Ron Weasley's life was tolerable, he supposed.

Things had even been looking up the last year or so. Hermione hadn't said a word when he decided he wanted to find someone else. They'd divorced in a completely civil manner. It helped that she still had Ministerial ambitions, and a scandal would have derailed that in a hurry.

So civil were things that Ron, his fiance Lavender Brown, Harry, Hermione, Luna, Neville and Ginny were all going out to what the girls called a "serious" film. Ron was not looking forward to that part, but they'd decided to hit a restaurant that sounded good for afters. It wasn't anywhere near a full moon, so Lav was in a fine mood. She liked going along with "Ron's gang," as she called the Ministry Six (their nickname to everyone else).

He'd long ago had to curtail helping George out on weekends. The work and stress of being an Auror had accumulated. Really, two Ministry employees in high-stress jobs shouldn't be married in the first place. He'd been foolish, he'd admit to himself, to think that "if you love me, you'll quit your job" would have worked. He'd at least twigged that "okay, I'll quit and you can support us, and we'll get a house elf" was also a non-starter.

Even years later, it was annoying how close Harry and Hermione were, he thought. Ginny was game, but like that Cho Chang girl at Hogwarts, she had never been able to fully integrate with Harry the way Hermione had. Merlin knew Ron was familiar with how that went.

He'd kept thoughts like that on the back burner, but this year had been unusually trying. Yet a fifth and a sixth book about Harry had come out. Despite being married to Ginny, and whatever he had going on with Hermione, Harry was also still always in the top five of Witch Weekly's most eligible wizards.

Ron and Hermione had made good, of course. In her case, it was seen as a muggle-born overcoming her humble origins and social handicap to come out on top. Ron was respected, but, in essence, as yet another Weasley boy who did notable things. Even Percy had his fans in some quarters, still. Molly Weasley was proud of all her boys, but Ron's goal of standing out seemed to have stalled.

Ginny and Ron had discussed the Golden Duo, and were both sure they'd had an affair at some point in the past decade and a half. But beyond being discreet, they hadn't even looked at each other as the kids boarded the Hogwarts Express for the first time.

If - no, when - Harry split up with Ginny officially, the papers would have a field day. The public had come a long way since Rita Sketer's articles during the Triwiz. Ron knew somewhere in his awareness he shouldn't complain. He'd dumped Hermione, not the opposite. And if Harry and Ginny were drifting apart, and only Harry's sense of honour kept them together, it was probably for the best that Ginny go looking for someone else while she was still young and beautiful. Harry was a little more domestic than Ginny, surprisingly, though both were quite competent at cooking and housework. They did have a house elf, which Hermione hadn't liked, but it was Dobby and Winky's child, and bonding her was Winky's last request. Even Hermione wouldn't dare kick against that level of guilt.

But in his heart, Ron still felt the way he had at Hogwarts. Always in someone's shadow, and never so shadowed as when Harry came into the picture. And for the wizarding public, Harry was the main reason to bring up Ron (or, to be fair, Hermione, though as the girl of the "trio" she got more attention as a sidekick).

Yes, he had a hard childhood, boo hoo, thought Ron, uncharitably. But I was right - all that money, fame - he just didn't know what to do with it! That makes most of his problems his own fault!

Ron knew in Harry's shoes he would have had a great life. And it had mostly been wasted on Harry. Even now, when Harry made an effort to relax and make friends and spend time with them, he could be very grim and serious even when there was no real crisis going on.

I'd give anything to have been in his shoes. The Ron-who-lived sounds pretty good to me, he mused.

The kind of cin-e-mas that showed "serious films" always looked like ordinary Muggle houses (or maybe Muggle funeral parlours). This one even had some paint peeling, though it was also clearly in the process of being repainted, so that had to count for something. They went up a stairs that wouldn't have been out of place at a wizarding house and bought Muggle popcorn and sweets and drinks in very dim light - it was hard to figure out how Harry handled the strange Muggle money.

