The Ring And The Past

Harry sat alone in Grimmauld Place staring at the small box that held not only a diamond ring within, but his entire future. In the almost eight months since he defeated Voldemort his world had turned upside down, the ring in the box was destined for the only constant in his life since he was eleven years old.

He now understood discovering Hermione that fateful morning after the battle, crying outside the castle was the pivotal event that changed his life, at the time he wanted nothing more than to go and rip the lungs out of the prat responsible for his best friend being out here. She begged him not to but if he'd seen the bruises before they got on that plane to Australia, no force on this Earth could have kept him from extracting revenge on Ronald Fucking Weasley.

The bastard's sister went mental when Harry told her he was leaving with Hermione to find her parents, Ginny had the audacity to give him an ultimatum, that if he left then it was over between them. For some reason Harry found that an incredibly easy decision to make and reminded the girl they'd been 'over' since Dumbledore's funeral.

It was on the plane as Hermione began to fret whether her parents would forgive her that he decided she needed a hug, when she winced as he put his arm around her Harry wanted answers and got the full story. Ron had read a lot more into that kiss than Hermione had intended, when he tried for more kisses later on he didn't take it too well when she told him no. Even the thought of Ron hitting Hermione drove Harry nuts.

Hermione had then found herself trying to comfort him, a jumbo jet cruising at fifty thousand feet is probably the worst place anyone could have a bout of accidental magic, since losing that horcrux from behind his scar, Harry's control had been all over the place and particularly when he was upset.

She'd held Harry in her arms and spoke softly to him, telling him that she never wanted to see the red headed bastard again, he'd replied that he would not be getting back together with Ginny which enticed Hermione to hug him tighter.

The entire flight they didn't speak about their past – too raw and painful, neither did they speak about their future – too uncertain and totally dependent on the task in hand. The only subject was Hermione's parents and how they would go about finding them.

Hermione had money in the bank she could access, Harry's status with Gringotts was currently unknown so she was taking care of everything, he was happy to turn himself over to her very capable hands.

On arrival they were exhausted and Hermione booked them into the nearest hotel, after staying so long together in that tent, sharing a room felt so natural. When Hermione woke crying, Harry didn't hesitate to hold her until she fell back to sleep. Waking with Hermione in his arms was something he was getting used to, after the first five nights of finishing up in his bed she began ordering double rooms as they travelled around Australia.

The stress and strain was really starting to pile up on Hermione as each lead they chased down ended fruitless, after three weeks of nothing they weren't expecting much but finally struck gold. Unfortunately the gold rapidly lost its lustre as her mum went ape shit when Hermione restored her memory, she ordered them out the house never to return. Harry had to practically carry a distraught Hermione out of there, he led her up a side alley before attempting side-along apparition into their hotel room.

For two days Harry looked after her, if he didn't feed Hermione she didn't eat, her whole world had come crashing down at the thought of her parents hating her. On the third day Hermione's father phoned, Harry had left a hotel card on the table as he helped their daughter comply with her mother's wishes and finally, here was the contact he was hoping for.

They were invited tonight at six for dinner and discussions, Hermione was a nervous wreck but to be fair, her parents didn't appear much better. The meal was instantly forgotten as her mother stared straight into Hermione's eyes and demanded, "I need to know why our daughter could do something so vile as to make her own parents forget all about her, please explain that as no one leaves this table until I understand what was behind this."

Harry placed his hand on a crying Hermione's arm and accepted responsibility, "That would be my fault ma'am."

Hermione tried to refute that but Harry held her hand and spoke softly to her, "Hermione let me tell the story and we can argue about the blame later, your parents deserve the truth and you're in no state to tell it tonight."

She squeezed his hand so Harry began, he told the story of Voldemort, death eaters and horcruxes, crazy headmasters who could never just tell you something but had to send you on a quest to work things out yourself, the bigotry and violence, torture and murder, it was not a pleasant evening.

"Hermione sent you away for your safety, you would definitely have been targeted as they scoured the country searching for us. Everyone knows the name of my best friend and that she would stick by me no matter what, when we were captured and she was being tortured I nearly went out of my mind, a friend of ours died that night helping us escape." Harry stared at the two elder Grangers as he drove home his point, "Had you stayed in Britain the best we could have offered you would have been moving from safe house to safe house, and some of them didn't turn out to be that safe."

"What happened to the people that tortured my daughter?" her father demanded angrily.

"Well Lestrange is dead but the Malfoys have used their money to get them out of trouble before so we don't know on that score. When the final battle was over Hermione immediately made plans for us to come and find you, we booked the first available flight the day after the battle and have been out of circulation for about a month now."

Hermione added her tuppence worth, "Mum, dad, it was my fight but you were caught right in the middle of it, unaware and unprepared. I knew there was a good chance you would never speak to me again but I would rather have that than be laying flowers on your graves because I truly believe that was the alternative."

"Mr and Mrs Granger, if there's one thing I've learned it's that your daughter is very rarely wrong, in this case I agree. You may have been kept alive as bait to capture us but that would have left you wishing for death."

Hermione's father had a thoughtful expression on his face, "You have given us a lot to talk over, could we do this again tomorrow and we might actually get to eat some food," both quickly agreed but he wasn't quite finished yet, "Harry if I ask you an honest question, will you give me an honest answer?"

"I promise I will sir."

"Can I ask what your relationship is with my daughter?"

Harry noticed he'd been holding her hand all night so was brutally honest, "Hermione has been my best friend for seven years, when we wake in each others arms it's because one of us has had a horrendous nightmare that only the other can understand. We've stood by each other through everything that life's thrown at us but neither has looked any further than finding you both. I know I never expected to survive the final battle and suspect Hermione thought the same, at some point we'll sit down and discuss our futures but whatever mine is, your daughter will be part of it somehow."