Hermione slowly made her way into the Great Hall, and she briefly wished Pansy was with her as she felt every eye on her. Of course everyone was watching her, her clothes were wrinkled, dirty, and torn. She had a slight limp that she'd been trying to hide before, and there were twigs sticking out of her hair.

Ignoring them all best she could, Hermione strolled over to the Gryffindor table. Oddly, Dean, Seamus, and Neville were all missing. Never mind that, she'd check the dorms later. She walked up to Ginny, and, keeping her voice as steady as she could manage, said, "Get Luna and bring her up to the Hospital Wing with you. Wait outside the doors, and do not enter until I'm back."

Ginny nodded carefully, getting up to retrieve Luna. Hermione retreated back out the doors. Pulling out her wand, she sent a Patronus to all the Weasley's saying similar things. She then set off to the eighth year dorms, feeling quite alone.

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Each second hurt worse than the last, and it was too hard to believe the redhead was really gone. Harry's throat burned from crying so much, his cheeks stung from the salty tears.

Life was stupid. Living just to die in the end. Dying to cause pain to the living. It was an endless cycle of pain, just as it always had been.

For years, Harry could shove his emotions off to the side, as he was always busy. There was always something to be solved, something that wanted to kill him, murderous lunatics to stop. Always something to keep him busy. But now he didn't have that. So yes, he cried about Ron's passing. But he also let out everything he'd been bottling up for so long. He cried for his parents, and Remus and Sirius. He cried for Fred and Ron, and even Colin. Because he missed the boy, who really wasn't so bad. And Harry still couldn't get that look that Dennis gave him out of his head.

He missed Lavender, and how she really was a sweet girl, despite the whole mess with Ron in sixth year. He missed Snape, though he really didn't know why, he just kinda missed him. He missed Tonks, and her clumsiness. Harry missed Dumbledore, because Hogwarts just wasn't the same anymore. Harry missed Hedwig, who had kept him company at the Dursley's during his summers there. Harry even missed Voldemort, because he'd become kind of a constant in the boy's life.

So yes, he cried a lot that day. But you couldn't blame him, he bloody well deserved to be crying. So no one stopped him, and Harry probably could have filled an entire swimming pool with his tears. But eventually, he stopped. Not because he was done crying, he was simply exhausted. So the tears subsided, replaced with soft snores, head resting on Draco's chest.

Harry needed the sleep, but he awoke just five minutes later when there was a knock at the door. His eyes shot open, and he fell out of Draco's lap. So when Neville opened the door, Hermione found him lying awkwardly on the floor, rubbing his head a bit. She noticed the puffy and bloodshot eyes, but chose not to say anything about them. She instead turned her attention to the others.

"I presume Harry told you all what happened." They nodded. "He's in the Hospital Wing, and I'm headed there now. Would any of you like to come?" Dean and Seamus walked over to her, Neville following. Harry didn't move, except to sit up. Draco decided to stay with Harry, in case he tried anything again. Hermione stayed just a bit longer, hoping Harry would change his mind. "The Weasley's will be there, I'm sure they'd like to see you." This seemed to make things worse, so she gave up, and the four left.

Harry could feel his eyes start to water again, though he hated crying in front of people. He wished Draco had gone with the others, but it was also kinda nice having him here. He sat against the edge of the bed, bringing his knees up and closing his eyes. Draco did the same, sitting right next to the boy, because right now, just being in each other's presence was enough.

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The four made their way to the Hospital Wing, where all the Weasley's except for Charlie were there, along with Luna. Hermione hated this, she hated being the one to tell them. Fred had died a few months ago, and now they were losing Ron. It just didn't seem fair.

"What's this about Hermione?" Bill asked, holding a small child in one arm, the other draped around Fleur's shoulders. She looked at him a moment, then the others, staring at each of them individually.

"Where are Harry and Ron?" Ginny asked. Hermione took shuddering breaths, clenching her fists.

"Ron's in the Hospital Wing right now, and Harry...he's in his room."

"Did they have a fight or something?"

"N-no, it's not like that. You see, Ron...he's..." Her voice was unsteady, and she just couldn't say it. She motioned for them to go in as she sank to her knees. She hated how weak and vulnerable she looked. When Molly opened the door and saw Ron, she immediately rushed over to him, the rest following. Pansy looked up from where she was seated with Blaise, and her eyes locked on Hermione. She stood up and walked over to her, helping her up. Hermione took shaky steps into the room, her eyes never leaving Ron's body. He was pale now, very pale. As she reached his bed, she lightly held his hand in hers. His fingers were cold and stiff.

"Is he sleeping?" Arthur asked, though he knew he wasn't. George was looking at Ron, his breaths becoming quick and shallow. Ginny stared with wide eyes, before nodding and grasping Luna's hand tightly, eyes shut tight. Luna dropped her head down, shedding a few quiet tears, while Molly cried into her husband's shoulder. Bill started trembling, nearly dropping the baby. Fleur silently took her child from him, placing a light kiss on his cheek. Percy had to look away, as he tried not to think about the memories of him and his brother flooding his head.

Dean, Seamus, and Neville already knew, but it was a thousand times worse actually seeing him. Dean couldn't look away, no matter how much it hurt. Seamus put a hand on his shoulder and gave a comforting squeeze. Dean broke his gaze for a moment to look at his boyfriend, noticing the tears falling slowly and silently. He felt guilty for not crying, not mourning his friend as he was supposed to. He wondered if people would think he didn't care. Neville retched onto the floor, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.

Molly broke away from her husband, turning to Hermione. "Is he ok?" Hermione was confused for a moment, before she realized she didn't mean Ron. Hermione didn't know how to answer, so she turned to the three boys that had been with him longer. Dean shook his head, and Hermione repeated the action to Mrs. Weasley.

Mrs. Weasley nodded, then looked at her family, before her eyes found Hermione again. "We want to see him."

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