Originally Posted by p. 48-49 American Edition:

[Harry said] "If you think I'm going to let six people risk their lives -!"
" -- because it's the first time for all of us," said Ron.

Originally Posted by p. 52 American Edition:

"I knew Ginny was lying about that tattoo," said Ron, looking down at his bare chest.

Originally Posted by p. 54 American Edition:

"Hold tight now, Ron," said Tonks [RIP], and Harry saw Ron throw a furtive guilty look at Lupin [RIP] before placing his hands on either side of her waist.

Originally Posted by p. 76 American Edition:

"You're okay!" he mumbled, before Hermione flew at him and hugged him tightly.
"I thought - I thought -"
"'M all right," said Ron, patting her on the back. "'M fine."
"Ron was great," said Tonks [RIP] warmly, relinquishing her hold on Lupin [RIP]. "Wonderful. Stunned one of the Death Eaters, straight to the head, and when you're aiming at a moving target from a flying broom -"
"You did?" said Hermione, gazing up at Ron wiht her arms still around his neck.
"Always the tone of surprise," he said a little grumpily, breaking free...

Originally Posted by p. 92 American Edition:

..."Now, Ron, have you cleaned out your room yet?"
"Why?" exclaimed Ron, slamming his spoon down and glaring at his mother. "Why does my room have to be cleaned out? Harry and I are fine with it the way it is!"
"We are holding your brother's wedding here in a few days' time, young man-"
"And are they getting married in my bedroom?" asked Ron furiously. "No! So why in the name of Merlin's saggy left -"

Originally Posted by p. 94-95 American Edition:

"Don't!" squealed Hermione. Startled, Harry looked over just in time to see her burst into tears over her copy of Spellman's Syllabary.
"Oh no," said Harry, struggling to get up from the old camp bed. "Hermione, I wasn't trying to upset-"
But with a great creaking of rusty bedsprings, Ron bounded off the bed and got there first. One arm around Hermione, he fished in his jeans pocket and withdrew a revolting-looking handkerchief that he had used to clean out the oven earlier. Hastily pulling out his wand, he pointed it at the rag and said, "Terfeo."
The wand siphoned off most of the grease. Looking rather pleased with himself, Ron handed the slightly smoking handkerchief to Hermione.
"Oh...thanks, Ron...I'm sorry..." She blew her nose and hiccuped. "It's just so awf-ful, isn't it? R-right after Dumbledore...I j-just n-never imagined Mad-Eye dying, somehow, he seemed so tough!"
"Yeah, I know," said Ron, giving her a squeeze. "But you know what he'd say to us if he was here?"
"'C-constant vigilance,'" said Hermione, mopping her eyes.
"that's right," said Ron, nodding. "He'd tell us to learn from what happened to him. And what I've learned is not to trust that cowardly little squit, Mundungus."
Hermione gave a shaky laugh and leaned forward to pick up two more books. A second later, Ron had snatched his arm back from her shoulders...

Originally Posted by p. 94 American Edition:

"Well, all right, if you want him to be dead," said Ron grumpily, punching his pillow into a more comfortable shape.

Originally Posted by p. 95 American Edition:

"Just trying to decide which ones to take with us," said Hermione. "When we're looking for the Horcruxes."
"Oh, of course," said Ron, clapping a hand to his forehead. "I forgot we'll be hunting down Voldemort in a mobile library."

Originally Posted by p. 96 American Edition:

"Here he goes," Ron said to Hermione, rolling his eyes.
"As we knew he would," she sighed, turning back to the books...
"Listen!" said Harry again.
"No, Harry, you listen," said Hermione. "We're coming with you. That was decided months ago - years, really."
"But-"
"Shut up," Ron advised him.

Originally Posted by p. 97 American Edition:

Hermione's eyes were swimming with tears again. Ron got back off the bed, put his arm around her once more, and frowned at Harry as though reporaching him for lack of tact. Harry could not think of anything to say, not least because it was highly unusual for Ron to be teaching anyone else tact.

Originally Posted by p. 99 American Edition:

There was silence in the room, broken only by the gentle thuds as Hermione continued to throw books onto one pile or the other. Ron sat watching her, and Harry looked from one to the other, unable to say anything. The measures they had taken to protect their families made him realize, more than anything else could have done, that they really were going to come with him and that they knew exactly how dangerous that would be. He wanted to tell them what that meant to him, but he simply could not find words important enough

Originally Posted by p. 103 American Edition:

"Oh well, lucky we've got such a large supply of basilisk fangs, then," said Ron. "I was wondering what we were going to do with them."

Originally Posted by p. 104 American Edition:

..."Look, if I picked up a sword right now, Ron, and ran you through with it, I wouldn't damage your soul at all."
"Which would be a real comfort to me, I'm sure," said Ron.

Originally Posted by p. 113 American Edition:

..."Here's your present. Unwrap it up here, it's not for my mother's eyes."
"A book?" said Harry as he took the rectangular parcel. "Bit of a departure from tradition, isn't it?"
"This isn't your average book," said Ron. "It's pure gold: Twelve Fail-Safe Ways to Charm Witches. Explains everything you need to know about girls. If only I'd had this last year I'd have known exactly how to get rid of Lavender and I would've known how to get going with...Well, Fred [RIP] and George gave me a copy, and I've learned a lot. You'd be surprised, it's not all about wandwork either."

