A/N: Thank you again to my amazing Beta LadyKahlan!

I have enjoyed writing moments for The Order of Phoenix. I've always believed that this was the time that Ron and Hermione became somewhat aware of their attraction to each other. Although both show signs from the beginning of the series, the fifth instalment feels like the time when their hormones began to properly rage.

This is the final Order of the Phoenix moment, set some time during The Lost Prophecy and The Second War Begins.

Ron and Hermione must deal with the aftermath of the Department of Mysteries.

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Second Death

Ron sat up in his hospital bed. Sweat clung to his shivering body and pain seared down his bandaged arms. He took deep, gulping breaths and tried to calm his racing heart. Remembering his dream, Ron spun around to look at the bed next to him; she was still there.

Hermione lay completely still, breathing slowly in and out. He watched her chest rise and fall, feeling comforted at the small sign of life.

They had arrived back at Hogwarts yesterday morning. Madame Pomfrey had quickly gotten to work applying a soothing paste and bandaging his arms. He had been given a selection of healing potions and ordered to rest. The school nurse had also been able to fix Neville, Luna and Ginny quickly. They had been able to leave the hospital wing within hours of arriving. Hermione, however, had not woken up at all. Madame Pomfrey had assured them that she would eventually, but her body needed to recover from the affects of the spell that had hit her.

Ron slowly placed his legs onto the cold floor and lifted himself off. Pain pierced every part of his arm but he didn't care. He had to be closer to her. He had just seen her die in his dream. He had to be closer.

Ron quietly moved towards the chair next to Hermione's bed and eased himself onto it. He stared at her pale face and wished she would open her eyes. He needed to see that she was alright. Moving a shaky hand, he softly brushed her hair from her face. He could see the bandages that Pomfrey had applied, peeping out from under her nightdress.

Pain and sadness engulfed him. How could he have let this happen? He had been utterly useless during the fight and couldn't remember a single moment from when they had split up. He should have been there with her, fighting and protecting her. Instead he had made himself completely useless by summoning the brain and nearly killing himself.

And now, he sat watching as Hermione fought the affects of the spell. Instead of trying to help her, he had been having a stupid nightmare. A nightmare where she was killed by an ominous green light. He gave a small sob and touched her cheek. It was warm; gloriously warm and soft.

She had to wake up. He couldn't do this without her.

'Hermione,' he whispered, 'please wake up.'

She lay silent and still.

'Please Hermione, open your eyes.'

Nothing.

He felt tears begin to fall down his cheeks and roughly rubbed his eyes. What good was crying going to do?

'Hermione you need to wake up,' he whispered, more desperately. 'Please?'

There was no movement... no sound.

Ron placed his head in his hands. He couldn't do this. He couldn't continue to fight if she wasn't here. What was the point?

Tears continued to fall and the pain in his arms moved up and into his chest.

A moan issued from Hermione's bed. Ron quickly sat up and looked over to find two big, brown eyes staring back at him.

'Hermione!'

She moaned again and tried to sit up. Ron grabbed her and gently eased her up. He fetched an extra pillow from his bed and placed it behind her. She leaned back with some difficulty.

'Hermione,' he repeated, 'thank Merlin. I've been going out of my mind. I thought you were never going to wake up.'

'I...It hurts,' she stammered, pain reflected in her beautiful eyes.

'Should I go and get Madame Pomfrey?' Ron asked, already on his feet.

'N... no,' Hermione whispered, 'not yet.'

'Are you sure?'

Hermione nodded so he sat back down, watching her intently.

'Is everyone okay?' she asked gently.

Ron hesitated. How was he going to tell her about Sirius without upsetting her?

'Harry, Ginny, Neville and Luna didn't need much to fix them up. They didn't have to stay in here at all. I've had to stay 'cos of my arms,' he said holding them up to show his bandages.

'Oh Ron!' Hermione gasped, 'What happened?'

'I don't remember,' Ron muttered. 'I was hit with a spell that sort of sent me mad. Ginny said I summoned a brain to me and it attacked my arms and chest. My chest seems to be okay though. It's only where the thoughts touched me on the arms that got hurt. Thoughts leave deep scars.'

Hermione nodded. 'Is it really painful?'

'A bit.' He watched as she struggled to catch her breath. 'Are you sure you don't want me to get Madame Pomfrey?'

'No,' Hermione replied, bringing a hand up to her chest. 'What happened to the Death Eaters and the prophecy?'

'Well the prophecy got smashed,' Ron said, moving to adjust Hermione's pillows, 'and the Order showed up and managed to round up most of the Death Eaters.'

He stopped moving and took a seat on her bed. Tentatively he reached out and stroked Hermione's soft, curly hair. She watched, taking laboured breaths.

'Bellatrix got away,' he continued, feeling his throat tighten. 'You-Know-Who came and had a fight with Dumbledore.'

Hermione's eyes widened.

'Then he did a runner and Dumbledore cleared up,' he hesitated again. 'Tonks got hurt and had to be sent to St. Mungo's and Sirius...' He stopped, unable to go on.

'Sirius what?' Hermione whispered, reaching out and touching his leg. Fear shone on her face.

'Hermione,' Ron said, feeling his eyes begin to well up, 'Sirius is d– dead.'

'What?' Hermione said, her own eyes beginning to spill tears. 'He can't be.'

Ron nodded and his throat felt even tighter. 'Bellatrix killed him. He fell through the archway with the veil.'

The tears streamed down both their cheeks. Ron gripped Hermione's face, and she held tightly onto his leg. As one they leaned into each other. Ron gently placed his tender arms around her. She moaned and buried her face in his chest. Both sobbed and tried to erase the other's pain, but it was no use. They had lost Sirius; nothing they did could change that.

