Okay, I sigh in relief at getting this out. It's been a long time in coming in more ways than one, and I'm pretty happy with the result :D
I need to say a huuuuuuuuuuge thank you for taking my review count over 300. I did say thanks in the last chapter, but apparently I didn't save the author's note I wrote before uploading the chapter (headdesk) All your reviews make me very happy and I appreciate every one of them.

Enjoy!


Chapter 23

Everything was blue.

Actually, what was everything?

Was there anything there?

It was all around her and she couldn't see a way out of it.

Not that she really wanted to find a way out of it. It was nice here.

It was peaceful.

…oooOOOooo…

Everything was orange.

He liked that it was orange; it was a good colour, orange.

It was swirling a little, changing to brown and then to nearly white, but always back to a nice strong orange.

Yes, he liked it here.

Orange was a good colour.

…oooOOOooo…

The blue was changing now. There were other colours coming in, greens, and browns, and then there'd be a dash of white.

She liked how it was moving, the pretty colours were calming and she liked how they swirled around her. It was like they were protecting her from something, or just being a comfort to her, whatever they were doing she liked it.

The colours started to fade away and then there was blackness again. This kept happening, but she was used to it know, she expected it to happen.

…oooOOOooo…

The blackness faded and the orange was gone. Instead there was blue and there was green. Blue above him and green below him. He was sad there wasn't orange anymore, but he didn't mind the blue and green, it was just different.

He rolled over and saw that the two colours met, but he knew that it was a long way away; he'd have to walk for a long time to get there. Not that he'd walk, there'd be another thing he'd use. He couldn't remember what it was, but he knew he liked doing it.

Yes, he could live with these colours, he liked them.

…oooOOOooo…

It was warm.

When she looked around her she noticed the colours had stopped swirling and they were now constant. Above her was blue and beneath her feet was green.

Because she was standing now, that she knew. It felt like she was standing, although she didn't have any idea on what she was sanding or where she was standing. She turned and looked all around her. She stopped when she thought she had seen something. It wasn't anything she recognised, she wasn't sure if there was anything there at all. There was just something about the spot quite a way in front of her that intrigued her. Without even knowing what it was she knew it was familiar. She took a few steps towards it before feeling a little smothered by the feeling of the familiarity. She'd been close to whatever it was for a long time now, and she just wanted a bit of time on her own.

She turned around and walked in the opposite direction.

…oooOOOooo…

He wasn't sure if he was pleased or upset that the shape he half recognised was walking away from him. It definitely had a shape now, for a while it was just a blur, and there was no form there at all.

He knew that he knew what it was, but he couldn't think of it at the minute, it would come to him though.

He stood up and moved in parallel with the thing he knew – would know when he remembered. He looked around him, there were still the two colours, and he knew the blue was the sky and the green was grass. He couldn't really feel the grass yet but he knew it was there.

He decided he knew quite a few things, but he'd like to know a few more.

…oooOOOooo…

She smiled to herself when the person started walking alongside her, still quite a way from her but still, near enough for her to feel safe because they were there. She knew that the person protected her and had been doing for a long time. She liked that.

She looked around her and noticed another shape. This one was different to the other one though, this one wasn't a person. The top of it was green and was moving slightly against the breeze she could feel against her skin. The bottom half was brown and thinner than the green bit. She decided she liked it and moved over to it.

She looked over at the person who was walking parallel to her and she smiled when she saw they were walking over to this new shape too. They would look at it together.

Yes, together was good.

…oooOOOooo…

It was a tree, an oak tree if he wasn't mistaken and it was old, very old, hundreds of years old, and it looked as healthy as he imagined a tree could look. He continued to walk over to it and he knew without looking that the other person was doing the same thing. He carried on walking until he was only a foot from the tree, the other person was on the other side, and he knew she – it was definitely a she – was doing the same.

He studied the bark on the trunk and saw markings and dents in it. He trailed his finger around one of the shapes that had been engraved in it. The markings became clearer and he could see more markings inside the shape appearing. These were different to the shape he was covering with his finger, they weren't continuous marks, they were pointy and there were a few lines in each one, crossing over each other to make smaller shapes whilst still making a big shape together.

