A/N: Thanks again to everyone reading - I hope you're enjoying the slightly more optimistic tone of the last couple chapters! As a reminder, if you like what you're reading, please leave feedback. Writers love hearing from their readers!

July 20, 1997

As soon as Ron woke up, he wasted no time getting changed and brushing his teeth. The previous day had felt like the start of a return to normalcy, and he was excited to spend more time with Hermione now that she seemed to be feeling more like herself. There were moments where the sadness peeked through, but she seemed to be doing much better overall, and Ron could only hope that he had at least a little to do with that.

After their conversation following lunch, they enjoyed the rest of the afternoon in the apple orchard. He and Hermione made a game of throwing apples that had fallen off the trees as far as they could and trying to catch them all while flying on Ron's broom. Keeper's reflexes never really dulled, so Ron was able to catch almost every apple with ease. When Hermione tried, on the other hand, she had a much more difficult time, although she did make a few catches, after each of which he made sure to give her a big hug. When the sun set, they headed back inside and, once they'd indulged in a jovial dinner with his family, they played Exploding Snap and Gobstones with Ginny, Fred, and George until it was time to go to sleep. For the first time since she'd arrived, Hermione seemed to go to bed happy.

When he reached the second-floor landing, the door to Ginny's room was once again cracked open again. Without even thinking, he gave a quick knock and pushed it open, not even bothering to wait for a response. His gaze fell on Hermione as soon as he walked in. She was sitting cross-legged on the camp bed looking through a photo album, dressed only in a tank top and pair of small pyjama shorts. Her eyes widened as soon as they caught sight of him. She cleared her throat and immediately reached for the blanket that was bunched up at her feet, trying to pull it over herself as soon as possible.

"One minute, please!" she said, her face turning bright red.

Ron closed his eyes as tight as he could and backed out of the room, pulling the door shut behind him. "Sorry!"

Fuck, who just walks in on someone first thing in the morning?

Shuffling sounds came from behind the door as he stood there mentally cursing himself and his impetuousness, until, several moments later, she finally called to him again.

"It's okay, you can come in now."

Re-entering the room, he avoided eye contact, staring out the window instead. "Erm, sorry about that. I guess we're all just used to barging in around here, but…I know that's not how most people's houses work."

"It's okay," Hermione replied, now wearing an oversized sweatshirt and a pair of joggers. "I should've closed the door after Ginny left."

"No, it's my fault, I still should've waited…anyway, sorry. Uhh, you're feeling okay this morning?"

"I am. I had a really good night's sleep for a change, so that helped."

"Good, good. Fancy some breakfast? I think I smell bacon."

Hermione chuckled and smiled at him. "Of course you do. I don't think there's anything that nose of yours is better at detecting."

"Oi! It's not my fault I happen to appreciate fine cuisine!"

"In your mother's hands, certainly," she said, still laughing. "Yes, I think I could do with some breakfast myself."

"Great, I'm starving, too. And I was thinking…maybe after breakfast…if she's in a good mood, that is…I don't know, perhaps we could…hmmm."

"Yes?" Hermione replied, her brow furrowing suspiciously. "Perhaps we could what?"

"Well, what we were talking about yesterday, about how we're probably going to be leaving once Harry gets here, it got me thinking. Mum doesn't know that we're not going back to Hogwarts yet, does she?" Ron asked, his chest tightening just thinking about it.

"Ah, I see."

"So, if Ginny doesn't goad me into a fight and Mum's in a good mood, do you think I should tell her?"

Hermione bit her lip, taking a deep breath and exhaling as she thought. "I suppose she has to find out eventually."

"Right. And, I don't know, I reckon I don't want to wait too long. I've been trying to tell her ever since I got back, but I haven't really…haven't been able to do it, especially knowing how much she'll probably scream at me."

"I'll stay with you," she offered. "I'll be there when you tell her. I don't think it'll make a big difference, but it can't hurt."

