Chapter twelve
"Ms. Noramison, I beleive it would be best if you would leave now," Madam Pomfrey said briskly, "They both need their rest."
Crys nodded silently. She sqeezed Harry's hand and gave Ron a gentle kiss on his unconcious lips. She looked back at them sadly before turning to leave.
On her way back to the Griffindor Tower she passed through the Entrance Hall and peeked through the large wooden doors into the Great Hall. She saw the through enchanted ceiling that the night was clear and even though it was only nine o'clock it was nearly December so the night sky was pitch black. The hall seemed so strange, all empty and quiet. No bustling around eating chatting like there had been that morning before the quidditch match. She walked over to the Griffindor table silently and stroked the back of Ron's chair gently. Just this morning he had sat there, not eating his breakfast even though his friends had prompted him. Ron was not at all good with nerves. She let the silent tears stream slowly down her pale cheeks as she lay down on the table, the days events replaying in her head like an old movie.
Ron wouldn't eat a thing. He never did on gameday. That boy is stubborn as Hell. He sat there staring at his untouched porridge with a dirty scowl on his face.
"Ron eat." Crys said from beside him, "You're worrying me."
"I'm fine." he mumbled, "Not hungry that's all." He stood up suddenly and set off out of the Great Hall for the Griffindor Captain's office. Crys chased after him.
She ran up from behind and grabbed his arm. When he stopped she ran up around to face him in the nearly abandoned Entrance Hall.
"Be careful, okay?" she had whispered before pulling him into a terribly tight hug and kissing him gingerly.
He nodded silently and set off in the same direction.
That had been the last time she spoke to him. She just lay on her back on the table, her legs propped up. The tears rolled off her cheeks and she looked up at the night sky. It's not even the real sky, she though, nothing's real, this is just an awful dream, I'll wake up tomorrow and they'll both be fine. She hadn't even close to convinced herself.
Her mind flashed back to the game. Seeing both Harry and Ron's bodies falling simultaniously a hundred feet towards the ground. Dumbledore had seen Harry and slowed him down when he was still fifty feet above the turf on the quidditch field, but he hadn't seen Ron until he was but five feet above. He hadn't softened the blow much. The chaos had been unbeleiveable and no one but the Griffindor quidditch team had been allowed in to see them for the first two hours. Hermione and Crys had sat on the floor outside the hospital wing silently for the whole time. The ran in when Ginny walked out, shaking her head. Neither of the boys had woken up.
"Now what are you up to?" a voice said from behind her. She sat up on the table and spun around to see Harry, standing in the doorway of the Great Hall. Her jaw dropped and she quickly hopped off of the table and ran over to meet him.
"What are you doing?" she asked, "How did you get Pomfrey to let you out?"
"Didn't," he said, "I snuck out."
"How's Ron?" she asked anxiously.
"No different."
She looked away and Harry saw her quickly swipe a tear before turning back.
"Oh God, Crys," he said pulling her into a tight hug, "He'll be okay. He always is in the end."
She nodded but he didn't think she was buying any of it.
He just hugged her closer and they stood there for a long time, waiting for something. Anything really. Just something to take her attention from Ron's state.
Crys awoke early the next morning. The sun had barely risen when she grabbed her robes and pulled them on over her pajamas. She ran through all of the twisted hallways of Hogwarts and stopped when she got to the door way of the Hospital Wing. She heard Madam Pomfrey talking.
"I just don't know Professor, you should probably alert his parents and siblings. They would probably like to see him before..."
Crys heard footsteps coming towards her and Professor Dumbledore opened the door and held it open upon seeing Crys. She nodded at him but the grave look on his face scared her near to death. She ran in and saw Harry sitting up in his hospital bed, but Ron hadn't moved at all.
Harry gave her the same grave look and she ran to Ron's bedside. She knelt down next to him and took his hand in hers before laying her head against his bandaged chest to listen for his heart. It had a slow, steady beat to it. Like it was just about to forget everything. She listened to this beat. She found comfort in it. Just knowing it was there. Just hearing it she knew everything was going to be alright. Then it stopped. All of a sudden the slow, steady beat that had just seconds before made her feel safe, was gone. Her own heart skipped two beats and her tears again strted flowing down her cheeks.
"It's not true." she whispered aloud, "I know it's not. Stop it Ron."
