Chapter 20

Ron was nervous and desperately wanted to take a calming breath, but he couldn't. He was laying on his hospital bed, Hermione right next to him clutching his hand. Alice, George, Ginny, Harry and Neville were all there as well, scattered around the bed. All looked tense but hopeful.

"Let's do this," he said to Hermione. "Waiting around being nervous isn't helping."

"Are you sure?" she asked silently. "You can absolutely say we need to stop, you know."

"I know. And I'm sure. Give me a quick good luck kiss and then tell Neville and Alice to get on with it."

"Ok," she said for his ears only. Then she leaned over and kissed him, stroked his hair and looked in his eyes. He could tell she was refusing to cry, and he appreciated it.

"I love you, Hermione. And in a few minutes I am going to kiss you properly. Just you wait."

She laughed at this, wiped her eyes and turned to the rest of the people gathered there. "He says to get on with it," she said.

"Well then, dear baby brother," George said in an attempt at a playful prankster tone. "I have just the tonic for you. I may have added a bit here and there to make it fun for all of us. No one here objects if we all start buzzing like bees, do they?" he added with a wink.

"Well then," Alice said in her head nurse voice. "Mr. Weasley, this will be just like your regular potions. I'll put it through the tube, and it will be in your stomach in a few moments." Then she flicked her wand to start the process as she continued to say, "I reviewed the potion with your brother, and we both agreed that this was the accurate dose for now, but we may need a few additional doses after the spell depending on your reaction. So, don't worry. Leaving the tube in should make that simple. And as soon as I see any signs you are breathing and functioning on your own I will suspend the stasis spell that is keeping all of that running artificially so you won't be fighting against yourself. And remember – don't try any magic yet. We may see some bursts of accidental magic, but don't try anything on purpose until we are sure the regular anatomical components are all functioning. Do you understand?"

"Tell her yes. I've got it. And then tell Nev to hurry the fuck up, I'm getting more anxious the longer everyone is standing around looking at me like I am laid out at my own funeral. Get on with it, alright mate?"

Hermione huffed aloud at his language making everyone else around the bed chuckle akwardly.

"Well alright. Just this once," she grouched back silently. Then she turned to the group, saying, "He said he understands. And Nev, he said, and I quote, 'hurry the fuck up, I'm getting more anxious the longer everyone is standing around looking at me like I am laid out at my own funeral. Get on with it, alright mate?'"

Nev laughed. "Well, that's my cue. Alice, is the whole dose of the potion in now?"

She nodded, "Yes, Neville. You are good to go when you are ready."

Neville took the deep breath Ron had wanted to take, raised his hand, and then in clearly practiced motion cast the intricate series of spells. Ron waited for a moment, increasingly anxious that nothing was happening. But then he felt it.

Suddenly he was blinded with searing pain to his head and the back of his neck. He couldn't see or hear anything other than the screams he wanted to yell out to try and relieve the pressure in his brain. Then all of a sudden his whole body felt like it deflated, the initial acute agony was lessening and being replaced by painful, throbbing aches all over his body. Then slowly he began to take in the scene around him in small sensorial flashes. A hand clutching his arm, a flash of light, the smell of Hermione's shampoo as she leaned over him, and then he was catching small parts of different phrases.

"he grimaced!"

"is breathing on his own?"

"RON!"

"mate?"

"any pain?"

"can you move"

"I don't think he can hear us"

"give him a chance"

"I think he moved."

Then it was completely silent again, and he realized that he couldn't see anything. He knew he had been staring at Hermione when Nev cast the spell. Had he gone blind? And then all of a sudden it struck him - he must have closed his eyes. Which meant he must be able to move a part of his own body!

He focused all his energy away from the pain and the confusion to try and pour every ounce of energy he had at the task of opening up his eyelids. And before long he could see cracks of light coming through, and then they were open, and he could move his eyes, looking at each of the different people around the room. Then the vision blurred and he was worried his eyesight was failing. But before he could worry too much, Hermione was there, wiping the tears now pooling in his eyes.

