Fifteen months later.
Hermione bolted upright in bed, Harry's voice still ringing in her head. Almost every night she dreamt of either him or Ron, at least with Ron she could banish the nightmares with happy memories but with Harry she could never move past their last conversation. No matter how hard she tried to think of happier times, all she could see was the hatred in his eyes as he told her to leave and never return.
Shaking her head to dislodge her dream, Hermione pushed back the covers and got out of bed. She made her way to the bathroom and as she turned on the shower, she looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes were bloodshot and as usual she had dark circles underneath them, both were a result of the constant nightmares that now plagued her life. Her brown eyes were also completely devoid of life, after everything that had happened she'd locked her heart away and refused to live life to the full, instead she merely went through the motions.
Going through the motions was exactly what Hermione did that morning. She showered and washed her hair, before blow-drying it and getting dressed for work. She then applied a light dusting of make-up. Staring at her reflection once again, Hermione noted the changes from when she first got up. She looked like an attractive young witch without a care in the world, only Hermione knew that wasn't the case. The nice clothes and the effort she put into her looks was merely her armour, if she looked good then no-one could see the devastation inside.
Once she was dressed Hermione headed into her small kitchen and made herself a cup of coffee. Her nightmare had woken her up slightly before her alarm was due to go off, meaning she had a few extra minutes before she was due at work. Hermione worked at the Australian Ministry of Magic in a mundane job in the Department of International Co-operation. The wizard she worked directly for often jetted off around the globe, but Hermione was stuck in the Ministry doing paperwork. If she stuck at her job she would end up with the chance of getting promoted to a job like her boss's, but to be honest Hermione didn't know if she wanted to be stuck working in the Ministry for the rest of her life. Although the trouble was she didn't know what she wanted to do, since the war she'd just felt lost and alone, which was how she ended up in Australia in the first place.
After leaving Hogwarts, Hermione had apparated to London where she'd found a cheap hotel and holed up for almost a week as she tried to deal with her grief. When she did finally decide it was time to make some decisions about her life, she decided on going to find her parents. Before the war she'd sent them off to Australia with modified memories to protect them. Harry had been talking about helping Hermione locate them and returning their memories, but with him not wanting to know her she was left to do it on her own.
Hermione travelled to Australia the muggle way and once she reached Australia she found herself another cheap hotel and set about finding her parents. It took her almost three months to locate them and when she did, Hermione didn't get the happy reunion she'd been pinning her hopes on. Her parents was furious to discover what she'd done and even though she tried to explain her motives, they still weren't happy with her. Since they were settled in Australia they decided to stay put, so Hermione remained in Australia in the hopes of rebuilding their relationship. However even now, a year later, her relationship with her parents was frosty at best.
With staying in Australia, Hermione got a job in the country's Ministry of Magic. Despite technically not having her final exam results a quick check on her academic records showed that she was good enough to do almost any job. While Hermione's job definitely wasn't fulfilling, she had no desire to find a new one. She only stayed in the country because of her parents and because there was no reason for her to go anywhere. She wasn't wanted back at home and even though she wasn't particularly wanted by her parents, it was better than being all alone.
Dragging herself out of her thoughts, Hermione finished her coffee before grabbing her bag and leaving for work. Arriving at the Ministry, she made her way up to her office and settled at her desk. Already there was a pile of paperwork for her to get through, and she would only get more throughout the day.
Hermione spent her morning doing paperwork and when lunchtime hit she made her way down to the staff canteen on the ground floor. Hermione had just grabbed a sandwich when she heard a familiar voice behind her. Turning around slowly she sucked in her breath as she spotted the familiar form of her ex-boyfriend entering the canteen. She'd thought the voice was in her head, but it hadn't been, Harry was in Australia for some reason and he was standing opposite her.
Harry had frozen in the doorway when he'd spotted Hermione. He'd had no idea where Hermione had gone after the war, and after what had happened with Ron, he hadn't been bothered. However it was much easier to forget his feelings for her when he didn't have to face her. Looking at her now, and seeing how attractive she looked, Harry was struggling to remember that she was a killer. She was the person responsible for his best friend's death.