It was like a weight was lifted from his chest. Of course that would help. There was no way his mother would yell that much with Hermione sitting right there agreeing with him. Right? No matter how much his mother disliked the idea, Hermione was company, and she always said it was rude to fight in front of company.

"You really mean it?" he asked.

"Of course. We're all in this together, Ron. With everything your family is doing for me, I owe them the truth just as much as you do."

"Wow, thank you, Hermione. I can't tell you what a relief that is. Okay, we'll tell her after breakfast. Unless she's already cross about something."

"Good thinking," she replied with a giggle.

Together, they descended the staircase and emerged for breakfast right as Mrs Weasley was setting out another plate of bacon sandwiches.

"Oh, perfect," Ron said, not even waiting until he sat down before shoving half of a sandwich into his mouth.

"Manners, Ronald," his mother scolded, hurrying over to the refrigerator and removing the orange marmalade. "Hermione, dear, would you care for any toast and orange marmalade with your sandwich?"

"That sounds lovely, thank you, Mrs Weasley."

"Of course. Ron mentioned it was your favorite."

When Hermione snuck a peek at Ron, he turned away, hoping that she missed his blush.

The rest of the meal passed in silence as Mrs Weasley sat and ate a sandwich with them. As they got closer to being done, the hippogriffs started rampaging around in Ron's stomach, filling him with anxiety about what he needed to say next. The conditions were perfect; his mother seemed to be in a good mood, Hermione was right next to him, and nobody else was around. It couldn't be any more ideal. He glanced at Hermione, who gave him an encouraging nod.

"Erm, Mum, there's something I wanted to talk with you about."

"And what might that be?" Mrs Weasley answered, folding her hands in front of her on the table.

"Well, it's about next year. Next school year, I mean."

"Right, I suspect we'll be getting your letters any day now. I can't believe we only have two of you left at school. Time really does fly, doesn't it?"

"See, about that," he said, trying to keep his hands from shaking. "You know how…well, You Know Who is still out there, don't you reckon?"

Lines of confusion were etched onto Mrs Weasley's forehead as she tilted her head toward them. "I suppose so, but I don't see what that has to do with Hogwarts."

Sweat was starting to accumulate on his forehead, and his heart sped up to an unnaturally high rate. If it wasn't for Hermione's steadying hand on his arm, he knew he would've chickened out and dashed back upstairs. Her presence was the only thing allowing him to continue.

"I mean, it does and it doesn't."

"Ronald, what exactly are you on about? You're not making any sense!"

"Okay, here goes," he said, taking a deep breath. "Mum, Harry isn't going back to school this year. Dumbledore assigned him a mission before he died, a crucial mission to help take down You Know Who. Hermione and I are going to help him with the mission. We're not going back to school either."

For a moment, there was nothing but silence. They could've heard a feather quill drop in the kitchen, and everyone was as still as if they'd been hit with Petrificus Totalus. Over the next several moments, though, Mrs Weasley's face contorted into one of the angriest looks Ron had ever seen. Her cheeks were blazing red, her nostrils were flared, and her eyebrows had practically become one severe line. She stared back and forth between the two of them, her narrowed eyes piercing them, doing their best to puncture her son's resolve.

"Absolutely not," she said with a quiet fury.

"I–I'm sorry, Mum, but our mind is made up," Ron said, doing his best to keep his voice from cracking in fear.

"Mrs Weasley, you've been so kind to me," Hermione added. "I can only imagine what it's like for a parent to hear something like this. But I promise you that we wouldn't be doing this if it weren't of the utmost importance."

The matriarch of the Weasley family stood up, removing her apron and laying it delicately across the back of the chair. Ron knew it was simply the calm before the storm, so he braced himself as his mother set her gaze back on him and launched into her speech.

