It was dark, cold and dusty. Just like it had been ever since she started living there. After packing up what little she owned, Hermione Granger stood staring at the empty apartment. It was small and other than a rickety table and an old mattress, there was no furniture.
She was really going to do it. She was really going to go home after all this time.
But would her family welcome her back? Ron, Harry, the Weasley's? Would they really want her back after everything she put them through.
Deciding she didn't care -she only wanted to see them, not their reactions- she disappearated. When she opened her eyes, she saw through the dark a tall mis-shaped building glowing in the candle light from the many windows.
The Burrow.
She was finally home. Yes, she actually lived in grimauld place, but the Burrow always felt like home to her. More than her real home in Oxford, more than Hogwarts. It was home.
Taking a deep breath, she started the long walk up the drive way. Much too soon for her liking, she arrived at the front door. All she could do was stare at it. They were all going to hate her. Hate her for leaving. Hate her for never having any contact.
She had a stack of letters in her bag that she had written. But she never sent them. She couldn't bring her self to do it, but she still kept them, so maybe one day they could all see how much she did care. That it was only a moment of weakness that made her leave, and only fear that made her stay away.
Summoning the last of her courage she knocked weakly on the door. She could hear the chatter from inside and then footsteps drawing closer.
In a matter of seconds, the door was pulled open. And there he stood. Tall, muscular, but a dull look in his eyes even with the wide smile on his face.
The smile however, dropped as soon as he saw who was there. Tears we quickly filling his bright, blue eyes, matching the ones threatening to leak from the big, brown orbs staring back at him.
How could she have done this? How could she have left him? Before she could have time to form a sentence, he had scooped her up in hisarms and was spinning her around in the air.
"Where have you been?" He whispered weakly.
Unable to answer, Hermione's tears finally fell down her cheeks as she was set back on her feet.
"Ron" She choked eventually. All noise from inside the house disappeared from her range as all she could focus on was him. He had hardly changed. He had slight stubble growing on his chin now, and a lot of the life from his eyes had left. But she could see it starting to seep back from how lifeless they were when he opened the door.
"I'm so sorry" She sobbed, crashing into his chest as her knees went weak. He held her there as his own tears began to fall.
"Hermione?" She heard from the doorway of the house. She looked up from Ron's chest to see the entire Weasley family and Harry stood there. Much like Ron, many of them had not changed at all.
Victorie was taller as she stood next to Fleur, as beautiful as ever, and in Bill's arms was another little girl she remembered as Dominique. Molly's hair was slightly grayer at the roots, much like Arthur's. Fred and George seemed to have matured since she left, but she knew they must still be the same pranksters she had come to love like brothers. Charlie was exactly like Hermione remembered since he came home permanently after the war, Percy stood with his same sophisticated persona, but like the rest of the family, he had sadness in his eyes.
As her eyes travelled over the group, they finally landed on her two other best friends. The two that had been married just weeks before her departure. As she noted the sadness and love in both of there eyes, she noticed something completely different about her honorary sister.
"Ginny? Your pregnant?" She choked out. Without responding, she turned and pushed her way through her family and into the house. Unlike what she expected to happen -which was for Harry to chase after her- he ran towards her and pulled her into a bone crushing hug. She could feel the tears hitting her cheek again, and like before they weren't only her own.
She felt Ron snake his arms round the two of them and they just held eachother, the three of them back together again. Like it should be.
"I'll go check on Ginny" They heard Fleur say, he French accent a lot less present than in the past.
"Please don't hate me" Hermione whispered to her two best friends in the whole world. Losing them, would mean she finally lost everything. For good this time.
She could feel them both shake their heads, causing her heart to swell with relief before she moved away slightly to look at the pair.
They looked at her with such love in their eyes. Though Ron's was a differnet kind of love. Had he not moved on? Found someone else? More tears welled in her eyes with the possibility of being with Ron again. She would never admit it to the rest of them, but she missed him the most. They had such a strong bond that nothing could break it. And she hoped to god that was still true.