Hermione pulled away, gasping slightly.

'Harry?'

'He's as expected,' Ron replied truthfully. 'He needs us.'

Hermione nodded and rested her forehead against his. She closed her eyes, her breathing short and erratic.

'I thought you were never going to wake up,' Ron confessed quietly. 'I dreamt y – you died.'

Hermione grabbed his hands.

'I – I thought you had left me.'

'I'm okay, look...' She said as she gently placed his hands on her chest, at the place where her heart rested. He could feel the quick, repetitive beats that were keeping her alive. She let go but he kept his hands firmly on her warm body. Nothing had ever felt so right. His heart sped up as felt new emotions form inside him.

'You can't leave me,' he muttered, feeling his tears ease as her pulse comforted him.

'I won't,' she whispered, nudging her nose against his. Her breathing was still unsteady.

'I mean it,' he said desperately, 'I can't do this without you.'

'I'm not going anywhere,' she mumbled. 'We'll face it together.'

'Harry needs us.'

'And we'll be there for him,' Hermione replied softly.

She moved her head slightly and gently kissed his nose. She then kissed his left cheek; Ron moved to kiss her right. Small, quick, soft kisses rained over each of their faces. Each peck made them feel stronger. They could do this. They could fight, as long as they had each other.

'Ron,' Hermione said, her breath caressing his face.

Ron couldn't stop. He had to keep kissing her, every single space on her pretty face. The only area he stayed away from was her lips. Best friends did not kiss on the lips. Hermione had told him that. Kissing her everywhere else was fine, so he continued pressing his lips against her soft skin.

'Ron,' she whispered again, sounding even more out of breath.

He would never tire of hearing her voice.

She placed her hands around his neck and hugged him. Her eyes fluttered shut and Ron took the opportunity to kiss her on the eyelids too. He felt like a man possessed, but knew that if he stopped his world would come crashing back down. Hermione seemed to understand his need because she let him move around her face with his lips. He only stopped when she called out in pain.

'What's wrong?' Ron asked, panicking. 'Did I hurt you?'

'No!' Hermione groaned, clutching her chest. 'I – It's the damage from the s – spell.'

Tears reappeared in her eyes and her face became deathly pale.

'Ron, it hurts,' she said, gasping.

Ron quickly untangled himself from her and got up off the bed.

'I'm gonna get Madame Pomfrey,' he said, softly cupping Hermione's face. 'It's okay, she'll sort you out.'

Hermione stared up at him, glassy eyed and pained. She nodded once and he let go. He ran as fast as he could to Madame Pomfrey's sleeping quarters and began banging on the door. The gesture caused his arms to throb uncomfortably but he didn't care. He needed to get the nurse out as quickly as possible.

'Madame Pomfrey!' He yelled, 'Madame Pomfrey, Hermione needs you!'

He didn't have to wait long for the tired nurse to appear.

'Weasley! What in Merlin's name is the matter?'

'It's Hermione; she's woken up and is in a lot of pain!' Ron panted.

She quickly moved past him and made her way to Hermione's bed. Ron followed and grabbed Hermione's hand as they reached her.

'Where does it hurt most?' Madame Pomfrey asked, checking Hermione's temperature.

'Along here,' she said, pointing from her left shoulder and all the way down to the right side of her waist.

Pomfrey nodded. 'Right. Mr. Weasley, go and wait on your bed so I can sort Miss Granger out.'

'No,' Ron said, firmly. 'I'm staying here, she needs me.'

'What she needs is privacy so I can begin to heal her,' Madame Pomfrey said, frowning. 'Go back to your bed and I'll call you when I'm done.'

'I'll b – be fine R – Ron,' Hermione stammered.

He hesitated for a second and stared down at her, worried. She looked like she was in agony.

'Please,' she whispered.

Ron nodded and quickly kissed her forehead, before moving out of the way. Madame Pomfrey instantly put partitioning curtains up and the room fell silent. He walked to his bed and sat down.

He then had to wait.

It felt like hours before Madame Pomfrey removed the curtains, and appeared with a grim smile on her face.

'Well, she's going to be sore for a few weeks but I think she'll be okay.'

'You think?'

'Yes Mr. Weasley, I think. Now get back into bed or I'll have no choice but to remove you from this ward.'

She waited for Ron to get back into his bed, had a quick look under his bandages, and then marched back to her room. Ron stayed quiet and still for a few minutes and then turned to face Hermione.

'Are you alright?'

She glanced over at him. 'Yes, Madame Pomfrey has given me some potions and eased the pain a bit.'

Ron nodded before muttering, 'I wish I could have stopped this from happening.'

'We all did as much as we could Ron.'

'Next time I'll make sure you don't get hurt,' he said passionately.

'Next time?' Hermione muttered sadly.

'This is the start, isn't it?' Ron replied. 'You-Know-Who has shown himself now, so everyone knows he's back. It's going to start another war.'

He had been thinking it from the minute Harry had told him what had happened with Dumbledore and You-Know-Who. There had to be another war now, there was no other way.

And they would be caught up in the centre of it.

'We'll protect each other,' Hermione said, sounding stronger than she had all evening. 'You, Harry and I, we'll protect each other.'

Ron nodded. He would protect both of them, regardless of the cost.

Hermione let her eyes close, and Ron watched as sleep gradually began to take her. She was going to be okay, he knew it. She was strong, and wonderful, and determined. One spell was not going to break her. He felt comforted, and slowly let his own eyes shut. As darkness overtook him, he knew the nightmares would not return.

When morning came, he and Hermione would both be able to comfort Harry. Together they would mourn, and together they would stand.