His mum came back shortly after Hermione went upstairs, Aunt Muriel in tow. She was as cranky and as big as ever. Ron went over to give his obligatory 'hello' and escaped somewhat unscathed as she only mentioned that his hair was a bit long and he looked like one of those blasted musicians; practically a compliment from her. His mum followed after him once she had settled Aunt Muriel into the den where she was reading the latest book by Rita Skeeter, Severus Misunderstood.

"Is Hermione here yet dear? I thought I saw the dress robes in the front."

"Yeah, she um...went upstairs for a bit."

"Well will you ask her to come down; I need some help with getting the tables outside."

"I can do it."

"You can help, yes, but I think it best if the two of you do it, they are quite large and not as easy to levitate as you might think."

"No really mum, I think I can..."

"Ronald Weasley," she pursed her lips, never a good sign, "Now I asked you to get Hermione..."

"All right, All right. I'm going" And he rushed up the stairs before his mum could get started.

She heard a light rap on the door then Ron's voice, "Hermione?" She didn't answer him, she was so confused. Why had she acted that way? He was trying to apologize, why couldn't she just let him? "Hermione? Please? Mum's downstairs and she need us to move the tables outside. I swear I won't say a word."

She silently chuckled at this, then got a hold of herself and opened the door. She walked past Ron, not looking at him and went down the stairs.

"Oh Hermione, thank you so much for coming to help. I don't know what we would have done without you." Molly said as she gave Hermione a quick hug.

"It's nothing, I'm glad to do it."

They worked together to levitate the tables, and to her surprise it was a lot harder than it looked. They were heavy old tables that had a lot of weight to them. Ron had no problem getting it into the air, but getting them to go where he wanted was a totally different thing. Hermione had to help to direct them. She remembered how Bill and Charlie used to make The tables fight in midair and wondered at how they could control them so well.

They finally were able to maneuver them to the correct spot in the yard and went back to get everything so that they could set it up. It was cold out, so they set up weather blockers and blue flames all over to ensure everyone's comfort. They worked together in silence, each trying to give covert glances while the other wasn't looking. Ron had stuck to his promise and did not speak.

After twenty minutes of this Hermione broke, "Ron, it's okay, you can talk."

He grinned, but kept silent. It infuriated her. 'Fine! He doesn't want to talk then that is just fine.' They continued on.

"I'm sorry" he said after a while.

"You already said that Ron, I know that you are sorry."

"No, not for that, I mean I am sorry for that too, but I'm sorry I left. I'm sorry for the way I was when you came to see me all those months ago. I'm sorry..."

She hadn't expected that. She felt the tears prickling the backs of her eyes, but held them at bay.

"Hermione?" He said softly. "Please...I need you to forgive me. I am so sorry." His voice was quiet and pleading, and when she looked up she saw that his eyes were bright blue with the shimmer of unshed tears. It was too much for her, seeing him like that, hearing the words that she had been waiting for, for so long. She let the tears fall, they were silent and unstoppable. He moved slowly over to her and reached his arm out. She jerked back a bit, and he stopped his hand in mid air. Hermione made a move to go and felt his hand grab her arm. It was a soft touch, not demanding, but asking her to stay. She turned to look at him.

They were closer than they had been since the masquerade. His scent invaded her, it was so familiar and she wondered how she didn't recognize it that night. It had a spiciness to it that she hadn't smelled on anyone else. It was one of the things that she had smelled on their first day of potions in their sixth year.

He dropped his hand from her arm and moved it again towards her face, this time she did not jerk away. He used his thumb to wipe the tears from her cheeks and under her eyes. His skin was warm, and her face burned where he touched her yet she shivered.

"Are you cold?" He asked. She nodded even though she knew that wasn't why she was shivering. He wrapped his arms around her one hand holding the back of her head the other wrapped tightly around her back. Her arms remained at her sides.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you leave me?" A fresh wave of tears spilled down her face and onto Ron's robes.

"Because I am the world's biggest prat."

"That's not an answer. I want to know why."

He sighed and the motion pulled her closer to him. "Because..."

A/N: Don't kill me, I know it was short and a cliffie, and I took longer to update. I am so sorry about that. RL has been kicking my arse. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter. We are getting close to the end :( Thanks to those of you who have reviewed and of course thanks to all who have been reading.