Breaking Down
Fear was every where. Malfoy was all but drowning in it. Even his friends were afraid and it made it hard to concentrate. His body was shaking but the tip of his wand remained steady resting between Malfoy's eyes.
I should just do it now. It's not like he will ever be any good. Hell if I don't kill him now I'm responsible for all the people he hurts from now on.
As he stood there shaking in hisrage he felt a cool hand settle on his arm. Turning to see who it was he found himself staring into those great big brown eyes.
How can she be so impossibly beautiful?
Hermione slowly ran her hand down his arm until her hand was resting on Ron's wand hand. Ever so slowly she gently pulled his hand away until she had taken his wand from him.
Ron kept looking her while his left hand kept Malfoy pinned to the wall by his throat.
"Mione you know I have to do it at some point. He's evil and he won't stop being that way."
She turned his wand hand over and softly kissed the palm of his hand.
"Maybe so Ron but not like this, not in anger."
Malfoy's face had gotten paler as he slowly began to understand what they were talking about.
Ron looked at Hermione for a very long time then let Malfoy go. He turned to look at him with a scowl on his face.
"If you keep pushing me Malfoy you are going to end up just like Lestrange. You might want to keep that in mind."
Malfoy straightened and seemed to be trying to regain his dignity when he was hit by a hex coming from behind Ron. At that he ran out into the passage way yelling as something swirled around his face.
"I keep telling you guys my Bat-Bogey hexes are something to be feared." Ginny cackled.
Hermione glared at Ginny for a moment until Ginny spoke up. "Oh come on Hermione, that git really did deserve to have something bad to happen to him."
"Now that it is all over can anybody tell me why I was attacking Malfoy?" Ron said softly.
Everyone in the compartment turned to look at him for a moment until Hermione took his hand again and spoke up. "We had been on the train back to King's Cross for about half an hour when you fell asleep. A few minutes after that you started tossing and turning. I tried to wake you but I couldn't. Then you started moaning, which soon turned to yelling. Malfoy walked in and started speaking when you woke up."
"Bugger, it's getting worse."
"Whats getting worse Ron?"
"Oh it's nothing Hermione. Just having a bit of trouble sleeping is all."
"Oh don't you tell me it's nothing Ron Wealsey. Now what is wrong with you."
"Really it's just that love. Neither Harry or I sleep very much these days."
Neville, Luna, Hermione and Ginny turned to look at Harry as well.
"Is that so? Well Harry do you have something you want to tell me?" Ginny said a bit sharply.
Harry shot Ron a look as he softly said. "Ok I admit it I'm not sleeping either. One or the other of us are always having nightmares. Neville, Seamus and Dean have to charm their beds so they won't hear the noise but Ron and I need to be able to hear each other in case I feel Voldemort in my head again."
Their friends just looked around the room uncomfortably.
"It's only going to get worse at home too." Ron mumbled.
"Why do you think that Ron?" Neville surprisingly asked.
"It's quite obvious sweetheart that he stays calm around Hermione and she told us earlier that her plans had changed and she was going to be going home instead of staying with Ron's family." Luna smiled serenely.
Ron looked at her sharply then nodded. 'That's it alright, she's the only one who can calm me down sometimes and it's going to be hard without her."
Hermione smiled at him "You will be fine Ron, really you still don't know how great you are."
"I'm not the one who's great here." he wrapped his arms around her and leanedcloser to smell the skin at the base of her neck.
"That's what I have been talking about" Ginny blurted out.
Ron and Hermione looked at her strangely.
"We have been talking about you guys lately. How the two of you seem to have such an intimate relationship even though you haven't gotten very physical yet."
Ron stared at her for a minute. "How do you know we haven't gotten physical yet?"
"Hermione told me." she stated simply.
Ron turned Hermione around to glare at her "You have been talking about our sex life or lack there of to my sister?"
Hermione flushed but didn't back down "She's my friend too you know and I need a female friend to talk to unless you would like me telling our secrets to Lavender."
Ron grew pale at the thought of Hermione telling Lavender things about him "Well of course not but why do you have to tell anybody at all. I mean I don't tell Harry about us."
"Thank Merlin." Harry sighed from behind them.
Hermione smirked at Harry "It's just different for girls Ron. Sometimes it seems so serious for you and I and I talk to Ginny so I can sound out what I am thinking."
"You think maybe we have gotten to serious?" he asked in a low voice that almost made Hermione's heart break with the worry it carried.
