SECOND CHANCES 3

Author's Note: I don't own any of the characters.

Hogwarts-Hospital Wing-Late Night

She had always prided herself on being tough. Whether it was in school or when dealing with bullies and most injuries. However now she felt completely laid low by what now looked like a fading bruise across her chest. Every breath in and out hurt like she had always guessed that being kicked by a mule would, something that she hadn't really thought of very much before until now. She still had few memories of what had happened after their flight from the ministry that she knew to be true. She had heard that Sirius had sadly died however the rest of that time until the moment that she woke up she knew that she would have to wait to find out what had really happened. Right then even opening her eyes or taking anything close to a deep breath hurt far worse than she had expected. She didn't know where Harry was and hoped that he was doing as well as he possibly could be though upon waking up and hearing from Madam Pomfrey about what had happened a pang of sheer terror had struck her.

She knew that Ron was nearby as she could tell the sound of his true snoring from anywhere. Biting her bottom lip to keep from crying out in pain she forced herself to open her eyes and sit up enough to look over at Ron, seeing him wrapped in far too many bandages for her liking. Everything from his waist up to his neck seemed to be heavily covered with bandages and Hermione could just tell that none of it was anything that he would call comfortable or comforting. She wrapped one arm around her midsection and sat up fully, nearly getting sick from the pain and looking around the room before making sure that she was alone. It looked to be sometime in the middle of the night as the castle was quiet and the office was dark. Not wanting to remain motionless she struggled to stand up, having to resort to using the headboard to keep herself upright as she shook some strength back into her legs.

The windows were further away than she had thought that they were and more than once she'd had to stop and close her eyes to fully regain her balance before she could continue. When she got to the window she was glad that it was open a sliver and she could see the moon and feel the gentle nights breeze on her face. Feeling almost guilty for even being alive to feel at all when Sirius was gone and never coming back she had to bite her bottom lip to keep from breaking down right there. Suddenly she found herself beginning to get a bit queasy and a bit faint. Deciding that it was better to pass out onto her bed than the cold stone floor she struggled back that way only to drop to her knees about halfway there and then fall forwards, fully expecting to hit the floor with her face moments later, but it never happened. She instead felt her body's fall arrested about halfway down and she guessed that Madam Pomfrey had returned and saved her as it was the only thing that made any sense to her mind just then.

"Are you…mental," Ron harshly whispered and she cringed at the anger in the words that she thought was aimed at her for being foolish enough to get out of bed as a part of her reveled in the feeling of his arms encircling her. But when she dared open her eyes and look into his she could not see much actual anger directed at her but more fear and worry for her safety mixed with a fair amount of what she sickeningly realized was more than a fair amount of pain that he was trying to keep from letting her see.

"Ron…what…but you were, I'm sorry," Hermione could only weakly mumble back as anything more than that given her sudden state of shock would have caused her to take a deep breath and wracked with waves of searing pain again throughout her chest.

"Don't be luv, what are you doing out of bed, thought Madam Pomfrey told you not to get out of bed," Ron commented with what he hoped was a supportive and confidant tone of voice mixed with a bit of humor though Hermione knew him well enough to see that it was all just masking the pain that the movement had caused him.

"She did, but then again didn't she tell you the same thing," Hermione slowly nodded back in reply as she didn't like the feeling of the cold stone floor under her but she was in no big hurry to move from the spot of being that close to Ron, no matter how much her chest was hurting.

"Couldn't have you breaking your nose like that, just wouldn't do," Ron explained slowly with a rather painful shrug of his shoulders before he noticed that Hermione looked a bit cold and was glad when she didn't object as he pulled her onto his lap and up off of the freezing floor.

"Of course not, but are you okay," Hermione whispered softly, her voice more than full of concern, as she tried her best not to lean any more on Ron's upper body than she had to as she started to casually look him over before gently laying her hands on first his shoulder and then his side, glad that he didn't hiss in pain at her actions.

"Honestly…I've been better," Ron admitted as he tried to sound like he was completely okay but Hermione knew him well enough to see the flash of pain in his eyes coupled with the look of worry for her safety.

"I know, does it still hurt," Hermione somberly nodded with unshed tears wetting her eyes as she lifted up her head until she could look Ron in the eye and hope that he would be honest with her.

