Written for The Houses Competition: Round 3: The Artist Within
House: Slytherin
Position: Muggle Studies
Category: Standard
Prompts: (Character) Ron Weasley, (Weather) Rainy
Summary: Ron has some thoughts after he leaves Harry and Hermione and then after the war.
Word Count: 1051
It was raining when Ron Weasley finally landed... wherever this was. Because of course it was. At first, the rain only made Ron angrier, but honestly, anger and irritation were the only emotions he had felt for the last few weeks.
After about a minute of standing in the downpour, Ron realized that the rain was actually calming in a way. After kicking a rock away angrily, he sat down on the cold, wet ground, exhausted.
For a moment, he let the rain continue to wash over him. It was cold but relaxing. It seemed to wash away everything he was feeling at once. And, for the first time in what seemed like weeks, he was blissfully numb. There was no anger, but there weren't any positive emotions either. The steady rainfall kept falling over him, turning the numbness into a sense of calm.
Now that his mind was clear, the only thing Ron felt was guilt. He should have never left Harry and Hermione like that, not when so much anger and suspicion plagued his exit. It reminded him of fourth year, when he had abandoned Harry for a brief moment. After that, he had vowed silently to himself to never do so again.
And he had broken that promise today. Once again, he had abandoned his best friends, but now it was even worse. Any moment now, they could be captured and killed by Death Eaters, and it would be Ron's fault. He would never be able to apologize, and the world would be doomed.
It didn't matter if the Horcrux had made him feel that way. He shouldn't have let it affect him so much in the first place.
He laid fully on the ground, completely ignoring the mud that was settling into his skin and ignorant of the rain still pouring down on him.
Speaking of ignorance, where was he anyway? All he knew was that he wanted to get away and had Apparated without a second thought.
He noticed that he was still in a forest, his eyes taking in the trees surrounding him. Maybe he was in the same forest Harry and Hermione were in, but that was most likely wishful thinking on his part. If he was, though, he wanted to take a minute to find out what to say.
Obviously, he needed to apologize—as much as he hated to do so. He knew he was in the wrong, but he had always hated apologizing. What should he apologize for? Abandoning them? Forcing Hermione to choose when there was obviously only one proper choice? Leaving Harry again just when he had only just started to really forgive him for the first time he had done this?
He had noticed that the first time. Harry didn't forgive as easily as people thought. He did so gradually, over weeks and months. Ron thought it was because of his relatives. Harry didn't trust people easily, and witnessing just briefly how Harry was treated in that house, Ron was inclined to believe it was because of them.
"Bloody hell," he swore aloud, closing his eyes and letting the rain fall on his face.
At this rate, Harry would never trust nor forgive him, and Ron couldn't blame him. He couldn't even forgive himself at this point. But that wasn't what mattered now, Ron reminded himself. He had to make sure Harry and Hermione were safe first.
Getting up, he wished he could remember the drying spell as he felt like a soaked cat, but his mind was blank at this point. He tried to refocus as he prepared to Apparate and hoped for the best.
'See ya soon, mates.'
It was raining once again, but this time, Ron sat safely in the Burrow. He stared out the window in the living room, watching the rainfall once more. The war was now over, and a lot of good people had lost their lives trying to end it, including… Fred. Hermione once told him that rain was the sky crying. Maybe it was crying for Fred this time, he thought numbly.
They were going to bury him soon. They had a plot of land for a family graveyard and all of them would eventually be buried there. No one thought Fred would be the first one, though. Ron could already feel how empty the Burrow was without him, how empty George was without his twin by his side.
Hermione also told him that it was the good that always died young. Ron wasn't sure how the topic came up, but as the words came back to him, he thought it must be true. After all, Fred was one of the best out of them.
"Ron, are you okay?" a voice questioned from behind him.
He turned to see Harry, looking concerned. He tried to give his best friend a smile, but obviously he failed as Harry only grew more concerned. Instead of trying again, he turned back to watching the rain.
"Did you know it was raining when I left?" he asked, almost wishing he was outside in the rain instead of being stuck in the Burrow.
He remembered how numb he had felt back then. After all the anger, there had been only numbness and it was no different now. The only difference was that the numbness was also peppered by the grief he felt.
Harry tensed behind him. His leaving was still a sore topic and Ron hated to bring it up now of all times. Knowing his best friend, Harry was probably feeling guilty about Fred's death, which was ridiculous. Still, there was no need for him to rub salt on the wound.
Regardless of that, Harry still answered, "No. Do you know where you were?"
"Nah," Ron replied. "Certainly reflected how I felt though."
Harry sighed and moved closer. He sat down and placed a comforting hand on Ron's shoulder, which the latter definitely did not lean into. Certainly not.
"It's going to be okay, Ron," Harry whispered as if he was telling Ron a secret. "We'll get through this. Together."
Ron only nodded. The two just sat there for a while, watching the rainfall. Hermione would eventually join them, and as the three huddled closer together, Ron knew there was nowhere he would rather be.