to see his beautiful blue eyes staring straight at hers. She could hear the pain in his voice and see the sparkle from his tears. She nodded, "Okay, I'm sorry," she made out with her lip quivering uncontrollably.

"Don't be sorry." He said grabbing her for another hug. "I just can't lose you."

Her heart had swallowed up rather than skipping a beat. She understood why Ron had said that, he had just lost Fred, and Hermione was being daft and wandering the castle. Of course Ron was worried; he didn't have it in him to lose anyone else. She wrapped her arms around his body and pressed her ear against his chest. She could hear his heartbeat; it was slow, beating with time. The warmth of his body against her seemed to help her regain her strength and joy. She felt secure, and comfortable. Ron pulled away and held her hands "Are you okay?"

She nodded, "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For saving my life!"

"Don't thank me; you've saved me loads of times." He said while giving a faint grin. Hermione smiled warmly, then looked at Ron and examined his face. He had dirt on his nose and she couldn't help but smile at the memory.

"What?" Ron asked, noticing her smirk.

"Y-you've got something." She said pointing at her own nose.

"Huh?" Ron asked, confused.

"You've got dirt." She chuckled.

Ron wiped his nose off and paused for a second. He laughed along, realizing what just happened. Hermione intertwined her fingers with his, and said, "Come on, we don't want a whole search party out for us, do we?"

Ron shook his head, "Hang on, we can't just leave him here."

"Huh?"

He let go of her hand and walked towards the Death Eater, he pointed his wand at him. Hermione had completely forgotten that a few minutes ago she almost died at the hands of a Death Eater.

"Obliviate." Ron spoke. White streaks flickered out of his wand onto the Death Eater. Ron sighed happily, knowing he had done it correctly. He glanced over at Hermione and saw her facial expression, which was her impressed face. He then walked over to pick up the man's wand and pocketed it. He turned around and smiled. "Alright, let's go." He walked beside her and they proceeded walking down the corridor. Slowly, their hands met. Hermione's face flushed with red while Ron's ears turned maroon. They walked for about 3 minutes without saying a word to each other. Their steps clattered the floor creating a faint echo.

"Can you believe it?" Hermione said, breaking the silence.

"Believe what?"

"There's nothing to be afraid of anymore, we're all going to be okay." She replied softly.

Ron looked at her and nodded. He squeezed her hand tighter and rubbed it with his thumb. "We were always safe, we had Harry, the Order- hell we even had the bloody decorative stone knights for the castle on our side."

Hermione laughed, "Hogwarts really is our home, isn't it?"

"Met my two best friends here, it means the world to me." He said as he let go of her hand. He spread his arms out wide and gestured to the practically destroyed castle.
Hermione smirked; she grabbed his arm and placed her head on his shoulder. "I never want to leave." She whispered. Ron tensed up, but made sure to not make it obvious so Hermione wouldn't stop what she was doing.

"Hermione?" Ron asked.

She closed her eyes and replied, "Mhm?"

"Are you coming back to finish your last year?"

She stopped and looked at him curiously. "Yeah, most likely, why?"

"Because, I wouldn't want to be stuck at home for an entire year while you're here, it'd be boring not having you yell at me for eating every ounce of food there is. Still, anywhere you go, I go." he said as he continued to walk.

Hermione beamed, "So that means-"

He turned around. "It means," he interrupted while faking his disappointed sigh, "You'll be helping me with a lot of studying for the N.E.W.T.s."

Hermione pounced on Ron yet again, and this time, he wasn't prepared. They fell over as she landed on top of him. Ron groaned as he hit the concrete floor. Hermione gasped, "I'm so sorry Ron! Are you alright?" Ron began to shake. Hermione apologized over and over again. She paused; she saw that Ron wasn't shaking from the pain, but from laughter. "Ronald!" she huffed. Ron burst out in laughter as Hermione rolled over to his side and lay on the ground beside him.

"Hush Ron!" she ordered. She was relieved he was not hurt, but embarrassed that he was laughing at her.

Ron covered his face and continued to laugh; he covered his face and said a couple of scattered words. "You- jump- apologized-hilarious!"

"What?" she asked, pursing her lips. "You're not making any sense!"

He then took a breather and settled down. He then moved to lie on his side, facing Hermione. "He moved a strand of hair away from her face and said, "I'll be wherever you are, and you can't get rid of me that easily."

Hermione bit her lip, "I wouldn't ever want to get rid of you."

Ron beamed as he leaned in. Hermione shut her eyes, waiting for the magic to begin. Ron slowly moved closer until his lips touched hers. Ron kissed her with such eagerness, their lips locked together in harmony. Her lips were smooth, soft, and it made Ron feel lightheaded. He slowly brought his hands to her face and he lightly stroked her cheekbone with his thumb. Hermione kissed Ron back passionately, excited that their second kiss didn't come along seven years after. Their soft kiss eventually turned into a kiss with such intensity. Ron took full control, without any hesitation. With such happiness, he kissed her hard. Their air was limited and they broke apart with their foreheads against each other, and their noses touching. Both gasped for air, and gave out some harsh breaths. Ron gave a half smile. He waited to catch his breath and then he got up off the floor. He gave his hand to her, palm faced side up, and she took it.

"To the Great Hall?" he asked with a smile slapped on his face.

"To the Great Hall." She agreed. Together they walked back to reality.

** I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter!