Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling nor am I part of the wonderful and talented mangaka quartet known as CLAMP.
Title: Sakura
Pairing: RWxDM
Rating: I'm sick of rating every chapter. This story is an NC-17.
Warnings: Slash, Angst
Spoilers: OOTP , HBP and DH. Also some spoilers for Tokyo Babylon.
POV: Ronald Weasley; passive
Year Five: Chapter 35
Ron sat on the floor of the Gryffindor dormitory staring at his now empty chest, all of his belongings strewn about him on the floor. This had to have been the hundredth time he'd taken it all out since he had started packing hours before. It was the only way he could think of to keep busy though. He couldn't stop moving because he knew that if he did he'd be forced to think—a very dangerous pass time for him as of late. But even this activity had become so mindless now that unwanted thoughts were able to slip in once and awhile.
It was the last day of term before the Hogwarts Express would take all the students back to London the following day—nearly a week since the end of O.W.L. exams and since Ron had last seen Draco.
Ron had never been able to move from that spot after Draco had left. He had just stood there for hours letting time slip by. Thinking back on it now he cursed himself for being so horribly pathetic. All that time he was standing there feeling sorry for himself Harry and the others were battling Death Eaters and You-Know-Who. While he was standing there feeling sorry for himself Sirius was dying. The nightmares Harry had been suffering through out the year had been bad but the screams that last week were almost too much for Ron to bear.
"Still packing?" Ron was startled out of his dreary thoughts as Neville entered the room. He nodded his silent reply as he wiped the tears from his eyes. Neville of course noticed. "Everything alright?"
"Fine." Of course it wasn't but Ron didn't really feel like taking about it.
"Supper's all over," Neville said. "Didn't see you down there. Not very hungry were you?"
"No."
Ron started mechanically putting stuff back into his chest as Neville walked over and sat on Ron's bed. He didn't say anything, just watched Ron as he packed away his things. After everything was neatly put away Ron just sat there and stared at it again, contemplating about whether he should do it all over again. There was only one thing that still needed to be put away. It was this one thing he had been avoiding the entire time since he'd started.
Ron sighed and stood up. Joining Neville on his bed he reached under his pillow and pulled out a green velvet bag. Neville still sat there watching him in silence as Ron fingered the green fabric. Reaching into the bag he pulled out a length of cloth and a small card. He didn't look at the card; just put it to the side. He knew what it said, would never forget what it said so there was no need to read it again. He turned instead to pick up the small branch that was sitting on his bed side table.
"Are you going to give it back to him?" Neville asked as Ron brought it around.
"Probably should," Ron answered as he slowly started wrapping it with the piece of cloth. "It's pretty important to him."
Neville didn't say anything as they both watched the green leaves disappear underneath the wrapping. Ron gently placed it back into the velvet bag and pulled the drawstrings tight.
"I did a little reading about Sakura trees," Neville said suddenly. Ron didn't say anything. "That branch there comes from a Somei Yoshino Sakura tree. It's said to be the most sacred in Japan." Ron managed to pull his gaze away from the bag in his hands and look up at him but still stayed silent. Neville continued, "In Japan they symbolize loyalty and are most often compared to the samurai."
"What's a samurai?" Ron asked, startling Neville.
"The Samurai were warriors in old Japan. The Japanese see the Sakura as a symbol for them because of the flowers short life span."
"Why's that?"
"Well a fallen cherry blossom symbolizes a fallen Samurai. It's said that a Samurai would spend his entire life preparing for the battle in which he would be killed," Neville said looking down at the green velvet bag. "Sounds like a sad way to live if you ask me."
"Not if it was the type of life they chose," Ron said. "As long as they died fighting for what they really believed in then it would have been alright don't you think?"
"I suppose," Neville said uneasily. They sat in silence again for a few minutes before Neville sighed. "Ron just so you know I don't think you would have made much of a difference if you had come."
"Maybe Sirius would still be alive."
"Or maybe you'd be the one who's dead," Neville said.
"Would that be such a bad thing?"
"Ron," Neville gaped. Ron just smiled.
"Don't worry Neville," he said placing a hand on the others shoulder. "I'm not goin' to do anything stupid so stop thinking that right now."
Neville smiled back at him sheepishly. "I know you wouldn't but please just don't talk like that anymore." They laughed; laughter that sounded strained but it helped to make Ron feel better none the less.
"I do have something to confess though," Neville said after a while.
"Oh."
"When I sent you that message—the one with the coin—we were already half way to the Forbidden Forest." He glanced at Ron, almost as if he was expecting him to do something to him.
"I sort of figured that one out already," Ron said.
"I just didn't want you to get sucked into it along with us. I though that if I sent you to her office then you could maybe patch things up with Draco."
"There wasn't anything I could have done to fix it," Ron said.
"Why not?" Neville asked.
"Just look at the way the worlds going Neville," Ron sighed. "Do you really think anything could work out between me and Draco now?"
"I dunno," he answered. "It just seemed that the two of you were better than all of this. That regardless of how the world turned out you'd still be standing there…together."
"Draco's not strong enough for that sort of thing," Ron said.
"He's one of the strongest people I know," Neville replied.
Ron sighed and lay back across the bed. In the back of his mind he could hear Blaise Zanbini's voice echo out the words spoken to him all those months ago.
"Draco's like a porcelain doll," Ron said. Neville didn't say anything in return though, just nodded but Ron knew he didn't understand the way he did.
Draco is like a porcelain doll. So how much longer would it be before he finally broke?
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A/N: And so ends year five…finally. You can sort of tell I rushed this one. I apologize.