Long time no read, huh? Sorry for the long break between posts. We've had this story forever, but we just couldn't come up with an acceptable ending. We tried to keep it as parallel as possible to JK Rowling's (who's work we most definitely don't own or take any credit for) version of events, so it was a little challenging. Hope you like it though :)

Unwanted

"Ron, no— please — come back, come back!"

Fuming with rage, I ignored her pleas and just kept walking - practically running actually. I didn't know where I was going, but I couldn't stand another look at the oh-so-importantly-famous face and that precious scar of Harry Potter's. Hah! What did he know? He never had a family to love and to worry about. As for being loved and appreciated, well, every non-Death Eater's heart seemed to belong to him. Even my own mother's! Yes, my own mother had found him since first setting eyes on him to be the ideal son. Not me - Harry! Who needs to be looked after and cared for? Harry. Who is ever so kind and sweet? Harry. Who deserves to be felt sorry for? Harry. Because his parents had been killed. Because he had to endure those horrible Muggles. Because he was all alone. Because he felt unwanted. Never mention the fact that ever since I'd been born I'd been unwanted. Least loved by the mother who wanted a daughter. A sixth son was a blow and a disappointment. I didn't like to dwell on this, but I couldn't help noticing that she treated Harry as a seventh son with much more consideration than her actual son.

"Ron! Ron... no, please - Ron!" Hermione's voice was becoming more and more distant. Don't look back. Don't listen to her. She chose him.

Right, just add Hermione to the list of things Harry had over me. Yes, put her right at the top of the list. After the events of last year - oh, how ridiculous all our troubles back then seem to me now - with Lavender, I had thought that Hermione was beginning to appreciate me more than the rest of the world. I had thought that she saw me as more than just another Weasley. Another mouth to feed. Another boy to take care of. I was wrong, of course. That's exactly what I was to her right now. A burden. So I didn't understand why she was sobbing somewhere behind me. She had chosen Harry, right? Right. Why didn't she just go back to him and stop pretending. I was really sprinting now, trying to get as far away as possible from the boy who had changed so much of my life.

I came to an abrupt halt. There was no way I'd go back. But where else to go? My parents' place was definitely out of the question. I mean, even though Harry obviously didn't care about what happened to her anymore, I was sure that Ginny still loved him. I shuddered to think of her reaction if she found out I had left him. Maybe Charlie would take me in. We could stay well away from everyone in - well, come to think of it, I had no idea where he was. So that was out too. Hogwarts was, of course, not even an option. Ronald Weasley, Harry Potter's ex-best friend would never be allowed to step foot in that place again and come out alive. Good job, Ron, I thought bitterly, now you've got nowhere to go, no place to hide, no place you're needed - or wanted.

I sat down with a frustrated sigh, and put my head in my hands. What was happening to me? Where were all these thoughts coming from? Why was I always so angry? And how did I end up taking my anger out on the two people who had been there for me so long. A rush of memories flooded through my mind. Harry showing me his scar on that first train ride... Hermione trying to help Neville find his toad... playing Wizard's Chess with Harry... making up predictions for Trelawney's homework... playing Quidditch at the Burrow with Harry, Ginny, and Hermione... talking about the Triwizard Tournament with Harry... watching him fight the dragon... Dumbledore telling me that I was the thing Harry would miss the most... Harry saving me and Fleur's sister from the Merpeople. Fleur! Why hadn't the thought occurred to me before? Of course, Bill wouldn't approve of my choice, but who else did I have? Harry and Hermione would absolutely not want me back now - not that I wanted to go anyway.

I stood up suddenly, ready to disapparate to Shell Cottage. As I was turning on the spot focusing on my destination, Hermione's voice rang through the woods again saying,

"Ron, I love-"

Her voice was drowned by the compressing darkness which enveloped me.

Yep, just left you hanging there... you mad? :D

Obviously not one of Ron's fondest memories in years to come. What did you think? Drop us a line, why don't you? (:

- the2marauders