The beat did not return. With every second of silence her chest constricted further.
"You are a terrible liar, Ron!" she spoke at a reguler level this time, "You know you are."
She heard Harry sniffle from behind her.
"Stop lying to me Ron!" she was nealry screaming now, "I won't take it!"
She slapped him across the face. For a second the only sound was the echos of the slap. Crys had apalled herself. She slowly stood up and backed away from Ron's bed. She tripped on the leg of a chair near Harry's bed and fell into a crumpled pile onto the floor. Harry reached down and pulled her up until she was sitting. He leaned over the edge of his bed until he could hug her and she turned away from Ron's body and buried her face in Harry's shoulder, crying.
"What's this?" a voice came from behind her. She didn't move.
"I said what's this?" It came again, "I fall from my broom and get knocked out for what, a day? And when I wake up my girlfriend and my best friend are together? Is that really what I deserve?"
Both Harry and Crys' heads snapped up at his words and their mouth dropped open. Crys pulled away from Harry and stood up. She tried to run to Ron's bed but she tripped and slid there. She pulled herself up and grasped him firmly.
"Ow," he said, "Ow! Careful."
"Sorry, sorry." she said while crying and smiling at the same time, "Uh! God! You are such a jerk!" She positioned a hand on either side of his head and pulled him into a sloppy kiss.
"Ow!" he said, "Why is my face bruised? Can't Madam Pomfrey fix things like that?"
Harry laughed. Crys again put a hand on either side of his face, but this time a bit more gently. She just looked into his eyes silently and then melted away into tears on his lap, her legs still crumpled up beneith her on the concrete floor.
"Jerk." she mumbled again.
"Hermione! HERMIONE! He woke up! HE WOKE UP!" Crys ran into the Griffindor sixth year girls dorm.
She shook Hermione awake.
"What?" she said sleepily.
"He woke up! He woke up!" she said excitedly.
"He did?" she snapped awake.
"Yes! YES!"
"Okay, stop repeating everthing."
"Come on!" Crys pulled her out of bed and dragged her down a few stairs to the fifth year Griffindor girls dorms.
"Hold on." she said hurredly before running through that door too.
Hermione heard muffled yells through the door, "Ginny get up! Get up! He woke up!" She heard mumbling. And Crys yelled "YES!" she then ran out through the door holding Ginny by the wrist and grabbed Hermione the same way and dragged the two of them all the way down to the Hospital wing where they remained until halfway through the day when Ron was released. All the way back up to Griffindor tower Crys would not let go of him. She was so paranoid he would just collapse she kept an arm around his back at all times and there was a huge grin that seemed permanently attached to her face.
When they finally separated that night Crys was only in bed ten minutes before she decided that she couldn't stand it any more and snuck out to see Ron. She quietly crept all the way down through the common room and up the staircase opposite the one she came down. She slipped through the door as silently as she could. She picked out his bed by the trunk at the foot of it with R.B.W. engraved in a bronze plate. Crys crept over to the side of his bed and pulled the curtain aside, slipped inside with him, and pulled it shut again.
He woke up when he felt the side of his mattress dip down. He smiled when he saw his girlfriend slipping under the covers with him and scooted over a tiny bit so she would fit.
"What-" Crys cut him off with a finger to her lips
"Wand." she said. He pointed to his bedside table and she reached out, grabbed his wand, muttered a quick silencing spell on the bed, and replaced his wand.
"Fancy seeing you here." she said.
"What are you doing here, Crys?"
"Well I was going to come up and sleep with Seamus but then I figured, 'What the hell, my boyfriend isn't in a coma anymore so I guess I could sleep with him instead.' That is," she added quickly, "If you are feeling well enough to handle me."
"I'm fine."
"That's what I thought. How's your cheek?"
"Fine. Madam Pomfrey healed it for me this morning."
"Sorry about that by the way."
"It saved my life stop apologizing."
Crys smiled.
"Besides," he added, "You know I can get a bit agressive myself sometimes."
"Oh, Ronald!" she said, tilting her head to the side with a small grin, "My memory seems to be failing me! Would you care to revive it for me?"
"Well I suppose I could." Ron grinned now too. Crys giggled, quite unlike herself.
The room outside the bed was unusually quiet with the lack of Ron's snoring and Harry figured he must have Crys over, finally.
