-Chapter 35: She Needs to Know-

The weeks passed and there was no word from Hermione. Ginny tried to keep herself distracted by working with George but she mostly just stood at the shop window and looked out at all of the passing witches, hoping each face would be Hermione's.

Nearly two months after Hermione had showed up at Grimmauld Place Harry came home from dinner out with Luna to an envelope stuck to his front door. He took it inside. Ron was sitting on the couch reading a book that one of the senior Aurors gave him.

"Ron, did you hear anyone come to the door this evening?" Harry asked him.

"No mate, why?"

"I found this envelope stuck to it." Harry sat down next to him.

"Well go on, open it then!"

17 August, 1999
Harry,

I've found a place to settle down and I have a job. I'm not going to tell you where I am because quite honestly, I don't want to be found. Not even my parents know where I am, just that I am safe. Don't try to send me a letter by owl because it won't be able to find me. Just know that all is well for me and I am moving on with my life. I've decided this is what is best; I had too many doubts and apprehensions about all of this anyways. Ginny and I are both too young and she has a brighter future ahead of her without me in it. She has things she wants to do and so I wish her luck in whatever they may be.

All my best,
Hermione

"What do we tell Ginny?" Harry asked as he folded up the letter.

"I don't know. She's been so hopeful about this…when Hermione first left Mum told Ginny the story about how Dad left for two weeks right before their wedding because he was nervous so she's been holding onto that and hoping this might be the same."

"She needs to know, Ron."

Harry and Ron Flooed to the Burrow. They surprised Arthur who was sitting on the couch in front of the fireplace.

"Well hello boys! We didn't expect you to be here! Come on, we were just listening to the wireless."

"Thanks Dad, is Ginny home?"

"Yes, in the kitchen. Any word from Hermione?"

"Yeah, that's why we're here," Harry said.

Harry and Ron walked into the kitchen, Ginny jumped up and hugged them both.

"Well? Anything?" Ginny asked excitedly. Harry handed her the letter and she sat down to read it. Her heart sank. "Excuse me, please," she said as she ran up the stairs and into her room. Harry and Ron started after her.

"Boys, give her a minute, alright?" Arthur said. "Tell us what the letter said."

Harry and Ron sat with Molly and Arthur for a while making small talk. They heard a crash from upstairs and all four ran to Ginny's door and burst into her room. There were shards of a clay pot on the floor and Puffapod blossoms everywhere. Ginny was pacing and crying. Molly tried to hug her but Ginny just pushed her away and continued pacing. She walked to her desk which was cluttered with maps, books and lists, opened the top drawer and pulled out a small box. Ginny slipped the silver ring off of her finger and put it in the box with its match then returned the box to the drawer.

"Ginny, I can take that letter to the Ministry and have it checked it out. Maybe there is a clue or a trace of something that can tell us where she is," Harry offered.

"No, Harry. It's over."

"Come on Ginny, you don't mean that," Harry said.

"Yeah Gin, you two went through too much for you to just give up like this. If this is because of anything I said that one night you can forget about all of it, I was angry that someone would hurt you like that. I didn't mean any of it. You and Hermione...it just fits, you know? Like...like in that book she has. Those Muggle fairytales where they all end with that 'happily ever after'," Ron said.

"No," Ginny said calmly, "this is my decision. I guess...fairytales don't always have a happy ending."

Author's end notes: PLEASE READ ALL OF THIS!

I'll go ahead and say it, I am a cruel, evil person. How could I do that to her? There has to be more! I can't just end it like this! You took all this time to read it and I ended it like that?! That is just wrong. Completely and utterly WRONG.

Let me say something before you start going crazy and plotting to beat me to death with your keyboard. I got very, very attached to this story. I knew from the beginning that the story was going to end this way but I didn't count on getting so attached. In fact, I became so attached to it that I couldn't let it go. There is a sequel. And another. It's a trilogy. They are each about the same length of this one. I decided on two sequels rather than one because of the length of it all.

You know how Pirates of the Caribbean works? You can watch the first movie by itself and the ending is sufficient but if you want you can watch the second but if you do you have to watch the third? Well, that's how this is going to work. You have a choice. You can take this as it is, the end. Period. No more. Or you can continue to read the two following sequels. They will probably be posted in a matter of one or two days because there towards the end of this one I started really disliking staggering out the chapters which is why these last few came in really quick.

I want to thank each and every one of you who stuck through this to the end. I do hope you continue reading the next two although I understand if you just want to say "fuck it" and move on. All of you who gave me good reviews I thank you even more because you've helped me come out of my shell and have given me a lot of confidence in my writing that I did not have before.

I offer you a few random bits and pieces from the first few chapters of the first sequel titled We Know It's Never Simple, Never Easy so that you can test the waters as to whether or not you would like to continue:

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It was mid May in 2005 and Harry Potter was driving back to his home at Number 12 Grimmauld Place from a Muggle supermarket when on the sidewalk he spotted none other than Hermione Granger. They had been best friends since they were eleven years old and in their first year of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry but Harry hadn't seen or heard from Hermione in nearly six years. He had received nothing from her except a letter two months after she unexpectedly left London and shattered the heart of her ex-fiancée, Ginny Weasley.

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The loud doorbell rang. Harry checked his watch then put Albus down in one of the cradles he had brought downstairs from the sitting room. He ran up the stairs without saying a word.

"Are you expecting someone else, Luna?" Ginny asked as she pulled the chicken and ham pie out of the oven.

"Mmhmm. Harry invited a friend of his."

"He failed to mention that. We'll have plenty to eat but…" Ginny was cut off by hearing the sweet sound of Hermione's voice coming down the stairs. "Luna, I hope you don't mind, but I may have to maul your husband later," Ginny said. She turned around to the stove, keeping her back to the door that led to the stairs.

..................

"Ginny," Hermione said a bit shakily, "I…I want to apologize to you. For leaving the way I did. It was in very poor taste and I know I should have come to talk to you but my head was just swimming with so many things that all I could think of to do was leave. I'm sure Harry told you that I came here and talked about it with him."

"He did…but there's something you should…" Ginny tried to say but was interrupted by Hermione.

"I just couldn't deal with you wanting to break off the engagement. I thought that it would just be easier to leave."

"Hermione, I never had any intention of breaking off our engagement. Never, not once."

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Hope to see you there =)