Thanks to everyone who reviewed! It made me so happy. I've replied to you wonderful reviewers at the end.

Quick Translation: 'Secui' means to cut, hurt or wound in Latin. When I say 'pants', I'm using the British meaning of underwear, in this case, meaning boxers.

Chapter 5: Escape

Ron's hand clenched his wand tightly as he glared at the man. 'He could see me!' thought Ron, panicking.

"Avada Kada—," started the man.

"Stupefy!" yelled Ron, his heart racing uncontrollably.

The man moved out of the way, avoiding the curse, just as the other three men came running in. One of the men was yelling, "Don't kill him! The Dark Lord might want to see him."

The bald man grunted.

"Where is he?" asked a man, pointing his wand at Snape, as he was the only other person he could see.

Ron was fumbling with his robe, trying to get to the portkey.

"He's wearing an invisibility cloak," said the bald man. "Mobiliarbus," muttered the man, flicking his wand in Ron's direction. The invisibility cloak flew behind him, partly covering Snape, who lay behind him.

"Crucio!" cursed another man as he came through the door, seeing Ron for the first time. The other man yelled, "Furnunculus," at the same time

Ron rolled out of the way of both spells and yelled, "Expelliarmus! Stupefy!"

The wand came flying out of the man's hand and into Ron's as the man fell to the ground, stunned.

"Idiot!" mumbled the man who had previously thrown the Cruciatus curse, looking down at the unconscious man.

"Petrificus Totalus!" yelled Ron. The man's arms and legs clamped together and he fell to the ground.

"Secui!"

Ron could feel the invisible blade cut through his chest, barely missing his heart. He stumbled backwards and clutched his chest. His orange t-shirt under his robe started to become red.

The man who had cast the spell started to walk towards him, grinning.

Ron lifted his wand and said, "Flipendo." The man fell backwards, hitting his head hard on the stone floor.

"Imperio!" yelled the bald man. "Don't move."

Ron froze on the spot. He tried to move, but felt a shot of pain rush through his body, adding to the sharp pain in his chest.

"Think you're smart, knocking these numbskulls down?" laughed the man.

He paused, smiling sadistically at him.

"Flaming red hair and freckles—none other than a Weasley. The Dark Lord will be delighted…" The man's smile broadened. "When I present him with the son of the Minister."

Ron shuddered. He had to get out of this. He didn't want to imagine what they would ask of his father for his return or what they would do to him to make him talk. No, he refused to divulge any Order information. He tried to lift his wand but he couldn't.

"Don't even try!" The man smiled before speaking again. "Don't make a sound. Crucio!"

Ron muffled a scream as he felt the agonizing pain run through his body. He stumbled to the ground, holding onto his stomach as if he was going to hurl. His nose began to bleed. The scream tried to escape his throat but the order to stay silent prevented him from doing so. It felt like his vocal cord was about to burst.

"Tell me, who in your annoying Order created the vaccine," spat the man.

Hermione! They wanted her! He had to fight the curse! He concentrated on his anger towards Voldermort and his minions, his loyalty to the Order, his love for his family, for Harry, for Hermione.

"I…w…will," struggled Ron, painful tears springing from his eyes. "NEVER TELL!" bellowed Ron with all his strength, drawing on everything that mattered to him.

The man was taken back by this burst of self-control. Ron used his distraction as an opportunity to get out.

"Confundus," yelled Ron, pointing his wand with one hand as he fumbled for the portkey with the other.

The man looked around, confused, as was the effect of the spell.

Ron quickly took a hold of Snape's arm and the invisibility cloak and shut his eyes as he felt himself spin.

xxxx

Ron landed in the deserted Three Broomsticks and quickly brought Snape and himself to the fireplace, through the floo system and into the infirmary.

He sank to the floor, breathing heavily. He closed his eyes, trying to expel the lingering pain from the Cruciatus curse.

Opening his eyes, he looked around the overcrowded room. "There's no room here," mumbled Ron.

He stumbled over to a cabinet and pulled out a few potions. Painfully taking off his robe and shirt he grimaced at the angry open wound in his chest. Applying some disinfector that stung as it touched his body, he bandaged himself up as best as possible.

