Dear readers, sorry for the very long wait, I'm going to blame it on too much work and writer's block. I hope you forgive me anyway as we're getting very close to what you've all been waiting for.

As always, best wishes and happy reading,

Raindrop

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Hermione!' A shrill and excited voice broke their moment of admission, both looking towards the source of the interruption but neither getting up from their current position, they met with the sight of Mrs Weasley rushing out of the kitchen towards them. As she got within five meters of them she stopped, catching her breath.

'Hermione dear, it's your parents. They've been found.'

The shock and amazement that Hermione felt could not be put into words, so many things were happening to her, Ron was about to set their relationship straight and her parents had been found. All she found herself doing was sitting there in silence, staring open mouthed at Mrs Weasley.

Realising that Hermione was in a slight state of shock, Mrs Weasley continued on, 'you can go home and see them whenever you're ready dear.' With that she turned on her heels and headed back towards the house leaving Ron and Hermione alone together again.

Hermione turned slowly back to look down at Ron who was still lying in her shadow on the soft grass, he looked up at her and for a moment both could have sworn they saw a glimmer of hope in each other's eyes, the realisation that they were no longer classed as siblings. There was nothing creating an awkward gap between them, no reason to pretend.

'I'm a Granger,' was all that Hermione could think to say, she needed to hear it said out loud in order to believe it to be true. Now there it was, a spoken fact that neither of them could ignore.

'So you are,' Ron replied, confirming that he understood completely. If he hadn't realised their new situation before, Hermione thought, he most certainly did now.

'We're not related any more.'

'Looks like it.'

'Oh,' she stated, a tone of dissatisfaction in her voice. It had finally sunk in about what this change meant, she wasn't just going through a change of relationship with Ron, she was being separated from the one family she felt most at home with. She was losing brothers and a sister she had never had back home, she was losing the constant hustle and bustle of the Weasley home to a quiet and regimented structure.

'Are you disappointed?' Ron asked.

'A little, yes.'

Ron's heart sank, maybe she really did want to just be brother and sister, the way it had always been between them. Ron the brotherly figure who did everything in Hermione's best interests to keep her safe and protected, had he played this role so well that she wasn't aware that he did this because he cared about her? He thought about this point, maybe it was time to set her straight. After all, he couldn't keep up this pretence forever.

'Hermione,' he said, breaking the silence that had been growing between them. He wanted to be as passive with the point as possible yet he was struggling to keep the tone of disappointment and despair out of his voice, the optimism that had laced it earlier had now disappeared, 'what I said about my feelings, well, it's kind of about knowing your feelings as well…'

Hermione had picked up on his negative attitude the moment he had spoken the first few words, what he wanted to say hadn't been good news at all. She must have missed this tone of voice before, she thought; she had been under the illusion that it was going to be something that would make a positive change. Maybe that was never what it was supposed to be. 'About knowing your feelings as well,' also filled her with dread and confirmed her suspicions; he knew that she liked him and was about to say that she was gravely mistaken about their relationship.

She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. She couldn't bear to hear anymore, she was already losing a wonderful family; she didn't want to lose the illusion that things could work out between them some day. She took the forefinger of her left hand and pressed it gently against his lips, silencing him, 'no, don't continue. I can't deal with any more heartache right now.'

Ron merely looked bewildered as tears began to roll down her cheeks and she scurried to get away from him. Sitting up he watched as she ran back towards 'The Burrow' at an astonishing pace.

Heartache for who? He thought. Him? Did she know what he was going to say, has she known all along? Or was she afraid of getting her own heart broken? Did she think that he was intending on rejecting her?

So many questions were running through his mind, things he didn't understand and couldn't even begin to explain. Whatever the problem was, he needed to know. Making a split-second decision he jumped to his feet swiftly and followed Hermione's path back indoors. He reached the living room just in time to see her burst into flames as she stepped into the fireplace, muttering her home address and releasing the floo powder from her clenched fist.

At this sight Ron's shoulders slumped visibly and he threw himself into the nearest armchair. He was fully aware that there would be no other appropriate time to tell her; he'd missed his chance. There was the option of going after her but Ron seemed to have suddenly lost the ability to be courageous.

'What in the name of Merlin do you think you are doing, Ronald Weasley?' came a piercing screech from behind him, this was enough to make him jump almost three feet out of the chair. He knew that scolding voice and it was only seconds before his suspicions were confirmed as the figure of Ginny Weasley came into view followed by the twins and a rather despairing Harry.

'Go. After. Her!' she ordered, pointing towards the fireplace.

'I can't,' Ron moaned, 'it's too late.'

'It is not too late! We've really had enough of this, go after her and tell her your feelings!'

No one had quite realised how strongly Ginny had felt about this situation until just now and they were beginning to get slightly scared and wary of what she might resort to.

'Anyway,' Harry piped up, hoping to neutralise the situation slightly, 'she needs support, her parents are coming back and she has no idea what to expect.'

'I'm not exactly the supportive type, mate,' Ron muttered, he couldn't think of any good excuses and so resorted to what he thought were simple facts.

'Nonsense,' Ginny started up again before anybody else could get a word in, 'how many times have you comforted her over the past few months?'

