"Again?" Harry asked as he and Ron both stared at Hermione.
Hermione had fallen down the stairs…again. Fifth time this week to be exact.
"Oh , calm down. I'm fine!" she insisted. Ron and Harry both continued to look at her blue and black eye. It fit in well with the rest of the others of its kind that now surfaced beneath Hermione's pale skin. Not only on her face, but also her arms, legs, and in some region of her collar- bone.
"I don't think you are, Hermione." Ron stared her down. Maybe someone needs to walk her to her classes…he thought.
"I said I'm fine!" Hermione snatched her book up from the library desk. Harry and Ron watched her leave furiously, then began quietly apologizing to those who she had startled.
Ron looked at Harry. Harry shrugged and turned back to Hogwarts: A History
That night in the boy's dormitory, Ron lay wide awake. He couldn't stop thinking about Hermione. Could the stairs possibly have hit her perfectly in the eye? She's smart, I think she should be able to handle walking. Why isn't Kevin helping her? Kevin ……
Kevin was a new Ravenclaw student that year. He and Hermione had gone on a couple dates, and then he was Hermione's entire world. But, up until last week, she had been talking nonstop about him. Why did she just out of nowhere decide to shut up about her "perfect boyfriend"?
Ron's thoughts forced him to jump out of bed and force Harry out of his.
"What? What is it?" Harry asked, startled and disoriented. He blinked many times before finally focusing on the tall, dark figure that was Ron.
"Shhh! You'll wake someone up!" Ron yelled in a whispered voice. He pulled a still halfway asleep Harry from his bed by his shirt.
"Where are we going?" Harry asked, just barely grabbing his glasses from the bedside table.
"Common Room." Ron muttered. "I have to tell you something.
They sat on one of the couches by the fireplace, which had dulled down to a small, burning ember.
Harry looked down at his watched, then his head shot back up at Ron.
"Have you any idea what time it is?" Harry, in a whispered tone, shouted angrily at Ron
"Don't really care at the moment." Ron wasn't looking at Harry. He wasn't even sitting anymore. He was pacing, moving his hands oddly that for some reason helped him to think.
"2:30!" Harry yelled as loud as he could without waking anyone. His mind was entirely focused on his early morning classes.
"Look!" Ron had stopped pacing and got close to Harry, his face red with anger, his voice was louder than it should have been this late.
Harry's lack-of-sleep anger went away as he was now completely focused on Ron.
"It's Kevin." Ron said in a quieter tone.
"Hermione's boyfriend? What are you talking about?" Harry asked sitting up a little. Ron repeated the action by taking his seat next to Harry on the couch.
"I've been thinking…" Ron began, not sure how to begin. Anything bad about Kevin was usually purely Ron's opinion. Ron was a bit jealous of Kevin, and Harry knew that, so, therefore, what Ron was going to accuse him of, would be completely ludicrous in Harry's eyes.
Ron took a deep breath and decided to say it anyway. "Well, you know how if you fall down the stairs…you get a couple bruises on your arms and legs and co-"
"Like what happed to Hermione…?" Harry interjected in a 'you're not gonna get anywhere with this' kind of tone.
"Yeah…but…have you ever seen anyone get a black eye from falling down the stairs?" Ron's voice sounded like it had lost hope. He knew he was right, but no one would believe him.
Harry groaned, falling backwards onto the couch placing his hands over his face. Ron silently nodded his head. He knew it was stupid.
"Look," Harry came back up, his fingers on his temples, "Kevin and Hermione are perfect for each other… or at least that's what she keeps going on about." A slight flicker of annoyance entered his voice.
"Well that's just it," Ron began quickly, finding a perfect entrance to add his side of the story in, "she wouldn't shut up about him last week, and then she "fell down the stairs", and it's like she doesn't even know who he is."
Harry looked to the side. There were a few times, (three times, as Ron counted), when he began to speak, but stopped himself.
Finally, he found the words. "Look, Ron. I've seen them together. They're obviously happy. I don't know why she stopped talking about him. Maybe she realized that the conversation was only fun for one of us. And as for the timing, well, I'm pretty sure that was just coincidental. Don't you think she would have told her two best friends." Probably not, Ron thought, "And Ron, it's okay to like her, but you can't be jealous-"
"I'M NOT JEALOUS!" Ron roared all too loudly, "I'M JUST WORRIED FOR HER!"
