A/N: Argh! Sorry! Now, this DOES have more of the parents. So so so sorry that it took this long to get this to you all! I really hope that you like it! Please drop me a review! And thanks so much to everyone who has already reviewed! I really am so so grateful! Hope that this chapter doesn't disappoint! Luv Ella xXx
Ginny looked up. Jade was stirring. Her eyes were fluttering open, and then after a few moments of floating somewhere between awake and asleep, they snapped wide open, and she tried to sit up abruptly.
Ginny was startled.
"Harry! Harry she's awake!" she hissed, and leaned forward to her daughters bed.
It was three hours since Harry and Ginny had returned to the hospital wing. Jessie, Daniel and Zeke had been sent back off to bed, and, reluctantly, they had left. Jessie was acting vague, and peculiar, but Harry and Ginny were much too distracted for her to talk to, and besides, she didn't really know them in the first place. How was she meant to explain how Jade's uncle had run from the room, pale faced and open-mouthed?
Harry was sitting on the bed opposite, and jumped to his feet when Ginny hissed across the room at him, rushing over to his daughter's bedside. He was distant, yet alert, and he gazed down at her, and clasped Ginny's hand in his own.
Startled though she was at the sight of her parents leaning over her, when it seemed to be only moments ago that she was in the forbidden forest, Jade tried again to sit up, without any progress. Her limbs were tired, and weighted her to the bed heavily, aching in all places.
"Hey." She groaned, hoarsely, grinning all the same. Harry smiled, despite himself. This room reminded him of many occasions, and he was proud, through his worry, of the fact that he could see so much of himself in his daughter. The phrase 'Malfoy got me landed in the hospital wing' was one that he had often found a cause to recite, and now, although the situation was grim, Harry was slightly glad that Jade could say those same words.
Harry, when he had been told of the reason for Jade's condition, had taken out his wand and paced the room, clenching his fist around it until his knuckles went white. Then the fact had set in that Malfoy hadn't gotten away with it.; that Jade was safe, and recovering. That Malfoy's own son had turned against him, in a way that Draco had, many times, failed to do himself. Harry calmed at these thoughts, so that when McGonagal had led them back to the hospital wing, Harry was still formulating gruesome revenge plots in his mind, though he was slightly more relaxed about it. Mind you, if he ever bumped into Draco one day down Diagon Ally…
"What happened to me?" Jade muttered, "Is Zeke alright?"
"Yes sweetie, Zeke's fine." Ginny muttered, stroking her daughter forehead soothingly.
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"So is James staying with Uncle Ron?" Jade asked, when Harry and Ginny had finished explaining everything to her. She had propped herself up against her cushions, so that she appeared a little more lively. A frown came over Harry's face.
"No, James is staying with Grandma and Grandpa's house…" he said, and Ginny looked equally disturbed. "Where's Ron then?" he asked her. Ginny shrugged.
"He was right here. She said. I supposed that he went off to bed, I didn't really think about him, I was too worried…"
Ginny looked guilty, and trailed off, staying around the room.
The truth was, they hadn't seen Ron all night, not since they left him alone with Jessie.
Harry peeked out the window. The sun was peering at the over the mountains that surrounded the castle, and light had begun to fill the skies, extinguishing the stars. Jessie and Daniel would be back soon. Even Zeke might turn up, though Harry was almost certain that he would be scared of how Jade would react. The search for Malfoy had continued through the night, with a McGonagal getting Slughorn and Hagrid to search the forest and the grounds for him, with no success. Harry didn't think that they would catch him, and he didn't seem to mind much. Zeke had done what Draco had never been able to face up to; he had defied his father and decided what was right for himself.
As if on cue, Jessie and Daniel walked sleepily into the room, watching for Madame Pomfry cautiously, and trying not to make any noise, for fear that they would be sent back to their dormitories. After a few sleepless hours, Daniel had descended the stairs from the boy's dormitory to find Jess already puffy eyed and pale, sitting upright in the common room, no doubt waiting for dawn. The sunlight that started to peek through the window tauntingly was enough of a signal to the both of them, and they headed off towards the hospital wing, Jessie wondering how Jade was, and, even more puzzling, what was wrong with her uncle?
"Jade!" Jessie let out a small gasp, and she and Daniel quickened their pace, as their eyes fell on their friend, who was sitting up in her bed and giving each of them a small smile.
"Thanks for finding me." Jade said, in a small voice. Jess and Daniel shook their heads, wiping away the gratitude distractedly.
"Don't mention it. Zeke did the most of it." Jessie said, in hushed tones.
