Chapter 6: Ron Weasley

As Hermione kissed Harry on the sofa of the Gryffindor common room, she tried to focus all her thoughts on the feeling of everything, rather than the implication of their actions. She realized after several moments they were engaged in a sort of dance, which she seemed to be leading.

Harry waited for Hermione to press her tongue into his mouth before he entwined his tongue with hers, further deepening their kiss. When Hermione trailed her fingers up under his shirt and rubbed her hands over his bare chest, he took it as an invitation to reach under her shirt.

Once she realized he was waiting for her before progressing to each new step, she wanted to push for more. She climbed onto his lap and he moved his hands up under her shirt to the top of her back and pulled her close as he continued to kiss her passionately.

She ground her hips into him and he let out a small moan, which she captured with her mouth. Hermione smiled inwardly. She wanted to get him to make that sound again. She reached down and felt he was hard, then stroked him a few times through his jeans. He stopped kissing her and leaned back, locking his eyes on hers.

There was an unmistakable question there and before Hermione could overthink it and talk herself out of what she was planning, she nodded, then reached for the hem of her shirt and pulled it off. She pulled her bra off next, then leaned forward and began unbuttoning Harry's shirt.

When they were both shirtless, Hermione pressed herself against him and relished the feeling of his warm skin against hers as she kissed his neck, but it wasn't enough. She wanted more. She climbed off his lap and before she could let herself consider it, she began undoing his pants. Her hands were moving on their own now and Harry was watching her, his eyes dark and filled with desire.

"Are you sure?" His voice was low and husky and the sound of it ignited a heat in Hermione's body.

She nodded and Harry lifted his hips as she pulled his jeans and boxers off. He was fully hard now and she reached for him, wrapping her hand around his cock. "You're naked," she said with a smile.

Harry linked his fingers into the band of her jeans and pulled her closer. "So I am. Care to join me?"

Hermione nodded and Harry began undoing her pants, moving slowly, probably to give her a chance to stop him. She expected to be shaking with nerves but instead, she pushed her pants down and walked out of them quickly, then resumed her spot on his lap without hesitation. And now she was sitting on Harry, naked. They were both naked - and that thought seemed to shock her brain into action. This had progressed alarming quickly for someone who didn't know what the hell she was doing. Or did she? None of this felt scary, or foreign, or new. The truth hit her then.

"We've done this before."

Harry nodded. He'd been watching her carefully this entire time. "But that doesn't mean we have to do it now."

"I want to," she said insistently.

Harry leaned forward and kissed one of her bare shoulders, then the other. "Are you sure?"

"Yes," Hermione breathed. The feeling of his stubble against her bare skin was causing goosebumps to raise on her arms and she was caught up in the feeling, which effectively pushed the rest of her thoughts to the back of her mind.

Harry moved his lips down and kissed the top of each of her breasts before taking one of her nipples in his mouth. Hermione let out a low moan and began stroking him absently as he continued to kiss her breasts. This felt incredible, but she wanted to be closer to him. She knew what she had to do, obviously knew the mechanics of it all, but she was suddenly scared.

"Harry," she whispered.

He pulled away quickly. "Do you want to stop?"

She shook her head. "I want to - I want to keep going, but I'm nervous. Can you help?"

She squeezed his cock, so her meaning was clear, and he gave her a small smile as he scanned her face, probably for any signs of doubt. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Harry asked again.

She nodded. That she was sure of. Everything else, not so much.

Harry reached down and pushed a finger inside her. Hermione dropped her head against his shoulder and let out a moan. Then he placed a second finger in and moved his hand around. She instinctively rocked her hips against his hand and started kissing him again. Several moments later, he pulled his hand back. "You're ready," he whispered. "Just lift up for a second."

Harry helped guide himself inside her and she slowly lowered down and relished the feeling of him filling her up. It didn't hurt like she expected, and she figured that was because this wasn't her first time. This was so bizarre.

When she was sitting back down, her body took over. She placed her hands on his shoulders and rocked her hips back and forth, causing Harry to let out occasional groans. She loved watching him like this, on the brink of losing all control. His head was back on the sofa and he was biting his lip. He had one hand gripped tightly on her hip and the other was cupping her breast, flicking his thumb across her nipple every so often.

He seemed completely consumed by this, by her, and kept looking at her like she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. She never remembered a time when she'd felt so desirable

"Oh, fuck," he muttered. "You need to slow down."

She stopped abruptly. "Sorry. Did I hurt you?"

He let out a small laugh. "Ah, no. Just sit there for a second and let me get you closer."

Hermione was confused since she was about as close as she could be to him, but soon she discovered his meaning. He seemed to know exactly how to touch her to set her body on fire and every time she cried out, he smiled to himself. When she was close to the edge, she was about to tell him, but he already knew and instructed her to rock her hips again.

With his cock moving inside her, combined with what he was doing to the rest of her body, it wasn't long before the tension that had been building at her core was finally released. Hermione cried out as her orgasm passed through her and Harry moved his hands to her hips and continued to guide them back and forth. After several more thrusts, he dipped his head into the crook of her neck and grunted out her name.

They held each other as they both recovered. She dropped her head against his shoulder and breathed in his scent while he traced lazy patterns across her back with his fingers. "Fucking hell," he murmured into her hair.

Hermione leaned back and smiled at him. "That was incredible," she agreed. '"Or, well, it was for me. Was it, uh, okay for you?"

Harry smiled and pushed a curl behind her ear. "All those grunts and incoherent moans, that was me enjoying it."

"Noted. Is it always like that?"

He nodded. "We're really good together."

Hermione smiled and began to fix his hair, which was a mess. Then, she rubbed her hand along his jaw as she stared into his startling green eyes.

