Chapter 18: Ron's Meltdown
The weeks following Bill's revelation were somewhat tense around the castle. Ron hadn't taken Bill's news very well. He threw a number of things around and cursed Bill repeatedly. It wasn't that Ron was upset with Bill; it was more of the fact that Ron was upset that the Malfoys had screwed over his family and used Bill to do it.
Ron had pushed everyone away from him, especially Hermione. Every time she tried to talk to him, he would blow his top and storm off to do more training. This made Hermione cry every time. Hermione had told Harry and Ginny one night that she did love Ron, and had loved him for a while. Hermione started spending most nights in the spare bedchamber in Harry and Ginny's suite, which was cutting into private time between Mr. & Mrs. Potter.
As for Ron, he never spoke to anyone for any length of time. His parents had tried to talk to him, but he blew them off and disappeared. Harry had erected wards that made sure no one could enter or exit the castle grounds so Harry told everyone to just let him be. Harry, as Lord of Hogwarts, of course knew exactly what Ron was doing.
Ron was sleeping in the Room of Requirement, then every morning he would take off for the far side of the lake and work on his physical training; push ups, sit ups, and running around the lake five times. Ron would then create a number of attackers and then spend four hours defending and attacking with a number of different means. Spells, swords, staffs, hand to hand combat were all included.
Ron would then return to the Room of Requirement and eat lunch. One thing about the Room of Requirement was that it couldn't create food, though Ron didn't know that. Harry had Dobby and Winky handle anything that Ron asked the room for that it couldn't provide. This meant mainly food, drink & clothing.
After lunch, Ron spent time studying all of his subjects, taking very detailed notes and asking questions aloud and writing them down. However the area that Ron tried to learn more about was potions. After studying, Ron would then eat dinner and continue to work out and practice until he was at the point of exhaustion, at which time he would pop a restorative potion and keep going for another two hours then he would swallow a calming draught and pass out cold.
After three weeks of this, Harry had finally had enough of this shit from Ron. Hermione was a mess which meant Ginny was a mess which meant Harry a mess and in a very foul mood. So Harry dressed in clothes similar to what Ron was wearing and headed out to Ron's spot on the far side of the lake. To say Harry was impressed was an understatement. Ron had transfigured most of the clearing into a world class training area complete with weight machine, treadmill, rowing machine, tumbling mat and a rather large area for dueling with wands, swords, and unarmed.
Ron was currently taking on five mean looking Death Eater recreations: Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, Rodolphus Lestrange, Macnair, and Augustus Rockwood. These were the five major Death Eaters who were involved in the battle of the Department of Mysteries two months before. Harry watched as Ron used some pretty powerful spells and sword movements to take down his opponents. After he finished taking down the five, he spotted Harry standing there.
"Well god damn Ron, if I knew you were doing this, I would have joined you a long time ago." Harry walked over to his friend and looked him right in the eye, "I think we need to talk, and I mean really talk." Ron just nodded and with a wave of his hand the training center was gone and two comfortable armchairs appeared.
"I'm impressed Ron, how long have you been able to do Wandless Magic?" Ron looked at his friend and smiled a little.
"I learned about it the first night I was in the Room of Requirement. I found a book on magical theory and I literally absorbed everything that was in it."
Ron sat back and blew out a huge breath while Harry waved his hand and a small table with two glasses and a large bottle of Ogden's Finest Firewhiskey appeared. Harry poured two rather large glasses full and handed one to Ron. "The book was written by Rowena Ravenclaw and Helga Hufflepuff. It is based on the notes Godric had from Merlin. I know because Godric gave me the knowledge of it. I hardly use my wand anymore, except for show. So, what the hell is going on, Ron?
"This isn't just about Bill not telling you about his mistakes, is it?" Ron took a large gulp and stared off across the lake for a moment.
"It's not just that Harry. Yes Bill lying to all of us hurt; but I understand his reasons. My anger goes deeper then that. Once again a Malfoy has hurt my family. Did you know that our feud with Malfoys goes back generations? Lucius, Lawrence, Draco, they whole lot of them is evil. So I lost my cool and hexed him and then ran. I've been doing extensive training Harry, I'm good, really, really good. I plan on taking out ferret boy first, then his worthless father and as many Death Eaters as I can. You might have to take out Voldemort, but I am going to give you a clear path."
The way Ron said it, Harry knew he was dead serious. No matter how good Ron was, his anger would be his undoing. Harry knew it was time to take the bull by the horns. "Listen Ron, have you thought about what would happen if you were to die?" Ron just nodded once, "I don't think so Ron. I mean first off if you were to die then I would of course blame myself for your death. That would lead to me distancing myself from my wife and making her angry. That reason alone should make you reconsider this plan. But lets move on to your family. Do you really want to put mum through this; let alone dad and the rest of the boys?"
Nothing was getting thru Ron's thick skull, so Harry decided to pull out the guns. "What about Hermione? You and I both know that she loves you just as much as you love her."
