Disclaimer: The only thing I own is the plot.

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Refuge.

His red hair flashed in the moonlight as he stumbled through the castle, holding his wrist gingerly. He hissed in pain when it jolted against a corner, but continued to move. Seeking the refuge he knew that only she could bring.

He turned a corner, and saw her hair before anything else. It fell to her shoulders gracefully, and he knew that he could talk, that she would heal him.

Again.

She turned to face him, and her face fell when she saw his wrist hanging limply at his side. Giving a soft sigh, she walked the last few feet towards him.

He watched her curiously as she pried his heated fingers with her own cool touch. Ron's wrist tingled with expectation, and his mouth screwed up slightly as the flesh knitted itself back together, and the bones snapped back into place. To finish off her work, she softly kissed the inside of his freshly healed wrist, before turning to walk away again.

She was stopped by him grabbing her wrist and spinning her around, sending her crashing against him. His arm wrapped round her waist as her expression became one of shock, then of curiosity. She gently inched a couple of steps back, and he seemed content, as long as she didn't leave his grasp. He gave her a tender smile – one which she gladly returned. When his face became saddened though, she couldn't help but ask.

"So, where did you go tonight?" He dropped his embrace and stepped back. He ran a hand – his newly healed one, she noticed – through his hair.

"You know I can't tell you. Don't – don't make this harder than it already is." She took a step closer almost tentatively. Although he visibly tensed, he did not move, for which she was grateful.

"I'll –" Ron shot her a look. She sighed. "I'll try. But I can't promise anything. I'm fed up of seeing you so bruised and battered. And so frequently too – Draco's starting to suspect something." Ron grimaced.

"Of course, we can't let precious Draco find out." This time it was her who shot him a look. She placed her hands on her hips.

"What is with you tonight?" He paled.

"I… I can't tell you." She turned her face away from him, before turning back with a determined expression.

"Well then cut it out! It isn't fair that you go off gallivanting around Merlin knows where, and I'm left here, worrying, but trying to keep up the façade at the same time! It's wearing on me, and I'm not sure how much longer I can manage!" She took another step closer.

Ron wavered on his feet, his face as white as a sheet, before he fell to his knees, and passed out.

---

When he awoke, he couldn't recognise where he was. He attempted to sit up, but was stopped by a cool hand.

"Lay down." Ron went to sit up anyway, but she repeated the command with more force. Ron growled at her.

"No. Why the hell should I? Aren't you worried that your darling Draco will find out if you've been missing for so long?" He was baiting her, and they both knew it. He just needed a release for all of his pent up bitterness that he couldn't afford to express whilst on mission's.

"Because you nearly died!" Ron stop mid-sentence as he realised what he said. He gritted his teeth. Her eyes were blazing, and she poked his chest with every sentence she uttered.

"Yes Ron, you nearly died. It wasn't just a slashing curse. It was a poisonous one. So yes you nearly died, and look who came to save you once again!" She sneered at him. He laid back down, content with her reaction. She sighed and began to idly play with her hair.

Silence resumed for a while.

"The Forbidden Forest." Abruptly, she stopped her movements. Turning to face him, she replied,

"What?" He smiled.

"The Forbidden Forest. That's where I was tonight." Her eyes suddenly became clearer. She smiled, before looking confused again.

"I thought you couldn't –"

"I couldn't. Not out in public anyway. But now it's just us, I can." Her eyes narrowed.

"How did you know we were in private?" He shrugged his shoulders.

"I asked for a chair to be put in front of the fireplace. It happened. Ergo, we are in the Room of Requirement." She cocked her head to one side, looking thoughtful. She paused, and hesitantly sat on the bed. Ron immediately shifted over slightly to give her more space. She did not smile. He stared at her.

More silence. Until…

"Ron, I can't do this anymore." He continued to stare at her. Then his mouth opened to question, but she waved a hand at him. "I can't be the one to fix you up without knowing what happens. I can't keep up an image if I'm not with the others for most of the time. And you know that if Father finds out, I'll be severely punished." Ron swallowed thickly.

"But you can't leave me." His voice was hoarse, small. And she hated herself for doing this for him. She evaded his grasp and stood up. He sat up suddenly, wincing at a pain in his ribs. She backed away quickly. He threw the covers off of himself, but didn't leave the bed.

"Why not? Give me one good reason, because I don't particularly want to die!" At her voice rising with each word spoken Ron lost it. He all but leapt off of the bed and stalked over to her. Grabbing her shoulders, he focused her attention on him.

"Because you're my refuge! I can't not have a refuge! A safe place to be after all the dark things that happen… I don't tell you everything because it would tarnish you! How could I be protecting you by telling you the horrific things that happen?!" She stared at him, not knowing what to say. "Tell me Pansy, because I don't know how I'd cope." Her anger rose again, rising quicker than it ever had before.

"Protect me? Protect me?! How the hell do you think you are protecting me Ronald Weasley, because I think you are doing a lousy job! Do you know what else I think?" He shook his head.

"No, because you've never enlightened me." She spat by his feet. He didn't bother to move away.

"Too right I haven't! I think that a refuge is someone or something that you can spill your guts out too! You should be able to trust them! And because it's obvious that you don't trust me, I'm ending this… this thing that keeps on happening. Because you don't trust me! And another thing! You –"

But Ron never got to hear the other thing that Pansy was going to say, because he had backed her up against a wall and kissed her.

There was nothing soft about it: noses clashed and teeth clicked together. The kiss was hard, fast, and bruised their lips quicker than any kiss had done before.

Pansy was surprised at the amount of blood that boiled in her body at Ron's actions, but it lost its point of focus as she vented out her frustrations through their physical connection. Her tongue forced entry into his mouth, and the fight for dominance began. Pansy used every skill she knew to win, but Ron matched them equally. Desire flew through her veins, setting every nerve ending alight with a heat she did not know she possessed.

She threw her arms around and scratched his back, he replied by hissing against her mouth. He detached his lips from her mouth and sent them across her jaw and down her neck. She had to cling on as her knees began to buckle, but still she held herself up.

She gave a soft cry as he bit into her skin, her blood rushing to meet the surface; yet she was unprepared for how it would only increase her lust. A steady pulse was roaring through her, and she intended on using that against the man who had just marked her.

She responded in kind, pushing herself up against him so that he could feel her breasts pushing against his chest, and bit down. He let out a harsh breath and started to let his fingers dance across her waist, before rising even higher.

She returned her lips to his mouth, and released her hands from behind her back and up his shirt, feeling the slight muscle tense and bunch together wherever she moved her fingers. She reached his chest, and he cried out in pain.

They withdrew hurriedly.

Pansy's hair was askew, and Ron's fared no better. Both had hickey's in a violent shade of red resting on their necks. Breathing heavily, Ron went over to the bed, and motioned for her to sit with him. She did so cautiously.

"Whatever made you think I didn't trust you?" She looked at him warily.

"You never tell me anything, and the only contact I ever get from you is when we jeer at each other in the corridors." She hung her head slightly, before finishing in a small voice, "I thought that nothing had changed."

Ron drew her closer, and placed a kiss delicately in her hair, his desire and lust for her still swirling. He growled to himself and forced himself to calm down.

"Like I said Pansy, you're my refuge. And at the moment, that's the most important thing in my life."

She smiled, and interlaced her fingers with his.

They both knew that it would be difficult. There would be moments where they screamed, fought, hurt. But they were content to know that the other person was a steady source of refuge. The shelter that they both needed wasn't going to go away any time soon.

And that was all that mattered.

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16/08/09