Tonks heard Hermione inside and knocked on the door quietly. She heard a pause in movement, and then finally footsteps toward the door. Instead of the door opening, Tonks heard Hermione’s voice yelling coarsely, “Who is it?”
Hermione heard Tonks’ muffled answer, “It’s Tonks, we need to talk. Please, Hermione.”
There was another pause in movement, and then slowly the door opened to reveal a Hermione that looked completely depressed. Her hair was bushier than usual, and she was still wearing her black dress, though it was now all wrinkled and tear-stained. Hermione had huge red sacs under her eyes. Tonks had never seen her this unhappy. She said nothing but pulled Hermione into an embrace. Hermione tried to struggle out of it at first, but gave up after a while. They remained at the door for a long time.
Finally, they broke apart and walked inside.
All of a sudden Hermione turned to Tonks and said, “How could all of you lie?”
“Hermione, we had to. Ron loves you so much, and we just couldn’t mess this up for him.”
“There were so many times you could have told me.”
“I know,” Tonks voiced in almost a whisper, “and I’m so sorry.” Tears formed in her eyes.
“You know, you really should be. All of you should be. I don’t know whether I should forgive any of you right now.” She paused, sniffed a couple of times and then continued, “Tonks, there’s no way I could not speak to you for the rest of my life. I need someone to talk to.”
“Go ahead, I’m listening.”
“I’m so confused…I…I’m so bloody in love with him, but he lied to me! All of you did! I just…I don’t know what to do!” She was sobbing again.
Tonks comforted her with another hug. “Close your eyes,” she said. “Take a deep breath and calm down. Everything will be okay.”
While she was hugging her, however, she managed to summon the mirror with her wand, and silently. The door, thankfully, was still open so Tonks sent it through and to the left, where Ron, Harry, and Remus were waiting. When she was sure someone had seen it, she dropped her wand and slyly stuck it back in her pocket. Hermione had not noticed a thing. Tonks felt slightly ashamed at her cunning action, but it was for the best.
Outside, the men waited patiently for the mirror to fly over them. When they finally saw it, Ron made a quick grab for it, and once his feet were back on the ground he said, “Ok, let’s do it.”
They all Disapparated at once and got back to Harry’s flat.
Ron had held onto the mirror without fail the entire trip, looking utterly determined.
Harry started a fire while Ron and Remus took adjacent seats by the fire. “Are you ready, Ron?” Remus asked.
“I…I think I am, sir.”
“All you have to do is call her name, and you’ll be instantly connected to one of the mirrors in her house,” Harry stated matter-of-factly.
“Alright,” Ron said. He gulped. “Hermione Granger.”
The mirror vibrated vigorously as a picture of the town swirled with blue came up. It zoomed at a colossal speed across the town to Hermione’s small house, and then slowly went inside it stopped moving after a while. Ron looked around Hermione’s flat and found himself to be in the mirror on top of the mantle. He saw Tonks and Hermione drinking tea together over the counter in the kitchen. He found his strength and called, “Hermione.”
Hermione had recognized that voice right away. She stepped closer to the mantle to see the voice’s face. Ron stood before her, unchanged except for flushed cheeks and a melancholy expression on his face.
Hermione finally found her voice and spoke to the mirror, “Ron.”
“I need to talk to you,” he said plainly.
“Ron, I thought you hated me,” Hermione blurted out. By this time, Tonks had Disapparated back to Harry’s house, and she, Harry, and Remus had gone into the kitchen, to give Ron and Hermione some privacy.
“Hermione, never in a million years could I ever hate you. I’ve loved you ever since I lay eyes on you on the first day of Hogwarts. Even the day I sent you away from me, I loved you with all of my heart! Hermione, Hermione! Please forgive me! I love you, I really do!”
“Ron!” She exclaimed. “Do you have any idea the pain you have caused me? Why did you have to hurt me so bloody much?” She started sobbing loudly.
“I can’t stand this anymore!” He said suddenly, and Hermione was horrified. There was now a blank mirror, and she thought Ron had left her for good. But not a moment later, Ron appeared right next to her and continued, “Hermione, please! I’m so, so sorry,” with his blue eyes reflecting the light of the fire. “If there was any way I could ever make it up to you, I would. But I guess it’s too late for that.” He looked at the fire, ashamed.