Originally Posted by p. 115 American Edition:

"I'll pack these for you," Hermione said brightly, taking Harry's presents out of his arms as the three of them headed back upstairs. "I'm nearly done, I'm just waiting for the rest of your underpants to come out of the wash, Ron-"

Originally Posted by p. 115-118 American Edition:

"Harry, will you come in her a moment?"

It was Ginny. Ron came to an abrupt halt, but Hermione took him by the elbow and tugged him on up the stairs. Feeling nervous, Harry followed Ginny into her room...
Ginny looked up into Harry's face, took a deep breath, and said, "Happy seventeenth."

"Yeah...thanks."

She was looking at him steadily; he, however, found it difficult to look back at her; it was like gazing into a brilliant light.

"Nice view," he said feebly, pointing toward the window.

She ignored this. He could not blame her.

"I couldn't think what to get you," she said.

"You didn't have to get me anything."

She disregarded this too.

"I didn't know what would be useful. Nothing too big, because you woulnd't be able to take it with you."

He chanced a glance at her. She was not tearful; that was one of the many wonderful things about Ginny, she was rarely weepy. He had sometimes thought that having six brothers must have toughened her up.

She took a step closer.

"So then I thought, I'd like you to have something to remember me by, you know, if you meet some veela when you're off doing whatever you're doing."

"I think dating opportunities are going to be pretty thin on the ground, to be honest."

"There's the silver lining I've been looking for," she whispered, and then she was kissing him as she had never kissed him before, and Harry was kissing her back, and it was blissful oblivion, better than firewhiskey; she was the only real thing in the world, Ginny, the feel of her, one hand at her back and one in her long, sweet-smelling hair--
The door banged open behind them and they jumped apart.

"Oh," said Ron pointedly. "Sorry."

"Ron!" Hermione was just behind him, slightly out of breath. There was a strained silence, then Ginny said in a flat little voice, "Well, happy birthday anyway, Harry."

Ron's ears were scarlet; Hermione looked nervous. Harry wanted to slam the door in their faces, but it felt as though a cold draft had entered the room when the door opened, and his shining moment had popped like a soap bubble. All the reasons for ending his relationship with Ginny, for staying well away from her, seemed to have slunk inside the room with Ron, and all happy forgetfulness was gone.

He looked at Ginny, wanting to say something, though he hardly knew what, but she had turned her back on him. He thought that she might have succumbed, for once, to tears. He could not do anything to comfort her in front of Ron.

"I'll see you later," he said, and followed the other two out of the bedroom.

Ron marched downstairs, through the still-crowded kitchen and into the yard, and Hary kept pace with him all the way, Hermione trotting along behind them looking scared.

Once he reached the seclusion of the freshly mown lawn, Ron rounded on Harry.

"You ditched her. What are you doing now, messing her around?"

"I'm not messing her around," said Harry, as Hermione caught up with them.

"Ron --"

But Ron held up a hand to silence her.

"She was really cut up when you ended it--"

"So was I. You know why I stopped it, and it wasn't because I wanted to."

"Yeah, but you go snogging her now and she's just going to get her hopes up again--"

"She's not an idiot, she knows it can't happen, she's not expecting us to -- to end up married, or--"

As he said it, a vivid picture formed in Hary's mind of Ginny in a white dress, marrying a tall, faceless, and unpleasant stranger. In one spiraling moment it seemed to hit him: Her future was free and unencumbered, whereas his...he could see nothing but Voldemort ahead.

"If you keep groping her every chance you get--"

"It won't happen again," said Harry harshly. The day was cloudless, but he felt as though the sun had gone in. "Okay?"

Ron looked half resentful, half sheepish; he rocked backward and forward on his feet for a moment, then said, "Right then, well, that's...yeah."

Originally Posted by p. 118 American Edition:

Hermione made purple and gold streamers erupt from the end of her wand and drape themselves artistically over the trees and bushes.
"Nice," said Ron, as with one final flourish of her wand, Hermione turned the leaves on the crabapple tree to gold. "You've really got an eye for that sort of thing."
"Thank you, Ron!" said Hermione, looking both pleased and a little confused. Harry turned away, smiling to himself. He had a funny notion that he would ifnd a chapter on compliments when he found time to peruse his copy of [the book];

Originally Posted by p. 119 American Edition:

"That looks amazing, Mrs. Weasley."
"Oh, it's nothing, dear," she said fondly. Over her shoulder, Ron gave Harry the thumbs up and mouthed, Good one."

Originally Posted by p. 126 American Edition:

She suppressed a sob. They were wedged together so tightly that Ron had difficulty extracting his arm to put it around Hermione's shoulders.

Originally Posted by p. 133 American Edition:

"I always said he was mental. Brilliant and everything, but cracked. Leaving Harry an old Snitch--what the hell was that about?"