"Have the two of you lost your minds? You're barely of age! You're only seventeen years old! You haven't completed your education yet, and you want to simply abandon everything you've worked for to go on what sounds like an extremely dangerous and poorly planned mission? Do you honestly expect your father and me to accept that Dumbledore, head of the Order of the Phoenix, in all his wisdom, assigned these tasks to three seventh-year students? It's preposterous! You'll be going back to school, and that's the end of this discussion!"

"No, Mum, we won't," Ron said, standing up from his chair and towering over his mother. "This is something we have to do. I'm sorry if you feel that we're not ready, but we are. We have to be. This is our fight, and we plan to do whatever it takes to win this war."

"Ronald, the Order exists for that very purpose. When Harry arrives, we can all have a discussion together and they can help with whatever it is that Harry and Dumbledore talked about!"

"Mum, you're not hearing me! It has to be us! This is important to us; it's our future that we're fighting for. We can't just sit at Hogwarts and pretend to pay attention to bloody Herbology or something while everything is happening around us, can we?"

"Absolutely you can! That is exactly what you should be doing because you are schoolchildren!"

"No, we're not! Not anymore! We need to move on, we need to do our part!" he shot back.

Hermione lifted her head and squeezed Ron's hand as she tried to help make their case. "Mrs Weasley, I hate to say it, but Ron is right. I never thought I'd say this, but schoolwork just isn't important with everything else going on in the world. There's no way we'd be able to concentrate on anything besides what was happening on the outside even if we were at school. And it seems that we still have a role to play, and we intend to fulfill that role."

"Hermione, dear, you know you're always welcome here," Mrs Weasley said, wagging a finger at her houseguest. "But you're in the wrong here. This is a bad idea. It's not smart to refuse help from highly trained wizards, people who can handle these things! Just talk to the Order, I'm sure they can help!"

"I'm sorry, Mrs Weasley," Hermione said, bowing her head. "But they can't. Not this time. It has to be us."

They had done it. They had finally rendered Ron's mother speechless. Her eyes flicked back and forth between her son and the girl whose hand he was still gripping tightly, and she didn't say a word. The hard edge of her set jaw softened as she relaxed the muscles in her neck. Looking down at the floor, she nodded and started to walk towards the back door.

"I'm going to walk away, but don't think for one second that we're done discussing this," she said, stepping into her shoes and strolling out into the garden, pulling the door shut tightly behind her.

Ron and Hermione remained stuck to the spot on the kitchen floor. Their hands were still clasped together so tightly that the whites of both of their knuckles were showing. He could hear her breathing, quick and stressed, just like his.

"Are you alright?" she finally asked, still refusing to let go of him.

Biting his lip while he thought for a minute, Ron nodded. "I think so. It's what we expected, innit? Not like she was just going to be totally fine with our plan right away, don't you think?"

"You're right. Still nerve-racking, though."

"Sure was. I've never seen her that mad before, not even when she found out Fred and George dropped out of school or when Percy bollocksed up everything."

"Well," Hermione said as she sat down, pulling him into a chair next to her, "I suppose they weren't putting themselves in harm's way, though, were they? Not only are we not returning to Hogwarts, but we're walking into a dangerous situation. If I were a parent, it would be a hard thing to accept."

"Yeah, I reckon you're right."

For another moment, neither of them said a word. If her mind was drifting to the same place as his, he suspected she was also trying not to think about all of the horrible things that could potentially happen to them while they were searching for Horcruxes. Both of them had agreed to help Harry as soon as he'd asked, of course, but it didn't mean they were immune to considering the consequences. Being friends with Harry Potter had almost killed them several times before, and Ron felt sure that they were in for some tricky scraps again before everything was all said and done.

"Are you scared?" he asked. "You know, about the mission?"

Hermione's eyes widened, and she turned to gaze out the window as she nodded. "Look, we're going to be trying to take down the darkest wizard of our age by ourselves. I think we'd have to be completely mad not to be a little scared."

