A note to anyone who read the first part of this and has waited for more of it, I'm sorry that it took so long. Certain events in my life inspired this story, and they seemed to have gone away. When I tried to continue this story it was extremely forced and was just not working for me at all. While I have been inspired to continue with this story, the circumstances are ones I'd rather weren't present. If gaps of time pass between chapters it's probably because things took a break from being crazy in my life and decided to work, but for now, here you are.

And please, any feed back would be most appreciated.

I own nothing but the computer I'm sitting in front of right now.

Destruction and Renewal

Chapter Two

A dark sky loomed over the grounds of Hogwarts, leaving the air heavy and the land free of defined shadows. It was an odd atmosphere that left people seeing flat surfaces and cut and paste scenery against the gray backdrop. It was February. The snow had more or less gone, Valentine's Day had passed without much recognition, and the castle was uncommonly cold. Students went about their business despite all this. Most choose to stay indoors and curl up in front of the numerous fires lit in almost every room of the castle. Spring was in sight and most were anxiously awaiting its return, the thoughts of leaves, blossoms, and the sense of rebirth that came along with the mild season encouraging students to continue on. Students did continue on, though some were not as hopeful as others.

Harry Potter walked about the grounds in the gray and mused over thoughts in his own head. It had been almost two months since he had visited the Burrow for Christmas yet the experience still haunted him. With the lull in activity on the part of the Dark Lord, Harry had ample opportunity to ponder the holiday's events. While the memory of Ron crying in his arms had stuck with Harry, it was what happened after that he continued to dwell upon now.

Ron had just fallen asleep. Harry lay awake, his fingers still intertwined with those of his best friend, looking off into the darkness of the night. After a moment of lying in bed, trying his best not to think about what Ron had just thrown in his lap, Harry felt the tea he had drunk making its way through his system. Doing his best not to disturb Ron, he rose from the bed. At feeling the loss of his friend the red head stirred in the bed, muttering something unintelligible yet did not wake. Harry slowly walked to the bathroom, not making a sound. He walked down the hallway, noting where the floor creaked and where it was safe to walk. There were no windows in the hall, but the candles on the walls flared up to a dim light to guide him through. As Harry walked past a small alcove in the wall he stopped. There was a noise coming from the dip in the wall. Cautiously he moved towards it, not quite understanding what was going on. They were voices. Not just random voices, but those of Molly and Arthur Weasly. "This little place must lead to their room," Harry stated to himself. He had always been slightly curious as to where the two slept, he had never seen another room on the floor.

Feeling guilty about hearing a private conversation he almost turned around and went back to Ron's room, his full bladder all but forgotten. His mind changed however when he made out Mrs. Weasly's voice saying his own name. Without a second thought he turned back to the alcove and pressed his ear to the wall.

"I know things have been quiet Arthur, but they won't stay that way! We've as good as lost Percy already and I don't want anything else to pull this family apart! Ron hasn't been eating right since he came home, Ginny won't talk to me, and the twins! Well, they've caused enough grief to last us a life time. Adding Harry into this mix isn't going to help us Arthur! I love Harry dearly, but he's not my son! I have my children to think of, and as long as Harry Potter is under this roof my children are not safe!"

Harry nearly fell over when he heard these words trickle through the wall like an unwanted leak. For some reason the candles in the hall flickered and went out leaving Harry in total darkness. Without his glasses he couldn't see much anyway, but now all familiar shapes were gone and he was left with nothing but the sound of Mrs. Weasly, the one person he thought of as a mother figure, all but saying she wanted Harry out of the house. As tears welled up in his eyes Mr. Weasly's voice broke the silence.

"We can't very well turn him out in the snow Molly. He belongs here just as much as our own children do. I never thought that I'd hear something like that come from you. As for your own children, if you're so worried why don't you pay attention to what they're saying! Percy is gone. He's not coming back. He knows better than us what's going on here, and Ron's picking up on it too. That's what's going on. Our children are growing and becoming adults, yet you still treat them like infants! All you're doing is driving them away! And what's going on between us isn't helping either." Arthur paused, and Harry was almost certain he heard him sniffling, as though fighting back tears.

"Our children are not stupid Molly. They'll notice when their parents don't speak to each other, or when their father spends more and more time at work and their mother doesn't miss him. They'll notice when they stop hearing the 'I love you's. They know Molly. Though Percy is the only one dealing with it." Mr. Weasly was almost screaming at this point. Harry's hands were shaking as he clutched to the corner of the wall to stay upright.

Mrs. Weasly let out a laugh of indignation. "Percy? Percy is simply running away. We've got to stay here and make this work Arthur. For this family, and our children. They won't notice unless we let them. We'll go out there in the morning, smiling as always, and things will be just the same as they always were. No one will know! There is nothing wrong here! I'm happy, I have my family and I will keep them so help me god! And if you're half the man I thought you were you'll stay in this! I will not be a coward and run from this! THERE IS NOTHING WRONG!"

