Going Home…

Chapter 2

Hermione awoke the next morning to the sun shining through the window. She had cried herself to sleep the night before. She rolled over, intent on resting a few more minuets. However, her cat Crookshanks would have none of that. The big ginger cat jumped up onto the bed and walked over to his sleeping master; he meowed and licked Hermione's face.

"Okay, I'm up." She said. The cat meowed again. "Are you hungry?" she asked. Crookshanks purred and rubbed her head on Hermione's face. "I'll take that as a yes." She said scratching behind the cats ears, got up out of bed and went to the kitchen. She put a pot of coffee on, opened a can of food, and put it in the cat's dish. She went into the bathroom, to shower. When she was done, she toweled off and put on her work robes. She stood looking in the mirror, as she pinned her hair back on the sides.

"Well I'm no raven beauty, but it will do." She said to herself. She heard a very distinct popping sound followed by a thud and a few choice words.

"OW…Damn it, stupid coffee table. Hermione are you here? Damn that hurt."

"I'm in here Ginny." She answered smiling to herself. Ginny walked into the bedroom,

"Did you move that stupid table?" she asked while rubbing her knee. Hermione smiled.

"No it's in the same place as always. You know, I think Harry has rubbed off on you. Your mum would have boxed your ears if she heard you talking like that." She said. Ginny gave her a confused look.

"It's a muggle saying, it means to smack someone." Hermione said smiling.

"Oh…anyway, Harry sent me to get you. He needs us to come in right away." Ginny replied. Hermione nodded, grabbed a cup of coffee to go. And she and Ginny headed out the door. They made it to Harry's office in record time. He looked up from his desk as they entered. The office had tall bookcases lining the left and right side of the room filled with papers and books. The desk was sitting in front of a big picture window. He had two chairs sitting in front of the desk. His desk was littered with papers and he had a few pictures off to the left side of it. There was one of Ginny and him on there wedding day. There was one of Hermione and Ginny, and his favorite one of all, a picture of him, Hermione and Ron taken at the Burrow.

"Have you two seen the Daily Prophet today?" he asked holding out the paper. Hermione took the paper and read the headlines.

"Two dead and one in serious condition in an attack last night in Hogsmeade. Believed to be the work of Death Eaters trying to bring back You-Know-Who."

"What the Hell is this?" Hermione asked looking up at Harry.

"We are looking into it, but read further down. Right there." He said pointing to a spot on the paper. "One witness stated, 'it would have been a lot worse, if that man had not stopped it.' when asked about the man he stated, 'a man had come out of the shadows and took on all four Death Eaters by himself. He took two out in no time and wounded another.' When asked to describe this stranger he said. 'Well, he was either very brave or very stupid. He charged into the attack with no fear at all. I think maybe he was an Auror. He was tall, stocky, very well built. For his size and strength he was very light on his feet. In addition, one thing that no one could miss was his bright red hair.' "This man is wanted for questioning please approach with caution if spotted."

Hermione stood there looking at the paper with her mouth open. Ginny grabbed the paper and reread it.

"My God… could it be him?" she asked looking from the paper to Harry."It is… It has to be." She whispered.

"Now, Ginny don't jump to conclusions. He is not the only red head in the world." Harry replied.

"Yeah, but how many red headed wizards would take on four Death Eaters by himself?" she asked.

"She has a point, Harry." Hermione replied.

"It sounds like a good point. However, we have not seen or heard from him in two years. He may not even be alive."

"Don't say that! Don't you dear say that! It's him, I know it. I can feel it in my gut…. I can feel it in my heart." Ginny said with tears in her eyes. Harry pulled her to him and hugged her tightly.

"Ok… Honey if it is him, we will find him." He whispered. Ginny sobbed into his chest.

"I just miss him so much Harry. He should be here with us. With his family." She said.

"I know… I know... But he chose to leave hon. We did not make him." He replied.

"He was hurting Harry." Hermione said.

"Yes I know. But we all were. It was not just him that lost loved ones that day. We all did." Harry said. He was getting louder now, anger filling him.

"He could not handle the pain." Hermione replied calmly.

"But we could have helped him. Like we helped each other. But no, he chose to leave. Why? Can you answer me that Hermione? Why did he run?" he yelled.

"I'm sorry Harry. I can't. I don't why he left." She replied with tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry Hermione…Ginny I'm sorry. I should not have yelled." He said kissing her forehead.

"It's ok." She replied.

"We are all hurting…. I just want to bring him home safely, that's all. If it is Ron, we need to find him and help him. He took on four Death Eaters by himself, that's suicide, so I know he is in pain. He needs help. Harry, we have to help him." They were all crying now. Harry could only answer her with a nod. Hermione walked over to the window and looked out over the city.

"Where are you hiding Ron? You have to come home, you need help… we all do. We need to heal together." She said to herself. She wiped a tear away with her hand. "I love you, please come home." She whispered.

Ron awoke and promptly hissed at the pain in his side. Last night was a blur, but it was slowly coming back to him. He slowly sat up on the bed and swung his legs over the side. He ran his fingers through his long red hair and stood up, slowly. He walked over to the mirror and looked at himself.

"Damn! I'm a bloody mess." He said.

He had a split lip, his left eye had swollen shut and was dark purple, and he had a cut on his right cheek. He took off his shirt, hissing at the pain in his shoulders and back. He was not at all surprised to find more cuts and bruises on his upper body. He walked over to the tiny bathroom in his small one room flat.

It was a very small flat. The living room, bedroom, and kitchen area were all in one big room. The only other room was the bathroom. It was small but for a man living alone it was perfect.

He made his way into the bathroom. Took off his jeans and stepped into the shower.

Turning the water on as hot as he could stand it, he stood under the stream letting the water sooth his aching muscles. When the water started to run cold, he shut it off and got out. He was feeling much better now, he could at least move without to much pain. He did a healing spell on his eye so he could see better and made his way over to the kitchen area and put on a pot of coffee. He picked the Daily Prophet up off the table.

He smirked to himself as he read the headlines. "Well at least two of those bastards." He said.

He then picked up yesterday's paper and read the front page. He took the scissors off the table and cut out the story. He took it and hung it beside his bed then stood back to look at the wall. There were several clippings hanging there. He smiled as he looked at each one, Harry and Ginny's wedding announcement, Hermione's clipping of being accepted as the new Head of Magical Law Enforcement. "I guess all that S.P.E.W. stuff finally paid off. I just hope she is not forcing the house elves into freedom with her new power." He said to himself smiling. And Harry's promotion to the Head Leader of the Auror Squad. He was so happy for all of them. He missed them tremendously.

His face grew grim and his eyes saddened as he looked at the last clipping. It was a three-page article on the life and death of his family, ending with the funeral arrangements. As he stood there reading it tears started to form in his eyes. He missed his family, and his heart saddened at the memories he held. Only Ginny was left. "She must be in so much pain." he thought. "First, are whole family dies, then I go and leave her. Without a word or a note, I just left, how could I have done that to her?" He wondered if he should make his presence known to them. "It has been two years, would they be furious with him for disappearing, or would they accept him back just thankful he is alive?" He sat down on the bed, put his face in his hands, and cried.