AN: I slightly changed Harry's name. Poetic license. Enjoy.

"HARRY!" Ron shouted. "Hang in there, please! You can't go...not like this!."

Molly pushed past her hysterical son for a second and checked for a pulse. It was there but it was faint.

"Ron...RON! He's just passed out. We have to get him to St. Mungo's immediately!"

At his mother's words he'd calmed down a bit, and took on a more determined visage.

"You Apparate with him, I'll be along in a bit." He nodded and followed his orders. He didn't pity the Muggles for what was about to happen. An irate Weasley is bad enough, but an irate Weasley MOTHER? Well, let's just say he hoped that he wouldn't be visiting her in Azkaban anytime soon.


They'd arrived in St. Mungo's lobby, and Ron yelled at the top of his lungs for anyone and everyone to help his friend. Soon a crowd gathered around. Once someone had gotten a look at a certain scar, all hell broke loose. Gurneys were summoned and Harry was wheeled off. Ron tried to follow, but he was escorted to the waiting area until Harry was in a better state. He sat there angrily. How could anyone do this to Harry? HIS Harry?! He'd never done anything to deserve any of what he was going through. Treated everyone well, unless they were a prat, like Malfoy. Rage coursed through Ron, he was burning with anger. He was so distracted by his anger that he didn't notice wisps of smoke rising from his hands. He just sat there brooding. Brooding and hoping for the best. He wasn't going to let anything else happen to Harry. He was going to make him as happy as humanly possible. That was a promise.

A few minutes later, Molly arrived and sat with her son. Once he'd relayed that he hadn't heard anything from the Healers, they sat in a tense and stiff silence. Molly had gone to hug her son, but was repelled but a strong heat coming off of him.

"Ron, dear. Are you all right?"

He turned and looked at his mother like she'd grown an arm from her forehead.

"Me?! Of course I am! I'm not the one forced to live with stupid Muggles, who has to..."

She cut his rant off, feeling the temperature rise.

"Honey, you're burning up! Almost literally."

Ron doesn't know why but suddenly, he snapped.

"I'M FINE!" he yelled. To his and everyone around them's surprise, flames shot from his fists. He yelped and looked down at his hands that looked to be perfectly fine. Molly snapped out of her stupor and began to tear up.

"Mum, what in Merlin's name was that?"

"I can't believe it!...haven't had one in the family in centuries...can't wait to tell your father!" she babbled on and on. Ron couldn't keep up. He was going to reach out and touch her shoulders to stop her, but given his display, he'd thought it best to get her attention some other way.

"MUM!"

She was brought back to her very confused looking son.

"Ron, you have inherited a very powerful type of magic. You're an Elemental Mage!"

"Me?! No way!" Ron had of course learned the legend of Elemental Mages. They were powerful wizards who could control the Elements of Nature at they're disposal. They were so rare that most people thought them extinct. They could harness the energy around them so well that to use this type of magic, they didn't even need wands. He knew there was more, but he never was that great about paying full attention in class. He spared a thought to Hermione, who would probably give him the full history when she found out. "I-I can't believe this! Why me? Why now?!"

"Well for the 'Why you?' I can't really answer that. But the answer to the 'Why now?' should be fairly obvious. What day is it?"

He'd forgotten! Today was his 16th birthday. This was his magical inheritance. In all the commotion, he completely spaced. His thoughts were on Harry. Harry...he wanted him to be alright, especially now. He'd be able to help more in his fight against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. He'd finally be able to protect him. So for that reason, he had to get better. Just one more time.

Hours later, a woman emerged from Harry's room and approached the Weasleys. Molly gently nudged her sleeping son. He darted up and immediately asked, "Is he alright, what's happened?!'

"Mr. Potter is in a stable condition. No more worries there. I'm Healer Hornsby, I was the healer in charge of Mr. Potter."

Both redheads released a breath they hadn't realized they'd been holding and waited for her to continue.

"We've repaired fractures to 3 of his ribs, his left leg and both arms. He had quite a nasty burn on his right arm, he's also quite underweight and malnourished. We've gotten him out of dangerous territory of course, but I would suggest you try to get him to eat a bit extra for a while."

Molly nodded and Ron saw the look in her eye. Molly's never had a problem feeding anyone to bursting, but now that it was healer's orders...'Good luck, Harry.' he thought.

