Almost 600 views in the last two days I'm amazed thank you so much. So thanks for the reviews and follows. My phone went insane last night, as a treat have a new chapter! It's late so excuse any more typos than normal. Remember this is my last day with a laptop/internet till the 20th. Sorry for the shortness but you will love it, fellow Ron bashers.

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Beta's by my amazing Aulie!

All rights to JK Rowling.

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I woke hours later, shaking and in cold sweat. I'd been dreaming about Ronald. I was crying again. I considered that I might actually prefer a night with Bellatrix Lestrange over a night with him drunk. I hated everything about him. He kept me on a tight leash, closely watched and forcefully controlled. No chance of escape had made me develop coping strategies, but they were woefully inadequate and now, even as I was given a brief reprieve, he was still haunting me. I hated what my life had become. Had been, maybe, I wondered as I registered the strong arms wrapped around me. Not Ron's arms. Safe arms. I relaxed into their close hold.

"Are you okay?" a husky voice whispered. Professor Snape had my back pulled comfortably into his chest and I knew he had to have a face full of my unruly mane. His breath drifted over the back of my neck and despite his exhalations being quite warm, shivers ran up my spine. This was wonderful.

" Uh-" I mumbled. My brain had gone to mush, his arms were around my waist as we lay spooning. His legs were tangled with mine and I had not felt so safe and cared for in many years. This felt right. Perfect. I could not deny that I had once harboured a secret -very secret- crush on my potions master. But as it goes with childish infatuations, I had brushed it off as nothing worth dwelling on but this, this... snuggling, brought it all rushing back to me. I wondered if he had known then of my girlish affection for him. I wondered if he could tell now? My head was hurting and my stomach growled loudly, drawing me from my thoughts.

"Hungry?"

"No," I said but I meant yes.

"It's three am. Hardly a conventional time for a meal, but I suppose I could allow an early morning snack if you fancy one," he offered. His voice still held some of that sleepy rasp and I liked the sound of it. I'd always had a thing for his voice. Low, deep, slow, intense. His arms stayed firmly in place, cradling me to his body.

"Maybe," I conceded sleepily. He shifted and we untangled our legs. I pulled myself up and rubbed my eyes with the heels of my hands. When I swung my legs over the side of the bed and moved to stand, fell back onto the bed. As soon as I hit the bed the professor was up and at my side. "Minxy!" he called. Instants after the words had left his mouth, a small house elf appeared. "Could you fix us a pot of tea, and two breakfasts, please? Whatever you can get together. Thank you," he spoke politely to the elf. "Minxy will do, master," replied the elf and she promptly dissapparated. I noted that she hadn't so much as batted an eyelid at my presence.

"Thank you, pr- er-professor," I wobbled and felt suddenly awkward calling him that. He hadn't been my teacher for a while and something felt off about using the appellation now.

"Severus, dear. Please call me Severus," he said, having noticed my hesitation. He smiled at for just a moment, then stood and grabbed the potions I'd been instructed to take.

"It is a bit early," he mused, checking the labels on the potions. "8 hours apart. Not this one then. This one with breakfast, so you might as well. And this one too," he instructed, handing me two bottles. "Don't argue with the Potions Master, young lady," he quipped when I frowned at the concoctions that I knew tasted foul and smelled equally bad.

With an indignant harrumph, I downed both potions. By the time I had taken them, Minxy had reappeared in the bedroom. Two trays balanced precariously on her hands. There was the most lavish breakfast I'd laid eyes upon since my days of attending Hogwarts feasts. There was bacon, eggs, toast, sausages, pancakes, fruit, pastries. It was quite literally mouth-watering. It had been so long since I had wanted, really wanted, breakfast. Ron would tell me time and again that I was a fat cow and how dare I deprive him of his food? I had been conditioned to eat only to still my roaring stomach (because that annoyed him terribly), but I hadn't enjoyed a meal in ages. Meals were a necessity, and not something I would look forward to.

Severus transfigured the large trunk he had in his room into a table and moved it to my side of the bed, giving Minxy a spot to set down the trays. With a nod of his head Severus dismissed the elf who disappeared with a snap of her fingers.

"Tuck in then," he directed softly with a small smile playing on his lips. It was just the slightest upturn of the corners of his mouth. I could have missed it if I hadn't been looking. I smiled back at him as I watched him pour me a cup of tea and add the milk and sugar. I picked up a pain au chocolat and began nibbling at it. In the back of my mind, there was a faint nagging voice telling me to stop eating. I paused and looked at the roll.

"Eat up, Hermione. You need to eat, you're as thin as a rail," commanded Severus gently. He waited for me to take another bite, then tucked into a piece of crispy bacon. Somehow seeing him eat, seeing him healthy and so very alive warmed me to the depths of my being. I dropped my eyes the moment his onyx orbs looked up and caught me staring at him. I felt my cheeks flush. How easily I had regressed to being a blushing, smitten schoolgirl...

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Ronald was sat in the empty flat. How dare she not return home? He needed to plan carefully to make sure his secrets didn't get out. He had messed with Hermione's memories since she knew what he had done. He was the one who had sold out the order when they were moving Harry. He was one of Voldemort's right hand men. He was the biggest secret.

While he didn't carry the dark mark, Ron had offered Ginny up when the Chamber of Secrets had been opened. Ron was the one who had sacrificed parts of Harry's hair, and had led him straight into Voldemort's lair. It was he who had helped bring the Dark Lord back into power. He had betrayed everyone, all because he had fallen in love with Tom Riddle.