Chapter 13

The past week with Hermione had gone by in a blur for Ron. She had asked that he not be in the interview room when she recounted what had happened to her. Ron agreed, though the guilt of not knowing exactly what happened was almost as bad as he would feel if he knew what she went through. Director Spivey had even offered that she give them a memory, but she refused, not wishing anyone else to see what she went through.

She had requested a brief hiatus from her work, which surprised Ron. Knowing Hermione, he expected her to drown out her experiences by overcompensating at the office. It was in fact the opposite that occurred. Instead of hiding from what happened, it was like something in her clicked. Something told her that she didn't have to be afraid anymore.

She still requested to stay at his flat, and they continued to sleep together every night. Despite their close proximity, he couldn't help but feel further away from her than ever. More than once, she had made an attempt to take things further, but Ron couldn't do it. He wanted more than anything to be close to her, but sublimating his own guilt about Kovac made him feel as though he was taking advantage. And beyond that, even after the Kovac situation, he had said they were done, and Ron meant it. He couldn't keep going through this, though that would not stop him from being there for her, no matter what.

"What do you think?" Ron looked up at Hermione, who had just walked through the door.

Hermione twirled around. She had gone out of her way for a dinner at the Burrow. Her sunflower dress was lined with gold and black shimmering flecks.

"You look beautiful." He said smiling. "It's just the Burrow, though. You know what it's like there."

Hermione bit her lip and nodded. "I just, you know, want things to go well."

"It will be fine. I promise, I've made sure no one asks any questions." Hermione nodded again, looking back down at her dress.

"But I'm sure we'll both get a tongue lashing from Harry and Ginny...about...you know the whole stalker, kidnapping situation."

"Harry's going to be there?" Hermione's voice hitched.

Ron's brows couldn't help but rise. Was she nervous about seeing Harry?

"Yes." Ron nodded slowly. "They came back early after the newspapers reported on Kovac."

"Oh." She said weakly. Then, as soon as her insecurity was there, it was gone again. "Good, it will be nice to see him. I hope they had a nice time on their honeymoon."

Ron pulled himself up. He looked a bit underdressed next to Hermione, but he knew it would be the opposite when they arrived.

"Ready?" He asked, holding out a hand. She picked her purse and wand up from the end table and placed her dainty hands in his. Then she looked up into his eyes.

They stood there in silence for a moment, before she whispered, "ready."

Then, holding back the desire to put a curl behind her ear, he apparated them both to the Burrow.

While both Hermione and the family seemed a little awkward initially avoiding the elephant in the room, eventually everyone warmed up. Hermione stayed close to Ron, not always sure where she fit in. Even when Harry and Ginny arrived she seemed more nervous than anything.

"Hermione, we're so glad you're okay." Harry breathed, giving her a tight hug. Hermione glanced at Ron with a sigh of relief. He returned the smile with one of his own.

The meal was scrumptious. His mother had really outdone herself. It didn't take long for Hermione to get into the groove and let Ron out of her sight. When he left she was recounting the story of her, Ron and Harry in the Shrieking Shack. They'd all heard it before, but pretended it was the first time to give her a little comfort.

Eventually, Ron and Harry found themselves out on the back deck looking out over the garden in silence.

"How was New Zealand?" Ron finally asked, looking sideways over at Harry.

"It was-" Harry returned a rueful smile. "Alright, yes, we ended up in New Zealand, and it was amazing."

There was another pause. Ron knew this was the uncomfortable bit. He had expected Harry to come barging in, hair ablaze, pummeling him for not calling them back after Hermione was taken.

"You should have told me." Harry said quietly. It wasn't anger, necessarily, maybe hurt?

"I know." Ron acknowledged. "Believe me I know. I'm such an idiot." He chastised.

"Stop. I'm the one that gets to be upset right now."

"That's fair." Ron answered.

Ron picked at his finger nail as he watched a gnome inch its way into the garden.

"She's my best friend too you know. My sister. You didn't tell me and she didn't tell me. How do you think that makes me feel?"

Ron took it in. He was glad Harry was unloading on him rather than Hermione. Hermione deserved a break after what she had been through.

"I know, Harry. We didn't know it was Kovac and by the time she actually told me anything it was practically too late. What were we supposed to do, stop your wedding?"

"YES!" Harry's voice became shrill. "You should have fucking stopped the wedding. You two are more important to me than a party."

Ron shut his mouth and they sat in uncomfortable silence for a few minutes.

