Chapter 23

Alcohol

"…and so, before I can even properly 'plain myself, she runs off! I mean, can you believe it?"

Harry Potter was drunk and slurring his sad story out to a stranger.

"Actually mate, I kind of can."

Harry squinted at the stranger.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" He slurred.

"Yes, Harry. I've known you since we were eleven, and you're married to my little sister. I'd hope you'd know me." The stranger said in a bored voice.

"Oh…well which brother are you? She's got a lot you know."

"It's Ron."

"Oh, hullo Ron," Harry said darkly, "What're you doing here?"

"The same thing I've been doing for the past two months. I'm making sure my sister's husband doesn't kill himself, thereby forcing my sister to raise your son alone, but the way things are going, it looks like she's going to do that anyway."

"S'not like she'll listen."

Ron eyed Harry warily. Instead of getting stupid when he drank, Harry got mean. Presently, his eyes were turning deep emerald and a scowl was in place of his normal smile.

"Have you tried to—?"

"Of course I've tried damn it!" Harry slammed his mug down on the counter, "She won't listen! It's 'you lied to me, Harry, how do I know you aren't lying now?' I didn't lie! There was nothing going on! You've got to believe me, Ron! You do believe me, don't you? Don't you, Ron? Don't—"

Harry slumped forward his head hitting the bar. The barman came over and took his mug.

"He's out again, eh?" He said to Ron.

"Yeah," Ron grunted, heaving Harry to his feet.

"Try and keep him from drinking so much next time, will ya? He's starting to scare away the customers."

"I'll try. G'night, Aberforth."

"G'night, Ron."

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Ronald Weasley Apparated Harry back to the Burrow and laid him on a bed in his room. He then went downstairs, looking at a clock as he passed. Three in the morning. Hmm…well at least it was earlier than last week.

"I take it he's out then?" A voice shook Ron out of his reverie.

"Huh?" Ron squinted in the darkness at a figure sitting on the couch. "Oh, yeah, hullo 'Mione. Yeah, he passed out earlier than usual tonight."

"So what d'you think will happen when he wakes up?" Hermione asked hopefully.

Ron snorted.

"The same thing that happens every morning. He'll wake up, make his way to the bathroom for a shower, run into Ginny, she'll burst into tears, then he'll spend an hour or so banging on her door shouting at her, then he'll Apparate to his house where he'll drink some more."

"Is he even still going to work?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah…five Sobering Charms later and he'll come in looking like a wreck, but he'll be clear headed."

Hermione sighed.

"Ron, what are we going to do? Things can't go on the way they are! They're miserable, we're miserable, your poor mum is ready to pass out any day!"

Ron smiled grimly.

"I don't think there's anything we can do, 'Mione. Harry won't admit to cheating, and Ginny won't forgive him until he does."

"What's going to happen to them?"

"I dunno, 'Mione, but I'll tell you this; Ginny is Harry's world. He'll die if he keeps going on like this. He used to pull out a picture of her when we were out at night watching Death Eaters and just look at her. He told me that just seeing her face made him feel like he could make it just one more day. He went through hell in sixth year when he had to give her up, and I'll be damned if he's not going through it again, all because of that wretched Cho Chang."

Hermione sighed, and patted Ron's hand. They had reached an unspoken agreement to act civil towards each other, in light of Harry and Ginny's struggles, and neither were complaining about this arrangement.

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"RON!"
Ron groaned and rolled over. He'd gone to bed at four in the morning after staying up to talk to Hermione, he'd even slept though Harry and Ginny's morning routine, and he was in no mood to get up this early.

"RON! Come on, get up, this is important!"
His door flung open, and Hermione stood there looking winded.

"Whassamatter?" He groaned.

"It's Harry!"
Ron sat up.

"What do you mean 'it's Harry'?"

"He didn't show up for work this morning, and his Superior Auror went to Arthur, who got worried, and went to his house to check on him. Ron, he was passed out on the floor and wasn't breathing!"

Ron's insides turned to ice.

"Wh-what d'you mean he wasn't breathing?"

"I don't know what's wrong with him!" Hermione sobbed, "But Arthur just sent me an owl, he's at St. Mungo's again, but the Healer won't tell Arthur anything! He's the bloody Minister of Magic, and they won't tell him anything! He's dying, Ron, I just know it!"

