Ah, to think how thin the veil that lies Between the pain of hell and Paradise. -George William Russell ("A.E")

"Hermione… Hermione, come inside… we don't have to do this," he told her.

Hermione frowned.

"We?"

Harry opened his arms wide and leaned his head to the side.

"You jump I follow."

Hermione gasped and cried more.

"Ron said the same thing…"

Harry nodded and held out his hand.

"I know."

Hermione bit her lip and began to turn around. Then her foot slipped on the wet tile and she fell backwards, screaming.

"HERMIONE!"

Harry lunged for her and managed to grab her hand, but her momentum yanked him over the edge and the only thing keeping them from falling was his hand clutching the side.

"HARRY!" she screamed in terror, hanging painfully. Harry had grabbed the hand that she had used to break the window.

Harry tried to pull himself up, but Hermione cried out in pain and he dropped back.

"HARRY!"

This voice didn't belong to Hermione and he looked around to see Ginny along with the rest of the family on the lawn, staring up at them in horror. To Harry's surprise Ron was down there as well. Hermione had not noticed as yet.

"Hermione fell!" he called down.

"Bill's going up to help!" Mr. Weasley called, watching the two hang from the roof.

Ron, though he didn't say a word, had gone deathly white as he watched Harry try to hold Hermione up.

Harry was very aware now that certain pieces of glass had not been removed from Hermione's hand and it was now digging painfully into his skin. The blood that was pouring out of Hermione's hand was making it hard for him to hold her as well and Hermione realized that when he suddenly gasped in pain and she slipped out to her fingertips.

"HARRY!" she cried.

"I can't hold on!" he told her. Bill appeared at the edge and took Harry's hand.

"Up we go," he said, trying to pull them both up. As he tried to do that, Alicia, who was standing beside her fiancé, George, noticed something coming their way. She squinted then nudged George.

"What is that?" she asked.

George turned to see and shrugged.

"It looks like a bird, Lici," he said, looking up to see Bill's progress with Harry and Hermione.

Alicia shook her head.

"I don't think so, George. It's coming to fast…"

Suddenly two more appeared out of no where and now Alicia was convinced that it wasn't just a bird.

"George," she snapped.

Their little conversation had drawn the attention of Mr. Weasley, who looked at where Alicia was pointing and frowned.

"That look like-"

"NOOOOOO!"

Everyone looked up at the two who were being pulled up. Harry was almost over, but Hermione was still hanging. She was the one who had screamed.

Suddenly there was a woosh of air and Hermione screamed again.

"HERMIONE!"

This time it was Ron who had said her name as they watched her get yanked away from the edge by a man on a broom.

"NOOO!" she screamed as they peeled away with her.

Ron took off for the broom shed, grabbed one and shot off after them.

Hermione struggled with the man who had grabbed her before he hit her in the head with the side of his wand, dazing her and quieting her effectively.

"They're coming, Cal!" another man called above the wind.

The man who had Hermione looked behind him and saw five brooms racing after them.

"Keep going," he growled out, speeding up as they moved just above the trees.

Harry squinted and saw Hermione go limp on the broom.

"We need to hurry!" he called. "They can't fly all the way to where ever their going and they no that! There must be some sort of checkpoint!"

Ron only sped up, desperate to reach them before they reached their goal.

Harry began to wonder what Ron was doing here in the first place. Why had he come over to the Burrow?

"Look out!" Fred shouted and Harry swerved out of the way of a bright white light. "They're firing at us!"

Harry just realized how close to the men they were and pulled out his own wand.

"We have to be careful! We could hit Hermione," he called.

George groaned.

"It's starting to rain!"

Hermione could see the trees rushing past her and could see flashes of light. She also felt the rain hit her as they flew above the woods, trying to ditch the five men who had come to rescue her. She couldn't see who they were though.

There was another flash and one of the brooms caught on fire and floundered for a moment before heading for the ground.

"NO!" she screamed before struggling again. The man who was holding her, Cal, could not use his wand to silence her and get rid of the men who were firing at them as well. They struggled as they continued to fly, moving dangerously close to the treetops.

"Ron! Ron move!" Bill screamed, pointing to where Hermione was fighting with her assailant as the broom began to teeter precariously. Ron gave the broom one last burst of speed and found himself side by side with the two, who had not yet realized that he was there.

