A/N: Thanks for reading. Enjoy.

At six pm the following day, Hermione was standing in the alley besides Hog's Head. Covered up in a grey cloak, she leaned against a brick wall and took a deep breath. She had agreed to meet Flint's lackey at six and each minute that he took longer, she could not help but seriously think a hollow pit was searing through her stomach and growing inside of her slowly.

She had been thinking a lot in the past few hours actually. She thought she could leave Andromeda's house and escape. But then she was quickly reminded she had absolutely nowhere to go…and even if she did, they would find her.

The events that took place in the Battle of Hogwarts three months ago had overcame her and she was forlornly reminded of that formidable scene where Hagrid carried Harry's limp body to the rest of them, forced by Voldemort to place him on the grand steps of Hogwarts for everyone to see, mockingly reminding them of their defeat. When she saw Fred Weasley's dilapidated body from the explosion. When she saw a horrified George Weasley in the midst of mourning his brother, being blasted with an Avada Kedavra by a Death Eater who took advantage of the situation. When Bellatrix Lestrange fired Nymphadora Tonks with the Cruciatus curse for a few moments before sending the Avada Kedavra her way, leaving Teddy Lupin a young orphan. And Ron…Ronald Weasley.

The only man she had loved. She vividly remembered the moment when Ron looked at her after Harry and Luna Lovegood had went their way to the Ravenclaw Common Room. Harry had told them to go to the Chamber of Secrets to retrieve venom from the Basilisk's fangs but before they made their way down, Ron put his hand on her arm and stopped her. She looked at him questioningly, trying to convey with her eyes that they had no time for sentimentality and must go down as quickly as possible, but Ron shook his head, forcing Hermione to stop.

She remembered his eyes holding a myriad of emotions that varied from love to care to despondency to anxiety. She realized what he was going through because after all, she was going through the same. Without any words, he navigated his way up her arm to her cheek and pulled her gently towards him and kissed her. It was uncharacteristic of him to be so smooth in his actions and Hermione could not help but give a teary laugh at the entire situation. Eighteen year olds should not have been worrying about their lives like this. A kiss should not have felt so sweetly morbid. It was all so surreal.

He pulled back and caressed her cheek softly and smiled sadly. "I don't want this to be it."

Though there was little conviction in her words, Hermione shook her head vigorously and choked out her words. "It won't be."

Pulling her into a hug, Ron smiled into her hair. He loved this girl so much and this could very well be his last chance to tell her that. Though he had been thinking this for the last few weeks, even he was surprised afterwards that the words had come out. "Hermione…marry me."

Pulling away, Hermione looked into Ron's eyes and tried to figure out if he had truly said what she had just heard. "What?"

"I know…I know," Ron said, looking suddenly uncomfortable in his gangly frame. He looked away and threw his hand in the air and smiled softly. "I just…I love you."

Hermione brought her hands up and covered her eyes because her tears were coming out quite quickly and they showed no sign of stopping. "Ron…"

"I have for so long now Hermione but I just didn't know what to say or what to do but now…I know. At this moment, I just know. I know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. And knowing that it may not be that long, I don't want to spend any time in 'what ifs' or 'maybes'. I want you to know how much I love you and spend our remaining time with your hand in my hand. I want to think that there is a future after this war and that this won't just be it. I…Gods Hermione, I just love you so much, and maybe you don't feel---"

"Oh shut up Ron," Hermione said, amidst her tears. "I love you too you idiot. And yes…yes I will marry you." And with that, she pulled him down by his shirt and kissed him.

Closing her eyes, Hermione remembered that feeling and could not help but smile, forgetting for a moment her current circumstances.

The two of them had survived the battle. Harry had died but Ron and Hermione had each other to comfort one another and continue to fight for a better world. Only without Harry, it wasn't the same. The Battle had ended and while Voldemort had spared all the purebloods from the defeated side, Ron and Hermione were still targets. Hermione was the 'mudblood'…the brains who had been behind Harry Potter's moves all these years. She was naturally a target. However, although Ron's family had been 'forgiven', which really meant enslaved, Voldemort had no plan of leaving Ron so easily.

They had to run away. For weeks, Hermione and Ron planned their escape to other countries where they would have peaceful place to stay so they could think of the next plan. They ran through the forests, wherever they could, through the British Isles, but no matter how hard they tried to get away, they were unsuccessful and the Death Eaters somehow always got one step closer. Always.

She was sleeping that night…that night when everything began to seem bleak and hopeless. Ron insisted on her sleeping and said he would protect them. But when his agonizing screams woke her up, she saw that he had been unsuccessful. She had always been courageous in the face of danger but when she saw Ron's writhing form, Hermione could do nothing but watch in horror. The delight with which they sent their spells and laughed at a young man of eighteen suffering was so incredibly sickening that Hermione had been forced to wonder whether these were truly humans. How could anybody be so heartless?