Hermione watched as Harry said something to the wizard he was with, before turning around and leaving the canteen. Without thinking Hermione put her sandwich back down on the counter and went after Harry. She didn't know what she wanted from him, she just knew she couldn't let him walk away without even speaking to him.
"Harry, wait," She called, spotting his dark head disappearing around the corner.
"I have nothing to say to you," Harry replied as Hermione ran to catch up with him.
"Please," Hermione cried, pulling on Harry's arm and causing him to spin around to face her.
"What?" Harry's snarl almost made Hermione back off, but she remained where she was. "Well, what do you want?" He demanded harshly.
"I don't know," Hermione whispered. "I just wanted to talk to you."
"And why would I want to talk to you?" Harry sneered. "I thought I made it clear last year, I don't want to know you anymore."
"Why?" Hermione asked. "What changed?"
"What changed was Ginny. She woke up and told us the truth," Harry replied. "She told us what really happened."
"What do you mean, what really happened?" Hermione frowned.
"She saw the entire thing Hermione, she saw what you did," Harry said coldly. "She saw you pull Ron in front of you to protect yourself. You used him as a shield, you sacrificed him to save yourself. How could you?"
"I didn't," Hermione protested. "She must be confused or something. I would never do that, Harry. I had no idea what was happening, Ron dove on top of me."
"Ginny's adamant about what she saw," Harry replied. "She was trying to tell people before she had to be sedated. She couldn't believe it when she woke up and found out that you were playing the victim. You're a cold blooded killer Hermione, and we want nothing to do with you. You're evil."
Hermione recoiled at Harry's words, staring at the man she once shared a bed with. She couldn't believe he would think so badly of her. She didn't know if Ginny was just confused or being malicious, but either way she couldn't believe Harry's reaction. They'd been friends since they were eleven and after everything they'd been through together, did he really think she was capable of sacrificing Ron to save herself?
"You're wrong," Hermione whispered quietly. "You're wrong."
Turning on her heel she ran away from Harry as quickly as she could. Flying through the Ministry she headed back up to her office and grabbed her bag. By this time the tears were flowing down her face and she quickly told one of the girls in the office she was feeling unwell, before leaving work and heading home.
For a long time Hermione sat in her small flat, replaying what Harry had told her. Suddenly the Weasleys change of attitude towards her made sense. While she was in bed, Ginny had woken up and started spreading her poison. The question was, why? Was she genuinely confused with everything that had happened and misunderstood something she'd seen, or did she knew exactly what she was saying and was saying it to get rid of Hermione for some reason? Or was Ginny right, and was it Hermione who was blocking out the truth? Could she have done something as terrible as to use Ron to save herself?
Hermione refused to believe she would do such a thing. The war was tough and she desperately wanted to survive, but there was no way she would have sacrificed Ron to save herself. If she'd seen a curse heading in his direction she would have saved him regardless of her own safety. There's no way she valued her life more than his, she would have willingly sacrificed herself for either him or Harry.
As much as Hermione knew she hadn't done what Ginny was accusing her of, she had to be sure. The events surrounding Ron's death were something she chose not to dwell on and she'd buried the memory deep. What she needed to do was dig it out and examine it for answers. Whatever the result she needed to know what had happened. How exactly did Ron die?
Hermione knew what she needed was a pensieve, that way she could examine the memory fully. While she didn't own one, she was lucky enough to know a man who did. Her next door neighbour, Brett, was a writer and he used a pensive to help with his writing ideas. Hermione had made friends with Brett upon moving into her flat, and she knew he would lend her the pensieve if she wanted it.
One quick trip next door and Hermione was sitting on her sofa with a pensieve placed in the middle of her coffee table. Now all she had to do was pluck up the courage to check the memories. Reliving Ron's death wasn't something she wanted to do, but it was something she needed to do. She needed to prove that Ginny was wrong, she didn't kill Ron.
Lifting her wand up to her head, she placed the wood against her temple and slowly withdrew the silvery memory. Placing the memory into the pensieve, Hermione looked at the swirling substance for a few minutes. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Hermione leant over the pensieve and plunged into her memory.
