*This is my first Harry Potter fanfic so beware. Also, I do not own Harry Potter in any way shape or form. I am simply bored and couldn't get this story idea out of my head. Finally, the chapters may go from long to short and back again depending on what is going on in the story. Now, enjoy!*

**Okay, so not much has changed, but here is the revised first chapter of Wrong Path.**

It had been one week since the battle of Hogwarts. One week since the death of his brother and many of his friends. His family, while still somber, was starting the process of moving on. Harry and Ginny were back together. He could hear their soft laughter right now. George returned to the shop in Diagon Alley. Percy was staying in his old room, trying to help in any way he could. Apparently, he still felt guilty about turning his back on them. Charlie went back to Romania after the funeral and Bill and Fleur returned to Shell Cottage. Hermione had decided to stay with them for a little while before looking for her parents.

Hermione.

She had tried to comfort him, but her presence only upset him more. She made him happy, and that was the problem. He shouldn't be happy. None of them should. Fred was dead and he wasn't coming back. There should be more tears. They shouldn't be able to forget about him so quickly. What about Tonks? Or Lupin? Or all of the others who had died in the battle against Voldemort? Why was it so easy for them to forget?

A soft knock at the door caused him to sigh. He knew that they were worried about him, but he couldn't care less. "Ron?" Hermione's soft voice carried through the door and into his consciousness. He remained silent, hoping that she would just go away. There was a high pitched squeak as the door swung open and she entered. He kept his attention on the ground in front of him. He didn't want to see the pity in her eyes. "Ron, are you okay?"

He scoffed and finally turned his blood shot eyes toward her, "Am I okay? He's gone Hermione. They all are. Do you really expect me to be okay with that?" He dropped his gaze from her because he couldn't bear to see the pain she held in her brown eyes. "I'm not like the rest of you. I can't just let them go and pretend that everything is okay."

The creak of the bed springs and the slight shift of the mattress alerted him to the fact that she had joined him on the bed. "Nobody expects you to pretend like you're okay. We just want to help you. They died so that we could live. So that we wouldn't have to live in fear. They would want us to be happy."

Happiness felt like a betrayal. Hermione might be right, but he couldn't handle happiness right now. He was so full of anger and pain that all he wanted was to track down every single death eater that had survived the battle and finish them off. Her hand gripped his right one and gave it a gentle squeeze. Part of him wanted to smile. To pull her close and not let go. But the other, much larger, part was screaming at him to push her away. To leave before she could force him to forget his brother.

He stood up abruptly and dropped her hand, "I can't be happy Hermione. Why should we get to be happy when Fred is dead? Why does everyone think that it's okay that they aren't here?" He couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't handle being in this room. He pushed past Hermione and flew down the stairs. His mother was on the second floor landing. She tried to stop him, to ask what was wrong, but he didn't stop. Several pairs of footsteps trailed him, but he didn't turn back. He heard both Harry and Hermione calling his name, but he ignored it.

He crashed through the front door and disappeared with a loud 'crack', leaving a hysterical Hermione and several very confused Weasleys in his wake.

Four Years Later

He raced through the jungle hot on the trail of three death eaters. They were firing spells at him, but after four years of hunting down Voldemort's old supporters, he was easily able to avoid them. "Sectumsempra!" he yelled, taking down the trailing death eater. Blocking two more hexes, he slipped under a hanging branch and called out, "Confrigo!" One of the dark wizards burst into flames, but Ron didn't stop. With only a single adversary left he increased his speed. He wasn't going to let this one get away. He came to an opening in the jungle and caught sight of the death eater. Before he could disappear, Ron cried out, "Crucio!"

He approached calmly and only released the spell after he had removed the death eater's wand, "Tell me where I can find the others."

"What other? There are no others!" the man screamed.

"I don't believe you," Ron performed the spell again causing his victim to writhe and scream on the ground, "Now, where are the other death eaters."

"I don't know! Between you and the bloody ministry I don't think there are any more!"

Ron considered this for a moment before whispering, "Expulso." The man in front of him exploded causing bits of flesh and blood to stain Ron's already filthy clothing. Ron groaned, "Maybe I should save that one for when I'm further away."

He turned his back on the bloody scene and disapparated back to his camp site. Everything was as he left it. The tent that he took from the first death eater he found was filled with a detailed list that he had taken from Kingsley prior to his disappearance naming all known death eaters, several books that contained different spells and information on dark wizards, the food that he procured from a muggle shop, and the few possessions that he accumulated over the last few years.

It was a rather lonely existence, but the only one he knew anymore. He missed his friends and family, but there was no way that he could return to them. He wasn't the same person that they knew. He didn't think that he could ever truly be that person again. If he was being honest with himself, he was scared to death. He was scared that they would hate him, and he was scared that he had changed too much.

Grabbing the list, he scratched out the names of the last three death eaters. There were no other names since the ministry rounded up Crabbe and Goyle's fathers. They had been hiding somewhere in the Scottish highlands. Were they really all gone? He wasn't sure how to proceed from here. He didn't know of any other death eaters and the only solution he could think of was frightening to say the least. It would require going home, which he wasn't prepared to do yet. The ministry would know if the death eaters were truly gone, and if not, where they would be.

There were so many reasons for him not to go. His father and Percy still worked for the ministry. There was a very good chance that he could run into them. He wasn't sure what Harry and Hermione were doing, but Harry had talked about working as an auror so he could be there as well. He knew that Ginny had been recruited by the Holyhead Harpies; he had even attended one of her first games, so he wouldn't have to worry about running into her.

It's not like he couldn't disguise himself again. He, Harry, and Hermione were able to sneak in and get the locket from Umbridge. He knew where he had to go so he wouldn't need to take the time and search the ministry. Also, he would have the opportunity to see his father and make sure that his family was okay. He may not be ready to see them, but he still missed and worried about them.

Rather than continue to worry about it, Ron decided to go to sleep and decide what he would do in the morning. It would take a month to brew up some Polyjuice potion so he had some time to really think this through. In the end though, he knew that he would go. He had so many questions that he wanted answers to. As he fell asleep, his thoughts were clouded with his family, the ministry, Harry, and a certain bushy haired brunette that had been haunting his dreams for years.