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: Hey! Sorry, this took so long, but R.L interfered with school and exams and sports and such and such. This is part four of 'now that you're gone'. This is Draco Malfoy's outlook on how Ron's death affected him and his world. Grr! I hope you guys like this, because it was very very very hard to write. I didn't want Draco to be OOC and to write about him and his relationship with Ron in a good light would be very hard to do without totally screwing his character up. Hopefully, I haven't done that. Review and tell me what you think. Part five is a surprise and shall be up soon [ I have holidays :) ]. Remember, there are time jumps! This is written about a year into Ginny and Draco's marriage, which is three years after Ron's death.

Now That You're Gone
by artificially flavoured
Chapter Four: Goodbye to You.



I watched her lying there next to me, her beautiful hair contrasting with the pure white of the pillow. Her eyes closed to the world, her breathing even. I sighed. She looked so fragile. Her hair highlighted the pale milky whiteness of her skin, lending an almost transparent glow to it. I watched her sleep and wondered if she knew how much she meant to me. I wonder if she knows how much she and her family has come to mean to me. She taught me the meaning of the word 'family' and of course, 'love'.

She had, for the first time in my life, made me feel worthy of love. She taught me what love was all about. The differences in the word love, the different meanings it can convey. She taught me the beauty of the word, she also taught me the pain it brought.
I had never had anyone to love, because I simply did not know how to; because I had never been loved. To love someone, you yourself would have to have been loved, to know what it is, to acknowledge its power, its potency and above all, its beauty. To allow yourself to love, you lay yourself open to the repercussions of the action, you lay yourself open to pain.

But despite all that, if you take the risk, if you really do learn to love, without holding back, you know that it is not in vain. When you love with such freedom and such passion, you are sure to find the love that you crave. Her family taught me that. They also taught me to forgive and forget, and to tolerate for the sake of love.

If you has asked me four years ago, what I thought of the Weasleys, Granger and Potter, I shudder to think what my answer would have been. Something involving 'dirt poor' and 'muggle loving' I've no doubt. Ask me now and something along the lines of 'Respectable' 'Fun' and "Family' would be the automatic connection. It's amazing what a change time can bring about.

To think that I, Draco Edward Malfoy, would not follow my fathers footsteps to become a death eater is amazing, to say the least. And, to think that I, Draco Edward Malfoy, would actually come to respect Harry Potter and Hermione Granger and actually like them is nothing short of a miracle. It's weird how you just judge people because of their actions and who and what they are, rather than get to know them and then make an assumption of what they really are. I'd always thought of Ron as Harry Potter's faithful sidekick, shows how much I knew back then. He wasn't his sidekick, though it had always looked like that, He was the other half of Harry Potter's identity. He was as much of a part of Harry as Hermione was, and still is.

And to think that I went to school with them for 7 years and never even bothered to get to know them. All I did do was insult them and take the piss. To think I insulted Ron about his family, never knowing myself, before I met them, what a family meant. His loyalty confused me then, but now, I have come to understand that.

I was surprised when he accepted me as Virginia's new boyfriend, now I have come to hope that I myself would be able to extend that to any enemy who would be lucky enough to be loved by those that I love. I respected him, and I even started to like him. I got to know him, and I really did respect him, not for being Harry Potter's other half, but for being Ron Weasley.

Most people would expect him to be just like another one of the Weasley kids, but I have learnt never to make that mistake. They are all very different, but at the same time, they are all the same. They have their own twists of personality, traits they have inherited or skipped from their parents- people I have come to consider as mine. They are all unique, but Ron stood out.

Once again, not because of Harry, but because of WHO he was. He was smart, he was funny and he was cautious. He had what is called, Charisma. He wasn't perfect, far from it. He was inclined towards loosing his head whenever there was someone in a skirt, save for Ginny, his mum and Hermione. He had given me a chance. He tolerated my presence, and I'd like to think he even started to like me, for Ginny's sake; because he loved her.