He pointed his wand at his shirt and sent it to the laundry, causing a clean shirt to appear. He put on the shirt.

"Mobilicorpus," muttered Ron, pointing his wand at Snape and walking out of the infirmary. An unconscious Snape followed behind him.

Ron walked into an empty room near the Gryffindor tower and drew in a Slytherin bed.

xxxx

Hermione wandered aimlessly about the halls of the castle, deep in thought. She couldn't stop thinking about Ron.

"God, I hope he's alright. Shouldn't he be back by now?"

Suddenly, as if an answer to her prayer, her watch began to glow and she saw Ron's face in the dial.

"RON!"

"Hi, I'm ok. I'm in the empty classroom, 2 doors from the stairs leading to the Gryffindor Tower."

"Coming," said Hermione as she ran in that direction.

Hermione was so grateful for the watch, which was one of the ways Order members kept in contact with each other.

She burst into the room and flung herself on Ron, "Ron, thank God!"

Ron winced silently as her body pressed against his wound.

Hermione pulled away and Ron smiled weakly. "Mission accomplished."

Hermione looked over at her former professor, lying in the bed. He looked horrible. His face was extremely gaunt and hauntingly pale. His body twitched erratically and his breathing was painfully shallow and laboured—Hermione could only image how many times the Potions master was put under the Cruciatus curse.

Ron had removed Snape's robes, shirt and trousers, which she could see lying in the corner, stained in blood. Under any other circumstance, Hermione would have blushed furiously to see her former professor in nothing but a pair of pants but the extent of the physical damage was too overwhelming.

His chest, abdomen, shoulders and arms were littered with purple bruising, glaring wounds and gashes—some of which were still bleeding. She picked up one of his disfigured hands and gasped. The bones seemed to be shattered. Deep, long gaping gashes ran from his ankles, up his legs. She didn't even want to think about the damage to his hidden back.

Ron had already wrapped bandages around the top of his head and was now flicking his wand over Snape's chest to clear away the blood and grime before rubbing in what she assumed was a disinfector.

"What did they do to him?" whispered Hermione, a tear running down her face. She knew Snape never looked his best but this was beyond comprehension.

Ron sighed and closed his eyes. He never thought he would ever harbour feelings of sympathy and worse, respect for the man lying in front of him.

"It doesn't look good," replied Ron, not answering her question.

Ron never understood the extremities the Potions master took for the Order until now and yet he couldn't bring himself to admit his new found respect for the man. Instead, he spoke within his comfortable boundaries of indifference towards the professor.

"Hope he wakes up soon—not much help like this. He was only barely conscious for a brief moment back at the warehouse. He tried to say something but all he got out was 'ba'.

"B?" wondered Hermione. "What could he have tried to say?"

"Whatever it is, it must be important," he said as he waved his wand, bringing forth a small liquid vial. "Hermione, lift his head up a bit, would you."

"You should contact Dumbledore," said Hermione as she brought her arm under his nape.

Ron brought the tip of the vial to Snape's lips. He waved his wand to force Snape to swallow the liquid. "Yeah, I'll leave him a message. He said he'd be in France."

Ron observed Snape for a moment, waiting for the reaction to the potion. Soon, Snape stopped twitching and his breathing became less laboured.

Satisfied, Ron flicked his wand at his watch and brought it near his mouth. "I managed to bring Snape back safely. Umm, he's not well. I overheard some Death Eaters saying that Voldermort is in France tonight, if that's of any help. Ron."

Hermione sat silently beside a kneeling Ron as he worked. She couldn't do anything unless under Ron's direction.

For the first time, Ron was in control of the situation. 'No, scratch that,' she thought, 'Ron's been in control of the castle since she went into seclusion in the dungeon.' It was a novel feeling for her—she was used to telling Ron what to do.

Ron worked efficiently—save for some visible awkwardness of being in extremely close contact with the professor, Ron worked almost mechanically, continuously waving his wand for more supplies. It felt strange to have Ron know more about something than she did and she hated herself for feeling resent. She shook her head—how could she be so awful? She should be proud.

