"When is that prat ever going to show up?", Ron thought feverishly. He was nervously drumming his fingers on the side of the chair, while his heel was tapping on the floor. If he'd been nervous to ask Hermione to be his girlfriend, than he was on the verge of a mental breakdown now. Telling your best friend you're in a romantic relationship with his other best friend was hard enough as it is, but having to tell him you'd been snogging and dating behind his back was about as hard as riding on the back of a hippogryff that's sixteen months pregnant.
"Can't we just keep it from him a little longer?" he pleaded ruefully, "Like, say... forever?"
Hermione grinned at him in an amused way.
"No Ron," she said definitively, "What if he hears it from someone else? He ought to be the second person to know, we owe him that much. When he gets back from Dumbledore's office, we'll tell him everything."
"Second person, huh?" Ron asked, "Meaning you've already told someone?"
Hermione turned scarlet. He knew the name before she said it.
"Ginny"
"You two really have grown together these last few weeks, haven't you?"
Hermione nodded enthusiastically, explaining to Ron about her preparations of the previous night. Hermione had wanted to look as attractive as possible and had, quite naturally, sought out Ginny. She told Ron about the four hours of preparations, the borrowed dress and the taming of her hair.
"Ginny did a good job then", Ron thought to himself, "Because you looked ravishing last night. A tight, sexy dress that accentuated your lovely figure, the dark mascara that brought out the hazel in your eyes and did I mention the sexy dress?"
Ron's only complaint was that her hair seemed to be a bit... tame. Hermione had bunched it all together in a neat ponytail, but Ron liked it more when it was frizzy and bushy. Hermione's normal coup of curly brown hair seemed to be returning though. Ron expected that Hermione had probably spent quite some time in front of the mirror, trying to get it straightened out.
Suddenly, the portrait hole opened and a white-faced boy came running through.
"Harry!", Hermione said immediately, after nudging Ron in his side for staring at her, "What does Dumbledore want? Harry, are you OK?"
"I'm fine," he said while storming through the common room. Ron saw him dashing up the stairs to the boys' dormitories, striding four steps at a time. Ron looked at Hermione, who looked back at him with the same gaze of clueless amazement. Before they had time to react though, Harry came gliding down the stairs, leaping from the fifth step and pouncing his way through the common room.
"I haven't got much time," Harry panted, "Dumbledore thinks I'm getting my Invisibility Cloak. Listen..."
Harry's next monologue led him from the moment he heard Trelawny's yell to Dumbledore's request. He instructed them both to guard Hogwarts and keep an eye out for Snape. He had pushed the Felix Felicis into Ron's hands, told them to distribute it amongs themselves and Ginny and to keep themselves safe. Seconds later, Ron was standing in the middle of the common room, holding a phial of Felix Felicis in a bunch of socks, thinking that his 'important' message to Harry had just become a rather irrelevant. Both he, Hermione, Ginny and everyone else that cared had to be on alert.
"Listen Hermione", he said, snapping out of his confusion, "Go and fetch Ginny. We've got at least ten minutes before anything bad might start to happen. On the way back, explain what has happened and what we're supposed to do."
Hermione nodded and stood up, ready to depart. Before she did, she rummaged through one of the pockets of her robes and pulled out a galleon.
"I kept this with me as a good luck charm," she said, "Do you know how to do the spell that changes the date?"
"Yes, I do. It's the protean charm.", replied Ron honestly.
"Inform the DA. We need every wand we can get."
A few minutes later, Ron was sitting in his dormitory, holding the small phial of Felix in his hands.
"Less than half of it is left," he thought, "And we'll have to split it threeways. If the full potion will work for twelve hours on one person, than less than half of it split in three might makea the effect last for two hours. That's never going to be enough! What if Harry and Dumbledore take all night, and something happens after the potion has worked out?"
Ron looked at the clock. Five minutes had already passed since Harry stormed out of the common room to join Dumbledore. Hermione and Ginny were surely going to come by soon.
"We need a way to maximize the effects of the potion," Ron thought, as he tried to think of a solution. His eyes darted across the room as they always did when he was thinking hard. They lingered on the box of chocolate caulderons he had gotten from Fred and George. It had been 'a late birthday present' from the twins. Ron hadn't even touched the box. The mere thought of the candy was quite enough to quench his appetite for two weeks. Now however, his mind was racing, and their morbid joke suddenly held potential.
