Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any related characters.

A/N: Happy Sunday drabble day! Here is some Shell Cottage angst. Thanks to the anon on Tumblr who requested the following quotes: "Wake up, please wake up!" and "There are absolute no limits when it comes to you. I'll do anything to keep you safe."

Keep You Safe

"Hermione, wake up! Please, wake up!"

Ron was trembling as he held Hermione's lifeless form in his arms. He was stumbling through the sand, his lungs burning from the lack of oxygen. But, he had to keep moving. He would conserve every last bit of energy he had if it meant Hermione would be safe.

Ron hoarsely shouted out as soon as he saw Bill and Fleur emerge from their cottage.

"Help her, please. You've gotta help her."

"Ron, what happened?" Bill inquired as he ran over, obvious worry etched in his eyes.

"Don't ask me questions right now!" Ron snapped back, gripping Hermione tighter to his chest as his body sank down to the sand in exhaustion. "Just tell me she's gonna be alright."

Fleur's eyes softened, and she lowered herself down into the sand next to him, placing a gentle hand on Hermione's arm. "Ron, we can't know that if we don't know…"

"I said NOT NOW!" Ron roared, releasing his hold on Hermione momentarily to kick tufts of sand into the air.

"Ron, I'm going to need you to calm down," Bill gruffly murmured, grabbing Ron by the shoulders and steering him away from where Fleur was tending to Hermione.

"No, I'm not leaving her!" Ron shoved Bill away, but his brother grabbed onto his coat and pulled him straight back.

"Hey, listen to me! You are no good to her, to anyone, if you keep on like this, alright? You need to take a walk. That's an order."

"Ron, mate," Dean hesitantly whispered from behind him, "Let's just head down to check on Harry…"

"I just-I can't…" He couldn't breathe. He couldn't breathe without knowing she was going to be okay.

Ron let out a frustrated growl, pacing back and forth as he weighed his options. A part of him wanted to follow Dean's advice — to go to Harry, check in on his best mate. But the other, rather significantly large part of him, was terrified to let the girl he loved out of his sight. He had already failed to protect her once today, and he'd be damned if he allowed it to happen again.

"Ron?"

He heard it. Her voice. A bated whisper, so reminiscent of the way her name fluttered out of his deluminator all those months ago.

In an instant, he was sliding through the sand until he dropped to his knees next to her frail form.

"We really should get her inside…" He vaguely heard Fleur murmur from behind him, but he ignored her concerns.

Ron only saw Hermione, who was slowly returning to consciousness. He recognized the fear, the terror behind her eyes as she adjusted to the new scenery. Ron reached for her hand, intertwining her cold, bony fingers with his warm, calloused ones. A single tear fell from his cheek as he read the vulgar term in dried blood that had been branded into her skin. The anger boiled inside of him, with half the urge to be sick from the the mere thought of her torture.

At least, until the faintest squeeze on his hand brought him back to the light again. All remaining anger washed away, like the waves catching the sand on the shore.

"I...I heard you — calling for me," Hermione croaked out. It pained Ron to know that her voice was likely dry and scratchy from her screams. The screams that Ron could still hear in his mind when he closed his eyes. Likewise, his own voice wasn't in the best shape, either.

"You kept me alive, you made me want to keep fighting."

Ron's heart swelled with love for the fragile woman holding his hand. "There are absolutely no limits when it comes to you, Hermione. I'll do anything to keep you safe."

Shakily, she reached up her hand to drag it softly across the stubble on his cheek. "Will you hold me, then?"

Ron wasted no time before hooking an arm carefully behind her back and hoisting her up into his lap. Her face nestled into the crook of his neck, her breathing shallow. Ron began to rub slow circles on her back soothingly, not caring who all happened to be watching this intimate moment between them.

It was Hermione. And she was going to be okay. They were going to be okay.

"Always."