LETTERS FROM BEYOND

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, if I did Ron and Hermione would be together already as would Ginny and Harry.

Author's Note: Guess I'll continue on from the three letters that Sirius left. This story will start off in the break between 5th and 6th year for the trio and go from there. Hope you all like it.

CHAPTER 1-FIGHTS WITH FRIENDS

Harry opened his eyes and squinted at the condition of his room at 4 Privet Drive. It was only two days before he could finally leave the Dursley's for the summer and spend the rest of it with Ron and Hermione, hopefully at the Burrow. For the life of him he did not want to return to 12 Grimmauld Place, even the thought of it brought back to many sad memories of Sirius and made his heart hurt. Hermione had spent part of the summer in Bulgaria with Viktor Krum. She had sent letter upon letter asking Harry to not mention that fact to Ron. She had asked him so much that Harry had begun to wonder if there wasn't some underlying reason that she didn't want Ron to know about her trip to Bulgaria aside from that it would set him off. Ron had spent some of the summer in France with Bill and Fleur, visiting with her family. Harry smiled as he remembered Ginny's letter about how she expected Bill to propose at any moment and how excited she was at the prospect of a wedding in the family. Hermione had somehow found out about Ron's trip to France and despite her best efforts to hide it Harry suspected that she wasn't entirely thrilled about it, even though it was Bill that was dating Fleur and not Ron.

He had tried not to think of Sirius any more than he absolutely had to. He kept a small picture of himself and Sirius, taken by Hermione during the Christmas break of their fifth year, close to his heart. None of the Dursley's knew that he had the picture but Aunt Petunia had asked about him one morning when Harry had made her some tea. She hadn't been able to sleep and in an odd show of kindness he had made her favorite kind of tea in the hopes of cheering her up. It had worked until Dudley had come down the stairs and begun to complain that one of his toys wasn't working. Uncle Vernon had for the most part left him alone over the summer, except for making him do every single chore that he could think of. By the time that Harry had climbed into bed the night before he had concluded that it was mostly because Uncle Vernon didn't want to do any of the chores himself and had passed them on to Harry out of spite.

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Ron had only arrived back at the Burrow twenty four hours earlier before Hermione walked in through the front door, allowing an unhappy looking Fred and George carry her trunk. From the top of the stairs Ron watched Hermione as she slowly walked inside. She seemed to be greatly relieved to be at the Burrow and more than once Ron watched with baited breath, as she seemed to go from one aspect of the house that she loved to another. When Ginny came bounding in, straight out of helping get Tonks out of the pond for the second time that day, Ron sat down on the step to study Hermione a bit more. Her hair was as frizzy as ever and despite the heavy coat that she had thrown loosely over her shoulders Ron could tell that he wasn't the only one that had grown up over the summer. Her chocolate brown eyes shone in the twinkling lights of Fred and George's newest gift, a light bulb that would flutter around in a big circle for a time before exploding like a bottle rocket and then forming back into the light bulb. A warm and happy smile creased Ron's mouth as he watched Hermione directly Fred and George as to where to set her trunk down. "Still a bossy know it all…," Ron thought to himself as he was barely able to stop himself from chuckling at the sight. Though was Ron didn't fully catch as he watched her was the Hermione was searching for someone, and her worries, and ideas about why he wasn't there, were only growing by the minute. Sighing to himself Ron shrugged his shoulders and decided that it was now or never and slowly made his way down the stairs, just as Fred and George finally found the right spot that Hermione agreed with and set her trunk down.

Hermione didn't know that anyone else was in the Burrow's living room until Ginny grinned that same mischievous grin of Ron's that Hermione had come to know and love. About to ask what Ginny was smiling about Hermione stopped herself when she saw Ginny wink quickly turning away and trying not to laugh. Taking a deep breath Hermione turned around and very nearly dropped Crookshanks at the sight. The wild red hair and nervous smile was the same, but everything else seemed to be new. Words, and her inhibitions, failed her in an instant as her eyes roamed him over from top to bottom. He had definitely grown over the summer and she guessed that had she wanted to kiss him on the cheek again like she did before his first Quidditch match she'd have to stand on a chair to do it. Either that or get him to kneel down in front of her. She noticed that the shirt that he wore must be an old one since there was a bit of his stomach showing in between it and the top of his jeans, a patch of skin that would have kept Hermione's gaze locked right there had she not looked up just a bit and saw that the shirt seemed to almost be painted on. She would probably have kept staring at Ron had Ginny not interrupted.

