Upon entering the room again, Hermione felt strangely woozy and homesick. To make things worse, a pang of realisation had settled in. Professor McGonagall had visited with the time turner, which could only mean one thing; McGonagall had given Hermione the time turner for a reason. For what though?The pressure was building up and her muscles pushed her down onto a nearby kitchen chair. She looked closer into the loops of the Time Turner. There was curly writing engraved into it. She had obviously noticed this before due to the amount of times she had used the time turners but she had never actually take the opportunity to read what it said. Dumbledore had given Hermione the Time Turner in his will but Hermione had always felt too guilty to hold onto such a valuable item and had given back to Professor McGonagall at the end of the Final Battle, last year.
I mark the hours everyone nor have I outrun the sun. My use and value unto you are gauged by what you have to do, it read.
She traced the deeply carved writing on the object, encircling her fingers round the loops and thought for a moment.
What could McGonagall possibly want her to do?
The morning passed in silence and everyone were still confined in their own rooms- obviously too upset because of George, Hermione smiled sadly. But she wasn't too bothered about this because she was more focused on figuring out what on the earth she was supposed to with the Time Turner, her eyes concentrated on the writing and twiddling the sand timer in the middle. Squinting her eyes, she panned the Time Turner for furthermore evidence that would entice her knowledge.
"Come on! There must be something! Anything. Anything at all to give at least some idea of what I need to do."
She was getting rather impatient with it now.
She muttered something unintelligible and was about to repeat when...
"KNOCK! KNOCK!", a cheery voice boomed.
"What the...?", Hermione looked around before realising someone was chapping at her bedroom door.
"Come in, she said more gently.
The floorboards creaked and squeaked as Ron was.
"Hi!", he said as he attempted to keep control of his balance while leaning on Hermione's door.
"Hi", Hermione replied in a more calm voice than Ron's.
He appeared to have -what looked like- his cheesiest grin stretched onto his face.
"How are you feeling? I hope you're not too wound up after what George said."
"I'm fine.", she said, hoping he wouldn't see the annoyance of this question, in her eyes.
She was feeling frustrated because of the Time Turner.
" You?", she continued.
"I've been better but never mind me. Can I come in?"
"Sure." she replied in a monotone voice.
He pushed Hogwarts: A History out of the way to sit on the bed next to her.
He laughed as he said "I can't believe you still have that!"
Hermione forced a smile but would not look away from the Time Turner.
"So is everyone still upset?" she questioned, while twiddling the Time Turner around her palm.
"Yeah. Everyone's still pretty much annoyed with each other", Ron laughed.
It was times like these that Hermione missed. Having a casual laugh with her friends, joking with Fred and George, knitting lessons with Ginny, 'helping' Harry finish his Butterbeer and laughing at Ron who could never drink his without achieving a frothy, white moustache.
She looked up to Ron who was scanning the room and nosying the posters and old pieces of parchment lying on the floor. It took him a while to notice that Hermione wasn't really interested in how everyone was, but was gazing into the Time Turner - which had sparks shooting out of it as she twiddled it round her palm.
"What's that?" he asked, suspiciously.
Her eyebrows knitted together as she passed the Time Turner to Ron. "It's my Time Turner. You remember when Dumbledore passed it onto me in his will, right?"
"Oh, yeah! How could I forget this old thing!", he said, fondly. "You were so intrigued with it when Dumbledore gave it to you! I remember seeing your eyes light up when he gave it to you. They glistened a beautiful chocolate brown colour."
Hermione felt herself blushing as Ron slid closer to her.
"So what's the story , then, eh? Why have you all of a sudden brought this out?"
"Well I wasn't planning on telling anyone but since you asked...
McGonagall visited earlier and..."
Ron jumped in astonishment.
"Hold on...McGonagall was here?!"
"Yes. And as a matter of fact, the visit was of utter importance."
"What do you mean, Hermione?" Ron was now confused(but that wasn't hard to do!).
"Well...she came to the door, saying that she wanted to give it to me as a keepsake but I have to be careful the Ministry don't find out what I use it for...That I must not use it for my own selfish purposes."
Ron smirked.
"You, do anything selfish? I don't think that's even possible!", he smiled.
"Ron" she spoke seriously. "I think she meant for me to go back in time and change something but I can't be sure."
"What makes you say that? It is after all a Time Turner." Ron teased her.
But Hermione was still frustrated.
"I guess it was just how she said it. Like it was urgent. I can't think straight, though! All that comes to mind is Fred...and he..." Hermione couldn't restrain her tears that were falling like a waterfall would drop water.
Ron squeezed her shoulder.
"It's okay. He fought bravely, you know. George was always by his side and he says that Fred never gave, not until his last breath." Hermione knew that Ron wasn't the emotional type but appreciated his attempts to console her.
He wiped a fresh tear that was forming in and rolling down the corner of her left eye.
"It's okay. He will be watching over us now", he smiled.
But all this did was make her cry harder.
Ron could see that this wasn't working so tried a new method that he wasn't normally accustomed to.
He wrapped his arms around her like a protective Mama Bird and stroked her back.
There was something Hermione couldn't quite place her finger on, that made this hug feel so right.
Moments passed as they comforted each other for a while. Hermione could feel Ron gulping loudly before pulling back. Hermione raised her head slightly and saw that Ron was staring avidly at her eyes.
"They're glistening again", he said softly.
Hermione could feel herself turning pink as Ron cupped his hands under her chin and slowly moved closer to her. She smiled at him. His eyes never left her's as he smiled back.. And this time, Hermione gulped. Slowly, she moved her head, getting closer and closer until eventually she was interlocking her lips with Ron. Suddenly, everything that had gone wrong in Hermione's life seemed to disappear and was replaced by sparks of dazzling lights that were shot up in the air around her and Ron. Electricity was coursing through her skin, through her veins, as she was immersed in bliss. Ron was getting deeper with his kisses, bringing Hermione closer into him as she returned his kisses. Questions were springing to her mind.
What's going on? Why am I doing this?
But the questions seemed fuzzy to Hermione and all she could think about was how much she was enjoying herself.
Moments passed and Ron began to move his hands. They were now sliding through her hair and caressing Hermione's warm neck. With each new breath he took he kissed more and more passionately.
With a final kiss he pulled back, jolting Hermione with shock.
"I had to do that at least once" he said softly.