A/N: WARNING!! This chapter is one of the reasons why this story is rated M! Basically, there is a bit of light smut coming up :) If that bothers you or you wish to skip it, you can do that and the story will still make sense. Just wanted everyone to be aware before continuing :)

Chapter 4 - Dungeons

One Month Later

"Hermione!" Ron whispered loudly, chuckling. "Where the hell are you?!" He continued to walk deeper down into the dungeons, his eyes trying to adjust to the thick darkness. As many times as they had escaped down here over the past month, they had never gone this far before...

Hermione's voice echoed from somewhere unseen as she laughed in a deep, ridiculous, maniacal tone, obviously trying to sound scary. Ron laughed out loud.

"Cut it out!" he replied, grinning. But suddenly he stopped, his shoe caught on something soft. He aimed his lit wand down at the stone floor. A sock.

Furrowing his eyebrows, he crouched and picked it up. It seemed familiar to him... but it was just a white sock. Why should...

"Hermione, did you lose a sock?" Ron asked the emptiness in front of him, perplexed.

"Come closer," came a raspy whisper, another attempt from Hermione to sound scary. Ron smiled.

"Right," he said, pocketing the sock. He felt a small bit of cool, familiar metal brush against his knuckles as he removed his hand from his pocket...

He continued along the corridor as it curved to the left, sloping downwards slightly.

"How far down are you taking me, Hermione?" he asked, knowing that she wouldn't reply.

And then he spotted something else white on the floor just ahead. Another sock.

"Found the other one," he whispered loudly, directing his voice towards the continuing corridor once again, wondering if she was close enough to hear him. He stood, pocketed the second sock, and continued along the corridor, moving a little faster, hoping to catch her around a corner. "Don't remember the last time I was this deep in the dungeons," Ron said to the emptiness again. "Wait, not true," he corrected himself. "Chamber of Secrets..."

And then suddenly, a darker and much larger mound of something caught his eyes and he lowered his wand, directing the light towards the floor.

"Ah, your robe," Ron said as he picked it up and slung it over his shoulder. "What did you do with your shoes then? Just thought of that..." Ron mused aloud to no one.

And then he was standing in front of a crisp white something. As he stooped to pick it up, his eyes widened considerably. Hermione's button down shirt. And he was sure she hadn't been wearing anything over it besides the robe...

He swallowed and gently folded the shirt over his arm, standing on slightly more shaky legs than before.

"Closer," came the raspy Hermione voice again.

"Coming," Ron replied in a hoarse whisper.

Steps later, he found himself staring down at a pleated mound of charcoal gray material. Her skirt. His eyes were popping out of their sockets as he picked it up, his hands sweaty all of a sudden.

"Okay, seriously," he said, his voice wavering out of his control. "Where are you?!"

"Closer," she hissed again.

"Damn it..." Ron muttered under his breath as he rounded another corner and spotted something else... And he knew what must be left, the only pieces of clothing that remained for him to locate. And this one was most definitely Hermione's bra.

He could hardly pick it up. The light pink silk material reflected the light from his wand tip... It was so soft and formed perfectly to fit her. He felt the smooth stiffness of it against his fingertips, marveling at the combination of materials. He shook, trying to clear his head as he stood, tucking the bra into his robe pocket. Only one more thing, he thought as he continued forward achingly slowly, nervous and giddy.

And then he spotted it. He nearly passed out when his brain finally drew up the results of the clues that he had stumbled upon. Hermione was somewhere ahead of him. And she wasn't wearing anything!

His pulse was much too fast. He was going to have a heart attack. He stooped automatically to pick up her underwear, trying not to think about what he was doing. But the moment the soft blue cotton was in his hand, he couldn't tear his eyes away. He was holding Hermione's knickers... that she had just been wearing! His robe was much too tight, much too hot against his skin...

When he finally managed to tell his brain to move his legs, he heard her voice again.

"Almost there..."

He shivered and suddenly found himself next to a door that was different from the others he had passed by the fact that there was a small pair of black shoes hanging from the doorknob by the laces. And the door was very slightly ajar.