Above them the clouds grew dark and there were small flashes of light.

"HEY!" Ron screamed above the deafening thunder as the rain suddenly poured down harder.

That distracted Cal for a moment. Hermione lunged for his wand and four things happened.

Hermione got the wand.

The man fell off his broom.

The man fell onto Ron's broom.

Hermione lost control of the broom she was suddenly operator off and collided into Ron's broom.

This chain of events sent the three crashing into the trees. The man dropped off Ron's broom right before Ron smashed into a large tree and crumpled to the ground. The broom Hermione had been on hurtled into a branch and shattered. Hermione wasn't on it. She had hit the branch before and was now hanging from it, looking down at Ron's limp form.

"RON!" she screamed over the lightening that illuminated the woods briefly before plunging them back into a very dark landscape. Directly below her something moved and she could see the man who had grabbed her moving towards Ron in a staggered fashion, still dazed from his fall.

"RON! WAKE UP!" she screamed again. The man heard her that time and looked up to see where she was. Lightening flashed again and he saw her. Forgetting Ron, he headed back for the tree she was in and looked around the tree. For a moment she didn't know why then she looked down at her hand and realized that she had dropped the wand she had taken from him. She frantically looked at the sky, hoping that one of the others would circle around and look for them through the rain. There was another boom of thunder followed by a flash and she could see him bend down and pick something up before tossing it away. She looked back over at Ron, who still had not moved.

Wincing, she pulled herself up to straddle the large branch. She clutched her stomach in pain and continued to look through the rain to find a hint of anyone flying above them.

CREEAAAAAK!

Hermione screamed and nearly fell from the branch when the three branches beside her exploded from a shot fired from below. She was hanging by one arm and tried to pull herself back up. There was another explosion and the branch split, causing her to fall and hit a few more branches before she managed to grab another. Cal below let out a cry of rage and shot of two more curses which missed. The rain howled through the trees and the thunder rolled on through the dark clouds.

Hermione heard Cal say something then heard a thud. She looked down from her hanging position and saw Ron hit the man again with a rather large branch. He grabbed the Cal's wand and looked up at Hermione.

"HOLD ON!" he shouted above the crack of lightening. He was about to say something else when he looked beyond her and paused. Hermione looked up as well and saw one of the other men who had snatched her hovering above the trees, staring down at her.

"RON!" she screamed as he dived down for her.

Ron shouted something and a red light shot past her and hit the tree branch near the man on the broom and he pulled up, not able to maneuver through the branches carefully to get to her.

"HERMIONE!"

She looked down at Ron and saw him point his wand at her.

"THIS IS GOING TO HURT!" he screamed before shouting a spell she didn't recognize. The next thing she knew she was falling through the branches, screaming. The man with the broom burst through the branches and zoomed after her as she fell.

She crashed into Ron, who cried out in pain as they fell to the ground together, but managed to pull has hand out from under her and point it at the man racing towards them through the trees.

"BOMBARDA!" he screamed and the limbs surrounding the man exploded, causing him to smash into the ground painfully. Ron stood up and helped Hermione up to her feet before pulling her along through the woods.

"Come on!" he shouted, tugging her by her hand. Hermione cried out in agony and fell into the muddy forest bed. Ron ran back to her and knelt down beside her.

"What is it?" he asked urgently.

She grabbed her ankle.

"My ankle," she gasped out.

Ron looked behind them then picked her up quickly and ran as fast as he could while ignoring the searing pain that was shooting up his leg from his crash. Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck as he held her and looked behind him to see the man from the broom hobbling behind them at a quick pace. The wind was howling louder as Ron moved across the ground, stumbling over roots and rocks as lightening occasionally lit his way. Hermione could see a stream ahead of them and looked up, hoping to see someone.

"ARG!" Ron cried out when the ground exploded beside him and sent them tumbling into the stream. He pulled out the wand and shot off a curse before scrambling over to Hermione. When he reached her, he grabbed her and swung around with his wand only to find a wand in his face.

"Drop it!" the man ordered impatiently, clutching his bleeding side in pain.

Ron glared at the man while pulling Hermione closer to him as they sat in the quickly filling stream.

"DROP IT!" he yelled and Hermione whimpered as the wand moved from Ron's face to hers.

