LETTERS FROM BEYOND

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

CHAPTER 8-THE REAL REASON

Hermione awoke to find that her comfortable pillow was gone, her comfortable pillow named Ron. She started to get worried as she opened her eyes but seconds later her worries were alleviated as she saw Ron standing beside the roaring hearth, staring sadly into the fire. When she went to sit up she noticed that the blanket that she had pulled over herself and Ron the night before was now tightly packed in around her. Smiling softly Hermione slid the blanket off of her and stood up, padding over in her socks to stand behind Ron.

"You okay," Hermione asked with a concerned tone to her voice as she reached up and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"No, not really," Ron mumbled back sadly in reply before Hermione leaned forward and rested her chin on his left bicep while snaking her arms around his waist.

"You seem calmer than yesterday, Ginny will be alright Ron," Hermione said with a serious and comforting look on her face as she looked up into Ron's eyes and saw that her words had been taken to heart.

"I know Hermione, it's just that seeing her just lying there…I still can't get it out of my mind, and now how am I ever supposed to be able to be around Harry when all I can think of is what he did to Ginny," Ron softly replied with a deeply troubled expression on his face as he turned his head and gazed down at Hermione before she pulled away and positioned herself in between Ron and the fireplace.

"Well things are not going to improve for any of us if we stay in our neutral corners and pretend like the others don't exist, I'm going to visit Ginny and I think…no I know that you should come to, if for no reason other than to find Harry and settle things with him, I hate to see the two of you fighting," Hermione said with a very serious and worried look on her face before she leaned in closer and laid her head on his chest.

"Don't you care what he did, Harry nearly killed Ginny all because he's being such a bloody prat and not talking to anyone about how he feels, I'm not going to ever let him near her again," Ron countered with an angry scowl on his face as he pulled away from Hermione and looked her straight in the eyes.

"Of course I care Ron, how could you think that I didn't…but you and Harry are both my best friends, I know that Harry didn't mean to hurt Ginny, and I think you do to, you'll feel better after you've talked to him, he's going to need your help in the end Ron and since we don't know when that is we can't waste time fighting when making sure that Ginny is okay and finding a way to stop Voldemort are our top two priorities," Hermione said with a very serious and knowledgeable look on her face as she crossed her arms and looked right back at Ron.

"You're right, I'm going to go check on Ginny, I'll see you at breakfast," Ron said softly back with a worried look on his face before he turned away and exited the suite, leaving Hermione to rush into the bathroom to get ready for the day.

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He sat in silence, afraid to utter a single sound. His gaze was locked on every detail that she possessed, from the tips of her toes to her delicate eyelashes. He had thought that she was pretty ever since he had seen her, even though back then the thought barely registered in his mind. Then thoughts of Cho and a few other random girls had invaded his mind and Ginny had gotten pushed back into some of the deepest recesses of his mind. It wasn't until one night over the summer while he had been lying in the grass in the Dursley's backyard and staring up at the stars. He didn't know what had made him think of Ginny that night but suddenly images and memories of what had happened the night that she had been taken into the Chamber of Secrets flooded back into his mind. A sick feeling had formed in the pit of his stomach at the memory of her lying there completely motionless on the cold stone floor of the cavern, looking worse than death. After the basilisk had bitten him his thoughts had turned away from escaping the lair as at that time he thought himself a lost cause. His only concern at that moment was that Ginny make it out of the cavern and back to Ron. Fawkes using his tears to cure the basilisk bite, enabling them both to make it out of the cavern, had been a great surprise. That night Ginny had clung to him like she was afraid that if she let go, even for a second, that he would disappear and she would find herself right back in where she had been before he had come.

