Six months had passed since Harry had arrived on Hermione's doorstep with his horrible news.

Being eternally famous, Harry had many connections. The Ministry had been searching for Ron, and the law stated that after a year, if he was not discovered dead or alive, he would be pronounced legally dead. But Harry had persuaded the Ministry to extend the search time, and of course, they listened to him, with Harry being "the Chosen One". Plus, both Ron and Hermione had become somewhat famous as the sidekicks of Harry Potter, since Voldemort's vanquish.

The search was still active a week after Ron was supposed to return home, two years after he had left. At this time, Hermione was home alone, while Rose and Hugo were at the Burrow for the weekend.

Hermione sat on the sofa, flipping through a photo album from her Hogwarts days, and thinking of Ron. She still missed him every hour of every day, but she never gave up hope that he would come back.

Hermione cooked herself dinner, cleaned up after, and stood at the sink as she watched the sun set.

She was so focused on the sun and her thoughts that she jumped about a foot when she heard the front door open and close quietly.

She gripped her wand and crept to the front hallway, being careful not to make a sound, in case she had to attack the intruder.

She peeked around the corner and saw a tall, ragged-looking man in grimy robes looking around, his back to her.

"Stop."

When he turned around, she had stepped out from behind the shadows and pointed her wand at him from three feet away.

But as she looked more closely, she realized there was something oddly familiar about this man…he looked like he had recently escaped from being imprisoned, but she recognized those blue eyes…

"Ron," she whispered, lowering her wand. She stared at him as if he was something extraordinary, and he grinned back at her, mouthing her name. Then, as if in a dream and not fully aware of what she was doing, she ran to him and practically jumped into his arms.

She kissed him more fiercely then she had ever done, desperately trying to put all the unsaid words she wanted to tell him into the one kiss. He responded just as fiercely, and they both left the real world to escape to their own private world that they loved.

When she got enough courage to allow him to place her feet back on the ground, she looked into his eyes, and saw two years of Ron's life that she had missed.

"Where have you been?" she asked, almost angrily, tears welling in her eyes, but her hands never left his face. "Harry came home six months ago and told me you had gone missing…everyone in the wizarding world have been searching –"

Ron cut her off by his famous way of kissing her when she was talking too much. "You need to calm down, Hermione. I was taken by the Death Eaters, they kept me imprisoned just to torture me, and I escaped, let's just leave it at that."

"But –"

"I don't want to talk about it right now. I just want to look at you." Ron's eyes took in every feature of her face, making her blush. "You haven't changed too much. You're so beautiful, Hermione."

She loved it when he said her name, and she had sorely missed hearing it. She stared back at Ron and realized how much he had changed. His red hair was longer and untidy from being imprisoned for so long. He looked thinner, like he had been starved, and his blue eyes had dark shadows underneath, as if he hadn't slept in a while.

Another rush of emotions passed over Hermione, and she gripped his body against hers again. "I missed you so much," she said against his robes as she listened to his heart beat rapidly.

"And I you," Ron said, returning her embrace just as tightly. "I love you so much. I promise I'll never leave you for that long again, Hermione."

Hermione smiled against him and looked sternly up at him. She could tell through his eyes that he was dead serious. "You better not. I'm never allowing you to leave again." She squeezed his torso to her own and breathed him in, allowing her hands to wrap around his shoulders from behind.

She stood there holding Ron for what felt like an eternity. Finally, she reluctantly left his embrace to grasp his hand, and they both Apparated to the Burrow to retrieve Rose and Hugo.