The Eternal Triangle

Chapter 6 - Sacrifices

Seven Years Ago - continued

Hermione hardly left Ron's side after that. They had to literally force her to sleep but she'd wake up screaming his name, even when they gave her the Dreamless Draught.

For two solid weeks she tried to reach him, pushing herself to exhaustion, using all the spells, charms and potions the Healers came up with. On top of that, she also did her own research. Their ward now resembled a mini library and lab, with books covering every available surface and cauldrons bubbling away.

Harry and the other Weasleys were her delivery and collection people. She'd sent them to every corner of Britain to get her reference books and obscure potion ingredients or to send queries to learned wizards and witches. She'd also recruited Snape, when he could be spared, to help her.

She was existing on adrenaline alone, hardly eating and sleeping, her brain working feverishly trying to find some way to reach Ron.

"Miss Granger?" said the quiet voice from the doorway of the ward.

Hermione was slumped over a thick book. She had accidentally dozed off in the middle of reading.

"Wha--?" she asked groggily. Looking up, she saw Professor Snape looking at her in disgust from the door.

"You silly girl, when was the last time you slept?" he asked, sneering at her pallid face, the dark circles under her eyes and her hair that looked like it hadn't been combed in weeks.

"I honestly don't know," she replied tiredly. "Does it really matter?" she asked, looking up at him.

"You are not helping Weasley by working yourself to an early grave," he bit out. Walking over to her, he grabbed her arm and almost dragged her over to her bed.

"Get into bed."

"Don't order me around!" she snapped at him.

"If you can't even take care of yourself, then you need to be ordered around," he snapped back.

She glared at him.

"Miss Granger," he said quietly. "You want to find a cure for him, but working like this is not helping. You need to be strong, focused. Can you even think clearly in your condition now? I doubt you'd even recognize the cure if it jumped up and bit you!"

She started giggling at the ridiculous image, then her giggles turned to hysterical laughter; she couldn't seem to stop laughing.

And Snape slapped her.

She gasped in shock and looked wide eyed at him.

"You need to rest," he said firmly and proffered a glass beaker to her. "Drink it all up."

Wordlessly, she took it and gulped the contents in one swallow. She was unconscious almost before her head hit the pillow.

When she woke up the next day, the first time she'd woken up without screaming Ron's name, she was fresh and clear headed. She got off the bed and went to Ron. He was still unconscious. She leaned over and kissed his cold, unresponsive lips.

"Ronald Weasley, you will get up. Even if I have to go to the lowest levels of hell to fetch you, I will bring you back. You are not leaving me. Do you hear me? You are not leaving me!" she said fervently.

Harry was just about to step into the room when he heard Hermione. He stopped just outside the door and listened. When she finished, he leaned his head against the wall, finally understanding the depths of Hermione's love for Ron.

He'd been living in a fool's paradise these past weeks, deluding himself that Hermione really loved him. With a pang, he realized what she'd done; she had been there for him when he needed her most... even if it meant sacrificing her love for Ron.

And Ron...he remembered everything Ron had done for him over the years--

First year: on the giant chessboard...

"That's chess," snapped Ron. "You've got to make some sacrifices!"

He stepped forward and the white queen pounced. She struck Ron hard around the head with the stone arm and he crashed to the floor.

Second year: in the Forbidden Forest...

Ron was terrified of spiders but when Hermione was Petrified and Hagrid was in Azkaban, they followed the spiders into the forest.

Third year: at the whomping willow...

As the dog sprang back towards them, he pushed Harry aside; the dog's jaws fastened instead around Ron's outstretched arm.

Fourth year: the Triwizard Tournament...

Hermione and Ron had helped him prepare for every single task of the tournament; he couldn't have made it without them.

Fifth year: first night back at Hogwarts, in the Gryffindor Boys' Dormitory...

Ron had sided with and defended Harry when Seamus verbally attacked him, even threatening Seamus with detention.

Ron was all about loyalty and sacrifices.

