Disclaimer: These characters are mine..I WISH. All these characters belong
to J.K. Rowling.
Ron fell on his bed and sighed. It'd been a long, hard day. They'd been in the library all day, researching. He almost thought Harry and Hermione had gone mad trying to find the name Nicolas Flamel. Ron was tired out by the thirtieth book. Ron now knew a thousand and one inventions. "That anti- constipation potion sounds bloody brilliant though," said Ron, saying his thoughts aloud. Thankfully, nobody was in the room. Ron loosed his tie, and started to unbutton his shirt. Hell, he was never going to look at the library the same way again. He was tired of looking at book..maybe, forever! He stopped unbuttoning on his third button down. A slow, easy smile crept onto his face. He wasn't tired at looking at Hermione though. She looked kind of delicate, the way she chewed on her bottom lip. Ron noticed she liked to her fingers through her strands of her, and she would bite the nail on her pinkie whenever she was nervous and was really, really concentrating. It was cute, actually. Cute? Ron, get a hold of yourself, thought Ron, shaking his head. Hermione is just your friend, remember? She's nothing more. She can't be nothing more...as Ron's thoughts strayed to the first night. The night in the common room with Lavender. He shuddered. Lavender's words had stung. But not as much as Fred and George's. Charlotte never hated Bill. She loved him with all her heart. The bloke broke her poor heart.
Ron started to unbutton his shirt some more. He took off his shirt. The cold night air from the window made him get goose bumps. But he wasn't so sure if it was just the night air.He put on his pajamas, and slid into bed. He sighed. Man, this is comfortable. Forget playing wizard's chess downstairs with Harry. Harry could wait there all night while Ron slept. Hermione was just his friend. Just his friend. Ron closed his eyes, and Hermione's scowling face and her bushy brown hair filled his mind's eye. Ron smiled in his sleep. "You're beautiful." he murmured in his sleep.
Hermione put on her clothes quickly. She tried to be quiet, as not to wake Lavender or any of the other girls in her dormitory. Harry, Ron and her were sneaking to the third corridor. She shivered in excitement. It was going to be dangerous. Very dangerous. How exciting! Hermione was always the rule lover in front of Harry and Ron, but she was never going to let on that she loved the thrill of breaking the rules- and getting away with it. She grabbed her wand, before gently closing the door behind her. She skipped the steps two at a time, and when she casually strolled into the common room, saying "Ron and Harry are you-" She was cut off, when she saw Neville pointing his wand at Harry and Ron. Harry looked surprised, Ron looked just plain annoyed. "Put the wand down, Neville" said Ron, irritated, rolling his eyes. He took a step toward Neville. Neville gulped and took a step back. Hermione smiled apologetically. Poor Neville. He was always scared of everything. She had told him to stand up to people, but she hadn't meant to them.Neville backed near the fireplace. His face was pale and his hands were shaking. His eyes looked from Harry to Ron to Hermione.
Ron whipped out his wand from his backpocket. "Neville, don't make me- "Petrificus Totalus!" cried Hermione, with a brief flick of her wand in Neville's direction. Neville's wand clattered to the floor. His body went rigid and he fell onto the floor, with a lurch. "-use my wand on you." Ron trailed off. Harry winced. "Ouch," he mouthed to Ron. Ron, looking stunned, slipped his wand back into his back pocket. Hermione grabbed Harry's invisibility cloak and started walking briskly toward the door. "Come on, you two!" she called from the opening, "you're not going to let Snape beat us to it, right?" Ron looked toward the opening, skeptical. He turned back to Harry. "Ready, mate?" "Yeah, I'm all to go." He looked back to Neville, whose face was covered in complete disbelief. "Sorry about this, Neville. We had to do it.", said Harry, walking toward the opening. "I'll buy you some chocolate frogs, mate!" called Ron, from the opening. Hermione was waiting outside in the hall, tapping her foot, with the invisibility cloak clutched in her hand. "Harry," Ron whispered gruffly in Harry's ear before Hermione caught sight of them.. "remind me, okay?" Harry looked amused. "Remind you of what? You're always forgetting everything." Ron took a glance at Hermione, whose wand was sticking out of her front pocket on her robes. "Hermione may be a prick sometimes, but she's a prick who can knock us on our arses with her spells." Harry chuckled, and glanced at Hermione. "A prick? Nice one. Yeah, I wouldn't piss her off if I were- Hermione caught sight of them and spread out the invisibility cloak over her head. She held a hand out to them, with the invisibility cloak on top of it. Ron and Harry ran under it, and mumbled a hello. "Let's get on with it, shall we?" whispered Hermione. "Yeah sure, let's get it on..", replied Ron sarcastically. Hermione stepped on his foot smartly. "Ow!" whispered Ron. "Ron?" whispered Hermione. "What?" "Shut up.", said Harry.
