A/N: Thank you all for those reviews, dear readers. I can see that the previous chapter, which was from Hermione's perspective (the second part, obviously), has left quite a few of you confused about Ron, which is exactly how I wanted it to be.

Bear with me, I promise you'll realise why not knowing all of Ron's true feelings is important for the flow of the story.

All Character rights belong to JKR

Chapter 33: The Breakdown – Part 1

He stood stunned in the growing mass of students who had gathered in the open ground, at the foot of the Astronomy Tower. There was an all so familiar and yet unfamiliar, broken mass of limbs piled feet away from him, and Harry was lying across it, his heart-wrenching screams echoing off the stone walls, breaking and shattering the cold silence of the grounds.

He wanted to move ahead, he wanted to console his best mate but he remained rooted to his spot instead, soaking the chill of the night that was creeping in through his skin right to his bones. Even without looking at the dark mark that floated in the sky above the beloved castle, he could feel the terror slithering in and reaching his core as if the high, enchanted and secure walls around the school had been shattered to pieces. And in a way they had. Dumbledore, their protector, was dead.

He took in a shaky breath clasping the wand firmly in his hands. The wood seemed to shake a little as if some residual magic from all the spells and jinxes it had been shooting all around just till a while ago still lingered in it. Or perhaps, it was his hand that was shaking? He glanced at Ginny who had now approached Harry, and Ron turned over his hand to look at his palm. No there was definitely trembling in here although he felt no pain. A sense of urgency seemed to be building in him, a premonition of something he could not place, but a desperate need to rush somewhere.

But where to?

The Death Eaters had all fled, and the place was being secured once again by the Order members. He tried to relax but the nerves hit him again, much stronger this time as if pulling him away, and guiding him to someplace where he was urgently needed. Ron looked around, and eventually giving in to the urge, he made his way through the crowd back to the castle. He bumped into students, mostly those who had been late, and were slowly making their way towards the scene now. Some of them pushed him in their eagerness to see what had happened, others merely scooted past him, ignoring his bruised form altogether. The more he walked, the more the sense of urgency gripped his innards and after a while, he was the one who was pushing and jostling people around, squeezing through human gaps as he allowed his instinct to guide him to this destination.

By the time, he passed the Great Hall he knew where he was going, and why. He ran as fast as his long, aching legs would allow, the pictures and suits of armour whizzing past him, hoping desperately that his instincts would be wrong, hoping that she would be safe. That was the point, wasn't it, keeping her safe? Wasn't that the reason why he had not told her of Harry's suspicion as the younger boy had left him with the map and the bottle of Felix Felicis, along with a precise set of instructions that had seemed silly at that moment? That was the reason why he had glanced at her wordlessly while she continued to avoid him, busy packing the tiny bag Ginny had brought for her, the one that she had enchanted with the Undetectable Extension Charm. It was all done to keep her safe in case something untold did happen. And yet, after everything, here he was, rushing past the corridors because something told him that she needed him, now.

His sides were aching painfully by the time he reached the painting of the Fat Lady.

"Feroces ad mortem." He huffed, and did not wait to answer the Fat Lady who was inquiring about the sudden commotion as he rushed inside to the completely empty common room. Few more swift strides and he stood in front of his four poster bed. A quick glance at the watch told him that it was quarter past two. The sense of doom loomed larger than ever, and without further ado, he placed his palm on the side of the wall in a well-practiced fashion.

...

All sounds seized as he entered her chamber. Here she was, lying on the couch, with a book on her lap. The familiar sight should have driven his concerns away but they didn't. Not after the way the magic had cracked around his palm as he had touched the wall, something was not right. He turned around, and his heart stopped for a minute. A wispy white form was materializing right in front of his eyes in the space that lay between him and her sleeping form.

Even as the figure swirled around drawing what seemed to be air and magic from the surrounding to create a shape he could almost recognise, he rushed closer to her, and bending low over her sleeping form, shook her awake.

