"Some burdens cannot be seen, only felt."
____________________________
Katherine lay flat on her back for several long seconds, staring up through the canopy of trees at the grey evening sky.
Everything was quiet.
Painfully quiet.
Only the distant rustle of leaves disturbed the silence as the branches swayed gently overhead.
For the first time since escaping the Ministry, nobody was chasing them.
Nobody was shouting.
Nobody was firing curses.
Her lungs burned as she forced herself to breathe.
In.
Out.
In.
Out.
The ground beneath her felt surprisingly soft after everything that had happened, and despite every muscle in her body screaming with exhaustion, she couldn't quite make herself move.
Just...
one more second.
One more second where nothing was happening.
Slowly she rolled onto her side.
Her fingers were still wrapped tightly around someone else's.
Ron's.
A small smile almost appeared.
Until she realised his hand was shaking.
Not trembling.
Shaking.
Violently.
"Ron?"
No answer.
Her stomach tightened.
She pushed herself upright so quickly that dizziness blurred her vision.
"Ron?"
He was lying awkwardly beside her, breathing hard through gritted teeth.
His face had turned an alarming shade of white.
And then Katherine saw his arm.
For a moment her brain simply refused to process what she was looking at.
The sleeve of his jumper had been almost completely shredded.
From his shoulder almost to his elbow, deep ragged gashes tore through flesh that should never have been visible. Blood soaked through what remained of the fabric, running freely down his forearm before dripping onto the forest floor beneath him.
Dark earth clung to the wounds.
Twigs.
Leaves.
Everything from their violent landing had become embedded inside them.
The sight made Katherine's stomach lurch.
"No..."
Her voice barely existed.
"No—"
Then she screamed.
"HERMIONE!"
The sound echoed violently through the clearing.
Hermione was beside her almost instantly.
The moment she saw Ron's arm, every trace of colour drained from her face.
YOU ARE READING
We will meet again ~ Fred Weasley
Fanfiction________________________________________ Currently rewriting 23/04/2026 - will be changing the current chapters daily It's always been the two of them. No one else. In fact, they had never expected to need anyone else. Hogwarts changed that. Schoo...