"I can't believe Kovac was that creative." Harry said finally, channeling his anger toward something they could both be angry about together.

"Right? It still doesn't quite make sense. He used her to get to me, but honestly, how would he know to do that? He spent time stalking her first. It just isn't his MO."

"Maybe he had an accomplice? Someone who could get in and out easily. Someone that Hermione wouldn't suspect?"

"I asked her about that." Ron countered. "She was sure it was only Kovac. Besides, she even willingly took Veritaserum so Spivey felt sure that she was giving them the full story. Everything she could remember."

Harry nodded, letting the thought leave his mind. Ron on the other hand still felt something was off. He leaned back in his rocking chair to look through the door at Hermione chatting amicably with George.

"She's changed." Ron said quietly to Harry.

Harry looked over at him, surprised.

"Seems like the same old Hermione to me, though maybe more sophisticated?" Harry joked, referencing how upscale her dress was for a Burrow dinner.

Ron continued to watch her. "I can't quite put my finger on it." He said more to himself than to Harry.

"Well, we all know traumatic experiences like that leave a mark." Harry offered.

Ron nodded, thinking back to his assignment. Though he had voluntarily gone into that situation knowing it was dangerous, it didn't change the fact that he woke up with cold sweats dreaming about the near death experiences, even now.

"So, she's staying with you, then?" Harry tried to act nonchalant.

"Do you have a problem with that?" Ron turned back to Harry.

"No, just wondering if anything has changed." Ron could feel Harry dissecting every facial movement for a tell. Ron had not told Harry about their one-day tryst last month, nor had he told Harry about the fact that he had permanently ended their relationship.

"We're sleeping together." Ron sputtered out.

Harry's eyes went wide. "Ron seriously, no need for details."

"No - I mean sleeping, literally. But that's it. We haven't...talked about going further."

"And do you want to?" Harry asked, raking his fingers uncomfortably through his hair.

Ron shrugged and covered his face with his hands. "Yes...and no."

"Maybe give it some time." Harry suggested.

Ron didn't respond as they fell into a comfortable silence watching the sunset.

"What the bloody hell is this?" Ron said, barging towards the table. Hermione seemed unphased.

It had been a week since the Burrow dinner and since that moment in time, Hermione had grown in confidence and determination. Where early on she was confident, yet needing Ron, now she was going off on her own, doing things that he would not have thought her to do.

"What is it Ron?" She asked sweetly.

Ron threw the tabloid down on the table. "Harry just owled it to me."

Hermione glanced over, but didn't open it. "Hmm." Was all she said as she took another bit of her toast.

"Did you do an interview with Frank?" He asked, guffawed.

Hermione nodded without looking up from her book.

"Why would you do that? He is a miserable git and you shouldn't be talking so publicly about the...kidnapping...this is so unlike you."

Hermione stopped and looked up at him, clenching her jaw.

"Ron, I needed to face the world publicly at some point, and I wanted to do it on my terms."

"But why him?" Ron pushed.

"I need him as my ally in this, not my enemy."

Ron's eyes wanted to bulge out of his head. While it had only been a few weeks, she had become more brazen. He was used to her dissecting every potentiality, but now it seemed almost manipulative.

"You wouldn't even tell me what happened." He barked back. "Now you feel the whole world should know and I have to read about it on page seven?"

Hermione stood up hotly and put her hands on her hips. "How dare you tell me how to heal."

Ron was caught off guard, and pulled back a little.

"I didn't mean it like that." He said defensively. "I just thought we were... closer than that." He couldn't find the right words.

"I want to be, but you won't let me." She sneered.

Ron clamped his mouth shut. How could he say that he missed her, he missed her so much even though she was right there in front of him. How could he tell her that she seemed to be a different person entirely after the kidnapping. How could he tell her that what she had gone through had somehow prevented him from wanting to go further, to be more to her.

Before he had a chance to pull away, she leaned in and pressed her lips to his. It was a slow and aching kiss. She did all she could to entangle her arms around his neck. He reflexively responded, not wanting to upset her, and pressed his lips to her. Even the kiss felt different, somehow more forced and angry than it used to be. She smelled the same, and tasted the same, she just didn't quite feel the same and that one thought brought waves of guilt back through Ron's mind.

After another week, Hermione had returned to work. Firenze was incredibly pleased to see his Fair Beings Council employee ready to get back to it, though she didn't seem as enthusiastic. She came back to the apartment each day more worn out and frustrated than the day before. She complained that maybe after her kidnapping, her priorities shifted. Maybe this wasn't her calling.

