The next few days were spent in absolute bliss. Fred really had planned everything out and Hermione marveled at his ingenious as they enjoyed trips to different parts of Greece, indulging in the local sites and cuisine. They had gone on hikes over cliffsides, rented bicycles, been taken out on a fishing boat as Fred attempted to fish like a muggle. There was never a dull moment and they found many opportunities throughout the day to sneak off by themselves.
It was their final day before they had to leave and they decided to spent it relaxing around their house and on the private beach. The day was absolutely perfect, as all their days had been. The sun was high in the sky and a light breeze broke through the heat of the day and caused the ocean water to move seductively. Hermione was currently on her third jump off of the cliff that had given her such trouble the first day. Fred was laughing from the ledge above her as she surfaced once again in the crystal water. He took a few steps back before leaping into the air himself, coming down hard in a cannon ball a few feet from Hermione.
She held her arms up against the large amount of water that had splashed up in Fred's landing. Laughing she looked around and waited for the redhead to surface. After a few moments her smile dropped, she tried to look below the water as best as she could, finding it difficult with the waves and her own movements. She was looking down when she yelped as she felt something grab her leg. She irrationally thought shark before being pulled under the warm, salty water. As she kicked to the surface she bumped up against a solid object and came up face to face with Fred.
He started laughing at her seeing come up wiping salt water out of her eyes.
"Will you never grow up?" Hermione said when she finally was able to look at him.
He slid through the water to get next to her. "Never." He said before dunking her again.
They spent a few more minutes attempting to drown the other before starting to swim towards the shore. The water was warm around their bodies and Hermione kept trying to grab at Fred's foot to halt his progress. About halfway there Fred paused in his stroke as he caught site of a figure on the beach. Hermione almost ran into him with his sudden stop and looked around him to the beach to see what had made him stop. There was definitely a person standing near their towels on the beach and Hermione looked at Fred in apprehension, to the best of their knowledge the beach was privately owned and there wasn't supposed to be anyone else down here. They treaded water before seeing the figure wave their arms overhead at them.
Figuring that someone who was there to kill them probably wouldn't be acting like that, they continued to swim the several yards to shore. When they got closer the familiar features of George came into view. Fred smiled brightly at his twin, wondering if he was there to crash their vacation. As he walked out of the water and got closer however, his smile dropped seeing the look on his twin's face. George met him halfway up the beach and Hermione stopped in her tracks as she too saw George's expression and her heart began to race.
"What happened?" She asked, almost too scared to know the answer. She had never seen him look this way and it was terrifying.
George looked painfully between the two. "It's Ron. They got to him."
Hermione's eyes widened, "Is he alright? George what happened?" She heard the panic in her own voice and saw Fred glance at her.
George shook his head quickly, "No he's not. We need to go."
The urgency of his voice prompted the other two along. They all apparated directly into the house and gathered their things. They didn't even take the time to look one last time around their paradise as George already had a portkey waiting for them and a few minutes later they were hurtling through the air.
When they landed, Hermione recognized the familiar surroundings of her work place. She looked around trying to register which floor they were on, then felt her heart sink seeing they were where critical patients stayed. Down the hall they could see a group of people huddled in the small waiting room, red hair adorning the heads of most of them. The three struck out down the hall and were met by the cries of Mrs. Weasley who had jumped up to pull the two newcomers into an embrace.
Hermione's hair was still dripping down her back when she was finally released from the older woman's grasp. She looked around at the other group members and found each one had a crest fallen face. Harry's jaw was tightened so much that Hermione was surprised he had any teeth left. Mrs. Weasley had obviously been crying and the site of it made Hermione's heart drop. She was almost afraid to ask what had happened, fearing the absolute worst for her best friend. She tried to blink the tears forming in her eyes away before turning to Ginny who was sitting closest to her.
"What happened?" She anxiously asked the younger witch. Ginny stared back at her and shook her head before answering.
"Ron was attacked last night. We don't know a lot of details but he's really hurt. Cho was with him." Ginny's voice had begun to waver as she spoke.
Hermione looked around, confused. "How do you not know what happened? Haven't they told you?" As soon as she asked the question she knew that neither person must be aware enough to be able to provide details. Injuries serious enough to keep one unconscious this long under magical medical care frightened Hermione. And as a healer she had seen the outcome of such injuries too many times.
"I need to see him." She said sharply, not bothering to hear anyone's response before she strode down the familiar hallway and found the room with Ron's chart outside. The door was heavy as she pushed through. She had been in theses rooms countless times under very different circumstances, always professional in nature. But now she felt as vulnerable as ever, not knowing what sort of condition she would find her friend in.
The site on the bed caused her to falter in her step. She stared wide eyed at Ron's figure under the blanket. He was breathing, assisted by a ventilation spell that Hermione had performed on so many poor individuals. Seeing that the gashes across his face and upper torso were unhealed she knew they had been made by dark magic, similar to what was used on George when he lost his ear.
