What Goes Around Comes Around

To my wonderful readers - Finally the Sequel to `Anything for Love' is here. Please be patient, uploads may be slow at first - it all depends on my muse and she has become temperamental, or maybe that's just MENTAL. But enough of that. This story take place one year after the end of `Anything for Love' in the summer of 2012. In this we will get to watch Ron squirm, like he should have in the original story. If you have not read `Anything for Love' read it first. You won't be disappointed. You can read it here on Portkey at http://fanfiction.portkey.org/story/1100 or on my Fanfic Homepage at http://home.earthlink.net/~icoriander/id53.html , Alas, I have been banned from fanfiction.net, so if you look for me there, you will not find me. Something about being too graphic in my last story posted there. Who me? Graphic sexual scenes, no never…

As always, all characters belong to the most talented JK Rowling. I am not making any money off of this, I just love the high of getting reviews. I love you all and hoep you enjoy “What Goes Around Comes Around” as much as you enjoyed “Anything for Love.”

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I sit here and nurse what's left of my firewhiskey as I watch my best friend and ex-wife dance gracefully across the floor. I can't help but feel a tad jealous at the happiness they have found in each other. I'm not jealous at the fact that she is my ex-wife, I know it wasn't working between us. I am glad that she is happy now, and I am happy that Harry finally has something good in his life.

The thing that bothers me is that I walked away from her, thinking that my happiness was in my grasp. Alas, I have been proven wrong yet again. The fact that I am sitting here alone at the celebration commemorating the 10-year anniversary of the defeat of the Dark Lord should say it all. I should be out there dancing with the woman I love. I should be having a good time, not sitting here milking my fourth drink, wallowing in self-pity.

I watch as they dance and laugh and smile. I want that. I want that with Lavender, but I don't have that. I am not sure what happened between us, but something changed in the last year. We had been together for four years before my split with Hermione. I thought we would work. I was in love with her, still am. But I'm not so sure about what Lavender feels about me.

I offered her the chance to move in with me and she declined. This wasn't just once, mind you, but quite a few times. She kept saying she didn't want to hinder my relationship with Arthur and Candace. Excuse me, I was not born yesterday you know; no matter how naïve people think I may be, I am not stupid.

I'm not sure what's going on with her, but she has seemed very distant and hesitant when it comes to our relationship lately. I went and bought a ring for her a few months ago. I wanted to propose to her, but every time I plan a romantic evening to pop the question, she always has something else come up. We haven't been on a date in months. We still see each other - sometimes at work, or she comes to the Nest, but a real date is out of the question.

Take tonight for instance. We had been planning on coming here together since we got the invitations from the Ministry. I even thought tonight might be the night I ask her. Hell, the ring is in my pocket as we speak. But is she here? No.

She had flooed me a few hours before saying she wasn't feeling well, and would have to back out. I offered to come sit with her, nurse her back to health, but she told me to go ahead and come here instead. So here I sit. Frustrated, depressed, lonely and bored as I watch everyone else have a good time.

“Ron?”

I am brought out of my pitiful state of mind by the soft voice of my first love. I look up to see her worried face and the same look mirrored on the face of my best friend standing behind her. I smile slightly as I take another sip of my firewhiskey. I don't want to talk about it.

I hear Harry offer to get her a drink before he leaves us alone. I know now that I'm not going to get out of this with a weak, `I don't want to talk about it.' Hermione would never let it go at that.

“Dance with me?”

I look up to see her brown eyes sparkling at me. She knows I don't want to talk, so she uses her wiles to get around that fact. She holds out her hand and I take it, placing my glass carefully on the table, and follow her to the dance floor.

Honestly, I have missed this. I miss the feel of her in my arms. I miss the smell of her shampoo as her hair tickles my nose. I shake my head to clear my mind. I miss holding someone, not necessarily Hermione, but I miss this kind of closeness.

We are silent throughout most of the song. I love that she knows when words don't have to be said. Well, maybe I was wrong with that statement…

“Is everything all right, Ron?”

I nod my head numbly. I deserve the hell my life feels like right now. I left a woman that would have done anything for me, for what I though was a guarantee. I feel like the biggest idiot in the world. What if Lavender doesn't love me anymore? What if I pushed her too fast? What if the kids are the issue? So many questions run through my mind as I stare silently over the top of my ex-wife's head.