Oh dear Merlin... He didn't know what he'd done to deserve two such wonderful friends but he vowed to himself that he'd keep them safe.

Hermione turned away from Ron and walked over to her work table, looking for the notes she'd made the night before. Instead, she found pages of parchment over them that were not hers. She read them carefully and gasped when she finished.

This is it! she thought excitedly. Whoever had made these notes - she suspected it was Snape - had done it; made the correct jump from the theories she'd been extrapolating and connected them. All she needed to do now was follow this reasoning to the correct conclusion.

Working feverishly on the notes, she finally completed everything late that night. She'd closed the curtains between her bed and Ron's so as not to be disturbed. There were frequent visitors for him but when they looked in on her, she just waved them away.

She was about to start brewing the potion when she heard the curtains drawn aside.

"I'm fine Harry. I need to finish this, I'll talk to you later," she snapped impatiently. He'd looked in on her no less than four times today. While she appreciated his concern, she really needed to finish this.

Her wrist was gripped from behind but when she looked up, it was Snape's face looming over hers.

"I think not, Miss Granger. Let me look through your notes first. If you've come to the correct conclusion, then I will brew the potion," he said silkily, his dark eyes glittering.

Snatching her hand away, she narrowed her eyes at him, "You think I've got it wrong?"

"Why so defensive, Miss Granger?" he sneered. "Do you honestly want to save him or... is it that you want to show everyone that you're the only one who can?"

She paled at his unfair accusation. "How dare you?" she said angrily through gritted teeth, raising her arm to slap his infuriating, sneering face.

Before her palm could connect, he'd grabbed her wrist again. Leaning in close, his hooked nose nearly touching hers, he hissed, "Don't ever do that again!"

"Why not? You slapped me last night!"

"You needed it. I do not." Dropping her hand, he turned towards her notes.

Glaring at his back, she fumed silently to herself. Insufferable, arrogant, supercilious, conceited, pompous, greasy BASTARD!!

While he was looking through her notes, she paced angrily, shooting furious glances at him.

He finally turned to face her.

"Well?" she demanded.

Raising his eyebrow at her belligerent tone, he answered, "You seem to have come to the right conclusions but I think there are one or two minor points that need correcting. Let me work on this, tomorrow we can start brewing the potion."

"Tomorrow?! Why not tonight? Surely you don't need the whole night just to correct minor points?" she sneered.

"I don't make a habit of explaining myself to distraught teenagers," he said condescendingly to her. "However..."

"Dis--distraught...?!" she was sputtering with anger, her eyes shooting sparks at him.

"Before you burst a blood vessel Miss Granger," he continued in an exasperated tone, ignoring her anger. "This is a complex potion and obviously has never been tested. Minor mistakes could ruin it... mistakes due to..." he cast a disparaging look over her obviously exhausted state, "Exhaustion, for example."

"I - am - not - exhausted!" she bit out.

"That's debatable."

He sighed impatiently when he saw that she was on the verge of ranting at him. Putting his hand up to stop her, he said, "Another few hours won't make much of a difference to Weasley, but it would do you a world of good to get a few hours rest. From your notes that I continued last night, you were so close to making the right connection - yet you didn't. Why?" he asked mockingly.

"Maybe because I'm dumb?" she replied sarcastically.

He snorted. "Go to bed Miss Granger," he said with irritation and sat down at her worktable.

The next day, they brewed the potion. The solution Hermione and Snape had found was a potion to strengthen and enhance the power of the living spirit and soul existing within each living being and when coupled with a spell, should be strong enough to reach Ron, wherever he was.

The spell was a complex one based on the ancient magical ties of love; between a parent and a child, a sister and a brother - the bonds of loyalty and love between friends and true love between a man and a woman.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Ginny, Harry and Hermione would all participate in weaving the spell that would hopefully reach Ron and bring him back.

They did it at sunrise, the magic of dawn would also help them. Each person had taken a goblet full of the potion and they had used the muggle method of transfusion to give the potion to Ron.