"More than I'd like to admit…which I guess I just did, but probably not as much as yours…are you," Ron replied with Hermione's hopes rewarded with a sheepish grin as his ears went red before he pushed his own concerns and pains away and loosened his grip on her a bit, hoping that he hadn't squeezed her to hard and hurt her.

"I'll be okay Ron, those potions that Madam Pomfrey's been giving me help a lot, but we can't stay here forever," Hermione admitted with her face flushed red even though she truly wasn't embarrassed but the simple fact that the look of concern that Ron was giving her made her feel so special that just maybe she didn't deserve to be looked at like that.

"I know, I think my bum's freezing to the floor," Ron declared suddenly with a cheeky grin as he continued to try to look cool all the while not show the effects that the cold floor was having on him. Had he not been all bandaged up Hermione would have seen the goose bumps on his arms and chest.

"Git…that's not what I meant, we have to make sure that Harry's fine…what with Sirius," Hermione replied with the beginnings of a playful slap to his chest but she managed to stop herself just before she made contact as she didn't want to hurt him before she switched to the more logical side of her brain and she let out her train of thought.

"I know, but whatever happens I don't think that we should tell Harry…about us," Ron shrugged slowly as he tried his best to stretch his back a bit without making everything hurt while he tried to keep his attention on Hermione so that he could see if she looked upset or angry at his suggestion.

"Really," Hermione wondered aloud looking a bit unsure of things as she shifted in Ron's lap so that she could look him straight in the eye with her hands on his shoulders.

"Not just yet, he's hurting right now and I don't want to tell him and act as happy as this…you, make me and…," Ron replied softly as he hung his head a bit until his forehead was touching Hermione's and the two sat there for a few moments in silence before they both lifted their heads back up and Hermione took a nervous breath.

"I know what you mean Ron, I hate to admit it but I do kind of like that this is our little secret…just ours," Hermione breathed out with very worried thoughts running through her mind as she looked deeply into Ron's eyes and got a warm shiver of pleasure at the clear look of both love and concern in his gaze.

"Me too, especially when this secret isn't one that's going to hurt anybody…we're not keeping the secret to protect anyone from the truth like the others…Harry will happy for us…I know that he will," Ron pointed out softly with a look of great relief that brightened his brief grin before his expression grew more serious as if he were hoping that the last part was true but that he wasn't totally sure.

"I hope that you're right, sometimes I wonder if already knows…or suspects something, Sirius knew and…now…," Hermione nodded back with a weak smile at first as she joined Ron in his eager hope before memories of much more recent events invaded and she suddenly felt very guilty at having a moment of peace and joy while Sirius was dead and Harry was mourning his loss.

"He didn't die because of us Hermione, he didn't die because he knew about us," Ron cut in as he tried to reassure her without sounding overly dramatic or angry as he knew that neither one of those tones would work with her or make this any easier on them.

"I know Ron but…I just worry that," Hermione sighed softly, sounding a bit defeated and tired, as she dropped her head forward a bit until their foreheads rested against each other again and she felt comforted by the contact.

"You worry too much luv…but it's one of the things that I love about you, just promise me that you'll remember to worry about yourself sometimes, you matter just as much as…," Ron told her before he couldn't help but laugh a little as he pulled back as he was glad that she seemed to want to be so close to him before he noticed that she hadn't taken her hands off of his shoulders.

"Thank you Ron," Hermione whispered softly to Ron, her lips sliding against his, after she'd slid her hands up to his cheeks and kissed him appreciatively. Ron had glanced over at the door to Madam Pomfrey's office and was relieved to see that it was still shut and the lights were off before he slid his hands around to Hermione's back and pulled her into another round of kissing that soon left both breathless.

"Bloody…," Hermione grumbled out impatiently as she and Ron were forced to separate to catch their breath as the sudden need for oxygen had forced her to take a deeper breath than she probably should have and her chest burned for a few moments. Before she could form any words to say she cautioned a look at Ron and much to her regret she saw that he was in much the same condition as her.

"That was…," Ron finally muttered through a bit of a clenched jaw as he guessed that some of whatever medicine that he'd been given was starting to wear off, though for the life of him he had no intention of moving from the spot that he was with Hermione curled up on his lap and her gazing lovingly at him.

"Yeah, but we really should," Hermione reluctantly admitted with a look that clearly told Ron that what she had brought up was the very last thing that she actually wanted to do just then but she knew that it was what they were supposed to do.

