Chess

Chapter two: The Aftermath

"I think he's coming to."

Ron blinked slowly as his vision cleared to reveal the owner of the soft voice above him. Bending over him was Padma, covered in blood but seemingly whole and healthy. He looked around in confusion seeing faces he didn't recognise and walls so white and clean they couldn't possibly be Hogwarts.

"You're in St Mungo's Ron. You're safe here. We won."

The smile on Padma's face didn't quite reach her eyes and Ron felt there was much she was hiding but he was so weary he couldn't argue. As the closest Mediwitch arrived to check him over he drifted into sleep again.

When he awoke again it was night and Padma was asleep in a chair beside him. In the next bed along Ron recognised the profile of Seamus with a sigh of relief.

"Back amongst the living are we?" With a stifled cry Ron turned his head to see a tired looking Charlie at his other side. "We thought you were out for the count Sleeping Beauty."

The dark ward was full of beds with people lying in them and every chair in the room also seemed to have an occupant.

"Who... Did... What..."

Ron hardly knew what he wanted to know first, they'd won that much he knew, but at what cost. Were these the only survivors? Where then was Hermione? What had that silver light been? And most painfully of all had he failed Harry?

"Shhh. Calm down Ron. I'll tell you all you need to know if you'll promise to sleep again. You need to rest, I'm not losing another Brother."

"Another...?" Ron's voice was hesitant, afraid of this very first answer.

"No. We haven't lost anymore. Fred's still holding on and though Perce was injured in that last Battle he too is alive. We've been lucky really." Charlie's eyes belied the statement as he slowly checked over Ron's body for wounds.

"Many were lost. I don't know who you'd know, Remus, McGonagall, Luna Lovegood so many names but you'll hear them soon enough. There were survivors though, miraculous survivors. Hermione is being watched carefully but thanks to this witch's care," Charlie's motioned towards Padma, "they think she'll pull through. There was bad damage to her nervous system and her insides were shredded but she's in the best possible place."

Ron wanted to breathe a sigh of relief, she was alright, he had watched her cut down but she was going to be alright. Something in Charlie's eyes told him that this was not the end though.

"Go on... what else?"

Charlie looked uncertain for a moment, "I'm not sure I should. You're supposed to be resting and..."

"And I'm not going to rest till I know!" Ron jumped in and Charlie took a deep breath and continued in a low voice.

"I don't know what you remember of the end. No-one is exactly sure what happened. Dumbledore knows I think, but he isn't telling. He's old Ron. I've never seen him look so frail as when they... I'm getting ahead of myself. You were there. You saw Harry facing Voldemort I suppose, he should have died again but there was some power, some shield that Harry invoked that absorbed the killing curse. It absorbed all the power Voldemort threw at him until there was nothing but a shell and then it threw it all back. He's dead. Voldemort is finally destroyed but... Oh Ron..." Charlie's voice faltered and Ron knew from his eyes what came next.

"Harry..."

"He's gone. The power surge killed him. We found his body lying close to you, he looked so peaceful, there was nothing we could do."

Tears spilled down Ron's cheeks, he had known in the back of his mind that this could happen but he had never wanted to believe it. Charlie reached out and held his little brother in his arms, rocking him to sleep as if he were a baby, but Ron's mind was whirling with the idea of a world without Harry in it.

***

The funeral was as painful as he had expected. Hermione had been recovering and was there in a wheelchair, as was Fred though that was likely to be permanent. Seamus leant heavily on Neville as he refused to use crutches and Ginny, hand in hand with Dennis Creevy, was surrounded by a group of friends who seemed to want to support her without quite knowing how.

Charlie had been right, he did look peaceful. He had done what he had been born to do and the world rejoiced. Few remembered to mourn the life that had been stolen from him, the carefree childhood he had barely known, the beginnings of an adult life cut off before it truly started. Ron felt despair as he had never felt before. What was the point of life when it could be taken away so easily from someone as good as Harry? He had much to live for, Hermione, Ginny, his whole family, but he didn't want to go on. He had lost sight of any point to life.

At the wake after the ceremony he held Hermione's hand tightly as they both listened to the empty words of mourners who didn't understand they had lost their best friend. Hermione held up so well that Ron found himself trying to be worthy of her. A squeeze of her hand reminded him however that she at least understood and when Padma walked passed and smiled slightly he remembered their game, unfinished business.

