A/N: I won't deny it. This chapter was very hard, and very sad for me. (Not counting the fact that the song that influenced this chapter a bit is "Open at the Close" by Oliver Boyd and the Remembralls.) I've had it planned since nearly the beginning, and I hope it's a good ending. And as always – enjoy it.
What's for the future? I'm not quite sure. I've got ideas bouncing around in my head – either a Marauder or NextGen fic. And a multi-chapter one this time. It won't appear before the end of the summer, though, as I'm leaving for various things.
Now, a special thanks. Thank you to my reviewers – those who have reviewed every chapter especially. It warmed my heart every time I saw the review-announcing emails. I'm thankful you've stuck with me for so long.
Curious to know how it's been? It's been amazing. This story has had over 50000 hits, over 850 reviews, 46 favs and 56 alerts (right now!). It's improved my writing skills and helped me discover Ron and Hermione in ways I don't think I've seen before.
So, a final Thank You for sticking with me for this long, and enjoy.

Disclaimer: I've said it once, I've said it twice, I'll say it for the seventy-fifth time – Anything that you may recognize does not belong to me, but rather the amazing J.K. Rowling.

Cheating

Hermione lay in her bed, staring at the pale scarlet walls of the bedroom in which she'd fallen asleep countless times. Though she'd had many, many, visitors over the last two weeks, there were only three people in her room right now, besides her.

Hermione's gray hair splayed across the pillow, and she smiled at Ginny as she stood up. Ginny excused herself from the room and left, leaving Hermione alone with the people who had been with her since the beginning – Ron and Harry. Each one held one of her hands, and she smiled at them.

"Are you sure, love?" Ron asked for the millionth time. "The Healers said they could do something – you'd have another year, at least." Hermione closed her eyes, her smile fading a bit. Her voice was a bit weak and shaky when she spoke, but it seemed to fill up the room.

"I – I can't. It'll be like cheating the natural order of things," she said. She paused for a moment, her eyes still closed. "I'm old, you guys. I've got great-grandchildren! Voldemort seems like a bad dream that's done with – it was more than sixty years ago." Ron sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"But how will I survive without you?" he whispered to himself, only Harry hearing him.

Hermione pulled them closer to herself. She grasped each one with an arm, and, leaning heavily on them, lifted herself up into a sitting position. She ran one hand through Ron's nearly white hair, while the other traced Harry's fading scar.

"What would life be without you guys?" she whispered, partially to herself and partially to the two men next to her. "I'd still be that first-year in the bathroom with the troll." Her eyes burned with tears, and one ran down her cheek before Ron carefully wiped it away.

She smiled at them. Her frail hands shook slightly, but her voice was firm.

"Thank you." The words held so much meaning in them, and they didn't have to ask her what it was for.

"My pleasure," replied her surrogate brother. Harry hugged Hermione. "I'd be dead without you, Hermione. I still remember," he said to her, his green eyes meeting her brown ones. Years at Hogwarts echoed between the two, including that one fated camping trip.

Ron then hugged her.

"I'll miss you," he whispered in her ear.

"I won't be gone for long. We'll see each other again before long," she replied. "Stay out of trouble, you hear?" Harry chuckled.

"You know us, Hermione. Trouble finds us," he said. She sounded like the old teenage Hermione again, though she hadn't been like that for years. Harry had lost Sirius, Dumbledore, his parents… but somehow that was different than losing Hermione. It was like she said, that they would see each other again soon.

Ron held her frail hand, one finger resting on her wedding band. They had been through so much together – school, marriage, two kids, grandchildren, great-grandchildren – he didn't quite know how he'd live without her.

Something was misting behind Hermione's brown eyes, and she grasped the hands firmer than she had before.

"Tell them I love them," she said, referring to the people that sat in her living room downstairs – her Rose, her Hugo, and their families. Ron grasped her hand, trying not to believe what was coming. "Tell Ginny I love her. And – and take care of yourselves," she said firmly, though her voice was fading. She met their gaze for one last moment, brown eyes meeting green and blue.

"I love you."

With a final breath, she closed her eyes, and fell asleep for the last time. Ron and Harry sat there for a moment, silently holding her still-warm hands as tears rolled down their cheeks.