Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy.
Unknowingly to me, Ron had talked to his mum and dad about my upcoming sleep study, scheduled for Monday night, July 27. On Sunday morning, while I was helping clean up the dishes from the family's breakfast, Mrs. Weasley walked in and started talking about our plans for the next night.
"We'll meet Arthur there, you know he's been working such long hours recently that he'll just then be getting off work, and we'll be back in the morning to come pick you back up at around half 7. We talked to the Healer in charge and she said that we'd be welcome to return to check on you but they'll also call us if anything happens and-"
"You don't have to do that, Mrs. Weasley," I stopped her, my throat tightening and feeling mentally exhausted all of a sudden. "I can go by myself."
"Nonsense, nonsense, dear," she waved me off, "You're part of this family. Plus, we couldn't very well let you go alone now, could we?" I shook my head no and found it hard to concentrate on what she was saying after that, insteading going through the motions of hand-washing the utensils and plates.
I missed my parents. My mum, with her thin fingers and short hair. The sound of her voice waking me up in the morning. My dad, with his curls and Muggle football fanaticism. Our talks about politics and dentistry. I missed my mum's tea and my dad's laughter. It felt like ages since I'd see them, but it had been, hadn't it? Since before Bill and Fleur's wedding. Over a year.
I knew the time was coming that I'd have to go to Australia, but there were so many unknowns that my head started swimming at the thought of coordinating it all. How was I going to get there? Is it safe to travel? How was I going to explain to anyone enough of what I'd done for them to understand why I needed to go? What if I'd failed at correctly administering the spell? What if I couldn't get their memories back? What if I couldn't even find them?
I thought of my house, the place where I grew up. The staircase with its dark wood bannisters and creaky floors, my room filled with books and light purple walls, the kitchen with its tile floors that got cold in the winter. If I let my mind wander enough, I could heard my mum cooking and my dad watching the telly and feel the fabric of the couch underneath me while I sat reading a book.
"Hermione dear, are you paying attention?"
I blushed and snapped back into the conversation.
Monday came and went and suddenly it was dark outside and I was walking down the stairs, ready to head to Saint Mungo's to spend the night. I knocked on George's door and told him bye, waited a few moments before he said good luck and then I continued to walk down the stairs. Ginny and Harry, who popped up and gave me a hug before sitting back down to their game of exploding snap and stood by the door, left me waiting for Mrs. Weasley before we left.
Ron leapt down the stairs and saw me standing at the bottom. He grinned sheepishly and walked over.
"You ready to go?"
I nodded nervously. The more I tried not to think about it, the more my eyes filled with tears and the more I couldn't stop thinking about it. Ron bounded over to me and put his arm around me.
"Hey, it's going to be all right, okay?" said Ron, looking me in the eye before giving me another big hug. "I'll see you in the morning? You'll be back before you know it. Mum and Dad will be there and I'll have a big breakfast waiting for you when you get back, okay?"
"Do you ever think about anything else but food?" I teased through my tears, hastily wiping my face and feeling suddenly embarrassed.
"Well, if I do, you'll know something's seriously wrong, eh?" he said, hugging me tighter.
I nodded against his chest and pulled my arms tighter around his middle as he rested his cheek against the top of my head. The thought of being away from him and Harry for even a night sent my heart racing and my hands shaking. I took a deep breath into his tee shirt and squeezed tighter until I heard Mrs. Weasley saying she was ready to go.
"All right, Hermione," she said cheerfully, "Are you ready for a little adventure? Let's get a move on, we wouldn't want to be late, dear." She gave Ron a slobbery kiss and yelled to Ginny, Harry, and George that they were leaving before pushing me to the fireplace and sending me in front of her to St. Mungo's.
When setting up the appointment, the Assistant Healer had asked me where I slept every night. They'd pulled a memory from me of Ginny's room and I saw the pink walls and Gwenog Jones poster materialize in the Pensieve that they used to recreate the space.
"Hello, Hermione," Arthur exclaimed, patting me on the back as I held my pajamas to my chest in the pre-procedure room, "You ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose."
