Author's Note - See chapter one for disclaimers, warnings, ratings, etc.

Chapter Nine

Some Saturday after Ron had pushed Draco out of his life, he walked to the pier to go fishing as always. He set up his gear and leaned into the railing with a beer in his hand. He looked out towards the horizon, as always. He didn't hear anyone approach him until it was too late.

"Ron?"

Ron's body stiffened at the voice, which he recognized immediately. He didn't look away from the blue ocean, but said in a low voice, “What do you want?” He tried to make his voice sound angry, but to be honest, his heart wasn’t in it. Over the past few weeks, his anger had resolved a bit, as he had lost the energy to keep it up.

"I just wanted you to listen to me. You'll never take me back, I know that, but I just wanted you to know...I'm truly sorry." Draco touched Ron in the middle of the back and felt the ridged body, so he withdrew his hand.

"What do you have to be sorry for?" asked Ron.

Draco hesitated for a moment. Then he said in a small voice, "Just for being related to my family, I guess."

Ron tugged at the rim of his hat, trying to cover his eyes a little. "You can't help what your family does."

"Well, yes, but I'm sorry just the same."

"Okay." Ron fiddled with his fishing line. "You have to leave me only for a while, Draco. Don't call me. Don't talk to me. Harry and I were best friends since we were children and lovers since we were sixteen. No one will ever take him place. No one. Ever. Maybe, I will be able to love again, but right now, I just don't know."

Draco's heart plummeted into his stomach. He understood all this, but he wanted Ron to love him, even if he knew that he wasn't ever going to be the love of Ron's life. Draco said softly, "Okay. Take care of yourself, Ron." He turned without waiting to see if Ron would say anything more. He walked back to his van, crushed.

When Ron figured Draco must be long gone, he finally let down his guard. He laid his head in his hands and leaned into the railing. He wanted to let Draco close, but it felt so much easier to put up a wall and not let anyone in. He didn't know what to do. He knew it wasn't fair to himself to never be loved again, but he felt it wasn't fair to Harry to let someone so close.

He looked out to the ocean again, towards the islands, and remembered how much Harry liked living so close to it. Ron did the fishing, but Harry liked sitting in the sun, watching the waves, feeling the ocean breeze on his face. Ron missed watching Harry. He wondered for a moment if Harry had ever seen a particular surfer on those waves.

Ron finally went home just before lunchtime. As he walked in the door, his phone was ringing.

"Hello."

"Hey, Ron." It was his brother, Charlie. "What's going on?"

"Nothing."

"Mum hasn't heard from you in a couple of weeks. What's going on?"

"What makes you think there is something going on?" Ron twirled the cord in his hand, nervously.

Ron heard him sigh. Charlie said again, very forcefully, "Because, Ron, nobody has heard from you. That's not like you. What is going on?"

Ron didn't say anything.

Charlie continued, "Okay, fine. When are your next days off?"

"Wednesday and Thursday."

"Then come up and visit. We haven't seen you in a while either."

Ron didn't want to, just because he knew his family would get out of him what had been happening, but he also knew his family would badger him until he visited. "Okay," Ron said, softly.

"Good. See you...what...Wednesday afternoon?"

"Yeah...I'll see you then. I gotta go take a nap before work."

"Okay, but if you don't show up by Wednesday afternoon, I will be at your house Wednesday night and I'll bring a tarantula with me!" Charlie was an animal control officer in their hometown and even though Ron now had a profession that required firearms, he knew not to mess with his brother.

Ron shivered. "I'll be there. Bye, Charlie."

"See you, Ron."

Ron hung up the phone. He was very unhappy about this turn of events, but there was nothing he could do about it. He walked to the bedroom. He didn't bother getting out of his beach clothes. He just flopped on the bed and went to sleep.

*****

Ron went through the next few days in a trance. He had trouble concentrating at work, which he knew was bad. He decided he actually wouldn't mind going home for two days. He would get his mother's home cooking, he could play ball with his brothers and talk to his sister. Maybe, he thought, he would talk to her about all the horrible things he had been through lately.

He got off work at six on Wednesday morning as usual. He went to the house and took a nap for a few hours, before packing a few clothes and some toiletries and heading home. He liked home. He really did. He was comfortable there. He could be himself and everyone loved him anyway. He knew he was lucky when it came to his family. Not everyone could be so blessed. If only he still had Harry, then life would be perfect.

