Waking up

Harry opened his eyes to see Hermione sat in a stool next to his bed, her face covered in blood and the tear tracks were clearly visible on her face. She was wearing a white top that was ripped at the stomach and chest revealing her pale, bare flesh. Her face and clothes were dripping in blood, but she still looked beautiful somehow. He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. When Hermione saw he was awake, she got up and hugged him fiercely. He wrapped his arms around her waist and smelt her hair. "Thank god you're all right." She whispered into his shoulder. She pulled away and looked at him with her big brown eyes. He patted the bed next to him and she sat beside him.

He was going to ask why she was covered in blood and her dress ripped, but got cut off.
"Do you remember what happened?" she asked. He told her all he could remember right up to where his memory went blank. He listened intently to her tale of how she found him.
'She really does care about me." He thought to himself. He let his thumb nail dig into the palm of his hand. He couldn't let himself think like that.

"I was so worried when I found you, I thought you were dead." Hermione wrapped her arms around his waist and hid her face in his chest. She was very cold and was shivering, so Harry pulled her towards him, allowing her to press up against him and get warm.

"You didn't think a flight of stairs could kill 'The boy who lived' did you?" he asked, with mock surprise. Hermione laughed and pulled away, but kept a firm grip on his arm. It was like she was scared to let go of him in case he went and fell down some more stairs.

"How long have I been unconscious?" he asked, not sure whether he wanted to know the answer.
"I don't know exactly, but I found you at about 11pm last night."
"What time is it now?" Hermione glanced at the clock on the wall.
"Three thirty in the morning."
"Wow, I must have been out cold."
"Yeah, you didn't move once."
"Did you stay the whole time?" he asked, surprised.
"I was too worried to do anything else." Harry was happy that she cared, even if it was just as a friend. He smiled to himself.

Hermione had several cuts on her face and deep gashes on her arms and stomach. He used his index finger to trace the longest one that went from her temple and halfway down her neck. She winced when he did this.

"What happened?" he whispered
"When I found you, I tripped over and got a few cuts. Nothing big." Harry knew that falling over couldn't do that much damage.

Harry noticed several piece of china stuck in her hair and looked over to the cabinet that usually held the china and vases. It was empty now and at the bottom was a pile of broken pottery and a pool of blood. He picked a piece of china out of her hair and looked at her questioningly. "Okay. What really happened?" Hermione shuffled on the bed a bit and stared at her feet.
"Hermione," he said. She sighed and turned to face him. "What happened?" he asked for the third time.
"Well... I..."

"It's okay," Harry whispered, taking her hands in his, "You can trust me." She took a deep breath.
"When Lupin left, some people came to check if you were okay. When they had all left I sat down next to you and started talking to you. Then Ron came in. He said I was being stupid because you couldn't hear me. He started saying all these things about mudbloods, so I called him a twat. He kissed me and I tried to pull away, but he was too strong. He tried to rip my dress open. He was trying to... I mean it's not the first time he's..." She swallowed, "Raped me, and normally I would have just taken the pain because I know if I say no, he gets violent, but you were lying right there and I couldn't just let him... So I slapped him. He pushed me into the cabinet and half the vases fell on me. Then I cracked. I have been putting up with him for a year and I'd had enough. I yelled at him and he yelled back. He was saying how I like you way more than him and I told him that that was obvious because you would never hurt me. He said I deserve everything I get. We just yelled at each other and then when I told him to leave, he pushed me into the cabinet again and the rest of the vases and stuff fell on me. He said he didn't care about me or anybody here. He kicked me in the stomach, spat in my face and then he... left."

Harry was staring at her, wide eyed, his mouth slightly open. Ron had raped her. Ever since the end of the war, when she had kissed him, Harry had always thought that they were totally in love, but Ron had been forcing her to have sex with him ever since. Harry had thought that she was happy, but she had been in pain. He finally understood all of Rons' cryptic remarks whenever he spoke of her.

At first Harry was angry; furious even. How could Ron do something like this? Ron was supposed to be Harrys' best friend. He thought he had known Ron inside out, but he didn't know what to believe anymore.