His heart skipped a beat and his breath caught in his throat when she coughed violently enough to disturb the halo of hair carefully laced around her head. He wanted nothing more than to reach out and brush a few stray strands of hair off of her face, but the moment that his hand neared her skin he froze, finally quickly pulling his hand back away from her. After what he did to her before breakfast he felt like an evil far worse than Voldemort ever could be. She had only been trying to get him to open up, trying to help him work through the pain that was blinding him. It was obvious that she cared for him, but then again Ginny cared for everything, whether she openly showed it or not. Sure she had the Weasley flare and temper but all the same he couldn't remember anything or anyone, save Voldemort, that Ginny had ever admitted to actually hating. He was just about to stand up and leave when she mumbled something in her sleep and reached out and grabbed a hold of his hand that he had left lying on the side of her bed, far enough away from her so that if she shifted ever so slightly their skin would not come into contact.

"Nnh…Harry," Ginny mumbled out very softly, with Harry having to strain his ears just to hear her words as she slowly turned her head to one side. For a split second Harry couldn't move, torn between dropping to his knees and begging Ginny to forgive him and ripping his hand out of her weak grasp and tearing out of the hospital wing as if there were a Death Eater on his tail. In the end he chose something more resembling the former rather than the latter.

"Ginny…I," Harry started to mumble with a guilt ridden edge in his voice as he left his hand where it was and dropped down to his knees, allowing a few tears to run down his cheeks. He tried to continue to speak but his mouth would not form the words, instead he dropped his head down onto her shoulder and wept.

Upon entering the hospital wing Ron thought that he heard something. He wasn't sure if he had at first, but as he neared the door of the room that Ginny was in he became more and more convinced that he had indeed heard something. He hurried his pace up just a bit when the thought crossed his mind that the sound could possibly be coming from Ginny. He almost tripped over his own feet at the sight that greeted him when he entered the room that Ginny was in. Kneeling down beside her bed, with his head pressed firmly against her shoulder and crying like a baby, was Harry. At first Ron didn't know what to do. A part of him wanted to pick Harry up by his belt and collar and toss him out the nearest window, no matter how high up they were, whereas another part of him was able to force himself to stand silent and still and wait to see what happened next. He watched in silence as Ginny's eyes slowly flickered open and took in the sight of Harry kneeling beside her bed, weeping as if it were her funeral.

"H…Harry," Ginny mumbled softly as she painfully licked her lips and flickered her eyes open and closed. At her words Harry seemed to snap out of his trance.

"Ginny…I'm here," Harry mumbled back through his tears as he lifted his head in joy that Ginny had woken up but yet was scared of what her reaction would be in finding him so close to her. Ginny blearily stared up at Harry for a few seconds before tears came to her eyes. Ron desperately tried to move but found that his muscles had staged a mutiny, all refusing to move an inch. As Ron watched in a stunned silence rather than letting go of Harry's hand Ginny in turn tightened her grip, something that shocked Harry as well, who looked like he wanted to hurl.

"I'm…sorry, Harry, I…never meant to…," Ginny began to mumble through the pain in her head as tears sprang to her eyes before Harry cut her off with an almost choking sob.

"Please Ginny, don't speak…you have to conserve your strength and get better, Merlin I'm so sorry Ginny, I never meant to hurt you, you have to get better," Harry stammered out through more tears before he couldn't take it any more and turned away.

"I know you didn't mean to Harry, I was so scared for you," Ginny mumbled back with still more tears in her eyes, ones that Harry was quick to wipe away while Ron stood motionless some feet away.

"For me…why were you scared for me," Harry asked with a perplexed look on his face as he leaned back a bit and cocked his head slightly to one side.

"Because Harry, you were trying to go through your misery all by yourself, you don't have to…we're all here for you," Ginny mumbled back with a very sad and slightly sleepy look on her face as she clung to Harry's hand and refused to give an inch.

"I'm sorry Ginny…but I didn't know what to do, Sirius shouldn't have died that day…it should have been me…it should have been me that died that day, not Sirius," Harry stated back with an extremely nervous tone to his voice as he gently brushed some hair off of Ginny's face.