"Don't cry, Ron. It worked. You're ok," she sobbed through her own tears.

"Back at you," he said silently, making her laugh.

"OK, let the man have some space," Alice commanded, moving her arms to get everyone to back up. "Now, Mr. Weasley, you can blink, right?"

He blinked in response, and the team around the bed all clapped and cheered.

"Please, everyone. Please, just calm down, and let us assess the situation," she demanded.

Properly chastised, they all fell quiet and stepped back leaving only Hermione still clinging to his hand.

"Now, Mr. Weasley-"

"For heaven's sake can you please tell her to call me Ron before George starts answering for me?" Ron pleaded to Hermione.

"Uh, Alice, he has asked if you could stick to calling him Ron so there isn't any confusion with his brother."

Alice rolled her eyes, "Right, Ron. That is very considerate of you. This way George won't get confused that I am trying to clarify his ability to control his bodily functions."

George laughed out loud. "I like you Alice. It's a shame you aren't just a wee bit younger."

"Yes. That is tragic," she deadpanned, causing the rest of the group to laugh. "Now, RON, you can blink. Can you move your facial muscles at all? Smile? Open your mouth? Speak or swallow?"

Ron tried hard and was able to move his face a little bit, coming close to a smile. And he was able to open his mouth. He desperately wanted to lick his lips for moisture, but that – as well as speaking and swallowing weren't yet on the easy list.

"Excellent. Any facial movement at all is wonderful," Alice noted.

Then she worked her way through assessing the various organ systems and limbs to see what Ron was able to manage. After only about fifteen minutes, they'd discovered Ron could try to grip his hand, though controlled limb movement was still out of reach. He could take deep breaths and even yawn, which amused everyone. He wasn't able to roll over or sit up on his own, but once they helped him sit up he was able to stay that way.

After half an hour, Alice and George agreed a second dose of the potion was in order, so Alice quickly administered it through the nasal tube. This seemed to make a significant difference, and soon Ron had much more control over both his tongue and swallowing, even silently asking Hermione to see if he could sip some water. With some magical assistance he was able to swallow a small sip, and he moaned in pleasure.

"Ohmigod, that feels so good," he moaned in his head.

"I can tell," said Hermione through a giant grin. "Because you actually moaned out loud too. So wonderful to hear you again!"

He gave her his attempt at a smile, and Hermione was once again crying happy tears. After a few more sips of water he tried to move his head and was able to move it a little. And though it looked like he was royally pissed, everyone celebrated Ron achieving yet another milestone. By eight that evening, he had progressed to the point where he could also move his shoulders some, thereby shifting his arms in jerky motions. He was also able to slightly wiggle the fingers on his right hand, and his feet and knees responded to the reflex tests, though he couldn't move them yet. He still couldn't speak, but he could make some sounds that sounded similar to words.

"Well, Ronald Weasley, I can say that in my entire career I have never seen anything like I've experienced in the past few hours," Alice said. "You are continuing to progress. Your vital signs are strong, and your heart and lungs are working on their own with no magical support. Are you in a lot of pain?"

He gave his smile and shook his head no.

"I love that you can communicate on your own some again. But I need to ask some more specific questions. Can you use Hermione to answer some more detailed questions?"

He nodded in the affirmative.

"Wonderful. Right after the spell was cast you seemed to be in a lot of pain that then let up. Is there any lingering pain, or a changed sensation in the same part of your body?"

Hermione said, "Ron says, 'Initially the pain was in my head and neck, and that was brutal. But then that started to fade to more of a dull ache. Now it feels just like a mild headache.'"

"Can you describe what the pain felt like initially?" Alice asked.

Hermione said, "He says, 'it was terrible, blinding, stabbing pain. Like a crucio but where the pain isn't spread across your whole body but instead concentrated in just the space between my eyes and the upper part of the back of my neck.'"

"Hmm. I must admit, that description wouldn't mean much to the majority of people, but I am guessing in this room I am either alone or one of only a few that doesn't know how that personally feels." At that, Alice looked around the room and saw that each person was nodding sadly, each thinking of their own time at the receiving end of that curse. "I'm glad that pain has receded some. Are there any odd sensations anywhere else that might not be painful but seem unusual?"

