Chapter 2:

The dream

He covered her neck with hot, tender kisses, leaving burning marks on her skin. Hermione moaned against his ear and felt one of his hands slide down her slender body. She inhaled sharply as he slid his hand under her slightly damp panties while he whispered in her ear, "Oh Miss Granger... You are so naughty"

She now felt his finger slide inside her, making her groan, "Oh Ron!"

Hermione's eyes snapped open as she sat in bed, breathing heavily, taking a short time to realise where she was. It wasn't her home, nor was it a hotel room or guest house. There was a strong smell of disinfection and a rhythmic beeping noise told her that she was probably in a hospital. She looked around in panic and saw a young man with round glasses on his nose sitting next to her bed, smirking slightly at her, "Well... I see you've already started to recover!?"

Hermione immediately blushed, thinking at first that he had overheard her rather embarrassing dream and was therefore asking, but Harry flicked a finger in front of her eyes, bringing her out of her thoughts and continued to smile at her, "Well apparently I'm not the one you're looking for... Perhaps I should rather get Ron-" Hermione immediately interrupted him with a loud "NO... Well I mean no... You don't have to. I'm... I'm fine. Where am I actually?"

"At St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries...",Harry replied, "You left three days ago, you might not quite remember... Ron and you, well Mr. Weasley and you, you had quite a fight..."

"I know...", Hermione interrupted him again, feeling rather depressed. But why was she dreaming such dreams about HIM of all people? Her trainer , the idiot Weasley, who apparently has no feelings at all and that's why he was so harsh with her, Hermione continued to think, but was pulled out of her thoughts by Harry, "He saved you, Granger. Don't be too hard on him. He doesn't always have it easy either, you know."

'Not too hard? He insulted me, after all,' Hermione thought angrily, but Harry continued his speech, "Death Eaters had found you, former folk of Voldemort's and they had tried to torture you, of course because it was satisfaction for them, I suppose... Ron had found you first, after we had spent two days looking for you. He took all the hassle with our boss just to find you. Ron didn't even want to sleep properly, he feels guilty about the whole thing, believe me."

Hermione stared at Harry for a while, wondering if the black haired man in front of her was possibly just trying to shut her up, but the next moment she felt a pain on her forearm, it was sharp and burning, as if she had an open wound there. Hermione pulled her t-shirt up in shock but all she saw was a bandaged forearm and that's when she felt the next sharp pain move through her whole body as if she had severe muscle soreness.

"Did the Death Eaters...", Hermione now managed to say.

Harry nodded, slightly distressed, "Yes..."

Hermione clasped her aching forearm with her one hand and pressed it close to her body as her eyes began to burn and she knew what that meant because she had had that feeling almost daily for two years. A tear formed in her eye and made its way down her cheek. Harry slid his chair closer to Hermione's bed and placed a hand on hers.

"Hermione," he whispered, "you know more than you're letting on, don't you?"

Hermione suddenly averted her gaze from him and turned away from him, causing Harry to let go of her hand and she turned her back to him.

"I don't know what it is, but maybe you should talk to Ron about it..."

Hermione wondered a little at Harry's suggestion, because Ron hadn't really seemed thoughtful or very sensitive to her so far, even though in her dreams he'd been... 'Argh... But he wasn't real, was he?' Hermione thought in frustration and snorted audibly.

"By the way, I tried to contact your parents, but-" Harry began and Hermione's throat almost closed when he mentioned her parents, but just at that moment the door of the room opened and a Healer appeared.

"Miss Granger, wonderful, you're awake... We thought that we would have to increase your potion dosage, but it looks like it's fine now. I hope you had pleasant dreams..."

Hermione didn't turn around. She was flushed, she could feel it as hot as she suddenly became.

Harry, however, grinned at the healer:

"She indeed seemed to have had a good dream... And you know, I think dear Miss Granger wants daily physiotherapeutic support starting tomorrow. She would like to be back on her feet quickly."

Hermione turned around jerkily in her bed and glared angrily at Harry, but he was undeterred and watched the healer do his work. Hermione, however, immediately regretted her jerky movement, for she felt the sharp, burning pain run through her body once more. She contorted her face, which did not go unnoticed by the healer: "By the love of Merlin, you must be in a lot of pain. I will give you another potion..."

And the healer walked briskly out of the room without Hermione having a single chance to object. Harry opened his mouth, but was immediately interrupted by Hermione:" Stop it... Don't say a word... This dream, it has to be our secret, okay? Harry, I'm not joking!"

"Oh... You know, I was actually planning to take Ron out for a butterbeer this afternoon and tell him this great story...",Harry told her squeakily, while Hermione hit his head with a pillow the next moment, which she immediately regretted because of the pain she felt.

"Harry!!! It was just a bloody dream that I absolutely regret and it has absolutely nothing to do with Ron, do you understand?"

"I don't even know what you're so upset about, Granger," Harry laughed. He then stood up and grabbed his jacket, "I'm off to the Leaky Cauldron, you're awake now and I've kept my promise."

Hermione looked at him puzzled, "promise?"

"Yes, Ron asked me to stay with you until you were awake... He had paperwork to do at the Ministry of Magic and couldn't stay here any longer. I got into quite a bit of trouble with Ginny, I tell you... Just don't tell a very pregnant woman that you're supposed to look after someone else's woman just because your best friend wants you to. So, but thank Dumbledore you were only in a coma for two days..."

"Two days?" Hermione said in shock, trying to sound as normal as possible, because she was actually completely overwhelmed that a strange man was taking care of her like that, and she wasn't thinking of Harry, but of Ron. He really wanted Harry to stay with her? All this time? Hermione couldn't believe that Ron actually had such a kind nature about him. 'He wasn't usually like that, was he? ", she thought, as Harry spoke again, "Yes, two days... Now if you'll excuse me, I'm sure Ron would like to hear the good news... Oh RON!" he mimicked Dream-Hermione who would have loved to disappear into the ground now. She picked up her pillow again and threw it at Harry, who immediately closed the door behind him and she could hear him laugh briefly in the hospital corridor. She pulled the blanket over her head and turned to the side, hoping fervently that Harry really wouldn't say anything to Ron.