Disclaimer: The Harry Potter world belongs to the wonderful J.K. Rowling. I'm only borrowing her amazing creations for a non profit ride around my own fantasy land.

A.N.: Hello beautiful people. This is a story that has been going through my head for a while.

The story begins when Harry, Hermione, Ron and Dobby escape from Malfoy Manor (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 23). The first paragraph has been taken directly from the book.

Needless to say, as you've read in the summary, in this story it is Ron who gets stabbed with the knife that Bellatrix throws at them when they are trying to escape (the knife that killed Dobby in the original story). This story is about how Harry and Hermione cope with the lose of their friend and how they manage to stay alive in the middle of a war (and eventually fall in love). At the point in which the story begins, they still have to find and destroy the cup, the diadem and the snake (just as in the book) for those who had not read the books, this story begins around the end of the seventh movie (the difference is that Dobby doesn't die, it is Ron who gets stabbed with Bellatrix's knife)

(Rated M just in case)

I hope you enjoy it and remember to let me know what you think of the story with a review. :)

Chapter 1: Drowning

As he turned into darkness he caught one last view of the drawing room of the pale, frozen figures of Narcissa and Draco, of the streak of red that was Ron's hair, and a blue of flying silver, as Bellatrix's knife flew across the room at the place where he was vanishing—

Suddenly, Harry felt his back hitting the ground with a loud thud and in a second, everything was over. He saw the sun in the sky and smelt the salt in the air. They were far away from Malfoy Manor. Once again, they had escaped a certain death.

"Is this it, Ron?" Harry asked making an effort to let the words out, he was almost blinded by the sunlight and still dizzy after apparating.

But his question was only met with the soft sound of crying girl. It took Harry only two seconds to make the connection. Hermione… Only a few minutes ago she had been tortured by Bellatrix, he could still hear her screams stabbing into him like physical pain. He had never felt so scared in his life as he had been during those terrible moments.

"Hermione" he called her struggling to get on his feet again.

"Harry…" he heard her calling him through the tears and the next thing he knew, she was in his arms. A mass of shaking flesh, fear and tears. He had never seen her in such a panicked state before.

"You're ok…" Harry whispered trying to hold her in his arms "It's over. We're safe…"

He was trying to reassure himself as much as he was trying to reassure her. Feeling her breath against his neck was an undeniable sign that they were still painfully alive. She was alive, they had made it even when all the odds were against them… He'd never thought that a sound as ordinary as her breathing could bring him so much peace but she was alive, in his arms. They were all alive, that was all that mattered.

"They were going to kill me" she whispered, her voice completely broken "I wanted to die…" she sobbed, her whole body was shaking with the effects of the torture and terror "I'm so sorry… I should've…"

"You were brilliant" Harry interrupted her immediately holding her as tightly as he dared, scared that if he hugged her too tightly, he could break her.

Harry shivered, he himself knew what a cruciatus curse felt like. He knew what it was to be absolutely hopeless, thinking that the only thing left to do was wait and take the unbearable pain until death finally comes to ease the pain away. He knew. And he hated that now she knew that feeling as well as he did.

"Where are we?" she asked weakly, her face still hiding against his chest.

"I don't know" he looked around and saw what seemed to be a cottage a short distance away from them. "Ron!" he called again "Ron, is this the right place?" he asked.

Silence.

"Harry Potter, sir, Dobby is very sorry…" he heard the small elf say.

"Dobby, what happened?"

"It was the mean witch, Harry Potter, sir. She threw a knife at Dobby before Dobby could apparate us away" the elf sobbed "Dobby is sorry, Harry Potter. Dobby tried to get Harry Potter and his friends to safety as fast as he could. But Dobby was not fast enough…"

Finally, Harry's concern for Hermione's well being, the only thing that he had been able to think about for the first moments after they apparated, eased a little and consciousness began to make its way back into his mind. Suddenly the elf's words made sense and he turned to look for other friend, then he saw it: Ron was lying on the sand, apparently he was struggling to breath, a silver knife buried in his stomach.

"RON!"

Before he knew it, both him and Hermione crawled their way to Ron's side. His eyes were barely open, his whole body shaking with pain.

"Ron! Ron please hold on!" Hermione cried holding his hand "HELP! SOMEBODY HELP!"

"No, no, no, no!" Harry cried when he saw Ron closing his eyes, he was too still, too quiet "HELP!" he shouted again, and it looked like their efforts made some effects because he saw a couple running towards them from the cottage.

"Harry! What happened?" Bill Weasley asked as soon as he saw him "Where's…?" but his words died in his lips once he saw his brother lying on the ground, bloody and hurt "Ron…"

"The Snatchers" Harry tried to explain "They took us to Malfoy Manor, Ron was hurt while we were escaping. He told me to come here…" he suddenly started to cry again "It's my fault, Bill. I couldn't save him!"

"He's alive" Bill said after casting a quick spell "The knife is cursed, don't try to touch it" he warned and levitated his brother's body to take him into the cottage "Can you walk?" he asked both of them.

