Everything That You Are...

April 29th 2002

The room was all dark, except for a beam of light on the ceiling. The light of a street lamp outside was in coming through curtains, causing the beam to shine. Half awake, Ron rolled over and muttered some unrecognisable words to Hermione. Only when she didn't reply, or hit him in a sleepy annoyance, did Ron wake up. His eyes flickered open to see nobody lying beside him. Straining his tired eyes a little further, he saw it was 2am. Confused and concerned, Ron sat up. Hermione was not in bed beside him and she was not in their room. He pulled himself out of bed and plodded down the dimly lit corridor to the bathroom. The lights were off, Hermione was not in the bathroom either.

With his concerns growing, Ron went back to the bedroom to put on a jumper and get his wand. Quietly, he headed downstairs. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw Hermione sat on the sofa in the living room.

"Bloody hell Hermione! You scared the liv-" Ron stopped. Hermione was crying. He put his wand down on the cabinet and sat beside her, putting his arms around her shoulders. But she shrugged him off. Why was she annoyed?

"Mione, what's up?" She pulled her hands down from her head so they rested on her lap. That's when Ron spotted it.

Years ago, when they were on their horcrux hunt, they were caught by some snatchers and taken to Malfoy Manor. Following Bellatrix's discovery that they were in possession of the Sword of Gryffindor, the blood-thirsty witch had thrown Ron and Harry in the dungeons and tortured Hermione. Her screams had echoed through the manor as Bellatrix thrust a dagger into Hermione, slicing the word mudblood into her arm. Since then, Hermione had been left with a scar, and a constant reminder that she wasn't welcome by some.

Although Hermione never payed much attention to her scar, Ron knew that, deep down, it hurt her. He would often catch her glancing at it, and would always have to hug her and tell her how beautiful she was before she could burst into tears.

This time, however, the scar looked different. The skin around it was red and irritated, and there were white lines which indicating to Ron, that Hermione had been scratching and clawing at herself. There was trickle of blood running down her forearm.

"Herm...Hermio...Hermione?"

When Ron looked at her, he could see that she had smeared some of the blood on her cheek and in her hair. Her eyes were bloodshot and full of tears, though her face was ghostly pale. The rosiness of her cheeks had drained away, and she was left looking broken. The bags under her eyes were sallow and dark and her lips were purple, as if bruised.

[cue music]

Looking at her made Ron want to break down. He hated, more than anything, to see his love in such a state. Fighting back his own tears, he pulled her tight, stroking her head, like he would never let go. They stayed there for some time.

"Let me patch you up." Ron whispered, drawing Hermione from his shoulder. His jumper was now damp with tears. He leant behind him to reach for his wand, but as he placed it on her scar, she retreated her arm fiercely, shaking her head. Ron knew what this meant. When she was emotionally fragile, sometimes the use of magic was too much. She needed someone to heal her without magic, just like her mum and dad used to do: stick on a plaster and kiss it better.

Ron stood up and went through to the kitchen. He filled a small bowl with water and grabbed a cloth, some bandages and a vile of essence of dittany. Heading back over to Hermione, he dabbed at her scar with the damp cloth.

"There we go. Get rid of the blood. Calm down the scratches..."

He then pulled out the vile of dittany.

"This is going to sting a little alright?" Ron said, looking at Hermione. She nodded and reluctantly held out her arm. Ron dropped three pippets of the essence on her scar. She flinched at every drop and gulped each time. Ron couldn't help but feel horrible, but he had to do it. Then he pulled out a strip of bandage and and began to wrap it around her arm. After he tied it, he pulled her hand up to his lips and kissed it.

"All better." He smiled.

Hermione looked at him, solemnly, but the glint in her eyes was beginning to return. Ron sat back beside her on the sofa, pulling her as close to him as he could.

"You don't have to worry about her anymore. Mum took good care of that bitch" Ron chuckled. Hermione smiled. Only he could put a smile back on her face. Ron kissed her cheek. It tasted faintly salty. As he pulled his lips away, he noticed the blood stains that were still on her face. He picked the cloth back out of the bowl and began tending to the smears. After he had cleaned the stains off, he cupped her face and grinned.

"Hermione Jean Granger...you are the most beautiful woman in the whole world. Both worlds. I don't give a damn where you came from or who your parents are, you are you. And that's all I want. I want you. The way you are, and don't you think for a second that you're not good enough, or that you don't belong. Even if all the wizards and witches rejected you, I would still love you. You would be more than good enough for me. I love you and everything about you."

He smiled at her again, tears welling in his eyes. Hermione's cheeks were resuming their usual rosiness. Ron kissed her softly before taking her hand and leading her upstairs back to bed. After he tucked her under the covers, he climbed in beside her. Her leg was spread across his half of the bed.

"Hermione can you-" but she was already fast asleep. Ron smiled to himself and squeezed himself into the small amount of mattress he had left, before falling into his own sleep.