Just a Wizard

Chapter Fifteen

Ron sat by Hermione's bedside until the sun started coming through the window in the tiny room, his eyes fixed firmly on her face, willing her to wake up. He had been shocked by how bad she looked when he had come in here the night before, and he had sat there talking to her for hours, telling her how he felt, how sorry he was.

He didn't know if she could hear him or not, but he hoped she could and that she could hear the sincerity in his voice. Remus had been right. He had come here because it had been what he had wanted to do, not just because it was the right thing to do. He couldn't have stayed out of pity and ruin both their lives. He was here now because she meant everything to him, and he had nearly thrown it all away because of his own stupidity. The anger at himself settled acidly in his stomach. When he had arrived the night before, the medi-witch had given him the pendant that he had ripped from Hermione's neck.

"She was clutching this when she came in," the medi-witch explained, smiling at the large muscular wizard. Ron had stared at the delicate gold chain for a long time, seeing the place where he had snapped it as he pulled it from her neck. He went about trying to fix it, using numerous repairing and strengthening charms, it gave him something to do as he sat with Hermione, and eventually he managed it, satisfied that the chain would hold together now.

Ron looked down at the small piece of jewellery and sighed deeply. She must have picked it up again after he took it from her, and he realised how much it must mean to her. He looked down at his other hand, amazed at how small hers was, resting in his large callused palm, and he wondered how she could ever have been strong enough to not only endure but survive all the tragedies she'd undergone. Now all he could do was pray she came out of this all right, and that she could bear to look at him if she did.

His vigil was interrupted a couple of hours later by Remus walking into the room, smiling when he saw Ron still sitting there.

"Tell me you haven't been here all night?"

Ron shrugged, looking briefly at Remus and then returning his gaze to Hermione's pale, bruised face. "Where else would I go?"

Remus frowned at Ron's morose expression. "You need some sleep."

"I need to see Hermione open her eyes," Ron corrected, pain flickering across his face before he got it under control. "I need to see her look at me without hate."

"She won't hate you," Remus said, sitting on the other side of the bed and looking at the young girl. "If she does, then Merlin help me, because she'll hate me too."

Ron shook his head and glanced up. "She would never turn against you Remus, you're practically her family."

"Not any more than you are Ron," he said, lifting a hand and gently touching Hermione's face. The reaction he got was unexpected as her eyes shot open and she stared blearily around the room, seemingly unaware that they were there.

"Crikey!" Ron hissed out, shocked at the suddenness of her coming awake. "I'll get the medi-witch!"

He left the room and returned a couple of seconds later, virtually carrying the poor medi-witch in with him. She brushed her uniform down and gave him a dark look before turning her attention to her patient and noting down the readings from the monitoring spells.

"I'll just go and page the healer," she said with a smile, rushing out of the room.

A short while later the healer arrived and examined Hermione, smiling gently at the way her eyes were now following his movements. She frowned slightly as she tried to swallow and felt the thick tube running down her throat. She lifted a hand to attempted to remove it, her mind working fuzzily as she came out of her deep sleep and tried to figure out why they were using a muggle treatment on her.

"Ah, no, no, no," the healer said, pushing her hand away gently. "We had to use muggle means for your unique situation, Miss Granger. It was the best option to get you breathing properly. Your breathing seems fine now so we'll take that out for you. Just hold off for a few moments."

Ron and Remus stood helplessly at the back of the room, watching the healer checking her over and the medi-witch flitting around doing his bidding.

"Okay now, we'll just take that tube out and see how your chest is doing, okay? When I say 'now' I want you to breathe out as hard as you can, alright?" the healer asked her, smiling reassuringly when she gave a slight nod. He grasped the tube between his thumb and forefinger and nodded.

"Now."

Hermione breathed out as hard as she was able and felt the tube sliding out of her body, making her gag slightly as the end reached her throat and was finally gone. She took a shaky breath in and coughed, making the healer frown at her. "Let's have a listen to that chest. Gentlemen, if you would?" he said, gesturing for Ron and Remus to leave, something they did with great reluctance. Once they were out of the room, the healer made her take a few breaths, listening intently. "Hmm, not too bad, but I think we'll keep you on an oxygen replenishing spell for a while longer. Oh don't worry," he added, seeing her concerned expression, "it won't be any hindrance. Get some rest now."

He left the room and shortly afterwards the medi-witch reappeared and cast the spell over her, smiling and patting her hand as she left. Hermione had a chance to examine her surroundings then, finding herself laying in a high hospital bed, spells and charms were surrounding her body, especially her arm and her ribcage. Memories flooded back quickly of what had happened to her and she felt her eyes fill with tears as she thought about Daphne, of the things she had been forced to say to Ron and Remus and of the way Ron had gone to Lavender. She allowed herself a moment of self-pity then frowned. Remus and Ron had just been in her room, she was sure of it. Or was she? Her vision had been a little blurred, and she hadn't heard them speak, but she had been sure it was them. But where were they now? Her tired mind couldn't work it all out and she let her eyes drift closed again, barely hearing the door open as the two men re-entered the room. Remus went straight to her and put his hand over hers.