'Nine,' George said before Ron even had time to open his mouth. This input into the conversation was met with bemused looks from everybody in the room, 'what?' he shrugged, 'I had nothing better to do; Fred was besotted with Hermione and completely useless in the workshop. I swear that boy has a one track mind at times.'

'In my defence, she's a very nice girl,' Fred interjected, raising his hands in protest.

This statement received a venomous stare from Ron, 'Shut up, I'm not talking to you,' he thought about this for a second, 'Actually I am, why did you kiss Hermione?'

'Thought I liked her.'

'"Thought"? "Liked"?' Harry questioned the past tense in his statement.

'Yeah, turned out I didn't like her as much as I believed.'

'When did you figure that out?' Harry folded his arms in amusement.

'Right after she slapped me.'

'Right,' Harry replied in mock understanding.

'Back to the point in hand please boys,' Ginny scolded, 'how many times have you almost kissed?'

'Two,' George decided to input again.

'Stop counting!' Ron snapped irritably, the fact that everybody was more knowledgeable about his apparently well-hidden feelings for Hermione was a bit too much to take in, especially in the form of a Spanish Inquisition.

'I agree George,' Ginny said, turning on her brother, 'shut up!' George in turn recoiled slightly, seeing the determined and murderous look in her eyes. She was small but highly dangerous, he had learnt that from previous experience.

'Thank you Ginny,' hoping that it was over Ron pushed himself out of the armchair to leave the room.

'Oh no,' his sister turned back to face him and pushed him forcibly back into the chair. He landed with a thud, losing his balance and sliding awkwardly down in the chair. There was a look of bewilderment crossing his face for the second time that afternoon as he stared upwards, meeting the gaze of four determined teenagers bearing down on him.

'I am nowhere near finished with you,' the youngest Weasley and only girl continued, flipping back her fiery ginger hair in annoyance, 'this is not over.' Then with another flick of her hair her tact seemed to change, gripping hold of Ron's arms firmly she pulled him upwards and turned her towards the fire, 'go now.'

'If you don't then I will,' Fred said, within seconds all eyes were on him. Despite what he had said earlier about not liking Hermione anymore, it was suddenly difficult to tell whether or not he was actually kidding. He was glad to have grabbed Ron's attention but he needed to try a bit harder, he thought.

After a few excruciatingly painful seconds Fred played his next card, with his left foot he swivelled towards the fireplace and took a step forwards with his right leg. This was enough to provoke a reaction, there were a series of confused gasps from his sister, twin and Harry whilst Ron went red and fury lit up in his startled blue eyes.

'Don't you dare!' he snarled, releasing himself from Ginny's grasp, she was still holding onto his wrists because she had been worried that he would try to wander off. Now she had no reason to worry as Ron was heading directly towards the fireplace, dropping the floo powder he burst into flames.

Once the last of the fire had disappeared Fred turned smoothly on his heels and bowed triumphantly to his two astonished siblings and a thoroughly impressed Harry, 'you may thank me now!' he stated as he regained full height.

'That,' Harry said in admiration, 'was very original. I think you managed the impossible.'

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Hermione stepped out of the fireplace and into her familiar but distant living room. This didn't feel right. Sure, give it a few days and it would be back to normal, but for the moment it didn't feel like home. Home was with the Weasleys, in a quaint but busy atmosphere with a buzz of magic about it. Home was where she had sisters, brothers; home was where Ron was. That was her real family, parents with magical abilities, older brothers, the sister she had always hoped for, and Ron. She wasn't sure if she could class Ron as family though, she kept pretending he was like a brother but she knew full well that he would always be something more to her.

She took a brave step into this now unfamiliar territory, placing her jacket on the arm of the sofa. She had left her belonging back with the Weasleys; she had needed to get out as quickly as possible especially after what had just happened. She brushed away the remaining forgotten tears from her cheeks. He had known, for how long she didn't know but she was sure that he had known. She thought she had kept her feelings so well hidden from him yet there he had been, saying that it concerned her feelings as well as his own. She had always told herself that it was obvious he didn't feel that way about her.

That was why she had needed to get out, she had wanted to postpone Ron's decline of her feelings for as long as possible and if there was one thing Hermione knew for sure was that Ron was not the kind of person to follow her.

Again she looked out at the room with her back to the fire, a few more tears escaped from the corners of her eyes, she felt so alone. She was beginning to wish she had waited for Ginny. She hadn't seen her parents for so long, she had no idea what state they would be in or whether they would even remember her. Maybe she should go back, she thought, find Ginny.

There was warmth on her back as the floo network connected to her fireplace; it was too late to go back now. They were back.

Then it hit her, her parents were back. Finally, after weeks of waiting and worrying they were back. Suddenly she didn't care about anything, how they would look or what they would remember, they were her parents and she loved them. A glow of happiness filled her and she spun round swiftly on her heels.

'You're back!' then she stopped abruptly, dumbfounded. For the first time in her life she was speechless, even beginning to doubt her flawless knowledge. This was something she had never believed could happen, and bearing in mind she had been through a lot over the last six years.

'You!'

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I promise that is the last cliffhanger I will give you for this part of the story.

More to come soon.