14.)

It was a strange quest, that was for sure. They had no idea where they were going and had to rely on an impulse telling them to flee in the opposite direction. She felt like they were strangers, and at the same time like he knew too much about her and she felt exposed. It was unsettling when he acted differently than she remembered, but far more so when he acted exactly the same. It was all so confusing.

"You sure you don't want to try a broom?"

"What do you think?"

"You've ridden hippogriffs and thestrals," he said. "You can handle a broom. We have no idea how far we have to go. How insane is it to go on foot when we could easily be going all the way to Bulgaria?"

"No brooms," she said.

--

It was early, too early. Why was she being woken up this early? Did Crookshanks need something? As the image in front of her came into focus she bolted upright.

"Ron!"

"What?" he said innocently.

"You…you…while I was sleeping…!"

"Well, you'd have stopped me while you were awake," he said.

"I can't believe you!" she exclaimed.

"Hermione, we weren't getting anywhere. I'm speeding things up."

She threw a pillow at him.

He came closer to her and took her hand, pulling her up from the bed.

"What—?"

"Get on the broom."

"No! You can't make me! I cannot BELIEVE you did this!"

"So I summoned my broom while you were sleeping," he said, exasperated. "I'm now the pinnacle of evil, I suppose?"

He hadn't let go of her hand.

"There's only one broom," she said.

"I only own one," he said. "And I don't see why we need two really. You don't like flying anyway. This way I can take care of that."

He tugged her arm a bit. In her half-sleeping state (why were they leaving at this hour of the morning?) she let herself be guided.

"It's too early for this," she said.

"Wrong, Hermione, it's almost too late," he said, quietly.

"Hmm?" she said, eyes sliding closed.

She should not be leaning against him like this…but she was tired…

He took off out the window and she felt the wind in her hair. It was cold. She shivered, almost unconsciously snuggling closer to him.

He seemed to turn in mid-air. She felt it but she didn't want to open her eyes and see what in Merlin he was doing. He extended his arm,

"Accio blanket!"

Not a minute later something soft and warm was wrapping around her.

"I don't think the hotel will mind especially if we take this," he said. "Another excuse for them to charge me ridiculously for something."

"Mmm," she said into his back.

--

She was surprised when she woke up for the simple fact that she never would have expected to fall asleep on a broom. She supposed the combination of leaning on Ron and the blanket being tightly secured around them kept her from falling off.

"What time is it?" she said.

"Judging by the sun, almost noon," he said.

"How long have you been flying?" she asked.

"Ten hours or so," he said.

"Why?" she said. "Aren't you tired?"

"Tired, stiff, store," he shrugged. "It's fine, I think we're close."

"There's no point in nearly killing yourself!" she said. "Let's stop and rest."

"No," he said, surprisingly firmly.

"Why not?" she said.

"We're almost there, I can feel it…"

"So?" she said. "We can take a short break. Get something to eat."

He paused, "Are you hungry?"

"Yes," she said.

"…Okay, we can stop. But we have to be quick."

15.)

"Why are you so jittery? After all that flying you should really relax," she said.

"Let's just hurry up and finish eating, alright?" he said.

"You've barely touched your food."

"I don't have much of an appetite."

She blinked. "Are you ill?"

"No," he said.

"You're Ron Weasley," she said. "You eat constantly! And you've been flying for ten hours!"

He shrugged and looked off to the distance.

"Why aren't you looking at me?" she said, for some reason infuriated by this.

"It's that way," he said, quietly. "Can't you feel it?"

She hesitated, "Yes. It's a little…unnerving, isn't it? It feels like we're headed straight for the lion's den."

"It would feel more unnerving not to be going," he said.

She didn't argue but she didn't make any sort of agreement either. She said nothing at all.

"Please eat something," she said finally.

He looked at her slowly, a bit surprised.

"…Yeah, okay," he said, and picked up a scone.

--

In the distance she saw a white manor. It looked nice enough, though the garden was slightly wild as if it had been neglected recently. But as she looked on it she felt a writhing in her stomach. She did NOT want to go into that house.

"Guess this is it," she said quietly.

He didn't respond. Maybe he didn't hear her, the wind could have stolen her words away…but he'd been awfully quiet on the way over. At lunch too, though he'd given her the occasionally furtive look. He seemed so lost in thought…

They grew closer to the house, and she sucked in her breath.

"Is this trespassing?" she said.

"It's fine, Hermione, it probably belongs to Vicky," he said.

"Don't call him—"

"Sorry, old habits die hard."

--

The first thing that drew her attention when she walked into the house was not the elaborate furniture or decorations. It was Viktor, sitting in an arm chair looking drawn out and ill.

"I never meant for this to happen," he said, looking bleak. "I just…I loved you so much, Hermione. I couldn't see sense, morals faded into nothing. For years afterwards I was so disgusted with myself. When you met Rick I tried to convince myself that it was okay now. You could be happy with someone who wasn't Ron and I had taken nothing from you. But I knew it was a lie. I met Helen and…I got caught up. I began to love her as I had you and I knew I didn't deserve it. I knew what I had to do. And then came the wedding, as if I needed any more signs. I thought I could finally clear my conscious, I thought…even though I knew that…but still I hoped…" he looked weary. "However, my sins have been made permanent. I cannot repent. I have destroyed two lives…you see—"

"I know," Ron said quietly. "It's too late."

AN: Who wants a sequel to fix this all?? Speak now or forever hold your peace.