Disclaimer: I'm sure I'll be the proud owner of something spectacular one day, but at the moment I only own mediocre things. Among the things that I don't own are the title, characters, and ideas or Harry Potter. I do this, and every other section of writing in this story for no profit, and only the joy of writing.

Better Off Said

"What in the bloody hell was that?" Ron stormed into the common room, "What do you think you are doing? What is it that makes you think you are so high and mighty that you can play with people's feelings like that?"

The dance was still going on in the castle, and no one else was in the Gryffindor common room other than Harry and Ron. Harry really didn't need this sort of thing from Ron at the moment. He would have been perfectly fine if Ron had just said nothing and they had gone on with their lives like nothing had happened. Of course Ron wasn't going to do that. He had feelings for Hermione that were probably more intense than Harry's ever had been for the girl. Now that he had broken her heart it was obvious that Ron was going to be shocked, confused, and angry. Everything that he was doing made perfect sense.

Ron's face had turned as red as his hair with anger, "WHAT WAS IT? Do you get off on hurting people?" He stormed up to Harry, "I guess it just wouldn't be a complete day for you if you didn't stomp on someone's feelings! I mean you are the only one who could possibly understand what it is to be hurt! You are the only one who has an understanding of what it is to give up something for the right reasons, or to have something you wanted so desperately stolen away from you right in front of you!"

The words bit harshly into Harry. He had never expected Ron to ever act like this to him. Ron was supposed to understand him, and it was most likely the fact that Ron did understand him that gave him the ability to use words to hurt him so deeply. Malfoy's insults and taunts were just child's play. Ron was using things that hit Harry in the points where it counted, and Ron usually wasn't one to throw insults around. Malfoy probably meant what he said as much as Ron, but Malfoy always did it and Harry had become numb to the sensation of being told off by the blonde little Slytherin boy.

"Listen you self-important, git! I've been sitting here while Hermione has been swooning over you and I have done nothing even though I've got more feeling for her in my pinky then you have ever had in your entire body!" Ron was shaking now, "I have been stepping aside for you for the entire time we have been together! I suppose I was confused and thought you were important or more of a person than I was! You're nothing! You aren't important! You aren't more of a person! You are just like that monster that marked you with that stupid scar on your forehead!"

Harry froze and his eyes suddenly glassed over, "…What did you say…?"

Ron continued to shake, possibly out of a mix of fear and anger, "You heard exactly what I said!" He was too far into this to pull out now. He knew he may have gone too far, but he was beyond caring about what Harry felt, or what Harry wanted. He had stopped caring as soon as Hermione had shed her first tear over him, "You aren't any more of a person than Voldemort! You're out of the same mold!"

Harry moved so quickly that Ron had absolutely no time to act. He was floored by Harry's punch. Harry was slightly winded from all of the effort and raw emotion that he had put into the punch. He hadn't remembered even thinking about punching Ron. It had just happened. Ron had been asking for it though. He was sure of that. Anything like what Ron had been saying was inviting him to let loose. He had to express himself or he would have exploded. Ron would survive, and he wouldn't say anything as stupid as what he had been saying again.

"I'm nothing like Voldemort!" Harry breathed as he straightened up slowly.

Ron spat blood to his side and wiped his mouth slowly, "You don't seem so different from where I stand! Neither of you care about the emotions or feelings of the people around you! You're just a big bully who happens to have a sob story! You think you can just talk or think your way out of anything, and then when someone threatens you like me you just resort to violence! Yeah, you're a great friend, but you've been proving that all night, haven't you?"

Harry growled, "Shut up! You don't know anything about how I feel!"

Ron pushed himself up onto his feet and threw his hand forward pointing at Harry violently, "What about you then? Gonna preach to me about feelings and knowing how everyone feels! How do you think Hermione feels? How do you think I feel? How do you think that punch felt?"

Harry couldn't take this. Not from Ron. Not now. He was going through too much to be able to just stop and listen as Ron openly attacked him with words. The only difference was that he had used his fists rather than words. There was nothing left to throw at Ron. Physical attacks weren't going to work on him. There were no words that could be used as weapons against Ron like the ones he was using against him. He wasn't ready for this. It was stupid! Ron was supposed to be his friend and yet here they were…

"You don't understand anything about this! You don't understand anything about what I am doing or why I am doing it! You know nothing! Get off your soapbox!" Harry turned and started to walk away from Ron.