"We're going to be right here, okay? And we're just an owl away and they have very strict instructions to contact us if you feel you'd like to stop," Mrs. Weasley said as she sniffled and pulled me into a big hug.
"I'll be fine," I mumbled into Mrs. Weasley's hair.
Two hours later, I was lying in bed and waiting for sleep to come. I had taken time all day trying to stay calm, hoping that the state of my body and mind would allow me some semi-normal sleep while being observed… but it'd been been days since I had a nightmare. When was my last one? Four days ago?
The procedure to start the study had been interesting. I asked a lot of questions, much to Mrs. Weasley and Arthur's entertainment and expectation, and tried to categorize each event as it occurred. I told myself over and over again that this wasn't the kind of test that you could fail, but in the back of my head, there was a persistent voice that still told me I was going to.
They had me sit in a chair and asked me a variety of sleep related questions, documenting as I gave my answers in the briefest way that I could. They had me breathe in and out with the tip of a wand in my mouth. I was laid down on a table with a wand running a few inches from my body, up and down my arms, around my head, around my stomach, taking note of my levels and testing my vitals. Blood pressure? Oxygen levels? All checked and recorded.
The bedspread matched the one I used at the Weasley's. The small and large flowers in shades of purple and pink and green. A remnant from Ginny's childhood and undoubtedly a hand-me-down from somewhere else in the Weasley clan. Mrs. Weasley's from childhood? The curtains were the same, slung from one side of the window and secured on the other. There was even the same smell coming in from the fake outside and on the quilt: summer grasses and wildflowers, mixed with savory, home-cooked food and laundry detergent.
But there was no Ginny. I couldn't see the rise and fall of her chest and hear her breathing while matching my inhales and exhales with hers. I rolled over to look at her bed and found it empty, trying to trick myself into believing that it was just because she was downstairs with Harry and not because I was having a sleep study done in a hospital.
The procedures and the Weasleys all felt far away from the moment right now. I had a hard time remembering it, feeling as if I were watching a movie of my life. My reality felt far away. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Then another, and felt myself relaxing.
There was a hand around my throat, squeezing the air out of me, trying to get me to stop breathing. I tried to scream but when I opened my eyes, it came out silent and no one was there, it was just a weight on my chest in a dark room. I tried to sit up and the pressure got heavier, pushing me down. I was powerless as I tried to fight against it. I tried and I tried. I tried to scream again and again, until my throat was raw but no sound came out and I felt like I was sinking, melting into the floor.
Where is Ron? I screamed his name. Harry? Where is he? Is he okay? Is he alive? I screamed their names again and again.
Then the pain came after the fear like an old acquaintance. All that I could focus on is willing my heart to keep beating or stop and I couldn't decide which I'd rather have. Do I want to live?
I sit up and then I'm back in Ginny's fake room, cold with sweat and gasping for air. I look around and wipe my face, slick with tears. As my hands pulled away I noticed they were shaking, and for the first time in two weeks, I leaned forward and put my head between my knees as my body shook with sobs.
Exhausted, I let Arthur and Mrs. Weasley lead me down the hallways and to the Floo Network, hoping that I had enough energy to say "The Burrow" without leading myself somewhere unfortunate. Arthur said his goodbye as he headed off to work. A moment after stepping into the fireplace at St. Mungo's, I stepped out into the kitchen at the Burrow and saw Harry and Ron at the stove.
"Hey, Hermione!" Harry said with a grin, levitating mugs across the kitchen to fill with tea. "We missed you!"
"Hi!" said Ron brightly, putting his arm around me as I walked over to them. "How was it?"
"Fine," I leaned in and looked into the pan, "That smells so good. All that for me?"
"Well," Ron replied sheepishly as he blushed, "You have to eat, right?" I hugged his middle and went to sit at the table while Mrs. Weasley flew into the kitchen in a fuss, running upstairs to fetch Ginny and George while I sat. Harry handed me a cup of tea and patted me on the back.
