Hermione lay on her stomach on her bed with a book open in front of her. She had read the book many times before and could not keep her mind on it tonight. Instead, her mind drifted to thoughts of Ron.

She had not seen much of him in the past week. He was busy with the duties of his first case. She was happy for him, but she missed him. They had not had their weekly lunch together and the week was almost over. Ron worked long hours to help solve the case leaving Hermione no time to spend with him after work.

The last time they spent any significant amount of time together was Ginny's Quidditch match on Saturday. Ron's boss wanted two Aurors at every match that day. Six matches and eight Aurors meant they had to borrow four Hit Men. He did not want to use the trainees giving them the day off. Due to the incident, Harry wanted to attend the Harpies match against Portree, which they lost, even though Ginny was not playing. Ron and Hermione joined him.

"Hermione!"

Hermione nearly fell off the bed at the sound of her mother's voice. For an hour she had been the only one home. Nights she didn't spend with Ron usually ended up this way. Her parents were dentists and it forced them to work later than Hermione.

"Hermione, we brought dinner!" She heard her dad's voice bellow.

She thought about the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley still made a big meal even though it was just she, Mr. Weasley, and Ginny. At Grimmauld Place, Kreacher cooked a good meal unless ordered not to. He had to be ordered. Simply asking him not to still resulted in him cooking. At least Harry tried. Here, at the Grangers' Residence, they were having take-away.

Hermione slipped off her bed, opened the door, and stepped into the hall making sure not to step on Crookshanks, who came to see where she was.

"I'm coming!" She called out to let her parents know she was home. It was a rare occurrence for her to be home every night in one week. She usually spent many evenings with Ron. Her parents didn't mind. They encouraged her rather than have her home alone.

Walking into the kitchen, she smelled the aroma of the food her parents set on the table. The idea of eating a take-away meal with her parents brought her down. She tucked her bushy hair behind her ear and sat at her usual spot.

"Hello, Hermione, how was your day?" Her mother greeted her.

"Fine," she replied. Her day had been busy with meetings regarding the structure of the divisions. She did not think anything would change, but there was a small group that was determined to see it happen.

Hermione ran to the window as she watched an owl fly towards it. Opening the window she recognized the owl as Errol. He flew in and collapsed on the table.

"Is he okay?" Dr. Granger asked alarmed.

"Yes, Mum." Hermione filled a small bowl with water and as the bird drank, she pulled the letter off and read,

Hermione,

Ron has been in an accident. He is at St. Mungo's. He's just been admitted.

Ginny

Hermione's heart sank into her stomach. She didn't know what to do.

"Are you okay?" Her father asked.

"It's—it's Ron," she replied in a bit of shock. "I need to get to St. Mungo's."

"Do you need me to accompany you?"

"No, thanks, Mum. I—I'll be all right."

"How long do you reckon you'll be gone?"

She ran to her room, ignoring her father's question, grabbed her wand, and put shoes on her feet. She almost stumbled down the stairs she was in such a hurry, but she made it safely out the backdoor yelling goodbye to her parents. Making a quick getaway she didn't have time to go to the secure spot at the end of the block, so she used the backyard where no Muggles would witness her Disapparation, she hoped.

Hermione nervously walked to the front of the store building, Purge and Dowse, after Apparating to the secure location in London.

"I'm here to see Ron Weasley," she said slowly to the unfashionable dummy in the window.

Gaining admittance, she walked towards the window and entered into St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies. The Welcome Witch on duty looked a lot nicer than the one she remembered.

"Ron Weasley was just admitted…"

"Fourth floor," the witch replied hastily. Maybe she wasn't nicer.

Hermione made her to the fourth floor. She wasn't sure where to go from there, but when she spotted Harry, Mrs. Weasley, and a group of others, she knew she was fine.

"Is he—is he?" She stumbled as she came to the group. They parted to let her see Ron who lay awake in bed with a bandage on his arm. "Ron!" She exclaimed softly, wanting to throw her arms around him, but refraining from doing so she wouldn't hurt him.

"Hermione," Ron croaked. He put out his left hand to take hers. Gingerly, she took hold of his afraid of what she could hurt. "It's just a broken arm." He slowly moved his right arm to indicate it was the broken one.

"And a concussion," Mrs. Weasley said standing to Hermione's left with Ginny, Harry, and Mr. Weasley.