Originally Posted by p. 135 American Edition:

"Come off it!" said Ron, looking in disbelief from Harry to Hermione. "You must've heard of Babbitty Rabbitty--"
"Ron, you know full well Harry and I were brought up by Muggles!" said Hermione. "We didn't hear stories like that when we were little, we heard 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs' and 'Cinderella'--"
"What's that, an illness?" asked Ron.

Originally Posted by p. 135-136 American Edition:

"Probably just Charlie, now Mum's asleep, sneaking off to regrow his hair," said Ron nervously.
"All the same, we should get to bed," whispered Hermione. "It wouldn't do to oversleep tomorrow."
"No," agreed Ron. A brutal triple murder by the bridegroom's mother might put a bit of a damper on the wedding. I'll get the lights."

Originally Posted by p. 140 American Edition:

"Ours do know a lot of excellent swear words," said Ron, "but I think Fred and George taught them those."

Originally Posted by p. 142 American Edition:

"...Wow," he added, blinking rather rapidly as Hermione came hurrying toward them. "You look great!"
"Always the tone of surprise," said Hermione, though she smiled..."Your Great-Aunt Muriel doesn't agree, I just met her upstairs while she was giving Fleur the tiara. She said, 'Oh dear, is this the Muggle-born?' and then, 'Bad posture and skinny ankles.'"
"Don't take it personally, she's rude to everyone," said Ron.
"Talking about Muriel?" inquired George, reemerging from the marquee with Fred. "Yeah, she's just told me my ears are lopsided. Old bat. I wish old Uncle Bilius was still with us, though; he was a right laugh at weddings."
"Wasn't he the one who saw a Grim and died twenty-four hours later?" asked Hermione.
"Well, yeah, he went a bit odd toward the end," conceded George.
"But before he went loopy he was the life and soul of the party," said Fred. "He used to down an entire bottle of firewhisky, then run onto the dance floor, hoist up his robes, and start pulling bunches of flowers out of his--"
"Yes, he sounds like a real charmer," said Hermione, while Harry roared with laughter.
"Never married for some reason," said Ron.
"You amaze me," said Hermione.

Originally Posted by p. 143 American Edition:

They were all laughing so much that none of them noticed the altecomer, a dark-haired young man with a large, curved nose and thick black eyebrows, until he held out his invitation to Ron and said, with his eyes on Hermione, "You look vunderful."
"Viktor!" she shrieked, and dropped her small beaded bag, which made a loud thump quite disproportionate to its size. As she scrambled, blushing, to pick it up, she said, "I didn't know you were--goodness--it's lovely to see--how are you?"
Ron's ears had turned bright red again. After glancing at Krum's invitation as if he did not believe a word of it, he said, much too loudly, "How come you're here?"

Originally Posted by p. 144 American Edition:

Harry, Ron, and Hermione took their seats in the second row behind Fred and George. Hermione looked rather pink and Ron's ears were still scarlet. After a few moments he muttered to Harry, "Did you see he's grown a stupid little beard?"

Originally Posted by p. 147 American Edition:

"I like this song," said Luna, swaying in time to the waltzlike tune, and a few seconds later she stood up and glided onto the dance floor, where she revolved on the spot, quite alone, eyes closed and waving her arms.
"She's great, isn't she?" said Ron admiringly. "Always good value."
But the smile vanished from his face at once: Viktor Krum had dropped into Luna's vacant seat. Hermione looked pleasurably flustered, but this time Krum had not come to compliment her. With a scowl on his face he said, "Who is tha man in yellow?"
"That's Xenophilius Lovegood, he's the father of a friend of ours," said Ron. His pugnacious tone indicated that they were not about to laugh at Xenophilius, despite the clear provocation. "Come and dance," he added abruptly to Hermione.
She looked taken aback, but pleased too, and got up. They vanished together into the growing throng on the dance floor.
"Ah, they are together now?" asked Krum, momentarily distracted.
"Er--sort of," said Harry.

Originally Posted by p. 150 American Edition:

He wanted to find Ron, to tell him about Gregorovich, but Ron was dancing with Hermione out in the middle of the dancefloor.

Originally Posted by p. 160 American Edition:

"Ron!" Hermione cried. "Ron, where are you?"...."Ron! Ron!" Hermione called, half sobbing as she and Harry were buffeted by terrified guests...

Originally Posted by p. 162 American Edition:

"You're amazing, you are," said Ron, handing her his bundled-up robes.
"Thank you," said Hermione, managing a small smile as she pushed the robes into the bag.

Originally Posted by p. 163-164 American Edition:

"...Oh, I wish they'd shut up!"
"All right, darling?" the drunkest of the men on the other pavement was yelling. "Fancy a drink? Ditch ginger and come and have a pint!"
"Let's sit down somewhere," Hermione said hastily as Ron opened his mouth to shout back across the road..

Originally Posted by p. 167 American Edition:

"You're the boss," said Ron, sounding profoundly relieved.

Originally Posted by p. 167 American Edition:

"It's no wonder I can't get it out, Hermione, you packed my old jeans, they're tight."
"Oh, I'm so sorry," hissed Hermione, and as she dragged the waitress out of sight of the windows, Harry heard her mutter a suggestion as to where Ron could stick his wand instead.

Originally Posted by p. 171 American Edition:

"That...that was..." Hermione whimpered, as Ron helped her to her feet.