When the film began, he noticed the main person in the story looked a little like Sir Cadogan. But this guy wasn't funny or ridiculous. His country was suffering from what looked like Dragon Pox, but since this wasn't a wizarding picture but a Muggle movie, it had to be something Muggle. What finally got Ron to pay attention was when the Knight (Hermione said that was his title, with a "k," as if anyone cared!) was playing chess with Death. It reminded him of Beadle the Bard and the tale of the Deathly Hallows. Would the Muggle get Death's Chess
Set if he won? Ron lost the plot while he pondered what abilities a Chessboard Hallow would impart.

Strategy, certainly. Memory? Calculation? Honestly, it would suit Hermione almost as well as him, even though she only played Wizard's Chess to humour Ron.

By the time he dragged his attention back to the film, he had to pester Hermione for the plot. Because she'd seen the film before, she didn't seem upset to do so as long as Ron kept his voice down. The Knight, like the three brothers, but especially Ignotus, was running away from Death. He wanted to live long enough to do one good deed to redeem his life.

Whatever.

That night, Ron had a dream. He didn't realise it was a dream until Lavender woke him up.

"Pretty nice dream, eh, Won-won?" she asked, nudging him and giggling. "Was it about me?"

Ron answered swiftly, and marginally honestly, that it was.

Of course, in the dream, Ron Weasley, the Boy-Who-Lived, did indeed have Lavender kneeling in front of him and serving him in various ways. As were a dozen other girls from Sixth Year, although from the fact that he was Head Boy as well as Quidditch Captain, it was probably the Seventh Year the "trio" never got.

Unlike Harry Potter, who cringed whenever the owls bringing the Daily Prophet flew into the Great Hall, Ron remembered beaming and grabbing someone's copy (they wouldn't object) and noting with pleasure that all the front page stories were about him!

Lavender's efforts under the table hadn't distracted Ron from the game he was playing with the Death from the film. The pale being - who kind of resembled Voldemort, Ron had to say - had lost a game and promised to tell him a secret.

As it turned out, the secret was that the world Ron was in at the time was going to fade away unless Ron did Death a favour.

While the Resurrection Stone was lost for now, the Elder Wand was still in Dumbledore's tomb, Death explained. And the Cloak was still with Harry Potter. And all Ron needed to do was put Harry Potter through Death's Veil wearing the Cloak, then go through himself holding the Wand. At that point, Death would first switch Harry Potter and Ron Weasley's lives, then take his Wand and Cloak back.

In the dream, Ron hadn't known what Death was talking about referring to the world going away, but now he did. He had grown more and more estranged from Harry Potter, coinciding with a similar process with Hermione. Costing Harry his Cloak would probably put the final nail in the coffin of their former friendship, but who cared? It was happening anyway, and even if Harry got mad, he'd be plain old never-heard-of-him Harry Potter, known only for being Ron's sidekick. What kind of trouble could he cause?

Yes the thought was a little mad, but Ron had decided life without reward wasn't life, really. Harry had often said he'd trade everything he had for what Ron had - a family. Like they were so wonderful. Ron didn't interact with his family much, and when he did, they were unmistakably disappointed in him, across the board. And not over his accomplishments, but somehow, he couldn't seem to say the right things. Harry could enjoy that if he liked.

Alright, it was more than a bit mad. On the bright side, if it was just a dream, Ron wouldn't be around to face the consequences. He probably wouldn't last long enough to realise he'd made a mistake.

Lavender seemed to enjoy the burst of energy Ron had as he committed to his plan. Ron knew he did.

Opening Dumbledore's tomb was a doddle, as events fell out. All he needed was a Bubble-head Charm and the most powerful wand in the world was his. Why didn't I ever think of this before? he thought, almost smacking himself in the forehead. Harry doesn't want it. Of course, Harry would give him grief about it, but if he chickened out, Ron decided, then he'd at least keep the wand and emigrate. Ron the Adventurer had a much better ring to it than Ron with the Desk Job, the part-time Joke store clerk. Lavender would love being able to shop in Paris or New York, and Ron had become adequate at not tipping off the Muggles.

Ron had made a copy of the wand: So, I never think ahead, Hermione?

