Chapter 2: Reactions

"I am so sorry Hermione. Ron is dead."

Hermione froze, unable to move or think. She felt her face pale and she instantly became cold and numb.

"How?" she asked, staring straight ahead and showing no emotion.

"He was killed by an old death eater. Macnair. Apparently Macnair wanted to go back to the way it was when Voldemort was around and he got so angry about losing the war that he killed everyone around him. He attacked seven people and only two survived."

"And what happened to him?"

"Well, the Ministry got to him before he escaped. I don't know what will happen to him though."

Hermione continued to stare straight ahead. This was all too much for her to handle. Surprisingly, she was taking this news better than when she had found out that Harry had died killing Voldemort but that didn't mean that she was okay about it all. Although she and Ron had an unhappy marriage, they were still best friends and had known each other for years. Now, she was left alone, without a husband and without two of her oldest friends.

"Are you alright Hermione? Merlin, I don't even know why I said that. Of course your not. Why don't you come over to the house? I'm sure my mother would love for you to come by."

"No, that's alright. I think I'm just going to stay here. I have work to do."

Ginny nodded, knowing that this was Hermione's way of dealing with things. After giving her friend a quick hug, she left, but not before telling Hermione that the funeral would be the next day.

For the rest of the day, Hermione sat around, never making a sound and never showing emotion. She felt guilty over the fact that she was not crying but she supposed that it would all come out at the funeral.

HGDMHGDM

The next day, Hermione woke, showered, and dressed in a simple black dress. The funeral was to be held at the Burrow, and Hermione was dreading seeing the Weasleys. As much as she loved them and thought of them as family, she felt that things had changed between them since she and Ron had married. She felt that it was almost as though they blamed her for their unhappy marriage, which was extremely far from the truth.

Hermione apparated to the Burrow. Although she was early, there were a lot of people there already. She walked around the yard, looking for the Weasleys. Finally, she found Mrs. Weasley standing with Bill and Mr. Weasley.

Hermione walked over to them and once Mrs. Weasley saw her, she burst into tears.

"Hermione! Why did this have to happen to us? As if we didn't loose enough of our family during the war. This shouldn't have happened to my Ron! And you were only married to him for a year! You were just beginning to get close but it all had to be taken away from you! From all of us!" Mrs Weasley sobbed, causing Mr. Weasley to pull her towards him into a comforting hug.

While Mr. Weasley comforted his wife, Bill went to Hermione and gave her a hug.

"Hey, Hermione. How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine," Hermione said, her voice cracking as she had not spoken since Ginny told her the news.

"You know that if you need anything, just send us an owl. Just because Ron is gone doesn't mean your not part of the family anymore."

Hermione nodded and pulled away from Bill.

"I'm going to go see him," she said, walking towards where a large, navy casket was situated.

When Hermione left, Bill said to his parents "It doesn't look like she's taking it very well."

Hermione slowly walked up to the casket, afraid of what she would feel when she saw him. When she finally reached the casket, she closed her eyes, trying to breathe so that she would not faint. Once she was finally able to breathe, she opened her eyes slowly and saw the face of her husband. All the emotions she had held inside her burst out, and Hermione fell to her knees, sobbing. Hermione cried for the loss of her best friend. For all that they had been through together. For the good times they shared, as well as the bad. She would have cried for the loss of her husband but to her, her husband had been dead the second they said "I do".

A/N: such a sad chapter. I don't like Ron but its still sad…Anyway what I meant by the ending was that after they got married, Ron change so it was kind of like the old Ron died….So yea, hope you liked it. Next chapter should be out soon and will most likely be about how Hermione is a year or two after the funeral. Malfoy comes into the chapter soon so keep reading! Oh, and you guys are really lucky that I updated. I have so much summer assignments to finish and school starts next Tuesday….I better get reviews lol