In some ways, it's him I have to thank for understanding, and for accepting. His acceptance paved the way for me. His acceptance led to my being welcomed into the Weasley family. He really made an effort to try to understand. Agreed, Ginny had a talk with him and probably threatened bodily harm, but he pulled it off with aplomb. He spent time with me, he even actually started to teach me the rules of Wizarding Chess. We did become friends, and I'd like to think, after his family and Harry and Hermione, he would pick me as a friend.

It's weird. Him not being around to take the piss out of me being blonde. He always annoyed me about that, even though it was good natured teasing. He showed me what a family really was. I miss him being around, though it's unnatural for me to say that. I miss the balancing effect he had on most of us.

It almost broke my heart to see Mrs. Weasley, my surrogate mother, cry like she had. I had never ever thought anyone capable of so many tears. Even I couldn't suppress a tear at the brutality of his death, the horror of seeing someone you know in that position, of seeing someone you have come to respect as a person in that state. It was horrific.

It almost divided us all. Harry shrunk into his shell, I remember giving him a sound talking to after he blamed himself for Ron's death. Voldemort doesn't care who he kills. He just does it. I remember him crying like a baby. I remember Hermione crying like there was no tomorrow. I remember the desolating sense of loss his death brought, not just to me but to all of us. The family gatherings weren't as much fun anymore, there was that vital spark missing, but we had all come to terms with that. What sticks out most in my memory was Ginny being half hysterical. She had always been lively and so cheerful, and levelheaded. It was shocking to see her in that state, it hurt me to see the woman I loved in such pain. The pain was almost physical, though if it had been, it would have been easier to deal with. It was almost frightening to see what love can do to you. I was terrified of the power she wielded over me and I was terrified of what she could do to herself.

She almost broke my heart. His death affected her in a way that was shocking. I tried to be understanding, I even tried to get her out of the rut she had stuck herself into. She just didn't want any of it. For a while it felt like she hated the very sight of me. Everyone told me to be patient. But I was scared. I'm ashamed to admit it, but I was. I was afraid of loosing her, she had come to mean so much to me. But, she had started to blame who I was, a Malfoy, for what had happened to Ron.

I was, hurt, to say the least. So, I left, in the typical hurt lover style, I went to war. Harry found me, and basically threatened to kick my butt back to Voldie boy, and I was missing her terribly, so I wrote to her. The week that it took her to write back, was one of the worst in my life. But, she did and in the end everything worked out. At the end of the war, I went to find her. And I did. And I still haven't left her.

In some ways, I have to thank Ron for what I share with Ginny. I would never have been accepted without him, and I know that though she loved me then, she wouldn't have chosen me over her family at that point of time. Now? I'm not so sure. I'd like to think I mean a little bit more to her than that. I also have Ron to thank, to teach me about what love means. Not just being there, not just missing you when you're gone, but understanding, forgiving and tolerating- all for the sake of love. I also have to thank Ron for teaching me that life isn't just a big game. I won't always be the rich brat. I won't always be young. The world isn't waiting for me, I'm just another pawn in another million. He taught me, that to be a special pawn in life's big chess game, I would have to prove myself. I had to prove myself worthy of her love, and I'd like to think I have. He taught me to love without restrictions, his whole family did. He also made me realise the power of love. And the finality of death. I'd like to think that I am worthy of the love that I have had bestowed on me by his family.

I'd be honoured to have them mourn me half as much as they have him.

Thank you for sticking with the story for so long. I'm so sorry it took me so long to put this up, but I will be quicker with my next update. I promise. [cross my heart and hope to die] If you have read this, please do review. Just to let me know what you think. Constructive criticism appreciated. Fames to be sent to my older brother. The next chapter is the end of this; but I'm working on a D/G fic at the moment ['Twas One Dark Night] and I'm going to start on my H/Hr fic soon [still untitled as of now] and another D/G fic soon, please bear w/ moi. :) If anyone is interested in beta reading for any of them, please do email me. scarred_lipgloss@hotmail.com [also msn] or diagonalley86 [yahoo! messenger]