Dead and Gone

During the war, Hermione went M.I.A. Everyone thought she was dead and after a few years, everyone moved on. Including Ron. But what happens when she resurfaces, seemingly unharmed?

Chapter Six: Placing The Blame

Hermione starred at the three of them, tears in her eyes. Shaking, she set her glass of fire whiskey down. She shook her head, the tears falling from her eyes. "That's not true. You have no idea what I went through, Luna…"

Luna shook her head, a dazed smile still sitting on her lips. "Don't try the pity act, Hermione. I can see right through you. You're empty inside. Those tears…they're not real."

Hermione's head fell, her hair covering her face. Sniffing, she looked up, her look of sorrow twisted into a dark seriousness. She gave a soft chuckle as she wiped the tears from her eyes. She smirked at Luna. "You're good." She said, and finished off what was in her glass, then refilled it and took a sip. "You're really good." Her smiled vanished and her eyes darkened. "To bad I'm better."

With one wave of her hand, Luna, Harry and George were sent backwards into a wall. The instantly reached for their wands but found that they were gone. They looked up at Hermione, who was holding them in her hand. She dropped them in the sink behind her and with another wave of her hand, the three of them were pinned against the wall. Walking towards them, she looked at George.

"You couldn't just leave me alone, could you?"

"What are you talking about? All I did was give you a place to stay."

"No..no, George, you didn't." she said, her jaw tightening. "I told you I was fine. That there was nothing wrong with me. But that wasn't good enough for you, was it? No. You just HAD to know what was going on. So what do you do? You bring some bloody empath here. Did you really think I would take this well?" She asked, stepping closer, pulling out her wand and pressing the tip against his chest.

"It wasn't George's idea!" Hermione's eyes drifted over to Harry. "It was mine."

Hermione scoffed. "Of course it was. The boy who lived." Hermione tilted her head to the side. "You always have to be the hero, don't you? Always gotta try and save the day." Her voice was lined with venom as she mocked him.

Harry's eyes were hard. "What happened to you Hermione?"

Hermione slammed her fist against the wall beside his head. "What happened to me? What happened to me?" Hermione spat, her faces just centimeters from Harry's. "I was in Hell, Harry. You have no idea what that does to someone." She said, her voice slow and calm and Harry found himself the multiple times Snape had threatened him.

"Now that's not really our fault, now is it Hermione?" Harry mentally slapped himself.

As soon as the words had exited his mouth, Hermione brought her fist across his jaw. When he looked back at her, if someone had asked him, he wouldn't have been able to even describe the amount of fear and worry he felt when he looked into her eyes. Luna had been right. She was completely empty. And broken. And he knew right then and there that the Hermione he knew was gone. Maybe not for good, but at the moment, there was no hope of her showing.

"No, I guess it isn't. Won't stop me from blaming you though." she said, a small smirk forming on her face.

Harry's eyes wandered past her and focused on a pair of red heads that had just appeared in the living room. He had to keep her distracted until they were ready.

"If it isn't my fault, why are you still going to blame me? It was your choice to sell your soul, not mine."

If Harry hadn't known better, he could have sworn he saw hurt flood her face and her eyes seemed to soften. He could have swore it was the Hermione he knew. The pain was evident in her now soft, uncertain voice and what she said next felt like a knife in his heart. "You stopped looking. You just…stopped."

Hermione spun around as a floor board creaked and raised her wand, but it was too late. Ginny was faster. "Stupefy!"

"So she's been in hell?" Ron said, watching Hermione, who was now laying on Fred's old bed.

"Yeah. It did some serious damage to her." Harry said. "Emotional and physical." Harry added when Ron gave him a confused look.

Ron and Harry rejoined Ginny, George and Luna in the living room. The sat, scattered through the room for a few minutes before Ron spoke up. "Is this…is this our fault? Did we do this to her?"

Luna shook her head. "No. She was the one who chose to sell her soul. We didn't make her."

"What are we gonna do?" Ginny asked, starring into the fire with watery eyes.

Harry shook his head. "I don't know. But one things for sure," Harry looked down the hall to Fred's closed door. "that isn't Hermione in there."

Ron looked at Harry. "If it isn't Hermione, then who is it?"

Harry shook his head again. "I'm not sure, but the Hermione we know is gone."

George, who was standing beside the fireplace, his elbow on the mantel and a drink in his hand hadn't said anything and Ginny looked at him, worried for her brother. He starred at the floor, his hair hiding his eyes. He swallowed the lump in his throat and shook the fire whiskey around in his glass.

"George?"

"We need to save her." He mumbled.

Luna looked at him. "There's a chance she can't be saved, George."

Everyone stood in silence, letting the reality that Hermione may not be coming back, sink in. They jumped and Luna and Ginny let out small yelps when George threw his glass of fire whiskey against the wall.

"George…" Ginny started, but George ignored her.

His fists tightened at his sides at he watched the amber liquid run down the wall. Ginny tried again, but George threw everything off of the mantel, sending the contents at the same wall that was now stained with alcohol. Deciding to keep her mouth shut this time, she watched as George grabbed his cloak and wand and walked out of the flat, slamming the door closed behind him.

"I need to save her, Fred." George whispered as he starred at the polished stone. "I promised her I would take care of her…I can't let her down again." He said, remembering the night before the final battle.

"George?"

George looked up from the fire to see Hermione standing in the door way. "What are you doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep." She said and sat down in one of the arm chairs. George nodded. "I'm scarred." She said a few moments later.

George looked over at her. Her eyes were red, telling him that she had been crying. She seemed to be shaking, even in the warmth of the fire and she had a look of sorrow and fear that he had never seen on her before. The sight of her made his heart ache. Standing up, George walked over to her and sat on the arm of her chair and pulled her into a hug. Shaking, Hermione wrapped her arms around his torso and buried her face in his chest.

"I don't want to die, George…"

George tightened his arms around her. "You're not going to. You're strong. You're smart." Hermione shook as she let out a sob. "You're a fighter, Hermione. A lot of people are going to die, but you're not going to be one of them."

"You don't know that."

"Yes I do. Look at me." He pushed her away slightly, gripping her by her shoulders. "You're not going to die. I'll make sure of that."

Hermione shook her head. "I can't ask you to take care of me, George."

"You didn't. Okay? You didn't have to. I…I was going to do this after the war. You know incase something did happen. Knowing now would just make it harder."

"George what are you talking about?"

George licked his lips. "I love you, Hermione."

Hermione smiled. "Well, I love you too, George."

George stood up and ran a hand through his hair. "No. Not like that." George turned and fell to his knees in front of her. "I'm IN love with you, Hermione. I have been since your 5th year. And I swear, Hermione, I'm going to take care of you. Whether you love me back or not. No matter what…"

George opened his eyes and pulled his cloak around him tighter. Sniffing, he failed to keep the tears from falling. Taking a deep breath, he hoped that the others were gone, and apperated back to his flat. He had to save her.