Ok, forgive me if this story sucks. It's my first attempt, and even I don't know what to make of it...PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE tell me what you think. Good, bad, whatever.


What Went Wrong?


It was the day of the Yule Ball, and Ronald Weasley was alone.

It wasn't fair, not fair at all he decided. She had just come into the room, two days before the ball, and simply said, without a trace of remorse, "It's over."

She didn't shout, she didn't scream, she didn't announce to everyone else in the room all of his wrongdoings and all the reasons why he was such an ass. She had just said "It's over" and shut the door quietly behind her. She didn't even slam the door.

He didn't get it, and he knew she would never explain it to him. She would probably never even speak to him again. Hermione Granger, his best friend of seven years, would simply close the door on him, and forget.

And usually in a situation like this, Ron, always the most temperamental, even from an entire family full of fiery red heads, would simply scream back "Fine! Good riddance then!"

But Hermione hadn't given him the chance. She had just walked away, leaving him stunned and empty.

Out of hurt pride, he had strutted around the castle for the next few days, showing everyone how NOT hurt he was by Hermione's dumping him. He must have been a pretty good actor, because everyone seemed to be fooled, even his best friend Harry.

Who would have really ever believed Ron Weasley would have hurt feelings, anyways, though? He had never been one to show how he felt. It had taken years and years for him to actually admit he loved Hermione and ask her out. But so what? Easy come easy go. "That's just the ways Ron is" anyone would tell you.

But right now he was living in his own private hell, smiling and nodding like one of those damn bobbing-head dolls on the outside, screaming in anguish and confusion on the inside.

He ate his meals, he went to his classes, he practice Quidditch with Harry. He never brought Hermione up in conversations, even to say something disparaging about her.

She made her normal circuit around the castle as well, sometimes passing him in the hall, not even glancing up from her armload of books at him. And he didn't turn to look at her, either...Until she was far down the hall and he didn't think anyone would see him.

Yes, to everyone else it seemed that Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley had officially moved on. But they were only half right...

In Ron's free time, when he was alone in his dormitory and didn't have to live under the burden of being "normal", he would strum on the old muggle guitar his dad had given him two summers ago and vent some of his frustration. Most of the songs he wrote were absolute crap, he knew, but he had managed to pick up a few tunes off of the radio, especially some of the muggle ones.

There was one song that he could definetly relate to, written by some muggle artist he regretted not being able to name. It was true, and creative, not homogenized and overemotional. It was just the way he would have written it, had he the talent. He was able to sing it and play it almost perfectly by himself, since it only needed an acoustic guitar. He would hum the tune in the hallways, or whenever he got a spare second alone.

That was precisely what he was doing now, mumbling the words quietly to himself as he strummed out the chords on the guitar and held a staring match with the ceiling.

Harry startled him when he walked in.

"Ron, what the devil are you doing? We're ten minutes late for the ball, I thought you weren't finished getting ready..."

Harry prattled on some more, and then lead Ron out to the common room, where all the Gryffindors stood in their Yule Ball finery, buzzing with excitement. Ron felt, strangely, like he was drowning.

He let himself slide easily into autopilot again, laughing and joking with his brothers, fighting not to scream out the words that flooded into his head... Because there was Hermione Granger, a vison of beauty and grace only about five meters away...On the arm of Neville Longbottom.

He turned his back on the couple, and went back to his playacting. It wasn't until about the sixth or seventh dance when his endurance finally started to wear down.

She was so beautiful, and he felt like such an idiot, standing here talking to Seamus Finnigan about racing brooms while Padma Patil tugged at his robe sleeve and giggled to get him to dance with her.

Without actually knowing he did, Ron snapped.

He pulled away from the confused Padma, and headed directly for the stage. "The Weird Sisters" had taken a short break, and were merrily drinking some punch across the room. He climbed onto the stage were all of their abandoned instruments lay, and picked up the nearest guitar. The crowd of students fell silent.

Before Professor Snape or one of the other teachers could scream at him to leave the stage immediately, he stepped up to the microphone. The stunned crowd turned toward him attentively, waiting for him to explain his strange behavior.

"If nobody minds, I'd like to play a song..."

Ron almost burst out laughing at the look on some of the students' faces. Ron Weasley didn't play SONGS, or get up onto stages! Had he gone mad? Even he wasn't quite sure if he had or not.

He remained deadly serious, though, and from the back of the room he could see the aged Professor Dumbledore wave his hand in consent. The shocked audience stood silent, and ready.

As the first few rich chords drifted across the air, people began to smile. Perhaps this was a joke. Ron was going to sing a parody, or possibly do some sort of funny imitation. He was good at that, and from the look of the dark circles under his eyes, and the strained, drawn-out look on his face, he might have had just enough "punch" to be in the mood for it. But when the first verse came, the smiles faded, and people began to stare in awe. Ron was actually going to SING.

"I'm sick,
Of always hearing,
All those sad songs,
On the radio.

All day,
It is there to remind,
And over-sensitive guy,
That he's lost and alone, yeah.

I hate
Our favorite restraunt
Our favorite movie
Our favorite show

We would
Stay up all through the night.
We would laugh and get high,
And never answer the phone.

I can't forgive,
Can't forget,
Can't give in.

What went wrong?
'Cause you said this was right.
You fucked up my life.

I'm sick
Of always hearing
Sappy love songs
On the radio.

This place
Is fucking cursed and it's plagued.
And I can never escape,
When my heart it explodes.

I can't forgive,
Can't forget,
Can't give in.

What went wrong?
'Cause you said this was right.
You fucked up my life."

Ron waited in angst for someone to stop him from playing...There was still more for him to sing, but because of the tidbit of cursing in the song, he was almost sure Professor Mcgonagall would drag him off the stage at any second. But when he glanced at her, she was standing dumbstruck with the rest of the audience. Something about the raw, resentful emotion in his voice captivated them. Some people didn't even seem to be blinking. He desperately wanted to see how Hermione was reacting, but he didn't think he'd be able to finish the song if he looked at her.

He took another breath.

"I'm kicking, Out fiercely at the world around me. What went wrong?... I'm kicking...Out fiercely, at the world around me...What went wrong? I'm kicking...Out fiercely at the world around me...What went wrong? I'm kicking...Out fiercely at the world around me...What went wrong?"

He took another long breath, and with a strong sweep across the guitar string, he finished.

"I'm kicking."




~~~~ I might write what happens if this story gets a few positive reviews. Once again, I'm sorry if it sucks, but I just HAD to get this song and story out of my system! ~~~~~