This whole experience hadn't been what she was expecting. From hearing others talk about it, she'd assumed sex was all about chasing some earth-shattering orgasm, but it hadn't been like that at all. The orgasm was nice, of course, but it was the whole part leading up to it she liked better. It was the small waves of pleasure passing through her as she shared something so private and intimate with the person she cared about most in the world.

She could not believe that out of all the witches out there - and she was sure Harry could probably have anyone he wanted - that he was here, with her. She got to see him naked, and vulnerable, and got to hear his little groans, and when he'd finished, he'd said her name. It was perfect, and then she realized she was going to forget it all.

A single tear fell down her face at the thought. Harry wiped it away with his thumb. "What's wrong?"

"All this, it's going to be lost."

Harry leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "I'll remember. It won't be completely lost. I've never forgotten a single moment shared with you."

She smiled sadly. "So, we've done that, um, a few times?"

"Yeah."

"When was the last time?"

"My birthday."

Hermione counted in her head. So, about three weeks ago. "And the first time?"

"April."

Hermione nodded. "And April. That was my first time?"

"Yeah." Harry pushed her hair back behind her shoulder and kissed her jaw.

"But not your first time?" she asked.

He shook his head. "One of us had to know what we were doing."

Hermione cringed as Harry moved down and placed kisses along her neck. "Was I awful?"

"No," he whispered. "You have never been awful."

As Harry continued kissing Hermione's neck gently, she thought of how sad it was that she didn't remember her first time with him. Or even, for that matter, her last time with him. And in a few hours, she'd forget this, too. Well, if it was going to end, she wanted to enjoy it as much as she could. She pushed Harry up.

"Hi," she said with a smile.

"Hi."

"Can we do it again? I - I don't know if I savored it as much as I should have and I know I'm going to forget but I want - uh - more?"

Harry beamed at her. "There's no way I'm saying no to that. But we should probably move."

Hermione looked around the empty common room. "Yeah. Probably."

Harry helped her up, then grabbed his wand and cleaned them off. He stood and picked up their clothes, then reached for her, wrapping his arm securely around her waist. They walked naked through the common room, toward the stairs that led to the boys' dormitories.

"I had my share of dirty thoughts as a teenager but never imagined shagging in the common room," he admitted as they climbed the stairs.

"Or shagging me, for that matter."

"True." Harry leaned down and placed a kiss on her cheek. "I never imagined shagging you while we were at school, which was just my loss. All those delightful fantasies I was missing out on…"

They'd reached the room where Harry and Ron used to sleep back at school and Hermione pushed him playfully through the door. "So, we haven't shagged in the common room before?"

Harry tossed their clothes to the side, then pulled her to him by her waist. "No. We have never shagged in the common room."

He covered his mouth with hers and she lost herself in the kiss for several moments. She loved kissing Harry. It felt familiar, unlike everything else she'd experience today. "And here?" she asked as she pulled back. "Have we shagged in here?"

He led her to his bed and gently pushed her back so she was sitting on the edge. "No. This is our first Hogwarts shag. Though, in my opinion, long overdue."

Hermione shifted to the top of the bed and laid her head down on his pillow as Harry climbed on top of her, propping himself up by his arms. "So, you want to savor this?" he asked.

Hermione nodded as her heart beat hard in her chest.

"I love that idea," he said with a smirk. He kissed her cheek, then slowly made his way down to her neck, her collarbone, her chest, her breasts, her stomach, and further down to the inside of her thigh.

Hermione was shaking with nerves now as she thought of him going there. He seemed to know what she was thinking. He winked at her, placed one quick kiss between her legs, then continued a path down her leg to her ankle, which he nipped with his teeth before switching to her other leg.

On his way back up, he showed her just how well he knew her body, stopping to lick or suck on every sensitive spot before stopping back up at her chest. She was just about to ask him for more when he slid two fingers inside her and began devouring her breasts. She threw her head back and let out a long moan.

Harry spent a long while completely unraveling her until she was begging him to end it. He kept getting her close, then stopping abruptly and it was driving her mad. She had her hands twisted in the sheets and her back arched as she cried out his name and demanded he get inside her, now!

Harry cocked his head at her and gave her a wicked smile that nearly stopped her heart. "I thought you wanted to savor this."

"I'm done savoring. I want you. Please, now."

He smiled again but thankfully, listened to her this time. He settled over her and slowly lowered himself down until he was filling her up again. It didn't take long after that. When Hermione finally reached the edge, she cried out and pulled Harry down into a hard, passionate kiss.

A few moments later, Harry tensed up and groaned into her mouth. Then he bit her bottom lip, muttered something incoherent, and collapsed on top of her. Hermione wrapped her arms and legs around him and relished the feeling of being completely engulfed by him.

"Can you breathe?" he mumbled.

"No. But I don't care."

Harry lifted up and kissed her, then rolled off her and gathered her in his arms, pulling her against his chest. She felt his heart beating hard against her back and wrapped her arms around his, which were crossed over her chest, as she waited for her own heart rate to slow.

Harry moved her hair out of the way and began placing soft kisses along her shoulder and neck. Hermione's body was still sensitive and each kiss seemed to travel all the way to her fingertips and toes.

"In case it wasn't already clear," he whispered in her ear, "I love you."

Hermione grinned widely. "Yeah, that came through. Especially that second time, even though you weren't listening to me." She felt him laugh softly against her back, then turned around so she was facing him. She placed a hand over his heart and looked up at him.

"I love you, too. I was sort of agonizing over it all day. There are feelings there, much stronger than I remembered from before and I was trying to figure out if they meant I was in love with you or had just developed an unhealthy attachment to you because of my condition. Perhaps it's both."

