 |
 |
 |
| Starring: Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger - Hermione, full of cold fear, must protect her house while Ron bravely defends the world. |
| I�m so tired of being here
Suppressed by all my childhood fears Hermione Granger was growing weary. She had lost track of the hour, being stuck in the ruin of the once beautiful Hogwarts castle. All she could do was hold on. Just for a little bit longer. That�s what Harry had told her. �Hold on, Hermione. Hold on for as long as you can. You have the strength, you know you can hold on.� Hermione was strong, and she herself knew it. Everyone knew that Miss Granger was brave and courageous. Otherwise, why would she have been sorted into Gryffindor? The Sorting Hat had a purpose, and now Hermione knew what hers was. She had to protect everyone while Ron, Harry, and the rest of the Order ran out to help with the destruction of Voldemort. But it had been hours upon hours and there was still no word from anyone. The castle had been hit many times and now there was a shamble of rocks around the Gryffindor common room. Hermione�s strength was faltering. She was getting scared. And if you have to leave I wish that you would just leave Cause your presence still lingers here And it won�t leave me alone Hermione wasn�t sure what was going to happen. It was happening throughout the course of their seventh year at Hogwarts, and everyone felt it. Harry had been dreading it the entire time, and Ron and Hermione completely understood. They�d helped as much as they could and Ron promised to be right by Harry�s side when it all came to a head. Ron and Hermione�s relationship had also progressed until they finally admitted they were in love. It had been that way since the summer before their seventh year, and Hermione realized that she couldn�t have been happier. Harry was happy for them as well. It was on the night of Voldemort�s return that the strength of their love was truly tested. Hermione swore up and down that she was going to be right there by Harry when it happened; she was going to help them with the fight. Ron was adamant about her staying behind. �You cannot go out there, Hermione. I forbid it!� �Ronald, since when have you been able to dictate to me and tell me what to do?� �Since now, Hermione, and I am very serious. I don�t want you out there.� �There�s no way I�m just going to stand by and let you two do the fighting.� �You�re not going to just stand by. You have to protect all the Gryffindors. You�re Head Girl, you have that duty. That�s your responsibility right now, Hermione. Protect everyone. I can�t let anything happen to you.� It was then that Hermione started to cry. �Then go. If I can�t be with you while you face Him down, I�m not going to stand here and let your face linger. Go. Go!� Ron�s eyes filled with tears and he grabbed Hermione, pulling her tightly against him. He cried into her soft, bushy hair and let his fingers get tangled wildly within it. He couldn�t get her close enough. �I love you, Hermione.� �Ron� go.� These wounds won�t seem to heal This pain is just too real There�s just too much that time cannot erase Hermione huddled with the other Gryffindors as the spells exploded outside the doors. She was well aware that she was now crying. Ron was out there; he was out there without her. Was he going to die? Was Harry going to die? Was she? She didn�t know what to be scared of. The memories of Ron�s love for her came flooding back as she sat huddled by the other frightened, weeping students. She held tightly to Parvati and Lavender�s hands, completely unaware of whom she was clutching. Her mind reeled with the memories of her love. When you cried I�d wipe away all of your tears When you�d scream I�d fight away all of your fears I held your hand through all of these years It was the moment when all had come to a head. They were all eating in the Great Hall, Harry was sick in his room. His scar had been hurting him horribly for the past week. After the first couple of days when nothing had happened, Ron and Hermione decided not to dwell on it. But they should have. It was only a week later that the crash came during breakfast. It had happened so fast. Ron jumped on top of Hermione as they hid under the Gryffindor table. Pieces of the ceiling fell onto the floor and Ron held tightly against Hermione. He was trembling in fear. Hermione held his hand tightly against her heart and looked into his eyes. She remembered seeing the look of desperation and unadulterated fright. They were misting and he touched Hermione�s face with the hand she was not clinging to. �It�s happening.� �I love you, Ron.� He pressed his face against her and closed his eyes tightly. She felt the warm tears spill from his eyes onto her cheeks. She reached up with her free hand and brushed them away. He only sobbed, shaking his and her body at the same time. She lifted his head up and stared into his eyes. �Ron, you are the strength. Be strong.� �Hold me, Hermione.� And she did just that. She grabbed his hand and pressed it to her lips lovingly. He sighed heavily into her chest and Hermione remembered everything she�d ever been through with Ron. Everything that they�d ever fought over, all of the jealousy, all of the heated arguments had led to this exact moment. The moment when they would cling to each other for fear of losing each other. But you still have All of me Hermione looked up into the faces of the Gryffindors she was supposed to be strong for. Tears were streaming down her cheeks and she definitely didn�t feel very strong. Parvati and Lavender clung tightly to her and she raised her head to look up at the ruins. It seemed so surreal. And it was in that instant that Hermione knew everything was going to be different. The door flew open and Ron and Harry came running in. The room became silent except for Hermione, who leapt from her feet and ran at Ron, full speed. She threw her arms around his neck and sobbed into his shoulder. �Sh, Hermione, you have to stay strong,� he said. �No, I can�t� I can�t let you die�� �I�m not going to die.� Harry stepped over to them and yanked Ron away from Hermione. �He�s coming.� The Gryffindors squealed with fright and Hermione stood where she was, unable to move. Ron turned to her and gave her a determined, yet venomous look. �Go.� �No.� �Hermione, I want you over there, now.� �I can�t move, Ron.