They were seated in a circle around Ron's bed. Mrs. Weasley placed her left hand on Ron's head and her right gripped Mr. Weasley. He in turn held Bill's hand with Ginny on Bill's other side. Harry beside Ginny and last, Hermione, who placed her right hand over Ron's heart.

Gripping each others' hands tightly, they closed their eyes and Mrs. Weasley began the incantation. Each person around the circle took up the incantation after one finished and focused their all on Ron. All their thoughts, feelings and memories of him.

The spell weaved around the circle and suffused Ron in a soft, golden light. They continued their incantation, one after another, their hearts calling out to Ron, begging him to come back.

'Come back to Mum, Ronnie'

'I love you son, come back'

'Don't leave us Ron, come back'

'Ron, please, please come back. You're my best brother, I need you'

'Mate, Hermione and I need you. Come back, you're the brother I never had'

'I love you Ron. I always have and always will. Please, please come back to me. Don't leave me, please don't leave me'

They continued... and continued. Ten minutes - twenty - twenty five... and Ron finally gave a shudder and gasped, his eyes flying open.

"Ron!" Ginny and Mrs. Weasley shrieked.

Hermione dropped her head on his chest and just sobbed in relief.

.................................

"Rooonnnn!!"

She woke up screaming from her nightmare and her eyes met concerned green ones. She'd fallen asleep on her book in the library.

"He's alright Hermione, Ron's alright," Harry soothed her.

"Harry, you're safe. Oh, thank god!" she clutched him, almost sobbing.

"Shhh...it's okay. Ron's safe and I'm safe too." Harry held her in his arms, his hand tangled in her curls and kissed the top of her head tenderly.

Over his shoulder, she saw Ron standing in the doorway, leaning on his cane. Tearing herself away from Harry, she rushed to Ron and threw herself into his arms, almost knocking him down.

She hugged him tight and sobbed into his chest. Wrapping his arm around her, he rested his chin on her head and his eyes met Harry's over Hermione's head. They shared a sad look, listening to her cry.

Ron had just been released from St. Mungo. He still had bandages on his body and had to use a walking stick to hobble around, his leg would take a long time to fully heal.

After they'd revived Ron, Hermione was officially discharged from St. Mungo but they might as well have not bothered. She'd stayed by his side until he'd been discharged.

Since waking up in St. Mungo until now, Hermione had not given herself any time to rest and fully recover. First had been her frantic effort to revive Ron from his coma, after that she had been doing non-stop research. She seemed to have taken Ron's injury like a personal blow and was trying to make sure nothing like that would ever happen to anyone else again.

Harry was dozing in the small room beside the library when he heard her scream. Lately, he'd been keeping close to Hermione because he and Ron were both worried about her. She was pushing herself too hard and her nerves were frayed. She was in turns snappish or she'd turn hysterical when they tried to reason with her.

And their hearts ached every time she woke up screaming Ron's name and would then cling to him like she'd never let go, her fragile body wracked in sobs.

"Hermione love, let's go to bed. You need to rest," Ron said with a worried frown when her weeping subsided.

"Later," she replied, sniffing. "I have to finish my research, I'm so close... I can feel it!" Her eyes were blood-shot with exhaustion, but a frenzied light shone out of them.

She let go of him and turned back towards the table. Before she reached it, her eyes turned up in her head and she would have fallen if Harry had not swiftly stepped forward and scooped her up in his arms.

Ron hobbled to them as quickly as he could and gazed worriedly at Hermione.

"What are we going to do with her Harry? She's so stubborn!" he said in frustration.

"If she's not, she wouldn't be Hermione, would she?" Harry said wryly. "Let's get her to bed first and give her that draught from Snape - that'll knock her out."

"She's already knocked herself out without any help," Ron replied with a grimace.

Harry carried her up to the room she shared with Ron and gently placed her on the bed. Ron was hobbling behind slowly as negotiating the stairs was difficult for him. When he arrived, Hermione was still unconscious and Harry was standing beside the bed, looking down at her.

"Thanks Harry. Don't know when I can get rid of this," he said dryly, indicating the cane.

