Disclaimer: As always, I don't own Harry Potter.
Hermione lifted Ron's arm, incredibly heavy with sleep, off of her and snuck out of his childhood bedroom. She transfigured a bath towel into a bath robe and tied it around her waist, sneaking a glance at Ron to make sure he was still asleep.
Tonight had been hard, he had collapsed when they were alone, as had the other members of the family, she suspected. She felt pretty awful herself. She had been distraught while comforting him, both with her own grief and for how much he was hurting. She was exhausted, and the skin of her face felt raw and paper thin the way it does after crying. She needed a glass of water. Desperately.
So, she snuck down the stairs of the place that had become a second home to her and snuck into the kitchen. She was pouring some water into a glass when someone spoke.
"Couldn't sleep?" Hermione startled, barely stifling a scream, and completely missed the cup getting water all over her arm, the table, and the floor. Someone emerged from the dark shadow at the edge of the kitchen and Hermione glared as Harry's face became visible.
"No." She snapped as she cleaned up the water, shooting a quick but strong silencing charm around the kitchen.
"Me neither." She poured herself a glass of water and grabbed another cup, raising her eyebrow in silent question. He nodded. The liquid glugged as it was transferred to the cup and he watched her with distant eyes. "How do you be there for them when you're such a mess yourself?" He asked quietly, and Hermione's heart broke for him and for herself, for the understanding that went through her at the question.
"You be there for each other and you fall apart at the same time. Or you take turns comforting them. You find other people to talk to." She smiled kindly at him.
"This situation is so fucked up Hermione. Here I am seeking comfort from you when you're just as traumatized as I am. How can any of us help each other when it hurts the other person too?"
Hermione stared at him hopelessly for a second before she set down her cup, scraped her chair backwards and walked around the table towards him. She held out her arms and he hesitated for a second before he hugged her and she knew without seeing that they were both crying. After a while they pulled back.
"You say those kinds of things to them so they know you're not trying to use them, and that you understand." She smiled.
"How are you?" He asked.
"I'm alright. It's hard but I have Ron, and you, and the Weasleys. We'll get through all of this together."
"You believe that?" He asked hoarsely, and Hermione's heart broke for him.
"I have to." She whispered. "Or else it won't happen."
"I told Kingsley I'm going to testify for Mrs. Malfoy and…Draco." He ran a hand over his face and laughed, slightly unhinged.
Hermione put a hand on his arm. "I'll testify with you." His head shot up to look at her.
"What?"
"Just for Draco. I don't have any information about his mother, but he purposely lied about who we were. He knew and he lied to protect us. Even in the Room of Requirement, he didn't use the Unforgivables, and he tried to stop Crabbe and Goyle. He was sick when…" she swallowed and took a deep fortifying breath. "When Bellatrix tortured me. He wanted to stop it, but he couldn't." She finished softly and Harry grabbed her hand.
"Ron won't." Harry stated and she shook her head.
"Probably not. I don't understand why he can't get over that childhood grudge." Harry gave her a look and she tilted her head to the side, intrigued. Did he know something she didn't? "What?" She demanded.
Harry struggled with himself for a moment before giving in. "It's not a childhood grudge. Ron could get over that I think. But he will never forgive Draco for how he treated you."
Hermione was in shock. Her mind was suddenly full of memories of Ron: him sobbing her name at Malfoy manor, jumping into harm's way to save her from the chandelier, holding her after, him saying 'I love you Hermione' only yesterday. Her mouth had fallen open and she was staring at Harry.
"You really think that's it?"
Harry nodded firmly. "Absolutely. He…" He trailed off awkwardly.
"Loves me." Hermione responded breathlessly. Harry raised his eyebrows as if surprised she had figured that out. "We said it yesterday." And then Harry was smiling broadly.
"Good. It's been a long time coming. I love you too Hermione. If you ever need someone to comfort you…" He trailed off and she hugged him again.
"I love you too. And the same goes for you." She eyed him sternly. "No drowning in grief by yourself, trying to weather it alone so you're not a burden." He grinned and nodded.
"Don't worry I've already gotten that lecture from Gin." Hermione snorted. "You and Ron deserve to know how it all really ended and I'd like to tell you. Whenever you're ready come and find me." He said, squeezing her shoulder one last time and leaving the kitchen.
