Lips are turning blue
A kiss that can't renew
I only dream of you
My beautiful…

Harry woke up feeling like he was buried six feet under. Every bone in his body was aching, his arm and wrists were throbbing from the wounds he had inflicted the night before, after his fight with Ginny.

"Damn! gauze bandages suck!" he muttered angrily, scratching at his wrist where the material chafed his skin under his long sleeve sleeping shirt.

He lay there in his bed, just staring at the ceiling for a while. He was just about ready to fall asleep again when the curtains around his bed were ripped open and someone fell unceremoniously onto his legs, pushed by another someone who was jerking the curtains closed again.

He yelled out in pain as someone's elbows connected with his knees.

"Sorry mate." Ron muttered from on top of him, sitting up and glaring at the other person. "Hermione, what in the hell is wrong?" he demanded.

Harry blinked the bleariness out of his eyes to stare up at his girlfriend, who was pacing around the tiny space. She was chewing nervously on her lower lip and kept muttering something like "I can't believe it."

"Hermione," he yawned sleepily, but she cut him off with a short wave of her hand.

"Did anyone else know about Ginny's problem?"

"What problem?" Ron asked, looking perplexed.

"Don't tell me you haven't noticed!" she yelled in astonishment.

Harry sent her a warning look, hoping silently that it was discreet and overlooked by Ron. It was until…

"What?" she yelled at him.

He coughed uncomfortably and asked "Hermione, can I talk to you alone?"

"What!?" Ron yelled.

"Just… Ron, can I please talk to my girlfriend alone for a second?" They both stared at him. "Go!" he yelled and pointed to his curtains. When Ron didn't move he just fixed him with an icy glare and curled his lip at him. The other boy immediately got off the end of his bed and parted the curtains, casting one last disdainful glance back at his best friend.

When the hangings fell shut again, Harry quickly picked up his wand and cast a silencing charm over his bed.

He motioned for his girlfriend to sit on the bed next to him. She sat wearily, never taking her eyes off his face, currently occupying a stern expression one usually reserves for reprimanding misbehaving children. She fidgeted under his intense gaze for a bit before finally breaking the silence.

"What's wrong Harry?"

"I want you to say nothing to Ron about Ginny's 'problem'. She'll deal with it on her own."

"You already knew!? Why didn't you tell one of us?!"

"The same reason you don't tell me what you and Ron are doing." She looked at him with wide eyes. "It's something you silently promise to tell no one, even if it's wrong."

"Harry, I - "

He held up his hand to stop her. "No more lies. We end this here and now. But, I want you to promise me something." She nodded dumbly. "If I let you go to Ron, you have to promise not to say anything to him about Ginny's problem until she stops."

"How do we know when she stops?"

"I'll tell you. I know what she's going through and I know what she's feeling."

"How?"

He hesitated a moment before rolling his sleeves up to is elbows and holding out his arms. Both limbs were decorated from elbow to wrist in a winding red and silver pattern of old and new. Hermione gasped when she saw them and reached out a hand to touch them but he quickly pulled away from her.

Her hand dropped and her face fell as she realized what his gesture meant.

"Harry, I'm sorry."

"Get out." He rolled over onto his side so that his back was facing her. He made no movement until he heard her leave.