When I Leave This World

When I Leave this World

Ron sat there staring at the empty parchment spread in front of him. Had it been minutes, hours, days? He didn't know. He didn't care. He'd lost the most important thing in his life and now he had to write and tell her parents they no longer had a daughter. As he tried to think how exactly to put into words what had happened, he began to think back to the week before.

The war had taken its toll on all of them. Voldemort's supporters were causing havoc everywhere, and his location was still unknown. The Order was constantly on the move, some members even taking double, triple shifts. Everyone was feeling the strain. It was her idea for them to go out and get away. Hermione said it would be fun to go on a "muggle" date.

She'd planned the evening perfectly. After borrowing Mr. Weasley's latest car to tinker with, they were to go to dinner then to a movie. But they never made it to dinner or the movie. Fate had made other plans.

* * *

Ron glanced at the clock. It was two o'clock a.m. He'd sat there for three hours, yet still could not bring himself to write.

He looked around his apartment, or what was left of it anyway. It looked like a battlefield. He'd destroyed everything in it. Broken pictures, glass, and other debris scattered the floor. Even Ron's beloved Chudley Cannons posters were ripped to shreds. After that night, once he'd returned home, it seemed destruction was the only way to fill the void that was left in him.

Deciding to take a shower, Ron went into the bathroom. He looked into the mirror and his eyes filled with tears. Written on the glass were the words "I love you." Hermione frequently would write little messages, using her lipstick. And sure enough, as he looked down he saw a tube of lipstick on the counter. Picking it up, as though it were glass, Ron left the bathroom and walked over to his dresser. He opened the top drawer and pulled out an old Skiving Snackbox that was stuffed in the corner. It no longer held Fred and George's prized candies, but objects of greater worth.

Over the past few days it seemed every once in a while Ron would find something that had belonged to Hermione. Whenever he did he would put it in the little box he kept in his drawer. As he carefully laid the lipstick among the other treasures, he glanced at the contents inside. There was a comb, a compact, a hair tie, and a small jeweler's box. Ron slowly withdrew the box and let his fingers gently caress the velvet lining. He opened it and gazed at the sparkling diamond ring within. He'd planned to give it to her at dinner that night, but he never got the chance.

Walking back to the desk, Ron placed the ring beside the parchment. He sat down and still staring at the ring, with firm resolution, he began to write:

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Granger,

I am sorry this has taken so long, but until now I haven't been able to bring myself to write what I'm about to tell you. It happened a few days ago. I'm sure someone has already contacted you, but I know Hermione would have wanted me to tell you what happened. We were out on a date in my father's car. We hadn't driven very far. There in the road straight ahead a car was stalled, the engine was dead. I couldn't stop so I swerved to the right.

Ron stopped writing and thought to himself, 'I'll never forget the sound that night. The screaming tires, the busting glass. The painful scream that I hear last.'

When I woke up the rain was pouring down. There were people standing all around. Something warm rolling through my eyes, but somehow I found Hermione that night. I lifted her head she looked at me and said, "Hold me Ron for just a little while." I held her close. I kissed her our last kiss.

As Ron wrote he continued to think, 'I found the love that I knew I would miss. But now she's gone even though I hold her tight.' And fighting back tears, he managed to write:

You lost a daughter, but I lost my love, my life that night.

Ron quickly signed the letter, placed it in an envelope and then attached it to Pigwidgeon's leg. He opened the window and watched Pig fly into the night. Breathing in the night air, it seemed a tremendous weight was off his shoulders.

Turning around, something shiny caught his eye; it was the diamond ring setting on his desk. Ron picked it up and went to place it back inside his drawer. After it was safely tucked inside, he reached up and turned on the radio that sat atop his dresser.

As the music filled the room Ron smiled to himself, it was a muggle radio station. Hermione must have changed the dial. Determined now to actually take a shower, he went into the bathroom. As he turned on the tap, the sound of running water met his ears, but he could still hear the faint music coming from his bedroom as the song was coming to an end and the singer sang the last chorus:

Oh, where oh where can my baby be?

The Lord took her away from me

She's gone to heaven, so I got to be good

So I can see my baby when I leave this world.

The End