Things Change

Chapter Five

Christy Richards had quickly proven to be a good friend to Ron. A friend was the last thing he wanted, though. For seven years, all he wanted to do was be left alone and not be bothered and in return, he would not bother anyone else. However, Christy took it upon herself to make sure Ron changed his mind about that. She proved that to Ron when she showed up on his doorstep on Friday, his one and only day off of work that week.

"Hi Ron!" She said brightly when Ron answered the door.

"Hi" he said, a confused look on his face. "How did you know where I live?"

She smiled sheepishly. "Frank told me...I hope you don't mind"

"No, I don't mind" Ron said, even though he did mind a bit. "Come on in" He opened the door wider to let her in.

She stepped inside, took off her jacket and looked around for a place to put it. Ron took it from her and said "I'll take that for you". He walked into his bedroom and hung it in the closet, the only closet in his small house.

When he returned, he found her sitting on the sofa, smiling broadly. "Would you like some tea?" he asked her. "I just finished up a pot when you stopped by" Due to Harry's money, he managed to buy some food and put the rest in the bank for bills.

"Yes, please" She said.

He walked into the kitchen and returned a few minutes later with two cups of tea on a tray, which he sat on the coffee table. He handed her one. "There you go"

"Thank you" She said. "So, how have you been doing?"

He shrugged, hoping she wasn't going to go into his scars again. "I'm fine"

"Well, I just came by so we could have time to get to know each other better" she said. "We don't have much time to talk at work"

"There's not much to tell about me" he said. "I work all the time, which is how I prefer it and I have no family and no friends, which is how I prefer it"

"Oh?" she said, her eyebrow raised. "Why don't you want any friends?"

"Because I don't want to care about anyone anymore" he told her. "You love someone, you care about someone, then something happens and everything changes. It's too painful"

She nodded her head slightly. "So in order to prevent pain, which could happen, you'd just not want to love at all?"

Ron put his tea cup down. "Is this one of your psychological mumbo jumbo? Because I don't need someone to tell me how I should feel and what I should do. I just don't believe anyone knows better about how I should feel than myself"

"No, Ron" she said. "It's not another one of my psychological 'mumbo jumbos'. It's just me, someone who wants to get to know you and be your friend. But of course, you already made it clear that you aren't accepting friends at the moment"

'Damn it, not now', Ron thought as he felt a tear fall from his left eye.

Whether she noticed the tear or not, Ron didn't know, but she did say "And I think you could use a friend right now"

He hesitated. "Look...I....I had a family, whom I loved, and still do....and I had friends, great friends, the best friends, but something happened and things changed. The thing that happened was bad. Very bad, and I was the one who caused it. Before letting my family know what I did, which was an accident, by the way, I decided to just leave. Leave before they all find out and hate me. I can't handle the thought of my family hating me"

"So you never told your family?" Christy asked him.

"Never did" he answered. "They'd hate me if they found out"

"What did you do that was so bad?" Christy asked.

Ron hesitated again. Should he tell her? No, of course not. He barely knew her. Besides, if she found out that he was a murderer, she'd hate him too. But did that matter? They weren't friends anyway, even though she wanted to be.

"I think you'll feel better if you get it off your chest" she said. "You can't keep these things bottled up inside. It's not healthy"

He sighed and turned to face her. "Fine, I'll tell you, but it's not to be told to anyone else. Understand?"

Christy nodded. "Understand"

"Shortly after I got back home from school, when I was 18, my family, all except me, went on a vacation to Egypt to visit my oldest brother, Bill. I don't remember why I didn't go with them. Bill and I had always been pretty close" Ron said. "But anyway, I was home alone, and I'll admit it, I was frightened to be by myself"

He chuckled for a bit and said "That's weird because I remember begging and pleading for my mum to let me stay by myself. I was 18, but she still wanted someone to stay with me. Finally, my dad was able to convince her that I would be okay by myself..." he trailed off. "But I wasn't okay by myself"

He couldn't look at Christy as he finished his story. He was also trying to think of a way to explain the rest without letting it be known that he was a wizard. "I was fine at first, but then I got a warning that someone....evil...was at wandering around town. He could be anywhere. Of course, being by myself, I got frightened. Okay, frightened is not the word, I was scared out of my mind. I stayed up in my room all the time. I kept all the lights off in the house, even though I wasn't sure if that was a good idea or not....A few days after my family left, and the day after I got the warning, I heard someone downstairs in my house. I asked who it was, but got no answer. Of course, whoever it was probably didn't hear me since I didn't ask very loudly. I grabbed some protection, crept downstairs and saw a figure walking slowly through my house. I panicked and......killed the person walking in my house. I then walked the rest of the way down the stairs and turned on the light...and...."

Tears were coming down freely now, and he wasn't trying to hide them. "it was my father I killed" He heard Christy gasp. He continued. "I...I didn't know what to do. I just ran up to my room and stayed there. I knew I should tell someone. But I was afraid. What would happen to me once told them it was me who killed him? Would I be thrown in jail? If not, I knew my family would definitely hate me. I couldn't blame them if they did. I hated myself. Hated myself for panicking. Hated myself for not making sure who it was first. Hated myself for acting so irrationally. I wanted to die. So I began cutting myself" he said, pointing to his scars. "I figured death suited me after what I just did. The next day, I still hadn't told anyone. But I got an ow...umm...a letter from my mother asking if I seen my dad. She said he was going to check up on me...that was when I decided to run away"

He didn't say anything else. After a few moments, Christy, who also had tears in her eyes, said "He must not have spent much time in Egypt, if he was back in England in only two days"

Ron gave a small gulp. His father had apparated, he was sure of that, or possibly Floo-ed, so it hadn't really taken very long. But of course, he couldn't tell her that. He hoped she wouldn't ask what kind of "protection" he had. He had his wand, but again, he couldn't tell her that. In fact, he didn't want to tell her anymore. "That's all I want to say about it"

She nodded. Then said. "Ron? I don't think your family will hate you"

Ron shook his head.

But Christy wasn't finished. "Explain to them that it was an accident, that this....evil person, you said, was at large. You were scared and you heard someone downstairs. They'll understand"

Ron stood up. "I want to be alone"

Christy stood up, too, and said. "Okay. Remember, I am here for you if you need me"

He flinched as she gave him a hug. "See you at work tomorrow" she said as she pulled away.

Ron retrieved her jacket from his bedroom and walked her to the door. They said their goodbyes and Ron shut the door behind her. He leaned against it for a while. He told her what happened, and still wanted to be friends? But he realized that she was right. He was feeling a bit better.

Chapter Six up soon