Soon after, Ron placed a plate in front of me, a piece of toast, eggs, and sausage. I thanked him and took a bite. He sat next to me in the mismatched orange chair, his favorite, and placed one elbow on the table and the other on the back of my chair, watching me intently. I could feel his emotions radiated towards me, part anxiety and part curiosity. Wanting to know how it went, wanting me to be okay, wanting everything to be okay.
"Will you let me eat, please?" I laughed, "I can't think straight with you staring at me like that." He scrunched his nose at me while he blushed and stood up, preparing another plate of food for the impending family members stomping down the stairs.
The plate blurred out of vision and for the first time in over two months, for the first time since normal life came back to greet me, I felt myself slipping and wondered how long it was going to take me to feel better.
Had everyone else already gone through this? Was I a late bloomer? Why can't I focus? Why is this happening now, two months later? Why was I okay for two months?
"Hey, hey, hey," Ron said, shaking my shoulder slightly until I looked at him. I tried to listen for the worry in his voice but couldn't focus on anything but the pounding in my head and the burning, itching sensation in my eyes, "You wanna lie down?" I nodded shakily as he lead me to the couch, sitting on the floor next to me to hold my hand after placing a blanket over me.
He sat with me for a few minutes before my eyes closed and I fell closer to peaceful sleep than I had all last night. He heard his steps across the creaky floor as he left the room.
"Oh, Ronnie," Mrs. Weasley sniffled, muffled by the walls, "You've grown up to be such a good boy. Always taking care of us all."
"Thanks, Mum," I could hear the blushing in his voice as I closed my eyes again and fell asleep under Mrs. Weasley's knitted blanket.
"Hey, wake up," Ron shook me slightly as I opened my eyes. I pushed myself up onto my elbows and rubbed my eyes. "Bill, Fleur, and Percy are here. It's dinner time." I nodded. Ron smiled at me and my heart fluttered. He helped me up off the couch, giving me a big hug around my waist and a kiss on the cheek. I blushed in spite of myself and the lingering sleep.
"I missed you all day and night, you know," he whispered in my ear, kissing my cheek again. He pulled back and look in my eye, "It's weird not having you around. I kept wondering if you were okay. Did it go fine?"
"It wasn't abnormal," I said looking up at him with my arms still around his neck, realizing soon after that I was developing a lip-biting nervous habit. "I suppose that's good. Gives them a real look at the worst of it? But I have to go back on Thursday morning. They need time to look at all the numbers and statistics and results and all that." He pulled his arms from around me and took my face in his hands.
"I love you, Hermione," he whispered to me. "It's going to be okay."
"I know it will. I love you, too," I said, leaning in to give him a kiss and nervously hoping no one would walk into the room at that exact moment.
"Dinner's ready, everyone!" Mrs. Weasley yelled from the kitchen, as I pulled away. Ron grinned lopsidedly as he blushed and held my hand as we walked into the kitchen.
As we sat and ate, I thought about the first meals that I had at the Burrow.
When I grew up, we each had our spots at the table. My mum, dad, and I all sat with our napkins in our laps, placemats under our plates, and quiet conversations only. It was just the three of us, and later, Crookshanks rubbing against our legs and stalking our food.
The Burrow was a completely different experience. Even now, with a significantly smaller group of 9 compared to what had been 12 at some points, the atmosphere was different. It buzzed with conversation. It was melancholy, sad at times. But alive. Everyone was thankful to be there. Everyone had come back from the edges of feeling hopeless and returned to some semblance of normal.
I snapped back into the moment and looked down at my plate. Ron gave me a small smile and raised his eyebrows towards my food as if he was telling me to take another bite. I obliged him and ate some potato as he turned back to his conversation with Percy.
The clink of silver against glass distracted me from my thoughts as Bill stood up, holding Fleur's hand with one of his own and holding up his glass with the other. Another year passing had healed his scars even further and grown his hair even longer. He cleared his throat and addressed the table.
Bill started, taking a deep breath and a sip of his drink, "This may come unexpectedly, but we have an announcement. Fleur and I are going to have a baby!"
The room erupted immediately, first with Mrs. Weasley's shriek then with hollered congratulations from everyone around the table. Ron stood up and did a big cheer before he and George high-fived over the table.
