It was a year to the day since the final battle with Voldemort, and the residents of the Burrow had a gloomy cloud about them. George hadn't come out of his room all day. The normal sounds of crashes and explosions that normally came out of the twin's room was replaced by badly suppressed sobs. George hadn't been the same since that day, since he had lost not only his brother, but his twin, his best friend, the man that he hadn't been separated from since birth. But George had only cried twice over his brother; the first when Fred had died in battle and the second today.

Mrs. Weasley had tried on numerous occasions to get George to come out, but each attempt was responded to with what sounded like progressively heavier books being chucked at the door (Hermione looked scandalized, of course, but seeing what day it was, she let it slide). Mrs. Weasley also attempted to go about the day as any other, but it appeared that her wand was malfunctioning. Whenever she tried to wipe a mess hurriedly away with her wand, the mess would simply scatter itself; soon there were condiments all over the floor, batter on the walls and burnt toast on the ceiling. Everything that she attempted to clean up just ended up worse, and soon Mrs. Weasley was to be found in a tattered mess on the floor in the kitchen corner, tears making tracks on her flour-covered face, and her husband was not there to comfort her; Mr. Weasley had retreated to his Muggle hobby room. A year ago today, Mrs. Weasley's boggart had become a reality, and this time, Ridikulus wouldn't work.

Harry and Ginny were up in Ginny's room, Ginny was supplying whatever comfort she could to Harry as haunted visions of Voldemort and the destruction of Hogwarts and its students wandered in and out of his mind. He had, after all, literally died that day.

That left Ron and Hermione, who were sitting in silence in Ron's room. Hermione had a book propped open against her legs, but her eyes weren't moving across the pages. Ron sat next to her, just gazing at her face as a solitary tear began its long and lonely trek down Hermione's cheek. Ron wanted to wipe it away, but he knew that that would only make Hermione cry even more, and it pained him too much to see her cry.

Noticing that Hermione had been staring at the same page for an hour, Ron took it out of her limp hands and laid it down on the floor. He scooted back on his bed and scooped Hermione into his arms, pulling her onto his lap. Hermione laid her head down onto his chest, and he felt moisture soak through his shirt as Hermione shook slightly. Ron stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head. Hermione was so sensitive to these kinds of things, and it was working against her today. With every tear that silently landed on Ron's shirt, a little strip was torn away from his heart. He hated the fact that Hermione was hurting. He wanted to gather all of the pain and chuck it out the window. A bubbling hatred began in his chest. He knew who the hatred was for: Voldemort. He had died a year ago today, but he still had an impact on those that had survived the war with him. It made Ron sick. He breathed deeply and pressed his lips on the top of Hermione's head.

"I love you, Hermione," Ron whispered into her smooth hair.

"I love you," replied Hermione through her tears.

Ron tilted her chin up and lightly pressed his lips to hers. It was almost child-like; The kiss was full of pain, but love and hope through the holes that were eating away at their chests. Hermione pulled gently away and sniffed, Ron brushed away her tears with his lips.

"Makes you wonder what people feel like who lost their whole family, or they don't know where they are, or if they're even alive…"

Ron couldn't help but smirk just the tiniest bit. There was the sensitive Hermione that only he knew about. He looked deeply into Hermione's eyes. He tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "We'll get through this, Hermione. One day, Voldemort will be nothing but a tattered old memory."

Hermione smiled weakly at him. "Yeah, but he'll always be there won't he?"

Ron's eyes turned hard as he gathered up Hermione's hands in his and kissed them. "You know who else will always be here?" he asked. Hermione looked at him blankly. "I'll always be here. I wish that I always have been, but I know that I always will be. You can count on that."

"Ron…" Hermione started, but Ron held up a hand to stop her.

"No, Hermione. I love you. I've loved you for four years now. I've never loved anyone as much as I love you, and to be honest, even if your feelings pass for me, I'm afraid that I never will love anybody after I've loved you."

Hermione put her hands on the back of Ron's neck and pulled him to her. Their lips touched, and Hermione put all she had into the kiss. She had never kissed him like this before, with so many emotions influencing her. Ron returned it with just as much passion. When they stopped, Hermione laid down on the bed, staring at the wall as yet more tears spilled from her eyes.