"If I tip the dosage of Felix into the caulderon cakes," Ron reasoned, "then we can all take one with us. We'll be able to take the Felix anytime we want."
It was so simple. Making a Felixed caulderon would take no time at all, and to get a dose of luck, one of them would only need to eat it up when they feel they need it.
Ron opened the bottle of Felix Felicis and was about to divide it into three when he suddenly stopped.
"What if it still isn't enough?" he thought miserably, "What if the Felix runs out during the battle?"
Ron divided the potion in three, making sure both Ginny and Hermione recieved far more of the potion than he did. He guessed that he'd run out of luck at least an hour before either of the girls would, but the risk was worth it. At least this way, he would be sure he wouldn't have to bury either his sister or his lover. Both of them meant too much to him.
Ron poured the the contents of the three bottles into each of the three chocolate caulderons. Then, he stuffed his own caulderon into his robes, ready to eat it when the moment would be there. He turned around to hear two sets of feet running up the stairs. Hermione flung the door open wildly, her brown eyes set with fear. Ginny stormed in after her, a look of grim determination in her eyes. Hermione looked at the empty bottle of Felix Felicis.
"Where's the potion, Ron?" she asked desperately. Suddenly, a look of terror flamed into her eyes.
"Tell me you didn't spill it Ron. Tell me you didn't spill it over the bed!"
A small thought of anger entered Ron's mind. Hermione's conclusion of Ron being unable to handle a potion would normally have caused a big row, but seeing as this was their first day together and this not being the moment to pick a fight, Ron swallowed his anger and told Hermione of his plan.
"Oh!" Hermione said in a relieved way, "Well, that's actually a quite a good idea."
Both of the girls grabbed their Felixed caulderon, examining them carefully.
"Listen up you two," Ron said, "Don't waste the caulderon by eating it too early. Save it for when you're sure you're going to need it."
Hermione nodded. "How long do you think it will last?"
Ron shrugged. "I don't know for sure. Perhaps a few hours. Have you heard from any of the DA yet?"
"No," Hermione replied, "but if any of them are coming, they'll probably be waiting outside the Room of Requirement."
"Than we'd better get going," Ginny said in a determined way, "we don't want to be late."
Ten minutes later, Ron was standing in front of the tapestry of Barnabas the Bewildered. Hermione and Ginny were both fumbling their pockets, constantly checking the Felixed Caulderons like Ron did. Neville had arrived moments before, joined by Luna.
"I don't understand the message," Neville said to Ron, "and where's Harry?"
Ron had altered the original galleon, by enscribing the sides with the words: 'DA needed! Possible attack on H!'. He'd loved to inscribe more onto the side of the coin, but there just wasn't any room left.
"Harry isn't coming." Ron tried to explain, "Dumbledore left with him, and Harry is afraid the Death Eaters are going to attack the school tonight."
It took Ron a few minutes to explain the situation to Neville and Luna. He'd left out the finer details, but Neville and Luna trusted him enough to accept the story for now.
"I say we split up," Hermione said with a twinge of fear in her voice, "Two of us go down to Snape's office to keep an eye on him, the others guard the corridor."
Luna immediately volunteered for the job, much to the dismay of Hermione. Ron noticed she'd probably hoped Ginny or himself would volunteer. Luna pulled her wand from behind her ear and nodded to Hermione in a way that signalled she was ready to go. For a moment, Ron looked Hermione into the eyes. Her eyes were wide and round in fear, her pupils dialated by adrenaline.
"Don't worry, my love," he said, trying to keep his voice from sounding troubled, "with some luck, this won't be the last time we'll see each other."
Hermione lunged forward, hugged Ron tightly and kissed his neck.
"You'd better be alive when I next see you," she whispered softly in his ears, "because I'll kill you if you die on me.."
Hermione and Luna left moments later, leaving a gigling Ginny and a nunplussed Neville behind.
"Ron," he said in a mystified way, "how long have you and Hermione been together?"