Hermione sat there for a very long time, alone in the dark, watching the stars. Her mind was full of thoughts and emotions. There were too many of them, so she counted the constellations and the stars in them, letting go of her problems like her dad had taught her to do whenever she had gotten too anxious as a child. That made her think of him and she pushed those thoughts away too. She wasn't quite ready to deal with everything yet.
She must have fallen asleep because the next thing she knew she was being shaken awake by Mrs. Weasley. "Trouble sleeping?" She asked, and Hermione noted that she too, had circles underneath her eyes.
Hermione nodded. "I came to get some water and fell asleep here. Would you like some help with breakfast?"
"That's very kind of you dear, but cooking helps me, so I would like to do it alone." Hermione was sort of shocked by her honesty.
"Of course." Was all she responded before backing out of the kitchen and smacking straight into a distressed Ron.
"Hermione." He breathed, relieved. She opened her mouth to ask him what was wrong but he enveloped her in a hug before she could. "I woke up and you were gone and I know it's silly but I panicked."
"Not silly." She said, her voice muffled by his t-shirt. "Sorry." She said softly, linking their hands. "I got up to get some water and fell asleep down here." She wrapped her arms around his neck, putting space between them but not letting go, letting his arms circle her waist. "What do you want to do today?" She tried for normalcy.
He shrugged helplessly and she wanted to torture the Death Eater that had taken Fred from them. "Harry said he wants to tell us what went down at the end whenever we're ready." She said casually, watching him out of the corner of her eye.
He nodded. "Yeah. Let's do that." Hermione grabbed his hand and tugged him outside to look for Harry. They passed Charlie and Ginny racing each other on brooms and found Harry sitting on the lawn watching them.
"Didn't feel like flying?" Hermione asked him.
"I was told to referee." He responded with a small grin. "What are you guys up to?"
"We thought we'd take you up on that offer of explaining how everything happened." Hermione told him.
"Of course." He shot to his feet.
"We can do it in my room." Ron offered. With a quick explanation to Ginny and Charlie, they climbed the many stairs up to Ron's room. Luckily, Ron had given her half of his dresser for her clothes so Harry wouldn't encounter any of her undergarments. It occurred to Hermione that they were basically living together. Old Hermione would have been horrified at how fast they were going, but new Hermione was throwing caution to the wind for love. She rather liked it.
She sat next to Ron on the floor as Harry sat down opposite them. She heavily warded the room and set up alarms so they would know if they were triggered. She nodded at Harry and he began to speak.
"Okay. So you know about horcruxes. Well, in the memories Snape gave me I found out," he swallowed. "that I was one." Hermione gasped, covering her mouth with her hands.
"That's how you could see into his mind, into the snake's mind! That's why you could speak Parseltongue and why you could hear the horcruxes." Hermione exclaimed.
"Wait a second." Ron said. "Dumbledore knew, all this time? He knew why all of these things happened and he lied to you."
"Yes." Harry said simply. "I've forgiven him." Ron looked like he was about to interject but Hermione rested a hand on his arm. "Anyways," Harry continued, "when he tried to kill me and he died, the part of his soul that should have been destroyed when he himself was killed attached itself to the only living thing it could find. Which is why my wand reacted against Lucius Malfoy's like I told you it did when Mad-Eye died." He shot them a haughty look and Hermione rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "So, I had learned the truth. Now I knew Snape was our agent and had been from the beginning, that he and Dumbledore had planned Snape killing him to save Malfoy's soul and because Dumbledore was already dying. He cast the silver doe, and he was in love with my mother."
"'Dumbledore's from the moment you started hunting down my mother'." Hermione quoted. She had listened intently to Harry and Voldemort's last conversation, and it had stuck with her. "He asked Voldemort to spare her."
"The shitty thing was that Voldemort tried to spare her. He told her to step aside, that she needn't have died if she let him kill me. I knew that from the Dementors. It's what I saw; my parents' deaths."
"Oh Harry." Hermione whispered. "I'll bet that's why they affected you so much as well. You had two souls in you, and that memory wasn't just your worst memory, but Voldemort's as well."
Harry's mouth dropped open. "You are a genius, Hermione." Hermione beamed at him.
"So, what? You just sacrificed yourself?" Ron asked softly. Harry frowned.
"Yes. Dumbledore knew that once I knew I could stop people I loved from being killed I would do it. He knew I would stop Voldemort at any cost. So, I walked down to the forest, and I encountered Neville on the way there. I told him to kill the snake so someone else would know in case anything happened to us. I walked by Ginny but I couldn't stop and tell her because I would never have gone through with it if I had. That's why I couldn't tell either of you either. I felt so far away from life, and closer to those who had died. That was how I figured out the snitch."