Her hand on my cheek brings me back to reality. The song is over and I am just standing there holding on to Hermione, not moving, not talking, just holding her and staring. Her eyes bore into mine. She can tell something is going on. She can probably do the math and figure it out. I'm here, Lavender's not, what does that say?

I speak before I even realize what I am thinking. “I was going to propose to her tonight.”

A slight smile creeps on Hermione's face as another song starts to play. She sways her body and coaxes me to continue dancing. “What happened?” she asks softly.

I stare over her head again. “She said she wasn't feeling well. So she stayed at her flat and told me to go ahead and come. I wish she were here.”

Hermione smiles. I can see the smile even before I look down at her. “Well, you've been here. You made your appearance. Go see her. You can still propose to her Ron. Just because she isn't feeling well, doesn't mean she'll say no.”

I shake my head at the obliviousness of my ex. Maybe its just my own paranoia, maybe she really is ill. Maybe she is as scared as I am about all of this. But maybe, just maybe Hermione could be right.

I have been imagining the worst-case scenario in all of this. I have been thinking all along that these past few months were her having second thoughts. Maybe she really has been busy. Maybe she is just scared. Maybe… hell, I don't know.

The song ends and Hermione guides me to the table where Harry is sitting waiting with a fresh drink for his wife. She leans over and kisses him on the cheek and whispers something in his ear. No doubt she told him I had planned on asking Lavender to marry me. My suspicions are confirmed when I see the giant smile appear on his face.

“That's great, mate. Where is she, by the way?”

“She wasn't feeling well, told me to come without her.”

“Nonsense.” I look up to see Harry's smile still shining. “You should know by now that she really wanted you to stay with her. She only said for you to come without her so you didn't feel bad or guilted into staying with her. It's the way women work, mate.” I can see Hermione's expression before I even look at her. I chuckle under my breath. It looks like Harry might be sleeping on the couch tonight.

I let them talk this one out amongst themselves and I let my mind wander. Is that really what Lavender meant? What would she do if I showed up at her flat with a pot of Mum's homemade chicken soup? I formulate a plan in my head. That's what I will do. I have some leftover soup in the fridge at the Nest, what if I charmed it hot and took it over to her? She would fall into my arms in appreciation that I would think of such a gallant thing to do. We would curl up and watch the telly and then when she was feeling a little better I would ask her the question that I have wanted to ask for months.

I take a deep breath and steel my nerves. That's what I will do. What better time than the present? I stand up and wrap my cloak around my shoulders. Harry and Hermione look up suddenly, brought out of their little spat, and look at me curiously.

“You guys are right. I should go to her. Make her feel better. Show her I care and love her.” I patted the box in my pocket. “Tonight, I'm going to ask.”

Hermione stands up and wraps her arms around me and Harry slaps me on the shoulder. I hear a `Good Luck Ron,' but am not sure which one said it. My mind is focused on what I am about to do. I have put it off too long.

I hug my best friends goodnight and head off to the apparition point. I take yet another deep breath and apparate to Lavender's flat.

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Oh Merlin, what the hell am I doing? Where am I going? As I walk aimlessly through London, I go through the events of the past 2 hours. I had left the celebration at the Ministry and gone straight to Lavender's. Note to self: never remember something you forgot in the middle of apparating, and especially don't try to change your destination. I realized in the split second that it took to disappear from the apparition point and appear at Lavender's flat, that I had forgotten the soup I was meaning to bring. So, like the idiot I can be at times, I tried to change my destination to my own flat. Wrong move. I'm lucky I didn't splinch myself. I ended up missing my living room by a good 30 feet and ended up landing in my bathtub, hitting my head on the tile wall.

So now I have a splitting headache and a goose egg on the back of my head, but that's not the half of what has unraveled in the past 60 minutes. I finally got myself straightened up after my not-so-graceful landing in the loo, and grabbed the soup for my love. I cast a heating charm on it and apparated to her flat. Well, I tried to apparate to her flat, but where I would usually appear in the foyer, I was standing outside her front door. That was odd.

