Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.

Original A/N: Thanks to MaeSilverpaws1, who is beta-ing this story.

Chapter One Hundred Forty-Three

One Bad Thing after Another

Ron was having one whirl wind of a month, even the best parts of what had happen in the month made things confusing and hard for him. It all started with Harry having a vision or whatever it was that made him share Voldemort's feelings. This time it was something that made Voldemort happy and that was a scary thought in itself, and wasn't helped when he and Harry tried to think about what it was. When Harry went to see Sirius about what he saw, Ron had gone to find Hermione.

Ron told Hermione what happened, knowing that if he didn't she would be angry at him for keeping something like this from her. He found it cute and very annoying that she had to know everything, especially when they were finally alone together. Luckily enough after the fourth time he said 'I don't know,' to one of her hypothesis about what might have made Voldemort happy, Hermione did seem to understand that Ron just didn't have any solid answers to all of her inquiries.

"I'm sorry, I'm sure you don't want to talk about this anymore," Hermione said with a sheepish smile.

"It's okay, you like to process all the information so that you're prepared for anything that will happen," Ron shrugged. "You don't have to apologize for being yourself."

Hermione's expression became sad and her eyes sparkled and Ron was sure he had said something wrong until she started kissing him. "I love you," she said when she pulled away.

Ron felt as if he had just been petrified. He wasn't able to move a muscle as those three words echoed in his head. He knew that their relationship was going well, he was happier than he had ever been and he knew that she was the one that he wanted. His heart hammered in his chest and he was sure he was smiling like an idiot, because he couldn't imagine hearing anything as amazing as those words from her.

… And then Hermione was blushing and looking away from him and blabbing about not meaning to say that and that he didn't have to say anything.

"But …" Ron tried to say as he realized what was going on and now he felt like a real idiot.

"Don't," Hermione said.

"But …" he tried again.

"Ron, don't," she said pleadingly, covering his mouth with one of her fingers. "It's okay."

Ron looked at her miserable, he knew that if he carried on right now that she wouldn't believe him and he knew that she wasn't okay with him not saying it back to her but she really didn't want to force him to say something he didn't mean. He was just about to decide to disregard her pleading to stay quiet when Ginny came over and started asking questions. Hermione quickly fled the scene with his sister and Ron was left feeling confused and annoyed. He got up and headed to bed, thinking that he'd sort this out the next day.

Of course, the next day he didn't have time to think about that as Harry had woken up with another nightmare style vision. There was nothing like watching Harry while he had a vision in his sleep, tossing around wildly and there was nothing he could do to wake his friend up. Things were a lot more confusing this time, as Harry seemed to be more confused and worried. Ron didn't even think about it, when Harry left the room he followed his friend and luckily Harry seemed to be okay with that. Ron hadn't been sure if he should be more or less terrified that Voldemort had implanted an image into Harry's head. He was glad that Harry's dad hadn't been taken (and was being tortured) but he had a feeling that this was only the beginning of the new threat.

Ron really hated when he was right.

Harry couldn't function as Voldemort haunted his thoughts with images of people Harry cared about being tortured. Harry didn't say any more than that, he didn't want to share with his friends what he actually saw. Ron couldn't help but wonder exactly what Harry was seeing that made him look grimmer and sickly pale as the days passed by.

Ron also had to deal with Hermione, his stubborn girlfriend, who still refused to let him tell her how he felt. So in the end they both acted as if Hermione had never said those words. It made things awkward between them at first but they were able to both lean on the other as they had come accustom to and that helped him get through the difficult weeks.

"Hermione, I think he wants to be left alone," Ron said after one of their visit to the hospital wing where Harry had completely ignored them. "The others had stop coming."

"I know he wants to be left alone," Hermione said dishearteningly. "And I'm sure the others are right … but I need him to know that we'll always be there."

Ron smiled sadly as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his chest. It had been the only time in weeks that he didn't think about what had happened between them, he wasn't thinking about Harry and the hell he was in. He was just holding his girlfriend and he didn't have to think about anything else.

