Disclaimer: My mother always told me to let go and let God. I think that that was one of the best advice she's ever given me.

It didn't take long for everyone to notice Ron's mounting aggression towards all others except Harry, in whom, he seemed to be avoiding lately. Harry had been the only one to voice his opinions of Ron leaving and there for ever since then there had been an underlying tension that continued to build every time the two met. Ron, however, seemed to be treading lightly around the raven head, careful to avoid certain conversations or out right just ducking out of a room when Harry entered. It wasn't that he was afraid of Harry. He was afraid of the truth Harry would spew out at him when the two finally did talk about Ron's long search.

As for Ron's aggression? There was a source.

Lorel.

He seemed so intent on dismissing her likeness of Hermione that he took out his frustration on everyone else. Though he had not yet discovered the fire whiskey Mr. Weasley had hid upon hearing that his son was to arrive, no one was about to take the chance of the steaming red head to explode.

Currently, Ron was sitting in the family room by himself, glaring into the flames. The rest of the family, of course, was doing their best to avoid him.

"Dad?" came the timid voice of his daughter. Ron finally looked up and smiled.

"Hey, Lorel. What's wrong?" he asked upon seeing her pensive expression. She sat down next to him and observed his face and bit her lip.

"You didn't find anything did you." It was more of a statement than a question and it took Ron completely of guard. She had never actually approached him about his search. He frowned and looked back into the fire, running his hands through his hair.

"I don't know what to do… I promised you-"

"Uncle Harry says that you're killing yourself," she interrupted in a determined fashion. He looked over at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Did he now?" he asked, slightly amused and more pissed off. Lorel saw the look in her father's eyes and touched his arm.

"How long are you going to keep looking Dad?" she asked softly. She felt Ron stiffen and he looked away, his eyes dancing in the firelight. It seemed like an eternity before he answered. When he did, it scared her. His voice was small. He sounded defeated.

"Maybe the Healers were right… and she really is…" he trailed off, leaving the words to hang between them like an evil omen. Lorel hated seeing her dad like this. It was worse than seeing him drunk and in pain. And that in itself was heartbreaking to watch. She pulled her legs to her chest, resting her head on her knees, gazing into the fire.

"Maybe…" she paused and looked at her father. "Someone told me that if put it all in God's hand then he will do the rest… maybe we just have to leave it up to God?" There was a long silence and then Ron stood up and gave her a kiss.

"Then I suggest you start praying," he whispered.

Ron walked down the streets of Diagon Ally stiffly with Harry at his side. Both men weren't in the talking mood, so they just walked around, poking in and out of different stores, searching for gifts. Harry could see out of the corner of his eye, Ron trying to strike up the nerve to speak to him. Growing frustrated with Ron's silence, he stopped and turned to his friend.

"What is it, Ron?" he snapped. Ron froze for a moment then he looked off down the street.

"Lorel told me that you told her that I was killing myself," he muttered darkly. Harry paused in slight shock and then shook his head and glared at Ron.

"Well, you are!" He exclaimed and started walking again. "You've been gone for seven freaking years searching for her, Ron. Seven years! Dammit, Ron. What about Lorel? I mean, I know it's hard to look at her without seeing Hermione, but have you realized that in two years she's going to be gone! She has two more years before Hogwarts! And then what? Seven years of school and then she'll be on her own and you would never have been there! She needs you, Ron. No matter if you promised her. That was seven years ago, ok." Harry ran his hands through his unruly hair. "I miss her too Ron," he murmured, his voice all of a sudden smaller. "But there comes a time where you just have to let go… not for your sake but for everyone else's," he whispered to him, glancing around the street.

Ron just stood there, soaking in all of the information Harry had just released. The sad thing was, he knew Harry was right, but didn't want to admit it and Harry could see it in his eyes. That struggle in his heart to keep the idea that Hermione was still alive. It broke Harry's heart to still see Ron like this. He really was killing himself, by slowly isolating himself from the horrifying reality in which he still did not want to face. Harry didn't want to see the day when reality took a sharp turn and smashed Ron in the face. It would be his ruin.

