A/N: First of all I want to say that this is my first fan fiction written in English. I've written a few in my own language so writing fan fictions isn't new to me, but in this language it's new. So I don't hope my English skills ruins a good story - just let me know :)

This is a few missing moments from the Deathly Hallows that centers around Ron's departure and return. I know not all of it is entirely correct when following the book - so there are a few changes. I was inspired by one of my favorite songs at the moment, "Only Love" by Ben Howard. I think it fits very well into this little oneshot. Check out the lyrics or listen to it before you read.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or the wonderful world of Harry Potter. This is all the amazing J. K. Rowling's.

"Ron, no - please - come back, come back!" (DH p. 254)

These last words he heard from Hermione has haunted him ever since he left his two best friends behind. They were in his dreams, every time he closed his eyes, in every single one of his thoughts - all the time he heard her voice - begging him. He regretted his decision a split second before he Disapparated - when he saw the look on Hermione's face. She looked scared and sad. And so was he the minute he disappeared. It was like something was ripped away from him and it felt far worse than being splinched. Of course he didn't have time to think more about that because of the Snatchers. But after he escaped he felt the pain and realized what he've done and felt her pain as well. He whispered her name to himself everyday. Like he was talking to her. He also told Harry he was sorry. He spent most of his time at Shell Cottage in the bed in the guest room. He hated himself for letting the Horcrux get to him. Why was he so thickheaded? Bill and Fleur tried to get information about what they were up to, which also was one of the reasons he stayed in the little room. He spent most of the time playing pointlessly with the Deluminator - click, summoned all the light in the room and click, let the light fly back to its original source. He preferred the darkness. He still wondered why Dumbledore left this peculiar advice for him.

On Christmas Night he was lying flat in the bed looking at the dark ceiling thinking about Hermione and Harry. Where were they? Were they alright? Have they found any Horcruxes? Were they in danger? Were they alive? He could drive himself crazy asking himself all these questions. The last two questions made his heart sting. If there was something wrong there was noting he could do to help them or save them. He would have no idea. He really wanted to find them and he wondered if he wished it hard enough he would end up where they where when he Disapparated. He fell asleep.
"Ron...Ron..."
He woke up and thought hearing her saying his name was a wonderful dream. He wanted to fall asleep again and keep hearing her voice and see her beautiful brown eyes again.
"Ron..."
He weren't asleep, was he? He heard her whisper his name, like he has been whispering her name every night since he left. He looked to his left at the bedside table. It came from there. He pulled out the drawer and took out the Deluminator. There came a dim light from it and then:
"Ron..."
Her voice came from it! He sat up in the bed and felt very excited. He tried to answer:
"H - Hermione?"
Nothing.
"Hermione?"
Still nothing.
"Hermione? Hermione I'm so sorry!"
He hoped she could hear him.
"Ron..."
"Yes, Hermione, I'm here!"
He was getting desperate. What was going on? Was she in danger? Was she...? No! Then he suddenly knew what to do. He clicked the Deluminator and out from it came a big ball of pulsing bluish light, that made it look like a Portkey. It flew out of the window and down in the garden. He knew he had to follow it. He got dressed, packed all his stuff as quickly he could, left a note for Bill and Fleur on the bed and ran quietly down the stairs and left the house. He hadn't felt this hopeful since he left his friends and he somehow knew that he was on his way back to them now. He found the ball of light in the back yard. As soon as he saw it, it started moving towards the sand dunes that surrounded Shell Cottage. When it had led him to the beach it stopped moving. He waited patiently. Then it suddenly started to move towards him and continued right into his chest, very close to his heart. It felt nice and warm and he instantly thought of Hermione, which made him feel even warmer. And then he Disapparated.

It took a while before he found his friends. Because of their protective spells he couldn't see or hear them. He could only hope for them to show themselves. He waited a whole day in the cold snow before he realized he must have missed them and clicked the Deluminator. Once again the big ball of bluish light flew into his heart and once again he Disapparated. This time Harry showed following a silver doe. Harry dived into the lake. He saved Harry from drowning. Harry wanted him to destroy the Horcrux with the sword he just had picked up from the lake. At first he was hesitant, but Harry insisted. The Horcrux had effected him more than any of the others. Harry whispered in Parseltongue and hell broke lose. Riddle-Harry and Riddle-Hermione in embrace, kissing passionately was the most vulgar thing he had ever seen. He knew it wasn't real and he knew it never would be real. He had been so stupid and unfair to Hermione and once again he cursed himself for letting the Horcrux get to him. He pluck up courage, ran towards the Horcrux and stabbed it with the sword of Gryffindor.

