By My Side: 08 | Rated: R | Ron Weasley Centric
Title: By My Side
Rating: R for language in later chapters
Pairings: Canon pairings
Words: 3,200 ish
Warnings: Um, I think all the angst may be gone! So from angst to fluff! :D
Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter characters, I am merely playing with them. I shall return then when I'm done!
Authors Note: Firstly thank you to mrsquizzical and oncelikeshari for reading it through and putting up with my 'is this okay...how about this?' questions, of which there were many! Secondly thanks to my super fast beta deenas. Yes that's right, I've been through the beta process before putting it up on here, shock horror!
I cannot take credit for the baseline plot of this fic. I blatantly stole borrowed it from Stargate SG-1, series 7, which they then recycled in Stargate Atlantis, series 2, so you know, if they can use it twice, I can borrow it this once!
Chapter 7: Explanations
‘…severe case of concussion, one of the worse ones I’ve ever seen…’
His head hurt but he had expected it to be worse. He opened his eyes and shut them immediately; the harsh white of the ceiling reflected the sunlight from outside and hurt his eyes. He coughed lightly through his nose.
‘Ron, it’s me, Hermione.’
He felt, what he presumed was a mattress underneath him, dip slightly. Her hand landed on his chest and he automatically went to hold it. He squeezed it tightly.
‘He’ll be groggy for a while, Miss. Granger. If he wants to sleep, he should do.’
He felt the bed shake and knew Hermione was nodding her head to whoever she was talking to, presumably a Healer.
‘I shall inform his family he has woken up.' the Healer continued.
‘Thanks, is it okay if I stay with him?’
On hearing this question, Ron brought his and Hermione’s hand up towards his face and clumsily kissed her knuckles.
‘I think you can take your answer from that, Miss. Granger. Call me if he needs anything.’
‘I will.’
Ron heard a door shut and felt the bed dip again as Hermione shifted her position further up towards his head.
He opened his eyes once more and managed to squint through the mass of white and find Hermione.
‘Bright…’ he mumbled.
‘Oh, right, give me a sec.’
He heard her wand swish through the air and the brightness faded. He managed to open his eyes properly and saw her light a few candles so they weren’t sat in complete darkness.
‘Thanks,’ he said with a small smile.
‘Do you need anything else? Hermione asked quietly.
‘’M hungry!’
He watched her chuckle.
‘I’m afraid you can’t eat anything at the minute, Healer’s orders. You’ve been re-hydrated and given potions to build up the minerals and vitamins you’ve lost through not eating, and it’s quite a high dose, if you eat as on top of that it could do more harm than good. Just a few hours and then you can eat.’
Ron nodded.
‘There’s…things I need to…tell you,’ he said to her.
She gently put a finger over his lips.
‘Only when you’re ready, Ron. Don’t go exhausting yourself.’
‘I’m lying down!’ he said with a smile.
‘Lying down in hospital because you came off your broom and suffered very serious injuries.’
‘Are you going to shout at me?’ he asked, trying to look as innocent as possible.
‘I should! I don’t think ‘stupid’ quite covers it, but…I can’t blame you for doing what you thought was best. I presume it was the group of wizards and witches trying to band together and wreak havoc in Voldemort’s name who were gathering in the woods on frequent occasions, who we found when looking for you, you were trying to find about, yes?’
‘That was a long sentence, but yeah, I was looking for them. So they were there, then? I wasn’t even sure the woodland was where they were meeting.'
‘Well, it was. Why did you go out by yourself, Ron?’
She had asked the question in as kind a way as she could.
‘You know, I think I’d feel less guilty if you shouted at me and called me an idiot!’
Hermione laughed. ‘Well, I can call you an idiot if you want me too, but I if I start shouting you, I think I’ll be asked to leave and I really don’t want to leave you.’
He kissed her knuckles again, without the clumsiness this time and smiled at her.
‘I don’t want you to leave, either.’
‘Okay, in which case…’ she cleared her throat and straightened her posture. ‘You are an absolute idiot, Ronald Weasley!’ Her tone was harsh and her voice a little higher than normal. ‘How’s that?’
