(A/N: Wow we're doing very well with the reviews lately! Lol…I love it! Keep it coming! I'm real sorry but I'm in a time crunch but wanted to get this chapter out so I'm TERRIBLY sorry but I'm not going to individually respond to all your reviews this chapter! I'M SORRY!!! But just let me say that I really do appreciate each one! So

nattieb, AmyChris, dancerrdw, ShimmeringEvil, cumbacksirius, eckles, belanna30, Alicia-B, SoloLobo Thank you all soooooooo much for reviewing last chapter!! I took each to heart and so many of them made me laugh! Thank you Thank you! And now onto Chapter Fourteen…hope everyone's enjoying it!!)

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CHAPTER FOURTEEN: WORDS TO GUIDE

As Ron ran out of the Forbidden he wiped at his eyes shamefully. He couldn't be crying…not now anyways. Crying made noise and noise was the last thing you wanted to create while in middle of a war.

Each step he took away from Hermione, he felt his heart break. Leaving Ginny behind was one thing and even as terrible as that had seemed at the time, it didn't compare to leaving Hermione.

"Avada Kedavra!" A sudden voice cried, the attacker sending a beam of green light towards Ron. He easily ducked it, Quidditch had given him more than muscles. But the real problem here was that someone was close behind him, knowing exactly where he was. Unsure if it was a beast or not, that could outrun him easily, he ran very slowly waiting for his attacker to catch up. And right when Ron could hear his footsteps behind him he suddenly jerked around shouting the killing curse into the air.

His attacker had been a Death Eater, and obviously a very stupid one to have fallen for that old tactic. The Death Eater emitted a loud scream into the night, only one of many Ron was sure he would hear coming from his wand. The person lay on the ground and Ron was tempted to pull back his mask to see exactly whom he had killed; after all, if it was a parent of someone at Hogwarts, at least he could apologize.

No…he shouldn't waste time. Besides he didn't want guilt to override him for the rest of his life. But against his urges to run, he still stood above the man. He had never killed anyone before, even in all the battles he, Harry, and Hermione had fought, they'd always used Stupefy. But like Ron had told Hermione…everything was different this time. Finally able to pull himself away from the corpse, he headed out of the Forbidden Forest; thankful that Hermione had not been there to see that. After all, he was now classified as a murderer.

The moment he ran out of the trees, his eyes widened. This was obviously the heart of the war. The odds were not even, it was maybe one Witch or Wizard to three or four of Voldemort's followers. He spotted Harry and Dumbledore by the lake, obviously looking for something…or someone. He cursed the fact that they hadn't found him yet. Voldemort obviously wanted to drag this war out.

Ron began jogging towards his Headmaster and his best friend when he suddenly remembered his words. No…Harry had been right. He would only get in the way of his mission. Besides, Harry would have his head for leaving Hermione behind.

Hearing a high-pitched scream, one that obviously belonged to a girl, Ron sprinted over to the scene.

Lavender Brown was standing with her back against the castle, tears running down her face, screaming her head off as two Death Eaters and a Troll circled her.

"Come here my pretty." The Giant slurred

"No please, don't come near me. A-Avada K-K-Kedavra." She said weakly

Ron was almost tempted to roll his eyes, didn't she know that the Unforgivables didn't work if she didn't mean it? And there was not once ounce of hate in Lavender; well except when it was directed to a girl who stole one of her numerous boyfriends.

Finally reaching the situation close enough to help, he watched with horror as one of the Death Eaters pinned her arms down to Hogwarts and the other one started touching her.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!!!" He screamed, pointing his wand at the Death Eater who currently had a hand on one of Lavender's breasts. The Death Eater was so surprised, he easily fell to the ground. Come on Weasley. Take care of the other one first; the Troll won't attack until he understands what's going on. He thought to himself, silently blessing the fact that God had made Giants so stupid.

"WHY YOU LITTLE…" The other Death Eater cried. But he was too slow for Ron.

"Avada Kedavra!" He said again, knowing full well he had the upper hand here. The other one fell down just as easily as his friend.

Ron stole a glance at the Troll. Luckily he still had a few more seconds before his small brain comprehended the fact that both of his comrades were dead. And just like he had done in first year when he and Harry saved Hermione from the troll, and smiling at the memory, he sent one of the stones that had fallen from Hogwarts into the air, bringing it with a loud crack on top of his head. He had been lucky Quirrel had let that monster into the castle in first year, Troll's were too thick blooded to die from spells, something barely anyone knew.

Lavender was sobbing now and sunk down to the ground. Ron cursed; she couldn't do that in the middle of the battlefield!

"Hey Lavender?" He asked quietly but with an urgent tone to his voice.

"Thank you Ron" He heard her whisper

"Yea it was no problem. Are you alright? They didn't do anything to you did they?"

"They touched me" She hissed with venom, Ron sighed, here was one of the many people who be permanently scarred from the war.

"Can you get up?" He asked, taking in her distressed appearance. It was quite a shock. The most popular girl in seventh year who had always seemed so together, with boys following her wherever she went, was now lying on the ground, her hair a mess, a red puffy face, and her entire body shaking.

