UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN

UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN

When We Two Parted

When we two parted

In silence and tears,

Half broken-hearted

To sever for years,

Pale grew thy cheek and cold,

Colder thy kiss;

Truly that hour foretold

Sorrow to this.

Lord Byron

Ron, Hermione, and Harry were sitting in Charms class. It was near the end of the year and they were anticipating a great summer. Harry, was especially excited because he was going to spend the summer with the Weasleys. As time passed a student interrupted the class. He walked through the door with a note. He gave the note to Professor Flitwick. The professor looked at the note and then the Professor walked toward Ron, Hermione, and Harry. He gave the note to Hermione, who nervously took it. Ron and Harry looked on with interest. Hermione read the note. She gave a sigh of relief. It was a note from Professor McGonagall. The note told her that there was wonderful news and she needed to see Hermione at once. Hermione, quickly packed her bag, touched Harry's shoulder and gave Ron a snog on his nose. She told them that she would talk to them later and left.

When she arrived at Professor McGonagall's office, the professor bid her to sit down and hear some incredible news.

"Oh, Miss Granger, you have been selected to attend Katerfelto Incantatory school of advanced magic."

She told Hermione that many great witches and wizards attend the school. Even Professor Dumbledore attended it. Hermione was very excited and very proud of herself for having such a wonderful opportunity presented to her. Professor McGonagall talked to Hermione for quite awhile going over most of the details. She told her that she would attend the school for two years. After the two years were completed she would return to Hogwarts to complete her final years. Hermione was so excited that most of the information told to her passed by without her giving it much reflection.

When they were done with their meeting, Hermione, went immediately to the owlery to owl her parents the good news. After this was completed she went to find Ron and Harry. She located them in the common room. She raced over to them with a huge smile on her face. She told them that she had some wonderful news to share with them. She then told them about her meeting with Professor McGonagall.

After she shared the news with them, Harry, hugged her and told her he was delighted for her. However, Ron was stunned. He tried to look happy for her, but inside he was churning. The only words he was able to focus on were two years. He dwelled on nothing else, but two years. How could he live without her for two whole years? Hermione, saw his distant look and asked him if he was okay? He just looked at her and then got up and walked out. As he was leaving, Hermione, had a bewildered look on her face. She thought that surely he must be happy for her.

Harry ran after Ron. When he got close to him he asked him what was wrong. Ron told him to just leave him alone. Finally, Harry, got in front of Ron and stopped him.

"What is wrong with you?"

"Two bloody years! Two stinking, bloody years!"

After this Ron walked past Harry. Harry just stood and looked at his friend walk away. He looked down at the floor and then slowly went back to Hermione. When he sat down next to her he told her what Ron said. She looked surprised and then she realized for the first time since hearing this news that she would be away from Ron for two years. She was so excited that she didn't even think about how long she would be away. She stood up, gave Harry a light kiss on the cheek and went to her dorm room. When she got there, she lay down on her bed. She slowly drifted to sleep.

She awoke hours later. She had missed dinner. This didn't bother her too much because she wasn't really very hungry. All she could see in her mind was the hurt on Ron's face when he found out she was going to be gone for two years. She went to the common room and scanned it looking for Ron. She didn't see him. However, she did see Harry. She went to him. When she was near to him she asked him if he had seen Ron. Harry told her that Ron had skipped dinner and went out to the lake to think. Hermione thought this was odd because he always went to the Quidditch field to do his thinking.

She left the common room and then went outside the castle to the lake. When she came to the lake, she saw a solitary figure sitting by the lakeshore. She nervously walked to him. He didn't move. She sat down next to him. For many moments they said nothing to each other. She then turned her head and looked outward. She said it looked pretty. He slowly turned his head toward her. His eyes welled up with tears. He told her that it wasn't as pretty as she was. She reached over and hugged him and he hugged her back. He then whispered in her ear, two years and then held her even tighter.

