"Damn.not again! What happened? Who is it now?" Hermione asked worriedly. She noticed Ginny wasn't with him. "Not Ginny!?" Hermione asked, beginning to panic. She squeezed Ron's hand. "No! Lavender! She's petrified outside!" Harry said. "Oh no. Damn it, Malfoy's gotten to her!" Ron said. "And there's something else!" Harry said. "What?" Hermione and Ron said together, Hermione sqeezing Ron's hand even tighter, Ron softly rubbing his thumb against Hermione's hand. "Malfoy.he's wearing Lavender's necklace!" Harry said. "DAMN IT MALFOY!" With that, Ron slammed open the portrait of the Fat Lady and rushed outside. "Oh no, Ron'll kill him.literally.KILL him. We HAVE to go after him!" Hermione added. "RON! RON! Come here! Please.Ron, luv!" "I'll be outside to take care of Malfoy." Harry said. "Alright. RON.GET BACK HERE NOW! Ron.please.I'm warning you." "Forget it, Hermione. Malfoy's getting what he deserves!" Ron said, running faster. "Well then DON'T cast ANY unforgivable curses, Ron. I'm warning you. As much as I HATE Malfoy, he's DEFINITELY not worth going to Azkaban for! Be careful! Remember what I said! And remember what you said to me. If you really mean what you said, you won't do that." Ron froze in his tracks. He shrugged. "Urgh.you're right.but the dumbass is going to get rid of that thing, and Voldemort is going to come in! What then, Hermione? What then? What if he comes and kills Harry? What if he comes and kills me? What if he comes and kills.kills you? What would I do?" Ron shuddered at saying the mention of his name. "What would I do if I lost you? I'd never forgive myself. Never." Ron said the last word silently, but Hermione could still hear it. He just stared at the floor. He let another tear fall. Hermione let tears flow freely down her face. "Oh Ron." Hermione said walking toward him slowly. "This is when it's time to be scared, Hermione. And this is time when I AM scared." Hermione started crying. Not just letting tears flow down her cheeks. Crying. She hugged Ron. "Ron.I'm scared too. Now more than ever. Please never mention the thought of death. I never, EVER want to lose you. I'm not scared about Voldemort, I'm scared about you. I'm scared about Harry. Ron, I need someone in my life right now. I need YOU in my life right now. So PLEASE promise you'll be there for me. Please! I NEED YOU! I need you to be strong.for you and me.for us." They stood together, wrapped in an embrace. Hermione let tears fall, but wasn't embarrassed. People would walk by and stare, but they wouldn't care. "Hermione.I'm with you. Always. Forever. No matter what." Ron wiped the tears from Hermione's eyes. "I have to go and find Harry and Ginny now, be safe. I love you." Ron kissed her and then ran off. Hermione had nothing to do. She was worried, but very tired, and decided to take a brief nap before Ron came back. She went to the common room and got under the blanket from the recent night. She remembered the warmth that filled the blanket, the love that filled the blanket. She breathed in slowly, taking in every essence. She was quickly asleep. Hermione woke up, but didn't bother to open her eyes. She felt comfortably warm. She felt someone move the hair out of her eyes. She opened her eyes. It was Ron. He was laying right next to her. "Oh gods Ron! You look so awful.Oh gods.what happened?" She asked taking his hand. "Malfoy got into a fight with me. Luckily, Ginny finally told Dumbledore. He casted a spell, and Malfoy came flying off of me. He gave Malfoy veritaserum, and he DID want it for you-know-who! Dumbledore took the necklace, and destroyed it properly so you-know-who couldn't enter the school. Hermione, luv, It's over. We did it!" He smiled. "Oh, Ron.I love you, I was so scared you wouldn't make it. Please don't get up, I love you here next to me. My little 'luv bug'" "I'm not going anywhere." He said with a smile. He kissed her forehead. "Good. This is they way I want it to be for the rest of my life.Oh gods, if only words could tell you how much I love you.they just.can't." she said. "And it's impossible to tell you how much I love you.it would take me the rest of my life." "Stop it.you're making me cry!" she said half laughing, a tear rolling down her cheek. He kissed her, and a few moments later Harry came in carrying Ginny. "Why so happy?" Hermione smiled and asked Ginny. "Since the mandrakes were so healthy, they brought Lavender back right away, and they gave Harry and Ron a special award!" she answered. "Ron! I am SO proud of you!" Hermione said. She pulled him to his feet, and kissed him again. He lifted her up and spun her around once. "I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you, luv. Gods.thank you for everything. Oh yeah.and it turns out that Malfoy is suspended, and he petrified Harry because he was talking to Neville about what happened. And he got the passwords by beating a first year into telling him. Oh yeah.did I tell you. 'My Mione'.that Lucius Malfoy was ARRESTED?" "My little detective.That's great.all because of my luv." Hermione said, laughing. Ron kissed her.