A/N: After that cliffy I left you all with my comments can seriously wait till the end of the chapter.

Fair warning: This gets pretty intense and slight a bit dark at a point.

All Characters mentioned here belong to JKR.

Chapter 23: Entangled

She was caught.

Her heart was beating so fast that she wondered how it had not leaped out of her body by now. Hermione knew she looked fearful and that is exactly how she felt. Ever since she had been rescued by the Order she had seen Ron lose his temper with her multiple times and although she would never admit it openly, his rage intimidated her terribly. Like it was doing now.

Gulping down she risked looking at his face while her hand was still clutched in his stronger one. It was difficult to make out all the different emotions that were playing on his features- surprise, curiosity and a great bit of controlled, predatory fury.

"Sit." He called roughly with a tug at her hand and she flopped on the bed a little less gracefully than she would have liked. He shifted himself in a sitting position, resting his back on the cushions with her next to him but facing away. Letting go of her hand, he pulled out his wand from underneath his pillow and cast a silencing charm around them and with another swish, the curtain to the entrance of his ward flew down and remained stuck to the base. Her eyes followed the action and when he placed the wand back in its place, she forced herself to turn around. There was no telling what he was thinking. A part of her wanted to run away, another wanted to pull out the wand that she had foolishly left behind at her bedside table. But a major chunk of her heart wanted to be here, to deal with whatever was coming her way.

"Why are you here?" His voice was so very controlled that it gave her jitters, like he was holding on to the last vestiges of control before all hell broke loose.

Licking her dry lips and with downcast, guilty eyes she pulled in all her strength to speak. "I am ... I just wanted to ... check on you."

"Why? To see if the poison finished me off or not?" he asked maliciously and despite all her terror, she jerked her head up, tears of frustration and anger pooling quickly in her eyes.

"HOW COULD YOU EVEN SAY THAT?!" she spat.

"Don't you dare raise your voice Granger!" he growled breathing deeply. "What games are you playing this time? Why are you out of your ward?"

"Dumbledore let me out because I – I wanted to see you and no matter what-whatever you think, I was genuinely worried!" she fumed keeping her voice low. The way his cold eyes were boring into her was making her feel scared and extremely teary at the same time.

"And you have been here all this while." It wasn't a question.

"Yes..." she replied anyways.

He let out a low, mirthless chuckle. "What a woman you are! You made my best mate and the school nurse lie to me for two straight days!"

"I... I knew you would be angry." She was still looking down. A few locks of hair had come loose from her braid and she hoped her face was well hidden from him.

"Angry isn't a word big enough." She did not comment because there really was no answer.

"Look at me." He ordered but she continued to look down, biting her lips to cut the whimpers. She had always known this would happen if he got to know about her presence and was not sure that she was strong enough to survive a direct confrontation. But what hurt was the way he looked at her, not just the loathing but a great amount of pain which she had given him, over and over again.

"Look. At. Me. Hermione." He breathed angrier still but she defied him yet again.

With a huff he placed his hands on her shoulders, turning her towards him forcefully causing her to lift her head and meet his eyes in surprise. She loved his eyes, she really did but at this point she cursed her treacherous body because of the way it reacted on finding his eyes on her, hated the fire that burned at the places he touched but most of all, she was scared crazy at their heated proximity.

Somehow passion seemed to have the capacity to overpower fear.

"I have been wondering how that charm did not trigger if you hated me so much." His voice was low and husky and all she could do to keep calm was concentrate on her breathing and his still angry eyes as those lips of his moved barely inches away from her own.

"Is it some kind of a secret fantasy of yours Granger? One in which a princess like you has an illicit affair with a lowly peasant boy like me? Is that what all this is about?" She was sure she had lost her voice and stared at him instead, very aware that confusion and terror would be visible in her eyes. All that the blue orbs held were some sort of feral hunger although they never moved below her face.

"Don't you think it is strange that while you loath me so much, your body does not abhor my touch, on the contrary it seems to relish it." She could feel his eyes softening as if surprised with his own proclamation and a gasp escaped her lips when she felt a strong arm wrap around her waist pulling her flush against his hard torso while the fingers of his other hand tangled themselves in her hair, just at the base of her head, tilting her face up slightly towards his unshaven one.

