Moments later Harry left the bathroom and said,
"Where is he?"
Dean and Seamus looked at each other and then Seamus said,
"Harry…why don't you deal with this in the morning? You've drank too much."
"Where the hell is he?" Harry snapped again.
"We don't know," lied Dean, "He never came in here. But really, calm down before you go find him."
Harry paced back and forth in front of his and Ron's beds. Seamus and Dean watched him anxiously. And then Harry stopped and stared at the wall by Neville's bed.
"He went out the window, didn't he?" Harry asked angrily.
Without waiting for an answer, Harry walked over to the window and opened it, he peered out and scanned the campus ground before spotting two figured right beneath the window. Harry slammed it shut and was surprised that the glass didn't break.
"What happened?" Dean finally asked.
Harry just shook his head as he paced around the room.
(Next Morning)
Ron awoke slowly the next morning with an awful feeling in the pit of his stomach. He heard bits and pieces of his fight with Harry last night.
"Oh God," he muttered, closing his eyes again.
"Draco, actually," said Malfoy's voice laughingly.
Ron sat up and the blanket slipped off his chest. For a moment he thought he was naked but then realized he was wearing boxers and a pair of jeans he normally changed into after classes were over.
Draco was standing by the bed tying his green and silver tie around his neck.
"I have to get back to my dorm," Ron said quickly, climbing out of the bed. He found his white dress shirt and put it on, buttoning it most of the way. Malfoy handed him his tie and cloak while Ron put on his shoes.
"Bye," said Draco.
Ron didn't say anything, he was too preoccupied with figuring out what to do. As he walked through the Slytherin Common Room a few of the guys waved at him. He didn't wave back like he would normally do.
When he finally reached the Gryffindor Common Room and walked into the dorm he was met by Harry and Hermione, along with the normal residents of his dorm.
Silence. Ron gave Seamus and Dean a pleading look that begged them to stay. Silently, they nodded. Neville, however, left the room.
"Where have you been?" Harry snapped, "Planning your escape?"
Ron bit his bottom lip and stared at the floor. Part of him was disgusted that he chose this time to be weak. But he slowly said,
"When I leave it doesn't have to be planned. We just go."
"You're leaving?" everyone in the room said, but in different tones of voices.
"Harry…" Ron said, looking him in the eye, "You're the best friend I ever had. Even if I do go live with him…I would never do anything that would hurt you. Draco and I talked about it. We're leaving, but we're not going to his house. We're just leaving."
"You're running away?" Hermione asked while Harry let all this sink in.
"Out families hate each other, Hermione," said Ron quietly, "No matter what…nothing will settle. Nothing will ever be right. Running away won't solve anything but we'll be away from people who disapprove."
"Where are you gonna go?" Seamus asked, he and Dean were walking over at this point to listen better.
"Dunno," Ron said with a shrug, "He never told me."
"I'm sorry," Harry finally said suddenly.
"For what?" Ron asked, "Everything you said to me last night was true. It has been all about Malfoy but…" he sighed to punctuate his sentence.
"No," said Harry, "I'm sorry if I made you feel like you have to run away just so you can be with him."
"Not just you," Ron replied, "Mostly our families."
"When are you leaving?" Hermione finally asked. Ron was surprised she hadn't told him not to run away. That anyone had told him not to run away. That meant they understood.
"Tomorrow night," Ron replied, "Snape is helping us out of the castle. He thinks we're going to meet Draco's father."
Harry looked at Dean and Seamus, silently telling them to leave. Once again they both nodded but this time they left.
"Don't run away, Ron," Harry said, "Maybe it'll work out. I'm sorry that I assumed you would ever turn against me. Become a Death Eater if you want. The only thing I'm going to tell you is if you try to kill me I'll try to kill you."
"Harry!" Ron exclaimed, "I have one shot. I can either go to Lucius and end up dead…or I can run away and save myself time. But if I stay here Draco's leaving and we'd never see each other again. I'm going to take that one shot and run away."
Hermione was in tears now. Harry was just trying to figure out what was going through Ron's head.
"And no matter how much we've argued these past few days…" Ron continued, "I really need you to say you're okay with this. Both of you."
Harry and Hermione stared at their friend. Harry just kept getting flashbacks. From when her first met Ron, to Ron saving Harry and Hermione's lives by almost getting killed by the queen on the giant chess board, to Ron crashing the flying car into the Whomping Willow. Ron's heroic statement "If you kill Harry you'll have to kill us, too." To the look on Ron's face when Harry's name was extracted from the Goblet of Fire. Ron being attacked by the brains. And now. Ron was going to run away with the boy he claimed to love since he had found out he was gay.
"Go," said Harry, "I can't hold you back from someone you love, Ron. I just can't hold you back anymore period."
He waited for Ron to disagree…but the disagreement never came.
"Ron…" Hermione said, sniffing, trying to hold back more tears. But she couldn't. Ron stepped forward and hugged her.
The trio spent the rest of the school day in the dorm. Ron left a few times to go meet with Draco. He would always come back, though Harry felt that Ron would stay one time and never come back.
Finally the next night came. Ron had stayed with Draco in the Slytherin Common Room all day. He finally met back up with Harry, Hermione, and Ginny (who finally got the whole story) and they had a tearful last good-bye.
Or so they thought.
I'm writing these last two chapters (this one and the epilogue) while listening to Daughtry's "It's Not Over"
I've realized its the perfect song for this whole story.