Author Name: artificially flavoured
Author Email: scarred_lipgloss@hotmail.com
Category: General
Keywords: Ron Weasley
Spoilers: PS/SS, CoS, PoA, GoF [Just in case. Vague references to the Triwizard Competition, Cedric Diggory, the Chamber of Secrets, Buckbeak and Sirius's escape as well as the Philosophers Stone maybe made.]
Rating: PG-13
Summary: A selection on P.O.V's on how Ron's death affects dream team. A reflection of the past in which he was a big part, how are they to manage without him? My first fan fiction to date, please R/R!
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created by J.K Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast books, and Warner Brothers. No money is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Authors Notes: This is part three of my fic, Now That You're Gone. This is Ginny Weasley's outlook on how Ron had affected her life and how things are different now that he's gone.. Part four to be up soon! [Draco!!]
Sorry this is shorter than the other chapters, but Ginny is very very very hard to write and I'm not quiet sure on how to write her. She is such an under developed character, I'm not very sure of her relationship with Ron.

Now That You're Gone
by artificially flavoured
Chapter Three: I Wish You Were Here


I'd never ever thought about him not being there for me. I'd always figured he'd be around to make me laugh and make me smile, always around to tease me and annoy me. And now, he's gone.
I'm never going to see his eyes laughing down at me again. I'm never ever going to be able to tease him about the Chudley Cannons not winning any of their league matches. I'm never going to be able to talk to him again.
I'd never ever thought that I'd miss him, never. It's never even crossed my mind about him not being there. I still cannot accept the fact that he's gone. He's gone. Forever.
He'd promised me. He swore to me that he'd always be there for me, and he didn't keep his promise.
That thought keeps running around in my head. I feel so selfish and so, lost. I miss him, so much. I wonder what his last thoughts were. Were they about Mum and Dad? Bill? Charlie? Percy? Fred and George? Harry and Hermione? or, Me? I wonder if he'd thought of me at all. I wonder if he remembered what he'd promised me, or if it was just one of those things he'd agreed to, so I would shut up.
I can remember begging him to swear he'd stand by me. He'd sworn to protect me when I was afraid. He'd sworn to fight the Death Eaters if they ever came for me. And I remember ever expression on his face, he'd laughed at first, but when he swore to me that he'd take care of me- forever- I knew he'd meant it.
Ron and I were always close. We'd always confide in each other, more or less because there was no one else to talk to. Bill had Charlie and Charlie had Bill. Percy, well, Percy had his books. Fred and George had each other, and Ron and I were left to each other.
I remember once, when Bill, Charlie and Percy were at Hogwarts and Fred and George were in their rooms thinking up some new prank and I'd found Ron huddled into the corner crying.
I remember the way the sun shone on his hair, turning it from a shocking red to different shades of auburn. I remember I stood there with my thumb in my mouth holding onto the blanket. I remember how lost he looked.
He'd sworn then that he'd make sure that Mum and Dad never had to listen to what he had overheard in Diagon alley.
That was Ron. He'd never changed. Fiercely loyal and protective of those he loved, he would never stand an insult.
I'm glad I never ever saw his body. I'm glad Draco stopped me from running to Hermione's side. I don't want to see Ron lifeless and dead. I don't want that image to haunt me. I don't want to remember him like that.
I want to remember Ron as the playful, sweet, funny, friendly, over protective big brother that he'd always been. I want to remember him smiling. Not lifeless and dead.
I remember how the news of his death had made Mum cry. I have never seen anyone shed so many tears. I had never even thought anyone capable of so many tears. Hermione cried her eyes out. Hermione never cries. Hermione had stayed calm and composed up until Ron's funeral. When she walked past his casket, she just stopped dead in her tracks and started to sob. I didn't think the shock had worn off until she'd seen him there, so dead and lifeless in his casket. Harry. Harry, everybody's hero couldn't stop the tears that flowed down his cheeks either. He'd cried like a baby in Draco's arms when he first saw Ron's body. Even Draco couldn't suppress a tear when he found Ron. Percy wept like a child. He curled up into a little ball and cried his eyes out. Ron had always been his favourite. He'd taught Ron everything. How to play chess, how to ride a bike. He'd even helped Ron with his O.W.L's. Bill and Charlie remained as calm as ever, though you could see the blue rings and their blood shot eyed. I know they'd both stayed up many a night pondering on what might have been. Fred and George look like they have almost completely lost their laugh lines and their sense of humor. They haven't cracked a smile ever since they heard. They just walk around like two zombies. It's sad.
Lavender. Lavender lost it for a bit. She completely denied the fact that he was gone. She pretended everything was all right and that he'd gone away for a trip and was coming back any day. Hermione took her for a night out and now, only she knows what happened to make Lavender see sense.
And me? I don't know where to start. I have never ever felt so lonely and so alone in my whole life before. Not even growing up with six brothers made me feel like that. I felt vulnerable. I felt exposed. I was lost. Well and truly lost. Without Ron to push me to do my best and push me to try as hard as I can, I felt helpless and like an utter failure. I felt like I was 10 again. Everyone was at Hogwarts and Ron was leaving me. I knew I didn't want him to go. I wanted him to stay with me. We'd always done things together, so why not this?
I felt like that again. In retrospect, I think I felt betrayed. Betrayed that he'd gone on without me. That he'd left me to find my own way. That he'd moved on to the next aspect of his life and left me behind.
I cried my grief away, and slowly I'm coming to accept the fact that I can still go on without him. I'm accepting the fact that, even though he isn't here to protect me every step of the way, I can still learn from him and his legacy.
What distresses me the most, is that people don't realize that, clichéd as it maybe, Ron wouldn't have wanted them to grieve about him. He'd have wanted people to move on and enjoy life without him.
In his honour, Fred and George tested their new products at his funeral.
Made everyone smile, it looked like Ron was smiling too.
Finally.