Ron stared down at Harry, but he was looking behind Ron. Ron turned to find Hermione at the foot of the stairs to her dormitory. To both of their surprise, she looked like she was smiling at Ron.
"Hermione," Ron gulped, glanced at Harry, then continued, "how much did you hear?"
She began walking towards him, "Oh, enough." She giggled, "Enough to hear you're jealous of Kevin."
"Uh…er.." but before Ron could continue, Hermione threw her arms around his waist. Confused, Ron asked, "Hermione?"
"Oh," she began, still holding him, "that's just so sweet. But I assure you, I am too happy to let him go yet, but you will never be anything less than one of my best friends."
Ron felt a sense of release wash over him. This was much better than her knowing the real reason behind he and Harry's midnight chat. She eventually turned away and Ron was alarmed to see she was crying.
"Are you okay?" Harry asked, standing.
She sniffed a bit, wiped away a tear and replied angrily, "I'm fine!"
She ran back for the stairs and up to her dormitory.
Ron turned to harry. "You know, that's the second time today she's said that, and that's the second time today I don't believe her."
Ron somehow managed to get just enough sleep to somehow have enough energy to get to breakfast. He and Harry said nothing as they got dressed that morning. Seamus Finnigan broke their silence.
"Hey guys." He said randomly as he was putting his other arm into the sleeve of his robe.
Ron stayed quiet as Harry answered his salutation, "Er.. Hi Seamus."
"You look a bit tired, Ron," he said, now looking in Ron's direction, "and I bet I know why."
Ron glanced at nervously at Harry, who now seemed totally transfixed on Seamus. "Why…?" Ron finally asked, running through excuses.
"Well, Fat Lady said she let that Kevin guy in around… I don't like… 3:30ish. Him and Hermione woke everyone up fighting…" Seamus's voice got a bit quieter as he said more in secrecy, "I think they were fighting about you."
Ron looked at Harry, who stared at Seamus, who got up and walked to his own bed to put his shoes on.
"Oh no." Ron's voice was a bit shaky, "It's my fault…"
"Ron, it's not your fault. Who knows why they were fighting? Who knows why they mentioned you?" Harry said hopefully. This frustrated Ron even more. Harry had a way trying to cover something particularly obvious up… but being very bad at it.
Ron decided it wasn't worth an entire argument so he spent the remainder of morning getting ready in silence.
Down at breakfast in the Great Hall, Harry and Ron caught site of Kevin, but no Hermione.
"I have a few words to say to Kevin." Ron spat the name out as though it pained him to say it.
Kevin was by the Slytherin table being lectured by Draco Malfoy.
"…The mudblood? Really? You couldn't do better than that?" Malfoy's face was twisted up into emotions mixing humor with disgust.
"I'm sorry..mub- what?" Kevin asked inclining his head as if to hear better. Before Malfoy could even answer, Ron clutched the part of Kevin's robes just at the nape of his neck and pulled him away.
"Ow- oh… hey Ron." He seemed to sound disappointed by his presence, which only
increased Ron's suspicion.
Ron took a deep breath and said everything in a rush: "Look, I'm just going to come right out and say it. If I find out that you're the reason why she isn't here, I'll kill you. If I find out that you're the 'stairs' she keeps falling down, I'll kill you. Don't you dare touch her unless you care about her… or I'll kill you."
Kevin's mouth twisted up into a small sneer. "Oh, is that a threat, Weasly?" he challenged, getting out of Ron's grip, "You know, I can't wait to see what Hermione thinks of you when she finds out you're threatening her 'puppy- blue- eyes." Ron's face must've shown that "'puppy-blue-eyes'" made no sense to him, and Kevin to advantage of the opportunity. "Oh, pet names. Yeah, I'm 'Puppy Blue Eyes', she's 'Worthless, Yet Hot Piece Of Ass', but she doesn't quite know that yet." An evil smile crept across Kevin's face as he saw he struck a nerve. Before anything could happen between the two, Harry came out of no where and pulled a reluctant Ron to his seat. Ron's red, angry face was completely focused on a sarcastic Kevin, waving goodbye.
"What were you planning to do?" Harry angrily asked in a hushed tone so as no other Gryffindor could hear their conversation.
"Did you hear what he called her?" Ron asked angrily, though following Harry's example to keep quiet.
"What ever it was, Ron, you're going to have to let it go. Hermione would never forgive you if you did anything to him."
Ron, yet again, refused to speak to Harry the rest of the day.