For a moment Ron thought about lunging at the man, but with Hermione in his arms he could do no such thing and finally dropped the wand. By now the water was moving up to the banks and was pooling around his upper chest as it moved downstream rapidly. For Hermione, it was at her neck and rising.

"Stand up!" the man commanded.

"She's hurt," Ron replied grimly. Hermione felt his arm tighten on her and somehow she felt comforted by the fact that even through all of this, he still cared about her.

There was a crack of lightening and Cal waved the wand dangerously.

"STAND UP!" he screamed.

Ron helped Hermione to her feet, but still kept her pressed against him, letting the man know that he wasn't about to hand her over easily.

"Hand her over!"

"I don't think so."

There was a bright flash and suddenly a huge tree came crashing down to the stream so close to Ron and Hermione. It was all the distraction Ron needed. He pushed Hermione to the side and somehow managed to pull himself out of the stream and jump onto the man.

"RON!" Hermione screamed pulling herself up to the other side of the bank and staring at the two as they struggled, their wands discarded somewhere in the mud. She looked up at the violent sky and saw two figures hovering over them. They flew down and landed beside her, quickly dismounting.

"HARRY!" Hermione cried, pointing to where Ron and the other man were fighting. Bill, who had seen what was going on earlier, pulled out his wand and fired. There was a crack and the man fell, leaving Ron on his knees as he tried to breathe.

"RON!" Hermione screamed, staggering across the stream and grabbing him around the neck.

Bill came across as well and handed Ron his broom.

"I need to get to the Ministry," he said, grabbing the man on the ground and disapparating. Harry rushed over and grabbed both of them by the arm.

"Are you two okay?" he asked urgently. Seeing them fall had scared the hell out of him.

Ron nodded, helping Hermione onto the broom before getting on behind her.

"We need to get her back to the Burrow," he said over the sound of the thunder. Harry nodded and soon they were in the air, speeding home.

When they landed at the back door, they stumbled through it attracting the attention of those inside.

Ginny was the first to get up, rushing over to Hermione's side as Ron gingerly placed her in a chair.

"What happened? We could see the flashes of light from here!" she exclaimed.

Harry looked over at Mr. Weasley.

"Bill, Fred and George are bringing two of them to the Ministry," he said.

Ron looked up.

"Two? There were three of them!" he shouted.

Harry shook his head.

"We got to the place where you two had crashed and there was no one there. He must have left," Harry responded grimly.

Mrs. Weasley entered the kitchen and immediately began fussing over the three.

"You're soaking wet, covered in mud and hurt! Now, Percy! Carry Hermione up the stairs! Harry, Ron, you two go up as well and change!" she ordered.

Hermione stopped Percy before he could get to her.

"Ron can carry me, Mrs. Weasley," she said quickly.

There was a silent pause then Ron leaned in, picked her up and carried her up the stairs without saying a word. Ginny followed Harry up the stairs.

Ron came out of the bathroom and entered his room, wearing nothing but pajama pants and carrying a couple of potions, a few bandages, a small bowl filled with something that was steaming, and a washcloth. Hermione was sitting on his old bed wearing one of Ron's old t-shirts and staring at the ground. Harry had come in quickly to get some clothes, but insisted that he needed to speak to Ginny and left the room, noticing Ron's silent glances at Hermione as he moved around the room.

Ron placed the potions down on the nightstand before kneeling down in front of her and taking her bleeding hand. Hermione watched him dip the cloth into the steaming liquid and run it over her hand, remaining silent as he did that several times until the pain disappeared. He bandaged her hand lightly and then reached down for her ankle but she pulled away, sucking in air quickly. He looked up at her for a moment then took her ankle gently. He ran his hand over it carefully, stopping when she gasped in pain.

"It's not broken," he whispered. "Just a small fracture probably."

Hermione didn't respond. He reached over and handed her one of the potions.

"It'll be better in the morning," he told her.

"What about you?" she asked.

He looked up into her eyes and she bit her lip.

Just a few days ago they had said the most unimaginable things to each other and now… she could remember what she wanted to say. She saw him tilt his head slightly to the side before he leaned in and brushed his lips against hers. She didn't realize that she hadn't been breathing until she felt a small gasp escape her lips.

"What were you doing here?" she heard herself ask.