He laughed and she joined in.
‘Perfect. And I went out on my own because all I’d heard was a couple of blokes discussing a ‘gathering’ that one didn’t want people at the Ministry to know he was going to. To me that screamed Dark Behaviour, but I wasn’t sure and I might have been completely wrong.’
‘But you weren’t though, were you, you were spot on like you normally are. Even if you had been wrong, what did it matter? Neither Harry nor I would have laughed at you!’
‘No, but I can imagine the Auror department being rather pissed off if Harry had taken my information as absolute fact and summoned the whole lot of them to descend on a patch of trees at the other end of the country, to find sod all there!’
Hermione huffed.
‘Ron, that’s their job! They’re there to follow up any information that may or may not lead to finding and catching Dark Wizards, it’s what they’re paid to do!’
‘So how many did they catch then?’ Ron asked, his excitement obvious.
Hermione smiled and shook her head at him.
‘There were only three of them there, but it was what was in their hideout that was most important. Harry couldn’t tell me specifically but there was stuff that had been planned to cause terror throughout the community in weeks, months and years to come.’
‘Really? They thought big then!’
‘Scarily so.'
'So, how did you find me, then? I didn't exactly leave any clues except a note saying I'd gone out!'
'Yes, if you could at least give us a county next time, it would make things easier!' Hermione said, rolling her eyes. 'But actually, that note was more helpful than you might think, along with a combination of other things. We thought that the note was, presumably, the last thing you touched before you left, and - I didn't know this - but like everyone leaves minuscule skin cells and strands of DNA on everything we touch, apparently witches and wizards leave traces of magic behind too. The note had the smallest trace of your magic still on it. One of the locator spells that the Magical Law Enforcement Department uses when looking for missing people told us that you had gone 'North', but because it was only a tiny trace of magic it couldn't be more specific than that. It wasn't much but because of it we didn't spend hours looking in the last place you'd been seen, which was the Ministry.
'We checked there, of course, along with other logical places. Harry and I tried to think of all the possible reasons why you would go somewhere without telling us and we thought it was more than likely that you had heard something that was worth looking at, whatever that might be, and it was likely going to be something magical as opposed to Muggle. That's when we started searching all the magical towns, moving further north as we went.
'When we were out searching for you we got an 'hourly report' from George telling us that you hadn't returned home and he added that Pigwidgeon was going insane because he hadn't seen you in longer than was normal. That's when it dawned on us that we could get Pigwidgeon to find you.'
'Are you about to tell me that with all the skill, expertise and magic the Ministry have, that it was my tiny, insane, fluff ball of an owl that found me?' Ron asked with a grin.
'No, actually, although I don't doubt he would have found you had we not got our break through.'
'Which was what?'
'There was a fire in one of the official gathering places the Ministry had approved, the one where we found you. Oh, someone from the Ministry will be coming to see you tomorrow to ask you about that and everything that happened. Don't worry about thinking about it now.'
Ron nodded, instantly trying to work out what had happened to cause the fire. As much as he tried to work things out, nothing was clear to him.
'A wizard was admitted to hospital with quite severe burns and the Ministry were going to launch an investigation into the area the next morning, because this wizard was someone they'd had their eye on for a while with regards to their little terrorist group.’
She ran her fingers through his hair, he hadn’t realised how much he had missed her doing it.
‘The next morning, when we realised it had been him that had testified that he had seen you in the Ministry, and it had been determined that he had been the last known person to see you, things slotted into place. It wasn't anything solid, but it was something and was better than following Pigwidgeon. He may be enthusiastic and determined but he's still only little, he's not the fastest flyer in the world.'
'Was he severely injured?'
'Pigwidgeon?' Hermione asked, confused.
Ron smiled. 'No, the guy who got burned?'
'Oh, he was writhing in agony for a little while before the Healers got to him, but it wasn't anything magic and potions couldn't fix. He's now well enough to be in Ministry custody to help us with our enquiries. Oh, I almost forgot, Kingsley wants to talk to you.’
Panic rose inside Ron. ‘But why? I don't think I started the fire. If I did I didn't mean to, I was just trying to run away! I didn't mean for anyone to get burned!'
