Disclaimer: Again, no.
A/N: It was really hard writing these next few chapters, and I apologise for the immense gap in chapter updates. It is a long story, but I am very sorry and hope this makes up for it. For me, it was fun writing more of Ron’s thoughts during the next few chapters, because we haven’t heard a lot from him in this story yet. Hope you all enjoy this one!
Ron looked around at the sight before him. He and Cammie were standing in the middle of the Entrance Hall in Hogwarts, students rushing past them in every direction. As he looked closer at some of the students, he realised that it was his old friends moving past him, no doubt heading to the Great Hall for breakfast.
He heard a voice he recognised immediately move past him, and he turned his head to see Draco Malfoy striding down the hall with Crabbe and Goyle at his heels. They made their way into the Great Hall, but Draco did a double take when he glanced at the Gryffindor table. A smirk emerged on his face, and the twinkle in his eye told Ron that’s something bad was about to happen.
Ron looked in the direction of Draco’s stare and noticed something that made his heart soar and plummet at the same time. Sitting side by side at the Gryffindor table, holding hands under the table and talking quietly to each other with large grins on their faces were sixteen-year-old Ron and Hermione.
“What’s this? Weasel and Granger are finally together? The perfect couple- the blood traitor and the Mudblood!” called Draco loudly as he sauntered towards the pair.
“Shove off, Malfoy,” Ron replied with a glare before turning back to his breakfast.
“Where are your manners, Weasel? I thought that begging for food would require them,” said Draco cruelly.
“Walk away, Malfoy,” said Hermione, standing with her wand raised at him.
“What? You think you can do something to me? I know more magic than you ever will, and besides, I know I’d beat you in a duel any day. I’m a Malfoy, and you’re a Mudblood girl, the lowest of the low in the magical world.”
A flash of red light flew past Hermione’s ear and hit Malfoy square in the chest.
They turned to see Ron with his wand drawn and anger etched on his face. His hand was shaking with rage, and Hermione looked terrified.
Ron slowly lowered his wand and walked towards Malfoy. Hermione was quick to grab his arm and stop him from moving any closer to Draco, who was lying on the floor and gasping for breath.
“Ron, please, don’t do this. Don’t let him get to you, it’s what he wants. Just let it go,” she whispered in his ear, still struggling to keep him from getting to Malfoy. Ron turned to look at her, and she shook her head. “Let it go, Ron.”
Ron pulled away from her grip and stormed from the hall, taking one last glance back at Malfoy, who had now recovered from the spell and was standing.
Once Ron was no longer in sight, the older Ron noticed Malfoy draw his wand from his back pocket, unbeknown to Hermione.
“Granger, you really need to get that thing a leash,” said Draco cockily, his wand hand behind his back.
Hermione was quick to turn and raise her wand, causing him to take a step back. “Scared, are we? Just as I thought,” Hermione said, lowering her wand. “You’re a coward, Malfoy. Nothing more than a coward who hides behind his words. And you think that you’re better than me?”
“I do. You don’t belong in this world, Granger. You call me a coward, but I think you’re much worse than that. You’re a stupid little Mudblood who doesn’t know her place in this world: the bottom. You’re nothing.”
Hermione raised her wand again, but quickly slipped it back in her pocket. “You’re not even worth it, Malfoy.”
Hermione ran from the hall, older Ron and Cammie close behind her. She ran outside and across the grounds until she reached the beech tree that the trio had spent many afternoons sitting under.
Ron watched as tears began to fall freely from Hermione’s eyes, and she walked around the tree to sit by the lake. She was about to sit down, when she noticed sixteen-year-old Ron already there. He turned when he heard her, and his face quickly turned from a look of anger to that of concern.
“What’s wrong?” he asked quickly, as Hermione sat down next to him. When she said nothing, Ron took her hand and squeezed it gently. “Was it what Malfoy said?”
Hermione nodded silently, tears still falling quickly. “I know it’s stupid…I shouldn’t let it get to me…but he said I was nothing, Ron…”
Ron was quick to pull her into a hug. He was whispering in Hermione’s ear, and the older pair had to step closer to hear him.
“You may be nothing to him, but you’re everything to me. I don’t know what I would do if you weren’t here, Hermione,” he said softly. She pulled away from him and smiled, wiping the tears from her eyes quickly.