As time moved on, Ron did his best to accept the situation, even though it was breaking his heart. This was a wonderful opportunity for her and he knew he should be happy for her and supportive. She knew how hard it was for him and did her utmost to spend as much time with him as possible. Sometimes they would sneak off in the night to the Quidditch field and just hug and look at the stars. As the school year came to its end, they decided that she would spend some of the summer with her parents and then the rest with him at his home. Before leaving, she found out that she would be leaving from King's Cross two days before the next year at Hogwarts would begin. The day arrived when they boarded the Hogwarts Express to return home. When they got off the train at King's Cross, Hermione's parents were waiting for her. She and Ron shared a snog and then she left with her parents. He was somewhat sad, but he knew he would see her in a few weeks. He and Harry found his parents and then they left for the Weasley's home.

The weeks went by and then it came for the time for her to come to his house and be with him. They went to the train station to get her. Ron was fit to be tied. He could not wait to see her; he had missed her so very much. When they finally saw her, Ron ran to her and nearly bowled her over. He hugged her so tight that she could have easily been on the other side of him. They helped her with her bags. Ron noted that she had quite a lot of stuff. Then all of sudden the pain came back to him. She had a lot of trunks and bags because she was going to be gone for so long. He felt so sad. Nevertheless, he pushed those awful feelings aside and just kept thinking to himself that she is here now so make the best of it.

When they arrived at the Weasleys, everyone welcomed her with open arms. They were delighted to have her with them. After settling in she decided to sit down on a comfy chair with Ron and Harry and have a cold butterbeer. The rest of the day passed quickly. They all ate dinner and then helped Mrs. Weasely clean up the dishes. They all went and sat down in the chairs by the fireplace. There was a slight chill in the air, so they lit a fire. The evening moved on and after some light conversation most of the family left to go to bed. Harry, could have stayed up longer, but he decided to go to bed early so Ron and Hermione could be alone. As they snuggled and talked they too decided it was time to go to bed. Hermione would be rooming with Ginny. Before going to bed, they decided they would make breakfast together in the morning. They decided on pancakes. They kissed and parted for the night.

The next morning Ron groggily walked into the kitchen. There was Hermione, standing on the tip of her toes on a chair trying to reach a bag of flour for the pancakes. She was so intent on reaching the flour that she didn't hear Ron behind her. He decided he would have some fun. Being very quiet he got right behind her. He grabbed her hips and yelled boo! Hermione screamed and tried to get hold of something to keep her from falling. She grabbed the bag of flour, which was opened. It came pouring down all over her. She turned toward Ron who had backed away. She was completely covered in flour. She was seething. When she started to yell at him, puffs of flour blew out from her mouth. Ron was laughing so hard he was doubled over. She was so cute. His laughing made her angrier. She walked over to the counter and took hold of two eggs. At first Ron didn't realize what her intentions were. When he realized it, it was too late. She told him that flour and eggs made good pancakes. She then deposited the eggs on his head and face. He had eggs dripping down his face and mouth. Yuck! He yelled. He turned toward her and had a wicked gleam in his eyes. He then moved in her direction and reminded her that the flour and eggs had to be mixed to make pancakes. She grabbed a frying pan sitting on the stove. She moved backwards and he moved forward. She kept saying I am warning you Ron, as she brought the pan back like she was going to play rounders, don't you dare come closer. All of a sudden, Mrs. Weasley came into the kitchen. Ron turned to look at her. When Ron turned back, Hermione, whacked him on the head with the frying pan. Ron yelped. Hermione put the pan down and ran to him. She kept saying, Oh Ron did I hurt you. He kept moaning. When she got close, he grabbed her and kissed her, mixing the eggs on her flour covered face. She stood up and stomped her feet. "Ooh Ronald Weasley!" She folded her arms and gave him a nasty look. Ron looked at her and then stuck out his lower lip giving her a big pout. She told him to stop that, but he kept it up. Finally her defenses began to crack. He came over to her. They both broke out in smiles and then began to laugh. Mrs. Weasley was stunned at their behavior and was not happy the way her kitchen looked. She decided she was going to use magic to clean it up, when Ron and Hermione asked her if they could just clean it up without magic. They told her it would provide them with quality time together. While they were cleaning up, Mrs. Weasley made toast.

