"Harry, are you alright?" Ron asks, coming into the common room and seeing his best friend sitting on the
sofa, staring mindlessly into the roaring fire.
"Yeah." Harry responds, not looking up at him. Ron sits down beside him, looking into the fire as well.
"We're leaving tonight." Ron says.
"Yeah." Harry responds.
Ron holds his tongue now, not knowing what to say. He knows that Harry will be the only soul staying at the castle, waiting for his impending doom. Voldemort used Snape to kill Dumbledore, using Dumbledore's blood to write on the wall of his room that the end will soon come.
Ron stands and goes upstairs to his dorm, leaving Harry to stare alone into the fire once more.
It's up to me now. I alone get to be the one who either single handedly saves or destroys the wizarding world. The fate of the world is on my shoulders. Can I do this? What will happen after. . .
I can't sit here and think about it. What good will that do. Thinking isn't action, nothing is going to be resolved. I can sit here and think all I want and nothing will change. He's going to win. I can't fight him alone. I can't win against a wizard that can take everything I love. I'm not strong enough. I'm not strong enough. . .
Ron comes down the stairs of his dorm with a duffel bag slung over his shoulder and two other bags in his hands. He hesitates at Harry's hunched over figure. No one else is in the Gryffindor common room, most everyone has already left the castle after Dumbledore's funeral the day before.
He watches his best friend suffer from inner torment, not knowing what he can do to help him. Ron sets down his bags, walking to Harry once more. Harry's eyes are gazed over.
"Are you sure you don't want to come?" Ron asks, but it's as if Harry ignores the question.
"I can't do this." Harry murmers. Ron's eyebrows knit in confusion, and he sees Harry's entire body tense and his shoulders hunch forward even further, "I can't. I'm not strong enough."
"Don't say that, Mate." Ron tries to soothe his friend, but his words go unnoticed.
"He will win. He will take everyone away from me. I'd rather die than watch you all suffer."
"We're stronger than he is, Harry. Come back to the Burrow with us, at least there you'll be safe."
"No!" Harry yells violently, turning to face Ron with a mad glint in his eye. Ron shrinks back, "I won't put any of you in danger."
"I don't want to leave you." Ron says softly, trying to calm Harry. Harry turns his face back to the fire.
"You will leave. You, Hermione, Ginny, Luna, Lavender, Neville, Dean, Seamus, everyone. I've already decided, and nothing you say will change my mind. He wants to attack, and he will only destroy me."
"If he kills you," Ron begins, but he cannot finish.
"I will make sure that neither of us live."
"You've got to live."
"I can't."
Harry stands then, turning his back on Ron and walking up the stairs to his dorm. Ron sits on the sofa, tears brimming his eyes. He looks at the stairs Harry just walked, and his entire body is drained of the energy to follow him. The portrait swings open with a thundering bang, causing Ron to jump.
"Ron, what are you-"
"I was finishing packing, Hermione." Ron cuts her off with a nasty glare. The room becomes tense, and Hermione adverts her eyes from the penetrating gaze. She crosses the room and sits beside him, folding her hands neatly on her knees.
"What're you doing here, anyway?" He asks her vehemently. She shrugs.
"I was looking for you or Harry, and I found you first." She looks at him now, a longing look, "Ron, I know that we broke-up on bad terms, but-"
"But nothing, Hermione."
"You know Harry needs us now."
"He wants nothing to do with us!" Ron jumps off the sofa, anger emitting from his very being. His arms are cast wide, and his chest rises and falls with heavy breaths. Hermione stands calmly, placing her hands gently on his outstretched arms. He lets his arms fall to his sides, then turns his head away from her.
"He's overwhelmed, Ron. He's only seventeen. He may never get to see his next birthday, or any of us again. It's pretty intimidating, especially when you feel like you're all alone."
"But he has us, Hermione. Why doesn't he see that?" Ron says pleadingly, his broad shoulders hunching forward. He towers over her, but she is not in the least bit intimidated.
"I don't know." She whispers, and moves to circle her arms around his waist, but he steps back, avoiding her.
"No. Don't touch me. Please." He glances at her, and his heart breaks. She downcasts her eyes, tugging at her fingers nervously. She looks wounded and alone, just as he did, and he does not even consol her.
"Look, Hermione," He reaches out now, but she walks to the stairs of the headgirl's dorm.
"I'm going to finish packing." She says over her shoulder, disappearing down the stairs.
Ron grumbles and leaves the common room, heading to the kitchens. The halls are empty and cold, and it makes him shiver. His footsteps echo off the tall walls. He knows that most every student has left Hogwarts, and he himself will be leaving that evening with Hermione, but the thought does not comfort him, for Harry will not be joining them.
"Maybe I'll bind him, and take him hostage, then at least he will be safe with us at the burrow." Ron mumbles to himself, but he sighs at the plan, mentally erasing it. He pushes the door open to the kitchen, finding this room also empty. He finds himself some food, hoping it will ease the pain he feels on the inside.
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There's my chapter 2. Let me know what you think.