Author's Note: Thanks for reading! In case anyone was wondering, this is a Hermione/Ron fic. Chapter 1 was set in 2000 and Chapter 2 brings us back to 1999. Each chapter will have a date so it's easier to follow as time passes. Please keep reading and reviewing-I really appreciate it!

Chapter 2

July 1999

Hermione let herself into her London flat for the first time, setting down Crookshank's cage at her feet as the cat mewed from within, wanting his freedom. It had been a week since she'd been released from the hospital for wizards, St. Mungos, being held for observation, questioning, and several attempts at recovery spells for an entire month. The one month felt like a lifetime and she was happy to finally have some room to breathe. Finally it was decided that the curse she had been hit with was so unique and so strong, that there was no immediate remedy or counter for it and that she should try to live her life as normally as possible. At first, her parents, already having been situated back in England for months after the spell Hermione had cast on them to erase her from their memory and send them to Australia to ensure their safety during the last wizard war that she was so heavily involved in had been lifted, had insisted that she take up her old bedroom and stay with them. She'd had offers from her best girlfriend's family to stay with them, as well as an offer to stay with Harry at Grimmauld Place. After careful consideration, however, she decided that being on her own was best. Besides, there was always time in the day for visits with friends, and they'd be sure to run into each other at work at the Ministry, right?

In actuality, this was her only option for a bit of sanity. So much had happened recently, it was like she and Harry were hunting for Horcruxes all over again. The emotions she was feeling, the aftereffects of the curse she had been attacked with, frustrated her more than she could make anyone understand. She stood in the middle of the disheveled living room and closed her eyes, trying desperately to remember what had happened but it was all a blur. A struggle, a flash of light, a scream, perhaps her own, and then darkness. The next clear thought was waking up in a hospital bed, Harry on one side and a stranger on the other, holding her hand. "You're awake! Thank Merlin you're awake!" the stranger exclaimed. "I was so worried," he spoke softly, almost intimately, to her as he reached forward to touch her cheek with his free hand.

She pulled her hand away and backed away from him rather sharply, looking to Harry, her best friend, for some sort of answer as to who this stranger was and why he was touching her. When Harry merely looked awkwardly back at her, she took matters into her own hands. "Who… who are you?" she croaked out, her throat dry from being unconscious for so long.

The stranger smiled playfully back at her. "Just woken up and already playing games. I have to admit, Hermione, it's not like you at all." He reached up to run his hand over her hair and she jerked away again in a panic. Harry rushed to her side now, trying to comfort his friend and take control of the situation, as he had grown accustomed to.

"Hermione, what's gotten into you, this is Ron. Your boyfriend. Ring any bells?" he chuckled, though his laugh was laced with nervousness.

"No, I don't," came her response after a pause, like a little girl who'd just awoken from a nightmare. She was clinging to Harry's arm for protection, the only thing familiar in the room at the moment.

"You're kidding right? Is this have a go at Ron day? Did I miss the owl?" came Ron's exasperated voice as he stood from his seat at Hermione's bedside. "Well it's not bloody funny anymore. I think we've all had enough scares in our lifetime to not play such games." A blush was creeping up into Ron's cheeks as he worked himself up into a tizzy.

"Ron, just go and fetch the doctor, would you?" Harry told his friend.

"But…"

"Just go," came Harry's raised voice as his calmness staggered.

Hermione had turned her face to hide it against Harry's arm, squeezing her eyes tightly shut and praying that this was just some horrible nightmare or the aftereffects of one too many butterbeers.

"Fine," Ron answered weakly, his eyes on Hermione as he backed out of the room, turning in the doorway before rushing down the hall.

"Hermione," Harry said softly, his hands moving to her arms to turn her towards him. "Tell me the truth, are you having a go or what?"

Hermione shook her head slowly as tears flooded her eyes, a few falling onto her cheeks as she looked up into Harry's face. "I… I have no idea who that man is," she sputtered.