"Oi Ron, isn't that shirt a little small," Ginny announced loudly with a wide grin on her face, with George and Fred having to resort to biting their bottom lips to keep from laughing, as she patted Hermione on the shoulder.

"Yeah…but it was the only one that was clean," Ron groaned with a frustrated sigh as he started to walk up to Hermione but Fred and George stopped him.

"I say George…isn't that your shirt," Fred began with a mischievous grin on his face as he walked up to Ron and leaned in close to get a better look at the shirt.

"You know I think it is, ickle Ronnie's gone and swiped one of my shirts," George replied with an indignant frown on his face as he stepped up beside Fred and picked at Ron's shirt like a chicken eating its dinner.

"Bugger off…I did no such thing, this is one of mine, you two gave it to me last Christmas," Ron growled with a frustrated scowl on his face as he took a step back and glared at the twins while Hermione blushed and fought to keep from laughing.

"We did…," Fred quipped with a screwed up look of confusion on his face as he crossed his arms and jutted out his bottom lip, staring up at the ceiling as if the answer was written there.

"You know what Fred, I think he's right…guess there's a first time for everything" George finished with an amused and fake look of deep thought on his face before Ginny stepped in to try and keep Ron's temper under control.

"So when's Harry getting here," Ginny interjected with a nervous smile on her face as she squeezed in between Fred and George and laid one hand on Ron's shoulder and the other on Hermione's shoulder.

"A couple of days…," Hermione answered softly with a nervous look on her face as she looked first to the twins and then back over to Ron and Ginny.

"Good, then we have plenty of time to figure out how we're going to help him get over Sirius' death," Ginny announced proudly with a big smile on her face before she turned and marched up the stairs.

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It had been two days since Harry had come, but unfortunately for everyone Mrs. Weasley had come in the first afternoon and told them that they would be leaving shortly for 12 Grimmauld Place. Dumbledore had heard rumblings of Death Eaters in the vicinity of the Burrow and deemed that it wasn't safe for Harry and the others. Despite that fact Harry had wanted to stay at the Burrow rather than return to the home of his dead godfather. But in the end Harry had lost and soon found himself sitting in the living room of the old house, not feeling up to doing anything but sulking. Ron had tried to engage him in a game of wizard's chess but Harry had acted as if he hadn't heard him until Ron stormed out of the room and up the stairs. Hermione had tried next to ask him about his summer but like with Ron he had remained stone silent and soon she had made up an excuse about leaving a book upstairs and left the room.

"How is he," Ginny whispered softly to Hermione at the top of the stairs as one was on the way up and the other on the way down.

"Not good, he wouldn't even look at us…I'm going to find Ron," Hermione replied softly with a worried look on her face as she brushed some stray hairs behind her ear.

"Okay…by the way, how was Bulgaria…and Viktor…," Ginny whispered with a sly snicker and grin on her face as she shot her eyebrows up quickly as if asking for all of the sordid details.

"It was…nice, I actually had fun…, Viktor was…," Hermione began to stutter out with a nervous smile on her face before the inevitable happened as both Hermione and Ginny cringed when they heard Ron's sharp intake of air at his surprise about finding out that Hermione had gone to Bulgaria.

"You went to Bulgaria…," Ron spat out, fully red in the face, as he struggled to keep his raging temper under control.

"Yes Ron I went to Bulgaria…it was actually quite lovely, now if you'll excuse me…," Hermione stated softly with an annoyed look on her face as she started off down the hallway with Ron in hot pursuit while Ginny just shook her head, rolled her eyes, and walked down the steps.

"Why didn't you tell me…," Ron demanded with an angry scowl on his face as he easily kept pace with Hermione on her trek down the hallway.

"Because it's none of your business Ron, Viktor asked me and I accepted," Hermione sharply replied with an angry look on her face before she ducked into the nearest room in the hopes that Ron would leave her alone. Her luck did not hold out.

"It is my business because…Harry knew didn't he…Ginny to…if it was that simple then why'd you lie to me," Ron continued with a steadily growing expression of anger in both the look on his face and tone to his voice as he followed her into the room.

"Because of this, I knew that if I told you then you'd get angry and think that he'd done something to me…," Hermione started to reply with a nervous look on her face as in her mind she registered that they were in Sirius' old room but at the moment that was the least of her worries.