Give it a week, and the dust on the tomb would settle and there'd be no way to tell Ron was ever there.

Now, to get Harry to the Veil.

The second task, too, was damned easy.

"I don't think Hermione should see this," he'd said. He told Harry, honestly, that he'd seen troubling events near the Veil. It was more than a dream, Ron claimed. More like the visions Harry used to have. He'd had to fast talk Harry into taking a look before telling anyone else. They were both leaving for the day, so it wouldn't take that much time. Harry had occasionally gone into the Department of Mysteries without checking in, for the kind of serious cases Ron would never be called on to handle. Really, it was the reverse of the unfairness before the end of the Second Blood War or whatever they called it. Now it was purebloods like Ron that were having to prove themselves, while everyone fell over themselves coddling half-bloods and muggleborns. At any rate, they went in with Ron under Harry's Cloak. As they approached the Death Room, Ron told Harry that in his dream, Harry had been holding the Cloak, and he probably would need it.

Harry remarked that that made it more like one of Luna's dreams than Harry's. "Good thing Hermione's not here, this little excursion is right out of Divination. But you should have invited Lavender and Parvati along."

Ron laughed at that. I think we have just exactly the right number, myself.

On a couple of occasions, Harry had tried to describe the moment when his godfather fell through the Veil. It was something he'd never fully recovered from.

Wow, thought Ron. Harry was right. As their eyes met after Ron's Stunner (extra-strong, given it was the Elder Wand doing it), it really seemed to take forever for Harry to disappear. Of course, while the shock was the same, the blazing hatred in Harry's eyes was probably very different. Ron had already planned to dodge and shield, so Harry's wandless magical surge just caused burns on Ron's arm. And, just like that, it was over.

Now came the true test of Ron Weasley. He had the Elder Wand. He would never be in Harry's shadow again. He didn't have to deal with his family, and in point of fact, he wasn't married. He was free to roam, with or without a partner.

Those thoughts he dismissed as unworthy. He had fulfilled half of his bargain. Unless he was willing to go through with the other half, what was he? Just another Peter Pettigrew, he reflected. Eventually, someone would find out, someone would question. That wasn't the reputation Ron wanted to leave the world with.

Who dares, wins! Ron had seen that on a Muggle card once. And taking Death's Wand through the Veil must get you some leeway with Death.

There was only one way to know.

The Daily Prophet had a black border the next day. Forensic analysis by the Department of Mysteries - highly motivated analysis in this case - had determined that the likeliest scenario was also the most baffling. Ron Weasley had cast an extremely powerful Stunner and sent Harry Potter through the Veil of Death. Then an even more shocking part of the scenario occurred. Weasley, in turn, had voluntarily jumped through the Veil himself! It was, the DOM head acknowledged, the most baffling crime in many decades.

Hermione Granger refused to accept that story. "Until a thorough investigation is completed, I will reserve judgment," was all she would say to the Prophet.

It was months later when Hermione, Luna and Neville opened Dumbledore's tomb. Something about the Stunner hadn't sat right with Hermione, nor with Luna when she mentioned it to her. It had acted more like a Banishing or Disarming Charm. Do I need to always have a Trio to be part of? she wondered. Well, these were the two most dependable people left, all but one of the Ministry Six survivors, and she wouldn't have Ginny - or any Weasley - be part of investigating this.

The wand was a cheap forgery.

The only Deathly Hallow left in the world was the Resurrection Stone, lost somewhere in the Forbidden Forest. Hermione pondered seeking it out. For one thing, I could summon Ron and ask him why the hell this happened?

It was only after they trooped out and split up to return to their homes that she thought: That's only if even his spirit is still in the world.

No one knew how the Veil worked, though Harry had been able to summon Sirius. But Hermione had never believed those were Harry's real family, because they were all egging him on to die. The Stone probably acted more like a Pensieve or a Portrait, or it put some sort of curse on the spirits to encourage the user to despair. That sounded about right.

Hermione drank a fair bit that night, and as she passed out on her sofa, her last thought was What the hell, Ron?