N/A-Alright guys chapter 5 is up! I'm sorry, but with the holidays it took longer than anticipated. Thank you for all the reviews and i hope to see more!

P.S. My AMAZING BETA reader found inspiration in my story and has started her own story! Right now it's just a one shot, but is soon to be a story. IF you like Hermione/Draco than i think you'll like this. I personally lovvveee the first chap! Its called "Wounds of Realization" by maddymomo.

Ron was laying in his small bed in his stuffy attic bedroom, staring at the ceiling in frustration. It had been two weeks since his encounter with Hermione in the kitchen and he was confused as to her reaction. It wasn't really about what she had said about the kiss, he could understand that. She had just been tortured and he didn't expect Hermione to be ready to just jump into a relationship just because he wanted to, but bloody hell did he want to. Just seeing Hermione made Ron's heart flip and her shapely figure didn't go unnoticed to him. One of the things Ron loved the most about Hermione was her underestimated beauty. She didn't flaunt her attractiveness like most girls, it was just there and it drove Ron stock-raving mad when she would flip her hair off her shoulder or when he saw her wearing his old sweaters. There was something about seeing Hermione encased in his clothes that made his mouth run dry and his blood go south.

What had Ron confused though was her reaction to his reaction. Ron, of course, was a little frustrated with himself at the time and, like always, it showed through. He wasn't surprised that Hermione saw through his façade-what surprised him was that she was actually scared of him.

Ron was so used to the Hermione who would blow of his frustration and ignore it because she was so used to it, or the Hermione who would jump down his throat when their stubbornness would take hold of their arguments and have them screaming at each other. He was used to confident, stubborn, hotheaded Hermione. Crying, weak, scared Hermione was not something he was used to at all, and he didn't want to be.

It just didn't make any bloody sense. She acted like he was going to attack her. HIM attack HER! Was she crazy? Ron would never lay a hand on Hermione, and he thought she would know that. It hurt to know Hermione thought that he would do something like that to her. He thought she knew somewhat of his feelings for her since the kiss, but it seemed she still didn't see his infatuation with her.

What was driving him absolutely mental was why she still wasn't talking to him. For one, whenever they would get into a heated argument, especially one this small, it would usually blow over. However, Hermione hadn't spoken to him since their small row in. And it wasn't her icy cold shoulder, but fear. Anytime he would come into a room she was in or she come into a room he was in she would run out or mumble some excuse about starting on her essays for school.

His thoughts stayed on Hermione all morning until her finally got up from his bed, knowing that by now there was no point in trying to sleep. So, he stumbled down the stairs into the kitchen to be met with the smells of only a famous Molly Weasley breakfast. He sat down and started shoveling things onto his plate. Nothing could stop Ron from enjoying a meal, not even Hermione ignoring him.

Ginny, who was sitting across from him, watched in disgust as Ron started stuffing his face with food.

"Are you gonna eat that or just continue to inhale it?" Ginny said in mock disgust.

Ron looked up and stopped eating just long enough to respond. "No, thanks, I think I'll just continue." and he started eating, just as disgustingly as before.

She scoffed at him, and he leaned over the table and opened his mouth food filled mouth in front of her face. Ginny, who should have been horrified by the sight, just said, "You honestly think that growing up with 6 brothers wouldn't prepare me for such a disgusting troll as yourself?"

"Yeah, well, I thought I would be used to seeing your short little troll self every day, but it still makes me nauseous." Ron said with a sarcastic tone and overzealous smile.

"You kids stop arguing and eat your breakfast!" Mrs. Weasley barked.

When Mrs. Weasley turned her back around to the stove Ginny stuck her tongue out at Ron and Ron very politely put up a very rude finger up in her direction.

Ginny, not really having much of an appetite anymore, got up from the table and started to head up the stairs. She stopped just before reaching them and took a few steps back to smack Ron on the back of the head.

Startled by the sudden abuse, he started choking and sputtering on his food as Ginny calmly continued her journey to her bedroom. On her way up the stairs, she heard the shower running and assumed it was Fred or George. She continued to make her way to her room and noticed Hermione wasn't in there, and assumed she was reading in the garden again- she'd taken to it quite a bit lately.

Since school was due to start soon and Ginny had just arrived back from the Lovegood's earlier that week she thought it might be good idea to start her potions essay. Snape, being the greasy haired dung that he was, decided that a full parchment essay would be just enough to keep his students busy over the holidays.

Half way through her essay on "How to Obtain the Necessary Ingredients for Bulbadox Powder" She heard a knock on her door.