I raised my wand to cast an unlocking charm, and could feel the wards surrounding the flat. That should have been a warning right there. But no, I didn't think about it. All I knew was that my love was ill and I wanted to make her better. I wanted to hold her, tell her I loved her and propose to the woman of my dreams. Never did I think I was about to walk into a nightmare.

I knocked on the door. Then I knocked again. And again. I'm not sure how long I was standing out there knocking on the door, but every minute that passed, I was becoming more nervous. I was afraid something may have happened to her. What if it wasn't just the wizard's flu like she said? I banged on the door again and called her name.

A few moments later the door opened to reveal a man clad only in a bedsheet. “Bloody hell, it's almost eleven o'clock. Don't you have any respect in letting people sleep?”

I looked up and down the hall to make sure I was at the right flat. I had been drinking tonight, not to mention the huge knot on my head, maybe I was lost. But I found that I was indeed in the right place. But who was this guy? And where was Lavender?

“Who is it love?” All right, question answered. I look around the man and see the love of my life wrapping a dressing gown around her, what I am assuming, naked body. I just stand there, dumbfounded. It took me a moment to even think about what the bloody hell was going on and before I got a chance to utter a word, her violet eyes opened large and she realized exactly who was at the door.

“Oh my God, Ron!”

The man turned around and looked at her accusingly. “Lavender, do you know this man? And why would he be banging on our door at midnight?” At that he looked at me, his eyes trying to threaten me. I was having none of that.

“I'm Ron Weasley. Who the hell are you?”

“I'm Lavender's husband.” What? Excuse me? I look over at the blonde standing beside him and see that her face is staring down at the ground, her eyes pooled with tears. At that moment I did something that no one that knows Ronald Bilius Weasley would have ever thought he would do. I walked away. I dropped the pot of soup at the feet of the lying bitch and her husband, and I walked away.

As I left the hall, I heard the door slam, a booming voice yelling, and a crying voice pleading. As I passed through the door of her building I punched the wall. A few times, actually. I was heartbroken. I wasn't pissed. I wasn't angry. I was hurt. I couldn't get myself to even build the gumption up to be angry. Why? What would it solve? I deserve it. I should have known. What goes around comes around after all.

I walked around for a bit and ended up at the Leaky Cauldron. I have been here for a while and I just finished my ninth… no, tenth… oh hell, I lost count. Well, let's just say I just slammed yet another firewhiskey tonight. So here I am drowning in sorrows and alcohol. Tom, the barkeep, is eyeing me strangely. I raise my hand to get another drink and one appears on the table in front of me. At least I didn't have to try to walk to the bar to get it, I doubt I would be able to make it five feet.

I know what you're thinking; I don't seem drunk. I'm not stumbling over my words. I am not slurring incomprehens… incomprohensibibble… yeah, you know what I mean. That is one of the things we Weasleys have a tolerance for… alcohol. I have never been drunk… well, I can't say that can I? That night we took Harry out to celebrate the twins, yeah I was a bit out there, wasn't I? Well, most of the time I am a very calm drunk. I tend to get analytic… anal… I analyze things too much when I get drunk. I tend to babble. But I can handle my alcohol.

*

I walked into the Leaky Cauldron and smiled at Tom as he wiped down the bar. The pub was empty, except for the redhead slumped over the table in the corner. I shook my head at my best friend. He always thought he could handle his alcohol. He only thinks that because he can't remember anything from when he drinks. He passes out before he ever gets a chance to make a fool of himself, which I am assuming happened this time.

I gently pull the glass from his hand and he dazedly looks up at me. “Harry? What'd'ya doin `ere?”

I sit down in the chair directly across from Ron. “Tom called me, said you were quite a few sheets to the wind. That you may need some help home. What's going on Ron?”

“Nothing.”

Liar. Something must have happened with Lavender tonight. I know he was leaving to check on her after the celebration. What made him come here and get piss drunk? I take the bull by the horns and ask the first thing that comes to my mind. “Did she say no?”

“Hmmppff…” he snorts before he grabs his glass out of my hand and takes a swig of the warm firewhiskey. “Never even ashked.” Yeah, Ron's drunk, he slurs a lot when he's been drinking.

“Why not?”

“Hubb… Husba… she's already married.” What did he just say? I close my eyes tightly. My mind working at what Ron's drunk mind is thinking. Married? Lavender's not married.