"Hermione! Hermione! Wake up!" he called softly so as not to scare her but urgently at the same time. She opened her eyes partially and peered at him sleepily through her thick lashes. He could spend a lifetime looking at her. A few heartbeats before the familiar expression of resentment took over her face seemed to still his heart giving him a hope he would not readily accept. He continued to take her in while she looked at him as if she wasn't sure if he was a dream or not. He could have looked at her for hours but the sense of dread was looming larger now, and so was the vapour figure behind him.

"Get up, Hermione! We need to get out of here!" He urged without thinking as if his conscience had known it all along. And before the confused look in her eyes fully cleared up, a familiar voice sounded behind him causing the fine hairs on his neck to stand.

"Ron Weasley, you are to take Hermione Granger away from this room," said the shadowy form of the dead Headmaster, and Hermione, who had been captured in an instant in his arms held protectively close to Ron's chest, let out an audible gasp.

"Know this that the charm of this room ends precisely an hour after my death. And everything that is here will vanish along with this room at the end of the hour. Any human who could not escape will fall to his death. Your magic and the bond that makes you Miss Granger's custodian has brought you here. It is your responsibility to take her away and keep her safe and well hidden till help arrives. Hurry."

The figure vanished and rather than answering the million questions that swarmed her eyes, Ron knew he had to act.

"Come on, quick. We have barely fifteen minutes or maybe even less," he urged, pulling Hermione to her feet. She shook vigorously and held on to him, unable perhaps to process the sudden change of events, and Ron placed his hands on her shoulder as he shook her to draw her out of the shock.

"Dumbledore is dead. We have to get out of here, you understand?" she nodded feebly, and he looked around as if to take in the most important things to save, clasping her hand tightly in his own.

"Where is that book? And your wand?" he asked looking around, and she took a shaky breath before answering.

"W-Wand's on the couch," she said, and to his great relief, seemed to come to herself. Releasing herself from his clasp she crossed him, and pulled them out along with another book that she had been reading and shoved all of them unceremoniously inside the small beaded bag that lay on the table. Glad that she had snapped back into action, he grabbed the few other books that were on the table and dumped them into the small bag as well.

"What other things are absolutely urgent?" he asked pocketing the small bag and looking around, as the floor below him trembled while the walls crackled with tiny streaks of lightening. Ron glanced at his watch again. Time was running out faster than ever. He turned around to pull her away but she had already run past him to her bedroom.

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GOING?" he screamed running after her.

"Some of my books are still there!" she replied in a rush and flung open the door. He let out a shriek, and grasping her arm, pulled her into his chest when she was barely a step away from the other side. Both of them looked in horror at the open sky and the school ground ahead, a sheer drop beyond the door.

Holding her hand tightly, Ron ran as fast as he could in the direction of their escape route. He could feel the cold air hitting his back and realised that the other rooms were perhaps vanishing too. He pushed open the door and literally threw her on his bed before collapsing on it too.

Just a moment after she crashed out of his door onto his bed and he joined her, Hermione turned around and noticed the familiar and comfortable room disappear into nothingness before the wall materialized to block her view.

An end to another chapter of her life, taken away without warning, once again...

...

It was nothing but a solid wall. That, and a pair of bodies that currently lay one on top of other on the compact school bed, both panting heavily.

His hands were still shaking, and the familiar sense of void that came after escaping death closely was beginning to take over. And yet, he put aside every other thought and closing his eyes, breathed in deeply drawing in her familiar fragrance.

"Hermione..." he breathed out raggedly and realised it came out almost like a broken sigh wrapped in a prayer. She stifled under him at his voice, and Ron finally noticed that he was lying completely atop her, her petite, warm body pressed between him and the mattress while his face was buried in her hair at her nape.

There could be a hundred things that his young heart could feel, but all that he could decipher at that moment was immense gratitude that she was alive and safe. Few more minutes and he could have lost her forever. He forced that thought aside and gripped her harder perhaps just to convince himself that she was alright. The fingers of the hand that seemed to have landed on her waist curled around and pulled her closer to his body even as they grazed the soft, creamy skin underneath her pajama top. It seemed to have risen higher sometime during their fall. His groin gave a jerk, and he managed to remove himself away hastily to rest on his side, squeezed tight between the wall on one side and Hermione on the other.

