Long Road Towards Maturity

***

Ron’s head hurt from all this thinking; he would definitely try to have a word with Harry tomorrow. The git would be transferred in the morning, so hopefully he’d find alone time with his best mate by the end of the day...

But for now, he had some unfinished business with a certain female Weasley.

***

If there was some logical side of Ron Weasley’s mind, he would know not to be too angry with his sister. After all, she hadn’t really meant to hurt Hermione, she had just let her temper get the best of her when she thought she was watching out for her brother. And as for the whole Draco Malfoy thing...

Ron supposed that he should recognise the fact that it had all been thanks to the slimy albino that Ginny was not only alive, but ‘undamaged’ as well. But that didn’t mean he was her hero! Harry and him had been there too! Even Neville, Hermione and Luna, but they were hardly candidates for knights in shining armours... Not that he really was either, but... Urgh, this just got too confusing!

Besides, it wasn’t like she really defended the little ferret, but there had been times this summer when she hadn’t exactly backed her brother up like she should have. Well, even Ron Weasley could admit that the times Ginny didn’t choose his side completely, but stayed neutral, were the fights where both he and Malfoy were utterly ridiculous and childish. But it was the principle!

So the real reason why he was bellowing at her that she wore her skirt too short, and that their mum would kill her if she knew... was more of stress-relief. Really there was nothing better to calm complicated thoughts than a bit of brotherly complaining... Never mind that it wasn’t entirely rational to do so...

Of course, Ginny hadn’t found it remotely funny that he had ‘embarrassed’ her in front of the whole Gryffindor common room, and he was kind of thinking about worrying for Ginny’s retaliation. But then his stomach took charge and told him it was time to go over to the Great Hall for dinner.

It was weird doing the trek all alone... Tomorrow Harry would arrive at the castle, but he would still be in the Hospital Wing... And Hermione was going to be Head Girl all year... He supposed if he kept rattling Ginny it wouldn’t be an option to go down with her either, not that he wanted to, after all she was just his little sister! How pathetic would he look if he came down with her all the time!

Settling at the Gryffindor table he treated himself with as much food as possible. After a while of talking alternately with Dean and Seamus, and some of his Quidditch team-mates, he understood Hermione wasn’t likely to show up at dinner. Ron felt disappointment, but it still amazed him he didn’t get really angry...

Maybe after a good night’s sleep thins would start to get less confusing.

***

Ron was back at Godric’s Hollow.

He had been fending off some masked Death Eaters in training for a while now, and it was starting to wear him down. Ginny had been unconscious the whole time, and he fervently hoped they weren’t too late. Because otherwise his mother would kill him, letting her baby girl be taken away. And then he’d come back from the dead and kill Malfoy, for being too late with his information...

He was taken out of his musings by a sideways curse. Not prepared for it, he felt one leg freeze up and he lost his balance. The slime-ball he had been duelling, saw this as a perfect opportunity to curse him into oblivion, and Ron watched the tip of that wand pointed at him with dread. But before the malevolent beam left the wand it clattered to the ground.

Confused Ron tried to understand what in the name of Merlin had happened, when he saw his tired sister on wobbly knees, crouching before him. Relief that she was as all right as could be for the moment, he found the strength to fight the curse on his leg and stand up. In a flash he saw a bloody rock in one of her hands, and the wand of his previous opponent in the other.

Ginny saw him look at the wand and she shot him a questioning gaze. She wanted to know where her own wand was. He shouted the name to her immediately.

They hadn’t time for chit-chat just then, and were separated quickly shielding themselves from a second wave of curses. Ron saw Ginny run over towards Luna, helping her, and retrieving her own wand in the process. But he was a bit preoccupied himself just then. He wanted to go help Harry and Hermione, who were busy attacking Voldemort, and trying to keep him from apparating away.

Then, several things happened at once. Hermione was taken from behind by one of the hooded blokes, distracting Harry. Voldemort took this opportunity to discover Draco was there, and that the young Malfoy had betrayed him.

