"It was a beautiful ceremony," the brunette said, searching for a topic that would rid the pair of the awkward silence. Hermione and Ron were walking along the lake. The moon and stars were brighter than Hermione had seen in years, and the reflection from them shone off the pond and onto their faces.
"Yes, it was. How did you know Dumbledore again?"
"Uh..." she couldn't tell him what she had told the man at the funeral, he would know that she hadn't gone to Hogwarts. "uh...he was a great...uh...family friend. Really close to my father."
Ron nodded, "Was your father at the funeral?"
Hermione looked down as she felt the tears welling up in her eyes. This answer wouldn't be a lie. She paused a moment, and swallowed the lump in her throat before answering, "No. He died...In the war...Both my parents did."
Ron, looked down as well for a moment. "I'm sorry. I know it doesn't help to say that, and I'm sure you've heard it a lot," he took in a breath, "but no matter how many people I talk to, and I talk to a lot, about relations dying in the war, it doesn't get any easier to figure out what to say. But I truly am sorry. About each and everyone of them that died or was injured, and every family member and friend that was left behind. And I feel so stupid to say 'I'm sorry' but I just don't know how else to express it."
"I'm sorry is perect," Hermione replied. The had both stopped walking and were now staring at each other, face to face. "I know it doesn't seem like a lot, and when my parents first died and the first hundred people told me that they 'were sorry' about the loss of my parents, I thought to myself, "well thanks for being sorry, but how is that supposed to help bring my parents back?" And then eventually I realized, it's not. But neither will anything else.
"It's hard to express to someone all these emotions you feel. Pity for those they left behind, sorrow for the loss of such a great person, joy for having know such a great person, guilt for not being the one who died, happiness because you weren't the one to die. The range of emotions that are felt are incredible. They conflict with each other, they may conflict with what you think you really feel, and they just confuse you to the point where the only thing remotely intelligent and soothing you can say is "I'm sorry." And for me that told me everything I needed to know. That they thought my parents were great people, and that they couldn't possibly articulate in words everything they wanted to say."
Ron smiled at the girl in front of him, "That makes me feel a heck of a lot better about my choice in words." Hermione smiled back, and the continued walking in a comfortable silence until Ron spoke up again. "I can't put my finger on it, but you remind me of someone."
Hermione's heart began to race once again. "Really? How so?"
"Well..it's not so much your appearance, but how you hold yourself. How you express so well exactly what's on your mind. I bet you over-think things on occasion? Am I right?" Hermione merely nodded in response. "And how you completely changed my way of thinking just then. I thought for 5 years I was the biggest prat in the world and now I feel like I've been doing everything right. I haven't felt this good about myself in ages."
"Don't get too big a head now," she couldn't help the friendly jibe. They came so natural when she was talking to him.
He let out a small laugh in response. "You really remind me of someone." He put a hand on her arm and they both stopped once again, staring at each other in silence for only a few seconds, though it seemed to both an eternity.
Ron broke the silence. His voice was barely a whisper, "It feels like I've known you my whole life." He was staring deep in to Hermione's eyes, as if searching for something. "It's not easy for me to open up to people, or to talk to people, but it's so easy with you, and I don't know why." Slowly, he reached his hand up to face and tucked a stray hair behind her ear, and let his fingers linger on her face. As if it was in slow motion, his lips came towards her, his eyes still looking drowning in hers. Hermione leaned in, tilting her head. His eyes closed, as their lips were millimeters apart.
"Your mum is probably wondering were we are," Hermione whispered, struggling to release the words. Ron's eyes shot open and looked at her questioningly for so short a moment she was not sure if she had imagined it or not.
He nodded and in a voice just as strained as Hermione's replied, "Probably." And they continued the walk back to the house in silence.
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"That friend of yours was nice. How do you know her?" Ron question his sister after Hermione had left. The two Weasley children and Harry were sitting in the living room in front of the fire. Ron was still confused about what had happened a few hours before at the lake. He was still confused about why this girl he was sure he had never met in his life seemed so familiar to him.
"We met at the funeral. Seemed like I had known her my entire life- or at least for the past 11 years."
"She had that effect on you too? She must remind us of someone we both know. I was thinking she kinda seems like Josie Thompkins, don't you think?"
"Oh no, not at all. Josie is much less intelligent. I actually think I know who she reminds me of."
"Who?" inquired Ron.
"Hermione." At this comment, Harry spit out the water he had been drinking and began coughing. Ginny looked at him worriedly, patting him on the back. Ron ignored this scene, and continued the conversation.
"I don't think so. She didn't remind me of Hermione in the least."
"Really? Not at all?," Ginny turned away from Harry to face Ron once again, "Well, I thought so. She's very intellectual like Hermione, polite too. And she'd have to have that Gryffindor bravery to try mum's tofu and broccoli dish. She even looked a bit like Hermione, if Hermione had cut, straightened, and dyed her hair, and began using make-up," Ginny had promised she would not tell anyone that Julie was Hermione, but she never said she would not insinuate or make connections between the two. So she decided she would be very blatant, in talking about them.
"I don't think she looked at all like Hermione. In fact, I'm sure that it's Josie that Julie reminds me of."
"Ron, it's okay for someone to remind you of Hermione. It's not ruining her memory any." Ginny was getting angry at her brother's stubbornness. She now turned to question her fiancee. "Didn't she remind you of Hermione, Harry?"
Harry, who had just recovered from his coughing fit looked like a fish out of water, torn between the opinion of his best friend and his future wife. "Well...I-I...well...maybe a little?"
"Harry! How can you say that? You were best friends with Hermione for 11 years! 11 YEARS! How can you think she was anything like this Julie girl?" Ron shouted indignantly.
"Well...I said only a little. It's not like I think she is Hermione."
"Well of course you aren't. No one thinks that, Harry," Ginny replied sweetly, "I was just saying that she reminded me a lot of Hermione. Not that she was Hermione. Although that would be great if she was, wouldn't it?"
"How could she possibly be two people Gin?" Ron asked, irritated.
"Not two people, just one, who is unsure of her identity. Or who knows, maybe...wants to hide her identity." Could I point this out in a more obvious way?, thought Ginny.
"That's insane Ginny. If Julie was Hermione she'd tell us because we're her friends."
"Well, what if she had amnesia or something and forgot who we were?"
"Come on Gin, that seems a little far fetched. I mean, sure she has some similar personality traits to Hermione, and maybe looks a little bit like her, but that she really is her?" Harry input.
"Well, of course it's far fetched dear. I don't think it's true, I was just saying it would be great it something like that happened and we had Hermione back with us."
"Yea, it would be, but it's not gonna happen because that's crazy," and with that last remark, Ron got up and apparated from the living room to his own apartment.
It was only when he was laying in bed that night, alone with his thoughts, that he allowed himself to admit that Hermione was the person that Julie reminded him of, and that she reminded him of her to a great degree.
A/N: Well there you go, the end of this chapter. Hopefully I'll have another up soon. I'll try for at least one more before my Thanksgiving break ends cause it hard to write during school week. Please review, and if you leave your e-mail with the review or it's on you FF.net profyle I'll im you when I update. =)