A/N: This is a very quick update because even I can't wait to share this chapter with you all. Thanks a ton for those fabulous reviews.

All Characters of this story belong to JKR.

Chapter 22: Between Sleep and Wakefulness

She walked mechanically alongside her two companions, one visible, the other hidden under the invisibility cloak with her. She had never felt so anxious in her entire life, not even during her last trip to the Room of Requirements with Ron. Perhaps because she was clinging on to a hope at that time, perhaps because that girl was a different person all together, someone who did not really know the pain of losing her dear ones. Now she did.

The irony here was that the person she was scared to lose was not even hers to begin with and with a piercing pain in her chest she realised that there was little chance now that he would ever be. It did not change what she felt for him however. It was a riot of emotions really, the desire, the love, the agony, the hopelessness and above all the guilt and self loathing.

Room after room they crossed with her mind focused on nothing but the tall wooden doors behind which her heart lay. She could still not believe she was being allowed to see him although it was a terrifying proposition as well. Hermione had no intention of staying back till Ron woke up. He would be too weak after the poisoning as it is. Last thing she wanted was to disturb him with her presence or her sight for that matter. She struggled to bite back the sob at the thought. This was not how she wanted her life to be...

Finally they reached the hospital ward and Dumbledore pushed open the doors while Harry guided her inside. The room was vacant of patients except for a sole bed that had curtains pulled around it. The place reminded her vividly of another similar room with two injured occupants treating each other. She remembered the delicate touches very clearly and those passionate blue eyes that she could have drown in. Struggling to hold back her tears a word escaped from her lips in a whisper.

"Ron..."

She was too anguished herself to notice the slight twitching of her companion, her sole concentration on the person who lay beyond those curtains.

"You can remove the cloak now Harry." Instructed the Headmaster, he seemed to have locked the door. Hermione waited no longer than a minute to rush forward and Harry followed her a minute later as she stood as if stunned near the small opening that let into Ron's bed. It hardly looked any different but as Dumbledore had said earlier the place within the shades was magically sealed to stop anyone with malicious intentions to enter. He paused perhaps wondering if Hermione would be thrown off by the invisible shields, but she passed easily and sat down on the wooden chair placed next to the bed. She seemed to be in a haze or perhaps had forgotten there were others around as she looked unblinkingly at the person on the bed, her hand an inch away from Ron's. He felt strangely uncomfortable like he was witnessing something very personal and averted his eyes to look at Ron instead.

Ron was still lying as he had been since morning- rock still and silent. If Harry hadn't known better he would say Ron was asleep. But this is not how Ron slept, straight on his back with his hands on his sides. Most often than not, Ron slept on his stomach or his sides, his arms askew, mouth slightly open. Very often his long legs would dangle down on the floor and he frequently complained that the beds in the school were way too small. There was no expression of pain on his features but he looked paler. His lips that had turned blue with the poison were slowly regaining some colour.

"Harry?" called the Headmaster softly and he turned back having forgotten that the old wizard was still with them.

"Yes Sir?"

"I think it will be wise for you to take Miss Granger back in some time. If you wish you may come down and visit Ron once Molly and Arthur arrive."

His answer was cut short by the approaching of the nurse who did a double take on finding so many visitors suddenly, especially the young woman who was sitting silently by the patient's bedside.

"Miss Granger?" she whispered and turned at the tall Professor questioningly.

"She wanted to see Mr Weasley" he answered and a small non verbal communication passed between the two colleagues.

"I was here to administer the next dose of antidote to Mr. Weasley but it seems I have another patient at hand now." She muttered to herself and both Harry and Dumbledore looked at her surprised.

"Oh come on!" she exclaimed in a hushed voice. "Surely you can see Miss Granger is not well herself! She has lost weight tremendously and looks pale and malnourished! I won't be surprised if she is suffering from depression too! It is certainly a possibility with her situation." Harry looked away guiltily.

"What do you suggest Poppy?"

"I would suggest not holding up the poor girl like a prisoner, but you won't really listen to me, will you? But she will stay here till I nurse her back to good health. You can put up wards here or do as you please." She replied with ultimate finality.

"Very well." Said the headmaster and moved sideways. Soon a second bed was placed next to Ron's with similar curtains around it. As Harry watched the Headmaster silently waving his wand he knew more stringent spells were being put around. A small opening joined Ron's and Hermione's wards and Harry was now very sure that for some strange reason Dumbledore was playing a very active part in the lives of the two young adults, almost guiding them towards some sort of a destiny. What he could not understand however was, Why?

...

He felt like he was in some kind of a limbo between sleep and wakefulness. Images and words flicked in and out but it was much too difficult to fathom if it was a dream or reality. How long had he been stuck in this state was hard to say, maybe minutes or perhaps hours. Where was he anyway? He tried feeling his surrounding by touch and with a horror realised that he could feel nothing at all. Was he lying down, standing or falling from a great height? He could not tell for sure. There was no gushing of air so perhaps he was not falling. He tried opening his eyes but they seemed to have been shut with magic or maybe his body was not cooperating with his brain. Yes that could be the case. He couldn't feel his legs or arms or fingers, no he definitely couldn't. Was he breathing? Well he must be for he wasn't dead was he? But then who knew? Perhaps this is how being dead felt. He tried moving again and while it wasn't physically exhausting an effort, it was extremely disheartening. His throat felt choked and parched. Could someone give him a sip of water? He wanted to call out but while his brain formed the words over and over again, no sound escaped from his lips. He was alive wasn't he? Yes he could surely hear voices, disjointed and unclear but they were voices. So that meant he was not really dead was he? Where was he?