The hours inched by as Ron continued to mutter healing spells, rub in salve, force down potions and bandage wounds.

"Where did you learn all this?" asked Hermione, as she once again lifted Snape's head so that Ron could make him down a potion. She knew that they had learned some of the spells and potions but that knowledge was no where near the extent of what Ron seemed to know.

Ron closed his eyes and his face tensed. Seeing his distressed expression, Hermione placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. He flinched.

"Ron?"

"About a week into your dungeon lockup, Hogsmeade was…was attacked…taken by surprise." There were tears in his eyes. "People died, people were wounded—badly. St. Mungo's was already overwhelmed…there was no room or manpower to spare, not even for such a disaster."

Ron looked straight into Hermione's eyes. "I'd never seen so much blood before, so much pain," he choked.

Hermione shuddered at the intensity and despair of his stare. Her heart clenched. The war had stolen Ron's innocence—that much was clear in his eyes.

He turned his head back to Snape and busied his hands with some bandages.

"Hogwarts was the closest place for the injured. There were so many people. We were so inexperienced. I hated seeing their pleading eyes, pleading me to take the pain away, to make it better—hated it because I didn't know how to. It was different from taking care of ill people, it demanded more knowledge," continued Ron, not looking at Hermione.

Hermione stayed silent, not wanting to interrupt his train of thought.

"I used what I knew but it wasn't enough, so I started reading. For the life of me, I never thought I would find myself in a library after school finished but I couldn't stand their pained expressions—I had to make it better. I read through the nights…I applied what I learnt, I referred to books as I worked. I made mistakes…it was awful but it was the only way, I didn't have anyone to guide me, to tell me that I was doing it wrong…but I was desperate to help them and so I learnt and we were able to heal most...but…but n…not all."

"Oh Ron," whispered Hermione, cursing herself for ever feeling resentment. She had always known that Ron was intelligent but he was also lazy—very lazy—but the war just ripped that out of him and his intelligence shone through.

Hermione looked down at Snape. It seemed like Ron had done everything that could be done. The rest was left to time; time to heal. Yet, his hands still lay untouched.

Ron picked up one hand and shook his head in dismay. "These bones are shattered beyond repair."

"It's so cruel. It's almost as if they purposely destroyed his hands—the body parts he needs most for potion making," said Hermione.

"They were going to kill him, though."

"It's their sadistic symbolism."

Ron nodded. "Remember that spell Lockhart used in an attempt to fix Harry's broken arm in second year?"

"Yes."

"That's the only solution I can think of. I remove the bones in his hands and re-grow them with Skele-Gro."

Hermione grimaced. "That will be very painful for him."

"Unfortunately. What other option do we have?"

Hermione couldn't think of anything. She didn't want to put the professor through additional pain but there was no other way.

Ron magically removed the bones in Snape's hands and summoned a bottle of Skele-Gro. After administering the potion, Snape's body instantly tensed and a pained expression came over his face.

Ron pulled the Slytherin covers over his former professor and leaned back, thoroughly exhausted, his sweat drenched hair plastered to his face.

Hermione sat cross-legged beside him. After dealing with her mixed emotions, she realized that she was so proud of Ron.

"So, tell me what happened tonight?" asked Hermione, pulling his head and shoulders towards her lap, so that he was lying on his back, with his head in her lap.

Hermione frowned as she noticed the pained expression on Ron's face as her hand landed on his chest.

"What's wrong?" asked Hermione, worriedly.

"Nothing."

Hermione gave him an angry look and pulled up his shirt, carefully.

"Ron! What happened!" cried Hermione, staring at his bandages, which were partly stained in blood. He wasn't very good at dressing his own wounds.

"I, uh, encountered a few Death Eaters," mumbled Ron, flinching at Hermione's angry face.

"And decided not to say anything! These bandages are so badly done! You can be so arrogant!"

"I am not!"

Ron groaned as Hermione removed the bandages and started applying a disinfector.

"I already did that," complained Ron as he felt the sting of the salve.

Hermione ignored him and continued working.

"Tell me what happened."

Ron sighed and retold her everything.

"Oh Ron, you could have died!"

"But I didn't."