"Where are you going?" Harry asked Ron quite frustrated that he wouldn't talk to him. They went through all their classes not saying a word to each other. Now that Ron was heading down the direction completely opposite from which they always walk to their House room, Harry could no longer hold in his voice.
"Don't you dare go to find Kevin! I told you-!"
"Library!" Ron yelled back. Harry stopped dead in his tracks and watched Ron walk on.
Though Ron was not heading to the library. He was going to get some answers, though Madam Pomfrey was not big on giving out information about patients.
When Ron had reached the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey was tending to a first year who looked quite pale and seemed as if he had been puking.
"…now, dear, get rest and this flu will pass…" She looked up, saw Ron, and rushed as fast as her frail legs would carry her.
"Figured you'd be in here." She said smugly talking to Ron, though walking past him to grab something from a cart full of liquid medicine.
"Figured I'd be here?" Ron asked watching her feed the medication to the small, limp first year boy.
"That's right," she began, setting the bottle on the bedside table and walking towards Ron, "Don't worry, she told me not to tell headmaster what you did, and might I say you are quite lucky I don't go against her request." She finished with her finger in Ron's face.
"You're talking about Hermione, right?" Ron asked, eyeing her strangely.
"Well, who else?" she asked rather loudly. Ron was surprised the sick boy hadn't woken up.
Suddenly Ron realized what Madam Pomfrey had just said.
"Wait- you think I-?" Ron suddenly felt sick to his stomach.
"If you're talking about Miss Granger's stab wound to her stomach, and how she told me you did it, yet begging me not to tell Dumbledore… then yes." She glared at Ron, but he wasn't looking at her, he thought he was going to vomit. He would never hurt Hermione, but he knew exactly who would. But he also wondered why she told Pomfrey he did it.
For another 2 hours, Madam Pomfrey lectured Ron about "what he had done." By 6:00 the sun on the horizon had dulled to an orange ring.
It would be another hour before Ron was done trying to plead himself innocent. Madam Pomfrey could not be moved. ("Well, Miss Granger distinctly told me it was you, so stop trying to claim your innocence!) There was no sun by the time Ron had given up.
He had too much on his mind to go and argue with Harry, so he decided to go to the library. All that could go through his mind the whole way there was "How could she?" He didn't think this out of anger, but sorrow. He and Hermione had no chance together… at all…
Books. Books. More books. The library wasn't helping the way Ron convinced himself it would.
As he was putting Gnomes: 5 EASY steps to Rid them from your home, he heard some odd sounds coming from the Restricted Section. They sounded a lot like voices. He glanced around the room, making sure no one was there, before putting his ear against the door.
"…..in your dreams, you little bitch!" Ron recognized the voice as none other than Kevin's.
Hermione's followed: "Could we please not do this now, I think I may have pulled a-" she sucked in a wincing gasp of air, "-stitch."
Ron got the courage to stand on his toes to look through the narrow at the very top of the door. He immediately saw Kevin, followed by Hermione who was laying on the floor clutching her stomach, which looked to be bleeding slightly.
"….come here you little slut!" Kevin grabbed the bottom of Hermione's shirt and pulled it over her head, revealing her bra and a now severely bleeding scar on her stomach.
"Help! Please! Hel-" Hermione could not finish her cry for Kevin had smacked her face which cracked through the room sickeningly.
Ron could stand it no longer. He clutched the door handle and ripped the door open.
"GET OFF HER YOU BASTARD!" He yelled, wand pointing straight at Kevin. Kevin slowly rose from the quivering Hermione with his hands in the air as a sign of surrender.
Ron went over and gently pulled Hermione up with one arm, the other threatening Kevin. Hermione clutched her stomach with one arm, her other holding onto Ron for support, silently sobbing into his robes.
"I told you I would kill you." Ron said with pure hatred. He glared at Kevin who was now glaring back.
"You hear that, sweetheart?" Kevin's voice was raised and directed to Hermione. "He wants to kill your Puppy Blue Eyes." He began laughing as she cringed further into Ron's side.
Ron kissed the top of Hermione's head gingerly before he set her into a chair. Her tears flowed even heavier.
"Ready to die?" Ron asked menacingly.
"You won't kill me, Weasly. I know how you are. Weak." Kevin laughed harder this time as Ron's face went a bit pink.
"EXPELLIARMUS!" Ron shouted out of nowhere. Kevin flew across the room, knocking down 3 book cases. He knew he wasn't dead. Unconscious, yes, but not dead.
