Give Unto Me

"Give Unto Me"

I've been watching you from a distance

The distance sees through your disguise

All I want from you is your hurting

I want to heal you

I want to save you from the dark

Give unto me your troubles

I'll endure your suffering

Place onto me your burden

I'll drink your deadly poison.

The night sky was slashed continually by the light of countless curses and spells, and the air was filled with screams of pain. Hermione, Ron, Mr Weasley, Bill, Charlie and the professors were caught in a desperate battle with the death eaters. She watched in horror as the haunting, expressionless white masks closed in from every side, wands raised, robes the colour of midnight sweeping the ground. Her heart pounded in her chest at the sudden realisation...they were outnumbered ten to one.

She could just make out the tall, shadowy figure of Voldemort, his blood-hued, serpentine eyes glittering as he fought Harry some distance from them. Harry was alone, unprotected, cut off from any semblance of aid. "God protect him!" she whispered, her words swallowed by the night.

They were nearer, much nearer she could see the malevolence and wicked joy reflected in their eyes. They were like bloodhounds, they could smell the inevitability of the kill...death was near.

She watched in horror as Mr Weasley fell to a well-aimed killing curse, he collapsed to the ground with a soft thud, blank, empty eyes staring upwards into the night sky.

Ron sprang in front of his father's lifeless body, wand raised, anger and grief visible in his eyes, he started to fight the death eater who had killed his father.

"No Ron, no!" she shouted, her chest constricted with fear.

Ron ignored her, too engrossed in his battle to recognise the fear and warning in her voice. She started to run towards him but was blocked by a death eater who promptly started to attack her. She howled in frustration, forced to defend herself, she watched powerless to aid him as he to fell to the killing curse. It seemed to her that he caught her eye for a brief moment, something unrecognisable in his eyes...then it was gone...the sparkling light that was always present in Ron's eyes had fled. She watched him fall to the ground a lifeless shell, and a sharp stabbing pain shot through her heart.

"I didn't get to tell you...tell you how much you mean to me!" she sobbed, her whole body seemed to be breaking apart, fracturing into a million pieces.

The death eater mocked her weakness but she fought on, blocking curses and sending back more than a few of her own. She would have revenge.

Then suddenly a high, chilling, laugh echoed across the field of battle. Everyone stopped fighting, defenders and death eaters alike, she was not prepared for the sight that would assail her vision as she turned. With a broken sob she fell to her knees, Voldemort was levitating Harry's body off the ground, it hovered a few inches off the ground and he was so obviously dead...his head twisted at an unnatural angle, blood trickling from his half-open mouth. Her mouth opened in a silent scream...

Hermione awoke with a gasp, her body bathed in cold sweat and her limbs entangled in the bed sheets. She sat bolt upright in bed, rubbing her eyes, desperately trying to erase the horrific images from her nightmare. Looking around the room she noted with relief that Ginny was still fast asleep. Glad that she had taken the time to put up a silencing charm, Hermione stood and crept from the room, her bare feet making no noise on the floor.

She knew she wouldn't be able to sleep again that night, so she headed towards the Weasley's kitchen to sit by the window and await the rise of the sun.

She had been invited by Mrs Weasley to stay at the Burrow for some of the holidays, as had Harry but he had been told to stay at Privet Drive by Dumbledore. It was now four weeks since their fateful encounter in the department of mysteries and still she was plagued by nightmares, each night before she went to sleep she put up a silencing charm so that she would not awaken the Weasleys.

The nightmares were not always to do with the incident in the department of mysteries but they were always disturbing, featuring Ron and Harry dying and her not being able to help them.

They had come so close to dying that fateful day, she still could not believe that they had survived the encounter with the death eaters. Some days she believed that it was only a matter of time until the three of them perished, they had faced horrible odds every year they had spent at Hogwarts and every summer holidays she was left thinking 'will next year be our last?' Surely their luck could not last forever? She emitted a soft sigh and covered her face with her hands, she felt so weary...defeated. Images from her nightmare replayed in front of her eyes...Ron, pale and lifeless staring blankly upwards, all life gone from his body.

"Mione?"

A silent whisper filled with concern came from behind her and turning she saw it was Ron.

"Is something the matter?" he moved round the table so that he could see her better.

He was now standing in front of her, slightly pale, with concern written openly across his features.

