A/N: Hello again readers! Here's chapter four! I haven't gotten any reviews yet. I'm hoping I do soon. I mean, if no one's reading this at all, then I have no reason to write it, but if I don't write it, someone out there may be severly disappointed that I don't finish. So if you are reading, please review. I'd love to know if people are actually following this story. For our disclaimer today, we have the groups from Eragon!

Eragon: Um, you know you don't own us either.

Catzy: Yes I'm well aware of that. I met Christopher Paolini. He's a nice guy. I wouldn't dream of stealing his characters.

Saphira: We're not a very comedic bunch.

Orik: Aye, dwarves much prefer caves to fanfictions

Catzy: Well, dwarves are cool and all, but if you diss fanfictions again, I'll kill you with your own ax, dvergar.

Orik: I'd like to see you try, human.

Arya: touches her first two fingers to her lips Atra esterní ono thelduin.

Catzy: does the same Atra du evarínya ono varda. Arya-svitkona, eka fricai un Shur'tugal. Eka aí friai eom du vanyali, dvergar, Skulblaka, un Shur'tugal. Thornessa aí celöbra.

Eragon: Um, you're not a rider. You can't be.

Catzy: Hmmph, can so!

Nasuada: Hey, this is getting stupid! I'm the one who's leading the Varden.

Catzy: Ah, yes, Nasuada, please, start us off.

Nasuada: Ahem, Catmoongirl does not own Harry Potter or its characters

Eragon: The only thing she does own

Orik: Is Tasha Donovan

Arya: Any original characters taht may appear

Saphira: And the plot.

Hehe, enjoy!

Ron leaned back on his hands as a flock of owls passed overhead in the sky towards the Great Hall. 'Must be time for morning mail,' he thought to himself. This morning, instead of being present for mail delivery, Ron decided to go sit out by the lake. He was positive Harry would be surprised to discover that Ron had skipped breakfast. When it came to food, this Weasley was the one with very little self control. However, of stuffing his face with food as he usually did in the mornings, Ron had ventured outside onto the school grounds.

It was a quiet, beautiful day out. The sky was clear except for a few wisps of cloud and a beautifully shining sun. With a smile, Ron ran his hand over the grass, the last drops of dew from last nights humidity gathering on his palm.

"Not hungry, Weasley?"

"Not right now, Malfoy," Ron replied, instantly recognizing the voice behind him. "I was just beginning to enjoy myself."

To Ron's dissappointment, Draco did not give up and leave. Instead, he took a seat next to him. "Come on, Weasley. I'm not here to harass you."

"You could have fooled me," the red head replied, sarcastically.

"You trust Tasha, but you won't trust me?"

"Yep." Ron simply stated, leaning his head back to enjoy the sun on his face.

"Hermione trusts me," Draco stated although his voice held no smugness.
"We all make mistakes, even the smartest of us."

"Is this how you treat Tasha, Weasley? Cause if it is, I'll make sure you never go near her again," he threatened, giving Ron a long, cold stare.

Ron sat up and looked over at Draco. He eyed him for a moment, gazing at his platinum blond hair, his cold grey eyes, and his snow white skin, trying to find what Hermione found so warm and comforting about this boy. He saw nothing; in his opinion, Malfoy was still the same old Malfoy.

"Is it any of your business?" Ron snapped.

Ron thought he may have provoked Draco into an argument, but he remained calm. "It's my business because I care about Tasha. Just like it was your business to yell at Hermione when you dragged her away from my date with her. It was your business because you care about her. Admittedly, you shouldn't have been so harsh, but you had a right to ask questions."

Ron recoiled, thoroughly surprised, causing Draco to laugh softly. "Don't you trust Hermione?"

"Of course I do. It's just-"
"It's just that you don't trust me, right?" Draco interuppted.

Ron looked away, refusing to admit that his arch foe was correct. "You're not Draco Malfoy," he stated simply.

The blond boy tilted his head, looking confused. "What?"

"The Malfoy I knew was never this mature. And he was never right either."

"People grow up, Weasely. I thought you had as well. When we were children, we considered each other enemies due to a rivalry we didn't even understand. I got over it, Tasha got over it, hell, even Potter has been tolerant of me."

Ron grumbled incoherently and fell silent. Draco ran a hand through his hair with a thoughtful expression. "Hermione's been concerned lately...about you."

"She has?" Ron asked, surprised. "But...why?"

"She's afraid she'll lose your friendship because of me. She's been begging me to try and talk to you."

"So she wants us to be...friends, is that it?"

"Pretty much," Draco answered with a sigh.

Ron stood, brushing grass and dirt off his hands. "Alright, we can be friends. I really don't care anymore, Malfoy. If Hermione will be happy, then what the hell?"

Draco stood up and held out his hand. "Truce?"

Ron smiled and gripped Draco's hand in his own. "Truce."

That evening, Tasha lay in bed, her mind swimming with nightmares as she slept.

The girls in her dorm had often complained about her tossing and turning noisily in bed all night long, mumbling in her sleep, even seizures. Their complaints didn't last long when she woke up in the morning and they saw the tears on her cheeks and dark circles under her eyes. Tonight, she had put a silencing charm on her bed to ensure that her dorm mates got their rest. Coincidently, tonight was when she had the worst nightmare of them all.

He was approaching her slowly, His hand reaching out to touch her face as she fell to her knees in front of Him.