"When can we see him?" she asked.

"Whenever you're ready. I can take you right to him. But he he may be a bit sleepy, so you may not have too long."

They followed her to Harry's room. "A bit nippy in here, isn't it?" Molly asked.

"Yes, we've tried a few warming charms, but they fade pretty quickly. But he seems to prefer it this way, so we gave up."

Harry heard voices. Voices he'd recognized. He turned to the source and opened his eyes. He was right.

"Oh Harry! I'm so glad you're going to be all right!" Molly gushed over her son in everything but blood.

Unsure of what to say, he let the hug continue. To be fair he wasn't used to them, so it felt a bit odd. Thankfully, she hadn't notice him flinch as soon as she made contact. If she had, she made no mention of it. Next was Ron, who was overcome with so many emotions, all he could do was stare. After about a minute, he finally got up the nerve and slowly reached down and hugged his friend. Ron had never been the huggy, touchy-feely type, Harry knew this. That's what made the gesture so special...and so terrible. He was supposed to be isolating himself. What were they even doing at the Dursleys'?

Seemingly sensing the question on Harry's mind, Ron found his voice. "We were coming to visit you! It was Mum and Dad's present to me for my birthday this year, well one of them. Then we saw them...Oh Harry, I'm so sorry. You shouldn't have to go through this, any of it. I'm just so sorry!"

Harry wasn't sure if it was an effect of the potions he'd been given, but he could have sworn he saw tears coming from Ron's eyes! Ron almost NEVER cried. He thought it hurt that tough exterior he was trying to pretend he had.

"Why didn't you wait until dark? You could have snuck in much easier."

"That would be my fault," Molly rejoined the conversation. "You see, we weren't entirely honest with you Ronald. We weren't coming for just a visit. I had intentions of bringing Harry with us permanently."

Two stunned faces were the responses she'd gotten. "You see, Harry dear, you needed to be housed with...the Muggles," she spat that word viciously. "because there were blood wards placed on the house to keep you hidden from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. However, Arthur looked into it and found that the wards themselves weren't as strong as one could have been hoped, because you aren't directly related, due to the only blood relative being your aunt. It actually got weaker every year...for almost 15 years. If it were intact, we wouldn't have been able to get in at all. The plan was to go in early and honestly do a bit of damage. Not to them of course, just knock a few things over and make it look like you were kidnapped. We figured they wouldn't care one way or the other, so there'd be no real Muggle outcry and we'd have you, finally. What we hadn't counted on was to walk in on...that. After Ron Apparated you here, it took all of my willpower not to hex them into oblivion. I summoned all of your belongings, shrank them, sent Hedwig to the Burrow, and after a few colorful words and releasing the fat idiot from the bind, I came straight here."

Harry couldn't believe that they went through so much for him. It was different when any of the Weasleys or Hermione did something for him. It was still odd, but he knew they didn't want anything out of it. They did it because they wanted to. Just like they keep putting themselves in harm's way to protect him. He couldn't let this go on.

"You shouldn't have done this." he murmured. "You should have left me there."

"What?! Harry, are you mad? He could have killed you. Who knows what else has been going on?"

"I KNOW!" He shouted without meaning to. "I know all about it because I was there, I lived it. I've taken every hit and every insult and do you know why? Because that's my purpose in life! I'm meant to be the punching bag, the human shield, the warrior. You can't keep putting yourselves in danger or risking yourselves for me! I can't lose you all too. I've lost my parents...Sirius...Cedric's dead because of me...No one is safe! Please, just...get out while you can!

Once he'd finished and said everything he felt he needed to say, he was panting heavily. Too afraid to meet their eyes as they walked out, Harry kept his head down.

"Harry." Ron called. He didn't respond.

"HARRY!" Still nothing.

"HARRISTON JAMES POTTER," Ron finally yelled gripping his chin and pulling his face into his eyeline. Of course, Harry didn't have his glasses, so it was almost an empty effort.

"You listen and you listen good. We are going to be here for you whether you like it or not! There's nothing you can say to change our minds. Everything you just said is how WE feel every time you rush off head first into danger. You're a brave and kind person, Harry, but you can be the most selfish human on the planet sometimes."

