Ron had never run so fast in his life. He sprinted out of the prefect bathroom and headed towards the Gryffindor Common Room, but it was empty. Everyone was either out in Hogsmeade still or enjoying the grounds on the lovely, sunny day. Ron pushed open the castle doors and ran down to the lake, but she wasn't there. He headed into the great hall, after all it was almost dinner time and she would be hungry after the train ride here, but she wasn't there either. Ron collapsed into his usual seat, tired and out of breath, wondering if everything that Myrtle had told him had been a lie.

He waited until the food appeared on the tables and began to eat. Harry and Ginny returned from Hogsmeade and sat down next to him.

'Is it true?' Ron asked, the second Ginny took her seat.

'Is what true?' She asked, unsure as to what Ron was asking about.

'Is Hermione really back?' Ron said. His excitement faded away when he noticed the look of pity on Ginny's face. It hadn't been true after all. Myrtle had lied to him. 

'Who told you that?' Harry asked. 

'Myrtle,' Ron muttered, embarrassed now that he knew she'd lied to him. 

'Myrtle?' Ginny almost choked on her food, trying to stifle a laugh. 'You listened to Myrtle. She never says anything that's true. She just sits in the bathroom and cries.'

'Well you would too if you were confined to live the rest of your life in a bathroom,' Harry added.

'She misses you by the way,' Ron said to Harry and Ginny sniggered, a stunned look on Harry's face. Clearly that had not been something that he'd wanted to be reminded of. 'She wants you to go and visit her in the Prefect's bathroom.' 

'Prefect's bathroom?' Harry questioned.

'Yeah, I think she's upgraded from the Girl's bathroom on the first floor,' Ron continued to eat. 

'I'll make a note to avoid that bathroom them,' Harry replied. Ron has to restrain himself from reminding Harry that he couldn't use the bathroom even if he wanted to.

'I can't believe that...' Ginny stopped as she looked up. The rest of the great hall had gone silent and Ron turned around to see what was going on.

She was there. 

Hermione.

She was stood at the entrance of the great hall. She looked tired as if she'd just spent the day on the train. But she was here and Ron thought she looked more beautiful than ever before. He found himself standing up, and Hermione's eyes met his. He could feel hundreds of pairs of eyes watching the two of them, but her's were the only ones that mattered. 

Then he was running. He ran from his seat, almost falling as one of the Slytherins stuck out their foot in order to trip him up, but it didn't stop him. He reached Hermione and stopped just a few steps away from her. She looked at him, and Ron could tell that she was scared, not sure how he was going to react to her being here.

But in that moment, Ron didn't care about everything that had happened over the past few weeks. She was here now and he couldn't remember a time when he'd felt this happy. 

'Ron.' She said, her voice soft so no one else could hear them. 'Ron I'm so sorry about everything that I did, I pushed you away and I...' Ron cut her off with a kiss, his lips practically smashing into hers. He felt her body tense at the shock of it all, but only for a second. Then she was kissing him back and it was as if they had never been apart.

A wolf whistle, that Ron was pretty sure came from Harry, rang out through the hall and reminded them that they weren't alone. Ron pulled away, almost laughing with happiness, and grabbed Hermione's hand, pulling her out of the great hall and out of the castle into the grounds. It was still light, although the sun was beginning to set in the sky. 

The two walked down to the edge of the Black Lake, and sat at the side watching as ripples formed on the water's surface. They sat in silent for a moment, their hands intertwined, but neither of them knowing what to say first.

'I didn't think I was ever going to see you again,' Ron admitted and the way he said it made tears well up in Hermione's eyes. She took a deep breath and squeezed Ron's hand.

'I'm sorry,' she replied. 'It just all seemed way too much.' 

'I know, but you should have talked to me about it, I could've helped. Or I could have at least tried.' Ron added and Hermione let out a small giggle.

'I guess the thought of you leaving Hogwarts in a couple of years drove me crazy,' she said. 'I thought that the only way it would work out was if I caught up with you all. It sounds stupid to say out loud. But in my mind I was doing it for us.' Ron looked up at her, his eyes wide.

'It doesn't sound stupid,' he replied. 'But it sure felt like the complete opposite. It felt like you were trying to push me away. That you resented me for asking you to come here with me.'

'I never resented you,' Hermione replied. 'It just got a bit too much and I was angry at you but it was never your fault. My anger was only down to what I'd done to myself.' Ron wrapped his arm around Hermione's shoulder, kissing the top of her head. Hermione rested her head against his and looked out across the lake, relief and happiness filling her inside.

'So what made you come back?' Ron asked, deciding he didn't want to talk about the reasons that she'd left anymore. Even if she said that it hadn't been his fault, he still felt partially responsible for what had happened between them. 

'It was the craziest thing,' Hermione said with a laugh, before beginning to explain how she'd bumped into Mrs Weasley and how she'd convinced Hermione to come back.

'My Mum convinced you to come back? You talked to my Mum?' Ron asked in disbelieve. 

'Yeah,' Hermione replied. 'She was pretty convincing. 

'I guess I owe her one then,' Ron said with a laugh. 'I owe her way more than that.' He added as he brushed a strand of hair off of Hermione's face, looking into her eyes. 'I love you.' He said to her, before kissing her again, feeling as if they had so much time to catch up for. If Hermione had made fireworks before when she'd kissed Ron, tonight she was certain that she would have been able to light up the entire sky.

'Hermione!' A voice shouted and Ron and Hermione looked up to see Ginny running down the hill, pulling Harry along behind her. Hermione jumped up, hugging Ginny tightly when she reached them by the edge of the lake.

'I tried to get her to give you some privacy,' Harry began with a laugh. 'But she decided ten minutes was more than long enough.' 

'I've missed you so much,' Ginny said. 'I can't believe you left, and now you're back!' She squealed. 'This is so wonderful! And you're planning on staying?' Ginny asked. 'You're not planning on going home again anytime soon?'

'No,' Hermione replied with a smile. 'I'm staying right here.'