"Me too. You're…you're still coming, though, right?"

"Of course I'm coming!" she replied, snapping her eyes back onto his. "Ron, I'm not looking for a way out. I knew it would be dangerous and I still agreed. The entire wizarding world needs Harry, and he's going to need us."

"We've been with him through everything else, haven't we?"

"Exactly. Why stop now?" she said with a grin. "Why do you ask? Are you having…I don't know, second thoughts?"

"No!" Ron said, nearly jumping out of his seat. "Not at all! I'm with Harry no matter what!"

It seemed like a valiant thing to say, which only made him even more confused when Hermione started laughing.

"What's so funny?"

"Ron, calm down, I wasn't questioning your loyalty. As we said, it's a scary thought."

"Oh. Well, good. And you're right. But hey, at least we'll have each other," he answered.

Hermione's gaze locked back on him and held firm. As Ron looked back at her, the edges of his vision began to fray and darken until she was the only thing he could see. Her warm eyes had him entranced, and the feeling of her thumb running over the back of his hand calmed his nerves. Once they were out there on their own, he knew he would do anything for her, anything to protect her.

"Erm, right," she said, finally breaking eye contact and blushing. "Anyway, I'm proud of you for telling your mum. That couldn't have been easy."

"Thanks," he replied, sure in the knowledge that his cheeks were burning red as well. "And thanks for staying with me, it helped."

"Of course. We're all in this together."

"We'll go together, we'll make it back to our families together."

As soon as the words escaped his lips, tears started forming in the corners of Hermione's eyes again. Unlike the last several times he'd seen her crying, though, she didn't try to hide it from him. Instead, she dropped her hands to her sides and tilted forward, allowing Ron to catch her in his arms as her head landed softly on his chest.

"I'm sorry, Hermione, I didn't mean to…" he said, smoothing her hair against her back. He stopped himself, instead just holding her tight against him and allowing her the time she needed.

She shook her head against his body and sniffed, trying to recompose herself in his embrace. "No, it's not your fault. I'm sorry, it just…it hits me at strange times, often when I'm not expecting it."

"They'll be fine, I'm sure of it. You'll be able to set them right again."

"I just…I wish I had the same confidence in myself that you have in me."

"Course I have confidence in you. Everything you've set your mind to, you've done, haven't you?"

Her breath warmed his chest as she sighed, sitting back up straight and wiping her eyes. "I don't know. Maybe? Ugh, this is so much harder than I thought it would be, and we haven't even really started yet. Think about it; my family is only safe because they have no idea what's happening, and your mum knows what's happening and is furious with us because of it…it's just really setting in that we're in this by ourselves, all alone."

"No, not alone. With each other, right?" he replied.

"Right," she said, lifting her head and smiling at him. "With each other."

The tension hung in the air yet again, many unspoken words flowing through the several centimeters of air between them.

"Anyway," he said with a nervous chuckle, "let's try not to worry about it for now."

"You sound like you're talking about your homework," she answered.

Soon they were both laughing together. "Oi! I'm not that…well, yeah, you're right, actually."

"Of course I am!"

Ron stood up, rolled his shoulders, and cracked his neck, a wide grin still plastered across his face. "Seriously though, enough fretting, we'll have plenty of time for that later, won't we?"

"I suppose you're right," she replied, mirroring him by rising from her chair and drying her eyes one more time.

"It's a beautiful day outside, how about we try to enjoy it?"

Hermione beamed back at him and nodded. "That sounds lovely."

The realities of what was coming their way weren't lost on Ron, but he couldn't stand sitting around and anxiously waiting for the stress to set in. It just felt like compounding the misery, and it didn't feel like it served a purpose. Instead, for one of the first times in his life, he had truly free time to spend with the person he cared about more than anything, and he intended to take advantage of that. He did his best to keep that mantra in mind as the two of them stepped out the back door and wandered out towards the rolling hills of the Devon countryside.