Ruin You ; Ron Weasley

10.

The five of us stood in the astronomy tower the next day; Me, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Faye sitting in the comfort of one another's silence.
The sky was covered in dark gray clouds, blanketing us in sadness as we came to terms with the life we would be living from this point forward.

"Do you think he would have done it? Draco I mean," Hermione asked suddenly.
"No," I replied.
"He was lowering his wand. In the end, it was Severus. It was always Severus."
Ron wrapped his arm around my shoulders and squeezed me tightly.
Hermione gave me a compassionate look then picked up the locket Harry had taken from the courtyard and examined it.
"You never told me what a Horcrux was," I said, also taking a good look at the large necklace.
"They're pieces of Voldemort's soul. You can only create Horcruxes if you've murdered someone, which is the truest act of evil. If we find and destroy all of them, he'll no longer be immortal, and we can defeat him once and for all," Harry answered, looking over the ramparts off into the distance.
"Well, then you're already doing well if you have this one. Have you opened it?" I asked.
Harry turned and gently took the necklace from Hermione.
"Well go on, do it," Faye said.

Harry sucked in his breath as he opened the locket slowly.

"'To the Dark Lord. I know I will be dead long before you read this but I want you to know that it was I who discovered your secret. I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can. I face death in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be mortal once more. R.A.B."
It spoke; A voice no one in the room seemed to recognize.

"R-A-B?" Hermione asked, a confused look spread across her face.
"No idea," Harry answered.
"But whoever they are, they have the real Horcrux, which means it was a waste. All of it."
He shoved the necklace back into his robe pocket and sighed, turning to face over the ramparts once more.

"Well," I started, stepping away from Ron and taking Harry's hand.
"That just means you'll have to find the real one."
He looked back at me, then moved his focus to Ron.
"Not now Harry, we can all talk about this more later," Ron responded nervously.
"Until then, I'd like to take Elle on a walk. Are you guys okay here?"
"We're fine Ron, thank you."
Hermione pulled him in for a hug and I felt a familiar sting in my chest.

I offered Harry one last comforting smile before following Ron down the steps of the tower.
"Why did you knock on my door last night?" I asked, breaking the silence as we finally made it to the bottom.
Ron stayed quiet for a moment, fidgeting with his own fingers and refusing to look up.
He mumbled something inaudible under his breath and I stared at him in annoyance.
"Use your words, Weasley."
"I missed you okay!"
He raised his voice slightly and tossed his hands up in the air.
Now it was my turn to stay quiet, unsure of what to tell him.
"I know that's extremely unfair, considering what I did, but the truth is there's a lot you don't know, and I was tired of keeping you in the dark. I wanted to talk, but then you called Harry's name and I got jealous thinking about him coming to your dorm that late at night, so I was just an ass instead. It's a terrible excuse really, but it's all I got. " he explained.

"Jealous?"
I was positive he could hear the anger boiling up in my voice.
"You're really gonna talk about jealousy when you snogged Hermione?"

"About that," He said, rocking back and forth on his feet.
"Merlin's sake Ron, I don't want any details," I made a gagging motion with my index finger and continued walking without him.

"I never kissed her." He said from behind me.

I froze in place, not quite registering what he had just admitted.
Slowly, I spun back around and looked into his eyes, desperately trying to understand what he was playing at.

"Pardon?" I asked.

"Me and Hermione, we never kissed. I made it up so you'd have a reason to break up with me. I knew how hard hiding our relationship from your dad was, and I knew it was starting to take a really bad toll on you, so I wanted to make it easy. I wrote that letter thinking you'd just leave it be, then you showed up at the common room and I didn't know what to do. The whole time, I just prayed that you'd leave so I wouldn't cry, but then I saw the heartbreak in your eyes and instantly regretted what I'd done. But it was too late. Afterward, I couldn't bring myself to take it back, so I just avoided you. Eleanor, I am so sorry."
He rushed over to me and cupped my cheeks, catching my newly fallen tears in his cold fingertips.

"Are you fucking kidding me!" I screamed, shoving him off of me.
"All this time, you let me sit here and feel like I wasn't good enough? Like I was some second choice? Did you honestly think that was going to make me happier?" I asked, definitely loud enough for everyone and their roommate to hear.
"It's stupid I know, but there's nothing else I can say except I'm sorry."
He didn't bother to step towards me again, knowing damn well there was a good chance of me breaking his nose.

I stood there for a moment, completely in shock and almost to the point of laughter.

"I really hate you, you know that?" I asked, chuckling lightly between sniffles.
"I don't blame you," he replied.
"But just know that even if you hate me, I still love you."

"You didn't let me finish," I said.
'When I say I hate you, I really mean that despite all of the reasons I should walk away right now, the only thing I want to do is run into your arms and stay there for eternity. I want to kiss you till my lips turn blue and most importantly I just want to feel like you're mine again." I admitted, inching my way closer to him.
His hand reached out and trailed down my jaw
softly, like he was afraid to break me.

"I'm still your's Elle, there's no one else in the world for me," he whispered, pressing our foreheads together.
"I can't trust you anymore Ron, you lied to me,"  I whispered back, closing my eyes and melting into his touch.
"Promise me you'll try then."
"I don't know how."
"That's okay because right now we don't have to be anything. We're just two people, and we can relearn what it means to love each other. I don't care how long it takes, when you're ready to be with me again, I'll be there."

He moved his head in closer and let his lips find their way to mine delicately, barely even pressing our mouths together.
I kissed back just as reposefully, missing the tingly feeling my stomach felt when I was this close to him– this vulnerable.

"I promise I'll try," I said once we pulled apart.
"But until then," I stepped back and held out my hand for him.
"We're just friends."
He looked at my outstretched palm and sighed.
"Just friends it is then," He said, reluctantly taking my hand and shaking it, sealing the deal.
"Also," I continued.
"Harry and I kissed. Not while you and I were together of course, but that way even if you did kiss Hermione, we'd be even."
I didn't give him a chance to reply before I took off, feeling only the slightest bit of joy build up in my chest.

I knew that Hogwarts was going to be badly different next year, but I believed in my friends and I believed that together, we'd be able to win this thing one way or another. I was terrified for sure, but somehow apart of me just knew that our good ending was closer than we imagined, and in it, I could be happy with Ron again.

Hopefully.

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A/N: I honestly feel so evil writing this, I just want my baby Elle to be happy. But I suppose everyone will just have to wait and see what happens ;). Thank you so much for reading, hope you're enjoying this story so far!! Take care of yourselves <3