Ron relived the unbelievable sight in his dream. Voldemort had cast a Cruciatus, destined for Malfoy, but someone had jumped in front of him. Neville... Draco had blinked owlishly at the writhing body of the clumsy Gryffindor before him, not believing he’d just been saved from excruciating pain... by him of all people...

Voldemort had been sufficiently surprised, as to not hold up the curse very long. He must’ve seen Harry’s guard down, because he dismissed the Malfoy traitor and rounded back suddenly. Ron saw his friend unprepared, and without thinking he bolted in between. Catching the curse mid-stomach, he cried out in pain.

Howling he fell to his knees, and heard a female voice screeching his name. Vaguely he saw bushy hair bending over him, putting a sleeping charm on him. He felt the pain ebbing as his consciousness slipped away. He felt Hermione’s soothing hands brush his hair from his forehead, and believed everything would turn out all right.

Then the dream began to take form into scenes he hadn’t experienced himself, but had heard others talk about. Floating above his body he saw a scene that was destined to become legendary. While Hermione sat with his head on her lap, she was surrounded by two of the most powerfull wizards of her time, facing off in what would be their final battle.

Harry had this gleam in his eyes, the sign of a powerful emotion, akin to hate, but not really that... Voldemort’s read eyes flashed his all-consuming hatred when he raised his wand to the bane of his existence. A green flash shot from the wand, and Harry didn’t move away.

He just stood there, and let his wand take the curse. Harry watched the wood of his wand burn up until only the core was visible. Phoenix feathers didn’t perish... and this one just floated before the young wizard. Everyone still conscious on the scene was watching in astonishment how Harry had somehow avoided getting killed, again.

And then... then something indescribable happened. None of the people he’d asked, could tell him exactly what happened in that moment. So Ron had pieced it together with his own imagination...

The feather in front of Harry started to sing vibrantly, shattering Voldemort’s own wand, and bringing forth the feather’s brother. When the sounds of the Phoenix’ song grew louder and less appealing, the air crackled of magic between the two wizards, having Hermione and himself in the middle of it.

A flash of white light, or energy, fed by the build up of raw magic flashed between the two wizards. No one could tell exactly what happened between the flash, and the two wizards falling...

***

Ron shot awake, sweating. It had been a while since he had this dream… He thought he’d be over it by now. It had been horrible the day after.

He’d woken up in the Hospital Wing, alone in the middle of the night. He’d been in a right fit of panic. And had stumbled out of bed, despite the soreness in his stomach. Pomfrey must’ve heard him stumbling around because she had been there right away with a sleeping draught, refusing to answer his demands. She’d only humphed that he’d better thank Miss Granger for saving his life, because without her spell, he’d have died of the Slicing Curse.

The following morning, very early, he’d woken up to find Luna in the bed beside him, watching him as if waiting for him to wake up. She had answered his questions patiently, disregarding his cursing and frustration about being powerless to go out of his bed, to which he had been magically restrained.

Voldemort was dead, not just dead, but pulverised; his soul, or whatever it was he had, destroyed as well, never to be heard about again. But at what price? Harry was in St-Mungo’s and they hadn’t had many hopes for him to come out of his coma...

Trying to change the course of his thoughts - Harry would be alright now, after all - he came back to events of the day before. Ginny scolding Hermione, and then the scene with Hermione…

***

It was way too early in the morning when Ron got his wake-up-call from the beloved Head-Girl. Hermione, already dressed and looking fresh, was standing there in the boys’ dorm and this fact made him so confused that all he could do was blink stupidly at her. He’d been up most of the night thinking all of the new information over, so he really wasn’t in a very clear state of mind.

“Do you mind?!”

Ron prided himself in remembering to keep his voice down, even though he could feel his ear shells heat up: a sure sign he was loosing it.

Not disturbed in the least Hermione sat down on his bed: “No, not at all”

Ron was sure he was doing a great imitation of a fish on dry land, but before he could get coherent enough to... well, do something, other then staring at her stupidly, she trust something in his hands.

“Sign this”

Now Ron’s eyes almost did pop out.