"Come in!" she looked up to see Fred and George enter her room and start looking around.

"What are you two doing? I thought one of you was in the shower?" she asked, confused. She was sure it had to be one of them since herDdad was at work, Ron and her Mum were down stairs and Hermione was in the garden.

They both looked up from their search and looked into her eyes curiously.

"No, we saw Hermione going down there a little while ago." Fred said.

"Odd though, I could have sworn she took one last night." George countered.

"Really? I heard her in there earlier this morning." Fred responded.

"Yeah, so did I. That's really odd of her."

Ginny was a little curious as to why Hermione was continuously taking showers. She noticed that she had been taking a lot more of them since she got to the Burrow, but thought nothing of it. Now, it just seemed to add to her list of odd behavior. Ginny noticed she wasn't eating, she was really jumpy and had been staying away from most of the family-trying to avoid conversation.

She knew Hermione would be a little off since her capture, but some things were just far too abnormal. She kept wearing huge sweatshirts that came to mid-thigh, which Ginny found very strange since it was July. She was also continuously biting her bottom lip to the point that it was scabbing and Ginny heard her screaming out strange things in her sleep.

George stole her from her train of thought and said in a voice appearing as if he didn't find anything odd, "Well, have you seen any Fainting Fancy's around? We seem to be missing a few." and started looking under her bed.

"No, I don't know where any of your silly candies are, now will you please bugger off? I'm trying to get this Potions essay done."

"Okay, fine. But if you see any blue toffee looking candies do NOT eat them. We're still trying to work out the kinks and if you eat it, it might just turn your hair blue." George said and they both left the room. Before Fred closed the door, he said, "Actually, go head and eat it. See if the results differ from ours."

Ginny shouted at her closed door, "Bugger off, the both of you!"

She continued on with her essay and soon Hermione entered with her hair up in a towel and covered in a fluffy robe.

"There you are. How many showers do you need? I know being around my brother can be disgusting at times, but we don't want you to get a rash from all the washing you're doing." Ginny chuckled.

Hermione's mouth opened and closed like a fish, too surprised to find a proper response in her befuddled brain.

After a few moments of silence, Ginny looked up to see the surprised look on her face and said, "Relax, Hermione. I was only kidding."

Hermione put on a forced smile and laughed. Ginny looked at her oddly, but looked back down at her essay a moment later, shaking her head.

Hermione chose to ignore the awkward situation and grabbed some clothes to put on. Since she didn't want to change in front of Ginny, she started to make her way towards the door to go back to the bathroom only to hear the twins murmuring to each other on the other side. Something about fainting, candy, and blue hair…

Hermione started to panic, not sure what to do. She knew Ginny wouldn't mind Hermione changing in front of her, but Hermione just couldn't do it. She didn't want Ginny to see all the scars she had and especially not the one on her arm. She still had faint scratching marks on her stomach and yellowing bruises on her inner thigh.

It wasn't just the bruises though. It was the fact that Hermione felt so ugly. She felt revolted by even catching glimpses of herself in the mirror. Hermione felt as if nobody would ever want to see her body, because she herself certainly did not.

Ginny looked back up from the parchment she was writing on and gave Hermione an odd expression. She was standing by the door with her hand on the knob, completely still. Her face was twisted up as if she was considering something in her head and instead of letting her continue Ginny said "Hermione", startled she looked up.

"What are you doing?" Hermione could tell Ginny saw something was up by the look on her face. Am I really being that obvious? Hermione asked herself.

Hermione was having trouble finding words but, seeing as she didn't have a choice, said, "Could you leave the room for a moment so I can change? Your brothers are out there and I really don't want to go out in just this to go back to the bathroom to change."

Ginny chuckled in surprise "Hermione, you can change in here it's fine. We've been doing it since I was twelve."

There it was again. She was biting her lip, far too aggressively in Ginny's mind. What is the matter with her?

Hermione bit her lip and looked down at the ground, "I know," and she paused for a second to take a deep nervous breath, "could you just leave for a moment? I'll be quick."

Ginny furrowed her eyebrows together with a mildly surprised expression. "Hermione, are you okay? Why do you want me to leave?"

Hermione looked up and felt anger rise and flow through her. Why couldn't she just leave? She always asks so many questions.

"Ginny, look, I really don't want to talk about this right now. Could you just step out for a second? I'll be right out."

Ginny looked taken aback and said in a gentle voice, "Look, Hermione, you can talk to me. I mean, whatever's going on, you can tell me. We're friends remember?" Ginny grabbed Hermione's hand and gently squeezed it.