Originally Posted by p. 171 American Edition:

"Before we go any farther, I think we'd better check," whispered Hermione, and she raised her wand and said, "Homenum revelio."
Nothing happened.
"Well, you've just had a big shock," said Ron kindly. "What was that supposed to do?"

Originally Posted by p. 173 American Edition:

The Patronus dissolved into nothingness. Ron let out a noise between a whimper and a groan and dropped onto the sofa: Hermione joined him, gripping his arm.
"They're all right, they're all right!" she whispered, and Ron half laughed and hugged her.

Originally Posted by p. 176 AE:

Harry glanced over at the dark shapes they made on the floor beside him. Ron had had a fit of gallantry and insisted that Hermione sleep on the cushions from the sofa, so that her silhouette was raised above his. Her arm curved to the floor, her fingers inches from Ron's. Harry wondered whether they had fallen asleep holding hands.

Originally Posted by p. 183 AE:

"Ron! I've found him!"
Ron's annoyed voice echoed distantly from several floors below.
"Good! Tell him from me he's a git!"

Originally Posted by p. 199-200 AE:

"Kreacher, I'd, er, like you to have this," he said, pressing the locket into the elf's hand. "This belonged to Regulus and I'm sure he'd want you to have it as a token of gratitude for what you--"
"Overkill, mate," said Ron as the elf took one look at the locket, let out a howl of shock and misery, and threw himself back onto the ground.

Originally Posted by p. 202 AE:

"Will you stop it!" she cried on the third evening of Kreacher's absence, as all light was sucked from the drawing room yet again.
"Sorry, sorry!" said Ron, clicking the Deluminator and restoring the lights. "I don't know I'm doing it!"
"Well, can't you find something useful to occupy yourself?"
"What, like reading kids' stories?"
"Dumbledore left me this book, Ron--"
"--and he left me the Deluminator, maybe I'm supposed to use it!"

Originally Posted by p. 209-210 AE:

Ron glanced at Hermione, then said, "What if purebloods and half-bloods swear a Muggle-born's part of their family? I'll tell everyone Hermione's my cousin--"
Hermione covered Ron's hand with hers and squeezed it.
"Thank you, Ron, but I couldn't let you--"
"You won't have a choice," said Ron fiercely, gripping her hand back. "I'll teach you my family tree so you can answer questions on it."

Originally Posted by p. 215 AE:

"Don't look at me like that!" he snapped at Hermione.
"Don't you start on her!" snarled Ron.

Originally Posted by p. 219 AE:

Ron rugby-tackled him and Mundungus hit the stone floor with a muffled crunch.

Originally Posted by p. 226 AE:

"...Snape, headmaster! Snape in Dumbledore's study--Merlin's pants!" she shrieked, making both Harry and Ron jump. She leapt up from the table and hurtled from the room, shouting as she went, "I'll be back in a minute!"
"'Merlin's pants'?" repeated Ron, looking amused. "She must be upset."

Originally Posted by p. 227 AE:

"...Oh, here she is," Ron added, craning around in his seat to watch Hermione reentering the kitchen. "And what in the name of Merlin's most baggy Y Fronts was that about?"

Originally Posted by p. 228 AE:

"But let him try now, all Phineas Nigellus will be able to see is the inside of my handbag."
"Good thinking!" said Ron, looking impressed.
"Thank you," smiled Hermione, pulling her soup toward her.

Originally Posted by p. 231 AE:

"All right," said Ron slowly, "let's say we got for it tomorrow...I think it should just be me and Harry."
"Oh, don't start that again!" sighed Hermione. "I thought we'd settled this."
"It's one thing hanging around the entrances under the Cloak, but this is different, Hermione." Ron jabbed a finger at a copy of the Daily Prophet dated ten days previously. "You're on the list of Muggle-borns who didn't present themselves for interrogation.
"And you're supposed to be dying of spattergroit at the Burrow! If anyone shouldn't go, it's Harry, he's got a ten-thousand-Galleon price on his head--"
"Fine, I'l stay here," said Harry. "Let me know if you ever defeat Voldemort, won't you?"

Originally Posted by p. 236 AE:

"Bless him," said Ron fondly, "and when you think I used to fantasize about cutting off his head and sticking it on the wall."

Originally Posted by p. 237 AE:

...Hermione's silent Stunning Spell hit her in the chest, and she toppled over.
"Nicely done, Hermione," said Ron...

Originally Posted by p. 241 AE:

"Blooming pain the bum, this, eh? Forcing us all to get to work this way! Who are they expecting to turn up, Harry Potter?"
The wizard roared with laughter at his own wit. Ron gave a forced chuckle.
"Yeah," he said, "stupid, isn't it?"

Originally Posted by p. 242 AE:

"You got in all right, then?" Hermione whispered to Harry.
"No, he's still stuck in the bog," said Ron.
"Oh, very funny..."

Originally Posted by p. 243 AE:

"Raining...in your office? That's--that's not good, is it?"

Originally Posted by p. 269 AE:

Harry watched, horrified, as she tore open Ron's shirt. He had always thought of Splinching as something comical, but this...
His insides cralwed unpleasantly as Hermione laid bare Ron's upper arm, where a great chunk of flesh was missing, scooped cleanly away as though by a knife..

