Chapter 6 Facing the Music
Ron woke up lying down in bed in a white room. The room had a flat screen TV on one wall and the window was open. Ron looked around his surroundings in surprise. What's going on here?
"Well, look who finally decided to wake up."
Ron looked up at the familiar sounding voice to see a man in his thirties standing at the door. He was wearing a military uniform, and his face seemed very familiar as well. "Jack?" asked Ron incredulously.
"That's right," replied Jack as he walked into the room and sat down by the bed.
Ron sat up in his bed. "But, it can't be you. You're… old. And what am I doing in a muggle hospital? What's going on?"
Jack was silent for a moment. He had spent the last thirteen years thinking about what he would say, but now he couldn't remember any of it. He sighed. "Well, I guess it's best to start down this road now. Ron, what's the last thing that you can remember before coming here?"
Ron thought for a moment. "You, Harry, Hermione, the others, and I were in the Ministry of Magic. We got into a fight."
"That's right," said Jack. "You may not remember it, but you were wounded in that fight Ron. Badly. Actually, you were dead for awhile, and though we managed to bring you back, we couldn't heal your wounds. So, we put you into a stasis chamber until we could heal you."
"And … how long have I been in there?" said Ron, already realizing that it must have been quite awhile.
"Thirteen years."
"Thirteen years!" cried Ron. "You mean, I've been asleep for thirteen years and haven't grown a bit? That I'm still sixteen, but you, Harry, Hermione…"
"Yeah," replied Jack. "We're quite a lot older than you now."
Ron sank down on his bed and stared at the ceiling. He was slowly beginning to realize the gravity of what Jack just told him. Everything had changed, everything but him.
"So, what exactly has been going on since I've been asleep?"
"Well," replied Jack. "As you can imagine that's quite a long story, but I'll give you the major points now and leave the fineries for later. Voldermort and his armies attacked the wizarding world and were winning for a bit. Then there was the battle at Hogwarts, which we won, but Voldermort escaped. Two years later he returns, but by this time wizards and witches had come out of hiding and joined with the Muggle world. Together, the UNE forces backed Voldermort and his supporters into London. A team consisting of myself, Harry, Hermione, Neville, Luna and others entered Parliament, and we killed Voldermort, ending the Battle for London. Between that time and now, we fought some space aliens, the Ori and Wraith, and established colonies on other worlds. We were able to focus on recovering you last year after we put down a resurgence of Ori worshipers."
Jack noticed the blank look on Ron's face. "You understand what I've been telling you?" he asked.
Ron nodded. "Yeah, I guess so." He looked over at Jack. "What have you been doing this whole time? What about the others?"
"Actually," said Jack as he stood up. "They're here to see you too. Wait here a second."
Jack left the room, and in walked a man with black hair and a lightning bolt scar and a woman with long red hair.
"Harry, is that you?" asked Ron.
"Yeah, it's me," said Harry with a grin.
Ron looked over at the woman standing next to Harry. "Ginny…"
Ginny ran over to his bed and embraced him.
"I missed you so much," cried Ginny. Ron reluctantly returned the embrace. He recognized her features as belonging to his sister, but he was having trouble connecting the woman crying on his shoulder with the girl he had grown up with.
There was a silence when Ginny finally stopped crying and stood next to Harry. They didn't sit down. Ron felt the awkwardness of the silence, and knew they felt it too. To them, it was awkward seeing him just as they had seen him in their youth. He was like a ghost from their past, come back after all these years reminding them of old times and just how much things have changed since then. To Ron, they were like grown-up strangers who just happened to look like those whom he had once associated. Only, they were the people he once associated with.
"So," said Ron after a time. "I take it you two are married then?"
Harry and Ginny looked at each other in surprise. "Did Jack tell you…" started Ginny. Ron interrupted her by pointing at his ring finger. They looked down at the identical wedding rings on their fingers. Ginny looked away with a blush.
"Look, Ron," Harry said, rubbing one foot against the other. "I know we agreed to be each other's best man and all…"
"Oh no," replied Ron, putting his arms behind his head. "It's alright Harry. I understand. I wasn't around much then, was I? I can't blame you." He was beginning to wish they had just left him in that stasis pod.
Another silence fell, which Ron again broke. "I assume that Hermione is here with you guys too? Why isn't she in here?"