Ron felt helpless. He wanted to take all the pain away from her, take it on himself if he had to, get her to be happy again, to show him her beautiful smile. But he himself was going through just as much pain to begin with. He had lost a brother, almost lost his best friend… they had both made so many sacrifices just to get rid of one man… If you could even classify Voldemort as a man, let alone a foul, lowly creature…

"Ron?"

Ron jumped and saw his sister in his doorway, a haunted-looking Harry standing behind her.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"Mum's made lunch. But I'm kind of worried what her sandwiches will look like…"

Ginny's failed attempt at humor made the gloomy feeling in the room even gloomier. Hermione sat up and wiped away her tears. "Has George come out of his room yet?" she asked.

Ginny shook her head. "I left a plate outside of his door in case he gets hungry, but I don't think that he's going to be coming out even for another week."

Hermione scooted off the bed and Ron stood up as well, taking Hermione's hand in his. They went down the stairs after Harry and Ginny (Ron was trying to ignore Harry's hand on the small of Ginny's back). When they got down to the kitchen, they found Mrs. Weasley setting out a tray of perfectly fine looking sandwiches out on the table. She had a horribly fake smile plastered on her face as she set the tray down.

"George not coming out?" she asked, her voice high.

Ginny shook her head and sat at the table, Harry next to her. Hermione sat across the table from Ginny, Ron followed, his chair scraping against the floor as he sat.

They all wordlessly put sandwiches on their plates and ate in silence. Despite the horridly down mood, Ron still ate his way through two sandwiches by the time Hermione was halfway through her first.

She smirked at him feebly. "Don't you ever stop eating?"

Ron chuckled as he swallowed down a large bite. Mrs. Weasley brought over cups of water.

"Could you pass me one, 'Mione?" asked Ron.

Hermione reached out for a cup, and as she did so, made a dreadful mistake. The long-sleeved shirt that she had been wearing came up her right arm, revealing a long, pink scar. As Ron's body became rigid next to hers, Hermione realized her mistake and quickly pulled down the sleeve, looking at Ron as one might look at a ticking bomb.

Ron's eyes were hard as he watched Hermione's right forearm, his eyes seeming to go right through the shirt's fabric. Echoes of screams and horrible, cackling, high-pitched laughter filled his mind. The scene was flashing before his eyes; him gripping the cell's bars, staring at a empty staircase as her screams echoed off of the walls. He shook the bars, shouting to let her go, but it was no use. It was the worst feeling imaginable, to have her up there, that woman doing Merlin-knows-what to her, and he wasn't able to do anything about it.

In a sudden fit of rage, Ron yelled out in fury and flung his chair back, causing it to clang loudly. Ron was breathing heavily as he turned on his heels and stormed out of the Burrow, everyone staring after him, and Mrs. Weasley bursting into tears and running out of the room.

Hermione looked apologetically at Harry and Ginny. "Sorry about that. I'll go and talk to him."

She followed Ron outside. He was standing at the edge of the lawn, looking out over the field of marshes with his fists balled at his sides. Hermione could see that his muscles were tense under his shirt.

"Ron…?" Hermione called quietly. Ron didn't move, if anything, he grew even more rigid at the sound of her voice. She walked forward up to him, but not too close. The last time that she saw Ron like this was that night when he had worn the Horcrux all day, and he left in a fit of jealous rage. When she got far enough to see his face, she saw that his lips were in a tight line, and a solitary tear was traveling down his face, and it looked like he was fighting back a flood of ones just like it.

"Oh, Ron…" gasped Hermione. She had never seen Ron cry before, and today was not the day to start. She just stared at him helplessly as he turned away from her, hiding his tears.

"Go away," he choked out.

"No." Hermione said. She wasn't just going to leave him when he was hurting so badly.

Ron wheeled around. She saw that his face was red and more tears had spilled from his eyes. "Go away, Hermione." he growled. "I don't want you to see me like this."

"No." Hermione repeated stubbornly.

Ron tilted his head back and gritted his teeth. He wiped his sleeve harshly across his eyes.

"Ron, don't do this. Not over me. Not over something that you had no power over." she said, trying to calm him, but the effect was just the opposite.