"Holy hell..." Ron mumbled as he removed the shoes from the doorknob. He glanced back down the corridor from where he had just come, knowing that it was unlikely that anyone would be wandering about down here this late, but still wanting to be completely sure. He let his eyes fall shut for a brief moment, preparing himself for what he would find on the other side of the door, but knowing that in actuality, nothing would be able to properly prepare him for this...

And then he was pushing the door open, allowing it to swing forward, his eyes open as wide as they would go. He was breathing in short bursts through his mouth, his chest pounding. The room was nearly pitch black, save a few candles that were lit on the floor across the room, flickering dimly. But they lit nothing much, and he couldn't make out anything or anyone in the room at all. But as Ron aimed his wand into the room, light fell over something in the corner closest to the candles, a soft something like a mound of pillows and blankets... and then... a bare foot.

He gasped, involuntarily moving the light back a bit so he had to retrace his path. But then he was moving the light up again, his eyes taking in the bare foot, bare porcelain white leg that followed until a blood red sheet covered it starting at about the knee. He took a step forward automatically, moving all the way into the room as his wand continued to move upwards, his hand taking over the use of all available rational thought in order to steady the wand light.

A curve in the sheet, and then suddenly, the smoothest, most perfect skin his eyes had ever seen. Her lower back was exposed, though it took him a moment to even realize what he was looking at. And as he moved the light of his wand even further along, taking another step, her bushy hair came into view where it fell over her shoulder blades.

His chest was rapidly rising and falling as he attempted to calm himself enough to move further into the room, closer to her. Then suddenly, he realized that her face was turned slightly so she could probably see him, but her hair was falling into her eyes so he couldn't see her properly.

The combination of the deep red sheet over her silky white skin was intoxicating. It reminded him of blood... but mixed with her naked skin beneath and peaking out, it was one of the most pleasurable sights he could even dream up...

"Close the door... and take off your shoes," Hermione whispered suddenly, though her voice was much closer now to its normal sound than it had been the last time she had spoken.

Ron didn't take a moment to question her demand. He dropped Hermione's robe, shirt, and skirt to the floor and reached back to shut the door with a slight thud. He toed off his right shoe, then his left, and stood facing her in his socks.

"Now the socks," Hermione said.

He put his wand in his mouth, holding it with his teeth as he steadied himself and took off the right sock, his left foot moving around comically on the stone floor as he tried to maintain his balance. Then he swiftly shifted his weight to his bare right foot and removed his left sock, tossing it carelessly to the ground.

"Your robe," Hermione instructed.

With his wand still in between his teeth, he pushed his robe off his shoulders. It fell in a heap behind him.

"Now your shirt-" Hermione began, but Ron was already unbuttoning it with shaky hands.

When he finally finished, he shrugged his shoulders and pulled his arms through, allowing the once crisp white shirt to join his and Hermione's other clothes in the growing pile on the floor.

"Keep going," Hermione said in a thick and raspy voice. Ron pulled his thin hole-filled white undershirt over his head, feeling his hair spike out in random directions as the shirt passed over the top of his head. He dropped the shirt behind him and began to unbutton his trousers, convinced that there was a good possibility that he was dreaming. He slid the trousers off his hips and allowed them to fall to the floor where he stepped, one foot at a time, out of them, his legs shaking slightly.

"Come here," Hermione whispered before Ron could consider what she might want from him next...

He removed his wand from his mouth and held it out in front of him again, lighting his way to where Hermione lay naked on her stomach on the pile of pillows and dark blankets that she had probably positioned there herself. The thought made Ron shiver violently with delight as he watched his shadow cover her as he moved closer, closer...

And finally, hovering right above her, he saw for the first time that she was shivering too.

"Cold?" Ron asked, his voice horribly high pitched and unnatural.

"Not really," Hermione answered as she moved very slightly, her hair sliding across her bare back. Ron swallowed hard...

He knelt down next to her, his knees trembling.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked in a timid voice.

"What do you want to do?" Hermione asked back in a voice that seemed a lot more nervous than she had let on so far.

A million things raced through Ron's brain all at once and he had to force himself to keep breathing. When he didn't say anything, Hermione went from looking at least a tiny bit confident to not very confident at all.

"What's wrong?" Ron asked.

"Is this all okay? I know I didn't ask you... I just sort of... wanted to... I don't know..." She let her words trail off desperately.

