3126...3127...3128...

Ron sighed mentally continuing its countdown...The moon lit up so much his room that he distinguished every little crack in the ceiling, each small task on the walls, and he had counted them, tirelessly...

Failing to be able to sleep, this avoided him drift his thoughts to what concerned him, day and night, relentlessly... But today, he couldn't focus, to ignore this ball of anxiety festering in it... Voldemort was defeated, yes... But the war wasn't over, not quite. Outbreaks of resistant Death Eaters remained, multiplying disturbingly, causing terrible damages... Ron could not forget crime scenes he had seen. He was a seasoned Auror, he was fighting alongside Harry for years, but he could never get used to these images... He clenched his fists and sat up in his bed...He would not sleep...He missed her... Hermione... The young woman was absent for a few days in Paris, she would be back the next day, Ron had decided to spend his week of permission at the Burrow, with his parents, avoiding to be hit by the void left by her absence in their home. He couldn't wait to hug her, to take her in his arms, to plunge his nose into her unruly curls and to breathe with delight her unique smell.

Hermione...This war had at least the merit to give them the courage to confess their feelings... And if the young woman had hesitated to endorse the Auror uniform, to the great displeasure of Ron, she finally opted for a career in the defence of creatures in any kind, Centaurs and elves, giant... She travelled the country, defending their rights with a fervour that Ron has always admired... This woman was extraordinary, and she was his...

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

She was there, looking for him, on the platform of the station. Ron took the time to look at her, wanting to print every detail, every curve of her body, each loop that fell around her face, each dimple that animated her hopeful face. She saw him finally, majestic red haired man, undeniably seductive.

_Ron!

Leaving her baggage ashore, she ran to throw herself into the arms of the young man, who raised her, burying his face against her neck. By Merlin, it was good to see her again, to feel her against him, living, loving... He kissed her with passion, making her laugh... He loved that sound so much...

_Oh Ron, I missed you so much!

_I missed you too, more that you can imagine...

He went to take her bag and hand in hand, they headed towards the exit.

_We are going to the Burrow, announced Ron, Harry and Ginny must have arrived, Mom wanted to prepare a great meal for your return...

_I left only for a few days! exclaimed Hermione with a smile.

Ron stopped and drew her against him. The young woman, surprise, looked up at him.

_Ron, what's going on?

She noted his tense jaw, his smile, sincere when he had seen her, but tight then... His features drawn, we could have said that he had not slept for days... The young man sighed.

_Ron, insisted Hermione, in a tone that did admit no dodge.

_It's about these attacks... I'm leaving on a mission tonight...They are more and more numerous, as if the death eaters knew something we ignore...

Hermione tried hard to hide her disappointment. She would see him only a few hours before spending weeks without news, the heart torn and terrified... Ron continued.

_ They do not seem to strike randomly... People working in the Department, with their family...And...

His voice broke.

_ And people like me, completed Hermione.

She had faded, but looked at Ron with a tune on it.

_Nothing will happen to me Ron! Nothing!

The young man shook his head with a sigh.

_You don't know... You work in the Ministry, you are Muggleborn, you belong to those who fought Voldemort, and without you, we were probably dead and he would have won! Hermione, if something happened to you, I...

Hermione interrupted him with a kiss, long, deep, which robbed them a whimper.

_Nothing will happen to me, she repeated, planting her brown gaze in his blue eyes.

Their faces were so close to one another that she could easily count freckles on his face. He seemed so vulnerable at this moment, there was such a fear in his eyes.

_I'm so afraid to lose you, I cannot bear... murmured the young man.

_I'am afraid too, Ron, you are the Auror, you are going to risk your life, not me... You can hardly imagine the nightmare that it represents for me...

Her voice was soft, she took and squeezed his hand. They hugged each other tenderly.

The reunion at the Burrow was warm, even if Harry had finally been detained by his work at the Auror Departement, once more.

Hermione saw him quickly, when he came to pick up Ron, on the evening... The young woman held her tears hardly, hiding her sorrow, huddling against Ron's torso. He pressed her against him, and then he raised her face toward him, scrutinizing her, like to learn her by heart.

_Don't cry, he whispered.

