Someplace to Hide

Summary: After the war, Ron makes a quick decision to return to Hogwarts with Hermione for their seventh year while Harry goes on to Auror training in London. A place of peace for Hermione is soon shared, and they find comfort together as they try to recover from the past.

Chapter 1: You Go, I Go

Ron stood outside the hidden fourth floor entrance to the Prefect's bathroom, his hands shoved deep into his trouser pockets. He knew she was in there. He could vaguely feel the heat from the steam in the room on the other side through the tapestry and door beyond. He shifted his weight from foot to foot, stuck between knocking on the door and returning to the common room where everyone was sitting by the fire. But he had come here to find her, hadn't he? It would be silly to go back now. He paused, wondering what he'd say to her, but knowing that he often couldn't predict what his mouth would decide to do, even with his brain screaming at him to do otherwise.

When he finally took a breath and pushed forward through the tapestry, his hand reached up and pounded softly on the stone entrance, echoing slightly off the walls of the empty castle.

On the other side of the door, Hermione sat on a bench, just out of the bath. Her hair was still wet and steam still filled the room as she waited for the bath water to drain. The pounding on the door startled her briefly, but she slowly stood, knowing who it would be before she opened the door.

He looked weary and lonely, but that didn't stop the small smile that played at the corners of his lips upon seeing her. She stepped back, allowing him to come inside, and he didn't wait a beat to move forward into the heated room. He took a seat on the bench and Hermione joined him, both looking towards the swimming pool sized tub for no particular reason other than the fact that it was right in front of them.

After a few moments sitting and listening to the water drain from the tub, Ron spoke.

"I thought maybe you'd be here."

"Why?" she asked softly.

"Well, it's the biggest bath in the castle and after nearly a year without a proper one, well, there's no better place to do it than here." He gave her a half smile, then turned his gaze back to his hands in his lap. "It's cold up in the tower."

Hermione nodded slightly. She sat back further on the bench, breathing the steam from the room in deeply.

"You were here last night too," Ron said without looking at her.

"How do you know?" she asked, curious.

"I saw you leave in the night. I couldn't sleep."

"But how do you know where I went?"

"I saw you coming back as well with your hair wet."

"Where were you? I didn't see you. Why didn't you say something?" Hermione had spent a lot of the night wondering if she should go up to the boy's dormitory to see Ron. She wanted to, but she didn't know what he'd say... or what she'd say.

"On the stairs to the boy's dormitory. It was dark. The fire had gone out by then. And you looked tired. I didn't want to disturb you." His gaze remained fixed on his hands in his lap as he spoke.

"Oh," Hermione said simply, at a loss for anything else to say.

They sat in silence for a while longer, the bath having draining entirely. Finally, Hermione spoke again.

"Why did you come here, Ron? Oh, the bath!" Hermione suddenly felt like she should leave, so she stood. "I'm sorry, Ron. I didn't think about it..."

But he looked up at her quickly and reached out, taking her wrist.

"No, I didn't come here for a bath. I had a shower already."

Hermione stared down at him for a moment. He looked up into her eyes now and would not look away, even as she finally, slowly, moved back to her spot on the bench, sitting much closer to Ron this time. He didn't let go of her wrist.

"I came here to see you. I..." he trailed off. He had a lot to say, but where to start?

"Oh," Hermione said again. She smiled softly at him and he returned it, feeling his heart melt a little.

Again, they sat in silence, both looking at the other, Ron's cheeks reddening, but he never looked away. Hermione finally broke eye contact and slid her wrist out of Ron's grasp, taking his hand with her own instead. He squeezed tight, feeling his stomach jump a little at her touch. He never wanted to let go.

"I used to come here, while we were in school, just to get away from the tower. I'd come and study or read. No one really ever came in here. I'd just lock the door and sit right here."

"I didn't know," Ron said softly. "In sixth year?" he asked. Hermione nodded.

"Fifth too, but mostly sixth I suppose."

She thought back on it for a moment, remembering some not so wonderful times spent in this room, thinking about Ron. She remembered just then a promise that she had made to herself that year when he had been in the hospital wing after being poisoned. She also remembered promising herself something similar last year while hunting for the Horcruxes when Ron had left them. She wasn't going to hide anything from him anymore. She was going to tell him everything. He deserved to know, and she deserved to know how he felt for her as well. She had whispered in the night in this very room after she had seen Ron unconscious in the hospital wing, I'll tell him everything. I'll tell him how I feel, that I love him, that I need him, and if he doesn't feel the same, I'll be happy for him. I won't be angry with him. He can be with anyone who makes him happy. I just want him to be alright. Please, if he's alright, I swear...

"I used to think about you, actually." The words came out of her mouth, but she almost couldn't believe it was her who was speaking them.

"About me?" he asked in a whisper.

"Yes."

Ron watched her for a moment, his eyes seeking hers, trying to find answers, to understand what she meant, if it could be true, what he'd hoped for... But Hermione turned her eyes back towards the bath in front of her.

"It started... well, with Lavender."

Ron flinched. He didn't want to talk about her now...

"I came in here one night, right after I first saw you together. I imagined that you followed me here, that you weren't with her. And we sat on this bench and talked, just like we are now. So I'd come here to talk to you, to tell you everything. We talked about dumb things sometimes, about classes and books... but sometimes I'd tell you things, secrets, that no one else knew about me, and you'd listen, and you understood everything I told you."

"Hermione..." he started, feeling guilty and overwhelmed by her admission.

