Chapter 21

The big question

It was the second time in less than twenty four hours that they were inside the hospital wing. Hermione was standing near the door staring at it as if it would spring itself open and allow her to escape. Her hands were clasped together loosely in a contemplative manner, left foot propped against the wall, eyes cast downward like a guilty puppy, and her face was blank except for the fact that she was biting her bottom lip.

Ron was watching her with a slight frown. He himself was sitting in a chair near Harry's bed, his feet propped against the boy's bed. He inclined his head, red hair falling into his face. Harry was lying so still, hadn't moved or said a word since he passed out in the corridor. It had all been so abrupt, almost ridiculous. He knew Harry wouldn't die, how could he? The leading man never dies… apparently. This was all beginning to become a bit too much for him. Madam Pomfrey had told them something he'd never thought he'd hear that woman say.

"I have no idea what is wrong….but I will find out. He seems to have been cursed…but by what I am not certain." She'd said. Ron scoffed and leaned back in the chair, closing his eyes, a slight frown still on his handsome face.

Hermione sighed and shifted her weight at the door. What was he thinking? Ron? She wondered if he blamed her for this, for she certainly did. All of this ..everything that had happened had been her fault. It had to be. First Ginny and now Harry. She wanted to leave this room badly but stayed to give Ron support but he hadn't talked to her since Neville, Dean, and Seamus left the ward five hours ago. She was a bit tired, of everything. When she'd seen Harry on that floor, she thought he'd died until that new voice..the nice voice..told her that he was not. Her worst..one of her worst fears had almost been realized and it would have been her fault. Who's to say how long it would take for Harry to recover. He was completely unresponsive.

She gazed silently over at Ron, he seemed to be asleep in the chair now. Her brown eyes flowed to the window behind him, the sky was beginning to get a purple hue to it, what time was it anyway? Maybe she'd leave…it was not as if her presence was wanted or needed anyway. Ron seemed stressed, Harry was still sore with her, she knew it was her fault. Staying here was just make it worst.

She shifted her weight evenly, her feet landing on the floor with a soft thud She glanced at Ron, he'd shifted slightly but otherwise seemed completely and totally asleep. A small sigh escaped her lips, picking up her bag she pushed open the door to the room and walked out into the hall.

The corridor was dark and empty, a single torch was still lit giving the hall a bit of yellow light onto its stone walls. Hermione adjusted her bag on her shoulders. The night had a certain calm to it, she'd always liked being out at night when no one else was awake, but her general love for the dark was overshadowed by the looming danger that could be lurking anywhere. Yet she felt as if-

Behind her she had not heard the ward door open and then close.

"Hermione." Came a tight voice, drenched in irritation. "Where are you going?"

She turned around to see Ron behind her, leaning against the wall, arms crossed. She could hardly see his face in the semi-darkness so she walked toward him. She was not surprised to see that his frown had deepened slightly, his blue eyes locked on her.

"I was…"

"You were leaving. I know…why? To go to him?"

"To whom?" Hermione said looking away from him.

Ron grunted with annoyance and ran his hands through his hair. "Are you serious Hermione? To who? To that lunatic that's who."

She felt a sudden surge of unattached anger burst through her from her toes to the tips of her fingers. She closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them. "He is not a lunatic Ron…I was just going back to my dorm."

"You can't go back to your dorm alone…you know that." Ron seemed to calm slightly, the frown on his face was gone at least. "Why not just stay in here until morning? I mean Harry is your friend."

Hermione looked at the ground. "Ron…he is mad at me..and …everything that has happened is my fault.." she sighed looking up at him.

"Hermione…it is not your fault. Is he still in your head?" Ron touched her shoulder concernedly.

She shook her head. "I do..not think so..the voice is nicer.." she muttered. She'd never told him about the voice that chimed in her head at supposedly random moments.

"Then what makes you think it is your fault." Ron asked looking down at her with a concerned frown.

"Because it is." She looked up at him, her eyes meeting his for the first time all night. "Everything that has happened…as been because of me."

Ron stared at her. "That is bull Hermione. This is not your fault, it is his. You didn't try to kill me twice, you didn't …do something to my sister, you didn't hurt Harry. Hell can't you see who is doing this?"