“I’m so honoured to have met you, Ronald Weasley,” she said quietly, resting her head comfortably on his shoulder.
“And I you, Hermione Granger.”
The world turned black around Ron and Cammie. They fell through Hermione’s memories, unsure of what awaited them.
As the world around them reformed, Ron realised that their new surrounding was pitch black. He quickly lit his wand to see three teens on the floor of what appeared to be a small, damp cave.
Ron saw Harry first, curled up and sleeping. Then his eyes were drawn to the other side of the cave, where Hermione was whispering something to his younger self.
“Ron, do you think we’ll all survive this?” she asked quietly.
“No,” Ron replied quickly. “Not everyone can survive this battle, Hermione. As much as we’d like that to happen, it won’t. We’re going to lose people, and it’s going to hurt. But the last thing we can do is give up. If we do that we’ve already lost the battle.”
Hermione smiled and looked up at Ron. “Do you know how wise you sound?”
“I guess you’re rubbing off on me, Miss Granger,” Ron replied quietly, grasping her hand and squeezing it lightly. He looked over at Harry, who was still sleeping silently. “How do you think he’s feeling?”
“He has to be the Wizarding world’s hero. He has to battle the most evil man that ever lived. He has to defend every one of us along with himself. He can’t be feeling too good.”
“Do you believe he can do this?” asked Ron suddenly.
“Of course I do. It’s just a question if whether he believes it,” Hermione whispered, her eyes finally leaving Harry and falling onto Ron. “What if both of us don’t survive this, Ron? I don’t think I’d cope without you.”
“You’d learn to cope. You’re…stronger than I’ll ever be.”
“Ron, don’t say that. You’re so strong; you’ve been helping me hold it together ever since we left. If you weren’t here I don’t know if I could handle everything. I guess you could say you’re like my rock.”
“Your sexy rock?” Ron asked, a cheeky grin running across his face.
A smile spread across Hermione’s face, slowly turning into quiet giggles. “Ron, you’re completely daft. I hope you know that you just ruined a perfectly good moment between the two of us with that comment.”
“Yes, but you have to admit, you’re not so scared anymore, are you?”
After a small silence, Hermione whispered, “You know what? You’re right; I’m not so scared anymore. I suppose there’s no point worrying about the future when we need to get some sleep for tomorrow.”
“Correction: you need sleep for tomorrow. I’m supposed to be keeping watch for anything suspicious. You go to sleep and I’ll wake you in the morning.”
“No, I’ll stay up and keep you company,” Hermione replied, shifting closer to him and curling up in his side. She yawned quietly, and Ron raised his eyebrows at her. “Don’t worry about me; I’ll stay awake with you.”
“Okay, whatever you say, Hermione,” Ron said softly, a small smile on his face. Hermione did not seem to notice the sarcasm in his voice, or was too tired to bother responding.
She was asleep in five minutes, her warm breath and fuzzy hair tickling Ron’s neck.
“Goodnight, love,” he whispered quietly, pulling her closer and kissing her head gently.
The memory hung around them for a moment longer, but quickly gave way to darkness. The world reformed around them just as quickly as it disappeared, and Ron knew exactly what memory they were in.
Hermione was sitting on the ground of St Mungo’s Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries fourth floor, by a door labelled “Harry Potter, Ginny Weasley, Ron Weasley”. Her clothes and hair were covered in dirt and blood, and tears were falling from her vacant hazel eyes. Her wand hung limply from her right hand, the other grasped around a small silver chain.
A loud sob escaped her lips as she clutched the chain in her hand more firmly. Hermione let her wand fall from her hand as she held the chain in both hands. She brought her hands together in a silent prayer, tears still streaming from her eyes.
“Please let them be alright,” she whispered, standing suddenly and walking into the room.
The bed closest to the door was Harry’s. He too was covered in dirt and blood, and had many gashes across his face and neck. His glasses had been removed and his scar was clearly defined behind the cover of jet black hair. He did not seem to be incredibly harmed, yet his forehead was furrowed slightly as he slept.
Hermione reached out and swept back a piece of hair falling on Harry’s face, and gently stroked his cheek. Tears were still falling freely from her eyes, and she quickly drew back her hand when his face relaxed slightly.