Originally Posted by p. 274 AE:

"Blimey, I hope they escaped," said Ron, leaning back on his pillows. The tea seemed to be doing him good; a little of his color had returned. "I didn't get the feeling Reg Cattermole was all that quick-witted, though, the way everyone was talking to me when I was him. God, I hope they made it...If they both end up in Azkaban because of us..."

Harry looked over at Hermione and the question he had been about to ask....died in his throat. Hermione was watching Ron fret over the fate of the Cattermoles, and there was such tenderness in her expression that Harry felt almost as if he had surprised her in the act of kissing him.

"So, have you got it?" Harry asked her, partly to remind her that he was there.

"Got--got what?" she said with a little start.

Originally Posted by p. 310 AE:

"Ron, no--please--come back, come back!"
She was impeded by her own Shield Charm; by the time she had removed it he had already stormed into the night. Harry stood quite still and silent, listening to her sobbing and calling Ron's name amongst the trees.
After a few minutes she returned, her sopping hair plastered to her face.
"He's g-g-gone! Disapparated!"
She threw herself into a chair, curled up, and started to cry.

Originally Posted by p. 311-312 AE:

Hermione, who was already busy in the kitchen, did not wish Harry good morning, but turned her face away quickly as he went by...

He and Hermione ate breakfast in silence. Hermione's eyes were puffy and red; she looked as if she had not slept. They packed up their things, Hermione dawdling. Harry knew why she wanted to spin out their time on the riverbank; several times he saw her look up eagerly, and he was sure she had deluded herself into thinking that she heard footsteps through the heavy rain, but no red-haired figure appeared between the trees....

Hermione seemed unable to find any more reasons to delay:...

The instant they arrived, Hermione dropped Harry's hand and walked away from him, finally sitting down on a large rock, her face on her knees, shaking with what he knew were sobs.

Originally Posted by p. 312-313 AE:

They did not discuss Ron at all over the next few days. Harry was determined never to mention his name again, and Hermione seemed to know that it was no use forcing the issue, although sometimes at night when she thought he was sleeping, he would hear her crying.

Originally Posted by p. 319 AE:

"You know," he hesitated: He did not want to say Ron's name. "Ginny's great-aunt. At the wedding. The one who said you had skinny ankles."
"Oh," said Hermione. It was a sticky moment: Harry knew that she had sensed Ron's name in the offing.

Originally Posted by p. 371 AE:

Why the hell," panted Ron, holding up the Horcrux, which swung backward and forward on its shortened chain in some parody of hypnosis, "did you take this thing off before you dived?"
Harry could not answer. The silver doe was nothing, nothing compared with Ron's reappearance; he could not believe it. Shuddering with cold, he caught up the pile of clothes still lying at the water's edge and began to pull them on. As he dragged sweater after sweater over his head, Harry stared at Ron, half expecting him to have disappeared every time he lost sight of him, and yet he had to be real: He had just dived intot he pool, he had saved Harry's life.

Originally Posted by p. 372 AE:

"Well, I've--you know--I've come back. If--" He cleared his throat. "You know. You still want me."
There was a pause, in which the subject of Ron's departure seemed to rise like a wall between them. Yet, he was here. He had returned. He had just saved Harry's life.

Originally Posted by p. 373 AE:

"No, you should do it."
"Me?" said Ron, looking shocked. "Why?"
"Because you got the sword out of the pool. I think it's supposed to be you."

Originally Posted by p. 374-375 AE:

"You can do it," said Harry, "you can! You've just got the sword, I know it's supposed to be you who uses it. Please, just get rid of it. Ron."
The sound of his name seemed to act like a stimulant. Ron swallowed, then, still breathing hard through his long nose, moved back toward the rock.
"Tell me when," he croaked.

Originally Posted by p. 375-379 AE:

"I have seen your heart, and it is mine."

"Don't listen to it!" Harry said harshly. "Stab it!"

I have seen your dreams, Ronald Weasley, and I have seen your fears. All you desire is possible, but all that you dread is also possible...

"Stab!" Harry shouted; his voice echoed off the surrounding trees, the sword point trembled, and Ron gazed down into Riddle's eyes.

Least loved, always, by the mother who craved a daughter...Least loved, now, by the girl who prefers your friend...Second best, always, eternally overshadowed...

"Ron, stab it now!" Harry bellowed: He could feel the locket quivering in his grip and was scared of what was coming. Ron raised the sword still higher, and as he did so, Riddle's eye gleamed scarlet.

Out of the locekt's two windows, out of the eyes, there bloomed like two grotesque bubbles, the heads of Harry and Hermione, weirdly distorted. Ron yelled in shock and backed away as the figures blossomed out of the locket, first chests, then waists, then legs, until they stood in the locket, side by side like trees with a common root, swaying over Ron and the real Harry, who had snatched his fingers away from the locket as it burned, suddenly, white-hot.