‘Hey, hey! Calm down, it’s nothing like that, he wants to thank you!’
‘Thank me? What for?’
‘Did you not hear me say all that about what the evil doers were planning?’
‘Yeah but, what’s that got to do with thanking me?’
‘Well, as much as you didn’t go about alerting the Ministry to alleged Dark Wizard behaviour in the conventional way, it was, after all you that brought me, Harry and the Aurors to their hideout, and he wants to tell you he appreciates what you did, or at least…tried to do!’
'Well at least something good came out of all this.' He fidgeted a little, obviously a little nervous. 'So, who do I have to talk to, tomorrow?'
'It depends on whether Dark Wizards were involved as to who talks to you. Were they?'
Ron shook his head and winced at the pain.
Hermione tutted.
'Nope, no Dark Wizards involved until, well, I don't know when it was exactly. I fell unconscious that much, but it wasn't because of them that I fell off my broom.'
'Right, well in which case someone from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement will be coming to see you. Don't worry,' she said at Ron's look of concern, 'it's just routine. You were hurt so everything has to be recorded and logged. The witch who's coming to interview is nice, too.'
'Is she a colleague of yours?'
Hermione smiled. 'You could say that, what's her name again...oh, yes that's right, Granger, I believe is her surname.'
She grinned at Ron and he laughed in disbelief.
'You're coming to ask me questions tomorrow morning, as a representative of the Department of Magical Law?'
'I am! You're my first official case! My boss said it would be good for me because I could get used to the stupidly long and complex forms without having to worry about the person I'm questioning being stressed, upset or intimidated by the whole process.'
'I dunno, though,' Ron said, smirking. 'You can be pretty intimidating when you want to be! I may have to be restrained!'
Hermione raised an eyebrow at him. 'Is that so!'
Ron chuckled and Hermione looked away, blushing slightly. She took a breath as if she was about to start talking, but stopped. Ron thought he knew what she wanted to talk about, the previous conversation having led them to the obvious point.
'I er...I had some bizarre visions when I was out there and, thinking about it, I may have confused you with one of them. In all fairness the vision I confused you with was, well, you so I think I'd be forgiven for getting the two of you mixed up!'
Hermione frowned at him, obviously confused.
'I was hallucinating, and in the hallucinations different people came to visit me. Harry was first and I thought he'd found me and was all set to take me home, but it was just my mind all along. After Harry was Dad and then...then Fred.'
He glanced up at Hermione and by the look on her face knew she had just slotted a piece of information into place.
'Ginny was next and then you. You told me to hold on and that you were all looking for me and that you would find me. I knew you'd find me but...I just wasn't sure if I could hold on long enough for you to find me...alive. Thinking along those lines I poured my heart out to you, the you in my head, that is, and I think, when you arrived I still thought I was hallucinating.'
'Ron, you--'
He brought his finger to her lip and she stopped talking.
'Let me finish. I thought I had to wait until the circumstances were perfect to tell you certain things, but I don't, and I shouldn't wait. I've told you once already...I, I love you, Hermione.'
He felt his cheeks go bright red but he looked up at Hermione. He didn't like the fact that she had tears in her eyes, but after what he had put her through over the last few days, he wasn't that surprised.
'I love you too, Ron.'
She sniffed and squeezed his hand tightly. He adjusted his position and sat up.
'Ron, you shouldn't--'
He stopped her talking by kissing her. He held her close to him, one hand in her hair and the other on her back. He felt her arms slide around him, but knew she was trying to avoid touching the place where he had injured his arm. He smiled as he kissed her, and loved it when he felt her do the same.
They broke apart but still held each other close.
'I was going to say something about you not sitting up, but something else stopped me caring.'
Ron chuckled but then felt dizzy. He blinked, trying to ignore it.
'What's wrong?' Hermione asked, instantly noticing his slight change in behaviour.
'Nothing, just feeling a bit dizzy.'
'See! I don't fuss for no reason!' she said as Ron lay back down.
He smiled. 'I know, but I think the situation warranted me risking going dizzy, don't you?'