As she crept closer to the side of his bed she could see the edges of bandages wrapped about his torso under the blanket. Wondering how far the damage extended she lifted the blanket and gasped, tears forming quickly in her eyes. His whole body was bandaged, well not his whole body, Hermione thought viciously. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the place where his right foot should have been.
She didn't even hear Fred enter the room behind her. Didn't know he was there until he put his hand over her shaking ones holding the blanket. She was trembling as he pulled her away from the bed and into his arms. She didn't make a noise, just stood shaking, her arms pulled up to her chest.
Fred had followed the witch into the exam room, seeing her walk with the same determination she would have entering her own patient's room. It wasn't until she entered the room and saw her friend that the professional demeanor dropped. He watched as she surveyed his brother, having a deeper understanding of the medical side of things than Fred did. When she lifted the blanket though he could see her start to shake as she stared down at his little brother. He went to her then, pulling her away from the horror that his mother had told him about just a minute prior. She didn't say anything as he held her. When he finally pulled away and looked down he found that her eyes were dry and her lips were pressed together. Her hair was still damp from the ocean that they had just come from and Fred wished more than anything that he could take them back, to escape the hell around them.
He moved the hair off of her face as she continued to look at Ron on the bed. Harry and Ginny had entered the room at that point and Ginny went over to quickly hug Hermione. Fred took this opportunity to go over to his brother. He didn't know where to touch him that wasn't bandaged. Settling with Ron's left hand he squeezed with all he had and the gravity of the situation finally hit him. His vision blurred as he stared down at his mangled brother, registering that he wasn't even breathing on his own.
He heard a sob from behind him and turned to see Harry envelope Hermione in a hug. She was heaving in his arms and he could see tears falling freely from her closed eyes. Harry was whispering to her, stroking her hair as his own tears fell. They held each other as tight as they could, sharing a bond that no one else understood. Fred squeezed his brother's hand one more time before he left the other two and went out to join the rest of his family. Right now Harry was who Hermione needed as they wept for their best friend.
When he rejoined the group he hugged his mother again. "What happened?" He asked his father when he pulled away.
Mr. Weasley had a very grim look to his face, though it was evident in his eyes that he had been crying earlier. "He was found this morning a few blocks from the Ministry just lying in an alley way. Those monsters didn't even bother to bring him anywhere, just left him." His jaw clenched. "There was so much blood. The healers here say he has cuts all over him and he lost so much blood. But there was something else done to him. Even with the wounds he should have woken up by now but…
His eyes darkened as he looked past Fred to the room where his youngest son was. "They did something to him. He was barely breathing when he was found but the healers haven't been able to find anything that would be causing this. It's like there is nothing there, he should be awake." At this he broke and Mrs. Weasley stepped forward to hug her weeping husband.
Fred looked to the rest of his family remembering something that had been said earlier. "And Cho? Ginny said that she was with him."
He saw George shake his head and gesture to the room next to Ron's. "Same as Ron." Fred saw something darken in his eyes before his twin pulled him aside.
"The healer's said it looked like she may have been tortured. Like they did it to get to Ron or something. She's really bad, Gred. They're not sure if she's going to make it." George placed a hand on his twin's shoulder before pulling him into a hug. He couldn't help but think how easily it could have been Hermione and Fred.
Fred was having the same thoughts, knowing that Ron was just one of the people being hunted. This changed everything. They had gotten to one of them, the one that was supposed to be better protected because he was an auror. His heart raced thinking about Hermione being found like his brother was.
The whole family waited for hours on the floor in silence. Hermione and Harry had eventually came out of Ron's room, both looking exhausted. They sat on one of the uncomfortable seats holding hands. No one spoke as nurses passed them with looks of sympathy. After a while an older healer approached the group and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley stood up, clinging to the other in anticipation.
"I understand that you all want to be here." The healer addressed the family. "But I'm afraid that we still do not know what is causing their conditions. Unfortunately visiting hours are over and we do need to ask you to leave. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, as Ronald's parents you are allowed to stay to be with him. But the rest of you, I'm very sorry."
He bowed his head respectively at the family before gesturing at Hermione. She stood up and went to stand next to her colleague and he spoke in hushed tones to her.
"Ms. Granger I am very sorry about your friend. As a healer, I know you understand more than the rest the seriousness of this situation."
Hermione nodded at him, trying to will herself not to cry again. "Do we really know nothing about what happened? About what's wrong with them?"
The older wizard sighed and nodded. "There is no record of any magic that would be the cause of their ailments. That is never a good sign. Ms. Granger the rest of the healer's know that you were supposed to be back at work in a few days from your vacation. However, with recent events we want you to take as much time as you need." He squeezed her arm, having grown very fond of the younger healer during her time at the hospital.
