Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

A/N - This is Chapter 3 of Tomorrow's Pain. Harry just broke the news to Ron about Ginny and now he's going to be going through some tough emotions. How's he going to get through it?

Shout outs to Dreamer4, Dark Gamer, Light Gamer, EeyoreP, Knight, SaturnsChild, EvilTenchi, PhoenixChild, Wolfie, TogetherAgain, AAUK, Arylwren, Blackout12, Phire Phoenix, Fallen angel of Hope, Immia, AlexPG13, and shadow2k. Special dedication to Ashes for inspiration.

"..." means someone is speaking, *...* means the word is emphasized, -...- means someone is thinking, and ... means a flashback.

Tomorrow's Pain

By: Hopeful Writer

Chapter 3: Confessions

Ron stood in shock at Harry before he screamed, "No! You're lying! You just want... you want me to feel bad about what I said last night and apologize to her the minute I see her because I'm so glad she's not dead!"

"Ron, I'm sorry."

"Why are you doing this, Harry?"

"Ron, I'm your best friend. I'm not kidding, okay? Ginny killed herself last night."

"What?" Ron could only force that one word out his clenched throat, in nothing more than a squeak.

"She killed herself. They found her this morning with a note next to her body. She... she used the Killing Curse on herself. It was all explained in the letter."

"I want to read this letter."

Harry took a deep breath. "Dumbledore has it now. He's wrote to your parents to tell them what had happened."

Ron swore. "You're not kidding, are you?" he whispered.

Harry fought against the urge to hug his best friend. "No, Ron, I'm not." Ron swore again and then ran from the Great Hall, through the many winding stairs of Hogwarts, and into the Gryffindor common room.

He made it all the way to the boys' dorm before he was approached by his other best friend, one he had barely been speaking to. "Ron, I heard about Ginny," she told him, her voice low and sympathetic. Her eyes were red as if she'd been doing a lot of crying. Ron had forgotten how close the girls had gotten recently.

"It's all my fault," he realized hoarsely. "If I hadn't called her a pain last night, then she would of killed herself. I would take those words back in an instant if she would still be alive."

"No, it's my fault, Ron." Ron stared at Hermione and wrestled with the idea of laughing. "If I had just spoken to her when I told you I would, she wouldn't have continued badgering you and you wouldn't have blown up at her."

Ron hugged Hermione suddenly, clinging to his best friend as if he would never see her again. "I'm sorry, 'Mione," he whispered. "I didn't mean to say those awful things to you last night, and I... I'm sorry I've been such a jerk the past few weeks."

"It's okay, Ron." That's when Ron began to cry. As quickly as he'd hugged Hermione, he was sobbing, finally understanding that his little sister, who he dearly loved despite her being a bother, was gone. Hermione pulled the boy close and held him there, letting him cry into her shirt. She kissed the top of his head, and for one minute, one whole minute, Ron felt like nothing had happened. He blocked the troubles out as he bawled into Hermione's blouse.

A moment later, he straightened up again, blushing like mad. He was pretty sure that, besides his family, Hermione was the only one who had ever seen him cry. "Sorry about that," he mumbled, searching the blanket with his eyes.

"It's okay. Ron?"

"Yeah?"

"I, um, I have to go meet Seamus downstairs."

Ron felt anger suddenly replace the sadness. "Yeah, fine. Don't worry about your best friend over your boyfriend," he spat, turning his back on her.

"What do you have against Seamus?" she demanded.

Ron laughed, a harsh, angry laugh that came out more like a dry sob. "Oh, Seamus can't even tell you how he feels, Hermione. Think about it. When you're with him, does he ever say anything witty or smart?"

"N—of course!" Hermione cried, indignantly, not wanting Ron to see that he was right.

"No, he doesn't." Ron shook his head. "He didn't even tell you how he felt that day, Hermione. That was me. He asked me to stand back there and tell him what to say. He didn't say you were beautiful, I did. Those were my words, Hermione, and they came from here." Ron jabbed his thumb into his chest so hard that Hermione imagined the pain. "I meant every word." His voice came out low and raspy as he said that.

"I... I don't believe you!" Hermione exclaimed. "It's one thing to be jealous, Ron, but don't make up lies."

"I'm not lying!"

Hermione sent him such a glare that Ron felt his heart stop. -She's only more beautiful when she's mad,- he thought, but Hermione's next words chilled him. "Unless you can get over this fantasy, Ron, I think our friendship is over." She turned on her heal and walked out the door.

Ron watched her go, his heart now pounding in his chest. The second the door slammed behind her, Ron felt the tears pour down his cheeks. -Now what do I do? My best friend won't talk to me, my little sister is dead.- He lay his head in his arms and cried until he had no more tears left.

A/N - That's Chapter 3! This story is a little longer than I expected, but Chapter 4 will be up as soon as I get some good reviews. It's the little button in the lower left hand corner. Click there and tell me how my story is. Until I write more - love, peace, and chicken grease. §LaTa§ -- hW