AN: Thanks to everyone who stuck with the story! I'm glad you guys liked the last chapter. I'm hoping to include a lot more awkward relationship moments in the upcoming chapters because lets be honest relationships when you're 18 are super awkward.
Ron and Hermione dozed throughout the night, alternating nightmares and soothing words. Both of them were thankful when the sky began to lighten. Despite getting a total of two or three hours of sleep, it was the best either had slept since the battle.
"Should we go get some breakfast?" Ron asked.
Hermione shrugged. Honestly, she had no appetite and she was not looking forward to today. They were going to Colin Creevy's funeral service that morning. Fred's funeral was hard and she was sure the Lupin's funeral would be hard too, but they were all adults. Colin was just a kid. Even though he was only a year below them, he had always seemed so young. Hermione was fighting back tears already.
Ron wrapped an arm around her shoulder and hugged her briefly. Hermione was reminded of the one armed hugs she often received when she and Ron were just friends. It felt reassuring to know that no matter what happened Ron would always be her friend first and her boyfriend second.
Wait. Was Ron her boyfriend? Should she refer to him as that? Hermione's mind began to spin. Maybe she should think of him as something else until it was official. Lover? She cringed at the word. Absolutely not.
Ron watched as Hermione got lost in her thoughts. He couldn't help but laugh when he saw her wrinkle her nose as if she had just smelled a particularly foul potion, or seen a particularly absurd misspelling in one of his essays.
Ron had always loved Hermione's nose, especially when she wrinkled it like that. Her nose seemed like the only thing about Hermione that hadn't changed since they were eleven. She had gotten taller and definitely more…erm, shapely. Her face was less round than it used to be. She had allowed Madame Pomfrey to shrink her teeth. She had even gotten much better at taming her bushy hair. However, her nose had remained unchanged and Ron loved that. It reminded him that she hadn't always been so far out of his league.
"What are you laughing at Ronald?" Hermione asked giving him a glare, that was another thing that had changed. She used to glare at him with much more venom, they were always a bit softer now and usually more joking.
"Nothing, you're just cute when you wrinkle your nose like that."
"Oh shut up," She said elbowing him playfully in the ribs.
"Ugh! That'll leave a bruise for sure," Ron feigned. "You've got elbows like daggers, Granger."
Now it was Hermione's turn to laugh. For just a minute, she was able to forget how miserable everything was and joke with her friend like they used to.
Ron and Hermione were the first ones downstairs so they began making toast and tea. They were just finishing up when Harry came down the stairs looking absolutely miserable.
"Morning Harry," Hermione said with faux cheer.
"Honestly, Hermione do you have to yell?" Harry said grimacing.
Ron laughed, "A little too much to drink last night mate?"
Harry groaned and buried his head in his arms.
"Well you should eat something. I'll help settle your stomach," Hermione said pushing the plate towards him.
Harry was reluctantly nibbling some toast when Ginny came downstairs looking about the same as Harry. "Bloody hell, I have the worst headache ever," she groaned heading straight to the cupboard for some pepper up potion.
After a large swig and steam pouring from her ears she looked much better, she handed the vial to Harry. For a second he looked as if he weren't going to keep it down.
"You guys really need to learn how to hold your liquor," Ron chided with a self-satisfied smirk.
"Why aren't you hungover? You had twice as much as either of us." Ginny asked eyeing her brother skeptically.
Ron smirked, "I guess I'm just tougher than you two." Under the table Ron pulled a small vial out of his pocket and showed Hermione. She tried not to smile. The vial was labeled with a Weasley's Wizard Wheezes sticker with 'Handy Hangover Hamper: Guaranteed to work against even the largest bender' printed underneath.
Slowly the rest of the Weasleys made their way to breakfast excluding Mrs. Weasley and George. When Fleur and Bill got there, Fleur made a spectacle of tutting over the poor breakfast spread and immediately went to work preparing something more suitable. In a matter of minutes she had prepared fresh croissants and jam, hardboiled eggs, and bowls of fresh fruit.
Everybody feigned gratitude and nibbled at the food. Ron had never minded Fleur as much as the girls but he couldn't keep himself from bitterly thinking that she barely knew Fred, she didn't understand what they were going through. Who could possibly want croissants when their brother had just died?
He felt a hand on his leg. "She's just trying to help," Hermione whispered sweetly when he looked up at her. This was one of those moments where Ron worried that she knew him too well, or else she'd really been practicing her legilimency.
Ron nodded. Hermione knew Fred, and so did Harry. In fact they were both as torn up as anyone in the family, except his mum and George of course.
