Part Two: Ron

Author's Notes: First off, I'm sorry for such the long delay for this chapter. To be honest, Ron was very hard to write for and I'm still not too satisfied with this chapter. I really tried to convey Ron's basic fear, so I hope I accomplished a little of that. Yes, I did make up some of the fears he went through in his life, so I also hope they make sense.

Please, if anyone can see any errors in this please let me know, either in email or in a review.

Read & Review!

"I felt weird…like I'd never be cheerful again…" - Ron Weasley

Ron stumbled around in the dark, trying to see where Hermione and Harry were in the darkened car. Things rapidly escalated into a mess when he heard his sister Ginny and Neville Longbottom stumble into their compartment. He was almost in a panic when he heard a hoarse voice yell for all of them to be quiet. Something flashed and a small flame crackled in the hand of the Professor who'd sleeping right up to when they stopped and all the lights went out. Everyone in the compartment stared at the haggard looking man.

"Stay where you are," the man said as he slowly stood up and went towards the door.

He was nearly there when the door opened on its own accord. Something dark, tall and hooded slowly stood just at the entrance to the door. Ron's eyes went down and they widened a bit as he caught a brief glimpse of something dead and decaying folding back into its robes. The man started to fumble with something when the thing took a long and haggard breath.

Goosebumps instantly rippled across Ron's skin and his breath misted as the compartment started to freeze. He glanced around and saw everyone else shivering as well, though Harry, it seemed, was shaking worse out of the lot of them. Ron opened his mouth to say something when he blinked and all went black.

This wasn't the darkness of something as simple as lights being switched off. This was a blackness of pure pitch that allowed no light to come through. It surrounded and enveloped Ron, who started to choke, as it got colder, making it harder to breath. He shuddered as something like cold tendrils crawled across his head. Something cold…calculating…hungry was needling into his very skull. Spots erupted before his eyes, with spots blossoming behind his eyes. Even as he tried to blink them away, scenes and images suddenly coalesced in his mind: his family…his friends…school…anything and everything he'd ever said to anyone. His whole life began to flash before his eyes, sometimes in order, sometimes completely at random.

Some parts of his life were quickly glanced over while others were vividly played out, from the most banal to the extremely embarrassing: birthday parties…playing Quidditch…the Chudley Cannons winning a game…playing chess with Harry…

…being locked up with the ghoul in the attic…losing his grip on his Cleansweep as he tried a complicated move high up in the air…watching the sword come down on the piece he was sitting astride, giving Harry the opportunity to go forward to find the Sorcerer's Stone…arr

Ron gritted his teeth, trying to force whatever was inside to leave, but it would have been easier to try and hold on to smoke with his bare hands. Faster and faster his life played out, backwards and forwards, until finally, nauseated from the forcible violation, Ron collapsed to his knees. The presence abruptly left and he gagged as the worst migraine pulsed in his head. It took several moments for him to realize that his eyes were still closed.

Ron, breathing hard, hesitantly opened his eyes and stared down at solid ground. But where nicely carpeted floors from the Hogwarts Express once were, well-worn wooden paneling now lay. Ron's brow knit as his hand grabbed on to something steady as he slowly stood up and rubbed his head. As his vision finally cleared he blinked at where he was.

A small fireplace crackled with flames as an antique radio played some dreary song by the Three Sisters. Where Ron's hand lay, several well-worn books were stacked neatly in a case. Titles such as Charm Your Own Cheese and Enchantments in Baking were visible on the spines. One title in particular was slightly out of place: Gilderoy Lockhart's Guide to Household Pests. On a whim, Ron pulled the book out, but instead of the handsome picture of last year's Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher smiling up at him, a haggard, unkempt, disheveled man stared dully out from the cover. Filthy blonde hair lay plastered to the skull and dull, blue eyes stared emptily out.

"See you soon, Ronald," the image of Lockhart whispered, his eyes twitching. The book quickly slipped from Ron's fingers and slammed to the floor. Biting his lip, Ron looked around to see his father's favorite chair, his mother's books, even the old clock on the wall. There could be no doubt:

He was home.

On impulse he walked over to the clock that had everyone of the Weasley household on separate arms and showed what their status was. To his surprise, every arm was right in the middle of the "Home" label. Fred, George, Ginny, Percy, his parents…even Charlie and Bill were all here. Ron's hand touched the face of the clock but couldn't find the arm with his face on it.

"Mum, could you pass me the potato salad?"

Ron whipped around at the voice and there, seated all around the table, were his whole family, all talking and eating.

"Mum…Dad?" Ron whispered. He walked over, looking from one face to another. "What's going on? How…how'd I get here?" But everyone kept eating and talking, paying him no mind. "Fred…George?" he said a little louder, but still no reaction. "Percy?" Now he was getting slightly desperate.

