Well, a Happy New Year to you all, hope 2007 brings you all you want it to! Including 'Deathly Hallows':D
So, a few of you may have been waiting for this chapter, and it's finally here. Hope it doesn't disappoint.
Anyway, I was well chuffed with the reviews the last chapter got, so if you would be so kind as to do it again, it would be much appreciated.
Many thanks to Leviathan for the suggestions and the Betaing. :D
Ta muchly. Step ;)
Chapter 17
'Headmaster I just don't know what to do with them! I've never seen anything like this before!'
'Calm yourself, Poppy. Getting worked up will not help us solve this little mystery,' Dumbledore replied with a soft smile on his face.
'Neither will standing here watching them Albus!'
She hesitated in her protests when Dumbledore held up his healthy hand and gestured towards the two beds in front of them.
Hermione and Ron were lying on their sides facing each other. Hermione's right arm and Ron's left were hanging over the edge of the bed. It was the first time Madam Pomfrey noticed they were lying in almost identical positions.
She looked at Dumbledore, confused. Dumbledore merely nodded at the two students.
As the two of them looked on they saw both their brows furrow and their arms twitch.
'Do you think they are still in pain, Headmaster?' Madam Pomfrey asked, a little frantically.
'I think that is certainly a possibility, Poppy. If you would be so kind as to perform a revealing spell on the both of them.'
'Oh, of course.'
The nurse stepped forward and waved her wand over Hermione's head. The mist that hovered over the young witch disappeared over her face but turned an angry red over her temple and her forehead. It pulsed in time with her heartbeat.
She frowned and turned to Ron, performing the same spell and seeing the same result unfold before her eyes.
She stepped back to the headmaster and noticed the faintest of smiles on his face.
'Well, it's obvious they are both suffering, I-'
'I think they are about to show us how they can help each other out Poppy. You will notice, Hermione's pain has lessened slightly and is now, not as much as Ronald's.'
'Well, yes, but I don't see how-'
'Just watch them, Poppy. I have a feeling we are about to see something most fascinating!'
The nurse turned to the two students. She watched as their dangling arms twitched and slowly started to rise and stretch towards the other's. When they didn't manage contact the both of them shuffled forwards, but instinctively knew when to stop so they didn't fall off the edge of the bed.
'I think a little assistance is in order,' Dumbledore said quietly.
He waved his wand and the two beds moved closer together.
Ron and Hermione's fingertips brushed and then they grasped hands. Their brows furrowed further as if they were both concentrating hard on something. What happened next made Madam Pomfrey gasp.
Some of the red mist which was hovering around Ron's head started to move down his neck, across to his shoulder and down his arm. It flowed along his fingers and onto Hermione's. At the same time that Ron relaxed slightly, Hermione tensed as the pain moved up through her arm, up her neck and into her head.
Her brow furrowed a little more for a few seconds before she seemed to get used to the pain and relaxed slightly.
The nurse and the headmaster stood and stared for the next few minutes, which saw the pain in Ron's head reduce, and Hermione's pain flow through to Ron who accepted it willingly.
'Are they-?' Madam Pomfrey started uncertainly. 'Are they helping each other fight this pain?'
'I don't think they are helping each other fight the pain directly, Poppy. As their own bodies combat whatever it is that is causing them this discomfort, their pain is lessening, and because they are connected on a level that we do not understand as of yet, they know how the other is feeling. In an act of complete selflessness, they are balancing out the pain so that neither of them is suffering more than the other, and they will, therefore, become healthy at the same time. We must remember, my dear Poppy, that whilst one is unwell, it restricts the other's freedom significantly.'
'So not entirely selfless then,' Madam Pomfrey said.
Dumbledore smirked. 'Quite.'
'This still does not help us understand how we can help them headmaster. They were in severe pain earlier and the only way they could stop it was to touch their foreheads together. I have never seen anything like this in all my years here, and you and I both know I have seen some very strange things!'
Dumbledore chuckled. 'Indeed you have Poppy, and yet this is possibly the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in your hospital wing.'
The nurse frowned. 'Be that as it may, headmaster, I still do not know how to help them.'
'Until they wake up, Poppy I suggest we do nothing, but when they do wake I suggest we test to see if their connection has weakened in any way, only then can we assess their situation.'
'I suppose that seems reasonable.'
'Until then Poppy, I bid you farewell. I suggest you get some breakfast, we don't need our nurse becoming unwell too.'
'I will, headmaster.'
