"We were hundreds of feet up! Stan's not himself, and if I Stunned him and he'd fallen, he'd have died the same as if I'd used Avada Kedavra!" - Harry Potter, Deathly Hallows chapter 5"
It all went wrong the moment they took off.
The death eaters came from nowhere and before Ronald Weasley knew what had happened they were surrounded and fighting for their lives. Jets of green light shot in all directions and Tonks threw the broom downwards before he could react.
Where was Hermione?, was she safe?.
He tried to look or the large black birds but the night sky shielded them from his view, it was too dark. A masked death eater shot a red jet of light towards him and Ron quickly cast Protago and the stunning spell deflected, almost taking out the death eater who served so fast to avoid it that his mask fell off revealing the face of Rodolphus Lestrange. Ron shot his own stunning spell but missed again, Tonks sped up quickly, and the Death Eater fell behind as a second masked attacker shot a Killing Curse which missed by some distance.
"Impedimenta!" Ron shouted and the spell shot from his wand but missed by inches. A Killing curse shot from the darkness, missing Tonks by the smallest fraction and a high pitch laughter rang out. He felt Tonks tense and he knew why, he knew who was now behind them. He shot a stunning spell in the laughs' directions. Rodolphus was suddenly beside them, his wand directed directly at Ron's face and then suddenly Tonks' spell hit him directly in the chest, he doubled over, grasping his broom desperately to stop himself from falling, Bellatrix and the masked Death Eater quickly overtook him, leaving him alone in the sky. Bellatrix shot a second jet of green light, Ron and Tonks both ducked to avoid it, as Tonks sent a purple spell which Ron didn't know at the Death Eaters but both avoided as the Masked Death Eater passed beneath them, rising on their other side as Ron quickly turned around and bellowed "Stupefy!".
The jet of red light hit the Death Eater directly in the head and for a moment he tensed before he fell backwards and Ron watched as the unconscious masked man fell from his broom, plummeting from the sky to the ground several hundred feet below. Quickly he turned, sending a stunning spell at Bellatrix, who was so focused on Tonks that she hadn't realised her fellow solider had fallen, Bellatrix easily blocked the spell and sent a Killing curse at Ron. Tonks pulled the broom into a nosedive and Bellatrix seemed taken by surprise. Tonks shot a spell over Ron's shoulder and Ron shot his own, Ron's red spell and Tonks purple collided in mid-air causing a slight explosion which Bellatrix served successfully to avoid, she shot a final Killing curse which Tonks once again skilfully avoided before they finally passed the protective enchantments where Bellatrix couldn't follow.
Ron couldn't sleep, in his mind all he could do was replay the chase all over again, how close he had come to death, he remembers at Muriel's, wondering if Hermione was okay, the thought of getting back and finding her missing was almost unbearable, he quickly reminded himself that she was fine, they all were. Well, he reminded himself grimly, not everyone was fine. George had been badly injured and Mad-Eye had been killed. Ron couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness for the aruor. He wasn't the only person to have died in the battle though, Kingsley had killed a Death Eater, but the more importantly, to him at least, was the Death Eater that Ron had stunned, it hadn't been confirmed but Ron couldn't see how he could have survived. He had been unconscious when he fell and nobody had helped him. He was dead, Ron knew that, and he also knew that he himself had killed him.
Deep down, Ron knew this day would eventually come, especially with their plans. It was a war and in war people killed and people died. He wondered if Harry had killed a man yet?, he can't remember a time when Harry had done so, he remembers Harry telling him about the prophesy and the reality of having to kill He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, from what he said he assumed Harry had not killed anyone, maybe he had today, but he hadn't mentioned it and Harry seemed no different. He knew Hermione had never killed, he hoped she never would, because what he was feeling now was something he hoped she would never have to experience. He sighed quietly as he climbed from his bed and picked up his wand as he quietly made his way outside the room, making sure not to wake the sleeping Harry who was sleeping in his former bed as Fred and George had decided to stay the night after the battle. Ron made his way downstairs, when he suddenly realised that somebody was already down in the kitchen. Slowly Ron raised his wand as he made his way downstairs, staying close to the wall as he saw a shadow move around the kitchen, from the sounds of it he was running the tap. Ron quietly but quickly entered the kitchen and aimed for the intruder only to find himself face to face with his father.
"Dad!" Ron exclaimed, lowering his wand. Arthur Weasley looked at first shocked, and then confused, by his son's sudden appearance.
"Ron?" he asked "I thought you were sleeping?" he asked, and Ron just shrugged "A lot on my mind" he replied, trying not to catch his father's eyes but it seemed wasted as he seemed to sense something was wrong regardless.
"What you doing up?" Ron asked, and Arthur held up a blood stained cloth, Ron noticed he was also holding one of the coach cushions over the sink, the cushion too, was drenched in what he knew to be his brother's blood.
"I suppose I could use magic" his father spoke, looking and sounding older than he was "but…I - I guess I just wanted to do it myself, before you're mother gets up of course"
"Want any help?" Ron asked, any excuse to be busy and away from his guilt. His father smiled and handed Ron a second cloth, and directly him to a second cushion, for a while they stood side by side in silence, washing the scarlet blood into the drain. His dad shot him many questioning glances but Ron was determined to ignore them, would his parents be disappointed in him?, would they hate having a murdered for a son?, had any off his brother's taken a life?, he couldn't think of a time they could have.
He heard his dad sigh and noticed he had stopped and was now looking directly at him, Ron tried to continue but before he knew it he stared definitely into the sink, not wanting to see his father's reaction as he said "Dad I killed a man today".
He saw his father's hands tense at his words and stole a glance up, his father's eyes were closed as if taking in the information, Ron got the feeling he was upset, but not surprised to hear the information.
"I knew you would" his father replied eventually "eventually, but I always hoped you wouldn't have too"
"Sorry" Ron mumbled quickly, turning away from his father and looking back to the sink. His father was silent for a second and Ron dared not look at him again "Ronald you have nothing to be sorry for, in war, which is what this is, good people are forced to do bad things, but that doesn't change the fact they are a good person". Ron looked up surprised, he had expected his father to attack, not defend him.
"But -"
"No buts Ronald" he said sternly "I know you're a good person, you're a very good person, and whatever happens in this war, I just want you to remember that it doesn't change that"
"That's not it dad" Ron said quickly "I don't even know who it was, he was wearing his mask"
Dropping his cloth, Arthur turned away from the sink, placing both hands on Ron's shoulders and turned him to face him, for a second father and son stood still, staring into their identical eyes
"Exactly, he was wearing a mask, a Death Eater mask. Had you not killed him, he would not have hesitated to kill you. Now, I'm not saying killing is okay, or good, or something that should be encouraged because its not and for the last few years I've prayed that none of my children ever have to know what it feels like to take a life. But, what you did in that sky tonight was not a evil thing, infact I am proud of you even more, because it shows that you did everything in you're power to protect yourself and Tonks and now I think its time you went to sleep because you look tired".
Ron felt his father's hands leave his shoulders as his words took a moment to sink into his mind, grasping at them all and remembering them in perfect condition, the guilt was still there but nothing like it had been before he had entered the kitchen. His father had resumed cleaning the blood, Ron slowly walked back towards his room, he wondered if his father had taken a life, he'd always assumed not but now he wasn't so sure, he had fought in the first war so it wasn't too much off a stretch. Re-entering his room, he placed his wand back onto his bedside table and let himself fall onto the bed as sleep overtook him.