"Bloody hell, Hermione," Ron said in awe... "This is.... well this is just..." he paused and swallowed, "totally brilliant..."

She looked up at him again, encouraged.

"I mean," he continued, "I didn't expect..." He grinned, unable to complete his thought. He shook his head, half-smiling down at her. "How did you do all this?"

Hermione shrugged against the pillows she was lying on.

"Set it up early this morning..."

"You planned it out?" Ron asked incredulously, his throat constricting with excitement.

"Yes," Hermione answered simply.

"This is incredible..."

"Come here then," Hermione said, scooting over just a bit so he could join her, but she remained mostly on her stomach, hiding her chest from his view for the moment.

Ron slid under the red sheet with her, his bare legs hitting hers. He groaned involuntarily as he moved even closer, his fingers grazing against the bare skin of her side as he leaned in towards her face. He lowered his head and kissed her, their bodies awkwardly positioned next to each other, Hermione still on her stomach, her arm trying to twist up to pull him even closer. But as they kissed, she seemed to forget about remaining covered at all and turned in towards him. The moment her bare chest brushed his, it was like an electric shock had been sent through his body from his heart out to his limbs. He moaned heavily into her mouth, his hand traveling around to her back automatically to press her tighter against him. His palm pressed into the curve in her lower back, covering a relatively large portion of her skin as his fingers stretched apart to lay flat.

They pulled back for air and Ron's eyes flicked involuntarily down for a fraction of a second to where Hermione's chest met his. He didn't want to be caught looking for some reason, even though he felt that there was probably not much that he wasn't allowed to do at this point... but he knew that she had seen him as her eyes were very purposefully gazing into his when his focus was back on her face again. Even the slight glimpse that he had caught of the swell of her chest was enough to send yet another wave of pleasure jolting through his body. He was on the point of capturing her lips again...

But suddenly he paused, his eyes widening.

"Wait..."

Hermione stopped dead, and he felt her heart pounding against his chest.

"What?" she asked nervously. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, God, nothing," Ron practically moaned. "I don't even remember what the word 'wrong' means."

Hermione grinned at him, relieved.

"But I just remembered something... I want to..." His voice trailed off and he slid out from under the sheet, trying to partially conceal the half-naked lower part of his body from Hermione as he crawled across the floor towards his discarded robe.

He rummaged in the pocket for a second, aware of Hermione's eyes on him from behind. And once he had found what he was looking for, he closed his fist around it and crawled back to the sheet, slipping back under again and trying incredibly hard not to look down at Hermione's chest...

Once he had settled in next to her, facing her on his side, he swallowed audibly and looked into her eyes, the light from the candles in the room dancing in her pupils.

"The thing is," he began, "and I think you know this already... if I could have, I would have married you."

Hermione smiled and blinked, tears in her eyes already.

"And now... well we've sort of been together for a little while..." He paused, searching her eyes for any signs of understanding, wondering if she would guess what was coming next. "But it's not going to matter if we're together for a few months or the rest of our lives, we can't ever really get married to each other because..."

He stopped, not wanting to even say the words he was thinking, that Hermione was married to Harry and this was what was stopping them. He hadn't intended to say something to upset her and he wanted to rush on quickly to the part he was aiming for...

"But we've sort of been pretending that you aren't, you know..." She nodded and he knew she understood, so he went on. "I just... I know how I feel now, how I've felt for... well, as long as I can remember... and you... well you own me, Hermione."

She gave him a puzzled eyebrow raise.

"You know what I mean," Ron smiled. "You could tell me to jump off the Astronomy tower, that it's what you want most in the world, and you know I'd do it."

Hermione giggled under her breath.

"Why would I want you to jump off the Astronomy tower?" she asked, grinning.

"I don't know!" Ron exclaimed exaggeratedly. "You tell me!"

Hermione giggled again.

"The point is... you're sort of it for me. When I'm with you, nothing else matters... or really even exists."

"I feel the same way," Hermione whispered, and Ron nodded, glad that she had told him so because it made the next part a lot easier for him to say...

"So let's just pretend that it's only us," Ron went on, "and there are no ridiculous rules or laws and we're just... alive."

Hermione smiled.

"Got it?" he asked her and she nodded. "Right... so..."

