We belong together || Harry Potter x Reader

Chapter 30

"Y/n? Is that you?" Hermione called, pulling the entrance of the tent to see outside. Her skin looked awfully pale and her hair was ruffled from having ran her fingers through it many times.

Her gaze landed on Ron's.

Harry was the first to reach Hermione and he stood awkwardly in front of her. It was a way to protect her in case she had an overwhelming reaction to seeing Ron that she needed his assistance.

Ron, who looked like he aged seven years in the past months, inched closer to Hermione. A full apology ready on his lips.

"Ron?" Hermione whispered, walking around Harry and going closer to him.

Ron nodded slightly while pulling out the deluminator. "I'm sorry..."

Hermione grabbed his backpack and swung it at his leg. "Ow!" Ron exclaimed, holding on to his throbbing calf.

"You... you left!" Hermione exclaimed, her voice thick with fury. "I told you to stay and you left! You had no idea what horrible thoughts went to my mind... I thought you were dead!" Hermione let out a still sob that brought Ron to tears.

Ron sniffed and rubbed his arm across his face. His other fist clenched the object that gave him hope, the object where Hermione's voice called to him. The object that led him home. To her.

"Hermione, I am the most thick person. I left and I should not have," Ron started, clearing his throat on the last sentence. "Every single moment after I left I thought of you all, but most importantly you. I thought of the times you were by my side. The times where I was able to be some sort of aid to you. The times where I made you less alone. The times I wish I would have told you something nice but teased you. The times I wish time would stop because I wanted to share that moment with you forever."

Hermione placed a hand over her mouth, silencing her sobs as she stared at him. Ron walked ever so slightly towards her, and he kneeled down to her height.

"I am back and I wish I could turn back time to have never left. I am foolish. I am insensitive and I hurt you. I would never forgive myself for that." He showed her the object in his hand. "This, the thing Dumbledore gave me, instilled in me hope that I would find you. Your voice went straight to my heart and led me here. Hermione, I am tired of pretending that I am not madly in love with you. I am tired of acting like I don't feel something for you. Friends shouldn't make each other feel like this."

He took off his beanie. He clutched it in front of his chest, right above his heart. "I ache for you and I can't handle being away from you any longer. I need you to fancy me back because I would go absolutely insane—"

Hermione charged towards him while he fixed his posture. He was alarmed by her charging but relaxed when Hermione pulled him into a tight hug. He closed his eyes and lifted her up slightly off the ground, feeling his palms on her back and his nose completely covered by her thick hair. This moment he wish he could freeze in time with.

"I am so glad you are back." Hermione whispered to him, her heart pounding as she felt Ron's rugged shoulders.

"I am never leaving again." He reassured, squeezing Hermione's arm before breaking the embrace. But even though their arms weren't completely wrapped around one another, the soles of their shoes touched.

You and Harry watched the ordeal and something in your chest squeezed for Hermione. The pure sincerity and honesty was overwhelming that you couldn't help but shed a few tears. Harry smiled and gave you a comforting nudge. "Don't tell me you are crying."

You quickly wiped your tears. "Of course not, you must be seeing things."

He chuckled. "Let's go in and talk about that necklace of yours."

Ron extended his arm towards Hermione, initiating for her to walk in first while he grabbed his backpack. Hermione stayed behind instead, watching him slip the bag over his shoulder. She held on to his sleeve as they walked in, but Ron gave her his hand. She was hesitant to accept it at first and Ron sensed it. He put it back down but Hermione grabbed it before it reached the inside of his pocket.

You and Harry were long in the tent, settling in the sleeping bags. The pendant on your chest was achingly hot but you grew to be unsensitized unless you thought about it, then the heat came back like it was never there. The image of Dumbledore saying your name still played like a horrid song each time you closed your eyes. You grabbed a loose journal on the ground and opened it up.

A pen rolled out of the pages and you grabbed it, ready to jot down what is happening to you. Hermione and Ron walked in, finally let one another go to settle in. Ron looked around and a funny play of nostalgia ran through him, it was the exact same tent as before. It was like he never left.

"Would you mind telling us what happened?" Harry asked, bringing a candle on the side table he has next to his sleeping bag. He noticed your scribbling away and a slight panic showed on his face.

"I notice every time I talk about it," you mumbled, your pen continuously writing, "the pain starts again."

Harry payed extra attention to how you wrote, worried you would turn to look at the pages he has occupied in the journal. Out of all the journals, he thought.

They took turns passing the journal around, Harry still eyeing them like a hawk to make sure they stayed on that page.

Hermione crawled over to you and moved your hair to the side. "Let me see it," she instructed, watching your neckline.

You gulped, worried to see their reactions. "I'm scared."

"Maybe I could help."

You nodded, always trusting in her abilities. You dragged your shirt down and Hermione's eyes widened at the sight of your chest. Thick lines sprouted from your necklace across your chest, like the root of a tree underground.

"Bloody hell," Ron mumbled, wiping the sweat off his lip.

"It burns," you informed, keeping your eyes low. "I can't go near it and when I think about it, it gets warmer."

Harry stayed frowning as he reread your writing. "Y/n, why did my father say the poison is time?"

Knowing that Harry asked this to get your mind off your necklace, you answered. "I have no clue, but Dumbledore wanted to make something that will give him more time. Do you reckon it is a time turner?"

Hermione shook her head. "I doubt he would have done such a bother to create one if they were already made."

Ron scratched his head. "Why does the 'poison' keep coming up? There's not actually poison in it, is there?"

Hermione gasped and you looked into her eyes.

"Y/n, did it open?"

You shook your head. "I don't think so..."

"In the lake," Harry started, watching you. "You couldn't get close because it burned. Are you sure the water's pressure didn't rip it open?"

"Possibly," you answered. "Why? What's the matter?"

Hermione bit her lip. "By the looks of it, it is covered with the same consistency the sword is."

"And what's that?"

She mumbled the last words: "Basilisk venom, and it seems to be going inside your chest."