Hermione's lip quivered and she let her hand trail over the spines of books sitting neatly in one of the bookshelves running from floor to ceiling on either side of her bed. She swiped her hand under her nose and walked as slowly as she could alongside her childhood bed, the lavender duvet wrinkling under her fingertips. The afternoon sun sent streams of light through the window, limning the surface of her desk and glinting off the glass surfaces of the photographs decorating her dresser and nightstand.

Looking at them now, she could hardly recognize the young girl in half of the pictures. These were taken long before she became who she was now: before Hogwarts and before she knew her true potential. Before she learned of the magical world. But it went beyond that. Those pictures-the one at the beach or the park for her eighth birthday-those were long before she had given up everything for her new future and before she was unknowingly set on the path towards what she had to do now and all that was at stake.

After age eleven, there were hardly any family pictures to reminisce on since so much of her time was taken up by Hogwarts and the other world. She hadn't really known what it would mean to accept a spot at the school back then, but surely her parents understood it meant hardly seeing her except for the holidays. It meant giving up their daughter to a world they could never truly see or be a part of. And far too soon, they wouldn't even remember the small part of that world that they know now, let alone their only child.

But it had to be done.

For their safety and her own. It had to.

Hermione sniffed and rather than setting the frame of one family photograph back onto the dresser, she opened up the beaded bag at her side and slid it in, hearing the dull thud as it hit something on its way down, knocking over her neat and organized stacks. Yet she couldn't seem to find the energy to care.

She snatched up the small duffle bag from the floor for the fourth time that afternoon, but this time was different. There was a new steely glint in her eye that matched the harsh angle of sunlight, counting down the minutes until she would lose her nerve and wait until the next day. But she couldn't do that to herself. She had already lost too much sleep and sanity over deciding what she had always known was best. Now there was only one thing left to do.

With her beaded purse slung across her chest and her duffel bag in hand, she cast one last precursory glance across her room, though she had already memorized every aspect of this house during her midnight wanderings when she couldn't sleep and during the day when she needed something to distract her mind. Decisively, she turned away from the room and closed the door softly behind her, letting her hand rest on the handle for only a moment longer than necessary.

Twenty-two steps down the hall to the stairs, just like every other time she had padded over the worn carpet. Seventeen stairs to descend onto the tiled floors, stepping on the side of the sixth to avoid the inevitable creak in the middle of the step. Seven short steps around the corner to come to the kitchen where her mother and father stood side by side at the sink washing the dishes from their typical Sunday afternoon tea.

With a newly invigorated pang in her chest, Hermione remembered how she used to join them at their ritual every weekend where they shared stories from the week and gleaned what went on in each of their separate lives, bringing them even closer together. After she went off to Hogwarts, she would only sit for tea during the summers and those scant weeks during Christmas and Easter. Then later on, even that was not a certainty. Now, they hardly knew what was going on in Hermione's life because if they did, they would surely try to stop her.

But little did her parents know, the little they did know would soon be gone.

Her Mom was leaning against the counter, a gingham towel draped over her hands. Her Dad's hands were lathered in soap with steam rising from the hot water running from the tap, the china clinking merrily in the basin. His Dad's eyes were glued to his wife as she told a story, though Hermione couldn't hear what she was saying. The words seemed to reach her then run off her skin like water, meaning nothing to her ears that were ringing as loud as a hundred angry bees.

Standing in the shadows of the wall, Hermione raised a trembling hand and pointed her wand at her parents. Her hand was shaking, yet her body was oddly still, her eyes oddly dry. She forced her mind to focus on the task at hand: removing all memories of her and filling the empty space with a lifelong desire to move to Australia.

She sucked in a deep breath, and at the same moment that her parents noticed her standing by the wall, she twisted her hand and whispered, barely audible even to her own ears: "Obliviate."

Her Mom's light brown eyes glazed over, the light dimming. Her Dad's smile slipped off his face with a blank, openmouthed gape taking over his expression. The water continued to run into the sink and the silver spoon clanked loudly into the metal basin. The towel fell from her Mom's hands and piled onto the counter, but Hermione didn't wait to see them restart their chore. Instead, her hand hastily dropped down and her wand was shoved into her back pocket. She walked as fast as she could down the hall towards the front door and pulled it open, shutting the door quickly before her parents came to and questioned why a stranger was in their house-something that Hermione didn't think she could stand.

She hurried down the street sidewalk, passing through the shade of trees that interrupted the cheery sun which did nothing to brighten Hermione's dangerous mood. Somehow, her feet found their way to a thicket of bushes at the corner of the street that she had planned on. Something tugged at her head, urging her to turn around and take one last look at her childhood home before she left. But she remained resolutely facing forward and forced herself not to think of anything as she twisted into the familiar darkness.

She reappeared on the gravel path, the Burrow towering up out of the ground, casting her in a deep shadow that more accurately reflected her mood. As she started towards the front door, she could feel her self-confidence raveling away along with her facade of surety. Her legs began to shake under her weight and her hand clenched and unclenched the lip of her beaded bag. She knocked on the front door, then stepped back and bit her bottom lip, rocking from toe to heel.