"Are you stupid, you're the boy that lived, you didn't die that day for a reason, you're the only one that can defeat Voldemort," Ron bellowed out loudly as his muscles suddenly ended their mutiny and he rushed into the room, forcing Harry to stand up and look him in the eye.

"Ron no," Ginny pleaded softly with a strained look on her face as she feebly tried to lift a hand up in Harry's defense.

"Ron I," Harry started to say with a scared look in his eyes before Ron grabbed him by both shoulders and cut him off.

"Stop it Harry, stop it right now, we know that you were devastated over Sirius' death, now for the first and last time…it was not your fault and it should not have been you that died that day in the Department of Mysteries, do you think that Sirius would want you to be doing this to yourself, blaming yourself like this and giving Voldemort exactly what he wants," Ron interjected with a very forceful expression on his face as he glared a hole straight through Harry and into the wall behind him.

"But…what am I supposed to do now," Harry mumbled back weakly with a very confused look on his face as he stopped fighting against Ron.

"Let us…all of us, help you through this…after all Harry, that's what we're here for," Hermione said with a very relieved smile on her face as she appeared in the doorway and wiped away a tear, one that no one else in the room ever saw.

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Three weeks after Ginny's accident she, Ron, and Harry had begun quidditch practices with the rest of the Gryffindor team. Early on it was clear that Harry had lost a bit because of his absence from the sport, but near the end of the practice there were signs that he was beginning to get it all back. Harry had resumed his position as seeker, a position that Ginny was more than ready to secede to him as she took up the role of one of the chasers. Ron returned as the team's keeper and it was quickly clear to Harry that he had improved immensely since his first days as keeper in their fifth year. Hermione had come out to watch them practice for a little while before complaining that she need to catch up on her missed schoolwork and had gone back into the castle. Everyone but Hagrid, returning from Nocturne Alley with another bottle of slug repellent, completely missed the wink that Hermione gave Ron before she walked off of the pitch. Hagrid's hut had quickly become the second place that Hermione and Ron would go to be alone and be able to feel free to express their love for each other without fear of being discovered after their Head's suite.

Ginny had improved a great deal since the accident and by the time that quidditch practices had started Harry had even begun to answer her questions instead of just stalling her. Harry's mood had lightened somewhat since that day in the hospital wing and he had even laughed at a few jokes. It was clear to Hermione, as she told Ron repeatedly, that Harry had begun his way on the road to becoming who he was before the accident in the Department of Mysteries but that he still had a long ways to go. On this night however Hermione had camped herself in the living room portion of their Head's suite, with her books and parchments spread out all over, when Ron walked in through the doorway, still carrying his broom and stinking to high heaven. Ron started to walk over to give her a kiss but she scrunched up her nose and informed him that she didn't want him coming anywhere near her until he had showered.

"Do I pass your bloody smell test now milady," Ron asked with a mock bow as he walked out of his room with his hair still clearly wet and his pajamas already on.

"Don't swear…but yes, you pass my test," Hermione said back at first with an impatient and stern scowl, one that quickly left her face as she inhaled the familiar scent of the Burrow as Ron sat down next to her on the couch.

"That doesn't look like an essay," Ron said with an odd tilt of his eyebrows as he reached forward for a roll of parchment that Hermione had laid on the far end of the couch. Just as he was about to unroll it and read it Hermione suddenly reached out and snatched it out of his hands.

"It's nothing…really," Hermione stated with a very nervous and embarrassed smile on her face as she hurriedly tried to hide the parchment beneath a pile of others. Her suddenly not wanting him to read the parchment only made Ron want to read it more.

"What's wrong Hermione, if I didn't know better I'd think that you didn't want me to see what was on that piece of parchment," Ron stated with very calm but yet serious tone to his voice as he took a hold of one of Hermione's hands and gently pulled her back and away from the pile that she had hidden the parchment under.

