To Guide You
anime_angel2000
D/C: none mine.  Lyrics The Calling
A/N: Okee dokee, haven't written one of these in a while.  It's not hideous good, but I lost the original copy, so...  Anyways, I'm sad.  I only got 2 reviews on my last story.  Oh well...
 Hermione sighed as a slight breeze lifted her hair from her shoulders slightly.  The moon illuminated the lake, forest, and silvery Quidditch field.  She loved the moon.  It made her skin seem pearly, almost marble, and hid most of the things she didn’t like about herself.  Her feet felt cool against the stone railing she was perched on, held up only by her hands, which served as anchors fastened to the side of the railing closer to the actual balcony.  She closed her eyes.  She felt like she was flying.  She heard muffled racket from both the Great Hall and the Common Room.  She had enjoyed the party, but she was confused and somewhat depressed by everything that had hit her there.
 N.E.W.T.s were over, and she had gotten the highest score, of course.  However, both Harry and Ron had done well, too.  She had expected it of Harry, but not Ron.  Obviously, from his reaction, neither had he.
 *Hermione ripped open the wax seal on her paper.  “I got 172%!!” she screamed.  Ron and Harry hugged her in congratulations.
 Harry was next.  He cautiously separated the wax from the parchment, as if he was being graded on this as well.  There was a second of bated silence, then Harry smiled, saying, “I got a 93%.”  This was greeted with cheers.
 Last was Ron.  “Well,” he said, “touch wood.  Though it won’t do much for me now.”  He ran his finger along the inside of the parchment, breaking the seal and opening the letter.  He read through the introduction and to the grades.  Hermione bit her lip.  Ron now wore a confused expression.  He turned the parchment over, read the name on the outside twice, and returned again to the inside letter.
 “Well?” Harry questioned, holding his breath.
 “Well,” Ron ran his fingers through his now auburned hair, “if these blokes are right, though I doubt it...”
 Hermione raised her eyebrows.
 “I got a 94.5%!” Ron said, and his face lit up.  “And International Wizard’s Chess wants me.”
 Hermione and Harry hugged Ron, and Hermione snatched his letter, to make sure he wasn’t lying.  There, in the gold-green print, was the 94.5%, and the Chess note, which required that he move.  To Romania.*

 Hermione was still confused about that.  Why couldn’t she just be happy for him?  So what he was going to Romania?  Why would she care that Apparition was illegal in Romania, so the only way she would be able to talk to him would be by owl?  For the next 3 years?
 He had accepted, of course.  It was all he could do for the family, after the surprisingly unsuccessful joke shop Fred and George had opened.  Harry was almost more excited than Ron, and Hermione sincerely tried to be as well.  But it was hard.
 She leaned out over the empty air a bit more.  A pair of sweatered arms wrapped around her and pulled her back a little, and a familiar scent filled her nose.  She breathed in the smell of shampoos, mixed with the faintest cologne.  A voice filled her ear with “Stop that, you’ll splatter all over the Quidditch field, Harry would kill you.”  She elbowed Ron and fought playfully as he dragged her back over the railing and sat down, taking her with him.  She felt suddenly aware of the fact that she was sitting in his lap, and that his long legs were sprawled around her, and that his arms her still holding her, and her back was pressed slightly into his stomach and chest, but he didn’t seem to notice.
 “So,” he asked quietly, “Why are you out here?”
 “Well,” she replied in a near whisper, “things.  I’ll miss everyone.  You know?”
 “I know.”
 They sat in comfortable silence for a while.  Hermione felt herself drifting away on his scent, lulled by his warm arms.  He began to hum in her ear a familiar Muggle tune.  He probably heard it from that radio she had given him one year of Christmas.  Then he started to sing, in a baritone voice.
 “So lately, you’re wondering when we’ll be there to take my place.” His voice was surprisingly on tune.  He had mumbled something about singing lessons at one point, but he was quite good.  “When I’m gone you’ll need love to light the shadows on your face,”  She closed her eyes, letting the melody wash over her, hearing the truth in the words. “If the rain will wish I'd fall, I'd fall upon a star, and between the sand and stone.  Could you make it on your own?”  He whispered these last words.  She kept her eyes closed, nodding slightly.

If I could, then I would
I'll go wherever you will go
Way up high or down low
I'll go wherever you will go

And maybe, I'll find out
The way to make it back someday
To watch you, to guide you
Through the darkest of your days
If the rain will wish I'd fall
I'd fall upon a star
Well I hope there's someone out there
Who can bring me back to you

Runaway with my heart
Runaway with my hope
Runaway with my love

I know now, just quite how
My life and love might still go on
In your heart and your mind
I'll stay with you for all of time