Fears Lived

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Happy now, you copyright Nazis.

Author's Note: Here's chapter two. Enjoy.

When she opened her eyes, she saw the stone ceiling of the Hospital Wing. Her head hurt a little as she thought of the events in the entrance hall.

"Nice of you to join us again, Miss Granger."

Hermione looked at the foot of hr bed to see Professor Dumbledore standing there and Madam Pomfrey scurrying over from the other side of the room.

"But how did I..."

"I suspect that you fainted from the shock of the incident, Miss Granger," Dumbledore interrupted answering the question she hadn't even finished. "You hit your head on the wall when you lost consciousness. I'm afraid you're going to have a nasty bump."

Madam Pomfrey deigned her physically well but ordered her to stay and rest for another couple of hours.

"Now, I shall leave you Miss Granger. I believe you have two or three friends who are quite impatient to see you," Dumbledore said.

As if on cue, the Hospital Wing doors burst open and Harry, Ginny and Ron ran in.

"Where is she? Is she alright?" Ron asked Madam Pomfrey, running to Hermione's bed without waiting for the nurse's answer.

The three of them rushed to her side and started babbling their worries and well-wishes. Well, Harry and Ginny did. Ron just took her hand and looked deep into her eyes. Dumbledore said something and he led Harry and Ginny out of the Hospital Wing, but Hermione barely noticed. She was lost in the clear blue of Ron's eyes.

"Is that really your greatest fear, 'Mione? That I would mock and scorn you? Your greatest fear is rejection?" he asked softly once they were alone.

Hermione nodded.

"Well, I think you're going to need a new fear," he said with a small smile.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because I'm about to make it totally obsolete."

He bent down and kissed her softly on the mouth.

"I love you, Hermione Granger. I've loved you since you told me I had dirt on my nose on our first train ride. I just didn't know it. You're all I think about. That's why I'm forever borrowing your notes, I'm always looking at you and thinking about you during class. You are my heart, my soul, my everything. I don't know how I lived before I met you, but I don't think it was really living. Merely existing, until you walked into my world and brought me to life. I was never like this before, you know. I was a very well-tempered child. Sure a little sibling rivalry, but nobody ever got me as riled up as you do. Nobody sparks my emotions like you. I love you, Hermione. Don't ever doubt that. You're the most wonderful woman in the whole world."

Hermione brought her right hand up to the back of his head, as her left hand was still clasped in both of his, and brought his head closer to her. She lifted her head and kissed him for all she was worth. Every single pent-up emotion that she'd ever harboured swelled through her lips and into him as they kissed. She randomly thought it was lucky they were already in the Hospital Wing because she felt strangely light-headed.

When she pulled away, she rested her forehead against his and whispered, "I love you, Ron Weasley."

He lowered his head and caught her lips in another breathtaking kiss, this time a little more passionate than the first. They sat there on the hospital bed for sometime, immersed in each other, snogging. And for the first time in her long, illustrious career, the ever-watchful Madam Pomfrey turned a blind eye.

Author's Note 2: Well, that's it. Quickly, review like the wind.