"That's exactly why I'm doing this!" shouted Ron. "Because I had no power over it. Do you think that if I had any power over what happened that you would have that scar on your arm? No. No, I would have 'blood traitor' carved out into mine. You wouldn't have had to go through what you did. I wouldn't wake up in the middle of the night with the sound of your screams echoing through my head. I wouldn't have to live with the knowledge that you were tortured while I was left hopeless in a cell. You wouldn't have any nightmares about that evil woman. You-"

"Ron! Stop right there!" shouted Hermione.

"No!" Ron shouted back. "You have no idea what it's like! It's the worst feeling in the world; that the only thing that you care about is being put through unnecessary pain when you could be in their place…"

"Ronald Billius Weasley!" Hermione screamed. She ran up to him, holding his face in her hands. "No! Don't say another word! If you do, I'll leave, and don't think that I'm joking!"

She pulled out her wand, holding it up so that she could Apparate on a moment's notice. Tears were streaming down her face.

Ron's face grew dark. "That's not funny."

"Yeah? Well neither is seeing the only thing that you care about beating himself down to the same level as a Blast-Ended Skrewt!" She cried. She dropped her wand to the ground and walked up to Ron so that their noses were almost touching. She hesitated before saying what was on her mind, but then she said in a softer tone, "Ron… If-if we ever say our vows…" Ron's head jerked up, but Hermione held up her hand. "If we ever say our vows, you know that we're going to have to say, 'To have, to hold-"

"To love, to cherish-" Ron continued for her, then Hermione cut him off.

"For better…" Hermione prodded on.

Ron gulped, realizing her point. "Or for worse…"

"In sickness-"

"And in health-"

Then they said together. "As long as we both shall live."

They smiled at each other. Ron kissed Hermione's forehead, letting the previous feeling of horridness pass from him, re-living the moment that they just had.

"Wow, Ron," said Hermione. "I never knew that you would know those things, or be that romantic!"

"Always the tone of surprise." Ron chuckled. "Actually," he continued. "I was about to say the same thing…"

Hermione looked at him quizzically, and Ron answered her unspoken question by lowering down onto one knee. He reached down into his pocket, pulling out a small velvet case. "You have no idea how long that thing's been in my pocket…"

He opened it and held it up to her. Hermione's hand flew to her mouth as she saw the beautiful diamond ring inside.

"Hermione Jean Granger, I promise to love you forever. I love you so much, and I would never do anything to hurt you. Would you do me the amazing honor of becoming my wife, so that we can say those vows under an alter? You know, the Muggle way?"

Hermione was speechless. She was barely able to fervently nod her head up and down. Ron's mouth broke out into a huge grin as he stood up to put the ring on Hermione's finger. It fit perfectly Hermione jumped onto him, burying her face in his neck. Ron spun her around once, and when he set her back down, Hermione was just shaking her head, smiling to herself.

"What?" asked Ron.

"Leave it to you to be carrying around a ring for Merlin-knows-how-long, and then propose on a day like today."

"Well, why wouldn't I? He has no power over us anymore, does he? Or anything else about the past. I know that now." he took Hermione's forearm and pushed up her sleeve, revealing the pink scar that read Mudblood. He shook his head, lightly running his finger over the scar. Then, suddenly, the scar began to recede back into Hermione's skin, until all that was left was her porcelain skin. Ron's eyebrows knitted together as he squinted at the skin. Hermione gasped and Ron got the familiar feeling that Hermione knew something that he didn't.

"What just happened?"

Hermione had stars in her eyes. "Loviticus Totalus."

"Sounds like a corny, romantic version of the Body-Bind Spell."

Hermione rolled her eyes at him. "Well, I don't have to worry if you love me or not any more."

Ron raised his eyebrows. "Did you ever?"

"No, but this is real proof. Loviticus Totalus only happens from total and complete love. It can undo anything that has ever happened or make anything happen of the lover's choice. A version of it happened when Harry's mother gave up her life to save his. But you just erased all of the impact of the past that would have happened to us now, the scar being one of them."

Ron smiled. "Complete and total love, eh?"

Hermione nodded, smiling broadly. "Mm hmm. And here's mine."

Hermione kissed his temple, and as soon as her lips touched his skin he felt a deep swooping feeling in his stomach, but it was a pleasant swooping, like what he used to feel in sixth year when he first realized that he loved Hermione. Then he felt his mind clear until there was nothing left but a blissful feeling that spread through his whole body like butterbeer.