"Should I tell you that I'm sorry?"

The pain in her voice said more than her words could have done but he had no words to answer her. He simply shook his head and swallowed hard to avoid the tears he could feel welling up again.

"We know," Hermione smiled slightly at Padma. "Thank you for coming here as Harry's friend. Ron and I appreciate you being here far more than all those Ministry names."

She hugged Padma tightly, the women had become close over war councils and now looked for comfort in familiarity. Finally Ron found his tongue.

"She's right, we're glad you're here. I wanted to tell you that it's not over. This isn't the end, only another beginning, a continuation even perhaps."

Hermione looked blank at Ron's words but a spark in Padma's eyes showed she understood.

"Bishop to F4, I've taken your pawn."

Ron smiled and turned to greet the next person as Padma moved away slowly, marvelling at Ron's strength.

***

If the days after the Final Battle had been painful and drawn out, after Harry's funeral everything seemed to speed up. Ron felt as if life was moving twice as fast as usual and he was being dragged along by tide he couldn't resist. Many of the survivors from Hogwarts and Hogsmeade came together to start rebuilding the ruins of the village. It was hard work, even with wands, and Ron revelled in the physical exhaustion he felt at the end of each day.

Gradually, as the world attempted to return to normal, more and more of the workers left for other jobs but not Ron. Six months after Harry's funeral Ron founded a Building Company with money that had been left to him and Hermione by Harry. There was plenty of work across the country as all of the major magical settlements had sustained major damage. He enjoyed his work, he felt this was something he could do well and he was as close to content as he could be.

Life wasn't perfect, they'd lost too much for that, but it was good. Ron and Hermione lived in a flat in muggle London, built by Ron's company to look like any other London flat from the outside but with all the mod cons the wizarding world could provide.

They had to live in London so that Hermione was close to the Ministry where she now worked. Soon after the Final Battle she had been recruited to help process the trials of those Death Eaters who had survived. The task was seemingly endless as they had to keep searching for those who might have escaped the net and she worked long hours.

Hermione's health was the largest obstacle to Ron's happiness. Watching the woman he loved come home every evening, exhausted, and collapse cut him deeply. He wanted to protect her, to make everything alright again, but there was nothing he could say or do to help her. Physically her body had taken a huge battering from the spell that cut her down, and mentally she had not moved on from those early days when the losses were so new and fresh. No amount of Ron's pleadings could make her take a break and he was afraid she would make herself seriously ill before she would stop.

Harry's name was rarely mentioned though his picture sat on their mantlepiece.

***

It was the policy of Weasley Constructions to provide a two-month check on all their properties to make sure all the charms were working correctly and the owners were happy with their houses. Ron often carried out these checks himself, he enjoyed seeing the results of his hard work and he enjoyed seeing people living normal lives, almost as there had never been a war.

Once Hogsmeade had been brought back to its original state, or as close to that as was possible, Weasley Constructions had built several blocks of flats for young wizards and witches on the outskirts of the village and they had been a great success. Visiting them on his round Ron met many of the survivors from his year as well as others who had been slightly older.

Lee Jordan lived there and he welcomed Ron in eagerly and they spent a happy hour discussing the latest exploits of the newly reformed Chudley Cannons.

Megan Jones on the other hand was not glad to see him, she had lost many friends in the War and Ron's presence seemed to remind her of them. He carried out his inspection as quickly as possible though as he left she took his hand and squeezed it, tears in her eyes.

"Thank you. For... for..."

"It's ok. I hope you'll be happy here Megan."

She brushed the tears from her eyes and nodded slightly. "And you, I hope you'll be happy Ron, you deserve it."

"We all do."

Their eyes held for a moment before Ron turned to the door and left, he wouldn't return to see Megan again as he might do with Lee. They had been allies, and friends, before but now there was no war and they had to go on.

The last address on his list was in fact a small house on the edge of Hogsmeade that had been renovated rather than one of the flats. As Ron approached he heard music drifting through an open window. He paused, with his hand raised to knock, as the music brought a memory flooding back.