"Ninny?" he said softly, watching her eyes flicker open and stare tiredly at him. He smiled and squeezed her hand gently. "How are you feeling?"

Hermione's forehead creased in a frown as she tried to work out why Remus was here. He must hate her by now. She realised belatedly that he was waiting for an answer and she licked her dry lips beneath the cloudiness of the breathing spell.

"Sleepy," she said, her voice no more than a whisper even though she felt as though she were talking loudly.

"Are you in any pain?" Remus continued, his eyes taking in the severe bruising on her face with concern.

She tried to analyse how she felt, but her body was strangely numb. "No." Her eyes met Remus' again and she frowned, the action making her face twinge a bit, but she ignored it. "Why...are you here?"

The older man winced. "I have to be where one of my favourite girls is, don't I? When she needs me?"

"Daphne?" Hermione asked, thinking he couldn't mean her, not after what she had said, but his next words lifted her heart.

"No, you. You're my girl, the same as Daffy is, don't you know that?" he asked her, bending and brushing a light kiss over her forehead, pretty much the only place on her face that wouldn't hurt if he touched it.

"But...I said things..." she frowned again, feeling incredibly tired and frustrated as her mouth wouldn't work properly.

"Shh, honey. You were made to say things, and we all know that now. You've done nothing wrong."

She stared at him through a mist of tears and then turned her eyes away, looking around the room and seeing Ron standing there, the tears getting worse and overflowing. Ron moved swiftly over to her and took her other hand, sitting in the small chair and leaning in so she could see him properly.

"Don't cry, my love," he murmured, carefully brushing a tear away.

She gave a hitching breath and felt her system start to give up its fight to stay awake, but she had to tell him, she had to say it.

"I'm... so... sorry," she faltered, her eyes drifting closed as exhaustion overwhelmed her.

Ron swore softly at her words and closed his eyes in pain, his chest hurting with his heavy emotions. "Oh Merlin," he groaned, dropping his forehead onto the bed and squeezing her hand gently.

Remus stared at him and shook his head, knowing how the younger man was feeling. "Ron, let's get some tea while she's sleeping, then you can go home and get some rest."

Ron lifted his head and stared at Hermione for a long time, lifting her hand to place a kiss on it, before standing up and moving out of the room, not saying a word.

They went to the tea shop and Remus purchased two large cups, sitting down at a quiet table with Ron and sipping it slowly, smiling helplessly when he saw the strong brew doing it's job on the bigger man and waking him up a bit.

"Better?"

Ron nodded and sighed, rubbing a hand over the back of his neck wearily. "I needed this more than I thought," he admitted. "How can she blame herself?"

"I have no idea, not after what we said to her," Remus said, shaking his head and staring into his own cup, but it's our job to make sure she gets better, make sure she quits those sort of feelings and puts the blame where it really lies, with Castleton." He looked up again. "You need to get some sleep so that you'll be of some use."

"I don't want to be away from her," Ron said, shaking his head in refusal, but Remus raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, well you will be, and so will I some of the time. We're going to resume our normal routine."

Ron's face became stiff with anger. "And pretend nothing's happened?"

"Of course not! But routine will help Hermione settle back in. If we're around her all the time, paying too much special attention, she'll only feel guiltier. Believe me, I know," he said, thinking of how he had been some years ago, dealing with being a werewolf.

Ron narrowed his eyes as he looked at the older man, a suspicion forming in his mind that he didn't like at all.

"You're not thinking of sending me back on the road?"

"That's exactly what I'm doing, and no arguments," Remus said, looking deadly serious. "For the next couple of days you'll follow the normal schedule, but after that you go on the road with the others."

"I was supposed to be taking time off, and Hermione was supposed to be coming with me," Ron said.

"And now you're not. I'll get you set up on some heavy contracts, maybe involve Harry to get him back in the swing of things. As for the rest of the company, they'll do as they're told. There's no way I can have the Christmas party now, so we may as well send them onto the next assignment," Remus said, shrugging.

"That's codswallop and you know it. I don't feel any more like having a party than you do, but the whole company has come to expect it now. You always throw a party for Christmas," Ron said, looking at the older man and then giving a sad smile. "It would have been Hermione's first real Christmas in years, you know?"

"I know. I guess it could still go ahead, but it would have to be without me. Hermione won't be out of this place for a long time, and I just wouldn't feel right drinking and dancing while she was laying here." Remus pursed his lips as he started thinking more clearly. "I was going to have caterers anyway and I could get Ludo to host it. Hmmm," he said, rubbing his chin, "maybe that would work. I could arrange a small gathering when she's better, a late Christmas just for her."

"She'd like that," Ron murmured, thinking of the gift he had been going to buy her.

He had seen a ring, a beautiful Amber ring that would match her pendant. It had merely been a gold band with a large stone in the middle, no frills and no diamonds because he didn't think she was a diamond sort of girl. Now he didn't know whether such a gift would be welcomed. He thought about it for a second. He hadn't intended it to be an engagement ring, but the thought of proposing to her didn't hold any particular terrors for him and he was surprised by that fact. Remus' voice brought him back to reality and he stared at the older man as he spoke.