For so long it had only been the family, they never had many people over growing up because his mum was always a bit embarrassed about their financial situation. Not that they really needed other friends; with so many kids there was always someone to play with.
Even when his older brothers went away to Hogwarts their friends rarely came to visit. Harry and Hermione became the exceptions. They were adopted as family from the very beginning. Ron was a bit bitter that now other people were being let in to their exclusive group. For now it was only Fleur, but all of his brothers, and even Ginny, would eventually marry someone. Ron cringed as he realized that none of them would even know Fred. At least Fleur had known Fred, however briefly. This thought softened his opinion of her breakfast a bit and he helped himself to an egg.
Shortly after breakfast Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny got ready for Colin's memorial service. Per request of the invitation, all four dressed in muggle attire. Ginny borrowed a dress from Hermione. Harry and Ron ended up wearing two of Dudly's old blazers. Despite magical tailoring, they were both still swimming in them.
"At least you're tall enough to fit the sleeves," Harry told Ron as he rolled back the sleeves until his hands came into view.
Ron shrugged, "Yea but you could easily fit three of me in this jacket."
Ginny and Hermione burst into Percy's room where the boys had been changing. "Ready to go? We're going to be late," Hermione demanded.
"You two look like you've been deflated," Ginny snickered when she saw them.
"Ha, Ha, very funny," Ron remarked sarcastically.
"We really are going to be late if we don't leave now," Hermione reminded them impatiently which got an eye roll from everyone in the room.
They apparated to a wooded area behind the church where the service was being held. They were in a small town and the church was small and made of stone with a little cemetery behind it.
People dressed in black were scurrying from cars to the front doors of the church as it had begun to rain. It was more of a fine mist than actual rain, and it couldn't make the four move any faster across the lawn. Once they were inside the church, everything would be so final and they were trying to draw out the process as long as possible.
The group did not recognize many of the people at the service, Hermione assumed most of them were muggle friends and family.
They did see Professor McGonagall sitting in the very last wooden pew. Although she looked oddly casual in a black muggle dress, her hair was pulled back in its usual severe bun. Further up they spotted Neville and Luna sitting together in a mostly empty pew. Neville was wearing a horrid brown suit that was easily thirty years old, and Luna dawned highlighter yellow with her radish earrings swinging conspicuously from her ears.
Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione joined the other two in their pew mumbling good mornings as they sat down. None of them felt much like talking, so they sat in silence until organ music began playing as the service started.
Hermione was the only one who had been to a muggle church service before, so the others bumbled through the motions watching Hermione and following her lead. Sitting, standing, kneeling, singing, silent prayer; Ron found it all to be a bit much. However, he was enamored with out effortless Hermione made it look as she gracefully went through all the motions.
Ron was back to his stoic self, Hermione noticed. As the rest of their group cried through Dennis Creevy's eulogy, Ron had a hard, distant look on his face. Hermione reached for his hand, but he pulled it away at the last minute, instead draping his arm on the back of the pew. Somehow he managed to do so without touching Hermione at all.
Hermione sat up a little straighter and tried impossibly hard not to let the hurt show on her face. Ron is very private with his emotions, Hermione reminded herself. Then a little voice said in the back of her mind, "He didn't seem that way with Lavender." Hermione tried to let go of the thought but she couldn't.
It was quite wet outside when the service let out. The six friends stood in a circle unwilling to say goodbye just yet. They overheard someone talking, "Car accident, its a bloody shame, probably drunk driving though. Those Creevy boys are both trouble, why else would they be sent away to some 'special' school?"
Ron had to be restrained by Neville and Harry when he heard this, "Lemme go, I'm going to go give him a piece of my mind! Colin Creevy was a hero!" Ron strained against the other boys.
"Ron, they're muggles, they can't know anything about what really happened," Hermione said sternly under her breath.
Ron stopped fighting the other two and glared at Hermione.
"I'm going to go find something to drink." Hermione said as she turned away and stalked off into the crowd.
Hermione was halfway to the sparse refreshments table under a small tent set up on the church lawn when a man in a dark rain slicker stopped her.
"You must be Hermione Granger," The stranger said in a gravely voice. Hermione couldn't see his face because he had a hood pulled over his head. Before she could say anything the man had her hands trapped in a tight handshake. "I wanted to thank you for everything you've done," the man said as he pumped her arms up and down.
Hermione had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Well, yes, it was nothing," She said nervously as she pulled her hands away from his gloved grasp. They were wet and sticky; she tried to inconspicuously wipe her hands on her dress as she backed away.