"No," he said quickly. "It's just the former. Or maybe we've both developed unhealthy attachments toward each other. I think that's just love, though. I think it feels like that sometimes, painful and dangerous - potentially fatal."

"Dramatic," she teased.

Harry moved his hands to her back and pulled her close. "You have no idea."

Hermione rested her forehead on his chest. "Why wasn't this in my summary about you?"

Harry sighed. "It's a long story that I don't want to go into right now."

Hermione opened her mouth to protest but decided to let it go. It wasn't worth pressing, she was going to forget it all in an hour or so. Her chest clenched at the thought. "What happens in the morning?" she whispered.

"You'll forget here." He touched her head. "But not here." Harry placed a hand on the spot over her heart.

"Then let me write it down. Let me-"

Harry pressed his fingers to her lips. "I don't want to do the back and forth tonight. No broken promises, no poems left on the pillow, just lie here with me. Can you do that?"

Hermione nodded and turned around. She let him scoop her back up in his arms and felt him place kisses along her shoulder again. Occasionally he took breaks to tell her how much he loved her and why. She told him the same, though she didn't know if it was as meaningful, since she was basing all her statements on her memory of how he had been and the little she'd gleaned about their forgotten past today.

Hermione had never felt so close to another person. She never wanted this moment to end and tried to keep her eyes from closing for as long as possible but soon, sleep won out.

She woke up some indeterminable amount of time later to Harry putting clothes on her. She was so confused. What was going on? She seemed to be in a Gryffindor dormitory. How strange.

"Harry?"

"Lift your hips," he instructed as he pulled her knickers on. Why were they off? Why was she naked? "We need to get clothes back on you and move you back to your bed."

"No." She shook her head. "I want to sleep here with you," she argued. Why was he kicking her out? Had she done something wrong? "Please, Harry. I want to wake up with you every day. Please."

He leaned in and kissed her cheek. "I want that too, more than anything, but I can't trust you when you're loopy like this."

"Loopy?" Hermione struggled to make sense of the word. She imagined a Muggle roller coaster looping around. That can't be what he meant.

"Neville calls it the in-between, when your brain is resetting itself," he explained.

That made no sense. "I don't care. I want to sleep with you. I know what I'm saying, let's just sleep here together." Hermione didn't know what she was doing in bed with Harry or why she was naked, but she was sure that she very desperately wanted to stay.

Harry gathered her into his arms and placed her on another bed. This one was cold and she pulled her legs up and wrapped her arms around her knees, shivering slightly. Harry muttered something and the next moment warmth spread through her. That was nice.

"Okay, Miss I'm-not-Loopy, tell me something." He'd crouched down next to her and pushed a curl behind her ear. "Where are we and how did we get here?"

She looked around and took in the scene. Red curtains surrounding her, Harry's face hovering nearby, the taste of his kiss still on her lips. "Easy," she declared. "We're in a dream and we got here by falling asleep."

Hermione turned her head on the pillow toward Harry and saw a tear falling down his face. She reached her hand out and wiped it away with her fingertips. His face felt warm and wet and it was oddly realistic for a dream. Harry grabbed her hand and placed a kiss on her fingers. "This is what I dream about too, Hermione."

"Hermione."

Hermione's eyes shot open. Ron was crouched on the side of her bed. She sat up quickly and looked around the room. Where was she? She saw Harry leaning against the doorframe. When he saw her looking at him, he gave her a small wave.

"Harry?" She shook her head and looked at him again. He looked a lot different than the last time she'd seen him. How had he changed that much in just a week? She focused back on Ron, who was smiling at her. He looked different, too, but not by much.

Ron cocked his head back toward Harry. "Ignore him. He's just being his usual, overbearing self. That's a new thing these days, Harry has taken over your role as mother hen."

Harry rolled his eyes as Ron climbed into the bed next to Hermione, stretching his legs out in front of him. "You can go, mother hen," Ron teased. "I've got this. I've done this loads of times."

Harry crossed his arms. "I'm not sure why you're doing it at all."

"I told you, I prefer going through it all in person."

"So do I," Harry replied, "but she mentioned several months ago she preferred starting the day alone and we really should respect her-"

"Stop!" Hermione cut in. "One of you needs to tell me what's going on. Because it seems like I've time traveled but have no memory of it and I need answers, not you two talking over me like I'm some sort of child who can't understand you."

Both boys looked ashamed. "Sorry," Harry muttered.

"Yeah, sorry." Ron wrapped an arm around Hermione and pulled her into his side. "I'll tell you everything, then we'll go downstairs and get breakfast. Maybe, if you ask Harry very nicely he'll make pancakes."

Harry sighed. "Fine." Then, he walked into the room and crouched down next to the side of the bed where Hermione was sitting. He placed a hand on her shoulder and fixed her with an intense gaze. "Hermione. You're safe and healthy, your life is incredible, varied, and fulfilling, and I love you - we all do. I'll see you both downstairs."

Hermione reached out and touched his cheek. Real. How strange. She didn't know which was more out of place on his face, the facial hair or the serious expression he was wearing. Ron was joking and carefree while Harry seemed slightly upset. What was going on?

Harry stood up and sighed, then left the room, closing the door behind him. Hermione heard him retreat down the hall and looked back at Ron. "What's wrong with Harry?"

"He's just jealous he's not the one sitting here right now." Ron tightened his grip on her.

Hermione bit her lip as she considered this explanation. No. There was something else. She looked over at Ron and said slowly, "Harry seems to have taken my job as mother hen and the serious one in whatever strange future this is. Now tell me, how did we all get here and where are my parents?"