Mrs. Weasly was obviously crying and hysterical at this point. He could hear shuffling about as a silence fell in the room. Harry stood waiting for something, anything. He didn't feel as though he could move his own body and so stayed glued to the wall. After a few seconds had past Harry became aware of his body again. His heart was in his throat, pounding with such force that he found it rather hard to breath. There were also tears falling from his eyes, albeit silent ones. At long last, the silence was broken from within the room. "All right Molly. I'm tired. Of all of this. I don't want to fight with you anymore tonight. I just wish..." His voice faded off into the night as Harry fell away from the wall.

Harry's mind was a blank. The words he had just heard were echoing in his mind bouncing about until he couldn't distinguish who had said what or in what context. That he was part of the arguments ripped a hole in Harry's heart. By some cruel twist of fate Harry himself was helping to drive down that spike that was tearing apart the one family he had ever been made to feel a part of. Within seconds Harry's mind shut down completely.

With his mind numb Harry stumbled to the bathroom, relieved himself, and trudged back to Ron's room. He no longer made careful notes of places in the floor to avoid and opened the door to the room rather roughly. Once he had closed the door behind him he basked in the moonlight that came through the window. The crisp blue light calmed him to the point where he was at least aware of his surroundings. Taking a deep breath and doing his best to put what he had heard far out of his mind he crawled back into the bed beside Ron.

The sleeping teen noticed the new warmth and within minutes Harry found himself wrapped up in the arms of Ronald Weasly. The same young man whose parents he had just over heard arguing. The same young man who had poured his heart out to Harry only hours before. The same young man who was the most important person in Harry's life. Even if he was asleep Harry clung to Ron and did his best to ease the flow of saline and salt cascading down his face. The liquid pooled up in his eyes then fell, saturating the material underneath his fingers. Harry clung to Ron, easing his hold only once he cried himself to sleep.

The next morning, it was just as Molly had said. They went downstairs with smiles pasted on their faces. It was as though they had pulled them from a box on the dresser, applied them, and were ready to go. A cheap adhesive, like the kind used for fake hair was all it took. After a few days when the children had all left again the smiles would go back into the box, forgotten until needed again. Remembering the angry words in contrast with the pained smiles caused a small part of Harry's happiness, his soul, to wither away and just die.

The grounds looked even more dismal and blank when Harry roused himself out of the memory. He hadn't said a word to Ron about what he had heard that night, though he knew that he would have to eventually. Ron hadn't spoken again about that night or anything at all about his parents. He carried on with school and life as though there was nothing wrong, building up the front that his parents had devised. With each passing day more and more of Ron was being lost to the lie, and if Harry didn't say anything soon Ron may very well have fooled himself the very same way that Mrs. Weasly had conned herself into believing that everything was fine. Ron hadn't ever displayed his emotions the way that he had that night, and Harry was fairly confident that Ron was ashamed of his reaction. He would avoid another outburst like that at all costs.

Though the sky threatened rain or snow Harry could not bring himself to go back indoors. He wandered further out onto the grounds until he came to a spot on the lake's shore that was nearly hidden by a towering group of trees that came up right to the water's edge. Feeling far enough from the castle he decided to rest a spell and took a seat on a stump a few feet from the shore. A small flat stone lay on the ground next to him, but as soon as Harry picked it up another was there to take its place. A small smile flickered onto Harry's face at the thought of a stump charmed to supply perfect skipping stones. He threw the stone and watched as it skipped... once... twice... three times. After that it sunk and disappeared from view. The ripples stayed though. Even when the source was sealed away, the after effects were apparent and went far beyond the immediate area. He picked up another stone, pitched it as hard as he could and watched in dismay as all it did was sink after making one large splash.

Harry leaned back onto his arms and looked over the lake. It had stilled and turned back to a flat expanse of black space. It was a void. From across that void Harry could see another shape making its way around the edge of the glasslike surface. A shape that in fact was a person. A tall-red-haired-male-type person. Ron. Harry stared at him knowing that Ron would make his way here eventually. Even though Harry couldn't be seen, he knew Ron would come.

And he did. About ten minutes later Ron appeared on the edge of the clearing. "Harry? What are you doing here? I never even saw you. I thought I would be alone over here..."

Harry noted the hint of uneasiness in his friend's voice. To Harry that was a red flag to the fact that Ron still had been thinking about what happened over the holidays. He closed his eyes and leaned back. "Do you want me to go Ron? I mean, if you wanted to be alone, I'll budge off." He looked at Ron imploringly. He didn't want to go. He wanted Ron to talk to him about this, to tell Ron what he had heard. "Or I could stay here. You know, listen if you've got something you want to talk about."

Ron seemed to pause at this. He had stopped a few yards short of the stump Harry was seated upon and looked his best friend over. Harry gave him a small smile of encouragement, hoping it would convince him to stay. "No mate, s'alright. You can stay."