He looked at them, but he didn't know what the smaller marking meant. He took half a step back and looked at the overall effect of the various marks together. He smiled, half understanding what the composition meant, knowing that it was a good thing, whatever it was.

…oooOOOooo…

There were five of them that she could see clearly. She had traced her fingers over them when her eyes had found them and it was those five that held her attention.

They were roughly carved hearts and she knew that the smaller shapes inside were runes, no, not runes, letters. Yes, they were letters.

The two at the top were the least bright of the five, but still vivid in the way they stood out from the dark colour of the bark. She spoke the letters quietly, and heard the boy, man, on the other side do the same.

'A – W, M – P.'

The letters seemed to glow as she said them out loud, as if reassuring her that they were familiar. She looked at the heart to the right of that one and again said the letters out loud.

'C – G, V – B.'

Again the letters glowed and she smiled as the eight letters made her feel comforted.

…oooOOOooo…

He reached a bit further down the tree and touched the letters of the third heart.

'W – W, F – D.'

The letters glowed but in a different way to the other sets. The colour was different. Initially he thought they looked brighter, but on second look he knew that was wrong, it wasn't brighter it looked…newer, less established, but still strong.

His eyes fell to the two remaining hearts nearer the bottom of the tree and he knelt down in front of it. He squinted at the barely formed letters, trying to see the letters as a whole.

He carefully traced the first letter in the heart on the left hand side.

'H?' he asked in a whisper.

The letter glowed but then faded.

'P?' he again asked, not entirely sure of his thoughts.

The second letter behaved like the first, glowing and then fading.

'H – P, G – W,' he stated simply, surprising himself by the sounds that came out of his mouth. The faint letters underneath the first two glowed and then faded, confirming what he had said.

His brow furrowed as he looked at the letters. They weren't really glowing like the others, they were just there. He didn't know why they weren't the same as the others but he understood that they shouldn't be.

Not yet anyway.

…oooOOOooo…

The final heart was taking all of her attention now, not that she could really see the letters, but she couldn't take her eyes off the space encompassed by the roughly carved shape.

She reached her arm forward and placed her hand on the heart.

She gasped as she was overwhelmed with emotion: loving, wanting, needing, frustration, anger and confusion and then the contented feeling that came with knowing she was loved.

She opened her eyes and found sounds spilling out of her mouth.

'R – W, H – G.'

She had said them loudly and had heard him say them too.

The emotions subsided within her and she removed her hand from the trunk. She stood up, shaking a little and glanced down at her and his initials in the heart. Because she knew they were hers and his now, and she knew why they were glowing. Not brilliantly, but still, enough to make them stand out. Tentatively she stepped around the tree and saw him do the same. She stopped when she was stood in front of him and she smiled, a small amount of that comforting feeling washing over her.

She looked into his blue eyes.

'Ron.'

…oooOOOooo…

'Hermione,' he replied.

It wasn't a question, it was a statement and his tone mirrored hers.

'My protector,' he heard her say.

'My conscience,' he said with a smile.

He looked around him to see if anything had changed in the time he had been studying the tree. He didn't notice anything new.

'Where are we?' he asked.

'I don't know,' she replied, 'but I like it here.'

He nodded. 'Me too. I think I've been here before.'

'I think so too.'

'I like it here.'

'I do too. I feel safe here.'

He nodded his head again.

He really did feel safe here.

…oooOOOooo…

'Ron,' she said again.

'Hermione,' he replied.

'We've been here before.'

'More than once, I think.'

'But we don't belong here, do we?'

'No, we don't. It's only when we need to get better that we do.'

She wasn't sure how she knew he was right, but she did.

'So, do we need to get better then?'

'Er…'

'I suppose it would be logical. We're here so we need to get better.'

'But from what?'

She shrugged.

'Do you want to sit?' he asked her.

'Yeah okay.'

She sat down opposite him and they held each other's gaze for a few seconds before reaching her right hand forward. She watched as he did the same with his left and she grasped his hand, entwining her fingers with this.

Her mind was filled with images. She saw herself standing in front of him and watched as he leaned over her and kissed her. She couldn't help but smile, and then the image disappeared from her mind.

