A/N: Sara Bareilles' song Gravity inspired me to write this back in the day.

Rust

Hermione found herself extremely busy the first week of school. She realized just how rusty she was at studying and had to retrain herself to get use to a study schedule. Honestly, it felt good to have the time to retrain herself instead of being preoccupied with other things or people. She always felt more confident when she stuck to a schedule and she liked the control it gave her.

She quickly got into a routine once she received her syllabus for each of her classes, but immediately realized that studying in the common room like she had done in years past wasn't going to work for her that year. Cranky fifth years were already filling up the space, panicking about their OWLs. Unfortunately, most of them spent more time fighting over the study material instead of doing actual studying. She couldn't focus in that chaotic environment. Luckily for her, when the library was closed, she could head up to the dormitory which only housed a total of four seventh year girls; Ginny, Hermione, Romilda Vane, and Poppy Fortescue. It gave them plenty of room to spread out across the room for studying.

She sat at the desk between her and Ginny's beds, but her Herbology essay that was due in two days time lay forgotten while she thumbed through her photo album that Mr. and Mrs. Weasley gifted her for her birthday. She missed her family and found her mind wandering to the burrow more than she'd like to admit. She was homesick, although Hogwarts had always been like a second home to her, nothing compared to the warmth and security of the burrow. She missed all her red heads. She was thankful to have Ginny there with her or her home sickness might even become worse.

She stopped on the picture of her and Ron at Bill and Fleur's wedding. He looked so handsome in his new dress robes, a crooked smile plastered on his face as they danced in the picture. She could still remember the feel of the heat that his palm created on the small of her back while he held her to him. It was hard to comprehend that less than an hour later, all chaos would break out and they would be on the run. It felt like their last calm moment before he was gone.

Her heart ached. She missed his warmth. His whole being was warm; his eyes, his voice, his smile, the way he looked at her, the way he touched her. His body was so large compared to hers and during the winter months of them on the run, his big warm body kept her small cold one heated and comfortable against his own most nights. Harry would curl up on her other side to keep warm, but she always found herself nose-to-nose with her redhead, his warm blue eyes smiling at her without the use of his mouth.

She remembered the exact moment where his eyes went cold. That second had burned itself in her memory and she found that it had a habit of randomly popping into her head at Hogwarts when she least expected it.

The first time it happened had been in Arithmancy, and she left class in a panic attack. The second time had been during lunch hour and she ran out of the Great Hall and hid in her four post bed the rest of the day. Hermione hadn't been back to the Great Hall since. Neville always escorted Ginny down and they would always come back with something for Hermione to eat. She appreciated that her friends understood and gave her the time she needed to mend from the heartbreak of losing her best friend.

Sighing, she closed the photo album. Looking at the clock, it showed it was just past one in the morning. She couldn't sleep. Her heart ached. She just needed to be close to his memory.

Sliding into her slippers, she snuck down the stairs and out of the portrait hole, doing her best not to wake the snoring portrait. Luckily, the Fat Lady just mumbled in her sleep before her snoring started up again. Keeping her footsteps quick and light, she hurried down to the Great Hall, where her hand stopped on one of the large metal handles.

Her heart was beating fast and she didn't know if it was because she was out past curfew or if it was because she dared to come face-to-face with the last place she saw the light in his eyes. Taking a deep, cleansing breath, she pulled the door open just enough for her to slip inside.

Something always brings me back to you.

It never takes too long.

She stood there, her back against the door, staring. She slowly made her way past a few of the spots that the younger students had called 'rust spots' and towards Ron's.

The dark red spots on the floor weren't actually rust. Rust spots could be magicked out quite easily. Unfortunately, other things couldn't be. The spots on the floor were where multiple witches and wizards took their last breaths, their blood seeping into the stone, forever being part of the castle. Magic couldn't fix everything, no matter how much they tried.

No matter what I say or do I'll still feel you here 'til the moment I'm gone.

Carefully, she was respectful not to step on anyone else's rust spot, she made her way around the large stone room until she arrived at Ron's. His was one of the largest stains; it was as large as her body.

You hold me without touch.

You keep me without chains.

She kneeled on top of the spot and pressed her face against the cold rust colored stone. Realizing just how hard and cold the floor was, she started to sob. Nothing about being there reminded her of him, but his blood was there. A part of him was still there, even if it didn't feel like him.

I never wanted anything so much, than to drown in your love and not feel your rain.

This was the last part of Ron she would ever get to touch and she found herself laying flat on her stomach, her left ear pressed against the floor. She tried to manifest the feel of him below her in her brain, but the floor was too hard, too cold, and too lifeless.

Set me free, leave me be.

I don't want to fall another moment into your gravity.

Succumbing to her emotions, she allowed her convulsions to take over as she gripped the floor beneath her, pulling her knees into her chest, her arms tucked under her.

I live here on my knees as I try to make you see that you're everything I think I need here on the ground.

But you're neither friend nor foe though I can't seem to let you go.

She found herself turning onto her back, trying to catch her breath through her sobs. Laying her arms straight out beside her, she forced her lungs to inflate completely, pushing back at the vise that was crushing her chest.

The one thing that I still know is that your keeping me down.

Blinking her tears away, her sore eyes slowly opened enough for her to take in the ceiling of the enchanted hall. It was a cloudless night and she took in the beautiful night's sky full of colors and stars. Beautiful midnight blues, dark purples, pinks and yellows swirled around above her head and she felt her body relax.

Something always brings me back to you.

Warm amber brown eyes flashed in front of her. She smiled.

It never takes too long.

Slowly, her sobs calmed to hiccups while flashes of her summer evenings spent on the dock stargazing came to mind. She realized she spent just as much time staring into those beautiful amber eyes as she did staring at the sky. Those amber eyes were her future. He wasn't even there with her, but just the thought of him brought her so much peace and security, that she felt like she could get through anything.

She sat up, wiping her tears and made a run for the owlery. She didn't care that it was the middle of the night or that she was out past curfew. She needed him to know. As she ascended the stairs to the owlery, she pulled out a small, crumpled piece of parchment and grabbed a quill off the entryway desk.

You are my person. I only need you.

She asked Pigwidgeon to come down so she could attach it to his leg.

"Give this to Fred." She gave the owl a treat and patted his head as he nipped her finger affectionately.

She watched him fly off and took a deep breath, finding a new strength for the day.

XxXxXx

Fred laid in bed with his wand tip lit, staring at the map. Harry had come barging into the room an hour ago telling him Hermione wasn't only out of bed, but in the Great Hall.

His eyes had been staring at her name since then, wondering why she finally decided to enter the hall now. He knew that she hadn't been to the Great Hall since the third day back.

Suddenly her name moved and his whole body gave a jolt, causing him to drop his wand. He hurried and picked it up, scanning the page for her name.

He found her dashing across the page, toward the owlery.

"What are you doing?" He whispered to the map. He wished he could talk to her, but was thankful that he, at least, had the map to watch over her with.

She was only there for a few minutes before he saw her name float back to her dormitory.

He watched her name, making sure she stayed put as long as he could before he felt sleep overtake him.