CHAPTER 8:Realisations / Hogwarts Express

"Ron," said Hermione quietly, as they made their way up to the Gryffindor common room after the feast had ended, "you know that I have nowhere to go either."

Wordlessly, they stepped through the door (the Fat Lady was asleep, several champagne glasses rolling at her feet, and had left the opening ajar) and into a mercifully empty room. The lonely fire was crackling in unison with the wind screaming in the chimneys overhead. Hermione sat on the edge of the couch. Ron sat beside her, but they didn't speak for a few moments.

"Did your mum – did she tell you when Fred's funeral was?" said Hermione, desperate for something to say. Lately there had been more moments like this; where the two sat and didn't quite know what to say to each other. They either ended up kissing, or fighting, or sometimes both. They were crazy about each other, but this relationship thing was unfamiliar territory for both and neither had the instruction manual to cope with it.

"No," said Ron.

"Oh. I thought she would've had one by now."

"Everyone's still whooping about…er…You-Know-Who. I think she wants to wait til everybody's calmed down a bit."

"I see."

Ron stared down at his hands. At that moment, it felt as though the Dementors had closed in on Hogwarts again. Every good feeling he had had, even those about Hermione, were being sucked from him at rapid speed. He felt cold, and shaky, and yet he knew those foul creatures from Azkaban were nowhere close; they had been banished back to the wizard prison.

"I miss him," Ron said suddenly; so suddenly, in fact, he hadn't even expected himself to speak the words aloud. One moment they were inside his head; the next, they had been verbalised.

Hermione patted his shoulder awkwardly. "I know, Ron," she said. "We all miss him."

Ron shook his head. "I miss him. He was my brother. He – he –"

Suddenly, Hermione felt his shoulder heave beneath her touch as he began to sob. "He was my brother, Hermione! He was Fred! He wasn't supposed to die! Not like that! He wasn't supposed to die!"

Hermione held his face in her hands and wiped his few tears with her thumbs. "He didn't die in pain," she said. "He died laughing. He died fighting, which is what he wanted. We all wish he were here, but thank God he was still Fred when he left us."

Ron fell into Hermione's arms. He felt ridiculous for crying, and he didn't know whether his tears were a sole result of his grief or a combination of grief and utter humiliation. After several minutes, he sat up straight and wiped his tears away. "Sorry for that," he mumbled. "You shouldn't've seen me cry like that. Such a baby – so stupid –"

"You're allowed to cry," she said. "You've lost your brother. I don't mind."

"Y'know," he said, looking at her, "I really do love you, Hermione."

Hermione smiled. She didn't say anything.

"So," he said, determined to distract himself of the fact that he'd just poured his heart out to a girl, let alone his own girlfriend, "you have nowhere to go."

"No," she said. "Mum and Dad are in Australia, remember, under the impression they never even had a daughter."

"Oh, yeah," he said. "Well, aren't you…I dunno…going over there to undo it?"

She shook her head. "I can't, yet," she said. "Apparating between Hemispheres is too hard for amateur witches like me –" Ron snorted; Hermione chose to ignore him and barrelled on. "There's a whole of training and study to be done. I have to order some special books from the Ministry to study the theory. Professor McGonagall offered to teach me when we come back to Hogwarts next year."

"You're coming back next year?" he said, genuinely stunned.

"Well, of course," she said loftily. "Why wouldn't I? I need to get my N.E.W.Ts. I can't do any other study without them. And in case you hadn't forgotten, we missed this year!"

"But – but – everything's changed!" Ron spluttered. "Dumbledore's gone, Fred's gone, even ruddy Snape's gone! Nothing'll be the same. I don't know if I can be bothered."

"Well, maybe you can't, but I can," she said angrily. "I'm coming back, whether you are or not." She paused. "Remember, if you don't come back, you won't see me for an entire year! Who knows what could happen in that time!"

A feeling of something like panic gripped Ron at her words. She was right, he thought, lots of things could change. She might find somebody else instead. There might be a new student at school who scrapes her off her feet. He couldn't have that. There was no way he could let that happen. He had to go back, just to make they could stay together.

"Well…erm…you don't have anywhere to go, do you? So…erm…you could come and stay with us…if you wanted to, that is. And I s'pose…if it really means that much to you…if I really have to…I'll come back with you next year."

Hermione let out a squeal of delight and threw her arms around Ron, showering him in kisses. Stunned, he responded with fervour and they collapsed on top of each other, kissing madly, oblivious to the giggles from the paintings around the room.

