A/N: Okay, two updates in two days, that's new. Don't expect the next chapter so soon though. Unfortunately I still have other fics that need attention. I promised you though I'll have the next chapter out as soon as possible.

One small warning about this chapter by the way, near the end Hermione's going to go a little nuts. Not like Ginny is though, more like…well, you'll see.

Enjoy!

Luna Lovegood-Weasley paced the halls of St. Mungo's, her baby daughter clutched tight in her arms. Anna had fallen asleep an hour ago, her tiny hand holding onto her mother's finger. Luna leaned against the wall, not wanting to wake her daughter with her erratic footsteps, and she brushed a piece of blond hair away from the child's face.

She checked her watch for perhaps the twelfth time that night. It was 9:30, meaning it had been almost an hour since she brought her unconscious husband to the hospital. Shouldn't they know by now if he would be okay? Oh god, if he wasn't, she didn't know what she would do.

She had tried contacting Hermione, but her friend was probably still angry with Ron, and therefore didn't pick up the phone when Luna called. So she had asked the healers to contact her, telling them she was a family friend and should be here. They had promised to floo her with the message, but so far nothing seemed to come of it. Luna wasn't even sure if they'd actually done it. Other than that she didn't know who else to contact. After the murders she virtually became Ron's only family. Only their sister-in-law Fleur Delacour remained, but she had moved back to France with hers and Bill's daughter Victoire upon being widowed. Luna sighed and looked down lovingly at her daughter, knowing that no matter what happened, she had to be strong for Anna.

Another ten minutes passed and still nothing. Luna was quickly becoming anxious. Anna had by now woken up and began to fuss until Luna gave her her favorite stuffed animal. She had actually made the doll herself, Ron thought it looked like a squirrel that was chewed up and then spit out. It wasn't of course, that was just absurd; it was a hobble backed clamhock, a creature found mainly in the forests of America and Canada. They were supposed to bring good fortune to whoever found them, but since she had to do this, Luna figured the doll was the next best thing. Besides, Anna seemed to like it.

"Mrs. Weasley?" A feminine voice rang out.

Luna whirled around and saw a middle aged healer approaching her.

"Yes, is my husband okay?" Luna asked urgently.

The healer placed a comforting hand on the blonde's arm, "Mrs. Weasley, your husband is going to be okay."

She paused for a moment and Luna breathed a sigh of relief, once she turned her attention back to the healer, she continued.

"Mr. Weasley has a mild concussion but it's nothing a few potions can't heal," The healer explained. "there's just one thing."

The last part caught Luna by surprise and made her fears begin to return.

"What is it?" She asked cautiously.

"Well," the healer began after a beat, "When we examined Mr. Weasley, we found something strange, it seems someone has placed a memory charm on him, do you have any knowledge of that?"

To say Luna was shocked was an understatement, but thinking about it, it might explain the dreams Ron had been having, maybe they were really repressed memories.

"Mrs. Weasley?" the healer asked, causing Luna to realize she'd been quiet for to long.

"I'm sorry," Luna answered finally, "No, I didn't know about that."

"Are you sure? Your husband didn't cast it on himself or ask you to do it?" The healer questioned her further.

"No, never." Luna stated firmly.

The healer closed her mouth and regarded Luna for a moment, then she raised her wand and conjured up a bit of parchment and a quill.

"Well nonetheless, if you want the charm removed, you'll have to sign this authorization form." She explained holding the parchment out to the other woman.

Luna studied it for a minute unsure what to do. If Ron had placed it on himself without telling her, he probably wouldn't want her to removed it, especially without his permission. On the other hand, Ron would never do something like that without telling her first. Besides, memory charms were extremely risky to use, even more so on oneself. Ron had always been a bit reckless, but he wasn't stupid. Someone had definitely placed it on him, and if it wasn't himself or Luna, then who?

"Could you hold my daughter for a minute?" Luna asked of the healer after another few seconds.

The healer silently nodded and took the infant in her arms. Anna began fussing again and reached out for her mother. Luna smiled slightly at her child and then signed her name on the form.

They say when you die, your life flashes before your eyes.

Four year old Ronald Weasley sat in the grass outside watching his two oldest brothers play quidditch with daddy. The twins trying to use mommy's wand to make a caterpillar grow and mommy had just noticed this, she was now shouting at the two boys and Ron couldn't help but giggle.

