It was the last week of school. Hermione sat staring at Mcgonagall, forcing herself to concentrate. How she managed to keep up with her classes was beyond her. After the tragedy, the teachers would have understood if she was falling behind. Instead she lodged herself in her studies, not letting herself have any free time to think or notice that Harry wasn't there. Why was she bothering to believe that after so many people have died that there was any point in living?



She tilted her head and stared down at Ron's hand which was desperately trying to scribble down a few notes. His hand was shakey and hovered over the parchment in an impatient manner. Hermione looked up at his face which was glued to the blackboard. His eyes had a far off look to them nowadays. Maybe she was not giving up for Ron. Ron was much worse off than her but she could tell there was still hope inside him that things could be normal. He would look out the window of Gryffindor tower and his eyes would focus again, and a look of excitement would almost come to his face. He would say,



"Come on, Hermione. Ravenclaw is playing Slytherin today. Let's go support Ravenclaw." Hermione would tear her eyes away from her books and give Ron a small smile and say in a soft voice,



"Sorry, Ron I have to study. You go ahead with Seamus or Dean."



"No, no I won't go. I was just wondering if you wanted to." And his eyes would go back into that far off state. Ron was falling way behind in school and struggled to get through with Hermione to help him along. They had made it to their seventh year, the year after the summer Voldemort turned up at the Dursley's place and where Harry defended himself with every spell he has ever learned. That was the summer Harry did not find his way out and Voldemort had killed the Boy Who Lived. Hogwarts was almost the same although many of the students had kept to the shadows of the school, when a parent or relative was killed in the war.



Hermione knew it would be much easier if Ron joined Seamus and Dean who were one of the few whose families were still untouched from the war. But Ron was trying his hardest to keep things the same, but it wasn't the same with just the two of them. Hermione thought of it as the cartoons she used to watch on television where someone would be running off a cliff and would fall only when he realized he was standing in midair. They were standing on hope that wasn't there, but they still refused to believe there wasn't any hope. Maybe the hope was the end of the war and Voldemort's defeat, but Hermione couldn't look for hope that far ahead. But Hermione needed Ron, because he was the only one keepng her alive.



There were no end-of-year exams that year. Hermione still carried around all her books even though the teachers hadn't assigned much work. After class was dismissed, Hermione and Ron went up to Gryffindor Tower. It wasn't unusual for them to skip dinner. They just couldn't stand the crowd of students and it was the only time the tower was empty. Hermione swiftly finished the short reading assignment they were to do and jotted down a few sentences of notes. She closed her book and saw Ron gazing out the window again. He was thinking about something other than Harry, because his face was full of concern. Hermione walked over and stood next to him. Hermione stared up at him.



"You know we will be recruited into the war as soon as we're done with seventh year. We have done well in school, but all they need now are wizards to fight." Hermione turned her head and looked out at the sun slowly disappearing into the horizon.

"Ron, I can't fight. We hear about fighting everyday and I just need to get away from it. I don't think I can fight anyway. Not yet."

"We'll have to, eventually."

"Yes, eventually, but not now. It's too much to deal with. Harry's gone and now the war is getting worse."

"I can't fight either. But we will when we are really needed. Meanwhile-"

"Meanwhile, we need a break," Hermione finished.

"But where do we go? All the seventh years' names have already been written down. They'll track us down. Especially you Hermione. Your grades don't go overlooked. They won't let the smartest person of your age slip by. And the Ministry knows who we are through... Harry."

"We'll runaway. We'll hide anywhere we can until we are ready."

"Dumbledore would understand. Do you suppose he would hide us here?" Ron questioned.

"No Ron, I can't stay here any longer. Anyway, when the Ministry sees we're gone, they'll probably look here first."

They stared out at the setting sun. The same sun they watched set a couple of years ago and were sorry a long day of fun was over. But then it didn't matter because morning was on its way. Each day was like that. Now, they were relieved to get through another day but dreaded the hard night they were about to face. Mornings were no better because they would wake up and be struck with the realization that Harry wouldn't be there that day. Or any other day.