Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Hey everyone! Thanks for all the reads/reviews/favs! They mean so much to me =) So this chapter is much longer than it was intended to be but I'm pretty sure you'll be okay with that. Enjoy!

Ron stood off to the side, watching Hermione help Harry into bed. He saw Harry close his eyes gratefully as his head hit the pillow and Hermione laid a hand on Harry's brow.

"The fever is down a little bit." Ron heard Hermione murmur and Harry just groaned and rolled onto his side. Hermione pulled the blankets up around Harry's shoulders and left him there. She joined Ron.

"And you feel okay?" she asked, turning to watch Harry with Ron.

"Oh yeah, I feel brilliant. Besides the fact that I have to watch my best friends be sick because of my stupidity, I'm excellent."

Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Ron, we've told you. We're more than willing to do this for you so stop complaining about it."

Ron's eyes stayed fixed on Harry.

"I know. Since you're being sick for me, then at least let me take care of you."

Ron's words coaxed a smile out of Hermione and she turned and looked at him.

"That's really sweet, Ron. But I'm afraid you won't be able to. Not if we want this to work."

"Why not?" Ron said indignantly. "He's my best friend and if he's sick because of me, then I'll be next to him, doing everything I can to help him."

"I'm serious, Ron. You need to drink some water and then get some sleep. I need to do the same because I'll be next. Once we get ahead of this thing, then there will always be someone who has slept well enough to be there, but for right now, we both need to get some rest."

Hermione gave Ron a Look and he knew better than to argue. Instead, he followed her into the kitchen, where she got them each a big glass of water.

"Cheers." she said, before drinking the entire lot in one long gulp.

Ron drank his water a little more slowly, still wary about the fact that he might be sick even though he knew his insides were inside Harry at the moment. Nonetheless, he finished the entire glass and set it on the counter next to Hermione's.

"Bed. Now." Hermione didn't ask and Ron didn't argue. He shuffled off to bed while Hermione went to check on Harry before crawling in bed herself.

"Harry?" Hermione whispered and Harry rolled over enough to crack an eye open and see Hermione's face peering down at him.

"Hmm?"

"We're going to get some sleep, Ron and I. If you need anything, just call, okay? There's some water on the table next to the basin. Try and drink some, if you can."

"'Kay." Harry said before allowing his eyes to slide close again. Hermione sighed as she instinctively laid her hand on Harry's flushed cheek again. Harry didn't even stir and after a moment, Hermione drew back her hand and went to her own bed. Surprisingly, she fell asleep almost instantly.

Ron, on the other hand, couldn't keep his eyes closed. Even though he knew he was tired, he kept listening for sounds coming from Harry's bed. He felt like Hermione, hovering like this. He kept telling himself to go back to sleep and that once he had gotten some sleep, he could take care of Harry and Hermione. After what felt like hours, sleep finally found Ron.

Harry had been dreaming and in his dream, he was seeing all his friends at Hogwarts. Instead of the terror that he knew currently reigned there, they were all playing Quidditch in the bright afternoon sun, a slight breeze blowing across the pitch. He had just gone into a Wronski feint to try and fool the other Seeker. In his dream, he could feel his stomach drop in that sensation that he loved but back in reality, it was that sensation that woke him up and made him lunge for a basin. After being sick, Harry leaned back, breathing deeply.

He hoped he hadn't awoken Hermione or Ron and when no one came to his side after a minute, he figured they were both out cold. He sighed deeply. He didn't mind doing this for Ron, although the idea seemed much more appealing when he wasn't the one throwing up. Even so, he knew that this was what needed to be done to get past this hurtle and move onto the end result: finding and destroying the horcruxes.

Harry remembered the water Hermione had left him and he forced himself to take a drink. He could feel the liquid slide down his burning throat and he had to fight to keep it down but in the end, he succeeded. He rolled over, hoping to go back to sleep so his turn with the bug could be over that much sooner.

Hermione woke up several hours later, pleased at how long she had slept. The first thing she did when she got up was drink another big glass of water, knowing that it was almost her turn to take the bug. She walked through the quiet tent to Harry's bed and was surprised to see Ron sitting next to Harry. Harry was now sporting a cloth laid across his brow; the two had been talking about what the Quidditch Cup standings were for the year.

