Time Will Heal All Wounds


*The Disclaimer* I don't own anything Harry Potter. JKR owns HP, not me


Chapter 3----Time with Hermione


The weekend had finally come, as did their first Hogsmeade weekend. Harry bounded into the common room, gleefully announcing the weekend. "What should we do first?" he asked Ron and Hermione.

"I'm not going" Ron said, dejectedly. He had lost his balance as he tried to kick away someone's shoe that was blocking his way to the couch and fell to the floor. Ron growled with frustration as he struggled to try to get up.

"Why?" Harry asked, as he and Hermione reached down to help him up.

"The exact reason you guys had to help me up" Ron told them. "I can barely go anywhere without falling and the times I do get around without falling, it takes me forever. I'd just slow you down." He looked down at his crutch and said quietly. "I don't think I'm ever going to get used to this thing"

"Oh Ron" Hermione said. "You won't slow us down" But she knew he was right. He would slow them down, but she didn't care, and she knew Harry wouldn't care either. But she also didn't want to go if Ron wasn't going.

"Come on Ron" Harry said. "Come with us to Hogsmeade. We want you there"

Ron looked down and shook his head. He plopped down on the couch and sighed. Hermione sat next to him. "Then I'm not going either. I'll stay here with you"

"No. No, Hermione. You go" Ron told her. "I don't want you or Harry to miss it just because I'm not going"

"I'm staying here with you, Ron" Hermione told him firmly. "Besides," she said softer, whispering in Ron's ear. "If we can convince Harry to go, this will give us some time to ourselves. We haven't had that in a long time"

Ron had to smile at that, which made Hermione pleased. She hadn't seen Ron smile much lately. It made her feel better when he smiled.

Ron nodded. "Okay, Hermione and I will stay here. You can go on Harry"

"No, I'll stay here too" Harry said.

"No, go" Ron said, a bit impatiently. "Just don't forget to bring us some good sweets from Honeydukes"

"Are you sure?" Harry asked.

Ron nodded. "Of course, I'm sure. Go on. Have fun"

"Okay then" Harry said

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Several hours later, every Gryffindor student was heading out of the common room, other than Ron and Hermione. Harry was the last to leave along with Ginny and Neville. "Don't forget Honeydukes!" Ron called after him. Harry smiled. "I can't forget that"

After all the students had left, Ron turned to Hermione and said. "Well, finally got rid of them"

She giggled and snuggled up against him on the couch. Ron put his arm around her. He hadn't done that in so long. He didn't realize how much he missed it, or how much he missed her. He breathed in the lovely smell of the shampoo she used. He didn't know what the smell was, but it smelled great.

She looked up and gave him a soft kiss. Though he was smiling at her, she couldn't help but notice the pain in his eyes. Every time she looked at him, she saw the pain. The pain of that week in his eyes. Even if he was in high spirits, which wasn't often, he had that pain in his eyes. 'Understandable, I suppose' Hermione thought. 'That isn't something you get over right away'

Hermione leaned up and kissed him more passionately. Ron smiled "Mmm, I like that", and leaned back down to kiss her back, parting her soft lips with his tongue.

While they were kissing, Hermione rolled over and found herself on top of him. Their intense kissing continued. Ron snaked his hand under her shirt and began working the clasp on her bra. But after only a few seconds of trying to undo her bra, he quickly withdrew his hand from under her shirt and stopped kissing her.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked him.

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just....just...don't want to do this right now"

"Then we don't have to" Hermione told him, encouragingly.

Ron sighed, and she thought she saw tears in his eyes. 'How can I help him? How can I make him feel better?' she thought. Not knowing the answer, she just lay in his arms and saw him close his eyes. In only a few minutes, he was sound asleep. Hermione chuckled, gave him another soft kiss and fell asleep in his arms.

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Ron and Hermione were still asleep when Harry, Ginny and Neville walked into the common room. "Looks like they were having more fun than we did" Harry smirked, motioning towards Ron and Hermione asleep on the couch. Harry quietly placed the bag of Honeydukes sweets on the table beside the couch, not wanting to wake them up. But, he did manage to wake Hermione. She sat up, and looked around. "Oh, hi, Harry" She said, a bit groggy.

Harry smiled. "Hey, sorry, didn't mean to wake you up. But it's best you get up now since the others will be returning soon and the common room will be packed again"

"Should we wake Ron?" Hermione asked. She looked over at him. He was still sleeping, though she noticed a bit of a wince. Harry noticed that wince, too, and was afraid he was having another nightmare.

"Yeah, maybe we should" Harry said, but before they could, the common room door burst open and in walked Fred, George and the rest of the Gryffindor's. Fred and George were laughing about something.

Harry didn't know if it was Fred and George's ruckus, or the fact that the common room is full of Gryffindor's chatting and laughing and joking, but Ron suddenly sat straight up, screaming at the top of his lungs and sobbing hysterically. "NO! No, don't please! Don't hurt me anymore! Please!"

Harry and Hermione ran to Ron to try to calm him down. The whole common room got quiet and everyone was staring at Ron, all with concern on their faces. Ginny was crying silently in the corner. Fred and George, who, for once, wasn't joking and laughing, ran to their brother, who was still shaking and crying, his face in his hands. Hermione couldn't take it and joined Ginny in the corner, crying. Harry was at Ron's side, Fred and George on his other side. Harry had then seen something he never thought he'd see Fred (or George for that matter) do. Fred pulled his little brother closer to him and held him tight. "Shhh, calm down, Ron" Fred told him softly. "It's over now, everything's over now" In a few minutes, Ron's tears started to subside, though he was still shaking.

Harry, who was fighting back tears himself, was now glad that Ron was going to see a doctor about this. Maybe that's what he needs to get him over all this.

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Harry had taken Ron to the bathroom and wet a rag with cold water. "Here" he said, handing it to Ron. Ron took the rag, still shaking, and washed his face. Then he buried his face into the rag.

"Oh God, Harry" Ron moaned into the rag. "In front of every single Gryffindor"

"Don't worry about that" Harry told him, kneeling down beside Ron. They understand"

Ron had sniffled into the rag before lifting his head up and looking at Harry. "They didn't know about those nightmares. Only you and Hermione did"

"Don't worry about it" Harry said again.

Ron tossed the rag in the sink. "These nightmares are starting to get more frequent, like they were when this first happened. They seemed to be diminishing. But now..." he trailed off.

"You'll be okay" Harry told him, patting his arm as he stood up. "You ready to get back to the common room?"

"Not really" Ron chuckled. "But I can't stay here, can I?"

As Ron and Harry entered the common room, they saw Professor McGonagall block their way. "Mr. Weasley" She said softly. "Professor Dumbledore would like to speak with you"

Ron looked at Harry, then nodded at Professor McGonagall and turned around and followed her out into the hallway.


*Author's Note*. Chapter Four up soon