A/N :I am floored by the number of update requests and extremely apologetic for the late update. If only updating a chapter was as easy as placing a pen on paper, this chapter would have come up a lot earlier. Sometimes real life catches on and makes it downright impossible to find some quality writing time. That I am still forced to post through my phone doesn't help one bit.

I hope this chapter makes up for the wait. Next chapter will only come up next week.

A huge thanks to all my readers for sticking with this story. I am still not able to reply to your reviews as the FFN editor is not very user friendly on mobile.

All Characters belong to JKR.

Chapter 39: A Sanctuary Found

Ron looked behind him at the darkness that stood rock solid and eerily silent. He remembered this place all too well although, technically speaking, he had never set foot here before.

"We better move." Harry's words tore through the silence and his thoughts, causing him to turn back towards his companions.

"Yeah," he contemplated aloud, looking at the hunched form of the girl who had brought them there. She was sitting on a boulder, shivering slightly.

"I am sorry Harry, Ron... I just... This was the first place that cropped up in my head, they will never look for us in here..." she reasoned consciously, voice shaking ever so slightly in anguish.

He took a deep breath; the chill in the air irritating his nostrils.

"Harry, don't you reckon she is right?" he asked, pulling out and gripping his wand tightly.

"Perhaps, but how safe is this place, Ron? You've been here mate. It almost mauled you guys; that too, when it was barely an impression of the real thing."

The reasoning was irrefutable. He remembered it too well. They had dealt only with the foliage; who knew what creatures lay hidden within the darkness? He walked a few steps ahead to where she stood and kneeled down in front of her.

"Hermione?" Her name came out more tender than he wished, and she met his eyes slowly while anguish behind those beautiful eyes gave way to determination.

"We will be safe here." she announced, rising herself up to stand.

"From Voldemort perhaps, Hermione, but what about the enchantments on this place?" Harry asked; there was no mistaking the irritation in his voice. Ron stood unable to decide who to side with. He knew Harry was right but he also knew that if they could manage a safe zone like they had earlier, it would keep most of the intruders away or, at the very least, give them a fair chance of escape in case they were found out. Her reply, if any, was cut short by two subsequent cracks of apparition that tore though the silent night.

Wands were drawn out and in the blink of an eye, he was pushed back by a strong shield charm. The protective barrier collided sharply with a sinister spell that bounced back towards the casters.

There was a loud yelp and one of the two hooded figures collapsed causing his companion to turn around for a moment, a moment that was enough for Ron to shoot a stunning spell at him. As his spell hit its target, he realised that both his friends had had the same idea at exactly the same time. The triple spell caused the assailant to collapse on the ground with a sickening thud.

As the fine layer of dust settled around the two knocked out bodies, he approached the two while Harry, he noticed, was frantically glancing around for more intruders. Finally, satisfied that there were none, he came forward even as Ron removed the hoods from the faces of the two men.

"This one was there the night Dumbledore died." said Harry next to him.

"That's Dolohov," Ron told his best mate. "And this one is Thorfin Rowle, I think I remember him from the wanted posters."

"Their names are beside the point! How did they find us here?" The panic was unmistakable in Hermione's words.

"Should we leave?" He asked aloud. Maybe Harry was right.

"Not before we erase their memories. Whatever brought them here, they mustn't remember seeing us." said the bespectacled boy and the two of them instinctively turned towards Hermione who fumbled slightly under their gaze.

"I've never done this before. I only know the theory." she said consciously.

"Nevermind, as long as they forget seeing us and go and search some other random place, we don't care if they stay a little messed up in the head." he told her with a small laugh.

...

Hunched under the invisibility cloak and quite a distance away from the two stirring figures, the trio moved quickly, Hermione guiding them to a spot way ahead from where they had apparated. Waiting any moment for the familiar pull of side-along, Ron was surprised to find her pausing and then, casting a few of the strongest warding spells around them. He found the familiar question lingering in Harry's scrunched up eyes.

"Hermione-" began the other boy only to be stopped as she pulled away the cloak and stuffed it inside beaded bag.