Harry, Ron and Hermione stepped into a darkly lit room. Hermione didn't know what the room was, but she saw a huge platform in the middle of the room..with statues.
"Well, I certainly love what they've done with the place.", remarked Ron, his eyes sweeping over the ceiling. "Just dashing." Harry added. Hermione rolled her eyes, and she caught sight of a wooden door across the room. "Look, there's the door. Come on!", said Hermione, walking onto the platform. The lights came on. Torches lined the entire room on the walls. The platform was a stony, black and white checkerboard. The statues were rusted, and looked almost medieval. It was almost a masterpiece. "Wow.", said Hermione, her eyebrows raised. "Yeah, Hermione that just about sums it up.", replied Ron. "We don't have time for this guys..", said Harry, walking across the platform. Suddenly, one of the statues whipped out a sword and pointed it directly at Harry's chest. Hermione gasped. Harry took in a sharp intake of breath, his eyes on the sword. "What the hell is going on?" , cried Harry. Ron's eyes looked across the platform. It started to look familiar, but it couldn't be.it was too funny to be real. "Merlin, it can't be.." murmured Ron. Hermione looked at Ron, confused.
"What?", asked Hermione. "Harry, back away from the statue. Get off the platform or you'll get us killed.", said Ron. Harry didn't object. You would do anything to get that sword off your chest, would you not? Harry backed away slowly. The statue put the sword back into it's scabbard. "I know what this is." said Ron, looking surprised. "What is it?" said Hermione, rubbing her arms. Ron grinned. "It's a chessboard." "What?" "It's a chessboard. Okay, you have to listen to every word I say or we'll never get out of here." Hermione opened her mouth to protest, but Harry gave her the Look. "Just trust me, okay?" said Ron, his eyes set. Hermione slowly nodded. "Okay, so what do we do?" asked Harry. "Right. This is the plan." said Ron, yanking Harry and Hermione toward him.
"..Now what do we do?" asked Hermione. Ron was a knight, Harry was a pawn and Hermione was a bishop. Harry was about to be jumped by a black knight. If this really is Wizard's Chess, well.Harry would be out. Ron's hands, which were covered in cold sweat, was gripping the horse's rein tightly. His eyes were all over the chessboard, figuring out which move to make. I have to get Harry out of danger, thought Ron. He looked toward Hermione, who was biting her lip, as she looked back at Ron. Ron looked away. "No," he muttered under his breath, "I can't put 'Mione in danger." That's the last thing Ron wanted to do..put Hermione into danger. Okay, he couldn't move Harry. He wouldn't move Hermione. Then he figured it out. It would save Harry, AND checkmate the King. It was risky, but it was the only way.. "Okay. As soon as the queen takes out her sword, checkmate the King. Then the game will be over.I know Snape is right behind that door, I know it.", explained Ron, his eyes on the chessboard.
Both Hermione and Harry looked confused, but then it dawned on Harry. "No way in hell!" said Harry angrily, shaking his head. "What are you talking about?" asked Hermione, looking back and forth between Ron and Harry. "This git here- Harry jabbed a finger in Ron's direction- " thinks he can have the Queen check him so I can checkmate the King!" said Harry angrily. Hermione gasped, and cried out "Ron, no!" "Ron, this is Wizard's Chess. The one Hermione's always going on about, the barbaric kind! What if it kills you? Huh? What if it kills you?" said Harry, shaking his head sadly. Ron gulped. He was determined. He had to get Harry and Hermione out of there, alive.