Ron swallowed again and very slowly allowed his fingers to fall away from his palm, revealing what was inside. Something shiny, obvious only because of the dim candle light behind him. Something like... chains? And rings! Hermione gasped.

"Marry me," Ron said softly, his voice quivering. He paused as he watched her mouth fall open, her eyes glued to the rings in his hand. "I love you," he continued, "and I'm pretty sure that for some bloody reason you're mental enough to love me back... so who cares that we aren't technically allowed to do this... Nobody has to find out-"

"Yes," Hermione whispered, her voice covered and muffled by Ron finishing his previous sentence. He stared at her, unsure if he had heard her correctly.

"What?" he asked, his mouth completely dry all of a sudden.

"Yes, Ron," Hermione said again. "I'll marry you."

"Really?" Ron asked, awestruck and eyes wide. Hermione nodded, a huge smile growing wider by the second across her face.

"Yes!"

"Yes!" Ron shouted back exaggeratedly.

Hermione laughed, her eyes sparkling in the candle light.

"Here," Ron said through his grin, and he separated the two rings in his hand, holding hers up so she could take it. He worked on separating the chains, his hands shaking, joy overtaking him.

Hermione squinted through her watery eyes as she held the gold band in her hand, turning it between her fingers. It was thicker than the one she wore from her marriage to Harry. It seemed to be made of a deeper shade of gold too.

"Does it say something?" she whispered. "On the inside?"

Ron nodded.

"It's both of our names... with the letters mixed up," Ron whispered back.

Hermione blinked back tears as she stared at the tiny letters lining the inside of the ring...

RH OE NR AM LI DO BN IE LJ IE UA SN WG ER AA SN LG EE YR

"So," Ron went on, still in a whisper, "even if someone finds it, they won't know what it means. But we'll know. Did you know that both of our names have the same number of letters? Nineteen. If you look at only every other letter on the inside of the ring, it spells out either my full name or yours. See?"

Hermione nodded, her voice failing her.

"Do you like it?" Ron asked finally.

Her answer came in the form of thick tears. They rolled down her cheeks as she smiled up at Ron.

"Do I like it?" she repeated in an incredulous and hoarse whisper. "Ron, I love it."

He smiled at her, swallowing thickly.

"Does yours say the same thing?" she asked, reaching for the ring in Ron's hand.

"Yeah," Ron whispered back, handing her the ring so she could have a closer look.

He watched her as she inspected them both side by side.

"And I got these," Ron said, holding the chains in his palm so she could see them. "We can wear the rings around our necks so we can hide them..."

He handed Hermione one of the chains.

"Ron," she choked, sniffing. "I love you so much..."

"I love you too, Hermione," he said, feeling his own eyes beginning to water. "So, so much..."

Hermione leaned against him, her head buried in his neck. He kissed her forehead and allowed his lips to stay pressed to her skin long after the kiss had ended. She sniffed again and pulled back from him, smiling broadly. After wiping quickly at her eyes, she focused on the ring and chain in her hand. She slipped the ring onto the chain and looped it over her neck, then brought the ring up to her lips and kissed it.

Ron smiled and copied her, putting his ring on his own chain and ducking his head through it so it rested close to his heart. The metal was cold against his hot skin, and now that he was done with what he needed to do, he became acutely aware of the fact that Hermione was completely naked and less than a foot away from him. His lips parted as desire flooded him...

"You know I've never done anything like this, right?" Ron asked shyly.

"I should hope not," Hermione replied, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Well," Ron shrugged, "just thought I should be clear..."

"Why?" Hermione asked. "Afraid you won't be good at it?"

Ron glared at her playfully.

"Ron," she laughed. "I haven't either. Clearly. I've only ever wanted... well, for it to be with you."

"Yeah, me too," Ron said, leaning marginally closer to her.

"So... what do you want to do?" Hermione asked, desire returning rapidly to her eyes.

"Everything. Anything," Ron breathed.

"Kiss me," Hermione requested, licking her lips without realizing she was doing it. But Ron used the opportunity to catch her tongue in his mouth and she moaned, arching against his bare chest as his tongue slid over hers. His hand pressed firmly against her lower back again as he felt her breasts against his chest. They had never come close to anything like this before. Ron's shirt had come off one time in an empty dungeon room like this one and his hands had wandered close to the bottom edge of her bra in a broom closet, but this...