"Okay then, the day after Christmas you'll all travel to Liverpool and continue working. Then, when Hermione's totally recovered, you can take your time off and come back for her party." He looked at Ron and rolled his eyes. "I know you'd prefer to stay, but there isn't anything you can do for her at the moment anyway, and you know what they say about absence?"

"Yeah...I just hope it's right in this case," he murmured, taking another swallow of tea and retreating into his own troubled thoughts.

For the next four days Ron was constantly at Hermione's bedside, watching her as she slept most of the time. It was Christmas Eve before she was became lucid and opened her eyes for more than an hour. She looked around her and her eyes lit up when she saw Ron leaning near her, his head resting on the bed and soft snores issuing from his mouth. She lifted her hand slowly and touched his hair, biting her lip at the feeling of touching him again when she was certain he'd want nothing to do with her. She couldn't remember much about the past few days, but she did vaguely remember his presence and it made her feel warm inside. He stirred slightly at her touch and his eyes popped open, a smile tilting the corners of his mouth as he felt her touching him softly. He took her hand, kissing her fingers as he sat up.

"Hello beautiful," he murmured, reaching out and running his finger down the side of her face.

Hermione blinked slowly at the gesture and gave a small smile, realising her oxygen spell was gone and so were most of the others.

"What day is it?" she asked him, frowning at the slightly husky pitch of her voice.

"It's Christmas Eve, love, very nearly Christmas Day," he replied, glancing at his watch and seeing it was nearly midnight. Remus' Christmas party was going on right at that moment, but Remus and Emma were with Daphne in her private room down the corridor. Hermione was still in intensive care, and Ron had been determined to stay with her every minute. Remus had arranged for Ron to go back on the road the day after Christmas, and he needed to talk to Hermione before he did that. He opened his mouth to speak and then cursed when the door opened, interrupting him.

Harry poked his head around the door and grinned. "Is it okay to come visiting?"

"No!" Ron hissed, and glared at Harry as he sauntered into the room anyway, grinning as he made his way over to Hermione and leaned in to place a kiss on her cheek.

"How are you, Ninny?" he asked her, taking the hand Ron wasn't holding and perching on the edge of the bed.

Hermione looked him up and down and smiled lightly. "Okay, I think. You look nice."

Harry looked down at his formal robes and patted his short raven hair, grinning cockily. "I do try my very best," he said, and then eyed Ron with a raised eyebrow. "Shame the same can't be said for that wanker over there!"

"Get lost," Ron shot at him, still glaring.

"Where am I?" Harry instantly said, looking confused and Ron couldn't help laughing.

"Moron," he muttered and the other man smiled again, turning his attention back to Hermione.

"You see what happens when you do as he asks? What the ruddy hell do you see in him?" Harry shook his head.

Hermione didn't answer him and Ron stared at her, waiting, but still she said nothing, not knowing what to say in answer to that question, when she thought that Ron was only here out of pity really. She didn't want to let him know she was still madly in love with him, that would only make him feel guiltier, so she remained silent.

To the big man sitting waiting hopefully for her to say something nice about him, it was the final straw. She had finally realised she wasn't to blame, he thought, and now she blamed him instead. He stood up abruptly and looked from Hermione to Harry, before walking out of the room and closing the door quietly behind him.

Harry grimaced and looked at Hermione with raised eyebrows. "I think he's upset."

"Why?" Hermione murmured, frowning at the closed door.

"Because you didn't defend him, of course. Don't worry, I'll go and find him," he said, squeezing her fingers before releasing her and going after his best mate.

Hermione wasn't left alone for long. Two minutes after Harry left, Carter entered the room, with Neville behind him, the two men making the room shrink as they came in.

"Hey Hermione!" Carter said enthusiastically, sitting next to her and grinning. "You look better."

She smiled but didn't have a chance to respond as Neville approached and sat on the other side of the bed, patting her hand awkwardly.

"Good to see you awake," he said in his deep, slow voice.

She looked at their attire and raised her eyebrows slowly. "Why is everyone dressed up?"

Carter and Neville grinned, both of them wearing dress robes like Harry had been. "Well we had a Christmas Eve party, and we had to look good. Do we look dashing?" Carter asked, standing up and striking a pose.

"Yes, you do," she said, smiling tiredly. "Where's Tabitha?"

"She's just gone in to say hello to Remus and Emma, they're visiting with Daffy. She'll be along in a minute so she can show you her dress," he said.

"What about you Neville? Didn't you have a date?" she asked him, stifling a yawn.

"Yeah, sort of, but I left her there for a while, so I could come and see you. She's probably gone home by now," he said, shrugging his muscled shoulders and getting a stain of colour on his cheeks as Carter laughed.

"Yeah, and you don't give a damn because she isn't the person you want to be with, is she?" he said, laughing at Neville's outraged expression. He smiled wickedly then looked at Hermione. "He's fancies someone else."