"Yeah, here let's try it this way and…bloody…," Ron started to unhappily grumble as he did his best to make his now frozen arse move enough to propel both he and Hermione up to their feet before neither seemed to have the strength in their legs to stay standing and they tumbled down into a heap onto Ron's bed, with Hermione landing unceremoniously directly on top of Ron.

"Ow…bloody," Hermione unintentionally cursed out loud as the sudden change in position had caused Hermione to smack her face right into the bed on the other side of Ron, which normally wouldn't have been a problem but her midsection had landed directly on his and a rather painful jolt had rushed through her body in an instant.

"Sorry," They both snapped angrily through the pain though not because either was actually angry with the other but because they both believed that they should have found a better way to get back up to the bed than the way that they gone.

"Ron…I really shouldn't be…this would look very strange if…oh uh…Ron, I think," Hermione started to admonish him a bit, as she couldn't help but blush at lying on top of Ron in his bed, as she tried to push herself up and off of him before she felt something big and hard against her stomach and her mind suddenly went blank. Her face had suddenly gone far redder than his hair ever could become as she was torn between her mind and her body and what each was telling her.

"Huh…oh…sorry," Ron replied through a very deep blush of his own as he tried to pass it off as if it had been nothing at all but his ears were now glowing like red hot pokers, almost so much so that they lit up the entire room before Hermione found her voice again.

"D…don't be, it's just a natural…," Hermione stuttered and blubbered back to him with her face now almost as red as his as she struggled to keep her more logical mind in control and keep from making any more physical contact with him than necessary as a myriad of randy thoughts threatened to spill into her mind and was only barely able to keep them at bay.

"Please don't," Ron blurted out as quickly as he could, feeling suddenly even more embarrassed than usual at the fact that they were even attempting to talk about it, as he turned his head away and tried to scoot out from underneath her without knocking her off of the bed or making her think that she'd done anything wrong.

"Sorry," Hermione replied softly as she did her best to lie down next to Ron and hope that he didn't pull away, leaving her very much relieved when the rest of the night went without incident.

Two hours later Madam Pomfrey had suddenly awoken from her slumber, fearing for some odd reason that something was wrong with one of her patients. She had hurried out of her office only to find that nothing seemed out of the ordinary except for that one of the beds had two occupants rather than one. She was about as surprised at this fact as if someone had told her that the sky was blue or that water was wet. Though she didn't get to see the students as much as their teachers did she was not blind. From the stories that she had heard and the glances that she'd seen them give each other this eventuality was one that she thought anyone could have foreseen.

As she edged closer she thought about waking them up and making Miss Granger get back into her bed but as she got to the foot of the bed she'd found the scene just too sweet to disrupt. The pair of them were curled up together as if from a storybook. He lay flat on his back facing up at the ceiling and his right arm around her shoulders. She looked to be half draped across his body with her head resting on his chest and her right arm across his chest making it look like she was holding the two together. Her right leg lay in between his legs and she looked so totally content while he looked like he was lost to the world and snoring softly.

Smiling warmly she collected the blanket from down at their feet and carefully draped it over the two of them without rousing either. Suppressing a giggle Madam Pomfrey decided to let the two sleep, though making a mental note to lock the door before going back to sleep so that she could make sure to give them enough time to get back into their own beds before anyone came to visit.

END OF SECOND CHANCES CHAPTER 3

Author's Note: Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing this and the other chapters. As always reviews, questions, and comments are greatly appreciated. Don't worry I'm not going to write a sex scene with these two as I don't think that it'd work for them just yet in this story and I suck at those scenes anyway. If this chapter wasn't as humorous to you the reader as the other two then sorry but the topic at hand about Sirius and all would be a bit odd to have them joking around. The next chapter will take place just before sixth year starts for the characters. I kind of wondered why Hermione didn't just send her parents to Aunt Muriel's house to stay to keep them safe. Again I wish that there were more stories about Hermione finding out about the locket and its treatment of Ron, the actual telling of what happened to the Weasley's and McGonagall after the war ended with details rather than just saying that they told them, the telling Hermione's parents about everything and their reaction to it all, and then I wonder about if and when Bill or Luna or Dean told the Weasley's about seeing the trio at Shell Cottage. And last but not least maybe at the Yule Ball there's a bright flash of light and Rose, Albus, and Scorpius show up from their own fourth year and then have to interact with their parents and such in trying to find a way back home. Again, thank you.