Hermione couldn't answer, if she opened the mouth, she would collapse, and she wouldn't allow herself to be weak. She hated that, being left behind, she had been used to be with them, to go with them, to fight with them… It was so hard to stay and to wait…

It was so unfair... She would have wanted to have more time with him, to have him, to spend the night with him, rediscover his body, his hands on her skin...

_I love you…

These were the only words she managed to say, the only words Ron needed.

_I love too...

He donned a coat and followed Harry out. Hermione and Ginny huddled together, pale, on the doorstep, looking at them. In a fraction of a second, they were gone.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

With the back of his hand, Ron wiped the trickle of blood flowing from his split lip.

He looked at the Death Eater stunned at his feet, face frozen in a rictus that betrayed all his cruelty. He had just murdered a family of sorcerers, the father was a Muggle born...

Ron felt a hatred so violent that he was forced to close his eyes in a superhuman effort to not launch an unforgivable hex…

After a few minutes, he opened his eyes. He didn't know where was Harry. They had followed the trail of murderers to sewers that meandered under Diagon Alley.

They went their separate ways while the dirty water supply hoses took two different directions. Ron did early to catch one of the murderers, several avada kedavra had reverberated against the wet walls, without being able to reach Ron.

Suddenly, he froze. Distant noises, cavernous, reached him. He saw flashes of lights at the end of the tunnel, red, green... Then nothing, the silence... And finally, noise of steps in the water, coming in his direction...

Ron stood up against the wall and caught his breath.

_ Expeliar...

The cry died in his throat.

_Harry!

_Ron!

The two men contemplated each other, with amazement and relief. Harry seemed not injured, Ron was a little more battered, but they went well.

_ Two of them managed to flee, started Harry with a contained rage. I managed to stop Smorn...

_Great catch, commented Ron with a satisfied smile, Morden is just stupefied behind…

_I'll see you in the HQ...

And in a 'Crackle' which is reflected in the sewers, they apparated with their prisoners..

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Hermione rested her quill and massaged her temples. It was almost night, she had spent the day locked in her office, surrounded by books half devoured by moisture, taking notes. She had to take advantage of the absence of Ron to advance in her research. No one should know anything at the moment…

She got up to get out of the room, giving a jump at the sound of her chair scraping the ground. The house was so quiet when he was out, she hated the feeling of emptiness, she missed him every second... She gazed around her pensively, remembering with a nostalgic smile of their early days under the same roof...

It was not easy... They loved each other of course, more than anything, and didn't hesitate anymore to fully live their love since their first kiss exchanged on the battlefield, four years previously.

But living together was a challenge... There had been explosive disputes, but the advantage of living under the same roof, it was that the reconciliations were all also... intense.

The young woman walked toward the kitchen. She would spend the night at the Burrow, the plea of Ron. She used a cool Butterbeer, thinking about what she should take with her. But while she swallowed a last sip, a muffled noise drew her attention.

She frowned, suspending his gesture and tending the ear.

Nothing, silence.

She ignored her heart beating wildly, after all, the house was protected by a dozen of powerful spells. She turned to go back to their room so she could pack her bag, but her heart froze, her Butterbeer bottle exploded on the ground at her feet with a noise that clattered in her eardrums. Two Death Eaters were facing her, a sly smile on their lips, their wands aimed at her. One of them was holding a parchment. Her notes!

Her eyes quickly passed their wands to the parchment to the window on her right.

_Try to run away, said one of the men, we need to have fun...

Hermione was scared, but she wasn't going to let them do, no way. She felt reassuring contact with her wand in her back, slid into the back of her jeans. Suddenly, she threw herself away from the kitchen countertop, pulling her wand.

_Stupefy! She screamed.

_Expelliarmus! A Death Eater replied.

A closet behind her exploded, spilling its contents into a deafening clash.

_Stupefy!

The spell reached the death Eater who was holding the parchment right in the chest. He fell backwards, dropping the parchment that slipped under the couch. His partner let out a scream of rage.

_Crucio!

Hermione avoided narrowly the spell and replied instantly.

_Expelliarmus!

He was screened backwards, but before she could stupefy him, he grabbed the arm of his shill and apparated.

Hermione remained frozen for a while, picking up her breathing, her heart beating so hard that she had the impression that it was going to get out of her rib cage. She got up painfully, and rushed, trembling, to the couch.

_Accio parchment!

She folded it carefully, assembled hastily a few deals in a bag and apparated in turn.