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Author's Chapter Notes:
As usual, thank you so much for the kind reviews :D I was supposed to have this chapter up last Friday but I couldn't finish it in time, sowwie!

Harry just killed Voldemort. The last battle had been won. And the three of them were still alive, therefore the promise had been kept, they truly had each other’s back. Hermione and Ron looked on as Harry stood before his nemesis until the very last speckle of Voldemort ceased to exist.

Whatever was left of Voldemort’s supporters had disapparated, most likely into hiding now that everyone would be hunting for them. A crowd was beginning to form as cheers of victory rang in the air. Everyone was congratulating each other and those who had been spared from serious injuries were jumping for joy.

Harry looked back, his eyes searching for his two best friends. He met Ron’s gaze first and to his surprise, Ron was smiling. He didn’t have to say the words but Harry knew Ron was congratulating him. Hermione was crying, which didn’t really surprise Harry at all. He shook his head at her and she managed a half-hearted laugh.

For the trio, there was nothing more they’d rather do than the desire to be close together. To really let reality sunk in on them. This was it, they had gone through everything and now, they were still standing. But Ron and Hermione were once again reminded that their bestfriend was Harry James Potter, the man who killed Voldemort. Before any of them had the time to make that move, Harry was drowned by a sea of well wishers, who were carrying him on their shoulders and chanting his name over and over again.

“Your head’s bleeding, did you know that?” Ron asked, immediately pulling Hermione out of her reverie. It melted her heart, to know that even in his condition, it was her safety that he was looking out for. Never mind if he was badly injured himself, or the fact that he had just lost his mother and brother.

“It doesn’t hurt anymore.”

“Maybe that’s a bad thing?” Ron asked. “You might have a concussion for all we know.”

She smiled and reached to cup the side of his face with the palm of her hand; her thumb rubbing small circles on his bruised cheek. “Thank you, for saving me.”

He closed his eyes momentarily and then moved his head ever so slightly to kiss her hand. Hermione could feel his warm breath as he sighed before looking back at her. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” Hermione replied, now embraced in his hug. “You do well to remember that Ron Weasley.”

Hermione wasn’t sure what happened after that. Once the cheers and the celebration died down, there was a sudden chill that drew upon them. The aftermath of a terrible war was beginning to hit everyone on their faces. Everyone around them was rushing to be somewhere else. There were cries for help and kids crying, calling out for their moms and dads. When she woke up next (she wasn’t even sure when she had fallen asleep), she was on a bed in a crowded hospital room at St. Mungo’s.

The room seemed to be occupied by injured women and children. Since it was early morning, most of the patients were fast asleep; the only noise Hermione could hear was the soft but rushed footfalls of a mediwitch making her rounds. She tried pushing herself up to get her attention but decided against it when she felt a dizzying rush took over her the moment she lifted her head.

She decided to close her eyes once more, mentally assessing her physical situation. Her limbs seemed to be feeling fine, just a little ache from the lack of use most likely. Her shoulders were killing her but she attributed this fact for the lack of use as well. It was only the head, throbbing with splitting headache.

“Just brilliant.” Hermione huffed.

“That’s the first positive thing I’ve heard in a very long time!” Hermione’s eyes flew open at the sound of a hushed yet cheerful voice. The nurse she was trying to get attention from was standing by her bed, smiling down at her. “Hermione Granger, welcome back to the land of the living.”

“Thanks.” Hermione croaked. Her throat felt dry and she realized for the first time how thirsty she was.

“I’m Nurse Cahill by the way. How are you this fine morning?”

“My body’s aching and my head’s killing me, but other than that, brilliant.” She offered a smile.

The nurse ‘hmmm’ under her breath and waved her wand quickly over her body before checking her medical record that was placed at the end of her bed.

“So what’s the verdict doc?” Hermione asked lightly.

The nurse chuckled and placed the medical record back where it belonged and approached her. “You had a concussion from that nasty blow on your head but we have potions to get rid of the headache. Minor aches and bruises come with having to fight in a war so overall, you’re doing very well. Just lay still, I’ll come back with the potion and a glass of water, you sound like you could use one right now.”

Hermione nodded and then decided she shouldn’t be nodding too much until the headache was gone. Ron was right after all, she did have a concussion.

That was when it hit her full force on the face: Where was Ron? And Harry for that matter?

Her heart started beating a notch than normal and the room felt warm all of a sudden. When had they been separated in the first place?

“Here you go.” Hermione opened her eyes again and Nurse Cahill was back, with the potion and a glass of drink on a tray. She opened the vial and handed it to her. “It should taste bitter, as all medicine for some reason should taste like.”

She didn’t care about the bitterness, it helped to send some kind of a shock signal to her brain and wake her up even more. She took two gulps of the drink before leaning back against the headboard.

