Help me Ron

Pansy made no more moves to touch him, but did begin sitting next to him and not across from him. He knew she was taking her time and he was more then willing to let her.



When Harry and Hermione arrived however, she ran into another hurdle. Hermione ran and gave her a hug which she took, but Ron could see it make her uncomfortable. Before he could step in and stop Harry, he already has his arms around her.



“NO!!” Pansy scream out, thrashing her fists out. Harry immediately let go and backed away.



“Pansy…..” Hermione came forward concerned. They had been told Pansy was at the Burrow but hadn’t been told why. They felt it was Pansy choice to tell anyone.



Ron followed her when she ran upstairs and into her room. The door was closed but he knew he had to talk to her now. “Pansy, it’s Ron.” He could hear the tears through the door. “Pansy, I’m alone. Let me help you.”



The door clicked and he opened it slowly, slipping inside and closing it again. The minute she heard the click she spun around and buried her face in his chest.



“It’s alright Pansy, he didn’t mean anything.” He said, hugging her shoulders. She cried into his chest harder.



“Ronald?” Hermione’s voice came through the door.



“Later Hermione.” He said.



“I just want to make…..”



“Hermione, I said later.” He called to her, still not letting go of Pansy. He heard her boots making their way down the stairs. Hermione could be so nosy at times.



He let Pansy cry into his chest and when she calmed down, let his arms drop as she pulled away. Sitting on her bed, he watched her pace. “He wasn’t going to hurt you?” Ron told her.



“I know he wasn’t, but for a moment, I couldn’t get away, I was trapped.” She sat down beside him. “It was like the forest. I couldn’t get out.”



“You could have just held out a hand and he would have known that you didn’t want a hug.” He said. “That’s all you have to do in the future.”



“They might question it?” She said.



“They might think it, but they won’t say anything. And your friends will understand.” He looked at her. “You might want to think about letting some people know. Harry is going to wonder if he did something wrong and I have a feeling Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle will outright ask you what’s wrong.”



“I know they will.” She sighed, and wiped away the last of her tears. “So much for keeping it to myself.”



“You shouldn’t do that anyway. You tried to keep it inside and looked what you almost did.” She shuddered thinking of the time she stood on that cliff. “Your friends are here to help you, we all are.”



She nodded. “Maybe you should tell them why I’m here.”



“I thought you would want to do that.” He said.



Pansy shook her head. “They are your friends, I don’t know how to talk to them. I can handle Draco, Vince and Greg.”



“Alright.” He stood and went to the door. “Will you be alright?”



“Yes, I’m going to write to them now. It will give me something to do.” She said, moving to the desk.



Ron left her alone and went downstairs where Harry and Hermione waited. “Ron, what’s going on?” Hermione was on her feet the moment his stepped onto the carpet.



“Calm down Hermione, I’ll explain everything.” He sat down and waiting for her to sit too. “Pansy is here because something happened to her over the summer and she feels better here.”



“What happened?” Harry asked.



“Before I tell you, I want you both to promise me that you wont tell anyone else. This is private and Pansy is letting me tell you so you understand why she acted that way. Other then that, it is her business and hers alone. Nobody else can know unless she wants them to know.”



“Ron, what happened?” Hermione urged.



“I promise.” Harry said, without hesitation.



“Hermione?” Ron looked over at her confused look.



“Fine I promise, now what’s going on?” She said, throwing her hand up.



“Just after summer started Pansy was raped.” Hermione gasped, and Harry’s jaw dropped.



“Did she know him?” Harry asked.



“Yes, he was someone she knew through her mother’s friends or something like that. He asked her out last summer and tried again this summer as well. When she got angry and told him off, he retaliated. She was dragged into a forest and raped. I was on my way home from Neville’s and found them. I took her to St. Mungo’s and afterwards she came here. She was only at home for a few days and she started having nightmares. Her mental healer said it was a good idea for her to spend some time here, so her parents wrote to mine.” Ron left out several key issues, but those were none of anyone’s business.



“If its supposed to help her, then why did she scream when Harry hugged her. He was only saying hello.” Hermione asked.



He saw his sister roll her eyes, but he knew Hermione didn’t. “Because its been hard for her. Contact is something she is still working on, and its been just me and Ginny so far. She is getting better thought. The nightmares have been easier for her to deal with and she doesn’t sleepwalk anymore. She able to talk about it now, but touching is something she needs to work at.”