Looking at Ron, Harry said quietly, "I love her too, you know."

"I know, mate."

"If she wakes, make her take that draught, okay? And tomorrow we'll sit her down and insist she takes a break. I'm prepared to hex her if I have to," Harry said grimly.

"You're right. She's too bloody stubborn for her own good."

By the time Hermione woke up the next day, it was already evening. Ron had given her the draught when she woke up in the middle of the night and it had knocked her out completely.

She sat up on the bed but didn't get up. Her body was rested but her thoughts and emotions weighed her down.

She felt so torn these days, that's why she spent so much time on research. Part of the reason was trying to come up with ways that would help the Order but mainly, she was trying to block her mind from thinking of anything else.

She didn't know how to resolve the situation between her, Harry and Ron. Her guilt was shriveling her up inside, day by day.

Her guilt over her betrayal of Ron, and the realization that she could have lost him.

Her guilt that she couldn't love Harry the way he loved her.

Her guilt and remorse that she couldn't save the innocents caught in the cross fire in the war with Voldemort.

Her guilt that she felt she wasn't living up to everyone's expectations of her.

Her guilt that lately, she wished she could leave all this behind and go back to the muggle world.

She was so miserable, she felt like crying but she'd been doing so much of that lately, she didn't think she had any tears left.

The door opened and Ron hobbled in. "How do you feel?" he asked, sitting down beside her on the bed.

"Fine," she replied listlessly, not looking at him.

"What's wrong, Hermione?" he said with a worried frown.

"Nothing," she said in a small, miserable voice.

"Hermione love, tell me what's wrong." He scooted nearer and wrapped his arms tenderly around her. "Please?" he continued, caressing her hair.

Oh God Ron, don't! Don't be wonderful. I can't take this, I don't deserve you, she thought miserably to herself.

She pushed herself away from him and got off the bed. Going to the dresser, she pulled some clothes and grabbed her towel. "I'm going to shower," she said, walking out the door, leaving Ron sitting on the bed with a worried frown on his face.

When she came back, Ron was gone. She got dressed and went down to the kitchen. Molly was preparing dinner and she went over to help.

"How are you feeling, dear? Ron told me you fainted last night," she asked, looking worriedly at Hermione.

"I'm fine Molly, just tired. The sleep did me good."

"Go and sit down, I've got everything well in hand and Fleur's helping," Molly said, gesturing towards Fleur Delacour, who was setting the table with Bill hovering beside her.

Hermione looked at the two, grimacing inwardly. Fleur and Bill were engaged and going to be married in a few months' time, but she still couldn't warm up to the part Veela. It wasn't too bad now since Ron stopped acting like an idiot in her presence, but she didn't think she could ever be friends with Fleur.

After dinner, she climbed the stairs with Ron, his arm on her shoulders to give him more support. They reached their room and he dropped on the bed, sighing with relief.

"Bloody leg," he muttered.

"Does it still hurt?"

"Yeah."

"Are you doing the exercises the Physio-Healer told you to?"

"I am," he bit out curtly. "Don't nag Hermione," he continued in an exasperated tone.

After all these years, Hermione was used to Ron's impatience but somehow, tonight, his words hurt. She turned away and got ready for bed, not once looking at him.

When she got into bed, Ron, who had carelessly tossed aside his shirt and pants, put his arms around her but instead of leaning into him, she stiffened and pulled away.

"Hermione?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she replied bitterly. "Everything's peachy, what could be wrong?!"

He sighed impatiently and pulled her to face him. "What's going on? You've been in a weird mood ever since you got up. Are you going to talk to me or not?"

She glared at him then turned her back on him again and said in a hard voice, "I want to go home."

"Home?"

"Yes, to my parents."

"Oh... okay then," he said uncertainly.

"I'm leaving tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?! When will you be back?"

She just shrugged. Ron tentatively ran his hand over her arm and kissed her shoulder but when she didn't respond, he sighed again. Draping an arm over her, he pulled her gently to him but she remained stiff.

