Truth springs from argument amongst friends. -David Hume

It was two more days before Hermione finally got up and left the bedroom, with Tonks' help of course. Ron had not come back to see her since their confrontation the day she had woken up and she had not asked about him. She had absolutely no interest in talking to him after what he had done.

She headed down the stairs with Tonks one evening, taking in her surroundings as she went. Everything was made out of wood, making it seem like a sort of cabin or lake house. She glanced down the stairs and could hear talking. When they reached the bottom, she looked around. To her left was a large living room with couch, loveseat, three other chairs, a large television and a couple of tables. But that was not what stopped her. The far walls were completely made out of glass. It almost looked as if there was not a barrier at all. Beyond the glass was a huge balcony that overlooked the Black Forest, surrounding the entire house with trees.

It was beautiful.

"Hey Hermione!" Neville greeted from his place on the couch.

"Neville! You're up!" Hermione greeted, sitting down beside her friend. Neville grinned and hugged her quickly.

"Hey Hermione. How are you feeling?" he asked.

Hermione shrugged, glancing over at Remus and Luna who were sitting on other seats.

"Fine… you?"

Luna bit her lip.

"He's going to have a nasty scar where that gash was," she replied. Neville's eyes met hers for a moment before moving to Hermione.

"I'm feeling better," he added. Luna turned to Remus.

"Lupin was just telling us about what's going on at Hogwarts."

Hermione sat up straighter and Remus offered them a smile.

"Hogwarts for the most part is safe. The Death Eaters took over Hogsmeade, but haven't found a way into the castle."

"And the students?"

At this, Remus's smile faltered.

"We can't evacuate Hogwarts. The Floo systems were shut down after what happened last year with Ron..."

Hermione stared at him for a moment before looking down at her hands.

"You lied to me. You told me you didn't know where they were," she whispered.

"I didn't," Remus replied.

Hermione stood up.

"Then how is Ron-"

"Hagrid told me."

They all turned to see Ron standing at the door, holding Darcy in his hands. Upon seeing Hermione, the little skyfox started struggling in Ron's hands, squeaking repeatedly for her. Hermione crossed over and snatched Darcy from Ron, glaring at him.

"Stay away from him," she growled at Ron before moving to the stairs. She placed Darcy on her shoulder where he immediately began rubbing up against her neck, purring loudly and nipping at her skin affectionately.

"Hermione-"

She whirled around, glaring at them all.

"All of you lied to me!" she shouted, causing Darcy to wobble a little on her shoulder. "I don't have anything to say to any of you!"

Remus stood up.

"Hermione, we didn't know-"

"You lied! All of you-"

"Ginny's not dead."

There was a momentary silence in which all eyes turned to Ron, who suddenly turned red as if he had just said something he should not have.

"What?" Tonks asked, eyes wide and skin pale. They were all pale.

Ron hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to go about this.

"Ginny… Ginny isn't dead… She's in Romania… with Harry," he muttered the last part reluctantly. "So don't blame them, Hermione," he added, pointing to the other four. They all just stared at him, half expecting him to crack up laughing at the sick joke, but instead he just stood there, unaware that Hermione was inching closer to him.

"Prick!" she snapped, hitting him hard with as much force as she could summon. "How could you-"

Hermione's attempts at hurting Ron were cut off by Luna's attempt at killing Ron. The smaller young woman lunged across the room and slammed her weight into Ron, knocking him back into the hallway.

"Luna!" Neville yelped in surprise while Ron struggled to get the incensed girl off of him.

"You bastard!" Luna screamed, hitting Ron in the face with a clenched fist. "You made us all believe that she was dead!"

Hermione pressed herself to the wall, afraid that if she moved, she would either join Luna or try to help Ron…

Remus helped Ron get Luna off of him, pulling the irate blonde back into the living room and sitting her down beside Neville, who looked torn between comforting Luna and giving Ron a punch of his own. Hermione just stood by the wall, watching as Tonks examined the bruise that was quickly appearing under Ron's eye.

"I suppose I deserved that," he mumbled, spitting out a tooth that had been knocked loose when his head had hit the floor from Luna's initial assault.

"Yeah you did, you arse," Neville growled, holding Luna's hand as she glared daggers at Ron. It was obvious that if Neville had been in a better condition, he might have joined Luna.

Remus looked at Hermione, Neville and Luna and could see that it would be better to calm the situation before all three of them decided to stage a mutiny and kill Ron.

"I think we should all take a deep breath for a moment," he suggested, eyeing Hermione especially, since she was closest to Ron. "Hermione, perhaps you should sit over here," he added, pointing to the spot next to Luna. That way, if either of them decided to make a move, he could just freeze them all.