Harry looked at Hermione with a questioning look but before she could answer, Fleur was next to her, helping her to her feet.

"I will 'elp 'er" Fleur smiled and Harry nodded.

Hermione was crying again. Ron was badly hurt. Everything was his fault.

"Dobby will help Harry Potter" he heard the small elf say but just when he was taking his first steps towards the cottage, he felt it: Voldemort's rage when he got to Malfoy Manor and didn't find him was just too fierce to fight it. He only got flashes of his incalculable fury before it became too much to bare and everything went black again.

"'arry! You're awake" Fleur was right next to Harry when he finally opened his eyes and she was the first person he saw "Are you ok?"

"Yeah… I'm fine" he said taking a deep breath and took a second to analyse his surroundings.

Harry found himself in a small room with two small beds, he was lying in one of them while Hermione seemed to be sleeping in the other one. Fleur was the only person in the room with them but Harry could hear the voices of people outside the room.

"How is she?" Harry asked as soon as he laid his eyes on Hermione's sleeping figure.

"Exhausted…" she said with a sad smile "She was in shock when you came, she wouldn't stop crying and wouldn't let go of your body once you fell unconscious. I 'ad to give 'er five different potions to get 'er to sleep…" she sighed "Bill says zat she 'as been tortured but she will be ok when she wakes up".

"Thank you" Harry nodded at her.

"She was very upset, it will be some time before she can sleep without nightmares or go back to be her old self…"

Again, Harry nodded acknowledging the truth in Fleur's words. That was what war did to people… If they survived, she would have a long way filled with demons ahead of them, just like him.

Having no other way to delay the question he was so afraid to ask, Harry stopped thinking about Hermione for a moment and looked at the witch in front of him.

"How's Ron?"

He didn't need her answer to know. The way her face fell, the way her eyes filled with sadness… It was not good.

"You can go to see 'im if you want to…" was all she said.

"Would you keep an eye on her?" Harry asked gesturing towards Hermione.

"Of course. Bill said zat she would wake up soon anyway".

"Please let me know when she wakes up".

"Don't worry, I will".

Harry thanked her before he left the room to face one of the most difficult moments of his life. Nothing would have prepared Harry Potter for the sight of the Weasley family weeping and crying around a couch that somebody must had transfigured to be large enough for Ron to lay on.

Molly and Ginny were on the floor, both holding one of Ron's hands. Molly, whose face was covered in tears that seemed to never stop falling from her eyes, had a look on her face that Harry had never seen in his life. She looked so absent, almost as if she could see through everything. She didn't make a sound, she didn't move, the only sign that she was alive was the never ending cascade of tears in her face. Ginny's face was hidden against her brother's shoulder, her small body shaking with pain, her soft sobs filling the room. He had missed her so much, had wanted to see her so badly… only not like this. Never like this…

Arthur sat on a chair next to Ron's head, stroking his unconscious son's red hair. He looked like an old defeated man. His eyes were red and his face seemed to be contracted in a pained expression, trying to hold back from crying openly as his youngest daughter was doing. Apparently, the twins were not there yet because the last person in the room was Bill. He was sitting in a chair next to his father, holding his head on his hands, his shoulders were shaking with silent tears.

Nobody was brewing any potions, no one was casting any kind of healing charms, no one was trying to pull the knife from Ron's body…

Ron was lying on the sofa, more pale than ever, sweaty and barely breathing. Bellatrix's cursed knife still buried in his stomach. Harry took a step back and the entire room started to sipn around him. He, he who was more familiar with pain than any other person in the room, he who had fought against the most evil wizard of all times and had survived, he who had escaped death uncountable times… he could not bare the the sight of his friend, surrounded by the family that had welcomed him and loved him in such a state of pain. Harry couldn't breath, he couldn't move… but he had to do something, he had to save him. Ron. His best mate. The first friend he ever had… he had to save him.

"HARRY DON'T!" it was Ginny who shouted and Bill's arms which surrounded him when he lunged forward to pull the knife out of Ron's body himself.

"Let go of me! I have to save him!" Harry struggled against Bill's arms.

"The knife is cursed Harry! You would die in a second" Bill tried to explain but he didn't listen.

"I don't care! Let me help him! I don't care if I die! This is my fault…"

While Bill held him back, Ginny jumped to hug him as tightly as she could and Arthur put a hand on his shoulder.

"It would kill you and it wouldn't save him. The knife has a powerful dark curse on it. There's nothing you can do, son…" said Arthur looking right into his eyes.

"No… no, he can't. He can't be dying…" Harry whispered, his voice cracking with the worst kind of pain he had ever felt.

Molly, who hadn't even looked at him since he came into the room, raised her teary eyes to meet his and nodded. At this, Harry felt the entire weight of the world crashing onto him and suddenly his body began to shake and he fell to his knees. Before he knew it, Ginny was hugging him as if her entire life depended on it, crying against his chest, Arthur's hand was on his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around Ginny's shaking body and reached to take Molly's free hand. Then everything collapsed inside him and he broke into tears. He literally broke, he could hear the cracking sounds inside him, his body didn't want to work, his lungs didn't want to breath. His mind refused to believe the truth that his eyes showed him so clearly.