“I need to find out what happened to my friends, could you help me?”

The nurse smiled sympathetically at her before nodding. “If you’re wondering about Harry Potter, you should know that he’s treated like the star he is over here. He broke a few ribs and had a concussion but he’s doing very well. He woke up just last night.”

“Last night?”

“Well yes. He’s-” Nurse Cahill paused and then let out a soft ‘of course’, all of which, was confusing Hermione. “You’ve been asleep for the last four days Ms. Granger but it was normal after what your body was subjected to. They gave Harry a lot of potions to heal the broken ribs and it was best to let him sleep through the healing or he’d be in too much pain most of the time.”

Hermione couldn’t help herself but nodded. “Yes, I’ve had my ribs broken once, not a nice feeling. But he’s okay you said?”

“Yes. Woke up and said he’s hungry. I also heard he created quite a scene, asking about you.”

“Do you know what happened to Ron Weasley then? He was with me before…I actually can’t remember how we got separated. I was with him right after Harry killed Voldemort.”

“Ron Weasley the red head young man?”

“Yes, him.”

“Well, I wasn’t there when they got him here, in fact I wouldn’t have known anything about his condition if it hadn’t been for what I heard this morning from a fellow nurse.” Nurse Cahill said and then decided she had enough of standing up and opted to take a sit. “She said Harry was upset when they told him about Mr. Weasley’s condition that was why he demanded that he see you.”

Hermione swore her heart stopped beating for a second. What was that supposed to mean? Was Ron in any kind of danger? “Is something wrong with Ron?”

“I don’t know if I’m the right person to tell you this dear, bear in mind I just heard this from one person this morning.” Hermione nodded eagerly, wanting the nurse to continue. “Well, apparently they had complications with him. He was hit by an unknown curse-”

“Yes. He jumped in front of me and took the curse. The bleeding didn’t stop no matter what we did!”

The nurse nodded in understanding. “Yes, that’s what I heard. He lost a lot of blood when they were tending to him. They have yet to find a complete cure for his wound but for now they’ve managed to control the bleeding.”

“Is he awake?”

“Oh honey, I’m afraid your friend is still in a coma. He lost a lot of blood-”

“In a coma!”

“Well yes, it’s a muggle term you see-”

“I know what it means! But…oh Ron…he was fine when I was with him, he didn’t even complained about the wound…I thought…”

“That’s what the nurse told me as well. He came in here like any other patient, waiting for their turn in the waiting room. You must have been separated from him when you passed out on your way here because you were unconscious when I assisted the mediwizard who attended to you.”

Hermione swallowed the information like an overload of too many ingredients in a potion class. She didn’t recall passing out at all.

“You said he was fine when he came here?”

Nurse Cahill nodded. “Well, he didn’t complain or asked to be attended to on an urgent basis. Apparently from what I was told, he just waited like everyone else. When it was his turn, they found him unconscious in his seat; the nurse who told me said that the poor young man was probably in shock to do anything and we were out staff, we didn’t see that coming.”

“Oh Merlin!” Hermione cried. “He has to be alright! He can’t die!”

“Dear, please calm down. I’m sorry you have to find out this way; I shouldn’t have told you, what was I thinking? You just woke up and I-”

“No, no, I’m thankful that you told me.” Hermione cut in. “He’s my boyfriend, you understand?”

Nurse Cahill’s face fell. She then got up and offered her a hug. “He’s a strong lad isn’t he? I have a feeling he’ll wake up soon. Look I promise you once the headache is gone, I’ll personally escort you to see your friend Harry. I’m not sure if they’re allowing visitors into Ron’s room, but I’ll find it out for you.”

Hermione nodded and muttered a thank you in between her sobs. Nurse Cahill left, pulling the curtain by her bed closed to give her the privacy that she needed. As she sank lower into the bed, Hermione cried into the pillow to muffle the noise. It should have been her fighting for her life right then if it hadn’t been for Ron. If he didn’t pull through the coma, she didn’t think she could forgive herself for his death. Hermione didn’t think she could live without Ron Weasley in her life.

-

As Harry stole another glance at the clock on the wall of St. Mungo's waiting room, he felt that it was all too familiar for comfort. He had been here before, about two years ago, doing the exact same thing: worrying over the safety of his bestfriend. He remembered thinking back then, that he didn't think he could have survived going through such a thing again, but there he was now, and it felt like a never ending cycle.

Hermione, who had been sitting next to him to his left, had been quiet throughout. At some point that early morning, he had wrapped his arm around her, allowing her body to relaxed against him. She had yet to say a word and Harry didn't bother asking. There was no use for words now, the silence seemed to say much more.