Daniel grinned, "Yeah, and we had a little help from Moony Wormtail Padfoot and prongs." He added, sending Harry a grin, which Harry received with bewildered eyes.
Ginny scowled. Then her expression cleared up, and she let out a laugh.
"Oh, I forgot, have you two seen Ron around? Has he gone off to sleep somewhere?" Ginny asked Daniel and Jess. Jess looked awkward.
"Er, he left. I was going to tell you before, but everyone was so worried about Jade that I thought it best to keep quiet. I was just talking to him and he went all funny. He ran right out of here, looked like he was going to be sick." She explained, almost guiltily.
Ginny and Harry exchanged incredulous looks, and, despite themselves, broke out into a grin. There seemed that there were no more secrets between them now, and even though these were not the circumstances that they hoped Ron would discover the truth under, the relief of him knowing was a heavy, back breaking weight off their chests. The last few months, hiding a secret so hideous and so cruel from their best friend was the hardest thing that Ginny and Harry had ever had to do in their life. At least now he could sort it out between he and Hermione. It was their business now.
"Right. He was probably just really worried. I'm sure he'll be back." Ginny said kindly to Jess, who smiled, unsure. She didn't want to pry any further than she already had.
Ginny tried to get away all morning, without causing disrupt, to contact Ron, or even Hermione, and see how things were. She was scared, and she was scared of what happened to Katie, in amongst all of this, at the same time. As out of place and awkward as the woman was in their tightly knit group, she was a nice enough witch, and Ginny didn't want her to be hurt in the tangle of lies that was Ron and Hermione's relationship.
Ron and Hermione's relationship. She hadn't thought of those words for years and years. Back in her high school days it was the most poured over topic of conversation between her and Hermione. It was true that nowadays it wasn't a cause for much celebration, but at least they might; just might; be able to salvage something. Ginny knew that they both still loved each other, despite their whining that they had forgotten the others name.
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Ron could hear the blood pounding in his ears, and his eyes burning. He had just left Katie's place, where he told her that he couldn't see her anymore. It was true that he had no chance with Hermione anymore, but it was also, painfully true, that those moments where he had realised that he never stopped loving Hermione had woken him up to the fact that Katie was not the one for him; that she really was, as Ginny had informed him many times right back at the start of their relationship, an easy way out of the truth. She had never elaborated on that, but she had also always encouraged him to go looking for Hermione, and Ron knew what she had meant. He would never have been able to forgive himself if he had moved in with Katie, knowing that he didn't love her, knowing that she thought he did. It wasn't fair to her, and so, even though his heart still broke at the sight of her red, eyes, and the sound of her gentle sobs as he told her that he had had a change of heart, and that he still wanted to be friends, that he wouldn't want her to think that he never felt anything for her; even as his head hurts from the book that was thrown at him as he crossed the room to the door; even as his ears rung with the sound of that door being slammed behind him, Ron knew that what he had done was the right thing to do, after all.
And now, he had nowhere to go.
He could, if he wanted to. Go back to his packed up, letter strewn house, and spend his time sitting alone, drowning in self pity, but Ron had far too much pride for that. He knew that Ginny and Harry would find him eventually, after Jessie told them what had happened. They would find him sitting in the corner, puffy eyes and red faced, as he was now. Or, he could do the respectable thing. Take heed of the hard times that his family was going through; what with his niece being attacked by a former death eater and his nephew staying with his parents, and be a dutiful brother. Ron Weasley had pride, and he wasn't going to let Hermione Granger take that away from him too. He turned on the spot, and, with a fierce crack he apparated back to the place he felt safest.
The homely smells of the Burrow surrounded Ron, and he took a deep breath of familiarity. The oil that came wafting from Mr Weasly's shed, where he liked to tinker about with muggle appliances; the freshly baked muffins that sent their scent billowing out from a welcomingly opened window; the chicken feed in it's low trough lying in the front yard, being picked at discretely by garden gnomes; the fresh smell of apples from the orchard down the back. He could have stayed there and drank in the smell all day, but for the fact that he had been spotted. Molly Weasley had let out a shrill laugh, and tottered out of the front door, oven mitts still encasing her hands, and James Potter running energetically at her side, barely making it up to her knees.
"Ronald! How are you? How is Jade? How is Harry, is he holding up? And Ginny? Are they eating? Are you eating? You look quite deprived Ronald, come into the kitchen, I have just been baking-"
"Of course you have." Said Ron, his voice muffled as his mother brought him into a rib cracking hug that caused him to bend over almost in two to reach down to embrace her. James jumped up and down, holding his arms in the arm and whining, annoyed.