Hermione pulled away from him and turned on her heel about to walk away. She did not want to hear this, she had told herself that it was not his fault..it wasn't. Ron 's hand went around her wrist and he turned her back toward him, towering over her at his full height.

"Hermione he's going to kill you if you keep letting him control you..even if he's not doing Occulemency on you, even if he's not in your mind, he still has a hold on you. I can tell." Ron looked down at her. Hermione shook her head.

"You don't know that..you don't understand.." she said, her voice rising slightly.

Ron's frown changed slowly from a concerned frown to a slight grimace. "Are you in love with him Hermione?"

"It-" she stammered but he cut her off, his grip on her wrist slackened and he let it go. Her arm hung limp at her shoulder.

He turned down the hall and walked a few steps away from her, holding his hands to his head. He seemed to be shaking with a slow boiling anger. Quickly he turned back toward her, causing her to step back slightly.

"HE IS DEAD HERMIONE!" his voice echoed in the hall. The sound vibrated against her skull, she couldn't get that fact out of her mind.

"No he is –"

"How…How in the fuck can you even say that?! He is dead! You SAW HIM DIE!" Ron gestured angrily. Her eyes stung with tears, she hadn't wanted to argue.

"Ron please stop yelling." She shook her head. "Just stop it! You don't know what is going on."

"I think I do more than you Hermione." Ron's voice did not lower but he did stop yelling. "Hermione he does not love you." He growled.

Hermione flung her bag to the ground and shoved Ron against his chest hard. No how dare he say that? That he did not love her. He was just jealous. "You are just-"

Ron grabbed her hands to stop her from pushing him and pinned them to her sides. "He hates you Hermione. He hates you don't you get it?! If he loved you he would not do this to you and your friends! He hates you because you're not Abigail!" he looked hard into her eyes.

"He does not-" she was once again cut off by him.

"Yes he does. You're supposed to be the smart one.." he let her arms go and scoffed. "It doesn't seem like it now." He looked sideways at her, frowning still. "Hermione how can you love him? You don't even know him….save what you saw in those memories! He loved HER HERMIONE. NOT YOU. NEVER YOU." Ron scoffed again and shook his head. "He could never love you as much as …someone who's known you." His voice lowered at his last words.

Hermione blinked back tears..why was she crying? "He does…this is why it is all my fault…he's hurt ..lost in the darkness..and he needs me …yes..he needs me Ron. WHY CAN'T YOU JUST ACCEPT THAT?!"

Ron's eyes widened and then narrowed to slits. "ACCEPT WHAT?! THAT YOU'RE INFACTUATED WITH A DEAD GUY?! THE SHADOW OF A DEAD GUY, WHAT THE HELL EVER THEY CALL IT?! WHAT ARE YOU A NECROPHILIAC?!" Ron scoffed and laughed sardonically for a moment. He walked over to her and took her by the shoulders. "YOU ARE NOT GOING NEAR HIM."

Hermione glared up at him defiantly. "WHO ARE YOU TO TELL ME THAT?!"

"YOUR FRIEND THAT'S WHO! YOU NEED TO STAY AWAY FROM HIM BEFORE HE ENDS UP KILLING YOU."

His words once again rang hollow in her mind. "He will not…" she half shouted and half breathed.

"OPEN YOUR EYES!" he shook her by the shoulders a bit roughly. She smacked his hands away. "HE HAS TRIED TO KILL YOUR FRIENDS AND HE'LL DO IT TO YOU!" Ron gave an exasperated sigh.

"That can't be true….HE IS JUST LOST!" she screamed.

"WHAT DOES HE WANT FROM YOU HUH? DID YOU EVER THINK ABOUT THAT?!"

She was silent.

Ron looked away from her with a disgusted grunt. "I am beginning to think that you care more about that asshole than you do your own fucking friends!"

"Ron..it's not like that-"

"Then what is it like?! Huh?!" Ron shouted back at her. "Here's another reason he can't love you. He lied to you…he said to you..before you found the truth, that his sister had killed his family…he's been playing you like a fool!"