"They almost succeeded in using all the unforgivables," muttered Hermione, tears running down her face at the thought.

"But I'm alright and I didn't give anything away," assured Ron

'He fought the Imperius curse,' she thought. She remembered when Harry had broken the curse in forth year. It only took Harry the idea of doing something ridiculous for him to resist the curse—he was always so strong-willed.

Ron, on the other hand, would not have a chance against an order to dance. It took something as important as a threat to the people he loved and the cause he fought for in order for him to find the strength to break the curse. Ron may never be as strong-willed as Harry was but she knew that nothing, absolutely nothing had a chance against his fierce loyalty.

"I'm so proud of you," said Hermione, bending down and kissing him lightly.

Ron pushed his hand into her hair and deepened the kiss.

"Ron," gasped Hermione, "Professor Snape is right there."

"Bugger him," he replied, hoarsely.

"Ron!"

"Ok, ok," he said, turning his head to look at Snape. "I should probably stay here in case he wakes up."

"Yes, he won't know where he is when he wakes up. I'll stay with you."

Ron nodded.

"You sleep for now and I'll wake you up in a bit and we can switch," suggested Hermione.

"No, it's ok, I can stay up," said Ron, trying to stifle a yawn.

"You're exhausted from all that healing," said Hermione, pointedly.

"Alright then," gave in Ron, too tired to argue. He swished his wand and a sofa appeared in the room.

Hermione and Ron sat in the sofa, looking out into space. Soon Ron had fallen asleep, his head falling into Hermione's lap.

Hermione moved his damp, uncut hair out of his closed eyes, exposing his adorably freckled face.

"One day this will all be over," promised Hermione. One day she hoped to see that innocence reflected in his eyes once more. She wanted to walk down beaches, barefoot in the night, holding his hand; have picnics in the park; spend a day shopping in Diagon Alley. She wanted to experience her new found relationship with Ron outside the constraints of war. One day, she promised.

She looked over at Snape, sleeping, his face set in an expression of agonizing pain and anger. She had always respected Professor Snape, unlike most of the other students, even though his vindictiveness never excluded her. She had always known that he must have risked a lot as the double agent and he had, he paid dearly for his loyalty to the Order.

She looked at her watch. She was supposed to wake up Ron now, so she could sleep but she couldn't bring herself to disturb him.

x

Snape stirred in the bed and his eyes fluttered open. Everything was a blur and the room was spinning. Pain blunted his senses. He tried to lift his hand to his head, to try to stop the spinning but he couldn't feel any bones in his hand. He let out a strangled gasp, panic rising quickly. What had Voldemort done to his hand?

"Granger?" said Snape, squinting his eyes. What was she doing here? Where was he? He felt the soft bed underneath him, barely registering the Slytherin blankets covering him.

"Professor!" exclaimed Hermione, jumping out of the sofa. Ron's head fell into the sofa, causing him to be abruptly awakened.

"What's going on?" asked Ron, rubbing his head.

"Professor, how are you?" asked Hermione.

Snape was still trying to figure out what was going on and hadn't paid attention to Hermione's question.

"Stupid question," mumbled Hermione.

"What have you done to my hands?" demanded Snape. He didn't trust his eyes. That couldn't be Granger. Had they captured her as well?

"They were too damaged to repair, so I decided to re-grow them," answered Ron.

That explained the novel pain. In actuality, it was the only pain he felt. The pain from other wounds and the aftereffects of the curses seemed to have disappeared or dulled substantially. Why would Voldemort heal his ailments? 'Maybe he wanted a renewed body to break,' he thought, shuddering. 'But what's with the images of Granger and was that Weasley who I heard?'

"Weasley?" he croaked

"Yes."

"I wasn't dreaming, then."

"No."

"Where am I?" asked Snape.

"Hogwarts," replied Ron.

"How?"

"Long story made short, we found out where you were and I went to get you," replied Ron.

Snape was still utterly confused. He had disappeared before school finished. It had been a long time since then. Why was Weasley still at Hogwarts? How many students were still here?

Hermione registered his confusion and tried her best to fill him in on what was going on outside the warehouse that he was held in."