Ginny, who had been sitting to his right, talked to him instead; both wondering how much longer they had to wait until someone could update them about Ron. The twins had come and gone, both having to return to the Ministry for a debrief. Apparently, a new group of Aurors had been called for duty to capture a handful of escaped prisoners still at large.

Bill and Fleur had came as well but left to take care of Mr. Weasley as well as trying to get in touch with Charlie, whom they were told had left on an expedition somewhere in Egypt and couldn't be contacted.

So Harry, Ginny and Hermione remained that way for another hour before Neville Longbottom came for them.

"You looked like you've been up all night." Harry offered.

"I have been up all night actually."

Harry nodded sympathetically and motioned for the young man to take a sit. "Please bring us some good news."

Neville looked at Hermione apologetically, which made Harry nervous. "Ron is still in the emergency room, I don't know the verdict as they wouldn't allow me in there."

"And why is that?" Ginny asked.

Neville shrugged. "Said I'm too emotionally distraught to help. But how can I not? He's my friend!"

Harry nodded in understanding.

"Luna's in there though, and she promised she'll get some update on him if she managed to slip out of there."

Again, Harry nodded his head, unsure of what to say.

"Neville, how come you and Luna didn't come for dinner tonight? Did you forget?" Hermione asked. Harry thought it was a good change to see Hermione looking more alert than she had been the entire night they were there.

"Oh, I'm really sorry about that Hermione. That's the reason why I'm here actually. You see, earlier tonight, I got an emergency call that one of my patients who had volunteered to try out the cure went into a relapse and-"

"The same cure Ron's on?" Ginny asked.

"Yes, that one. You see, each volunteer was thoroughly explained on the dos and dont's while under this medication and this guy, he skipped on a medication and had a relapse and now his body is rejecting the medications. It's making him worst."

"Neville, no one else knew about these dos and don'ts that you told Ron. If he had skipped a step or broken any of the rules, we wouldn't have known." Hermione cried.

Nevilled ran his fingers through his already messy hair, sighing softly as he did so. "That's what they're trying to figure out right now. You mentioned he was looking pale earlier in the day, we need to figure out if he had exerted himself too much and made himself sick or if him apparating in his condition was the reason why he's in such a bad condition when I first checked on him. I'm hoping his body isn't rejecting the medications because if it did, I'm afraid I have to take him off the list."

Ginny's eyes grew wide. "You mean, you're not going to let him have a go at the cure? He's going to have to go back to the old routine?"

"It's not that I'm not going to let him to; if his body rejects the medication, I'm forced to. He'll only grow weaker if we let him carry on with it."

The room fell silent as everyone processed this new bit of information. Harry knew, without a doubt, that self-guilt was already eating at Hermione. He should know, because it was him that she went to when Ron was fighting for his life after the war. It should have been her, she had said.

"Oh look, Luna got us something!" Neville claimed, almost too excitedly. Harry noticed a folded yellow piece of paper in his hands.

"How did that get here?"

"Magic." Neville said, with a 'duh' look on his face.

"Right."

"They're trying to stop the internal bleeding most likely caused by the apparation although she made a side note saying that was just the invisible crying nag larks at work."

"What the hell is that?" Ginny frowned.

"No idea." Neville said.

"It's invisible." Harry reasoned. Ginny rolled her eyes.

"Anything else Neville?" Hermione worried. Neville looked back down at the piece of paper and nodded. "Yes. Minor concussion...high fever...but it's safe to say that his body isn't rejecting the medication so far and that the fever was caused by overwork."

"That's good news right?" Hermione asked.

Nevilled nodded and offered a smile. "Yes, it means, once he's strong enough, he can get back to using them. Right now our main concern is to stop the internal bleeding, fix that concussion and break the fever."

-

At a glance, Ron looked like someone who was geared up for a camping trip. A green sweatshirt over a black t-shirt, a dark green cargo pants and black boots; this get up, as Hermione had explained to both him and Harry the night before, would be ideal for their kind of trip. The color green will blend well in forests - something that they had collectively decided, a place they'd be walking through quite a lot for this particular trip - and the sweatshirt would warm them in the morning and at night and a black shirt wouldn't draw too much attention. The black boots, Hermione said, were ideal for their durability.

His bag, which really was just a bag pack, was filled with all the necessary items needed for the trip; and for once, Ron knew he had everything he needed in there because he followed the list Hermione had given him.

On the outside, Ron was ready to go. On the inside, he was torn.

He didn't have any problems in having to face his parents for breakfast in five minutes and breaking the news to them. He knew in his heart, regardless of their reaction, he would be with Harry and Hermione on their search for the remaining horcruxes. Ron knew now the role he had to play in this impending war and he didn't think anyone could stop him from doing his part. What was tearing him on the inside was leaving the house he had grown up in without his parents' blessings. Ron believed if they took the news with an open heart and understood where he was coming from and gave their blessings for their huge journey, he'd be able to sleep a little better at night, no matter where the hunt would bring them.