Ashamed and embarrassed of his body's reaction, he forced himself to look at her and relaxed ever so slightly noticing that she had her eyes closed. The very faint light from the single or two candles in the room floated in through the curtains to create a semi-darkness around them, and he could barely make out her face. It was only now that Ron realised that she was crying softly.

Running purely on instinct, he placed his palm gently on her cheeks rubbing the single trail of tear away with his thumb. The other hand, which was used to angle himself so as not to collapse on her, was aching to wrap around her too. But he held on keeping as much space as he could between them which he realized was not much. She opened her eyes at his touch and licked her lips as she took in his face. She seemed to struggle for words and bit her lips to hide the anguish.

"D-Dumbledore-?" she managed finally and fearfully although Ron knew she was already aware of the answer to her question.

He tried to get rid of the image of the broken hero out of his mind and be strong, but it was not easy. If death was cruel, the sight of it was far worse.

He nodded as a breath escaped out of his lips blowing a few curls away from her face. He tried concentrating on her eyes and not on the various dark scenarios that were popping in his mind but they forced in their way in no matter how hard he tried.

Dumbledore was dead... Hermione's secret sanctuary was no more, Voldemort was all powerful now...

Each thought seemed to make his heart beat faster and compress his chest squeezing the air out of his lungs. It was like the invisible protective shield around them had cracked leaving him, all of them, at mortal peril. The war had never seemed so real, not the time Voldemort had returned at the end of their fourth year, not even when he had come out in the open in the Ministry, as much as it did now.

He looked at the girl in his arms and realised that everything they had been preparing for was here, the war, the struggle for survival, their biggest threat, and the huge responsibility that had been thrust on their young shoulders- to finish the one man who had caused the downfall of the greatest wizard ever, Albus Dumbledore...

He thought of Harry and knew he had to be there with his best mate, he thought of Ginny and Bill who he remembered seeing duelling earlier. But he hadn't seen his elder brother post that, and a fleeting terror seemed to choke him out. No, he would be safe, he had to be.

And Hermione... she had to be kept safe, she was a responsibility handed out specifically to him. He realized that she was in danger from both sides of the war now. And he had to keep her protected like the image of Dumbledore had told him. Ron knew he had to leave, get help from McGonagall. The boys' dormitory was hardly a place safe enough for her. He had to do as Dumbledore's image had said, but before that, he had to tell her what had happened, and he had to ensure her security while he was away.

"Harry-, " he began with difficulty and breathed in swallowing the guilt along with air. "He was right about Malfoy..." he told her, and her face lost the little bit of colour it had regained in the small amount of time.

"He let in Death Eaters into the school. I'm not sure what happened but- Dumbledore is dead." He managed biting back the pain and fear that threatened to suffocate him.

Slowly he told her everything, Harry receiving the message from Dumbledore at dinner, him leaving Ron with the map and the luck potion. He told her about informing Ginny and the rest of the DA. He told her about patrolling the corridors along with Luna, Neville and Ginny and paused before mentioning the horror he had felt seeing the hoard of Death Eaters coming out of the Room of Requirements. He could not tell her about the sickly crackle of Bellatrix Lestrange that seemed to fill his ears again. He was sure if it had not been for the Felix Felicis, at least, one of them would have joined the list of causalities along with their Headmaster tonight. He himself had narrowly escaped at least two green streaks. The Death Eaters did not shoot to maim, at least, Bellatrix did not.

"We are all safe, I think so. I am yet to check on the others." He told her, turning around, not meeting her gaze which seemed to know he was not telling her everything.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

His head snapped up towards her.

"You came in after dinner but never told me a thing!" she screeched not very loudly but loud enough for anyone outside to hear. Ron pulled out his wand and cast a Silencing Charm around them before replying.

"I could not risk it, Hermione," He told her stiffly.

"That is absurd!" she yelled back, wiping off her tears hastily. "You know I am capable of handling it! You took Ginny, Longbottom and Luna Lovegood but not me?!"

