Now on... Chapter Number Two, enjoy.
DISCLAIMER: Still not mine.
Unnoticed by Ron, some other person was up this night. Hermione was awoken by a horrible nightmare and was now on her way to the kitchen.
She hoped to be able to get back to sleep by a sip of water. When she reached the kitchen, she heard noises coming out of it. The brunette stood at the open door and peered
through the narrow gap. The room was just illuminated by the moon, so she couldn't see much. After her eyes had become accustomed to the darkness, she was sure to see Ron
sitting there. Hermione thought for a moment whether she should just go into the kitchen, but then she heard more footsteps on the stairs. She slipped around the corner and stood
in complete darkness. The footsteps led into the kitchen. The person turned on the light and gasped loud.
"Man, Ronald, you can't just sit here in the dark. I nearly had a heart attack."
"Sorry." Ron muttered, without looking up.
Bill, Ron's eldest brother, sat down beside him and looked curious, but also concerned at the misery, which was sitting there.
"Trouble finding sleep?"
Ron just shook his head.
"Hey, you know perfectly well that you can talk to me about everything. Maybe you'll feel better?" Bill encouragingly pushed his brother's arm.
His eyes still at the table, Ron not immediately respond. But Bill was smart enough to push him any further, so they sat quietly for a while in the now brightly lit kitchen.
After a few minutes, Ron finally cleared his throat and began to speak in a husky voice.
"I still hear her screaming out loud." Then he went quiet again.
Bill nodded silently with his head, even though Ron was still staring at the kitchen table.
"As soon as I close my eyes, they echo through my head. Loud and painful. I can't stand it anymore." Ron now looked up. Bill could clearly see red eyes.
The whole thing must have been the hell to Ron. Come to think, Bill never asked how he felt. With all the excitement after the arrival of his brother and his friends, there was so
much to take care of. First of all, Hermione, then Dobby.
Ron seemed to be strong, he took care of everything, especially to Hermione.
"It must have been terrible for you. It will take some time before you have processed the whole thing."
"But I can't stand it any longer, I don't want to hear her screaming all the time... It was... so..." Ron broke off, there were no words to
describe the pain he felt in that moment.
"I know Ron. At least I think I do. But Hermione is save now. She's laying in her bed and recovering very well. That should
give you strength."
"But it does not!" Ron responded defiantly. In the four hours, in which he was sitting there, he was obviously aware that everything went well.
and yet ... In the worst moment of her life, he could not help his best friend and that made him angry. How should his brother understand? He was not there, he had not heard the
screams.
"You can't imagine how I felt. I almost died, forced to just listen and not able to help. Bill, I could not do anything! They had taken her away and locked me. I failed, I could not
protect her, I ... " The last words were lost in a suppressed sob.
Quickly Ron lowered his glance. He was not the type to cry.
His brother moved his chair closer and put his arm around Ron's shoulders.
"Ron, you're not to blame. You brought her here and she lives. That's what counts. Sure, the next time will be difficult for all the three of you, you've been through so much, not like
other throughout their lives. But it will be better, I promise you. Do what you've always done, be there for her, help her through this difficult time, that's what friends are for."
"But she doesn't want help, ever. She always wants to do everything alone. What am I supposed to do? I bet, tomorrow morning, she'll act as if everything is o.k., even if she is in
pain." Ron looked at his brother for help.
"Don't worry. If she needs you, then you'll be there, that's what matters and she will be grateful, believe me." Bill could barely suppress a hearty yawn.
"I think I'll go back to Fleur, when she wakes up and I am not there, she'll worry. Everything o.k. with you?"
Ron nodded imperceptibly.
"I think so. Thank you." A rather thin smile twisted his lips, but it disappeared as quickly as it had come.
Bill patted his brother one last time on the shoulder and then left the kitchen, extinguishing the lights. Ron leaned back in his chin in
his hands and stared straight ahead.
Hermione stood motionless in the corner. While shaking her head, tears ran silently down her cheeks. That Ron was so touched she did not suspected.
He seemed so strong... If she had not listened involuntarily, he probably would have hidden his feelings forever. Ron was not the most talkative when it came to such thing. He
had suffered so much when she...
"Oh Ron." Hermione wiped the tears from her cheeks, which was completely pointless, since more and more were already rolling down her face.
How could he think he was the one to blame? The very person who had given her the most support in the last hours, by their strengh, their
mere presence, was now sitting completly broken in the room next door.
He felt helpless. For a brief moment, she smiled gently. How exactly he knew her. Of course, she would be up early and pretend to be o.k.
She would never show weakness. She had always been with guys, she had to fight against evil, so she could not afford weaknesses.
And now, she had to hear that her stubbornness and determination bothered him so much.
Just then she felt a kinship, a feeling of deep affection for the boy who wanted nothing more than her well-being and who chastised himself for not having helped her.
Her heartbeat had quickened and her already shaky knees seemed to buckle at any moment.
Never before she had felt for Ron as she did now. A feeling of love flew through her, a feeling which had slumber in her for a while, but was now to reveal.
Why had he ever said what troubled him so much? Certainly, for the same reason, why she could never admit to be in pain or to be too scared to fall asleep because of certain
nightmares.
A little longer she listened quietly into the next room, then she crept on tiptoe up the stairs and back to her room.
And... done. Well, what you think? I hope you liked it. One more chapter is on its way, so see you soon. Quen ;-)