"Do you both trust me?" she asked looking between the two. Behind the strength that emanated from her unfamiliar features, Ron could make out the tiny plea.

"Yes." he replied at the same time as Harry, and she gave them both a smile that held much deeper emotions.

"I'll explain everything, but first, you both need to lose your robes. Fold up your sleeves, in short, get rid of clothes that can get caught in the branches." she instructed while repeating the wand movements Ron had seen her perform only hours ago. Once back to her original self, she transfigured her heels to comfortable but knee length boots and the ankle length gown was shortened to reach her knees. He looked away at the sight of that glorious skin, gulping hard at the memories the sight triggered.

"Hermione what exactly are we doing?" Harry asked on both their behalf and she turned around to face them after finishing up doing whatever she had been busy with. Ron tried unsuccessfully to forget where the tiny bag was latched onto now.

"We are going inside the forest, Harry. Trust me, I know what I am doing. I'll explain it all in some time."

It was difficult to decide whether Harry was convinced but when no further arguments came, Ron realised that the Chosen One had decided to trust her for once. Not like they had many options.

With one glance at both of them, eyes lingering a little longer on him perhaps, she inhaled deeply before pulling out her wand and mimicked a slicing motion on her palm. The cut was deep and ignoring the twin gasps from the boys, she proceeded towards the edge of the forest. Ron noted with sickening curiosity as crimson liquid dropped from the cut and touched the ground. The hair on his hands and neck stood up as a faint but strong wave of magic seemed to reach out from the ground right in front of her and spread all around. Too mesmerized and confused to speak, he turned towards Harry who looked back at him with similar emotions.

"Wha-" he began but stopped shocked as she took a step ahead and stood over the familiar white flowers. His reaction was instinctive as he held on her wrist to pull her away, but the instant his hand touched her, strong roots slid down from the nearest tree, wrapping them around his torso in a death grip.

"RON!" yelled two familiar voices and he barely registered the severing charm that missed it's target and sliced his trousers instead, causing the skin on his calves to rip along with the fabric.

"NO, HARRY! STOP! PLEASE!" her voice was getting fainter or perhaps was his hearing ability as he struggled for air, his chest constricting painfully within the binds that encased him in a death grip, forcefully. expelling the air out of his lungs. Then there was the familiar touch of her palm on his injured skin and her voice sounded from somewhere close by.

"Leave him, he is a friend not a foe." The roots loosened causing a sudden blood rush that almost knocked him out if not for Harry who managed somehow to hold him upright. There were hushed and angry voices exchanged but he couldn't really make out much before a warm spell washed over him. He managed to open his eyes to a deathly pale Hermione and a terrified and furious Harry.

The two of them half dragged, half pulled him to the small space that she had recently cast enchantments over. His legs hurt and breath came out in gasps hurting his ribs even more. Harry helped him lie down, even the slightest movement causing his chest and arms hurt enough to make him pass out forcing him to hold on with every last bit of strength left in his body.

She came closer and Ron let out an involuntary yelp when her palm touched his chest. Despite his hazed vision caused by the pain, he could see a stream of tears trickling down her cheeks.

"I have to see what's broken, Ron" she asked in a halting, teary voice.

"Yeah..." he breathed out and closed his eyes to stop her from seeing how difficult it was to even reply in monosyllabic words.

Flames erupted behind his eyelids when she touched him; yes his ribs, quite a few of them in fact, were definitely broken.

The spell was warm and only mildly uncomfortable and the task of breathing became significantly less strenuous. He remained in his position for a few more minutes and when he attempted to get up, Harry helped him to it. Ron looked at his arms, dark whiplashes covered the pale skin over the faded marks left behind by the brains.

"The protection charm has been awakened, the forest was trying to protect me." she mumbled in way of an apology and an explanation, rubbing her cheeks of tears by the back of her hand.

"By killing Ron? Awesome." grumbled Harry.

"I'm sorry, I should have warned you both." she managed as more tears escaped.