Ron let out a laugh. "Take two long, deep breaths, then I'll tell you."

After Ron explained about Hermione's accident and assured her everything would be okay while she cried in his arms for a few minutes, he told her to go explore the notes she'd left for herself on her desk. She'd review her calendar and read a letter she'd written about a challenge for the month of August, then her eye was caught by a note she'd pinned up. She read it aloud, "No matter what happens, I'm going to keep living with Harry. I made a promise to him and I don't intend to break it."

Hermione turned to Ron. "What's that about?"

Ron shrugged. "It sounds like you made a promise to Harry that you wouldn't move out. I don't know. I wasn't there. See that stack of parchment? Grab that and bring it over here."

Hermione did as he said, but she got the sense he'd been rushing to change the subject away from that note she'd posted.

Now, she was sitting on the bed, after having read all the summaries except for Ron's, which she'd saved for last.

"Read mine aloud," he instructed. He was lying back on her pillow with his hands behind his head, looking up at the ceiling.

"Okay." Hermione began to read aloud.

Ron Weasley

You and Ron are no longer together. You broke up shortly after your accident.

Hermione looked up from the parchment. "Why?" Then, she immediately regretted the question. It was obvious why. Her accident.

"I didn't break up with you because of your accident, if that's what you're thinking. You broke up with me because of your accident. Once it was clear we weren't going to be able to fix your memory, you cut it off."

"Oh. I did?"

"Yeah," he sighed. "You had this whole list of reasons and said it wasn't fair for me. You were wrong, by the way. But I was having such a hard time back then, between trying to deal with Fred's death, being stressed from Auror training, and worst of all, how devastated I was about what you were going through - I didn't fight you on it."

Ron sat up and grabbed her hand. "I'm sorry about that. About not fighting and trying to convince you that you can have a boyfriend amidst all this." He waved his hand toward the papers spread around the bed.

Hermione looked down. Tears had flooded her eyes but she got the sense it wasn't about Ron, specifically, but this topic in general. "It's okay," she whispered.

She saw Ron nod out of her periphery. "I think it worked out. I don't think we were the right people for each other. We're better as friends."

Hermione turned back to the parchment and read again, starting at the beginning.

You and Ron are no longer together. You broke up shortly after your accident. Ron has dated a number of witches since and is currently in between girlfriends.

She looked up at him and cocked an eyebrow in question.

"A number of witches," he murmured. "What does that even mean? That could be any number, from 2 to 200."

"Which is closer?" Hermione asked.

He just smirked back at her and she rolled her eyes. She was happy to note that she wasn't feeling any jealousy as she thought of Ron with "a number of witches." That was nice. She continued reading.

Ron is an Auror. He recently completed his training and is a Junior Auror now. After working in the field for another 2-3 years he'll become a fully qualified Auror. His partner is Dawlish, one of the most senior wizards in the office, which gives Molly (and you) better peace of mind about all that time he spends in the field.

Hermione looked up again and said, "Impressive."

"I can take care of myself," Ron scoffed. "I don't need Dawlish. I wouldn't be in the field if I couldn't manage things on my own"

"Well, in my defense, I only have memories of you before all this impressive Auror training."

"I could show you my skills. Would you like to duel right now?"

Hermione laughed. "No. I'm good." She went back to the parchment.

Ron lives in a flat in London with one of the other Aurors in the office, Jones, who was one year behind you at Hogwarts. He still has Pig, still likes the Chudley Canons, still has an insatiable appetite, and is still as loyal a friend to both you and Harry as he ever was. He also blames himself for your accident and you try your best to reassure him, nearly every time you see him, that it wasn't his fault.

"Ron." Hermione placed a hand on his leg as she set the parchment aside. He was looking down, all the laughter from before gone from his expression.

"I didn't know you had that in your summary," he said roughly. "I guess that explains a lot."

"It's true," she insisted. "Believe me, that memory is fresher in my mind than it is in yours."

Ron placed his hand on hers and looked up at her. "Yeah. Okay."

Hermione looked back down at his summary. "What about the rest of it? All true?"

Ron nodded. "I do live in London, across town, I do support the Canons - except for when they play the Harpies, I am still a very good friend, and am also hungry all the time."

They both shared a smile, then Ron climbed out of the bed and began reorganizing her papers. "Speaking of hunger, let's go see if Harry made any breakfast or is just sulking alone in the kitchen."

"What's he upset about?" Hermione asked as Ron put her summaries back on her desk.

"He's fine. He's just - how do I put this? He's a fierce protector of your wishes and free will and insists we follow what instructions your past self has set, even if they don't make sense. He's extra sensitive about not letting you feel like you're being controlled by larger forces because, well, you know, because of how he grew up."

Hermione nodded. Her eyes were focused on the desk and she realized that it would be very easy for anyone to come along and change her notes, which would effectively change her entire understanding of her life.

Her worry must have shown on her face because Ron wrapped an arm around her and said reassuringly, "I know this no memory thing makes it hard to know what's real and isn't but believe me, with Harry looking out for you, you can be sure no one is going to take advantage of the situation."

"But I still don't understand. Why is he upset?"

"Oh. You told him a while back you want to wake up and read through all this alone. I'm guessing because you didn't want to feel like you were putting any sort of burden on the rest of us - which you never were. But I insisted on doing it in person, today, since it always puts you in a better mood and today is special."

"It is? Why?" She hadn't seen anything on the calendar. But again, the calendar was alarmingly blank. It seemed to be part of the challenge she'd set for herself this month.

"Come on. I'll tell you over breakfast."

When Hermione got to the kitchen, Harry pulled her into a large hug. She wrapped her arms around him and gripped him tightly as she breathed in his scent. It was...familiar. How comforting. Harry leaned back slightly but she didn't release her grip on him. He tilted her chin up and studied her face. "You look good. Do you feel good?"

