Disclaimer: I own nothing but my imagination!
...read on!
Three weeks later, Ron and Hermione were still understandably stuck with grief for their fallen friend. The two were sitting on the couch in front of the fire in the Gryffindor common room. Fellow Gryffindors were walking out the portrait hole to their classes. George Weasley stopped by the couch to talk to them.
"Hey guys," he said, "it's time for Charms. C'mon!" Ron and Hermione just sat still. George sighed. "Look. I know you guys are in pain," he said, "everyone is. But you can't start to get better if you just sit on the couch all day. Don't think I don't notice that you don't eat. I could bring you up some food from lunch today if you don't want to go to the Great Hall yourself."
Hermione looked up at George with a slightly glazed-over look in her eyes. "I'm not hungry."
"Neither am I," Ron said quietly. George, looking disappointed, walked out the portrait hole with the rest of the students. At first, the two just sat silently, but Ron piped up once they were alone.
"I'm so sorry, Hermione," he said. "It's all my fault that this happened." Hermione turned to him with a look of surprise in her eyes. With the little bit of voice she had left, she spoke.
"Ron, it's no one's fault. Don't blame yourself for this, there was nothing you could have done."
"No, Hermione. I could've stopped him. But I was being to much of a coward to do anything about it. Why couldn't I have died instead?"
Hermione was appalled. "How could you say that? You would never do anything like that on purpose; Harry was your best friend."
"And I betrayed him." Ron looked down at his lap in shame. "How could anyone want to be my friend now? Everyone thinks I'm going to kill them too."
"Ron, listen to me. I want to be your friend. I guess I just don't understand how you can feel this way when I've been here the whole time, by your side, believing in you."
Ron quickly looked up. "You believe in me?"
Hermione smiled. "Of course I do," she said. Ron smiled back at her, gazing at those once again sparkling brown eyes.
Ron and Harry were on broomsticks, playing their favorite game, Quidditch, with a golf ball on the grounds. Ron was throwing the ball for Harry to catch.
"Catch, Harry!" Ron exclaimed as he threw the tiny golf ball hard and fast. Harry chased it at lightning speed and, despite it's size, he catches it and brings it back to Ron.
"No matter how far I throw it, you always catch it!" Ron exclaimed. Harry laughed. The boys flew down to the ground and Harry pulled two Chocolate Frogs and a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans out of his pocket. They sat down, munching on the snacks satisfactorily, laughing. Suddenly everything changes. The sky turns grey, it starts to rain, and Voldemort appears. Harry is standing, wand pointed at Voldemort, ready to strike. Voldemort laughed.
"Harry!" Ron cried. "Look out!"
"You can't save him now, boy," Voldemort called. "He must die! Avada Kedavera!" A bright green light shot towards Harry, and when it hit him, he fell to the ground, appearing to be paralyzed. Ron began screaming, screaming...
"Aggh!" Ron suddenly woke up, beads of sweat forming on his face. He jumped off the couch, waking Hermione up.
"What's wrong, Ron?" she asked groggily.
Ron appeared to be scared. "I...I saw him. In my dream. We were...we were laughing and, and..."
"Who did you see?" Hermione asked. "Did you see...Harry?" Ron nodded and sat back down, wiping the sweat from his forehead. Hermione looked upset and hugged him.
"Oh, Ron," she breathed. "I know you think it's your fault, but listen to me. You had nothing to do with it.
"I miss him so much."
"I miss him too, Ron. But there's nothing we can do about it." Ron turned and looked Hermione in the eyes.
"I'm glad to have you as a friend, Hermione," he said. "I don't know what I'd do without you." Hermione smiled at him. Ron thought about kissing Hermione, and he leaned in towards her a little. Hermione eagerly leaned forward to meet Ron's lips, but he decided against it and leaned away.
"Well," Hermione started, "I think I'm going to sleep in the girl's dormitory tonight. I'm going to talk to Ginny, I think she's probably really hurt too." She got up off the couch, walked halfway up the staircase, but stopped to talk to Ron again. "You know how much she liked...well. I'll see you in the morning."