He was healthy, in one piece...alive but for how long, first it was Cedric then it was Sirius, is Ron next?

This was the last straw for Hermione. She broke down, sobbing openly into her hands at the thought of Ron leaving her.

"Here now Hermione, its okay, I'm here!" he knelt down next to her and pulled her sobbing form into his arms.

She continued to sob into his chest for several minutes, while he stroked her hair, all the time saying nothing, just being there for her. Slowly her sobs ceased and she withdrew from him a bit, rubbing her tear stained face and looking at him in wonder.

"Oh Ron, what would I ever do without you?" she whispered brokenly.

"What do you mean Mione, I'm not going anywhere? That is unless mum and dad have inherited a couple of thousand Galleons and are taking us on holiday - they haven't have they?" he said hope entering his voice.

Despite it all, she found herself laughing at his antics.

"Not that I know of!" she answered.

"Oh well, you don't miss what you never had! Still I shouldn't have got my hopes up!" he answered with a slight grin.

"Oh, Ron!" she said in between laughing, "don't ever change!"

"I won't. Now what's up with you, it's not like you to be up at this time of night weeping? You can tell me." He asked suddenly serious.

"It's nothing really, it's...oh, it's stupid Ron, don't trouble yourself!" she said, reluctant to discuss the nature of the nightmares.

"Is this to do with what happened at the department of mysteries?" he asked suddenly.

She blinked and looked up at him. "Sort of, I suppose! What made you think it was to do with that, I mean...we never discuss it and we all seemed to have put it behind us?"

"Mione, you haven't been the same since that day, I doubt anyone's noticed but I have! I always notice anything to do with you..." he obviously had not meant to say that last piece, for he blushed until his face matched his hair colour.

Hermione ignored this to help him save face. "It's just, I keep thinking of how close we came to not making it out of there alive and I can't help feeling that the next time we won't be so lucky. I can't imagine life without you and Harry! How would I ever cope without you two, you are like brothers to me?" looking into his face and seeing how sincere he was, she decided it was time to be honest with him.

"There is something that worries me more than anything, Ron!" she said softly looking him directly in the eye.

"What's that?" he whispered.

"That you could die without knowing exactly how much you mean to me! How much I...love you!" she whispered, tears filling her eyes again at the thought.

He looked shocked for a few seconds, his mouth hung half-open in surprise.

"You...love me!"

"I think I always have, even in our first year...I felt something for you!"

"That's just as well then, because I think I love you too Hermione Granger." He whispered and slowly he leaned forward towards her, tilting his head slightly, and kissed her.

At first she was taken by surprise by this sudden move but she recovered quickly from her surprise and started to kiss him back.

At first it was just a brush of lips, and then it deepened until they were exploring each others mouths. Hermione's heart fluttered in her chest at the depth of passion and feeling she was feeling off of Ron, it was like it was more than a simple kiss...it was a joining of soul mates. The clock ticked in the background as they kissed, but they could not hear it, so engrossed were they in each other.

Very slowly they pulled back and gazed into each other's eyes, clear blue eyes met chocolate brown and a bond of understanding was formed between them. They would never abandon each other, ever. Neither knew how long this would last between them but they knew that they would always care for each other in a way that was unbreakable...even in death.

Silence weighed heavily in the room until Ron felt compelled to break it with humour.

"So does this mean that I will receive free tuition and homework help whenever I want?"

Hermione mock-glared at him and said in her strictest tone "Ronald Weasley, how on earth do you expect to pass your exams if you are not willing to put the effort into doing the homework throughout the academic year?"

"Fine, fine, I get the picture! Keep that bushy hair on!" he replied with a grin.

"What about Vicky? How is he going to take this?" Ron asked with a wicked grin.

"He will just have to live with it, besides we were never involved like that." Hermione answered.

"I wish I could see his face! Can I write and tell him?" Hermione just glowered at him.

"I think I'll go back to bed Ron! Goodnight!" she stood, reached up on tip-toe and kissed him before heading up the stairs to the room she shared with Ginny.

She fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow and she was never plagued by nightmares again.

Fear not the flame of my love's candle

Let it be the sun in your world of darkness

Give unto me all that frightens you

I'll have your nightmares for you

If you sleep soundly.

"Give Unto Me" by Evanescence.