It was easy to get Harry's forgiveness and he somehow thought that it was just as easy to get Hermione's. He had been dreaming of their reunion ever since he left. She would run to him and jump into his arms happy to see him. He would hold her close to him and lift her in a long embrace, maybe dig his head into her brown bushy hair and take in her scent. He even thought it would be easier now that he had saved Harry's life and destroyed the Horcrux. But he was very wrong.

"You - complete - arse - Ronald - Wasley!" (...) "You - crawl - back - here - after - weeks - and - weeks - oh, where's my wand?" (DH p. 309)

Luckily Harry saved his skin. She was very angry - he could tell when she called him Ronald. He didn't blame her. He just hoped. Her sadness had changed to anger after all those weeks. Oh, how could he do this to her?

It took a while before Hermione softened up. The next few days she either pretended he wasn't there or sent him dirty looks and snapped at him every time he said something. He was very careful around her and tried to remember what he read in Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches. He tried to agree with everything she said and purposed, offered her tea, minded his language, complimented her and other things like that. It didn't seem to help at first, maybe because it was too obvious what he was doing. After they found out about the Deathly Hallows, which he agreed with Harry on could exist - maybe they already had two of them! - he had to agree with Hermione to prioritize the Horcruxes. This was about killing Voldemort.

As the weeks went by Hermione became more and more willing to talk to him. Maybe because of Harry's obsession with the Deathly Hallows. They would discuss the whereabouts of the rest of the Horcruxes and went over all the places they could imagine Voldemort had some kind of connection to. He didn't care why they were talking again, he was just happy they did. Even though it was not entirely as it used to be. She hadn't forgiven him. Would she ever? What should it take?

The night before Harry used Voldemort's Tabooed name Harry was on watch outside of the tent, which left him with Hermione for the rest of night. Their relationship were better than weeks before. Back then she would go to bed very early without a word. Sometimes he could have sworn she was crying a little bit. He just didn't know what to do. She was pretending to sleep, so he decided to leave her be. But tonight she stayed up sitting in her bed reading a book - surprise! It was a progress, but they were still not good. He made three cups of tea, went out to Harry with one of them, said good night and went back to the tent. He took the two last cups, went to Hermione's bed and gave one of them to her.
"Thanks", she said, when he sat down at the foot of her bed. He didn't really know what to say. Just taking a seat on her bed was a major step forward. She looked a little surprised and maybe uncomfortable with the situation. She just sipped her tea looking down in her book. He could tell she wasn't reading anymore - her eyes stayed focused at one spot in the book and sometimes she sent him stolen looks over her cup of tea like she was wondering why he didn't leave.
"What are you reading?" It was the only thing he could think of asking. And also a very stupid question. Dumbledore was winking at him from the cover of The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore.
"The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore," she said without looking up.
"Anything interesting?" he asked trying to keep the conversation going - if you even could call it a conversation yet.
"No, not really." Dead end. He watched her take another careful sip of her hot tea and put it on the bedside table and return to the book that she still wasn't reading. She put her hair behind her right ear. She had very small ears he noticed - they were always hidden under her bushy brown hair. She was reading in the book again. He actually liked watching her read. She looked so concentrated with her eyebrows moved close together, completely lost in whatever she was reading. That was one of his favorite things about her, how devoted she was to her books - actually any book she could get her hands on. She was the smartest person he knew and he loved how she just seemed to have an answer to pretty much anything. He used to hate it, but now he love it. Love is a strange thing, he thought. She looked up at him from the book, caught him watching her. He looked away immediately, his ears turning red. Her cheeks turned slightly pink. This was a good sign, he thought.
"Ron..." "Hermione, I'm so sorry!" They said it at the same time. She looked startled at him. He wished he hadn't interrupted her. He just said it without thinking about it. It was actually not until now he had told her directly that he was sorry.
"I'm really sorry and I mean it! I was a big git for leaving you. Both of you," he threw his head towards where Harry was sitting outside the tent. She just looked at him without saying anything. He continued:
"I regretted it at the second I Disapparated, Hermione. When I saw you come out from the tent begging me to stay I knew that I should have stayed. I missed you the second you disappeared from my sight and when you weren't near me anymore. When I heard your voice whispering my name from the Deluminator... It was the happiest I've felt all those weeks. I understand that you are mad at me and you have every right to be. I know you were at least as miserable as me. I just want you to know how sorry I am. I've been terrible to you. Can you ever forgive me?" He looked down at his hands when he said all this and expected her to answer. But she didn't. He looked up and met her brown eyes. Her brown teary eyes.
"Oh, Ron!" she said, and wiped away her tears with her sleeve. "Ron you have no idea how you broke my heart. I was so afraid that I had lost you. That we had lost you." She twisted her hair around her index finger. He just watched her - he knew she wasn't done.
"I'm so afraid to lose people in this war. I have already lost my parents, made them forget everything about me. But at least I know they will be safe no matter what happens to us. I'm just scared that I can't get them back if I survive all this. But you. Y - you and Harry aren't safe. W - we are the most wanted people in this country, in this war and if anything happened to you I would..." He moved to her side of the bed and grabbed her shoulders. "Nothing is gonna happen to us, 'Mione, I promise." She looked at him with glassy eyes. She blinked, and the tears rolled down on her cheeks. He carefully wiped them away. She shivered by his touch. They had never been this close before - he had never touched her like that before and he had never called her 'Mione before. But he felt like it was the most natural thing in the world to do all this. He felt his confidence grow:
"And I promise nothing bad is gonna happen to you as long as I'm around - nor to Harry or to me." They looked at each other in silence. Then she leaned into him and dug her head into his chest and took in his scent. He was surprised about her move, but also happy to feel her so close to him. He put his arms around her and it made him feel very protective of her. He felt that she was his and that he would do anything for her. He smelled her hair - it smelled like nothing else, it smelled like Hermione, her very own scent. It was intoxicating and made him feel lightheaded. He kissed her on the top of her head and hugged her closer to him.