A burning hate filled Harrys' lungs, his stomach, his heart. Ron had helped him find horcruxes and defeat Voldemort, and yet he had felt no shame when he raped Hermione. He was so overwhelmed by the fact that someone who had stuck with him through everything wasn't who harry had thought he was at all. It seemed impossible that the skinny red head he had met on platform 9 ¾ could do something like this.

Now that Harry thought about it, he had often walked into Hermiones' room and her face was tear streaked, but he had always just presumed that she was homesick. He hated Ron for what he had done. He wanted revenge. He wanted Ron to know that he couldn't get away with this.

But then Harry looked at Hermione and his fury vanished. Her face, arms and chest were covered in blood. Hermiones' chestnut hair was matted and her chocolate eyes were glistening with tears. Harry knew that revenge would have to wait because she needed him to be there for her and to comfort her.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him. He felt very protective over her. She cried into his chest. "It's okay now. He's never going to come near you again, I promise." He whispered softly.

He lifted her into his arms and carried her to her room. He placed her lightly on her bed, told her to get changed and to try and get some sleep. He knew if he stayed much longer he might do something stupid, like tell her that he's been in love with her ever since he was eleven, so he turned and headed towards the door.

He was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see Hermione, looking confused.
"Please don't leave me." she said in a small voice. He embraced her small body.
"Don't worry; I'll stay if you want me to." She nodded. Harry glanced down at his blood stained clothes. He used a summoning charm to get something to sleep in. He took off his t-shirt and jeans and pulled on his old grey sweats, leaving his chest bare. 

He turned around to see Hermione facing away from him wearing a pair of grey shorts and a deep purple bra. She was pulling on a t-shirt, but before she could get it over her head, Harry saw the scars running down her back. He could see tell that some of them were from today, but the majority had definitely been there for a while.
"Did he do that?" Harry asked. She hesitated and turned around. Harry saw that there were several more scars running across her stomach and chest.
"Do what?" she asked, tilting her head slightly. Harry indicated to the scars all over her body. "Shit." She muttered trying to cover them, by pulling the t-shirt over her again.
"It's okay." He said, stepping towards her.
"No, it's not," she said bitterly, "Don't try and pretend that you're not totally disgusted by it. I'm scared and it's not okay. It's never going to be okay because I have these as a constant reminder of why I'm stupid and weak." Harry walked over to her and wrapped her in his arms.
"You're still beautiful to me." He kissed her cheek. She looked up at him, slightly bemused. "Sorry," he muttered, "Sometimes it's hard to control myself around you." He started to step away from her, but she threw her arms around him and, with some kind new energy, kissed him with all her might.

Harry was taken aback, but soon sunk into the kiss that he had dreamed of since he was eleven. Their mouths were moving as one as she tangled her hands in his hair and he grabbed her waist. She pulled his head closer to hers; her tongue grazed his bottom lip, asking for entrance, which he happily granted. They kissed for what could have been fifteen minutes or fifteen days. Either way they both knew that it was perfect.

When they finally broke apart, Harry, panting, kissed her lightly on the lips once more. "You really need some sleep." He whispered, their foreheads still pressed together.
"Mhmm." was all that she managed. She took Harrys hand and led him to the warm, cosy bed.

He lay next to Hermione as she fell asleep. She must have been tired after today, Harry thought. He had his hands behind his head, just like before, staring up at the grotty ceiling. After a while he peered at her lying next to him. She was curled up, facing away from him and she appeared to be shivering because the blanket had slipped off her.

Harry pulled it over her again and she sighed. She rolled over, into Harrys' chest and draped a slender arm around his waist. He pulled her into him and wrapped his toned arms around her fragile body. She smiled in her sleep and sighed again.

Harry had never been so comfortable in his life. He felt that this was where he belonged, with Hermione in his arms. Her bushy hair splayed carelessly over her face. He gently moved it behind her ear, before resting his head on the pillow and falling into a deep sleep.