"I guess that sounds a little crazy. I missed you so much. I missed having you around all the time. I even missed you teasing me and... I just needed someone to talk to, and I wanted to say the things that were on my mind, but I couldn't really say them to you. So I imagined that I could, and that I wasn't nervous or scared of your reaction."

Ron said nothing for a moment, just breathed, looking at the side of Hermione's face. Finally...

"You can tell me now," he choked out, his breath hitched in his throat. Hermione smiled but still didn't turn to him.

"I made a promise to do just that."

"A promise to who?" Ron asked, confused.

"To myself, when you were poisoned."

Ron nodded his understanding.

"I promised myself something too, Hermione. When I was at Shell Cottage last year, after I left..." He paused, closing his eyes briefly, remembering how terrible that time had been. "I made a promise to tell you how I was feeling about you, because what if I never got another chance? What if something had happened to you and Harry and I hadn't been there? What if... what if I never saw you again?" Ron looked down at his hand in Hermione's now and rubbed his thumb gently against the back of her hand.

"Ron..." Hermione started, now turning towards him, tears in her eyes.

"But we're both here now," Ron added, looking up and trying to give Hermione a reassuring smile, but it turned into a sad one, and Hermione leaned towards him, resting her head on his shoulder. Ron didn't wait any longer. He wrapped his arms around her and held her as close as he could without crushing her. His hands moved slowly up and down her back and he buried his face in her hair. He wanted to be even closer, but the bench prevented it, and after a moment, Hermione raised her head and looked up at him, tear stains still on her cheeks, but she smiled. She slowly pulled back from him, not really wanting to, but feeling a little embarrassed at the same time. She wiped the tears from her eyes, then spoke again.

"Maybe this isn't the best time to say it, but I'm going to come back to Hogwarts in the fall. I've already decided. If they reopen, and people seem to think that they will, then I'm coming back. We'll be helping to rebuild this summer, I'm sure."

"I thought you might come back," Ron answered. "And I've been thinking about it too."

"You have?" Hermione asked, incredulous.

"If you come back, I'll come back," he admitted, a blush creeping to the tips of his ears.

"Ron, you don't have..." Hermione began, but he interrupted.

"I know I don't have to. But I will."

Hermione didn't know what to say. She didn't think Ron would have been interested in coming back at all next year. She was sure that he and Harry would get accepted as Aurors straight away and would be whisked off to the Ministry as soon as everyone had recovered from the war.

"But Harry won't come back. He's already said he'll go straight to Auror training, and no one is going to care that you didn't take your N.E.W.T.S., not after this year."

"I know. I've thought about all that." Ron looked down at his lap again.

"Then why..."

"Because I want to be with you," he nearly whispered.

Hermione's eyes widened. Now she really was speechless.

"Ron..." she started.

"I've considered everything. I know I'll be a year behind Harry, but I don't care. I'll catch up eventually. It's only a year."

"You would really do that?" she whispered, choking a bit on the tears that threatened to fall again.

"I really will do that, because I've already decided, and I see that you have too. You go, I go." He looked up at her now and stared into her eyes, knowing the weight of what he was saying to her, but remembering his promise and knowing that it was time to be brave.

"Ron..." She sniffed, a smile spreading wide across her face. She wanted to argue with him, to tell him that he didn't need to do this, that it would be so much better for him to go do what he wanted, but he wanted to be with her! He didn't care that it meant another year at school. She suddenly felt selfish, like if she didn't come back then he wouldn't have to. "I don't have to come back," she said.

"What?" Ron asked, confused.

"You said you'll come back if I come back. Well, if I don't, then you don't have to." Hermione realized this was a little silly. She smiled now, almost laughing at the situation. Ron chuckled and shook his head.

"Nope. I'm not letting you get away with that."

"Why not? It's fair. You said you'll only come back because of me-" Ron blushed. "-so now I'm saying I won't go back because of you."

"But I beat you."

"What?"

"I beat you. You told me you wanted to come back to school before you knew what I was going to say. So I win. Sorry." Ron shrugged and smiled at her and she shook her head now. She didn't know what else to say, so she leaned onto his shoulder again. Ron draped his arm around her, holding her against his side. After a long, comfortable silence, Hermione lifted her head from Ron's shoulder and looked up at him.

"We have a lot of work to do to help rebuild."

Ron nodded.

"I reckon we'll be here a while," he said as he ran a hand through Hermione's hair, his eyes locking onto hers. She shivered slightly even though she wasn't in the least bit cold.

"But we'll be together," she said quietly after a moment. Ron studied her eyes and she felt her cheeks heating up as she stared back into his. He looked so serious, so... in love with her... she tried to shake away that thought...

"Always," Ron said suddenly, his voice deep and full.

Maybe it had been a question, maybe he was gauging her reaction, readying himself for what he would soon say, for all the things he had to tell her, things he'd promised he would say now. But maybe it had been a knowing reflection of a future he could see, a future they both had seen together nearly since they had first met. And when they finally stood to walk together back up to the common room, Hermione felt stronger, more alive, and more sure than ever before that they would be okay. There was nothing they couldn't do together. They had proven that. And all of her fears, her worries and nightmares of being alone, of loving him in vain with no hope of him returning it, vanished as if they had never existed, replaced with something warm and new. She'd tell him everything, but slowly, and she knew he'd tell her too. For now, they had work to do, but there would be so much time for them, so much future, future that had seemed uncertain and cold until this very moment.

You go, I go, she thought. Yes, she would be just fine.