After a minute of what felt like she was falling, Hermione found herself in the school grounds. It took her a couple of minutes to regain her bearings, but when she did she easily spotted her past self. Hermione made her way over to where her past self was battling a Death Eater. Ron was nearby, battling his own Death Eater, but when Hermione looked around she couldn't see anyone who could have cast the curse. The only other Death Eaters she could see were battling someone else, further away.
Hermione watched intently as Ron stunned the Death Eater he was fighting and turned to check on her past self. Hermione's past self had also stunned the Death Eater she was fighting, and was looking longingly towards the castle. Hermione knew her past self was thinking about Harry, and hoping he was okay.
"Hermione!"
Hermione watched in horror as Ron's shout echoed around the courtyard, moments before he slammed into her. She saw the flash of green light hit him directly in the side, but she'd missed where it had come from. Looking around wildly, she found no sign of any Death Eaters. Where on earth had the curse come from?
Before Hermione could spot the culprit, she was pulled back out of the pensieve and landed in her front room. Hermione stared at the pensieve, taking in what she'd discovered. She now knew for definite that things had happened as she remembered, Ron had been the one to jump in front of the curse and she hadn't even known it was coming. The memory however had left her with a few questions. Mainly who had cast the curse that hit Ron, and where did Ginny fit into things?
Deciding to take a second look at the memory, Hermione steeled herself before diving into the pensieve for a second time. This time she gained her bearings quicker. Deciding to concentrate on Ron, she went over to where he was battling the Death Eater. When he started to make his way over to her past self she followed him and this time she saw him pause and scowl at a brick wall. Hermione looked at the wall herself, but didn't see anything that could cause Ron to scowl the way he had. A second later she spotted a movement by the wall and a green light appeared. Ron reacted to the light immediately, screaming Hermione's name and pushing her out of the way.
A minute later Hermione was once again ejected from the pensieve. This time however she knew she was heading back into the pensieve for a third time. Now she knew where the curse had come from, she knew where to concentrate her attention. She knew that if she hadn't seen anything that nothing would be there, but the wall was directly under where she was staring so Hermione was hoping she'd registered something in her subconscious that could help her identify Ron's killer.
Diving into the pensieve for the third time, Hermione immediately turned her attention towards the wall where the curse was going to come from. Positioning herself near to where Ron was going to fall, Hermione concentrated on the wall. When her past self looked towards the castle, a glimmer of red hair came into view crouching down beside the wall. Hermione gasped as she recognised who the hair belonged to, it was Ginny. Ginny was the one crouched beside the wall.
Barely able to believe what she was witnessing Hermione watched as a jet of green light came from where Ginny was crouching. Like always Ron screamed her name almost as soon as the light appeared and by the time it reached her, he was shielding her with his body. Before she exited the pensieve, Hermione took one last look towards the wall but she couldn't see anything. By this point her past self was on the floor, meaning she had no idea what was happening beside the wall.
When Hermione found herself ejected from the pensieve for the third time, she collapsed onto the sofa in shock. She still wanted to check the memory a few more times to be sure, but it would appear that Ginny had been the one to cast the curse that had killed Ron. Why she'd done it, Hermione wasn't sure, but her lies were starting to make sense. She was clearly worried that Hermione had seen something so by getting in first she was making it hard for Hermione to be believed. After all who would believe Ginny would kill her brother, even if it was an accident.
After recovering from the shock a bit, Hermione viewed the memory again, and again and again. By the time she was finished she was sure of a few things. Firstly, Ginny had thrown the curse. And more importantly, it hadn't been an accident or a misplaced shot, it had been deliberate. She'd tried to kill Hermione, and if it hadn't been for Ron she would have succeeded.
After returning the pensieve to her neighbour, Hermione settled down to think about what she'd discovered and what she was going to do about it. Ginny had killed Ron and made sure Harry and the Weasleys hated her. After all this time Hermione didn't want apologies, she wanted vengeance. Ginny had destroyed her life and now Hermione was going to return the favour.
"Watch out Ginny," Hermione whispered to herself. "I'm coming for you."