Madam Pomfrey looked towards the door as Dumbledore glided serenely towards it.
'Oh headmaster, will you please tell Miss Brown to come back later. I don't want her fussing around my patients.'
'Of course Poppy, of course.'
…oooOOOooo…
Hermione and Ron opened their eyes at the same second and looked at each other.
'Hiya,' Ron said with a smile.
'Hi,' Hermione replied, returning his smile.
'How are you feeling?' he asked.
'Fine, I think. You?'
'Yeah, fine. Er, you know…you know this morning, when we thought we were dreaming but we weren't?' Ron said.
He quickly glanced at his hand, which was still tightly grasping Hermione's.
'Yeah, I do.'
'Well…' Ron began, before pausing for a second to think. 'Did we…did we do it again?'
'I think we did,' Hermione answered, still smiling. 'We helped each other, didn't we? We shared our pain.'
'Yeah…we did.'
'It's quite amazing really,' she said quietly.
'Yeah I suppose it is.'
'Ron…I think we should let go now,' Hermione said, nodding towards their hands.
'But I don't want to!' Ron blurted out before he could stop himself. He reddened, as did Hermione. 'I mean-' he started, trying to lessen his embarrassment, 'I don't want us to get ill again. It's only been physical contact,' the redness increased, 'that's stopped it before.'
'Yeah, it has,' Hermione replied. She looked directly into his eyes. 'I don't want to either,' she said sincerely, 'but we have to know if this has stopped. We can't go round holding hands forever!'
Ron smiled. 'I know.'
They loosened their grip on each other's hands and pulled away from each other. When their fingertips met they both hesitated for a second, then pulled back completely.
After a few seconds their breathing returned to normal, they had both been holding their breath, waiting to be struck down by pain.
'I think we're okay,' Ron said with a smile.
'I think we are.'
'Well, apart from my arm, it seems to have stopped working!'
Hermione chuckled; her arm had gone dead too, now that Ron's was no longer supporting it.
Her face became serious.
'What? What's wrong?' Ron asked quickly.
'Nothing I'm fine, it's just…' she looked over her shoulder to the door of the hospital wing, 'well…Lavender saw us…well, you know, that won't have gone down well.'
Ron's face fell and he stared resolutely at the blanket on his bed.
'Er…yeah…I mean, no…it won't have will it.'
'Well I was going to say, if you wanted to, you know-'
'Ah! You're awake! I'll let the headmaster know!' Madam Pomfrey said before bustling out of the hospital wing doors.
'What were you going to say?' Ron prompted.
'What? Oh, well, I was just going to suggest, if you wanted to talk to her…in private, you know, you could cast Muffliato then I wouldn't hear anything you didn't want me to.'
Ron was taken aback.
'But you don't like any of the spells out of the Prince's book! And…well, I dunno if I'd feel right…hexing you! In fact, I know I couldn't hex you!'
Hermione smiled. 'It's not as if you're hexing me out of anger or cruelty, is it? I have asked you to do it; I want you to do it so you can finally have some privacy with her. It can't have been easy, these past couple of weeks. In fact you've hardly seen her at all.'
'There's a reason,' Ron mumbled.
Hermione didn't reply. She just rolled over so she was lying on her back. Ron didn't move.
'I think…' he started, but lost his nerve.
He shuffled and copied Hermione, lying down on his back and staring at the ceiling.
'What do you think?' Hermione asked quietly.
'Nothing. Nothing I think is worth anything anyway.'
Hermione sat up quickly and glared at Ron.
'Don't you ever say things like that Ron. I hate it when you underestimate yourself and put yourself down!'
Her outburst had taken Ron by surprise. He looked at her, unsure whether or not to say anything in reply.
'Sorry,' he mumbled.
Hermione took a deep breath and laid back down on the bed.
'So, what do you think?' she asked again.
'I…I think I'm gonna tell her…that I…that I don't want to-'
He stopped when the hospital wing doors burst open and Madam Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore walked in.
He visibly deflated, Hermione nearly cursed out loud.
'Well, well!' Dumbledore said brightly. 'The two of you do have us all very confused and, frankly, stumped!'
'We do Professor?' Hermione asked. She was still staring at her quilt, annoyed that Ron had been interrupted.
'Yes you do! I might not have believed Madam Pomfrey if she had told me you were balancing your pain between you, but I witnessed it with my own eyes. Are you aware of what happened?'
Ron and Hermione looked at each other.
