Chapter 4- The Nightmare

~*~

Okay so two chapters in one day?! Unheard of for me! I hope you enjoy. Draco will certainly be featured in the next chapter. *hides behind couch* and no he isn't in this chapter. *ducks projectile* Sorry!

Disclaimer: getting really sick of this! Suffice to say all hers not mine.

~*~

Ron looked around him at the distressed students.

"I can't believe we didn't think to ask who else was in the hospital wing." He said.

"Umm" said Harry who was watching Cho flee the hall with sad eyes.

"Yeah" said Hermione unconsciously biting her lower lip, a sure sign that she was thinking hard. "We're going to have to call off our revenge plans for now." She said suddenly, obviously reaching a decision.

"I didn't realise we had any." Harry said snapping back to reality and looking at Hermione quizzically.

"You might not have but I did." Hermione said mysteriously

"Yeah" Ron added, "and don't forget I've spent the last five and a bit years thinking of nothing else then how to get revenge on that smarmy git!" They all laughed which made everyone in the hall glare at them.

"Sorry, sorry." Hermione whispered as they crept out of the hall.

"Geez they are acting as if someone had died!" Ron complained as they started up the stairs to their common room.

"If Malfoy hadn't been there someone could have." Hermione said quietly. Harry heard and gave her a sharp look which she ignored.

***

Hermione tossed and turned beneath her sheets, caught in the throes of a nightmare. She was running across the lawns of Hogwarts, everything was blurry and she was infused with panic. Suddenly lightening flashed across the sky, followed quickly by a loud rumble of thunder and then the rain came pouring down in sheets that drenched her to the bone. Her heart thudded and she kept running, slipping and sliding through the mud and soaking grass.

"Hermione!" she heard a cry that she knew belonged to Ron but she couldn't stop she must get to…where? Where was she going? Hermione froze in momentary confusion but then she heard another yell but this time it wasn't Ron. No this time it was a shout of surprise and pain; it was Malfoy who had shouted! Hermione started to run again and suddenly she came upon a cliff and Malfoy was dangling off it. She threw herself onto her stomach and reached a hand out to him; he caught it and clasped it in his own. But she wasn't strong enough to pull him back over the edge and he hung there looking up at her with trust in his eyes. She felt Harry and Ron on either side of her and she looked up at them pleadingly the rain stinging her face.

"Help me." She whispered but they still stood staring stonily down at her, "Please," she begged this time a little louder, "Please help me! HELP ME!"

Hermione sat up with a start, sweat making her hair cling to her face and neck and her breathing shallow and quick. Her heart was beating fast and the panic she had felt in the nightmare was still with her. Without thinking she threw off her covers and slipped out of the girls' dormitories, her feet padding on the cold stone floor. She flitted across the common room and up the stairs to the boys' dormitories. She opened the door quietly and crept inside; she could see both the boys asleep and she headed for the lump that was Ron.

"Ron." She whispered her voice still shaky

He mumbled and turned over to face her. Slowly his eyes flickered open and he looked confusedly at her.

"Hermione?" he croaked, "what's wrong?"

Hermione opened her mouth to speak but a great sob escaped her mouth and before she knew it she was babbling on about how he had probably fallen and how they hadn't helped her.

"AND HE DIDN'T DESERVE TO DIE!" she finally shouted before sinking to her knees, her white ankle length nightie flaring out around her. Harry woke with a start and called over to Ron

"What's going on? Did I hear Hermione just then?"

Ron groaned quietly then answered:

"No, it's alright Harry. Go back to sleep." After a few moments Ron heard steady breathing which told him Harry had done as he was told. Ron hopped out of bed and put his arm around Hermione who was snivelling on the floor.

"Hey, what's all this about?" he asked gently.

"I had a nightmare." Hermione felt like a child coming to her parents in the night complaining of bad dreams but she was so wretched she didn't care. Ron didn't laugh at her as she had expected instead he helped her up and sat down next to her on the bed.

"Who was in trouble?" he asked softly

But Hermione was too exhausted to answer; she leant against him and snuggled up to his chest. Ron accepted her silent request to be left alone and wrapped his arms around her, trying to pass on as much comfort as he could. It must have worked because soon she too was asleep. He slowly untangled himself from her and lay her down in his bed, covering her with his covers. Opening his trunk quietly he pulled out a spare blanket and settled himself on Seamus's stripped bed. He took one last look at Hermione's pale and tear-stained face before sighing and closing his eyes.

***

Harry was the first to awaken the next day. He rolled over expecting to see Ron in the next bed and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw not his red haired best friend but a beautiful girl with her hair spread out over the pillows. For a second he was confused then he realised it was Hermione; after he had digested this piece of information he realised he was confused again. He raised his head slowly and looked around. Yes it was definitely his dormitory, everything looked exactly the same except Ron who, it seemed, had turned into a girl. Harry decided to be rational and calm and think things through. He tried for about a second and then did the second best thing.

"HERMIONE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? THIS IS THE BOYS' DORMITORY!"

Hermione bolted upright and Ron also came into view from the other side of the room.

"Huh?" he said stupidly then the events of the previous night came back to him. "oh." He finished.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Harry asked, bemused.

"Well, you see last night Hermione…." Ron stopped as he saw Hermione shaking her head and looking at him imploringly.

"Can I speak to you outside for a sec Ron?" she asked pointedly. Ron closed his mouth with a snap and followed her down to the common room.

"What?" he asked, his arms folded as he looked at her inquiringly.

"I don't want to worry Harry about nightmares. It is so trivial compared to what he has been through and the nightmares he has had, it would make me feel so guilty. Let's just leave it, okay?"

"But if you have any more nightmares…" Ron trailed off again as Hermione glared at him.

"There will be no more nightmares." she stated.

Ron shrugged:

"Fine. Can we get some breakfast now?"

She laughed. "Yes but you might want to get dressed first!" it was only then that Ron realised he was wearing only his boxers. He blushed but still managed a seductive wiggle of his eyebrows.

"Get away with you!" Hermione chuckled.

Ron started bounding back up the steps to his room when he heard his name

"Ron?" he looked back, "thankyou."

Ron smiled back reassuring her that she was not indebted to him in anyway.

***

Hermione went back up to her room and after a quick shower pulled on her beige cords and a black top. She plaited her hair so it fell in one long snake down her back then, satisfied, she began her trip to the infirmary. Upon reaching the hospital wing and going inside Hermione looked around and saw that something was wrong. Seriously wrong.

***

~*~

Dum de dumdum! Next chapter will be up ASAP. I know Hermione cried again (damn her! Why couldn't she be more strong?) and that it looks like Ron/Hermione but rest assured it is not! Please, please, please review and it will be out ten times quicker. Oops. Am I giving you a reason not to review?! Because I got this chapter out so fast (in one night for those of you in the northern hemisphere) I only have two reviews from chapter 3. They will be included in the next set of thankyous so don't think I have forgotten either of you (waiting and Rina, see told you!)

~*~