"This is NOT about your skills or knowledge, Granger!" he reprimanded shortly. "I wasn't even sure Harry was right, I was not going to blow your cover for it. Even though his suspicions did turn out to be true, I am happy that you were out of the firing range! Do you even know what would have happened if the Death Eaters had seen you there fighting along with us?!"

"I don't care! I can handle myself! I am NOT your responsibility, Ronald!" she spat back stubbornly although he thought he saw a fleeting amount of distress in her eyes as if she knew he was right but could not let go of the argument for some reason.

"That's where you are wrong, Hermione. You are my responsibility, at least, your safety is." He could not understand why she could not accept the obvious. She glared at him with those big eyes of hers and he looked right back for a while before closing his eyes to arrange his thoughts.

"I'll have to go, to check on Harry and the others," he said and rolled over her ignoring her gasp and climbed out of the bed. He paused and then cast a special spell they had picked up to lock the door before casting one more on his bed to avoid anyone apart from him to open the bed curtains. He set up a few more protective enchantments around his bed, thanking her silently for all the research she had made them do.

"I can open all of those barriers, you know that right?" she asked sitting up and watching him like a mutinous child. He let out an exasperated sigh and collapsed on his knees in front of her. Dropping his wand next to her on the bed, Ron brought his palms up to hold her face, looking deeply into her eyes.

"I know you can" he said tenderly. She made him feel a hundred things that he could never verbalize, things he would not allow himself to feel but did anyway. He wondered if she would ever see through his mask, recognise the true Ron. Hermione continued to glare at him but for reasons unknown, did not move away. If he could identify correctly, she too seemed to be fighting a hundred emotions, the central being that of pain.

"I know you can break every single spell I have cast, Hermione," He whispered as his thumbs gently caressed her cheeks and she seemed to clench her jaws while biting back her tears and looked at him mutinously.

"I know you can leave this room if you want but... please don't." He murmured, and for an instant, her eyes softened as they stared at his blue ones before lowering them.

"I have to keep you safe, and nothing is safe anymore," he continued painfully hoping that she would understand.

"I-I have to go and check on everyone. I have to find Harry, he needs me right now but I can't leave till you promise me you will keep yourself safe." He said as his fingers tangled in her curls at the back of her head and he tilted her face draw her eyes on him again. How could she not understand how important this was for him? How could she not know how important she was for him?

She seemed to be struggling with her own arguments and emotions but eventually, she nodded slightly and he let out a relieved sigh.

"I'll be back as soon as I can. You keep to the bed and keep the curtains drawn, and please be on your guard, alright?" he asked as he slowly, reluctantly removed his hands and stood up. He had to make this quick and come back. He hoped McGonagall would be able to help move her to safer quarters, a part of him groaned at the thought. He wanted her to be exactly where she was, with him, right in front of his eyes so that he would know she was safe.

He gave her a weak smile and turned around. He was almost at the door when she called.

"Ron?" He turned around and strode back to her quickly. She was still sitting so he kneeled down in front of her again.

"What happened? Do you need anything?" he asked concerned.

She took in his face, and warmth seemed to spread over him. He wanted to hold on to that moment and capture it in his memory forever. He wanted to pull her into his arms and wrap himself around her so that anything that attempted to endanger her would have to cross him first. He wanted to tell her what he thought but didn't, just sat waiting for her to speak up.

"You are hurt..." she whispered and he smiled a little more genuinely this time.

"Just scratches, the luck potions kept the more wild ones away," He replied.

She took out her wand, and pointing it directly at his face cast an unknown spell. More warmth emanated from the tip of her wand and he closed his eyes for a minute before opening them back.

"Thank you." He said quietly and after a brief glance at her tired face, got up again. She called him back once more, though.

"Ron?"

"Yes, Hermione?"

"Please stay safe... and come back quickly." She said consciously and averting his gaze, pulled back the curtains of his bed, hiding from his view.

"I will..." He promised, and taking a few deep breaths to compose himself, left the room quickly.

A/N: I am so humbled to see this story receiving so many fantastic reviews and followers and that, people who don't have English as their native tongue are giving this a chance too.

Thanks to each one of you for keeping me motivated.

Please leave a review, thanks!