"Harry?" "Ron, listen to me-" "Shut up."
Ron looked away from Harry, despite his protests. He looked at the stony Queen, and his voice cracked as he said, "Knight to E Five." The stony knight lurched forward, and stopped in front of the stony black Queen. Ron gulped past a huge lump in his throat. "Check."said Ron.
The Queen took her sword from her side and raised it above her head. Ron looked Hermione. Tears were streaming down her face, and her brown eyes were drowning in sadness as they stared back at Ron. Her mouth was moving, and her hands were clasped together. What was she doing.was she praying? Ron saw Harry shut his eyes tightly, and Hermione started screaming. Then, Ron suddenly felt a sharp, stinging jab into his side. Everything around him was crumbling. Ron was falling, falling, falling..and then his whole world fell into darkness.
"Ron!" screamed Hermione. Before she even set a foot off her spot, Harry called out, "Hermione! Don't move! The game isn't over yet!" Hermione stopped moving. Her face felt strange.wet. She raised her fingers to her face, and almost smiled. She was crying. Crying, again. She's not supposed to cry, but she's been crying an awful lot lately. Crying an awful lot ever since she came to Hogwarts. Ever since she met Ron. Harry took three steps forward, toward the King. Harry's eyes were cold. "Checkmate" he stated to the King. The King's sword fell. Harry stood staring at the sword for a moment, his jaw set. Then, he let out a breath Heremione hadn't know he'd taken in.
"It's alright, Hermione! The game is over. You make sure Ron is okay, I'm going to go ahead. Owl Dumbledore and make sure he gets down here pronto!" said Harry, wiping blood from his lip. Hermione ran toward Ron, whose body was crumpled on top of the rubble from the stony white knight. She grabbed his arm, and pulled him over. There was a nasty cut above his left eye, blood was running from his nose and his lip was bleeding as well. "Hermione, are you okay?" asked Harry, adjusting his eye glasses.
"Yeah, you haven't seen me cry before, have you?" said Hermione, laughing weakly, tears streaking her face. "I never liked crying- thought it was for cowards- but I found out crying is good for me and if I always kept things bottled up inside myself, it wasn't good for me. I never had friends at home, Harry. I read books too much. I always thought knowledge was so wonderful.." her gaze slid to Ron. Her eyes softened, and were misty as they slid back to Harry's. "But there are more important things than books and cleverness. Friendship. Bravery. I found all these things at Hogwarts. I see all this in you, Harry and-" Hermione's voice broke. "and.and Ron. I feel so lucky to be a witch, to know there's this whole other world.the wizard world. Lord Voldemort can't destroy it. It's too magical, too wonderful, too filled with love-" her voice choked up with tears. "Oh Harry, please stop Lord Voldemort. Please.this world, this world is my home. Our home! It's too beautiful to be destroyed." Hermione started sobbing, her shoulders heaving, as she buried her face into Ron's shoulder. She could feel his heartbeat, and his ragged breathing. She heard Harry run toward the door, his footsteps echoing to the ceiling. She heard a creak of the door, and the steady shut..then she heard a distant voice say, in almost utter amazement."Quirrell?"
Then, she wasn't listening anymore. She fell onto Ron, crying. Her tears soaked his robe. Her hands flew to his hair, and she started stroking it, kissing his face. "I-I thought you had died!" cried Hermione, stroking his hair gently.
