CHAPTER 11

Hermione woke up in the middle of the night to Mrs. Black screaming. Hermione knows Mrs. Black does not start screaming on her own; something woke her up. Hermione glanced over at Ginny's bed and saw it was empty, with the sheets tossed carelessly to the side. Now, Hermione was beginning to worry. Mrs. Black is screaming and Ginny's missing. Those are two things added only means something bad must have happened.

Hermione quickly got out of bed and put on her bathrobes. She ran to the door and opened the door slowly. The screaming got worst, but Hermione still couldn't tell what caused the noise. Then, she saw Ron walking up past the staircase, clearly upset. She ran to Ron and turned him around.

"What's wrong," Hermione asked. "What happened? Where's Ginny?"

"I don't have a sister," Ron spitted.

"Don't be silly," Hermione said concerned. "Tell me what happened."

"I thought we weren't talking," Ron said, turning back around and started to walk away.

"Ron," Hermione yelled after him. It didn't matter. He kept on walking. She ran after him. He went into his bedroom but slammed the door shut. Hermione entered the room without knocking first. Now isn't the time for nice formalities. Something is clearly bothering Ron.

"Ronald Weasley," Hermione said slamming the door behind her. "What is your problem?"

"You talking to me again," Ron asked, throwing himself to his bed. "I thought you were mad at me about Luna."

Hermione growled at hearing the name mention. "That's not important right now. What happened? Why is Mrs. Black screaming? And why is Ginny out of bed?

Ron buried his head into his pillow, tuning Hermione out. Hermione went over and sat next to Ron on the bed.

"Ron," Hermione said, resting her hand on Ron's back. Somehow that seems to calm Ron down a bit. He turned to look back up at Hermione. "Please, talk to me."

Ron sat up and told Hermione everything from Percy's unexpected return, Bill's acceptance, and the quick row with Ginny in the study. Hermione couldn't be more happy for Percy's return. Bill and Charlie were right. The family does need to stay together. But, obviously, Ron doesn't feel that way.

Hermione knew she couldn't tell Ron that. He still clearly held a grudge against Percy. If she told him his brothers were right, he would blow up and throw her out of his room. And that's not what Hermione wants. She wants to make him feel better. She wants to comfort him and help him make things easier for him.

"I understand where you're coming from," Hermione said. "Percy was horrible these past two years. But he still is your brother."

Ron looked upset again. He opened his mouth to retort but Hermione cut him off. "But that doesn't excuse him for his behavior. He should have begged on his knees for your forgiveness." Somehow, this was exactly what Ron wanted to hear. Because after she said that, Ron calm down again and started staring into space, lost in his thoughts.

Hermione hated to see Ron this upset. But she knew she shouldn't push Ron too much. When Mr. Weasley was hurt last Christmas, Hermione sat with Ron all night and didn't say one wordto each other. However, after a while, he started to open up to her.She knew this is exactly the same. She continued sitting on the bed, with her feet hanging over the edge, and Ron sitting right next to her.

"I don't want Percy to die," Ron cried out. Hermione saw tears coming from Ron's eyes. Something she never saw Ron do before. Her heart went out to him. She opened her arms and helped Ron lie down with his head in her lap. She started running her fingers through his hair, trying to calm him down. "He was just so horrible to all of us. But we wouldn't be a family without him."

Tears were falling from Ron's eyes to Hermione's lap.She took her other hand that wasn't in his hair and started to wipe the tears away from his face.

"Percy's not going to die," Hermione said, trying to be reassuring. "Don't talk like that."

Ron continued lying there, tears still coming from his face. Hermione still remained silent, stroking his hair with one hand and his arm with her other hand.

Eventually, the tears stopped. Hermione checked Ron, but he fell asleep already. Hermione smiled to herself and thought maybe she should go to bed too. She slowly and carefully, slipped out from under Ron's head. She pulled the cover over Ron and placed a pillow under his head.

Butterflies returned to her stomach. She leaned over Ron and gave a soft lingering kiss on the lips. If it doesn't happen while we're awake, at least it can happen when we're sleeping, Hermione thought. She wanted to give Ron one more kiss before she left, but he was turning on his side. She didn't want to disturb him while he was sleeping.

She walked to the door and opened it half way when Ron called out to her. "Hermione?"

She turned with her hand still on the door. "Where are you going?"

"Back to my room," Hermione said. "You fell asleep, so I thought I should go to my bed too."

"Can you," Ron looked down for a bit, trying to find the right words to say. "Do you reckon you can stay?"

Hermione would love to stay with Ron all night, but it wouldn't be proper for them to stay in the same bedroom all night. Especially since his parents don't sleep too far from here. "I would sleep better if you were here," Ron said. How could Hermione refuse now? She slowly closed the door shut, and slipped her bathrobes off.

Ron got up and readjusted himself. He left some space on the right side of him, allowing Hermione to sit there.