"Uncle Won Won! Hug me!" James moaned, scared of loosing all attention. Ron laughed, and picked up his nephew, walking towards the house with a smile on his face. He answered Mrs Weasly's questions, one at a time, leaving out the part about how he was, and continuing straight onto how Jade was. He told her, truthfully, that she had still been sleeping when he left, and that she might have woken up by now.
Mrs Weasley looked at him sternly.
"What are you doing here then Ron? Why did you leave them?"
"I thought that it should just be the two of them there for a while. The room was getting a little crowded, I didn't want to over whelm her when she woke up." Ron lied, quickly. The strong glance that he received from Mrs Weasley told him that she didn't believe him, however, she didn't seem to be able to come up with a reason as to why he would have left that early, so she shut her mouth, and kept quiet.
James gurgled, pressing his lips together to make a raspberry sound, something that he had recently learnt could annoy people, if done frequently enough while one is talking.
At around midday, Harry apparated in front of the Burrow. A knock on the front door made Ron jump, and James blow a raspberry, making for a very strange greeting when Harry opened up the door. His eyes widened when he saw that Ron was there.
"Ron!" he said, aghast. Harry had expected his friend to be, well, anywhere but at the Burrow. Australia, perhaps, but not here, in parents living room.
"How's Jade going? Is she awake?" Ron asked standing up from where he had been building blocks with James, a fun game, as each of the blocks would scream when they toppled over, a talent which James found highly amusing.
"Yes, she's awake. She'll need to stay ion the hospital wing for a few days, and I don't think they'll find Draco, but apart from that, she's fine. I just had to come here and tell everyone that, say hi to James…." Harry trailed off, staring at his friends face, trying to read what he was thinking. Ron's features, however, betrayed nothing.
"So where did you get to. Jessie said you had to rush away for something."
Ron's ears went red, and he clenched his fists in his pocket, just thinking about Hermione, and whatever man she was with.
"Yes, that was about Katie. I remembered, I had to see her about something, ad, well, we broke up." he confided, giving his friend a slight, garbled version of the truth. Harry raised one eyebrow, not convinced, but he dropped the topic, and Ron was glad. Harry, however, was just confused. He had been so sure that Ron would have noticed that Jessie bore unlikely resemblances to himself; the hair, and her ears, her freckles. It was hard to miss, if you knew what you were looking for.
But Ron didn't know what he was looking for. A tiny voice said in Harry's head. Harry felt ashamed. He didn't know what he was looking for because he, Harry, had been the worst friend that he could have possibly been. He was sure, sure that Ron would have been able to put two and two together, but the truth was, if no one told hi, that he had a daughter then why would he be looking out for one? Harry was more ashamed than he had ever been in his life, even though the fact still remained that it was none of his business if Ron knew or not, and he had to respect Hermione's wishes.
Ron misunderstood the crushed expression on Harry's face, and jumped to correct it.
"It's alright mate. I didn't love her. I never really did, did I? You knew it, Ginny knew it. I just needed to stop kidding myself." He said, quickly, Harry jumped. He almost laughed at the irony, and would have, had he been anywhere near a laughing mood.
"Alright, yeah, have you seen your mum? I need to give them the update." Harry said, trying to smile.
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Two weeks passed, and Ron continued to stay at the Burrow, he was too comfortable there to go back home. Fleur, Bill, and the family came to stay for one week, as they did once a year, and so he stayed, for one reason or another, for a fortnight.
It was amazing how much the Burrow still buzzed with activity, even though it had been many years since it held a family of nine. Though only Arthur and Molly lived there now, the rooms still seemed alive, and neither of the Weasley's was short in energy.
An assortment of people also dropped through regularly, so you could say that the house was a permanent reunion, with family, and friends of all ages and faces stopping for dinner. Most of them Ron knew; they were members of the Order of The Phoenix, or distant cousins that he hadn't seen for what seemed like a lifetime.
But what Ron did most, was fly.
He had taken two weeks from work already, to give the period where he was moving in with Katie some breathing space. He had conveniently not corrected the holidays, and besides, he was owed them anyway.
So Ron flew. He took his old broom out of the broom sighed down the back of the yard, which was so filled with spiders that he almost had a heart attack, and he as far as he could without being seen by the muggles ion the next village. Ron could think about anything when he was flying, and although it made him sad, and feel more lonely than he had ever felt, he liked the feeling as the wind flew through his thick red hair, and connected him with the best times of his life.
