Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Nor do I make any money.


Laugh

Ron didn't know what to think the moment Pansy raced from the window seat with tears in her eyes. He barely had time to catch his balance the moment she half-way crashed and half-way leaped at him; wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. He thought today had been a good day. She had seem to enjoy herself in Hogsmeade, even at the Three Broomsticks, though she remained unwaveringly quiet the entire time.

He tried to pull her off him so he could try and talk to her but she wouldn't budge. Sighing, he swung her lower legs so he could carry her better before moving to the window seat where he could at least sit while he tried again.

But nothing he did or said, could get her to loosen her grip on him.

Giving up, he just rocked her until she stopped crying.

Breathing a sigh of relief once she was asleep, he turned to look at Harry who was still sitting on the bed, when Harry said, "Sorry about that."

"Why? You did nothing," Ron replied, his hand still stroking her arm idly. He watched as a guilty look came over Harry's face, Ron left out a loud sigh and asked, "Okay what did you do?"

"She asked me a question and I told her the truth. The next thing I know you announced your presence and she took off running for you."

Rolling his eyes, Ron asked, "Do I even want to know?"

"I don't know," Harry replied shrugging his shoulders. "She just asked why we were being so nice to her especially because of how she treated all of us in the past."

"And what did you tell her?"

"In a nutshell – she mattered to you, so she mattered to us."

"And that caused her to cry like this?" Ron looked at his best mate incredulously, wanting to gesture with his hands but finding Pansy had a death grip on his free arm. "You know one of these days I may actually get my arm back."

"Not if she has anything to do with it," Harry laughed. "Every time I see her asleep, she has a death grip on you."

"Oh I know, you should see the indention marks on my arm. I think they may be permanent."

"You know Ron," Harry said thoughtfully after a few minutes of silence. "Seeing as how the Slytherins basically abandoned her after the attack and that the Gryffindors are the ones taking care of her now – it may not be so surprising that my comments caused her to react that way. All of us are sticking our necks out for someone who would never have done the same in the past."

Looking down at the sleeping girl in his arms, as Harry spoke Ron realized that Harry did have a point as he brushed her hair out of her face. He couldn't really expect anything less if he thought about it. At her lowest point, she had been abandoned by her friends only to be taken in and cared for by her enemies – that had to be emotionally hard to hear, see or even comprehend after all she had been through.

Looking back at Harry, Ron replied, "You have a point. Speaking of our favorite people, do you..." Ron trailed off because he wasn't actually sure anymore what he wanted to ask Harry.

"If you want to know, if anyone of them has asked about her – you'd be surprised."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Malfoy came and talked to me and Ginny last night and Tracy Davis keeps approaching Ginny but backing off at the last minute."

"She kept doing that last night at dinner too but Malfoy?"

"I know. The amazing bouncing ferret approached us."

"What did he have to say?"

"He had noticed Hermione watching the two of you sleep in the common room when the rest of us thought she was studying and he wanted to let us know."

"Why?"

"Ginny and I think it was just his way of trying to look out for her," he said nodding towards Pansy. "Seeing what we all saw in Potions the other day, seems to have shaken him up. And now it's too late for him to do anything else. But with Tracy, it may do her good if you just approached her and let her know Pansy is okay."

Ron nodded, his eyes falling once again to Pansy who was shifting in his lap, softly he said, "I did talk to Hermione last night."

"I know," Harry nodded. "She told me this morning at breakfast. If you don't mind, please give her all the space she needs."

"I will. I just feel awful doing what I did to her. She deserves so much better than me."

"That's good to know, so I don't have to beat you up later as her surrogate brother but on the other hand, don't beat yourself up to terribly either. The war changed both of you and though it pulled you together at first, the changes made you both to incompatible now. I'm glad this happened now then down the road when it could have gotten really messy."

Ron just stared at his best mate, completely unsure if he heard him correctly. Especially since his mind kept running back to Harry's reactions every time he saw him and Hermione snogging the first several weeks after the battle.

"Don't look at me like that," Harry laughed, standing up. "Hermione and you together is like watching your parents. However, the war made her less like your mother and you a lot less like your father. So somehow it stopped working after the newness wore off. This was bound to happen at some point. Just focus on Pansy for the time being – she needs you too much. If you need anything, you'd better let us know. I'll have Ginny hex the Slytherins into submission if we need too."

Ron couldn't help himself. He had to laugh. The rumbling in his chest caused Pansy to stir which stopped him instantly. He didn't want to wake her.

He watched Harry exit with a grin on his face. Turning his head to look out at the surrounding countryside that was illuminated by the full moon, Ron's smile grew larger at the thought of Ginny hexing anybody into submission because he knew better than any body just how scary she was.