"It's okay," Ron answered and before he could stop himself, wiped out the moisture off her cheeks, noting how his arms ached even at the simple gesture. "But this won't work, Hermione." he added softly.

"It will, once I transfer the protection to the two of you as well." she countered.

"Trust me, please?" she beseeched and he nodded despite his doubts. She pulled his palm in her own and moved the wand once more. A much smaller cut oozed out a tiny amount of his blood and she placed her bleeding palm over it.

"I,Hermione Jean Granger, bestow my blood protection on you, Ronald Bilius Weasley, and do so of my own, free will. Let the truth of my words seal this bond and keep you safe from all enchantments of this forest, the living and the dead,the flora and fauna and all creatures that reside here to protect the Grangers."

She released his hand and moved over to Harry, repeating the same process.

Finally, she let go and healed all their cuts with a simple spell before taking her place between them. Placing her much smaller palm in his and holding Harry on the other side, she pulled them inside the forest.

...

Harry watched the perfectly erected tent amidst a clearing in the trees. A warm fire crackled in front of the entrance. In addition to all the precautions and the recently awakened protection, Hermione had deemed it fit to cast more of their warding spells around them, placing their tent at the dead centre of the protective enchantments. Under normal circumstances he would have called her paranoid. The situation was not even remotely normal.

He took his place on a fallen log at the entrance of the tent and grasped his wand , this was what being hunted felt like. Despite the spells he could still feel his heart beating frantically in his chest. They had almost got caught, Ron had almost died. He forced the last thought away. There was a gentle murmur behind the flap and he hoped that tiny bag of hers had something to sooth the angry welts that covered Ron's arms; there were sure to be more on his chest. He wanted to know why she had brought them here; Hermione seemed to know for sure what she was doing. After the strange and albeit dark ritual, she had actually guided the two of them to this clearing unharmed. But how long would the protections hold and how would they even begin their search cloistered here? He hoped to get some answers from her once Ron's wounds were dressed. So he waited, mentally going over all that he had recently learned about Dumbledore from Ephesus Dodge and Muriel. He didn't know what to believe and he hated the seed of doubt placed in his heart.

How had the Death Eaters located them? Or was it a mere coincidence? Perhaps they were keeping a watch on the property now that Voldemort knew Hermione was alive? Or, he shuddered slightly at the though, maybe his Trace had been revoked... He wasn't sure if that could be done, he wasn't sure of a lot many things now. Why did Dumbledore never tell him that they both had homes at Godric's Hollow? That they had both lived and lost loved ones there? Why had he willed the Snitch to him or the Deluminator to Ron? Why had he left that old children's book for Hermione with McGonagall to be given to her later as a gift? What was the link between these objects? Why couldn't he be a little more explanatory during their sessions?

He felt the beginning of a headache and rubbed his scar absentmindedly and turned at the door flap again. At least Hermione had to have some answers for them.

...

He winced as her fingers touched the bruises on his wrist and she withdrew her hand as if shocked.

"Oh! S-sorry..." she mumbled and he managed to pull her close, making her sit next to him on the bench.

"Hey..." He called softly when she avoided meeting his eyes.

"I didn't mean to hurt you, Ron..." She whispered as he rubbed his thumb on her knuckles.

"You didn't hurt me, 'Mione... It's because of you that we have this safe hideout. Seriously, I don't know what we would have done without you." he spoke placing a hand on her cheek and rubbing his thumb tenderly on her cheeks, craving despite his aching muscles to pull her to himself.

She leaned closer to him and for a minute, he relished the closeness before the pain caused him to let out an involuntary gasp and clench his jaw. Her gasp was louder than his.

Hermione moved away and pulled out the beaded bag she had dropped on the table and after a few unsuccessful attempts, accioed a bottle of a gooey liquid.

"This will help but you'll still need ample rest to get the stiffness off your muscles." she said sounding guilty but determined.

It was when she placed her fingers to unbutton his shirt that Ron stiffened.

