Authors Note: This is a very disturbing story involving incest and unrequited love. If this sort of thing bothers you, you should click on your back button now. It is rated R, and if I could rate it higher, I would. You have been warned.

Harry Potter is the property of J.K Rowling.

"Like Fire It Burns"

Chapter 2

"Want to try it?" The words echoed loudly in the silence, bring Ron crashing down from his self imposed reverie.

"Try what?' he asked stupidly, having a hard time speaking with his tongue apparently glued to the roof of his mouth.

Ginny made an impatient noise. "Fucking, of course," she said matter of factly. "I'm really sick of hearing how great it is, I want to do it already, and there's no one else I trust enough."

"Have you gone mental?" Ron sputtered. "You're my sister! Isn't that, like illegal or something?"

"Don't be stupid, Ron," Ginny flashed. "It wouldn't mean anything! It's just practice! So that when Harry and Hermione finally come to their senses and realise how stupid they're being, we'll be able to dazzle them with our sexual prowess."

"Do you have any idea how dumb that sounds?" Ron asked witheringly...and yet, a small part, the very same part that had been aroused earler, stirred blackly.

Ginny looked at him. Was it just him, or was there pity in her brown eyes? "I can get laid whenever I want, Ron," she said simply. "Can you say the same?" Getting up, she left him, closing the door softly behind her.

It was much, much later. A supper tray had been brought to him, by his mother this time, and to appease her he had nibbled on a bun. As he did so, he could not help but wonder what Hermione and Harry were doing at that moment, if they, too were eating, if they were even together at all, or if they were fucking, bodies moving in restless abandon, their breath coming in short pants. He shook his head to clear the image, he was so damn tired of it, all the time, but the image stayed and once again he was aroused.

He decided a cold shower might do the trick and slowly crept out of his room. He wasn't really in the mood to be discovered in such a state, his Mum was so nosy she was bound to start asking embarrassing questions. He wondered what she would say if he told her the truth.

"Not to worry, Mum," he could say cheerfully. "I've just been wanking off every night imagining Harry and Hermione shagging, that's all, nothing to worry about!" Imagining her reaction made him smile but it was a bitter one. How he hated them for doing this to him.

He went to open the bathroom door but found to his surprise it was locked. It was after two, and generally everyone in the house went to bed long before then. It was only Ginny and him now at home out of all the Weasley children and they were all early risers. Not wanting to take a chance with Alohamora, he very gently knocked. "Hello?," he called out softly.

There was no answer, so Ron pressed his ear against the door to see if he could hear anything. It seemed he could hear a faint scraping noise but he wasn't sure. Even fainter than that, was that...crying?

"Hello,?" he tried again. The sounds ceased.

"Ron?" came Ginny's voice tremulously. "Is that you?"

"Of course it's me. Who else would be up in the middle of the night? What are you doing? I was wanting a shower."

"Don't let me stop you," she said and suddenly the door opened. "Come in." Ron cautiously entered. The bathroom was filled with steam. He stopped at the sight of Ginny.

She was naked. She was also bleeding. Quite a lot, in fact. It dripped from her wrists down to her hands onto the tiles below and it appeared she had been...fingerpainting, or something, with it. She had drawn multiple broken hearts, as well as her initials coupled with Harry's many times over. She had also, oddly enough drawn a picture of what looked to be a spider.

Ron was horrified. "What are you doing?" he almost shouted.

Ginny put a hand over his mouth, smearing blood on him in the process. "It's nothing, Ron," she hissed. "I'm just playing around. I can fix it with a spell. Now be quiet before Mum and Dad hear you, or I'll cut you too, I swear."

"Would you really"? he asked slowly. "Would you take your knife and slit me open with it? Because I'm beginning to think that would be ok, really." Ginny's blood was very red and he stared at it, entranced.

She had grown pale. "What do you mean?" she whispered. "No one should do this to themselves, and I would never do this to anyone."

He seized her wrists, which bled onto him, making her gasp. "Then why are you?" he murmered.

Blue eyes locked with brown ones for an indeterminite moment until she finally looked away.

"You're hurting me," she said dully.

"I'm hurting you? You're the one slashing herself with knives, how could I be hurting you?" Ron was becoming angry now, but he still fascinated by the blood, the red red blood. He released her wrists.

"Why do you do this?" he demanded.

She looked up at him again, meeting his gaze squarely. "Because I feel like I'm the verge of exploding all the time. Everything makes me angry, and it's all I can do not to lash out at people. This whole thing has been just so fucked up, and it's wrong, this wasn't the way it was supposed to be, and,so when I cut, its like I let all that out when the blood comes out and I feel relief, at least for a little while."

"How have you been hiding something like this?" Ron asked.

She smiled crookedly at him. "It's a simple healing spell, Ron. I've known it since third year. And besides, everyone's been too wrapped up to notice what I do anyway," and her voice cracked slightly on the last syllable.

"I'm sorry", he whispered, and he was, he was sorry he hadn't realised that she was hurting just as badly as he was, he was sorry it had taken him so long to see.

He was unaware of who took the first step forward, but she ended up in his arms, and he held her as she wept onto her closed fists, and he wept with her, silently, but the tears did not burn quite so badly this time, and somehow during this time his body became aware of her femininity, and the fact that she was naked, and his penis hardened between them, effectively stopping their tears.

Ron felt the blood rushing into his ears as they stared at each other. She was red as well but did not break eye contact. Slowly their faces grew closer together until finally their lips met.

It was just a soft kiss but it burned. Ron wrenched his lips away gasping, still feeling on fire.

"Ron," Ginny said and her lips were very red, but Ron didn't hear her, he had already ran back to his room and threw himself under his covers. He was unable to keep himself from masturbating that night,but when relief finally came, it burned.

To Be Continued

Authors Note: Please realise that this is not in any way what I believe will happen with these characters, nor is it something I want. I'm simply experimenting with what characters might do were they put in certain circumstances. There will be further chapters in this, but they may take a little while. Please read and review. Thanks.