He nodded and Hermione spoke for him, "'I could always feel everything, but now I have a pins-and-needles sensation that seems to move from muscle to muscle. It doesn't last long, and doesn't hurt. But it doesn't feel normal.'"

Alice nodded. "I noticed a few muscle twitches in your left thigh. Have there been others?"

"He said there have been some in his back and in his gut, but that it jumps around."

"OK," Alice said. "I think medically you seem to be doing well. But I would really like to bring in Healer Cooper as we discussed. She will be able to do a much more complete assessment. She is here at the hospital for another few hours, so if we are going to inform her tonight, I would like to go and do that now. But, that means I need to step out for a while. Are you all ok with that?"

Ron nodded, as Hermione said, "Yes. I'm sure she will be more than surprised, but we have to take this step. Just please help her understand how we need this to be strictly confidential for now."

Alice simply nodded and turned for the door, but Neville reached out to grab her arm.

"I'm coming too, Alice," Neville said.

"No, that won't be necessary," Alice protested. "It will be alright, Neville."

"Alice, everyone in this room knows what you have risked to allow us to do this confidentially. And no matter how wonderful Healer Cooper may be, there could be repercussions. I am going along to remind anyone who may have the bollocks to challenge you that you were asked by three individuals who have been awarded the Order of Merlin, Second Class, and three who were awarded Order of Merlin, First Class, and within that little group, there happen to be two aurors who requested secrecy due to the connections to ongoing investigations at the DMLE."

Alice looked up at Neville, mouth slightly agape, as if seeing him grown up for the first time. Finally she reached up to pat his cheek gently.

"When did you go from being that little boy to being...being...well, being this?" she asked with a touch of nostalgia and awe crossing her face - her eyes suddenly becoming glassy.

He bent to kiss her cheek.

"Thanks to you, Alice, that nervous little boy was loved and treated with respect and then finally able to gain some self-confidence that let me grow up to be the wizard I am. Today it is finally my turn to help take care of you for once. I love you, Alice. Come on."

She patted his cheek affectionately as she sniffed back tears, refusing to cry. With that, Neville offered his arm and led the beaming older witch out of the hospital room.

Harry jumped up as soon as they left, "Maybe I should go with them as well."

"Sit, Harry," Hermione said quickly. "You get favors most places, but around here Neville totally outranks you."

Everyone looked at his stunned face. "Oh, yeah, well, that's brilliant, isn't it?" he said, the relief of being outranked sinking in.

George let out a nervous breath and laughed, "this whole thing has to be one of the strangest experiences of my entire life, and let's face it - that is saying something."

This broke the tension, and even Ron gave something like an actual chuckle as he shook his head.

"I'm exhausted, and I haven't done a damn thing. Scoot over, Ron," Ginny stated as she plopped her bum next to her brother and rested her head on his shoulder.

Ron smiled and leaned up against his baby sister with a contented sigh. Hermione sat down on the other side of the bed, still holding Ron's hand. George and Harry both sat on the table against the wall across from the foot of the bed.

"Let's say this keeps improving at this pace for the next few hours. How do you think you want to handle tonight, Ron?"

Ron looked thoughtful for a few minutes and then looked to Hermione.

"Any ideas, love?"

"I always have ideas, Ron. But this is all your call."

"I think this has already been a hell of a lot for one afternoon. I am going to be utterly exhausted here shortly. And I think once the healer comes in it will be an exhausting series of tests and explanations all over again."

"Do you think they'll keep up this silent conversation thing even after he gets his voice back?" George asked.

"Probably," laughed Harry.

"It's both sweet and annoying at the same time," chimed in Ginny, eyes still closed as she leaned against Ron.

Ron smiled at all of them. "It is fun to taunt them even if we aren't saying a damn thing."

Hermione smirked and nodded her head. "You want me to kick them all out?"

