Chap. 3. Sleeping Beauty Awakens.

Ron pulled away from Lavender. "You can't kiss me and make it all go away. You hurt Hermione, and I can never forgive you for that." And with that he turned and walked out the portrait hole.

Harry woke late the next morning, happy that it was Sunday. But something was missing. It was unusually quiet. Then he realized there were no snores. He wondered where Ron was. He always slept late on weekends.

Harry walked over to Ron's bed and pulled back the hangings. All he saw was a very messy bed. He wondered where he was when his stomach growled. He thought that if he was hungry Ron was probably famished. He got dressed and headed down to breakfast.

When Harry got there he didn't see Ron anywhere. He wondered where he was. It wasn't like him to skip breakfast, or for that, any meal. He was pretty worried, but decided he would look for him after breakfast.

Ron sat up in the hospital wing next to an unconscious Hermione, asleep. He fell off the chair and woke up. It took him awhile to realize where he was when he saw Hermione. He remembered he had come up to keep her company while she slept. She was still unconscious. He let out a sigh and saw the sun was up and realized it was ten o' clock. He hurried out of the hospital wing and towards the Gryffindor tower.

When he was nearly there he ran into the last person on earth he wanted to deal with, Malfoy.

"So I hear that mudblood Granger is in the hospital. Serves her right." A smirk appeared on his face. "I hear it was your girlfriends fault she's there in the first place. I don't blame her-"

Ron punched Malfoy as hard in the face. "DON'T YOU EVER TALK ABOUT HERMIONE LIKE THAT AGAIN! YOU DON'T EVEN DESERVE TO TALK TO HER!" Ron's face matched the color of his hair.

Malfoy smiled. "Oh! I do think little Weasel has a little crush on the mudblood."

"I'd stop Malfoy unless you want another black eye to match the one you've already acquired." Ron turned and saw Harry coming towards them.

Malfoy turned to Ron, "We're not finished here weasel." And with that he turned and headed towards the dungeons.

"What happened?" Harry was looking at Ron whose face was returning to normal.

"Malfoy called her a mudblood." At the thought of this he was considering going after him so he could hex him into next week.

Harry seemed to know what he was thinking. "Hurting Malfoy wont make anything better."

"I know. But it would make me feel much better."

They started walking towards the Gryffindor tower. Then out of curiosity Harry asked, "So where were you this morning? You weren't in your bed like a normal Sunday."

Ron seemed to become very nervosa. "Um… well I… I mean…" what was he going to tell him? That he thought Hermione was lonely and needed someone to be with her? No. "I was… down in the kitchens. I got hungry in the middle of the night and got up to get a little snack. I'd lost track of time and fell asleep. I only just woke up."

"Oh." Harry couldn't stop thinking about how Ron had reacted towards Malfoy calling Hermione a mudblood. He had called her that loads of times. What made this time any different?

Ron sat in front of the fire in the common room. He couldn't stop thinking about Hermione. It was almost a week and she didn't wake up. He's been behind on homework and Malfoy's been acting like more of a git then normal. He leaned back and stared into the flames of the fire that only made his features look more ghostly.

Just then he heard someone coming down the stairs. He turned around quick. It was well past two a.m. and he wondered who could be up. Then Lavender appeared at the bottom of the girl's dormitory steps.

When she saw him tears filled her eyes and she started to softly sob. He didn't care as long as she didn't talk to him. Unfortunately that wasn't the case.

"I'm sorry Ron. I didn't mean to hurt her that bad-"

"But you meant to hurt her! That's the-"

"Ron you never let me-"

"I know I never let you finish your sentence so let me make this quick before you interrupt me again. We're through!" and with that he stormed out of the common room leaving a sobbing Lavender behind. He didn't care. He just wanted her to go away.

Harry woke early the next morning, even for a school day. He got showered and dressed quickly. He wanted to check on Hermione before going down to breakfast.

When he got to the hospital wing he saw Hermione lying in her bed as usual. If she didn't wake up soon, madam Pomfrey said that they might have to take her to St. Mungo's. Harry seriously hoped that wouldn't happen.

He was about to leave when he saw something halfway under her pillow. He pulled it out. It was a card. It read:

Dear Hermione,

I'm sorry for what happened. I didn't know she would do that. I can't believe he! I would do anything to take back what she did. And even more, what I did. Hope you feel better soon.

Love,

Ron

Harry smiled. He knew Ron could be thick sometimes, but other times he was such a softie. He knew that Hermione would love the card. She always loved the soft side of Ron, he just didn't show it that much. He put the card back under the pillow and headed down to breakfast.

Ron didn't know why, but he was in St. Mungo's Hospital. He looked around. There were healers around a bed. When he went up and looked down, he saw Hermione lying in the bed. He went numb. She didn't wake up. Was she ever going to?