Ron leapt out of bed and gathered Hermione into his arms. She cried on his shoulder until she regained her composure.

"Okay, now, just let me get dressed and then we'll go to Harry's house." Ron said.

"Why Harry's house? Why don't we go to St. Mungo's?" Hermione sniffed.

"Because we won't learn anything at St. Mungo's. If the Healers aren't telling Dad anything, then they certainly won't tell us. The only way we're going to figure out what happened to him is if we go to his house."

Hermione nodded and pointed her wand at Ron. He yelped and ducked.

"What in the name of Merlin d'you think you're doing?"

She waved her wand at him, and his maroon pajamas were transfigured into robes.

"Hurry up, let's go." She said briskly and Apparated on the spot, Ron following.

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"His house is a mess." Hermione said, surveying the piles of clothes scattered on the living room floor, and the coffee table laden with bottles of alcohol and mugs.

"Oh, how stupid of Harry, of course he should have cleaned up! His wife just left him, and he's not cleaning….tsk tsk…we'll have to get onto him." Ron said sarcastically.

Hermione glared at him.

"I was simply stating a fact." She said haughtily.

Ron shrugged and picked up a bottle from the coffee table.

"Ogden's Ultra Strength Firewhiskey…that stuff's strong, that is. But, what's this other stuff?"

Hermione came over and picked up a bottle.

"These are Muggle alcoholic drinks! Look, this is Jim Beam whiskey…and Everclear grain alcohol…and this is Crown Royal…these are strong!" Hermione looked around suspiciously, and then gasped.

"What?" Ron asked.

"Oh, no…Ron…I think Harry has alcohol poisoning."

"What's that?"

"It's when your BAC raises…the highest levels are .30, .35, or .40…its terrible, Ron, and it's got to be what happened to him…you can slip into a coma at .35…and all three of those can result in death…and if Harry's been mixing all these drinks, which I assume he has been, judging by the size of these mugs…" Hermione trailed off.

"So," Ron said his face white, "So would all of these drinks be enough to raise Harry's ABC to .40?"

"BAC," Hermione corrected, and glanced at the mugs, "Yes, I think it would."

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"Mum!" Ginny Potter ran downstairs into the kitchen at the Burrow searching frantically for her mother.

"Yes, dear?" Mrs. Weasley turned from where she was making breakfast.

"Have you seen Hermione?"

"No, dear, I haven't, but Ron's gone as well, so I expect they're together."

"Well, that's fine, but Hermione and I have appointments with Professor McGonagall today to see if we can continue our seventh year. She's going to be late!"

"You're going to be late…aren't you meeting her in three minutes?" Mrs. Weasley said.

Ginny looked at the clock and swore.

"Sorry, Mum, I've got to go!"
She flung Floo powder into the grate and jumped in, shouting 'Hogwarts gates' as she spun in a flash of green.

Filch was there to meet her. He let her inside Hogwarts and led her to the stone gargoyle, then left. She watched him leave, and then looked around confusedly as she realized she didn't know the password. She decided to go up the stairs to the staffroom and find a teacher. She made it up two flights of stairs before reaching a door. She opened it and gasped in surprise as Harry stepped out.

"H-Harry! What are you doing here?" She asked.

Harry smiled.

"I was looking for you. I came to tell you that I'm leaving you. I don't love you. You were right; Cho's the woman for me. She always has been."

"No…" Ginny whispered, backing up, her eyes filling with tears.

"Yes. Don't you see? I loved Cho for five years…you were only a distraction…it was oh so handy when you decided to leave me…my only regret is that you're having my baby, and I'll have to pay you to raise the little brat."

"No!" Ginny cried in anguish, backing away as Harry came towards her, then slipped. She fell backwards, hitting her head as she tumbled down two flights of stairs…and then all went black.

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A/N: I know you all think I'm horrible, don't you? Just wait…you'll see. And I am so so so terribly sorry about the wait! I wanted this one to be good, and then my floppy disk acted up and I couldn't get the story up and so I had to rewrite the whole thing from memory, and it's slightly shorter than I would have liked, but its not too bad, is it? Okay, review please and I'll be back soon with answers to your questions!