“It essplains a lot y'know… why she never wanted to go out anymore. Why we always sat at my flat watchin' the telly. Why she alwaysh shaid `no' to movin' in wish me. I shoulda seen it Harry. I was shtupid.”

I pull the glass from his hand again before he can take another drink. With a wave of my hand it is transferred to the bar so Tom can wash it. Ron needs no more alcohol tonight. He will be in enough pain as it is. I nod at Tom and two cups of coffee appear on the table. I push Ron's in front of him, urging him to drink it.

I sit there for a moment. I'm not sure what to say. I watch Ron sip the hot liquid as I try to wrap my mind about this new information. Lets see. Ron had cheated on Hermione with Lavender for four years before the split. That was two years ago. So for six years the `Hogwarts whore' has strung Ron along, while she cheats on her husband. What am I supposed to say to that? Honestly?

“You're not stupid Ron. She lied to you.”

“Jusht like I lied to `Mione. I desherved it. I just can't comprhe… comp… undershtand how I never knew. How did she hide it from me? He opened the door and I thought I was at the wrong flat. Then she peeksh around him. I have never felt sho shtupid, Harry.”

I take a long tog of my coffee. Caffeine tends to help clear my mind. “How do you know it's her husband?”

Ron looks up and his bloodshot eyes look at me like that was the dumbest question in the world. “He shaid sho.”

Right. He said so. “And what did Lavender say?”

“Noshing. Absolutely farking noshing.”

I can just imagine how Ron ranted and raved at this revelation. I look at him and notice his right hand is bruised and swollen. He probably hit the bastard. “When did you hit him? Before or after he said he was her husband?”

“Wha?” Ron looks at me bewildered. “I didn't hit `im.” I know for a fact that Ronald Weasley does not take things lying down. I look at his battered hand, he catches my glance and looks down. “Oh bloody hell.” He runs his fingers over the swollen knuckles and the looks up at me and shakes his head. “That was the wall. I walked away.”

I can't believe that. He must have had more firewhiskey at the celebration than I thought. He can't even remember fighting with Lavender's so-called husband. “Whatever Ron. I know you. Your temper was flaring wasn't it?”

The coffee is starting to work at sobering him up. His eyes are clearer and I can see how defeated he looks. “No, Harry. I walked away. It wouldn't have changed anything. Seeing him just answered more questions that I wanted answers to right now. So I walked away. I hit the wall after I left her building then ended up here.” When did Ron grow up? That thought makes me smile at him. He looks around for a second, his eyes taking in the fact that we are the only ones in the pub.

“Hell, how long have I been here?”

I chuckle lightly. “Well, I'm not sure how long you've been here, but its now 3:00 in the morning, if that tells you anything.”

He looks at his watch and verifies the time. Like I'm really going to lie to him about the time. He raises his cup and takes another long drink of the coffee before looking at me. “Thanks Harry. I'm sorry Tom called you. I know you had to get up early to go birthday shopping for Artie. Hermione's gonna kill me. Shit. I'm so sorry Harry.”

The next thing I know I am staring at the top of my best friend's head as he dropped his face in his hands. I look up at a motion coming from Tom; its time for us to go.

“C'mon mate. Lets take you back to Grimmauld. You can sleep in the guest room tonight. We can talk about this in the morning. I'll make sure Hermione whips up some hangover remedy for you.” At that he looks up and smiles.

“She still beats the pants off us in that stuff, huh?”

I can see the pride in his eyes at the thought of how good Hermione is at making potions. I know she has saved my arse from a hangover more times than I can count, not to mention all the ailments she can heal with a quick potion. I look at Ron and assume he is thinking about the same thing. She was his wife for ten years, after all. Of course she did the same things for him that she does for me. That thought makes me feel something odd that I really don't want to think about or try to place at the moment.

I stand up and walk toward the barkeep. I give Tom a few galleons for his trouble and wait for Ron at the door. “Sorry Tom. G'night.” Ron says sheepishly.

“No problem. Good night Mr. Weasley. Mr. Potter.”

I nod at the old man and pull Ron out the door. I stick out my wand hand and wait for the giant purple bus. In seconds it is there and Ron and I are climbing on. “Why didn't we just apparate, Harry?”

