Hermione leaned back on the stone wall and sighed. She rubbed her tear stained face and looked down at her hands, realizing that she had probably just rubbed grime all over her face. She was too weary to care, really. A little more grime in light of the dirt and scars of the last couple of days would not matter.

The Weasleys had done everything not to make her feel like an outsider, yet she did. When a family meeting was called to discuss arrangements, she had prodded Ron into going, but then slipped from his grasp in spite of his mother's protests, needing to get some air, to get away from the grief that enveloped the family and the entire Great Hall. She felt like a bit of a coward, not staying and supporting Ron, but with Harry being dragged this direction and that, the duty of consoling Ginny was falling mainly to him. That was a good thing, she reflected. She knew Ron always coped better when he had a sense of purpose. Comforting his sister would give him a focus for his own grief.

She heard footfalls on the stone steps behind her. Well-worn reflex from the past months had her instantly on alert, grasping the wand she'd been using for the past several weeks since their escape from Malfoy Manner. A careful listen, however, caused her to relax at the familiar pattern to the steps. She turned to greet her closest friend. "Harry."

He was holding a bundle of blue blankets, topped with turquoise fluff. "So this is Teddy?" She asked.

Harry nodded. "Mrs. Tonks is in making arrangements with Kingsley and Professor McGonagall. I offered to help, but …"

"It's something she needs to do on her own," Hermione filled in, understanding.

Harry nodded and sat down on the bottom step, near where Hermione had been standing. She joined him. They sat in silence for a while, each looking over the lake as the sun drifted lower, each lost in his own thoughts.

"So," Hermione mused, "it's really over."

Harry nodded absently. He looked down at the sleeping child nestled in his arms.

"They had to be here, Harry," Hermione soothed him, "they had to do what they did. It was who they were. They knew the risks. And they knew, or at least they hoped, that if they couldn't make it through the battle, that you would make it through, that you would be here for Teddy. They knew that if that happened, he would never go through what you did."

Harry blinked away a few tears. It just wasn't fair. "How … how is Ginny?" he asked. He, of course had seen her during the Battle, and after. Oh that glorious feeling when she'd hugged him at the end was all too short-lived. He knew that they had a lot to work through, but the way she had thrown herself at him gave him reason to hope.

Hermione looked at him for a moment. "She … she's having a difficult time with Fred's loss, but I think that she is going to be all right. You know, eventually. Ron … Ron's been there for her, they're helping each other through it."

Harry looked up at her. "And that has got to be hard on you with the two of you just …"

"It is, but it's who they are, Harry. They are Weasleys, their family comes first, it really is part of their charm. And Ron and Ginny … Ron and Ginny are so close, have been since they were babies. I suppose that it's only natural when something as catastrophic and life-changing like this happens, that they would turn to each other and we would end up on the outside. It's not that they don't care … that they don't care about us, it's just that they need each other, too, and always will."

Harry reached down to grab his wand as they heard footsteps approaching the top of the stairs. From their seat on the bottom step, they couldn't see who was coming until they reached the top of the flight. The familiar freckled faces caused both Harry and Hermione to outwardly relax, though each felt a strange leap in their heartbeat. The pair of redheads worked their way across some rubble on the staircase, hand in hand, much in the way Hermione thought they probably would have when they were children. Ginny sat next to Harry, peeking at the sleeping baby in his arms. Ron sat behind Hermione, reaching his arms around her torso and pulling her back into his warmth. She melted into him, losing any self-consciousness she may have had earlier in the crowds and with his family. It was now just them and their two closest friends, and she felt much more comfortable showing and accepting affection as she entwined her fingers with Ron's. Their friends smiled over at them, and returned their attention to Tonks' and Remus' child in Harry's arms.

"How did you find us," Hermione looked up at Ron.

He shrugged. "You said you needed air. I kind of thought you would be down at the lake, but we didn't get that far."

She chuckled ruefully. "I was headed out there, but being away from the castle alone, I just felt so … exposed. Old habits die hard."

He nodded and pulled her more tightly to him. She grasped his arm and pulled it still tighter around herself.

"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable in there." Ron let go and pulled a curl back and tucked it behind Hermione's ear.

"It wasn't that. It wasn't you. It … it was just the whole situation. Your family needed you right there, right then. Ginny needed you and you were there for her, and that's how it should be. And you needed to be there for them. It is part of who you are. I am sorry I didn't stay with you and support you, but I just … I just needed to get away from all of it."

He nodded, resting his chin on her head. He smoothed his free hand down the charred sleeve of her robe. He stopped at the still healing burns sticking out from the holey sleeve. "Are you all right?"

She nodded. "I will be. You?" Her hand caressed the matching burns on his own forearm, obscuring the usual freckles with their pinkness.

"I will be fine." He toyed with the frayed cuff of her sleeve.

She followed his hand with her gaze. "These robes really are awful. I think I'm going to have to just burn them … well, what there is left of them."

They both chuckled.

"I would like to go get cleaned up," Ron commented, "but I don't think we have anything left to wear."

"I might have a jumper or two and a pair of denims left in my bag, but even the ones that fit you last summer are not going to work now," Hermione observed. "I think that Fleur pressed our dress robes," she offered, drawing her bag out of her sock and starting to open it. "They'd be a little short as well."

"It's ok, Luv," he stopped her before she could start rummaging in the purse's depths, and took the bag, placing it on the step behind him. She turned to reach for it, and he stopped her, pulling her into an embrace.

"Shh, Hermione, it's okay. I wasn't planning on going anywhere just now, besides, I think that giving Mum our clothing situation to fuss over will be a welcome distraction for her."

"Even if it sends her into an apoplexy over where we have been and what we've been doing all these months?" she enquired.

Ron shrugged. "It's bound to happen sooner or later, might as well get it over with."

She smiled up at him, their eyes locked, and slowly his head came down to catch her lips in a languorous kiss.

"Mmm," she said breaking it off, "fine, we'll let your mum worry about clothes."

"Or I could just do without," Ron teased, waggling his eyebrows at his scandalized girlfriend.

"Intriguing as that is," Hermione gave him a slow, appraising look, arching a brow. "I think we'd be better off waiting on that just yet."

Ron took her face in his hands. "Fine by me," he said, kissing her forehead and pulling her close. "We have all the time in the world now, don't we?"