Unofficial Portkey Archive

Disclaimer: All is J.K. Rowling's and comes from her brilliant mind. I only own the plot.

For the second time in two days, Ron found himself in the Hospital Wing sitting by another person who was unconscious. This time though, instead of Hermione, the person was his sister, Ginny. He reached forward and grabbed her hand, rubbing his thumb lightly over her pale skin. He stared into her peaceful face, feeling a great weight settling into his chest.

Ginny was breathing softly at the moment. Her bright, long red hair contrasted sharply against her milky white skin and the starch white of the sheets. Her freckles stood out clearly on her skin. Her bright brown eyes were closed and Ron wished desperately that she would wake up. He had been told by a few people that had been in the corridor with her when she collapsed what had happened. Many of them were in the Gryffindor Common Room when Hermione had collapsed so the similarities between the two had not gone unnoticed.

Ginny had apparently been walking down to the Great Hall with a group of her fifth year friends when she had suddenly gone rigid and very pale. Before her friends could react, she had fallen to the floor, screaming and clutching her head like Hermione had done. A yellow light had surrounded her until finally vanishing and revealing an unconscious Ginny. One girl had noticed something that Ron found to be very odd; the image of a badger had briefly shown above Ginny before disappearing.

At first Ron had been confused but he quickly realized what the badger had meant. Ginny was the Heir to Helga Hufflepuff. He was in absolute disbelief at this. First Hermione, one of his greatest friends, had turned out to be the Heir of Rowena Ravenclaw, and now, his own sister was the Heir to Helga Hufflepuff. This was almost too much for Ron to comprehend and he didn't know whether to be slightly happy, filled with rage, or ready to cry.

The happiness came from the fact that his own sister was so powerful and obviously a great witch. She had been chosen by Helga Hufflepuff and was meant for great things. She was to join the other three Heirs in the hopes to stop Voldemort forever.

The rage came from the fact that Professor Dumbledore had kept this great secret for so long. He had hidden away so much information and only told them when the changes began to take place. Ron found this to be very unfair to the four who would be the Heirs. They had a right to know that they had been chosen even before they were born. What right had Dumbledore to keep their destiny hidden from them?

The sadness and the want to cry was stronger within Ron and was so for many more reasons. First of all, now he knew that someone very close to him, more likely than not someone in his family, was dead. The one Ginny loved most dearly had now been taken from her, how else would her powers be suddenly showing? Ron didn't even want to think about who it might be. He was thankful now that it wasn't him. Though he did know Ginny loved him, there had been a breach in their closeness ever since Ron had found friendship in Harry and Hermione. He had shoved Ginny to the side and they were only within the past year becoming closer. He was willing to die for Ginny but he needed to live for others as well, he needed to be here to help in the War.

The other thing that had Ron very sad at the moment, was the realization that he was not one of the Heirs now. Though he knew fully well that being one of the Heirs was extremely dangerous and would involve tedious training and the eventual meeting with Voldemort, the desire to be one of those chosen was deep within him. For another time in his life, Ron was again pushed to the back. He knew he was being childish in feeling this way but he couldn't help it, he was jealous. He wanted to be an Heir. He wanted to be one of those to save the world and who was looked upon by the rest of the wizarding world in awe. He wanted a little bit of the glory. He wanted to prove his skills as a wizard.

Ron sighed and felt a small tear run down his cheek. He felt completely useless. He had never done anything to prove himself alone. He was always Harry Potter's sidekick. Sure, he had helped a lot with many adventures and was recognized by a few but Harry had always been the one to receive most of the praise. For once in his life, Ron wanted something to be his. He wanted something to be remembered by. He wanted people to hear the name Ronald Weasley and say something instead of, "Oh yeah, Harry Potter's friend, right?"

Ron hated himself for feeling this way but it was only natural. He wanted to do something, anything. He sighed once more and stared sadly at Ginny. "I'm so sorry, Ginny," he whispered, "here you are, unconscious, and I'm jealous of you. Some brother I am, right?"

