Taking Care

She grabbed a hand full of floo powder and vanished into green flames grabbing Ron's hand.

They landed in the empty living room of the Burrow. Quickly Hermione brought Ron up to his room and placed him in his bed. She was panicking. What could she do? She had no idea of healing or anything like that. But he was not going to die, was he? Not because of Malfoy.

She first removed his shoes and then his jacket. The next shock hit her hard: there was a large dark spot on his green t-shirt and she recognized instantly it was blood. Scared she took off his shirt and saw a big scratch stretched over his chest. It was deep but had nearly stopped bleeding. There also were several bruises, blue and black marks and contusions.

Tears began once again to roll down her cheeks. The sight of him lying there so terribly hurt made her feel awful. She felt useless and thought about what to do. She felt his forehead. It was hot.

She ran down into the kitchen and searched the cupboards. Why was nobody there? Where had all the Weasleys gone?

Still shaking and crying silently she found what she was looking for: Essence of Dittany.

She picked up a sponge and a bowl of cold water as well and went upstairs again. Ron lay as she had left him, his bare chest rising slowly and his hair falling in his face.

Hermione sat down on the edge of his bed and carefully let some drops of dittany fall onto the scratch on his chest. It slightly smoked and Ron stirred.

"Ron?"

No answer.

"Are you awake? Can you open your eyes?"

He did not move again.

Disappointed she picked up the sponge, drenched it in cold water and ran it over Ron's forehead. She would sit here until he woke up, no matter how long it would take.

He had been so brave back there in Diagon Alley. She knew he could not control his temper sometimes, especially when it was about her, she noticed and her heart skipped a beat. Nobody was allowed to call her a Mudblood in his presence and she was very grateful for that. How could a human being be so loyal and wonderful…

Ron stirred once again and this time he opened one of his eyes (the other one still was swollen). Hermione nearly jumped out of her skin with excitement.

"Oh Ron, you are awake, I was so worried!" she shrieked and hugged him as tightly as she could.

"OW! Hermione!" he yelled and she saw his pained expression when she pulled back.

"Oh no, I'm such an idiot, I'm so sorry Ron!"

She bit her lower lip guiltily.

"Don't worry, it doesn't matter…" he said giving her a weak smile. His voice was weak as well.

"Yes, it does, I should have thought… oh, I'm so stupid."

"Hermione, stop it! You're not, it's okay."

She calmed down a bit and looked at him. "How are you feeling?" she asked worriedly.

"A bit damaged, but okay… I guess…" he said sounding unsure himself.

"I put some Essence of Dittany on your wound. It should be gone soon. But you have plenty of other bruises and contusions. They beat you up really badly."

"This is embarassing…" Ron mumbled staring at his bare chest.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I had to take off your shirt to treat your wound, I didn't think-" Hermione blushed.

"No, I don't mean that." Ron said blushing as well. "I just don't want you to see me like this… I'm so weak, nothing as brave as Harry… He defeats Voldemort and I get beaten up by some trolls so that I get unconscious… That's like I said… embarassing."

Hermione's expression softened even more at his words if this was possible.

"Ron, no, you're not weak. You are extraordinarily brave and most of all loyal. You did so much for Harry and me the past year. I'm sure, we would both be dead without you by now. Or at least, Harry wouldn't have defeated Voldemort without you. You always think so little of yourself but you are a hero, Ron, you truly are."

A single tear escaped Ron's opened eye.

"Thank you." he said in a thick voice. "And now I'm crying in front of you…"

"Doesn't matter." said Hermione. "That's what I'm there for. I'm there for you. I want to comfort you."

She leaned towards his swollen cheek. "Where does it hurt?"

"Nearly everywhere." he answered quietly.

"Thank you for defending me." she said in a whisper and slowly kissed a black mark on his cheek. "Better now?"

He gazed into her eyes and nodded. The tips of her curls tickled his face and chest. She placed a hand on his torso and pressed onto a spot carefully. He flinched.

"Does it hurt there as well?"

He nodded once again and she kissed the spot slowly as well. He then took her hand.

"Hermione, I want to tell you something."

.-.-.-.

THAT WAS IT! I'm kind of proud of it, I like it very much! Thanks for reading, I love reviews! Please don't be too hard if you didn't like it.

saule-pleurer