The Gryffindor common room one summer evening when exams were done. Parvati dancing in the middle of the floor, her hair wild and flowing down her shoulders, her eyes sparkling bright. She'd brought in a record of her parents and they'd charmed it to play. As she swirled around with Lavender she sang at the top of her voice.

With a jerk Ron came back to reality, suddenly he knew whose house this was and he knocked tentatively on the door. Under his breath, and quite unconsciously, he sang along to the song. Build me up, buttercup baby...

"Ron?"

Padma opened the door and stared in surprise at the man in front of her. Though she'd know it was Ron's company who built her house she didn't realise he was involved with the Hogsmeade projects still.

"Hello Padma, can I come in."

"Of course." She looked slightly embarrassed and Ron thought there was a trace of redness around her eyes as she had been crying. She let him into the small living room and switched off the music. "Do you need to see the papers for the house?"

There was an awkwardness between them that Ron couldn't remember ever having existed before, except for perhaps at that disastrous Yule Ball. Just as he had at Megan's, he rushed his checks, unwilling to stay in such a strange atmosphere with someone who had once been so close. This time though there was no moment at the door. He finished his investigation and left feeling completely bereft.

It wasn't until he was twenty metres down the road that he heard her voice calling to him.

"Ron. Ron. I'm sorry. Ron."

He turned back to see her running towards him.

"Ron. I wanted to say... I mean... I was going to..." She stammered to a stop.

"Padma..." His voice was soft and questioning.

"I wanted to say, Knight to H5."

Their eyes met, the tension vanished and with a brief smile and a hug Ron set on his way again a much happier man.

***

"I saw Padma yesterday." Ron placed a mug of tea on the desk next to Hermione and cradled his own in his hands. "She seems well enough, considering everything anyway."

He leaned against the wall in the small room they'd both come to think of as Hermione's study and watched her scribbling furiously as if they were still at school and she was working on an essay due any moment.

"Hermione...?"

"What?" She snapped and turned to face him, knocking the mug with her arm.

As it fell Ron caught it with a word, working in constructions had taught him a lot of spells to catch falling objects. Hermione picked it out of the air.

"Sorry," she sighed heavily and took a mouthful of the sweet tea. "I didn't hear you come in and I've got to get these done before Crabbe's trial comes up."

She put the mug down again and turned back to her notes with an apologetic smile. Ron sighed and turned to leave but as almost as soon as he had stepped through the doorway he turned back and crouched down next to her.

Placing his tea carefully on the desk far away from Hermione's notes he took her arm. She stopped writing and looked down at him.

"What?" This time her tone was gentler but she still looked annoyed, "I really do need to get these done."

"I know but..." Ron paused and took a deep breath. "You need to take a break Hermione. No, don't stop me," he squeezed her arm to try and hold back the argument he could see springing to her lips. "I know they've got to get done but I'm not asking you to stop altogether just have a five minute tea break. You've been working all day and I know you'll work all of tomorrow but it's the weekend and you've got to have at least a little time for yourself or you'll collapse and anyway you can't be working efficiently."

The last was his vain attempt at giving her a reason to stop that fitted with her work. She shook her head but didn't try to remove his hand from her arm.

"I can't take a break, you know that, I've got to make sure this paperwork is all right or he might get away and we've got to catch them all Ron, every last one!"

She looked so pleading then that he almost gave in and left her but he knew that he couldn't or she'd hurt herself.

"Just five minutes," he stood and tugged gently on her arm. "Come and sit with me and drink your tea and talk about something else. I was just saying I saw Padma yesterday and she seems to be alright but not great, you must see her more often though. I'm worried about her."

The concern was so obvious in his face that Hermione allowed herself to be led into the living room. Though she wouldn't allow herself breaks she was happy to stop to talk about her friends.

If asked she would have denied any knowledge that most of Ron's worries were for her.

"Of course she's taken it hard, I think she's doing better know though," she smiled slightly. "Last week I even saw her looking at one of Lavender's articles in Witch Weekly and she hasn't done that since..."

Hermione trailed off into silence and Ron tried to distract her.

"You must see her quite a bit, both working at the Ministry."

"Well, I suppose I see her fairly often. We're in different departments of course and I'm very busy but sometimes she comes in and shares a sandwich with me when I'm working through lunch."

"You work through lunch?" Ron didn't like the sound of that at all. At least when she was at home he could make her eat properly.

