"It's Time"
It's time. No matter how badly she didn't want to do this, Hermione Granger knew in her heart that it was time to leave. This was the first of many moments Hermione had been dreading since she had committed to helping Harry on his quest to end the terroristic reign of Lord Voldemort. She stood at the foot of her bed looking at her small beaded handbag, which was too small to logically carry all of the items she had stuffed into it thanks to her undectable extention charm, but still had more than enough room for all of the other things that Harry and Ron would need. "Hermione, come downstairs it's time for dinner!" she heard her mother call.
"I'm coming Mum!" She tried to keep the lump in her throat down so she could speak. She picked up her wand, grabbed the small beaded bag, and, pausing at the door to take one last look at her room, walked out of her bedroom for what could be the last time and headed downstairs. She paused again at the foot of the stairs listening to her parent's mundane, everyday conversation coming from the dining room. They knew some of what was going on in the Wizarding World, but didn't dwell upon it and Hermione did not tell them the extent of the danger. They had no idea what she was about to do. Hermione closed her eyes and tried to memorize the way that her parent's voices sounded. The way that the banister felt beneath her hand, the comforting feeling of home all around her. For all she knew, this could be the last time she stood in this spot. The last time she heard her parent's voices. The last time she would see their smiling faces. In just a few moments they would not even know that she existed. Hermione wiped a tear from her cheek and took the short couple of steps toward the dining room.
When she peeked through the doorframe everything was just as she knew it would be. Her father sat at the head of the table, with his back to the door that she chose to walk in. Her mother next to him, so focused on her plate that she didn't even see her daughter standing in the doorway. With her voice and hand trembling Hermione raised her wand and said the word she had been dreading for the last few weeks, "Obliviate." Her mother's and father's faces were wiped clean of any emotion and Hermione stepped out of the doorway and back into the hall.
"You know, Monica, I was just thinking about how nice it would be to travel and see the world." She heard her father say.
"Oh, that sounds like a wonderful idea darling! After all, there's nothing here to hold us down." Her mother replied.
Hermione covered her mouth to stifle her sob. As she tip-toed to the door to slip out she noticed that their family portrait that was taken shortly after she was born that had always hung at the bottom of the staircase was now just a photo of her parents. The sweet baby girl they had been holding in their arms had disappeared from the photograph. This was the final straw for Hermione. She quietly slipped through the door and tried to stop the shaking from the sobs that were so desperately trying to break free. What she had intended had happened. Her parents had no recollection of their own daughter and they were about to pick up and leave for an extended vacation. Everything had gone according to plan, but she had not counted on her own grief being quite so crippling. Standing back up, refusing to let her emotions get the better of her while she was still outside of her home, Hermione took a few steps into her yard and turned on the spot disapparating to the Burrow, the home of the Weasleys.
When she arrived she collapsed on their doorstep. Her emotions would not allow her to take one more step without breaking free. She tried to keep her sobbing down, she would be embarassed to have the whole Weasley clan come find her in this state. However, the door opened and her eyes were so blurry because of her tears she couldn't see who sat next to her. It wasn't until she felt the familiar arms around her that she knew it was Ron.
"You did it didn't you?" he whispered, doing his best to be sensitive to her grief.
Hermione sniffled and managed to nod her head yes, "They don't remember me anymore," she whispered before another wave of sadness came over her. Ron just sat their holding her, rocking her, making her comfortable and get all of her emotions out. Hermione was so grateful to have him there with her. Out of everyone she knew Ron was the only person she would allow to be around her at this moment. After a long time of painful sobs and gasps for breath Hermione was too worn out to cry anymore. Ron continued to hold her until she sat up. "Oh, look at your shirt." Hermione sniffled and tried to dry his extremely tear stained Chuddley Cannons t-shirt.
"Hey," Ron smiled, "It's ok. Don't worry about it. It needed a good washing anyway." He joked. Hermione let out a small chuckle. "Are you ok?" He asked, brushing the hair out of her eyes.
"For now." She replied. Ron hugged her to his chest again. She loved the way he squeezed her so tight, as if he didn't want anything to come between them. Ron stroked her hair and her back for a few moments then pulled back. Looking into his beautiful blue eyes at such a short distance for her own she could see the desire in them. Hermione thought for a moment that he would kiss her, but then Ginny opened the door. "Hermione! I didn't know you were here!"
Ron and Hermione quickly released each other and stood. Hermione wiped her face clean of the few remaining tears and put on her best smile as Ginny grabbed her hand and pulled her inside. Hermione took one last look back at Ron and saw him grimace, then wink at her as if to let her know it was ok and she needed her girl time. "Thank you." Hermione mouthed to him then let Ginny continue to pull her upstairs to her bedroom for what was sure to be a catch up session. She was so grateful to have this second family to come to. She was even more grateful to have Ron. No matter what the coming months held on their journey with Harry, Hermione was glad she would have her favorite red head on the journey with her. She always drew her strength from him and knew she would need a lot of that soon. For the time being she was ok to be pulled out of his arms, but she hoped a time was coming when she wouldn't have to leave them anymore.
A/N: Ok, I'm not saying I'm back to the writing world yet. I just was re-reading some of my old stuff in "Becoming Ron and Hermione" and this idea popped into my head. I tried to make it applicable to the book and the movie as well. I've always been curious as to how Hermione handled the memory wiping of her parents, so this was my take on it. Let me know what you think of it in the reviews and also please check out my other stories, or let me know if you've already read them. Thanks agan!