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Chapter 11

After showering in the changing rooms, Ron made his way up to Gryffindor Tower, with Harry and the other teammates that hadn't made it to their party yet; the party where Hermione had agreed to meet him. She had looked at him as if he hadn't been acting like a complete prat for the entire week; he hadn't deserved that look. And, he especially hadn't deserved how her smile had added a warm blissful feeling on top of his elation from the game.

Now that he knew he was about to apologize to Hermione, he was getting a bit nervous. How could he explain why her words had hurt him so badly without her getting suspicious of his feelings toward her? Hermione was very sympathetic; surely she would understand why her harsh words would upset her friend. He just needed to make sure he didn't make the same mistake he had made earlier when talking to Ginny. However, it would be much easier for him to avoid that mishap…if he knew what it had been.

"Ron, you all right?" Harry asked as they approached the portrait hole. "You do realize that we just won?"

"Yeah…uh…guess I'm just in shock that I didn't botch it up…" He lied. Harry looked at Ron suspiciously as Katie uttered the password and the Fat Lady's portrait swung open.

As soon as they entered the common room, cheers and applause hit the roof. There must have been thirty people crammed inside, pulling the players in and patting them all on their backs. Ron tried not to flinch as he was hit numerous times on his bruised shoulder. People kept popping in front of Ron's face, shaking his hands, and saying things like, 'Great show,' or 'That's how it's done!' As nice as it was to have everyone praising him, it was making it much harder for Ron to see around the room properly. He was generally taller than most of the people, however, so he peered over everyone's head for a bushy-haired brunette.

His eyes, instead, came to rest on his red-haired sister. Ginny was still in her uniform, surrounded by a hoard of fans over by the fireplace. She must have come straight up to the party, not wanting to miss anything. She seemed to be enjoying the attention. Ron wandered toward her.

"Oh! And here comes the King, himself!" Ginny said, proudly, gesturing toward Ron. He smiled as Ginny's aficionados broke into a chorus of the Gryffindor's version of 'Weasley is Our King.'

"Do you know if Hermione's up in the girl's dormitory?" Ron asked Ginny quietly as 'Weasley is Our King' grew louder.

"Well, I'm not sure. I haven't exactly gotten as far as the dormitories, yet." Ginny said, smiling broadly and nodding toward the singers. Ron was about to ask Ginny to check the girl's dormitory when a small voice came from behind him.

"I saw her entering the third floor corridor with three boys after the game." Turning around, Ron saw Luna, staring absently at a spot to the right of Ron's head. Ron developed a sudden, sickening cramp of worry in his abdomen.

"What three boys?" Ron asked apprehensively, clutching at his stomach.

"I didn't notice." She said wistfully. "Right after I spotted them, your sister came up to me and invited me to your lovely party. It is lovely."

Ron didn't waste time reprimanding Ginny for sneaking Luna Lovegood into the Gryffindor common room. Instead he made his way over to Seamus and Dean, who were complimenting and congratulating Katie and Jessica. Of course, it was Seamus, Dean, and Neville that Luna had seen walking with Hermione, Ron told himself. A tiny twinge of jealousy was added to his cramp of worry, but he ignored it.

"Guys," Ron said loud enough for Seamus to hear him over the small crowd around Katie and Jessica, "Did you, Dean, or Neville happen to walk with Hermione to the third floor after the game?"

"No, mate. Why d'ya ask?" Seamus asked casually, smiling stupidly at Katie.

"Oh, nevermind." Ron replied absently before walking hastily to the portrait hole. He walked past Harry, who was surrounded by his own fan club, and decided not to bother him. Ron was just going to find Hermione had stopped off at the library or a lavatory, anyway.

Despite the reassurances Ron was giving himself, once he was outside the portrait hole, he broke into a run. He ran as fast as he could down the corridor to the Grand Staircase. Grabbing hold of the banister, he sprinted down the steps, skipping the last few before each landing. Until, finally, he had reached the third floor. The whole time his mind was racing. Had Luna actually seen Hermione with three boys? Luna was so absent-minded; her information could have been completely wrong. Please be wrong, Ron thought. I won't find anything down this corridor, and I'll find that Hermione just stopped by the library and lost track of time. The third floor corridor was as dark and creepy as ever, but Ron began making his way slowly down the hall.

Everything was eerily still and silent, but then…was that a voice? Ron immediately ran toward the sound; it had come from the farthest door on the right. He reached the door and yanked hard on the handle, but it was locked.

"Alohamora!" Ron yelled urgently after taking his wand from the inside of his jacket. There was a soft click, but before Ron thrust the door open, he heard a cold drawling voice say, "They're dead! Your dear Harry Potter and Ron Weasley are a problem to the Dark Lord, no more. Now, only you remain!"

Ron felt as though an ice-cold bucket of water had just been poured down his back. It can't be, thought Ron; he's in Azkaban. Ron threw the door open, but nothing could have prepared him for what he saw next. The small, stone, windowless room was lit only by a few wall sconces. In the farthest corner, cowering, sat Hermione, her face fixed into a blank and glazed expression. And in front of her stood three Death Eaters, one of which, by the sound of his voice, was surely Lucius Malfoy.

The Death Eaters turned their hooded faces toward Ron, who already had his wand pointing at them. "Stupefy!"

A red light shot out of the end of Ron's wand and impacted with the closest of the three Death Eaters, causing him to fall to the ground. Ron quickly turned to the next one. "Impedimenta!"