"Not all the time, just when I'm particularly busy."

"You always used to be so keen on proper meals, outside of your House Elf thing of course." Ron smiled at the memory, trying to drag her mind away from work for a moment, "On match days you always tried to make Ha..."

He stopped suddenly as he realised what he had been about to say and there was an awkward silence. Both of their gazes strayed to the picture on the mantlepiece and Ron cursed himself as Hermione got up.

"I'd better get back to work then," she smiled faintly and leant down to kiss him on the cheek. "Thanks for the tea."

"That's alright." Ron's tone was resigned, he knew there was no point in arguing with her now. "I'm just going to apparate over to see Mum..."

"That's nice, give her my love."

He could hear that her mind was already elsewhere and so with a sinking heart he left the flat.

***

A few weeks later Ron found himself sitting, slightly nervously, in Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. Fred and George reopened their Hogsmeade shop as soon as the building was safe and were now doing a roaring trade. They hoped one day to have a premises in Diagon Alley too but the damage there had been terrible and it was going to take a very long time before all the curses and jinxes were dismantled and the place was rebuilt.

Molly hadn't been happy when the shop reopened. She wanted to keep her family close by and she couldn't quite understand why they wanted to return to the place Fred had been crippled in. WWW was a popular shop from the start, everyone remembered them from before and laughs were very much needed in a bleak world.

Ron's company had helped refitting the shop with it's extra wide aisles and ramps for Fred's wheelchair. Unfortunately for him his generosity in doing so had not resulted in him becoming immune to the Twins using him as a guinea pig as he had briefly hoped. Still, whenever he was in Hogsmeade Ron visited to catch up on the latest gossip. Somehow the Twins always seemed to know the latest.

"You know Neville's been asked to take over Sprout's job next year."

"Really? I thought they'd already replaced her, who's teaching Herbology this year?"

Ron's surprise showed clearly, how did George know before him. He'd only been talking to Seamus the day before and he'd not mentioned anything though he must have known.

"Not sure, one of the temporaries they brought in but she's no good apparently."

"What's even better is that it was Snape who had to ask him, can you imagine it?"

Fred and George both collapsed in giggles and Ron's eyebrows flew upwards towards his forehead.

"Snape had to go and ask Neville to teach at Hogwarts? He must have HATED that. Big nosed git."

"I bet McGonagall had a good laugh at that, she's got a sense of humour almost as wicked as Dumbledore's."

The three sobered up slightly at that. Dumbledore had retired as soon as he could and nobody had seen him since. He had said he was old and tired and then just left leaving McGonagall to run the school with Snape as her deputy.

"From what I heard Snape nearly combusted from sheer annoyance when he heard, or at least that's what Penny says." A female voice broke into their conversation.

"Padma, dearest."

"What brings you to our fine establishment?"

"Come to stock up on products for devilment."

"Remember our offer."

"Any you use on our dear brother..."

"... are half price."

Padma laughed at the twins double act and then laughed harder at Ron's surprise.

"I come in here whenever I can, it's a nice relief after a day at the ministry. I will not do anything to Percy you wretches, your brother is a gentleman and what is more Penny would kill me."

Percy and Penelope had been married in a simple ceremony as soon as was possible after the War and now they lived in Hogsmeade near the central Floo point. Percy still worked in the Ministry but Penelope was now teaching Arithmancy at Hogwarts.

"I hear there's to be another Weasley wedding before long."

Ron nodded, this time he knew exactly what she was talking about.

"Not till they've finished school obviously but they've been engaged for a few weeks. It seems awfully young but..."

Even the twins looked almost subdued for a moment. Dennis Creevy might be still at school still but grief had made him and Ginny much older than their years and nobody would argue against them grabbing what happiness they could.

"Mum's excited, there's going to be a huge celebration this time."

"No ducking out like Percy or Fred here, or you Ron." There was an evil glint in George's eye and Ron remembered the fuss there had been when Ron and Hermione had announced that they weren't going to marry, it didn't feel right without Harry there.

"Well you better be on your best behaviour then or there'll be hell to pay."

Surprisingly the twins didn't look at all put out by this threat. Ron shook his head at them and turned to leave.

"I'd better go or Hermione'll get home before me."