She opened her mouth wordlessly; he waited for her to speak. She couldn't explain it, it was not her fault? The things he said…they struck somewhere and then floated away like dust. It was impossible...how could he hate her? She had no idea why she felt this way about Richard…in the beginning it was fascination and perhaps interest but never something so deep. And she'd just finally admitted to herself that she loved Ron...she couldn't be in love with two. This love...it other love…it was not hers? No..it was not hers.

"Ron you are being an arse." She stated, suddenly calm.

"What?!" Ron threw his hands in the air with exasperation. "How the hell am I being an arse-"

"…we found her…"

Hermione and Ron both turned around, voices were coming down the hall, several. They pressed themselves against the wall hidden away from the reach of the single torch. As the set of people came down the corridor several of the torches lit themselves but the two remained showed in darkness.

There were about five cloaked adults coming down the hall. They were walking around a floating stretcher covered mostly by a sheet, but the face of the person was slightly visible. Hermione saw a glimpse of red hair as the stretcher passed by.

"Ron..?" Hermione hissed looking over at him. His eyes were wide and following the stretcher as well. She silently took his hand. He swallowed and nodded.

They stepped out of the darkness behind the people and followed them back inside the hospital ward. This is what they saw.

Madam Pomfrey rushed over to the group and looked down at the person on the stretcher, a look of slight grimness on her face. Hermione's grip on Ron's hand tightened.

"Quickly take her over here." The woman said leading them into an curtained area.

The cloaked adults followed and did not come back out. Hermione looked at Ron.

"Ron…I think that.." her eyes seemed bright with a new found glee, short lived as it may be. "was Ginny.."

Ron pulled his hand from hers with a slight grunt of nervousness. She stayed behind and watched him walk forward toward the curtain. The red head went inside the curtain.

He, without thinking, pushed through the adults.

"What the-" one of them muttered.

Ron looked down at the person's face. It was her. It was Ginny. Her red hair was wet and covered in snow, giving it an almost white appearance. Her eyes had dark circles around it and her lips were bruised. He'd expected her to look completely disfigured but it wasn't so. He flung himself on her and hugged her to him. "Ginny it's me! It's your brother. I'm so sorry-"

"Young man, what are you doing in here?" a stern voice said pulling him away from her.

"Let me go!" Ron smacked the person's hand away.

"Weasely!" Magonagal's shrill voice said, she pulled him back again roughly this time.

"Let him go….he just misses his sister." A new voice said in all the commotion.

Ron peered around Magonagal to see Hermione standing there between the now open curtains.

"Granger?!" Magonagal blinked.

"Yes Professor…we were here looking after Harry…and saw you come in." she looked at Ron sheepishly.

"Thank you." He mouthed to her.

She nodded her head silently.

---

The news of Ginny's appearance and Harry's mysterious collapsing incident spread through the school quickly, as most rumors did. The facts were that neither was dead. Ginny was found near the edge of the forest by Hagrid it would seem, she was almost frozen solid, a wound on her seemed to had been cured by her own choppy magic but it was infected now. The wound was clearly a werewolf scratch. She hadn't woken up since they found her, neither had Harry, but while his condition seemed to worsen, hers seemed to improve.

Hermione glanced over at Ron, he was happily taking notes down as the Professor spoke. She smiled to herself and leaned back in her chair, going back to her own work.

Ron continued to draw on his parchment; he was mindlessly doodling, paying little or no attention to what the Professor was saying. He saw Hermione glance at him out of the corner of his eye and smile, he wondered what she was thinking.

His eyes traveled around the room in a bored manner. Neville was with Seamus at a desk, both taking notes. Neville was chewing on the top of his quill. Dean was with a girl who he was fond of. He shot Dean a grin when the boy looked up. Lavender and Parvati were passing notes.

"Ron pay attention." Hermione hissed in his ear, her warm breath tickling the little invisible hairs on his ear.

"Whispering sweet nothings are we?" he gave her a sideways glance and a smirk.

"Cute. Very cute. Pay attention, you were taking such lovely notes." She glanced at his paper and her eyes widened. "Ron!" she hissed covering the drawing up with her hand.