'I can't disagree with that without offending you, can I?' Hermione asked through a laugh.
'Nope!'
'Then I won't.'
'Good. There's something else I want to tell you, well, ask you, too.'
'What's that?'
'I...I know we said we wouldn't rush into anything, and that it would probably be a good idea if we took things slower than what people might expect, but...I want to rush into things! I want to spend all the time that I can with you and I want you to move into my far too small flat... and...well, that's it really...so, will you?'
Hermione looked shocked at what Ron had just said.
'Ron, I--'
She was cut off by the door banging open.
'Ronnie!'
Ron lifted his head off the pillow and watched as Weasley after Weasley walked into his room.
In the next few minutes, Ron was hugged and he hugged in return. Questions were kept to a minimum as requested by the Healer and after ten minutes, Ron's Healer everyone was asked to leave so that Ron could get some sleep.
Ron watched as Hermione tried to make her way through the many Weasleys to his bedside so she could say goodbye, but she was steered out of the room by Molly, politely answering statements that she must be hungry and exhausted and that she would stay at the Burrow that day and night. Hermione finally pulled away enough to look at Ron and return his half disappointed smile and give him a wave but in the next second was out the door.
Ron settled down and couldn't help but feel a little nervous that his question to Hermione had gone unanswered or that he hadn't managed to say goodbye to her properly.
'I shall be back in a minute to perform your hourly check up, Ron,' the Healer said to him. 'You don't have to be awake for it so sleep if you feel the need.'
'Okay.'
He shut his eyes and heard the door close.
Hermione wouldn't leave his thoughts. He was trying to second guess all the things she could say in answer to his question and declaration of everything he wanted and couldn't help but feel a little pessimistic about the eventual outcome.
He heard the door open and shut quietly but didn't open his eyes, the Healer said he could sleep, after all.
He was surprised when fingers ran through his hair and he felt someone sit on his bed. He opened his eyes and saw Hermione smiling down at him.
'Sorry about that,' she said quietly. 'Your mum's quite persistent when she wants to be!'
Ron chuckled. 'You don't have to tell me that!'
'I just wanted to say...that I want...the same, everything you said earlier, and of course I'll live with you. I've been cursing the cautious side of my brain ever since I suggested we take things slowly.'
'That's something else you don't need to tell me about, I've been cursing various parts of my brain over the last few days!'
Hermione looked confused.
'I'll explain later,' Ron said with a smile. 'So, are you sure that's what you want? I don't want you to feel like you have to say yes just because I'm all ill and injured!'
Hermione smiled.
'I'm sure it's what I want. I love you, Ron, and you're right, I don't see the point in wasting time getting over insignificant insecurities either one of us may have. If we find we have them, then we'll deal with them head on and together, okay?'
'Sounds perfect.'
Hermione leaned towards him and kissed him. He felt her lips part and their tongues met gently, but with a certain amount of urgency and need.
'Oh, Miss. Granger, I thought you'd gone!'
Hermione jumped away from Ron and blushed a brilliant red. Ron giggled at both the situation and Hermione.
'Er...yes...I had, but we had...er...'
'Unfinished business,' Ron finished for her.
'I'll see you tomorrow,' she whispered to Ron before walking away from his bed. She stopped and nearly fell backwards when Ron grabbed her hand.
She looked at him, still red in the face and clearly wanting to leave the room as quickly as possible.
'I love you,' Ron said simply, the sincerity obvious in his eyes.
She smiled and stopped pulling against his grip.
'I love you, too. Have a good rest and do what you're told, okay?'
'Promise.'
He let go of her hand and watched her leave the room.
The Healer busied himself with his tests and Ron closed his eyes, a dopey grin on his face.
He thought about the last few days and how he had taught himself a few lessons. There were three that stood out to him more than the rest, though:
One, never ever fly a broom when it's thundering and lightening.
Two, never wait to tell your loved ones how you feel about them.
And possibly the most important lesson he had learned: never throw up next to where you want to sleep.
Yeah, that's about right!
Fin
So, that's it! I hope if you've enjoted the fic, and thank you for the comments and reviews you've given it. They're all much appreciated. I'd love you to do it once more :D Ta muchly!