"Not yet. But after the Healer comes and does her stuff, then yeah. As soon as they are tired of watching me add new tricks, all I want is it to be just you and me and a comfy place to sleep."

"Ok. I'll make it happen," she promised him silently. Then she grinned at Ginny and said, "Gin, if memory serves correctly, you've thought we were both sweet and annoying for years now."

"This is true," Ginny agreed, eyes still closed.

"So did you two come up with a game plan in your secret plotting time or were you discussing things that would make me vomit?" asked George.

"Couldn't it be both?" asked Hermione with a taunting grin.

"Fabulous. Just what we all wanted to hear," grumbled Ginny.

"Well, you won't have to hear it too much longer. I think once the Healer has come and we deal with that whirlwind, we're going to kick you guys out so Ron can sleep. His body's gone through a hell of a lot in the past few hours."

"I think that's smart," said Harry. "While it is certainly fun watching Ron slowly come back and gain strength, I think getting a good night's sleep would be best for all involved. If I had trouble sleeping last night, I can only imagine how rough it was for you two."

"Thanks for understanding," Hermione said earnestly.

In short order, Neville and Alice returned with Healer Cooper and Nicola the night nurse. The two newest people to the secret entered with wide, disbelieving eyes. As expected, this had been followed by a whirlwind of physical exams and assessments, diagnostic spells, questions, explanations, more questions, more assessments and more diagnostic spells. Unsurprisingly they were dumbfounded, but the Healer rallied and was able to lay out some guidance to Nicola and Alice in how to best care for Ron over the next 24 hours as he simply recovered from the shock of the curse reversal itself. They all agreed to meet again in the morning when Nicola and Alice would overlap their shifts and Healer Cooper would be able to do another assessment to see how Ron was doing after resting overnight. They agreed to monitor his vitals, promising to only enter the room if his pulse or breathing seemed to be in distress. Otherwise, all agreed that what Ron really needed was sleep and time for his body to recover.

Eventually, the three professionals made their way out of the room, promising to see him in the morning. Soon after that, Harry, Ginny, George and Neville all said their goodbyes as well, each giving Ron and Hermione tight hugs before they made their way out of the room. Hermione walked them all to the door, and then slowly closed it behind them. Turning around in the quiet room, she looked at Ron and grinned.

"Finally!"

"Finally," he agreed.

"Part of me wants to dance with joy, but the vast majority of me wants to be asleep within the next 90 seconds."

"No kidding!"

"Do you want to sleep in what you have on or change into pajamas?"

"I just want to sleep in this. I'm too drained to do anything."

"Alright, I'm popping into the loo and then joining you. Think you can stay awake for that long?"

"Honestly," he said sleepily, "I'm not sure."

"OK, I'll be right back."

Hermione completed her nightly routine in record time and had quickly crawled into bed and put out the lights.

"That was fast," Ron mumbled. "Did Hermione Granger possibly skip brushing her teeth?"

"Of course not! I was raised by dentists, so it is basically impossible for me to skip that. But, admittedly, it was the worst brushing job I think I've ever done."

Ron chuckled, but said nothing. Hermione helped him turn on his side, ensuring they were in their regular sleeping position. She was on her side, but still facing him when she automatically reached up to shut his eye lids when he stopped her.

"You don't have to do that anymore," he whispered silently.

"Oh! Right, crazy what becomes automatic, isn't it."

"Getting to look at you, getting to move my eyes over your face, getting to wake up later and watch you sleep...these are things I will never take for granted ever again."

"I love you, Ron."

"I love you, too. Now kiss me," he said.

Hermione had been moving her lips towards his when he added cheekily, "Let's see how much I can move my tongue now."

Hermione started laughing and pulled back to look at him, eyes sparkling with contentment. Her fingers gently roaming over his face she finally said, "I'll never take this for granted again either. And, I want you to know - I am personally very, very committed to your tongue rehabilitation."

She felt him move slightly with his chuckle as she captured his lips. Then there was an audible gasp from each of them. For the first time in months, they could actually kiss. He could move his lips a bit. And while his tongue wasn't completely normal, he could gently caress her lips, her mouth and her tongue. He was finally able to show her and make her feel his love in something besides silent thoughts sent to her brain. And in that moment he could feel her heart swelling, and her eyes overflowing with the swell of emotion she had kept under tight guard for so long.