"A grandbaby? Oh, oh Merlin, what a blessing!" Mrs. Weasley sobbed as she hugged Bill and Fleur together. Arthur laughed and shook Bill's hand before toasting to the family.
"Okay, okay," Bill said chuckling and Fleur laughed beside him, "It's still very, very early, but we decided any cause to celebrate was something we wanted to share. She only got pregnant about two weeks ago and-" Mrs. Weasley squealed again and launched into a full celebration, pulling out the bottles of Firewhiskey and butterbeer and yelling about how they had to have a cake.
"I can't believe Bill's going to be a dad!" said Ginny a while later, sitting next to me on the couch as we watched Harry and Ron play a fairly drunk game of Wizarding Chess. "I knew it'd come sooner rather than later, she's been bugging him about it since they got married, but it's still crazy!"
"Bloody hell, Harry," Ron exclaimed as one of his Knights was wiped off the board by Harry's Queen, "I must be drunker than I thought!"
"They'll be due in late April then, right?" I asked, watching Ron while he concentrated. He squinted his eyes as he called his castle to move. I took a sip of my tea and set it back on the coffee table.
"Yeah, looks like it," Ginny replied. "I'm not sure they have an exact date yet, but even still, we can guess it'll be right around then, at least a month before school is out anyhow."
"Are you going back?" I asked. I hadn't talked about it with Harry and Ron yet but wanted to know Ginny's plans nonetheless.
"I think so," she shrugged, "I can't see why I wouldn't. I can't exactly start trying out for Quidditch at seventeen and with Harry in Auror training, I don't want to just live at home. Mum'll drive me crazy anyways."
"Harry's decided to go into the first training, then?" It didn't surprise me. He'd expressed interest in being an Auror for years and I couldn't imagine that the thought of Death Eater's being out and about in the Muggle or Wizarding worlds sat very well with him even after Voldemort was gone.
"Yes," Ginny sighed, "He isn't happy unless he's playing Savior."
"Hey," Harry protested, "I heard that." Ron's piece swung and took Harry's out, startling Harry into swearing. "Damn it!"
"You can't exactly deny it now, can you?" Ginny teased, taking my tea and taking a sip and laughing at my protest. "What are you doing, Ron?"
"I'm going to training, but not until the October starting date. George needs help getting the shop back up," Ron said absentmindedly. Somehow, he and Harry were still drinking after the rest of us had stopped. It was probably good for them to get to live a little bit of normal teenager life. We hadn't had a whole lot over the last few years.
Ron grinned widely and yelled "Checkmate!" inciting a long string of expletives from Harry's mouth. Harry fell back onto the floor with a loud sigh.
"I… I've been thinking about Australia," I said quietly. Ron's eyes snapped towards me, Harry slowly sat up, and Ginny's brow furrowed. "I have to go eventually and I definitely need to go before school starts. I don't want to wait until Christmas."
"Okay, well when are we going?" Harry asked. It was my turn to look confused.
"What are you talking about?"
"Well, you aren't very well going by yourself, are you?" Ron said incredulously, his eyebrows raising into his hair. "It's not safe!"
"I'm perfectly capable of going by myself," I said stiffly. I realized I was chewing my lip again. "I need to talk to the Department of Magical Transportation about getting the Portkeys set up, but after that I think I'll need a couple weeks in Australia. I need to leave pretty soon if I want to be back for September 1st and to get to Hogwarts."
"Don't be daft, Hermione," Harry rolled his eyes as he cleaned up the board. "You aren't going by yourself. I'd have a heart attack and Ron would moan the entire time about being away from you and it's just not going to happen."
Ron's mouth opened a few times like he was going to protest but finally settled for blushing and nodding. "We'll talk to Mum and Dad tomorrow and set up appointments for when we're already going out on Thursday!"
I sighed and look at Ginny, who had stolen my tea again and was sipping it to hide her laughs.
Author's Note: Back at it again! I've had a difficult time writing a new Ron and Hermione. Would they be super affectionate? Would they be nervous? I've already made them say I love you so I've started that up again, but yeah. Hope you enjoyed!