The euphoria that came with this, however, only lasted for so long, and, as soon as his feet touched the earthy again, so did Ron's thoughts, only they didn't come floating back down from the sky gracefully; they came hurtling down, and didn't stop when they reached the grass. Sure, he could put on a cheerful face for old friends, and he could liven himself up for his parents, every so often, but when he stopped trying, he was a mess, and Hermione, her bright haired, kind little girl, and whoever the girls father was, filled his thoughts, haunting him threateningly.
Mrs and Mr Weasley were worried about their son, who would lock himself in his room and appear tired throughout the day. He still hadn't given them a straight answer about why he was at the Burrow in the first place. The loved having him there, and Harry had told them that he had broken up with Katie, but Molly knew that it must have been something more, something else that he was never going to tell them, and all that they could do was try their best to cheer him up as much as they could.
"Ron, dear, I just wish that you would eat something…it's not healthy." Molly Weasley fussed over her son. It was in her nature, to fuss. The kind old woman had done it all her life. It was a trait that came from having so many children to look after. Not to mention a husband who did have a few childish traits…
"Ron! This will cheer you up! Come and look at these!" Arthur said, excitedly. Ron smiled at his mum, and shook his head, and then followed his dads voice out to the shed, where he had a small workshop of sorts set up. The shed was covered from the concrete floor to the thatched roof in bits and pieces of muggle mechanics, and other things that wowed the wizard. These included the motor from an old car, and, in pride of place, Mr Weasly's plug collection. He was now in the middle of examining these objects, which were really just an assortment of the sort of plugs that muggles found lying around the house, inserted into walls, and powering electrical appliances. Mr Weasley was, however, eyeing them as though they were gold.
Ron had no interest what so ever in the workings of the electrical plug. He wanted to escape Molly's constat begging for him to eat something, and so he positioned himself on the old couch behind his father, and watched as he looked through all of his collection, a maniacal gleam behind his glasses.
Ron's blue eyes, which where rimmed with red from crying, squinted at his dad as though he were crazy, the amount of enthusiasm being put into looking at the seemingly useless muggle contraptions a total loss on Ron.
"Look at hem Ron! Ingenious really? Isn't it? How they get on without magic?" Ron stared off into the distance. Yes, getting on without magic. He couldn't believe that Hermione, the brightest witch of their age, could have gone for so long without doing one little bit of magic…she must have really hated him, to give it up all together. Ron groaned inwardly. Of course she hated him. She probably hated him more than he hated Lavender, and that would explain a lot…
"I mean, they carry power in this Ron! Almost like their own little magic wands you could say!" Arthur continued excitedly, dusting them off compulsively.
Ron stared off into the distance. He remembered how embarrassed Jessie had been when she had said that she was muggleborn. Was that really how Hermione had brought up her daughter? The same way hat she had been brought up? Had she really taken her daughter off to Hogwarts knowing the kind of prejudice that she would find there, even though she didn't deserve it at all? He thought of the way that Jessie's cheeks had blushed, how her ears had turned red with shame…
Ron sat bolt upright, and jumped from the chair as though one of the spark plugs hanging on the wall behind them had sent an electric shock running right through him.
Suddenly it all made perfect, earth-shattering sense. Ron didn't have time to feel angry or elated, or whatever other emotion threatened to break its way through the chains that bore them down. All he had time for was the bubbling determination, and the mind numbing fortitude that had over come him, to know the truth, and the absolute truth.
Arthur hadn't noticed any of this. He was now going through the ingenious way that muggles over come their stupidity. He was explaining to Ron, about the fact that muggles have different plugs, and showing him the foreign sort, the prime of his collection. The words only floated through Ron's ears, like a nuisance, the space between them vaguely taking them in as he thought of what he could do next…
"…And this one here Ron? See this one, with the three flat prongs? Well this one is brilliant, comes from Australia! Jades young friend sent it to me! Lovely young girl-"
Australia. And all of a sudden, Ron knew. He knew the truth, and he wanted more than anything to escape it.
Ron grabbed the plug and ran from the room, sprinting to the living room and throwing a hasty handful of floo powder into the crackling fire that was burning in the grate.
"Brisbane, Australia!" he yelled, a triumphant smile on his face, the flames turning blue, and swallowing him up.
A/N: yes, it was a long time coming, but it was extra long, and I hope that you will still forgive me! I really do apologise! I have a new story coming out soon, by the way, called the Emerald Eyed Stag, which is actually where I got my username from; it was the first story that I ever wrote! Edited A LOT! So please read that when it comes, I would be so grateful! Thanks for reading this far in code red! The end is near!
Luv Ella xXx
