It had been three years to the day. Three years since she had been so stupid as to believe Malfoy's trick. Three years since she had watched her love die. Three years since she had known true peace.
"I love you."
Those words still echoed through Hermione's mind, as clear as if Ron had spoken them just a second ago. She would never forget them. She would never forget him. His gaze, his touch, that kiss; they would stay with her for eternity. The cliché made Hermione cringe, but he was honestly her first and last thought each day.
Hermione smiled as she arranged the daisies (orange daisies, she thought that was the most appropriate for him) in front of his grave. She had so many amazing memories of Ron, they were what kept her going now. Silly memories; of snowball fights, jealous arguments, innumerable blushes at the slightest touch. Her smile widened as her mind flooded with nostalgia.
She put the last daisy in the pot and sat on the dewy, freshly cut grass next to his grave, like she had done so many times before, absentmindedly pulling up weeds and wiping stains off the grey marble headstone. It was so peaceful in the cemetery, it calmed her mind to come and sit there. She looked out across the small graveyard of Ottery St Catchpole, the rolling meadows beyond it’s border to the left, the Burrow just visible in the other direction, and allowed her mind to go over what it had a million times previously.
She remembered his funeral, or at least parts of it. She had been in a daze that day. She did remember that the funeral had been packed. Give or take a few, the whole of their year at Hogwarts had attended, plus many members of the Order and countless others that knew the Weasley's through Arthur's work. Some people had come to Hermione to offer support and sympathy, others had regarded her warily, pity shining, glaringly obvious, from their eyes
By the time the funeral was held, the Malfoys and Pettigrew were in Azkaban, where they now remained. They had been arrested on the spot and tried a week later in front of the Wizengamot. The verdict was unanimous; guilty of kidnap and bribery with intent to kill. Hermione hoped they would stay there forever. She secretly believed a Dementor’s kiss would have been a more suitable, and fair, punishment. They had taken away so much good from her life. Not just Ron, Harry was different. It was as if his spirit and love of life had been smashed.
The tall pale man had been there, but she had never seen him since. She wanted to see him, to speak to him, to thank him for at least giving them a chance to all get out alive, even if it wasn’t meant to be. All Dumbledore would say about the man was that he was a spy for them. The tall man had sent her letter to Dumbledore that day, instead of Harry. Harry had known nothing about the events that took place in the Room of Requirement until they broke the news to him later that evening. The look on Harry's face that night still haunted her to this day. Deathly pale, no other words could describe it.
"Hermione!" Hermione turned to see her mother and Harry waiting at the gate. She had expected them to come and find her. Her mother had been okay once she was released; petrified but otherwise fine. Although it had taken a while before she felt safe alone again. Her mother had blamed herself for Ron's death, but so had Hermione. She felt responsible until she had realised that all Ron had wanted was to protect her, and she knew nothing she could have done would have stopped him that day.
Hermione stood up and wiped a solitary tear from her pink cheek.
"I love you Ron. I miss you so much," she whispered softly as she turned to walk back to where her mother and Harry stood waiting. Glancing once more at the grave she whispered, "I always knew you would keep your promise."
A/N; So, "Ron's Promise" is finished. I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it and reading my lovely reviews! Which have reached over 100! Thank you all so so much for your support. I am very sorry for the amount of time you had to wait for the epilogue! Writer’s block is a pain in the backside!
Also, I know lots of people weren’t happy that I killed Ron, but I won’t apologise for it as that is just what I always had planned for the story. So there you go.
Lots of thanks and hugs to Shawna for sticking with me through this story. I really appreciate it.