"Selfish?! How dare you?! You don't have an entire world counting on you to defeat an evil wizard, a world you didn't know existed until you were 11. You didn't have to lose everything you considered a family before reaching the age of majority, and I pray Ronald Billius Weasley you never do!"

"That's just it, Harry. You don't realize how much you mean to us! How much you mean...to me. You can't shoulder all of this alone. We WANT to help you! You don't have to go it alone. I realize you've never had anyone to really rely on before, but if it's going to be anyone at all, let it be me?"

"But you could-"

"AND SO COULD YOU! So could you, Harry. I may not have suffered as much loss as you have, but I can tell you right now, if I lost you I'd never recover. Haven't you figured out that I love you?...We...We love you." He gulped, hoping he hadn't given away too much.

Molly sat back and watched the exchange take place. It was as if they'd forgotten she was there and she really wanted to see if this was the point her son would finally realize how in love with Harry he is. Everyone's noticed it since the end of first year. Once she'd heard her son say the words she'd been overjoyed. She agreed wholeheartedly with everything he was saying so she felt no need to interrupt. Losing Harry would be like losing a son, and that's a parent's worse nightmare.

"Y-you love me?" Harry whispered looking back down at his hands as if they were fascinating. "But Ron, don't you get it? I can't-"

The next words were lost to the world because in the spur of the moment, Ronald Billius Weasley kissed Harriston James Potter.

Everyone in the room was stunned at the sudden turn of events. Molly was between pride and blushing. Ron had no idea what possessed him to do something so stupid. He was about to apologize profusely, when he felt Harry kiss him back. As their lips touched there was an odd sensation, an odd tingling that intrigued and slightly confused each boy. Harry couldn't believe it. He'd dreamed something along these lines would happen ever since he'd found Ron at the bottom of the lake during the tournament. A few happy dreams within the nightmares. In fact, all of Harry's happiest dreams since then involved Ron somehow. Him and Ron reading together, him and Ron racing brooms around Hogwarts, but they'd never made it this far in his dreams. Just before they would kiss, Harry would wake up.

They separated and looked each other in the eye, unsure of what to say after that.

"Uh," Harry started. "I-I...When you said you loved me, you meant...in THAT way?"

Ron braced himself for it. The rejection. He had a feeling Harry didn't have a clue what he meant. "Y-yeah, is that a problem?"

"N-no! I just had no idea, is all. I thought Hermione was more your type."

"Why does everybody keep saying that?! We argue non-stop and her busy body nature really irks me. Besides," Ron sighed, not believing he was admitting this, "I've kind of had a thing for you since we met on the train."

"You knew that long ago?"

"Well not exactly, you became a big part of my life. I mean, I don't know many people who would stick up for someone after knowing them for a few hours. When you told Malfoy to piss off, you just...I knew you were someone who I wanted to be in my life forever."

"Ron...there's a lot wrong with me. Excluding the danger, I have enough emotional baggage to bring down a hippogriff, I'm not worth it."

"You're acting as though this is our first time meeting. I've known you for almost 5 years now, I've been by your side through a good portion of it all. I'm not perfect by a long shot. In fact, if anyone's not worth it, I'd really say it's me."

Harry took Ron's hand and looked back into the sapphire eyes that he's come to know over the years. In those eyes, he saw home, he saw protection, he saw love. "You're worth more than you give yourself credit for." Then lightly kissed his cheek.

Ron looked at Harry hopefully "Does this mean...we're...y'know? Boyfriends?"

"On one condition, let's not let that change too much between us. We've been best friends forever and I don't want you thinking that everything is different. I'm still me. The same old Harry.

"And I'm the same old Ron. But there is one thing different about us."

"What?"

"You're MY same old Harry." he replied.

"And you're my same old Ron."

"Oohhh!" The boys turned to see a weepy Mrs. Weasley and Healer Hornsby dabbing at their eyes with tissues. They'd forgotten Molly was there and didn't notice the Healer come in.

"MUM!" Ron yelled, while Harry blushed, resembling a very ripe tomato.

"Oh dear, I'm so happy for you! For the both of you!" she said, running up to hug her boys. "I hoped you'd finally tell him one day!"

Ron and Harry shared a look and just laughed. And just like that Ron's birthday had seen a terrible beginning, but an amazing end.