Four word prompt: I Really Need You

Pairing: Romione

Rating: K


She sat in the corner of her bedroom, crying her eyes out.

She couldn't believe it. She just couldn't. But she has done it. She had done it, and she had watched as her parents had moved around the house not knowing what their names were, not knowing that they had a daughter, not knowing that the wizarding world existed.

Hermione watched disillusioned against the wall as her parents packed up their bags and headed out the door, on their way to Australia. She had walked the quiet house looking at the blank spaces in the pictures where her face or body would have been.

She tried to convince herself that they would be happier, safer. She had actually thought about the fact that maybe if they didn't know her, their lives would be so much better.

She gathered up her precious belongings, keeping a few of the pictures with her still in them in a book. She had told Ron she would signal him with her D.A. coin when she was done so he would know that she was coming. She was supposed to had done it as soon as they left.

That had been hours ago.

Hermione cried in the corner like she used to when she was in primary school. Those days where she would come home and be so sad that she was bullied over her intelligence or her appearance, that she would go straight to her room, sit on her quiet corner, and hug her legs to her body, crying into her knees.

She felt like her world was falling apart. And while she knew that it was the right thing to do, she couldn't help but feel like a lost girl. An orphan. Just a child that materialized into the world who had no home.

Suddenly, there came a loud crack that startled her. She looked up and saw Ron, who had just apparated into her room. He looked as if he was about to have a go at her (probably for being late in contacting him), but when he saw her tear streaked face, his expression softened.

"Ron, I really need you." said Hermione, sobbing even more.

Ron rushed over to her, knelt down, and took her into his arms. He rocked her back and forth as she drowned his shirt with her sorrows.

"They don't know me." she cried. "They don't know me, and it's my fault!"

"No, it's not, Hermione." whispered Ron into her ear. "You did what you had to do to keep them safe. You did something that was brilliant, and I wish I could be that selfless to do the same to my family to protect them."

"I don't have a family anymore, Ron," said Hermione, looking sadly into Ron's sapphire eyes. "I- I don't-"

"You have me." said Ron firmly, as he took her cheeks into his hands, kissing her on the forehead. "I'm your family. And when this is over, we'll go and get them, okay? I promise we will."

Hermione nodded, burying her face into Ron's shirt once again. The smell of the sun, earth, baking, and Ron lingered into her nose. The familiar smell of her other home.

The smell that reassured her that things would be okay again.