"I'm good here," Hermione muttered in response, eyes fixed dangerously on Ron, who was well aware of the reason why Remus had asked her to move. Remus crossed the room to Hermione and took her arm gently.

"Hermione, I think it would be better if you sat over there," he whispered. There was a moment where everyone thought Hermione was going to move towards Ron, but then she let out a threatening hiss and walked over to the couch, sitting down angrily beside Luna.

Tonks glanced around the room before sitting down and giving Ron an expectant look.

"Well… I think you owe us an explanation, Ron," she started. Remus sat down as well, giving Ron every indication that he would not be helping him out with this one.

Ron took a deep breath and sat down in the chair closest to the staircase. He touched his eye gingerly and winced before speaking.

"I know I owe all of you an explanation so I'm going to do my best to explain as much as possible to you… okay… well… first of all, Ginny's not dead," he whispered, earning him more nasty looks from the three on the couch. "She's safe in Romania with Harry. They're waiting for me to return actually…"

"What the hell happened?" Neville growled. "Why did you make us think-"

"When Harry got to the Burrow he and I began planning for an escape that summer and we wanted to get you, Hermione, over to the house, but Remus absolutely refused to let us contact you," he said, glancing over to Remus. "He said that Voldemort was watching the owls and if Harry or I sent a message, you would be in trouble… we ended up having to use as a last resort."

"A last resort for what?" Hermione asked softly.

Ron leaned back in his chair, looking completely defeated.

"We were going to make it look as if something terrible had happened to you… then Harry and I would leave, taking you with us while everyone else thought you were dead," he explained.

Luna shook her head, tears coming to her eyes.

"So you used Ginny instead. You decided to have Ginny die so that you guys could just leave," she hissed.

Ron shook his head.

"You weren't supposed to be there… no one we knew was supposed to be there except my family and a couple of people from the Order… We didn't even know that you knew until Hagrid told us about your training," he whispered sadly.

"Of course Hagrid knew," Remus muttered to himself. "Harry trusts Hagrid but not me."

Ron flinched at that.

"Harry didn't want you to worry about him… he knew that if you knew what was really going on, you would insist on coming along," he said, glancing over at Tonks, who had stiffened at the comment. "He wanted you to stay here…"

Remus glanced over at Tonks, but said nothing.

Hermione looked down at her hands and took a deep breath.

"You could have still told me, Ron," she whispered.

Ron shook his head.

"No I couldn't have," he responded. "It was impossible to get to your house without drawing attention from the Death Eaters and we only had a certain window of opportunity to get out of England before Voldemort started focusing more attention on the Burrow. We couldn't tell you anything."

"Yes you could have!"

"Hermione, we couldn't-"

"Oh go to hell," she spat before getting up and leaving the room. They heard her go up the stairs and slam the door behind her. Remus closed his eyes.

"So Harry and Ginny are safe?"

Ron nodded silently, eyes on the ceiling as if hoping to see Hermione through the wood.

"Did Dumbledore know?"

Ron nodded again but never took his eyes off the ceiling.

"Yeah… he took Ginny to Hogwarts… we were supposed to meet up with her there and then leave…"

Remus frowned.

"Ron… you need to give her some time… she's been completely in the dark for the past few months…"

"Apparently we all have," Neville muttered bitterly, attracting their attention. If it was possible, Ron looked even more miserable.

"We never meant for you two to know…"

"And Hermione?" Luna snapped. "What about her?"

Ron paled.

"It hurt a lot to do it… I knew Hermione would be a wreck… she probably still is a wreck… but we had to leave to find out what was going on in Europe. Voldemort's doing a lot of stuff out here that Dumbledore or the Order couldn't investigate. It was hard for all of us to leave you all behind like that," he muttered before sighing. "I… we… knew it would be hard… and we spent countless nights debating on whether or not we should go back-"

"Then why didn't you?" Tonks asked, honestly curious.

"Because they couldn't."

They all turned to see Hermione standing at the bottom of the stairs, eyes on Ron.

"They had a job to do in Europe," she continued. "They had to get information and to come back after a couple of weeks would only ruin the contacts they had started to form and the train of intelligence they had begun to get… they couldn't just come back because of me…"

"We wanted to," Ron whispered. "We really did… I really did…"

Hermione regarded him for a moment before she turned to Remus, who was watching the two anxiously.

"What are you two doing out here?" she asked, quickly and permanently changing the topic for the rest of the day. She had no interest in getting into a fight with Ron just yet. She was too weak for that.

Remus realized what she was doing immediately and pointed at her, Luna and Neville.

"Hagrid told us that he sent you here… actually he told us that he mentioned something about Black. I figured you three were smart enough to figure out that it was the Black Forest. We were going to intercept you here and keep you safe until it was time to go back to London," he explained.

Luna frowned, finally turning her hateful gaze away from Ron.

