Chapter Four: Explanations
Arriving at the hospital wing with a cloak to cover you was easy. Gaining entry through the magically sealed doors presented more of a problem. Once she had exhausted her resources on 'unlocking door spells' all of which the door seemed to be protected against, she was beginning to feel quite despairing. To make matters worse it was at that moment when Lavender Brown decided to come rushing into the hospital wing and come to a crashing holt in front of her.
"What are you doing here" She snapped, eyes flashing.
"He's my boyfriend Hermione not yours! He chose me! I knew you were trying to steal him from me!"
"He's my friend Lavender and I care about him, and I don't particularly care what you have to say on the matter".
"You're trying to steal him from me aren't you" Lavender shrieked rather wildly.
"I knew it! You're jealous! Snogging Victor Krum wasn't enough for you, so now you have to come after Ron!".
"How dare you!" Hermione yelled back, her mouth almost dropping open in surprise when Lavender pulled her wand out and aimed it directly at her.
"Leave him alone"
Hermione stood her ground, her own wand now at the ready. Her mind was whirling at the ridiculousness of the situation in where apparently Lavender had lost her remaining sanity… if she ever had any! She could picture Ron in a 'show down' like this with Victor, (and possibly had dreamt about it on many occasions, not that she'd admit that to anyone), but the idea of her fighting Lavender over Ron seemed to incredible to comprehend….well if she really was asking for it.
"Petrificus…." Lavender started to yell the words. Before Hermione had time to react a loud crack startled them both and a distressed looking Dobby appeared in between them.
"Miss Hermione you both must be quiet! You will be getting in trouble!" He then sized up Lavender and realized what she was about to do.
"You will not curse Harry Potter and Mr Weezy's friend" Dobby shrieked enraged. Lavender stood completely frozen to the spot. Having never seen a house elf up close the appearance of one was rather alarming. Having one yell at you she felt was just down right terrifying. She turned and fled with a strangled shriek, leaving Dobby to look rather sheepish, Hermione thought, if that was indeed a possible emotion for a house elf.
"Jealous! How dare she say that I'm jealous?" Hermione turned suddenly on Dobby and was further infuriated by him grabbing her suddenly and pulling her after him through the doors that he had somehow managed to unlock.
Dobby looked from the struggling, furious Hermione to the sleeping Ron, hoping to distract her long enough to save himself from possible bodily harm.
"Will Mr Weezley be alright?" He asked anxiously.
"How can he be alright! Someone tried to poison him Dobby! He was nearly dead! DEAD!" she shrieked, not noticing this time that Dobby moved far back out of range. He took the time to quickly close both doors, soundproof and seal them until morning. Harry had suggested he do this for some reason, although Dobby personally felt that Hermione in her current state was not someone anyone would like to be trapped in a room with!
"She thinks I'm JELOUS! She thinks I'm trying to steal him! I didn't do anything! He chose her!" The stress of the last few weeks to say nothing of the emotional upheaval she'd experienced that day seemed to come exploding out in an eruption of words she was unable to control.
"What kind of a friend am I? I sent a flock of birds on him! I haven't spoken to him in weeks all because of some stupid and dare I say trashy girl who could never love him like….I didn't even give him a birthday present!" Her shouting had gradually become more and more strangled as she fought to hold back the tears.
The cold sensation of unreality had passed, now leaving her with burning anger, fear and desperation. She stood staring at Dobby desperately trying to fight a loosing battle against her tears.
"What if he'd died and I never told him how much I care about him?" She turned and tried to open the door, realizing that her escape had been cut off by Dobby and his in exhaustive supply of interfering magic.
"DOBBY OPEN THIS DOOR" She demanded angrily, hitting it hard before finally sinking to the floor and letting loose a storm of pent up emotion that she had resisted but was now unable to control.
Dobby personally felt he was not qualified to handle this situation and was now in such a state that the sight of Ron sitting up in bed with a dazed expression on his face caused that elf to dive onto his bed and hug him, almost strangling him in the process. Dobby disappeared with a crack and Ron struggled to pull his limp and resisting limbs out of bed so that he could get to Hermione. The process was both painful and extremely difficult because his body currently felt like it had been drained of all energy. He was also afraid because he knew once she realized he was awake and seeing her like this that her pride would kick in and she would probably attempt to head far away from him to the other side of Hogwarts. Although it seemed Dobby had fixed it that to do so would require a broom stick. He made a mental note to thank that interfering elf if he survived the next few hours.
