Crossing the Line

NC-17

H/Hr

Romance/Angst with a smidgeon of humor

Summary: Inhibitions serve as a final barrier for protecting us from our inner most desires. At times, it can be all that stands from a person doing the right thing and the wrong thing. What would happen if you could force someone to do the wrong thing?

An answer to the challenge proposed by Heather Sinclair of own nothing save the computer used to type this story.

Get used to the humor while you can… it will get steadily darker in later chapters.

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Chapter 2: When bad intentions go bad

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'No turning back now…' Ron thought as he anxiously watched Hermione down the rest of the drink he had given her. He felt regretful now, maybe not regretful enough to turn down her advances if she proclaimed her feelings for him, but regretful none the less.

With a sickening thought, Ron realized that what he was doing would be expected along the lines of something Draco Malfoy would do. If the slimy ferret wasn't rotting in a cell at Azkaban somewhere he might have thought to frame him as a backup plan.

'Oh well, no use crying over spilt milk' Ron thought

The old hag that had sold Ron the potion had written down on parchment that the effects would take at least 24 hours to manifest. Ron had remedied that by adding just a little bit more than required, say about twice and a half times the original dosage.

He slipped a vile of the stuff into Hermione's milk when he had made a rudimentary trip to the cafeteria wing of St. Mungos; she had asked him for some milk for her stomach ache claiming that it would help ease the nauseous feeling she had. The only thing to do now was wait and see what happened.

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There had just been a long day visiting room after room inside St. Mungos. Several family members and friends- and friends of family members- and family members of friends all had ended up inside, what was becoming to be known as, the facility. It seemed as if hardly anyone was killed in the war, but there was more than a fair share of sick and injured.

The building had to be magically expanded on the inside to fit the demands for incoming patients almost immediately and then more so to accommodate the many faithful who simply refused to leave those that they loved. Most who waited, waited in the lounge because the two visitor per patient limit. Molly and Arthur were with Harry now.

Fred and George were off gallivanting somewhere no doubt about to break the rules in order to entertain some of their, more unfortunate and less mobile mates.

Ginny was no doubt still with Neville. She had shown little interest in the timid, semi-chubby boy before, but Ron figured his charm, personality… and maybe his heroic rescue of Ginny from Bellatrix Lestrange went a long way in showing Ginny just how much better the other side of the pool was.

"Say Hermione?" Ron asked, walking over to where she lay sitting. He felt sore and tired from dealing with all the death and wanted get out for awhile. He went into the large room with the intention to ask Hermione to accompany him but stopped short when he saw what she was doing.

She seemed to be immersed in a rather dull looking brown book.

Ron frowned when he saw the cover.

'Comas: What they are- and how to understand them'

His frown went deeper when he spied several other piles of books resting on a nightstand by the chair in which Hermione sat.

'Two People are inside- One is awake- Ferdinand's guide to commuting with the comatosed'

A small part of Ron felt that what Hermione was doing was hopeless and that she shouldn't waste her time doing something that could only lead to severe disappointment. The larger part of Ron felt bitter anger and jealousy that Hermione was contributing every second of her free time to the cause; Harry's cause.

It seemed she had not heard his first call so he spoke up a bit louder than he intended.

"I said HEY HERMIONE!" Ron bellowed

Hermione's head snapped up and gave out a loud hush with a finger over her lips.

"This better be good, what is it Ron." Ron wondered if her reply was a question or a statement.

"Listen I was thinking of heading out for some… uh food and I was wondering if you maybe… wanted to come?" Ron asked scratching the back of his head

"Oh honestly Ronald," Hermione said shaking her head "Is that all you can ever think about!"

Before he could even get a word in that it wasn't just about the food, she was lecturing him a million miles a second about how he needed to start putting other people's needs above his own and that food can't always solve all his problems and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Before he knew what had happened she was back in her chair with the book back in her lap.