Ron looked up at the clock on the wall and saw it was close to dinner time. He wasn't hungry though, which was quite a shocker to himself, and decided to stay here until Ginny woke up. Madame Pomfrey, for once, wasn't trying to shoo him out and had just given him a sympathetic look before heading back into her office. Dumbledore had stopped by very briefly to just mention to Ron to tell him when Ginny woke up. He decided not to do as he did to Hermione and let Ginny rest instead.

Thinking of Hermione, for the first time since he had entered the Hospital Wing hours before, he noticed she wasn't there. His eyebrows fused together in confusion. Shouldn't she still be resting? he thought. As if to answer his thoughts, the doors to the Hospital Wing banged open, making Ron jump with a start.

He turned in his chair to see Harry helping a shaking and crying Hermione to a bed. Ron rushed over and said, "Oh Hermione, what happened?"

Hermione shook her head and didn't answer and Harry gave him a look as if to say, "I'll tell you later." Madame Pomfrey came bustling out of her office, holding a goblet in her hand.

"Here, dear, drink this. You really need your sleep. You shouldn't have left your bed at all today but I will not argue with your reason. I understand," the older woman said very kindly.

Hermione quickly drank from the goblet and with tears still running down her cheeks, she drifted off to sleep. Harry gave her hand a gentle squeeze and brushed some of her hair off of her forehead before kissing it softly. "Everything will be all right," he whispered. He straightened up and looked at Ron, who was carefully studying the ceiling.

"She lost her parents, Ron," Harry said quietly. Ron snapped his head down and stared at Harry in shock, his jaw hanging open.

"What? Oh my God! Poor Hermione," Ron said, choking up. And to think I was jealous. I should be ashamed of myself, he thought, feeling incredibly guilty now.

Harry didn't seem to notice Ron's sudden discomfort because his eyes had fallen on Ginny lying in the next bed. "Ron! What happened to Ginny?" he said before rushing over to the other girl.

Ron shook his head. "Same thing that happened to Hermione."

"You....you mean....she....she's.....an Heir too?" Harry said brokenly.

Ron nodded stiffly. "Yeah, she's the Heir of Helga Hufflepuff."

Harry sat down heavily, a mixture of emotions on his face. "What's going on here, Ron? How is this happening? Out of nowhere we have four students suddenly acquiring new powers and finding out they're the Heirs of Hogwarts. Tragedy is striking them at a time when they should be happy about this news." He paused. "This is Voldemort's doing," he said quietly.

Ron flinched but tried to ignore the name. "What? How do you know? How do you know Dumbledore isn't behind this? He did keep this information for a while and this is suppose to be the final downfall of Vol....Vol....You-Know-Who. How do you know Dumbledore didn't plan this?" Ron accused, barely knowing what he was saying but just feeling anger at the whole situation.

"Shut up, Ron. You don't know what you're saying. Dumbledore made a huge mistake with never saying anything about this Prophecy but you know as well as I do, Dumbledore would never sink to the level of Voldemort and cause the deaths of innocent people. He wants the Light to win as much as you or I do but not at the cost of lives at random." Harry eyed Ron angrily who flinched under his gaze. Harry could sometimes intimidate him as much as the name of Voldemort could. An angry Harry was never a good thing.

"Sorry," Ron muttered, looking at the floor, "I'm just upset. First Hermione then Ginny. You're next, I know it. You have to be the Heir of Gryffindor, who else would it be?"

Harry looked very surprised by his claim and shook his head. "Don't say that, Ron. We don't know that. We'll know when it happens and we'll go from there. Sorry I snapped at you, I'm just frustrated as well." He ran a hand through his messy hair and stood up, glancing down at Ginny.

"I'm sorry you have to watch your sister go through this, it must be very difficult. It was hard enough for me to watch Hermione and then witness her show her powers even more. I've never seen her lose control so much before. Its going to take her a long time for her to get over this, I don't really know if she trusts Dumbledore anymore." Harry sighed and looked over at Hermione again. "Why this happened to her I'll never know, she doesn't deserve this."

"You love her, don't you," Ron spoke up suddenly, staring hard at Harry who stared back in shock, his green eyes wide.

"Wha....what? I have no idea......no," he said unconvincingly.