Harry's brow creased and before he could stop it, questions were spilling from his lips, asking her to recall vital events in which Ron was a part of. Fighting a mountain troll in the girls loo their first year, their life-size version of wizard's chess, her first brew of Polyjuice Potion, her first trip to Hogsmeade, her reaction when Ron had dated Lavender Brown, their countless trips to the Burrow, their search for Horcruxes, how she and Ron had ventured back into the Chamber of Secrets to gather Basilisk fangs, their first kiss in the midst of the great battle. Hermione listened with fear in her eyes, recalling each event yet with the absence of this fellow called Ron. Not only was he not part of her memories as an active participant, but as far as she was concerned, he'd never been at Hogwarts with them for the six years they attended. Her memories were so fuzzy, it was making her dizzy and the doctor needn't force her to lay back down when he rushed in to examine her. Ron lingered back in the doorway, only tearing his eyes from Hermione to look at his best mate. Harry shook his head slowly, confirming Ron's fears that she hadn't been fooling around and that whatever curse she was under had made her completely forget him.

Hermione shook her head violently, bringing herself back to the present. Crookshanks mewed violently from his cage, wanting to get out and explore. Hermione bent down to do so and then looked at the boxes containing her possessions and went to work on putting things in their place. She had agreed to meet Harry and Ginny for dinner that evening but wanted to get things unpacked before she needed to begin getting ready. Closing the shades as to block the view into the room from the streets of muggle London outside, she went to work with her wand, moving things about the room and magically setting them in their place. Within a few minutes, she had all of her books put away on a bookshelf, not an easy task to complete, even with a wand, and all of her clothes were neatly folded in drawers or hanging in the closet. Her new bed was made, the sheets crisply folded, and a few posters and paintings fixed to the walls. She'd attempt to tidy the kitchen later that night if she wasn't too tired after dinner.

Checking her watch, she went about getting ready and was soon waiting outside of their selected restaurant. Early, as usual. She bided her time people watching when she spotted Harry and Ginny turn from an alleyway they no doubt apparated into. A smile crossed her face as they walked towards her and she raised an eyebrow at a figure trailing behind them. Were they being followed?

When Harry and Ginny spotted her, their faces brightened and they greeted her with warm hugs and words of welcome. The stranger who had been following them seemed to not be following them at all, but accompanying them. "Hello," Hermione greeted him, extending her hand for a polite handshake. "And you might be?" As her eyes met the strangers, she could have sworn she had seen him somewhere before. Her mind got a bit fuzzy and the feeling of remembrance passed rather quickly as soon as she looked away.

The strangers eyes seemed to suddenly fill with sadness as he took her hand in his and shook it, holding her gaze for as long as she'd allow. "Ron. Ginny's brother."

Hermione's eyes widened as she looked at Ginny, her longtime friend. She knew she had many brothers but she couldn't for the life of her recall a 'Ron.' Her eyes floated again to Harry who gave her a sympathetic look. He took a step closer, shielding her like a protective brother from the throng of people passing on the London street. "Draco's curse, remember?" he whispered and she was suddenly filled with the knowledge that this was the person whom the curse made her completely forget. This news was an everyday occurrence during her stay at St. Mungos. It had been so difficult at first to be hit with such news, usually as soon as she woke up. The repetition just made her more and more angry as the days passed. She had eventually asked Harry to stop letting Ron come visit and after her request, his appearances were few and far between.

"Right. I… I'm sorry," she stammered, that anger within her rising slightly for not even recognizing his face. Ron didn't say a word, just moved his gaze to his feet and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"We know you don't remember, but he missed you and wanted to see you, so we invited him along," Ginny told her soothingly. "He just wanted to see you."

"It's ok, really," Hermione ensured them, looking back at Ginny's brother and trying, really trying, to at least remember his name, but even that was lost on her for the moment. She hated this feeling of not knowing, hadn't he just said his name a few moments earlier? She usually knew everything, literally, and to forget someone's name which had just been told to her made her extremely uncomfortable.

"Let's just go eat, yeah?" Harry tried to break the uncomfortable silence that fell over them and lead them in the front door. "I bet Ron's starving."

"Famished," Ron muttered, bringing up the rear as they entered the dining establishment.