Hermione nodded and finally pulled her arms back. They stared at each other for several seconds, then Harry dropped his hand from her face. She rested her forehead against his chest. She wasn't ready to move away yet. Harry felt like an anchor. She hadn't realized she'd been drifting out at sea until she'd hugged him but now that she felt secure, she didn't want to let the feeling go.

It was Harry who pulled away first, saying something about flipping the pancakes. But he seemed to sense that she wasn't ready to let go of him and pulled her to the stove by the hand. He flipped the pancakes with one hand as his other continued to grip hers.

Hermione glanced over at Ron, expecting to see him looking unapproving or even jealous, but he was just watching them knowingly, looking as if he was cataloguing this closeness between them away for later use. "Do you want tea?" Harry asked.

Hermione nodded and he slowly pulled his hand out of hers and poured her tea, then handed her a warm mug. She stayed at his side, sipping on the tea, as he finished cooking the pancakes.

She was standing much closer to him than normal, though he didn't seem to mind. He seemed used to the fact that she apparently needed to constantly be touching him.

Was it like this all the time? Maybe she was just uneasy in the mornings? Ron had said something like that. Was that why she'd insisted on doing her morning routine alone? To break some sort of dependency she'd developed toward Harry? Why hadn't she been obsessed with being close to Ron? She decided not to overthink it right now and just enjoy the feeling of Harry's warmth.

When they were at the table eating pancakes a while later, Ron turned to Hermione and asked, "Are you ready to hear what we're doing today?"

Hermione nodded as she finished chewing her current bite.

"Camping."

Hermione scowled and turned to Harry, who nodded in confirmation. "We're camping? But that brings back such awful memories."

"We're making better ones," Harry said.

"Maybe you two are making better ones," she grumbled.

They both laughed. "We've heard that one before," Ron said. "Anyway, it's much more fun now, believe me, and a Golden Trio reunion is much overdue. I haven't seen the two of you in ages. You weren't at the Burrow last weekend." Ron turned to Harry. "Where were you?"

"I was there," he replied. "Just for an hour, though. I think you'd gone to the forest with Bill and some of the kids. Hermione was at Hogwarts, working on that secret project." Harry paused to take a sip of tea, then asked, almost as an afterthought. "Do you know what it is?"

Ron nodded proudly. "I do."

Harry hummed. "So, everyone knows except me."

"And me," Hermione chimed in.

Harry gave her a warm smile. "I like when you joke this early in the morning."

"I wonder if it's because she had one of her best friends waking her up," Ron said thoughtfully.

Harry gave him a dark look and Hermione could tell by Ron's wince that he'd kicked him under the table, too.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were swimming and Hermione had just begrudgingly admitted that camping was surprisingly fun. It was certainly more enjoyable when you didn't have to erect twenty wards around every new place you visited or take turns wearing a mood-darkening Horcrux.

"Also, there's unlimited food, now," Ron added. He was floating on his back and studying a large tree on the side of the small lake they were swimming in. "Hey," he motioned toward one of the branches of the tree. "I think we can put a vine there and make a sort of rope swing."

Harry shook his head. "I was thinking something like that, but the water's too shallow. There are fallen tree trunks just under us." He disappeared under the water for a few seconds. "Yeah," he said when he reemerged. "I can feel them about four or five feet down."

"Oh. Oh well." Ron returned to floating on his back but the conversation had sparked something in Hermione's brain.

There was a spell for this; she was sure she'd read about. She cried out when she finally remembered. "Oh! There's a spell that can fix this. You can extract all the water out of the air and drop it into this pond."

"Is this a spell you know how to do?" Ron asked, still floating.

"Oh. No. It's a N.E.W.T. level Charm. Do either of you know how to do it?" Both boys shook their heads.

"You've earned a N.E.W.T. in Charms," Harry said, swimming closer to her.

"I have?"

"Do you know the incantation?" Ron asked Harry. "We've never been able to help her recall magic she's forgotten without knowing how to do it ourselves."

Hermione looked to Ron, then Harry. "I've learned new magic since my accident? How is that possible?"

"Come here." Harry cocked his head toward the edge of the pond and stopped when they were at a part shallow enough so they could both stand. Hermione placed her feet on the muddy ground and stood up. The water stopped around her chest.

Harry wordlessly Summoned her wand from the edge of the water and placed it in her hand. Then he gripped her shoulders. "I'm sure you've learned this spell and I also know you can do it right now. Magic lives in this instinctual part of your body that you can access if you turn your brain off. I'll help you. Close your eyes."

She did as he instructed. He propped her wand arm up and took her other hand and placed it on his chest. "Okay. Focus on the feeling of my heart beating and take deep, steady breaths."

This seemed ridiculous, but Hermione complied since it seemed important to Harry. Next, he took his hands and placed them on the top of her shoulders and began massaging her neck. He leaned in and whispered, "Just focus on the feelings, no thoughts." His breath was warm on her neck. "Focus on my heart beat, my fingers on your neck, the wand in your hand, and the magic flowing through your veins."

Hermione did as instructed for what felt like forever and after a time, her thoughts and the sounds around them began to melt away. She felt like she was in a vacuum with Harry. It was just the two of them and the steady thumping of his heart, the lovely feeling of his hands caressing her neck, and the low timbre of his voice, instructing her to breathe every so often.

"Think of the water in the air. Think of pulling it out. Don't think of the incantation, just the magic required to do the task. And when you're ready, move your wand and perform the spell."