“What’s she going to do at Hogwarts, school starts in a month.” Hermione asked.



“She’s writing to Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle. They can watch out for her in Sytherin. I’m not sure if her parents wrote to Dumbledore, but dad mentioned something about single rooms being available at times. This might be a good reason for her to have one.” He said, hoping she would be able to get one.



“I’m going to see if she’s alright.” Hermione stood but Ron stopped her.



“No, leave her alone.” He said.



“Ron, she needs a woman right now.” She said taking a step toward the stairs.



Ron jumped up and blocked the stairs. “No, Hermione, I made sure she was alright. What she wants right now is privacy.”



Ron, you don’t understand what she went through, she needs a woman’s shoulder after what happened with Harry.” She said in a tone Ron was fast becoming annoyed with.



“Hermione, I am going to remain calm while I speak to you, so listen carefully. Number One, Pansy understand that Harry wasn’t going to hurt her, she just panicked at the contact that’s all. It was panic, not terror. Number Two, she is alright and asked for privacy to write to her friends, so I gave it to her and you will too. Number Three, don’t ever tell me I don’t understand what happened, because I saw it with my own eyes. I saw her held down by the throat and raped, trying to get away and unable to. I saw her fighting with everything to try and get away from him, and I couldn’t run fast enough to get there, so don’t ever tell me I don’t understand.” He took in a deep breathe and let it out. ‘Do you understand me?”



“Yes.” She said, folding her arms across her chest.



“Good.” He looked over at Ginny. “Call me when dinners ready, will you Gin?” She gave him a nod and he went upstairs.



He was almost to his room when he saw Pansy stick her head out of her door. “I heard that.”



“You did?’ He asked looking al little embarrassed.



“Yes.” She smiled. “Didn’t want to be down there?” He shrugged. “Where were you headed?”



“To my room, I thought I might go through my magazines until it’s time to eat.” He said.



“Do you want to read in here?” He tossed her head to the side indicting her room.



“Sure.” He fetched his magazines and then went back to her room. She was back at her desk writing a letter, so he reclined in her bed with his magazines. He was half reading it and half watching her.



Eventually the silence and the long morning got to him and he realized he had dozed off when Pansy was calling his name. “I’m sorry,” he said getting up, “how long was I asleep?”



“Just about twenty minutes that’s all.” She said, sealing up another letter. “Your sister just said it’s time for dinner.”



“Alright.” He stood and moved to the door. “Four letters?”



“One for Millicent.” She said, opening the door. He nodded and they went downstairs. Molly had the table set up, charmed longer to accommodate Harry and Hermione.



Arthur had just entered the kitchen to help Molly. Ginny and Hermione were setting the table. Pansy caught sight of Harry coming down the stairs from putting his own bag away.



“Harry, can I talk to you?” She asked.



“Yes.” He looked to Ron who gave him a nod and went to the kitchen to help his mother.



“I just wanted to say that I’m sorry for my reaction.” She said. “I know it must have seemed mental when you weren’t expecting it.”



“Pansy, please don’t apologize for that. I should say sorry, if I had known about, well, about what happened I never would have done that. I just hope I didn’t bring….I mean, I hope it didn’t…..you know, do anymore damage.” He said fumbling for words.



“No, I’m alright. Ron explained it well enough I imagine.” She said, not wanting Harry to know she heard him.



“Yes he did.” Harry smiled at her. “Ron is a good help then?” He asked remembering Hermione’s words. He didn’t think she understood Pansy. Hermione had never been attacked, so she wouldn’t know.



“He’s been a great help.” She looked away into nothingness. “I don’t think I could have gotten through some things without him.” She fell silent thinking of the cliffs.



“He’s a good mate.” Harry said quietly.



“Yes, he is.” She smiled at him, and they both went into the kitchen for dinner.



Ron saw Hermione watching and could see the wheels turning. He knew Hermione loved to be the helpful one, but that was also coupled with the fact that she always had an answer for problems and this one was not her problem to solve. There was no book for Hermione to turn to, and he was not about to let Pansy get caught up and become a project of Hermione’s.



