Author's Note: Okay, I don't know what happened with the last chapter, sorry about the underlining on the whole page. I hope that doesn't happen with this chapter…or any other chapter, for that matter. I'll triple- and quadruple-check the edit page this time.

Disclaimer: Yada, yada, yada. Blah, blah, blah. Don't own HP or the characters. And the story idea came from my friend, because although I can continue with stories, I can't come up with ideas very well.

You know what? Forget the whole italicized/not italicized parts from before. Italicized are know the private thoughts of the person. Forget that whole flashback/present thing. Sorry for the confusion.

Okay, I think I've gotten all the major bases covered. Are there any outfielders I've forgotten? Oh, wait. There's one. The second chapter. Yeah, kinda need that.

Lives of Sacrifice Chapter 2: Never Forgotten

Ron hated life.

No, he didn't hate life. He just hated his life.

At night, all his dreams turned into the nightmare of Hermione dying. The look of terror on her face always woke him up, before he could see her crumple to the ground. He didn't want to believe that his girlfriend was really dead.

The fact seemed to be laughing in his face, though. After two years, he seemed to be the only one that couldn't get over her death. Sure, Ginny and Harry were still sad that she was gone, but they had moved on. Harry seemed to get over her death quickly. Makes sense to some extent, Ron thought bitterly. He lost his parents, he saw Cedric die, and he saw Sirius die. I guess you get used to it after a while.

But he still wasn't convinced. Harry hadn't lost his true love. He and Ginny were living together, married, completely happy and blissful. The same life he wanted with Hermione. Instead, he had moved in with them, so that he wouldn't have to live alone. Living alone would just remind him of what he didn't have.

I would rather have Voldemort still alive. He did admit to himself, though, that helping to kill Hermione's killer did have its benefits. It's not the same, though. All I ever wanted was some of Harry's glory. Now, I have it, but without what I had since beginning Hogwarts. He didn't want the glory anymore. He would still rather be the poor sidekick with Hermione than to be the hero without her.

I should get a job, he thought. I can't stay with Harry and Ginny forever. Besides, I have to make some money. And it could help me stop thinking of Hermione all the time. But did he really want to take his mind off Hermione? For the time being, it would feel good. But, when he started thinking about her again, he felt guilty, like he was betraying her for not thinking about her. I'll go talk to Fred and George. Maybe I can get a job at their joke shop.

But instead of moving, he stayed huddled on the couch. A tear of loneliness and abandonment escaped his eye and fell down his cheek. He didn't bother to wipe it away. He knew more would come, as they always did. Why couldn't he get on with his life?

It's my fault she's dead, he thought. He said he was going to kill her. He said it long before he did. I was her boyfriend. I was supposed to protect her. That's was a true boyfriend does, not stay rooted to the spot, watching her die, helplessly. Another tear slid down his cheek, this time from anger at himself.

The front door opened, and then quietly closed shut. Ginny walked in, and automatically looked over to Ron on the couch. "Ron, you aren't moping on the couch again, are you?" She asked, well aware what the answer was.

"You expect me to be doing something else? Like what?" Ron shot back. "What am I supposed to do when the woman I love is dead?"

"How about 'Get on with your life'? Moping isn't going to bring her back, you know," she pointed out. "Besides, she wouldn't want you moping around all the time. She would want you to get on with your life."

"How would you know? You don't understand what it's like to lose the person you love!" Ron yelled, now as angry at Ginny as he was at himself.

"Ron, I was there, remember? You weren't the only person to lose Hermione! You aren't the only person who misses her! And, guess what, Ron? I have to worry about Harry being killed everyday, because of the Death Eaters that still want him dead! That isn't exactly a picnic!" Ginny shouted back over the crack that filled the room.

"Are you two bickering again?" Harry asked in mock sternness. He had just Apparated home from the Ministry, where he was working as an Auror. Then he went over to his wife, kissed her, and turned to Ron. "Did you hold together well enough today?"

Harry had tried to be as understanding as he could with Ron. After all, Hermione was Ron's girlfriend when she died, and she was the first death he had ever experienced. Harry remembered how he felt when Cedric had died, and the nightmares he had for the next year, and multiplied that feeling by about ten. He could only imagine how horrible he would feel if Ginny had died that night, or any other time, for that matter. So he showed more sympathy for Ron than Ginny did. The constant sulking did get annoying, but that was just Ron's way of dealing with the death. Ron had supported Harry after Cedric died, and again when Sirius did so. So Harry would support Ron as long as he needed his support. This is what best friends do.

"Yeah. Haven't eaten since breakfast. I wasn't very hungry," Ron rushed in when Harry gave him a Look. "I'll help with supper, though. Considering I'm not really helping out with expenses or anything," he added, suddenly quite ashamed.

"Don't worry about it. You'll stay here as long as you need, no charge. Don't rush it," Harry told him. "Although, I wouldn't go missing any more meals if I were you. You are looking too pale and too thin."

"How am I supposed to eat? My girlfriend is dead! Do you really think I'm going to think, 'Oh, I guess I'd better eat rather than remember Hermione'? "

"You know, Ron, most people can do one thing and think about another thing. Especially during a task as simple as eating lunch," Ginny retorted. She, unlike Harry, did not have endless patience for his sulking. Part of the reason she was happy about graduating from Hogwarts was so that she wouldn't have to live with any of her brothers anymore. And here was Ron, still living with her! Every night for the past year, she kept trying to convince her husband to make Ron leave, but with no avail.

The rest of the preparation of supper was completed in silence, with each person thinking his or her own thoughts. After about fifteen minutes of preparing supper, they sat down at the table. Harry was the first to speak.

"Ron, I was reading some of Hermione's old books last night-" he started, but was cut off by Ron.

"You went through her books? You didn't let them stay in the spare bedroom like I said?" Ron was shouting again. "Do you even care about her memory anymore? Or are they just 'stuff' now?"

"Will you let me finish?" Harry asked, much quieter than Ron had been, and much more gentle. Harry was trying to be understanding, but the sudden outbursts were the worst part of letting Ron live with him and Ginny. "As I said, I was reading some of Hermione's old books last night-" Ron coughed, but said nothing-"and one of them said something that might be helpful. In fact, Hermione underlined it, like she wanted one of us to find it." Both Ginny and Ron were now intrigued. "It gave a spell that can be performed to bring back someone's true love that has died. It does have some consequences-" Harry was once again cut off, but this time Ron was eager, rather than angry.

"You mean it? There is really away to bring her back to life?" he asked. "But I remember Dumbledore saying that there was no way to bring someone back to life! How can we bring her back to life?"

"Well, it's rather complicated, and it does have some consequences that you have to think about-" Harry, once again, was cut off by Ron.

"I don't care about the consequences! I don't care how much work it is! I don't care about any of that! I just want Hermione back!" Ron shouted back, with a mixture of anger and joyfulness. I'll get to see Hermione again, he thought. I'll get to see her in flesh again. I don't have to go around feeling sorry for myself anymore!

"So, when do we start?"

Okay, how was that for a quick update? I probably won't be updating that fast all the time, because I've already had a week of school, and I'm taking an advanced math class, and an advance science class. So I don't think I'll have a lot of time to update that fast again.

But, if you like what you are reading, please review! And, if you don't like what you are reading, review and tell me how to improve it! I really don't mind flamers, as long as you tell me how to improve it.