Disclaimer: I don't own this. JK Rowling does. And I just love it.
A/N: This is a Missing Moments piece, from book six. I've always wondered what Ron was dreaming when he said her name aloud, and, to quote JK Rowling, this just sort of "fell into my head". Review and tell me what you think.
Ron had been out cold for days. Poison really could do awful things to a person.
Although Ron had not been awake, his mind had been allowed to wander. He had odd snippets of dreams and visions of what may have been happening around him. For all intents and purposes, his mind was awake, and had kept him busy. Very busy. He had dreamt no less than twenty-seven things within the last hour and a half, and it was beginning to wear on him. None of the things he had dreamt so far had been positive. Not a single one. Maybe it was the mead that did it.
Ron's dreams slipped from one to the next, all reminiscent of the one before. Many of them contained Voldemort or his friends being tortured. His one (almost delightful) escape was a brief dream in which Lavender Brown fell into the lake and was instantly swallowed by the Giant Squid. In one dream, Harry and Hermione had been taken captive. Ron's brain almost hurt at the time. He nearly woke, but the medicines were strong enough to hold him.
However, the dreams seemed to get slightly more pleasant as he reached the end of his Sleeping Draught. There was one where he and Harry were flying. No problems, no worries. And then...then there was the one. It wasn't depressing, and it wasn't happy, per se. It was mostly unhappy because it ended. And because it reminded him of his mistakes.
Ron had walked into a deep, dark room. He vaguely recognized it. Perhaps he'd visited it before. Something tall and gold glinted in the corner of his eye, and as he approached it, Ron discovered what it was: The Mirror of Erised. He hadn't seen it in years, let alone dreamt of it. He doubted that he'd still see the same thing. He looked closer at the mirror, and a couch appeared in front of the mirror. It occurred to him that he had to have been in the Room of Requirement.
Ron sat on the couch and looked into the mirror properly. At first glance, it was just him. Him on the couch. But he wasn't happy, nor was he perfectly content. So that was wrong. He peered back up at himself, and started when he noticed a familiar figure sitting on the couch next to him. Hermione, in all of her bushy-haired, dark-eyed glory, sat on the couch with her legs pulled up underneath her.
"Hi, Ron," she whispered, smiling.
Ron couldn't decide why this startled him so much. It may have been because Hermione had done this multiple times before in real life; it didn't have to be something seen in this mirror, of all things. Or it may have been because she hadn't spoken to him in weeks. Or maybe it was because she was calling him by his name, Ron, when lately all she'd been using was Lavender's petname for him: Won-Won.
"How are you?" She placed her chin on his shoulder, and he didn't need the mirror to tell him his ears had gone red.
"Er- fine, actually," Ron answered, looking slightly bewildered.
MirrorHermione shifted. "Have you done your homework? I'm sorry I haven't been checking it lately, you've just always been so busy."
Ron felt momentarily guilty. Of course- he'd been busy with Lavender. And Hermione hadn't wanted to help, hadn't wanted to talk to him, hadn't wanted to just sit with him, play chess with him, eat lunch with him. And that must have been what he wanted most. A real, normal conversation with Hermione. In reality, though, Hermione would probably hold out forever. That girl could certainly hold a grudge. "Yeah...sorry about that."
"Don't be sorry! I know you've had things to do. Quidditch and whatnot. But if you think I'm going to do your Transfiguration paper for you, you are so very, very wrong."
Ron couldn't help but to laugh. Even in the mirror, Hermione was the same as always.
"Don't laugh, Ronald. You have NEWTS to think about. You should be studying. And doing your own work."
Ron sobered up. "Right." But he was still thrilled. She was sitting there, with him, talking to him...
"I have to go, I have an Ancient Runes lesson. But I'll be back soon. We'll play chess, or something. After you finish your homework, anyway. Do it today or later you'll pay!" MirrorHermione smiled, squeezed his hand, and disappeared.
"Hermione!" Ron croaked. He didn't want her to leave just yet! He still had questions to ask her. Their time was so short.
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"Her-my-nee," Ron croaked, rolling over.
Everybody turned to glance at Ron, who'd shown his first sign of conciousness before returning to his snoring.
Hermione, who'd been sitting there as long as anybody, thought she recognized her name. It had been so long since the two of them had talked. Civilly, anyway. She felt terrible. She'd gone weeks, taunting him, mocking him...holding grudges...and now he nearly survived a dreadful poision. What would she have done if he died? Gone on holding that awful grudge? He never would have known, they never would have...but she was sure that was her name she'd heard. She'd ask Ginny later. Almost on cue, Ginny took Hermione's hand and pulsed it. Surely, she'd heard the same thing.
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"Hermione?" Ron asked, sitting up in his bed. His hair was rumpled and his eyes were tired. He'd slept for hours. He'd already visited with Harry and his family. But Hermione hadn't shown yet.
Hermione smiled weakly. Obvious tear streaks stained her face, and her own hair was wilder than usual. She shifted in her seat until she was sitting on the edge, making sure he was real. "Good afternoon, Ronald." Her voice betrayed the amount of crying she'd done in the recent hours.
"We haven't talked in a while, have we?"
"No." Hermione choked back a sob, feeling even more guilty at the fact that he brought it up.
"Come and sit."
"You mean up there?"
Ron scooted over and patted the bed. "Come and sit."
Hermione joined him, and rested her chin on his shoulder. "How are you?"
Ron grinned.