The Houses Competition

Round 9 Standard

House: Hufflepuff

Class: Transfiguration

Theme: Angst

Prompts:

[Dialogue (multiline)] "Trust in your gut." / "What's your gut telling you?"

[Word] Happiness

Word Count: 1478 (Google Docs)

What Hurts the Most

Ron couldn't find Hermione anywhere. The last of the guests had left the funeral, and all Ron wanted was some quiet alone time with her after the stress and grief of the day. The last place he could think of checking was his room, and he hoped she was waiting for him there.

When he opened the door he was disappointed to find the small space empty, and he ran his fingers through his hair from the resulting frustration. Ron walked over to his bed, resigning himself to sit and think of any other place she might be as he tried to quell the panic rising through his body. That was when he saw the letter perched on his pillow.

Her neat handwriting donned the envelope with his name. Ron felt his heart drop into the pit of his stomach as he reached for the letter, his hands tearing it open of their own accord. He scanned the page hurriedly, hoping the words he was processing couldn't possibly be true.

Ron,

Please don't worry about me. I'm fine. I need to find my parents. I know you're hurting and grieving for Fred, and your family needs you, so I couldn't ask you to come with me. It's not that I didn't want you to come. I'm trying to keep your best interests at heart. You've just been reunited with your family, and I couldn't possibly tear you away from that. But it's time I found mine, too.

I promise I'll write to you. I'll keep in touch so that you know I'm safe, and as long as you'll have me, I'll visit the Burrow as soon as I've returned from Australia. Hopefully, this won't take long. Please don't think I wanted to leave you. Especially not with things the way they are.

I'm sorry. I hope you can forgive me.

Hermione

His hands were shaking. She just left? How had he not realized that she'd been planning to retrieve her parents right under his nose? It wasn't safe for her to go alone. His parents would have understood if he'd joined her. Ron shook his head in anger. He wanted to go with her, but she hadn't even given him the choice.

"I would've done anything for you."

He crumpled up the parchment and tossed it in the bin as angry tears stung his eyes. There had to be something he could do. Anything. But what? She was probably halfway around the world by now.

The door opened, and for a split second Ron thought that maybe it was all a cruel joke. That Hermione would be the one to come waltzing through the door to check on him. His hopes were mistaken, though, as it was Harry who entered.

"Did you find her?" Harry asked hopefully.

It took everything in Ron's power to look up at his best friend.

"She's gone."

"What do you mean she's gone?" Harry shut the door behind him and crossed his arms, waiting for Ron to go on.

"What do you think I mean?" Ron spat. "She took off for Australia without telling anyone! Without telling me!" The anger caused his voice to rise to a dangerous level.

His hands were shaking uncontrollably as he reached up to pull at his hair. The grief was already making him emotionally unstable, but this was enough to push him over the edge. Hermione's departure had sucked away what little happiness he had left. Hermione—and their budding relationship—was the one bright spot in his life as he navigated the loss of his brother. Now that she was gone, an emptiness washed over him. The pain of feeling alone began to consume him when Harry's voice drew him out of his tailspin.

"What are you going to do about it?" There was no sympathy in Harry's voice.

He looked up at his best friend, meeting his stare. "What?"

"You heard me. What are you going to do about it?"

"What can I do? She's already gone, and she clearly doesn't want me with her."

"Is that what your gut is telling you?"

Ron gawked at Harry. "What's my gut got to do with anything?"

"It's a saying, isn't it? Trust in your gut."

"What's your gut telling you?" Ron grumbled.

He bloody well knew the saying. What he didn't understand was why it mattered right now. Ron would have preferred that Harry just spoke plainly and not in riddles. He was starting to sound more like Dumbledore by the day.

"My gut? My gut's saying that my best friend is a right prat who's going to wallow in self-pity instead of going after the love of his life!" Harry threw his hands up in the air exasperatedly.

"I—what? That's not—you don't..." Ron spluttered incoherently.

"Please, mate, I know you two think I'm thick sometimes, but I've watched you dance around each other for seven years. And I bore witness to your kiss in the Room of Requirement in the middle of a battle! Don't tell me that doesn't mean anything. Stop letting your stupid pride get in the way and go after her!"

Ron couldn't believe his ears. For once, Harry was making sense, and as much as he wanted to ignore his best friend's suggestion, he knew deep down that Harry was right. Trust your gut. Right now Ron's gut was screaming 'don't let her go.'

"But how am I supposed to find her?" he asked desperately.

"How'd you find us when you came back to the hunt?" Harry was eyeing the deluminator that was lying on his nightstand.

Right. The deluminator. He had a point. A good point. But would the deluminator work, or would he have to wait for her to say his name again?

"What if it—"

"You won't know unless you try. Now, pack a bag and let's find out."

Ron fought through the millions of thoughts creating a haze in his mind as he grabbed his rucksack off the desk chair and began shoving things randomly into the bag. He'd done a lot of mental things in his life, but this just might be the barmiest. If the ball of light miraculously appeared, could it actually take him all the way to Australia? He shook that particular thought from his mind. Let's not get ahead of ourselves, here.

As wary as Ron was about going after her, he couldn't bear the thought of Hermione finding her parents alone. She needed his support just as much as he needed hers, even if she didn't want to admit it.

Once his rucksack was full—and hopefully of belongings he actually needed—Ron crossed the tiny attic bedroom and picked up the cold metal object. The object that Dumbledore left for him. The deluminator came through for him once before, and Ron hoped beyond measure that it would come through for him again.

"Are you ready?" Harry sounded as though he was anticipating this more than Ron.

His thumb reached for the clicker, but before he could bring himself to pull down on the lever, he paused. "What if it doesn't work?"

"You won't know until you try, mate."

Ron shot Harry a disbelieving look. "You sure you don't want to come?"

"No. She needs you. You both need each other. It's about time I stop getting in the way of that."

Ron stared at Harry in awe for a moment before becoming suspicious. "You're not just saying that so you can spend alone time with Ginny, are you?"

Harry smiled sheepishly. "Not entirely. But I meant every word I said."

Without thinking, Ron wrapped Harry in a bear hug. The two didn't embrace like that often, but after everything they'd gone through, it felt warranted.

"Thanks, mate."

Ron let go and backed away, eyeing the deluminator nervously. "Well, it's now or never, isn't it?"

Harry nodded, and Ron flicked the lever before he could talk himself out of it. He was expecting the little ball of light to float out and hover over him, Hermione's voice speaking his name in her just like last time, but nothing happened.

"No," Harry said disbelievingly. "I thought it would work."

Ron collapsed on the bed, his rucksack landing on the wooden floor with a decisive thud.

"Now what do I do?" He asked desperately.

Harry didn't answer right away as he mimicked Ron's actions, flopping on his camp bed. Eventually, he sat back up, breaking the silence with a creak of the mattress springs and his voice.

"We wait, and we listen. She's bound to say your name eventually, right?"

"Yeah, right." Ron's voice sounded hollow.

If there was one thing Hermione Granger was good at, it was not speaking when she didn't want to. The hope Ron let in just moments before was plummeting as he felt the woman he loved slipping right through his fingers.