Ron kept on supporting her, but he could feel a sense of unease creep through his bones. They had kissed a few more times, but eventually Hermione had decided she wanted to go back to her own flat. While he missed having her close by, it was also somewhat of a relief.

Hermione's flat had a cold chill to it, despite the warm furnishings.

"I told you this was part of the plan." Vanya hissed, pacing back and forth in front of the sofa.

"You didn't say I would have to sit around for weeks while you crawled your way into Weasley's bed. You said he would suffer." Andrei walked over to the fireplace and flung all of the picture frames off the mantle.

"I am working on it. Ron hasn't given me as warm of a welcome as I was hoping. I just want to make sure there are no doubts about me."

Andrei paced up to her and wrapped his strong sun-kissed hands tightly around her neck. Vanya tensed, surprised at Andrei's new aggression toward her.

"I want him dead and I'm not wasting any more time. If you aren't going to do it, I will."

"Please" she tried to get out, her throat constricted by his hands. "I've got a plan. A party. If we want him dead, we have to make it public. We have to make it untraceable."

"This is your last chance Vanya." He growled.

"I promise, this party will be one to remember. This will be the night Hermione becomes the sole survivor of the Golden Trio. This will be the night we kill Harry Potter and Ron Weasley." She said, giving him her most devilish Hermione smile.

They hadn't talked in a few days and Ron felt he may have pushed her further than he meant to. After a night of thinking about her, and about every moment in time before her kidnapping, his mind kept going back to their running together through Hogwarts. Maybe that would help?

His hopes were quickly dashed as his owl to Hermione offering a 4:30 run through Hogwarts was quickly dismissed via return owl. Instead, she offered a different way to connect.

Ron,

Thank you for the offer, but I do not wish to run.

I know we have grown apart a bit, but If you'd like to try again, I am working with Headmistress McGonagall to hold a summer ball at Hogwarts, a Hogwarts reunion of sorts. I'd love for you, Harry and all our friends to be there. We didn't dance at the Yule Ball. I'd like this to be different.

I miss you.

Love,

Hermione

Ron re-read the note. A summer ball. Ball's weren't really his thing, but he was sure everyone in their circle of family and friends would definitely attend. He also couldn't deny that dancing with Hermione, holding her again, would bring back a little bit of distance and loneliness he was feeling.

He scribbled a note back to her that they should go together.

Weeks passed, and though Ron had wished it, things hadn't gotten better. In fact, they'd gotten a whole lot worse.

"Hermione, it's going to be okay." Ron rushed, as he watched her pace back and forth in the Auror's bullpen.

"No it won't." She screeched, angrily stomping back and forth. Harry, Ron, and Director Spivey all stood with her as she absorbed the information. "He's going to kill me!"

"I will never let that happen." Ron tried to put his hand out on her shoulder.

"You don't know what he's capable of." She shrieked.

"Hermione, you know I do." Ron pushed. "Besides, he's more likely to come after me."

"Which is why we need to cancel the ball." Harry pushed. Hermione turned and scorched him like a Hungarian Horntail.

"No." She breathed. "I have worked hard on this - the decorations, the food, the music, the invitations, everything! The press will be there. All of the appropriate dignitaries. I've gotten everything lined up. We are going to that ball...together."

Ron and Harry both glanced at one another. It had been nearly six weeks to the day. And to the horror and surprise in Azkaban, in the Auror office, and across the wizarding world, Kovac had somehow managed to escape Azkaban. Not one person had managed to do that on their own besides Sirius Black and Ron could see that Hermione was reeling.

"Hermione, seriously?" Ron pushed. "I promise nothing will happen, but we have to be safe. I have to keep you safe." He grabbed her by the shoulders and looked down at her.

She looked more terrified than when he'd pulled her out of the caves. She was in pieces and he did not know what to do.

He had had a small breakdown of his own earlier that day, sobbing quietly in the bathroom recognizing that yet again his failure to get Kovac from the beginning is putting Hermione and him at risk.

He ran his finger down her cheek, ignoring Harry and Spivey watching them. "Why is this ball so important to you?" He asked.

"I just need this." She breathed, locking eyes with him.

Ron watched a tear slide down her cheek. He didn't understand why it mattered so much that this went on, but he would do anything for her. He would keep her safe no matter the cost, even if they all happened to be formal robes and gowns while doing it.