Neither of them slept and the uncomfortable silence stretched between them. Hermione was aching to just lean into Ron, have him hold her tight and make the pain go away, but her guilt was eating away at her and she couldn't.

"Won't you tell me what's wrong?" Ron's quiet voice spoke at last, his breath tickling her ear.

With a choked breath, she turned to him and buried her head into his shoulder, her arms winding tightly around him. "Just hold me Ron, please, just hold me," she whispered miserably.

So Ron held her tight, not saying a word. Running his fingers through her hair, he dropped gentle kisses on her head and cheeks.

"I'm so tired - of - of everything," she sighed into his shoulder. "The war - and - and poor Harry." She raised her anguished eyes to his and choked out, "And I nearly lost you, Ron.

"I can't take this anymore. I just need to get away... from everything."

"I see," Ron said quietly, detangling himself from her. "By everything, you mean me, I take it?" He sat up and moved further away from her.

She just looked at him, confused.

"Why don't you just come out and say it, Hermione," he said bitterly, not looking at her. "It's me you want to get away from, isn't it? You don't want to be tied to a cripple."

He looked up and his blue eyes were cold. "You think I haven't noticed how distant you've been lately? Oh, I've no doubt all the stories of how you worked tirelessly to get me out of my coma are true. But that wasn't for me, was it? It was for you. You had to prove to everyone that nothing can beat Hermione Granger."

She had paled when he started speaking but now her face reddened with anger and her eyes blazed, looking at him. Raising her hand, she slapped his face as hard as she could.

"How dare you Ronald Weasley?!" she hissed angrily at him. "How dare you belittle me and my love for you, because that's what you're doing! After all these years Ron, how can you still doubt me? Doubt our love? How can you?!

"What more do I have to do to convince you that I love you, you stupid prat. You blind, stupid prat!" she shrieked, pounding his chest with her fists.

He grabbed her flailing fists in one hand and with his other, pulled her to him and kissed her. She tried pushing him away but he was too strong and soon melted into the kiss.

When they pulled apart, both were breathing hard and her eyes still snapped with irritation.

Laying his forehead on hers, he said, "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry, Hermione. Please forgive this stupid prat." And he smiled his lopsided smile and she melted.

"I'm still mad at you," she insisted half heartedly.

"I know and I'm sorry. It's just...even after all these years, I still wonder how you can love me. You're - you're Hermione Granger, for Merlin's sake. The cleverest witch Hogwarts ever produced, the best researcher the Order has and...and the most beautiful woman I've ever met," he said in a low, husky voice. "And I'm - Ron Weasley, the clueless prat and...a cripple," he continued bitterly.

"Oh Ron... stop doing this to yourself," she exhaled sadly. "You are a clueless prat," she said with a slight grin. "But you're my clueless prat; and the most wonderful man I've ever met. You're smart--" He looked skeptical. "Yes - you - are! And don't you ever forget it," she insisted vehemently. "You're brave and you're loyal. Neither Harry nor I could ever ask for a friend more loyal.

"And you're not a cripple," she whispered fiercely, cupping her hand over his cheek. "You're just injured at the moment. You're injured because you're Harry's truest and most loyal friend and you fought Death Eaters by his side. And I know you'll always stand by Harry's side as long as he needs you. Your loyalty, your bravery and your heart will never allow you to abandon anyone you care about.

"And that makes me the luckiest woman on this earth because you love me, Ron Weasley."

"Hermione..." he choked out, eyes bright with unshed tears. And they shared a tender, passionate kiss.

The next day, she packed a small suitcase and prepared to leave for her parents'. Ron was still lounging on the bed, watching her.

"You're going to be okay, love?" he asked with a slight frown on his face.

"Yes, don't worry. I'll apparate directly to the house." She turned towards him and said quietly, "I'll owl you. I just need a break, you know?"

"I know," he said, getting up off the bed. Grabbing his cane, he hobbled slowly towards her.

"Thank you for understanding Ron," she said, hugging him.

But I don't understand, he said silently to himself, hugging her back.