"Ron was on his feet. As the dog sprang back toward them he pushed Harry aside; the dog's jaws fastened instead around Ron's outstretched arm. Harry lunged forward, he seized a handful of the brute's hair, but it was dragging Ron away as easily as though he were a rag doll -" Prisoner or Azkaban

.***.

Ron turned his back to Harry so he wouldn't see how his hand was shaking. "Hermione decided she's too old to change in here with us blokes?"

"Yeah," Harry sounded tired, but Madame Pomfrey had said there was nothing wrong with them, just ordinary exhaustion, and they were free to go. And they'd already spent too much time in the Hospital Wing for third years. "She said she'd meet us at the Common Room. She wanted to go to Flitwick and ask him about her exam."

Ron snorted, shaking his head like he was exasperated and not totally blown away by the fact that Hermione could encounter a trio of wizards, a spy for the Dark Lord, and, from what Harry said, about a million dementors and still be more interested in whether she'd gotten full marks on her exams. "I did crap in Charms," he said, because he couldn't say that out loud, not to Harry.

"No you didn't," Harry said, "You did crap in Divinations."

"I was hoping if I failed the exam they'd drop me from the course."

"Ron?" Ron hadn't noticed that Harry was at his shoulder, he was focusing on the fact that he couldn't get his buttons done up. "Are you okay?"

"Course I am. Just give me a mo'."

Harry stepped back, fiddling with his wand and staring out the window. "Percy was by earlier," he said, "When you were still out. The twins came through, too. And Ginny."

"Ginny was probably looking for you."

"They were worried. Noticed you were gone. Apparently Fred and George were trying to organize a water polo match in the lake and thought you'd be good for testing the waters."

"Don't laugh, Harry. They probably want you to be squid bait. They all think you're a Weasley."

"Really?" Harry sounded pleased, and that was just too much for Ron. He sat down on the bed. His shirt was still completely unbuttoned. His hand wouldn't stop shaking. He hadn't told Madame Pomfrey about the dog (Sirius, Sirius who wasn't evil and was Harry's godfather) biting him, hard. Hadn't told her about the teeth breaking the skin.

Harry came over until he was about a foot in front of Ron, and then fidgeted. "Can I...I can help you with your shirt. You're probably just tired. We can stay, if you want."

There was no worse way to spend the last day before summer holidays than in the Hospital Wing. Ron knew. He'd been here First Year, waiting for Harry to wake up after the Stone. And last year, waiting for Hermione to wake up, making just Ginny was okay. Why'd they always end up here this time of year? "I want to watch Fred and George's water polo match. They probably made Neville play."

Harry was doing up his buttons, looping them through the shirt deftly. Ron snorted, "Like it's so easy."

When he was done, Harry stayed kneeling. He was looking at Ron's shirt, which was stupid because he was wearing an identical one. "What's that?"

Blood, it was blood, he was pointing at Ron's arm and even though he'd clumsily wrapped bandages around it the night before when Madame Pomfrey was distracted, there was still blood from the stupid dog bite. Ron had hated dogs since Bill brought home a sickly puppy and it had died on them. He hadn't even been able to look at the bite since last night. He kind of hated blood, too.

Harry rolled up the sleeve, and Ron tried to push his hands away but he was so tired and Harry was unnaturally strong for a blind midget. "Is this from where Sirius grabbed you?"

"Yeah," Ron looked down and wished he hadn't, the wound was red and swollen and still oozing blood even though it was twelve hours later. "Well, at the time my leg hurt more, you know? And I was dragged through the Shrieking Shack. And up stairs. By my arm. Felt like it was going to come off."

Harry touched it, "Why didn't you get it healed?"

Ron shrugged, pulling his arm away from Harry's probing fingers. "More important stuff going on. And I was pretty much. You know. Unconscious."

"I'm sorry," Harry said, "You only got hurt because you jumped in front of me."

"Remind me not to do it again."

"Don't," Harry said, seriously, "Please, Ron. This whole Voldemort-"

"Don't say that-"

"You Know Who, for Merlin's sake, this whole business isn't going away. It's going to get worse. And I don't want you and Hermione to get in the middle of it. What if you get hurt worse next time?"

