Author's Note: Chapter Eleven, as promised.

11

Everything is Taken Away

Harry walked into the dormitories to find Ron sitting at the windowsill, glaring through the pane of glass as though it had hurt him somehow.

"Ron?"

Ron didn't look away from the window. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Hermione is worried about you," Harry said, hoping the statement would bring information from his best friend.

Ron shook his head, standing up. "No, she's not. She couldn't be. She's got someone else to worry about."

"You mean Malfoy?"

"Of course I mean Malfoy. Who else?"

Harry shrugged. "Are you going to be all right?"

Ron put on what seemed more like a grimace than the smile it was meant to be. "Why wouldn't I be? I get to go to the Graduation Ball with Cho Chang. Harry, I never even liked Cho Chang!" he exclaimed, beginning to pace, "All I wanted was to ask the one girl I really liked-maybe loved-to the ball, but, you know what, I guess that's not bloody possible!" He was trying to keep his voice down, certain that someone would overhear if he spoke too loud. "Because everything I want in this life gets taken away from me! I can't even look at Hermione anymore without thinking about how happy Malfoy must bloody be to have her! It hurts. It really does, and now, when I look at Hermione, all I can see is the one thing I never wanted to see. I-" Ron stopped pacing and looked Harry in the eye, "I can't deal with pain like this," he said in a hoarse whisper, "I've never shared my true feelings until now, and as it turns out, I can't even bring myself to share them with me yet. I'm admitting them to you when I haven't even accepted them for what they are!" Ron cried his last words and looked away.

Harry stood with his hands hanging limply at his sides. He hadn't expected this from Ron. He had walked up the stairs expecting an explosion, but never one full of such emotion. "I . . . Why don't you just tell her?" Harry asked.

Ron shot him a withering glance. "That would be like jumping into a pit that I knew was filled with spiders, Harry. I would risk losing what little dignity I have left."

Harry knew this wasn't a time to be cracking jokes, but Ron had set himself up. "When did you ever have dignity?"

Ron grinned wanly. "When I wasn't falling for the one thing that won't be there when I hit the ground," he said in a quiet voice.

Harry nodded. "What do you want me to tell her?"

"Tell who?"

"Hermione. She sent me up here to see what was wrong with you."

"Tell her . . . that I'm overwhelmed. She doesn't take hints very well, so I don't think she'll think anything of it," Ron said with a certainty that made him weary.

Harry smiled crookedly and went out the door.

A/N: Review, please!