A.N: I am back from the States! It was incredible! As an English girl through and through, I was so surprised by how massively different the two countires are! Washington kind of reminded of home - we only stayed there for a night so we could catch a flight to JFK, but it was a nicer, friendlier, cleaner version of the town I live in now. And Florida was amazing! We went to both Orlando (Disneyworld, of course) and Miami, and I love both places so much! We spent a night in Charlotte too, when our first flight was delayed, and though it was dark, I really want to go back. New York is perhaps my favourite city in the world, and despite spending seven hours there, we never left JFK. At all. So yeah, that's just a rundown of my holiday, so you guys understand how busy I've been! I'll try and post as many chapters as I can this week for you guys to make up for lost time. Thanks!
Heart-wrenching. It was the only way to describe the sound of his best friend crying. It really was a terrible noise, devastatingly melancholy. Ron felt as though somebody had given him a ferocious blow to the stomach, as he had no control over the anxious churning of insides.
Peering his head out of the tent, he had to squint his eyes if had any hope of finding Harry. Fortunately he did, as he spotted his friend perched up against an uncomfortable looking oak tree, clutching his legs to his chest for warmth.
Ron got up, and began to approach Harry, treading on a carpet of crisp auburn leaves. And it wasn't just leaves that decorated the forest floor - it was a minefield of coarse logs and jagged rocks, which were practically laying in wait for Ron, as he managed to trip on every single one. Cursing silently, he picked himself up, and dusted himself off, kicking the innocent-looking rock to the side with channelled aggression.
"What's that rock ever done to you?" he heard Harry pipe up, in a wobbly voice.
Ron grinned, and sat down next to the boy in question. His grin was soon wiped clean off when he caught sight of Harry's face, illuminated by the auroral moonlight. His best friend looked broken. As if all this running, all this fighting had finally caught up to him. His scar now appeared harsh, and arduous. Thick bags hung under his weary and dull eyes. They once resembled dazzling emeralds (as Ron had been told. Personally, he didn't see it), now they held more comparison to a toad. The worst part, however, was the pools of tears that filled his eyes, and the salty tracks that streamed down his face.
"You look awful" Ron gasped, bluntly.
Harry couldn't help but laugh at this. "Thanks, make."
Ron wondered what had happened, or possibly who Harry was thinking about to get him so distraught. However, Ron thought he had an inkling. A certain redheaded sister perhaps?
"I know what you're going to say" Harry sighed, wiping a tear from face. "You're going to say that it's my own fault I'm in this position. I shouldn't have gotten involved with anyone, when I knew full well what my future held in store."
Ron simply shook his head.
"That's not what I was thinking" he assured Harry. "I was going to say that how you're feeling now, is exactly how Ginny has been feeling for months, how she's probably feeling right now. When you broke up with her, she knew exactly what you were planning to do. What we were planning to do. It tore her apart, and nobody could see it but me, which is crazy cause I never notice these things."
Guilt filled Harry at Ron's words. He didn't know Ginny had took their break-up so hard. He had always thought she was the tough one. Maybe she wasn't as strong as she led everyone to believe.
"I know I shouldn't, and that I'm only going to hurt her, but I can't help how she makes me feel" Harry told Ron, turning his face away from him as if he was ahamed of what he had to say. "I love her. I'm in love with her. And I guess I have been for a while now."
Bracing himself for the disgruntled and sulky reply, Harry closed his eyes, and held his breath. However, the criticsm didn't come. Nothing was said for a while, and Harry wondered if Ron had left him; so appalled by what he had admitted. And then Ron's sigh broke through his thoughts. It was a petulant-sounding sigh, which Harry interpreted as his discomfort at discussing his sister's love life with his best friend, who was the love of her life.
"She loves you too, you know."
Harry looked up at Ron, shocked. Not only had the fact that Ginny loves him too, but that Ron can say that with a straight face. It caused another few tears to streak down his face, except these were lone tears of happiness.
"And you're only going to hurt her if you die. Or get together with some Veela, but to be honest mate, I can't see that happening" Ron spoke, in that uniquely candid way of his.
Harry chuckled, remembering what Ginny had said to him the morning of Bill and Fleur's wedding. He wondered if it was just a coincedence that Ron said that, or he had been listening at the door. Honestly, there was no way of telling.
"I suppose that's one of the reasons I was so set on coming with you. Cause I'm your best mate, of course, and I want to help you in any way I can. But a small part of me doesn't want you to die because I know what that would do to Ginny. And she's my little sister, my only sister, and she's too young to have her heartbroken."
"Too young, and too good" Harry agreed.
He admired Ron's honest way of speaking. Some could call it brusque, maybe even go as far as to say rude, but Harry found it refreshing. He was seventeen - he hated it when adults would sidestep around him, as so not to hurt his feelings. Dumbledore was one of the few who told him the truth, and the whole truth. He never once doubted whether Harry could understand what he was telling him, or whether he could handle it. Ron was another one of those honest people, and it was something Harry found commendable.
Ginny also shared this trait, oddly enough. Must be a Weasley thing.
"You broke up with her because it was your weirdly noble way of protecting her, which is all great and all, except that it hurt her. A lot. I love her too, you know. This is my way of protecting her, by protecting you."
"You're a good brother, Ron" Harry pointed out. "Ginny's lucky to have six of you, looking out for her."
"Yeah well, she's a good person."
They sat in silence for a while, that sentance hanging in the air.
"Actually, she's a great person. And as much as I like you Harry, if you mess her about, you're as good as dead to me. I mean, you're my best friend and all, but she's my sister, and I love her, and I want to look after her, like the big brother I am. Alright?"
Harry chuckled.
"Alright."