They sat like this for a while without saying anything. Just enjoying the feeling of each other's body. She yawned and broke the silence:
"Ron?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm tired and I wanna go to bed." He didn't want to remove his arms from her. He could sit like this all night if that's what it would take.
"Will you please stay with me tonight? Just keep holding me so I know you are here?" He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He felt warmth spreading in his body and a tickling in his stomach - like when he was secretly watching her. He didn't get a change to answer her: She broke out of his embrace and lay down on her pillow. He followed her, put his arm around her waist and spooned her on the bed. She covered them with the covers - it felt nice and cosy. Once again there was silence. She caressed his hand he had placed on her stomach. He couldn't believe how this had happened. An hour ago she didn't want to speak to him. And now they were lying here in her bed.
"I'm sorry about the way I've been treating you," she said. He kissed her neck (she shivered in pleasure) before he answered:
"Don't worry 'Mione. I deserved it. If someone has to be sorry it would be me." She turned around so they were facing each other. She put her hand on his cheek.
"Yeah, you were a complete arse, Ronald Weasley!" They both smiled and laughed a little. Then she leaned in and their lips met. It didn't come as a surprise to any of them. It was in the air and he instantly kissed her back. The kiss developed and their tongues joined in. After a long while they broke the kiss and looked into each other's eyes.
"Where does this leave us?" she asked. "I mean, what are we exactly?" He thought it was pretty obvious. They've been dancing this dance for some years and now something finally happened.
"Well, you are mine, aren't you 'Mione? And I'm yours?" His mouth was dry.
"Oh, Ron, I've wanted this for so long. You have no idea how happy I feel right now." He thought he did. "And I never want this night to end. But when we leave this bed tomorrow morning we are Ron and Hermione - Harry's friends who are helping him fight this war. Not Ron and Hermione - the couple or whatever we are. I think we should stay focused and then take this up again when the war is over." He noticed her view of the future and the outcome of the war had changed during the night. There were no ifs.
"I'm not sure I can keep my hand off you," he said with a little smirk. She reflected him and gave him a small slap on his chest.
"Okay, I will," he said laughing a little. His face became serious again: "But I will stay close to you all the time and never leave you out of sight. I want to make sure you are safe."

Little did Ron know that less than 24 hours later he would hear Hermione being tortured by Bellatrix Lestrange at Malfoy Manor.

A/N: I hope you liked this little oneshot. I know I enjoyed writing it. I'm thinking about continuing this story in a oneshot (or an other chapter) about their time at Shell Cottage after they escaped Malfoy Manor. What do you think?

And again, I hope my English was okay. As I said before, this is my first fan fiction in English.