Ron and Hermione arrived at Harry's house, somehow absentmindedly
interlacing their hands together. When they entered, everyone was in for
the surprise of their life.
"Oh my bloody god...." Harry started. He stood up so quickly his chair fell backwards with a heavy thud but he didn't blink once. He just looked at his friend, standing there.
"Okay, everyone, I've got my famous pot roast..." Ginny called out as she came from the kitchen, carrying a plate. When she looked up, her face turned pale and she dropped the pot roast.
"Ron, is that you?!" She exclaimed out of sheer excitement and confusion. She looked towards her husband and exchanged desperate glances. However, she didn't take long before running towards Ron and embracing him warmly, tears spilling down her cheeks. Harry followed suit and clasped Ron's hand tightly.
"Ron, how did you....what....how did this happen?" Harry managed to deliver out his words as he broke apart from his friend. Now, Elizabeth and Andrew were both taking turns embracing their longtime companion. Ron just shrugged at Harry's question and looked to Hermione, who was quiet the whole time.
"I'll tell you some other time mate. I just really needed to see you guys again. But I should get going." He spoke rebelliously and started walking out the door, leaving his friends bewildered. Hermione, regaining her composure, quickly followed him.
"Wait Ron, wait for me!" She cried out frantically. Ron stopped where he was but didn't turn around, just stared at the floor, his hands in his pocket. He had that familiar boyish charm about him that she loved and she couldn't help but feel some sort of loss had dispersed.
"Why are you going? Don't you want to spend some time with your friends? The people who love you and care about you? You're just going to run away from them now? We haven't seen you in years and finally you just so happened to have run into me. Well, I'll tell you something Ronald Weasley. That moment that you bumped into me, well, from that moment on, I'm never letting you out of my sight again! I'm not going to lose you!" She started crying, holding on to that thread of hope that he would turn around and come back. And he did. He turned around, looking disorientated as he watched her cry. Taking two strides, he pulled her close to his chest, murmuring something into her ear that she couldn't quite hear. All she noticed was how warm he felt, like he was transferring heat to her. She felt a comfortable tenderness fuse in their bodies and sighed with deep content. Then Ron broke apart from her, yet his hands were firmly on her shoulders, as though he never wanted to let go.
"Hermione, I'm not running away. I never would want to part from you again. Being away from you all these years made me realize how deep and meaningful my feelings are towards you, and I had to survive without you next to me that was probably the hardest thing I had to do. But now...things are different. It's everywhere. Things I've missed. You're engaged! I never got to meet that special someone that you chose to be with, I didn't get to see Harry and my sister falling in love and getting married, or my best friends getting married and having kids. I wasn't there for any of these things."
"So this is about what you've missed in other people's lives?"
"No. All that should have been part of my life. I should have graduated from Hogwarts, and maybe fallen in love and gotten married. I ought to have a job and a house and a life, too." His voice wasn't angry, just resigned. Hermione could sense the great bottomless well of bitterness this man was somehow managing not to fall into. She admired his courage. Ron took a deep breath. "But it does no good to fixate on it. I'm still a young man, I can go on. I can start a new life. I have to look forward. There's no view out the back."