"Yeah," Ron said. "Maybe we'll go to breakfast tomorrow?"
"'Night, Ron," Hermione said, grinning.
"Goodnight." He listened as Hermione climbed the stairs and entered the girls' dormitory, closing the door quietly. Ron sat for awhile. "Does anyone around here even like me?" he thought. "They probably all hate me now that I've pretty much killed Harry. Maybe I should just leave Hogwarts." Ron started to openly cry. "What's the point of getting an education?" he asked himself. "God, I miss Harry so much. I didn't even say goodbye. Voldemort needs to die. I'll finish what Harry started." Ron's mind was made up. "I'll leave in the morning."
Early the next morning, around 3AM, Ron was the only boy awake in the dormitory. He was going through his nightstand drawers, pulling out books and clothes and packing them in his rusty old hand-me-down trunk. After gathering all his belongings, he closed the trunk and slowly and quietly dragged the trunk out the door and down the spiral staircase. He sat down on the couch in front of the fire, got some parchment and his quill and began to write.
"There," he said quietly as he finished the letter. He walked up the staircase again to the door leading to the girls' dormitory. Ron peeped in to make sure no one was awake, then creeped in and set the letter on Hermione's nightstand. He leaned over her head, brushing the hair back from her face.
"I love you," he whispered, kissing her cheek. Hermione smiled in her sleep and turned over. Ron sighed, knowing he had to leave her. "Goodbye, Hermione."
"Hermione, wake up!" Lavendar Brown exclaimed. "It's 7:45, sleepy-head!" Hermione moaned then opened her eyes. The other girls were brushing their hair and putting on their makeup.
"We didn't know you came up to the dorms until this morning!" Lavendar said. "Do you want to come have breakfast with us? You look famished."
"Sure," Hermione replied. "Oh, wait. I have to get Ron, he wants to go to breakfast with me today. I think he's feeling a lot better."
"Well, we're heading down now. Hurry up and get ready! Everyone will be so happy to see you out of the dorms again!" Lavendar beamed.
"Alright, I'll get going." Hermione sat up in bed as the other girls left. Quickly, she grabbed her black robes and put them on. As she grabbed for her hairbrush on her nightstand, she saw a letter. "What the..." Hermione picked it up and read;
Dear Hermione, I'm leaving this place. I don't really see the point anymore. I'm going to track Voldemort down and finish him off. For Harry. I'm sorry I couldn't say goodbye to you in person; I knew that if I told you, you would have stopped me. I want to thank you for being a good friend to me. I hope you can enjoy breakfast without me. Take care of Ginny, she won't understand. I'll come back for you after Voldemort is dead. Thank you, Hermione, and don't worry about me. Take care. Always, Ron.
"No!" Hermione exclaimed, sitting down on her bed, tears welling up in her eyes. "Why did you do this to me, Weasley? First it was Harry, now you! Why?" There was a knock on the door, but Hermione didn't hear it. The door opens and Hermione sees Fred.
"Hermione?" he asked. "Are you okay? What's all this screaming about?"
"Oh, Fred. It's Ron...he's left." Hermione held up the letter, and Fred walked over to take the letter from her cautiously. He read it silently.
"Damnit, Ron!" he exclaimed.
"I'm sorry, Fred."
"What?" Fred looked up from the letter. "Why are you sorry?"
"It's my fault. I didn't tell him."
"Tell him what?"
"That I love him." Fred got a saddened look on his face, and he sat next to Hermione on the bed.
"It's not your fault, Hermione. Don't blame yourself for his actions." Fred paused. "You love him?"
"Yes, I do." Hermione said. "I never told him because he doesn't feel the same way." Fred put his arm around Hermione's shoulders.
"How about you come down to breakfast with me? We can talk some more."
(A/N) Wow. I am so horrible to Hermione! Will her life get better...or worse? Review, my loyal followers!!