Hermione looked down at their conjoined hands and started to feel nervous. For some reason Hermione felt uneasy about Ginny holding her hand. She quickly jerked her hand out of Ginny's and mumbled something about just using the bathroom.

She quickly fled the room, thankful that Fred and George had gone, and started descending the one flight of stairs to the bathroom.

She quickly got out of her robe and changed her clothes. She somehow managed to steal another one of Ron's infamous Weasley sweaters to hide under. She had her head down when she left the bathroom and ran straight into someone. She let out a little squeak of surprise and felt like she was going to jump out of her skin.

The person she ran into steadied her by holding her by her arms on either side with a firm grasp. She suddenly didn't feel too comfortable. She looked up only to met with the very person she had been trying to avoid. Ron.

She stood there, holding her breath and waiting for him to speak, but he also stood silent and still. She started to feel uncomfortable again and shook his arms off her. That seemed to have surprised him and he mumbled an apology.

As much as she was avoiding Ron, it didn't mean she didn't miss him or want to see him. She just felt it was easier to just avoid the situation with Ron all together by not talking to him. That way there would be no questions about her behavior in the kitchen. There was just too much to explain that she didn't really want to tell him.

He looked into her eyes from under his lashes with his hands in his pockets and let out a sigh. He really didn't know what to say since she hadn't seemed like she wanted to talk to him. Trying to break the awkward silence he said, "Mum made breakfast if you want to go down and have some."

Hermione averted her gaze and quietly said, "Thanks, but I'm not too hungry right now."

"Hermione you've barely been eating, you should really eat." He said concerned.

She looked back up at him and said, "Its fine Ron, really. I was just going outside." She said exasperated.

Ron quickly responded, "Alright, I'll come with you. I've barely had one conversation with you since you got here."

Hermione's initial instinct was to shout no and run off, but people were really starting to question her behavior and she didn't want to bring herself any more attention than she already had. She needed to start acting normal, especially for Ron. The one person who can tell when something is off with her is him. So, knowing she would regret it, she said, "Alright."

For a second Ron looked very surprised that she had said yes to him coming along. He could have sworn she would have bolted out of the room for him just having made the suggestion. So he quickly nodded and they descended the steps and were quickly sitting by the oak tree Ron used to play at as a boy.

They both sat down under the oak tree and stared off onto the Weasley property. Hermione couldn't help but feel serene here. There was nothing here that had been tainted by her experience. Everything there was natural. There were no odd creaks at night, no questions, and no confinements. It was just the sounds of birds, a light breeze, and the endless sky all there to keep her company.

Her and Ron sat quietly for a while bathing in the peace of the garden when Ron suddenly spoke, "I used to come out here a lot." He turned his head to look at her, "You know, when something was bothering me- like when the twins would tease me -I would just come out here and calm down. I really miss coming out here."

Hermione looked at him and really appreciated his presence then. It was nice that he could just sit there with her and add a few words every now and then. He somehow knew she didn't want to talk, so he just said little thoughts that passed his mind. It made her feel more at ease. Him talking kept her from thinking about anything significant. She wished she could sit here all day and talk about non sense. Just like at the hospital.

Ron stretched out his legs and crossed them over each other; leaned against the tree with a content sigh. She followed suit and she said, "Yeah, it's really a nice place to think."

Ron looked out towards the horizon of Ottery St. Catchpole that was just beyond the field's wheat that blocked the Muggles off from the Burrow and he chuckled.

She looked at him smiling and said, "What's so funny?"

He looked over at her with his famous crooked smile and teased, "Leave it to Hermione Granger to come somewhere and think. Don't you do that enough?"

She smiled, but turned her head back to the front, "Leave it to Ron Weasley to never think."

He smiled and laughed, "Well, I don't have to because I have you around."

She smiled and laughed - Ron thought it was the most beautiful smile he had ever seen. Her brown eyes lit up in that magical way they always did when she was truly happy and her lips curled up into the most breathtaking smile. He couldn't help but be content knowing he was the one that made such a beautiful sound come from her lips. He missed her smile.

"I miss your smile." he said without thinking. Normally he would regret such a blatant statement, but it had been too long since one had graced her face, and he had to let her know.

The statement had caught her by surprised but pleased her at the same time. She wasn't really sure what to say to him after that. It was so out of the blue, but it felt good to smile. It felt good to feel like it was okay to smile and it felt good to know he wanted to see her smile.

Still smiling slightly, sighed, and said "Yeah, so do I."