"That's nice," she murmured, smiling at him, then turned her eyes to the door as Tabitha came in. She looked stunning with her hair coiled up in a complicated mass of curls, wearing a midnight blue dress that fell in soft drapes down to her ankles, the corset bodice accentuating her figure. Carter's eyes lit up and he scanned her body appreciatively, as if he hadn't seen her dressed like that before. She walked over to him as he held his hand out to her.

"Doesn't she look absolutely fantastic?" he asked Hermione, his eyes still on his girlfriend.

Tabitha gave him a light smack and smiled at Hermione as she was pulled down onto his lap. "Ignore him," she said, looking Hermione over. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay. Tired," she replied, grimacing as she felt her eyelids getting heavy.

"You're not in any pain at all?" Tabitha asked, glancing at the last spell that was still hovering over the girl.

"No, I feel...sort of numb, I guess."

"Hmm, that's this spell, I think it's for pain," the blonde girl murmured. "Feeling numb is a good thing at the moment, I should imagine. You missed the Christmas party."

Hermione gave a small shrug. "It doesn't matter."

"Remus thinks it does," Tabitha said, raising her eyebrows but not elaborating. "He's just coming to see you as well, so we all have to get out, there's already too many of us in here. Speaking of which," she said, frowning, "where's Ron?"

"I don't know," Hermione replied, her eyes closing on a blink and almost not opening again, a movement that made Tabitha smile when she spotted it.

"We'll get out of here and give you some peace. It's nice to see you with your eyes open for a change. Get better okay?" she said and gave her friend a kiss on her forehead, jumping up and grabbing Carter's hand to pull him out of the room. He resisted until he had given Hermione a kiss as well, and then waited while Neville did the same and they all left together.

Remus arrived next, beaming at her as he walked in with Emmaline and Isaac Rawlson. She noticed that none of them were wearing party clothes, and she wondered why.

"Merry Christmas, Ninny," Remus said, bending and kissing her cheek and hugging her gently, mindful of the spell. "How do you feel today?"

Hermione smiled as she thought of how many times she had already answered that question. "I'm fine. How's Daphne?"

Remus grinned and looked at his wife as she sat down next to him. "She's doing well, she's coming out of here tomorrow...actually, later today now, I guess, since it's gone midnight!"

"I'm so glad," Hermione murmured as her eyes closed for too long again. She opened them and saw Isaac sit down on the other side of the bed.

"You're tired, we should leave," he said, looking at her worriedly.

"Yes, we should," Remus agreed, brushing Hermione's hair back from her face and wincing at the bruises still vividly colouring her skin, although the swelling was a little better. "We'll come back later on, okay?"

"Okay," she agreed, too tired to argue about it anyway. She closed her eyes again, this time was unable to open them, and she felt Remus stroke her face before they left her alone, letting her sleep.

Harry found Ron sitting outside staring up at the stars, taking no notice of the snow that fell relentlessly around them.

"What are you doing out here?"

"I just needed some air," Ron said, breathing deeply and letting his shoulders slump.

"Seems to me you got a bit upset in there," Harry pointed out, glancing at his friend as he sat next to him. He watched as Ron shrugged but said nothing. "Want to talk about it?"

"Not particularly."

"Well, I think you should. We all know what you can be like when you bottle things up," Harry said, giving a mocking laugh that made Ron's hair almost stand on end.

"You can bloody well talk! Every time something happens to you in your life, you try hexing the life out of half the agents, so don't go trying to make out that I'm..."

"There, that's better, isn't it?" Harry cut in, grinning.

Ron stopped talking and gave a short laugh. "You bastard, you always manage to get me talking."

"That's what best mates are for, isn't it? That, and pointing out when you're acting like a git," he added. "Why'd you walk out like that? Surely you're not sulking because she didn't answer my little question?"

"I've been waiting for her to look at me and remember what I said to her. I guess she just did," Ron said, trying to sound as if it didn't matter.

"Did you see her looking at you like that? I sure didn't, and Hermione has a very expressive face. She didn't look like she was accusing you of anything," Harry said, looking more serious suddenly. "She did look guilty though, if you want my opinion."

"She did?" Ron asked, his head jerking around to look at Harry to see if he was joking.

"Yes, she did. Remus told me she apologized to you virtually the moment she woke up, so she must be blaming herself for all this." He pursed his lips. "That's bad enough, for her, without you blaming yourself as well."

Ron shrugged. "I can't help it. I keep going over and over what I said to her."

"It isn't your fault, mate, I would probably have reacted the same way," Harry said, having heard the full details of what went on.

"Yeah but it wasn't you, was it? It was me. I was the one who grabbed her and shook her. I was the one who yelled at her... Crikey I should have seen it, I should have known..."

"Right that's it!" Remus yelled, startling both of the men sitting outside as he came up behind them. "I have had just about enough of all this! Hermione is the one we should all be thinking about and the way you're acting at the moment you'd do her more harm than good!"

"Yeah but..." Ron began, trying to interrupt.