"So, he's in charge of the castle?" asked Snape, referring to Ron in disbelief.

Ron rolled his eyes, annoyed. 'Some things never change,' thought Ron.

"Yes, and Professor Dumbledore is in France. We don't know when he'll be back," said Hermione.

"The antidote! Blood, that's the special ingredient," said Snape, as if it just occurred to him.

"That's disgusting," exclaimed Ron, thinking of drinking blood. By the looks on Hermione and Snape's faces, they felt the same.

"Really?" said Hermione in deep thought. "That could work. How did you come up with that?"

Snape looked at her annoyed; he was the Potion master, not her. "I pieced the clues together. Voldermort wasn't exactly discrete; he planned to kill me after all. Half the time he was talking directly to me," replied Snape, darkly.

Hermione shivered, thinking of having a casual talk with the darkest wizard. Then again, she was sure he wasn't having casual conversations with Snape, he was probably torturing him. That made her shiver even more.

The first ray of sunlight was filling the room as the sun began to rise. Hermione shot out of the sofa, "I'm going down to the dungeon."

After she rushed out of the room, Ron and Snape were left in an awkward silence.

"So, she's been using my dungeon?"

"Yeah, you got a problem with that?"

Actually, he didn't, but he wasn't going to let the infuriating Weasley know that. "Mr. Weas—"

"You're not my professor anymore, so save the lecture," shot Ron.

"Trust me; I'm delighted to be rid of your idiocy in my class."

"Good. I'm leaving," said Ron, slamming the door behind him. "Bloody git!" cursed Ron.

xxxx

Ron walked into the infirmary, ready to start another day. Ginny was sitting by one of the patient, administering a potion.

"Ron, you look awful! What happened?" asked Ginny, jumping up, alarmed at her brother's appearance.

"I had a little adventure last night," joked Ron, dryly. He told her what happened. Ginny didn't look at all happy about Ron's misadventure.

"Ron, you could have been badly hurt," she exclaimed.

"I'm fine."

"Wait a minute, then. He's here! Snape is back at Hogwarts?"

"Oh yes, and as irritating as before," added Ron.

"Wow! Dumbledore will be so happy. Is he alright?"

"He'll live. Ok, he's not that well but eventually, he should be fine. Actually, I don't think I can handle him without the two of us getting at each others throats. Is it possible for you to take care of him from now on?" asked Ron, pouting at his sister.

"And what do you mean by that?"

"Well, as I said, he's rather ill. Someone needs to check up on him now and then, change is bandages, administer potions, bring him food." He didn't want to even imagine trying to spoon feed the Potions master—hopefully the Skele-grow would have completed its job by then.

"Are you crazy? He's still my professor, Ron. There's no way, he'll bite my head off!"

"Ginny, please," begged Ron.

"No, Ron," said Ginny, a tone of finality in her voice.

"Damn," swore Ron. 'Why the hell should I care anyway?' he thought, bitterly. He shook his head. He knew that it was because he did care. He cursed the respect he now had for the professor.

Having spent most of the morning with virus stricken patients, Ron finally decided he needed to go check on Snape. He slowly pushed open the door, hoping that the professor was sleeping. He wasn't in luck.

Snape was sitting up in the bed, flexing his fingers with their newly grown bones.

"I see that the bones grew in well," muttered Ron in a form of a greeting.

Snape looked up and scowled. "What exactly do you want Weasley?"

Ron fought the urge to snap back. "I was wondering if you were hungry."

Snape narrowed his eyes. "I am quite capable of nourishing myself."

"How exactly do you plan to do that? You are in no condition to make it down to the kitchen and if you haven't noticed, you are only wearing a pair of pants," pointed Ron, smirking.

Ron could see the anger brewing just behind the Potions master's eyes. He clenched his fists and jaws.

Ron ignored him and waved his wand, bringing forth a set of black robes, which he draped over a chair, standing at the opposite corner of the room. He decided that when the man was finally well enough to walk, he could dress himself without having to ask for them—Ron knew that Snape was extremely proud.

"Do you have a spare wand in your chambers?" asked Ron.