"Ron, I-"

"I've got to go," Ron muttered, heading off down the way. Harry groaned inwardly.

"Ron, no!" He called, grabbing the man's arm. Ron wrenched himself from Harry's grip, glaring at him.

"You sound like my mum," he sneered in disgust.

"Ron, think about Lorel," Harry snapped. Ron froze for a moment, his eyes clouding over. Then his head jerked and a pained look passed over his eyes.

"Triniti…" he gasped, his chest heaving from lack of oxygen. Harry's eyes widened, but before he could do anything, Ron disapparated.

"What do you mean 'you lost him'?" Molly shrieked. Harry ducked behind his wife, who was glaring at him also.

"What the bloody hell did you say to him?" Ginny demanded.

"Ginny! Language," Molly scolded. Ginny rolled her eyes, her attention on her husband. Harry looked around and then sighed.

"He said something about Triniti and then disapparated," he repeated. Arthur sighed.

"We'd better find him before he hurts himself and before Lorel finds out," he said. As if on queue, a crack sounded in the back yard followed by the crashing of garbage bins and some very loud, very colorful language. There was another bang and some more swearing before Ron staggered into the house, clutching a rather large bottle of what appeared to be butterbeer, though the liquid was more of a dark amber and judging by Ron's disheveled appearance and his language, it was probably firewhiskey, if he hadn't chosen something stronger. He paused for a moment and stared at them through glazed, indifferent eyes, raised his bottle in salute and then headed for the stairs. That's when Lorel decided to show up, bounding down the stairs with her cousins. The five of them stopped upon spotting Ron and just stared at him. He looked down at them blankly and Lorel's demeanor changed immediately. Her eyes began to well up and she looked over at the rest of the family.

"He's drunk isn't he?" she cried. They nodded silently. She turned to him, glaring through her tears.

"Why do you do this?!" she screamed. He winced slightly and then began to stumble past her when her anger grew and she shoved him. For a girl her size, she was able to floor him, though when drunk, Ron wasn't exactly in the best of sorts. The thing was it took a lot of alcohol to get him drunk. A lot of alcohol, but once drunk, he was dangerous to himself as well as people around him. He looked up at her and glared.

"Whas ze ideu?" he slurred, struggling to his feet. Fleur ran over, standing between the girl and her father.

"I zink zat you should go upstairs," she stated. He shoved her unceremoniously out of the way, grabbing hold of Lorel's arm in a vice like grip. She grimaced and started to wiggle to get free.

"Ron! Let her go!" Ginny screamed. Ignoring his sister, Ron shook Lorel. The whole family started forward to stop him.

"Donth eva do zat again," he managed. What happened next went so fast, they hardly had time to react. She kicked him in the shins and he fell to his knees. He released her and she was about to run, when he grabbed her by the ankle. She screamed as she fell forward and was yanked back. Ron raised his hand.

"Expelliarmus!" Bill shouted. Ron was blasted back and slammed into the wall, sliding to the ground, crumpled and unconscious. Harry ran over to Lorel, who was still on the ground, sobbing. He tried to help her up, but she pushed his hand away and stumbled to her feet. She then ran out the back door and disappeared into the snow. Silence reigned over the Weasley kitchen as all eyes fell on Ron's pitiful figure.

A/N: Ron's let himself go...

charma10: Thank you! I do do thing left field don't I... Well, when it comes to Potter, nothing is impossible!

Wesker888: Please don't shoot the screen:O jk, but seriously, I don't do that often. Just when everyone knows I've had tons of time... like a holiday and I update 12 chapters on a certian story...

Dany Granger Weasley: He does deserve that, but knowing me, it'll be much harder than he expected... if he ever finds Hermione...

Lady 77: I think at this point he's run out of hope...

Cynthia Cacciola: I'm glad you liked this one!

No Chapter Tease... sorry. But you have 12 updated chapters from Falling to Pieces that you could read while waiting!