He placed his hand over hers to stop her and she tenderly swatted his hand away although a fresh blush materialised on her cheeks. Her closeness and fragrance were intoxicating, the memories felt distant and dreamlike.

Unbuttoning his shirt, she pulled his shirt away carefully. He felt her draw in a deep breath as she noticed the bruises. Hermione made him pull away his vest, and when she came in front of him again, her skin appeared as coloured as his hair although it seemed she was making it a point not to meet his eyes. He wanted to touch her, wanted to kiss her; he wanted a hell lot of things that he wasn't supposed to perhaps, but he stayed still as she applied the ointment over his bruises and cast one of her healing spells soothing his muscles a little.

"We need a lot of answers, Hermione," he said in an attempt to draw his thoughts away from the girl in front of him.

"I'll call Harry inside." she said moving away.

"No, we'll go outside." Somehow the idea of leaving the entrance unguarded was a disturbing proposition. She met his eyes finally.

"You need rest!" she scolded, dumping the ointment in the bag and then fumbled around before pulling out a kettle and some teabags.

He laughed fondly at her and pulled back his shirt over his bare torso leaving it unbuttoned.

"Let's go, Harry tends to blow his top when he doesn't get answers." He said kissing her on her cheek from behind before walking out of the tent.

...

"That was a dark ritual."

Hermione did not counter Harry's statement, it was an ancient piece of magic, one that bordered close to dark magic and sacrifices.

"Yes." she replied, glancing at both the boys. Ron poked the dying embers before getting up and adding another dead log to it. The effort surely strained his barely healed arms, and she heard his strained breath, wishing he would have listened to her and stayed put in the tent.

"How did you know what to do?"

She turned at Harry again.

"You remember the book Dumbledore left us? It had a chapter on blood protections." She adjusted her short dress, and rubbed her hands together absentmindedly.

"When we went to the Room of Requirements, I was horrified to see that the forest attacked me. It wasn't suppose to. It had been guarding the family for ages. First I thought that perhaps it was because it was an image, but later, I wondered if the protection had been breached upon. The more I thought, the more it made sense. It would require tremendous amounts of dark magic and only that could explain the attack on the Mansion..." she paused for a while biting back the pain. She was barely a mile away from what had been her home, from what was nothing more than a graveyard now.

A rugged breath escaped her lips before she could continue and she concentrated only on the flames as she resumed explaining.

"I don't know if Dumbledore wanted me to reclaim this place, I don't know if he too knew this would be our sanctuary but that book had a lot of details about this kind of magic. It said that these enchantments were bonded to the land by blood and even if they were tampered with the greatest of dark magic, traces of the original blood bond always remained. It could be revoked by re-tying the bonds again, by giving it the blood mark again. And that is what I did."

"I wonder how they tracked us here..." Hermione looked at Ron; she had been wondering the same thing.

"What if I still have the Trace on me?" Harry looked anguished and she couldn't blame him. It was a daunting thought.

"Can't be mate. The Trace breaks at seventeen. It's an irrevocable wizarding law." announced Ron and although Hermione was aware of it herself, Ron's forceful declaration was assuring.

"Maybe they were just patrolling and it was just rotten luck." he added further.

The three of them were silent for a long time after that, each sorting out their thoughts. She noticed Harry's stoic expression and felt terrible for him. He looked overburdened but strangely resilient. Ron was again busy poking the embers but he too looked somber. Between the three, only he had a family in the direct line of fire. The thought of the Weasleys sent a shiver down her spine and she closed her eyes shut, desperately hoping that the whole family was safe.

"We need to plan, but before that, we need to rest." she announced and pushed herself up on her feet.

"I'll take the first watch. Ron, you better hit the bed." Added Harry.

Ron groaned but complied. Getting up, he dragged his long legs inside. She waited till he disappeared before moving over to Harry.

When she placed a hand on his shoulder, Harry met her eyes.

"I'm sorry... For earlier." he said softly.

"Don't be... I didn't realise this would happen."

He nodded slightly.

"He's my brother, Hermione. The thought of losing him scares me." The confession was a faint whisper and she gripped him hard at the shoulder.