She ran her fingers over his left eye, and almost shivered in fear. Ron looked so beaten up, so defeated. It was just so scary to see Ron-strong, boisterous Ron- look so weak. Hermione sniffed, and wiped away at her nose. She stood up. She sniffed harder, trying to clear away her nose so she could breath properly. She took out her wand and murmured at Ron, "Locomotor Ron". Ron's body lifted off the ground. Hermione walked out of the chessboard room, into the flying keys room. As soon as she opened the door, one of the brooms fell on Ron. As soon as the broom touched Ron, the flying keys soared toward Ron, their sharp wings glistening in the light. Hermione gasped and jumped before Ron's body. Dozens of sharp wings dug into her arms and her upper chest. She winced at the pain, but she quickly picked off the wings and took the broom away from Ron's body. Her chest and arms were stinging, and it took all Hermione had not to cry. "We're going to get out of here, Ron" said Hermione, determined. She couldn't raise her arm, it hurt too much, but had her hand brush against Ron's.
Hermione sat in her bed in the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey went into a fit when she saw Ron and Hermione; Hermione walking with her arms slack, and Ron gliding in from Hermione's spell. Hermione had been given a potion to lessen the stinging in her arms. Then, she was given chocolate. It tasted good, warm and made her feel bettter. Ron was in the bed next to her. He still hadn't woken up. His nose had stopped bleeding and there was a bandage above his left eye. His mouth had a few sealed cuts on it, but otherwise was not bleeding anymore. He looked so weak, and helpless down there.Hermione had never felt so miserable in her life. She should have done something down there to stop him from sacrificing himself. Hermione didn't know where Harry was right now. She wasn't thinking of Harry, she was worried about him, but she was more worried about Ron. She was thinking of Ron right now. She sneaked out of her bed, slipped her feet into her slippers since the tile floor was cold. She sat down on the edge of Ron's bed. She felt her lower lip quiver, and her eyes started watering. She wiped angrily at her eyes. Not now. She couldn't cry now. What a baby, is she! Ron could be such an annoying, stubborn prat sometimes.but he was her annoying, stubborn prat. "You stupid git," said Hermione, her voice choking up, "why did you have to go and get yourself all beat up? Why did you have to be so freakin' noble! I hate how you're so loyal, so loyal that you'd die for it." Hermione started beating at his chest with her fists. "I hate you!" she cried angrily. Then the tears started falling. She put her face against his. Then kissed him. She said, against his cut up lips, almost sobbing."But damn it..I love you too."
Ron fell on his bed and sighed. It'd been a long, hard day. They'd been in the library all day, researching. He almost thought Harry and Hermione had gone mad trying to find the name Nicolas Flamel. Ron was tired out by the thirtieth book. Ron now knew a thousand and one inventions. "That anti- constipation potion sounds bloody brilliant though," said Ron, saying his thoughts aloud. Thankfully, nobody was in the room. Ron loosed his tie, and started to unbutton his shirt. Hell, he was never going to look at the library the same way again. He was tired of looking at book..maybe, forever! He stopped unbuttoning on his third button down. A slow, easy smile crept onto his face. He wasn't tired at looking at Hermione though. She looked kind of delicate, the way she chewed on her bottom lip. Ron noticed she liked to her fingers through her strands of her, and she would bite the nail on her pinkie whenever she was nervous and was really, really concentrating. It was cute, actually. Cute? Ron, get a hold of yourself, thought Ron, shaking his head. Hermione is just your friend, remember? She's nothing more. She can't be nothing more...as Ron's thoughts strayed to the first night. The night in the common room with Lavender. He shuddered. Lavender's words had stung. But not as much as Fred and George's. Charlotte never hated Bill. She loved him with all her heart. The bloke broke her poor heart.
Ron started to unbutton his shirt some more. He took off his shirt. The cold night air from the window made him get goose bumps. But he wasn't so sure if it was just the night air.He put on his pajamas, and slid into bed. He sighed. Man, this is comfortable. Forget playing wizard's chess downstairs with Harry. Harry could wait there all night while Ron slept. Hermione was just his friend. Just his friend. Ron closed his eyes, and Hermione's scowling face and her bushy brown hair filled his mind's eye. Ron smiled in his sleep. "You're beautiful." he murmured in his sleep.