The moment vanished when Ginny came into the corridor asking how Harry was that day. Ron loved his sister, but right now he felt he could do without her interruptions.

"Why don't you just go in there and see him yourself?!" Ron snapped at her irritably.

"Because Harry doesn't want me to see him," Ginny said miserably.

"He doesn't want us in there either but that hasn't stopped us," Ron pointed out.

"Ron, stop," Hermione shot him a look and then turned to talk to Ginny, "he didn't talk to us …"

Ginny was glaring at him and not really listening to Hermione. Actually she was listening to Hermione, because he noticed her shoulder drop at Hermione's words, but her eyes didn't leave him. "It's different … he might not want you there but he expects you to be there. I doubt he's even thought about me at all or expect me to even want to see him …"

"I don't think he's trying to think about any of his friends too much," Ron said, the irritation out of his voice now. He knew that Ginny was having a hard time with Harry's problems just like he was and he shouldn't bite her head off just because she had bad timing. "He's afraid that his thoughts are going to end up hurting us. That You-Know-Who is going to use them against him and not just in his mind, but in reality."

"As if I'm on that list," Ginny muttered.

"I'm sure you are," Ron said honestly, his tone somber.

Ginny didn't answer him; she nodded her head and then excused herself. The moment ruined, Ron and Hermione walked to the library so they could get some of their homework done. Ron found it impossible to concentrate on school work right now, and he had a feeling that Hermione was finding it difficult too, but it was also all he could do from not letting his worry take over him.

A few days after that Ron and Hermione tried to visit Harry in the hospital only to find that he had left. Ron was pretty sure that he was being overly demanding to Madam Promfrey as he tried to learn what had happened to Harry. He figured if the old nurse didn't know how worried he and Hermione were the last three weeks she wouldn't have told them anything. In the end, what they got out of her was that Harry said he was feeling better today, that he thought he wasn't going to be hurt again and that he was going to see Dumbledore.

"We should go to Dumbledore's office," Hermione said once they left the hospital. "We can wait for him there."

"We have no idea how long Harry is going to talk to Dumbledore, he might already be finished for all we know," Ron pointed out. "I don't think he needs us hovering over him."

Hermione made a face, the one where she thought he was right but didn't want to admit it.

"Come on, let's get some breakfast," he smiled at her but they didn't take five steps before they nearly ran into Sirius, who was coming around the corner. He looked exhausted like he had for the last two weeks.

"Hey," Sirius said tiredly. "How was Harry today?"

"No idea, he wasn't there," Ron said bluntly and smiled.

"What?" Sirius said slowly as if he couldn't understand what he was saying.

"Apparently, he's better and talking with Dumbledore," Ron explained.

"Are you serious," Sirius asked his face frantic and hopeful. Ron just nodded his head. "I should go see him now … he's okay … I should have been there last night …"

"Why don't we all go get some food," Ron interrupted as Sirius seemed to be all over the place. "I'm sure we'll get to talk to Harry soon."

It had been nice eating breakfast with Sirius and Hermione, along with Fred, George, Ginny and Dean, talking about Harry and then going into a more carefree conversation. For the first time that month, Ron felt like a normal person again, not having to worry about things that were beyond his control. It wasn't until after lunch that he started to get nervous again, as he had expected to see Harry by now. He knew his friend wasn't going to suddenly be okay and back to himself like nothing happened, but now he was worried that Harry might want to distant himself from everyone. Harry could be fatally noble at times and Ron could easily see him deciding he was too dangerous to be around.

"We should have seen him by now," Hermione said after the meal, she too was looking worried.

"Maybe he's upstairs in the common room as we speak," Ron suggested, though he was pretty sure he was trying to convince himself too. "And if not, maybe he's outside."

"Maybe," Hermione said, her tone doubtful, but they walked upstairs to the common room anyway.