Someone, bless the soul, placed a small cup at his lips and liquid flowed into his parched throat. It tasted strange but he was glad for it. Wait he could figure out the taste! That had to mean he was still feeling, he was alive! He strained his ears this time as words became sentences. He could roughly identify those voices like he had head them somewhere but the faces linked to those voices were still blank. As he became a little more aware he could make out the words better. They were talking in hushed voices in a place which was otherwise silent... infirmary... A pleasurable sensation ran down his spine... Yes he was in the hospital wing... Faces were beginning to take shape although he could still not open his eyes or move his limbs... Faces... jet black hair... glasses... Harry! His heart leaped in joy... And now another deeper voice... lots of white and piercing blue eyes, Dumbledore... he felt exhilarated but hold on there was one more, a softer voice, a woman... Madam Pomfrey perhaps? Yes that would make sense... He concentrated on the sentences now...

"You must go back to your dorm now Harry." That was definitely Dumbledore.

"But Professor..." there was a pregnant pause and Ron struggled unsuccessfully to open his eyes.

"You heard Madam Pomfrey, she will be here." Dumbledore's voice was calm and kind.

"Yes Sir." Replied his best mate after a while, a little crest fallen if he could correctly identify the tone.

"He is safe. You can be back in four hours. He should be awake by then." It was the nurse's voice but hold on... four hours?! He was stuck in this state for four bloody hours? He wanted to scream out for Harry to stay, to talk to him if only to keep his mind from going insane stuck in this unending loop of visions that made no sense. But there was no more talk only silence. Harry had left...

"You too my dear. Your potion will be ready in some time. Why don't you lie down till then?" He strained his ears. Who was the nurse talking to?

"Please Madam Pomfrey, just a while longer?" pleaded a soft voice that caused a hundred emotions to come crashing. Hermione?

"Alright." conceded the nurse after a pause. "But you will head straight to bed after you take your potion."

"Yes..."

There seemed to be a slight shuffle and he could make out that his senses were sharper, more aware. He could feel the soft mattress he was lying on. He tried unsuccessfully to roll on his side but his muscles were still not cooperating. It was difficult to say if the nurse had left, though considering the silence of his surrounding he assumed that she had. What time was it? He could faintly remember that it was morning when he had left with Harry for Slughorn's office. But if Dumbledore was telling Harry to go to bed that meant... it must be night. Merlin, did that mean he was here the whole bloody day?!

There was a shuffle and a delicate touch on his left palm. A small and soft hand covered his own while a whimper sounded from somewhere very close.

"I-I am so terribly sorry Ron..." His breath hitched and he tried pointlessly to move his hand away, but as his rotten luck would have it, he could do nothing except hear her and feel the rage building through him.

What were they thinking leaving her here? How could Harry agree to this?

"I know you hate me... and you have more than enough reasons to do so but please, please forgive me..." she whispered in a choked voice. He wanted to get away, his idiotic heart would melt at her voice and she would choose a different route to hurt him again.

"I know you can't hear me... you don't know I am here... but I don't know if I'll ever get a chance to tell you when you are awake... Or if I will ever have the courage to face you... I didn't ... I... I am sorry..." she sobbed softly again. He could feel her hair brush against his sides and even felt a few drops of tears on his hands. Quite possibly she was sitting next to the bed and had her head in the little space on the bed next to him.

"I saw you k-kissing Brown in the Pensive and I hated it... I just wanted to hurt you as I was hurting... wanted to hurt you for the way you shoved me aside in the library... I have never learnt how it feels not to get what I wish for... till now..." She paused for a breath and Ron lay still, forgetting that he couldn't move even if he wanted to.

"I had thought I would go back to my parents and forget everything, this captivity, the solitude... you..." she laughed a little sadly. "Delusional I was, I thought I was manipulating you to help me find out about the Order's lies... turns out my whole life was a lie, my beliefs, my faith... everything. It took a second and I lost everything, my parents, my dreams, my future... But then I found you... Not the Ron Weasley I thought you were but the real you. I... I never thought you'll risk your life for me, for someone who had betrayed you, played with your emotions and was doing it again. You knew it, didn't you Ron? And still you saved me, healed me, kept me safe. The weeks we three spent in the Gryffindor Tower together was like fresh air. It made me question all I knew, all I was taught, made me feel like there was hope again.

I loved how brave the two of you were to get into this fight. I am not. I want to avenge my parents but I am not sure I have the courage to do so. I wish I did though... I wish but I am not strong enough or else I would have told you both about the letter earlier... I thought of confessing, believe me I did but I was scared of losing you both, losing you... and look what happened..." she went silent and he realized that perhaps she had run out of words. He could still feel her hands. It was a long while or maybe not so long before another pair of footsteps approached.