"Yeah, but...nothing! She doesn't need this and you need to get your head sorted out Ron." Remus stared the younger man down until he retreated and looked away. "That being the case, you're going back on the road as soon as I can arrange your floo schedule and portkeys. No arguments!" he bellowed when Ron tried to object. He lowered his voice and sat next to the younger man. "I know you want to be around Hermione, but you won't be any good for her if you're this uptight. Get back on the road, do your stuff, sort your head out and then come back and see her. I'll keep you informed the whole time okay?"

Ron sighed deeply and slumped. "I don't want to leave her."

"I know you don't, but you know I'm right. She needs time to recover and she'll probably hate you being away as much as you will."

"Then why the hell send me away?" he demanded, frowning.

"Because you're driving everyone crazy, that's why!" Carter snapped, as he joined them outside with Tabitha and Neville shadowing him.

"How do you expect me to behave?"

"Not like this," Remus replied as his brow lowered in exasperation. "You've been blaming yourself and anyone else who happens to be near you, and we've all had enough. I've said it until I'm blue in the face...it is not your fault, not my fault, not Hermione's fault. The blame lies entirely at the door of that git who attacked her, and he's paying for it right now, so enough." Remus sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "You get the hell out of here and let her get better. She'll be waiting for you when you get back."

Ron stood up. "I don't see why the hell I should..."

"You'll do what's best for Hermione," Carter said, standing next to him.

"Damn right you will," Remus agreed, giving him a hard look. "I'll call you with regular updates." When Ron looked like he was going to argue again Remus frowned. "Actually, maybe I won't. I'll call Carter, or Harry. If I have to listen to you blame yourself for this one more time I'm liable to fire your sorry arse!"

Ron and the others watched as he walked away from them, Emmeline giving them an apologetic smile as he joined her at the apparition point. Harry stood up and brushed some flakes of snow from his robes.

"Well, I suppose we'd better go and get some sleep. Sounds to me like we're going to be sent on our way later today, Christmas Day or not."

Ron stood up next to him. "I'll come back to your hotel for tonight, but not just yet. If I have to leave then there's something I have to give Hermione first."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Don't you think she's a little ill for that just yet?"

It took a second for his meaning to sink in and then Ron glowered at him. "Not that, you idiot! Merlin, how did I ever become friends with someone like you?"

"Just lucky I guess," Harry said, grinning inanely. "Okay, we'll see you back at the hotel, but don't you keep our Hermione awake any longer than she needs to be!"

"Don't worry, I won't wake her up," Ron murmured, walking off before anyone could ask him what he was going to give her that didn't require conciousness.

He walked into her room quietly and sat next to her, studying her relaxed face and brushing the backs of his fingers over her soft skin. He really didn't want to leave her, but Remus was right. He was in no fit state to help her recover at the moment, but he would be when he'd worked through this guilt trip, then he'd come back. Putting a hand in his pocket he pulled out the pendant on its chain and opened the clasp, leaning forward to slip it around Hermione's neck and settle it on her chest.

"There you go love," he whispered, lifting her hand to kiss it. "It's back where it belongs."

He stood up and gave her one last look, then left the room.

Remus came back to see her later that day, and this time he wheeled Daphne in the room in a wheelchair.

"Here you go, someone wanted to come and see you," he said as he parked his stepdaughter next to the bed.

"I'll just go get some tea for us and I'll be right back," he commented and left the room.

"Hey, how are you doing?" Daphne asked, smiling and grabbing Hermione's hand.

"I'm feeling a bit more normal today," she replied, starting to feel better now that they had reduced the pain spell. It was still being used, but in lesser quantities, so her brain was functioning a bit quicker. She looked at the sling Daphne was wearing and grimaced. "Are you okay?"

"Yes I am. Don't let the wheelchair fool you, the medi-witch wouldn't let me walk here, but I'm feeling pretty good. Actually it's not as bad as I thought it would be. It hurts, sure, but I've broken my arm before and that was worse. I was lucky though, he could have shattered the bone, that would have made it really bad." She saw the look of pain that crossed Hermione's face and squeezed her hand. "Don't you dare feel bad about this, or anything that you said. Remus told me you felt guilty, and there's no need. You're not the only one who said some awful things you know. I had to tell Remus that it was you when I spoke to him on the phone, remember?"

"You had to, Castleton was threatening to kill us!" Hermione said, and Daphne wondered if she was even listening to her own words.

"Exactly, which is why you can't blame yourself either. I'm okay, and apart from a scar, I'll heal up nicely. Anyway, I'm pretty sure I could get a glamour specialist to look at it if it's that bad. On the other hand," she said, smiling wickedly, "I might be able to show it off to people as a genuine war wound! Maybe it would impress people, you know, men?"

"Men? Any man in particular?" Hermione asked, picking up on the odd note in Daffy's voice.

"Er...no, not really. Well, maybe," she admitted, biting her lip and looking slightly embarrassed.

"Who?" Hermione asked, honestly curious as Daphne hadn't shown any interest in anyone as far as she knew.

"Promise you won't laugh? You won't say anything to Remus or anyone?" the older girl said, the colour getting worse.