"I know..." she replied.

"Thank you," he added after a while and she looked questioningly at him.

"For taking care of us, for taking care of Ron."

...

She had dozed off on top of the book she was reading, and it was a growl that woke her up. In a minute her senses were alert and she scrambled out of the bench to reach the tent flap.

Ron was already outside, down on his knees in front of a crouched form of Harry.

"What happened?!"she cried fearfully, kneeling down next to him.

"He's having another vision, I guess." Replied Ron, a little pale himself.

"A v-vision?" She gulped hard as fear tore her insides. "But-but, wasn't he suppose to close the connection? Keep Him from getting into his head?!" She was practically screaming and not sure what to do, began rubbing Harry's back.

"Not like he can help it most of the time."

Hermione was positive she hardly breathed for the next few minutes as Harry trembled in the ground in front of them. She had never seen anything like it. It made her feel exposed, like despite their protective enchantments, the evil was inching close to them, watching them from the darkness, just behind the trees.

Finally, when Harry stopped shivering and pulled himself up, she conjured a goblet of water for him as Ron handed him back his glasses.

"What did you see?" He asked.

"Nothing much... He is angry that we escaped."

"You must close your mind!" she frowned. "This is unhealthy and risky!"

Harry seemed to stop his retort just in time.

"I'll go to bed then." He announced.

"I'll get you some calming drought." She said and without waiting for a response, marched straight in.

...

Harry was finally in his bunk and fast asleep when she moved out of the tent again. It was the middle of the night and a slight chill wafted in the air. He turned at the first sounds of her boots and took the steaming mug of tea with a smile and a thanks.

"Harry?" he inquired.

"Asleep..." She responded looking at those blue orbs , suddenly very aware of him, aware of the intimate moments they had shared.

"Sit...please?" He called and she felt even more nervous at his voice.

She sat down next to him nonetheless.

"Are you alright?"

Hermione grasped the warm mug tighter. The honest answer was that she wasn't; she was scared and tensed, she was eager to run away from these familiar grounds, she wanted to forget the enormity of the situation they were in. But how could she forget? Every crunch of stone under her feet, every hustle of the leaves reminded her of their predicament.

"Come here..." He called and she scooted closer to him. His fragrance was reassuring. He embodied the hope she was holding on to. There was a familiar tug of muscles as his hand rested on hers.

"You are shivering." he noted and placed his palm on her face. Hermione looked back into his eyes,wanting nothing more than to be captured in his arms, nothing more that feeling his lips on hers. If anyone had the capacity to make her forget the horrific present, it was Ron.

She knew he could sense the want in her heavy breathing, see the desire in her eyes. Before she could stop herself or reason out, she got up and sat down on his lap straddling him and pressing her face in the crook of his shoulder.

"You should have listened." His voice sounded scratchy and pained although the arms that had wrapped around her remained firmly on her back.

" You should have left when I asked you to, should have never let me get so close." He murmured, voice getting huskier with each word.

She remained as she was, buried in his arms, and did not tell him how much his words hurt.

"Its too late for that, Ron..." she replied instead, "It has been late for months now." she looked up at him.

Their eyes locked and behind the anguish that was etched on that handsome and slightly tired face, there was the faint image of the man she had met in that tool shed merely hours ago. The memory of his lips on her own, on her body and specially between her legs caused her to blush deeply, the gentle touch of his fingers sprayed on her back causing a pleasurable wave of goosebumps originate from their point of contact and spread to other parts of her body.

"Aren't you scared, Hermione?" his voice was almost a murmur but deep and barely concealing the lust. A hand travelled from her back to rest on her thigh,bunching the fabric within them. The shiver that ran down her spine had nothing to do with cold.

"Scared of what, Ron? You?" she asked averting her eyes, cursing the rush of blood colouring her cheeks.

"No, scared of this..." he answered tugging her closer to his body, hand moving under the dress and rubbing gently on the soft flesh of her thighs.