Step ;)
Rating: R for language in later chapters
Pairings: Canon pairings
Words: 3,200 ish
Warnings: Um, I think all the angst may be gone! So from angst to fluff! :D
Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter characters, I am merely playing with them. I shall return then when I'm done!
Authors Note: Firstly thank you to mrsquizzical and oncelikeshari for reading it through and putting up with my 'is this okay...how about this?' questions, of which there were many! Secondly thanks to my super fast beta deenas. Yes that's right, I've been through the beta process before putting it up on here, shock horror!
I cannot take credit for the baseline plot of this fic. I blatantly stole borrowed it from Stargate SG-1, series 7, which they then recycled in Stargate Atlantis, series 2, so you know, if they can use it twice, I can borrow it this once!
Chapter 7: Explanations
‘…severe case of concussion, one of the worse ones I’ve ever seen…’
His head hurt but he had expected it to be worse. He opened his eyes and shut them immediately; the harsh white of the ceiling reflected the sunlight from outside and hurt his eyes. He coughed lightly through his nose.
‘Ron, it’s me, Hermione.’
He felt, what he presumed was a mattress underneath him, dip slightly. Her hand landed on his chest and he automatically went to hold it. He squeezed it tightly.
‘He’ll be groggy for a while, Miss. Granger. If he wants to sleep, he should do.’
He felt the bed shake and knew Hermione was nodding her head to whoever she was talking to, presumably a Healer.
‘I shall inform his family he has woken up.' the Healer continued.
‘Thanks, is it okay if I stay with him?’
On hearing this question, Ron brought his and Hermione’s hand up towards his face and clumsily kissed her knuckles.
‘I think you can take your answer from that, Miss. Granger. Call me if he needs anything.’
‘I will.’
Ron heard a door shut and felt the bed dip again as Hermione shifted her position further up towards his head.
He opened his eyes once more and managed to squint through the mass of white and find Hermione.
‘Bright…’ he mumbled.
‘Oh, right, give me a sec.’
He heard her wand swish through the air and the brightness faded. He managed to open his eyes properly and saw her light a few candles so they weren’t sat in complete darkness.
‘Thanks,’ he said with a small smile.
‘Do you need anything else? Hermione asked quietly.
‘’M hungry!’
He watched her chuckle.
‘I’m afraid you can’t eat anything at the minute, Healer’s orders. You’ve been re-hydrated and given potions to build up the minerals and vitamins you’ve lost through not eating, and it’s quite a high dose, if you eat as on top of that it could do more harm than good. Just a few hours and then you can eat.’
Ron nodded.
‘There’s…things I need to…tell you,’ he said to her.
She gently put a finger over his lips.
‘Only when you’re ready, Ron. Don’t go exhausting yourself.’
‘I’m lying down!’ he said with a smile.
‘Lying down in hospital because you came off your broom and suffered very serious injuries.’
‘Are you going to shout at me?’ he asked, trying to look as innocent as possible.
‘I should! I don’t think ‘stupid’ quite covers it, but…I can’t blame you for doing what you thought was best. I presume it was the group of wizards and witches trying to band together and wreak havoc in Voldemort’s name who were gathering in the woods on frequent occasions, who we found when looking for you, you were trying to find about, yes?’
‘That was a long sentence, but yeah, I was looking for them. So they were there, then? I wasn’t even sure the woodland was where they were meeting.'
‘Well, it was. Why did you go out by yourself, Ron?’
She had asked the question in as kind a way as she could.
‘You know, I think I’d feel less guilty if you shouted at me and called me an idiot!’
Hermione laughed. ‘Well, I can call you an idiot if you want me too, but I if I start shouting you, I think I’ll be asked to leave and I really don’t want to leave you.’
He kissed her knuckles again, without the clumsiness this time and smiled at her.
‘I don’t want you to leave, either.’
‘Okay, in which case…’ she cleared her throat and straightened her posture. ‘You are an absolute idiot, Ronald Weasley!’ Her tone was harsh and her voice a little higher than normal. ‘How’s that?’
He laughed and she joined in.