Frowning, he reached over to touch Bill's shoulder…and his hand went right through his brother. Ron yelped and pulled his hand back. He looked from the hand to his brother and back. He bit his lip and tried to poke his brother, but it still passed through as if he were nothing more than a ghost from Hogwarts.

Screwing up his courage, he did the one thing he knew should provoke a reaction. He went right up and poked both of Percy's eyes out; At least that what he tried to do, anyway. The only reaction he did get from his fingers going through his older brother's eyes was Percy readjusting his glasses.

"Harry, could you pass me the salad, please?"

Ron's head whipped to see his best friend pass a bowl to Ginny. "Harry? What are you doing here? And what's going on?"

Harry paused briefly in his passing of the bowl and cocked his head slightly. He then blinked a few times, a troubled expression on his face as he passed the bowl of salad to Ginny.

"Is everything alright, Harry? You look lost," Ginny said, taking the bowl.

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. I keep thinking there should be someone here. Another Weasley."

"Another one?" Molly Weasley said. She turned an exaggerated frown at her husband. "Arthur Weasley! Is there something you haven't been telling me?"

Mr. Weasley choked on his drink, his face reddening furiously and the rest of the family giggled. "Molly, dear! How could you even suggest – " But he stopped when he caught the twinkle in his wife's eye and patted her arm. He then turned back to Harry. "What makes you think there's someone missing, Harry?"

"I'm not sure."

"It's hard to really tell, there are so many of us, you know?" George said with a grin.

Fred nodded. "Harry, maybe you're referring to someone in the family we don't really discuss?"

"Like that cousin of yours, mom? Remember, the accountant?" Bill commented.

"Oh, yes," Mrs. Weasley said with a shake of her head.

"Don't really discuss?!" Ron stammered. "I'm your son! How can you not know me?"

"Perhaps," Percy said primly. "You don't really remember because he's no one of significance?"

Ron could only gape at his brother.

"It's possible," Harry murmured, causing Ron's breath to stick in his throat.

"What?" he croaked out, but before he could say anything else, his mother piped up.

"I think we all stand out in our own way, don't you think?" she said. "Bill, here, works for Gringotts in Egypt. Charlie's in Romania working with dragons, though I do wish you'd let me cut your hair – don't you roll your eyes at me like that, young man!" Mrs. Weasley huffed at the pained expression on her second-oldest son. "Anyway, Ginny's the only daughter, and Percy's doing extremely well in school and has even made Head Boy." Percy positively beamed at the praise, though he soured a bit at the gagging noises from George and Fred. Their performance was cut short as an ear on both was gripped tightly.

"Ow, mum!" yelped Fred.

"Gerroff me!" added George.

"And these two," Molly Weasley said, pinching a little harder on the ears before letting go. "Well, Fred and George seem to do nothing better than to be Fred and George!"

"Roles we're both happy and suitable to fulfill - "

" – and hope to one day exceed, thank you very much!"

Percy smirked a little at the others' torments before turning back to Harry. "Well, this 'other Weasley', did he do anything of importance? What was he good at?" pressed Percy.

"Chess, I think?" Harry replied. Everyone just stared at him, and a few snickers went around the table.

Now Percy snorted. "It almost sounds like that someone was riding on your coattails, Harry."

"Harry," Ron said hoarsely. "How can you say that? Everything we've done…the Sorcerer's Stone…the Chamber of Secrets?"

Ron opened his mouth to try and argue some more when he realized how futile it was. No one could hear nor see him. At that moment, he felt a small pit form in his stomach. Maybe that was the problem: no one could really see him. He'd known Harry only for two years, but whenever his name come up in front of strangers or at school, Ron was only known as the person who's friends with 'the boy who loved'. Even Hermione could stand out on her own, particularly with her zest to learn and formidable ambition. More than one teacher had commented on her aspirations, though it also earned her the annoyance from the likes of Professor Snape.

But through it all, what did he, Ron, have to offer? Each of his friends and family stood out on their own merits. But he just…faded into the background.

"Oh, why do we talk about silliness or about people whom we don't even know?" Molly Weasley exclaimed. She leaned over and patted Harry's cheek affectionately. "Never forget, Harry, I know we haven't known you for too long, but…I'm already thinking of you as another member of the family."

George rolled his eyes. "It's official, Harry – "

" – you're adopted!" Fred finished. Everyone in the table laughed when both Harry and Mrs. Weasley turned bright red.

Ron looked from one face to another, swallowing hard. "Doesn't anyone see me?" Then, to himself, "Doesn't anyone notice me?"

Ron looked around at the happy people around him and, after taking a shaky breath, turned and dejectedly walked out of the kitchen. He turned to look back one last time at the familial happiness concentrated in that table…and how he felt so excluded from it.

"I'm nobody," he whispered, dejectedly. The scene around him slowly began to lose color. All the brightness and happiness of the room slowly leaked away. Everything began to lose focus and darken around Ron, who merely shook his head.

And then everything turned black.

-Continued-