"A mild one, but a concussion nonetheless."

Hermione looked across the bed at the speaker, Ron's boss, Gawain Robards. Standing with him were Tiberius Ketteridge, Iva Prang, a man Hermione didn't know, and Neville.

"If not for Ron, Neville wouldn't have caught the criminal," the man Hermione didn't now said. She figured he was an Auror like the rest of them, but he had not been present with the group Ron introduced her to last week.

Neville's ears turned slightly pink.

"Ron took a stunner to the side causing him to fall down the stands, hitting his head and breaking his arm as he tried to catch himself," Iva explained. "It caused just enough diversion Neville was able to capture the criminal and bring him back to the holding cell at the Ministry. He'll get a trial next week."

"You two are advancing quite well in your training," Robards said. "You, too, Potter."

Hermione looked at Harry. He was not in on this case. She wondered if he was jealous. She knew Ron would have been if he missed out.

"We've parchment work to finish at the Ministry. We'll be going now," said Robards indicating the Aurors standing with him. He leaned over to Ron. "You don't have to come in til Monday."

Ron smiled.

An older woman with streaks of gray in her blonde hair and a nametag on her green robes that read "Rolanda Green" stepped over to the bed with a small flask.

"The patient needs his rest. He also needs to take his healing potion."

The Weasleys and Harry bid their goodbye, but Hermione stood there.

"May I stay? I only just arrived and he's my boyfriend," Hermione asked bravely and timidly. Ron looked at the healer with pleading eyes.

"I don't know. He does need his rest." She looked at the young couple. "Alright. One hour. Make sure he takes his potion." She placed the flask on the bedside table and went on to the next patient.

Hermione sat down in a rickety wooden chair.

"I want to hug you," she admitted.

"I'm not going to break and if I do I'm in the right place."

Hermione smiled, leaned over, and gave Ron a hug.

"Tell me what happened."

Ron told Hermione the story of capturing the tan redheaded man. He was at another Wimbourne practice, this one private. No one died but some of the stadium workers were injured. They occupied some of the beds in the same ward as Ron.

"We believe his goal was to sabotage the Wasps," finished Ron. "He gives red-heads a bad name."

Hermione nodded with a slight grin. She was proud of Ron, but also scared. Tonight was a mild concussion and a broken arm. What would tomorrow bring? She very well couldn't ask him to give up his job, but it really made her nervous thinking of him on these missions.

"How do you feel?"

"My arm's okay, but my head hurts, although, now that you're here it's beginning to feel much better."

Hermione rolled her eyes at Ron's cheesiness.

"Ron," she cleared her throat, "I don't want you to get hurt again."

"I don't want to get hurt again, but in my line of work there's no way to avoid it."

"I know. I can't ask you to give up your job. That would be unfair."

"Yes, it would."

"Hey, you're not supposed to agree with me!"

Ron laughed and grimaced at the pain it caused. Hermione kissed his forehead.

"Much better." He pulled her onto his lips.

"Ron," She tried to pull away. "Ron, we're in a crowded hospital ward," She managed to say.

"Embarrassed to be seen kissing me? Don't want anyone to know I'm your boyfriend?"

"I told the healer…" Hermione started, noticing Ron was joking. She scrunched up her nose pretending to be hurt. "How long do you have to stay here?"

"Don't know. Til my head heals, I reckon." Ron shrugged.

Hermione nodded. She rubbed Ron's arm while watching his blue eyes. They began to flutter as he started to fall asleep.

"You need to take your potion before you fall asleep."

"Mm-hm." He was almost gone.

"Come on, Ron." She handed him the flask.

He sat up painfully and drank with a look on his face showing his disgust. Finished, he put his back on the pillow.

"Thanks, 'Mione," he said sleepily, his eyes closed again. "Love you," he muttered.

"Love you, too." She kissed his cheek, as his breathing grew more uneven.

---

"We saved you some food," Hermione's mum said when she walked through the front door.

Hermione didn't want to eat. She wanted to take a bath and go to bed.

"How is he?" she asked. The Grangers were curled up on the couch watching a news program.

"He's a broken arm and a concussion. He has to stay in the hospital overnight, but he should be okay." Hermione walked past her parents and into the kitchen where Errol stood on the table eating out of her plate.

