A/N: I was re-reading CoS and I realized Ron is the one asked to take Lockhart to the hospital wing making it completely plausible that he's there when Hermione wakes up. Thus this little ficlet was born.
"It's this way you bloody git." Ron tugged none too gently on Lockhart's arm to steer him in the direction of the hospital wing.
The world was safe once again thanks to his best mate, but that hadn't improved his feelings toward their Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher one bit. Anyone who lied about their entire life and was willing to let a girl die to keep it a secret was the lowest of scum and Ron wasn't afraid to let him know that, even if the man didn't remember anything.
"Was I very popular as a teacher?" Lockhart asked.
"No," Ron said shortly, walking a little faster.
Lockhart let out a high pitched scream and grabbed his arm. "Is that a ghost?!"
"Yeah, they're all over. Get off me."
Ron pushed him away and rounded the corner, relieved the wing was in sight. He opened the door and was nearly knocked off his feet by Fred and George. "You did it!" they yelled in unison.
"How was the chamber?" Fred asked.
"Was it really in the girl's bathroom?" George followed up.
"How big was the snake?"
"All right, all right," Ron said gruffly, unused to being the center of his family's attention.
Percy stuck out a hand. "Well done then Ron," he said stiffly.
"Er, yeah, thanks," Ron told him, shaking it.
"Did you know you all have red hair?" Lockhart asked. "Are you some sort of family?"
"What happened to him?" George eyed their teacher with interest.
"He's a spineless coward," Ron said. "Tried to obliviate me and Harry. Fat lot of good that did him."
"What's all this then? Oh Gilderoy. Befuddled yourself completely have you?" Madam Pomfrey bustled over, clicking her tongue disapprovingly. "Not much we can do for that I'm afraid. Probably be a trip to St. Mungo's for you. Come with me."
She led him away still as confused as ever. "Good riddance, " Ron muttered to his retreating back.
"Well," Percy cleared his throat. "Madam Pomfrey said the petrified students are waking up so I'll just go greet Penelope. As she's a prefect, I'm sure she'll want to hear all that's happened immediately."
He strode off to the other side of the wing and suddenly Ron realized that if Penelope was waking up that meant, "Hermione!"
He hurried across the room and ripped back the curtain hiding her bed. Hermione was sitting up, a hand to her aching head. She blinked at him looking confused, a sight he'd never seen before. "Ron?" Her eyes widened as her memory began to return. "It's a basilisk! It's in the pipes! We have to tell Dumbledore!"
Before he knew what he was doing he'd flung his arms around her, hugging her tightly. For a second she froze in surprise but then her arms wrapped tentatively around him too. "Ron? What's happened? Is everyone all right?" she asked, her voice small and afraid.
"Yeah. Yeah everyone's fine," he let her go and stepped back, ears burning at his spontaneous display of affection. "Everyone's all right thanks to you."
And he told her everything. About the spiders, the car, Myrtle, Lockhart, Ginny, everything she'd missed while she was frozen in bed. It was such a relief. The weeks without her had been more difficult than he'd realized. It turned out Harry was kind of a lot to manage alone, impulsive and unstoppable once he got something into his head. "Once Harry found your note he figured it out right away," he told her. "Speaking of which, you ripped a page out of a library book. And wrote on it!"
"Well, it was an emergency. I didn't have time to check it out," Hermione said, adjusting the blankets primly.
He'd missed the way she got all haughty when she was embarrassed. "Hermione Granger, you're a right rebel you are," he said with a grin.
"Oh, do you think Madam Pince will be very angry?" she asked now a little anxious.
"If she is we'll tell her I did it. I'm not much for books anyway." He grew a little more serious. "We never would have figured it out without you, Hermione. Harry and I are hopeless."
"Oh, no, you would have got it eventually," she said. "Besides you and Harry went into the forest all alone. And saved Ginny. That doesn't sound hopeless. It sounds very brave."
Ron felt his ears begin to redden again and he was thankfully saved from responding by the arrival of Fred and George. "Oi!" Fred said. "All right Hermione?"
"Yes, I'm all right," she replied.
"Come on you two. There's a party going on in the Great Hall," George told them.
"And rumor is they've cancelled exams as well!" Fred exclaimed gleefully.
"Exams?" Hermione looked horrified. "How long have I been petrified?"
"Erm," Ron patted her arm awkwardly. "Like I said. Harry and I are hopeless without you."
A/N: Leave your love in the reviews!