Disclaimers: I don't not own. sigh maybe next life.

Chapter One: Once was lost . . . . .

The final battle had raged for hours and in the end there really only stood two individuals, one could say if visual poetry, this dance of death was. Harry Potter, the Chosen One, and Lord Voldemort circled each other measuring one another each deciding who would make that first move. Then with a growl Voldemort cast his first spell, Avada Kedavra, Harry dropped to the ground and rolled away, the spell barely missed him as he sprang back to his feet and hurled an Expelliarmus, at the Dark Lord.

Voldemort mockingly laughed at Harry's efforts to disarm him, he slowly stocked after Harry like there was no time at all but just the two of them. Harry dove behind the grave stone and closing his eyes he summoned all his love to himself, the memories of his parents, the times that he shared with his best friends at Hogwarts, he thoughts of Sirius and Dumbledore. He brought forth the emotions that Mrs. Weasley's hugs gave him, and Ginny he thought most of what Ginny made him feel and Harry glowed. A great white light surrounded the Boy-Who-Lived as he gathered all the power that made him who he was and he stood and faced Voldemort one more time.

Now it was known that Voldemort only ever feared one wizard in his entire life and that had been Albus Dumbledore, but at the moment when he caught site of Harry, he felt a fear he had never felt before. With pure pulsing power Harry James Potter stood tall. In a hushed silence all battle stopped as every combatant felt the tremendous magical energy flow over the area. It was awe aspiring and terrifying all at once, this was to be the end.

Ron and Hermione tried to run to Harry, but they were held back by Tonks and Remus, as they fought to get to Harry's side. They dreaded what was going to happen; in their hearts they knew this outcome would be the end. They just hopped it wasn't the end for Harry.

Harry raised his wand arm, and silently cast his spell, with tremendous force, the spell shot out of Harry's wand and collided with Voldemort's chest. There was a great look of surprise on Voldemort's face before a dreadful scream emitted from his body. A great cloud of dark magic backwashed over the field knocking everyone down, in a matter of seconds it was over. Voldemort was gone.

Hermione Granger opened her eyes, and her body hurt all over, it felt like every nerve was on fire. She knew that she was at St. Mungo's Hospital. She was in an off white room, she heard the quiet murmur of voices out in the hall. She turned her head to the right and noticed that there was another woman in the bed next to her. She wasn't sure who this person was, someone she didn't know.

Her mind felt like syrup, it was so hard to focus. She tried to move her hands and the effort caused her a great deal of pain. She laid back and waited for someone to notice that she was awake. She didn't have a long wait as a nurse came in and checked her vitals.

"It is good to see that you are awake, how are you feeling dear?" asked the nurse as she helped Hermione sit up and sip some water.

"I hurt," was her short raspy reply.

"Hmm, I'll let the healer know that you are awake, he will most likely prescribe a potion for the pain. I'll also let him answer any questions you may have." And with that the nurse left Hermione alone.

A short while later an elderly healer came in looking at Hermione with a gentle smile on his face. "Let's see how you are healing shall we," he waved his wand over Hermione while humming something under his breath. "You are healing nicely, but you will need to be resting for a few more weeks I suspect. You were hit pretty hard by the magical backlash, your are a very lucky young lady."

Hermione felt the hair rise on her arms as she looked intently at the healer, "Did Harry make it."

The kindly healer's expression turned grim, "I am sorry to say that young Mister Potter did not make it, unfortunately there was nothing left of him to save. He died a true hero."

Hermione felt a deep pressure in her chest as she suddenly found it hard to breathe; she closed her eyes and tried to get her mind around what the healer just said. Harry was gone, he didn't make it? No, that was not possible, Harry always made it through, and the healer was mistaken.

"No," she uttered in denial.

"You can't work yourself up, Miss Granger; you'll just end up making your healing harder on yourself." The old Healer drew out his wand again and spelled Hermione to sleep. He than left orders to the Head Nurse to keep a close eye on Miss Granger, because he felt that she might be a risk.

Several weeks later Ron Weasley went up to the ward on the fourth floor, they had moved Hermione there ever since she woke up in the hospital. The Healer's claimed that she was mentally unstable and needed to be monitored more closely. Ron did not find the Healer's opinions all that great, Hermione has always been the most level headed person he knew.