Hermione put on her clothes quickly. She tried to be quiet, as not to wake Lavender or any of the other girls in her dormitory. Harry, Ron and her were sneaking to the third corridor. She shivered in excitement. It was going to be dangerous. Very dangerous. How exciting! Hermione was always the rule lover in front of Harry and Ron, but she was never going to let on that she loved the thrill of breaking the rules- and getting away with it. She grabbed her wand, before gently closing the door behind her. She skipped the steps two at a time, and when she casually strolled into the common room, saying "Ron and Harry are you-" She was cut off, when she saw Neville pointing his wand at Harry and Ron. Harry looked surprised, Ron looked just plain annoyed. "Put the wand down, Neville" said Ron, irritated, rolling his eyes. He took a step toward Neville. Neville gulped and took a step back. Hermione smiled apologetically. Poor Neville. He was always scared of everything. She had told him to stand up to people, but she hadn't meant to them.Neville backed near the fireplace. His face was pale and his hands were shaking. His eyes looked from Harry to Ron to Hermione.
Ron whipped out his wand from his backpocket. "Neville, don't make me- "Petrificus Totalus!" cried Hermione, with a brief flick of her wand in Neville's direction. Neville's wand clattered to the floor. His body went rigid and he fell onto the floor, with a lurch. "-use my wand on you." Ron trailed off. Harry winced. "Ouch," he mouthed to Ron. Ron, looking stunned, slipped his wand back into his back pocket. Hermione grabbed Harry's invisibility cloak and started walking briskly toward the door. "Come on, you two!" she called from the opening, "you're not going to let Snape beat us to it, right?" Ron looked toward the opening, skeptical. He turned back to Harry. "Ready, mate?" "Yeah, I'm all to go." He looked back to Neville, whose face was covered in complete disbelief. "Sorry about this, Neville. We had to do it.", said Harry, walking toward the opening. "I'll buy you some chocolate frogs, mate!" called Ron, from the opening. Hermione was waiting outside in the hall, tapping her foot, with the invisibility cloak clutched in her hand. "Harry," Ron whispered gruffly in Harry's ear before Hermione caught sight of them.. "remind me, okay?" Harry looked amused. "Remind you of what? You're always forgetting everything." Ron took a glance at Hermione, whose wand was sticking out of her front pocket on her robes. "Hermione may be a prick sometimes, but she's a prick who can knock us on our arses with her spells." Harry chuckled, and glanced at Hermione. "A prick? Nice one. Yeah, I wouldn't piss her off if I were- Hermione caught sight of them and spread out the invisibility cloak over her head. She held a hand out to them, with the invisibility cloak on top of it. Ron and Harry ran under it, and mumbled a hello. "Let's get on with it, shall we?" whispered Hermione. "Yeah sure, let's get it on..", replied Ron sarcastically. Hermione stepped on his foot smartly. "Ow!" whispered Ron. "Ron?" whispered Hermione. "What?" "Shut up.", said Harry.
Harry, Ron and Hermione stepped into a darkly lit room. Hermione didn't know what the room was, but she saw a huge platform in the middle of the room..with statues.
"Well, I certainly love what they've done with the place.", remarked Ron, his eyes sweeping over the ceiling. "Just dashing." Harry added. Hermione rolled her eyes, and she caught sight of a wooden door across the room. "Look, there's the door. Come on!", said Hermione, walking onto the platform. The lights came on. Torches lined the entire room on the walls. The platform was a stony, black and white checkerboard. The statues were rusted, and looked almost medieval. It was almost a masterpiece. "Wow.", said Hermione, her eyebrows raised. "Yeah, Hermione that just about sums it up.", replied Ron. "We don't have time for this guys..", said Harry, walking across the platform. Suddenly, one of the statues whipped out a sword and pointed it directly at Harry's chest. Hermione gasped. Harry took in a sharp intake of breath, his eyes on the sword. "What the hell is going on?" , cried Harry. Ron's eyes looked across the platform. It started to look familiar, but it couldn't be.it was too funny to be real. "Merlin, it can't be.." murmured Ron. Hermione looked at Ron, confused.