Hermione gasped again. "I open at the close. Oh Harry." Her and Ron were watching Harry in horror.
"Sirius, Remus, and my parents appeared to me. They walked me to my death. I revealed myself and Voldemort said the words and I thought of you guys and Ginny and then I…died."
"You truly died?" Ron asked in shock. Harry moved aside his shirt and they saw a lightning bolt scar at the centre of his chest. Ron gawked at him, and Hermione realized she had started to cry.
"I spoke to Dumbledore in King's Cross station and we talked about horcruxes and hallows and I forgave him. He chose hallows, not horcruxes. He told me I could move on or go back, that it was up to me."
"I'm sorry," Ron interjected. "You could just choose to come back to the realm of the living? Why would anyone choose to be dead?" Harry's expression softened in realization.
"I'm sorry. I left out that part didn't I? You see I was different, I had a tie to life." Hermione inhaled sharply and Harry grinned in amusement, quirking an eyebrow in challenge.
Ron's brows furrowed. "What?" He asked impatiently.
"Voldemort took your blood. He took it to get inside your mother's curse but he took your blood. Tethering you to life as he lived." She breathed.
"10 points to Gryffindor." Harry smirked.
"Again, that means Dumbledore knew he would try something. That means he wanted Voldemort to take your blood. Did he know the ritual? Did he know Moody was an imposter from the beginning?" Ron demanded.
"I'm touched, mate. That you're upset, truly I am, but we'll never know and I don't want to. I forgave Dumbledore for everything because, well, here I am. He had to make some hard choices to save the world."
Ron harrumphed but stayed quiet.
"Anyways, I decided to come back and I woke up laying on the forest floor. Then I had to pretend to be dead. Sorry."
"And Voldemort didn't have someone check to make sure you were really dead?" Ron asked incredulously, and Hermione was reminded of how much of a strategist he truly was.
"He did. He sent Narcissa Malfoy. Only she didn't care about Voldemort's cause anymore, if she ever really did. She wanted to know if Malfoy was alive so I told her he was and she, well she lied to him."
"That's why you're testifying for her." Hermione realized.
Harry nodded. "She saved my life."
"Alright, that explains the horcruxes." Ron said. "What about the hallows?"
"I dropped the stone somewhere no one will find it, yes Hermione that's what I was referencing when we talked to Dumbledore's portrait." He forestalled her since she had gasped in understanding yet again. "You know what happened to the wand, and I still have the cloak of course."
"Yes," Ron agreed, "But how did you become the wand's master? I was pretty far away when you explained, so I missed it."
"The wand doesn't go to whoever kills the previous master. It goes to whoever beats them, which can mean disarming them. Draco Malfoy was the master of the Elder Wand because he disarmed Dumbledore. But I overpowered him at Malfoy Manor, and won its allegiance for myself." Ron squeezed Hermione's hand at the mention of that night and she squeezed his back, loving him more than she could ever put into words.
"You and that saving people complex," Hermione scolded him fondly. "Merlin help us if you truly do join the auror department."
"Oh!" Harry exclaimed. "About that. Robards, the new head auror, talked to me yesterday and offered the three of us positions as aurors starting next year, without N.E.W.T.s or anything. He told me to extend the offer to the two of you." Ron whooped and then exchanged a look with Hermione. "Promise me you'll consider it." Harry said, eyes on Hermione.
She nodded. "I will consider it. But I'd like to find my parents first." She said quietly, and Ron gave a start.
"I'd like to come, if that's alright." He said and she nodded gratefully.
"Thank you. You should stay here." Hermione told Harry. "Start to have a normal life, for once. Be with Ginny, pick up the pieces. Besides, I don't think you would like being the third wheel now that we're actually together."
"That's true." He grinned. "You two were insufferable even when you weren't dating." Ron looked affronted and Hermione giggled.
"Harry? Ron? Hermione?" Mrs. Weasley called from below and they stood up hastily. Ron clapped Harry on the back and Hermione hugged him fiercely. She looped her arms through one of each of theirs and awkwardly pulled them down the stairs like that, much to their displeasure. She smiled genuinely, forever glad she still had the both of them. What would come would come, and they would face it together like they always had.