"Hermione, you're awake. Sleep well?" Ron asked. Hermione noticed that Ron looked much better. The bags under his eyes were gone and he had a nice rosy complexion. He was even smiling. She smiled back and pulled up another chair.

"Very well, in fact. How are you feeling, Harry?"

"I'm doing alright."

"His fever went up, I think. So I did what I thought you would do. Is that alright?" Ron looked so scared that he might've done something wrong that Hermione had to fight laughter.

"You did fine, Ron." she said, removing the cloth so she could feel Harry's forehead.

"It worked, too, by the looks of it."

She replaced the cloth and then checked her watch.

"Do you remember what time we switched?"

"It was about ten o'clock. What time is it now?" Ron answered.

"It's almost five."

"Were you able to get any sleep, Harry?"

"A bit but I kept waking up to be sick."

"And you, Ron?"

"Yeah, I slept until about an hour ago. I feel pretty good even."

Hermione thought.

"So why don't you and I have some supper, Ron. We'll make a plate for you, Harry, and we'll keep it warm. We can switch around ten o'clock again; that's twelve hours and that seems like a good period of time to stick to. Does that sound okay?"

Hermione looked to Ron and Harry, who both nodded.

"Brilliant. I'm going to go see what I can find for supper."

Hermione headed for the kitchen and Ron and Harry went back to talking about Quidditch until Hermione called to Ron.

"Ron, supper's ready!"

"I'll be right there, Hermione." Ron said, getting up. "Try and get some sleep, Harry."

Harry nodded and watched at Ron left. His stomach felt queasy about just the idea of eating anything at the moment and he closed his eyes, willing himself to think about something else.

After a sparse meal of some hard bread and a sort of bland soup, Hermione gulped another big glass of water. Ron volunteered to clean the kitchen if Hermione wanted to try and get another few hours of sleep. Hermione accepted the offer and went to her bunk and lay down but realized very quickly she was not going to get any more sleep.

She went back to Harry's bed and sat with her friends. They began talking like they used to – carefree and cheerful.

"I had a dream," Harry told them after an hour of chatting. "About everyone at Hogwarts."

"Like who?" Ron asked.

"Luna was there. So were Ginny and Neville. I think Dean was there and so was Lavender."

Ron made a face at the sound of Lavender's name.

"Lavender was there? That's not a dream, mate, that's a nightmare."

All three of them laughed again. It felt good to laugh; there had been so much tension building ever since they had left Grimmauld Place and it had only gotten worse when Ron had gotten sick. They needed to laugh and think about life before all of this had happened.

Like a nasty reminder, the laughter caused Harry to be sick yet again and when he was done, Hermione spoke.

"Well, it's just past nine-thirty. What do you say…should we switch?"

Ron nodded and pulled out his wand. Hermione told him the incantation and had him say it a few times for practice.

"Alright, you've got it right. Let me just get another drink before switching."

Hermione quickly drank another cup of water and then stood next to the head of Harry's bed.

"Okay, I'm ready."

Ron said the spell and after watching Harry and Hermione grope in pain, it became clear that the switch had been made. Harry sat up easily, the color returning to his cheeks. Hermione clutched her stomach, bent double, and groped at the bed frame for support.

"Whoa, Hermione." Ron moved quickly to catch Hermione as she began to fall forward.

"Come to bed, now." Ron gently helped Hermione into her own bed and moved the basin of water as well as their 'sick basin' to Hermione's area.

"Thanks." she murmured, her eyes closed. Ron could tell that she had her own way of dealing with the pain.

"How's Harry?" she whispered a minute later. She opened her eyes and squinted up at Ron. At the sound of his name, Harry came next to Ron.

"I'm fine, Hermione. It's you we need to worry about, now. Just relax and let us take care of you."

Harry knew that that would not be easy for Hermione. She was so used to being the one to fix things, being the one to take care of them. In all honesty, Ron and Harry would be lost without her and Harry couldn't count the number of times she had saved the day.

"Did you hear that, Hermione?" Ron asked, gently stroking her hair. "It's our turn to take care of you."

Hermione closed her eyes again and smiled amidst her pain.

What did you think? I'm super excited to write the next chapter … seeing Harry and Ron taking care of Hermione is super cute (at least it is in my head). After that, I need to figure out where to go from there but I'll worry about that later. Review, please?