Chapter 16

A/N: Sorry it has been so long, but revision has to take provenance I'm afraid. This chapter is very dark in the beginning, beware; if you have a faint heart, just skim over it, and you'll get the idea. I'm sorry if it causes any offence. Hope everyone's doing okay! I won't gab on, enjoy the latest instalment!

Hermione's POV:

I could see my nightmare looming; I could feel it trying to break into my thoughts. But something was pushing it all back, keeping my vulnerable and fragile dreams safe…for now. I'd had enough experience to realise that bodyguards move on quickly. Nothing lasts forever.

I suddenly became aware of an overpowering yet lovely smell surrounding me. Cinnamon. I'd never taken to the spice before, really; it was always too different for any of my eating habits, yet now it felt like heaven! I looked up to find the source of this beautiful scent, and I was met by the bluest eyes imaginable.

"Hey Ron," I smiled, wiping my eyes.

"Hey beautiful," he beamed, kissing me full on the mouth. I was so shocked I couldn't even react before he pulled away. Ronald Bilius Weasley had just kissed me!

I stood up from the bed and found myself in a quaint house, with a country view out of the windows. There was a knock at the door as two ginger children came into the room, bouncing on the bed I was lying in, shouting excitedly: "Good morning Mummy and Daddy!"

I was quite confused, and was about to express this to Ron, when the room began to shake and the sky outside turned suddenly dark and foggy. The next thing I knew, a group of Death Eaters had the bed surrounded, and began casting the Crucio curse on both the children in front of me. I watched and screamed in horror helplessly as their bodies fell to the floor, writhing in excruciating pain before my eyes. Then each child had a Death Eater holding them up, and their heads were decapitated with a swift wand movement from each of the Death Eaters. I felt for Ron next to me as their lifeless bodies fell to the floor, turning to see a headless body slumped next to me. Dead. I screamed until my throat gave in, my heart hammering in my chest as Bellatrix Lestrange walked into the room. Suddenly, I was back in the tent in the woods, and was greeted by more Death Eaters, next to who, or rather above them, was Harry, strung up by the neck, his arms spread, with the locket in one hand, his wand in the other. He was still alive though, and he looked down at me pleadingly, as though I could help. I was sat on the floor, a ring of Death Eaters around me so I couldn't escape. Within the ring with me were the headless gingers from the house in the countryside. Bellatrix made me watch as Ron and the children were tortured, abused sexually and physically, and pulled apart, limb from limb by the Death Eaters. The wicked witch made sure I was near enough to the display so that their blood could run and create a pool around me. Tears streamed down my face, and my hoarse throat was strained as I screamed for them, my friends, the children that I assumed were mine. I looked up to see Harry drop from his supports on his arms, and his corpse swung in the faint breeze from the open canopy, the blood from his arms that had been shredded, and from his neck, dripped into the pool of blood that was accumulating around me. Before long I was drowning in the warm, red liquid, unable to breathe as the blood entered my lungs, yet somehow I was still screaming.

"Hermione! Stop screaming! 'Mione? Shh! Shh, it's all okay, it's going to be fine," came a voice from somewhere unknown, and eventually Ron came into view. I sat up, eyes wide, sweating and panting like I'd just run the London Marathon!

I looked at him and hugged him so hard that I pulled him on top of me on the bed. "I'm so glad you're okay," I said, crying now as I shook against him. He didn't even try to pull away, no doubt noticing that his jumper was getting soaked with my tears; Ron understood that I just needed him. He rubbed my back, letting the tears subside so I could relax against him. I began to let him pull away, but he stopped as my face was under his. He looked at me, in me, and he began moving closer at a snails' pace.

"Godric, that shower is c.o.l.d! Do you want a…oh...ahem…sorry…," Harry trailed off awkwardly. Ron tried to get off me, but he hit his head on the bunk above his bed. I was still in his bed. Damn.

"Umm, what was that Harry?" asked Ron awkwardly, untangling himself and standing in the middle of the tent.

"Oh yes, tea anyone?"

Ron's POV:

Screaming. And wriggling, she was. Arms, flailing about, almost hitting me. Almost. When I finally managed to rouse her, she just looked up and squeezed me in the tightest hug possible. And what a hug it was! I held her, my eyes closing as I gently smelled her hair. I'd always loved the smell of her hair. I thought I'd forgotten it, but now here I was, holding the girl I never thought I'd hold again. I began pulling away, somewhat unwillingly, not wanting her to feel uncomfortable as I was squishing her, but the way she looked up at me, so innocently, with wet trails patterning themselves down her cheeks, I unconsciously began leaning in, slowly, but feeling a certain type of urgency. I was closer to her that I had ever been, just a little further and-

"Godric that shower was cold!" Damn it, Harry.

A/N: only a short on, I know, and it was very dark, but I hope you enjoyed it anyways. REVIEW! Bye!