Ron didn't answer. He was still fumbling the the Felixed Chocolate Caulderon in his pocket. Hermione certainly seemed to have found some solace in his words, but it was convincing himself that proved to be hardest. Would he see her again? Was the kiss she'd given him in his neck the last he'd ever recieve from her, or anyone for that matter? Time seemed to stand still in the corridor with Ginny and Neville. Each of the three was locked in their own thoughts, Ron's about Hermione's well-being, Ginny about what was happening to Harry, and Neville about the spells he'd learnt with the DA. Ron pulled out the marauders' map to check on Hermione every so often. Every time, the map showed her sitting outside Snape's office with Luna. After about fourty-five minutes of silently guarding the door though, each of them snapped out of their thought bubbles by the characteristic 'koggh' sound the door of the room of requirement made when it reappeared.
Ron's fingers curled around both the wand in his hand and the Felixed Caulderon in his pocket. The door slowly slid further open and Malfoy's pale hair was the first thing to pop out of it. Ron immediately recognised the thing he was holding as the Hand of Glory. Malfoy himself wasn't unobservant too. The moment he saw the two weasley siblings and Neville, he threw something up in the air.
It was like someone had taken an eraser and had wiped away everything he saw, leaving nothing but an all-consuming blackness. Ron could hear more shuffling feet and heavy breathing than Draco alone would be able to produce. While he was groping around in the dark, Ron realized the danger he was in of being attacked and quickly pulled his hand out of his pocket and stuffed the content of it in his mouth. Beside him, he heard Ginny shouting "Lumos", "Incendiary" and "Innoculus".
"Something is definately wrong," he thought, "I guess I'm going to need some extra protection for the next few hours."
His lips and tongue tasted the sweet, rich flavour of the pure chocolate. He felt the caulderon melting between his teeth as he chewed on it in an efford to swallow it faster. Ron was also still groping around in the dark. When he'd felt the piece of blowing gum that was put on the troll in the size 34 tutu by some humorous prankster he knew where to go. As he felt parts of the chocolate in his mouth crumbling to smaller pieces, his fingers found the familiar long hair that belonged to Ginny.
"Winniw! Fowwow me!", he said, his mouth still full of caulderon. Neville seemed to be walking ahead of them, grasping the darkness while stumbling along.
When they nearly reached the end of the corridor, some of the moonlight filtered through the veil of darkness that had been wrapped around them. Ron began seeing the outlines of the torches and windows in the massive stone walls that made up Hogwarts. He was finally able to swallow his caulderon. A surge of confidence and determination ran through his body, starting in his stomach and slowly working it's way out to his skin. It was an undescribable feeling, that ended with the hairs on his skin standing on end and each of his senses tingling with a warm, glowy feeling.
"What do we do now?" Neville said as he squinted to see Ron and Ginny.
Ron was about to suggest splitting up, when a voice, just beyond hearing, advised against it.
"Ginny," he asked quickly, "do you feel like running to the corridor on..."
"...the fourth floor?" she answered quickly, her teeth still brown with chocolate, "Yes. There's no time..."
"...to lose?" Ron added after her. It was obvious Felix was hinting at both of them. Why the potion wanted them to run away from the death eaters was still beyond him, but a strong, positive feeling that running there would be of great help.
"Is this some kind of weird brother and sister thing?" Neville asked with a hint of bewilderment in his voice, "And why are you both eating chocolate?"
"There's no time to explain, Neville," Ginny said firmly, "We need to move now!"
They were running through the corridor on the sixth floor, heading in the direction of the stairwell, when Ron suddenly made a ninety degree turn. To Ginny and Neville, it must have seemed like he was heading straight to the wall, but the voice in the back of his head had spurred him aside. "Shortcut!", it had screamed in his ears deafeningly, though it's voice was too faint to be heard. Ron closed his eyes. If he were to trust Felix completely, he'd better not start thinking about what he was doing. Ginny had made a hard turn too, pulling Neville with her. Ron could hear Neville protesting as the wall came inches from his body.
Three seconds later, Ron appeared on the fourth floor. The wall had seemed to be solid rock, but it had in fact been a hidden doorway. Ron had hurtled through it at great speed and was now, after being joined by a weezing Ginny and a sputtering Neville, standing in the middle of the fourth floor corridor. Lupin was there, along with Bill, Tonks and professor McGonagall.
"Why I never!" McGonagall chorted, "Three Gryffindors out of bed at this hour! This means detention."
Ron looked at Lupin. His eyes were set deeper than he had ever seen them. His clothes were more ragged and torn and shabby than they had ever seen them. Before he'd opened his mouth, Lupin understood what he was about to say.