"You can lie in bed, you know," Ron said. "It can't be comfortable sleeping sitting up."

Hermione was hesitant at first, but decided against the little voice in her head not to and lay next to Ron. She took him into her arms and started stroking his hair again. He wrapped his arm around her waist, and quickly fell asleep.

Hermione never felt so nervous in her life. She has never been in this position before. She was in Ron's bed, holding onto each other, and falling asleep.

"Night Hermione," Ron mumbled.

"Goodnight, Ron," Hermione said, placing a kiss on his forehead.

And before Hermione knew it she fell asleep, with Ron in her arms.

The next morning, Hermione woke up dazed. When she opened her eyes, she realized she didn't recognize the place. Her arm was, however, was feeling numb. She looked down, and she noticed Ron heavily sleeping. She immediately remembered where she is. She slept over in Ron's room. She stroke his hair until she realized she should go back to her room before someone catches them.

She slowly rolls Ron off of her arm. She looked across the room and noticed Harry isn't in his bed. Maybe he got up earlier, Hermione said. Then, a dreadful feeling came to her. What if Harry saw us? What if Harry came in the middle of the night and saw us? If Harry did see them like that, how would he react? Hermione wasn't quite sure. But she wasn't going to stay around Ron's room waiting to find out.

She slipped out of the boys' room and went back down to the room she shared with Ginny. When she opened the door, she expected to see Ginny sleeping, but she wasn't. Her bed was also empty. Hermione thought of where Ginny could have been. The last place Ginny was at was the study room. At least that's what Ron told her. She decided to go down and check the room.

She walked down the stairs to the study room. She opened the door and gasped. However, she covered her mouth with her hands so she wouldn't be heard.

Inside the study room was Harry and Ginny. They were both sleeping together on the couch. Hermione would have never thought of that. She knew Ginny fancied Harry, but Harry was always off in his own world to notice Ginny. She didn't know what this meant. She didn't know what Harry holding Ginny in his arms meant. She closed the door, thinking she must wake them up before anyone else notice.

She went back upstairs and started coming down the stairs again, this time with heavy steps. She stopped at the study room and pretended to struggle with the doorknob. The noise will surely wake them up, Hermione thought. She coughed a couple times, struggled with the doorknob some more, and even kicked the door once. After she felt she gave fair warning, she slowly opened the door.

This time, she didn't see the two of them on the couch sleeping. Instead, you see them involved in a very intense chess game. Hermione stepped in the room, but both of them still refused to look at Hermione. Hermione coughed to clear her throat, then Ginny finally turned around and looked at Hermione.

"Oh, Hermione," Ginny said, acting mildly surprised. "I didn't even see you there. You're up early."

"I could say the same for you two," Hermione said with a smile.

"I'm thirsty," Harry said getting up from the game. "Um, are you thirsty? I'm going to go to the kitchen and get some drinks."

"Yeah, some orange juice," Ginny said.

Harry nodded and walked past Hermione with his head down, avoiding any eye contact.

"So," Hermione started. "are you going to tell me what happened or are you going to let me assume?"

"Nothing," Ginny said. "Percy came home last night and-"

"Yeah, Ron told me."

"He did? When did you talk to him?"

"Last night. Mrs. Black woke me up. I saw Ron walking up the stairs, and he told me everything."

"Well, then I guess you know what he said to me in the study then."

"Yes, I did."

"Yes, well, Harry was still here. And he just comforted me. It was nice to have someone to talk to and have a shoulder to cry on."

"As opposed to Dean Thomas?"

"Harry was here, okay! Just drop it!"

Ginny walked away from Hermione and sat back down on the couch Hermione saw her sleeping with Harry earlier that morning. Then, Ginny started sobbing and she put her face in her hands. Hermione felt a pang of guilt in her stomach. She didn't mean to make Ginny cry. She sat next to the younger girl and put her arms around her shoulders.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it. I should haven't said anything about you and Harry."

"It's not that," Ginny said through her sobs. "It's happening, isn't it?" Hermione looked puzzled, unsure of what Ginny was talking about. "I mean, there's a war on the brink. And someone we know is going to get hurt."

"Who, Ginny? Who is going to get hurt?"

"Someone close to us. Someone we know. No one is safe. Harry told me Dumbledore came to remind him about You-Know-Who. He said there's a war coming. A war like last time, but this time, there is a way to stop him. Forever."

"How Ginny? You're not telling me everything," Hermione said desperately. Ginny just shook her head. She's not telling Hermione anymore. Now, Hermione has to find out more about what Dumbledore and Harry talked about. If a war is about to start, then, they all need to prepare for it. However, being muggle-born, Hermione knows she's one of the main target.

Just then, Harry walked in with the orange juice. He saw the crying Ginny on the couch and looked at Hermione concerned. Hermione got up from the couch and let Harry comfort her. She left the room, with more questions than she had when she entered.