‘Perfect. And I went out on my own because all I’d heard was a couple of blokes discussing a ‘gathering’ that one didn’t want people at the Ministry to know he was going to. To me that screamed Dark Behaviour, but I wasn’t sure and I might have been completely wrong.’
‘But you weren’t though, were you, you were spot on like you normally are. Even if you had been wrong, what did it matter? Neither Harry nor I would have laughed at you!’
‘No, but I can imagine the Auror department being rather pissed off if Harry had taken my information as absolute fact and summoned the whole lot of them to descend on a patch of trees at the other end of the country, to find sod all there!’
Hermione huffed.
‘Ron, that’s their job! They’re there to follow up any information that may or may not lead to finding and catching Dark Wizards, it’s what they’re paid to do!’
‘So how many did they catch then?’ Ron asked, his excitement obvious.
Hermione smiled and shook her head at him.
‘There were only three of them there, but it was what was in their hideout that was most important. Harry couldn’t tell me specifically but there was stuff that had been planned to cause terror throughout the community in weeks, months and years to come.’
‘Really? They thought big then!’
‘Scarily so.'
'So, how did you find me, then? I didn't exactly leave any clues except a note saying I'd gone out!'
'Yes, if you could at least give us a county next time, it would make things easier!' Hermione said, rolling her eyes. 'But actually, that note was more helpful than you might think, along with a combination of other things. We thought that the note was, presumably, the last thing you touched before you left, and - I didn't know this - but like everyone leaves minuscule skin cells and strands of DNA on everything we touch, apparently witches and wizards leave traces of magic behind too. The note had the smallest trace of your magic still on it. One of the locator spells that the Magical Law Enforcement Department uses when looking for missing people told us that you had gone 'North', but because it was only a tiny trace of magic it couldn't be more specific than that. It wasn't much but because of it we didn't spend hours looking in the last place you'd been seen, which was the Ministry.
'We checked there, of course, along with other logical places. Harry and I tried to think of all the possible reasons why you would go somewhere without telling us and we thought it was more than likely that you had heard something that was worth looking at, whatever that might be, and it was likely going to be something magical as opposed to Muggle. That's when we started searching all the magical towns, moving further north as we went.
'When we were out searching for you we got an 'hourly report' from George telling us that you hadn't returned home and he added that Pigwidgeon was going insane because he hadn't seen you in longer than was normal. That's when it dawned on us that we could get Pigwidgeon to find you.'
'Are you about to tell me that with all the skill, expertise and magic the Ministry have, that it was my tiny, insane, fluff ball of an owl that found me?' Ron asked with a grin.
'No, actually, although I don't doubt he would have found you had we not got our break through.'
'Which was what?'
'There was a fire in one of the official gathering places the Ministry had approved, the one where we found you. Oh, someone from the Ministry will be coming to see you tomorrow to ask you about that and everything that happened. Don't worry about thinking about it now.'
Ron nodded, instantly trying to work out what had happened to cause the fire. As much as he tried to work things out, nothing was clear to him.
'A wizard was admitted to hospital with quite severe burns and the Ministry were going to launch an investigation into the area the next morning, because this wizard was someone they'd had their eye on for a while with regards to their little terrorist group.’
She ran her fingers through his hair, he hadn’t realised how much he had missed her doing it.
‘The next morning, when we realised it had been him that had testified that he had seen you in the Ministry, and it had been determined that he had been the last known person to see you, things slotted into place. It wasn't anything solid, but it was something and was better than following Pigwidgeon. He may be enthusiastic and determined but he's still only little, he's not the fastest flyer in the world.'
'Was he severely injured?'
'Pigwidgeon?' Hermione asked, confused.
Ron smiled. 'No, the guy who got burned?'
'Oh, he was writhing in agony for a little while before the Healers got to him, but it wasn't anything magic and potions couldn't fix. He's now well enough to be in Ministry custody to help us with our enquiries. Oh, I almost forgot, Kingsley wants to talk to you.’
Panic rose inside Ron. ‘But why? I don't think I started the fire. If I did I didn't mean to, I was just trying to run away! I didn't mean for anyone to get burned!'