"Why return? We were better without you, happier without you, glad of your absence...We laughed at your stupidity, your cowardice, your presumption--"

"Presumption!"echoed the Riddle-Hermione, who was more beautiful and yet more terrible than the real Hermione: She swayed, cackling, before Ron, who looked horrified yet transfixed, the sword hanging pointlessly at his side. "Who could look at you, who would ever look at you, beside Harry Potter? What have you ever done, compared with the Chosen One? What are you, compared with the Boy Who Lived?"

"Ron, stab it! STAB IT!" Harry yelled, but Ron did not move. His eyes were wide, and the Riddle-Harry and the Riddle-Hermione were reflected in them, their hair swirling like flames, their eyes shining red, their voices lifted in an evil duet.

"Your mother confessed," sneered Riddle-Harry, while Riddle-Hermione jeered, "that she would have preferred me as a son, would be glad to exchange..."

"Who wouldn't prefer him, what woman would take you, you are nothing, nothing, nothing to him," crooned Riddle-Hermione, and she stretched like a snake and entwined herself around Riddle-Harry, wrapping him in a close embrace: Their lips met.

On the ground in front of them, Ron's face filled with anguish. He raised his sword high, his arms shaking.

"Do it, Ron!" Harry yelled.

Ron looked toward him, and Harry thought he saw a trace of scarlet in his eyes.

"Ron---?"

The sword flashed, plunged:Harry threw himself out of the way, there was a clang of metal and a long, drawn-out scream. Harry whirled around, slipping in the snow, wand held ready to defend himself: but there was nothing to fight.

The monstrous versions of himself and Hermione were gone: There was only Ron, standing there with the sword held slackly in his hand, looking down at the shattered remains of the locket in the flat rock.

Slowly, Harry walked back to him, hardly knowing what to say or do. Ron was breathing heavily; His eyes were no longer red at all, but their normal blue; they were also wet.

Harry stopped, pretending he had not seen, and picked up the broken Horcrux. Ron had pierced the glass in both windows: Riddle's eyes were gone, and the stained silk lining of the locket was smoking slightly. The thing that had lived in the Horcrux vanished; tormenting Ron had been its final act.

The sword clanged as Ron dropped it. He sunk to his knees, his head in his arms. He was shaking, but not, Harry realized, from cold. Harry crammed the broken locket into his pocket, knelt down beside Ron, and placed a hand cautiously on his shoulder. He took it as a good sign that Ron did not throw it off.

"After you left," he said in a low voice, grateful for the fact that Ron's face was hidden, "she cried for a week. Probably longer, only she didn't want me to see. There were loads of nights when we never even spoke to each other. With you gone..."

He could not finish; it was only now that Ron was here again that Harry fully realized how much his absence had cost him.

"She's like my sister," he went on. "I love her like a sister and I reckon she feels the same way about me. It's always been like that. I thought you knew."

Ron did not respond, but turned his face away from Harry and wiped his nose noisily on his sleeve. Harry got to his feet again and walked to where Ron's enormous rucksack lay yards away, discarded as Ron had run toward the pool to save Harry from drowning. He hoised it onto his own back and walked back to Ron, who clambered to his feet as Harry approached, eyes bloodshot but otherwise composed.

"I'm sorry," he said in a thick voice. "I'm sorry I left. I know I was a--a--"
He looked around at the darkness, as if hoping a bad enough word would swoop down upon him and claim him.

"You've sort of made up for it tonight," said Harry. "Getting the sword. Finishing off the Horcrux. Saving my life."

"That makes me sound a lot cooler than I was," Ron mumbled.

"Stuff like that always sounds cooler than it really was," said Harry. "I've been trying to tell you that for years."

Simultaneously, they walked forward and hugged, Harry gripping the still-sopping back of Ron's jacket.

Originally Posted by p. 379-381 AE:

"It's okay, everything's fine. More than fine. I'm great. There's someone here."

"What do you mean? Who--?"

She saw Ron, who stood there holding the sword and dripping onto the threadbare carpet. Harry backed into a shadowy corner, slipped off Ron's rucksack, and attempted to blend in with the canvas.
Hermione slid out of her bunk and moved like a sleepwalker toward Ron, her eyes upon his pale face. She stopped right in front of him, her lips slightly parted, her eyes wide. Ron gave a weak, hopeful smile and half raised his arms.

Hermione launched herself forward and started punching every inch of him that she could reach.

"Ouch--ow--gerroff! What the---? Hermione--OW!"

"You---complete---ar se---Ronald---Wealsey!"

She punctuated every word with a blow: Ron backed away, shielding his head as Hermione advanced.

"You---crawl---back---here---after---weeks---and---weeks---oh, where's my wand?"

She looked as though ready to wrestle it out of Harry's hands and he reacted instinctively.

"Protego!"

The invisible shield erupted between Ron and Hermione: The force of it knocked her backward onto the floor. Spitting hair out of her mouth, she leapt up again.

"Hermione!" said Harry. "Calm---"

"Don't you tell me what to do, Harry Potter!" she screeched. "Don't you dare! Give it back now! And YOU!"

She was pointing at Ron in dire accusation: It was like a malediction, and Harry could not blame Ron for retreating several steps.

"I came running after you! I called you! I begged you to come back!"

Originally Posted by continuing...

"I know," Ron said, "Hermione, I'm sorry, I'm really---"

"Oh, you're sorry!"