"You should have talked with us. We're your friends. We care about you." Hermione spoke rapidly. "Maybe I will one day. Not now. You guys want me back. I want to be back. I don't want to be some twisted, resentful half-a-chap gnashing my teeth and crying 'woe, betide' all the time because I didn't get to go to the stupid Leaving Ball." He snorted. "I got screwed, that's for sure. But it wasn't my fault." "Are you saying it was Harry's fault?" Hermione asked, a bit irritated and provoked. Ron met Hermione's' eyes. For a long time he said nothing. "He was my best friend. That's why they took me. Even you know that." Hermione didn't say anything for awhile. She constantly looked down. Finally she said in a quiet voice, "Yes. Harry would never want anything bad to happen to you. I know he blamed himself for your death. It'd be a nice little Greek drama if you could work up any anger towards him over that, but you just can't. You're too good to do that. It wasn't his job to protect you either. Remember us talking about this? We knew. We knew that Voldemort might come at him through us. We knew being his friend was something of a risk, but we accepted it. We stuck with him because he needed us and because...well, we loved him. We couldn't just abandon him, because we knew he wouldn't abandon us if our positions were reversed." She sighed. "I know that Hermione. I've always known that. Inside me, there's always that feeling that I wish I could blame me, but I can't. He's my best friend and I knew the risks I was taking. Actually, it was my own fault." He spoke with a final wave in the air, smiling truthfully. Hermione stood up on her tiptoes to kiss him softly on the cheek. She left a glistening star, and he put his hand there, touching it gingerly, and then moved to touch her hand. For a minute, time seemed to stop just for the two of them as she gazed intently into his eyes, trying to picture the last time she had this incredible, powerful, passionate feeling of desire and longing. An ancient and decaying wall inside her heart collapsed with a mighty crash and she threw her arms around his neck with a cry, swallowing past the hoarse sobs that rose in her throat. He clutched her to his chest with panicky tightness, burying his face in her hair. Her fingers dug into the flesh of his back but no matter how she tried she couldn't hold him any tighter. "Ron, I don't..." she began, and then all at once found that she could not continue because his lips were in the way, pressing urgently against her own. For a shocked second Hermione wasn't sure what was happening, then she opened her eyes to find Ron just staring at her with a dumbfounded expression on his face; her mouth was tingling from what had not been an imaginary kiss. Did that just happen? She thought. Her mind was racing. She slid her hands around to the back of his neck and stood on tiptoe to bring her lips to his, hesitantly; his arms encircled her with light pressure to draw her closer. Once the contact was made, however, all restraint vanished as if a switch had been thrown. He plunged his fingers into her hair and she melted against him, tightening her arms around his shoulders as they kissed, caught up in a tidal wave of passion so intense Hermione had to wonder where it had come from...or perhaps it had been there all along, just biding its time. "Oh Ron! Ron! I...don't know...what...Oohh." She moaned, as her lips pressed harder against hers. She wounded her legs through his, smiling up at Ron as she kissed along his jawline. Suddenly she heard a gasp. It seemed so distant yet so near all the same. She hastily turned around and saw....Rufus.
"Oh my bloody god...." Harry started. He stood up so quickly his chair fell backwards with a heavy thud but he didn't blink once. He just looked at his friend, standing there.
"Okay, everyone, I've got my famous pot roast..." Ginny called out as she came from the kitchen, carrying a plate. When she looked up, her face turned pale and she dropped the pot roast.
"Ron, is that you?!" She exclaimed out of sheer excitement and confusion. She looked towards her husband and exchanged desperate glances. However, she didn't take long before running towards Ron and embracing him warmly, tears spilling down her cheeks. Harry followed suit and clasped Ron's hand tightly.
"Ron, how did you....what....how did this happen?" Harry managed to deliver out his words as he broke apart from his friend. Now, Elizabeth and Andrew were both taking turns embracing their longtime companion. Ron just shrugged at Harry's question and looked to Hermione, who was quiet the whole time.
"I'll tell you some other time mate. I just really needed to see you guys again. But I should get going." He spoke rebelliously and started walking out the door, leaving his friends bewildered. Hermione, regaining her composure, quickly followed him.
"Wait Ron, wait for me!" She cried out frantically. Ron stopped where he was but didn't turn around, just stared at the floor, his hands in his pocket. He had that familiar boyish charm about him that she loved and she couldn't help but feel some sort of loss had dispersed.
"Why are you going? Don't you want to spend some time with your friends? The people who love you and care about you? You're just going to run away from them now? We haven't seen you in years and finally you just so happened to have run into me. Well, I'll tell you something Ronald Weasley. That moment that you bumped into me, well, from that moment on, I'm never letting you out of my sight again! I'm not going to lose you!" She started crying, holding on to that thread of hope that he would turn around and come back. And he did. He turned around, looking disorientated as he watched her cry. Taking two strides, he pulled her close to his chest, murmuring something into her ear that she couldn't quite hear. All she noticed was how warm he felt, like he was transferring heat to her. She felt a comfortable tenderness fuse in their bodies and sighed with deep content. Then Ron broke apart from her, yet his hands were firmly on her shoulders, as though he never wanted to let go.