Ron waved his hand lightly. "Don't worry about me, mate. I'm not in love with her or anything. A brief crush in fourth year but it quickly passed, she's practically my sister!"

Harry looked slightly relieved but tried to cover it up. "Well, um...I'm still not sure.....I mean, there's no way.....she doesn't like me....I don't have a chance."

Ron smiled for the first time in two days. "I wouldn't be so sure there, Harry. Think about it though, it might do you both good if you admitted your feelings for each other."

Harry blushed and looked at the floor. "Thanks, Ron," he said quietly, "I think I'll wait though. With everything that just went on I want to give her time. She just lost her parents." He got a very pained look when he said this but he smiled slightly. He glanced back up at Ron who smiled back at him, feeling very happy for his friend.

"Well, I'm going to head down to the Great Hall real quick to eat. You coming?" Harry questioned.

"No, I'm going to stay up here with Ginny. Could you bring me something though?"

Harry nodded. "Sure, I'll come back in an hour." He cast one last longing look at Hermione before giving a quick wave to Ron and leaving the Hospital Wing. Ron re-took his seat once he left and watched Ginny silently. He still felt ashamed for his earlier thoughts and was hoping he could somehow be forgiven for them. "Just wake up, Ginny. Please."

As the words left his lips, the sound of the doors being opened once more came to him and he turned to see who was interrupting him now. A groan of annoyance left his mouth and he turned away. Oh great, just what I need. Loony Lovegood to show up.

"Hello, Ronald," came the dream-like voice of Luna Lovegood from behind him.

"Hello, Loon.....Luna," he corrected himself, plastering a smile on his face as she walked to the other side of Ginny's bed and took a seat there. He was glad to see she wasn't wearing one of her silly lion hats but she was wearing her radish earrings and her butterbeer cap necklace. She is one strange girl, he thought in amusement.

As he watched her, Ron noticed that Luna wasn't wearing the far-away look on her face as usual. In fact, she seemed very aware right now and was staring sadly at Ginny, tears filling her pale blue eyes.

"She was always so nice to me," he heard her whisper, "She's been a friend to me even when people said I'm a freak, she saw beyond that. Ginny has a very good heart, she doesn't deserve this pain." Luna looked up at Ron, who seemed a bit speechless. "I'm sorry you have to see your sister like this, it must hurt very much."

Luna tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, showing her radish earring off more clearly. Underneath all of that strangeness, Ron had finally witnessed a girl who was very misunderstood and was probably more sane then most people. He watched as she reached down and gave Ginny's hand a squeeze before standing up.

"Well, I must head down to the Great Hall. Tell Ginny I was here when she wakes up. Goodbye, Ronald." She glided back past him, a dreamy look passing over her features once more and as she left through the doors, he thought he heard her softly whistling 'Weasley Is Our King.'

Ron sat very still, that whole moment reeling in his head. He now had another emotion to add to his previous list. Confusion. Luna had intrigued him by her simple show of emotions and had also greatly confused him. Ron put his head in his hands, feeling frustrated once more. Damn that Luna Lovegood.

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Author's Note: Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your amazing reviews! It means so much to me that you are enjoying the story so much. Thank you to all who left reviews telling me to ignore people and just write my story. Your support is wonderful and appreciated. I love my reviewers! :)

All right, I know I said I would have this chapter be about Draco and Ginny more but this one just sorta came to me and I had to write it, you know what that's like. The next chapter will definitely be a Ginny and Draco chapter, I feel like I'm ignoring them. I needed to write a chapter on Ron though because I want to make him a big part of the story as well. I often feel that in a lot of H/Hr fics, Ron is ignored a lot and is very misunderstood. I love his character and just because he's not an Heir in my story doesn't mean he should be ignored. I tried to keep him very in character and I wanted something from his point of view so his own problems could be seen. I hope you guys liked this chapter and sorry that not a lot of action is taking place yet. Its a slow developing story but I don't want to rush anything. I hope you liked the little Ron/Luna interaction and you can probably guess where I might be going with that. Please please review and I promise to write the next chapter asap!
Much Love,
PhoenixFirebolt