Harry hadn't realised he was in Ron's room until now. With a pang of guilt he remembered promising he would spend some time with him before the party started. He'd make up for it now.

The injuries Fenir Greyback had managed to inflict on his friend were far worse than anything Harry could have possibly imagined even in his wildest dreams. Greyback was only half in his werewolf form, but his claws had contained enough poison to kill. As his nails pierced through Ron's eyes the venom poured into his bloodstream and it stayed there still, eating away at him from the inside. It poisoned his blood and turned his organs to rot. He was completely paralyzed and the Healers warned that over the years he would lose his voice. To keep him alive, Ron was hooked up to an IV that constantly gave him the antidote. It gave him time. It did not cure him. There was no cure.

What was most disturbing about Ron was his eyes. Or rather, lack of them. Greyback had gorged them out and the poison in the sockets was too terrible to allow anything new in its place. It left Ron with two enormous gaping holes in his head, the exposed flesh red raw as if it were on fire. Infections were a constant battle in Ron's life. A long time ago Harry had been squeamish. But part of seeing Ron involved cleaning out his eyes and he never complained. His brother had sacrificed his life for him.

Ron bit his lip to prevent himself from screaming out as Harry dabbed essence of dittany on the wounds with a cotton bud. He always tried to be gentle but the job needed to be thorough. On several occasions over the years a tiny patch had been missed and due to the quickness of the infection, Ron had nearly died.

"Almost done mate" Harry murmured as Ron grunted in pain. "Honestly, twenty seconds."

By the time Harry put it to one side Ron was sweating from exhaustion.

"I wish you wouldn't do that as a greeting." Ron managed to joke, his face pale. "Most people say hello."

"I always say hello." Harry pulled up a chair next to the bed. "I just get it out of the way. If I didn't you'd spend the whole time freaking out as you waited for it. This way you only hate me for the first five minutes."
Ron laughed. "I'll hate you less if you get out the chess set."

It was typical of their time together. Ron was bedbound, blind and left with Harry as one of his few visitors. He never really had anything new to talk about. Harry on the other hand often did have things to talk about but chose not to. He didn't want to complain about how shit his life felt when his best friend had it considerably worse. So instead Wizard Chess was a great way to pass the time. Ron said it kept his brain active and gave him something to think about when he was left on his own. He was getting so good Harry had stopped playing for money.

"Knight to E4"

Harry looked down at the board. Bollocks. He was losing and the game had barely begun. Slyly he moved into be B4. Ron hadn't been clear enough.

But when Ron didn't hear the Knight beat up Harry's Pawn he frowned. "Harry, are you cheating?"

"No." Harry said innocently. "There was nothing to take."
"Oh fuck off." Ron laughed. "That was E4." He said louder to the chess pieces.

Ron's knight scowled at Harry before galloping off to E4. Harry winced for his pawn.

"Is Dean enjoying the party?"

"I think so." Harry shrugged. "You know what he's like."
"So laid back he's horizontal?"

"That's the one."
"He better be grateful to Ginny."

"Oh he will be. He knows he'd have you to answer to."

"Me? What the fuck can I do from here? Nah. He'd have Ginny to answer to. Even if I were able to thump him, Ginny would still pose more of a threat." He grinned. "How did she persuade you to come out?"

"She broke into my flat."
"With her spare key?"

"How did everyone apart from me know about the spare key?"

"Well we could hardly tell you, you'd get the locks changed."

Harry could only smile. "I suppose I do hide away too much."

"You could hide away from me more. Last time you came you'd been out for a run and hadn't showered. I've gotta put my foot down, Harry. You can only see me when you're looking presentable. And I'll be able to tell."

For the hundredth time Harry felt a swelling of pride in his chest at Ron's teasing. How he kept his spirits up was beyond him.

"You've been thinking about her again, haven't you?"

It caught him off guard. The warm feeling suddenly went cold as if ice had stabbed through his heart. "How did you-"

"When someone goes blind their other senses increase. Apparently mind reading is one of my senses."
Harry was startled. "Really?"

"Nah. Just got lucky. What have you been thinking?"

He hesitated. Despite his relationship with Hermione, he knew that Ron had been in love with her too. He never said it out loud, but there are some things between friends you just know without a word having to be spoken. When he asked Ron if he could ask Hermione out he'd stepped aside and wished them well. There'd never been a single complaint, but Harry never felt entirely comfortable discussing their relationship with him.
Then again, Ron was entitled to ask questions about his missing friend and the woman he loved. Harry had always promised to share every piece of evidence with him, every update on the case.

"I still think she's alive." He said honestly. "I want to reopen the investigation."
His mouth dropped open when Ron replied. "I agree. I've never thought she was dead."

"Really?"

"'Course. We'd know."

Harry smiled. If he'd said that to anyone else they'd have thought he had delusions of grandeur. They'd remind him he was no Seer. It felt good that Ron was the one who said it.

"There'd have been a body." Ron continued. "Something. We found something of everyone else presumed dead."
Harry grimaced. They'd found things he'd rather forget. Things he still had nightmares about.

"And the other side would be raving if they had killed her." Ron was becoming more animated now, his cheeks becoming flushed. "Absolutely raving. No one has even mentioned it. No on even remembers fighting her."
"Then where is she?"

"Someone's got her." Ron said confidently. "Some sick bastard has her and she needs our help. They've not said anything yet because they're waiting for more people to come out of hiding. They're waiting for something to happen. I mean, we didn't manage to track down every Death Eater did we?"

"The Carrows are in Azkaban." Harry had already gone through his list at home. "So is Yaxley, The Goyles and Junior, Crabbe, Avery, The Flints and Burke. Lucius Malfoy, Dolohov, Nott and Yaxley are still out. The rest are dead."

"Well it's got to be one of those four!"

Harry shook his head. "I'm not sure. They might be free of Azkaban but they're still under house arrest."

Ron scowled. "I still don't understand how they all got off."

"Nott and Yaxley were supposed to have died by now." Harry shrugged. "They're very ill. They'd been using Dark Magic to fight their sickness. Now they're having to die a horrible death. I think that's worse than Azkaban."

When Ron didn't say anything, Harry inwardly winced. It hadn't been the most sensitive thing to say when Ron was sharing the same fate.

"I hope I see her before I go." Ron said softly.

"Well you won't be going any time soon." Harry replied with more fierceness than he intended. "We're both young."

Ron turned his head to him. For a second it was like Ron's blue eyes were piercing into his.

"You've not thought any more about what I asked you?"

Harry swallowed and focused on the chessboard.

"Checkmate."

Sorry this story took a break! I hope to be posting more chapters soon! Let me know your thoughts xx