"Death Eaters!" Ron panted, still breathing heavily because of the sprint he had just made, "In school!"
He was about to run down and try to find them, when Lupin told him to stop.
"Tell us what happened," Lupin said calmly, "Don't leave out details."
In what felt like an eternity, Ron recited what had happened. Felix was constantly supplying him with the most efficient sentances to summarize the events, causing Ron's dialogue to be short and snappy. Ginny was standing next to him, in mute silence, eyes filled with fear, yet also filled with that hard determination. Bill, standing in front of her, had taken hold of his sister's shoulders in a brotherly sort of way, trying to put her at ease. After Ron had said everything Felix had made him think of, Lupin pulled out his wand and simply said: "There's no time to lose now."
Then, a silvery wolf-like creature erupted from his wand, running down the corridors.
He turned around and together, they ran down to the third floor corridor. Lupin took a left-hand turn at the stairwell, where Ron would normally have gone right, in order to descend the stairs. Felix was whispering in his ears though, and telling him to follow Lupin. McGonagall, Bill, Tonks and Neville each stopped running in amazement as Lupin started to polish one of the apples on a painting of fruit. It shone brightly for a second, then turned red. A secret passageway opened up, revealing a stairway down.
"This is faster," Lupin said, "From what you've told me, I think they're headed for the astronomy tower. It's the only thing that's interesting in that direction."
One by one, they shot down the stairwell, a small, rotating one that was just big enough for one person, but just wide enough to be able to run down it quickly.
"Do you know every secret passage way in Hogwarts, Remus?", Professor McGonagall yelled down as they thundered down the stairs.
"Apparently not," he replied hastily, "Because I haven't got a clue how your students just appeared in the middle of the corridor."
Ron, meanwhile was having trouble focussing his mind on the job at hand.
Hermione is still out there, he thought, What if she hasn't taken the Felix yet and the Death Eaters take her by surprise?
Lupin, running ahead of the others, suddenly opened one of the doors and held it open for the rest. He was quickly followed by Bill who sprinted out of the doorway, his wand held out in front of him. The stairwell had taken them directly to the corridor leading to the Astronomy Tower. Just after Ron had emerged from the tower and without warning, a big black shadow leapt out from the corner of the corridor and jumped on top of Bill. They had overtaken the Death Eaters, whom had just emerged from the southern corridor leading to the great hall and one of them had just attacked.
For a second, Ron didn't know what to do. He saw a big, filthy, beastlike death eater on top of Bill, clawing at his face like a savage. His fingernails were black and sharp. The death eater then bit Bill, licking his lips afterwards. A big, blonde Death Eater sent green curses zooming over to him that luckily missed him by inches. They struck the wall beside him, smashing the stones they hit. This seemed to snap Ron out of his trance. He aimed his wand at the disgusting Death Eater on top of Bill and yelled "Impedimenta!". Fenrir Greyback was lifted up from his feet and smashed into the wall beside the stairwell leading up the Astronomy Tower. Ron was about to hit him with the body-bind curse when his hand strayed and he yelled "Protego" instead. A purple blast, coming from his side was deflected sideways, flying inches overhead of Ginny.
When Ron turned to look where the blast had come from, he saw two death eaters, man and woman, fighting side-by-side. She was sending curses over to McGonagall, while the other kept deflecting curses sent by Lupin. Tonks and Ginny were both trying to subdue the huge blonde Death Eater, that was sending curses flying everywhere. Apparently, he didn't seem to care who he'd hit. Ron pointed his wand back to the Death Eater that had attacked Bill. He was still unconcious on the floor.
Alarmbells started ringing in his ears. Felix was desperately trying to attract his attention. A Death Eater Ron hadn't noticed before came running down the stairwell. Ron tried to aim a spell at him, but a green flare flew straight into his direction, making him sag together like a puppet. The ringing continued. He turned around to stand face-to-face with Malfoy. Both of them acted immediately.
"Expelliarmus!", Ron yelled, hearing the same spell from in front of him. Their curses, headed straight at each other, nullified each other's power.
"What have you done, you idiot?" Ron yelled at Draco miserably, "And Why? Why did you do this?"
"This is my testamony of loyalty to the dark lord," Draco said smugly, "I will be his favourite after today. Now get out of my way, you Bloodtraitor!"
Ron widened the distance between his feet. In a calm, definitive way, he said:
"I'll never stand aside for the likes of you."