Snape glared at him but nodded slowly. Ron summoned the wand. "Here," he said, handing it to him. Knowing that the professor also had teacher's access, having his wand would make him less dependent on others.

Ron waved his wand once more and a bowl of stemming hot chicken soup and a vial of pain-killing potion appeared on the bedside table. Ron decided to save them both the embarrassment by leaving him with the soup and potion. With Snape's hands now functional, he knew that the headstrong professor would handle it on his own—wouldn't have it any other way.

As for the wounds, he chose to wait until the professor was sleeping before he checked those and changed the bandages. That would be easier on both of them.

Deciding to accompany Hermione for lunch, he went down to the kitchen a made a couple of sandwiches.

Ron then entered the dungeon, balancing a tray of sandwiches and drinks. "Hey, I brought lunch," said Ron, announcing his presence to Hermione, who was pouring over rolls and rolls of parchment.

"Oh hi, Ron," said Hermione, smiling weakly.

"What's wrong?"

Hermione sighed. "It's not working. I calculated how much is needed per dose and I drew some blood from a patient, added it to a goblet of the potion and gave it to him. Nothing happened. Then I decided to use my own blood and that didn't work either." She was on the verge of tears.

Ron drew her into a hug. He didn't like the idea of Hermione using her own blood but he let it slide, not wanting to start a fight.

"You'll figure it out. I have faith in you. Maybe Snape was wrong."

"I don't think he is, though. I know I'm missing something, but what?"

Ron dragged Hermione away from the parchments and set out their lunch. They ate in silence.

"I'm not the greatest company, sorry," mumbled Hermione.

"Your company is always the best. Why do you think I tolerated all those hours in the library in the last couple of years," joked Ron, wiping his mouth. The little things like spending time with Hermione was what made the misery they lived in more bearable.

Hermione took hold of Ron's hand. "Kiss me, Ron," she whispered.

Ron smiled. "Gladly."

As they kissed, Ron could hear a distant call, "Ron, Ron, RON." It sounded like Ginny. He shuddered, why was he hearing his sister's voice while he kissed Hermione?

"RON!" That wasn't in his head!

Ron and Hermione jerked apart, startled.

"Sounds like Ginny," said Ron, worried.

"Your watch!"

Ron looked down and there in the dial was Ginny's anguished face.

"RON! DEATH EATERS, HERE IN THE SCHOOL!" yelled Ginny just before a curse came flying her way. Ron saw her duck and send a curse back at the Death Eater.

"GINNY!" yelled Ron as he started for the dungeon door.

Hermione grabbed her wand and the two of them rushed out of the dungeon, hearts racing, uncontrollably.

xxxxxxx

Next Chapter: The Battle of Hogwarts

Next chapter is already written. Actually, the whole stories was written and posted on another site, years ago. I just want some feedback before I post the next chapter. I love reviews, who doesn't.

The next chapter is the last chapter of Part 1 of the story. You can read the summary of Part 2 in the beginning of chapter 1. I'm really excited to post the next chapter and Part 2, so please give me some feedback.

Review Replies

dancerrdw: I was so excited when you reviewed again—it's so nice when old reviewers review again. I hope you like how this chapter went. Thanks so much! Weasleygirl-ca.

Silverthreads: Fellow Snape fan, hello! As you can see, I can't resist to put in Snape, even if it is minimal. I've always been big on Ron/Hermione as it is the most canon. I personally think that Ron can be a very responsible person when forced to or under pressure. He's a good person, after all, just a bit (ok, maybe very) lazy. Ron sure took a while to get the portkey, though—I blame the robes, lol. Thanks so much for your wonderful reviews! Weasleygirl-ca.

goblin monkey: Thanks so much. I hope you liked this chap. Weasleygirl-ca.

koL21o: Thanks :D. Fast update, I hope you like. Weasleygirl-ca.

em: Yes, this is so something I would see Voldemort doing. I must admit, the idea is from a combination of the anthrax scare and what I learnt about pathogenic warfare in one of my classes. Thanks so much! Weasleygirl-ca.

ilovefireyredheads: I love fiery red heads, too! Ron's the best. I hope you liked this chap. Thanks! Weasleygirl-ca.