“Are you completely bonkers? Have you lost your marbles? You come here at this ungodly hour, in the boys’ dorm, and you just want me to sign something?”

Hermione merely rolled her eyes at his legitimate demands, and said calmly: “I just want you to promise me you won’t tell Harry, nor anyone else, anything of what happened last night...”

“And why would I promise that?”

“Because you’re my best friend and you want to respect my wishes?”

“I’d like for you to respect my wishes and let me bloody well sleep!”

“Just sign, and I’ll be out of here, please?” Hermione’s tone was anything but pleading, but Ron had had enough, and he grabbed her quill and signed the damn thing. Throwing it back at her carelessly, he turned around in his bed with every intention of getting back to sleep.

But then he heard Hermione call out for him from the door: “You have exactly 10 minutes to get ready before he gets here...”

By the time Ron worked out it meant he had to hurry if he wanted to be there for Harry’s ‘welcome back to Hogwarts’, Hermione had closed the door behind her. Rushing to get a quick shower and making him somewhat presentable, his mind started waking up gradually. Something told him that there was something he’d missed, but he shrugged it away, telling himself he’d think about it later.

Ron arrived just in time to see the now visible to him thestrals pull the carriage containing Harry and his ‘guards’ in front of the castle. First Tonks and Remus got out, then they helped Harry a little.

It wasn’t that Harry had any real injuries left: all physical evidence of battle had long since disappeared and healed. But something strange had happened when Harry had defeated Voldemort. Since Ron wasn’t clear on the details of what had happened, and the Healers couldn’t tell them what would cause his physical decay, Ron stubbornly believed that it was nothing, and that it would go away in time…

Fortunately, word hadn’t come out of Harry’s arrival time at Hogwarts, or there would be herds of students, where now there were a selected few. McGonagall and Pomfrey were there, and besides him and Hermione, Ginny, Luna and Neville had come, too.

Harry was smiling, but Ron could see it wasn’t reaching his eyes. Once he’d been installed in his private room inside of the Hospital Wing, it hadn’t been long before he claimed feeling tired, and Pomfrey shooed them out real quick.

Ron had been disappointed, but he saw Hermione wasn’t betraying any emotion. It was then he started to wonder when she had become so good at hiding her feelings… And what amazed him even more, was that Harry had avoided talking, or even speaking to Hermione, other then what was strictly necessary for politeness…

Of course a secret at Hogwarts never manages to stay just that... A Hufflepuff student, who apparently had trouble with insomnia, had gotten a glimpse of the famous boy early in the morning, and couldn’t wait to tell her housemates. This meant that by the break at 10 am the whole school had been notified. Consequently the Hospital Ward had been closed off for all visitors, except medical emergencies.

Before lunch a bunch of reporters had camped out at the entrance of Hogwarts, having left the St-Mungo’s peripheral at the first word of his transfer. By lunch, one of the reporters had taken things as far as Polyjuicing herself in a student, and broken her arm on purpose, just to get a glimpse of Harry.

After that incident, Dumbledore had taken matters into his own hands, and banished all reporters from Hogwarts’ grounds, and having a stern talking to the students, at lunch break.

It was after Dumbledore’s speech that Ron let his thoughts wander back to his two best friends. Was he the only one who noticed this change? How long exactly had it been going on? Ron could only think of after that battle with Voldemort… Was he supposed to do anything about it? Talk to Harry about it? But…

Choking on his steak he saw Marrietta’s little sister sit in front of him, a second year having been sorted into Gryffindor to the great shame of her Ravenclaw-filled family… His head hurt by a sudden realising!

Hermione had made him sign a promise, a promise not to talk to Harry, or anyone else, about what happened. It wasn’t like he was needing the ‘talk-with-my-best-friend-about-my-feelings’, not in an eternity! But he’d signed something of Hermione’s… And…

Looking at Hermione, he saw her lifting an eyebrow at him as if she knew perfectly well, he’d only just realised what she’d done… Ron felt suddenly very cold…

***

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