Come Back to Me

Hermione decided to walk over to Ron's house instead of apparating. Hermione didn't apparate as much as she used to. Because her job was so hectic, she was constantly on the go, moving from city to city or even country to country, apparating all over the place. So when she wasn't working, Hermione liked to take everything slowly and just enjoy the scenery, because she didn't know how much longer she would be able to enjoy it. Because no one had seen Voldemort in over three years, everyone was constantly on edge, waiting for his next attack. Hermione knew that she and Ron were both at risk because of their relationship with Harry. She knew that there was a great possibility that Voldemort would kidnap her or Ron or both of them, because Voldemort knew that Harry would ignore the warnings he had been given and go after Voldemort, falling into Voldemort's trap. Hermione knew she needed to be careful and always aware of her surroundings. She couldn't count how many times Dumbledore had told her of the danger she was in. She also knew it probably would be safer for her to apparate everywhere she went, but she just couldn't help herself. She didn't want to live in constant fear of the unknown. Besides, it was such a beautiful day, and she wanted to enjoy it. So she set out from her house on the short walk to Ron's. When she arrived at his house, Ron was just walking out the door.

"Hey," he called over to her as he hopped down the steps of his front porch in khaki pants and a navy blue jacket. Ron hadn't changed much since Hogwarts. He was still tall, and he still had the same boyish face with bright blue eyes that were a little darker than they were when he first came to Hogwarts, reflecting all he had seen in his time there.

"Hey," Hermione responded as she quickly hugged him.

"Ready to go?"

"Yup," Hermione replied, and they both apparated to the lobby of the Leaky Cauldron. They pushed open the door and walked out to Diagon Alley. There were quite a few witches and wizards walking along and looking in the different store windows. There weren't many students around, however, because Hogwarts was back in session.

"So what was it you wanted to tell me?" Hermione asked as she and Ron started walking down the street.

"Not right now," Ron said quietly, looking down at her with what looked like worry in his eyes. "So where do you want to go first?" Ron asked more loudly as if he wanted to make sure everyone around him heard what he said.

"Uh...how about Flourish and Blotts?" Hermione suggested with a questioning look on her face. She didn't understand why Ron couldn't just tell her what he needed to tell her right now, or why he was speaking the way he was.

"Sounds great," Ron said as loudly as before. He grabbed Hermione's hand, and they were off. Ron was walking rather quickly, pulling Hermione along, while trying to act naturally. Hermione knew there was something amiss, because Ron wouldn't ever set foot in a book store unless he was forced to buy books for school.

"So how've you been?" he asked distractedly as he dodged a few older witches who were moving too slowly for him.

"Uh, since yesterday?" Hermione started, bewildered. Hermione had just seen Ron the day before at lunch. He was starting to worry her with his behavior. "Fine."

"Good, good," he answered obliviously upon hearing her give a response. Hermione just looked up at him.

"Are you okay?"

"Me?" Ron asked as he looked over to her like that was the first thing he'd actually heard her say. "I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"Well, it's just that-"

"Here we are," he interrupted her as he stopped right in front of the shop. Hermione hadn't expected his sudden stop and ran right into him.

"Should we go in?" he asked her, and then without waiting for her reply, he pushed open the door and walked in. Hermione was totally baffled by Ron's behavior. He was acting so strangely. She knew it must have something to do with what he needed to tell her. She figured he was acting this way for a reason, probably so nobody would think anything was wrong, even though it was obvious that something definitely was wrong. She tried not to think or worry about it and just pretended that nothing was wrong as well and followed him into the shop.

They browsed around for a while, looking at nothing in particular. Hermione usually loved shopping in Flourish and Blotts and looking at all of the titles of the different books and reading the first few pages of anything that looked interesting. However, today she didn't want to browse; she just wanted Ron to tell her what was going on. After a few minutes Hermione grabbed the first book that caught her eye that she didn't already own, a revised version of Hogwarts, A History, and bought it. She found Ron aimlessly wandering around the sports section, grabbed his arm, and pulled him to the door. They squinted in the bright sunlight as they emerged from the dimly lit shop.

"Well that was fun, wasn't it?" Ron asked as he started walking down the street again. "Where to next?"

"Ron, stop," Hermione said as she grabbed his arm again and pulled him into an alley. She'd had enough of his stalling. He needed to tell her what was going on, and he needed to do it now. "Would you just tell me what's going on? You're acting so strangely."

"How do you figure?" he asked, ignoring her first question.

"You're kidding right?" Hermione asked incredulously. She was losing her patience with him very quickly, and she was getting more worried by the minute that what he needed to tell her was really serious. "You, Ron Weasley, were actually happy to go into a book store and then commented that it was fun. You invited me to come with you here to tell me something, so would you just tell me?"

"Fine," he answered in a hushed voice as he looked around them. "But I can't do it here."

"Well then where can you do it?"

"Um..." he replied, continuing to look around him. "Come on," he said as he grabbed her hand and pulled her to a small café that she'd never noticed before. There were small round tables spaced around a patio that opened to the street. Ron sat down at a table in the corner, farthest from the street and bordered by walls on two sides. Hermione joined him, and they quickly looked over the menus and ordered.

"So now can you tell me?" Hermione asked worriedly, sitting on the edge of her chair with her arms crossed and resting on the table.

"All right," Ron answered, folding his hands and placing them on the table as well. "I heard my dad and Percy talking this morning when I was visiting, and they-" He was interrupted by the waitress who had come back with their drinks. They both thanked her, and she left. Ron drank a big gulp from his glass of butterbeer and took a deep breath before continuing. Hermione couldn't even touch her glass of water; she was too nervous. Ron was silent for a moment, and Hermione decided not to pester him into continuing.

"Anyway," Ron continued gravely, staring at his hands. "They were in the basement, which I thought was odd because no one goes down there anymore because of the boggart that started living in the cupboard at the bottom of the stairs. So I snuck down there to see what they were talking about. It was really hard to hear them too, because they were talking so quietly. But anyway, I heard them talking about V-V-Voldemort," he stumbled over the last word and then paused and looked up at Hermione whose face had considerably paled. However, she remained silent, and he continued. "He was seen in Bulgaria by some Muggles four days ago. The Ministry just found out about it today."

Hermione couldn't move. She couldn't think. She couldn't even breathe. All she could do was stare blankly at Ron. He was seen. Voldemort's been sighted. Ron's last two sentences kept repeating over and over in her mind. All she could see was Harry's face. She felt like the whole world was caving in around her.

"Mione," Ron began quietly, gently touching her hand. He couldn't read her expression. Her dark brown eyes were completely blank. He didn't know if she'd even heard what he'd said. The only evidence to affirm that she had was that her face was blanched and her hands were cold and clammy. "You know what this means, don't you?"

Hermione didn't respond at first. She just continued to stare blankly into space. Finally, she nodded slowly.

"Yes," she whispered hoarsely as if just finding her voice. "Harry's going to go after him once and for all." Even as she said the words she couldn't believe them. Harry's going to fight Voldemort for the last time. This sentence now ran nonstop in her head. Part of her knew Harry was capable of killing Voldemort. The other part, however, was terrified, because she knew if Harry didn't kill him, no one else could. And if Harry didn't kill Voldemort, Voldemort would kill Harry. One of them would be dead at the end of the Final Battle, maybe even both of them. And Hermione didn't know what she would do if Harry wasn't victorious.