Later that evening, Harry and Ginny walked into the common room, hand in hand. They stared curiously at the sight of Ron resting lazily against the edge of the couch, Hermione asleep, curled up with her head resting in his lap. He had a silly grin on his face as he gazed down at her, occasionally stroking her hair.

"Nice work, Ron," said Harry.

"Yeah, well," said Ron smugly. "Don't be jealous. I just have a way with women."

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The morning of departure from Hogwarts came far too quickly for the students' – and professors' – tastes.

Hagrid was busy sobbing into his handkerchief as Ron, Hermione and Harry sat in his kitchen, eating rock cakes.

"I'm going ter miss you three," he bawled, blowing his nose so loudly it made Hermione jump. "And yer only just sorted out Vol-Voldemort an' all."

"We'll be back next year," said Hermione quickly. "You can come and visit us any time you like. We'll all be in the same place, after all."

Hagrid stopped crying long enough to stare at them. "What'd yer mean, all in one place? Aren't yer going back home, Hermione?"

She shook her head. "I don't have a home now," she said.

"Oh well, now, that's a shame," he said. He turned to Ron and said, rather sharply, "You take care o' her, all right, Ron? If yer don't you'll be hearin' from me! Yer know what I did to Harry's cousin an' all!"

Ron nodded obediently. "Yes, Hagrid, sir."

"Jus' between you an' me," said Hagrid, leaning in, "I'll be teachin' again, properly this time, next year."

"Oh, Hagrid, that's wonderful!" cried Hermione, throwing her arms around him. "I'm so pleased!"

"Are yer really? Well that…that really means somethin', yer know," said Hagrid, and with that, he let out another great howl.

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Neville trailed behind Ron as he dragged his suitcase toward the Hogwarts Express, trying madly to keep up.

"Ron," he panted, "I need some advice."

"What?" said Ron. He threw his suitcase into the baggage compartment, somewhat irritated that Harry and Hermione had gone on ahead without him.

"Well – I – uh…like this girl," he said. "She's really lovely, and…well…I want to ask her to…um…go out with me, but I dunno how. But you seem to know what you're doing…with Hermione and all that. What do I do?"

Ron shrugged. "I dunno. Just…be yourself. One day, whoever it is, will wake up and look at you and fall madly in love with you and realise that she wants you."

Neville looked puzzled. "But…that could happen with anyone!" He looked around nervously. "How did you do it with Hermione?"

"It just…sort of…happened. One minute we weren't really speaking and the next minute she kissed me. I dunno, it was like an accident. Make an accident happen. Or pretend you're mad with her. Or something like that."

"Oh." Neville sighed. "How do you really feel about Hermione?"

Ron looked sheepish. "I'm crazy about her," he said. "Always have been, really."

"Have you told her you love her?" asked Neville.

"Yeah," said Ron.

"And did she say it back?"

"Yeah."

Neville sighed and deliberately banged his head against the side of the train. "I wish that would happen with me and –"

Suddenly, the train began to move.

"Quick, Neville! Get on the train!" shouted a girl from the next carriage over. Neville flushed a violent shade of scarlet and scrambled on board the train, followed by Ron.

Ron stared down the passageway at the girl standing in the doorway, furiously beckoning for Neville.

"Bloody hell," he said to himself.

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Hermione had been busy reading Hemispherical Apparition and Other Cross-Contintental Wizardry, a well-thumbed copy she'd managed to borrow from Professor McGonagall, until she excused herself from their compartment to buy some snacks.

"Looks like Neville's got himself a girlfriend," said Ron, grinning, to Harry and Ginny.

"Who's that?"

"Oh, I don't know if I'm going to tell you that…"

"Ronald Weasley!" shouted Hermione furiously, from the doorway. She'd just reappeared, an arm full of Chocolate Frogs. Her face resembled thunder. She threw herself into the seat opposite Ron, fuming.

Ron rolled his eyes in Harry's direction. "Girls. Why do we bother?"

"Don't you be like that. I'm not speaking to you now!"

"What'd I do?"

"You know. You told Neville about – about-" Her voice trailed off as she realised that Harry's interest in their conversation had been raised.

"About what?" he asked.

"Nothing," said Hermione, her cheeks flushing. "And no," she added, glaring at the amused expression on Harry's face, "it's not that!"

The next minute, Ron had launched himself onto the seat next to Hermione, wrapped his arm around her neck, dipped her and kissed her hard. He surfaced a few minutes later, now just as red-cheeked as Hermione, with a silly grin on his face.

"There," he said to Harry, settling back into the seat opposite his girlfriend, "that'll shut her up for awhile."

Hermione stood and whacked Ron across the head with her book.