A/N: I am so sorry, words cannot explain how sorry I am! Apologies for the short chapter, I have the next one already started and it should be up soon! I would just like to say to risiepookie: thank you so much for your review, it warmed my heart!
Enough of me blabbing, I hope you enjoy!
love xAx
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER!
For once in her life Hermione didn't know what to do. She had seen the change in Ron, they all had. It was clear that there was more to it than his grief for his brother. It physically pained her how he would shut her out and lock away what he was feeling. He had become like stone. Then there are the lies. The whole time she knew him he had never lied to her, he had a way of avoiding questions but he wouldn't and couldn't lie. She had felt rejected since returning from Australia, even though he had let her in his room, drawing him from his isolation, it was still like he wasn't there.
Hermione had be trying to fall asleep for hours, but it seemed her mind wasn't going to shut down until she worked out what was going on. She finally gave up waiting for sleep; she knew she had left some dreamless sleep potion up in Ron's room from the night before, so she made her way up to the attic.
His room was empty but this didn't startle Hermione, she presumed that he stayed in the kitchen to tend to his arm, or to finally eat something. She was half tempted to stay the night with him again, but something seemed to stop her, she had already kept Harry out of his bed for a night and somehow she didn't think Mrs Weasley would appreciate it becoming a habit. However her main reason for not wanting to stay was Ron himself; she, along with everyone had noticed the change in him, but they had all put it down to losing Fred and the events of their year searching for Horcruxes, but slowly she was beginning to doubt her thoughts. It had become clear when George had started to act like himself again and started to live his life that it occurred to Hermione that Ron's problem was more than grief. The fact remained that they had had a hard year, but even by now they were used to hard years, they had been having them since they were twelve and they always managed to bounce back after a few weeks.
Hermione noticed the potion she had brought up the night before wasn't where she left it, so she begun searching his draws with her mind still wondering.
She never doubted that she loved him, she had watched Harry and Ginny debating whether it was love or lust that carried their relationship but somehow she had always known, she loved him and he loved her. It had physically hurt her to see him in the state he was in; the way he was pulling away from her was like another stab to her heart.
Hermione felt like she had been searching forever until she found the potion, she had searched every draw he owned carefully, although not carefully enough, as she had managed to cut her finger on a blade left haphazardly loose in the bottom of the draw.
She hurried back to the room she shared with Ginny, scared of being caught sneaking around. With a quick spell to her finger to cease the bleeding, she drank what was left in the bottle, finally falling into a peaceful sleep.