Ruin You ; Ron Weasley

14.

We laid on the cold linoleum floor that night and slept closely in each other's arms.

I suddenly remembered how much I enjoyed his touch or the sound of his breathing or the way he kind of smiles in his sleep. Even in silence, I knew he was whispering "I love you" because after all this time, and all of these tragedies, he found his way back to me. Even if we couldn't stay together now, I believed that we had officially set everything from the past school year aside and I trusted him again.

"You mean so much to me," I whispered to his inexpressive body curled up on my left.
"I promise, this time we'll get it right. Someday, somehow, I'll come back to you."
I gently stroked his cheek, careful not to wake him.

I knew that he needed to go help our friends much more than he needed to be cooped up in a dirty old restaurant with me, but he was extremely persistent and I feared he would wake up and decide not to leave. I wanted him by my side more than anything, but the safety of every witch and wizard was on the line and it wasn't a risk I could have him take.

I slowly slide away from him and sat up, adjusting my eyes to the darkness as I felt around for my wand, which I always kept at an arms reach.
I didn't have much with me, just my wand, my sleeping stuff (which was currently being hogged by Ron), and a bag that I kept his letter in, along with a photo of me and the trio plus Faye and Luna. I managed to snag it from my dorm before fleeing the school and kept it as a reminder to keep going.
I rose from our place on the ground and retrieved the bag, which was left on one of the tables nearby.
The strongest sensation of guilt grew in my stomach as I looked down at my beautiful boyfriend, who was still fast asleep.
"I love you," I whispered one last time.
"Don't forget about me."
I knelt down and kissed his forehead, barely even brushing my lips against his warm skin.

Sighing, I made my way towards the back where the kitchen was and slipped through the door into the cold city air.
The world was quiet, and everything seemed to be mourning the same as I was– like it knew. Like the universe was bowing its head to give Ron and I a moment of silence.

I had nowhere to go and no one to take me in, so for a couple of hours, I just walked the streets and admired how peaceful the world seemed.
It was strange to think that all of these people, all of the muggles who lived in London had no idea what was happening right under their noses. I couldn't imagine a life without magic, or a life where every day wasn't a battle to stay alive. It was sort of funny, how different the wizarding world was compared to the one right outside of it.

I thought about going to visit Faye's house, but decided it would be sort of depressing.
After I found out what happened to them, I stopped by once a week and just sat in her yard, the same way we did when we were kids. I kept looking through the living room window and waiting for her face to appear there, bright eyes and all.
Of course, it never did and I would always walk back to my diner a bit more empty than when I had left it.
I reached down into my bag and retrieved my photograph, trying hard to study the faces in the dark.
Hermione had her arms around Ron and Harry's shoulder, and Ron was hugging my waist with the goofiest smile. Faye had her back turned to Harry's side as she kissed Luna on the cheek while wearing her dorky little blue and pink glasses that she had stolen moments before. I think Seamus was the one to take the photo because it was in the middle of Hogsmeade, other students whizzing behind us in a blur. It was taken on the last day of our 5th year and I remembered how happy we all were back then.

"Luna," I thought to myself.
I hadn't seen her since I fled the school, but I couldn't help but wonder if she was safe.
As far as I knew she stayed behind to help Neville, helping him reopen some of the secret passages that didn't appear on the maurders map.
I knew I couldn't go back to Hogwarts, but I also knew where Luna's house was and I debated going to see her father.
Mr. Lovegood was a very sweet man, and he hosted most of our sleepovers when the three of us girls were younger.
I loved him like another dad, a much better one than my own.

I sighed and shoved the picture back into my bag before zipping it up and staring down the street ahead of me.
It would take me quite a while to walk there, and it would be dawn soon so I couldn't risk Ron waking up and finding me nearby.
Apparition was my least favorite thing to do because it was extremely discomforting, but I figured it would get me there the quickest.
When it was over, I shuddered and looked up the hill to the cute little house that rested at the top. The sun was coming up, so I figured it wasn't too early for me to knock.

"Elle? Eleanor Snape?!" Mr. Lovegood yelled excitedly when he opened the door.
"Hello sir, it's good to see you," I replied with a smile.
He laughed and pulled me into a tight hug, which I gladly returned.
"Who's there?" I heard Luna call from behind him.
I suddenly became very nervous as I remembered how upset she was the last time we spoke.
"Hey Luna," I said softly.
Her father moved out of the way so she could get a clearer view of me and I noticed how monotone her facial expression was.
"I hope you aren't upset I came here, I thought you might still be at the school and I wanted to check on dad," I admitted.
"Well, I'm glad you were worried about him. I came home to do the same, and just because school was getting to be a bit much," She stepped to the side and motioned for me to come in.
I moved through the doorway into their living room and closed the door behind me.
"Sit, sit. I'll make tea."
Her dad moved a stack of papers off of a chair and patted the seat, which I accepted and sat down in.
"So how bad was Hogwarts when you left it?" I asked Luna, catching her attention again.
"Quite scary actually, they made us torture each other and it was not a pretty sight. Death eaters are very cruel," she replied in the same calm tone she always spoke in.
"That they are," I agreed.
"But it wasn't all bad, a lot of us huddled up in the room of requirement and stayed there. It was pretty lonely without any of my friends, but I had Neville to keep me company," she continued saying.
I gulped nervously and looked down at the ground, fidgeting with the hem of my shirt.
"I'm sorry I left you all alone there Luna," I mumbled.
She smiled and leaned over, patting my knee.
"It's okay Elle, I'm not mad at you anymore. When I first heard about Faye, I thought maybe you were still on your dad's side and I took my anger out on you. But I can see that isn't the case, so I apologize."
"Believe me, I will never be on the same side as that man so long as he's still living," I responded angrily.

Just then, the sunlight pouring through the windows disappeared, and the sky outside turned oddly dark.

"Is it going to rain?" Luna asked as she peeked through the slightly open curtain.
"I don't think that's rain."
I stood up and joined her, also glancing outside.

It was then that I saw them.
The clouds of black smoke soaring through the air, circling the house as fast as possible.

"Luna?" Mr. Lovegood called from the kitchen.
"I think we're in trouble dad," was all she said back, not even bothering to raise her voice loud enough for him to hear.
Before anyone else could speak, glass shattered and flew everywhere, making Luna and I fall to our feet and hit our heads on the ground rather harshly.

Everything happened so fast and before I knew it someone was dragging Luna's unconscious body away. My vision was blurry and my head was spinning, unable to pick up who was surrounding us.
I couldn't move and just before I lost consciousness I heard the screams of her father come from somewhere in the house.

And then it was dark.

—
A/N: this chapter was gonna be longer but I decided I wanted to go with a bit of a cliff hanger. Also I know this story isn't very kind to Ron and Elle's relationship (despite it being a Ron fic lmao) but who doesn't love a good drama every chapter. Anyways thank you so much for getting this to 3k despite it not even being close to finished, y'all literally make my day so much better every day and I appreciate every last one of you sm. have a good night/day kids