"Pretty isn't it?" he grinned moving her hand from the parchment.

Hermione stared closer at the picture. "Ron what is that?!" she gasped.

"Granger. Weasley. Shut up. If this is a lover's thing take it outside." The professor continued on with teaching without missing a beat.

Hermione's cheeks grew hot, she moved from Ron and hunched over her work silently, scribbling furiously the notes she'd missed.

Ron chuckled and balled up the parchment.

She glanced at him, he was busy writing on a fresh sheet of parchment, his eyes intent on the words and a slight grin on his face. She was happy to see that he was happier since his sister was found but it made her wonder. Why had Richard attacked her…but then again he must was a werewolf that night…then why had he attacked Harry..and Ron twice? It was clear he'd tried to kill them right? She shook her head, she had tried not to think of him, of anything but her work.

"Hey Hermione." Ron leaned over to her sliding parchment under her nose. He chuckled and went back to his side of the desk.

She looked down at the paper and gasped.

THE STACKS

The words were big bold letters with little drawings of books around it and two people, a girl and a boy, a clear caricature of she and Ron looking quite happy for some reason.

Heat rose in her face. "Ron you are disgusting!" she hissed balling the paper up and pushing it back over to him.

"Hey the professor is the one who suggested it." He grinned and shrugged.

She rolled her eyes. "Why..why would anyone even want to go at it in dusty books in the library?" she muttered to herself trying not to laugh.

"I knew you were a freak..eww." Ron said playfully.

"I am not! I would never go in a library…I am going to get married first-shut up Ron" she growled as he kept making little comments while she was talking.

"Ron and Hermione Weasley."the professor said warningly, she continued her lesson without stopping .

"Nice ring to it." Ron muttered going back to his work.

"Quite." Hermione agreed softly, she too going back to work.

"Wait what?" Ron looked at her. She did not look at him but continued working, allowing her bushy hair to fall into her face to hide the expression.

---

The night sky was filled with rolling grey clouds, it was clear snow would be falling soon. Beneath the sky was the great hall, students eating and chatting as usual, mostly about the strange things that had been happening.

Hermione was sitting across from Ron and near Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. Ron was periodically throwing in comments about going to the stacks to "get it on" which always resulted from a swift kick from her.

The atmosphere was a bit more cherry today than it had been in weeks. Ron was glad of it. Hermione felt that it was not a good thing. She felt as if she were in the middle of a hurricane, in its eye. She knew the worst was not over just because there was a time of peace. The peaceful atmosphere in fact made her very much anxious.

"Oh quit being so negative, 'Mione." Ron stuffed a handful of grapes into his mouth. Hermione smiled slightly, at least he was calling her 'Mione again.

"Oh Ron, perhaps you are too positive? All light needs a balance of darkness…that what makes it perfection." She sighed poking at her food. "I am anxious Ron..I feel as if there is something to happen as of yet…"she picked up her gold knife and fork and cut into her steak silently.

"Uh..Hermione? Have you ever noticed how odd you sound?" he blinked.

"Meaning?" she looked up at him with raised eyebrows. Yes there was something..he'd never noticed it until he'd seen her eating. She usually put her elbows on the table like everyone else, but now..he could have sworn her napkin was sitting in her lap and she was sitting up perfectly straight. Wait..did she just have her pinky out while drinking from her gold goblet?

"Meaning…you sound overly proper like some chick from last century or something." Ron shrugged and went back to seeing if he could fill his entire mouth with grapes.

"We are British Ron." She chuckled at the sight of his mouth now bulging with grapes. "Do not spray that juice here Ron."

Ron covered his mouth with a napkin and crunched down on the grapes. The juice flew in opposite directions. He swallowed and whipped his mouth. Hermione shook her head.

" 'Mione us being Brits have nothing to do with it. I mean bloody hell you are seriously talking stranegley."

"Oh Ron, do stop worrying about my normal speaking patterns that you just never seemed to notice and go back to stuffing food into your mouth." She rolled her eyes and continued to eat.

"You can stuff something into your mouth when we hit the Stacks" Ron countered smugly.

