𝔖𝔫𝔞𝔭𝔢'𝔰 ℜ𝔢𝔱𝔲𝔯𝔫 (ℭ𝔬𝔪𝔭𝔩𝔢𝔱𝔢, 18+)

๑۞ 𝔗𝔥𝔢 ℭ𝔞𝔩𝔩 ۞๑

For these I weep

streams of tears flow

from my eyes

because of the destruction

of my people.

~ Lamentations

     I'd been sitting on one of the two boulders that were surrounded by a ring of silver birch trees at the Holocaust Memorial Garden in Hyde Park for less than ten minutes when the white-haired Chiara Lobosca materialized next to me with a quiet popping noise.

     "You're here!" She sounded relieved as well as a little surprised to see me.

     "I said I'd help," I gave her a questioning look as she kept shifting her weight and darting her eyes around as if she was going to be ambushed at any time.

     "Right. We need to go, and I need to sneak back inside before they realize I'm gone."

     As I stood, her light blue eyes ran over my disheveled clothes, hair, and presumably bloodshot eyes—I hadn't slept well. I waited for her to speak; instead, she scrunched her face up in concern.

     I was pretty sure I already knew the answer, but I couldn't help but ask, "Chiara, Mione is with him now, isn't she?"

     Her eyes darted away, and when finally looking back, they were full of sorrow, "You don't really—"

     "She is, isn't she!?"

     She flinched at my angry tone before quietly answering, "She left St. Mungos about an hour after you did."

     NO!

     My chest felt like Nagini was wrapped around it—squeezing—the air wheezed out of me. Within moments, my vision dimmed, and my mind suddenly felt fuzzy—like I was sick with a head cold. I braced my hands on the smooth stone I'd just stood up from so I wouldn't fall over and did my best to keep from blacking out.

     Chiara waited a few seconds before setting her hand on my shoulder, "Sorry, Ron. I think she's an idiot for doing this to you."

     I wanted to yell, kill something—Severus Snape—and cry all at the same time. Instead, I ran my fingers through my blood-orange hair to get it out of my eyes and buy a moment to collect myself. "We did this to each other."

     "How is this your fault?" Her blue eyes were kind and non-judgemental.

     Shrugging in an attempt to remove the discomfort I was feeling, "After your visit, I recalled numerous conversations Hermione tried to have with me about how I was doing and feeling—especially during the first few months as a couple. Looking back, I can see that she was trying to get me to not only talk about my feelings, but her's as well. I wasn't there for her like I should have been... not once."

     Chiara had a kind look in her eye's, "We all make mistakes."

     I nodded, "This is the only way I can try to fix things and show her how much I love her."

     She scrunched her face in doubt, "She stayed the night with him. I'm fairly certain that they weren't knitting socs as they gossiped over tea and crumpets."

      "I know that, but maybe it was a one-time...." I sagged while sighing heavily—realizing how pitiful I sounded.

     The white-haired girl tried to cheer me with her smile and kind words, "You two have been friends for a long time. Throwing that away isn't something I think either of you is willing to do. I'm sure you can work this out...somehow."