He looked around and saw the healers talking to the Grangers', but couldn't hear what they were saying. He moved closer. They were saying that they couldn't wake her up. That she would never wake up. He seemed glued to the spot. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Then at the same time he felt angry. This was all Lavender's fault. She did this. Then again, he had kissed her when he knew Hermione liked him. This was all his fault. He was the reason she was here. It was his fault. And now she was lost forever.

Ron woke with a jerk. That dream had been so real. But it couldn't have. It just couldn't. He needed to see her. He got up and dressed hastily. As he was heading down to the hospital wing he ran into Malfoy. Not the best thing in the world when you're already in a bad mood.

"Slow down Weasel! The mudblood isn't going anywhere!" a smirk appeared on his face as he said this.

Ron's worry turned to anger. "Shut your mouth Malfoy."

"Oh. Not very good on come backs, are you Weasel?" Crabe and Goyle both let out small laughs and they too had smirks on their faces.

Ron started out on his last nerve and they just plucked it. He pulled out his wand and pointed it at Malfoy. "I'm not in the mood today Malfoy."

Malfoy's smirk got wider. "Put that thing away Weasel, before you poke an eye out. You know you're nothing with out Granger."

Ron was shaking from fury and before he could stop himself, he did it. "Levicorpus" Malfoy flew up about ten feet in the air. Ron smiled and walked around a baffled Crabe and Goyle.

As he walked he could hear Malfoy yelling, "WELL DON'T JUST STAND THERE! GET ME DOWN YOU BUFFOONS!"

He entered the hospital wing with nothing new. Madam Pomfrey was most likely in her office, and Hermione, as usual, was lying in her bed. He walked over and sat in his normal chair. He did this every day in the morning and missed breakfast and at night and missed dinner. He's been doing badly at quidditch, and he's been behind on his homework. He just he couldn't concentrate. All could he could think about was Hermione.

He heard a noise and turned around. Harry was walking towards him with a stack of toast. Ron looked at him and mumbled, "I'm not hungry."

"Come mate. For the past week you've missed breakfast and dinner and occasionally lunch. You have to eat something!" he said thrusting the bread into his hands.

Ron looked at it and then shoved it back. "I can't. I'm not hungry."

Harry pulled out his wand. "I'll hex you if you don't eat it."

"Fine! Hex me! I don't care!"

Harry lowered his wand. "I may not be able to get you to eat, but your mom can."

Ron looked up at him. "You wouldn't. Why do you care so much any ways?"

"Because I'm your best friend, that's my job." He turned to leave the hospital wing. When he got to the door he turned back around. "Oh. And don't be late for classes again. McGonagall would kill you." And with that he left.

"Mr. Weasley. MR. WEASLEY!" Ron jerked up to look at McGonagall. "Please try to stay with us Mr. Weasley. This is the fourth time I've had to wake you up and I will not tolerate it. Next times a detention." And with that she went back to the front of the room.

Harry looked at Ron. He was truly worried about his friend. "You have to pay attention Ron. She'll be fine."

"I know I have to pay attention, but I can't. What if she's not okay? What if she doesn't wake up? What if she has to go to St. Mungo's?" he put his head down on the desk. "If so, how would I be able to live with myself?" he said this part barely above a whisper.

Harry looked at him in pity. "Don't say that kind of crap. You know it's not true."

Ron lifted his head off the desk. "Who knows? No one's positive. She may never wake up. Alive, but always sleeping. Breathing, but always lying there. I would hate that."

"Hey mate, I know. But don't worry. It'll be alright." He patted him on the back.

"Yeah. I know it'll be alright. But as long as she's asleep, I still can't be sure."

After dinner, Harry made Ron stay and eat, Harry and Ron headed up to the hospital wing. Harry knew that if anything had happened they would have said something to them, but he didn't want Ron to get mad at him, so he headed up any ways.

They sat up there for over an hour, not once did Ron take his eyes off Hermione. Finally Harry decided to speak. "Ron, we've sat up here for over an hour, I think we should leave."

When Ron spoke his voice was rather raspy. "I can't Harry. I just can't leave her."

"Why not? You left her last night, and all those nights before. What makes this night different?"

Ron took a long intake of breath and said, "I had a horrible dream last night, and I can't leave her. I can't lose her." He put his head down in his hands. He couldn't imagine life with out her. She didn't even know how he felt.

"Ron that's crazy. She-"

"I know, I know. She'll be fine, but we don't know that."

Harry sighed. "Do you have to be mister negative?"

Ron looked at him with a look in his eyes he usually gave Malfoy. "How would you feel if you hurt me or Hermione?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Ron YOU didn't do it. LAVENDER did."

"Yeah, but she wouldn't have if I hadn't-"

"I know. If you wouldn't have kissed her she wouldn't have gotten jealous and hurt Hermione. You can't blame yourself for what happened. No one could have predicted that."

"But I still feel the guilt. It's like-" he stopped because at that moment Hermione started to move.

End Chap. 3. So what'd you think? I hoped you liked it! Please review!