Tangled
by Rsuth
DISCLAIMER: As the author of this fan fiction story I do not, in any way, profit from the story or claim any rights to the 'Harry Potter' universe. All creative rights to the 'Harry Potter' universe belong to J.K. Rowling. Thank you for letting me play in this amazing world.
CHAPTER TWO
Ron was sure his heart was going to beat out of his chest, and the veins in his temples were going to explode. He was standing still but couldn't catch his breath, his lungs seemed to have shrunk inside his heaving chest. He was sure the dark wizards standing in the drawing room in front of them would be able to hear Hermione's screams echoing from his memory; he couldn't stop hearing them loudly even though she stopped screaming minutes ago. He was terrified she had stopped screaming, in a sick way at least it meant she was still alive. He shook his head slowly and quietly, trying to force those thoughts out of his mind. She had to be alive. She had to. He hadn't even told her yet…
Ron jumped slightly when he felt a warm hand touch his arm. His head whipped to the side, and saw Harry give him a sympathetic look as he held his finger up to his lips in silence. Harry was right though, Ron needed to pull himself together if they had any chance of escape. If the wizards in the next room turned around and noticed he and Harry had escaped from the dungeon it would all be over, they would never get Hermione and themselves out of here. Harry gave him a squeeze on the arm, and nodded towards the slightly open door, moving to stand to the side of it. Ron followed and for a moment couldn't bear to peek into the drawing room, afraid of what he might find. He felt his heart pound even harder, a sensation that seemed to reverberate down to his wand, as he moved to look into the room.
Hermione lay on her side facing him, white, quiet, eyes open and glassy, on the far side of the room at the feet of the Malfoys and Lestrange. Blood pooled around her arm on the cold stone floor, dripping into a puddle. Ron clamped a hand over his mouth, sure he was looking at a body. Hot blood rushed into his head and face, hot tears began to pool in his eyes. They were too late, Merlin they were too late. He couldn't feel his arms and legs to move away from the doorway, he was frozen in place staring at her still body. He could feel something pulling at his frozen arm, but he couldn't respond.
Suddenly, Hermione's chest moved quickly, in a gasping motion, and began to move shallowly, almost unnoticeable to anyone but Ron, he was certain. He took a giant relieved breath, fresh air finally flooding to his lungs and brains, tingling his fingertips back to life. He felt Harry squeeze his shoulder once more, hearing him take his own quiet relieved breath, and knew he had seen her breathe as well. She was still alive, they had both seen it. There was hope.
Ron continued watching Hermione, not able to take his eyes from her, from her moving chest. Suddenly Ron knew she had seen him, her glassy eyes focusing on his face. He unconsciously held his breath, desperately wanting her to see him and know he was coming for her, but terrified she would give them away. His heart clenched with the knowledge that she was not only breathing, but was conscious enough to acknowledge him. Maybe it wasn't as bad as he thought.
Hermione opened her mouth, as if she was going to call out to them, and Ron panicked. He made the 'stay' motion with his hands, and put his finger to his lips, hoping she would understand. He watched, relieved, as she shut her eyes and became still once more, her breathing still visible from across the room.
Ron turned his head slightly to look at Harry, wondering what they should do now. Harry caught his eye and nodded toward the conversation happening in the drawing room, the light from the slightly open door gleaming eerily off his smudged glasses. He nodded back and tried to focus his addled mind on what was happening in front of him.
For a moment he wished he hadn't. They were still arguing about the validity of the sword, and who would get to call you-know-who. Suddenly Ron heard Bellatrix LeStrange speak, and he was running into the room, wand out, Harry following behind by the sound of his squeaky shoes.
"And I think we can dispose of the Mudblood. Greyback, take her if you want her."
He was sure he was watching himself disarm Bellatrix LeStrange, firing spells at the snatchers and death eaters in the room. He felt detached from his body, his wand responding before his brain. He tried to find Hermione on the floor in the chaos, but he needed to stay focused on the fight if he was to have any chance at getting her out of here. He could feel spells rushing by him as he ran about the room, making the hair on his arms stand up straight. He vaguely witnessed Harry stupefy Lucius Malfoy. His breath was rushing out of his lungs faster than he could draw it in, but his wand arm was miraculously steady.
Suddenly time stopped.
"STOP OR SHE DIES!...Drop your wands. Drop them, or we'll see exactly how filthy her blood is…"
Ron felt as though the blood was draining from his body. LeStrange was holding up a limp Hermione with one white arm around her torso, the other gripping a knife too tightly against Hermione's taught neck. He knew she was awake to some degree for this, her fingers twitching as the knife dug deeper and blood began to trickle down her neck.
The room was frozen around them, everyone waiting for their reaction, he reasoned. They each had something the other wanted. He quickly tried to weigh their options…give up their wands, or keep them and hope Bellatrix didn't cut the knife in farther. Either way they were trapped. He felt stuck between throwing his wand down to the floor, and running at Bellatrix. His body seemed to be screaming at him to move!
Suddenly he saw Harry bend beside him to place his wand on the floor. He wouldn't give these animals the pleasure of seeing him bend down to them too, and threw his borrowed wand to his feet, keeping his eyes on Hermione. The blood was pooling on the collar of her jumper, and Ron couldn't take his eyes off her white skin and the streaks of red. He distantly heard Draco being ordered to pick up their wands, but instead of watching this happen he willed Hermione to open her eyes. He was desperate to tell her, if this was the last time they would see each other, that he wanted her to know that he was so happy that they had met and become friends. That he would never trade the adventures he had with her and Harry for a normal life. That he was sorry he ever made her cry. That he loved her.