Both of them sent curses flying at each other. It was a short, and fiery battle, which Ron surely would have won it if he wasn't forced to jump aside to avoid one of the blonde Death Eater's killing curses. It shattered the flagstone Ron had stood on seconds before. Malfoy quickly took the opportunity to run past him, sprinting up the staircase. He was followed by a brutal-faced Death Eater and the two other Death Eaters that had been fighting together. The woman pointed her wand at the wolflike Death Eater, reviving him non-verbally. He too ran up the stairwell. Only the blonde Death Eater remained, still shooting curses and hexes in every direction. Both Ginny and McGonagall were desperately trying to fight him, but his never-ending torrent of spells withheld them from being able to send anything back. One of his spells, a flaming yellow bolt of fire, shot up at the ceiling after it ricocheted off professor McGonagall's powerful protection charm. When it hit, its fire flamed wide, leaving wide cracks. Moments later, the ceiling started to cave in. Clouds of dust and plaster billowed down as large stones and masonry came hurtling towards the flagstones of the corridor.
Neville was panting heavily. He had been hit in the side with a hex, making his breathing erratic.
"Let's follow them!", he said, running at the staircase despite his lack of oxygen. Lupin was about to call him back when Neville was lifted off his feet and flew headlong through the corridor. Lupin carefully ran forward, stopping right in front of the step Neville had been thrown off. He pushed his hand forward, and subsequently toppled over backwards.
"They've blocked the stairs!" he said with a loud voice when he got back up, "Reducto, REDUCTO!"
From the side of Ron's eyes, he saw a black figure approaching. Ron turned around and, just before saying the spell, recognised the dark hair and hooked nose. Snape was running through the corridors, holding his wand in his hand and wearing a face of anxiety and bewilderment. For some reason, Felix seemed to be rather confused about him. One of the voices in Ron's head (and he wasn't sure whether it was his own or Felix's) was telling him to stop Snape. The other was keeping his wand hand down, preventing him from acting on this urge. Before Ron could make up his mind, Snape had ran up the stairs, somehow not hindered by the barrier.
Less than a minute later, Snape returned, spurring Malfoy forward. The other Death Eaters followed him and again, a battle ensued. Ron was attacked by one of the Death Eaters that had been fighting alongside the other. Using a variety of defensive spells and counter-jinxes, Ron was able to keep the barrage coming from the female Death Eater at bay.
"It's over!" Snape said loudly, "Let's go!"
In the corner of his eyes, Ron was able to see a boy with Harry's hair emerging from the astronomy tower. He didn't have time to react though, as the female Death Eater was still actively attacking him. She was shuffling alongside him, slowly creeping her way towards the door. When she reached it, she sent a barrage of jinxes and hexes at Ron, making him unable to send anything back until she was gone. The other Death Eaters were retreating too, even one that had quickly been revived.
Slowly, Ron fell to his knees. He had survived the attack, but terror kept filling his mind.
"Where's Hermione?", he thought, "Is she okay? Is she safe? Why didn't she come in after Snape?"
Then there was Bill. A large puddle of blood had formed around him, and Ron was afraid to look at his face. When he did, he saw that large parts of it had been mutilated. Ginny was standing in front of Bill too, looking down with tears in his eyes.
"Is he...", she said, her voice shaking horribly, "Is he dead?"
Ron walked over to her. He reached out his hand and pulled her in.
"I don't think so," he said, not knowing what else to say to her.
They stood there for more than a minute, looking down on their brother. Ron would have given anything to help him, but Felix told him it would be best if he'd wait for madam Pomfrey. She arrived moments later, letting out a muffled shriek as she saw the from of Bill lying on the ground. She whipped out her wand and magically raised him up, turning him around gently. Then, she set off for the hospital wing. Lupin came up seconds later, telling everyone that they were expected in the hospital wing in ten minutes time.
As Ron ran down the corridors with Madam Pomfrey, everything seemed to become numb. Ron did not know whether it was the Felix leaving his bloodstream, the emotions he was feeling about Bill, the doubts about Harry's safety or his fears about Hermione that had caused his head to become dazed. All he knew was that he wasn't even able to think straight. People shouting in the corridors became as elusive as the ghosts that darted across the castle, the pictures on the wall, pointing at him and his sister, didn't even register to him anymore. He half heard what Madam Pomfrey was saying and couldn't even find the words to respond. All that seemed to occupy his mind were the thoughts about Bill, about Harry and most of all, about Hermione.
