Always the Sidekick

Chapter 20

"You can't lie in bed all bloody day." The female voice on the other side of the bed curtain was hostile. "I'm telling you, I'll open this curtain. I don't want to, but I will."

"Sod off, Ginny," Ron said groggily.

On cue, Ginny pulled the curtains to the four-poster back. He heard a loud sigh. "Honestly. Harry, how much of this did you give him?" He heard the empty bottle of firewhisky clang on the side of the bed. Harry must be there as well. He heard another bottle clang against the first one she'd picked up. He wasn't sure how many he'd drunk in the past three days. Just that whenever he needed a drink to keep his mind from clearing up, there was one on the nightstand.

"Don't try to help. It's your fault he's in this state." Harry had just reached for a bottle on the floor. Ron couldn't help but smile. He could see his mother saying that. Ginny noticed his smirk. "So you are conscious, then. Well, I can't decide whether I'm happy about that or not." She pulled the blankets off the bed, and Ron was glad the night was cool and he'd put pajama bottoms on.

"Get up. If you miss much more study, you won't finish this year." Now her voice sounded like Hermione. It wasn't until the brown, bushy hair came into view he realized it was Hermione.

He tried to sit up, but his head felt as if it would explode. He hadn't felt this badly since he woke up in the hospital wing in their fifth year. He groaned loudly.

"Is there anything you can do?" A timid voice came out of Harry. Why was he so quiet? Had the girls told him off for letting Ron self-destruct?

"There's a sobering charm, yes. But I'm not sure he deserves it. Maybe we should just let him suffer."

The last three words were said in a loud tonetly into his ear. It didn't help. Ron groaned again.

He heard another loud sigh and then, "Fine. You stay in bed. You redo another year at Hogwarts. Over what? Over a bloody girl, Ron." Hermione turned, and he heard the door slam. Harry and Ginny must have left as well because the room was silent. He reached under his pillow and pulled out another bottle of firewhisky.

Ron didn't know how long he'd been out this time. His mind seemed to drift in and out of consciousness. It was unusual. Even he could see that. It was more than the humiliation of Mina. It was that he'd betrayed everyone he loved. Everyone. He cursed Harry daily for letting him live; perhaps that's why Harry kept a steady supply of firewhisky available. But a life lived in clouded thoughts and aches wasn't a life worth living. Just what had Harry saved? Ron put a fist on his forehead and pressed.

He sat up. His head felt like it weighed twenty pounds. The groan that left his mouth was so loud if there were anyone in the room, they'd be aware of Ron's presence now.

His hand grazed a rolled up bit of parchment on his quilt. Ron looked at it for a moment, then opened it and stared at his mother's handwriting. The words danced around for a few seconds before Ron's eyes adjusted and could finally read.

Ron,

I know this sounds like bollocks, but please hear me out. One time when you were just a small boy, you asked me why you were even born. Clearly we wanted a girl, and you had told me Charlie was furious at you for not being a girl. But, Ron, I was never disappointed in you. I never wanted you to be anything you weren't.

I never told you this; perhaps I feared you would think I was mad. Before youn, you came to me in a dream. I know it sounds silly, Ron, but it happened. You told me you knew how much I wanted a girl but that you weren't her. But you promised me my next baby would be a girl. You promised me there would be another one. You had to come when you did because you had a purpose. You had to help bring peace to the wizarding world. I understood. And I never regretted having you.

You can't turn your back on the world because someone tricked you. Not just someone Ron, Voldemort.

Ron stared at the word. She'd written the name. The name everyone in the wizarding world feared. And he saw her not as his mother, but as someone who was depending on him. Someone he loved greatly, and she needed him to grow up. To stop feeling sorry for himself and to be Harry's partner.

After all she'd done for him, Ron owed it to her to help Harry. He looked down at the last line of the parchment.

No matter what you do, no matter where you life leads you, I will love you. You have always made me proud.

Mum

Ron pulled the blankets back from his bed and slowly placed his feet on the floor. His body still ached, but now was filled with something else. What, he didn't know, but he was determined to find out.

It was the first shower Ron had taken in weeks. The water felt so refreshing, and it helped the ache go away. He would get rid of all the whiskey bottles when he got out of the shower. He would try and catch up on his studies. Maybe he wasn't so far behind. Maybe it would all work out.