Ginny looked over at Harry. He nodded. "Well, she wanted to talk to you alone, Ron," she said.
Ron looked at them. "Nothing's wrong with her?" he asked with a hint of worry.
"No, of course not," replied Ginny reassuringly.
Ron lay back down. "I see…"
After a moment's hesitation, Harry and Ginny turned and went for the door. Just before leaving, however, Harry turned. "It was good seeing you again Ron."
"You too," Ron replied hollowly.
Harry left and it was a few moments before a woman appeared at the door. Ron could tell right off that it was Hermione.
"Hello Ron," said the much older Hermione.
Ron felt the awkwardness of Harry and Ginny's visit slip away as he faced the older version of the girl whom he secretly loved. "Hello Hermione," he said as he watched her sit down in one of the chairs by his bed.
"How are you feeling?" she asked.
Ron shrugged. "Alright, I guess." He saw the ring on her finger too, and remained quiet for a moment. "So, how have you been?"
"Pretty busy," she sighed quietly. "I'm married now, you know."
"To Jack?"
Hermione simply nodded.
Ron looked away. "I see."
He remained quiet for a few more moments, before he broke down and cried. Hermione sat there, not sure exactly what to do to comfort him.
"Why!" cried Ron angrily amongst his tears. "Why did you have to do it? Why couldn't you have just let me die back then! Why did you bring me back just to torment me like this? Things are never going to be the same; you had to have known that! I've been dead to you all for thirteen years, and you think you can just bring me back to life like that and expect everything to be fine?"
"Ron…" began Hermione.
"No! Don't you even start! I loved you Hermione!"
"Ron, that was thirteen years ago…"
"Don't you think I know that? Don't you think I understand now that you have changed? I do not love Hermione O'Neill, the thirty year old wife of Jack O'Neill. I love Hermione Granger, the sixteen year old girl who went to Hogwarts with me, who would criticize me for breaking the rules and skipping class, and who stood beside Harry and me. But now that girl and that life is gone, forever. Everything is so different to me now. You've all moved on since that time. I haven't. I feel like I don't belong here. I'm from a time that has long since passed. Do you have any idea what that is like to me?"
"Ron…"
"Leave me alone," interrupted Ron hysterically. "Just… go away Hermione. Leave me alone."
Ron rolled over and turned his back to her. Hermione remained seated for a moment before getting up with a sigh and sad shake of her head. At the door she turned to get a look at him. Ron's back was still turned to her, silently resenting the world that he no longer knew. Silently and with great care, Hermione closed the door behind her.
Ron stood on the platform with his luggage in hand, staring once more at the Hogwarts Express. It had taken a lot of arguing from Harry and Ginny, but Ron had finally allowed himself to consent to return to Hogwarts. After leaving the hospital, he wanted nothing to do with this new world that he had been thrown into and just kept wishing that some miracle would occur and he would either be taken back into time or killed. Seeing as neither was going to happen, Ron decided it might be best to start his new life completely anew. But he started out upon this path with the greatest reluctance and loathing. He remained bitter at his core.
As Ron walked onto the train he didn't even bother looking at the other students. He knew that there was no one there that he knew, so he felt it wasn't even worth the effort. While all the other students moved around the train, finding old faces or making new friends, Ron moved alone to the very back to an empty compartment. He closed the door after himself, stared out the window and wondered why the train was taking so long to depart.
After a few moments of staring, Ron heard the door to the compartment open. "Are these seats taken?"
Ron didn't bother looking at the intruder. "Yes," he lied. "They're coming back shortly."
"I see," replied the unwanted visitor. "Well, all the other compartments are full, so I'll just have a seat here until your friends come back. I'd like to meet them too."
Ron turned to see just who this obstinate person was. He felt slightly taken aback when he saw a girl about the same age as himself. "My name is Jess Montree," she said to him pleasantly, extending her hand. "What's yours?"
"Ron Weasley," he replied hesitantly with a shake of her hand.
Jess smiled sweetly. "Nice to meet you Ron."
Ron couldn't help but smile himself at the sight of this extremely sociable and friendly girl. He felt the bitterness in his core melt within him with her presence. For the first time since reawakening, Ron actually felt happy. Perhaps his new shot at life wasn't going to be so bad after all.
The End
Well I hope you liked this story and I thank you all for the reviews.
From Wilkins75