He knew better than to hug or shake hands with his brothers, that would have been a dangerous move, but he kissed Padma on the cheek.

"I'm pretty busy at the moment but lets try and keep in touch. I don't want to give you too long to think about Bishop to E3."

***

In fact it was more than three months before Ron saw Padma again.

The last great building project left after the War was the reconstruction of Diagon Alley. The devastation created by the Death Eaters had been enormous. Long before rebuilding could begin teams of Curse Breakers had to scour every corner looking for traps that were left behind.

After that the whole of Gringotts had to be searched. It had taken months for all the bodies to be recovered from the massive vaults of the Bank, many had taken refuge in the depths but none had survived.

The Goblins had suffered even worse losses than the humans so that they were forced to accept wizarding help in the clean up operation, unthinkable before but now inevitable.

Eventually though it was done, the houses and the shops were rebuilt, the streets repaved and almost a year after it had been begun the work was finished.

The Grand Reopening of Diagon Alley was a huge event in the wizarding calendars, a day of celebration finally after so much mourning. There were flags and streamers everywhere and people crowded into the street to hear the speeches from Ministry wizards and those who had helped in the reconstruction project.

Ron attended with Hermione by his side but neither of them were caught up in the joyous mood. Hermione was tired, exhausted from her ongoing work and still suffering the after effects of the curse that had cut her down. Ron was afraid for her but knew there was little he could do.

Both of them missed Harry. It felt wrong to be there in that street without him by their side. Ron half expected to see him come shooting out of a shop or round a corner smiling and covered in dust as if he'd just missed the Floo stop.

"We should get to the front, I think your Dad's about to speak." Hermione pulled Ron towards the thickest part of the crowd as Arthur Weasley, Minister of Magic, climbed onto the temporary stage for the ribbon cutting. His speech was brief and to the point, remembering those lost but focussing on a brighter future.

"And so, Ladies and Gentleman, I present to you the jewel in wizarding London's crown once more, Diagon Alley."

The cheers of the crowd travelled for miles, causing much confusion amongst the Muggle world, but nobody cared. As Arthur cut the ceremonial ribbon the crowds surged into the brand new shops and cafes. Hermione and Ron stood by the stage watching.

"I could almost believe..." Ron sighed watching the happy faces of the crowd. "It's like before. I could almost believe it never happened."

Hermione squeezed his arm and nodded.

"Almost."

Once more the spectre of Harry stood before them, they had been a Trio and without him nothing could be quite right again.

"Come on Hermione, lets go find that Quidditch shop, or would you prefer Flourish and Botts? He'd think we were mad just standing here."

"Oh Ron, you're quite right I'm sure, but I have to work today, I told you."

"Hermione no. One day off won't kill you."

Ron's eyes begged her to stay but she shook her head, kissed him on the cheek and walked away.

However strange it was Ron found it hard to remain melancholy as he was swept away by friends. Seamus and Neville dragged him into Quality Quidditch where they found Ginny marvelling at the newest Nimbus broom. After that Ron found himself dragged from pillar to post by his old roommates who were obviously determined to make him enjoy himself.

Eventually, pleading tiredness he broke away and found a quiet bench to sit on. He wasn't alone for long however.

"Is this seat taken?"

Ron looked up to see Padma smiling down at him.

"No, go ahead, if you've found your way out of the throng you are quite welcome to your prize of a moments peace."

She laughed. "That's not very exciting, I always thought of you as someone who liked to be in the centre of things."

"Maybe once," Ron smiled ruefully. "I'm quite the old man now, if you want some excitement I suggest you find Nev and Seamus."

Padma shook her head. "Far too lively for me. I'll just sit here quietly with you old man."

For a moment the two sat in companionable silence watching the passing crowds. It was nice to just stop for a while and not have to do anything, think about anything or even pretend to be happy or cheerful. Ron let out a deep sigh and then smiled as he heard Padma do the same.

"You know I've given you a long time on this move. I didn't think it was that hard!"

"Well it's not as if it's been easy to find you, running all over the country with that business of yours."

Ron shook his head. "That's no excuse, I've been in London for months now and Hermione tells me she sees enough of you."

"Well I see more of her than you," she agreed. "Not a lot though, she's always down in the courtrooms and I'm normally in the Experimental Charm labs. I see enough to know she's more tired than either of us though. She's not looking after herself Ron."