"So this is how you're going to repay me after I took care of you for seventeen years?" Ron almost fell off the edge of his bed at this sudden intrusion. Molly Weasley was standing by the door of Ron's room, her expression unreadable.

"Mom? What are you-"

"Well go on, tell me, is this how you're going to repay your mother after seventeen years?" Ron wasn't sure if she was mad or disappointed. Perhaps, it was both. His face fell, his heart felt as if a thousand bees had just stung him; this wasn't how he planned for her to find out.

"You knew?" Ron asked, his voice barely a whisper. He stayed seated on the edge of his bed, afraid if he moved even an inch, she'd slap him to next century.

Ron watched as his mother stepped into his room and sighed heavily before saying, "I'm your mother Ronald Weasley, you can't hide anything from me!"

"I was going to tell you and dad, at breakfast. In fact, I'm going down now." And even after he said this, Ron was still unmoving from his position. He didn't think copping out of this rather sticky situation from his mother would help.

"You're not going anywhere, sit down." Ron wasn't sure what to do because he was already seated. He scratched his head lightly and wondered if he was supposed to get up and then sit his bottom back down; but he was spared this rather weird situation when his mother spoke once again. "So you're going to tell me at breakfast and then five minutes later leave the Burrow like you're going off to some fun summer camp, is that it?"

Ron wasn't sure what a summer camp was but decided it wasn't the right time to ask. "I don't know how else to tell you mom."

"You could have told me sooner, give me some time to digest the news and then help you prepare for this journey before you finally say goodbye and leave us." At this, Molly sat next to him on the bed.

"You...You're going to let me go?" Ron asked, surprised.

Molly sighed. "No mother would say yes to such a thing to their son Ron, but you're not just any other mother's son are you?"

"I'm not?"

Molly shook her head and smiled sadly. "You're Ron Weasley, and you're of age, and not only are you a filial son, you're a loyal friend who would never turn his back on them when they needed you the most. How can I stop you from doing something honorable like that?"

Ron felt as if a huge lump had settled in his throat; he swallowed and controlled his emotions as he saw the tears now welling up in his mother's eyes. "I'm going to miss you the most."

"Well you better!" Molly cried. "Just don't tell your dad, it might break the poor old man's heart."

Ron laughed and the tears started rolling down her mother's cheeks. "Promise me you'll take care of yourself?"

"I promise." Ron croaked, already on the verge of tears himself.

"And both Harry and Hermione...promise me you'll take care of them as well? You won't let your temper get the best of you?"

Ron nodded again. "I won't mom. I know how important this is for everyone, and especially for Harry. I won't let anything happen to him."

"And Hermione." Molly reminded him. "She's a nice girl Ronald and she'll be out there with two boys, you don't go give her a hard time you understand?"

"I won't, I promise."

Molly laughed. "I know you won’t sweetheart. I know how much she means to you."

Ron blushed at this. He had a rough idea that his family in general knew what was going on between him and Hermione but to hear it coming from his mother was something else.

"Now you don't go worrying about us back home you understand? Just do what you have to do and come back home safely, all three of you. These are dark times Ron, and I'm sorry all of you have to be in it. You have to be prepared for the worst...this war...people will die and believe me, it could be anyone, there will be faces that you will recognise."

"Mom, why don't we take this a step at a time yeah?" Ron said, pulling his mother back from whatever dark abyss she had just visited. "If and when the war comes, everyone will have a part to play. Don't worry about me, please."

"How can I not? I'm your mother, mothers worry about their children, that's just what they do."

Ron nodded. "It's nice to know that someone worries about me back home. I love you mom, thanks for everything and I mean everything. I know you and dad give your best for us...I have a good life here, I will never trade it for all the galleons in the world."

Molly was obviously touched by Ron's sudden show of affection. It was a well-known fact that Ron had never been open when it came to his emotions. "I love you too Ronald, I love you too much that sometimes it hurt, like right now. I want you to know that regardless of your brothers' countless teasing on you, you were never a disappointment in my eyes, none of my kids are. I'm proud of the young man you've become and I want you to remember this moment, right here, you and me in this very orange room, anytime you feel like giving up."

At this point, Ron couldn't hold back his emotions anymore and broke down in front of his mother and Molly pulled him in a bone crushing hug. Ron will always remember the smell as he was being smothered in her hug. Molly smelt of everything that was the Burrow.

"And...and when you miss me out there...remember this hug... and that I'm never...ever... too far away from you."

tbc…