I don't mind if
You stay longer
You have not been
Any trouble
At all...

Ron felt like an old soul. Somewhere across the globe, other eighteen-year olds must have lived lives that were more carefree, more spontaneous. He was sure their worries were confined to what they were going to eat that day, or what Muggle film they might watch over the weekend.

But not he.

The war had robbed him of the last three years of his innocence. It had taken other pieces of his heart as well: his mother and father, his two older brothers. Nighttime at The Burrow was eerily silent now, devoid of laughter and joy, leaving only emptiness and stillness it its wake.

The stillness was deafening now, muted by the steady drumming of the rain outside. Ron stared out of the window in the sitting room, watching the mist form on the glass panes. And then his breath caught in his throat as he spotted movement outside. A figure moved across the front porch, and Ron recognized the cloud of chestnut hair at once.

Hermione...

He opened the door before she had even come to it, waiting, leaning against the frame, watching her.

She was soaked to the bone, her robes clinging to her small body as she shivered, mist forming from her mouth. There were no words spoken between them as he reached for her hand and pulled her inside.

She tried to speak. She tried, but he wouldn't let her.

"Ron, I-"

He placed a finger on her lips. "I know."

He aimed his wand at the hearth and lit a fire. He watched as she unfastened the clasp on her cloak and laid it down by the fire so it would dry, and they sat together, side by side, each of them afraid to break the silence.

I don't want you
To go home yet
Can you just stay
Ten more minutes...

The rain thundered on outside, a dull, monotonous sound that numbed Ron's nerves.

"Do you think he's dead?" she said at last, her voice full of pain and grief.

Ron shook his head. His answer was no, not so much because he knew for sure, but because it was what he desperately needed to believe.

"He wouldn't leave us," he said. "He wouldn't hurt us like that..."

He felt, rather than heard, Hermione's breath. Their hands found their way to each other's, and Ron watched in amazement as she threaded her fingers through his.

You are my
Best friend
I don't know how
I'd live...

He could feel the weight of her stare. He met her gaze, and for a long time, they stayed that way, lost in the other. How much time passed by, he didn't know. All he knew was that he didn't want to look away. She might vanish if he looked away.

With a trembling hand, he touched her face. She was a mess: hair tangled and unruly, eyes bloodshot from crying, cheeks stained red.

And he thought to himself, he had never laid eyes on anyone more beautiful.

The words had never been spoken between them. Ron wondered if they needed to even be voiced at all.

How I love you
Every square inch
Love your brown eyes
Your forgiveness...

Her lips tasted like tears: salty and sweet all at the same time. He kept expecting her to pull away, or else tell him that they shouldn't lose their heads, but she didn't. Perhaps he wouldn't wake from this dream after all.

Don't go home now
It's past midnight
You can sleep here
We'll have breakfast...

Ron promised himself at the beginning, when the hell was just starting, and all the illusions he'd clung to his entire life had been destroyed in one fell swoop, that he would not lose himself. He had vowed not to let his heart lead him anywhere again; it was too painful each time it broke and he had to put the pieces back together again and again.

But then he held her, and all the promises faded into the distant memory.

You are my
Greatest gift
I don't know how
I'd live
You are my
Saving grace

You are
My heart
My true friend...

He watched her chest rise and fall with each breath she took, ran his hand over her hair as she slept. Somehow, despite what still existed outside, despite all the uncertainty and instability and all the unanswered questions, he'd found hope.

He'd found it in her.

The rain continued as they drifted off into slumber together.