Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER OR ANY OTHER CHARACTERS. THEY ARE THE PROPORTY OF J.K ROWLING

It had been four years already. Four years and no news. No floo calls, not a bloody single letter, nor christmas or birthday presents, nothing, no hints of "Hey, I'm alive!" of any kind. He really hoped he was fine. He really needed the break when he left. It had been too harsh, and too claustrophobic. But he missed him, his best-friend. Badly.

Of course, he knew that if Harry had remained in England… or wherever but localized, things would have been far worse. Dumbledore had really screw up everything whith his mania of controling Harry and everything about him. Even though he had finally defeated Riddle right after their sixth year Easter break. Right three months before Percy's an Penny's baby boy birth. Percy. He missed him too, but Percy was not coming back. No one comes back from death. But Harry was not dead, Ron could tell that far. So he was coming back, eventually.

Anyway, though Harry had given them a final peacefull and fun year at Howgarts, Dumbledore still had insisted in keeping him like a fucking prisioner, spending every hollyday locked up at school or at those damm Dursleys. No wonder he had fallen on depression.

Even though Harry had acknowledge that the headmaster had meant well, in the end it had been too much. And Ron had to agree. He, all of them, had grown up, certainly, they were legally adults since they turn seventeen. Even his mum had recognized that. But Dumbledore didn't. He had pretended to keep Harry "controled" even after they had graduated from school, and even though the war had ended and they never had really joined his "Order of the Phoenix" and even though he had never have any legal right to order Harry's life around. Ron didn't have any proof, but he suspected that the old wizard had even passed over the Potter's will to place Harry with his relatives. And he had the strong suspicion that Harry knew that for good.

It was interesting, he had not really stopped to think about it, but the will of Harry's parents had never been officially read. Sirius' had, right at Harry's sixtienth birthday, but not James and Lily's. And it was strange, because Harry was their only heir, or at least one of them, as he had been of Sirius. But he knew that the wizard law established that the reading of a will had to take place when each of the heirs came of age. All of them, and so Sirius' will had been reread on Harry's coming of age. But not his parent's. Funny. What had Dumbledore done?. Sure Harry knew and that was one of the reasons he was so angry with him.

But no that angry, Ron wasn't either. Dumbledore was great, and good, and had done what he thought was the best. And most of the times he was right, he had saved their lifes many times. But with Harry he had made many mistakes, for the best, but mistakes. And keept doing them.

Ron was sitting in his desk at the staff room in St Mungos', it was three in the morning and he was the pediatric healer on guard duty that night. All the kids had finally fallen asleep, and the parents that were allowed to stay too. No witch on labour so a neonatal pediatric healer was needed. It was quiet for once. Sure it will not last, but he could rest a little and perhaps think.

As it was just a week after Christmas he had a lot in mind. He had been able to stay at the Burrow for the entire hollyday as he had graduated on June and was now a full healer. The final attack on the hospital had left so many healers wounded or dead that the ministry had allowed those who wished to compress the degree by studing through the summer, and Ron had been glad to.

So the trainee healers had been doomed to take the christmas guards duties while their "elders" enjoyed the hollydays at home. And Ron had gone home for the entire Christmas for the first time since he had graduated from school. It had been great. His nephew, Johnny, lived now in his room under the goul and he had bunked with him in Harry's cot, as he did every time he went for dinner and Johnny ended with a nightmare for too much food or when he catched a cold or any little child illness and he needed his "Uncly Ron". He knew he was his favourite uncle and he really loved the kid. They had messed around like equals for the entire week and had made their respective mums sigh with exasperation at their pranks. But he knew better. His dad had laughed heartly with them and his mum had been glad to feed and pester him. Penny also was happy with the conection he shared with Johnny, guess she thought he was the best next think to a dad the kid had.

Penny had gone to live at the burrow when Percy died. She was pregnant and alone. Her father had remarried many years ago right after her mother had died in a car crash and they had never been close, she had been quite alone in the world. So Penny had been made a full Weasley since she was Percy's wife and had been received gladly at the Burrow.

