1Always There- Sequel

Ron woke up from his restless sleep for the third time that night. He looked at the clock. 3 a.m. Ron groaned and turned over to see if his friend was awake. The bed next to his was empty. That's when Ron remembered the events of a few hours previously. Harry had come out of the maze clutching the dead form of Cedric Diggory in one hand and the cup in the other. He had claimed to see He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named return to his body. Ron had wanted to stay in the hospital room with Harry but when it got to be around 1:30, his mother made him go to his dorm to get to sleep.

There was no way he could go back to sleep now that he remembered his smaller friend probably lying terrified on his bed in the hospital wing. That's when he decided to visit Harry. He padded softly over to Harry's bed and bent down to get the invisibility cloak out of Harry's trunk and threw it around his shoulders. He shivered. How strange how even though it was mid June, yet the castle still had a slight chill.

He walked as quietly as he could through the castle so as not to attract attention to himself. The consequences for being out of bed this late, especially tonight, would be severe.

He finally reached the oak doors to the hospital wing and pushed them open. He walked down to the bed with the privacy curtains up. O his way though, he walked past Mad-eye Moody's bed. The real one that is. He wandered for about the hundredth time that night, how Dumbledore could have gone the whole year without realizing the imposter that roamed his castle. He walked on. When he finally reached Harry's bed, he paused outside for just a moment. For some reason he was a little scared about what he might find. Using up all of his Griffyndor courage, he pushed the curtains open. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw Harry lying peacefully under the covers. The dreamless sleep potion had really done him well. This was the most peaceful he had slept all year. He conjured a chair next to Harry's bed and sat down, taking one of Harry's hands into his own.

He couldn't believe this was happening. He just couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that someone could do this to a fourteen year old child. It was inhuman. Then again, Voldemort wasn't anywhere near human. He was a monster. A monster who took joy in other people's pain. Especially Harry's. The thought itself disgusted him. Harry had already been through so much. His parents, always fighting Voldemort, and now this.

Ron was all of a sudden pulled out of his thoughts when he heard a small whimper from the bed. He looked down and saw the subtle starts of a nightmare. He had become and expert on Harry's nightmares. He could tell when it was so bad that he had to wake him up or just to let him sleep it through.

"Harry, wake up mate." he tried, but it didn't seem to do anything. Harry started turning his head from side to side, he broke out into a sweat, and he started muttering things under his breath.

"No..... please......stop......don't........please!........stop!.......NO.....CEDRIC!!!!NO!!!!!!.........no"

Ron felt helpless as he watched his friend reliving his torment. He tried to think of what his mother would do. He gathered Harry up into his arms and sat behind him leaning Harry's back against his chest. Then he reached out a hand to grab a washcloth of the bed stand and starting dabbing at Harry's brow.

Soon enough, Harry's whimpers quieted and his body relaxed into Ron's then he saw Harry's eyes open. He looked at Ron confused.

"You were having a nightmare."Ron said bluntly. Harry nodded.

"Thanks" he said.

"No problem mate."Ron said back.

It had all of a sudden become very tense. Neither of them moved. Ron was afraid if he let go he might lose Harry, and Harry was afraid if he got up he might drown in the sorrow that was starting to fog his mind.

That was when Ron noticed Harry's trembling. At first he thought Harry was just cold so he grabbed the blanket tighter around them. This only made it worse so he looked down. Harry's face was screwed up almost exactly the way it had been when his mother had hugged him earlier. He wasn't sure what to do. He couldn't just get up and walk away when Harry obviously needed him, but he felt extremely awkward being here when Harry was losing it. It felt almost as if he were intruding something very personal.

Harry must have felt the tension too, because he started to try and squirm. Ron made up his mind. He pulled Harry tighter to his body, thankful that he was facing the other way. That would make this easier for both of them. Harry tried to get away again, but this time Ron made his grip more forceful and began to whisper in Harry's ear.

"Shhh....its okay mate...its alright....just let go...."

And that's all Harry needed. First he just went limp and stopped struggling, then there was a small choke noise, that turned into eventual heart wrenched, terrified, agonized sobs. Ron turned Harry around so that he had his head resting on Ron's chest. He could feel the warm wetness of salty tears soaking their way through his night robes, but he didn't care. He just wished he could stop the trembling of the boy next to him.. He did the only thing he could think of. He pulled Harry even closer and rubbed tiny circles on the small of Harry's back and slowly rocked them back and forth slowly.

And soon enough it was quiet again. Harry was still trembling, but that was more of the fact that the blanket had slipped down again. He almost jumped when he felt Harry shift, but when he looked down, Harry was once again asleep. Not as peacefully as last time but asleep nonetheless.

He slowly got up and placed Harry back on the bed placing the covers just below his chin. Ron took one look back at his friend and then started his way back to his dorm.

Once he was back in bed, he once again berated himself for starting tat fight with Harry. But he would make up for it. If he had to stay up every night holding Harry through his nightmares then he would. That's what brothers do afterall.