He drove out of the city, towards his little hometown. The city gave way to green hills and small trees dotting the landscape as Ron zoomed by in his car. It always took about three hours to get home. Sometimes he stopped for a soda, other times he drove straight through. This time he drove straight through. He wanted to get home and away from the memories of the last few weeks. Actually, he thought, away from the memories of the last year.

He drove up the long gravel drive in front of his parent's modest, odd-looking house. They had never had a lot of money to fix it up, but Ron knew that what the house look like really didn't matter. It was what was on the inside that he wanted. He parked his car behind his sister's van and jumped out. He pulled his small suitcase out of the trunk and walked to the front door. He barged in, banging the screen door as he did.

"Mum? Ginny?" He dumped his suitcase in the living room.

He heard his sister's voice screech from the backyard. "Jason! Stop doing that to your sister!" Ron chuckled to himself. He walked to the kitchen and rummaged through the refrigerator until he found a beer stuck in the back, probably left over from when the twins had visited. He popped the top and went into the living room. He lie down on the couch, put the beer on coffee table and closed his eyes.

"Uncle Ron!" Ron felt a small child jump on him. He opened his eyes and saw a round face with freckles and a shock of red hair staring at him.

"Jason!" Ron gave him a big bear hug and growled, making the child laugh.

"Hey, Ron!" He looked up and saw his sister, Ginny, smiling at him.

"Ginny." He smiled back and lifted his nephew up, swinging him as Ron got up off the couch. He reached over and hugged his sister with one arm, while still clutching Jason. Another child, a little older, hugged Ron's leg. He looked down and saw his niece, Amanda. He let go of Ginny and lifted Amanda up in his other arm.

"Where's Uncle Harry?" asked Amanda, as she poked Ron's nose. He didn't say anything. He handed Amanda to her mother and glanced away from Ginny's sad eyes. Amanda was Harry's godchild and being five, she didn't understand what had happen and still asked for Harry every few months.

Ron sat back on the couch balancing Jason on his knee. "Where's Mum?"

"She's at the grocery store. Ron, Charlie said you were coming and that you seemed upset about something. Is everything alright?"

Ron stopped bouncing Jason and said harshly, "Everything is fine!"

Ginny pursed her lips and didn't retort back at him. She knew, as did the rest of the family, something was wrong, because her closest brother could never keep a secret from her.

Ron changed the subject by asking, "How's Neville?" He was Ginny's husband. They had gotten married when she was sixteen, because she was pregnant with Amanda. Fortunately, things had worked out, as Ginny and Neville cared and loved each other, though Ron was the only one to know that Neville was her second choice.

"He's good. He loves his job, now that he's been promoted. He gets to go out in the field more." Neville worked for the county agricultural department.

"That's nice." He liked Neville and was glad he was happy, but Ron wasn't in the mood for talking anymore. He put Jason down and continued, "I think I'm gonna go take a nap, okay?"

"Okay. Do you want me to wake you for dinner?"

"Yeah, thanks." Ron got up and grabbed his suitcase and his beer. He headed up the two floors of stairs to his old bedroom. He opened the door and saw his old single bed. It was a bare room, just a dresser and the bed, but it was his. He set his suitcase down and shut the door. He lie down on top of the covers and closed his eyes.

*****

He felt a poke on his nose and brushed at it. He felt the little finger on his nose again and opened one eye. Jason was staring at him. "Hi, Jason. Does Grandmum have dinner ready?"

"Yes, Uncle Ron."

Ron smiled and opened his other eye. He got up out of bed, took Jason by the hand and walked downstairs.

"Ronald!" His mother rushed to him. She grabbed him and hugged him tightly.

"Hi, Mum." Ron sat at the table and Jason ran for the backdoor. His mother continued, "I'm so glad you're here, you know, we've been worried about you and--"

"Uh, Mum, what's for dinner?" Ginny asked as she walked through the kitchen door and realized that their mother was starting to badger Ron a bit.

Their mother looked back at her steaming mashed potatoes and said, "Ohhh!" She picked up a spoon and began stirring, but it didn't deter her. She turned back to Ron and continued, "So, Ronald, why haven't you called lately?"

Ron looked at Ginny. She could tell Ron was ready to leave if their mother kept it up. "Mum, really, leave Ron alone!"