Sighing, she opened the window, grabbed the bird, and let him fly. Her parents were Muggles so she could forgive them for not knowing what to do with the owl.

---

Hermione sat through another meeting at work, a pointless one where they decided not to reorganize divisions. The whole ordeal had been pointless and taken away from the work she could do on house-elves. As soon as the meeting ended she dashed to her office, grabbed her lunch, which she put in her beaded bag, and headed for St. Mungo's.

Passing by the bed of a woman with burn marks all over her body, Hermione made her way to Ron's bed. His eyes were closed, but he opened them when she arrived. She kissed him gently on the lips before sitting down. The chair was in the exact spot she'd put it in last night.

"How are you?"

"Better." Ron raised his right arm to reveal no bandage. "My arm's healed." He tried to scoot to a sitting position. "My head still hurts."

"Have you had lunch?" Hermione pulled hers out of her bag.

"Something they called baked ham." He spotted her water. "I don't get you Muggles."

"Wha—oh my water. My parents are Muggles and it's all they had to pack. Sorry about your lunch. You want my apple?" Hermione handed the fruit to Ron leaving her the sandwich and water. "Have you had any visitors?" She asked before biting into the sandwich.

"Mum came by this morning. Harry came by during training with Uric, his trainer. They said the man and woman we caught are scheduled for a trial in front of the Wizengamot on Tuesday. I'm to be present." He sprayed Hermione with bits of apple at the end. "Have you thought any more about the places we looked at last week?"

Hermione bit her lip. She had thought about them, but had not come to any kind of conclusion.

"Those aren't your only choices," added Ron.

"I know. I really like the last flat we looked at. I just can't afford it without asking my parents for money."

"And I know you don't want to do that. Seriously, ask Ginny to move in with you. I'm sure she'd say yes."

"Alright, I'll do it next time I see her," Hermione promised.

The rest of the lunch hour went by quickly. Hermione talked about the boring meetings she'd been in all morning.

"I've to go now." Hermione stood up kissing Ron lightly on the lips. "I'll come by after work."

Hermione spent the rest of the workday uneventfully. She began to draw up a plan on house-elf rights initiated by her boss, Robert Quigley, but other than that did not get much work done. She could not get her mind off Ron. She ached for him being in the hospital.

As soon as the clock struck five, she left her office, running into Harry on the way out. It had been a long time since she'd spent any significant time with her best friend, barring the Quidditch match.

"How are you?" He asked her standing in the middle of the Atrium.

"Good. You?" It was different at Hogwarts. They didn't have these kinds of conversations back then.

"Good. Going to visit Ron?"

"I promised him I would."

"Figured. Mind if I join you?"

"Of course not."

"Ron tells me you're looking at moving out on your own." They made their way outside to Apparate to St. Mungo's.

"It's time to get out on my own," she admitted. He nodded.

When the two arrived at Ron's bedside they got a nice surprise seeing George, Bill, and Fleur hanging around.

"We better be going," Bill said. "Get well, Ron."

"Yes, get well," Fleur repeated.

"Something fishy's going on," Ron said once his oldest brother and sister-in-law left. "They won't say anything, but I think thy were here for an appointment with a healer. They way Bill was overprotective of Fleur I think it was for her."

George sitting in the chair Hermione occupied earlier nodded.

"Hey, George." Hermione took a spot on the bed where Ron put his arm around her.

Harry chose the empty seat on the other side of the bed.

"Hey," George mumbled.

He looked tired, like he wasn't sleeping well with dark circles under his eyes.

"How's the shop?" Hermione asked.

George rubbed his eyes, replying, "Sales are up. That part's fine. But, I'm losing an employee. Next month Lee's moving to the daytime shift at WWN."

"Congratulations," Hermione said, seeing the look on George's face quickly added, "I'm sorry."

"You know I'll help as much as I can," Ron said.

George nodded.

"I see you've visitors," Rolanda the healer said, walking over to Ron and pulling her wand out. Before working on Ron she spotted Harry. She opened her mouth to say something but Ron began coughing, diverting her attention back to him. "How're you feeling?"

"My arm's fine. My head still hurts."

She waved her wand over his body while speaking. "You took your potion this morning and your next one comes at eight o'clock." She put the wand away. "If everything goes according to plan we should be able to dismiss you tomorrow morning." She left as quickly as she came.

"Thanks, mate," Harry said.