She nodded appreciatively at him before he turned and walked down the hall. Returning to the family she found the rest of them saying good byes and making plans to take shifts to be with Ron. As people started to leave Hermione and Fred picked up their travel bags before Ginny came up to them with Harry in tow.
"We were thinking," she started when they reached the other couple. "It might be better for you guys to stay with us at Grimwauld? It's still a safe house and loads more protected than either apartments."
Ginny's eyes were pleading with them and Fred was thankful for the opportunity to stay there, knowing otherwise he would have stayed up all night, fearful about someone coming for Hermione.
He looked at Hermione who nodded. They followed Ginny and Harry through the Floo system before stepping out into a familiar living room. Ginny had been busy decorating now that she couldn't play quidditch with the baby. The walls were lighter and the deep brown couches much more welcoming than the previous high backed black ones. They all sat down in silence, Hermione reaching instinctively for Fred's hand.
Hermione spoke first, looking to Harry. "Do they think this is Dolohov?"
Harry looked up at he as she spoke and nodded. "It was too personal not to have been." He ran his hand through his hair angrily "What they did to them. It wasn't just an attack, it was torture. It would have taken time to cause that much damage but no one heard or saw anything. They were just found like that, lying in a bloody alley way."
Ginny took her husband's hand at the anger in his voice. She knew he was blaming himself for the situation his friends were in. Hermione had the same understanding and she spoke firmly to her friend.
"Harry. You cannot blame yourself for this. Not anymore. Both Ron and I chose to stand with you." Harry shook his head at this but she continued, "But it wasn't just you; we were fighting to protect more than just you. It was our lives too, our families. Yes, knowing you gave us a cause and a mission, but do you really believe we wouldn't have been fighting even not knowing you?"
He looked up at this. He knew she understood how he felt about involving his two friends in the mess of his life. He had blamed himself over and over again with each bad thing that had happened to them. But he knew that it was irrational and he knew Hermione was right. She and Ron would have been in danger either way, the many deaths at the battle of Hogwarts proved that there wasn't really anyone who was safe.
The group sat for a few more minutes in silence before standing and heading to bed, no one feeling hungry for dinner. Ginny showed Fred and Hermione to a guest bedroom on the floor below her and Harry's bedroom.
Hermione stood in the room silently, not really sure what to do with herself after the events of the day. She couldn't stop thinking about Ron laying on the bed, his skin shredded. Tears formed in her eyes and threatened to spill over until she felt Fred's arms wrap around her from behind. She relaxed immediately against him and gripped at his arms, looking for a lifeline to hold on to. She turned into him and buried her face in his chest, holding him as tightly as she could while he stroked her hair.
They clung to each other in the middle of the bedroom for minutes, not daring to move away from the other. When Hermione finally pulled back she saw that Fred's eyes were red.
She suddenly felt selfish, "Fred, I'm so sorry. He's your brother and I'm acting this way."
He shushed her and cupped her face in his hands. "He's as much your family as he is mine. More in a way." He knew everything she had gone through with Ron, and how much he meant to her. She knew him better than anyone and would feel the loss of him just as much as his own mother would.
They finally started to get ready for bed. He saw Hermione pause and looked over at her, finding her staring down at herself in the bikini top he had picked out for her. Neither of them had taken the time to change clothes when George came to get them, instead had just dressed over their swimsuits. He was still in his trunks and had simply pulled a t-shirt on before leaving.
Hermione was looking at her bathing suit remembering the tranquility in which they had started their day out. Greece felt like a lifetime ago and she wished they could just go back. To disappear in the bliss they had been enveloped in over the past week.
"Hermione?" She looked up out of her trance when Fred spoke, seeing him staring at her.
Her lips quivered as she tried to smile at him. "I was just thinking.. I just wish.." She couldn't continue as tears spilled over and slid down her cheeks. He reached her in a heartbeat and pulled her to him.
"Shh. I know. I do too." He said, understanding exactly what she was saying.
He helped her untie the knot of the suit between her breasts and slipped the top down her shoulders, her skin felt sticky from the dried ocean water. She slipped her shorts and bikini bottoms off, holding onto his arm for balance as her vision was still blurred by tears. When she was finally bare she pulled his own shirt off before untying the string at his waist and pushed the material down his hips.
She stood on her toes to kiss him, searching out his familiar touch. He kissed her back, needing the same reassurance that she did: they were alive and safe, and they were together. They fell wordlessly back on the bed and continued to touch each other, finding comfort in the familiarity of their bodies against each other.
When they finally fell asleep a while later, Hermione's thoughts went to Cho. She had done nothing other than to be with Ron and she was hunted for it. Hermione gripped the arm around her waist tighter and felt Fred pull her close. She would never let anything happen to him, she thought fiercely. He would be safe no matter the cost.