It was when he was again trying to assure Hermione, that they were finally able to see Harry again. He still looked pale and ragged, so it wasn't hard to believe him when he said that he needed to get some sleep. There was also something haunting about the look in his eyes, as if he had seen too much to ever be himself again. Ron felt all of the joy he felt earlier that day vanish with the appearance of his friend. He stayed downstairs with Hermione late into the night, though they didn't really talk, just taking comfort in one another.

The next day Harry avoided them again, only seeing them briefly later in the night. The following day Harry had spent most of his time with Ron and Hermione, sometimes with all of their friends. He still looked haunted, and there was something in his eyes that said that more than the weight of the world was on his shoulders now and he was just about to be crushed by it. The odd thing was Ron didn't feel as if Harry was trying to push his friends away. This wasn't what he had expected to happen. It was like Harry wanted to be close to his friends but didn't know how to handle it.

Ron tried not to confront Harry with his growing concern but it seemed like his friend needed to talk about what was bothering him. Harry had tried to scare him away, telling him it was too much for him to handle, but Ron knew that he wouldn't be able to walk away from his friend.

"I'm a Horcrux," Harry said, his voice breaking and that wasn't the only thing to that seemed to break as Harry's shoulder slumped, "I'm going to have to die."

The next thing Ron knew he was sitting on his bed looking at Harry with an open mouth as he tried to make sense of what Harry had just said.

"I shouldn't have told you," Harry said miserably as he sat on his own bed.

"What do you mean you're a Horcrux …" Ron asked numbly, he knew what they were but he thought they were things … objects … not a person.

Harry just looked at him as if he couldn't or wouldn't explain this.

"Sorry … but there has to be something …" Ron started but Harry was shaking his head. Ron felt his stomach sink, how could this possibly be true. Wasn't he supposed to get his best friend back? Not have to deal with the fact that at some point in time Harry was going to have to die or You-Know-Who would never be able to be killed. "You can leave …"

Harry gave him a sad smile. "I've seen how brutal and merciless he is. I can't run …"

"Harry …" Ron said, and he realized that his eyes were filling with tears. He didn't understand why this had to happen. There was silence in the room for a long time where the boys just looked at each other.

Harry broke the eye contact as he lowered his shoulder. "I shouldn't have said anything to you."

"When are you going to stop saying that," Ron snapped, getting of his bed and walking so he sat next to his friend. "What were you supposed to do, bear this all on your own?"

Harry looked at him, "yeah."

"Bloody hell, Harry, no one can do that," Ron said, "you need your friends more than ever now."

Harry shook his head.

"You're not going to tell anyone else, are you?" Ron asked.

"Who am I going to tell?" Harry asked back. "I can't tell Sirius, he wouldn't believe it … he'd try to figure out a way to stop it. It would kill him to know. Remus would accept it, but it would eat him up inside. My dad … he gave up everything he had to keep me safe. I saw everything he went though, and it was useless in the end …"

"It wasn't useless Harry," Ron said, "you got to live …"

"Yeah, fifteen, maybe sixteen years," Harry said bitterly.

"You don't know that," Ron said, "you don't know how long it will take …"

"How can I want it to take longer …?" Harry asked him. "I don't want to die …" he said tears now brimming over his eyes, "but I can't stand the idea of him living any longer."

There was nothing more Ron could say, nothing he could do to make this better. They just sat there in silence again as Harry seem to cry and Ron felt the numbness take over him as he tried to warp his mind around the idea of this, but it just didn't make sense to him.

It wasn't until Dean and Seamus came into the room when it was bed time that Ron even moved again, getting off of Harry's bed. Harry stood up too, wiping his eyes as he did so, making the other two boys give them odd looks but Ron couldn't care less.

"Ron," Harry said in a husky voice probably brought up by the crying he had done. "Thanks … you're right; I couldn't have borne this alone."

Ron nodded his head, still numbed, but he was glad that he was able to help Harry a little.