"No…" he sobbed "This is all my fault…"

"It's not your fault, my boy" Molly gave him a weak smile and took his hand to her lips to give him a kiss. Her lips were with tears, just as Ginny's face against his chest, just as his own face. He felt like he was drowning.

"I'm so sorry…" this time, his apology was directed to the unconscious body of his best friend.

"Come here, Gin" Harry heard Bill say and he carefully pulled Ginny away from Harry's arms to hug her himself.

As soon as Ginny's arms were no longer around him, Harry moved closer to Ron's body, taking one of his hands.

"I'm so sorry, mate" he sobbed letting his face rest against Ron's chest "So sorry…" he repeated trying to swallow the lump in his throat "I couldn't save him…" he whispered looking at Molly this time. "I'd give anything to save him. I'm… I'm so sorry".

"We know, Harry" Molly nodded.

Everyone fell silent again, Harry's and Ginny's cries mixing with the sound of the rain outside.

"How long?" Harry asked after a long while with a voice that didn't seem his own.

"Not long…" Bill sighed "Probably he'll be… gone by tomorrow" Harry could see Ginny shudder in her brother's arms "Fleur gave him a calming draught and he fell asleep. Probably he'll wake up in a while, we can say goodbye then but… It's a very nasty curse. I wouldn't like to see him go like that" he wiped his face with his free hand and Harry heard Ginny sob into Bill's chest again.

"What do you suggest, son?" asked Arthur.

"Healers used to give Draught of the Living Death to those who were cursed in Egypt" he said and took a deep breath "He'll feel no pain, he'll just sleep until the time comes."

Arthur nodded thankfully to his older son. "I think it's the best way… What do you think Molly?"

"I don't want him to be in pain" Molly said through the tears while she touched her son's face "Oh, Arthur… I would take his place in a second if I could" she cried and Mr. Weasley soon knelt next to her giving her a one-armed hug.

"Don't say that, Molly…" he whispered.

"He's just a boy…" she cried holding onto her husband "My sweet little boy…"

Harry felt every single word as a knife through his own heart. He was no stranger to death, but he had never had the chance to sit next to someone he loved and say goodbye before death came. He had thought that having the chance to say goodbye would be better than just getting someone ripped away from your side but now that he knew that he would have to say goodbye to his best friend, the pain was even deeper than ever.

He didn't want to say goodbye. It was not fair. Ron did not deserve to die. But neither had Sirius or his parents and they had been killed anyway.

The painful truth was that Ron was leaving them… He wanted to seek revenge, but the pain was so intense, that he had no room for any other feeling.

"'arry?" Fleur called him and he wiped his face before he looked at her "She woke up" she said simply.

Harry nodded and got up to go and see Hermione and Fleur sat in the chair he had been using, taking Bill's free hand in hers and trying to comfort her husband. Harry entered the room wiping his face and found Hermione sitting in her bed. Her eyes looked absolutely empty and no words were needed when their eyes met.

"He's dying, isn't he?" she asked with a lump in her throat.

Harry sat on the bed next to her, his eyes red and puffy, the pain more than evident in his face.

"Answer me!" she demanded, tears starting to fall down her face.

"Bill thinks he won't make it past tonight" Harry nodded and Hermione took her hand to her mouth holding back a sob.

"No…" her voice cracked "But…"

"There's nothing we can do" Harry interrupted, he was crying again, tears falling silently down his own face.

For a moment, she didn't do anything. It took her an entire minute to react, but when she finally did it, she trew herself in Harry's arms and started to cry. Harry had never heard someone cry like that before. It felt like she was literally breaking into small pieces in his arms.

"Breath…" Harry told her when he felt that she was starting to have problems to breath.

She nodded against his chest and tried to calm herself enough to be able to breath like a normal person. She could only manage two deep breaths before she broke into tears again, sobbing hysterically against Harry's chest.

Harry cried too, unable to fight the pain or swallow the tears and they held onto each other while they cried for their friend for what felt like an eternity.

"I know it's not a good question" Harry asked when he felt her starting to calm down "But how are you?"

He didn't need to be more specific for her to know that he wanted to know how she felt about what had happened with Bellatrix. Hermione raised her head to look at him, her teary brown eyes finding his and showing him all the pain she felt without a single word. She knew he of all people would understand her.

"I'll survive" she whispered and Harry nodded hugging her again.

In that moment, he thought that she was the bravest person in the world. She had just been tortured, threatened with the worst possible way to die and there she was, still in one piece, still the same Hermione that had stuck with him through the last seven years. He didn't know what he would do without her.

"Of course you will. You're one of the strongest people I know" he told her hiding his own teary face in her messy brown hair.

"We both will" she said, her voice breaking with every word "We'll survive this, Harry" she cried.

He nodded hugging her closer. They had to survive. The alternative was just too painful…

"We will" he promised knowing that he would do anything to keep at least half of that promise. He would do anything to make sure she survived the war.