He entered the room where Hermione was sitting in a rocking chair, rocking back and forth clutching a teddy bear in her hands. Ron hated coming here and seeing her so lost. He wished he knew how to get her to come back to him. He crouched by her chair and took her hand. She slowly turned her head and smiled at Ron, he returned her smile.

"Hey, how are you feeling today?" He asked her.

"Did you see Harry? He was here with me earlier but he had to go back to the Ministry." She said serenely.

Ron swallowed hard, "Hermione, Harry was not here, remember he died in the final battle."

Hermione patted Ron's cheek and smiled even bigger, "He never left me." She then turned and stared out the enchanted window again.

Ron closed his eyes and willed himself to calm his emotions; getting upset at her would not solve anything. He wondered again what kind of potions they had her on, if she was this out of touch with reality. Ever since the final battle and Ron had made his own recovery from what happened to him, his goals in life shifted. Having had lost his two best friends to the war, he wanted to do something to help others who had suffered from loss. So, he entered the Healers program at St. Mungo's Hospital. He did not have the potions score to really be allowed, but Ron had found a Potions Master that was willing to train him along with his other studies at St. Mungo's.

Ron let go of Hermione's hand and checked to see if no one was watching him, when he picked up her chart and looked to see what she was taking. Again, he had to rein in his temper; they had her on a strong calming draught in combination with a potion usually reserved for victims who suffered insanity due to over exposure to the Cruciatus Curse. Hermione did not need this potion, it was so wrong for her, no wonder she was not getting better. The potions would keep her from being in touch with reality.

He looked at his best friend again, he knew he had to get her out of this place and somewhere safe where she could recover fully. He walked out and started to make his plan.

Ron stood in front of the simple two story muggle house on #8 Lingering Street, trying to muster up his courage for what he was about to do. He squared his shoulders and walked up to the brown door and pushed the door bell.

A few minutes later a woman in her mid-forties opened the door, she looked at Ron with curiosity.

"Dr. Granger?" Ron inquired.

"Yes?"

"My name is Ron Weasley; I am a friend of your daughter Hermione."

"Oh my, come in please." She stepped back and Ron walked into the house. The house was simple but it held a quiet elegance to it. It spoke of money without feeling like it was being shoved in your face. It also had a homey feeling to it, all around there was pictures of Hermione and also there were rewards for spelling B's and academic achievement certificates hung on one wall. "Would you like some tea?"

"Yes, please." He seated himself on a linen colored sofa and waited nervously for Hermione's mother to come back from the kitchen.

"I'm sorry that my husband is not here to greet you as well, he had a dental emergency to attend to at the hospital. We trade off each weekend for on call patients." She carried in a tray with tea and biscuits. She handed Ron a cup and a biscuit.

"That's perfectly alright Dr. Granger; I just thought I'd talk to you about Hermione." Ron smiled sadly.

"Please call me Eileen, and thank you for coming, it is so hard to get information about her since she has been at the hospital." She sat back and sighed into her tea as she took a sip.

Ron set his tea down and leaned forward and thought for a moment before saying, "I am concerned about the type of treatment she is receiving and even though she is an adult now according to our law, being her parents you could demand that she be released into your custody for care."

"I don't know how to treat my daughter; she has needs that my husband and I can't take care of."

"As it stands now, Hermione is banned from practicing any magic, at least until she proves stable enough to have her wand back. All she needs to be is in soundings that are safe for her, and a place not associated with all the memories of the war. I am not a full healer but, the treatments that she is currently getting are all wrong for her. I have been taking classes in muggle psychology and I really think she is suffering from post-traumatic-stress syndrome. As much as our medicine is advanced, muggle medicine in this matter is far more superior."

Eileen Granger regarded Ron carefully, "So, you think all she needs is therapy to get better?"

Ron ran a hand through is red hair and looked at Dr. Granger earnestly, "She needs time to heal; she might need more than therapy. Right now Hermione is lost, all she does is sit in a chair and stare out a window. Her spark is gone; the person I knew who craved knowledge is missing. Magic can't solve everything; please you need to take her home."

"What do you need me to do? If you think we can handle her, then I want my daughter home."

Ron smiled for the first time since being at the Granger's, "You are doing the right thing, if ever you need my help just call, I have a phone in my flat. I finally learned how to use one the right way." He then stood and shook Dr. Granger's hand and let himself out. He took a minute to look around himself and smiled broader, at least something right was happening for a change.

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