"What?", asked Hermione. "Harry, back away from the statue. Get off the platform or you'll get us killed.", said Ron. Harry didn't object. You would do anything to get that sword off your chest, would you not? Harry backed away slowly. The statue put the sword back into it's scabbard. "I know what this is." said Ron, looking surprised. "What is it?" said Hermione, rubbing her arms. Ron grinned. "It's a chessboard." "What?" "It's a chessboard. Okay, you have to listen to every word I say or we'll never get out of here." Hermione opened her mouth to protest, but Harry gave her the Look. "Just trust me, okay?" said Ron, his eyes set. Hermione slowly nodded. "Okay, so what do we do?" asked Harry. "Right. This is the plan." said Ron, yanking Harry and Hermione toward him.
"..Now what do we do?" asked Hermione. Ron was a knight, Harry was a pawn and Hermione was a bishop. Harry was about to be jumped by a black knight. If this really is Wizard's Chess, well.Harry would be out. Ron's hands, which were covered in cold sweat, was gripping the horse's rein tightly. His eyes were all over the chessboard, figuring out which move to make. I have to get Harry out of danger, thought Ron. He looked toward Hermione, who was biting her lip, as she looked back at Ron. Ron looked away. "No," he muttered under his breath, "I can't put 'Mione in danger." That's the last thing Ron wanted to do..put Hermione into danger. Okay, he couldn't move Harry. He wouldn't move Hermione. Then he figured it out. It would save Harry, AND checkmate the King. It was risky, but it was the only way.. "Okay. As soon as the queen takes out her sword, checkmate the King. Then the game will be over.I know Snape is right behind that door, I know it.", explained Ron, his eyes on the chessboard.
Both Hermione and Harry looked confused, but then it dawned on Harry. "No way in hell!" said Harry angrily, shaking his head. "What are you talking about?" asked Hermione, looking back and forth between Ron and Harry. "This git here- Harry jabbed a finger in Ron's direction- " thinks he can have the Queen check him so I can checkmate the King!" said Harry angrily. Hermione gasped, and cried out "Ron, no!" "Ron, this is Wizard's Chess. The one Hermione's always going on about, the barbaric kind! What if it kills you? Huh? What if it kills you?" said Harry, shaking his head sadly. Ron gulped. He was determined. He had to get Harry and Hermione out of there, alive.
"Harry?" "Ron, listen to me-" "Shut up."
Ron looked away from Harry, despite his protests. He looked at the stony Queen, and his voice cracked as he said, "Knight to E Five." The stony knight lurched forward, and stopped in front of the stony black Queen. Ron gulped past a huge lump in his throat. "Check."said Ron.
The Queen took her sword from her side and raised it above her head. Ron looked Hermione. Tears were streaming down her face, and her brown eyes were drowning in sadness as they stared back at Ron. Her mouth was moving, and her hands were clasped together. What was she doing.was she praying? Ron saw Harry shut his eyes tightly, and Hermione started screaming. Then, Ron suddenly felt a sharp, stinging jab into his side. Everything around him was crumbling. Ron was falling, falling, falling..and then his whole world fell into darkness.
"Ron!" screamed Hermione. Before she even set a foot off her spot, Harry called out, "Hermione! Don't move! The game isn't over yet!" Hermione stopped moving. Her face felt strange.wet. She raised her fingers to her face, and almost smiled. She was crying. Crying, again. She's not supposed to cry, but she's been crying an awful lot lately. Crying an awful lot ever since she came to Hogwarts. Ever since she met Ron. Harry took three steps forward, toward the King. Harry's eyes were cold. "Checkmate" he stated to the King. The King's sword fell. Harry stood staring at the sword for a moment, his jaw set. Then, he let out a breath Heremione hadn't know he'd taken in.
"It's alright, Hermione! The game is over. You make sure Ron is okay, I'm going to go ahead. Owl Dumbledore and make sure he gets down here pronto!" said Harry, wiping blood from his lip. Hermione ran toward Ron, whose body was crumpled on top of the rubble from the stony white knight. She grabbed his arm, and pulled him over. There was a nasty cut above his left eye, blood was running from his nose and his lip was bleeding as well. "Hermione, are you okay?" asked Harry, adjusting his eye glasses.