“Ron, you’re just in time.” Hermione sat on the couch.
Ron stared into Hermione’s beautiful brown eyes curiously, only to see that she was smiling. He couldn’t help but smile.
“Hermione,” he said softly kneeling down next to her, “I love and will always love you, and only you, forever.”
Hermione lowered her lips slowly to Ron’s. The kiss started soft and light, then began to become more and more passionate as time elapsed.
Hermione finally broke out of it. “Ron, I love you, I always have, and I always will. But you need to tell me why you pushed me away.”
“It was Ginny’s death. I know now I shouldn’t have done it, because I was missing out on the best thing in the world: love…your love. I only kept away from your because I didn’t want to get to close to you, and have you, have you…” He paused. A tear escaped the corner of his left eye before he said, “have you end up like Ginny.”
“You’re right, Ron,” she said quietly, wiping away the tear, “Anything could happen to anyone at any moment. But that makes love worth so much more! Without love, the world would be nothing. We would be nothing. Without death, the living would not completely live. Life without death is worthless. Just as me without you is worthless. Ron, I love you, and I want us to have all the time we can together, no matter how long that may be.”
Ron gazed at Hermione and forwarded his lips onto hers for a short, yet sweet, kiss. They sat entangled with each other for a while thoughts and memories floating in their minds.
Harry still had one little adventure to go.
The next morning, Harry woke up late. It was eleven thirty before he remembered he was planning on having Luna over at his house and neither he, nor his house was ready for a guest.
He ran around his house and tried desperately to clean sufficiently, and by ten to noon, he had just about taken care of it. He ran to his room and got dressed quickly, then put on a kettle for tea.
His doorbell rang at exactly noon. He opened it to find Luna. She was much prettier than he remembered, her blond hair hanging down just below her shoulders. She smiled, and Harry saw all of her beauty show. I shouldn’t be thinking like this, he thought, It’s a betrayal to Ginny.
“Hello, Harry,” Luna said, still smiling.
“Hi,” Harry answered. He realized he hadn’t asked her to come it yet so he added, “Ready to come in and have some tea?”
“Sure,” Luna answered.
Harry led her to the fireplace, where Luna seated herself. Harry was bustling around in the kitchen, conjuring up cucumber sandwiches and pouring tea. When he was finally done, he levitated the food with his wand and landed it on the coffee table.
He walked over to the open chair next to Luna and sat down. He reached for the cups and handed one to her. “So, Luna, how have you really been since Hogwarts?”
“Well, truthfully, there’s not a day where I don’t think about that final battle. There’s always something that reminds me. When it’s dark and I’m walking alone, I always feel an inclination to turn around and stupefy someone. It’s incredible, the impact of one battle on a person.” She took a sip of her tea. “What about you, Harry?”
“There’s not a day I don’t think about it, either. I think about that final few minutes, when I was on the verge of death, and I saw Ginny lying on the ground, struggling…I was so glad she made it out alive…” Harry had not realized that he had started crying. He stopped talking, and immediately wiped them away. “I’m sorry,” he said to Luna.
“For what?” She asked, “Crying? That’s something to be sorry about? What’s there not for you to cry about? Your parents, dead, Sirius, dead, Ginny…” Luna stopped herself. It was her turn to apologize. “Harry, I’m so sorry. I don’t know what possessed me to remind you of all the things that gave you pain.”
Harry didn’t answer, but continued crying, consistently and quietly. Luna pulled him out of his chair and hugged him. Neither Luna nor Harry knew how long they stood there, frozen in an embrace. All they knew was that it helped so much.
A/N: So that was Chapter Twelve, the second to last Chapter. I'm bittersweet about it being the second to last chapter. It has been over a year of work spent on this story, and I don't want it to end, but I'm excited for it to end. I do have a new story out called Love Actually, but I don't think it will be as much of a success to be honest. But I'll try my best!! The last chapter will be an epilogue and it will be out soon!!