Forever and Always?
Author's Note: I'm hooked on writing now! I hope that everyone enjoys my stories, and I'm going to give you an update on Weasley Adventures sometime next week. Until then, here's a whole new story: Forever and Always?. Don't worry, things won't be so dramatic in later chapters.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Darn it.
Hermione sighed deeply and rolled over in bed. She looked at the calendar hanging by her bedside, and groaned. It was a Sunday. Hermione hated Sundays. It was a cold Sunday morning when Ron was proclaimed dead, even though his body was never found. The war had taken many others, but it was he who mattered most.
August 14th. Hermione sighed. It was six months since that horrible incident - she couldn't believe that he was gone for six months now. She didn't know how she kept on living - kept on breathing - without Ron. The night before the war had started (and ended), Ron had told her that he loved her, and she had made the most silly, stupidest mistake ever and told him that she, in return, did not love him back . . . but after he was dead, she learned that nobody really knows what they have until it's all gone.
She pushed the sheets away from her body, and sat upright, deep in thought. It did not take her long to start crying, very quietly. Hermione always cried quietly, so that no one could hear her. She did not want the whole Burrow to know her feelings for Ron, and what she had said to him the night before he died. Most of the Weasley family and Harry, even though they were sad that Ron had died, could, without great difficulty, stop thinking about Ron every minute of every day. The trouble was, she couldn't. She needed to get away from all of them, even they had been so good to her, and took Harry and her into their home after the battle.
Wiping her eyes, Hermione started to settle down. She needed at least one good cry daily. Pathetic as tears were, sometimes they helped her feel better.
"Pass the butter please, Harry."
The Weasleys (Including Harry and Hermione) were sitting down, eating a late breakfast. It was near lunchtime, but on Sundays, everyone tended to sleep in. Ginny had emerged in pink pajamas, much to Mrs. Weasley's dismay. "Ginerva! I told you to change for breakfast. . . we still have guests here, you know!" Harry had liked her pajamas, because he and Ginny had shared three knowing smiles at breakfast (so far).
Mrs. Weasley was picking at her food again. It was a nasty habit - she herself had admitted it after Fred and George pointed it out a few months ago. She had lost a lot of weight, and she was no longer what Hermione liked to call, "pleasantly plump."
"I think I might look for a house I could move into," said Hermione, as quickly and as naturally as she can. She wanted it to sound like she was just making conversation, like it was not some kind of big announcement. "And I'm paying you, Mrs. Weasley, and you, Mr. Weasley back for feeding and housing me for these six months." Mrs. Weasley's mouth opened in protest. "I won't hear of it, Hermione. You ought to stay here for a while longer, and I refuse to accept any money from you."
Hermione found her eyes tearing up again, for the second time that morning. "No, Mrs. Weasley. It's about time I found a house to live into. It's also about time I start studying to be - well, to be - whatever I want to be." Hermione was going to go through with this. She could NEVER live in Ron's house after these six months. It seemed haunted, almost. Oh, and she felt a little guilty living in Ron's house after she told him that she did not like him more than just a friend.
Harry's eyes started tearing up a bit, too. Hermione could tell that he was trying to act tough, though, as he said, "I might as well move out too...It's about time myself and Hermione, well - give Mr. and Mrs. Weasley a break from all of this drama. We were supposed to be here for just a few days, mind you - and we've stayed almost six months - "
"Exactly six." Corrected Hermione, "Today."
Mrs. Weasley let out a little cry, and put her fork down. "You can't leave, not both of you - I need both of you here. You were - you were Ron's best 'mates', both Hermione and you, Harry! You've got to stay. You must stay." Mr. Weasley looked dumbfounded, but nodded his head in agreement. "Ron would've wanted both of you to stay."
Percy, who was biting a piece of toast agreed. He had come running back to his family shortly before the war. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had, of course, forgiven him wholeheartedly, much to Fred and George's disappointment. Ginny, who was taking a sip of coffee, had let out a little cry. "Don't go, Harry," she had whimpered. "Oh, and you two, Hermione." She added, briskly. "All of us need you here . . . Ron would've needed you here . . . " For Merlin's sake, will they stop talking about Ron for one second! Hermione's head screamed. Fred and George and Bill and Charlie had taken a very sudden interest in their food. Hermione, feeling as though she could not take it anymore, politely asked if she may be excused, and then ran up the stairs.
Throwing herself on the bed, she sobbed rather loudly. Forget crying quietly! She almost fell off the bed, thinking of how she spoiled her chances with Ron forever . . . there would be no coming back where he had gone. "Merlin," wheezed Hermione between tears, "Merlin . . . " A part in the back of her brain was telling her she was being silly, and she was acting like a character on one of those soap operas her mother used to watch on the telly. Wiping her eyes, she caught herself. I can't live on this emotional roller coaster ride for long. . .
"Hermione, are you quite alright?" Said a voice, unmistakably Mrs. Weasley's.
"I'm fine," Hermione said.
"You sound like you've been crying, dear . . . Do you want to talk about it?"
"No, Mrs. Weasley, I haven't been crying. I don't have anything to talk about."
"Are you sure, dear?"
"I'm sure."
Without changing, Hermione pulled down her - rather, The Weasley Families' - bed covers, and snuggled into the comfort. I need sleep. She told herself, even though she had a full night's rest just a few hours ago. That day, she made a promise to herself. A promise that she will move on, away from Ron forever.