"Yeah, you haven't seen me cry before, have you?" said Hermione, laughing weakly, tears streaking her face. "I never liked crying- thought it was for cowards- but I found out crying is good for me and if I always kept things bottled up inside myself, it wasn't good for me. I never had friends at home, Harry. I read books too much. I always thought knowledge was so wonderful.." her gaze slid to Ron. Her eyes softened, and were misty as they slid back to Harry's. "But there are more important things than books and cleverness. Friendship. Bravery. I found all these things at Hogwarts. I see all this in you, Harry and-" Hermione's voice broke. "and.and Ron. I feel so lucky to be a witch, to know there's this whole other world.the wizard world. Lord Voldemort can't destroy it. It's too magical, too wonderful, too filled with love-" her voice choked up with tears. "Oh Harry, please stop Lord Voldemort. Please.this world, this world is my home. Our home! It's too beautiful to be destroyed." Hermione started sobbing, her shoulders heaving, as she buried her face into Ron's shoulder. She could feel his heartbeat, and his ragged breathing. She heard Harry run toward the door, his footsteps echoing to the ceiling. She heard a creak of the door, and the steady shut..then she heard a distant voice say, in almost utter amazement."Quirrell?"
Then, she wasn't listening anymore. She fell onto Ron, crying. Her tears soaked his robe. Her hands flew to his hair, and she started stroking it, kissing his face. "I-I thought you had died!" cried Hermione, stroking his hair gently.
She ran her fingers over his left eye, and almost shivered in fear. Ron looked so beaten up, so defeated. It was just so scary to see Ron-strong, boisterous Ron- look so weak. Hermione sniffed, and wiped away at her nose. She stood up. She sniffed harder, trying to clear away her nose so she could breath properly. She took out her wand and murmured at Ron, "Locomotor Ron". Ron's body lifted off the ground. Hermione walked out of the chessboard room, into the flying keys room. As soon as she opened the door, one of the brooms fell on Ron. As soon as the broom touched Ron, the flying keys soared toward Ron, their sharp wings glistening in the light. Hermione gasped and jumped before Ron's body. Dozens of sharp wings dug into her arms and her upper chest. She winced at the pain, but she quickly picked off the wings and took the broom away from Ron's body. Her chest and arms were stinging, and it took all Hermione had not to cry. "We're going to get out of here, Ron" said Hermione, determined. She couldn't raise her arm, it hurt too much, but had her hand brush against Ron's.
Hermione sat in her bed in the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey went into a fit when she saw Ron and Hermione; Hermione walking with her arms slack, and Ron gliding in from Hermione's spell. Hermione had been given a potion to lessen the stinging in her arms. Then, she was given chocolate. It tasted good, warm and made her feel bettter. Ron was in the bed next to her. He still hadn't woken up. His nose had stopped bleeding and there was a bandage above his left eye. His mouth had a few sealed cuts on it, but otherwise was not bleeding anymore. He looked so weak, and helpless down there.Hermione had never felt so miserable in her life. She should have done something down there to stop him from sacrificing himself. Hermione didn't know where Harry was right now. She wasn't thinking of Harry, she was worried about him, but she was more worried about Ron. She was thinking of Ron right now. She sneaked out of her bed, slipped her feet into her slippers since the tile floor was cold. She sat down on the edge of Ron's bed. She felt her lower lip quiver, and her eyes started watering. She wiped angrily at her eyes. Not now. She couldn't cry now. What a baby, is she! Ron could be such an annoying, stubborn prat sometimes.but he was her annoying, stubborn prat. "You stupid git," said Hermione, her voice choking up, "why did you have to go and get yourself all beat up? Why did you have to be so freakin' noble! I hate how you're so loyal, so loyal that you'd die for it." Hermione started beating at his chest with her fists. "I hate you!" she cried angrily. Then the tears started falling. She put her face against his. Then kissed him. She said, against his cut up lips, almost sobbing."But damn it..I love you too."