Mrs. Weasley looked from Ginny to Ron. She opened her mouth to say something, but then shut it, and turned back to her potatoes.

*****

The rest of the afternoon was uneventful, and dinner was being placed on the table as the rest of the Weasleys appeared. The whole family wasn’t there, but even so, with the addition of only Mr. Weasley, Charlie and Neville, it created a crowd. All three men welcomed Ron, but had the sense not to ask him questions during dinner.

Ron kept pretty quiet during dinner and only once did he notice the glances exchanged by Ginny and Charlie. He continued eating, but he knew that after dinner, he was probably going to be cornered by one or the both of them.

“Lovely dinner, Molly!” Mr. Weasley exclaimed. Everyone else murmured in agreement. They all pushed themselves slowly from the table and headed for the living room.

“Mum, you want help with the dishes?” Ginny asked.

Mrs. Weasley waved her in hand at Ginny and said, “Oh no, dear, I’m fine.” Ginny went out in the living room to join her husband and children.

Ron hung back and said, “Mum, I didn’t get much sleep today. I’m going to bed early, okay?”

Mrs. Weasley put down her dishcloth and hugged him tightly. “Okay, dear. See you in the morning.”

“Kay, Mum.” Ron wiggled out of her grasp and walked out the kitchen door. He didn’t say anything to anyone as he slowly drug himself up the stairs to his old bedroom.

He took off his runners and peeled off his jeans. He didn’t bother taking his t-shirt off and he lie down in bed with his boxers and socks on. He hadn’t had a chance to relax when there was a knock on his door. He sighed loudly and said, “Yeah, come in.”

The door opened and Ginny poked her head in. “Can I come in?”

“What if I said no?” Ron turned his head to the wall.

“I’d come in anyway,” retorted Ginny.

Ron sighed again. Ginny walked in and shut the door behind her.

She walked across the room and sat on the edge of Ron’s bed. She reached her hand over and touched him on the cheek. He turned his head back to look at her.

“What?” he whispered.

“Talk to me.”

“I can’t.” Ron closed his eyes.

“When have you not been able to talk to me?”

“This is bad.”

“Is it about Harry?” Ginny furrowed her brow in concern.

“Yes.”

“Is it because it’s been almost a year?”

“Not really.”

“Look, Ron, me trying to figure this out isn’t working. Just tell me.”

Ron popped his eyes open and bellowed, “Then leave. I didn’t ask you to talk to me!”

“Knock it off! Tell me what the fuck is going on!” Ginny shouted back.

Ron didn’t say anything. His sister hardly ever swore, so Ron knew he was in trouble. He turned his face again, to the wall and shut his eyes. Little tears were squeezing out and falling across his nose, down his cheek to the pillow. He didn’t want her to see.

He told her everything. Absolutely everything. He couldn’t look at her, but with his voice choking, he told more than he had ever told Hermione. When she realized he was at the end of his story, she leaned over him to try to look at his face. He rolled further into his pillow.

She began rubbing his arm and whispered, “Ron, you will be okay. Really.”

“No,” Ron muffled out in his pillow.

“Yes. If you love this new boy, you need to take him back.”

He lifted himself from the pillow to shout, “And just forget about Harry?”

“Of course not. You will never get over Harry and shouldn't be expected to, but Ron, you need to get on with life. And I know it’s not the same, but I did. You know that.”

Ron knew she was crushed when he and Harry came out, but just because she wanted Harry for herself. As she said, though, she never really got over it but decided to get on with it and found a happy life. Ron lay his face back into the pillow.

Ginny continued rubbing his arm.

Ginny had fell in love with Harry when she was ten and thought for a long time Harry just didn’t like her. Then she realized that Harry was in love with her brother and it broke her heart. She turned to Neville and became friends with him. Their relationship had not begun how she would’ve preferred, but she had ended up with a good man and she was happy.

Then when Harry died, she had to pent up her feelings in front of the family, because she knew it wouldn’t be kind to her husband or Ron, to act like some sort of grieving widow. Nobody knew, though, that she had cried in the privacy of the bathroom while taking a shower getting ready for Harry’s funeral.

“Think about it, Ron.” She kissed him on the back of the head, got up and left the room.

Ron lie on his bed for a long time, thinking, but knowing what he should do. He needed Draco and he wanted him back.