Everywhere his hands traveled he discovered another new patch of perfect naked skin. His hand slipped lower and he felt the curve out at the bottom of her spine when there was no more back left for him to touch. He had dreamed of touching her like this, but he hadn't honestly imagined that it would happen so soon.

Her lips moved to his jaw, then his neck, and she sucked lightly, causing his eyes to flutter shut. When she moved back, he let his eyes fall freely to her breasts, and he found that he was holding his breath as his eyes greedily roamed over her goosebump covered skin.

He kissed his way down her neck to her collarbone, sliding further under the sheet as he went. When he reached the top of her breasts, she arched into him, rolling slightly onto her back so he was hovering over her. His hot breath covered her as he heavily sucked air in and out between gasps as his lips moved lower and lower towards the little pink circles that marked his final destination.

He had meant to go slow, to drag this out and make it last as long as possible, but his hand slid down from her shoulder a bit farther than he had planned as his mouth was currently occupied with sucking its way down her right breast... and suddenly he felt a tiny pearl-sized bit of a hardened skin and he moaned and gasped at the same time, causing him to almost choke. Hermione's response was similar but even more enthusiastic. Her head fell back against the pillow and her back arched towards him causing her breast to press into his hand.

"Fuck," Ron mumbled into her skin as he squeezed gently with his right hand.

"Don't stop," he heard Hermione moan and he eagerly returned his mouth to her chest, his tongue sliding down to her nipple as his body jolted from pleasure.

"This is a dream," Ron murmured against her skin as she breathed out his name. "This is a bloody dream..."

"Ohhh..." Hermione moaned as he kissed her chest again and sucked, dragging his teeth across her nipple this time.

Overwhelmed, he allowed his face to fall against her between her breasts, his hand still cupping her gently. He breathed against her skin, trying to regain some semblance of composure. He knew he had to keep it together in order to make this good for her. He had heard plenty about how this worked, about what could happen if he got too excited. Now he understood. This was going to be the hardest thing he had ever done... just to last until he was actually making love to her... Even the thought of it caused him to feel as if he could lose control at any moment.

"Are you okay?" Hermione panted, opening her eyes to look down as he looked up.

"So good..." Ron assured her. "Just have to... give me a second."

Hermione nodded.

"Too good," Ron added, and she grinned, understanding. "Uh, Hermione," he started after a brief pause. "This is probably a really dumb question, but you have... protection... right?"

"Mmm hm," Hermione mumbled thickly. "My robe pocket. In a little vial."

Ron craned his neck to look over his shoulder at the pile of clothes on the floor.

"Way over there?" he asked, giving her a withering look.

"Lazy git," she said, pushing up against him. He groaned as her hips pressed against his.

"Okay, going," he said, and he half-jumped, half-lunged out of the bed, crawling fast on his knees towards the pile of clothing. He fished around for Hermione's robe, then plunged his hand into one pocket, then the next. "Got it," he said as he closed his fist around the vial and scrambled back over to where Hermione was lying on her back, her upper body completely exposed. He froze, hovering over her and staring down at her chest, able to see it even more clearly now that he wasn't mostly covering her.

"Cut it out," Hermione instructed, but it was clear that she was torn between embarrassment and elation at the fact that she was able to cause him to react in such a way, his eyes nearly falling out of his head.

"I could never even have imagined something so perfect..." he said as his eyes darted across her bare skin.

"Ron," Hermione said in a skeptical tone.

"I'm serious," he assured her, his eyes still on her chest. "I don't even know... what to say..."

Hermione, clearly feeling nervous from his intense gaze, reached up and took his hand, pulling his fingers away from his palm so she could take the vial from him. She leaned up on her elbows, bringing her chest very close to his face. He tilted his head up to look into her eyes and watched as she uncapped the vial and tipped the contents into her mouth, swallowing and licking her lips to be sure she had taken all of it.

"Where did you get that?" Ron asked.

"You aren't going to believe this..." she started, looking embarrassed.

"What?" Ron asked, his curiosity peaked.

Hermione sighed.

"I sort of..." she lowered her voice as if she thought someone could overhear her admission... "stole it."

