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Chapter Six- Savior

"Ron! Put. Me. Down. Now! Please!" I cried as Ron sped down the corridors of Hogwarts, looking for a safe haven.

"If I let you go you're going to run back to that rotten Death Eater and the traitor!" Ron remarked as he pushed open the door of the empty Charms classroom.

Ron pulled his wand out of his pocket and bound my wrists and ankles with ropes before placing me down at one of the empty desks.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way."

It was difficult not to laugh at the ridiculousness of Ron's words. I snorted and tried to cover with a cough but Ron looked at me with a vicious hatred I had never seen before. His eyes blazed red with blood lust. His hair was mangled wildly and his clothes were ripped and bloodstained.

"Ron. Tell me what this is about. I'm still me. I'm your best friend."

It was Ron's turn to snort.

"Please. You have never been my best friend. We were held together by Harry but even he abandoned me this year."

"You can't still be upset about the chase for Horcruxes Ron! It was a matter of life and death. Of millions of deaths!"

"I know," Ron sneered, "Famous Harry Potter and Perfect Princess Hermione Granger needed to save the wizarding world without any help from anybody."

A vein was throbbing in Ron's forehead. I was afraid blood was literally going to boil out of him.

"That isn't true Ron. We needed you. Harry would have died if you hadn't come back!"

"None of this matters! What matters now is that Harry is a traitor for befriending Malfoy and so are you!"

"Ron the war is over. We need to start loving each other. It's the only way our world is going to survive."

"Not scum like Malfoy we don't. He belongs in Azkaban!"

"He helped us in the end, Ron. I know you and Malfoy had a huge grudge against each other during school but it's in the past now. Harry is alive because of Malfoy's mother."

"Harry is alive because of me. Harry is alive because of Malfoy's mother." Ron spit the words out as if they tasted foul.

"Seems to me," he continued, "that Harry doesn't owe any of his success to his own smarts or talent. He owes it to people saving his ass!"

I gasped. "Ron! How can you say that about your best friend?"

"If you don't see him for what he is truly is Hermione, a fame whore who hasn't actually done anything significant, than you're just as bad."

Hot tears spilled down my cheeks and I felt them thing to my already dirty robes. I didn't understand why Ron was acting this way or what had caused him to say these horrible things. Perhaps he is mentally broken because of the war or because of what happened to Fred. My mind raced frantically as Ron paced back and forth in front of me.

"I need to make everyone see that I am the hero. I am the one who is going to rid the wizarding world of everyone who causes it harm. And that includes the famous Potter, the Death Eater Malfoy, and even you, Granger."

I sputtered, unable to find the words to challenge Ron. He hadn't called me 'Granger' since first year. It was as if he had stupefied me, I was so stunned.

I realized that I had to do something. I had to save Harry and Draco from Ron. Draco. Thinking about him caused my heart to seize in my chest. We had never gotten the chance to have a real conversation with each other about these feelings. We danced around it in sixth year, each pretending that it was hatred that fueled our sparring. If I'm really honest with myself I know it was actually misplaced affection.

"Ron, let me help you. I promise to stay with you and make sure you're ok. We can leave Hogwarts and find somewhere safe, somewhere uncontaminated."

Ron looked at me and for a second I saw reason and rationality return to Ron's eyes. It was gone as soon as it had come and Ron shook his head furiously.

"It's too late Hermione. It's a lost cause. Everyone will believe you died in the war. Now is my only chance. I have to do it. For the good of the wizarding world, I have to do it!

I closed my eyes and Ron lifted his wand and pointed it at my chest. I could feel the wand inches away from me and I braced from the curse I knew to be coming.

I heard Ron take a deep breath before he whispered "Avada Ke-"

The door to the classroom burst open. I opened my eyes to see Draco flying through the air and crashing into Ron.

"Oof." Ron's wand flew from his grasp when he hit the ground. It appeared that Ron had hit his head on the floor. Traces of blood seeped out of his head and he was unconscious.

Draco had Ron's hands held behind his head.

"Potter! Hurry up Potter I've got him cornered!"

Harry flew in, his wand out in front of him, He sighed in relief when he saw that I was ok. He helped Draco bind Ron before coming over and undoing the ropes that bound me.

"Are you ok, Hermione?"

Harry's hesitance was evident in his voice.

"I. I will be."

Draco was standing by the door. He watched as Harry lifted me out of the chair and wiped the tears from my face. His features were as hard as stone. I had never heard as much hatred and fury in his voice as he had now.

"Ron was in the middle of the killing curse when I got here. One more second and she would be dead."

Harry looked aghast. He turned to me.

"Is it true?"

I looked down at the floor and nodded my heard.

"I can't believe it! What happened to him?"

Tears started flowing down my face again.

"Oh Harry I think the battle must have broken his psyche. He isn't himself. He needs help!"

I hugged Harry tightly to me.

"The things he said about you Harry! I know he didn't mean them."

Harry looked uncomfortable. The truth was that Harry had known for years that Ron was jealous of him. Hermione knew the same but she never believed that Ron would ever want to harm anyone.

"We should get Ron to the hospital wing before he wakes up." Draco cleared his throat, asking for our attention.

"Right. I'll go on ahead with him." Harry cast a quick spell and walked out of the room with an unconscious Ronald floating behind him.

"I'm glad you're alright, Granger." Draco said softly, unable to meet my curious gaze.

"Back at ya, Malfoy."

The vastness of the classroom seemed oddly overwhelming to me now. I had never wanted to get out of this castle more than I did right now.

"We should get you looked over at the hospital wing too."

Draco suddenly looked very concerned.

"I'm really alright. He didn't hurt me. Not physically, at least."

"Did you have any idea that he was going to go bonkers?" Draco asked, his insensitivity glaringly obvious.

"No. I-I always knew he was jealous of Harry. I never thought he was capable of-of-of hurting anyone though. I-I'm not ready to talk about it."

Draco nodded and the quiet engulfed us.

"Umm- thanks you." I whispered.

Draco's head snapped up and stared at me, questioning my words.

"You don't have to thank me Hermione. Any decent wizard would have done what I did."

I couldn't bring myself to comment on the "decent wizard" remark.

"Are you feeling ok?" I questioned.

"Yea, Potter fixed me up well enough." He rubbed his head as he spoke.

"I guess we should get going. Everyone will wonder where we are."

I started for the door and Draco put his arm out to stop me.

"Wait!" The look on his face was frantic.

"Yes?"

"Tonight made me realize that I can't keep pretending that I don't feel something for you. I know we fought for years and years that we're supposed to hate each other but I just can't lie anymore. I've been attracted to you since last year. I think, I think I'm falling in love with you."

The words flew out of Draco's mouth with such speed that I had to think at warp speed to keep up with him. My mouth hung open as I gaped at him, unsure of what to say next. I thought he might ask for us to get to know each other but to tell me he's in love with me? I don't know how to respond to this!

"It's ok if you don't feel the same way," he added quickly, "Maybe we could just start with a conversation?"

I smiled at him, not ready to divulge my feelings to him. I knew that knowing something he didn't would make this new relationship very entertaining.

"Sure Malfoy, why not?"

I grinned and he offered me his arm. We walked back towards the great hall chatting the entire way. The ordeal with Ron was almost forgotten. We would have to deal with that tomorrow, of course. But for tonight, we had each other and a whole new world to explore together.