"Is this Charley?" Madam Pomfrey asked.
"No", he heard Ginny say beside him, "It's Bill"
Madam Pomfrey looked down on the deformed face of Bill Weasley.
"Oh no, not Billy Weasley," she said, remembering him from his time at school, "He was always so handsome..."
Just before they entered the hospital wing, Ginny suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?" Ron asked, but again he knew what she was going to say before she'd said it.
"I'm getting Harry"
Ron thought about this.
"Good idea, I'm getting Hermione."
He found her inside Snape's office, tending a passed out professor Flitwick.
"Ronald," she asked with tears in her eyes, "What's happened? What's wrong?"
Hermione looked him up and down, taking in the odd picture. Ron did too, seeing the bloody footprints he'd left behind on the wet flagstones and the white dust clinging to his robes.
"It's Bill. He's... I tried to... But it's just... And the ceiling... and then.."
Before Ron could finish his sentance, Hermione had pulled him in close.
"Don't tell me Bill is...", she sputtered, "Don't tell me he's..."
"No, but his face is all... bloody and... torn and..."
Ron's voice trailed away, while Hermione was sobbing silently against his shirt and Luna was looking at them in that far-off way that she normally used. They were joined by Professor McGonagall minutes later, whom clearly expected to find professor Snape, but instead found three students and an unconcious member of the staff.
"All three of you, report to the hospital wing. And take Professor Flitwick with you."
An hour later, Ron was sitting on his bed. What he had hoped would be a great evening (finally being able to 'show off' his wonderful girlfriend) had become a horrible day. Bits of plaster still fell off the sleeves of his robes, and the odd, mute feeling that had started after the Death Eaters had left had never been worse. Hermione had kissed him goodnight and had gone up to bed, but, just like Ron, she seemed to be oblivious to what was happening in the outside world. Their headmaster was gone. Albus Dumbledore, a man whom had always seemed to be so untarnishable to Ron was now gone from their lives, and with him went the best bits of advice and wisdom Ron had ever heard. He remembered how Dumbledore had rewarded him with an award for special services to the school on their second year. He remembered the crazy little oddments that made his personality so enjoyable and strong. Ron remembered how Dumbledore had denied his request to stop being a prefect, and how he had made him feel like he was a good prefect.
"I never really thanked him for that," Ron thought to himself, "Not properly."
Fawkes's song, a grieving lament of dark beauty, had stopped echoing over the grounds, but it was still ringing clearly in Ron's head. It spoke to him about joy, friendship and love. After he had heard that Dumbledore was dead, after seeing his big brother on the bed with his face covered in blood, after seeing the dead Death Eater, Ron had thought he would never feel like that again, but Fawkes's song had made him remember it. While listening to it, his thoughts travelled to Hermione, and he knew she shared the same emotions.
It is nice having someone to share it with, Ron thought, It's nice to be able to feel so close to her.
It wasn't much later that the door opened and Harry came in. He had a numb look in his eyes, much like his own, Ron guessed. Harry sat down in front of him, exhausted and mentally broken. Their eyes crossed and Ron knew that this was enough to summarize the entire evening for both of them.
"They're talking about closing the school", Harry said, after a minute of silence.
"Lupin said they would."
Ron was silently curious. Had the evening been succesful? Had Bill's sacrifice been worth the trouble?
"So?" he dared cautiously, "Did you find one? Did you get it? A - a Horcrux?"
Harry shook his head. Ron found out someone had already taken the locket. Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out the locket. He passed it to Ron. Ron opened it and read the note.
"Is this what Bill has sacrificed himself for?" Ron thought angrily, "A part of Voldemort that wasn't even there? Had he nearly given his life for a locket that had already been stolen by someone named R.A.B.?"
Then, Ron realized he was wrong. Bill had been savaged, not because of what Dumbledore had been looking for, not because of a part of Voldemorts soul, but because he had wanted to be there. Bill had chosen to be there, just like him, Ron thought proudly, to guard Hogwarts with his life.
Ron passed the locket back to Harry, took off the bloodstained and dusty clothes he had been wearing and got into bed. And without saying a word to anyone, fell asleep.
It would have been nice to say he had a dreamless sleep...