Right now it seemed he was the cause of Hermione's grief and he desperately wanted to fix that. He'd been awake ever since he'd heard Lavender shouting at Hermione outside the door, only pretending to sleep for fear it had been Lavender and not Hermione that had entered the room with Dobby. Hermione's revelations and been a shock to him, but had filled him with hope. Obviously she had to care about him if she could feel like that…. And he had hurt her! He felt so distraught and guilty that for a crazy moment he contemplated whether he didn't deserve to have Slughorn finish the job.
"Hermione" He managed weakly, sitting thankfully on the floor and positioning himself so he had a firm grip around her shoulders, pulling her towards him. She let out a cry at the sight of him, then buried her face in his chest. Ron held her without speaking letting her cry into him until the tears had finally exhausted themselves.
"Oh Ron I'm so sorry" She finally gasped, wiping the tears from her cheeks.
"I didn't mean to cry all over you like that. It's just with everything that's been happening". She took in a gulping breath to calm herself, quickly wiping away the last of her tears.
"You shouldn't be on the cold floor" Ron, who still felt weak and nauseous, wondered whether the journey back to the bed would be the thing to finish him off, or if Hermione would suddenly remember what a git he had been and might possibly do it for him.
She helped him back into his bed, pulling the covers around him gently and then pulling a chair close beside him.
He looked at her nervously, he had missed her more than he cared to think about over the last couple of weeks, but waking up in the middle of the night after having almost died of poisoning, he was forcefully reminded of just how much he had missed her. Lavender was….. he wasn't entirely sure what she was. She was a girl that liked hanging all over him and snogging whenever she could get her lips on him. The disgusting part was that whenever she was with him he couldn't help but let thoughts of Hermione drift into his head. He missed everything about her, her kindness, her passion for life, study and anyone in need, her ability to make him laugh, her ability to lose just about every chess match they ever played, her ability to make him argue just so he could watch her….. heck he missed everything about her! And yet he was with Lavender. Didn't that just make him the world's biggest git.
"I don't deserved this you know"
"What! Ron of course you didn't! I don't know why anyone would want to… to… poison you" Hermione gasped, surprised when he shook his head at her in amusement, then pulled her off the chair to sit across from him on the bed in one quick movement.
"No, not the poisoning. I deserved that for being the world's greatest prat these last few weeks. I meant that I don't deserve you….. you know as a friend. Deserve having such a good friend as you" He added quickly, unsure how she'd interpret his words. He didn't want to blow it this time by saying something stupid.
"RON!" She shrieked, causing him to cringe and massage his ringing ear. Obviously he had said something stupid.
"Don't you EVER say anything so STUPID again! Do you have any idea how worried we've all been? How can you say you deserved that?". Ron sucked in a breath unsure of how to handle this information.
"I didn't mean…. I didn't mean it like that exactly". He stammered;
"I meant I'm sorry for being such an idiot these past few weeks". He was rather afraid of where his own honesty was taking him but plowed ahead to add; " I was jealous of Krum. I hated hearing that the two of you were, ah, snogging".
Hermione considered the possible many responses she could have to this. For starters she could be furious with him on many levels for that statement alone, or rebuke him for such a childish way of showing his jealousy, but hadn't she just tried to do the same thing herself with Mc Laggen? She could be angry with him for using Lavender in such a manner, but then hadn't she done the same with Victor to get back at Ron for not noticing she was a girl? She tried to prove herself a girl worthy of his notice, and now it seemed he had tried to prove himself a boy worthy of her notice. Logically perhaps it was only fair.
Ron watched her curiously, loving the way she seemed to be considering this as she might an essay in class.
"You know Ron I think we've proved enough to each other over these last couple of years don't you think?". She blushed slightly, rolling her eyes at the smirk that crossed his face. She took a breath;
"I guess my embarrassing display on the floor there should be enough to show you just how much I do care about you, no matter how insecure you are!".
"I'm not insecure".
"Oh please Ron! You are so insecure of your own worth and you have no faith in yourself!".
"Were you all really… .you know…..that worried?"
"Oh Ron! You know how you felt not being able to help me at the pub before term started? Or back at the ministry fighting the death eaters? That's how I felt. I thought I was going to lose you and I just couldn't stand it!" Her blush deepened and she looked away quickly. This was probably more emotion then they had ever shared with each other in their whole lives and while she was extremely happy they were sorting out their issues she was still scared that perhaps he really did love Lavender.