It was strangely natural to have her there. No one had even dreamed of questioning her place in the house. First she was so broken…but one year ago she had even began to date some guys, and Ron thought that funny. None of them had felt that she was betraying Percy, but the poor blokes did no saw what hit them, it was just as with Ginny's dates: five brothers and a sister, not to count mum and dad. Only the stronger ones survived.

The Burrow had been full for Christmas. Everyone but Harry had appeared. Bill and Fleur had come the last ones, they spent Christmas day with the Delacrouises and New Years with them. Ginny and George had come to stay too and even Fred and Angelina had sleeped there on Christmas nigth. Charlie lived now at the Burrow most of the time because the dragon camp in which he worked since the war was close to Ottery St Catchpole. Though Ron suspected that he had remained in England just for Tonks. And then there was Hermione, oh yes.

She had come to the Burrow too. Mrs Weasley had adopted her just as she did with Harry. Her parents had divorced while they were in their seventh year at Hogwarts and had married again with their respective lovers. So it was quite usual that Hermione spent her hollydays with Ginny and the Weasleys, not with him. That was one of the reasons he missed Harry so bad. Ever since she had dumped him just after three months dating in sixth year it had been Harry who had made bearable her company. It was not that he could not stand her, quite the contrary. He loved her, that was the problem. She had broke with him with no explanation at all, just saying "I can not do this". But he had not ask her to do anything, he simply adore her and just make anything to keep her happy, from homework to starting the rows so she could beat him. He was devastated, and Harry had come to the rescue, as always. He had struggle with them and their homeworks, classes, prefect duties and quiddich practises so they didn't miss anything. He had argue with the two of them till he had get them to speak again and thanks to that the trio had survived almost untouched.

So Hermione and Ron remained friends thanks to Harry, they even got together to have lunch or cook dinner for each other and go to the movies and talk about life work and dates and whatever. But sometimes being the best friend of the most wonderfull woman in the world was too much for Ron. He had been telling himself that it had just been a school crush, nothing else, but it didn't leave. And he strongly suspected that Hermione thought the same. She had always looked at him with a strage longing in her eyes…but she had dumped him first place without a reason.

When Harry had been there it had been easier, he was always willing to listen and counsel. Eventually ending in planing some prank on Malfoy to cheer the mood. Successfully all the times. But he must be really tired and in need of a real break. Apart from those Chrismas he had not taken any hollydays from the hospital since he had started studing healing. Oh, he had made trips, but always work trips. Ron loved his job and really liked the researching part of it. Studing new healing methods and researching new solutions for incurable illness, it was exciting. But now he was just tired.

Johnny was great, but his family was starting to get on him, incluiding Hermione. Always demanding his healing skills for anything, demanding him for being always busy, and triying to prank him when he needed sleep (the twins would never grow up). Looking at Hermione had began to be too much, so pretty, so smart, so sexy…And Ginny still insisted on blaming him for everything. He was a prat, period. Everything was Ron's fault…Merlin knew how.

So Ron was tired and fed up with everyone, he needed a break.

Perhaps a nice fellowship in another country for a year, or in the scottish muggle hospital again…or another nicely long research expedition to any lost place…

"Healer Weasley?"

"Yeah? Lana!. What are you doing out of bed, honey?"

"Brittany is sparkling again and she has burned my blanket"

"Again?" Funny girl Brittany Malfoy, she had swallowed her cousin's salamander just to upset him. Needless to say that the consecuences were two weeks at the hospital taking all kinds of cooling draughts and breathing fire on her roommates blankets, never her own, oh no. Smart girl.

Ron took little Lana on his arms and went to the mayhem in the girls ward to check the damages.

At six in the morning, with all the blankets repaired, the girls asleep again and Brittany grounded without pancakes for breakfast again a choking Ron and nurse-healer Smith decided to take an early breakfast and continue laughing again away from little ears. This was a part of his job he really loved, how the children were never grounded