"I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm crying," she finally stammered.

"Because you've been so fucking strong for way too long. You've fought for us, for this – and no one believed you. But you didn't give up. You came and found me, and now you can not only know that I am here, but you can finally feel it. There is finally someone else taking care of you, even if it is only in this small way. Any other human on the planet would have crumpled and given up long ago, but you...you are amazing. And so you have a solid nine months of emotions to get through. So, love, let yourself cry. I'll hold you. Well, I'll hold you the best I can. And tomorrow it will only get better."

She nodded, burying her head into his chest and letting him physically comfort her for the first time in so long. Eventually she turned, her back to his front as they spooned up to sleep. And they were both asleep in minutes.

Ron woke with a start in the middle of the night, and for the first time in recent memory he was able to open his eyes and look down at Hermione's sleeping form. The excitement of this new independence was practically intoxicating, and he decided to take this quiet moment alone to see what else he was able to do on his own. Working methodically from his face down to his toes, he decided to see what he could move or control without assistance. He rolled his head back and forth and practiced opening and closing his jaw. He intentionally worked on swallowing, which he was pleased to note was getting easier. He was still able to shrug his shoulders, but he noticed that he now had more control over his biceps and fingers. His core had more strength as well, and while he couldn't turn over, he could roll a few inches in each direction. He was able to bend his knees slightly, and he was thrilled when he was able to not only bend his knee, but he could stretch the leg back out again as well. And, he could wiggle the toes on both feet and slightly rotate each foot at the ankle.

"Damn," he thought to himself. "That is a lot of improvements in what is probably only about twelve hours."

He lay awake for probably another hour, reveling in the joy of blinking his eyes, wiggling his toes, making funny faces by scrunching his nose and mouth. But at one point his exuberance with his newly recovered ability to move his leg a tiny bit must have nudged Hermione, as she startled in her sleep. He froze, not wanting to be the one to disrupt her first good night's sleep in so long. The stillness must have worked, as she soon settled again into his warm arms and her breathing returned to the rhythmic sound of her sleep. The calming sound of her breath and the contentment of having his witch in his arms eventually lulled him back to sleep.

Hermione woke several hours later to a sensation she hadn't felt in a very long time. At first she couldn't place it, but then the previous days' events came flooding back into her mind and she realized that she was feeling Ron's fingers actually moving against the bare skin on her stomach where her shirt had risen up. She felt her smile explode across her face.

"What a fabulous way to wake up," she said softly, letting her fingers trail up and down one of his arms.

He hummed a sound of agreement, causing her to roll over in his arms and kiss him gently, thrilled when he opened his eyes and smiled at her.

"It's going to be another really good day," she said.

He hummed in agreement again, and she grinned before getting up to quickly get ready for the day.

"What, no shower?" he asked silently.

"Honestly, I think we both slept too late," she lamented. "We are supposed to meet Healer Cooper and Alice in less than half an hour."

"Hmph," he grumbled aloud before silently adding, "Not sure this curse reversal thing is all it is cracked up to be if there won't be time for showering."

"Yeah, yeah. Whine all you want. But when we can actually shag in an actual bed with each of us able to move all of our various body parts, I'll remind you that you really want to make sure we cut things short to leave time for showering since it is clearly very important to you."

"You, Hermione Granger, are just mean," he pouted, proudly making his facial expression match his petulant comments.

"Nice pout. The bottom lip is a great touch," she teased.

"Thanks," he said with a true grin. "I worked on it last night when I was too excited to sleep."

"Glad you are putting your new skills to good use," she teased.

They both laughed, and she helped him up to get ready. They decided that they would stick with Hermione doing everything that day and waiting until his rehab work was more underway before he tried to tackle things like getting dressed on his own. But soon they were both ready for the day and ready to come up with a game plan to rebuild his strength and get him the hell out of St. Mungo's.