He turned the water off and wrapped a towel around his waist. It was uncommonly quiet in his dormitory. He just noticed. He didn't even know what day it was, but he thought it was a weekend, and surely someone would be in the dormitory.

Ron pulled his robes on over his clothes and opened the door to the common room. It too was very quiet and empty. This was unusual for any day.

Perhaps it wasn't a weekend at all. Maybe everyone was in class. He walked down the stairway to the common room and crossed it. He had just reached the portrait of the Fat Lady when it burst open, and before him stood Hermione.

"Ron," she said, looking at him like he was a mirage.

"What'ed?" He knew something was wrong. Hermione was white as a ghost, her voice short.

"An attack. Outside on the grounds."

Ron practically pushed her aside to get out of the common room, when she pulled him back. "No, you can't go out there. It's not just an attack, Ron. It's the attack. The Slytherins have gathered, all of them, around the lake. When I left, Death Eaters were coming out of it like they were fish. I heard an explosion. I don't know what happened; everyone started running outside to see what the noise was." Her eyes were filled with fear. Ron wanted more then anything to take that fear away.

Footsteps announced a group of people entering the corridor outside the common room. A moment later, Ginny, her hand firmly in Harry's, and Neville appeared. Luna Lovegood was beside them, looking for the first time ever like she had a purpose.

"It's bad. We need to stay inside the castle." They climbed through the portrait.

"What happened?" Hermione was staring intently at Harry.

"The lake. The lake just sort of rose up and a huge wave or something, I don't know what it was, picked up a group of people standing just in front of it. It sort of formed a balloon and then popped. The people inside were gone."

Ron couldn't believe what he was hearing. This is what he was waking up to? "Who?" was all he could manage to get out.

"A few Hufflepuffs, a Ravenclaw and three Gryffindors. All third years."

"No," Ron interjected. "Who did it?"

Harry looked at Hermione and said, "The Slytherins. I can't imagine it was all of them, but a good lot. And that was after the Death Eaters appeared then disappeared again."

"What?" Hermione asked. "They disappeared?"

Ginny nodded. "Don't know where they went, but if they can just appear out of the lake and then disappear, I think they're trying to bring the protective wards down around the castle."

Ron knew what that meant. If they could find a way, they would destroy Hogwarts.

"Malfoy," Ron started to say. He couldn't quite get his lips to form the word Mina yet.

The room went silent at the word. "Malfoy's gone, Ron," Hermione said gently. He looked at her in disbelief. "Just after we interrogated Mina. I took Mina to see McGonagall. I don't know what happened, just that Mina was sent back to the Slytherin dungeons, and she was supposed to be kept under watch. She and Malfoy were gone the next day."

Something was boiling up in Ron. Some sort of strong emotion. Mina had tried to destroy Ron. Tried to use him as a pawn. And she was gone now? Ron looked at the group around him. They all looked worried. They all looked scared. But a moment later, their fears would be tripled.

The side of Gryffindor Tower vanished, like someone had put a clear enchantmenRon could feel a cool breeze coming in. The side was gone. Just not there anymore. He stared out across the lawn, and he could see the grounds in shambles. Students were lying on the ground; from the distance he was at, Ron couldn't tell if they were alive or not.

And then, rising up slowly, like it was on a dumbwaiter, a cloud appeared. And before Ron could even imagine what it was, there was a deafening crash, and smoke was surrounding them. The walls were tumbling, and Ron lost sight of everyone in the pillows of blackening dust.

Ron's body ached. He moaned and realized where he was and what had just happened. When he looked around at the scenery, he noticed dust everywhere. The building had collapsed. He couldn't see anything but gray dust. The tower fell several feet, and large crevasses separated the floor.

Panic set in. "Hermione." There was noder, he said, "Hermione." Still silence. His chest heaved, and he took a deep breath, then shouted, "Hermione!" Oh God, please answer me. Please don't you leave me, too. He tried to stand up, but his ankle gave way. It was broken. He tried to clear his mind. There was a spell he could use to mend it.

"Ron." He heard a hoarse voice say his name. He turned his head toward it.

"Hermione," he said again.

"Ron, I can't move." She had fear in her voice. "I can't move, and I can't find Harry and Ginny."

"Don't worry. I'm coming." The pain in his ankle seemed to disappear when he heard her voice. He got up and limped to the place he'd heard her. He still couldn't see her. "Where are you?"