� Ron�s eyes flooded and he turned back to the door. You used to captivate me by your resonating mind Now I�m bound by the life you left behind Hermione couldn�t move and it seemed that Harry and Ron couldn�t either. They were gripping their wands so tightly in their hands that their knuckles turned white. Hermione legs trembled dangerously and she felt that they were going to buckle under her and she�d hit the floor. It happened so fast. The door once again burst open and Hermione wanted to cower, but she couldn�t. She realized she couldn�t take her eyes away from the sight unfolding before her. Voldemort seemed to storm into the room, casting curses wherever he could. They bounced off of walls and ricocheted, hitting various objects. Ron turned to Hermione desperately after shooting off curses of his own. �Hermione, get everyone somewhere safe.� �Ron! This was supposed to be safe!� �BUT IT�S NOT! JUST DO IT!� It was the only time Hermione had ever obeyed Ron�s command. She decided to move everyone upstairs into the boys� dorms, as the girls� dorms had long since been destroyed. She made sure everyone had gotten up the stairs before she paused and stared back at Ron. Her love for him wouldn�t allow her to continue up the stairs. Because just as she turned around, Ron fell to the ground. Your face it haunts my once pleasant dreams Your voice has chased away all the sanity in me Screaming, she ran to Ron�s side and cried over his unconscious body. �No! Ron, no! Wake up, Ron! WAKE UP!� �Stand aside, silly girl.� Hermione wasn�t sure what had overcome Harry, but upon hearing Voldemort say this to her, he flew into a rage. He shot curse after curse at the Dark Lord and dueled with him as he had never dueled with anyone before. �RON! RON, WAKE UP!� Ron still lay unconscious. These wounds won�t seem to heal This pain is just too real There�s just too much that time cannot erase Hermione was becoming desperate. He had been shot in the shoulder and it didn�t look like he was going to make it. He appeared to be fading fast. She grabbed Ron�s hand and put it close to her heart. �Ron, remember everything. Remember our love for each other and how long it took for us to realize it. I know you remember. I know you�re still there and you�ve got to fight it. You�re not dead. You�re not dead. You�re not dead.� After a few minutes, Hermione realized that she was saying this more to comfort herself than to revive Ron. When you cried I�d wipe away all of your tears When you�d scream I�d fight away all of your fears I held your hand through all of these years �Whenever you were upset, Ron, I was there to comfort you. I let you cry on my shoulder, and I cried on yours. How I loved coming to you with my problems. You were always there to talk to me.� Harry had shot a curse at Voldemort that sent the Dark Lord into a heap of agony on the floor. Harry looked over at Ron and Hermione to see how Ron was faring. He knew he had bought them a couple more minutes, but not much longer. �Whenever you were angry, Ron, you took it out on me. Do you remember all those horrible things you said to me? I remember them, Ron, but do you know what? I sincerely don�t care anymore. Nothing you said to me back then has any affect on me now. Do you know why?� Voldemort stood up. �Because I love you. I love you more than anything in the whole world.� But you still have All of me �You still have me. You still have my heart and no one else will ever love you the way I have always loved you. That�s why you can�t die.� I tried so hard to tell myself that you�re gone But though you�re still with me I�ve been alone all along Hermione placed her head on Ron�s chest, closing her eyes as another tear leaked from her eye. She knew it was the last tear for Ron she was ever going to shed. It was fading all around. Everything was dying. If Ron died, she wouldn�t know what to do. She wasn�t going to let the love of her life disappear from the face of the earth. Not in the midst of battle. Clinging to him, she whispered, �I love you, Ron. Come back.� One more Curse bounced from the tip of Voldemort�s wand and headed straight for Ron and Hermione. When you cried I�d wipe away all of your tears When you�d scream I�d fight away all of your fears I held your hand through all of these years A pair of eyes opened slowly and looked around at the battle before them. Harry was lying by the door. It appeared as though he was either dead or unconscious, but after a couple more seconds of careful studying, it was apparent that Harry was indeed sobbing. The Gryffindors were still upstairs and not a sound could be heard. Voldemort was gone and it was quiet. It seemed like the eye of the storm, but judging by the way Harry was laying, it was too obvious that the war was over. Ron opened his eyes and sat up, rubbing his head. He felt the weight of someone�s body on top of him. He looked down and saw Hermione, sleeping soundly in his lap. He smiled tenderly and placed a hand on her arm. He looked up at his friend. �Harry?� Harry looked up at Ron and wiped his tears away. He turned around and his mouth hanging open, declared, �You�re alive!� Ron nodded slowly and Harry wasn�t sure what to do. �What�s going on? Is You� Voldemort gone?� �He�s gone.� �Then what�s wrong?� Harry�s eyes widened behind his glasses. �Ron� Ron, don�t you know?� Ron looked down at Hermione and then back up at Harry. �What? You can�t� you� no�� �She knew that you were fading, she knew what Curse it was, and she knew how to counteract it.� �What are you talking about?� �The cure was a sacrifice of love, and she took the full blast of the next Curse and you just popped right back to life. I hit Voldemort right after he� he�� But you still have All of me �No! SHE�S NOT DEAD!� Harry turned around and started sobbing again. Ron grabbed Hermione�s limp shoulders and shook her desperately. �HERMIONE! WAKE UP! WAKE UP!� But it was no use. No matter how many times he shook her, she would not open her eyes. Ron began to lose hope more and more with every single shake he gave her with no response. The Gryffindors quietly filed down the stairs into the rubble. Ron paid them no heed. �HERMIONE!� He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closely to him, crying so hard his face hurt and burying his head into her soft, bushy hair for the last time. He took her lifeless hand and placed it on his heart. He had always been there to wipe away her tears, to hold her through the hard times, and love her through the good times. And now it was all over. She�d died for him, and he knew he�d never be able to find a greater love. |