Ron blinked at her.

"You what?!"

"Stole it from the infirmary..."

"Are you joking?!" Ron asked, his eyes wide.

"No..." Hermione looked away, blushing slightly. But Ron just laughed.

"Wow, Hermione," he said. "This is a new low for you."

"Watch it, Ron!" Hermione warned. "You were about to benefit from my rule breaking..."

"Honestly," Ron continued. "I think it's bloody hot that you'd steal a vial of potion just to shag me."

"Ron! Shut up!" She glared at him, and he smirked at her.

"You're amazing..." he said after a moment, his tone much more serious now.

"Are you sure about this?" she asked him in a soft voice, her eyes very round and dark.

"Totally sure," Ron said without hesitation. "You?"

"I set all this up, didn't I?" Hermione reminded him with a grin.

Ron leaned into her and kissed her, his arm moving smoothly to wrap around her back and support her as he gently lowered her to the pillow again. And then he felt her hands on his cotton boxers, her fingertips moving under the elastic to touch new skin. He wiggled slightly, allowing her to push them down a bit. Her fingers grazed the little ginger hairs that trailed down from his belly button.

"Feels so good..." Hermione said as her hand moved closer and closer... Ron reached down and completely slid his boxers off as she had been struggling to reach. And, kicking his legs a bit, he managed to get them to his feet where he pushed them off one foot at a time with his toes.

One of her legs moved out from under him and as he kissed her neck, she bent her knee and wrapped her leg around his waist, her heel pressing against his thigh.

"Bloody hell, not going to last long," Ron moaned as she moved her other leg around him so her heels were locked together. And then he felt hot wetness between her legs. "Fuck..."

Hermione threw her head back as she felt silky soft skin touch her accidentally, their bodies pressed so tightly together.

"Now..." she moaned, raising her hips slightly to press more firmly against him.

"I'm sorry if this isn't good," Ron said through another moan. "Oh wow..." He felt her legs tighten, closing all available space between them. There was only one thing left to do now...

"Ron..." Hermione groaned as if her life depended on his next move, like she needed him to fill her in order to survive. And he almost understood it too, though it made no logical sense. He felt like he needed her to fill the emptiness he now felt, an emptiness that he hadn't realized was there until he had allowed himself to get this close to her, to feel every part of her, to allow his desire to build until he could hardly stand it...

"Okay," he said as he steadied himself above her, his lips brushing her cheek as he spoke. "Ready?"

"Mmmm," Hermione moaned, nodding and opening her eyes to stare up into his. He nodded in return and before he could think too much about what he was doing, he pressed himself all the way down onto her, feeling her warmth completely surround him.

It was pleasure like he had never imagined. He couldn't even make a sound. All normal functions were completely immobilized. He was so overwhelmed by the sensations he was feeling that he didn't notice immediately that Hermione had clamped her eyes tightly shut and was biting her lip.

"Ow... Ron!" Hermione groaned. Ron considering moving out of her the moment he heard her cry, but he wasn't sure if it would hurt even more for him to move so suddenly.

"Hermione! What should I be doing? Is this hurting you?" he asked quickly.

"Ohh... it did... but..." Hermione's eyes remained tightly shut but her mouth parted and she leaned her head back and Ron had the impression that she was squeezing her eyes together now out of pleasure, not pain.

"Better?" he asked, trying desperately to hold onto the last remaining threads of control that he could feel slipping quickly away from him...

"Ohh, so, so good..." Hermione moaned. "Ron..." She opened her eyes at the exact moment that his name passed through her lips and he felt another wave of ecstasy shiver through his body. He was trying so desperately to hold on for her that his forehead was beginning to sweat.

He moved up slightly, a bit scared of hurting her again when he pushed back further into her, but this time, she lifted her hips up to meet his and threw her head back again from pleasure.

It was so easy to slide into her, though she was tight against him. And he just had to reach down to feel her as he pulled up and back down again. His fingers moved down between her legs and he gasped when he realized just how wet she was.

"Ohhhh... hell..." Ron breathed, and he felt her body shiver furiously at his touch, his fingers lightly pinching her skin.