She looked into his eyes and knew he had just seen the same things she had.

'Maybe that's how we get better.'

…oooOOOooo…

'It might be,' he replied simply. 'Maybe that's how we share our pain and makes us better quicker.'

He watched her brow furrow in concentration.

'No, we do something else to make ourselves better, don't we?'

He saw her inch forward and he felt himself feel compelled to move forwards to wards her.

'Foreheads,' he said simply. 'We touch foreheads and it takes the pain away.'

Her brow furrowed again. 'But we're not in pain.'

'No I know,' he replied. 'But we're here because of something. Maybe it'll help. Do you want to try it?'

'Okay.'

He shuffled forwards until their knees were touching and then leaned in towards her. He closed his eyes as thoughts and feelings crashed into his mind.

He remembered things, things outside of the place he was in now; anger at himself, frustration at a situation he had been put in, embarrassment at things he'd said and done and then just a comforting warmth.

Then there was the pain.

He couldn't feel it, but he knew he had done. Something had happened to him and her, and this was why they were here now.

His grip on her hand intensified and he reached out, still with his eyes closed, and grasped her other hand tightly.

All At once everything became clear.

…oooOOOooo…

'Ron!' Hermione exclaimed. 'What's going on?'

'Bloody hell, Hermione, clam down! Your heart's racing!'

'How the hell do you know?'

'Really? You're asking me that question after everything we've been through and are apparently going through now?'

Hermione looked into his blue eyes and managed to calm down a little.

'Sorry,' she said, her tone still tense. 'Do you have any idea what's happening?'

'I dunno! We're where we go in our dreams, that means – I think – that we're unconscious! Doesn't it?'

Hermione's panic rose inside of her and Ron tensed as he felt her emotions flood him.

She pulled away from him, breaking the contact they had had between their foreheads. They both tensed up, waiting to see if this would bring on any pain or any other unwanted afflictions. After a few seconds they dared to hope that they weren't going to have any.

'Ron, this isn't the same as the other times we've been here. We're talking like we would if we were awake for one thing, and for another we we're dreaming! As much as I'd love this to be a complex and elaborate dream, I really don't think it is. We have to find out a way of getting out of here, or…waking ourselves up or…something!'

'We could always kiss,' Ron mumbled so his lips only barely moved. 'That seemed to wake us up in the past.'

'What?' Hermione snapped.

Ron turned and stood up, rubbing his face with his hand.

'Ron! Don't ignore me!' Hermione said as she stood up herself and took the few paces that separated them.

'Ignore you!' Ron screeched. 'I've been sharing everything with you for the past God knows how long, and you accuse me of ignoring you whilst we're inside each others heads or wherever the hell we are!'

'Then tell me what the hell you just said then!'

'I said—'

He stopped abruptly when he noticed something over Hermione's shoulder.

Hermione went to prompt him but noticed something behind Ron too. She looked around and noticed shapes were appearing. They were blurred, but she still recognised them. Her brow furrowed as she tried to place where she had seen them.

'Why has our outdoors place just suddenly merged with the hospital wing?' Ron asked at the same time Hermione realised where she had seen the various pieces of furniture now surrounding them.

'It's not solid though, we're still not there yet. Anyway, why are you avoiding telling me what you said?'

'Because you know what I said, you just want me to say it again!'

'Why do you not want to say it again? Is the prospect of kissing me too awful for you to contemplate?' Hermione shouted at him. She couldn't help it, for weeks she had felt unbelievably frustrated and confused as to why he had gone off with Lavender. She was ready to vent her anger.

'No!' Ron shouted back at her in equal measure. He turned and walked around the bed that had appeared on his left. Hermione followed him. 'How can you think that after everything that's happened? As much as we've been trying to ignore it and not let each other see how we're feeling, surely you haven't been ignoring it yourself, Hermione?'

'Of course I haven't!' she argued, her anger coming to the surface.

'Then why say that then? And why haven't you said anything to me?'

'Why haven't you said anything to me? Communication works both ways, Ron! And, for your information, I didn't say anything because the last time I did you went off and snogged Lavender Brown! My track record of asking you out is hardly brimming with success is it?'