“Here Pansy, you can sit here.” He held out a chair for her and took the seat next to it before Hermione had time to come around the table. His mother seat was at the end of the table so there was no way Hermione could corner her.



During dinner, when conversation was flowing, Pansy leaned in and whispered to Ron. “Why did she want to see me so badly earlier?”



“She always likes to be involved, no matter what. She thought you might like a woman’s comfort, that’s all.” He said, purposefully downplaying Hermione’s reasons.



“I don’t need her comfort.” Pansy told him.



“I know, that’s why I seated you where you are. I won’t let her corner you.” He said. Pansy gave him a smile.



“Are we still walking after dinner?” She asked. She had gotten so used to the walks she took with Ron after dinner. It was a comfort to her.



“Of course.” He said returning her smile.



After dinner Pansy borrowed Ron’s owl Pig and sent off her letters, then walked with him along the fields they always walked in, coming to the lake and sitting down. The nocturnal insects were out and glowing. “Is the walkway safe?” She asked, pointing to the ramp that lead to the lake.



“Yes.” He said and followed her out as she walked along the plank way. She went out all the way to the end and sat down taking off her sandals.



“Sit down.” She said looking up at him and dangling her feet in the water. Ron sat and quickly pulled his shoes and socks off, shirking them down and shoving them in his pocket. He charmed his jeans up his calves and sat beside her, letting his feet dip into the water.



“I love swimming, but I didn’t dare swim this summer.” She said, listening to the light splashing from her feet.



“Why not?” Ron asked, letting his own feet sway back and forth.



“He always used to come and watch me. Last summer, it was annoying but with how aggressive he had gotten in just a few days, I didn’t want to take the chance of him trying to pull my bathing suit off underwater.” She said.



“Wise thinking. Who knows what he would have thought.” Ron said, splashing away a fish with his foot.



“I should have seen it.” He said, staring into the water.



“You couldn’t have seen anything.” Ron told her.



“Couldn’t I?” She asked, looking over at him. “I didn’t want to go swimming around him because he may have stripped off my bathing suit, and I shouldn’t have seen it coming?”



“Just because you were afraid he’d go over the line with a prank doesn’t mean you could have seen him dragging you into a forest and raping you. They aren’t the same Pansy, don’t try and see it that way.”



Pansy looked back at the water. “I heard what you said to Granger, about seeing it and not getting there fast enough.”



“I meant it.” He said.



“I know you did.” She said, letting her feet pay with the water again. “Do you have problems with her?” She asked.



“In a way.” He said with a smile. “Hermione is a very take charge kind of person and in many ways she’s an expert at nearly everything. After six years of dealing with that, it can get to you.”



“I can only imagine.” She chuckled. “So why not let her talk to me then? Although I’m glad you are keeping her at bay, I’m just curious as to why.”



“Hermione likes to assume she knows about everything, and doesn’t like to admit that she may make things worse. I’m not taking a chance when it comes to you. This isn’t a fight you had with a friend or a romance gone bad. This is something she cannot try and help out. This is one of those times when she just ahs to be satisfied that someone else is needed and not her.”



“Sounds like you think she’s arrogant.” She said.



He rolled his eyes and rubbed his forehead. “She can be.” Pansy chuckled and after awhile they went back to the house.



That night however, Pansy had another dream. She woke up and left her room, but in the hall he path was blocked. “Pansy, are you alright?” She asked, approaching the girl.



“Leave me alone.” Pansy cried and slapped away Hermione’s hand. “Ron?” She called out.



“Pansy, Ron is sleeping. What’s the matter?” She moved closer.



“Get away.” She backed up against the wall. “Ron!?” She yelled.



“What’s going on?” Ginny called from her room.



“I think Pansy is panicking.” She said. “Pansy, its alright, I’ll help you back to bed.” She reached out and took the girls shoulder.



Pansy let loose. She struggled against Hermione’s grip, pushing the girl away. “Ron!” She screamed, bringing feet from all directions but she only heard one set.



“Pansy.” Ron called out and moved Hermione out of the way. Pansy reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck, letting her tears fall. He picked her up and took her to his room, shutting the door with his foot. “It’s alright, I’m here.” He held her in his arms as he sat on his bed, letting her cry her fill, and mentally pouring red fire ants on Hermione’s tongue.