She shook her head no.

"Well I hate to break it to you but we're in the middle of a war here. I wouldn't suggest just sitting on the battlefield." She shook her head again.

"I can't do this anymore!" She moaned, "I wasn't supposed to be a warrior. I'm too pretty to be a warrior." At this Ron rolled his eyes "I didn't focus that much in class…I can't remember anything!"

"Well you're certainly brave to try. It proves you're a Gryffindor." Lavender dried her eyes.

"Thank you Ron for saving my life." She said as she leant in to kiss him. Ron put his hand in front of his lips.

"It's alright. You can thank me some other time in a different way." He said, grinning

Lavender sniffed and nodded her head.

"I'm going to go now alright? Good luck!" He said as he stood up.

"No Ron! Don't leave me!" Ron stopped walking and closed his eyes, cursing. Why was it that every girl used that line? It made him feel so damn guilty!

"Sorry Lavender. Take care of yourself. Get out of here if you have to. I've got other lives to save."

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Hermione Granger sat on a branch, her brain in overdrive, and her source of tears, never drying up.

It had been hours! Why wasn't the battle over yet?! Hermione thought.

True to his word, Aragog and his children didn't bother her. They all actually gathered in one place so she wouldn't risk stepping on one of them. But the advantage of Ron leaving her here instead of behind some rock was that she could ask questions out loud, and get answers, instead of sitting there silently, where her mind would drive her insane.

"How long has it been?" She asked

"Not yet an hour." He replied. She sighed impatiently. She'd gotten the same answer ever since Ron had left her and she was getting annoyed with it. If she was going to sit here, she needed something else to keep her occupied besides the time, which seemed to be going by extra slow.

Almost as if reading her mind, which Hermione didn't doubt him to do Aragog asked, "So you and the Weasley boy are in love yes?"

Hermione fell off her branch she was so shocked. Her mouth open wide, she gaped at the spider in shock. Obviously, he was a bold spider. Hermione tried to speak but she wasn't quite sure how to respond. Should she be offended that he would dare ask such a question? Should she admit it? But what if Ron came back and he told him?

Aragog chuckled, which was a strange sight on its own, if you've ever seen a spider laugh you'll know, but Hermione figured it probably replaced smiling. "I'll take that as a yes. If I may be so bold" Be bold? Hermione thought I thought your last question was pretty bold! "I wouldn't worry about it. He obviously loves you in return. Us spiders can sense strong emotions like that. It was the reason I put my children on the younger Potter and Weasley; because I could sense their fear. I don't like fear." He said menacingly

"Oh." Was all Hermione could think of to say

"Yes" Aragog continued, sounding very pleased with himself. "It is obvious he returns your feelings," He repeated. "I may not like fear, but I do like Love. I never do humans favors mind you, I usually kill them. But I've never had anyone come see me who was in love. That is the only reason I agreed to protect you. Love conquers Fear after all."

Hermione was silent and her mind finally comprehended what the spider had been saying. Love…he could feel their love? Yes she was in love with Ron but she'd never thought he would be in love with her too. Maybe, just maybe this spider was right. After all, it made sense why he attempted to kill Ron and Harry before. She had been surprised that Aragog had agreed to Ron's idea, she'd thought he'd hated him, being the boy afraid of spiders. This Love/Fear theory did make sense; however preposterous it sounded that Ron might love her back.

"I can see you're having doubts. But let me say this, I was looking at the boy's face. There is no mistake about it; it was killing him to leave you here. While you had your arms around him, his had tears in his eyes. I can sense strong emotions remember? Yours were betrayal and pain; his were guilt and sadness. Don't you think it's curious that he would come all the way out here so that you could be protected?"

"But I need to protect him to!" Hermione cried out

Once again Aragog laughed "A true sign of Love Granger."

Hermione didn't really appreciate the way Aragog was trying to get her to admit her love for Ron. But at the same time, he was making a few good points that Hermione had never thought of before. And at least she was keeping her mind off the time.

Hermione sighed when Aragog cleared his throat, wondering if he even had a throat to clear, and if she was imagining the whole ordeal.

"Yes?" She said, hoping she didn't sound rude, but still annoyed at the same time.

"War is a terrible thing." He said

"I know" She replied

"Many people die in war."

"I realize that"

"Even our loved ones." He said with emphasis. "Even if you don't believe me, you must be aware of your own feelings. If you love him, you better hurry up and tell him before it's too late."

Once again, for what seemed like the umpteenth time Hermione fell silent, turning his words over and over again in her mind. She loved Ron. That was a fact. Ron might die in the war. That was a possibility. Did she honestly want to take that risk? For once, Hermione was certain Aragog was right on this one. She had to tell him, no matter if he felt the same way, though Aragog certainly seemed to think so, which gave her a bit of encouragement. "You're right," she whispered, staring outside the cave. She then turned to the spider and laughed. "You're right! I have to tell him! I have to find him!"

Aragog nodded his approval "Very good. You have my permission to leave."

Hermione stood up and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome," He said as Hermione turned around and ran out of the cave, her wand up. "Good luck"

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