"Your brothers Fred and George have rubbed off on you." She dug her heel into his foot once again.

A loud tinkle vibrated through the hall. At once everyone fell silent and looked to the high table. Mcgonagal was standing up watching the students expectantly. When everyone was silent she spoke…..

---

…"Can you believe this shit 'Mione. A ball in less than two weeks!" Ron spun her around on the North Tower that night.

"Yes actually I can…..it's for the seniors." She pulled away from him and crossed her arms against the cold. She watched him silently as he turned multiple back flips across the tower before crashing into the telescopes. He stood up as if it never happened, an embarrassed grin on his face.

"Why would they do the senior ball in the dead of winter?" Ron closed his cloak around himself as well.

"Because dear Ronald, the Prefects….they vote on which season to have it in. This year we chose winter." She coolly walked across the tower to the door. "Let's go….it is a bit chilly out."

"Hey I never heard of this vote." He caught up with her and followed her through the door. They walked down the spiraled stairs, he poked her inquiringly.

"Well perhaps if you would come to the meetings…" she scoffed as they reached the bottom of the stairs.

On the way back to the Gryffindor tower to the fat lady's portrait Ron continued to complain about the fact that he had not got to vote.

"Ron..who are you taking to the ball anyway?" she asked in a throw-away manner. She'd expected him to ask Lavender if she was not already spoken for, though with all the fan girls he'd gotten since he turned seventeen, he'd have no problem getting a seventh year girl to go to the ball with him. Anyone but her that is. She was just his ugly friend.

"Oh yeah…that." Ron did not answer her. He approached the fat lady before she could even reach her and said the password. She followed him inside silently. Maybe she could go stag or with Neville…he was always an option.

"Let me guess…you are going to go with one of your fangirls? Karasagi, that Asian exchange student would be happy to go..she told me herself in the hall. She's rather pretty actually." Hermione suggested casually as she ran her hands through her hair, her bushy ugly unremarkable hair.

"Who's that? Nah.." Ron shrugged and began heading toward the boys' staircase. Hermione sighed and made her way to the girls' staircase.

"Hey..Mione.." Ron stopped and came down the stairs again. He waited on her at the foot of the stairs.

"Yeah?" she asked staying where she was, holding the railing and her bags.

Ron pressed his toe against the stairs and watched them began to turn into a slide. Before Hermione knew what was happening she tumbled ungracefully down the stairs and landed in a heap at his feet. He held out his hand triumphantly.

She took it and he pulled her up. "Ron you knew that was going to happen!" she growled. "Now I'm hurting in places I did not know I had!"

"Um..Hermione could you calm down?" he hadn't let go of her hand. His blue eyes were laced with nervousness. What was he nervous about she wondered.

"Sure." She sighed and brushed her hair out of her face. "What is it?"

"Well..I was wondering….if you aren't too busy…." He muttered, she could hardly hear him.

"Ron I can not hear you." She crossed her arms.

"I said." He spoke a bit clearer. "…if you aren't too busy..there's a little gathering a few weeks from now." The expression on his face went from nervous to a bit confident. She had no idea what he was talking about.

"A gathering?"

"Yeah..they call it a ball. I was wondering if you would come." He grinned down at her.

"Of course I'm going to the ball Ron. What are you doing? Practicing your lines on me for when you ask a real girl?" she took her hand from his and turned away.

"No." he grabbed her hand again and turned her around. "I want you to be my date."

Hermione looked up at him wide eyed, he was grinning at her but his eyes were entirely sincere. "What?"

"I want you to go to the ball with me." He repeated.

"Ron that is not funny-"

"And not as a last resort."

----

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A/N: Hiya, Goodwitch here again. Ah yes don't we all love a good ball scene? Well as you see I updated rather quickly didn't I? Well I don't have much to say other than thanks guys for the reviews and I've got a bit more coming. About…I'd say five chapters. I also want to say, I adore reviews, but if you're going to anonymously review I can't reply to you and that breaks my heart.

Speaking of reviews...you know what to do. Please leave a review, I thrive on them.

Also: Special thanks to Lady Kal-El Lover for taking my quiz! Even though you made a 60 on it!