"Miss Granger?" called the nurse. He strained his ears but could hear nothing more.

"Go off to sleep now." called the nurse kindly. Wait! Wasn't she going to go back to her chamber? He could not find a single good reason why Hermione would be kept out of her wards...Did that mean he was still dreaming? Was all of this was a figment of his imagination, some kind of wishful thinking?

Her hands left his and there was a small scrapping of chair and the voices seemed to move away further. His heart groaned painfully at her words and he fought to remind himself that he was still very angry with her. Some more shuffling and voices became murmur he could not really understand.

...

She waited till she was in the bed.

"Madam Pomfrey?"

"Yes dear?"

"Please don't tell him I was here..."

"Oh?"

"He might not like it...And please don't tell him about me staying in this ward either."

There was silence for a while before the nurse spoke up.

"He will wake up in a few hours and be able to see the next ward Miss Granger."

"But you won't be letting him off bed for some days, will you?"

"No."

"Then it will be all fine. Not like he will get to know, not like I will have visitors."

"Very well." replied the nurse a little sadly.

"Please tell Harry to do the same, will you?"

"I will, now you go off to sleep."

"Good night Madam Pomfrey."

"Good night dear..."

...

When he woke up finally, he was more than glad to find that he could open his eyes and work his limbs again. His parents, the twins, Harry and Ginny surrounded the bed. His Mum cried and Dad patted his head lovingly while the twins made jokes about how he had spend the entire of his seventeenth birthday sleeping. He enjoyed the laughter and the noises till Madam Pomfrey came back and send everyone off and gave him yet another potion which put him off to a dreamless sleep.

The next couple of days he flicked in and out of slumber as various potions were administered round the clock. He was still weak and often dozed off mid conversation when Harry or Ginny came down. During those small hours when he was awake he gazed at the ward next to him but hidden by a partition of green hospital curtains. It was so painfully silent that he often wondered if he had dreamt the whole episode. He had asked the nurse and Harry both of whom had vigorously confirmed that it was an empty ward. Maybe he had actually dreamt it all then? Maybe she had asked the two of them to keep it from him? Ron wasn't sure what to believe, his brain was addled with the potions anyway. Deciding to confront Harry once he came back in the evening, he tried unsuccessfully to keep his eyes from drooping shut once more, but not for long.

...

She tiptoed out of her ward. From the regular pattern of noises, she now knew the cycle of his potions as well as the times when they would cause him to fall asleep. She used those hours to sneak out and sit next to him watching him sleep peacefully. Harry visited her too and although he was still a little cold it was way better than before.

Hermione looked lovingly at Ron, her hands itching to move up and touch the fringe that covered his forehead. She loved the freckles that were spread across his long nose, loved the way he smiled in his sleep, definitely the effect of a dream. She wondered what it was that he saw and if by any chance she was a part of it but shook her head sadly at her wishful thinking. Nothing about her would make him smile, she had seen to that herself.

Madam Pomfrey's potions had brought some colour back to her cheeks, she felt better and more optimistic. Perhaps the witch was giving her some feel good potions? But what affected her best was Ron, knowing that she could see him so often, could hold his hand when he was fast asleep without anyone knowing. She loved how her hand seemed to fit perfectly in his larger ones and she craved to snuggle into his bed, be wrapped in his warmth...

But today was the last day, tomorrow she would be back in her chamber again, away from him. She wrapped her finger between his, rubbing his knuckles with her thumb trying to overcome the pain at the thought of staying away from him.

"I'll spend the night here today, once you fall asleep, once Madam Pomfrey leaves for the night..." she said softly.

There was no telling when she would see him again. Once he recovered, they would fall back into the same routine where he would come in for a minute or two and with that scowl permanently fixed on his face. She would memorise every bit of the night like she did with her books and hold it in her memory for ever.

She felt him twitch and quickly but carefully removed his hands from his and left the ward as quietly as she had come.

...

It was way past midnight and the nurse had left after administering the last potions for the night to both her patients.

Hermione waited for a while longer till even the slightest noise from the other end ceased. Then, when she was sure he had slept, she crept outside and walked towards his bed. Feeling a little brave or perhaps desperate, she sat on the bed next to him rather than the chair and placed her hand in his open ones. She wrapped her fingers into his and looked at the joined hands, although to be honest, only hers were holding him. How much she wanted to bury herself in that chest... She held him harder fighting the desire to curl next to him. The pain in her heart was almost like a physical ache to which there was no cure.

Maybe the whole idea of sitting on the bed was wrong. She should have taken the chair like always. With a sigh she got up and left his hands... only they were still encased in his, caught in a strong grip. It took her all the strength to move her eyes away from their hands to his face, her heart was thundering madly in her chest and she was trembling a little too. She lifted her eyes fearfully to look at that handsome face...

Ron Weasley was very much awake and those stunning blue eyes were looking straight at her.

A/N: Oh Please do review!