Meet Me At The Black Lake ; Ron Weasley

chapter 16

TW: suicide

"Hey, Willow. Got a minute?" Willow heard Blaise's soft voice whisper in her ear.

She turned around to see the boy looking down with his hands in his pockets, his foot tapping the floor.

"Yeah, of course," Willow said. The two took a seat on the couch.

"I just wanted to thank you. You've been so great to me during all of this shit. I-"

"You don't need to thank me. You lost your girlfriend. When Isabella died, you were there for me. Now I'm being there for you," Willow interrupted.

"I don't need to thank you, I want to thank you, and not just for this. You've always been such a good friend. Even after I sat there and did nothing while I knew you were in a toxic relationship, you still wanted to be friends. You still loved me and cared about me. Thank you," Blaise said, pouring his heart out to his best friend.

"I love you, Blaise. Always will," Willow said, then went in and gave Blaise a hug. She felt tears prick her eyes.

Eventually Blaise pulled back, face stained with tears. He gave Willow a reassuring smile, then got up and left.

* * *

The first thing Willow felt when she heard Draco's scream was terror. Draco never screamed. He never showed any emotion, especially not fear. Willow glanced quickly at Hermione, fear evident in her friend's eyes. The two got up from their spot on Willow's bed and made their way to the source of the sound.

Willow's blood ran cold once she saw what had happened.

Draco was on the floor, Blaise's limp body on his lap. He looked like he'd seen a ghost. An empty bottle of pills was on the floor, along with a crumpled up note. Willow felt bile in her throat. She tried to speak, but she couldn't. She was frozen in place.

Everything happened in slow motion. Hermione falling to the floor next to Draco, screaming for help, whispering words of reassurance in Blaise's ear, praying that he could hear her. The medical staff rushing in, getting Blaise on a stretcher and wheeling him away. Willow just stood there.

She'd lost another friend.

* * *

"How is he?" Ron asked, handing Willow a pumpkin juice. Willow had been sitting in the hospital wing with Hermione all night.

"He's going to make it," Willow whispered. He hadn't woken up yet, but Madam Pomfrey had confirmed that they had gotten there quick enough, he would be okay.

"Good," Ron said. He went in to give Willow a hug, but she pushed him off. Hurt flashed in his eyes, but he shook it off.

"I should have known," Willow said, shaking her head.

"No, don't say shit like that. Don't blame yourself. We all thought he was doing better," Ron said firmly, although he'd been blaming himself, too. Blaise had become one of his best friends.

"Well he wasn't. He's not. He tried to fucking kill himself," Willow said back to him.

"I know. I know, but he's okay. He's going to be okay, Willow," Ron said.

"Okay, and if he tries again once he's let out? I couldn't fix him before, and I won't be able to fix him now-"

"He doesn't need to be fixed, Willow. He just needs some help," Ron said.

"Will you guys shut the fuck up?" Hermione butted in, sick of her friends fighting.

"Where's the letter? I want to read it," Willow got up and stared Ron dead in the eyes.