'I… You… I didn't…' he swallowed hard, trying to keep his frustration under control.

He rocked forward and backwards, fighting with himself whether or not to go to Hermione.

'Look!' he said, the frustration coming through in his tone. 'This isn't helping us get out of here. How about we put our minds to sorting our little problem out first and then we can go back to being at each other's throats!'

'Fine!' Hermione screeched. 'What do you suggest?'

He knew she was trying to get him to say what he had said earlier. He realised he had no choice. It was the most logical answer.

'The only thing that has woken us up from this before is us kissing,' he said through gritted teeth, still annoyed with Hermione for making him say what she knew he had already said. 'How about we try that?'

He had managed to pull off a fake cheerful tone throughout his question and the smile on his face matched the sentiment.

'No!' Hermione said, her eyes burning with anger.

'No?' Ron replied, his confusion apparent.

'No!' Hermione stated again.

'Why not?'

Hermione took a deep breath and looked Ron directly in the eye.

'Because, Ron, I… I don't want this to happen this way.'

'What way?' Ron asked, still obviously confused.

'This way!' Hermione replied, annoyed at his lack of comprehension.

'But…it'll be the same way as the other two times!'

'No it won't!' Hermione snapped. 'The other two times we were asleep and dreaming, as much as we aren't technically conscious now, we are in full control of what we're doing, therefore we are, on some level conscious, this…' she swallowed and her eyes dropped to the floor, 'this will be the first time we do it voluntarily.'

Ron's eyes widened in understanding but then his brow furrowed.

'But it's the only way to get us out of here Hermione, we have to do it! We won't wake up otherwise!'

Hermione's blush from her earlier statement darkened, this time through anger.

'It's no big deal,' Ron continued.

'No big deal?' she asked, her jaw clenched.

'No big deal!' Ron replied not noticing Hermione's anger.

Hermione closed her eyes as a surge of anger flew through her.

'Bloody hell, Hermione!' Ron shouted.

Her eyes flew open at his words.

'What the hell was that?' he said, his voice still loud.

'What was what?' she asked, even though she had a feeling she had just performed some sort of uncontrolled magic.

Ron stepped forward and looked at her.

'I know you're angry, Hermione, but if you tell me what to say or do I'll do it to get us out of here! Tell me to kiss you and I will, we need to get out of here!'

'No, Ron!' she shouted, shocking herself at how loud she was shouting. 'I won't tell you to kiss me! I don't want you to kiss me just because you think it'll get is out of here! I want you to kiss me because it's what you really want to do!'

Suddenly everything became clear around them. The colours of their unconsciousness disappeared and the hospital wing was all that surrounded them.

Neither of them noticed though, they only had eyes for the other.

'Fine!' Ron said, taking a step closer to Hermione. 'Just for your notes, Hermione Granger, I am kissing you because I want to, not because I have to, okay?'

He stepped forward and clumsily walked into her, grabbing her shoulders to steady her before he brought his lips down on hers. He kissed her for a few seconds before she responded in kind. It wasn't gentle, their frustration at each other made that impossible.

Hermione's hands went into his hair, trying to pull him closer to her. His mouth opened in shock and he was even more shocked to feel Hermione's tongue exploring his mouth. He did the same and their kiss became fiercer. Lips bruised, teeth clashed and their tongues squashed together.

They felt something inside their chests, a feeling that if they were to stop, they'd regret it. It built as they kissed and it began to overwhelm them. They screwed up their eyes as the feeling started to consume every cell in their bodies, the sensation becoming almost unbearable.

They wrenched their eyes open, and stared into the others, trying to find understanding in them before they were ripped apart.

They both fell backwards, blackness consuming their vision as they fell. Neither of them noticed when they landed heavily on the hospital wing floor, and neither of them thought anymore on what had just happened as they slipped, once again, into unconsciousness.


Hokey coke, so if you could, yet again, let me know what you think about this one it would be hugely appreciated. I hope the PoV switched didn't annoy people, but I thought it was a good way of doing it.

Anyhoo... til next time ;)