"Why wouldn't it be safe for us to return?" she asked.

Tonks sighed.

"Voldemort knows about Ginny's 'death'," she said, putting air quotes around the word death. "His next move would be to come after Hermione. You two are close to Hermione so he could use you."

"Why didn't he go after Hermione in the first place?" Neville asked. "I mean, she's Ron and Harry's best friend."

"Until recently," Hermione added bitterly, causing Ron to flinch. Remus hesitated. He was well aware of the dangerous atmosphere Ron's presence and recent confession was creating and knew that if Neville, Hermione and Luna (Hermione especially) did not make an effort to understand Ron's explanation in the slightest, things would get worse very quickly.

"Because until three days before the attack at Hogsmeade he believed that Hermione had no idea what was going on. Like I'd said before, he's been reading her thoughts."

Ron grew visibly still, forcing Hermione to look at him. He was staring at the ground with a hard determined look on his face, as if hoping to make the floorboards crack.

"Is he still?" she asked, causing everyone to jerk. Remus quickly shook his head, quelling the fear that had filled the room.

"No, no," he answered hastily. "The moment you left England he had no reason to."

"Does that mean he knows where we are?" Luna demanded.

Remus shook his head.

"He only read her thoughts through her dreams."

"Why?" Ron asked, drawing everyone's attention. He went completely red and shrugged. "I'm just curious as to why he would only try to read her thoughts when she was sleeping… that's all…"

At this, Remus smiled.

"Because Voldemort knew that Dumbledore would have Hermione guarded during the day by McGonagall, Snape and Warner," he replied.

Hermione frowned.

"Speaking of Warner, she's a telepathic isn't she?"

Tonks smiled.

"And a very close friend of mine."

Ron frowned.

"Warner as in Stephanie Warner the woman who's been watching us when Hagrid couldn't get to us?" he asked.

"Apparently," Remus responded.

Luna, noticing Hermione's agitation with the fact that the conversation was steering back towards Ron's disappearance, stood up suddenly.

"Are we going to be eating soon?" she asked. Tonks grin broadened and she stood up as well.

"Of course! I'll go set the table," she said. Remus grabbed her arm and steered her back to her seat.

"Why don't you stay here and I'll set the table?" he suggested with a pointed look. Neville snorted but quickly sobered up when Tonks shot him a look.

"I'll… go help," he muttered, getting up and leaving with Luna and Remus. For a moment everything was silent then Tonks shot up out of her seat.

"I have to go Floo Dumbledore," she said, remembering her duties. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

She left the room quickly, leaving Ron and Hermione in a tense silence. Ron could literally feel the room become colder with every second that went by and he had a very good feeling that it was Hermione that was doing it.

Hermione was silent for that time, trying to ignore the overwhelming urge to chuck something at the young redheaded man just a few meters away.

She had spent the time upstairs picking through everything he had told her… the plan… Ginny… everything…

It was a plan that, if it had been told to her before all of this had happened, she would have to say was full proof. It made complete sense.

The girl Harry loved would be killed and Harry would go off for revenge or something of the sort. Ron, being the loyal best friend, would come along and no one would ask questions. The mourning family would stay behind, in too much grief to do a thing and everyone else would believe that Ron and Harry had been expelled. Now that Hermione thought about it, expulsion was a very likely thing because of what had happened the year before. Ron especially had been close to expulsion a few times. Hermione just had not allowed herself to believe the lie because she knew Ron and Harry would never purposefully do something to get themselves expelled.

It was a perfect plan.

In fact it was the perfect plan.

If Hermione had been there, she would have applauded them for thinking it up by themselves.

Except for the part where Hermione was left in the dark. That part she did not like at all.

But then again, that would mean that Ginny would be in her position if Harry and Ron had been able to contact her.

Hermione glanced over at Ron, who was seemed to be doing his best to avoid her gaze.

He seemed older than she remembered… more… tired.

Had it been from what he had been doing around Europe… or had it been from the guilt of the separation…

Hermione cared to think of it as the latter, only because it made her feel better, but she did not voice her opinion. She did not want to talk to him. Not yet anyway.

"Dinner!"

Both of them looked up to see Neville standing at the dining room doorway, watching them closely. Hermione was the first to the door and entered before Ron made it to the dining room. Hermione sat as far away from Ron as possible and Remus and Tonks divided Ron from Luna and Neville, who were still a little angry at him about the turn of events. For the first part of the meal no one said a word, giving Ron the impression that at any moment one of them would lunge at him with a knife.

Tonks finally looked up from her food with a mischievous look on her face.

"So you left Harry and Ginny alone in Romania?" she asked coyly.

Ron made a face.

"I left them with a very reliable Auror who promised to tell me if anything happened that I had not deemed appropriate," he replied curtly.