'I don't think we were consciously aware of it, Professor,' Hermione replied, 'but when we woke up we both knew what had happened. It was like this morning when we both thought we were dreaming, when we weren't.'
'Ah yes, if one of you could explain what has happened to the both of you since this morning it may help us.'
To Ron's surprise, Hermione made a small noise of what he thought was defiance.
Professor Dumbledore seemed to notice but chose to ignore it. Ron decided it might be better if he spoke, he wasn't sure what was annoying Hermione, although he did know it wasn't anything to do with him.
'Well Professor, we both thought we were dreaming, but we found out later that we weren't. We both had a headache, and – I presume it was the same for Hermione – we both subconsciously knew what would make it go away. We got out of bed and sat on the floor. I reached out for Hermione's hand, it was strange, I knew that she'd be there, like a sixth sense or something.' He thought for a seconds and then shrugged. 'Anyway we pulled towards each other and touched foreheads. After that the pain went away. I think we went to sleep where we were…well; we woke up lying on the floor so I presume we did. When we woke up it happened again so we touched foreheads again and it worked. We thought it was best that we came here and, well, Madam Pomfrey saw the rest.'
'Ah yes, Madam Pomfrey explained to me last night what happened when you came here. I must say we are still at a loss to explain why you were unable to stop the pain the second time, but anyway we would like to test the strength of your 'connection' in the same way Professor Slughorn did.'
Hermione looked over at Ron and he gave her a half smile. She pulled the covers off her and swung her legs over the edge of the bed.
'What are you doing?' Ron asked as he stood up and took a step towards Hermione.
'I'm getting up so we can see if our situation has changed.'
'No you're not,' Ron said simply.
'Why not?'
'Because I don't want you bleeding all over the corridor that's why. If you faint, chances are you're gonna smack your head on something, you do have a track record so don't even try and deny it!'
He grinned and Hermione returned the smile.
'Okay then, just…be careful, don't think I've forgotten that you fell off your bed when you fainted!'
Ron laughed. 'I'll be careful.'
Dumbledore ushered Ron towards the door and Madam Pomfrey stood next to Hermione's bed, after insisting Hermione sit on it fully. She didn't like the idea of Hermione feeling faint, whilst sat on the edge of the bed.
Dumbledore stopped at the doors and turned back to Hermione and the nurse.
'Ready?' he asked with a smile.
Hermione nodded, she had suddenly come over very nervous and had to take a deep breath before she hyperventilated.
She watched as Dumbledore pushed open the door with his good hand and ushered Ron out of the room. Hermione held her breath as she watched the door swing shut. She waited for the black spots to invade her peripheral vision but none came.
She was about to comment on the fact when her temples gave an almighty throb. Her hands went to her head and she closed her eyes against the pain.
'Miss Granger! What's wrong, is it your head again?'
Somehow Hermione managed to nod her head.
'Right, this has to stop.'
'No! Wait!' Hermione found herself saying.
'Miss Granger?'
'We haven't…we haven't fainted…yet, we n…need to see if…if we do.'
Her head gave another painful throb and she couldn't hold back the cry of pain that escaped her.
'I don't care Miss Granger, this has got to stop!'
Madam Pomfrey marched to the doors and wrenched them open.
'Headmaster! I must insist that this stop right now!'
She watched as Ron pushed passed her and ran to Hermione's bedside.
He grabbed her hand and held it tightly.
'Are you okay?' he asked, slightly breathless. 'Do you need to, you know?'
Hermione shook her head before stopping abruptly, it didn't help her pain.
'No, it's going. How about you?'
'Yeah, mine's going too.'
'Good.'
'Well…this makes things slightly more interesting…doesn't it?'
Hermione smiled.
'Yeah I suppose it does, we don't faint anymore, just endure head crushing pain instead!'
He laughed, and Hermione managed to raise a smile, her pain nearly gone.
'Yes, I don't know which one I prefer, being rendered unconscious for a few hours but with no pain, or a splitting headache and staying awake.'
'Well I suppose this is better, if we can find a way to stop the pain then we might be able to, well, leave each other's company.'
Despite the possibility that their 'condition' might be combated sooner rather than later, Hermione felt a slight regret at the thought. She wasn't sure if the sudden emotion the flowed through her had been solely hers.
'Woah,' Ron mumbled.
She wasn't sure if that confirmed her suspicions or not.
There was a frantic knocking on the door.
'Oh bloody hell!'
'What?' Hermione asked Ron, who had sagged and was now using her bed as a support.