That did it. Before he could think about it, he slapped the book she held as hard as he could out of her hands and grabbed her by the nape of her neck and moved in to give her most passionate, lust filled kiss she would ever receive…

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She'd already had a terribly long day. It seemed like the majority of those that were killed in the surprise attack on Hogwarts earlier in the war were those that she associated with everyday. She couldn't just not go and pay her last respects to those that she went to class with everyday and practically grew up with (although she would say that many of them never actually grew up).

Then, Ronald Billius sodding Weasley had to go and make a scene. First he screams at her for no apparent reason, then he slaps her research right out of hands and effing HEADBUTTS her!

She would probably wind up with a huge lump right above her left eye thanks to him.

She grabbed the groaning Ron off the floor by the ear and dragged him out into the hallway muttering obscenities under her breath. She hadn't been feeling well since earlier that morning. She'd been flushed for most of the day and for some reason she found herself angry and agitated whenever she saw a boy.

That feeling of irritability was only intensifying now…

"RONALD BILLIUS WEASLEY!!!!" Hermione screamed at the top of her lungs once they were out in the hallway "WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM YOU INSENSITIVE PRAT!"

All Ron could articulate in response came out as an "umm" or "uh".

Hermione seemed to cool down quite a bit from her outburst and turned calmly around to glance at the floor, lest she lose control of herself and hex away Ron's mouth to somewhere far, far away.

"This is a hospital Ron, you can't just go around disregarding the quiet and showing such disres-"

"Hermione I love you."

silence

Ron clearing his throat

silence

Ron clearing his throat a bit louder

Hermione couldn't believe her ears. This was just too much to deal with. She'd found him somewhat fanciable over the years, when he wasn't being a prat, but for some reason she found the idea of a romantic relationship with him completely repulsive right now.

A small part of her felt relieved that he hadn't been acting so prudish for no reason. She could let him down easy and everything could go back to the way it was before Har- an image flashed before her eyes.

Her bent over a desk with her uniform skirt hiked up and Harry standing right behind her.

She put her hand to her forehead; she was hot, feverishly hot.

"Umm… Ron, I can't really deal…" Hermione stuttered

She suddenly couldn't get her mind off Harry, how sweet he always is, how well proportioned his cheekbones are on his face, how wonderful it would be to feel his... NO!

"L-listen Ron, I'll umm…" Hermione took a deep breath trying to slow down her breathing.

"I'll talk to you about this later ok?" Before he could reply, she was already gone.

Ron smiled to himself 'Its working!'

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She'd been in the bathroom for about 15 minutes now just pacing back and forth while biting her nails. She felt as if she was about to faint. She had NEVER felt like this before. Her stomach felt both dreadfully hot and completely nauseous.

She spent another ten minutes splashing cold water onto her face and jumped slightly when the door opened and in came Mrs. Weasley. She was slightly teary around the eyes and if Hermione had been thinking straight she would have thought immediately that maybe Harry's condition had been a blow for her as well.

Molly almost dropped her handbag upon seeing Hermione.

"Hermione dear, are you alright, you're sweating." Molly asked hurrying over to Hermione and feeling her forehead.

"I think you might be coming down with something how are you feeling?" Mrs. Weasley asked worriedly

Hermione slowly shook her head "I-I'm fine Mrs. Weasley."

"Well," Mrs. Weasley said, not convinced "Arthur and I are leaving now so you can go on up to Harry's room and suck him if you want."

"Wha-, I'm sorry what did you say Mrs. Weasley?" Hermione asked

"I said- Arthur and I are through visiting Harry so you can go on up and see him if you want." Molly said, worriedly gazing into Hermione's eyes.

Hermione bit her lip in thought for a moment before slowly nodding her head.

"T-thanks Mrs. Weasley I think I will." Hermione said

"Please, call me Molly, we're family. You go on and don't overextend yourself; you won't do Harry any good if you make yourself sick with worry, believe me I know…" Mrs. Weasley said watching Hermione exit the bathroom.

Something was wrong….