Why?

Ron was standing on the balcony of the Astronomy Tower, looking out over the shadowed grounds. Everything used to look so bright and wonderful, but now everything was so dark and hateful. It all started back a few months ago. Ron was walking across the grounds and he came upon a girl by the edge of the lake. He furrowed his brow as he realized it was Hermione. He sat down beside her very carefully as she wept into her knees. He noticed that she looked scuffed and dirty as if she had been in a fight and that her school robes were gone. She was dressed in only her shirt and skirt. She had both her shoes, but was without her stalkings. "Hermione?" He asked her with in a concerned voice. Hermione didn't seem to notice him at first. He put his arm around her shoulders and she pulled away from him. "Love?" he asked her with a hint of alarm. Hermione stayed in place for a bit and finally slowly lifted her head and looked at him. Ron gasped as her bottom lip was busted and swollen and her left eye was black and swollen as well. He noticed the buttons on her shirt were all ripped off and her arms were holding it closed. She launched herself at him, burying her face in his chest, crying even harder into him. His arms flew up and wrapped around her and it all clicked as he felt his temper rise. "Who?" He asked her quietly.

"M-Malfoy." She said in a barely audible voice. She could still see the wild and crazy gleam in the platinum haired boy's eyes as his friends held her down for him and she gave a great shudder. Finally and mercifully, she passed out from the exhaustion of it all. Ron's face went red and it was all he could do to keep from crying out. His very blood began to boil at the thought of anyone hurting his Hermione in such a way. He gently picked her up and began to walk back to the castle, keeping her shirt closed as he carried her. He sat down under a tree after taking her to the hospital wing and began to cry. He felt like he had let her down. That he should have been there to protect her. He saw Malfoy and his cronies walking over the grounds and he lost all control. They were all laughing to one another and Ron charged at the blond headed boy that dared to violate his love in such a way. He tackled him to the ground and began beating the hell out of the boy. Crabb picked Ron up and threw him against a tree, giving him one powerful shot to the stomach and held him as he bent over.

"So, you like attacking your betters, do you?" Draco asked him as he got to his feet. He walked over and thoroughly beat Ron to the ground with the help of his buddies. They laughed and spit on him. "Oh and by the way. That Mud-Blood was pretty good." He taunted Ron and walked off with his friends.

Ron stayed on the ground for a few minutes. He slowly climbed to a sitting position and cradled himself as he hurt all over. He slowly got to his feet and limped back to the castle, hurting in more ways then one.

The other person that was hurting in more ways then one had woken in the hospital wing. She just opened her eyes and slowly climbed out of bed. Ron hadn't told anyone what had really happened. He knew Hermione wouldn't have wanted him to. Hermione walked up to the girl's dorms, dressed properly, and stayed there, huddled in her bed and speaking to no one. As the hours passed and the tears fell, she began to miss Ron's arms around her. They made her feel safe and loved something she didn't feel much like right now. It was three in the morning when she finally climbed back out of bed and made her way down to the Common Room. She saw Ron sitting on the couch, apparently waiting for her. He looked up at her, looking even more beat up then she did, though he hadn't suffered nearly as much. Hermione gave a whimper and ran over to him and curled up in his lap, letting him wrap his arms around her to make her feel safe. The awful images of it all were still freshly cut into her memory and she felt like the world was going to end. She truly didn't know what to do and she didn't know how to cope with it all. She and Ron finally fell to sleep there on the couch. He would convince her to tell somebody in the morning.

The morning came with the bright sunshine and the singing birds. Ron opened his eyes and found that Hermione wasn't with him. He flew into a panic right away and sat up. He looked around and asked a girl that was walking down the stairs to the girls dorm's and also shared Hermione's dorm room if Hermione had gone up to bed. The girl shook her head no. Ron stood up and ran from the Common Room, searching everywhere. He finally found her on the Astronomy tower balcony. She was standing on the railing and looking out over the grounds, tears streaming down her face. "Hermione?" he asked her as he slowly approached. Hermione shook and lost her balance a little, as he spoke. She looked behind her at Ron.

"It won't stop hurting." She said to him, all the pain in the world in her voice. "I can't sleep well. It won't stop hurting." She wasn't simply talking about mental pain either and Ron knew it. He extended his hand out to her.

"Take my hand, Love." He said to her in a shaky voice. She had taken her shoes off and was dressed in her normal clothes now. Ron knew what she had been thinking of doing. She looked at him for a few moments.

"I just want it to end." She whispered to him and looked out over the grounds, tears staining her beautiful features. Ron was scared. If she decided to simply fall, then he would be totally lost and alone.

"Just give me your hand, Love. Everything's going to be okay. I promise. We can go to Hogsmeade tomorrow." This was Friday and a visit to Hogsmeade was on Saturday and Sunday. Hermione sniffed and gave a sob. She reached out for his hand and her foot slipped, sending her over the edge of the balcony. "No!" Ron screamed as loud as he could and bent over the balcony, reaching for her but it was no good. She had hit the ground below and wasn't moving. It was a very, very far drop after all.

So now, here was Ron on the very last day of school standing on the balcony of the Astronomy tower, asking a simple question. Why? He didn't understand why his love and best friend had to be taken from the world and suffer so much before she was. He leaned against the rail and looked straight down, tears falling from his cheeks and hitting the ground way below him. His best friend and his first love was gone. He could still see her smiling face and feel her sweet warm kisses. He had finally beaten up Draco so badly that he had to hospitalized, but that did little to cheer him up. Out of everything, all he wanted was his Love back. He removed his school robes and his shoes. He slowly climbed up on the rail and looked out across the land before him. Hermione was going to stay with him. She had been reaching for his hand when she slipped. He closed his eyes and tears ran down his cheeks still. "I love you…," he whispered and let himself fall forward, his arms stretched out by his side like wings. He heard somebody yell no as he went. It sounded like Harry, but this was what Ron wanted. Living hurt too much and he too was wondering when it was going to stop. He saw Hermione's face as he fell and a smile spread over his mouth. He could feel his woes fading as he neared the ground, feeling the air rush by his face. Hermione opened his arms, he walked into them, holding her so tight, and he never wanted to let go. His body lay broken on the ground, but his soul was anything but. He was with his love again and there was no pain, there was no sorrow and there was no sadness. Just everlasting happiness and everlasting peace in the arms of his first, and only, love. He wanted to stay forever and to never leave and he found he was no longer asking the question that he had asked so many times when he was without his love, the question of, why?

((Well, that's the saddest thing I personally have ever written. Tell me what ya think! I don't own Harry Potter.))