She laughed, a high-pitched, out-of-control sound; Ron looked at Harry for help, but Harry merely grimaced at his helplessness.

"You come back here after weeks---weeks---and you think it's all going to be all right if you just say sorry?"

"Well, what welse can I say?" Ron shouted, and Harry was glad that Ron was fighting back.

"Oh, I don't know!" yelled Hermione with awful sarcasm. "Rack your brains, Ron, that should only take a couple of seconds---"

"Hermione," interjected Harry, who considered this a low blow, "he just saved my---"

"I don't care!" she screamed. "I don't care what he's done! Weeks and weeks, we could have been dead for all he knew---"

"I knew you weren't dead!" bellowed Ron, drowning her for the first time, and approaching as close as he could with the Shield Charm between them. "Harry's all over the Prophet, all over the radio, they're looking for you everywhere, all the rumors and mental stories, I knew I'd hear straight off if you were dead, you don't know what it's been like---"

"What it's been like for you?"

Her voice was now so shrill that only bats would be able to hear it soon, but she had reached a level of indignation that rendered her temporarily speechless, and Ron seized his opportunity.

"I wanted to come back the minute I Disapparated, but I walked straight into a gang of Snatchers, Hermione, and I couldn't go anywhere!"

Originally Posted by p. 382 AE:

"They weren't the brightest. One of them was definitely part troll, the smell of him...

Ron glanced at Hermione, clearly hopeful she might soften at this small instance of humor, but her expression remained stony above her tightly knotted limbs.

Originally Posted by p. 382-384 AE:

"...I didn't do so well [Disapparating]. Splinched byself again"---Ron held up his right hand to show two missing fingernails; Hermioen raised her eyebrows coldly---"and I came out miles from where you were. By the time I got back to that bit of riverbank where we'd been...you'd gone.

"Gosh, what a gripping story," Hermione said in a lofty voice she adopted when wishing to wound. "You must have been simply terrified. Meanwhile, we went to Godric's Hollow and, let's think, what happened there, Harry? Oh yes, You-Know-Who's snake turned up, it nearly killed both of us, and then You-Know-Who himself arrived and missed us by about a second."

"What?" Ron said, gaping from her to Harry, but Hermioen ignored him.

"Imagine losing fingernails, Harry! That really puts our sufferings into perspective, doesn't it?"

"Hermione," said Harry quietly, "Ron just saved my life."

She appeared not to have heard him.

"One thing I would like to know, though," she said, fixing her eyes on a spot a foot over Ron's head. "How exactly did you find us tonight? That's important. Once we know, we'll be able to make sure we're not visited by anyone else we don't want to see."

Ron glared at her, then pulled a small silver object from his jeans.

"This."

She had to look at Ron to see what he was showing.

"The Deluminator?" she asked, so surprised she forgot to look cold and fierce.

"It doesn't just turn the lights on and off," said Ron. "I don't know how it works or why it happened then and not any other time, because I've been wanting to come back ever since I left. But I was listening to the radio really early on Christmas morning and I heard...I heard you."

He was looking at Hermione.

"You heard me on the radio?" she asked incredulously.

"No, I heard you coming out of my pocket. Your voice," he held up the Deluminator again, "came out of this."

"And what exactly did I say?" asked Hermione, her tone somewhere between skepticism and curiosity.

"My name. 'Ron.' And you said...something about a wand..."

Hermione turned a fiery shade of scarlet. Harry remembered: It had been the first time Ron's name had been said aloud by either of them since the day he had left; Hermione had mentioned it when talking about repairing Harry's wand...

Originally Posted by p. 386-387 AE:

"About the best you could hope for, I think," murmured Harry.

"Yeah," said Ron. "Could've been worse. Remember those birds she set on me?"

"I still haven't ruled it out," came Hermione muffled voice from beneath her blankets, but Harry saw Ron smiling slightly as he pulled his maroon pajamas out of his rucksack.

Originally Posted by p. 388 AE:

Harry had not expected Hermione's anger to abate over night, and was therefore unsurprised that she communicated mainly by dirty looks and pointed silences the next morning. Ron responded by maintaining an unnaturally somber demeanor in her presence as an outward sign of continuing remorse. In fact, when all three of them were together Harry felt like the only non-mourner at a poorly attended funeral. During those few moments he spent alone with Harry, however..., Ron became shamelessly cheery.

"Someone helped us, he kept saying. "Someone sent that doe. Someone's on our side. One Horcrux down, mate!"

Originally Posted by p. 391 AE:

"...He---well," Ron's ears turned bright red and he became engrossed in a tuft of grass at his feet, which he prodded with his toe, "he must've known I'd run out on you."

"No," Harry corrected him. "He must've known you'd always want to come back.

Originally Posted by p. 395-396 AE:

"Maybe...maybe it's something you need to find out for yourself," said Hermione with a faint air of clutching at straws.

"Yeah," said Ron sycophantically, "that makes sense."

"No, it doesn't," snapped Hermione...

"I think we should vote on it," said Ron. "Those in favor of going to see Lovegood---

His hand flew into the air before Hemrione's. Her lips quivered suspiciously as she raised her own.

