Visiting Hours

For Emmy-the-cat, my alpha-reader, to say thank you for letting me stay, and for being you!

Set during the second year, two days after Hermione and Penelope are petrified, and a few days before Harry and Ron manage to slip off to meet Aragog.

Disclaimer: they don't belong to me.

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Ron stood holding his breath, and mentally kicking himself for not having woken Harry.

He had been lying as still as he could in an attempt to remain cool in the heavy summer air, and thinking about Hermione. He wondered if petrified people could feel this heat, or even worse, if they could feel lonely. So, unable to sleep, he had decided to go and visit her in the hospital wing.

He swung his legs over the edge of his four-poster bed, and sat for a moment savouring the coolness of the stone floor beneath his feet, before slowing making his way to where Harry lay sleeping. He knew that Harry's invisibility cloak would be in it's usual place – packed down between his spell books and the side of his trunk- but he'd never had to get it before, since he had never used it without Harry. He did of course have his permission to use it; he'd just never felt like going anywhere on his own before, or certainly not wandering round the castle in the middle of the night.

So now he was squashed against a suit of armour, with Filtch only a few paces away, hoping his heart wasn't pounding loud enough to be heard, and wondering why on earth he hadn't got Harry to come with him.

As the light of Filtch's lamp moved off down the corridor, Ron edged in the other direction, keeping close to the wall to avoid bumping into anything in the dark. He might be invisible, but he was still solid, and he didn't dare use 'lumos' for fear of getting caught. It was not the best time to be found creeping through the corridors of Hogwarts, with suspicions about who might be Slytherins Heir running through the school.

Having reached the infirmary without further incident he tried the door, and was unsurprised to find it was locked. Madam Pomfrey wasn't allowing any visitors, incase the attacker returned.

He drew his wand out of the sleeve of his robe and said a silent prayer that this time, just for once, it would work and not explode or backfire on him.

"Alohomora" he muttered.

To his surprise a golden light diffused through the lock and the door swung open.

"Must be because Hermione taught me the spell" he thought to himself, and smiled at the idea that not even his wand would dare to question Hermione's' knowledge of their course material.

The infirmary was completely still, and Ron felt his own breathing to be very loud in his ears. He made his way over to the bed that Hermione was occupying, and sat gingerly on a chair beside her. Now that he was here, he wasn't sure what to say – it was obvious that Hermione wasn't aware that she had a visitor.

"Hi Hermione," he started, tentatively "I couldn't sleep, and I was worried that you might be lonely, here on your own, 'specially with no books or anything. I would have brought you one down, but Madam Pomfrey would be sure to see it in the morning and wonder how it got here. "

"I'm sorry we haven't come before, me and Harry I mean. Madam Pomfrey wont let us in – wont let anyone in actually, 'cos they still haven't worked out who's behind all these attacks. We'd have worked it out by now if you were here, but me and Harry can't do it on our own, not without you. Such a lot's been happening, and all of it's bad."

And he launched into an explanation of what had happened two nights ago in Hagrid's cabin. Now that he was talking he found it easy to tell her everything that was going on in the castle, it gave him a way to put his own thoughts in order, and though he would never admit it to himself, it gave him the opportunity to study Hermione without feeling awkward or self conscious. He loved the way she looked, with the moonlight slanting down on her thorough one of the high infirmary windows, catching strands of her hair and turning them to silver.

"So you see, we have to follow the spiders, so we're just waiting every day for the chance to go after them, and maybe that will give us a clue. What else has happened?" He asked himself rhetorically "Oh, Malfoy is being a git, but that's not really news if it? He's full of some rubbish about how he always knew his dear old dad would get rid of Dumbledore. I nearly killed him today because he said…well, never mind what he said, but I would've killed him, if Harry and Dean hadn't stopped me."

Ron suddenly realised how loud his voice sounded in the silent room, and dropped back down to a whisper.

"But it's all strange and not right, because you're not there Hermione. I really miss you, and I know Harry does too. There's a spare desk next to us in class, and a spare place at dinner, and no one telling us to do our homework, because our O.W.Ls are only three years away…" he trailed off and took one of Hermione's ice cold hands in both of his invisible ones.

"I ought to be getting back to bed, if I'm caught down here I 'spect I'll have more detentions than Fred and George put together, but, Hermione, take care of yourself, and don't feel lonely or sad or bored or anything, because I couldn't stand that. And me and Harry will look out for each other, and follow those spiders, because if we can solve it, them maybe we can get you back."

He stood up, and looked down at her, her right hand clenched on top of her blankets, and her eyes open and staring in shock, with the light from the moon reflected in the depths of them. And without thinking about it, as though he had meant to do it the whole time, Ron lifted the cloak over his head, bent down, and kissed her, as gently as he could.

"If this were a fairytale," he thought to himself "she would wake up, and throw her arms around my neck, and kiss me back." But it wasn't a fairytale, and Hermione still lay motionless in the moonlight.

"Goodnight Hermione" whispered Ron, and he turned and crept back out of the infirmary.