Disclaimer: All characters are the property of J K Rowling who I greatly admire.

My first effort – feedback greatly appreciated.

The next few days passed like a blur for Ron. He and Hermione spent every available moment together with Hermione reciting instructions from the book of Tibetan magic she had borrowed form the library. At times Ron felt as if his head would burst with all the information that Hermione was expecting him to absorb.

"It's all in here, Ron," Hermione would say. "If two friends pure in body and spirit witness the wrongful death of a friend they can perform the Tantric Karezza to summon the life force and bring the friend back to life."

"Yes," Ron would say.

"Ron, are you listening?"

"Of course."

"Ron, you've got to take this in," said Hermione, urgently. "You're the one that has to mix the herbs, burn the incense and chant the incantations. You have to take complete charge of the ritual. I'll be the passive force. Besides, the incense will make me drowsy. I'll be half knocked out. Do you understand?"

"Yes," said Ron, impatiently.

"Now listen, Ron," continued Hermione, "this is very important. When you undrape me and reveal my nakedness you must anoint me with the special oils and then when you enter me we both have to hold back our orgasms. It's non-orgasmic sex that builds up the life force. If either of us come it could ruin everything."

"Fine," said Ron, glumly.

Ron, like most young men, had often thought about what his first time would be like. And, like most young men, he had often worried about it. How would it go? What if the girl was more experienced? Would he be able to please her? Would he be able to perform? But, like most young men, it hadn't really caused him too much anxiety. OK, so what if the first time wasn't that great. There wouldn't be too many hurdles to jump before everything was going smoothly. These things usually worked out.

But this was different.

Now the life of a friend, his best friend, depended on the first time being perfect.

"There's one more thing, " said Hermione.

"What's that?" asked Ron.

"The ritual has to be performed at midnight on the night of the first full moon after the death."

"The first full moon!" exclaimed Ron in alarm. "When's that?"

He was sure the moon had been quite bright the night before.

"It's tomorrow night," said Hermione, slowly. "We have to be ready by then."

"No pressure then," said Ron, trying to raise a smile.

Inwardly he felt miserable.

At midnight the following night Neville Longbottom, unable to sleep, lay in bed and thought about what was happening in the Astronomy Tower. That afternoon he had approached Ron sitting alone in the library. As usual Ron was looking thoroughly miserable and Neville wanted to know why. He was sure it had something to do with Harry Potter.

At first Ron had refused to tell him anything.

"It's not fair," said Neville. "I'm in the DA. I was at the battle of the Department of Mysteries."

It was true, thought Ron. Neville had fought bravely at the Ministry of Magic when members of the secretly formed Defence Academy, nicknamed Dumbledore's Army, had confronted a group of Death Eaters including Voldemort himself. It didn't seem fair to keep anything from him and, besides, Ron really wanted someone to talk to.

Talking in hushed tones Ron told him everything. The death of Harry Potter, the ritual he and Hermione were going to perform that night, his worries about remembering the incantations and the correct mixing of the herbs and his anxieties about his sexual performance. For a while Neville couldn't think of anything to say.

"It'll be fine," he said eventually. "I mean, when you have to do something important, really important, you just find it in yourself. Look at how good I got at all that defence against the dark arts stuff when I knew that the person who had tortured my parents had escaped from Azkaban."

"I suppose you're right," said Ron.

At least I hope you're right, he thought.

And now the time had come. Hermione had spent he afternoon preparing the room at the top of the Astronomy tower that they were going to use for the ritual. She had carefully inscribed the symbol of a snake and an egg on the floor around the altar. At each corner of the altar she placed a bowl which, later, would hold the burning incense. A tall candleholder was positioned at each of the four compass points. Finally, she erected a black veil behind which the body of Harry Potter would lie.

The ritual started well enough. Before Hermione entered the room Ron prepared the herbs in the correct manner and circled the altar reciting the incantation. Then he filled the bowls with a mixture of the herbs and incense and set light to the mixture. A thick white smoke spread across the top of the altar. Then Hermione entered and lay on her back on the alter. Like Ron she was wearing nothing except for a black robe. Ron stood at her feet, raised his arms above his head and continued with the incantation.

But something was seriously wrong, thought Ron. Concentrating as he was on the ritual he was terribly aware that nothing was happening between his legs. Don't worry, he kept telling himself, it'll happen. There's plenty of time.

Hermione's breathing had become deep and steady. Ron could see that the smoke from the incense was causing her to become drowsy, as Hermione had said that it would. He hoped that Hermione's reduced awareness of what was happening would help his situation.

The moment had come for Ron to undrape Hermione. Slowly he unbuttoned her robe and pulled it apart revealing Hermione's slim naked body. Nothing. He reached for the bottle of the special oils with which he was to anoint Hermione's body. Continuing with the incantation he rubbed the oil into Hermione's left breast. Even though he felt the nipple stiffen slightly there was no physical reaction in Ron's body. He continued with the right breast. Still nothing. Hermione, her eye's half closed, was unaware of Ron's increasing panic. He continued to apply the oil over her belly and then down the outside of each leg. Still nothing. Then he applied the oil up the inside of each leg. Still nothing. Finally he was massaging the oil around Hermione's vagina. Her breathing seemed to deepen but, still, there was no reaction from Ron.

It was time for Ron to remove his own robe. He wondered if there was any point in carrying on. He dreaded facing Hermione and he hated himself for letting Harry and everyone else down. Still, he carried on with the ritual. He unbuttoned his robe and let it fall to the floor around his feet. In disgust he stared down at his limp, flaccid penis.

"I'm sorry, Hermione," he mumbled, feebly. "I'm really sorry."

"Well, well, well, Weasley," laughed a familiar voice from behind him. "You really are pathetic, aren't you?"

Ron spun round. To his horror he saw that Draco Malfoy was standing at the door, a malicious grin spreading slowly across his face.