Disclaimer: J. K. Rowling... nothing else to say.

And then I will do to you what I plan to do to them. (Numbers 33:56)

It was like the summer after seventh year all over again. Except, usually, there'd be two lazy boys in the two beds snoring and she'd be screaming at them to wake up.

Now that you've gotten over the shock, you had better stay where you are, came a familiar drawl that brought Hermione crashing back to reality. She looked around then noticed that the red letter was still intact. Her breathing began to shorten as she continued to look around.

She was at the Burrow…

She could hear footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Ron!" she gasped, scrambling off her feet and heading for the door. Everything was coming back to her. The past few days. The past seven years. Her whole life!

You make one more move to contact anyone and Aphrodite will die, came the voice again.

Hermione froze, her eyes wide. She remembered… Aphrodite…

I've anticipated your moves you worthless mudblood, so I suggest you do what I say before I kill the girl, the letter growled dangerously.

Hermione turned around and watched the letter in fear.

That's right. Now there should be a second owl about now. I suggest you follow the directions correctly or trust me. I will find out if you've followed them, the letter threatened before tearing itself up.

"Hermione!" came Ron's voice from the other side of the door.

Hermione's heart was racing and her chest was heaving. She was so close… so close to the freedom she had deserved. She remembered everything. She was finally back and now… She felt her heart wrench at the though of Ron on the other side of the door. But she knew Draco. That owl hadn't stayed in the room for no reason. She was being watched and she knew if she spoke to Ron, she'd kill her daughter.

"Hermione, are you ok? I heard voices in there," he called.

Hermione closed her eyes, trying to stop the tears as she gulped. "I…" she coughed, her voice extremely dry. "I'm fine. Just fell out of bed, that's all," she lied, hating herself more than ever. He was right there!

"Do you need anything?"

"Just go away!" she said, knowing if she sounded agitated enough, he'd go.

"You sure?"

"Just go, Ron!" she shouted. There was a moments pause then she heard him descend the stairs. She waited for a moment then scrambled over to the window, opening it again and grabbing the irate bird flapping around in the snow. She took the letter from the bird, letting it rest on the bed. Tearing open the letter she read it carefully, tears flowing down her cheeks as she read.

She was finally home…

"Harry dear," Molly said, flipping the pancakes.

Harry looked up from helping Timothy with his food. "Yes, mum?" he asked.

"Why don't you and Ron go and check on Hermione. She's been up there all morning and I'd hate to have her starving," Molly said in a concerned voice.

Ginny couldn't help but snicker as she sipped her tea. Ron jumped out of his chair, whereas Harry seemed to take his time, not to happy to depart from his eggs and sausages.

"Can I go too?" Lorel asked. She had loved the little chat she and Lisa had had earlier and really wanted to see how she was doing.

Ron smiled and nodded, heading up the stairs with Lorel in the lead and Harry lagging in the back, chewing on a pancake he had purloined from Molly. Lorel knocked on the door just when it opened and Lisa, along with a very upset Athena and Artemis. She was holding her suitcase. Ron's heart caught in his throat and Harry suddenly looked more alert. Lorel was the only one who didn't seem to understand at first what was happening.

"Where you going?" she asked curiously.

Lisa's face was tearstained and her eyes were red and puffy as if she had been crying all night. Athena was about to say something when Lisa grabbed her arm, shooting her a very nasty look. Athena backed down, shrinking over to her sister, who had also been crying. Lisa didn't seem to want to meet Ron's gaze, nor Harry's.

"What's going on?" Ron asked, praying to hear something different that what his heart was telling him.

Lisa continued to keep her head down. "Athena, Artemis. Go down and wait for me. And don't say a word," she told them. Artemis broke out into tears and Athena led her down the stairs, lips sealed.

Lorel reached out to touch Lisa. "Mum?"

