Author Name: artificially flavoured
Author Email: scarred_lipgloss@hotmail.com
Category: General
Keywords: Ron Weasley
Spoilers: PS/SS, CoS, PoA, GoF [Just in case. Vague references to the Triwizard Competition, Cedric Diggory, the Chamber of Secrets, Buckbeak and Sirius's escape as well as the Philosophers Stone maybe made.]
Rating: PG-13
Summary: A selection on P.O.V's on how Ron's death affects dream team. A reflection of the past in which he was a big part, how are they to manage without him? My first fan fiction to date, please R/R!
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast books, and Warner Brothers. No money is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Authors Notes: Now That You're Gone is a very special piece of writing to me, its almost a reflection of my feelings on how it feels for one of your best friends to leave; even if it just to relocate.
There are time jumps, please do remember that. This is Harry Potter's P.O.V just a couple of days after Ron's death.

Now That You're Gone
by artificially flavoured
Chapter One: Now That You're Gone.





Just like everyone I wish I had the power to predict the future. Or change the past. I wouldn't undo a choice I have made. I wouldn't change my decisions.

I would bring back my best friend.

My best friend of 8 years. My first friend ever. The boy who befriended a gawky, self conscious eleven year old, not Harry Potter, T.B.W.L. The boy who placed his friends over himself. The boy everyone referred to as 'Harry Potter's Sidekick // Best Friend'. The boy who took all of that flak, and more.

The boy who prized his friends more than his own life.

Ronald Weasley.
Forever doomed to lived in the shadow of his brothers. And then, me. Forever second best in the eyes of the world. Forever being compared to his brothers. Or me. Forever doomed to use something that was once his brothers. Despite all this, he was unique. He was Ronald Weasley. My best friend. My other half. My identity, not vice versa. My brother. The boy who possessed a fierce loyalty towards everyone he loved. I'd like to count myself as one of them. I count myself lucky to learn about friendship from Ron. Ron is the type of friend everyone craves, but few are lucky to have. I am once again, fortunate.

But, obviously not fortunate enough. I'm not fortunate enough to know that my best friend, my conscience, my identity would be snatched away from me. I'm not fortunate enough to possess the power to bring back the life that so many people mourn for.

All the people who have ever had the slightest contact with him are struck. By his uniqueness. By his wit. By his charm. His smile, his eyes. There is something about Ron that makes him stick in your memory. Not just the red hair, not just the charm that oozes out of him. There is the appeal, the decency about him that you can spot a mile off. There is that special Ron- ness about him that no one else can ever have.

Ron you can say is a mixture of Bill's ultra coolness, Charlie's easy going nature, Fred and George's mischievousness with a twist of his own. He even has a bit of Percy's cautious nature in him. He has bits of them in him, but the major bit of his personality, is all Ron. That's the bit I will miss.

Loyalty, considered such a courageous and beautiful emotion. It can be such an impulsive, rash and a completely horrible emotion at times.

At times like now.

Don't get me wrong, I know he did this to keep his family safe. I know he did this to help the wizarding world in these troubling times. I know he did this for Hermione and Me. I know he did this to prove a point. I know in his own way he wanted the world to know that he wasn't just another one of the Weasley kids. I know he wanted the world to know he just wasn't my sidekick. I know he wanted the world to know he was Ronald Weasley.

I wish he could be here to know that the world does know who Ronald Weasley is. I wish he could be here to see that the world knows who the real Ronald Weasley is. I wish he could be here to see how much they love and appreciate Ronald Weasley.

I wish he knew how much he meant to me.

I just want him back. I just wish I could turn around and see Ron standing there laughing his head off at us. I just wish it was all a big joke. I wish it were me. Not him. Anyone but him. I wish he knew that Lavender did really love him.

I wish he had done his last heroic deed, knowing that he is loved. Not just by me, not just by Hermione and his family, but by almost everyone he has ever come into contact with. Even Draco Malfoy.

I just wish I had one more chance to show him how much I wish it were me in his place. I don't have a family [the Dursley's don't count]. The closest thing to a family I have ever had are the Weasleys. And that's because of Ron.

Ron is untouchable now. Unreachable. They used him to get at me. They didn't want him, you think Voldemort even cares about Ron? No. He wants to kill me. It should have been me he killed, not Ron.

I wish I had the power to change the past and thus the future. All I want to do is protect the ones I love. Is that so much to ask? Apparently so.