Ron watched as Hermione slowly pulled her eyes away from him and to the bed in the middle of the three, on which laid Ginny. Her long red hair was streaked with blood, and a long cut vandalized her strangely calm face. It ran across her cheek, down her neck and underneath the crisp white hospital gown she wore.
He couldn’t watch anymore. He felt sick. It was hard enough to see his sister and best friend in that state once, and he refused to see them like this again. Yet, the moment he heard a loud sob echo around him, he opened his eyes slightly to see Hermione kneeling by his bed with his younger self’s hand seized tightly in hers. She was looking desperately at his pale face for any sign that he was conscious, while clutching to the silver chain as though Ron’s life depended on it remaining in her hand.
“Why did you have to be so stupid?” Hermione whispered at him, “Why couldn’t you have just done as you were told and stay with Harry?”
She carefully opened Ron’s palm and placed hers against it, the locket held tightly between the two. Wrapping her fingers firmly around his, Hermione leaned in so they were barely an inch apart.
“It should have been me,” she whispered quietly, her hand slowly turning white from her grip on Ron. “Ron, I can’t do this without you.” She shifted her head to rest it against his chest, fresh tears flowing from her eyes.
Ron heard the banging of a door opening, and turned to see Tonks standing in the doorway looking mortified. She quickly moved into the room, shutting the door as quietly as possible, and moving over to where Hermione was lying on Ron’s bed.
“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make such a racket…It’s just that I…Oh I just can’t concentrate anymore…” she said quietly to Hermione, her eyes downcast and filling with tears. She knelt beside Hermione and wrapped a comforting arm around her, although Ron could see that she was shaking.
Ron had not seen Tonks until after he recovered, but he’d heard she was grief-stricken most of the time at the loss of her husband, Remus. Knowing how upset she had been, he was surprised to see her so controlled. And yet, her current look of untidy black hair and altogether depressing features betrayed her, along with her uncharacteristically meek voice.
“Hermione,” Tonks began cautiously, “I know what you said about this before, but the healers are insisting they look you over. I understand how hard it is, but if you could please just-”
“I’m fine, they needn’t look at me. They should be spending their time finding out what’s wrong with Ron, Harry and Ginny!” Hermione replied forcefully. She removed herself from the bed, but kept her hand held tightly to Ron’s. “And you don’t know how hard it is!”
“Oh…I’ll just leave you to it then…” Tonks whispered before standing and making to leave the room. Ron could see her shaking again.
“Tonks,” Hermione started hastily, grabbing her hand and pulling her around so they were face to face. “I’m so sorry; that was out of line. I know you understand this, probably more than I do. I just can’t even imagine what I would do if…” she trailed off, gazing down at Ron.
Tonks smiled weakly and grabbed Hermione’s other hand.
“If you won’t let the Healers have you, at least let me get you cleaned up a bit. We don’t want Ron’s first sight to be you covered in all of that, do you?” Tonks asked, a small sparkle returning to her vacant eyes.
Hermione smiled, nodding silently and allowing Tonks to lead her from the dark room.
As darkness shrouded them again, Ron felt Cammie’s hand on his shoulder. He turned to see a slightly anxious look on her face.
“Ron,” she began hesitantly, “The memories…they won’t all be like this. There are parts of Hermione’s life she’s not proud of, parts she doesn’t like to think of often. I’m almost positive they’ll be in here. I don’t know how long it will take to get to the right memory, so please just be careful about how you view these. Hermione has made mistakes, just like everyone else, and I know she would be horrified if she knew you were seeing those moments. Just…don’t judge her from this. She’s an amazing person, regardless of what you might see here, ok?”
But before he had a chance to answer, he found himself staring not at Cammie, but at the one person he really didn’t want to see in Hermione’s memory.
What Could Have Been by Lucia_Swanne
Chapter Notes: Ron and Cammie view memories from Hermione’s past, but some are easier to watch than others.
Chapter Endnotes: Oooo yet another cliff-hanger! Again, I'm very sorry for the delay, and I am really going to try and be more punctual in the future. Thanks to all of you who have stuck with me, I do appreciate it- a lot. To all reading this: please stick with me! Reviews=love, Lucia_Swanne!