‘Hey, hey! Calm down, it’s nothing like that, he wants to thank you!’
‘Thank me? What for?’
‘Did you not hear me say all that about what the evil doers were planning?’
‘Yeah but, what’s that got to do with thanking me?’
‘Well, as much as you didn’t go about alerting the Ministry to alleged Dark Wizard behaviour in the conventional way, it was, after all you that brought me, Harry and the Aurors to their hideout, and he wants to tell you he appreciates what you did, or at least…tried to do!’
'Well at least something good came out of all this.' He fidgeted a little, obviously a little nervous. 'So, who do I have to talk to, tomorrow?'
'It depends on whether Dark Wizards were involved as to who talks to you. Were they?'
Ron shook his head and winced at the pain.
Hermione tutted.
'Nope, no Dark Wizards involved until, well, I don't know when it was exactly. I fell unconscious that much, but it wasn't because of them that I fell off my broom.'
'Right, well in which case someone from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement will be coming to see you. Don't worry,' she said at Ron's look of concern, 'it's just routine. You were hurt so everything has to be recorded and logged. The witch who's coming to interview is nice, too.'
'Is she a colleague of yours?'
Hermione smiled. 'You could say that, what's her name again...oh, yes that's right, Granger, I believe is her surname.'
She grinned at Ron and he laughed in disbelief.
'You're coming to ask me questions tomorrow morning, as a representative of the Department of Magical Law?'
'I am! You're my first official case! My boss said it would be good for me because I could get used to the stupidly long and complex forms without having to worry about the person I'm questioning being stressed, upset or intimidated by the whole process.'
'I dunno, though,' Ron said, smirking. 'You can be pretty intimidating when you want to be! I may have to be restrained!'
Hermione raised an eyebrow at him. 'Is that so!'
Ron chuckled and Hermione looked away, blushing slightly. She took a breath as if she was about to start talking, but stopped. Ron thought he knew what she wanted to talk about, the previous conversation having led them to the obvious point.
'I er...I had some bizarre visions when I was out there and, thinking about it, I may have confused you with one of them. In all fairness the vision I confused you with was, well, you so I think I'd be forgiven for getting the two of you mixed up!'
Hermione frowned at him, obviously confused.
'I was hallucinating, and in the hallucinations different people came to visit me. Harry was first and I thought he'd found me and was all set to take me home, but it was just my mind all along. After Harry was Dad and then...then Fred.'
He glanced up at Hermione and by the look on her face knew she had just slotted a piece of information into place.
'Ginny was next and then you. You told me to hold on and that you were all looking for me and that you would find me. I knew you'd find me but...I just wasn't sure if I could hold on long enough for you to find me...alive. Thinking along those lines I poured my heart out to you, the you in my head, that is, and I think, when you arrived I still thought I was hallucinating.'
'Ron, you--'
He brought his finger to her lip and she stopped talking.
'Let me finish. I thought I had to wait until the circumstances were perfect to tell you certain things, but I don't, and I shouldn't wait. I've told you once already...I, I love you, Hermione.'
He felt his cheeks go bright red but he looked up at Hermione. He didn't like the fact that she had tears in her eyes, but after what he had put her through over the last few days, he wasn't that surprised.
'I love you too, Ron.'
She sniffed and squeezed his hand tightly. He adjusted his position and sat up.
'Ron, you shouldn't--'
He stopped her talking by kissing her. He held her close to him, one hand in her hair and the other on her back. He felt her arms slide around him, but knew she was trying to avoid touching the place where he had injured his arm. He smiled as he kissed her, and loved it when he felt her do the same.
They broke apart but still held each other close.
'I was going to say something about you not sitting up, but something else stopped me caring.'
Ron chuckled but then felt dizzy. He blinked, trying to ignore it.
'What's wrong?' Hermione asked, instantly noticing his slight change in behaviour.
'Nothing, just feeling a bit dizzy.'
'See! I don't fuss for no reason!' she said as Ron lay back down.
He smiled. 'I know, but I think the situation warranted me risking going dizzy, don't you?'
'I can't disagree with that without offending you, can I?' Hermione asked through a laugh.