Mrs. Weasley opened the door a moment later with a beaming smile and threw open her arms and pulled Hermione into a motherly hug. Hermione felt herself melt into her warm arms and Molly seemed to be drawing the stress out of her very bones. But much too soon, she had pulled back with a smile and pulled her into the home.

"Hello, dear," she said, one hand still holding on to Hermione's elbow. "Ron told me that you were coming today so I have you all set up Ginny's room like usual. Though Ginny's out back with the twins doing who knows what. All I know is that I don't want to know, if you know what I mean."

She chuckled to herself, but Hermione didn't join in. She couldn't even manage a half-hearted smile. Instead, her eyes were constantly gazing back and forth over the room, scanning for a sign of Ron.

Thumps sounded against the steps and moments later, Ron swung around the last banister, coming to a short stop at the foot of the stairs. His arms dropped lamely to his sides and he put on a brave face while Molly cut her sentence short to glance between the two of them.

"You did it?" was all he said in a soft voice.

Hermione nodded once and she finally felt the tears that she had been holding back well up in her eyes.

"Oh 'Mione," he groaned.

Her duffel bag thudded to the floor and she ran forward, breaking free of Mrs. Weasley's grasp. Ron enveloped her in a hug and she buried her face into his shoulder. He made soothing circles against her back and made sure to keep both hands around her, unsure of whether she might collapse if he let go. Sensing that something bigger was at play here, Mrs. Weasley slid past them and quietly climbed up the stairs with a few sad backward glances, but neither Ron nor Hermione noticed.

"You did the right thing," Ron whispered.

Hermione sniffed loudly. "Why doesn't that make me feel any better?"

"Because it still sucks and there's no way around it. Just know that it isn't permanent. When this is all over, we'll find them. Promise. We'll find them again."

"They were gone before today anyways. I left them, Ron! I left them years ago! I-"

"You didn't leave them! And they aren't gone," he said firmly. "We'll find them when it's safe. When we're all safe."

"There's no guarantee that that ever happens though," she whimpered, speaking the fear that was hidden in the depths of Ron's heart that he had long-since forced away from the surface. The room rang with the truth of what she said and Ron took a hard swallow, still rubbing Hermione's back.

"No, there's no guarantee," he admitted. They had seen too much to be soothed by false or naive promises. "But we can't do nothing. And I still believe that there will be a time when we're all safe after all of this ends."

"But you don't know," Hermione persisted in a wobbly voice, thick with tears.

"But I still have hope. We have to keep hope, Hermione. Otherwise… Otherwise what is this all for?"

Hermione sniffed and fell silent, focusing instead on slowing her breathing. She leaned back slightly, breaking their embrace. As if coming out of a daze, her eyes opened wide and they both simultaneously noticed how close they were still standing-barely a few inches apart-and they both took a hasty and awkward step back.

"I'll… I'll grab your bag," Ron announced, ducking his head to cover his flaming cheeks. He danced around Hermione and grabbed the duffel bag from the floor.

Hermione gave a sad smile and swiped at her eyes. Now that she had started to cry, the persistent tears didn't seem like they were going to be stopping any time soon.

"Thanks," she said. She followed Ron up the creaking steps of the Burrow, climbing first to Ginny's room where he dropped her duffel bag on her bed, then returned to climb up to the top of the towering home, just below the attic. They reached the landing outside Ron's door and with a hand frozen on the handle, Ron turned slightly, his head craning over his shoulder to look at Hermione.

"You're a true Gryffindor, you know that? Courage, nerve, fairness…," his voice trailed off slightly, but then he sucked in a breath and a renewed determination came over him. "I know this doesn't make it any better and it still sucks, but you did the right thing." He pulled open the door and cocked his head quizzically at her, studying her expression for a hint at what she was thinking.

Hermione smiled, the tears in her eyes still gleaming and her throat was so tight that she was surprised she could breath at all. Though somehow, maybe it was what he said or maybe it was just the fact that they were together in relative safety, she did feel a little better. It didn't change anything about what may or may not happen in these next few months, but it did change the present and if she had learned anything from her lifetime of regrets with her parents, it was to enjoy the moments with those she cared for because who knows how long they will last.

She reached out and laid a hand on Ron's arm as she slid past him into his room. Almost immediately, she collapsed onto Harry's bed. Her legs still felt shaky as if she had run a marathon rather than just climbed a few stories. Ron sighed and sat next to her, just far enough so that their shoulders weren't touching and he looked down at his knees. Hermione gave a wet smile, letting the tears keep falling, and looked sideways at Ron with a slightly lightened heart.

She had done the right thing and at the moment, that would have to be enough.

This moment in the films always killed me so the idea to elaborate on it has been bugging me for quite some time. I hope you enjoyed it and as always, let me know what you thought or if you have any story suggestions for me!