Ron jumped up and pointed his wand at Harry. "NO she doesn't love me!!! IF SHE LOVED ME THEN WHY DID SHE SLEEP WITH KRUM??" This was it; this was the heart of the matter. 'Ginny, I need you to get Hermione out here to the far side of the lake NOW!!' Ron continued to rant and rave about Viktor Krum for another 20 minutes. When Ron's glass was empty, Harry slipped some Veritaserum into his refilled glass. After what happened with Fudge and Umbridge, Harry thought it would be a good idea to always carry some with him. Ginny and Hermione finally showed up and saw Ron ranting and raving about his life being worthless and how no one loved him. As soon as she moved towards Ron, Harry stopped her and handed her a glass of firewhiskey.
"Drink up sis; you're going to need it." Hermione just nodded and gulped the entire drink in one go.
'I spiked both of their drinks with Veritaserum, Ginny. They need to get past this; if not then Ron might kill himself in some sort of blaze of glory.'
Ginny then used her wandless abilities to petrify Ron and Hermione and set them down in the chairs. "Ok everyone, this is how it's going to work; we are going to ask you each a question, you are going to answer it truthfully. You see Harry spiked both of your drinks with Veritaserum. Ron has more in his system because; well he is a little bit thick. Ok, first question is for Hermione…"
Harry took over the questioning, "Hermione, my dear sweet sister; did you ever have sex with Viktor Krum?"
Ginny looked scandalized but didn't say anything. "Viktor and I never had coessential sex, he forced me to have oral sex with him on the night of the Yule Ball and then he raped me after the second task. He then placed a memory charm on me so I couldn't remember. The charm was removed by Professor Dumbledore when I first arrived at school this summer." By now Hermione was crying and Harry, Ginny and Ron were ready to kill, but there were other issues to work thru first.
Harry knew that and so he pushed on, "Hermione, do you love Ron Weasley?" There was absolutely no waiting time in Hermione's answer, "I love Ron more then life itself. I have loved Ron since the first time I met him on the Hogwarts Express, but he doesn't love me.
"He had a little bit of dirt on his nose and it was so cute. But he was always so damn mean to me. Calling me a know-it-all, a bookworm, and many other things just hurt. Over the years, I thought he liked me too, but he never showed it. I had thought about going out with Harry once or twice but I knew I wasn't his type. He needed someone like Ginny Weasley. When I first met her, I thought about trying to set them up, but I have never been good at relationships. Then the TriWizard Tournament happened and the Yule Ball was announced, I was so hoping that Ron would ask me to go with him. But he never did, and then Viktor asked. I was never happy with him…then after I was raped, I knew Ron would never want me."
Harry thought for a moment then asked the one question that had come into his mind since he learned about Krum, "Hermione, were you telling Krum about my abilities during the tournament and afterwards?"
Hermione looked right up at Harry and just nodded 'yes'. Ginny turned to her brother, "Ron, do you love Hermione?" Just like Hermione, his answer was very quick.
"Ever since she was petrified in second year, I was in love with her. Of course I had no idea what it was. I got her upset at me because then I knew I had her undivided attention. Even when Crookshanks attacked Scabbers, I loved her. It was the first time I had seen a life with Hermione. Scabbers and Crookshanks running around our home while we were arguing about something, then later on we would make up, just like my mum and dad.
"Then the TriWizard Tournament happened. I was just so angry that year. It started first with mum for buying me those old robes, then I was angry at Harry for having money to buy new things and then I thought he entered himself in the TriWizard Tournament and didn't tell me how he did it; that was too much for me. At least I came to my senses and saw that Harry had to be out of his mind to go against Dragons. Then the Yule Ball fiasco and Hermione going with Krum, I really treated her badly, and she didn't deserve it. When I saw her hurt in the Department of Mysteries, I felt like a part of me was dying. I knew that I loved her, and that I had loved her for along time. But I was too poor, too stupid, too…Ron for her to be interested in me."
"Ron, why did you storm out of the castle after talking to Bill and Fleur?"
"Hermione was with me when Bill told me about his life as a hit-wizard. I thought Bill was rubbing salt into my wounds and that finally threw me over the edge. I knew Hermione didn't love me, but I love her enough to train hard so that I can help make our world a better place."
That statement sealed the fates of Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. The love they both shared broke thru the bonds that were holding them apart. Hermione and Ron jumped up and wrapped their arms around each other. Before anyone could say anything else, Ron grabbed Hermione's face with both hands and turned to face him.
"Hermione, I don't care what that bastard did too you, I love you and I will always love you, for the rest of my life and beyond." He then kissed her with all the built up passion he had within him.
After Harry cleared his throat, the two children broke apart, "Ok Ron, you have a reason to live for now. I am going to have you by my side, but I want you to come back with me afterwards and marry Hermione, have a few kids and be my best friend for another hundred years or so. Do you think you can live with that?"
Ron smiled widely, "Yea, I can live with that…Harry, Ginny, thanks for this, I needed it." With that the foursome returned to the castle and back to their normal lives.