But she continued to lay limp and lifeless in Bellatrix' strong hold.
Interrupting the tense silence of the room, and the rapid thoughts in his head, he heard a strange noise, and noticed the whole room was looking towards the ceiling. It took him a moment to focus on what everyone was staring at, and saw Dobby sitting on a lifeless black glass chandelier above Bellatrix' head.
A groan of metal was the only warning that was given before the chandelier fell heavily to the floor below, erupting in a wave of shimmering glass shards, burying Hermione where Bellatrix had dropped her before she had run out of the way.
He was running toward the glass wreckage, hearing the shards of glass crunch beneath his feet, pieces cutting through the soles of his worn sneakers. Ignoring his discomfort he grabbed hold of the iron frame and flung it onto its back from him, his hard pumping heart seeming to give him strength.
The shimmering glass on the floor in front of him was flecked with red, giving it the eerie look of bloody snow. Ron loosely remembered falling of his broom at the Burrow in winter, his bloodied nose making the same effect in the white snow.
Hermione lay crumpled on her side, a layer of glass covering her shoulders and legs. Her clothes were wet in patches, Ron was sure it was blood. He shakily brushed off the glass as best he could, ignoring the shards that stuck themselves into his hands. Under his shaking hands he could feel her ribs move, and he knew she was still with them.
Desperate to hold her close, Ron gently rolled Hermione onto her back and tucked her sprawled arms onto her stomache before he lifted her to his chest and turning to face the chaos of the room again. He felt Hermione move against him, snuggling her face into his chest, and making his stomache flutter. For a quick moment, he felt ashamed of himself for giving into his teenage awkwardness at a time like this. He hitched Hermione up closer to himself and looked for his other best friend.
He found Harry nearby, seemingly protecting him while he had dealt with the chandelier. Harry had three wands clenched in his hand, and Ron looked just in time to witness Greyback thrown with a sick crunch against the wall by the combined force of the three wands. Sick fuck, he deserved more than that…
Harry spotted him, and threw one of the three wands to him.
"Ron, catch- and GO!"
He caught the knobbly wand with a swipe of his hand, and without a second thought turned on the spot to disapparate them both. Shell Cottage. Bill and Fleur's. Shell Cottage…
He felt his lungs being squeezed to tightly as he travelled, and felt Hermione struggling slightly in his arms, her body jerking sporadically.
His feet hit hard onto an uneven surface, causing him to fall to his knees. He kept his eyes closed for a moment, the world spinning around him dizzily from the double apparition. Something was missing. Hermione wasn't in his arms….HERMIONE WASN'T IN HIS ARMS.
Ron struggled to open his eyes, fighting his spinning vision. He saw a dark object against a bright background and began crawling towards it, willing to give up anything for it to be Hermione. Wetness seeped through the knees of his jeans, and what felt like sand stung the glass cuts on his hand. Suddenly his vision cleared and he heart skipped a beat when he realized that it was her. He stood up and ran the rest of the distance to her, sitting down on his knees beside her pale body in the wet sand. Hermione lay on her back, arms and legs at awkward angles, her bloodshot eyes wide open and staring at the sky. He placed two fingers on her neck, trying to find a pulse underneath the slick blood, and felt a slow weak beat. He covered his hand with his sleeve and applied pressure to the gash on her neck.
"Hermione…" he tried calling to her, his voice sounding harsh and gravelly to his ears. She didn't respond. "Hermione…you're safe now," he tried more persistently. Her eyes drooped shut and her head fell sideways to lean against his knee. Ron panicked as he looked over her body and saw a liberal amount of blood seeping through her clothes, covering the sand beneath her. He looked around desperately and saw a small cottage in the distance. Shell Cottage.
Just then, a small figure opened the door and ran onto the beach. Ron could feel hot tears dripping down his face as he realized it was his brother, his telltale red hair being whipped around in the cool breeze. They were safe now. They would have help.
"BILL," he shouted as loud as he could, wincing at the soreness in his throat. "HELP!"
His brother turned to look in their direction and began running down the beach towards them, a look of panic on his face as he got close enough for Ron to make out.
Bill was suddenly at Ron's side, falling to his knees and clenching him in a bear hug at the same time. Ron hugged him back, letting himself be soothed for a moment, then pulled away.
"Hermione…Bill, help her, please help her, she's bleeding, she was tortured…" he was rambling rapidly, watching Bill look over Hermione, his hands hovering over her as if he didn't know where to place them first. He finally settled one of his rough hands on Ron's arm as he continued to hold his sleeve to her neck.
"We need to get her inside, Ron, I can help her there. Do you want to carry her?" Bill looked at him with sympathetic face that Ron had rarely seen. He simply nodded and stood, letting Bill help him lift her gently off the ground and back into his arms, where she belonged.
To be continued…
A/N: I thought that Ron's perception of the events in Malfoy Manor would have been slightly similar to that of Hermione's, in that I felt as though his thoughts would have been scrambled and disjointed. I put a lot of thought into this, and tried to put myself in Ron's shoes for this chapter. I will be switching the chapters from the viewpoints of Hermione and Ron to give two sides of one story, so the next one will be about Hermione.
I've been so surprised by the positive response I had to the first chapter of the story. Thanks for all the great reviews and follows, it's really inspiring to know that other readers are enjoying my story and writing!
