Chapter 3

It was late. The moon was hidden behind the snow filled clouds. Ron lay starring up at the canopy of his bed. He looked over at the clock on his nightstand; it read 4:15 a.m. He sighed, looking over at Harry's bed. Harry slept peacefully, Ginny next to him in his arms. He rolled over on to his side, putting his back to the sleeping couple.

Ginny had moved into their dorm after a week back at school. Ron hadn't said anything to her about it because it seemed to help her cope with her pain. He knew she loved Harry and Harry, her. When they slept together they slept peacefully. No nightmares or dreams to interrupt their rest. In a way Ron was kind of jealous because he was the exact opposite. He never slept more then an hour or two a night, or if he slept longer, nightmares invaded his sleep and woke him with a start.

That was the case with tonight. He had woken a half hour or so ago from a nightmare. Now he lay there on his side thinking and taking apart the dream he had had many times since he had come back to Hogwarts.

In this dream he was back in battle, fighting against a group of Death Eaters. He had lost track of Harry, who he'd last seen with Lucius Malfoy. He fought the Death Eater in front of him and finally froze him. Before another Death Eater could step up, he looked around the area for Hermione.

His fist clenched up on his wand and his heart began to pound in his chest when he couldn't locate her. He yelled her name and he heard a scream in return. He whipped around to the direction the scream had come and he saw her on the edge of the fighting. He watched as she stepped away from Bellatrix, trip and fall backwards to the ground. His heartbeat rose as he forced his way through the crowd of fighting pairs to reach her. But before her could get close enough to say a spell, he heard Bellatrix cackle and shout, "Avada Kedarva."

At that point he pushed his way the last few feet to her, falling down to his knees next to her body. He cried her name as he looked down into her face. Her eyes were glazed and no breath came from her lips. Tears came to his eyes with the realization that she was dead.

Ron shuddered and his eyes flashed open. All his dreams were like that. Harry was missing, Hermione in trouble, or even he himself losing his life. So much of the time his dreams were of Hermione. These ones hurt the most. That was, of course, because he loved her. It was as simple as that yet so complex. So many times while the war was going on he had wanted to tell her but he never did. He could never bring himself to do it. Even though every part of his body told him he should, he still hadn't. Now he was beginning to think that his dreams were now telling him to by showing him how horrible it would be to lose her. And during the war, there had been a few times he almost had. He dreamed of those too, reliving the horrific visions of the past. These were the most vivid and the scariest of the nightmares and unfortunately the ones he had most often.

"Damn." Ron cursed smacking a fist against his pillow. He knew what scared him the most; the thought of not having Hermione around. This scared him more then dying himself. He loved her and the thought of losing her was unbearably painful. He loved her more then he could express; thus his reason for still having not expressed it.

No she didn't know. Or at least Ron hadn't told her. He had told her that he cared about her but it had been expressed with the excuse of them being best friends. It had been said during the war when everyone was telling those they cared about how much they meant. He had truly meant it though, with his whole heart. And now that his heart really knew how if felt, he struggled and struggled to fight away the dreams that haunted him while he slept and visions that appeared while he was awake.

Finally Ron sat up and threw back his covers. He kicked his legs over the side of his bed and faced the bed that had once been Dean's. More memories of the war flooded his head. He grabbed the extra blanket at the end of his bed and rushed out of the room, trying to escape the nightmares, the memories, and the happy sleeping couple.

He made his way down the cold stone stairs to the common room where a fire still burned bright in the hearth. He tossed the blanket on the maroon couch in front of the fire

and turned to the bookshelves on either side. After a moments browsing, he finally picked a many times read Hogwarts, a History and settled himself onto the couch to read.

Around 8:30, Ron heard footsteps on one of the stairwells and he looked up from his book to find out who it was. Hermione stepped into the common room in her flannel pajamas and dressing gown. She jumped back when she noticed Ron.

"What are you doing up so early?" She asked.

Ron lifted up the book. "Reading," he replied.

Hermione looked at him in a puzzled way. "But you never read." She stated walking over to him to see what he was reading.

Ron watched her as she crossed the room. "Yeah I know but I thought it was a good time to start. After all you have been bugging me to read stuff for the past 6 years." He replied closing the book over his fingers as a bookmark so he could show Hermione the cover. "See it's one of your favorites." He grinned sheepishly.

"Ha ha. Very funny Ron." she said smacking him lightly on the shoulder as she moved around the couch to sit in the armchair by the fire. Ron turned toward her.

"What are you doing up so early?" he asked folding the corner of the page over to mark his place and tossing the book to the end of the couch by his feet.

Hermione looked over at him then back into the flames. "I had a nightmare and I couldn't get back to sleep." She murmured wrapping her arms around her body as she remembered her dream.

It had taken place back during the war. Harry, Ron, and herself had been walking down a dark corridor. Harry led the way with Ron following and Hermione bringing up the rear. Suddenly Harry had stopped in front of a black metal door. He placed a hand on it and the door fell open. Harry looked back at them, then stepped over the threshold. Ron stepped into his place, looked back at Hermione with not a single hint of fright in his eyes. He moved forward and passed through the door.

Then, right as Ron disappeared, the door slammed shut and it disappeared, turning into a piece of wall. Before Hermione was just flat black metal. She screamed Ron's name and slapped the wall where the door had been. Without warning, the walls began to close in on her. She continued to scream. And just when she was about to be squashed from all four sides, she had woken up.

Ron watched her as she sat hugging herself. "So you wanna talk about it? Maybe tell me about it." Ron offered. Hermione glanced over at him and saw an enduring face. An almost sympathic look.

"I'd rather not." She murmured.

Ron nodded. "Alright then. But if you want to, I'll be there to listen." He said as he threw off the blanket and stood up. She watched as he moved in front of her chair and held his arms open. She smiled and stood up. He wrapped his arms firmly around her. She hugged him in return, resting her head against his shoulder.

Hermione sighed deep down inside. Her tensions being relieved with his touch. She knew he was there. She knew he was alive. She was safe in his arms and he in hers.

Ron held her close, almost protectively. If it had been up to him, he wouldn't have let her go. He loved the way she felt in his arms. He never wanted to lose that feeling. All together too soon, he let her go and gave her a smile.

"I guess I'll see you at breakfast." He said and headed for the boys staircase. Before he departed, he turned and added, "If you ever can't take keeping the nightmares to yourself, I'll listen to them."

With that he took the steps two at a time. As he pushed open the door to his dorm, he berated himself in his head.

"I sure am a hypocrite." He thought to himself as he flung himself on to his bed and threw the curtains closed around him. "Ginny was right."

AN: Chapter edited 6-3-07