Extinguished 🩵 Harry Potter [2]

v ⟶ Wish You Were Here

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v. Wish You Were Here
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IT IS NOW that she realises that there is a vacancy that stretches all throughout her body when Harry isn't with her. She left him. After everything, she left.

She wants to go back.

Her lips are still warm from when she just kissed him, heavy with her last three words to him that she's never said out loud but thought so many times.

She's sat cross-legged in an armchair, her eyes staring blankly at Ron. The boy is cramped up on the sofa opposite, his limbs folded uncomfortably and his gaze still hard and furious. They've been sat here for an hour, the only sounds they can hear the crackling of the fire in the intricate hearth and their breathing.

"Thea –" he starts, and her lungs seem to jolt, like she's winded. His voice is hoarse and tired, and heavy with regret.

"Don't."

"Why would you leave him?"

"Says you?" she explodes incredulously.

"You're his girlfriend!" he snaps back.

"You're his best friend!"

"A bit different –"

"Shut up, Ron! I came here with you, I left him and Hermione for you – I couldn't stand the thought of you being here alone, because I care about you, and sometimes, you're the only one who's had my back!"

"I don't need you to look after me, Thea."

A different kind of rage burns under her skin, and before she can stop herself, she flies from her seat, jabbing a hard finger into his chest, her voice low and loud. She can feel the warmth burning in his face, can see the tear stains on his cheeks.

"Listen here, I've just risked my relationships with two of the most important people in my life, because you're another one of those important people to me. I told you I wouldn't let us split up, so I'm sticking by that. Before we go back – which we will," she stares at him hard for a moment, "they've got each other, and we've got each other."

There's a moment in which he just looks at her, and then he's got his head bent on her shoulder and she hears him start to cry. Her own throat starts to close up at the sound, and she brings her arms up to embrace him.

"I'm sorry, Thea. I shouldn't have done that – and then I had to drag you into it."

She sighs, and rubs his back soothingly.

"It's OK, Ron. It's nothing we can't fix. We all let our insecurities get the best of us sometimes."

"Thank you, T," he whispers, so quietly she almost doesn't catch it.

She's so caught off guard by Ron crumbling. He's usually the sturdy one, the joker who always makes her feel a little lighter, and always has since she met him.

"Hey, you don't have to thank me. It's what I'm here for," she smiles a little, "And, you're usually the one to give me a kick up the arse when I need it, so I'm going to do the same. You are an idiot, and you made a mistake, but it's OK."

Ron chuckles a little, before he pulls back.

"Are we OK in here?"

Bill Weasley's voice comes through the door before he opens it, a tray of food in his hands.

"Yes, we're fine." Thea smiles a little at the man in thanks as he puts down the toast and marmalade on the small coffee table in the middle of them. She doesn't touch it though. She isn't hungry in the slightest.