Hermione kept her eyes closed. She felt her magic start to build in her body, ready to do her bidding. She imagined the water droplets in the air and thought of pulling them together. Then, before she could overthink it, she waved her wand and muttered, "Aqua Deligo."

She felt a burst of magic leave her wand and heard a whoosh, which meant she'd done something. But she kept her eyes squeezed shut, too nervous to open her eyes and see what had happened.

"Look!" Harry said. He'd pulled his hands away from her neck and was patting one of her shoulders. Hermione cracked one eye open and saw a large sphere of water hanging above the pond. She dropped her wand instinctively and the water splashed into the lake, sending large waves through the pond that splashed Hermione as she let out a cry of triumph.

"I did it!" She turned to Harry and found him beaming back at her. Then, she lunged at him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck and nearly drowning them, since with the raised height of the water neither of them could touch anymore.

Harry wrapped an arm firmly around her waist and pulled them both closer to the edge, standing when he could touch again. They were both laughing and Hermione wrapped her legs around him for stability, since it was still too deep for her to stand up. "I did it," she repeated.

Harry pushed her hair out of her face. "So you did." He looked just as proud as if he had been the one to perform the spell, though not especially surprised.

"I remembered! I didn't even know the incantation but I remembered! And it makes sense - Aqua Deligo literally means 'collecting water.'"

Harry nodded. "Great job. Really." He dropped his hand, which he'd been using to absently stroke the side of her face, but continued to fix her with an arresting gaze. For a moment, Hermione was back in that place with Harry, the one with no thoughts and sounds and just two of them, alone with the feeling of his touch, his voice, and her magic.

She leaned in without thinking, on her way to kiss him, but at the last moment, he turned his head and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. Hermione snapped out of that strange trance and untangled her limbs from him. She swam back a few paces, suddenly embarrassed. "Sorry," she whispered. "I don't-"

"It's fine," he said with a kind smile. He splashed water at her and gave her an understanding look before going to join Ron at the center of the pool, who was working on pulling a vine off a nearby tree with his wand.

Hermione took several deep breaths before going to join the boys. Ron had pulled the vine off and was twisting it around a branch now. He turned to Hermione when she reached his side. "That was an impressive bit of magic. I can't believe you remembered the incantation. That was cool."

"Does that mean I can remember other things?" she asked eagerly. "Like all the stuff I forgot?"

"No. I don't think so," Harry cut in. "Sorry to be blunt, I just don't want you to get your hopes up. You remembered this because magic is stored in some instinctual part of your mind. Your body and that part of your brain remembers, but the rest of your mind forgets."

Hermione nodded thoughtfully. "I guess that makes sense," she allowed. "It must be the same part of the brain that controls hunger, sleep…that sort of thing."

"And love," Ron added. He looked toward Harry but Harry was avoiding his gaze.

"Sure," Harry said with a shrug, then he swam toward the edge of the pond. "I think all strong emotions are probably there."

Harry climbed out of the water and started pulling on the vine Ron had tied up, testing its strength.

Ron swam closer to Hermione. "Just because you don't remember everything, doesn't mean you don't remember anything. You know the important parts."

"Yeah," Hermione said absently. She was watching Harry, who had just grabbed his wand and seemed to be using it to test the depth of the water under the vine. She'd almost kissed him earlier. What had that been about? Was that part of her body remembering something from her forgotten past?

She swam closer to Ron. "Hey. Uh, Harry and I. Is there, uh, something there?"

"I dunno. Is there?"

"I'm asking you," she replied.

"How would I know? Ask him. Or better yet, ask yourself. We just proved you don't forget everything." Ron gave her a knowing smile.

Hermione looked back at Harry, who was holding the vine and looking down at them. "Okay. I'm going to try this. I'm fairly certain I'm not going to die, but just in case, get your wand ready, Hermione, and try to recall any healing spells you may have learned in the past two years."

Hermione held up her wand and called back, "Okay. I'm ready!" She turned to Ron. "But with Harry dead, or severely injured, who's going to help me recall these healing spells? Is that something you can do?"

Ron shook his head. "Nah. That's all Harry. In addition to 'mother hen' and 'the serious one,' he's also become the 'Hermione whisperer.' He knows even more about you than you do, these days."

"What are you two mumbling about?" Harry called. "Are you ready for me?"

Hermione and Ron nodded and swam back a little to give Harry more room. "What about you, Ron? Do you have any new roles in the group?" Hermione asked.

Ron nodded and smiled. "I'm the voice of reason."

Harry jumped into the water and splashed them all and when he popped up and smiled at them, looking uninjured, Hermione turned to Ron and quipped, "You, the voice of reason? That is a terrifying thought."

Ron retaliated by wrapping an arm around her neck and pushing her under the water.

The next morning, Hermione and Ron were sitting on a log several paces from their tent, watching the sky grow brighter as they each sipped on large mugs of tea. Ron had awoken her this morning and led her outside, then explained to her where they were, and why, and also why she had no memories of the past two years.

After that, he'd handed her a pile of parchment and instructed her to read the summaries she'd written about all her friends. They'd been sitting in silence for several moments now as Hermione let the thoughts sink in. She had one hand wrapped around her warm mug and the other one linked with Ron's.

She felt Ron squeeze her hand and turned to find him looking at her sadly. "Don't tell me there's more," she whispered, wondering how much worse it could get.

He gave her a sad smile, then pulled his hand out of hers and wrapped his arm around her. He motioned down toward the pile of parchment on her lap. "I should tell you, that summary there, it's incomplete."

Hermione looked down at the page with details about Harry. "What? What's missing?"

Ron sighed and bent over to place his mug on the ground, then resumed his spot at her side, pulling her against him again. "You and Harry are in love with each other."