Hermione looked confused for a second. "I promise."

"Well, I sort of like...er...Neville," she said quietly, looking at Hermione to see what her reaction would be.

"Neville?" Hermione asked, surprised all over again. He was certainly dishy but didn't seem Daphne's type.

"Yeah. I know. It's probably stupid, but he's actually really nice and we've been talking a lot lately, and he came and saw me the other day." She raised her eyes to Hermione's again. "Do you think we'd look stupid together?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you know, I'm just as tall as him, and with heels and stuff...well...and he's younger than me. I don't know, I guess I'm worried what people will think."

Hermione smiled as she thought about Neville, and what a lovely man he was. "I think you'd be cute together, he's really nice. Why worry about what other people think?"

Daphne smiled with relief. "I guess I shouldn't give a damn huh? You're the first person I've told about how I feel toward him. He doesn't even know yet."

"Does he fancy you too?" Hermione asked, shifting about as she tried to get more comfortable, making the pendant shift with the movement.

Daphne shrugged. "I don't know. I don't even know if he'd tell me if he did like me, most of the wizards I've been out with are worried because they think I'm the rich bitch they see when I'm at work."

"But Neville stays at your house, and sees you all the time, he knows what you're really like," Hermione pointed out.

"I suppose," Daphne said, then she smiled. "You know, I guess I could invite him to the next party we have, or the next dinner or something. See how it goes."

"He'd probably like that," Hermione said, smiling as Remus walked back in the room. Daphne gave her a warning look not to say anything.

"Ninny," he began, dropping a kiss on her head and sitting down, handing Daphne a cup of tea, "sorry, honey, none for you until the healer says so." He was apologetic as she watched the two of them drink the fragrant drink.

She looked up at the clock on the wall and bit her lip. "Is Ron...is he not coming today?"

Remus looked at her. "No, honey, he isn't. I sent him back on the road so we didn't have to put up with his misery."

Hermione looked at him in confusion. "Misery?"

He nodded and smiled. "Someone seems to think this is all his fault, and we were just about ready to kill him. So he's gone."

She felt tears sting her eyes and she blinked them away, feeling another load take their place. "He isn't coming back?" she whispered, her lip trembling.

"Hey, don't get all watery on me! He'll be back in a few weeks. If it helps, it was hard getting him to go, he didn't want to leave you."

"He just feels sorry for me," she mumbled, wiping at her eyes and sighing, her hand falling to her throat and a frown creasing her forehead. She felt her pendant and looked down at it, wondering how it had got back there. Before she could voice the question, Remus started speaking again.

"No he doesn't. He feels a lot of things for you, Hermione, but not one of them is pity, so stop talking shite," Remus said, frowning. "I've sorted him out, now it's your turn."

Hermione looked at him, wondering what he meant. She didn't have to wonder for long. "What happened was bad, and it was horrible for everyone involved, particularly you. But it's over now, and no one blames what happened on anybody but Roman Castleton. He's locked up in Azkaban, and he'll be staying there for a long time, even without your testimony. He killed a girl some years ago and they're going to convict him for it, and for a string of sexual offences that he was never caught for." His mouth twisted into a sneer. "As for Lavender, she'll be going down too, and she'll learn her lesson when she's inside. Her scheming has finally got her exactly what she deserves, and I don't know one person who feels bad about that except her!" He smiled at her. "As for you, you're getting better and the doctor said that if all goes well, you'll be coming home in a week or so. I understand why you feel guilty, but you have to realise that we all feel guilty too for what we said. Now we just have to get ourselves back on track, okay?"

"Okay," Hermione agreed, nodding and giving a tentative smile. Remus had a knack of making her feel comfortable with any given situation. "But... does he want to see me again?"

Remus gave her a knowing look. "Can't help yourself can you? Yes, of course he does. He isn't going to for a while, although I'm quite sure you'll be getting some of those messages you're so fond of." He watched as she smiled and colour came to her face for the first time since she had woken up. "That's much better. Now let's concentrate on getting you well again okay?"

Hermione was released from St. Mungo's late the next week and Remus happily took her home, surprising her with a small welcome party. She was overwhelmed with being made such a part of them, and she finally started trying to put what had happened behind her. The only dark cloud on the horizon was the fact that Ron hadn't contacted her in any way, although she knew that Remus was relaying her progress through Carter and Harry, so he at least knew she was at home now. When she mentioned it to Daphne, the older girl laughed.

"You do realise that floo phones work both ways? Why don't you contact him?"

"What would I say?"

"If I have to tell you that, then maybe you shouldn't bother," Daphne said, raising her eyebrows and leaving her on her own.

Hermione pulled her phone out and chewed her lip. A text message wouldn't hurt, she supposed, but she couldn't decide what to say and so she eventually settled on something small. 'Hello', she typed in, adding, 'how are you?' and wondered if it was too formal. But she sent it anyway and waited for a reply. It didn't come and she spent the day worrying that she hadn't been personal enough.

She needn't have worried, as it turned out. Her phone hooted at her later that evening and she hurriedly pulled the messages up. 'I've been worried about you. How do you feel?' the message read and she bit her lip.

