Hermione wiped the sweat off her brow. The tent was stifling and the fact that she had just made tea didn't help. She put her scalding cup on one of the spindly tables and knelt down next to the stove in the center of the sitting area. She grabbed the fire tongs and opened the hatch on the side. Maybe if she removed a few of the coals, the temperature would lower a few degrees. She stood up and balanced the hot coals at the end of the tongs, as she deftly untied the tent flap with one hand. She stepped outside and tossed the coals into the snow where they went out instantly with a hiss. She sighed and closed her eyes, reveling in the cool winter air. She opened her eyes and looked around; no one there. She dared to take a few steps away from the heat of the tent and let the wind blow her hair around her face. Then, she heard a snap of a twig. She peered through the darkness, thinking it was Harry coming back from the river with something for them to eat. Through the trees she could see a distant shadow approaching. She instinctively backed up closer the mouth of the tent. The sound of snapping twigs and crunching snow grew louder. Then, a figure emerged from the darkness. Hermione's jaw dropped.

"Hey, Hermione," Ron said quietly.

There was an extended pause. Hermione was stunned. How did he find them? More than that, how could he be in her life again so suddenly? She had, in a way, come to terms with the fact that he had gone, and now he was standing before her as if it had all been a bad dream.

"Ron," she breathed, speaking his name for the first time in weeks. "How did you– How could–." Her words were stuck.

"I'm so sorry," Ron said, walking up to her and taking her hands in his, the fire tongs falling into the snow. "I don't know where to begin, but I'm sorry for all of it. I'm sorry for leaving, I'm sorry for not coming back. I'm sorry for taking the mickey out of you in school, and for not taking you to the Yule Ball, but most of all, I'm sorry for not noticing you the way I should have all those years ago. I'm a prat. A hopeless prat. I'm an idiot but I want to change, here, with you. Can you ever forgive me?"

Hermione stood there, the numbness slowly leaving her. She took her hands out of Ron's, and backed up a few steps.

"How could you?" she, said, the anger and hurt coming back to her in a rush. "How could you leave us! When we needed you the most! We were counting on you! Do you have any idea what your absence cost us?"

"I know, I know," Ron said moving toward her again. "You can't comprehend how awful I feel, how sick to my core I feel for doing it. I feel like the smallest person on the planet for it. I'd do anything to take it back, to earn your trust again. And I will! Tell me what to do Hermione. Tell me and I'll do it!"

Hermione gulped against the lump in her throat and looked down at the snow. Her eyes burned.

"How could you leave me?," she said in a very small voice.

Ron took her face in his hands and tilted her face up towards his. He wiped a tear away with the pad of his thumb.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I wanted to come back, so badly. I'd have done anything to have been able to."

They stared into each others eyes. Hermione noticed that his eyes were slightly wet, too. She suddenly realized that she didn't want to hear his apologies. She didn't want to hear his reasons. Her anger faded, as it came to her that she just wanted to hold him. He was here and he wanted to be. She was being filled to the brim with joy that he was standing in front of her, holding her face.

"I love you, Ron," she whispered, placing a hand over one of his. A watery chuckle burst past Ron's lips.

"I love you too, Hermione. I have for a while."

She closed her eyes as he bent down. Their lips met. She moved her hand to the nape of his neck, and gripped the back of his jumper with the other. His hands moved from her face to clasp her shoulders in a tight embrace. The kiss deepened, and Hermione began to loose herself. They started to back up to the tent's entrance. Ron opened the flap, blindly, and they crossed the threshold...

Hermione was suddenly aware of someone shaking her.

"Hermione!" the voice said. It wasn't Ron's. She opened her eyes. She was sitting in chair by the stove. Oh, it was Harry's voice. She had been dreaming. Dreaming. It was all a dream. Then, she came to her senses and remembered probable reasons why Harry would be shaking her awake in the middle of the night. She sat up.

"What's wrong? Harry? Are you all right?" She said, quickly, shaking the dream from her mind.

"It's okay, everything's fine. More than fine. I'm great. There's someone here."

"Who – ?"

Then, she saw a shine of red out of the corner of her eye. Not daring to believe, she slowly turned her head. There was Ron, standing right where he had been in her dream. She might have never dreamt anything.

A/N: Hello! Since I don't like to change events in the books, here's my way of giving Ron and Hermione the reunion I believe they deserved. Hope you liked it. Review, please! ;)

~G.L.H.~