Seven year old Ron was really craving a cookie, but Mummy said no sweets before dinner. The cookie jar was unreachable, no matter how hard he tried to grab at it. Oh how he wanted that cookie.

Suddenly, the jar tipped over all by itself and the lid fell off. A single chocolate chip cookie rolled out and landed in Ron's waiting hands. He stared at the jar shocked for a moment, then his face cracked into a grin and he ran away from the scene with his treasure.

"Ron!" His mother called to him.

Ron Weasley, now eleven and on his way to Hogwarts in a few months stopped and turned around.

"Yes mum?" He answered like a good boy, just in case he was in trouble.

"I'm sure you know that your brother Percy was made a prefect." Molly Weasley stated.

'Oh no, not again.' "Yes mom, I know." Ron answered.

"Well, we've decided to buy him an owl as a present, and so he won't be needing Scabbers anymore, we were wondering if you wanted to keep him." Molly explained.

Ron fought the urge to roll his eyes, first hand-me-down clothes, now he was getting hand-me-down pets. It wasn't even a good pet, all that rat ever did was lay around the house and sleep all day, still, a stupid pet is better then no pet.

"Yeah sure mum," Ron answered, "I'll take him."

"Excuse me," Called a young bespectacled boy with messy black hair, "could you tell how to…"

The boy stopped and motioned at the wall which led to platform nine and three quarters. Ron's mother smiled at him.

"How to get onto the platfrom dearie, not to worry. It's Ron's first time as well." She motioned toward Ron.

Ron smiled slightly at the boy.

"Do you mind?" he asked the kid in the only empty compartment he could find, taking a moment to notice that it was the same one his mother had helped get into the station, "Everywhere else is full."

"Not at all." the kid answered.

Ron sat down smiling, "I'm Ron by the way, Ron Weasley."

"I'm Harry, Harry Potter."

"Holy crickets! You're Harry Potter!" Exclaimed the bushy haired girl, "I'm Hermione Granger," she looked at Ron, "and you are?"

"Ron Weasley." Ron answered, his mouth currently filled with chocolate, which seemed to mildly disgust the girl.

"Pleasure."

"Check." he whispered trying hard to sound brave.

The giant stone queen moved forward and clubbed him over the head knocking him out.

"Ron!" Harry's voice called from the other side of the rockslide, "Ron are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Ron called back.

"You wait here, I'll go on into the chamber and find Ginny." Harry told him before running away in the other direction.

Ron stared in shock and awe as Scabbers, the family pat for more then twelve years, was revealed to him as Peter Pettigrew, the man who really betrayed the Potters and framed Sirius Black for the crime. A wave of nausea hit him and he'd never felt more betrayed in his life.

Ron watched his best friend, or possibly former best friend continually avoid the Hungarian Horntail and soon retrieve his egg, in record time too. Since they had fought Ron had begun to regret abandoning his friend, especially now when Harry really needed support. He supposed he should have been more willing to believe Harry's story. Besides, a spell of Dumbledore's wouldn't be easy for anyone, not even Harry Potter to break.

He cheered along with the other Hogwarts students, silently vowing to apologize to Harry when he next saw him. Next to him, Hermione had been holding tight to his arm, her eyes never leaving the small speedy figure that was Harry, and when he finally succeeded she had cried tears of joy. Ron briefly wondered if she was so scared because she liked Harry a little more than as a friend, but quickly dismissed the notion.

Ron stared at the blond girl sitting across from Harry, Luna Lovegood her name was. She was reading a magazine upside-down and wearing huge earrings shaped like radishes. Ron could already tell he did not want to spend too much time around her, she'd probably make him loony too.

Ron had never felt more horrible. Sirius Black was dead, and it was all their fault. He knew Harry was probably suffering so much right now, Sirius was the closest thing to a father he had ever had. Ron swore to himself right then and there that he would stay be his best mate's side throughout this second war no matter what.

Ron stopped pressed against the wall, Lavender Brown's tongue in his mouth. His hands wandered up and down her body and he began to wonder why he was doing this.

Oh right, Hermione, to make her jealous, that's right.

Ron felt lower than ever, he had abandoned his friends yet again. It wasn't right, he had to go back. They needed him.