"You are mine...you will be my wife," He said in His smooth voice that was like a spoken charm, influencing her mind, bending her to His will. "You will bear my child and my reign shall continue."

"No," she whimpered softly, trying to pull herself up and run, but He had her under His spell now and her body refused to comply.

"You will be mine!" He growled, grasping her by the throat, choking her.

She clawed at His hands, trying to push Him away. She couldn't tell if He was smiling; His whole form was a mass of shadow. He lifted her up, off of her feet and her vision was beginning to darken as she became desperate to get to some air.

Suddenly, she sat fully upright in bed, covered in a cold sweat, gasping for much needed oxygen. "It was all a dream..."she whispered. "He's not here..." She put a hand to her throat but quickly recoiled, feeling the twinge of bruises on her neck. They were large, flowering, spots of purple and it looked as if someone had put their hands on her...like in her dream.

Tasha looked around nervously, suddenly feeling that the dorm was too quiet. She quickly climbed out of bed, put on her slippers and ran out of the dorm as fast as her legs would carry her. She didn't know where she was going, but she had to go somewhere to be safe. Before she knew it, she was in the dark corridors of the school, the silver glow from the moon the only light available. Without noticing she had crossed the distance across the school, she had arrived in front of the Gryffindor Common Room painting, panting and wheezing.

The Fat Lady looked slightly worried but acted as if she didn't notice Tasha's current state. "And what is a Slytherin doing here so late at night?"

"Hippocampus Plushie," Tasha rasped out.

The Fat Lady eyed her suscpicously. "You're not a Gryffindor."

"I gave you the password now let me in!"

The Fat Lady huffed something about impatient students and swung open. Tasha crawled into the common room, hoping to find someone but immediately stumbled and fell flat on her face, feeling the soft red carpet on her cheeks.

With a groan she stood up and saw Ginny, Harry, Ron, Draco, and Hermione all sitting at a table in front of the fire. Draco had his arm around Hermione's shoulders and Harry and Ginny were standing slightly to get a better look at Tasha from behind Ron.

"Tasha..." Draco started slowly. "What are you doing here?"

"What are all of you doing here?" Tasha asked. 'Why didn't you invite me?' she thought.

"I thought you were asleep." Draco said.

"Didn't you guys want me here?" Tasha whispered, tears forming in her eyes. Her nightmares, being alienated by her friends, having visits from &Him&, it was all beginning to build up on her like some horrible tidal wave and now had finally swallowed her up. She completely broke down, throwing herself to the floor, sobbing loudly.

She didn't hear Ron get up and go to her side. She didn't notice he was right beside her until he spoke. "Hey, come on, come sit with us and tell us what's wrong."

He lifted her up and scooped her up in his arms, carrying her to the table where he set her on his chair and he pulled up another for himself.

Ginny gently touched her shoulder. "Did you have another dream?" Tasha had confessed her nightmares and their contents to Ginny that morning. At least she had some idea of what she was going through. Tasha nodded, sniffling. Draco handed her his handkerchief for her to wipe the tears off of her cheek. She accepted it and handed it back without a word. Draco had known about the dreams she had for years, so she wasn't surprised that he was offering his help. She remained silent, quietly crying.

"I think I'll head back now." Draco finally said, kissing Hermione on the cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, I should probably be going to bed," admitted Hermione, uncomfortable with the long silence.

"Me too," agreed Harry. The two of them went up to their dorms and left the Weasely siblings with a very, very quiet Tasha.

Soon, Ginny could no longer take the awkwardness of the situation either. She said something about being tired and went to bed as well. Now it was just her and Ron. Suddenly, Tasha wanted to dash out of the room. She didn't like having Ron seeing her at her weak moments.

"Hey," Ron said, his voice only slightly louder than a whisper. "You alright?"

Tasha detested that voice and loved it at the same time. Just hearing it made her want to confess every fear she had and find sanctuary within his arms.

"No..."Tasha whimpered. "I'm so scared, I'm being watched...always being watched...I'm not safe anywhere, not even here."

Ron felt his heart breaking in two with every second he saw her in pain.

Something inside of him snapped and he picked her up by her waist, for she was fairly light, and put her in his lap, wrapping his arms around her, hugging her close.

"You're safe here. No one can hurt you as long as I'm around." His voice was low and soft. "I won't let anyone make you cry."

"Ron..."Tasha whispered, weakly trying to get him to let go. "Stop..."

Ron only held onto her tighter. "No...I won't let you go. Not this time."

She looked up at him to yell at him to let her go but before she could get a word out, he captured her lips in a warm and loving kiss.

Ah! What will Tasha do! Will she reject Ron and kick him to the curb? Or will she give in to the Weasley boy's charm and affection! Find out in the next chapter. Reviews please! I'm having a create-a-character contest with this too. I only need one guy and one girl. In your review...if I get any...give me a description of an original character, made entirely by you. No recreations of another character. It can be up to five paragraphs in length. Make sure you include name, nationality if they're from another country (yes America is considered another country in this, so if they aren't English born, make sure you tell me), what languages they know if they know more than one, unique traits, what they look like, if their a pure blood, muggle-born, or a muggle all together, and other interesting bio information. Hopefully in the next chapter I'll give the results. The cut off for entry is going to be the 22nd. So enter soon! I hope to get some reviews. Thanks again for reading!

Huggles and kisses,

M S Thompson