'I'm good. I miss you', she typed, getting a bit more personal and wondering what he'd say.

It took a while for the message to come back and Remus smiled at the way she waited impatiently for it, glad to see her returning to normal. When the phone hooted again she couldn't read the message quick enough.

'I miss you too, love, so much it feels like my insides have been torn out.'

She read the message and sat silently for a moment, a smile slowly brightening her face as she read it again, making sure it really said what she thought it did.

"Something good?" Remus asked, indicating her phone.

"He misses me," she said, beaming now.

"Well, of course he misses you. Sometimes I think you're as daft as he is," Remus said jokingly, grinning at her.

It set a pattern for the next couple of weeks as Hermione went through the process of full recovery, and Remus was certain that the mass of messages the two sent to each other helped her along. Then the messages just stopped, and Remus flooed to find out why, laughing helplessly when he found out Ron had smashed his shell phone to pieces when, one night, he couldn't get the message to send. He had made sure he floo called Ron or one of the others the traditional way every day with any news, and also to find out how things were going. He had managed to arrange it so he could stay at home for the majority of the time, only having to travel to make sure everything was running smoothly, and only twice to appear in meetings. Remus had even stayed with Hermione during his transformations at the time of the full moon. With the aid of the wolfsbane potion, he simply curled up at the foot of her bed, harmless as could be.

The wards and security had been stepped up at Wolf's Grove. Now, no one without Remus' expressed permission could gain access to the grounds. Apparition was made impossible for blocks, and anyone attempting to get past the wards had better be prepared for the mass of curses that would surely end their life.

Soon, much to Hermione's excitement, the day came around when Ron was due to return and Remus accompanied her to the floo hub with Daphne in tow. The older girl had wanted to be there because some of the other agents were coming back too, Neville Longbottom included. She hadn't spoken to him since she had seen him in the hospital, but she had made sure Remus had invited him back just the same, along with Harry, Tabitha and Carter. Unbeknownst to Hermione, a party had been meticulously planned for a night later that week. Daphne had made her go shopping with her, and told her that she should get some belated Christmas gifts as that was what she would be doing as well.

"I sort of missed out on Christmas, so I'm going to give people their presents when they come back this way," Daphne explained and was pleased when Hermione didn't see anything weird in that and went about buying her own gifts. She hadn't seen what she had bought Ron yet, but she knew she had got him something.

They walked through the busy floo hub and then found some seats, sitting down to wait. Hermione found she couldn't sit still and she stood up again when his arrival party was announced, moving nervously from foot to foot as she stared at the arrivals gate, waiting for a glimpse of Ron. After what felt like forever she looked at Remus.

"What if he doesn't want to see me?" she asked, chewing her lip.

"Of course he'll want to see you," Remus assured her, putting his arm around her shoulders.

"But it's been six weeks, and he hasn't called me for a whole month. Maybe he's seeing someone else or something," she mused, feeling horror and pain lurking inside her waiting to burst forth if her words proved to be true.

"Don't be ridiculous! He hasn't called you because he smashed his phone. You know that. But he knows how you are, and from what Carter tells me he's been a pain in the arse the entire month. That has to be because he misses you," Remus said with a smile.

"Do you really think so?" Hermione asked him, turning her gaze up to his face.

Remus flicked her nose affectionately. "Yes, I really think so. Look," he said, glancing up at the arrivals gate and pointing, "does that look like a man who doesn't want to see you?"

Hermione turned in time to see Ron standing there like a statue whilst the other arriving witches and wizards tried to squeeze by his large form. His face conveyed his astonishment that she was there then a huge grin transformed his expression in an instant as he dropped his bags and started towards her.

Hermione started smiling and found she couldn't stop, she was so pleased to see him, and when he got within a foot of her she flung herself into his outstretched arms, wrapping her slim arms around his neck as he hoisted her off the ground.

"Oh, Ninny, I missed you so much," Ron groaned, trying not to hold her too tightly. He drew his head back enough to see her face. "How are you feeling? Are you all right? Do you hurt anywhere? Have you been okay?"

She gave a small laugh. "I'm okay, I'm fine, no and yes. Except I missed you," she admitted, gazing adoringly into his eyes as Carter and Tabitha came up next to them carrying Ron's forgotten bag.

"Hey everyone," Carter said happily, his greeting echoed by Tabitha. The couple grinned like lunatics as they watched Ron stare at the small woman as if he were hypnotized.

"Hey Carter, Tabitha," Hermione said automatically, not moving her eyes from Ron's. "Can I take you home with me?" she murmured.

"Sure, you can take me anywhere you like," Carter said, his big grin still in place.

Ron shot him a look that quelled his humour briefly. "Not you, you ruddy fool." He turned his attention back to Hermione and smiled, his whole expression softening. "You can take me home for now, but you're coming home with me in a week."

"I am?" she asked, her eyes widening and her smile following suit.

"Yeah, you are. I have time due to me remember? I said I'd take you to my home, and now I'll finally be able to do it, with Remus' blessing of course," he said, looking belatedly at his boss.