"Like a sister," Harry told him desperately, "I love Hermione like a sister."

Ron relished the words, even though a small part of his brain wasn't sure if he believed it.

Without warning, Hermione launched herself onto him. Pressing her lips against his, it was definitely more enjoyable than kissing Lavender. It was the best kiss he had ever received, and it was enough to convince him that he and Hermione were meant to be.

One year, they'd been together for one year. Ron sat in the restaurant waiting for his girlfriend to arrive. He didn't know if he had the nerve to do what he intended, but he knew it was right. He had noticed it for a month now, that their kisses didn't have that same spark anymore, his arm didn't tingle when she grabbed it, holding her hand meant nothing anymore.

When he first kissed her he thought they were soul-mates, but he knew now that he was wrong. He would always love Hermione, but not like that. He would love her like a sister, just like Harry supposedly did. Somewhere in his mind lay a shred of doubt for that. Even though Harry was dating Ginny, something about the way they interacted made Ron think…

"Ron." Hermione greeted him while walking over.

Ron smiled at her as she sat down, "How are you?"

"Fine fine." She answered.

They sat there in awkward silence, Ron knew it was now or never. He took a deep breath.

"Hermione I-"

"Ron, I think we need to see other people." Hermione said quickly, interrupting him.

Ron stared at her for a minute, causing her to look away as if she had done something wrong. But then Ron did something unexpected, he began laughing.

"What is so funny Ronald?" She asked indignantly.

"Hermione, I-I asked you here today because, well, I've been thinking the same thing." He told her once he had stopped.

Hermione had never looked more relieved in her life, "Thank Merlin, I was so afraid I would hurt your feelings."

"It's alright Hermione." He patted his friends hand, "I just want us to stay friends."

Hermione smiled, "Of course we will Ron."

Ron walked through the forest near his old home. He had come home to help celebrate his parents anniversary. It had been several months since he and Hermione broke it off and he didn't regret it. He had to admit though, he was getting very lonely.

Sudden movement nearby put him on the alert, but still he was caught completely by surprise when a young blonde woman jumped out at him.

"Bloody hell Luna!" He shouted at the familiar girl.

"Oh I'm sorry Ronald, I thought you were a Crumple-horned Snorcack." she said sincerely while brushing herself off.

"Well clearly I'm not!" 'batty woman' he added in his mind.

"Well, our recent studies have shown that some Snorcacks take on the form of someone the pursuer is familiar with, like a good friend." She explained, a stranger little smile on her face.

Ron stared at her, had she just called him a 'good friend'? Did she, in a rather strange way, consider him a friend? And what was with that smile. It both creeped him out and intrigued him at the same time.

"-with me if you like." she was saying.

Ron quickly brought his attention back to the blonde, "Huh, what?"

She giggled, just as weird as she'd always been, "I said, if you're not busy, you could come look for them with me if you like."

Ron regarded her for a moment, and even though he knew they weren't real, felt a strange urge to hunt them down with Luna. He didn't know why he was feeling this way, or what it meant, but he decided then and there to just run with it, and see where it took him.

"Alright Luna, let's go find those Snorcacks."

"Don't you just love sunsets?" Luna asked him.

"I don't know, I never really thought about it." Ron answered absentmindedly.

"Well you should. It's the best part of the day." She told him.

"Really?" Ron answered, "I always thought snack time was."

Luna smiled at him, "Yes but this is the time when the Guumoes come out."

Ron raised an eyebrow, "'Guumoes?'"

"Yes, they're wonderful!" Luna gushed, "they're tiny winged fire spirits. They only come out at night because the sun makes their own light overwhelming. They should be coming out now."

Ron stared at her for a minute, unsure of what to make of that or what to say. Suddenly, Luna gasped and pointed at something to their left. Ron had to lean backward in order to avoid getting hit by accident.

"There they are." She exclaimed.

Ron looked over where she was pointing and did indeed see small balls of light flashing near the trees, although they weren't 'Guumoes' as Luna thought.

"Luna," He started, "Those are fireflies."

"uh hm" She answered dreamily while staring at the little lights.

Ron was surprised that he had to fight so hard to keep a grin off his face. Luna Lovegood was the strangest girl he had ever encountered, and he loved it.

They were in the exact same spot again. It had been a year and a half, and Ron was finally ready.