"I am not angry and…wait, he did something to you, that bloody git I swear I'll…," Ron growled as he began to fume and Hermione began to become worried that Ron was going to have a heart attack at how angry he was becoming.

"He didn't do anything to me Ronald, I was just trying to use it as an example to show how foolish you're acting about all of this, Viktor and I are just friends," Hermione pleaded as she tried her best to calm Ron down as she was a bit confused as to why he was getting worked up much more than usual and much quicker than usual.

"Just like me and you…," Ron asked softly after taking a deep breath as he clenched and unclenched his fists in an attempt to try and calm down.

"Not exactly Ron, Viktor has an emotional range bigger than a teaspoon and is actually a very good kisser…," Hermione started to say with a joking smile on her face in an attempt to show Ron that he shouldn't take it to seriously when no sooner had the last words left her lips when she heard a sickening sound. A loud crash shattered through their argument and brought it to a quick end. "Ron what…Merlin," Hermione started to ask with a worried tone to her voice as she spun around on her heel before she saw Ron's arm stuck in the wall and him trying desperately to not hyperventilate.

"Heh…uh…sorry," Ron mumbled with a very nervous and very embarrassed expression on his face as he tried unsuccessfully to pull his fist back out of the wall.

"What did you do…," Hermione gasped with a very surprised tone to her voice as she instantly forgot about the row and rushed to Ron's side, looking back and forth between the look of growing panic on his face and his arm sticking into the wall.

"I…uh…I…got mad and…," Ron mumbled softly to himself as he found that it was impossible to look at Hermione without her seeing the guilty and jealous look in his eyes.

"Does it hurt…," Hermione asked with a worried tone to her voice as she moved a bit closer and brushed some small pieces of wood off of Ron's arm.

"A little…," Ron lied with a sincere smile on his face as had he been honest he would have admitted that it felt like he broke every bone in his hand, which was not that far from the truth.

"Can you pull it out," Hermione asked next as she moved around to his other side and leaned in closer to the wall. Ron took a deep breath and tried to pull his fist out a couple of times before weakly shaking his head no to Hermione, who's brows furrowed in both confusion and worry at that turn of events.

"I should go get your mother…or Remus," Hermione mumbled with a deep in thought frown on her face as she continued to study the situation.

"No don't…I mean I don't want Fred and George to know, if they find out then I'll never hear the end of it…," Ron pleaded with an innocent smile on his face as he looked down at Hermione and hoped that she wouldn't tell the twins.

"What if we both tried to pull it out at the same time, maybe that'd work…," Hermione came back with as she poked Ron's forearm with one finger to see just how stuck it was. To her question Ron could only shrug his shoulders before slowly nodding his head with a nervous look on his face. Hermione took a deep breath before she wrapped her hands around Ron's forearm and together they were finally able to pull Ron's arm out. But not before pulling hard enough that when his fist finally did pop free that the two didn't stumble back across the room onto Sirius' bed and tumble onto it, with Hermione ending up almost literally nose to nose with Ron. The two best friends remained there for several moments, both to scared at the to close proximity of their faces. It was finally Ginny's arrival into the room that broke the spell that seemed to have been cast over them.

"Hey you two, what are you doing in Sirius'…oh," Ginny started to ask with a confused expression on her face before she noticed Hermione lying on top of Ron on Sirius' bed and started to slowly back out of the room, her ears burning red.

"No Ginny wait…it's not what it looks like," Hermione quickly stammered out with a very embarrassed look on her face as she scrambled back off of Ron, a sad feeling forming in the pit of her stomach as she noticed Ron wince badly as she brushed past his hand coupled with the blood that she saw there as well.

"That's good to hear, because to me it's looks like you and Ron were about to…," Ginny began with a sly grin on her face before Ron interrupted.

"Ginny," Ron roared from his place on the bed before he bolted upright to his feet, being careful to cradle his injured hand until he saw both Ginny and Hermione's eyes grow wide in shock and concern at the sight of his hand.

"What happened," Ginny demanded with a very concerned look on her face as her momentary bout of sarcasm had gone away and been replace with some confusion.

"Nothing…," Ron grumbled back with a painful wince as he slowly tried to move the fingers on his injured hand.

"Ron got mad and punched the wall," Hermione added with a less than happy frown on her face as she slowly approached the bed and then sat down beside Ron, wanting to get a better look at his injured hand.