"No problem," Said Ron. "I get to leave tomorrow. You don't now how depressing this place is. It's not like the hospital wing at Hogwarts."

Hermione had been in the hospital wing a few times. One time she was petrified, another she was with Ron, but there was one time she spent alone and awake. Her friends visited her, but there were good, long patches, times when they were in class and such where she spent the time solitarily. She had books and schoolwork, but it still wasn't fun. She could not imagine this place being worse.

"If you'd like," Harry said, "next time we can put you in the hospital wing and have Madam Pomfrey take care of you."

Everyone laughed.

Shortly thereafter Harry and George left. Harry had a date with Ginny. George was keeping Weasleys Wizard Wheezes open late to cash in on the summer traffic. Lee was still working the Friday evening shifts this month and George didn't want Verity to have to deal with the shop alone.

This left Hermione and Ron alone, well, as alone as one could be in a hospital ward. Hermione stayed through a dinner of roasted chicken. "Much better than lunch," was Ron's opinion of it. Hermione had to leave when the healer came with Ron's evening dose of potion. She promised to be back in the morning.

Hermione did as she promised arriving shortly after eight. Letting Ron sleep she quietly sat down in her familiar chair. Almost an hour passed before the next visitor, Mrs. Weasley, arrived.

"Ginny'll be arriving with Harry." She sat down in the other chair. "He tells us Ron will be released today."

Not long after, breakfast appeared on the bedside table, upsetting Hermione as she assumed St. Mungo's employed house-elves, and waking Ron. She joined him on the bed as he fed her bacon off his tray, earning a clearing of the throat by his mother.

The healer, Harry, and Ginny all appeared as soon as breakfast ended. Rolanda quickly examined Ron and told him he was fit to leave as long as he took the remainder of the potion.

"Are you up for Apparition?" Mrs. Weasley asked as Hermione helped Ron stand up. He looked a bit spaced out.

"Apparating may make him sick," the healer called from the next bed over. "But, it doesn't last very long. Extreme cases have been an hour."

Hermione glanced at Ron and then at the three others. Ron put his arm around her to steady himself.

"We can take the Underground. I brought some Muggle money just in case." Hermione patted her beaded bag.

"That's a good idea. I reckon I'll splinch myself if I Apparate," said Ron.

The group made their way to the Holborn Underground Station after checking Ron from the hospital and boarded the train heading for Tottenham Court Road to switch to one heading to Tufnell Park near Grimmauld Place. The train was a bit crowded and only three seats were available. Harry and Ginny stood while Ron, Hermione, and Mrs. Weasley occupied the seats. Switching trains at the station, they found only two seats available. This time, Hermione stood with Harry and Ginny.

Ron leaned against his mother as she rain her hands through his red hair while they rode the tube. Hermione held on to a pole and Harry and Ginny, while holding hands, held onto the rail above them. It was here Hermione remembered she needed to talk to Ginny.

"I've been looking at a few places in London," she said to Ginny. "I think it's time I move out on my own and I thought living near Ron and Harry might be a good idea." She paused, realizing Mrs. Weasley was listening to the conversation. "You know, they're my best friends," she added for good measure. "When we went into hiding I had to dip into my building fund a bit. So now, I don't have the money I've saved for my independence. An entry-level job at the Ministry pays well but not for a decent flat in London. At least not my entry-level job. You're a good friend of mine, too. What I'm asking is would you like to be my roommate, Ginny? We'll split everything fifty-fifty. I can cover that." Hermione had been rambling. For some reason she was afraid Ginny would say no.

Hermione watched Ginny's gaze from Hermione to her mother and back to Hermione. Her face was unreadable.

"Alright," Ginny replied with a smile.

"There are a couple places I want to show you. We can look later today."

---

Finally, they made it to Grimmauld Place. Mrs. Weasley helped get Ron settled in his bed and talked with Kreacher about the potion schedule before leaving. Hermione cuddled with Ron on his bed.

"My sister's going to be your roommate. How come she gets all the luck?"

Hermione rolled her eyes as she watched a Chudley Cannons player zoom around the orange poster on the wall opposite them. Ron brought a few posters with him to make his room feel like home.

I asked you, but you said no."

Hermione stared at the poster as she felt the rhythm of Ron's chest change. The pattern soothed her. She closed her eyes and eventually fell asleep herself.