"Aren't the Guumoes beautiful?" Luna asked him happily.

"Uh huh," Ron answered nervously, Luna didn't seemed to notice that though, "Um…Luna?"

"Yes Ronald?" She answered without looking up.

Ron pulled at his collar with one hand, fingering a small box with the other, "I-I didn't just bring you out here to see the Guumoes."

"Oh?"

"Yes," He took a deep breath before continuing, "I brought you here…because it was here that I first realized I was in love with you."

That got her attention, she turned her head to look at him and by the time she did, he was on his knees.

"Luna, I know I'm not the smartest guy around, but I do know that I want us to be together forever." He said, sweat beginning to pour down his face, he pulled the small box out of his pocket and opened it, revealing a diamond ring.

"Luna Lovegood, will you marry me?"

For the first time since he met her, Luna looked stunned. Her mouth hung slightly open as her eyes went from the ring to Ron's face. Then she seemed to regain her trademark quirkiness and gave Ron a small smile.

"Ronald, you're so sweet." She told him.

Ron was confused now, he wasn't sure if that was a yes or a no. But Luna soon answered that question for him, jumping on him which sent them both to the ground and giving him the most mind-blowing kiss he'd ever received.

'Oh my head.'

He woke with a start. The orange colors of his old bedroom giving him a bit of a headache. Downstairs he could hear his family talking rather loudly. He groaned in annoyance and headed into the bathroom. Once he finished, he walked out and made to go downstairs and see what all the commotion was about. As he headed for the stairs though, he casually glanced into his younger sisters open, which was partially open and did a double-take. When had she acquired all those pictures of Harry?

Ron walked into in the room pushing open the ajar door with a loud creaking. Harry's grin smiled down at him from every inch of the wall. Whether it be a newspaper clipping or an actual photograph.

If Ron ever thought his fiance scared him, it was nothing compared to this. What made it worse was he knew Ginny and Harry had broken up weeks ago. On her nightstand were several pamphlets and photos of houses. Ron examined them and found that all of them were in America. The pamphlets basically advertised the finer points of cities like Aspen, Cape Cod, and Montauk. The pictures of houses were apparently from real estate agents and showed houses in Arizona, New York, Massachusetts. One picture had been circled with black ink. A rather old looking farmhouse in a state called-

BANG!

Ron jumped when he heard the sound and dropping the pictures, ran out and went downstairs. He found that his mother had slammed a heavy book onto the kitchen table and was glaring daggers at Ginny, the other Weasley men looked at her in disgust. Ron was about to ask what was going on when his mother went off.

"Ginevra Molly Weasley, do you realize that what you're doing is illegal, not to mention immoral?" She raged.

"Don't talk to me like I'm a child." Ginny answered coolly, her calmness effectively making Ron nervous.

"I'll talk to you however I see fit," Mrs. Weasley screamed, "I know you're upset that Harry left you but this, this is evil what your trying to do."

"What's so evil about trying to have a life with Harry?" Ginny asked her with that same strange calmness, "Harry and I love each other, right now he's confused, Granger's done something to his head, she's made him think he loves her. I'm not going to her take him from me and if you really cared about him or me, you won't stand in my way."

"Ginny," Said Mr. Weasley, speaking up for the first time, "This isn't normal what your doing. I've seen those pictures in your room that's the kind of thing a stalker does, that's not love."

Ron couldn't see Ginny's face from his angle, but he did see when her body tensed up.

"This is completely unacceptable Ginny," Mrs. Weasley went on, "I don't know what's going on in that head of yours but it's clear to all of us that you need serious help."

Ginny went rigid, "Are you talking about an institution? A madhouse?"

"Ginny that's not what we meant." Said Bill.

"You are aren't you?" She snapped, "You want to send me away so I'll never see him again."

"Ginny please, just listen to us." Mr. Weasley pleaded.

"Well you can't!" She almost shouted, "I won't let you."

"Ginny-"

"I WON'T LET YOU!!" With one swift motion her wand was out and pointed at her father, "AVADA KEDAVRA!"