The smile she gave him drove away any doubts he might have had. "No I don't you great big prat. It's just nice to have someone to talk about things I don't have any real experience with."
"I guess I can live with that." Ron laughed.
"Good because as I have said before, you are mine and I'm not giving you up ever."
He picked her up and spun around laughing "I intended to hold you to that Miss Granger for at least the next hundred years."
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It seemed as if the entire Weasley family had turned out to see them arrive. Ron noticed that the Grangers were standing with his family and that his father and Mr. Granger seemed to be getting on well. He had barely gotten his trunk out when hefelt his mother envelope him in one of her hugs. After a considerable amount of uncomfortable squeezing she stepped back to look at him. Only then did Ron remember we hadn't seen his family other than Bill since before he went to Egypt.
"Oh Ron" his mother wept as she saw the leather eye patch. His dad seemed to take it only a little better. "How have you been son?"
Ron smiled at them both "I've been good dad, I even got my grades up a bit."
His mother smiled at him "Well I bet a lot of that is due to Hermione rubbing off on you."
Fred and George walked up at that moment
"Well it seems…." Fred laughed
"....that little Ronniekins is becoming quite the celebrity." quipped George.
"I wonder if he will still talk to us?" they both said in unison.
Ron just laughed at them and pulled them into a hug. Then he whispered "I need your help. I will tell you about it back at home."
They both nodded slightly.
They are probably proud I am going to do something sneaky.
Just then Mrs. Weasley caught sight of Harry, Ginny and Hermione who had gotten their belonging and said good bye to some friends. She grabbed and hugged them eachin turn.
"Excuse me Ron but Mrs. Granger and I would like to speak to you."
Ron looked up to see Mr. Granger and he nodded to him and followed him to where Mrs. Granger was standing.
"I know you are probably disappointed that Hermione won't be staying at your house for Christmas but we both miss her terribly and just couldn't stand not to have her with us." Mrs. Granger said.
Ron could understand that and told them so.
"That's why we would like you to come visit us a few days before Christmas and celebrate with us. Then all of us will go over to the Burrow the day of Christmas."
"I would be honored to stay with you sir." Ron replied.
Mrs. Granger smiled at him "Well then let's go back over to your parents and get Hermione shall we?"
They walked back over to the Weasleys where Mrs. Weasley had still not let Hermione go.
"You have been so good for my Ron. Do you think you could get him to be a bit more careful Hermione?"
Hermione looked over at Ron for a moment. "Probably not Mrs. Weasley, I love how brave he is but sometimes I just want to kick him for being so reckless."
Ron just looked at the ground while Ginny and Harry both struggled and failed not to laugh at his discomfort.
"Well Hermione we should get going." Her father spoke up. "Ron we will have Hermione owl you about when you should come over."
"Yes sir" Ron replied and looked at Hermione. He expected her to reach up and kiss him on the cheek. So he leaned down to make it easier when she kissed him full on the lips. It wasn't passionate; in fact it was the sort of kiss no parent could complain about. It was however long, so long in fact that everyone there saw it for what it was. It was a statement, Hermione was saying in no uncertain terms that this was who she loved and while it would be nice if both sets of parents accepted it, it was by no means necessary.
Hermione's parents both looked at each other, Mrs. Granger was trying to hold back a smile and doing a poor job of it. Mr. Granger looked as if he couldn't decide if he should smile or scowl. When Ron put his arm around Hermione and looked up at the Grangers, Mr. Granger knew he wanted to smile. "The boy has guts." he thought, "maybe enough to keep my little angel safe."
Ron watched Hermione leave with her parents and when they had finally moved out of sight he turned back to his family with a sigh.
"Little brother you have it bad." Fred commented, his normal joking tone absent.
"You two don't know the half of it." Ginny smirked.
Harry decided to pile into the conversation as well.
"Oh yes, a few weeks ago Hermione punched Lavender for flirting with him."
Fred and George turned to look at Harry.
"You mean our perfect….." George started.
"….prefect got into trouble?" Fred finished.
"Over our little brother?" they jointly laughed.
"You should have been there." Harry snickered. "She punched Lavender in Transfiguration class. Then after her meeting with Professor McGonagall she came into the common room and told Ron that he was hers and he had better start acting like it."
Ron had gone beet red at this turn in the conversation when the one voice that could make things worse added to it.
"Well Ron I guess you had better start doing what Hermione says." his mother said with a smile.