'Lavender's outside, she's demanding she see me, but-'
Hermione raised her eyes to the door when she heard shouting on the other side.
'And er, Ginny and Harry are here too.'
'Well Ginny certainly is!' Hermione said with a sly smile.
'Oh for goodness sake!' Madam Pomfrey said from behind them.
She marched to the door and wrenched it open and had a few choice, stern words for Lavender and Ginny, and an instruction to stand outside the hospital wing quietly until they were called for.
When she returned to the end of Hermione's bed she turned to look at Dumbledore, waiting for his suggestion of what they should do next.
'Well I think that gave us all food for thought! At the minute I suggest all arrangements that were put in place when this, ah, affliction, first became a problem stay in place. If you don't mind though Ronald, Hermione, I may ask that you come back to the hospital wing if we come up with any suggestions that may put an end to this situation.'
Ron nodded and Hermione did the same, trying desperately to ignore the feeling that had come flooding back to her when Dumbledore mentioned their connection coming to an end.
'I do believe you have some visitors, but I would suggest they only spend ten minutes here each. I cannot have any more of my students becoming ill, because they have spent their lunch time here and not in the Great Hall eating.'
'Is it lunch time already?' Hermione asked. 'Merlin I've missed far too many lessons!'
Dumbledore smiled.
'Do not worry Miss Granger I am sure you will be able to catch up easily. I have informed your teachers that you will not be in lessons today and they have been kind enough to prepare a set of notes for you, and you Ronald, so you should find catching up quite easy.'
'Thank you professor,' Hermione said.
'Yeah, thanks,' Ron said, although without the enthusiasm Hermione had mustered.
'Well, I shall leave you with your guests.'
He turned and walked out of the room.
'Could you ask Lavender to come in first please, Professor?' Ron asked Dumbledore's retreating form.
'Of course Ronald,' Dumbledore replied.
'You don't mind, do you?' Ron quickly asked Hermione. 'I'd just like to get this over and done with as soon as possible.'
'Er, yeah, okay, that's fine,' she replied, not really understanding what Ron wanted to get out of the way. 'Remember what I said though Ron, you can cast Muffliato if you want, I won't be annoyed.'
'Thanks, I…I think I will.'
'Won-Won!'
Ron automatically stepped back from Hermione's bed and reluctantly let go of her hand. He wasn't quick enough, however, as Lavender noticed their grasped hands and instantly angered.
'What's going on?' she demanded.
'What?' Ron replied. 'Nothing, come round here,' he said, walking around Hermione's bed to his own. 'I need to talk to you about something. You'd better sit down.'
When she had he turned to Hermione and picked up his wand off the bedside table.
'Are you sure?' he asked with a smile.
'I'm sure.'
She laid back down on the bed and closed her eyes.
Ron pointed his wand at Hermione and muttered the spell.
Hermione's ears were filled with a faint but persistent buzzing. It wasn't unpleasant, just a little annoying if anything, but she didn't mind, she knew it wouldn't be for long.
She was just settling into her bed when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
She was surprised to see Ron standing over her obviously trying to suppress a giggle.
'What is it?' she asked, her voice coming through to her ears slightly distorted.
She saw Ron wave his wand and say a spell of some sort. The buzzing stopped.
'What is it?' she repeated, glad to hear her voice was back to normal as far as her ears were concerned.
'Er,' Ron said through a giggle. 'Apparently if someone curses or hexes you, I feel the effects as well. I couldn't hear a thing!' He giggled again.
'You have got to be joking!' Hermione said with a smile.
'Nope, not joking.'
His smile slipped a little. 'It does mean than you'll have to listen to, well, you know what.'
In truth Hermione wasn't exactly sure what Ron was referring to, but she was stopped in asking by Lavender.
'Ro-oo-oo-on!' she whined. 'We've only got ten minutes together and you're wasting them talking to…her!'
Ron reddened and anger flashed in his eyes. He closed them and took a deep breath.
'See you in a bit.'
Hermione smiled at him, trying to calm him down a bit before he turned back to Lavender. She turned onto her side, away from Ron's bed and heard the curtains being drawn.
'Right Lavender,' Ron said, his tone annoyed. Hermione was slightly shocked.
'I'd really like it if you stopped referring to Hermione as her. Hermione is her name and I'd appreciate it if you used it!'
Hermione tried desperately hard to stop the smile slide across her face and the warm feeling growing in her stomach but she couldn't.