That had not been what Hermione had been expecting him to say. She looked down at the paper, which had betrayed her. That was a huge piece of information that should have been listed here.

"Are you sure?" she asked, pulling out of Ron's arms and turning to face him. "Maybe you're mistaken." It wouldn't be the first time someone had misconstrued Harry and Hermione's close friendship for something romantic.

"Hermione, it's real. You've shagged. Like, more than once."

"What?!" Hermione put the stack of parchment and her mug down, then pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She couldn't decide which was weirder, hearing that she'd had sex with someone, but forgotten about, finding out it had been with Harry, of all people, or having Ron be the one to tell her all of this.

"I don't, that's, uh, wait. Did we ever…?"

Ron shook his head.

Hermione sighed and dropped her forehead against her knees. This was a lot to take in. She was in love with Harry. He was in love with her. She'd had sex with Harry, apparently "more than once." But she hadn't put it in her summary about him. And Ron was telling her now outside, away from the tent, where Harry was still sleeping, acting almost like it was some big secret.

Ron placed a hand on her arm. "I know it's hard to imagine out here alone with me but believe me, the second you see him, you'll feel it. And, um, there's more."

"Okay," she mumbled into her knees. "What is it?"

"It's a really toxic relationship. You have this - back and forth and it's - well, frankly, it's tearing Harry apart."

Hermione snapped her head up. "What?"

Ron put his other hand on her arm and squeezed her gently. "Hermione. You're hurting him. You love him and he loves you, that's clear, but you're stuck in this terrible cycle of self-sacrifice that you two can't seem to break out of. You keep stepping away, convinced he deserves better than you and the life you can give him with your condition and he keeps letting you, obsessed with putting your desires far ahead of his own."

Ron's eyes were lined with tears and Hermione's own eyes filled with tears at the sight of him. He was obviously speaking from a place of pain. Had she really been hurting Harry? Ron wouldn't lie about that, right?

She thought about what he'd said, about her stepping away, convinced Harry couldn't be happy with her. That made sense. Who wanted to be with someone who forgot their life every day? Someone who didn't even remember their first time together? Someone who had to be retaught their history every twenty-four hours. How exhausting.

But surely Harry could see the reasoning there. Even if he'd developed some feelings towards her, he couldn't possibly want that sort of life for himself. Could he? Hermione dropped her head back into her knees.

"I think you're trying to do what's best for him," Ron continued, "but it's not working. It's getting harder and harder for you to deny your feelings for him. Just yesterday, you figured it out before lunch."

"What happens when I figure it out?"

"It's different every time. Sometimes you just puzzle over it for the rest of the day and try to convince yourself it's nothing - that's what happened yesterday. Sometimes, you two redeclare your love for each other and shag, and I'm sure there are a lot of variations in between. But every time, without fail, you let yourself forget. And it breaks him every time."

Hermione wiped away a few tears that had fallen down her face. "Why are you telling me this? What do you want me to do?"

Ron shrugged. "I don't know. I need you to fix it, Hermione," he pleaded. "Just - I don't know - be with him. I know you think it's going to be so awful for him to deal with your condition but I can assure you, dealing with this rejection is a million times worse than that."

Hermione had no idea what to say. This was so much information to take in at once and it was all mixed with a torrent of emotions swirling around her body and to make it all more confusing, she didn't even know what Harry looked like these days. Had he changed? She was picturing him from the last memory she had of him before her accident, which was an intense fight in St. Mungo's where she'd said a lot of things she wished she could take back.

"So, you don't care that I like Harry?" Hermione asked Ron after a while.

Ron let out a small laugh. "No, Hermione. You and Harry are perfect together, there's no use denying that. Ginny also doesn't care, for the record. We're actually two of your biggest fans."

"Yeah?"

He let out a long sigh. "Yeah. We got Harry to agree to date other witches in an attempt to force you two together faster."

"That - uh - makes no sense."

"I know, except it sort of works. Harry thinks we're trying to get him to date so he can find someone else and move on from you, but I'm convinced that's impossible at this point. It was just meant as a way to shock the system - you know?"

"No. I don't."

"Neville and Luna are convinced that if we leave you two alone, you'll figure it out. But Ginny and I know you two better than that. You're both too self-sacrificing and if left alone, I don't think you'll ever resolve this. So, Ginny had this idea that if we could throw you off balance, force you two to face this - maybe - I don't know - maybe get you to confront it instead of hiding from it."

"I don't - uh - that sounds incredibly manipulative."

Ron shrugged. "Yeah. Maybe, but we mean well. And there's something different about this month. Maybe the dates and Ginny's little disturbances, like proposing you move in with her, are finally working. Maybe it's Luna's challenge, or maybe time just caught up with both of you, but you're closer, somehow, and also farther apart than ever before."

"That makes no sense."

Ron dropped his head in his hand and sighed. "I know," he groaned.

Hermione tried to sort through everything he'd told her, but she was more confused now than she'd been at the start of the conversation. Ron took her hand and she looked down at their entwined fingers. "You told me this - which I'm guessing you don't usually do…?" She looked up at him for confirmation.

"Correct."

"Okay. So, you told me this so I could spend the day fixing it?"

Ron squeezed her hand and wrapped his other arm around her. "It's not very complicated, Hermione. Just give this thing with Harry a shot. Stop quitting before you even start. Turn this off-" he pulled his hand out of hers and tapped her head "- and try to stop sorting through all the implications. Stop worrying about what's best for Harry and just follow this." He moved his hand down to her heart.

Hermione looked out at the sky as tears stung her eyes. "That's sort of what I was doing when I landed myself in this mess. I knew I should have stopped trying to cure my parents, but my heart drove me to keep trying."