He held her gaze and she felt like she physically couldn't look away. She could see so much life and love in those eyes. His smile faded into seriousness and he looking right at her he said, "You know you can talk to me, right?"

She kept looking into his eyes and she didn't want to lie, but she knew she had to. She didn't want to ruin this moment with her tragedies. She wanted to keep this moment untainted by her pain, so she looked him right in the eye and responded, trying to portray truth, "Of course."

He could tell she wasn't telling him something. Unlike a lot of people, Ron could read Hermione easily through her eyes. He could tell whenever she was lying and right now he knew that she was. He didn't want her to run away from him again and to be honest, he really didn't want to force her into telling him, and so he kept his mouth shut. He just wanted to remind her that he would be there when or if she was ready.

He looked away and said, "I just wanted you to know." And they were soon bathed in silence again. It wasn't awkward, but a comfortable contentment to just sit there and enjoy each other's company. He so desperately wanted to hold her hand or in some way touch her, but he wouldn't for fear she would reject him. It seemed like such a good moment too, but sometimes your thoughts can deceive you into believing things you wish to happen.

Her just being there was good enough for him. Having not been in her presence for a week had driven him half mad.

Hermione and Ron sat there for a few minutes, swimming in their own thoughts until Ron interrupted the silence again and said,

"You know, Harry is coming next Friday. Mum said he could come a week before school starts. I wanted to tell you sooner, but with everything going on, I didn't get the chance." There was really nothing kept him from telling her this other than her avoiding him but he thought it was better not to bring it up.

Hermione felt a pang of panic hit her at the thought of Harry coming. She bit her lip and started scratching her scarred arm. Oh god, how am I going to tell him what happened?

She started breathing heavy and her eyes darted around the scenery that lay in front of her. Ron looked over to see her fretful face and felt panic himself.

She looked up at him and between intakes of breathe said, "I have to tell him. I can't tell him."

He put his hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, Hermione. We can tell him together. It's okay."

She looked at him with fearful eyes and said, "Really? Yo-you'll help me?"

"Of course, Hermione."

She still felt nervous to tell Harry, but knowing Ron was there eased the tension a bit. Her breathing regulated, but her shoulder's remained tense. Ron's hand was still on her shoulder but he quickly removed it.

She started scratching the scar on her arm again and Ron looked down, trying to lighten the mood said, "And here I thought you enjoyed wearing my famous Weasley sweaters."

His face lost its smile, though and he added, "Hermione, you don't need to wear that. No one here will judge you."

She pulled the sleeve down and said, "I know. I just don't like looking at it."

He pulled her sleeve up and looked to her for permission. She didn't feel entirely comfortable, but he just held onto her forearm and looked at the scar. Looking at it made her uneasy, but Ron's presence was soothing. She bit her lip and closed her eyes. She really hated looking at it. Hated it.

As sudden as it had come, he pulled her sleeve down and, with her head down and eyes still closed, she said, "I don't want to go back to school."

She sighed and opened her eyes to see Ron's staring back into her's in confusion, "I-I just know someone's going to see it. A-as much as I try to hide it someone will see it. I don't want the questions.

"Don't worry about it, Hermione. Harry, Ginny, and I will be there for you. You aren't alone."

He looked at her with such a sincere expression that it made her heart hurt. This still didn't calm her though. She wasn't ready. She just couldn't see herself being able to deal with it. How was she going to dorm with Parvati and Lavender if she didn't even feel comfortable around Ginny?

She responded with a doubtful "Yeah." And the conversation ended.

Ron looked at her, wishing he could say more, but knew there were no words. Wishing to end the silence, Ron said, "Hey, you wanna help me with my Transfigurations essay? I haven't started it, and since school starts soon, I might as well. I'll need your help anyway."

She gave a familiar sigh and said, "Ron, when will you ever do your homework without my help?"

He smiled, seeing a little bit of the old Hermione, and stood up, "Well when your around to help there's just no point in trying to do it myself." He smiled.

She 'Umf'ed at him and stood. They began walking back to the Burrow when she said; "Ron?" and he looked over at her.

She moved towards him and gave him a quick hug. He was too surprised to return it in time and left his arms hanging. She pulled away and he had an expression of confusion mixed with happiness.

As uncomfortable as she was hugging him, it was quick, painless, and she felt like he deserved it for being such a good friend. She felt like this was a step in the right direction for them. She walked into the house, feeling a little more light hearted than she had felt before she left.

Ron was still standing outside, still surprised at Hermione's spontaneous hug when she went into the house.