'But Won-Won! She's been so awful to you these past few weeks, since Christmas!'
'Well in all fairness, I was hardly nice to her, it's nothing more than I deserved, anyway, we're friends again now, and I want you to treat her with respect, she deserves it!'
'What's going on between you?' Lavender demanded, smelling a rat in Ron's behaviour.
Hermione rolled her eyes.
'What? Nothing! We're friends, best friends, but nothing more.'
Hermione knew the squirming in her stomach wasn't due to what she was feeling, Ron was uncomfortable. The question was, why?
'Don't give me that rubbish!' Lavender shrieked. 'I saw you holding her hand when I came in here, and I don't know if you remember but I saw you this morning! You were so close to her you could have kissed her!'
Ron looked at Lavender and saw her eyes were filling with tears.
'Here we go,' he said under his breath.
'I just don't know where I stand with you Ron! You know how I feel about you, but I have absolutely no idea how you feel about me!'
Has she finished? Ron thought.
Lavender looked at her hands which were fidgeting in her lap.
Ron sighed, he needed to end this now, he couldn't cope with this much longer.
'Look Lavender, I'm sorry, I don't want to hurt you but…but…'
Hermione knew he had run out of steam and didn't know how to phrase what he wanted to say.
Hermione concentrated on what she wanted Ron to feel and closed her eyes in concentration.
'I just-' Ron started, before stopping. Hermione knew he had just felt what she had being trying to communicate to him. She heard him take a deep breath before talking again.
'Look, I lied before, Hermione and me are more than just best friends, but not in the way you think. This connection, thing, it's made me realise…stuff, about myself more than anything, and I need to start being more truthful with myself and to start being proud of the person I am. Well, at the minute I'm not proud of the person I am, because I'm…I'm, well, I just don't think what I'm doing when it comes to you is right. I'm sorry Lavender, I think we should…stop seeing each other.'
Hermione was expecting a very loud sob from Lavender and she wasn't disappointed. She wasn't, however, expecting Lavender to sprint out of the room and not look back at Ron.
She sat up and looked over at Ron. He was perched on his bed with his back to her.
'Ron?' she asked quietly.
He cleared his throat. 'Yeah?' he replied softly.
'Are you okay?' Hermione asked.
'Er…yeah, I'm fine.'
Hermione knew he was lying. She slowly and quietly got out of bed and walked around to Ron. She stood in front of him and looked at the mess of red hair that was hiding his face.
He looked up at her and gave her half a smile.
'I'm er…sorry you had to watch that.'
'Don't worry about that. I don't believe you.'
'About what?'
'I don't believe you're okay.'
'Oh, that. There's no point in even trying to lie to you, is there?'
She smiled. 'No, none at all. We lost that ability two weeks ago. Look Ron, It's okay to feel upset, it's not a nice thing to have to do.'
'I just feel bad, that's all. I don't like hurting people. I don't want people to think I'm a bad person.'
Hermione put a finger under Ron's chin and pushed his head up high.
'You are in no way a bad person Ronald Weasley, you are kind and caring and protective to a point of stupidity, but you are not a bad person.'
He smiled at her.
'Thanks,' he replied quietly.
Hermione was hoping that the knot in her stomach that she knew belonged to Ron, not her, would lessen, but it didn't.
'You're not convinced, are you?'
Ron gave a shrug and let his head drop.
Hermione watched as her hand made it's way into his hair, gently twisting a few strands around her finger. Ron closed his eyes and sighed.
Hermione took her hand from his hair and took both of his hands in hers. She took a step back and pulled him off the bed.
Before he realised what Hermione was doing he felt himself being pulled towards her. He watched her arms go around his back and he closed his eyes as he felt her hug him.
He wrapped his arms around her back and breathed in deeply, feeling a little calmer.
'I don't hug bad people,' Hermione said quietly. 'So that settles it.'
Ron smiled. 'Are you sure you don't just have a soft spot for this one?'
Hermione giggled. 'Well, I might have, but that's beside the point.'
Neither of them noticed the doors opening behind them.
'Merlin above!' Harry said quietly.
'Bloody hell!' Ginny mumbled.
'I think we can leave the questions 'til later on, don't you.' Harry said with a grin.
'Er, yeah…I'd say so. Come on, we'd better go before they spot us.'
'Good idea, although, by the looks of things they only have eyes for each other.'
Oh, and how nice am I, this is twice the normal length chapters, guilt does these things to you, tis my apology for the wait! ;)
