In The Still of the Night

Mar 26, 2012 21:59

Title: In the Still of the Night
Rating: PG
Pairing/Characters: Ron/Hermione
Genre: Drama
Word Count: 1,051
Summary: The night before the Order goes to pick up Harry from the Dursleys' house, Ron and Hermione worry about the journey they're about to embark on.
A/N: A Deathly Hallows Missing Moment just before "The Seven Potters"

For everyone still sailing the Good Ship

*~*

In his dark bedroom, Ron watched the Cannons' Chasers flit in and out of their posters on the wall. Typically, he was able to fall asleep moments after his head touched his pillow, but he hadn't had a decent night's sleep in days. There was too much to think about to let him rest.

It was well past midnight, when Ron heard the groan of the floorboards just outside his bedroom door. He thought it might be his mum checking on him, but then the door creaked open, and he saw the silhouette of Hermione's mad curly hair as she poked her head into the room.

"Ron?" she whispered.

"I'm awake."

He pushed himself into a sitting position as the door opened a little wider. Hermione stepped inside and closed the door behind her. She didn't dare turn on the lamps in case someone took notice of the light. Since the moonlight wasn't quite bright enough to see by, she held her lit wand in front of her to navigate around the piles of clothes and old comics strewn about the floor. He half expected to hear her nag him about the mess, but he was relieved when she didn't.

Hermione sat beside him on his bed, the springs creaking slightly. In the dim light he could see worry etched on her face. "I couldn't sleep."

"Neither could I," he said. "But I'd be surprised if anyone is resting well tonight."

"Ginny was sleeping rather restlessly," Hermione admitted.

"She's still upset that Mum won't let her go."

"I know, but she still has the Trace for another year. I understand how she feels, though. Would you want to be left behind?"

He didn't have to answer; Hermione knew him better than anyone. He would never have stood for being left behind while his friends and family put themselves in danger. Still, he was privately very glad that she couldn't go. He couldn't bear the thought of his sister risking her life, and he knew Harry would never agree to what they were doing if Ginny were part of the plan.

Ron finally broke the silence. "Do you think this will work?"

Hermione met his eyes uncertainly. "I think so. I hope so."

"He isn't going to like it, though, is he?"

She shook her head. "No, he isn't. And I told them that…"

"But it's the only way-"

"I know it is," she said. "And Harry will come to his senses eventually."

"Or Moody will use force," Ron said darkly.

"He won't need to," she said, looking unsettled. "We'll just have to convince him this is our best chance to move him safely."

"He's going to be angry," he said.

"When isn't he?" Hermione said with a half smile.

Ron tried to return it, but there was a heaviness inside him that he couldn't shake. In less than a day, thirteen of them were going to be traveling to Surrey to transfer Harry to the Burrow. Ron and Hermione were to be part of his guard. Worse yet, half of them would be taking Polyjuice to appear as Harry. It was a big risk, and since they were traveling by sky, they'd be incredibly vulnerable.

Tonks and Kingsley insisted that they would all be perfectly safe. The Order had leaked information that Harry would be leaving his aunt and uncle's the day before his seventeenth birthday, so the chance of Death Eaters being in the area was slim. Still, Moody had prepared them for every possible scenario and those scenarios were keeping Ron awake. There was so much that was outside their control and so much that could go wrong.

"I was thinking about my parents tonight," she said. "I don't know where they are. I don't even know if they're safe."

"Of course they are," Ron said.

"What if something went wrong," she said. "What if I didn't do the spell right? What if it wears off?"

"There's no way you did the spell wrong," he said.

"What if it causes permanent damage to their memories?"

"It won't."

"I think I made a mistake," Hermione said.

"You couldn't have," he insisted.

"Not with the spell." She looked embarrassed, not meeting his eyes. "I've just been thinking that if anything happens to me-"

"Nothing is going to happen to you," Ron said fervently.

"If anything happens to me," she repeated, "there won't be anyone to remember me. It'll be as though I was never born."

Ron swallowed hard. He was grateful for the dim light, hoping it would disguise the pain he felt. "You're wrong."

"It's a completely selfish thought, and I really don't mean it," she said quickly. "They're safe and happy. That's all I could ever want."

"Hermione."

She looked up at him expectantly, but his words failed him. Ron wanted to tell her that he'd do anything to protect her, that he'd rather die than let anything happen to her. But he knew it wasn't a promise he could keep. Their priority was Harry; it had always been Harry. Still, he was terrified that if he was forced to make a choice, that he might choose wrong. He was terribly ashamed of these thoughts.

Hermione looked away. "I should go to bed. I shouldn't have bothered you. It's going to be a long day; Moody is coming over early in the morning to go over the plan one last time."

Before Ron could say a word, she leaned into him and her lips brushed his cheek so softly he thought for a moment he'd imagined it. His heart drummed so loudly that he was sure any minute his family would come storming up the stairs to locate the cause of the sound. But if Hermione noticed, she didn't let on. She pushed herself up, the springs of his bed creaking again. He wanted to be reckless, to pull her back down and tell her everything he wanted to say before it was too late. But when he opened his mouth to speak, he couldn't seem to bring forth the words he wanted to say. Then she was at the door and he'd missed his chance yet again.

"Good night, Ron," she whispered.

He could still feel the ghost of her lips on his cheek. "Night, Hermione."

missing moments, ron/hermione, pg

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