"So basically everything that has to do with physical contact?" Remus asked.

Ron nodded.

"Exactly."

Neville snorted but said nothing while Luna rolled her eyes. Hermione just kept her eyes on her plate, taking deep even breaths to calm herself down.

"What are you doing in Romania anyway?" Luna asked a little rudely. Ron was surprised that she spoke to him.

"Um… well… we're trying to get information and alliances with the vampires, actually," he said.

"Vampires," Hermione could not help but say. "Isn't that dangerous?"

Not wanting to lose this little window of calm, Ron responded quickly and with no hesitation.

"Well, yeah, but some of them don't actually drink human blood so it's easier to talk to them. Some of them have already joined Voldemort, but others are still on the fence and we're trying to convince them to join us," he explained.

"How are you able to approach them though? Most vampires don't like to be approached except by a-"

"Ginny," he cut in quickly, looking around the table. "Some of them are interested in Ginny… all of our discussions normally go through her."

"I'm sure Harry hates that," Remus said with a chuckle. Ron smirked.

"Yeah, well, he's learning to deal. Ginny has no interest in crossing over to the immortal world any time soon."

To Hermione's surprise she felt her stomach flutter at the sight of his lop-sided grin and that feeling only brought a twang of pain into her heart. She took another deep breath to calm herself down. She tried to think about anything but the feelings of betrayal and hurt that were still flooding through her, but the longer she remained in his presence the more real they became. So instead of subject herself to that, she stood up to leave.

"I need some air," she muttered, leaving the dining room, crossing through the living room to the huge glass door and opening it to the balcony. She leaned against the far railing and breathed in the cool forest air. Closing her eyes she sighed.

"Hermione?"

She kept her eyes closed.

"Ron, you should go back inside," she whispered.

"I wanted to see if you were okay?"

"Ron please… just go…"

There was a momentary silence and then she felt him lean against the railing beside her. She took another deep breath.

"Ron… I really think-"

"I'm sorry, Hermione."

She finally opened her eyes and looked over at him. Though it was quite dark outside, the glow from the lights inside accentuated the fact that he paler than the moon. Because of his proximity, she could see the scars on his neck and it took everything in her power not to reach out and touch them.

"Ron, saying you're sorry after months of being gone isn't going to change the fact that you left."

"I know… I just wanted you to know… that's all…" he murmured, meeting her eyes. They stared at each other for a minute before Hermione broke the connection and looked back into the forest.

"Okay, well… okay," she whispered.

Ron could tell that she wanted him gone so he turned to leave. Just as he was about to get inside, she stopped him.

"Ron," she whispered, her back still facing him.

"Yes?" he asked eagerly.

"Why did you come now?"

"You were dying…"

Before Hermione could reply, she heard the glass door close. She closed her eyes and tried not to cry.

"Oh Ron… why'd you have to leave?"

A/N: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I've been waiting 14 Chapters just to do that! HAHA! Ginny is alive! HAHAHAHA! But all of you thought she was dead! HAHAHAHAHAHA! I have waited so long just to do that! I was actually going to do it sooner as in it was Ginny Hermione woke up to instead of Tonks, but I decided to draw it out a little longer! HAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHA! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Bow down to my awesomeness!

(Not really, but it's a nice thought!) :-)

nextbestthing: Well... it kinda is his fault. His fault and Harry's fault and of course the very much alive Ginny's fault.

Blue Leah: Then I'm guessing you weren't expecting this either.

sballLuvr5: Ginny's back! Ginny's back! Ginny's back! :-)

cha cha dancer: This one as well?

ThEnAmEsGiGi: A lot more craziness!

tamara72: I don't think that's going to be happening soon.

Fyre of the Funeral Pyre: Now you know why no chapter tease! It would have given everything away!

jenny: I wouldn't be expecting a kiss for a very long time, if ever. Ron's still in the doghouse.

OzDust: I'm thinking poor Neville and Luna. They were probably the biggest victims of the whole thing.

mgmve2008: Harry's not making an appearance. Not anytime soon anyway.

DRAMIONE4EVA15: Thank you.

x-x-xCAROLANNEx-x-x: He deserved what Luna did to him as well!

Ahhhhh!: Oh don't settle yet. There's a bit more anger to come.

Wesker888: He's not in the other chapters. He's new.

Chapter Tease:

"I don't know… I don't want to leave with all of you…" he drifted off here.

"With all of us hating you?" Luna finished. When Ron did not answer she sighed. "Ron… I… I don't hate you…" She bit her lip and corrected herself. "Well… not now… and Hermione doesn't hate you either…"

Ron sighed and rested his head down on the cool marble counter.

"I… I never wanted to do this… I never wanted to leave her…"