"This?" she pressed on further, causing his hand to brush close to her bum. A throaty grunt escaped him and she wrapped her arms around his neck, realising how shaky her voice sounded, how wanting.

"Scared of this desire, this craving..." he told her, gently pushing back a curl from her face with his free hand, rubbing his finger tenderly on her cheek.

"Should I be?" she knew her voice quivered.

"Yes. You should." he replied pressing his lips on the tender spot behind her ear and she shuddered at the contact, hand moving over to rest on his hard chest. The touch did nothing to cut the shiver, quite the contrary in fact.

She moved her face away giving him better access to her exposed neck and felt the slightly wet caress of his lips. Ron's hand under her dress moved closer to her core, fingers pushing away the fabric of her knickers and and touching the naked skin beneath it.

His fingers playing on her arse cheeks and grazing the entrance of her vagina was the last straw. She spread her legs at the touch, involuntarily angling her body towards his fingers, at the same time pulling his face to hers and kissing him on the lips.

It was a good-no a mind boggling feeling. She loved controlling the kiss while his hand pressed and rubbed her delicate parts under her wet knickers. She sucked and bit his lips while his other hand joined the first, fingers of one teasing her vagina by rubbing slow circles just at the entrance, the fingers of other fumbling around before finding, and then rubbing her clitoris between them.

Hermione gasped as Ron placed a couple of fingers at her entrance, but did not quite push them all the way in like she wanted. She displayed her desire by licking and forcing his lips apart, pushing her tongue in and sucking hard on his, coaxing him to take it further. She had no clue where all the sexual aggression was coming from but Ron seemed to have unleashed some hidden fire inside her.

She barely realised when she began moving, all she knew was that she needed more, and her motion gave it to her, made his fingers push inside further than he allowed. The feeling was a bliss, the friction of his callused fingers moving inside her tender muscles, the taste of his lips, the hardness of the muscles of his shoulders that she was holding on to, the heat that he was giving off and the smell of their arousals enveloping them. It was only when he broke the kiss while gripping her hard to stop, and she felt a hardness press between her legs, that she paused, surprised and more than a little embarrassed at her actions.

Ron had no option but to stop her. The sight and the feel of her reckless abandon was a visual that would be etched onto his memory forever. And it was slowly taking him towards a high he had never reached before. He could not stop himself from imagining ripping off her dress, he could barely stop the image of a naked Hermione pressed onto him, he could hardly hold himself from replacing his fingers with his aching cock that wanted nothing more than to be buried deep inside her. He wanted to control the thrusts, deepen them and continue till she came and he joined her.

He wanted her, all of her. He knew she wanted him too but... Ron might not be very experienced, but he could read Hermione. He had not missed that momentary hesitation in her eyes when he had bared himself to her in his father's tool shed. That one moment was enough to tell him that she might be a slave to her physical demands, but a part of her, no matter how small, was scared. And no matter how much he craved her touch, he would never make her do anything she was not comfortable with. And there was more, so much more.

"We can't... Not here." he breathed ruggedly indicating the tent flap. She nodded without meeting his eyes, whimpering slightly as he pulled his fingers out and adjusted her soaking knickers.

How could he tell her that she deserved much better than to be shagged on a cold forest floor or a broken down tool shed? How could he tell her that she deserved to be made love slowly on a warm, soft bed in a cosy room that had a crackling fire in the hearth? How could he tell her that she deserved a promise of love before he took her all for himself? How could he tell her that he was not in a state to fulfill any of the things he wanted for her, not in a place to make promises? Heck, he wasn't even guaranteed to survive the end of the war...

Unable to put his thoughts in words, he did what he could - kissed her. It was nothing like the earlier kisses. It was slow and tender, it was an apology and an explanation, a regret and a promise. Ron only hoped she understood.

It was the hardest thing to watch her leave but he sat still without giving in to the temptation of pulling her back. He wasn't a Gryffindor for nothing; after all, bravery wasn't always about fighting the external evils, it was also about managing the internal demons.

...

A/n: Thanks for reading. Next update, next week.

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