Remus smiled, pleased that Hermione was so happy. Ron had already asked him if he could whisk her away for two months, and he had no objections as long as Hermione wanted to go. "You've got it."

"Thanks," Ron said, more grateful than he could convey. "Then you're mine for two whole months."

"Two months?"

"Mmm hmm. Think we can find something to keep us occupied in all that time?"

"Yes! You can go flying, swimming maybe, read a good book, watch TV..." Remus said, listing things and ticking them off on his fingers.

"I think we may find something better than that," Ron said, giving him a shit eating grin and receiving a mock glare.

"For instance?" Remus prompted, trying not to let his protective instincts for Hermione get out of control. Again.

"We could go to the cinema, maybe rent a movie, play chess...any number of things really. Why, what were you thinking about?" Ron asked, feigning ignorance.

Remus studied him slowly and let down his guard, smiling. "Maybe making a start on those grand-were-children...or whatever you call them," he murmured, turning and walking away with Carter before Ron and Hermione could get their mouths closed.

"Did he really just say...?" Hermione said, shocked.

"He sure did. And what a great suggestion," he returned, smiling at her and then lifting her up level with him and squeezing her tight again. "I didn't think it was possible to miss someone as much as I've missed you. I think some of my mates were about ready to crucify me, the way I've been acting."

"I didn't know I could miss someone so much, either. It felt like someone ripped part of me away... please don't go away again," she said unsteadily, her hands desperately grasping his shoulders.

"Well, you know I have to go away sometimes, but maybe not for so long, hmm?"

"I don't ever want to be away from you again," she said huskily, her bottom lip trembling as she buried her face against his throat.

Ron gave a deep chuckle and held her close, loving the feel of her, feeding on it like a starving man. He frowned suddenly and hugged her tighter.

"Hermione, I'm so sorry, love. For my jealousy... Because I believed all that rot you fed me, it never even occurred to me that you might be lying. I guess I still have some issues with trust, but I should have had more faith in you. I'm sorry I was such a git, I'm sorry you got hurt... Merlin, I'm sorry I hurt you!"

He sounded so anguished that Hermione held him as tight as she could, trying to give him some measure of comfort. "It's okay, it isn't your fault. I should have been stronger, I shouldn't have let him make me say those things...."

"Stronger? Don't you bloody dare blame yourself for what that tosser did! Don't you dare!" he said harshly, drawing his head back to look at her and seeing guilt clearly on her face. "I don't know one single decent wizard who could have defied him, not with him threatening Daffy and you! Merlin, how can you possibly think you're at all at fault?"

Hermione's lip trembled briefly before she got it under control. "I hurt you," she whispered, taking a shaky breath. "I hurt Remus too. If you had said those same things to me I would have wanted to kill myself. I should have refused to do what he wanted."

Ron closed his eyes on a wave of pain at what she must have been feeling over the last few weeks. "And then you would have wound up dead. You nearly did. I don't ever want to hear you say that you were to blame in any way, okay? As to what you said, I won't lie honey, it hurt like hell, but only because I thought you meant them. I'm falling hard for you and to hear you say those things...! But you didn't mean them, they weren't even your words were they?"

"No! I would never say that to you! Never! I feel so bad for hurting you."

"No worse than I feel, and I don't have half the excuse you have. I wish I could take back the way I acted, the things I said, the things Remus said. I'd give the world to make everything right again," he said earnestly.

"But it will be all right now, won't it? Roman will be in Azkaban forever, he can't hurt me again. And you..."

"Me?" he asked, smiling slowly as she stopped talking and just gazed at him.

"You'll take me home."

Ron smiled affectionately. "I'll take you home," he agreed.

"Will you..." Hermione said, frowning and chewing her lip for a second before continuing, her fingers tracing a pattern on his shoulder. "Will you still feel the same about me?"

"No, I won't," he said, watching her eyes widen and jerk up to his. "I'll feel even more for you," he clarified, smiling at her.

"Oh," she said softly, her lips curling up at last. "You will still kiss me and stuff won't you?"

"Oh, yeah, love, there isn't anyone who can stop me from doing that, nobody in the world. Come on," he said softly, dropping a kiss on her lips. "Let's get back to Remus' so I can start taking care of you."

She nodded with a small smile. Her eyes alight with love for this man. Something he couldn't possibly miss. He turned around and saw Daphne still standing there and grinned sheepishly at her when she looked amused. "You coming back with us?"

Daphne bit her lip and looked towards the arrivals gate. "I guess so. Er....Ron, where are Harry and...Neville?"

Ron looked behind him. "They're back there somewhere, looking for their bags. They'll be along, I'm sure they said they were coming straight over to your dad's when they got here. Why?"

"Oh, er... nothing. Shall we go?" she asked, looking uncomfortable.

Ron frowned briefly and then looked down at Hermione, who had given his hand a hard squeeze, shaking her head slightly. "Yeah, let's go." He gave Hermione a look that let her know he would be finding out all about this later, but for now he was happy to have her awake and well and walking next to him again.