"Outvoted, Harry, sorry," said Ron, clapping him on the back.

Originally Posted by p. 396 AE:

"You only agreed to try and get back in her good books."

"All's fair in love and war," said Ron brightly, "and this is a bit of both..."

Originally Posted by p. 402 AE:

"Cowardly old wart," said Ron. "Luna's got ten times his guts."

Originally Posted by p. 403 AE:

"Fetching," said Ron. "Surprised he didn't war [Ravenclaw headdress] to the wedding."

Originally Posted by p. 425 AE:

"I hope you're right," said Hermione. She passed a hand over her eyes. "I'd feel so sorry for Xenophilius if--"

"--if he hadn't just tried to sell us to the Death Eaters, yeah," said Ron.

Originally Posted by p. 463-466; 472-474 AE:

"Wait," said Bellatrix sharply. "All except...except for the Mudblood."

Greyback gave a grunt of pleasure.

"No!" shouted Ron. "You can have me, keep me!"

Bellatrix hit him across the face; the blow eachoed around the room.
"If she dies under questioning, I'll take you next," she said. "Blood traitor is next to Mudblood in my book..."

......
"Reckon she'll let me have a bit of the girl when she's finished with her?" Greyback crooned as he forced them along the corridor. "I'd say I'll get a bit or two, wouldn't you, ginger?"

Harry could feel Ron shaking....

.........
The echoing bang of the slammed cellar door had not died away before there was a terrible, drawn-out scream from directly above them.

"HERMIONE!" Ron bellowed, and he started to writhe and struggle against the ropes tying them together, so that Harry staggered. "HERMIONE!"

"Be quiet!" Harry said. "Shut up, Ron, we need to work out a way---"

"HERMIONE! HERMIONE!"

.....
Hermione screamed again from overhead, and they could hear Bellatrix screaming too, but her words were inaudible, for Ron shouted again, "HERMIONE! HERMIONE!"

.....
"We found it---we found it---PLEASE!" Hermione screamed again; Ron struggled harder than ever, and the rusty nail slipped onto Harry's wrist.

.....
"...Tell the truth, tell the truth!"

Another terrible scream.

"HERMIONE!"

"What else did you take? What else have you got? Tell me the truth or, I swear, I shall run you through with this knife!"

"There!"

Harry felt the ropes fall away and turned, rubbing his wrists, to see Ron running around the cellar, looking up at the low ceiling, searching for a trapdoor.

.....
Ron was now trying to Disapparate without a wand.

.....
Hermione's screams echoed off the walls upstairs, Ron was half sobbing as he pounded the walls with his fists...

.....
...and upstairs Hermione was screaming worse than ever, and next to him Ron was bellowing, "HERMIONE! HERMIONE!"

......
"And I think," said Bellatrix's voice, "we can dispose of the Mudblood. Geryback, take her if you want her."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Ron had burst into the drawing room; Bellatrix looked around, shocked; she turned her wand to face Ron instead---

"Expelliarmus!" he roared, pointing Wormtail's wand at Bellatrix, and hers flew into the air and was caught by Harry, who had sprinted after Ron.

......
"STOP OR SHE DIES!"

Panting, Harry peered aroudn the edge of the sofa. Bellatrix supporting Hermione, who seemed to be unconscious, and was holding her short silver knife to Hermione's throat.

"Drop your wands," she whispered. "Drop them, or we'll see exactly how filthy her blood is!"

Ron stood rigid, clutching Wormtail's wand. Harry straightened up, still holding Bellatrix's.

"I said, drop them!" she screeched, pressing the blade into Hermione's throat: Harry saw beads of blood appear there.

"All right!" he shouted, and he dropped Bellatrix's wand onto the floor at his feet. Ron did the same with Wormtail's. Both raised their hands to shoulder height.

....
As Ron ran to pull Hermione out of the wreckage, Harry took his chance:...

Originally Posted by p. 470 AE:

"And we'll have that," whispered Ron, tugging Wormtail's wand from his other hand.

Originally Posted by p. 477 AE:

Hermione?" he said suddenly. "Where is she?"
"Ron's taken her inside," said Bill. "She'll be all right."

Originally Posted by p. 480 AE:

[Luna] turned and look expectantly at Ron, who cleared his throat and said in a thick voice, "Yeah...thanks, Dobby."

Originally Posted by p. 480 AE:

Hermione was wrapped in a borrowed dressing gown, pale and unsteady on her feet; Ron put an arm around her when she reached him.

Originally Posted by p. 485 AE:

"How are you?" Harry asked Hermione. "You were amazing---coming up with that story when she was hurting you like that---"
Hermione gave a weak smile as Ron gave her a one-armed squeeze.

Originally Posted by JKR on Ron at her webchat:

Sampotterish: Why did Dumbledore want Ron to keep his deluminator?

J.K. Rowling: Because he knew that Ron might need a little more guidance than the other two. Dumbledore understood Ron's importance in the trio. He wasn't the most skilled, or the most intelligent, but he held them together; his humour and his good heart were essential.

Originally Posted by Shannon

I was very torn during this scene. I didn't know whether to be terrified for Ron or thrilled that Hermione tore open Ron's shirt! I settled for both.