"Well it looks like you're all stuck with me for now! Harry made sure of that".
"You're enjoying this aren't you?" Hermione watched him levelly, she could see the sparkle had returned to his eyes and his colour was fast following.
"Nice to know people care". He shrugged and Hermione knew that despite his bravado Ron really did appreciate knowing how much they cared about him.
"I thought for sure I'd messed up for good this time".
"No, but if you ever put yourself down and say your not good enough or smart enough for me I will get Ginny to teach me the worst hex you can possibly imagine". Ron laughed, gasping for air as the sensation took more effort that he was ready for yet.
"I'm so lucky to have you... You know, have you as a friend". He wanted to tell her but he couldn't, now was definitely not the time and she would only be hurt and disappointed in him if he did. First he had to sort out things with Lavender, then he could work on the courage to tell her how he really felt about her.
"Do you think Dobby's coming back for you or was he planning to leave you here with me all night?". Hermione laughed, the slight reminder of his constant wit and sarcasm spread a warmth through her that was as overwhelming as the cold and the emptiness had been.
"Try not to sound too hopeful Ron, you have a girlfriend remember".
"Oh yeah I forgot about her, what was her name again?" He mocked with a grin, then suddenly a more serious look came over his face.
"Hey wait a minute you don't think we…. I mean you know we didn't…." She burst out laughing at the expression on his face which looked so goofy, anxious and embarrassed.
"Well that just means I don't have to kill her then!" She smiled to let him know she was joking…. Well mostly joking.
"Remind me never to get on your bad side again. You know speaking of that; I was just trying to figure out you know, who would want to….. do me in like that. Who'd bother to hate me enough to try and poison me?" The idea sent a very unpleasant shiver down his spine.
"Ron we don't know that the poison was meant for you. It could just has easily have been meant for Slughorn, or any student that got in the way. Anyway Ron I'd never let anything happen to you!" He gave a small laugh at her matter of fact tone.
"You'd put up a bloody good fight I'm sure…..So does all this mean you've forgiven me for being a prat?" She looked into his hopeful eyes and couldn't help her heart melting. Damn this boy was good.
"I forgive you Ron. I think you've been punished enough".
"You don't think someone poisoned me for that do you?"
"I meant Lavender" Hermione giggled, leaving Ron to laugh at her, shaking his head.
"You should get some sleep now Ron, you still need your rest"
"Yes Hermione" Then Ron eyed her questioningly wondering where exactly she was planning to sleep. While having their conversation Hermione had remained at a distance, sitting across from him on the bed. He wasn't entirely sure what to do in this situation. He knew what he'd like to do, but that was completely out of the question for now.
Hermione interpreted his questioning gaze correctly, wondering herself what she should do. She could have taken another bed of course, but right now she just wanted to be near him.
She pulled his covers more comfortable around him then grabbed a blanket of her own and lay down next to him on top of the bed.
"Is this ok Ron? I just want to be with my friend right now". They looked at each other embarrassed for a moment, then Ron put his arm around her, drawing her into his arms.
"It's more than ok Hermione". She relaxed against him, all the pain, hurt and anger having been completely washed away leaving her lying contentedly next to him.
She waited for him to close his eyes and drift off to sleep, sensing that despite his attempt at nonchalance, the closeness of almost dying had shaken him as much as it had shaken her.
"I'm not going to lose you Ron". She whispered, before closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep in his arms.
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One more chapter to go on this story!
This refers to my previous story- A Lesson in Muggle Studies: Popular Sports and Beverages (just because I felt like it!).
A note to my lovely reviewers:
Thank you for continuing to encourage me and give me constructive criticism where needed! Again I hope it wasn't too soppy. I did actually edit it a little for soppiness! I promise I tried. But you know some like soppiness more than others so it's hard to get the right balance. I also made sure to spell check first this time! See I really do listen to you all. :-)
If it's too soppy I'm sorry. Again I plead my only case being that it was a near death experience, and of course it's Ron and Hermione so a little sop was necessary. Also notice I tried not to jump the story, I wanted to write the part where they made up, but I tried to remain true to the story and not take them too far in the relationship. I hope it wasn't too repetitive in their conversation, it's hard trying to get out all thoughts and feelings while keeping them in character and not taking them too far!
Hope you liked it!