The green light filed the room and struck Arthur Weasley in the chest. Mrs. Weasley screamed and with another green light from Ginny, joined her husband. The horrified Weasley brothers stood rigid in shock for a moment before all at once running towards their sister, with the intent of incapacitating her. Ginny however had grown rather tough from living with six brothers her whole life. After throwing George off her she fired another curse at Percy, who dodged causing the curse to hit a mirror. The curse ricocheted off the mirror and hit the ceiling not only breaking the support beam in half, but disrupting the magic that supported the house.

What happened after that, Ron wasn't entirely sure, but the next time he was aware of his surroundings he was lying under a pile of wood. His head hurt a lot but his legs felt strangely numb. It was raining now and water beat down mercilessly on his broken body. In this position he couldn't turn his head very well, but in plain view he could see a hand sticking out of the rubble. Ron didn't know who's it was, but somehow he knew they wouldn't be getting up anytime soon, none of them would. Tears were forming in Ron's eyes when he heard soft footsteps. He looked up as best as he could, and was just barely able to see his sister's face before she crouched down in front of him.

"Ron? Are you alright?" She asked sounding genuinely concerned.

Ron wasn't sure whether he should be happy she lived, or enraged at her for doing this, or if he should just beg her for help. "G-Gin," He tried to say, but the debris was pressing on his lungs making it hard for him to speak.

"Shhh," Ginny shushed him, "Don't talk, you need to save your energy."

Ron dropped his head in mourning, he knew he was the only one, he knew by her expression.

"It's okay Ron, I don't blame you for want happened, it was all Hermione, not you." Ginny told him smiling, "Just don't move to much and you'll be okay."

She stood back up and pointed her wand at the sky, "Morsmorde." she recited.

The dreadfully familiar green skull appeared in the sky as Ginny glanced again at her injured brother.

"The aurors will be here soon now, or possibly Luna. She lives nearby right? I'm sure she's seen it by now." Ginny said softly, "I'm so sorry Ron, please know that I would never willingly hurt you."

"G-…" He gasped for air, "Gin-"

"You always were my favorite brother," she told him. Her wand arm raised slowly, she aimed right at him.

"Gin- No" He whispered hopelessly.

"It's going to be alright Ron," she told him, the tell-tale sad look on her face said somehow that this would be the last time they would see each other, "I love you big brother."

"Gin-ny."

"OBLIVIATE!"

When Ron finally woke up, there was a horrible ringing in his ears. It took several moments for him to realize that it was his own screams he heard. Luna was next to him trying frantically to calm him.

"RON! RON, CALM DOWN! IT'S ALRIGHT!" She was shouting.

A wave of nausea swept over him and he ended up vomiting all over one side off the bed, luckily not getting any on his wife.

"NURSE! NURSE!" Luna bellowed.

Quick as a flash two nurses were in the room, one administered a calming drought to Ron while the other cleaned up the mess he'd made.

Once the potion took effect, he turned to Luna.

"You have your cell phone with you?" He asked abruptly.

Luna looked a bit taken aback, "Yes, but why do you need it?"

"I need to call Hermione," He told her, "It's urgent."

"But Ron-"

"JUST GIVE ME THE DAMNED PHONE!!"

Ten minutes later Hermione Granger finally arrived at St. Mungo's, dragging a sullen looking Draco Malfoy along with her.

"Hello," She said to the receptionist, "We're looking for Ronald Weasley's ro-"

"Hermione!" Luna's voice sounded from down the hall.

Hermione and Draco immediately ran toward her and the three of them entered Ron's room.

"Hermione," Ron gasped when he saw his best friend.

"Ron what happened to you?" Hermione asked worriedly.

"That's not important right now." Ron told her.

"But-"

"Hermione, LISTEN TO ME!"

Hermione was shocked. Ron hadn't yelled at her for years.

"Look, I'm sorry about what I said before, I was just being a stupid prat because I felt so damn sorry for myself. But I know now that you were right, Harry's alive, and I know where he is."

Hermione was speechless, as was everyone in the room, including the healers present who knew for a fact that Harry Potter was dead.

"Ron, are you sure?" Draco asked him, using the other man's first name for the first time ever.

"It's Ginny, Hermione." Ron said ignoring Malfoy.

Hermione stared at him, "Wh-what?"

"It's Ginny," Ron repeated, "She's alive, and she kidnapped Harry, it's her, it's Ginny!"

A/N: Just want to let everyone know that I seriously considered ending it here, but decided to refrain from being evil this one time. Don't expect me to make a habit of it though. And now back to your regularly scheduled fic.