I look incredulously at Ron. Like he was really in the state to apparate? I seriously doubt that. Floo would have made his drunkenness worse, and probably caused him to get sick. This is the lesser of all the evils. The ride may be a bit bumpy and wild, but at least I don't have to put a splinched best friend back together, nor do I have to explain any mess left in passing the grates in the Floo.

Ron grins slightly. “Yeah, guess you're right. Splinching doesn't appeal to me right now, and I doubt my stomach would handle the Floo.” See, my point exactly.

When the bus stops, I help Ron off and up to the door of Number 12 Grimmauld Place. I help him up the stairs to the guest room. I'll let him sleep it off tonight, I will get the rest of the story tomorrow.

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Author's Note 12/29/04

To my loyal readers:

I apologize for not keeping up with this fic. My life has been turned upside-down and the stress and angst in my own life has to come first. I hope to have something more for you soon. I am so sorry for making you wait so long to see how Ron will pay for what he did to Hermione in `Anything for Love.'

I have to acknowledge a review I received recently… Thank you Dome36 for your blunt honesty in your review. For those readers who have not read said review…

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Dome36 said:

I have to confess that I re-read your previous fic "Anything for love", before I wrote this review. And I like it. But I think you created a problem. A problem that is almost impossible to solve with logic, credibility and literary value.

The fact is, since this is a R/LL fic, I supposed that in future chapters Luna will be romantically involved with Ronald Weasley. That is very likely.

And I must confess: I am already feeling sorry for Luna. She is a good girl. She doesn't deserve to be dating a liar and a cheater. This is the problem. Sometimes we tend to forget that "words have memory". It is impossible to forget the fact that Ron is a liar and a cheater. He is someone that is impossible to trust.

Poor Luna I have to say. Dating a liar.

Sometimes, when we write we forget the wide range of consequences of our own words. Even if it is a sequel, Ron continues to be the guy that cheated on his wife during FOUR Years in a marriage of ten. It is impossible to erase this sad reality.

If Hermione wasn't able to guarantee loyalty from Ron, how could Luna do it? This is the problem you will have to solve in this fic.

I know that you have talent, but I honestly think that you created a situation that is too much complicated. After "Anything for Love", Ron's credibility as a character is destroy. What happened with Lavender was only a taste of his own medicine. Well deserved.

Poor Luna, I have to say...

Dome

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This Author's Note is in response to this review, I hope it explains a bit.

As I have stated before… when I wrote `Anything for Love' I actually foreshadowed my own divorce. Eerie, huh? No, my husband did not cheat on me, but he might as well have. My divorce is unlike most in the world. My ex and I are still best friends. I still love him, but not the same as I did for the past eight years. I want to see him happy, just as Hermione wants to see Ron happy.

Yes, Ron was a liar and a cheat. He got his just desserts when he found out that Lavender was just as big a liar as he was, if not worse. I am not going to make this easy for Ron, don't let my usual fluffiness mislead you. Ron will have a hard time overcoming his own grief and karma. He cheated on Hermione, left her for a floozy, said floozy did him just as bad (the depth of how bad will be explained later in the story). He has to overcome the harshness of his attitude toward Loony Lovegood from years ago while at Hogwarts, his children growing up, Arthur heading for Hogwarts, the happiness he sees in Harry and Hermione's relationship, his job, the fact that he gave everything up just to be betrayed in the end, etc…

Ron will have to pay the piper, so to speak. It will be a rollercoater ride, throughout this fic. I hope I can get back to it soon. I have it outlined, but the actual writing has been put on the back burner until my own life gets straightened out. I must say it is on its way down that road. I have been separated since March. Living on my own since April. I have dated many men, trying to find my little bit of happiness. I have found that in a wonderful man who is my soulmate, my other half. Once all the red tape is cut, we plan on combining our families in wedded bliss. But due to bankruptcy and divorce, on both sides, it may be a while. Please be patient with me. I am sorry to keep you all on hold for so long. I promise I will get back to this fic as soon as possible.

I hope to have a ficlet out by the New Year, just to tide you over until I can get back in the frame of mind to continue with `What Goes Around Comes Around.'

I hope your Holidays were happy, and I wish you all the best for 2005.

~Coriander

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