A/N: Please read and review! Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 6

A loud CRACK in the tent caused both Harry and Hermione to stand up at once. Harry barely had time to even think about how someone could apparate inside the tent despite all of their defensive spells, when Hermione let out a scream that shook him to the very core.

This was a scream not of pain or fear but it was something entirely different. It was a scream of anguish, and it was far more terrifying. It was the type of scream, associated with loss. The type of heart wrenching scream he let out when he watched Sirius fall through the veil. It made Harry's blood run cold.

Then he saw what made her scream, and nearly collapsed. His knees buckled slightly

Ron, clearly unconscious, bound to a chair, and covered in blood, had just reappeared in the small tent.

Harry unfroze a second later and with a scream of "RON" he ran towards his best friend. He immediately began trying to loosen the bonds that were tight around Ron and the chair. After a few seconds he yelled "Hermione, Hermione, help me! Get them off him!" his voice choking back sobs. Was Ron dead? He didn't even want to consider it.

He kept trying to release the bonds, trying to ignore how cold Ron's hands were. Fear was gripping his heart. "Hermione, please help me get them off him!" He gasped again; tears were now streaming uncontrollably down his face.

Only then did he notice Hermione was sobbing, kneeling in front of Ron, her hands cupping his face

"Ron, stay with me. Please Ron" she cried.

Someone else magically unbound the restraints, and Ron's body fell forward, off the chair into Hermione's arms, and she gently laid him down on the floor of the tent, cradling his upper body in her arms.

That was the first time that Harry realized they were not alone. That Ron had certainly not apparated on his own accord.

"KREACHER" He shouted, spotting the elf for the first time. "KREACHER WHAT HAPPENED?" He wasn't even able to ask politely, he was so terrified. Ron had not been gone for very long, hours at most. The sun was coming up outside the tent marking the new day.

"Master," Kreacher bowed, and his voice even caused Hermione to look up, tearing her eyes away from Ron's bloodied face. "Kreacher is sorry. Master Weasley said he wanted to be with Master and Miss. Hermione. So Kreacher brought him to you. Kreacher can take him back if Master wants."

"No. NO." Harry yelped, his voice high, almost unrecognizable. "But what happened to him? Who did this?" Harry asked again.

"Master Weasley was brought in to the house. There are lots of wizards there now. But they are not like Mistress Black or Master Harry. They are mean, disrespectful and befoul the house as if it is theirs." Kreacher spat, anger in his voice.

"One of them brought Master Weasley back. They were evil to him. They asked him questions. Questions about Master. They kept hurting him. There was lots of screaming. When they were done, and went to sleep, Kreacher went to tend to Master Weasley, but he wanted to come to Master Harry and Miss Hermione." Kreacher said, trying to explain what had happened best as he understood.

"Oh, Ron" Hermione whispered, tears spilling down her face onto Ron's body. Harry knelt down at Ron's other side. Ron had not regained consciousness. The many cuts on his body still seemed to be bleeding. He was loosing a lot of blood, and quickly. Hermione was already covered in Ron's blood, and Harry was sure he was too. It was a horrifying sight; only his nightmares were made of this.

"We have to help him, Hermione" Harry cried. He couldn't think straight because of how scared he was.

Hermione looked up at him "Don't you think I would if I could" she yelled catching Harry off guard. "These cuts, they were made by dark magic. Sectumsempra, I think… Dittany will do nothing for them. I…. I… I don't know how to heal them."

Harry was shocked. He felt helpless. If Hermione didn't know how to fix Ron, was there any hope for him at all? Would he bleed out on the floor as Hermione and Harry sat watching?

But, there had to be away. When he had used Sectumsempra on Draco, Snape had known a counter curse. There was a way to stop the bleeding.

"Snape used a spell to heal Draco. There has to be a way. It was a chant. He was chanting"

Hermione "My bag. Quickly. Grab the book "Secrets of the Darkest Arts" There was a counter-curse to one of the spells in there. It was a chant, it might work"

Harry was off. He sprinted to the bag. "Accio Secrets of the Darkest Arts" and the book flew to him. He threw it to Hermione who quickly began skimming of the pages. Her hands were covered in blood and Harry could tell she was shaking violently; the book was shaking in her hands. Tears were pouring down her face

Harry looked down at Ron and was startled to see fresh tear tracks down his friend's face. The tears had left a trail as they cleaned away some of the blood and grime that had caked to Ron's skin. 'Oh God Ron, what did they do to you.' Harry thought, unable to imagine what his friend went through and feeling tears well up in his own eyes. He sank to his knees and grabbed one of Ron's hands.

Ron was a casualty Harry was not prepared to loose to this war. Ron was his first and best friend, his partner in crime. His… brother.

"Harry, rip open his shit. " Hermione commanded, her voice desperate. Harry followed her order, ripping open the shirt that Ron was wearing with just his hands. It wasn't difficult; the shirt had been cut already from the curses used on him. Harry didn't want to risk cutting him again by using a severing charm to cut the shirt off. His hands were safer. Now, the deep wounds were exposed for Hermione to hopefully heal.

Hermione brought her wand to Ron's chest and began chanting softly, tracing the deep cuts with her want. Harry could barely make out the words she was saying.

"please work, please work, please work" Harry whispered.