"Huh…oh no, it's nothing…really," Hermione squeaked with a scared look on her face as her face flushed red and she hunched her shoulders a bit. From her doing that Ron was positive that there was something on that parchment that Hermione did not want him to know.

"Yes it is, otherwise you would be able to look me in the eye," Ron started to say as he slowly shifted his weight before he dove for the parchment with his free hand and after surprising Hermione stood up with the parchment in his hands.

"Ron," Hermione exclaimed in shock and terror as he back away from her with the parchment in his hands. Hermione started to frantically wade through her sea of books and other parchments before she could tell by the look on Ron's face that he had read enough of the parchment.

"He…he's coming…here," Ron babbled out in shock as he read and then reread several lines of the parchment.

"Yes, he said that that he had some free time and wanted to visit over Christmas, my parents are going on a cruise this year so I'll be staying here this year with you and Harry and Ginny," Hermione said softly with a scared and nervous look on her face as she could not meet Ron's stare with her own gaze.

"Does…does he know, about us," Ron asked with a worried look on her face as Hermione was finally able to lift her head up and look him in the eye.

"When he wrote that he didn't, further down there's a passage about everything that he wanted him and I to do together when he arrived…I just got it last night, but I sent an owl off before coming back here with my answer, it's what I was doing while watching you, Harry, and Ginny practice, I told him that it was okay if he wanted to come but made sure that he knew about us…and not to tell anyone about it," Hermione answered with a very nervous and scared expression on her face as her feet acted on their own accord and walked her over until she stood directly in front of Ron, trying her best to keep from tearing up at the nervous look in his eyes. Ron debated exactly what to do for a few moments before he groaned, turned on his heel and quietly left the suite with Hermione at first to shocked to move.

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It took her nearly two hours to find him. She thought that she had looked everywhere for him. But when she found him he was sitting up in the Gryffindor stands with a heavy cloak wrapped around him, staring off into space. The frenzied climb up the tower had taken her breath and so for a few moments after she sat down beside him on the bench the two were silent. She got straight to the point when she regained her breath.

"Why did you leave," Hermione asked very pointedly with an annoyed scowl on her face as she turned to face Ron. He stayed silent for a few moments before answering her in a low voice.

"Not sure, I just got angry at him for sticking his bloody nose where it didn't belong, and I didn't want to fight with you anymore," Ron said with a sad and regretful look on his face as he only half turned towards Hermione and looked at her through the curtain of his bangs as he was hanging his head just a bit.

"He knows about us Ron, he's not going to try to steal me away from you if that's what you're thinking, no one can do that because I won't let it happen," Hermione said back with a very certain tone to her voice as she wrapped her hands around his before shuddering at the cold.

"Good, the day that he arrives I'm going to have a talk with him and make sure that he knows the rules, besides I can't have him screwing up my plans for our first Christmas together," Ron said with a very slight smirk on his face as he stared up into the now star filled night sky.

"Don't worry Ron, he won't," Hermione said with a reassuring tone to her voice before she shivered again, this time more violently and inwardly cursed herself for rushing out of the Head's suite so quick as to not pick up a warm coat on the way out. She was about to speak when she shivered again and Ron noticed.

"Oi Mione, what are you doing out here without a coat on," Ron gasped with a very surprised look on his face as he finally turned his head and moved his hair aside to get a good look at Hermione.

"I was so worried about talking to my boyfriend when he ran out of the room that I forgot about it," Hermione said back with a sly grin on her face before Ron opened up the folds of his cloak and pulled her towards him before wrapping them both up in his cloak.

"Then I guess that you're lucky that I had forgotten my cloak here after practice, otherwise," Ron started to say with a sly grin on his face before Hermione put a cool finger up onto his lips.

"A word of advice Ron, stop while you're ahead," Hermione whispered softly to him with a warm smile that quickly enveloped her entire face before she leaned in and softly pressed her lips to his. Soon neither one was cold.

END OF CHAPTER 8