Ron was quiet. He shook his sleeve back down, covering the wound. He'd make Hermione heal it later. "Harry, have you ever had, you know, a story going in your head? Like a book?"

Harry quirked a smile, "'Mione's going to be upset she missed a conversation where you voluntarily talked about books." But then he thought about the question. "Yeah. When I was little, with the Dursleys," he looked uncomfortable, he rarely told stories on his life back on Privet Drive, not since Ron had shown up to see the bars on his window. "I used to pretend I was a superhero, and living with my aunt and uncle was all just a big mistake, and soon my parents would come back and reveal I had this great destiny." He looked embarrassed. "That sounds like I was pretty full of it. I had a lot of time to think. No one talked to me much when I was a kid."

Well that was just about the saddest thing Ron had ever heard, but it helped his point. "I never thought I was a superhero, Harry. I'm the sidekick. Always have been. Bill and Charlie were always the hero types. Percy was a brain. The twins could come up with clever plans. Even Ginny is quite manipulative when she wants to be. I'm just extra."

Harry stood up and walked away and when he came back he looked angry. Furious. "So you think it's okay to just...what? Jump in front of me? Sacrifice yourself? You did it on that chess board first year and you're doing it now. I don't want people protecting me!"

Ron raised an eyebrow, "I'll just get out of your way, then."

"You can't die for me, Ron. I mean it."

"Harry," Ron said-he didn't want to argue, he just needed Harry to understand-"look mate, you're the Boy Who Lived. Great. You get attacked every year. Super. You're important to...everybody. I'm the sixth son in a family of normally decent, mostly unimportant people. If I have to jump in front of a huge black dog to make sure you get to save the world or whatever, then I'm going to do it."

"I'm not more important than you."

Ron rolled his eyes, "'Course you are. Don't go getting a big head about it."

"I don't want to be the hero, Ron. Maybe we should switch."

"Nope. I'm looking forward to my sidekick role. Ask Hermione to switch. She'd be a decent hero."

"Heroine."

"Whatever." Ron looked down at his arm. "I need to let Madame Pomfrey look at this, don't I?"

"Don't worry," Harry said, "Fred and George won't be down at the lake until later. We haven't missed anything."

"How do you know?"

"Because they're coming down the corridor," Harry tilted his head at the door, and sure enough four red heads and a very bushy-haired girl were coming up fast to the Hospital Wing. Harry grabbed his arm, squeezed hard enough to hurt, "You can't sacrifice yourself for me, Ron. You have a family. They love you. I'm unattached."

"All the best heroes were orphans."

"It's on the table, Ron. We can switch any time."

The door flew open and Percy started talking about how he'd just met with a representative from the Ministry and they were offering him a job for the summer, and Fred and George immediately boxed Ron's ears and dragged him to his feet, saying he and Neville were water polo captains, and Ginny said that she was happy Ron was okay, and then caught Harry's eye and fell silent.

George counted heads in the room. "Six is a good side for a team. Come on Perce, be on the Weasley team, you're a decent swimmer."

Fred clapped Harry on the shoulder, "You going to be on the Weasley side, Seeker?"

"I'm not a Weasley," Harry said, pointing out the obvious.

"'Course you are," Fred sounded surprised, "Aren't you and Ron a couple?"

"Fred!" Ron shouted, turning red.

"All right, whatever you say. But you're a Weasley, Harry, you've got a jumper. Come on, 'Mione, you're a Weasley too today."

Hermione beamed and looked at Harry, "You all right?"

"Apparently I'm the hero," Harry said, and knew he'd have to elaborate later on. Hermione would be able to sort Ron out. Hermione could convince her he was meant for more than sacrifice and martyrdom.

She tapped his glasses with her wand, straightening them out. "Well of course you are. What part did you think you were playing?"

Ron was sandwiched between Fred and George, who were propelling Percy down the hallway. He threw Harry an apologetic look, as if to say he was sorry that Harry had gotten swept up into this.

.***.

a shorter chapter, but this was a scene we always wanted. a day that happened all the craziness at the end of a year.

we love all the fans of loyal ron out there. if you have any fic recommendations, or want to say hi, or want to drop us a line about the story, you know what to do.

peace,

us