"Hermione, I'm not running away. I never would want to part from you again. Being away from you all these years made me realize how deep and meaningful my feelings are towards you, and I had to survive without you next to me that was probably the hardest thing I had to do. But now...things are different. It's everywhere. Things I've missed. You're engaged! I never got to meet that special someone that you chose to be with, I didn't get to see Harry and my sister falling in love and getting married, or my best friends getting married and having kids. I wasn't there for any of these things."
"So this is about what you've missed in other people's lives?"
"No. All that should have been part of my life. I should have graduated from Hogwarts, and maybe fallen in love and gotten married. I ought to have a job and a house and a life, too." His voice wasn't angry, just resigned. Hermione could sense the great bottomless well of bitterness this man was somehow managing not to fall into. She admired his courage. Ron took a deep breath. "But it does no good to fixate on it. I'm still a young man, I can go on. I can start a new life. I have to look forward. There's no view out the back."
"You should have talked with us. We're your friends. We care about you." Hermione spoke rapidly. "Maybe I will one day. Not now. You guys want me back. I want to be back. I don't want to be some twisted, resentful half-a-chap gnashing my teeth and crying 'woe, betide' all the time because I didn't get to go to the stupid Leaving Ball." He snorted. "I got screwed, that's for sure. But it wasn't my fault." "Are you saying it was Harry's fault?" Hermione asked, a bit irritated and provoked. Ron met Hermione's' eyes. For a long time he said nothing. "He was my best friend. That's why they took me. Even you know that." Hermione didn't say anything for awhile. She constantly looked down. Finally she said in a quiet voice, "Yes. Harry would never want anything bad to happen to you. I know he blamed himself for your death. It'd be a nice little Greek drama if you could work up any anger towards him over that, but you just can't. You're too good to do that. It wasn't his job to protect you either. Remember us talking about this? We knew. We knew that Voldemort might come at him through us. We knew being his friend was something of a risk, but we accepted it. We stuck with him because he needed us and because...well, we loved him. We couldn't just abandon him, because we knew he wouldn't abandon us if our positions were reversed." She sighed. "I know that Hermione. I've always known that. Inside me, there's always that feeling that I wish I could blame me, but I can't. He's my best friend and I knew the risks I was taking. Actually, it was my own fault." He spoke with a final wave in the air, smiling truthfully. Hermione stood up on her tiptoes to kiss him softly on the cheek. She left a glistening star, and he put his hand there, touching it gingerly, and then moved to touch her hand. For a minute, time seemed to stop just for the two of them as she gazed intently into his eyes, trying to picture the last time she had this incredible, powerful, passionate feeling of desire and longing. An ancient and decaying wall inside her heart collapsed with a mighty crash and she threw her arms around his neck with a cry, swallowing past the hoarse sobs that rose in her throat. He clutched her to his chest with panicky tightness, burying his face in her hair. Her fingers dug into the flesh of his back but no matter how she tried she couldn't hold him any tighter. "Ron, I don't..." she began, and then all at once found that she could not continue because his lips were in the way, pressing urgently against her own. For a shocked second Hermione wasn't sure what was happening, then she opened her eyes to find Ron just staring at her with a dumbfounded expression on his face; her mouth was tingling from what had not been an imaginary kiss. Did that just happen? She thought. Her mind was racing. She slid her hands around to the back of his neck and stood on tiptoe to bring her lips to his, hesitantly; his arms encircled her with light pressure to draw her closer. Once the contact was made, however, all restraint vanished as if a switch had been thrown. He plunged his fingers into her hair and she melted against him, tightening her arms around his shoulders as they kissed, caught up in a tidal wave of passion so intense Hermione had to wonder where it had come from...or perhaps it had been there all along, just biding its time. "Oh Ron! Ron! I...don't know...what...Oohh." She moaned, as her lips pressed harder against hers. She wounded her legs through his, smiling up at Ron as she kissed along his jawline. Suddenly she heard a gasp. It seemed so distant yet so near all the same. She hastily turned around and saw....Rufus.