Time moved on. They tried to fill in each day with as many things as possible. One day they decided to take a walk. They came to a small hill. They sat down and just looked around. Ron noticed a piece of paper floating along. He tried to grab for it, but the wind took it away. Hermione told him that she would fetch it. However, it flew from her grasp as well. All of sudden they dashed after it. They ran and ran after it, trying to catch it. It eluded them. A great gust of wind blew it far away and there was no way they could hope to catch it. There was some mild sadness between them that their efforts had failed. Then they giggled, thinking how silly they were in trying to catch a piece of paper in the first place. After their laugh, Ron became quiet. A painful thought came to him. He thought that the paper was his Hermione blowing away from him and he couldn't catch her. This thought made him take a mild plunge into sorrow. He became moody. Hermione went to him and took his hand. They decided to return to the burrow. She could see his sadness and figured it had something to do with her leaving, which was coming fast.

They arrived at the burrow. Before going to the house they had to pass a small shed where Mr. Weasley kept various pieces of junk. Hermione let go of Ron's hand and walked over to it. She saw a latch on the door. She lifted it up and then walked away from it. Ron wondered what she was up too and then walked over and put the latch back in its place. When he was done Hermione walked over and lifted it up again. Ron, getting somewhat irritated went and put it back again. She went to the latch and lifted it up and then gave Ron a look of triumph and moved away. Finally Ron realized that she was playing a game with him. He ran after her, caught her and began to tickle her. They both wrestled about until they fell to the grass. Hermione, begged him to stop tickling her, but he refused until she promised she would leave the bloody latch alone. She gave in and said okay. When he let her go, she tried to get up and go for the latch one more time, but Ron caught her and pulled her down to him. He warned her that she had broke her promise and thus there must be some punishment. As judge and executioner he decided that her punishment would be a severe tickling. The sentence to be carried out immediately. He tickled her with such vigor that she thought she might have an accident. He finally let her breath. He rolled over. She lay on her back for a moment and then rolled over and laid her head on his chest. He kissed her head and then they lay in the grass looking up at the clouds. Awhile later, they got up and went back to the house giggling all the way.

The days passed quickly, nights were seldom long. Then "The Day" arrived. The next morning she would be leaving for two years. Ron was very quiet and moody. Before he knew it, it was time to say good night. He went to bed with such a heavy heart. He just lay there looking up at the ceiling. He couldn't believe that the time had arrived. He wished he was in a bad dream and that he would wake up and it would all just go away. All of a sudden his bedroom door opened. Slowly a person entered. When his eyes adjusted he saw that it was Hermione. She didn't say a word. She walked to his bed. She removed her night robe. She had on her favorite pajamas. She pulled the cover back that was on Ron and then crawled in beside him. She put her arm over his stomach and lay her head on his chest. Ron didn't say a word either. He just held her. Several times in the night he would awake to see what time it was. Each time he comforted himself in that there were still hours left before she would leave. After some time he awoke and looked at the clock. The time had come to say goodbye to the love of his life. She felt him stirring and awoke herself. She too looked at the clock and felt sadness in her heart. She kissed him and hugged him and then got up. She put her night robe on and left.

The household was buzzing. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley would take Hermione to the train station, along with Harry and Ron. They ate very little breakfast. They gathered her packed bags and trunks and put them into the car. They got in and sat down. Ron of course sat by Hermione. They held hands. She lay her head on his shoulder. He wished there would be car trouble, but the darn thing started and they were off.

They arrived at the train station. Mr. and Mrs. Granger were waiting for them. They hugged their daughter and then said hello to everyone else. Hermione's baggage was placed on the train. There was some conversation. Both Ron and Hermione were trembling inside. Finally the train's whistle sounded and it was time for her to board. She hugged everyone again and then gave Ron a kiss and entered the train. She was able to get a seat by a window that was facing them. She waved at them and blew kisses at them. Ron tried not to cry, but he couldn't help it. The train began to pull away. He was screaming her name inside his heart, begging her not to leave him. Slowly the train moved and then it was out of sight and she was gone.