When Rodolphus Lestrange caught sight of her, Hermione eyes widened and she finally attempted to compose herself and look for her wand. Grasping it from her back pocket, she stumbled backwards and shot any spell she could think of at the group that was coming towards her after they had murdered Ron. Expelliarmus, Incarcerous, Incendio, Petrifucus Totalus! Anything to keep them away. However, Hermione realized the uselessness of her spells when she heard Amycus and Alecto Carrow laughing at her inability to do anything except stun one Death Eater. It was then that she prepared to die.

This was going to be it.

And then, they stopped. They looked at her in terror and began to take steps back and Hermione became truly confused. She had finally managed to disarm Antonin Dolohov but what was that compared to everything else that they were capable of?

It was then that she realized that their eyes were no longer on her but behind her. Rather above her. She slowly turned around and recognized what had made the others shirk back in fright. Two Hebridean Black dragons were towering over them and preparing to lunge at the intruders. Their bright purple eyes glowering, they let out a shrieking roar together which caused everyone to back away in startled fear. The larger dragon began to rustle its spiked tail and it flew closer to Lestrange, beating it in his face with another roar, causing Lestrange to howl in pain.

Hermione stepped back as she saw the other dragon looking directly at her and huffing its chest, preparing to breathe fire into her face. The last thing she heard before she feigned unconsciousness was Dolohov yelling at the others to take Ron's body and tell Lord Voldemort that the mudblood's body had been incinerated by dragon fire. After all, there was no way she was going to survive the wrath of two Hebridean Black dragons.

They had absolutely no clue that she had.

They also had no idea that Hebridean Black dragons were hostile when it came to their territory but they only ate animals. They had only meant to scare everyone off but human meat was in no way delectable to them.

Hermione of course knew that seeing her powerless and presumably dead, the dragons would do nothing but go back to their den. It became another moment out of countless others where Hermione thanked books and the valuable information they always provided her with.

After several minutes of lying on her side, Hermione sensed the dragons were gone and she finally got up and saw the wreckage around her. Trees had been burnt down and smoke was billowing around her. But most importantly…Ron was gone. They had taken his corpse with them for Voldemort and Hermione was hit with the sudden realization she would never ever see him again. It was then when Hermione let herself go and her cries filled the air as she realized how futile everything was. What in bloody hell could she do alone? How could she avenge the memories of her best friends against hundreds when she was alone? She had never cried as much as she did that day and her tears were refreshed each time she thought of what that demon would do to Ron's body. The sacrilegious methods in which he would disrespect Ron's memory, gloating in delight while doing it.

For three days, Hermione laid down on the grass, and did absolutely nothing. For once, she had no plan. She had no ideas. She had no secret weapon of knowledge that would help anyone. She had nothing.

However, everything that made Hermione herself returned. The young woman who absolutely abhorred the feeling of having no ambition and losing got back up and though she still had no plan, she was not going to die of starvation and depression lying on damp dirt. There were others left. Many had died but there were some still left! Molly, Charlie, Percy, and Ginny Weasley…Neville Longbottom…Luna Lovegood…Lee Jordan…Katie Bell…Seamus Finnigan… Hannah Abbott…Parvati Patil…Madame Pomfrey…Professor Slughorn….Professor Flitwick…Professor Sprout….Andromeda Tonks.

As Hermione thought of each person who was still alive, her strength grew and she gathered the courage to get back up. It might take her months, or perhaps more reasonably years, to defeat Voldemort but there was no way she would not give up. She refused to give up.

Blinking back her tears in the current day, Hermione looked around her and realized how unsuccessful she had been so far. It had been three months and all she had been able to do was send a message through Andromeda to the remaining Weasley family and Neville that she was still alive. Besides that, she just stayed in the Tonks basement, forbidden to practice any magic besides simple domestic spells, lest anyone neighboring them get suspicious and report the Tonk household to Lord Voldemort.

She was satisfied staying in the discomfort of the basement for as long as she needed but it was last week when Hermione was notified that all the homes were being searched randomly in the magical community outside Ottery St. Catchpole while a ball was being held at the other side of the town. Andromeda had found out the secret information through a not so bright relative and had immediately devised a plan to get Hermione out of the house and to the ball as her deceased son-in-law's pureblood relative.

It was that same ball which had landed Hermione in her current situation. Being hauled to Marcus Flint's manor so he could have his way with her however he pleased.

Shuddering at the thought of his hands on her, Hermione looked at her watch again and realized it was 6:13 pm. She was overcome with some hope that perhaps somehow Flint had realized how plain she was and decided not to sleep with her after all.

With a deep breath, Hermione stepped out of the alley and looked around. Could she leave? She had waited and nobody had showed up. He had threatened to find and hurt her family if she disobeyed him but she hadn't and so she could not be held accountable. Or maybe his minions were just late and she would be at fault? Pulling at her hair lightly, Hermione tried to make a decision. However, as she was leaning towards leaving, she saw that she did not have to.

Cygnus was walking towards the pub. His eyes flitting over to her figure. Leering in satisfaction.