"What was that?" Ron asked when she pulled away.

"I wished for comfort for everyone today, and all the anniversaries to come. Apparently, it worked."

Ron smiled. Of course she would spend her wish for the welfare of others.

"Now, come on," she said, taking Ron's hand. "Let's go tell everyone the news!"

She wiggled her left ring finger, the diamond flashing on it. Ron followed her as she dragged him into the Burrow.

When they got inside, they saw everyone in the kitchen, including George. They all wore faces of confusion but evident sheer relief. Hermione giggled as she saw their faces, then raised her ring finger.

"Jeez, Hermione, I hope that that's not some kind of form of profanity!" said George, shocking even himself at his jab at humor. Ever since his brother had died, he had sort of lost his touch with his humor.

"No!" she giggled. "Look at what's on it!"

Everyone's eyes widened as realization struck. Hermione let out a bell-like laugh, Ron a nervous chuckle. Mrs. Weasley's hands flew to her face as she let out a squeal of delight. She bustled over to Hermione, gathering her in a big hug. Hermione returned it, and as soon as Mrs. Weasley pulled away from her, Ginny was on her, mouthing "About time," to her brother over Hermione's shoulder. Harry came around the table and shook his hand, and George brought him into a headlock.

"You may be a married man soon, but you'll always be my baby brother!"

Ron quickly broke away from his brother and started to wrestle with him. Hermione and Ginny exchanged a look.

"Would this have to do with the sense of relief that we all felt?" asked Ginny.

Hermione smiled and explained to them what happened, and while she was explaining "Loviticus Totalus," Mrs. Weasley and her daughter nodded knowingly, but the boys just looked at her confusedly. She showed them how the scar had vanished from her skin, joking that that was one less thing that she had to worry about on her wedding day. Everyone laughed except George, who seemed deep in thought.

"What is it, George?" asked Mrs. Weasley, worrying that her son's melancholy was returning.

George hesitated before responding. "Well, it's just that… If Hermione's scar went away, and that was because Ron undid what had happened because of-him- well… Wouldn't that mean…?" he shook his head. "No, that's impossible-"

"And the infamous twin has returned for an encore!" came a voice from the staircase.

George wheeled around to find his brother coming down the stairs, a broad grin spread across his face and his arms outstretched. George didn't move for a moment, not even daring to believe what he was seeing.

"Yes, it is I, in the flesh," said Fred, gesturing to himself with his hands. "The good Merlin has brought me back!"

"FRED!"

George flung himself at his brother, making them stumble backwards. They laughed loudly, rolling onto their backs, both enjoying life for different reasons. When they stood up, Fred was only to be knocked backwards again by a hard hug from his mother. Then came Ron and Ginny, then Harry and Hermione. It was the group hugs of group hugs, and was broken only by a confused voice from the living room.

"What's going on?" came Mr. Weasley's voice.

Everyone peeled themselves away from Fred, and Mr. Weasley's eyes filled with tears as he took in what he was seeing.

"Fred?"

"Yes sir!" Fred grinned, clicking his heels and saluting. Mr. Weasley rushed forward and hugged his son, slapping his back.

"Merlin!" exclaimed Fred, "You guys are a bunch of saps!"

Mr. Weasley released his son, slinging his arm around Fred's shoulders. They looked at their family, who were all looking at a slightly-pink Hermione and Ron.

"What is it?" Mr. Weasley and Fred asked at the same time.

Hermione sheepishly held up her hand, the ring reflecting the dim light of the Burrow. Mr. Weasley and Fred blinked, recognition dawning on their faces at the same time.

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Hermione!"

"Yes!"

"Ron?"

"YES!"

Fred and Mr. Weasley both came forward and congratulated them. Then a outburst of a family reunited and closer bonds broke out, nothing was to be seen in the Burrow but smiling faces and tears of happiness. Exclamations of love and joy rang out like church bells through the Burrow, and amidst the beautiful chaos Mrs. Weasley could be heard saying: "Who knew such joy could come from such a day as this?"

"Yeah." agreed Ron, pulling Hermione closer to him and nuzzling his face into her hair. "Who knew?"

Thank you for reading! I know, it's kind of cheesy and corny and sappy and mushy and all that good stuff, but once in a while stories such as these need a happy ending. Reviews are always appreciated, and thanks again for reading!