'Nope!'
'Then I won't.'
'Good. There's something else I want to tell you, well, ask you, too.'
'What's that?'
'I...I know we said we wouldn't rush into anything, and that it would probably be a good idea if we took things slower than what people might expect, but...I want to rush into things! I want to spend all the time that I can with you and I want you to move into my far too small flat... and...well, that's it really...so, will you?'
Hermione looked shocked at what Ron had just said.
'Ron, I--'
She was cut off by the door banging open.
'Ronnie!'
Ron lifted his head off the pillow and watched as Weasley after Weasley walked into his room.
In the next few minutes, Ron was hugged and he hugged in return. Questions were kept to a minimum as requested by the Healer and after ten minutes, Ron's Healer everyone was asked to leave so that Ron could get some sleep.
Ron watched as Hermione tried to make her way through the many Weasleys to his bedside so she could say goodbye, but she was steered out of the room by Molly, politely answering statements that she must be hungry and exhausted and that she would stay at the Burrow that day and night. Hermione finally pulled away enough to look at Ron and return his half disappointed smile and give him a wave but in the next second was out the door.
Ron settled down and couldn't help but feel a little nervous that his question to Hermione had gone unanswered or that he hadn't managed to say goodbye to her properly.
'I shall be back in a minute to perform your hourly check up, Ron,' the Healer said to him. 'You don't have to be awake for it so sleep if you feel the need.'
'Okay.'
He shut his eyes and heard the door close.
Hermione wouldn't leave his thoughts. He was trying to second guess all the things she could say in answer to his question and declaration of everything he wanted and couldn't help but feel a little pessimistic about the eventual outcome.
He heard the door open and shut quietly but didn't open his eyes, the Healer said he could sleep, after all.
He was surprised when fingers ran through his hair and he felt someone sit on his bed. He opened his eyes and saw Hermione smiling down at him.
'Sorry about that,' she said quietly. 'Your mum's quite persistent when she wants to be!'
Ron chuckled. 'You don't have to tell me that!'
'I just wanted to say...that I want...the same, everything you said earlier, and of course I'll live with you. I've been cursing the cautious side of my brain ever since I suggested we take things slowly.'
'That's something else you don't need to tell me about, I've been cursing various parts of my brain over the last few days!'
Hermione looked confused.
'I'll explain later,' Ron said with a smile. 'So, are you sure that's what you want? I don't want you to feel like you have to say yes just because I'm all ill and injured!'
Hermione smiled.
'I'm sure it's what I want. I love you, Ron, and you're right, I don't see the point in wasting time getting over insignificant insecurities either one of us may have. If we find we have them, then we'll deal with them head on and together, okay?'
'Sounds perfect.'
Hermione leaned towards him and kissed him. He felt her lips part and their tongues met gently, but with a certain amount of urgency and need.
'Oh, Miss. Granger, I thought you'd gone!'
Hermione jumped away from Ron and blushed a brilliant red. Ron giggled at both the situation and Hermione.
'Er...yes...I had, but we had...er...'
'Unfinished business,' Ron finished for her.
'I'll see you tomorrow,' she whispered to Ron before walking away from his bed. She stopped and nearly fell backwards when Ron grabbed her hand.
She looked at him, still red in the face and clearly wanting to leave the room as quickly as possible.
'I love you,' Ron said simply, the sincerity obvious in his eyes.
She smiled and stopped pulling against his grip.
'I love you, too. Have a good rest and do what you're told, okay?'
'Promise.'
He let go of her hand and watched her leave the room.
The Healer busied himself with his tests and Ron closed his eyes, a dopey grin on his face.
He thought about the last few days and how he had taught himself a few lessons. There were three that stood out to him more than the rest, though:
One, never ever fly a broom when it's thundering and lightening.
Two, never wait to tell your loved ones how you feel about them.
And possibly the most important lesson he had learned: never throw up next to where you want to sleep.
Yeah, that's about right!
Fin
So, that's it! I hope if you've enjoted the fic, and thank you for the comments and reviews you've given it. They're all much appreciated. I'd love you to do it once more :D Ta muchly!
Step ;)