Looking over to her Ron could see the concern in Padma's eyes.

"I know, but what can you do? She's not an easy person to make do anything she doesn't want to." His tone was deliberately light, not wanting to have this conversation.

"She's going to make herself ill if she keeps it up though." Padma was earnest but Ron didn't want to hear it. "She doesn't eat properly and she keeps taking on more and more to do and everyone says she's only days away from a complete breakdown. Something's got to be done."

Ron felt a familiar sickness in his stomach and he tried desperately to stop his hands from shaking.

"Don't you think I know that?!" His voice was sharper than he'd intended it to be but once he'd started he couldn't stop himself. "She's overworking herself and she's not even recovered from her injuries. She won't listen to anyone. She won't take breaks. She just won't stop. If I could stop her physically I would but she'd never forgive me." The hopelessness in his voice made Padma shiver as he continued. "She never really listened to me anyway, it always took both of us to get Hermione out of her stubborn moods."

His eyes darkened and he took a sharp breath as he realised what he had just said.

"You never say his name anymore."

Padma's words were said with great simplicity but they felt like knives.

"It's not because we've forgotten him." His tone and his whole face was emotionless now. "Never that. It's just... why bother? He's dead, there's nothing we can do to bring him back. I don't think we work without him."

Padma looked at him disbelievingly and thought for a moment and tried to find words to help.

"You once told me I was a whole witch even without my sister, without Parvati and you know it's true. I miss her still so much it feels like a physical ache but I have to go on and so do you. You can't pretend. Not saying his name isn't going to bring him back or make you miss him any less."

"Harry, Harry, Harry. There, are you happy now?"

Ron stood up angrily, his face flushed red.

"No. How can you ask that? Of course I'm not happy. I just hate to see you and Hermione hurting so much."

Some of the anger drained from Ron's face and he leant heavily against a nearby wall.

"We'll get through I guess, just like we always do. It's just hard right now, maybe when the trials are over..."

Ron's voice faded and Padma reached her hand out as if she was going to comfort him but she stopped herself, there was nothing she could say to that really but she tried anyway.

"I have the answer though, the next move, are you ready for the next move Ron?"

He nodded slightly, not trusting himself to speak.

"Knight to E5. The Knight marches on, he keeps going. It's not over yet."

"I know," Ron's voice trembled. "I know it's not over, I know I have to move on but I won't leave her behind and she's not..."

Now it was Padma's turn to nod, Hermione wasn't ready to move on yet though she prayed fervently that the time would be soon. If only for her own sake let alone Ron's. For another moment the two were silent, less happily than before perhaps but still companionable.

"Come on then, if it's moving on you want then how about finding that Irish rascal and some very large ice creams."

***

It was barely a month later that it happened.

"Is Ron there? Terry, quickly, is Ron there, you've got to find him!"

Ron turned towards the fireplace at the sound of his name. "Who is it Terry? What's happened?"

Terry Boot, an employee of Weasley constructions said something to the head in the flames and then looked over to Ron, his face was drained of all colour.

"It's Hermione, she's in St Mungos."

In that moment Ron's world stopped. He felt time grind to a halt just as it had in the last moments of the battle.

How he got from his office to the ward he never knew, it was as if everything had disappeared, the world was just a hazy fog bank to him. As he stood with his hand on the door of the private room he'd been directed to he knew he was no Gryffindor. He was too scared to open the door and find the truth.

As he paused Ron imagined a hand on his shoulder and a presence by his side and he found himself pushing the door open slowly. The room wasn't empty, someone was standing by the window but all Ron's concentration was centred on the figure lying on the bed.

"No..." The word escaped from his lips and he grasped Hermione's pale hand. "No, you can't... Hermione... please..."

He was begging and he didn't care, this wasn't happening. She wasn't. She couldn't be. He couldn't even think the word. He'd been expecting this for so long and yet praying with all his being that it would never come. And now it had.

Sitting on the side of her bed he traced her cheek gently with his hand. She looked so calm, so peaceful, just as he had. Just as Harry had.

"No."

At that the tears came, his body was racked with sobs and he collapsed forwards, burying his head in the sheet covering Hermione's body.