Ron also knew that any moment a teacher would burst in due to the noise and this would all be his fault. The beatings, of both Hermione and Kevin, the damage to the library, and the attempted rape, but Ron didn't care.
He walked over to a still crying Hermione. She had now curled up on the small chair, though she barely fit on it. Ron picked her shirt up from the ground to give it to her.
"Here." He whispered , holding it out to her. Instead of taking the shirt, Hermione grabbed his outstretched arm, used all the strength she had left, and pulled herself up and squeezed him around the waist.
He didn't argue, though he knew she shouldn't be moving so much, what with her open wound, but to be truthful, he wanted nothing more than just to hold her.
She sobbed violently into his robes, and as much as it pained him, all he could do at this moment was wait for help, and hold her….
They stood there for what seemed like hours before Ron heard Hermione sobbing something into his side. He strained his ears to hear.
"Oh, Ron, I'm sorry! I lied to you and Harry. I should never have let it get this far. I didn't want to tell Madam Pomfrey you did it, but Kevin said it was that or he'd kill you! I'm so, so sorry!" she wailed into him.
"It's okay, it's okay…" he whispered into her hair. He could tell she was losing consciousness by the way she swayed and after much protest, he got her to sit.
Moments later, Filch busted in.
Hermione's coma lasted an agonizing 7 months. Ron had been there everyday next to her though. Harry came to see her, too, but only on the rare occasion when Ron left her side for a few minutes.
Harry was too embarrassed to see Ron. He even blamed himself for the whole ordeal. ("Ron was right! I should have listened to him!" was what he often told Seamus.) His shame kept him and Ron apart, and Ron, while he knew it wasn't even close to being true, sort of blamed it on Harry too.
Flowers came from Kevin, who was now expelled, every week. Ron had always taken them back to the common room to burn them. This had become a routine in the common room, and when he did it, people stopped caring about their own life and almost took what seemed like a 'moment of silence' as he did it.
Ron was allowed to stay 4 extra hours after regular visiting hours as sort of an apology from Madam Pomfrey who had heard the truth from Hermione right before she slipped into the darkness.
It April 19th when she finally awoke.
Ron sat in his usual chair next to her bed doing his usual activity: Reading. He had practically gone through the whole library while Hermione wasn't there. He became so good with books he was down to reading a 600 page novel in 12 hours.
Ron was reading The Ancient Ways of Fairies when strange sounds began coming from Hermione's bed. Ron paid no attention. He was so focused on his book that to him it was just one of those annoying sounds that you just want to stop.
Ron began the last chapter of his book when-
"Ron?" a quiet, hoarse whisper came from the bed.
Ron sucked in a sharp breath. This wouldn't have been the first time his mind a had been playing tricks on him, but he was so desperate to see her eyes again, he looked anyway.
His heart stopped when he turned and saw an awake, yet dazed, Hermione.
"Hermione?" Ron reached for her shoulder. When his fingertips met her, she jumped, as though she had been startled.
She looked desperately at Ron. Ron lunged forward and took her into a tight embrace. Hermione tried with all her might to hug him as tightly as she could, too. Ron couldn't stop the tears from flowing. He could tell Hermione was crying too. They sat there, holding each other, quietly sobbing, for what seemed like forever before Madam Pomfrey came in and nearly fainted.
ONE MONTH LATER
"You didn't have to, you know." Ron told Hermione as he, Harry, and her sat down at the table for dinner.
"I wanted to, Ron. You have no idea how much I had to beg though." She replied.
"Only you," Harry pointed a finger at Hermione, "would, after being in a coma, ask to still take the exams. And ace them!"
She laughed and rolled her eyes.
"What did you dream about?" Ron whispered to Hermione later that evening. The common room had been deserted for a while now, and Ron and Hermione were doing their normal routine on the nights when the common room was empty: lying on the floor with each other. They normally just talked or kissed when they were there and neither of them could be happier doing just that. (JUST THAT, BRIANNA!)
Hermione thought about Ron's question before replying. She knew he was referring to her coma by the serious tone of his voice.
"Nothing." She whispered back.
Ron closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry. I should have done more to help. I shou-"
Hermione would not stand for his guilty conscience, so she cut him off by taking him into a deep kiss.
After she finally broke the breathless kiss off, she whispered in an almost teary voice, "Just promise you'll protect me now."
Ron smiled a bit before replying in another strained whisper, "I promise."
He kissed her lightly on her lips before pulling her close to him. They fell asleep in each other's embrace.