It was far too much, and with one more deep breath, he was able to move slightly out of her and back again before feeling a rumble through his body that began somewhere deep inside of him and radiated out to every bit of him, all the way to his toes. He held his weight very slightly off of her on violently shaking arms, his lips crushing hers as she moaned into his mouth, her body quaking slightly underneath him.

Electricity seemed to crack between them, and then finally, feeling nearly dead from exhaustion, he rolled slightly off her, keeping her warm body against his as he rested on the mound of tangled sheets and blankets on his back.

Hermione squeezed his body and shivered, letting out a shaky sigh.

"Alright?" Ron asked in a strangled whisper.

"Oh, much more than alright," Hermione sighed back.

Ron felt himself shaking slightly, the combination of nerves and the remnants of adrenaline causing him to feel lightheaded as he tried to stop from laughing. But it was no use. He began to chuckle and it turned rapidly into an attempt to suppress a wave of intense laughter that seemed to come straight from his chest.

But Hermione was laughing too before he knew it, her body shaking against with a fit of giggles.

He squeezed her, laughing into her hair until he managed to calm down enough to speak.

"Best night of my life doesn't really cover it," Ron said finally.

"I know, me too," Hermione said through more giggles.

"How am I going to survive between now and the next time?" Ron asked, shaking his head slightly.

"I have no idea..." Hermione said as she leaned up to look into his eyes, her chin resting lightly on his chest.

They remained staring at one another, grinning foolishly at each other but not caring in the least... but slowly, Ron's smile began to fade as reality started to set in. They were at school. In the dungeons. And it was surely close to curfew, even for Prefects...

Ron didn't want to be the one to say it, but Hermione could read his expression and easily determine what was on his mind... Her own face fell into a depressed stare and her heart beat faster as she realized that it was over, that they had to get up now and face their real lives, the lives that included secrecy and stolen looks across the Common Room...

"We have to go," Hermione whispered, her eyes filling with tears.

"I know," Ron said. "Hermione," he continued when he saw how close she was to crying, "I promise you, when we get through with school, we're going to figure something out. We're going to make this work so we don't have to sneak around to see each other, okay?"

"How?" Hermione asked, looking so hopelessly into his eyes.

"I don't know," Ron admitted, "but I swear to you, I'm going to figure this out. Please, don't worry..."

Hermione nodded against his chest. He gently stroked her hair, letting his fingers tangle a bit into her curls. And finally, knowing what they had to face, Hermione moved away from him and sat up. She stood and Ron barely had time to look up and watch her beautiful body moving gracefully towards her clothes before she was dressing. He sighed and pulled himself out of the nest they had been lying in to put on his own clothes.

When they had finished dressing, Ron reached into his robe pocket for his watch. His eyes widened.

"What is it?" Hermione asked, her voice trembling with fear.

"We have five minutes to get back to the tower..."

"We'll never make it!" Hermione exclaimed, her eyes wide.

"It's okay," Ron said, despite the fact that he was just as afraid as she sounded.

They had already cut it quite close on multiple occasions before. He wasn't even sure what would happen if they were discovered... but he rationalized that they were Prefects, despite what they had really been doing wandering about the castle.

Ron gestured towards the blankets.

"What about these?" he asked. But Hermione was way ahead of him. Her wand was already in her hand.

With a flick, the pile vanished.

"Lumos," Hermione said, and her wand tip lit. She then leaned down and blew out the candles nearby. "Let's go," she said as Ron lit his own wand.

"Lead the way," Ron said. "I'll get us lost for sure..."

So Hermione lead them through the corridors silently. Ron felt a huge pang of loss as they rounded the first corner, the door to the room where they had just been together disappearing behind them.

"If we're found," Ron whispered, "we got lost. My fault."

Hermione nodded but said nothing as they moved very quickly through the corridors, further up and out of the dungeons. When they finally came to the first corridor with windows, Ron glanced at his watch again. It was already three minutes after midnight, but he chose not to inform Hermione of this. She hadn't seen him glance at his watch.

The rest of the journey back up to Gryffindor tower was made in silence, both for fear of being caught and out of depression at having to return to their lives at all. It had been an escape, a way to completely forget their reality. And now to have everything crash down around them was nearly unbearable. The thought of returning to class in the morning and acting as if nothing had happened, actually having to act like platonic friends at best, and really to put on the show that they had gotten so used to, the one that required them to completely ignore each other outwardly so as not to rouse even the slightest hint of suspicion in their classmates... It was unthinkable now that they had just experienced the exact opposite, love so heavy and strong that it crushed you, but you didn't care because it felt so wonderful to be consumed...

