Lavender couldn�t take it anymore.
�Ron! Ron- I want you out! I want a divorce!� she shouted as she watched him stumble in through their front door, drunk, for the fifth time in two weeks.
Ron looked at her curiously and staggered towards her. �What� what are you talking about darling- argh!�
Lavender slapped him as he tried to put his arms around her. He staggered back against the wall and fell to the floor, giggling madly. He had a half-bottle of firewhiskey clutched in his hand.
�Look at you!� his wife shouted, the curlers in her hair shaking madly. �I can�t stand you anymore, Ron!�
Ron froze and glared at Lavender. She glared back. All of a sudden, he stood up and shook his head violently, making her shriek, but only out of habit. He snatched his wand out of his robes, pointed it at his head, and murmured something. He shook his head and blinked a few times.
�What was that? What are you doing?� Lavender snapped, narrowing her eyes at his wand.
�Do you have to be so loud?� Ron complained, rubbing his temple. �Let me stay the night and I�ll be out first thing in the morning. I promise.� He walked towards the staircase.
Their relationship had been full of empty promises, and Lavender knew that well.
�You don�t know what you�re saying- you�re drunk,� Lavender said.
�Look, woman, I know what I�m saying. I�ll be gone in the morning. And I�m not drunk anymore, but you wouldn�t know since you�ve never had to use that spell before.�
Lavender watched Ron retreat up the stairs, and then come back down with his pillow and a few blankets.
�What are you doing?� asked Lavender in a tired voice.
�Figured you don�t want to spend the night next to me, huh?� he said to her, settling himself on the couch. Lavender watched silently with her arms crossed.
�G�night,� Ron said to her, knowing it would be the last one he would ever tell her.
Lavender frowned at him. �Good night, Ron.� She was at the top of the stairs when Ron added something.
�Oh, and Lav?�
�Yes, Ron?�
Ron sighed. �Goodbye.�
And, hearing a clink, Lavender knew that Ron had taken off his ring for the first time in five years.
*
Ron was gone by the time Lavender woke up. She jumped out of her bed and ran down the stairs, hoping to find him still asleep, but only found the ring on the table.
She sat on the couch and picked up the ring, remembering the times they shared. A tear rolled down her cheek. She looked down at the table and noticed a note there.
Lavender,
I�m out of your life forever. I won�t tell you where I�m going- you probably don�t want to talk to me. I�m so, so sorry.
Love,
Ron
Lavender shrank into the couch and cried into Ron�s pillow.
So he finally keeps a promise�
*
Shock spread throughout Harry Potter�s body as he looked at his best friend in the face at three in the morning.
�Hey, mate,� Ron said shakily, grinning.
�What�s going on?� Harry asked, frowning.
Ron smiled, his eyes glowing.
Harry took concern. �Ron? Why don�t you come inside?� He stood aside so Ron could pass through the doorway.
But Ron didn�t move. All he did was stand there with a blank expression on his face.
�Um� Ron?�
There was a thump as Ron dropped his bags. He looked Harry straight in the eye and said, very seriously, �Divorce,� and fell over in a heap on the Potter�s front porch.
*
The next thing Ron knew he was lying down on a sofa with his younger sister, Ginny, peering over him. He was suddenly aware that he was being slapped repeatedly.
�Wake up!� Ginny said pleadingly.
�Ughrmph,� Ron managed.
Ginny let out a sigh. �Oh, thank Merlin. Harry, he�s getting better.�
�Good,� Ron heard Harry say. He felt himself being lifted up and was soon sitting upright on the couch, a glass of water now in his hand, and Harry and Ginny sitting on either sides of him.
�What happened?� Ginny asked him, but Ron didn�t answer. Everything was echoing, the room was spinning, and his head was pounding like someone was beating on a drum.
Ron closed his eyes.
�Come on, Ron, no more fainting!� Harry said, slapping him again and sprinkling some of the water from the cup onto his face.
Harry and Ginny watched as Ron�s eyes rolled around in his head.
�What can we do?� she asked him.
Harry shrugged. �I dunno, let him sleep more, I suppose?�
�Nah- nah dun go!� Ron exclaimed suddenly, waving his arms around in the air and spilling the water all over the carpet.
Ginny took out her wand and muttered, �Scourgify.�
�What do you want us to do, Ron?� Harry said impatiently
�I�m feeling better,� Ron said. �Can I have some more water? Sorry.�
Harry nodded. �No problem, it�s okay. Sure.� He took the glass to the kitchen and filled it with cold water from the tap. He brought it back to Ron and sat down.
�So what happened?� Ginny asked.
Ron sighed. �Lavender and I are getting a divorce.�
Ginny gasped. She hugged her brother. �Oh, Ron, I�m so sorry!�
Harry put a hand on his shoulder. �Sorry, mate.�
Ron put his face in his hands. �I don�t know what happened. I mean, at first everything was wonderful, but then she started getting cranky and I started to come home drunk real late at night every once in a while. Today was the fifth time in a month or something, I think, and she just couldn�t take it anymore. She yelled at me and said she wanted a divorce.� He showed them his ringless finger. �I gave it back to her. Left it on the table.�
Ginny rubbed his back with one hand. �It�s okay. Everything is going to be okay.�
Ron rounded on her. �How is everything going to be okay? I�m getting divorced, Ginny! Nothing is okay!�
�Sorry,� she said quietly and looked down.
�It�s already morning,� Harry said in a warning voice, looking between them.
Ron looked at his watch (it had been a present from his dad for his twenty-first birthday). It read 6:34 AM. Even the sun was starting to come in through the windows.
�Where�re the girls?� Ron asked the couple. He hadn�t seen his nieces, Karen and Michelle, in a long time.
Ginny got up from the couch. �Sleeping, obviously,� she replied tartly as Ron threw her a glare. �They should be up around eight or nine.�
But she was wrong.