Paralyzed. That's how Hermione felt. Ginny? Her best friend? Alive? Harry's kidnapper? The Weasley's murderer?

No.

Yes.

How?

They never saw her leave.

Ginny came in to give him dinner. Tonight it was Linguini Alfredo. She fed him with a smile on her face while whistling a happy tune. As she got up to leave, she turned back to face him and smiled.

"Tomorrow my love, tomorrow."

Are you absolutely sure about this Weasley?" Draco asked suspiciously.

"Of course I am, I didn't know before because she put a memory charm on me, the healers took it off and now I remember everything. She killed my family, and now she has Harry." Ron exclaimed.

"But where would she take him?" Luna asked while feeding Anna from a bottle.

"She had these pictures of houses in her room," Ron explained, "They were all in America, and one was circled. A house in Colorado."

"Colorado?" Draco snorted, "Why would she picked there? I mean, what's in Colorado other then hick-filled, little mountain towns?"

"I don't know Malfoy, but that's where he is, I'm sure of it." Ron answered exasperatedly.

"It would explain why the search parties didn't find him," Luna said thinking aloud, "They really only looked through Europe."

"Well what do you think Hermione?" Draco asked and glanced over to where Hermione was standing.

Or where she had been standing.

"Hermione?" Draco called, looking around the room for her.

"Where did she go?" Ron asked, also now noticing his best friend wasn't there.

"What I don't get is this," Luna piped up, not yet seeming to notice what the men did, "They found Ginny's body with everyone else's didn't they."

Draco pondered that for a minute, "Yes they did," he muttered. His eyes then widened in realization and he now knew were Hermione had gone. "Oh no." he moaned putting a hand to his head.'

"What's with you Malfoy?" Ron asked his former school enemy.

"I have to go," Draco told them while grabbing up his coat, "I think I know where she is."

Luna stood up, "I'll come with you."

"Doesn't your husband need you?" Draco asked, visibly annoyed with them.

"I'm fine on my own Malfoy." Ron answered crossly.

Luna approached one of the healers, "Could you watch our baby for me while I'm gone?"

"Of course Mrs. Weasley." The healer smiled as she took Anna into her arms.

With that, Draco and Luna headed out the door and down the hall.

Draco ended up making them apparate to the graveyard where the Weasley family now rested. Luna pulled her jacket tight around her arms as the rain beat down. Thunder sounded in the background causing a chill to run up and down Luna's spine.

"Which way to their graves?" Draco asked her loudly over the rain.

"Over here," She motioned to her left.

Draco turned that way and walked forward, Luna right behind him. As they got closer, they could hear a rather odd sound. It sounded like someone…digging.

They were about ten feet away when they saw her. There was Hermione Granger, the know-it-all witch of Gryffindor, the smartest witch of her age, and the most rational and level headed person either of them had ever met. And she was digging up Ginevra Weasley's grave.

"HERMIONE!" Luna screamed and ran toward the grave, Draco in her following close behind her.

"HERMIONE!" She screamed again once she was standing over the grave and looking down at Hermione, "HERMIONE WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Thunder roared behind them and Draco had to take a moment to regard the progress Hermione had made with her digging in such a short time.

"Hermione!" Luna shouted a third time.

"I have to know!" Hermione finally answered, continuing her digging.

"Hermione you don't have to do this!" Luna shouted back.

"YES I DO!! I HAVE TO KNOW!!" Hermione screamed again.

Luna made to jump into the hole back Draco held her back. Luna then broke down into sobs leaving Draco the task of attempting to comfort her, albeit awkwardly. A loud thump alerted Draco and Luna to Hermione's discovery. She hit it two more times with the shovel to make sure and when she was, began frantically wiping the dirt away from the decomposing coffin. Luna looked up through her tears and when the casket was opened, the only sound that could be heard was the rain and thunder in the background.

With adrenaline enhancing her strength, Hermione was soon able to get the coffin open. The three looked inside and nobody moved for a long time. Then Hermione went rigid and from her came a terrible sound. She screamed with all the frustration, fear, betrayal, sadness, and pure rage boiling within her and beat her fists against the earthen wall surronding her.

All the while rainwater poured into the coffin, which was already filled almost to the brim with rocks.