Ron took a few shaky steps forward, still recovering from the shock and pain of being punched by Harry, who he had never expected to ever physically hit him, "You don't know that is going on! I have a perfect grip on the world around me and what everyone is doing! You have no idea how much courage it took for Hermione to finally come and talk to you about her emotions! You have no idea how much work she put into everything just so that you would notice! You didn't even have to say that you loved her back! She just wanted to dance with you and you took away her dream for the evening!" He punched a couch, "That at least you should understand! But no! No one can know what it is like to lose your dreams like you can, can they Harry? No one feels as beat up when the one thing the wanted is taken away from them like you do, do they! No, you are that perfect boy who understands pain so well that no one else could possibly have even a glimmer of and idea of what pain feels like! I'm sick of you and your high and mighty disposition! I'm tired of you stepping on people like they are things, you emotionless brat!"

Harry stopped and stood where he was. Why wasn't Ron letting go? It was a dead point. There was no point in continuing the argument. He was never going to yield and Ron should have known that. He never yielded to anything. He could stare Voldemort in the face and not have to back down. He turned, his fists clenched, his eyes narrowed at Ron. This was over! He wasn't going to stand for this sort of speech from Ron! Ron had no idea what it felt to…

He stopped and let his hands go loose. This was what Ron had been talking about. This was what Ron had been saying about him. It wasn't that he had turned Hermione down at all. He could have said that he was stupid for turning down such an amazing girl and the point would never have been proven since they would have had a varying view of amazing. Instead he had attacked him for his belief that no one felt emotion like he did. It was all true and he had proven it. He didn't allow himself to believe that he was causing the people around him to experience pain at his expense, but he always had been. Sirius was dead because of him. Every time he saw Dumbledore after doing something he thought was heroic, the aging headmaster always looked so tired and beaten, and that was because of him too. Everyone around him had been suffering and he hadn't been able to realize it. Everyone had been experiencing more emotion than he ever had allowed himself to and he had forced himself to believe that no one hurt like he did. Ron had known Sirius, and so had Hermione. They had lost someone when he had died too. It might not have been so close, but they had lost something.

"I…" Harry started. He looked down. He didn't know what to say other than that.

Ron stared at Harry softly. It was over. He had beaten the boy who lived. He had driven his message home and Harry finally seemed to understand what it was that he was talking about. This was a victory, so why did he feel like someone had punched him in the stomach? Why did he feel like the one who had been beaten around to room and taunted…well other than the fact that he had been the one who had been punched, which Harry never would have done if it hadn't been for the Voldemort comment, which had been a little over the top. Harry had never used any of the emotional attacks that he would have been able to. Ron knew there were half a million things that Harry could have said that would have been just a hurtful, and yet he hadn't.

Harry continued softly, "I…I didn't realize…I was worried…."

"I'm sorry…I shouldn't have said some of that." Ron spoke softly while Harry tried to fit his words together.

Harry shook his head softly, "No…I deserved everything you said. I just…well…I'm…I'm not ready for anything like what Hermione is trying to give me. I mean think about it for a moment. I am the big threat to Voldemort, so the people closest to me are going to be his targets…I'm just…I don't want you or Hermione to be in danger because you got close to me."

Ron smirked softly as he rubbed his cheek, "Harry. Who charges in right behind you when we do stupid things like chase after Voldemort? I don't think you are defending us by not getting close."

"Yeah…but you guys would just be bigger targets if I got close to you. I don't want to put either of you in danger." He leaned against a chair, exhausted from all of the emotional exertion of the argument.

Ron laughed a bit as he leaned on one of the armchairs, "Ugh…we really shouldn't argue like this. It can't be healthy for either of us…I mean I'm worn out and I didn't even punch anyone. I can't imagine how you feel."

Harry winced a little and looked into the Armchair that he was leaning in, "I'm sorry about that…I really…y'know…"

Ron nodded, "Yeah, I do. I overstepped. I shouldn't have said anything like what I did." He rubbed the back of his head while he looked around, "Well…what are we going to do now? I mean going back to the dance probably isn't smart, and while I understand why you did what you did, Hermione isn't likely to, so we probably shouldn't be down here when she gets back…"

Harry nodded, "You're probably right…"

Ron laughed as he started walking to the stair to the male dormitories, "When it comes to Hermione, I'm always right."

((AN: I know the title doesn't really relate to this chapter much. I was planning on them having some sort of heated argument and then both of them gaining a new outlook with which to look at themselves with, in which case their argument really would have been better off said since it would have given them a way to reflect on themselves, but as you can see, that didn't really happen the way I had planned. I also had some big plan to have Blake wander in, in the middle of the argument and become the target of everyone's hate, but it wouldn't have worked since he is still off with Hermione. Anyway, I hope the people who are reading this story, assuming I still have someone reading this story, are enjoying it as much as I am enjoying writing it. I'm going to take a break for a while since I'm once again out of ideas.))