Remember me when I am gone away,

Gone far away into the silent land;

When you can no more hold me by the hand.

Everyone stood waving at a train that was no longer there. They turned to each other. The Weasleys and the Grangers had tears in their eyes. They said goodbye and left. Harry, Ron and his parents got into the car to go back to the burrow. Before Ron sat down, he saw a piece of paper lying on the seat. He took it and saw that it was a note from Hermione. She wrote of the time that they were on the hill chasing the paper. Even though they didn't catch it, he could hold on to this paper. She told him it was more valuable, because it was from her. She told him that the day would come when they could go and chase paper, lift latches and make pancakes and never leave each other again. She told him that walking through life with him up to this point was so very gracious indeed and that she would hold his face in her heart forever. She told him how much she loved him. Ron almost broke down in tears, but steeled himself and sat down. He clutched the note close to himself. All the way back all Ron could see was the empty seat where his love and his only love had sat. When they arrived home, Ron slowly walked into the house and up the stairs. He entered his room. He closed the door and then buried his head in his pillow and just screamed and screamed her name. The family decided to just leave him be.

The next morning it was time for Ron, Harry and the others to get ready to go to Hogwarts for another year of study. Ron was very moody and angry. He snapped at everyone. However, they knew how much he missed Hermione, so none of them were offended. They allowed him some space. They packed up and went to the rail station and to the very place where they said goodbye to Hermione the day before. It was so painful for Ron. They eventually got on the train. Ron wanted to get off and go back home, but he knew he would be miserable there all alone. Nevertheless by going to the castle he knew he would be reminded of her wherever he went. He took some comfort in knowing that at least he would have friends there to help him through. The train moved on. Harry bought loads of sweets trying to cheer his friend up, but nothing would work. He knew that Hermione was Ron's courage and strength. To Ron there was nowhere unless she was there. He was empty. There was no joy, no hope.

After a long time the train arrived at Hogwarts. Harry had to help Ron with his robe. He was so miserable. The train stopped. They got out and stepped onto the sidewalk. Ron was still trying to fight back the memories. He just looked down at the sidewalk. It reminded him of her. All that went through his thoughts was that she was his and now she was gone. They began to walk. Harry was looking up. Then for some reason Harry stopped moving.

"Ron look!"

"Oh just leave me alone, Harry!"

"Darn it Ron, look!"

Ron slowly raised his eyes. For a moment he couldn't believe what he was seeing. He rubbed his eyes, thinking they were playing tricks on him. After he was done rubbing them he looked again. He wasn't seeing things. There, standing at a distance, looking at him, was Hermione. His Hermione. He looked at Harry and then looked in her direction. Harry smiled at him and asked him what he was waiting for? Ron slowly walked toward her and then began to run. When they finally faced each other, he took hold of her and hugged her tightly. He told himself he was never going to let go of her again. She moved her head back. He brushed her hair away from her face with his hand. Although, he was overwhelmed with joy that she was there, he didn't understand why she was at Hogwarts. She started to cry and then asked him to not be disappointed in her, but she just couldn't leave him for two years. She told him she was sorry. Ron then brought her close to him again. She lay her head on his chest. While comforting her, he called her a silly git. She asked him if he was angry with her? He assured her that he wasn't and that he loved her so very much. She gave him a slight smile. He then put his arms around her waist and twirled her round and round. They both laughed and laughed. They stopped. Harry walked to them and then welcomed her back home. Hermione turned and looked at Harry and then said thank you. She turned and looked at the castle and then told him it was good to be back. Ron offered her his arm. She took it and then she and Ron went arm and arm toward the school to begin another year at Hogwarts.

Remember was written by Christina Rossetti

This fic is dedicated to Emma Watson.