"I only got mad because you said that you and Viktor had…," Ron started to argue with an angry look on his face but was stopped when Mrs. Weasley walked into the room. Hermione was only able to get half of the explanation out before Ron was rushed off to St. Mungro's as Remus had said that it was beyond him to heal Ron's hand because of the number of small bones in the hand.

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It was almost ten thirty before Ron came back to 12 Grimmauld Place, his hand wrapped up tightly in a light blue cloth. Hanging his head Ron started to ascend the stairs towards his room but was stopped when Hermione spoke up.

"Ron, is that you…could you come in here…please," Hermione stated with a nervous and anxious edge to her voice as she shoved her hands into her pockets to keep from wringing her hands.

"Now what Mione…I don't really feel like talking, all I want to do is go upstairs, change clothes and go to…butterbeer," Ron started to groan with a tired and weary look on his face as he sulked into the living room before he noticed that Hermione had drug the sofa up reasonably close to the fire, with a thick blanket laid on the floor in front of it, and on the small coffee table there sat two large jugs of butterbeer.

"I felt bad about earlier, even though you were being a…," Hermione began to say with a soft stutter to her voice as she blushed in the firelight, causing Ron's heart to flutter as he desperately tried not to stare.

"Sorry about that I just…," Ron started to mumble sadly as he hung his head and joined Hermione by the couch.

"I shouldn't have said that about Viktor and I, I was just trying to show you how foolish you were acting," Hermione said softly with an apologetic smile on her face before the two plopped down on the blanket in front of the couch and Hermione pulled one of Mrs. Weasley's large and thick blankets off of the end of the couch. Ron said nothing at first as he hung his head down a bit further and his ears flushed a very bright red.

"I shouldn't have gotten so mad…but with Harry and all I just…," Ron mumbled with a very sad and somber pout on his face as Hermione sat up and picked up the two mugs of butterbeer, handing one to Ron before leaning back up against the sofa and staring off into the fire.

"I know…I'm so worried about him, he's barely spoken since he arrived," Hermione added with a sad tone to her voice as she edged closer to Ron until their shoulders touched.

"Guess Sirius' death's really getting to him…," Ron stated sadly over the lip of his mug of butterbeer as he stared into the fire before he took a small sip and leaned back.

"I just wish that there was something that we could do to help him," Hermione said softly, almost tearing up before she turned towards Ron and couldn't suppress a soft giggle.

"What…what's so funny," Ron asked, with a screwed up look of confusion on his face before the edges of his mouth curled up into the beginnings of a smile.

"You have some foam on your nose," Hermione chuckled with an amused smirk on her face before she leaned in and brushed the small amount of offending foam off on Ron's nose and then brushed a few stray locks of his long locks behind his ear so that she could see his face reflected in firelight.

"Thanks," Ron whispered with a slightly embarrassed smile on his face before he reached across Hermione, which got her heart rate to rapidly increase for a brief moment, and then pulled the heavy blanket across both of their legs and feet.

"Don't mention it…you just looked kind of funny with a glob of foam hanging off the end of your nose, almost like Malfoy last winter when you and Ginny hexed him and his nose didn't stop running for three days," Hermione replied softly as she tried to take a sip of her butterbeer but the memory for them both soon became to much and they openly laughed together for several moments before they resumed sitting there listening to the crackling of the roaring fire in the fireplace.

"You and Viktor never…," Ron began to mumble with a very nervous and embarrassed look on his face as he did his best to hide as much of his face with his mug of butterbeer as he glanced over at Hermione, who was in the middle of taking a sip herself. She remained quiet for several moments before a warm smile graced her face and Ron couldn't help but smile.

"Kissed…no, he wanted to but…I wasn't, I told him that I was waiting for the right guy to…," Hermione finally said with a nervous look on her face as she turned to Ron and continued to answer his question while their faces began to inch closer and closer until…

Two hours later Mrs. Weasley would come down the stairs and get a little misty at the sight of Ron and Hermione snuggled up together fast asleep in front of the roaring fire. Ron lay with his back up against the sofa and one arm wrapped protectively and lovingly around Hermione's shoulders while her head found a pillow in the crook between his neck and his shoulder. When she edged a bit closer to them Mrs. Weasley smiled as she saw that Hermione had a good hold of the front of Ron's shirt, almost clinging to him for dear life while the two were enveloped by the large heavy blanket. Smiling warmly to herself Mrs. Weasley walked over and stoked up the fire, making sure that it would last until at least morning, and then softly walked out of the room, being careful to not wake the slumbering pair.

END OF CHAPTER 1