She didn't have a plan. For once there was no specific course of action that she had mapped out in her head. There were many different places he could be. She crossed a few off of the list in her head as she made her way towards the broken down castle. Where once stood an impressive fortress, protection against the evils of the outside world, now laid broken walls and crumbling stone in its wake. Pieces of walls that had been blown away by dark magic, by people who would do whatever it took to break down that marvelous place. Portraits hung crookedly on the walls, their occupants sliding from side to side, trying to get their bearings.
Usually she would go straight to the dining hall and find him stuffing his face with sweets. Not today though, he would not want to be around all of them. The ones who had fought bravely and lost. He would not want to see-No, she stopped herself quickly to keep from imagining who, as well as what was in that room. There's no way he would be in the library, that was always her place, and his favorite place to avoid. The quidditch field had been burnt to rubble, and she had no idea what could have become of the Room of Requirement, though she feared that it must have had the same fate as the former. That left the boys dormitory. Though it was the last place she thought of, Hermione realized that her feet had been carrying her there all along. When she got to the portrait of the Fat Lady, she didn't have to bother with the password, as the Fat Lady let her in, wiping her eyes with a handkerchief. She knew who Hermione was, there was no use with a password, not today.
When she walked into the common room, there was only a handful of people, asleep in the armchairs by the fire. Hermione walked towards the stairs to the boys dormitory, only hesitating a moment before climbing them, not knowing what would meet her inside. Once she walked in the room, she was shocked at what she saw. Things were not chaotic, there were no thrown objects or broken things littering the floor. Part of her had expected that in his rage, Ronald would have trashed the room, but to her surprise, it felt like she had stepped back in time. The boys dormitory looked just as it had when she was in school. The beds were neatly made with the curtains open, boys socks were hung by the fire with their towels left to dry, the school trunks neatly packed as if the year had come to a close. There was only one bed with the curtains closed and Hermione was somewhat afraid to go over and pull the curtains open. She could still go back and run away, he might not know that she was here. But as usual she couldn't turn away from him. They had both done enough hiding, it was time to see what their life could be, together.
She slowly walked over and gently pulled open the curtain to his bed. There lay Ron, on his side, eyes tightly shut as if he was in pain. Sleep had always come easy to Ron, but Hermione knew that this feat was now failing him. She sat down on the side of the bed, without touching him. She knew that he knew she was there, but she didn't say anything. There was nothing that she could say anyway, this wasn't a time for talking. No amount of words, or facts from a book could change the way that he would feel in this moment and she knew that. She was started out of her reverie when she felt Ron's warm hand grasp her thigh. He didn't open his eyes, they were still as tightly shut as ever. She hesitantly reached out her hand and ran her fingers through his hair. For a margin of a second, she saw some kind of relief pass over his face. No matter how small it was, she saw it, and she knew that he wanted her there, and that was enough for her. She continued to run her fingers through his hair until he fell asleep. She didn't know how long it took. His eyes continued to be screwed shut in sleep but she knew that he was sleeping for his breathing had slowed and his grasp had loosened on his leg, his hand now just lying there. She sat there, running her fingers through his hair, staring at Ron, hoping that he would understand her message;
I'm here.