Hermione whispered the password and Ron looked up, his mind so far away that he hadn't realized they had even reached the tower. He stepped through the Portrait hole after Hermione and she started to head towards her dormitory.

"Hermione," he called after her, afraid that she was going to leave him without saying goodnight...

But she didn't turn to face him, just stopped in her tracks. So he reached for her shoulder and gently turned her around to face him. That was when he realized how much she had been crying, silently sobbing next to him as they had been rushing back to Gryffindor tower...

His face scrunched up as he looked down at her. He felt his concern for her overtake him as he cupped her face in his hands.

"Are you crying because we have to separate... or because you regret it?" he asked.

"Of course I don't regret it. I just can't stand the thought of my cold, empty bed without you, Ron," Hermione sobbed. "And it'll never stop."

"Don't say that," Ron said.

"I don't want it to be true. I don't want to be so pessimistic, but the reality is that I'm married to Harry, not you."

Ron felt like he had just had a bucket of ice water dumped over his head.

"Stop it," Ron said, terrified at the direction of their conversation...

"What's going to change, Ron?!" Hermione cried, trying to keep her voice down. "What's really going to ever change? I'm going to wake up tomorrow and still be living in this same nightmare."

Ron stepped back from her, looking desperately around the room as if something miraculous could somehow jump forth from the walls and save them...

"The Room of Requirement," he said under his breath.

"What?" Hermione asked, her voice cracking.

"The Room of Requirement," Ron said as he turned back towards her. "We can use it to meet from now on. It will be a lot safer. We won't be so worried about getting caught. And... maybe we can even stay the night there some time as long as we get down there before curfew in case someone sees us."

Hermione blinked up at Ron, torn between the tears that were hovering in her eyes about to spill over and the prospect of some small glimmer of hope to get them through another night...

"I know that's not a solution," Ron said, sighing. "But it's something."

Hermione nodded finally.

"We can do this," he said firmly. "It'll be okay."

She nodded again and wiped at her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Ron," she said as she tried to smile up at him. "Tonight... was the best night of my life... like you said. I can't even explain..." She trailed off, blushing.

"I know," Ron said, nodding.

"I'm not giving up. I never will," she said firmly.

"Good," Ron replied, smiling now.

"We should get to bed."

"Okay." Ron glanced up at the landings to the dormitories above, checking to be sure no one was there. When he saw that the coast was clear, he led Hermione into a shadowy corner and pulled her against him in a tight hug that she returned just as enthusiastically. "I love you," he whispered into her hair.

"I love you too," she whispered against his chest. She pulled back from him and smiled up at him, her eyes bloodshot.

"Goodnight, love," Ron said, his lips curling into a gentle smile. Hermione's cheeks reddened and she grinned, delighted, up at him. "Like that?" he asked her.

"You've never called me that before," she whispered.

"Reckon I haven't. Good time to start though, right?" He tilted his head to the side and grinned lopsidedly at her.

"Perfect time," she laughed. They lingered in the shadows, staring and smiling at each other for a few moments before Hermione broke away again.

"Goodnight, Ron," she whispered as she stood up on her tip toes to kiss him softly on the lips.

When she pulled back, his eyes opened lazily to follow her as she moved out of the shadows and towards the staircase that led up to her dormitory. On the third step, she glanced back at him over her shoulder, a sad smile across her face, her cheeks still flushed. He smiled back and she turned, disappearing much too quickly from his view.

Closing his eyes, Ron leaned against the dark wall behind him feeling more defeated and crushed than he would dare let on in front of Hermione. He knew that she deserved so much more than this. And knowing how happy he made her, not necessarily understanding it but knowing it when he looked into her eyes, when she kissed him, when she cried over each one of their separations... it only made him feel worse, more trapped, more tangled. He wasn't falling any deeper into the black hole he had created. He had already fallen as far as he could go. Now he just had to figure out how to crawl back out again, step by step, day by day, no matter what it took...