Harry let out a breath he hadn't even known he was holding in. He slid over on the stump, which seemed to have grown rather wide; it would now hold them both with ease. He motioned for Ron to sit with him, and as the red head did, Harry's eyes never strayed from his freckled visage. "So, what've you got on your mind?" Ron looked uncertain again. His eyes shifted warily across the obsidian surface of the lake, unable to settle or look back at his best friend. Finally, with a rush of air like a balloon being deflated, he let it out. "It's Christmas. I've been thinking about it for the last two months. What we talked about, what happened. I broke down and cried Harry. I've never done that before. Well, not since I was little. For Merlin's sake, I'm seventeen years old, that's not supposed to happen, and not with you. I still do it though. I can't remember the last night I got to sleep without at least a few tears."

Harry was a bit taken aback by this news. He hadn't heard anything coming from Ron's bed at all. Understanding the words behind such a look, Ron continued, "I've had some tutoring sessions with Hermione. She's quite good with silencing charms you know. But the things at home are the same. I get letters from mum and she never says a word about dad or what they've been doing, and if I ask in a letter about him or them at all she just completely disregards it. I don't know who she thinks she's fooling." Ron looked away again. His face gave off a glow of anger, at his mother, his family, his brother for leaving them like this. Underneath it there was a cold darkness, where Ron was teetering on the edge, ready to careen forward.

Harry felt bile rise up in his stomach. Seeing Ron this upset coupled with his nerves about revealing his own findings to his friend made him feel physically ill. He swallowed hurriedly then placed a hand lightly on Ron's forearm. It traveled down slowly and gave his hand a tight squeeze. Ron didn't question the gesture, but returned it gratefully. Harry reached up to adjust his glasses then looked Ron in the eye. "She thinks she's fooling everyone. She thinks Percy has left because he doesn't care, she thinks the rest of you are blind, she thinks your being withdrawn is just a teenage phase, and she thinks that this will all go away if she pretends there is nothing wrong." Harry looked at Ron, wondering how he would react to Harry's seemingly presumptuous statement.

The red head made no move to look at Harry or even acknowledge that he had heard him. They sat in silence for what seemed like centuries, but couldn't have been more than a few minutes. With his head bent over staring at the ground Ron spoke. "And you would know this how, Harry? I knew that there was something you weren't telling me. I never expected it to take this long for you to get around to it though. Mind disclosing whatever information it is you have about my family Harry?"

His words were laced with venom and hurt that Harry had half expected. Harry winced at the sound of them despite himself. His gut clenched yet again and he had to wait until he was back in control of his body to speak. "I'm sorry Ron. I really am. I wanted you to know, but I didn't want to be the one to tell you. Especially when it seems that I'm part of the problem." His voice cracked as a result of the nerves and he paused. After a deep breath and another squeeze to Ron's hand, he divulged the entire story to his friend. He watched in horror as his face grew shade after shade whiter yet forced himself to continue.

When at last his retelling was complete Harry stayed silent and just watched as Ron processed the information. His face was a collage of so many emotions and thoughts that was impossible to read what was going through his mind. After a minute or so he spoke. "I knew it. My family is falling apart. I didn't want to believe it, and I could have gone on pretending that nothing was wrong. I can't do that now. It's too real now. I can't be running away anymore I suppose, but I don't think I can go back there. I don't approve what it is she's doing. As much as I hate this, I hate the further damage she's causing in her wicked attempts to keep us together. And what she said about you... Harry... what am I going to do now? My life... it's gone. It's really gone."

His eyes had lost their focus as he sat staring out over the lake. They were glazed over and hazy looking and his breath sounded ragged and forced. Harry panicked slightly and looked for anyway to regain Ron's attention. In one hurried motion he swept off of the stump and kneeled on the ground in front of his best friend. The ground underneath his knees was still wet from the melted snow and served in almost immediately soaking through his pants. Though he was now wet to add to his cold, Harry didn't dare move. He looked Ron directly in the eye but those eyes weren't seeing. They looked through and out and over into the abyss to end up nowhere.

In desperation Harry raised his hands to Ron's face. He gripped around the back of his head, around the nape of his neck, his thumbs resting on the pale freckled jaws. With a gentle shake Harry spoke urgently, "Ron, it's not gone. I'm here remember? That night I told you I would never leave you and I meant that. I'm here now. Don't think of them. We'll get in touch with Percy, he can help I'm sure, but no matter what, I will be here. Ron? Do you understand? Your life is here at school with me, and after school it'll be with me too. No matter where we are. Do you hear me?" A trickle escaped his eye as Harry pleaded with Ron. He paid it no mind and continued to beg his friend.

He was crying in earnest when Ron finally came back. With a start his eyes refocused and the first thing he saw was his best friend, inches away from his own face, crying. Ron heard his words, and the truth that backed them up. His own tears beginning to spill, Ron brought his hands up to cover the ones on his face. He stared at Harry and then without warning flung his arms around the other boy. "Oh Harry. Thank you. Thank you so much."

The red head was buried in the neck of the young man before him. Without a second thought Harry embraced Ron with equal fervor. He stroked his head and placed a light kiss upon the crown of the head among the unruly mass of red. Harry's heart soared with an unspoken love for the young man in his arms which induced the words that next left his lips. "Don't worry Ron. I'll always be here. I am your family. Always."