Chapter 1

The room felt so empty to Hermione with just her and Harry silently flipping through the countless books she had packed. She wracked her brain for any idea of what the next horcrux could be, but the only thing she could think of was his red hair, his array of freckles, and his dark green eyes. Stop it, Hermione, you can do this, She argued with herself. She felt Harry's concerned eyes glancing at her between every page turn. Ron's absence filled the air and all Hermione could do was to read and reread the same sentence over and over again, "Horcruxes generally are made with objects that the maker associates with themselves or are likewise to something of importance…"

After the fifth time through, Hermione slammed the book shut. Harry jumped from the sudden noise and stared wide-eyed up at her.

"Hermione? Are you ok-?"

"NO, HARRY! I'M NOT. WE HAVE SO MUCH TO DO AND RON JUST GETS UP AND LEAVES. DOESN'T HE REALIZE THAT THIS IS SO MUCH BIGGER THAN US?"

"Look, just sit down, okay? I, er, I know, what he did was wrong. He can be such a git sometimes, but we have to just focus." Harry said wearily.

Hermione knew that Harry was wearing thin. He was under much more stress than she and she felt guilty for unloading so much on him so suddenly. She sighed heavily and sat down. Harry looked at her quizzically.

"This isn't about looking for horcruxes is it?" he asked knowingly.

Hermione ignored his smugness, "I-I don't know. I just, I really wish he would have stayed."

"I know how you feel about him, Hermione. I've known for years. You both are just so stubborn and would rather bicker about Snape's Potions lesson than actually talk about anything serious."

"If how I felt was that obvious, how could he leave?" Hermione whimpered.

"His pride gets the best of him sometimes. I'm sure he's regretting it already." Harry said comfortingly.

"Maybe."

Hermione opened a new book and began searching its Index. As she scanned the columns of complicated topics, her thoughts backtracked to Ron. She missed him. Feeling this way about him scared her more than any death eater, dementor, or Dark Lord ever could. Hermione knew she was smart. She knew she was exceptional at most subjects that young wizards study at Hogwarts. But, no matter how many Potions exams or Herbology essays she did well on, she could not for the life her understand love.

Growing up, she watched other kids in her year develop "crushes" and saw them snogging in the back of the Leaky Cauldron between bottles of butterbeer. She saw Harry ogle as Cho walked by and Ron's face turn red when a pretty girl would talk to him. Other girls would joke and ask Hermione how her boyfriends were, for she hardly hung around with anyone but Harry and Ron. At the time, Harry was far too concerned with anything but Sirius Black's recent escape from Azkaban. Even if his third year had been much more uneventful, Hermione had a feeling he would be enthralled with flirting with Cho.

Hermione didn't really notice her feelings for Ron until their fourth year. She didn't understand them because they seemed to have arose from nowhere. Looking back now, she can clearly see herself slowly falling in love with him. However, feeling as though Ron didn't have the slightest interest in return, she let Viktor Krum take her to the Yule Ball. When she said yes to his invitation, part of her knew she was only doing it to show Ron that she didn't need him, that she was capable of finding someone else. However, as the year came closer to an end and Cedric's death shook the students of Hogwarts, Hermione knew how she truly felt. She knew that the events of the final challenge of the Triwizard Tournament would make it an inappropriate time to discuss such small matters. The trio now knew that the Dark Lord was back and he wasn't going away again without a fight. It hardly seemed the right time to discuss a feeling she thought she had.

Years later Hermione still hadn't told Ron. She told herself that there was no room for love or mixed feelings during these dark times. After their fourth year, things got worse. She knew that that if she could prevent the rupture of a friendship, she would do everything she could to do so. The hardest out of all the times in her life, was watching Ron's relationship with Lavender. She didn't speak to Ron for weeks and when she finally worked up the courage to, she walked in on him snogging Lavender. So, instead of following her heart, Hermione desperately deserted her feelings and focused on the tasks at hand. However, now that Ron was gone, she was starting to realize how much she needed him.

Hermione stood up and picked up her bag, "I have to find him."

Harry was startled by her sudden movement and was at a loss for words, for usually, she was the rational one.

"Hermione, you can't do that. You know how dangerous it is out there."

"That's why I have to go. If… if something happens to him, he'll never know. Harry, I can't just sit here and think about all of my missed chances. This makes no sense and for once in my life I don't have a plan, I just know he has to know."

She started towards the door, wand in hand.

"Hermione, please don't go! He wouldn't want you to risk your life and as idiotic as he seems right now, he's pretty smart. He'll get home safely. I know how you feel. Ginny is always in my head and I have no idea what she's doing or how she is. We just have to hope, and Merlin's beard, do I hope that's enough."

Hermione let her bag drop to the floor and blankly stared at it, evidently thinking. Could she do it? Could she sit here, not knowing if Ron was okay? She knew Harry was right, she can't act irrational; it would be much too dangerous. Harry pulled her back to the chair and looked at her frantically, waiting for her to finally speak.

She sighed, "Okay, I'll stay."

Harry let out a small smile and gave her a hug.

"When'd you get so reasonable, anyhow? I used to be the one stopping you and Ron from going through with all your idiotic antics." She said, with a slight smile.

The tension lifted a bit around them, but, hearing Ron's name aloud, made something inside Hermione flip.

Harry shrugged and laughed a little, "I learned from the best."