The second Death Eater fell, leaving one still staring at Ron, not moving. Ron didn't have time to ponder the Death Eater's behavior. He just had to get him away from Hermione! He ran forward and flung himself onto the remaining Death Eater, causing them both to fall to the floor together, but as Ron raised his wand to utter a curse, the Death Eater began transforming into a humongous…spider. Ron, horrified, quickly rolled himself off of the spider and noticed that the other two Death Eaters had completely disappeared! The pieces immediately fell together into Ron's mind. They weren't Death Eaters at all!

"Riddikulous!" Ron shouted, pointing his wand at the approaching spider. The Boggart flew straight up into the air and landed back on the floor with a thud before disappearing into a wisp of smoke. Breathing heavily and dripping with sweat, Ron ran to Hermione, knelt beside her, and took one of her cold and clammy hands in his. She just continued to stare straight ahead with a horribly blank expression. Ron felt a huge lump form in his throat.

"Hermione!" He said urgently, trying to keep his voice steady. She wasn't even blinking. "Hermione, please look at me…please say something…" Ron placed his hands on her pale cheeks and turned her face gently to him. He saw her pupils expand slightly before her eyes turned to look into his.

Rubbing her cheeks with the pads of his thumbs, Ron whispered, "Can you hear me, Hermione? It's me…please say something…" He pleaded, tears forming in his eyes, his hands dropped to grip her shoulders.

All of a sudden, Hermione took in a shuddering breath, tears suddenly streaming down her face as she managed to speak between sobs, "R-Ron! Th-they said you were dead. They s-said Harry was…" Hermione flung her arms around Ron's neck; the weight of her causing him to sit down hard on the floor.

He wrapped his arms tightly around her, cradling her as she repeated, "They said you were dead…they said you were dead…" over and over. He felt as though his heart might explode from an overload of emotions. It was contorted with rage at what he'd found, yet constricted with fear at the thought of what he could've found. And still, he felt great relief at what he didn't find. A few silent tears fell from his eyes as he thought about his foul treatment of this beautiful...woman...over the past week…never again…

Ron rested his head on Hermione's and said in what he hoped was a calm voice, "It was a Boggart, Hermione; only a Boggart…who…who did this to you?" But Hermione just continued to repeat, "They said you were dead…" again and again, then suddenly her entire body began trembling, and she dug her fingernails into his back. One of her hands was directly on top of his right shoulder blade, but the throbbing pain from his bruise wasn't registering with him.

"Come on." He said, standing up with her still cradled in his arms. Ron carried Hermione hurriedly down the corridor and staircase to the first floor, with her head buried in the curve of his neck. She was still heaving with sobs. When he reached the infirmary, he kicked hard at the door. He heard the hurried pats of Madam Pomfrey before the door swung open and the school healer let out a gasp. Ron laid Hermione's trembling form onto the nearest bed and explained everything that he had found, while Madam Pomfrey gave Hermione a strong sleeping drought for dreamless sleep.

"This young girl has been severely traumatized!" Madam Pomfrey exclaimed with disbelief after Hermione had drifted off to sleep. "How long was she locked up with that monster?"

"I dunno…an hour maybe." Ron said miserably.

"It's lucky that you found her when you did, Mr. Weasley. But Miss Granger needs her rest. You can come visit her tomorrow. Off with you now." Madam Pomfrey said briskly.

Suddenly, Ron's anger began boiling deep in his stomach. He knew it was Malfoy. It had to be. No one else in the school was capable of something so vile and cruel.

Ron remembered a couple of years back, he had poked fun at Hermione when he discovered her Boggart to be a displeased McGonagall showing Hermione a failing grade. However, Hermione's Boggart must have changed since last term's events in the Department of Mysteries. Had Malfoy suspected that somehow?

"Wait!" Ron called after Madam Pomfrey. "I know who did it!"

"You saw them?" Madam Pomfrey asked wide-eyed. Ron faltered a bit before responding.

"Well, no…but…well, a girl saw her with some boys, and…well, she didn't see their faces, but…well, I just know!" Ron finished lamely but with anger in his voice for her disbelieving stare. Madam Pomfrey looked at Ron sadly for a moment.

"Listen, the Headmaster has been in meetings all day, and he will be until late tonight, but I will alert he, or else Professor McGonagall, first thing in the morning. They will want to hear the victim's side of the story, and for now she must rest."

Ron wasn't satisfied with her answer, and he really didn't want to leave Hermione, but he knew he wouldn't win in an argument against Madam Pomfrey. Besides, he couldn't do any more for Hermione now. That sleeping drought would have her out at least until tomorrow morning.

Ron looked from Hermione to Madam Pomfrey. "Will…will she be…"

"She's going to be alright, Mr. Weasley. She just needs rest." She said softly, before walking to the door. "Say your goodbyes and then go get yourself some rest." Madam Pomfrey then exited the infirmary, closing the door with a soft click.

Ron approached Hermione's sleeping form. As he looked down at her face, a flash of the horrible vacant look she had had in her eyes just moments before sprung into his mind. He couldn't stop himself; Ron bent low over Hermione and moved a strand of her hair away from her forehead with his fingertips. He then laid a soft kiss on her temple. Hermione would never know, anyway, he thought sadly as he took one more look at her delicate face, before exiting the hospital wing.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Initially, this chapter was part of a much longer chapter, but I still need to tweak the rest of it. I just had to post this though b/c I didn't want to leave everyone hanging on the mysterious ending of Chapter 10.Well, I hope everyone's still enjoying! Review, review, review! lol