Lisa's eyes shot up, wide. Her eyes began to fill again as they flickered with something Ron almost recognized. She bit her lip then looked back down, wiping at her eyes. "I'm so sorry," she whispered before she moved to go down the stairs. Harry, however, stopped her, grabbing her arm.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked.

Still, she wouldn't look into their eyes, tugging at her arm. "Please… don't make this harder than it has to be," she murmured.

"Hermione, what's going on?" Ron asked in a hushed whisper.

Lisa was about to say something then stopped herself, biting her lip. She cleared her throat and stood straighter. "I… I'm leaving…"

Just like that fateful night seven years ago, Ron's heart stopped. He just stared at her, his heart twisting painfully and then ripping. He reached out to take her hand.

"Hermione," he whispered.

Lisa closed her eyes, pulling away and shaking her head. "No… no…"

"Hermione," he pleaded.

"No," she whispered.

"Hermione, please," he implored.

"NO!" she screamed, turning to face him, eyes blazing. "My name is Lisa Blakes! Hermione Granger died seven years ago! I… I can't stay here any more. I want to go back to New York where it's safe!" she screamed.

"Hermione, please! Don't do this," Ron begged, taking her arm.

Tears suddenly started flowing from Lisa's eyes as she wrenched her arm out of his grasp. "I'm not HERMIONE!" she screamed, dashing off down the stairs with her suitcase.

For a moment Ron stood there, and then before Lorel or Harry could say anything, he took off after her.

"LISA!" he screamed. Lorel and Harry ran down the stairs to see Lisa herding the two kids towards the door. The Weasley's were all trying to stop her but she was ignoring them. Ron shoved past everyone and grabbed Lisa by the waist, spinning her around and placing a hand on the back of her head. He pulled her to him, their lips meeting in a heated exchange. Hermione started sobbing, but not for the reason Ron thought. She wanted so much to stay like this in his arms. She wanted to get lost in him like she used to. But the image of the baby girl she had lost seven years ago came so vivid in her mind that she had to pull herself away. She grabbed Ron's hand on her waist and pulled it away before pulling herself away from him, shaking her head.

"I'm leaving and that's the end of it," she told them. "Brandy?" she said. Brandy hesitated for a moment then followed her as she walked towards the door.

"Lisa. Lisa please!" Ginny screamed, following her out the door into the freezing cold. "Lisa wait!" she insisted, grabbing Hermione's arm.

"What?!" Hermione snapped, turning around.

Ginny hesitated for a moment, then let go. "Why are you doing this?" she asked.

Hermione shook her head and turned away; helping the girls into the taxi that was waiting for them. "It's too dangerous," she whispered before getting into the taxi. Ginny stood there, ignoring the wind and snow as she watched the taxi drive away.

Brandy tried to comfort the two children in the back of the cab as Hermione sat quietly in front, trying to stop crying.

"So we're just going back to New York?" she asked critically.

Hermione closed her eyes. "We're not going back to New York," she whispered, turning to the driver. "Are we?" she asked pointedly.

The driver smiled and took off her cap, shaking her head as her long black hair fell back down. She turned to Hermione.

"No, we're not," Pansy Parkinson answered.

Inside of the Burrow, all eyes were cast warily on Ron's form. He had not moved since Hermione had left. He then looked down at his curled fist and opened his hand, revealing the chain Hermione had had on her neck. The ring in his palm glistened in the light.

Hermione had put it in his hand when she had removed his hand from her waist. Memories of old surfaced as he tried to think of what it meant. Of why she had given it to him.

"Ron," George whispered, concerned for his little brother.

Ron looked up at them all, his fingers curling around the object in his hand.

"Hermione's in trouble."

A/N: DUN DUN DUN! HERMIONE'S BACK! WHAT WILL HAPPEN NOW?!

PS: I am so gracious. I gave you both chapters at once so you wouldn't have to squirm with anticipation. Now I'm going to make you suffer in your own imaginations. Which makes me feel wonderful, by the way... I take joy in other peoples pleasurable sufferings... in case you haven't noticed...