'What were you doing here?' Really Hermione? Is that all you can come up with?

Ron looked slightly taken back, but covered it up quickly by getting to his feet and distancing himself from her.

"I wanted to…" he paused as if reconsidering telling her why he was there. "I needed to get a few things," he said unconvincingly. He then looked over at her. "What were you doing on the roof?"

She blinked then tears came to her eyes.

"I read your letters," she whispered before looking away.

Ron felt pain grab his heart in an iron claw and squeeze. He never wanted this… he never wanted to hurt her… then why did he always manage to make her cry?

"Hermione-"

She stood up suddenly, leaning on her good leg.

"Thank you… for the potions… and… my hand…" she murmured. "I'm… I'm going to go downstairs."

With that she moved slowly out the door and disappeared. All Ron could do was stand there.

Why hadn't he stopped her?

Why hadn't he answered her?

Why hadn't he told her the truth?

Why hadn't he told her that ever since he'd left the Burrow all he could think about was her? That all he saw every time he closed his eyes were hers and that every waking moment was spent wishing he could tell her that he loved her and needed her.

Why hadn't he told her that when she wasn't there he couldn't breathe? That the world grew smaller around him and crushed him, taking what little life he had left.

Why hadn't he told her that if he could, he would take back every word he had said that night?

Why hadn't he answered her?

Suddenly something snapped inside him and he shot off out the door. The woman had just made it to the bottom of the stairs when Ron came crashing down behind her.

"Hermione!" he said breathlessly.

She turned to him and backed away, surprised and scared by his sudden reappearance. She glanced into the kitchen where a few stragglers, mainly Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, were sitting, also surprised by Ron's move down the stairs.

"What is it Ron?" she asked, backing up into the wall. She looked frightened.

"We can't keep doing this-"

Hermione shook her head, shutting her eyes as tears appeared again.

"Ron, please… this isn't the time-"

"THEN WHEN!" he roared, causing her to shrink further into the wall as the others remained in their seats, paralyzed. "For three bloody weeks I've had to keep it inside, Hermione! For three weeks I've had to deal with shit thrown at me! For three weeks I've had to stand here, hoping to only catch a glimpse of you!"

She continued to shake her head.

"Ron, please…" she begged, well aware of the audience that was not only in the kitchen but gathering upstairs in the form of Harry and Ginny.

"Hermione… for three weeks… I've… I've had to lie in bed… knowing I was everything less than a man because… because I couldn't protect you…" he whispered.

Tears ran down Hermione's cheeks and she let out a small whimper. She could feel her heart tearing in half and unimaginable pain flood through her.

"You… you promised… you promised you would be there… in the morning," she mumbled through the tears.

Ron's heart shattered. The words she spoke crashed down on him and he couldn't breathe. He couldn't think. All he could do was stare at her…

Hermione closed her eyes for a moment then moved around him and went upstairs. She closed the door behind her as she staggered to the bed.

There was a bang as the door was shoved open violently. Hermione whirled around in time to see a mess of red hair cross the room and suddenly lips collided with hers as she was forced against the wall. She struggled against him and shoved his head away.

"Ron-"

He grabbed her by her face and shook her.

"Shut up! Just shut up!" he yelled, glaring at her. "Every word we've spoken since we said 'I do' has been a mistake! So just shut up!"

Their lips met again and Hermione's world spiraled and crashed beneath her. But that didn't matter…

She was in his arms…

A/N: I hope everyone is happy!

smore4u1: Yes... maybe it is a bit OOC, but... oh well... I'm glad you enjoyed it.

ThEnAmEsGiGi: Or Ron will be a prick and not let Hermione say anything! :-) I'm sure that now they have nothing to worry about... really...

wasu: Their happy night? When you say it like that it sounds so... weird? Well, I think I gave them back their happy night. :-)

nextbestthing: Well... technically, I didn't make her fall. She slipped. I just happened to right that she just happened to be near the edge of the Burrow at the time. :)

Rumpleteaze: Well, he didn't exactly catch her, but he did save her from the evil men on brooms!

charma10: I don't know... Happy Endings don't interest me. I mean, I'll do them occasionally, but they are definitely harder to do perfectly.

sballLuvr5: Glad you enjoyed it! I hope you liked this one, though I'm sure that you did after reading the end!

Sorry, no chapter tease!