Chapter 4

And so the snow kept falling all through the day. The grounds were covered in a thick blanket of snow and were empty of footprints, except for Hagrid's large strides from his hut to the castle. The hallways were empty, barely any students were left over for the holidays. Those that were left had found various diversions of sorts to occupy themselves between now and the last few days until Christmas.

Harry and Ginny sat on the floor in front of the fire, a cold afternoon four days until Christmas, playing a game of wizard's chess. They were warming up from their earlier adventures of walking by the lake and playing in the snow. Ron and Hermione sat nearby occupying themselves in there own ways. Hermione sat at one end of the couch, a giant book about famous witches and wizards of the 20th century and a blanket in her lap. Ron sat at the other end of the couch with his nose in a Quidditch magazine. Everyone was relaxing, or at least trying to.

For much of the afternoon the four sat in front of the common room fire playing games, reading, and talking of Christmases past. Around five o'clock, however, Hermione fell asleep with her book open in her lap. Harry was the first to notice, sitting across the coffee table from Ron on the floor as they played a game of wizard's chess. But he just smiled to himself as he turned to find Ginny by the fire sketching her sleeping friend.

Suddenly, there was a scream and Hermione moved violently on the couch, the book falling from her lap. She still slept but on her face was a disturbed and frightened expression.

"Hermione," Ron said reaching out to touch her. As his hand touched her leg, she twisted but did not wake. Ron looked back at Harry and Ginny.

"What should we do?" he asked.

"We should probably wake her." Harry said moving to get up.

"No I'll do it," Ron said quickly, scooting closer to her. Harry looked at him and sat back down, watching as Ron slowing reached to touch her.

He lightly touched her shoulder. She twitched again but her eyes stayed shut. He watched her face, distorted in fear, and his heart hurt. He silently wished that he could protect her.

He lightly shook her shoulder. "Hermione," he whispered his voice deep as he leaned toward her.

At the sound of his voice, her eyes flew open and she saw his face. Their eyes caught for a minute then she threw her arms around his neck and pulled herself to him. Ron automatically put his arms around her and held her close. She buried her head in the crook of his neck, against the scratchy, worn wool of his maroon Weasley sweater. They sat there together for a few minutes while her heart calmed in her chest.

Hermione listened to the beating of his heart, relaxing some in his arms. Her dream had been really strong. All the visions seemed real, almost like they were happening. Ron had been fighting Lucius Malfoy and she was standing near him fighting Goyle. Suddenly out of the corner of her eye she noticed Pettigrew coming up behind Ron. She screamed at Ron to watch out and Ron turned to her. At that moment Goyle shouted the killing curse aiming at her. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as Ron jumped in front of her and took the curse directly in the chest. His body hit the ground limp, his eyes open but unclear and glazed. Without thinking she had then yelled Avada Kedavra three times and killed Petigrew, Goyle and Malfoy with the rage and pain of her heart. As they fell back in there places, she dropped to her knees next to Ron and touched his cheek. She felt the coldness and her heart lurched so deeply in her chest, her breath caught and she felt as if her heart was being ripped out of her chest. At that moment she had woken to find Ron in front of her.

Reliving the dream caused Hermione to snuggle closer to Ron's body. Ron held her tighter, realizing that she needed the comfort of another body to calm down.

Harry and Ginny watched closely the interaction between the two from where they sat. Both saw the scared look in Hermione's eyes and Ron's protecting grasp on her. Ginny noticed the way Hermione's body relaxed when Ron touched her. Harry noticed the sigh in Ron's body when Hermione was in his arms. From that moment both knew what was in Ron and Hermione's nightmares.

Suddenly Ron spoke. "Are you all right Hermione?" he asked in a murmur. Hermione took a deep breath and let go of Ron's neck, pushing his arms off her waist as she slid back.

She nodded. "Yeah. It was another nightmare. It felt so real I kind of panicked." She said avoiding eye contact with her three friends. "But I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?" Ron asked putting a hand under her chin and forcing her to look up at him. Hermione looked up into his eyes and nodded slowly. Then most suddenly, before Harry, Ginny, or Ron could ask her what the dream was about, she grabbed her book, left the couch, and headed for her dormitory. The three watched her as she rushed away.

"I wonder if she gets any sleep away from the nightmares." Ginny wondered out loud in an almost purposeful way. "She's been having nightmare's ever since we got back." She looked over at Harry then they both looked to Ron, who was still staring at the girls' dormitory stairs where Hermione had disappeared.

"Poor Hermione," Harry said. "If only there was some way to help her."

AN: Chapter edited 6-3-07