Ron sighed heavily. "You have a tendency to be overly pessimistic."

Hermione smiled slightly. "You've said that before."

Ron bent over and picked up their abandoned mugs. He put hers back in her hand and wrapped his arm around her again. "You don't need to solve it now. You have all day. Let's just focus on drinking tea."

"Okay."

An hour later, Hermione was standing outside, leaning back against the canvas wall of the tent and listening to the boys yelling at each other inside.

Harry had known within two minutes of seeing her this morning that something was wrong. Maybe it was because she'd tensed when he'd hugged her. He'd grabbed her chin and studied her face, then looked over her shoulder at Ron and growled, "You told her."

Ron had shrugged, then Harry had crossed the room and punched him. Hermione, at a complete loss for what to do, had retreated and left them alone to sort it out - figuring she'd just make everything worse by being there.

She knew she should probably put a Silencing Charm up, but she was too curious to find out why Harry was so upset. Why didn't he want Hermione to know about his feelings for her? Maybe they weren't real. Maybe Ron had made it all up. But why would he do that? She had no idea what to believe any more.

First there was some back and forth as the boys argued about what was best for Hermione. Both boys made good points and she honestly had no idea whose side she was on.

"You cannot do that to her! You cannot take away her free will! She trusts us," Harry was saying again.

But Hermione wasn't so sure that by telling her this truth, Ron had been stealing her free will. It was just that - a truth. And everyone around them apparently knew, including Neville, Luna, and Ginny, so why shouldn't she know? It was the same as hiding from her that the sky was blue - which was a point Ron had made previously.

"I can't stand here and watch this anymore!" Ron shouted back. "You fight for everyone around you, Harry, but never yourself! Fight for this! Fight for her! Every. Fucking. Day. Tell her how you feel until she finally changes her mind."

"It's not that simple. You don't-"

"It is! You're just making it overly complicated because I think deep down, you don't think you deserve this. You had a messed up childhood and an even more messed up time growing up and somewhere along the way you convinced yourself that you don't get a happy ending. But you do! You do, Harry."

Hermione teared up at that. That was beautiful and she desperately hoped it wasn't true. She hated that she wasn't in a position to assess the situation for herself.

"It doesn't matter what I want," Harry bit back. "This is about her and she clearly doesn't want to pursue this. She's had over twenty chances to pick me and has chosen to forget every time."

His voice broke at the end and a few tears fell from Hermione's eyes. She'd rejected him over twenty times? Oh, Harry.

"But out of all those times, how many times has she had all the facts?" Ron retorted. "And the feelings are there! They're not going away; they're just getting stronger. I know you see that."

Harry mumbled something Hermione couldn't hear and she stepped closer to the entrance of the tent.

"I know," Ron replied in a low voice. "You're looking out for her, which is fine, but who's looking out for you? I know she thinks she is, but she's doing a shitty job. This morning - telling her - I did that for you, not her."

Harry muttered something in a low voice then Ron said something back that Hermione couldn't hear. Then, louder, he said, "Okay. I'll go."

Hermione stepped back away from the entrance. A few minutes later, Ron walked out of the tent holding a half-open overnight bag in one hand and a bloody washcloth up to his face with the other.

When he spotted Hermione, he pulled the washcloth away and gave her an apologetic smile. Hermione picked up her wand and crossed the distance between them. "I'm so sorry, Ron. I know this is all about me. I - uh - don't know any advanced healing spells but I can cast something to help with the pain."

"I think you do know advanced healing spells, but we'll leave that alone for now. Can I have the pain relief spell?"

Hermione nodded and cast the spell. Ron's nose glowed gold and he let out a sigh of relief. "Much better. Thanks."

They stood across from each other for a moment, each unsure what to say. Eventually, Ron leaned forward and kissed her cheek. "I'm really sorry, Hermione. We all want the same thing here - you, me, Harry, Ginny, Luna, Neville - a happily ever after, for everyone. We all just have differing opinions on how to get there."

Ron's blue eyes were swimming with guilt and his expression was apologetic. "I understand, Ron. Thank you for telling me."

"Okay. I'm going to go." Ron gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze. "Have a good day."

She watched him walk several paces, then turn on his toe and blink out of sight. Once Ron was gone, Hermione slunk down to a sitting position, her back against the wall of the tent. A few minutes later, Harry appeared and handed her a plate of eggs and toast, which she wasn't hungry for, but took anyway.

He sat down next to her. "You heard all that?"

"Yeah."

They sat in silence while Hermione took a few bites of toast, mostly because it was there and she had nothing else to do. She tried to access these supposed feelings for Harry as she chewed. She wanted to look over at him but thought that would be too awkward for both of them, so instead, she focused on the warm feeling of his arm resting against hers.

It was nice, and solid, and she didn't get much clarity from thinking about his arm, but it was better than all the other thoughts swirling around in her brain. After several minutes, she saw Harry turn to look at her. She kept her eyes forward.

"Can you forget it? Well...before tonight?"

Hermione smiled and nodded.

"Let's just have a good day."

Hermione turned her head to look at him. When their eyes met, she knew. The Harry from before her accident had never looked at her like this, with such raw emotion. He liked her. Loved her, she corrected.

And she loved him. The fluttering of her heart was proof enough of that. All caused by something as simple as eye contact and a brush of the arm. This wasn't just an idea Ron had put in her head, either, she felt it deep in her gut. But she tried to ignore it, since that's what Harry seemed to want, and said simply, "Yeah. Let's have a good day."

A/N: These two...so frustrating. I don't blame Ron for snapping. Continued thanks to my beta, Lancashire Witch. Thanks for reading! You can find me on Tumblr at Alexandra-Emerson.