"That is why Dumbledore's charms did not trigger an alarm, isn't it? ...You liked it when I kissed you forcefully, didn't you? ANSWER ME!" he growled again.

"Yes..." she managed in a whisper. She wondered why she wasn't as scared as she ought to be. Maybe because she trusted him despite all the rage he was spilling, maybe because she was getting extremely aroused by his aggression, most likely it was a bit of both. Her brain tried telling her that it was crazy but her body was getting much too heated to listen to any logic.

"And yet you went ahead and said that I abused you sexually..." he muttered, his blue orbs boring into her brown ones. "I'm sure those charms are placed here as well, but they won't work, do you know why?" Hermione could not have answered even if she wanted to but Ron continued anyway.

"Because they will come into effect only if you deny my advances, verbally or otherwise and something tells me that you will surrender willingly, at least your body will." She lowered her eyes in embarrassment feeling the blood rush to her cheeks. Was it so very obvious?

"Look at me." He hissed and she did as asked this time.

"Give me one fucking good reason Hermione as to why I shouldn't prove your allegations true and take you by force, right here on this very bed? Tell me why I shouldn't fuck you senseless using your physical arousal to my advantage, irrespective of how much your heart doesn't want me? Tell me why I shouldn't leave you emotionally scarred and bleeding like you have done to me time and again?" the anger in his voice increasing with every word he spoke.

Because you are not me Ron. You won't force yourself on me because your guilt will rival my trauma... You won't do it, that's not who you are, I know...

The words were on her lips but her throat was all choked up, she opened her lips to speak but closed them after all that escaped was a whimper. She concentrated on their bodies that were pressed together from waist up and suddenly sense began to kick in. He was right. She desperately wanted this and honestly her body was already out of control, but her heart was still complaining.

Not this way. Not when he is someone else's boyfriend, not while he is so mad, not when it will be nothing more than a revenge shag for him.

She could not even look at him so she closed her eyes feeling a couple of tears slide down. She made a split second decision. She would give him anything he wanted, they would not be making love and it would be just a shag for him perhaps but she would let him have his revenge, maybe it would help him heal? Hadn't she already given him this very same choice weeks ago in another infirmary? What difference would it make really?

'Nothing perhaps' answered the logical part of her brain, 'Except for screwing up this relationship for ever and throwing him into a downward spiral of guilt when he recovers from the rage.'

She was holding on that breath, feeling him pulling her closer, tugging her hair slightly that was more pleasurable than painful, angling her face for better access... She could feel his heavy breathing on her skin and waited on holding her breath...

...

He wanted to scare her, he wanted to hurt her, he wanted to shag her senseless into the mattress till she was all sore from his assault, wanted to see how far he could go before she actually wanted him to stop. He wanted a release from his boiling fury that ran up and down his veins at her sight, at her betrayal. He couldn't remember being so angry with someone ever in his life. How could she blame him for something like a sexual abuse when he had been driving himself insane just to keep his hands off her?! How could she insult his love so much? Degrade him to that level? He knew she had not betrayed the friendship they had formed since Christmas and it was done before she knew the truth but still... HOW COULD SHE?

He looked into that face he loved so madly. Her eyes were closed and a steady stream of tears had been flowing down but she had not attempted to move away. Merlin she was scared of him alright... It was evident on her features. Did she not know that he could never ever force anyone into sex? Least of all her! What the fucking hell had she done to him?

Taking a deep breath he shoved her away and turned around himself. The force of the push caused her to leave the bed and stagger on the floor before she found her footing.

"Go." He ordered without looking at her. Removing the covers, he placed his foot down on the floor and buried his face in his hands. He could roughly hear footsteps and before long his palms were being pulled away by a soft pair of hands. She came closer and settling herself between his thighs, pulled his face to bury into her, their height difference and his position causing him to find his face pressed just below her breast. Too far gone to care, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer while she placed her hands on his shoulder, her fingers running though his hair soothingly.

He remained that way, breathing in her scent while tears ran down his long nose. It was quite a while before he removed his hand slightly and guided her to sit next to him.