Her heart was racing as she hurried back towards the others. As soon as the hooded stranger was out of sight, she chastised herself for panicking. It was obviously just someone who wanted to say thank you. The war had made her so jumpy, she wondered if she would ever behave normally again.
When she got back to the others, she noticed they all had matching card stock envelopes in their hands.
"Here's yours," Ron said gruffly, shoving an identical envelope with her name printed neatly on the front into her hands.
"They're from Dennis and Mrs. Creevy," Neville said softly.
Hermione looked down at the envelope, she didn't have the heart to open it.
"We should probably get home, we don't want anyone to worry." Ginny said, breaking the silence. Everyone else mumbled in agreement. They said goodbye to Luna and Neville and headed back to the cover of the woods to disapparate back to the Burrow.
As they apparated in the glen near the Burrow, Hermione suddenly felt very dizzy, her vision went black and her knees buckled.
Before she could hit the ground, Ron caught her. He was so fast Hermione wondered briefly if he'd already had his arm around her, but no he hadn't he had been next to Harry.
"Hermione are you ok?" He asked sounding panicked as lowered her to the ground.
Once she was sitting, the dizziness subsided and her vision returned to normal. "I'm fine, I'm fine," she insisted, "must have apparated funny."
She tried to get up and the dizziness immediately returned and she collapsed back into Ron.
"I'm going to go get mum," Ginny said sounding as worried as Ron.
"No no, please don't bother your mum, I'm fine honestly, just a bit dizzy." Hermione said feebly.
"Ok, let's just get you back to the house." Ron said as he scooped Hermione up and cradled her in his arms.
Hermione tried to protest, but she couldn't. Her head felt so heavy she couldn't hold it up anymore, she just let it loll against Ron's shoulder.
Ron walked as swiftly as possible without jostling Hermione too much. Harry and Ginny had run ahead to tell whoever was home. As he was crossing the lawn, he noticed Hermione's breathing seemed labored.
When Ron walked into the kitchen, Mrs. Weasley was already stirring a potion on the stove. Ron gently placed Hermione on the couch. Everyone who was home crowded around the couch.
"Everyone, please, a little space," Ron said feeling claustrophobic as he kneeled next to Hermione.
As everyone backed away, Ron leaned closer and gently stroked Hermione's face, "Hey, 'Mione, wake up, Can you hear me?."
Hermione blinked a few times as Ron's face came into focus, it was very close to hers. She noticed the concern etched on his face. "Ron, what's wrong?" She asked as she tried to push herself up, instantly her head began to swim again and she noticed how achy her body was.
Ron gently pushed her back on to the pillow. "Hermione, you're burning up," Ron said shocked as he touched her arm. He reached out to touch her face, it was clammy yet hot at the same time. Her cheeks were flushed but everything else was ghastly white.
"Must just be a touch of the flu, honestly living outside for a year, fighting a war, and not sleeping for who knows how long, I've been asking for it," Hermione said trying to seem cheerful.
Hermione's reassuring words didn't make Ron feel any better, especially because they were punctuated with a wince of pain.
Mrs. Weasley bustled over with a steaming mug of freshly brewed pepper up potion. Hermione took it from her and tried to sit up to drink it. Luckily Ron was sitting so close, otherwise she surly would have spilt it as she slid back down onto the pillow.
Ron held the potion to her lips as Hermione sipped at it. The potion didn't make Hermione feel any better like it usually did, in fact it made her stomach flip uncomfortably.
Ron noticed Hermione had begun to shiver violently. Ron wrapped her in a blanket and scooped her up again. "Ron, you really don't need to…" Hermione protested.
"You'll be more comfortable in bed," he interrupted Ron was too wrapped up in worrying about Hermione to notice everyone else sitting around looking worried.
As Ron walked up the stairs holding Hermione, he was struck yet again by how thin she was. He didn't struggle at all to carry her.
Ron laid Hermione in bed and bundled her with covers.
"Ron, I need to tell you something," Hermione started. Ron saw the worry in her eyes and he felt his heart clench.
She launched into the story about the man at the funeral. "What if it was poison on his hands, Ron?" she finished helplessly, "I've never felt this sick before."
Ron sat frozen in shock on the edge of the bed, all the blood had drained from his face. Hermione sat in front of him shivering, struggling to stay conscious.
Panic rose in Ron's chest and he snapped out Suddenly, Ron shot into action, with an urgency Hermione had rarely seen in him. "We need to go to St. Mungo's, I'll be right back." He said as he dashed from the room.
AN: A bit of a cliff hanger, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. Stay tuned for the next one. As always, I love hearing from readers, so please review.