He wasn't there. Just like every time she hoped that he would come and he hadn't

She had waited for him, patiently, when he had told her he was going. He didn't tell her where or why.

It had been just 5 months since the bloody war. But it had been just three since he had disappeared.

When they first discovered he was missing, they thought he needed to be left alone for some time. But when he hadn't returned after a week, had not even answered their owls everyone was worried.

So, it soon had become official that the lone survivor, the boy who lived, was missing.

Many thought he was dead. But she knew he was not. He was going to come back. To her; because he had promised her.

She remembered everything. How he held her when she fought with Ron, how he could make her worries disappear with just a kiss on her forehead.

She also remembered how she used to calm him down once upon a time, how they never felt lonely when they were each other, how deeply he had loved her and how deeply he was hurt when she kissed Ron when he needed most to be comforted.

She had lied to him; said that he was just a friend to her.

Because the others were listening.

What would she have told Ginny or Ron, if they knew their hearts beat for each other? How would she have looked in any of the Weasleys' faces without guilt swallowing her whole being for breaking hearts which were beating in love?

No, it was best to let it go. She knew she loved him more than anyone and wanted to say it to him, once, at least.

But she had already let him go. And perhaps she had lost him, forever.

Yet, she waited for him every day. Hoping he would come. Comforting Ginny that he would come back. But she never told anyone that he would be back only for her.

And, just like that she was waiting for him, now as she stood in Grimmauld place, just because it kept her connected to Harry. No one lived there now; except her. No one knew the dread that filled her heart every time she saw His name in a headline. No one had seen her as she had shed numerous tears as she had longed for his arms to comfort her, to hold her.

But, they never did.

No one knew it and no one ever had to know.

She thought every day of what she meant to him, and what he meant to her. To her he was like a brother who supported her in her every decision. He was a friend always loyal to her. He was her best friend who never lied to her. Yet she had lied, to him.

Her love for him ran deeper than that any friend should have for their just-a-friend. She had loved him, ever since he had saved her. Yes she loved him with her soul, from her heart and to the roots of her very being. And she knew that he had known it, even after she had denied her feelings towards him.

She wanted him back, and no one would stop her now, for she was Hermione-bleeding-Granger. She wanted someone to guide her, who would tell her where to find him.

And she knew the perfect person who would be able to do that. Her father. Yes, she would ask him.

It seemed like a good plan to her.

There was a just teensy bit of problem in this plan. She needed to find her father first. And she would do it.

But first things first, she packed her luggage (which was quiet few), shrunk it, put it in her beaded bag, grabbed her cloak and apparated to Gringotts' entrance. After withdrawing a fair amount of money, she thanked the Goblins and then apparated to The Burrow.

Upon entering she noticed it was eerily quiet, as if someone had just died.

No, it can't be Harry. He can't die. No! She thought, just as the previous thought crossed her mind.

'Molly! Gin! Where is everyone?' she called out. She was cautious and didn't call out Ron's name because he was an unstable being ever since they had broken up.

Upon hearing her voice, suddenly everyone started popping out of nowhere. Ginny was not among them, she noticed.

'Where is Ginny?' she asked to no one in particular.

Without even waiting for someone to answer, she hurried to Ginny's room. She spotted her instantly, flung over her bed, crying her heart out.

'Ginny? What happened?' she asked softly as she sat beside her on the bed and patted her shoulder, comfortingly.

'He, he s..sent me a le..letter, he said... he said.. he , oh Merlin, Hermione! Why?'

Hermione was more confused. 'What are you saying, Gin? Whom are you talking about?'

'She won't be able to answer you properly. She is like this ever since she got his letter.' ,came a voice from behind her.

'What letter, Ron?' , she asked the red head behind her.

'Harry's letter. It came this morning. He broke it up with her, said he had found someone whom he loved more than her. She has been a mess since then.' Replied Ron.

He had found someone else. Someone better than Ginny or her. She had lost him forever.

'That's terrible! How could he?' she screeched, not out of sympathy for Ginerva, but out of rage for letting herself dwell on the hope that he would still love her. Here, she had been remembering him as a devotee remembers God, and there, somewhere, he had sought love in some one other.

Her heart shattered to a million pieces. But she kept still. Not a tear escaped her eyes an she turned to Ron and said, 'Ron, I am moving to Australia.'

And she disapparated from The Burrow.