"Bloody hell woman... Why Hermione? Why do you turn me into this monster? Why do you make me feel things I shouldn't, make me say and do things I should be ashamed of? Why do you make me feel so evil, why do you make me hate myself?" He asked hoarsely looking at her although she continued to look at their hands which had ended up entwined somehow.

"You are not evil Ron, not at all." She began softly and met his eyes with a strange sort of softness in her eyes. "We all have light and darkness inside us. Depends on us what we choose. You have had plenty of chances to... do everything that you have said and not just today... you are right... the charms might not have triggered at all... But you chose not to walk down that path. That needs courage. I know sorry isn't big enough a word but I really am sorry for what I did... not just with the letter but also last year... No one deserves to be betrayed like that..."

"You have no clue what thoughts were running in my brain till even a while back." He responded in a quiet, anguished voice.

"You wouldn't act on it Ron, not like this. You are angry but still that is not who you are..." she added in a quieter whisper.

"Hermione please don't start again. I just don't understand you at all. If you know me that much how could you... Look, I am in no state to play these mind games anymore. There is too much in life already. Harry needs me, I need to focus." He removed his hands from hers and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.

"I am not playing anymore games, I swear I am not... I was wrong on so many counts... about you, your friendship with Harry, about life in general...You know, it's not you but Harry- even with everything that he is, he is also very lucky to have shared that compartment with you on that first day. He is very lucky to have a friend like you who stood by him through everything that he has gone through and everything that future holds for him."

"Anyone would have done it." He shrugged.

"I don't see anyone else Ron... Yes there are other members of the Order and the teachers and Aurors perhaps but you have literally been his shadow from day one. I don't see anyone else who has done it."

"Hermione you really don't need to resort to flattery." Despite how low he was still feeling, he could feel his ears growing red at her words.

She looked hurt. "I'm just stating my observation."

"Why are you here?" he asked diverting the topic.

"Madam Pomfrey made me stay." He looked at her closely. Now that his anger had subsided considerably he could figure out that she looked paler than she did when they were spending time together. There were still traces of dark circles around her eyes and she looked like she had lost a bit of weight too. He remembered her words which he had heard but thought he had dreamt. Suddenly he could see the broken down girl he had picked up from the snow covered grounds outside her burnt down home.

"I'm sorry... about your parents and the way I behaved now..."

"It's not really your fault. We started on a wrong foot. I have wished so many times that I had known the two of you earlier. I so wish I had another chance..." she murmured.

"Well you have now, begin again. Work with the Order to avenge your parents. They deserve that don't they?"

"I... I want to, but I am scared..."

"Aren't we all scared? Well maybe not Dumbledore, or Moody or Harry... well you get the gist... but many of us are. That doesn't stop us from trying."

"Can I ask for something Ron?"

He chuckled sadly. "What do I have that you'd want Hermione? But okay go ahead."

"Can't ... we be friends again? You, me and Harry? Please Ron? Give me just once chance?"

"Friendships are based on trust Hermione. I don't know if I can ever trust you again." His brutal honesty hurt and she looked away to compose herself.

"You just told me to start again, join the fight. What good will it do for me to do that when there is nothing left in my life to fight for?" she asked after a while.

"Is avenging your parents not enough?"

"It won't bring them back. Even after everything, even if we win my life will still be lonely. I hate the solitude, the prisoner kind of life I have. At times I hate it that the Order saved me. What was the point really? They could have just let me die."

"DON'T SAY THAT!" he admonished "I mean it's cowardly to say that." He added quickly.

She laughed sadly and both of them remained quiet for a long time, each lost in their own thoughts.

"It will take time." He said after a long time and she looked up to see he was looking fixedly on the floor. "Even if we put all this aside and... and become friends...It will take me a long time to trust you again." He added almost in a whisper.

She smiled a genuine smile in weeks. "I can live with that hope Ron."

"But if you break my trust this time, I'll kill you."

"I won't give you the chance."

A/N: Okay so that is it.

Thank you all for those fantastic reviews and for following and adding this story to your favourites. It really makes my day to see your comments especially when some of you who are not Ron supporters or Romione fans tell me that they are enjoying this story.

Please do let me know what you think of this chapter. Did I go a little overboard? Or was I able to keep them in character? Wish you all a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR in Advance!

Lots Love!