Eva arrived at the Burrow early the next morning only to discover that Ron wasn’t there. “Where’s Ron?” she asked. Harry shrugged his shoulders. Ginny’s solemn face told Eva exactly where Ron was. “He’s at her grave isn’t he?” Ginny looked completely fascinated with the wood grains on the table. Harry nodded slowly. “Do you think it would be ok if I met him there?” Ginny shrugged her shoulders and looked at Harry. “I’ll take that as a yes.” Eva stepped out the door and Apparated on the spot to a soft and shady cemetery where a lone man stood in the distance next to a stone angel.
Ron kneeled in the grass by Hermione’s grave. The angel girl’s face looked down upon him with quiet eyes. He looked away and took out a small bouquet of flowers he had brought. He fought back tears. He replaced the existing flowers already in a small pot on the side of the grave.
“Hermione,” his lips trembled as he spoke. “Help me! I’m so confused. I need to know that I can let you go, yet I’m not even sure if I want to, but it’s just that Eva…” he faltered and didn’t know how to start. “Help me…” he started to cry silently. Tears rolled down his face as he sobbed into his hands.
He heard footsteps behind him. He turned around and saw Eva walking slowly towards him. His face turned red and he looked away. He felt a warm, comforting hand on his shoulder and the next thing he knew Eva was sitting next to him on the ground. Her eyes, too, were wet with tears.
“You don’t need to let her go, Ron.” She spoke in a whisper yet it was so loud that Ron cringed. Sometimes the silence these days could speak louder than words. “No one is asking you to let her go. Love doesn’t go away that easy,” Eva looked up at the angel’s face as she spoke. She pressed her hand on one of the angel’s upturned ones. Ron almost wondered for a moment if she was silently speaking to the angel, or even more impossible, to Hermione. “In fact, letting her go is something you never want to do. Letting her go would be like,” she swallowed, “like letting go of hope, love, faith…it would be letting go of your guardian angel.” Ron gazed up at the tombstone and shivered. Was Hermione his guardian angel?
“If it were me,” Eva now gazed into his eyes, “I wouldn’t worry about what she is thinking, but of what would she want you to think. Would she want you to be happy? Or do you think she likes you moping around all the time and never smiling or laughing like you used to? Harry told me that you used to be full of happiness. That was the Ron that she loved. Don’t give up on him. I know he’s there.” She took his hand in her own and pressed it to his heart. “I know you may not take my advice…I know I don’t like advice unless it’s my own, but…try to think of her, Ron. Think of Hermione.”
Eva’s words seemed to wake Ron from a long sleep. He felt as though he was a hibernating bear and spring had come at last. Eva was right. He couldn’t bring Hermione back, but he could be the same Ron that she had loved so much. The last thing he wanted to do was disgrace her memory in any way.
Eva remained quiet for several more minutes before adding, "Our love for those who have gone, should not deminish our love for those who remain. Trust me, I know..."
“Thank you,” he managed to slip out. “Thank you so much.” Eva nodded curtly and went back to looking at the angel. Ron was thankful that she wasn’t pressuring him into leaving yet. He still wanted to be near Hermione. Eva stood up. “I’ll be at your house when you are ready to come back.” She Apparated on the spot leaving Ron, once again, alone.
“Hermione, I see you’ve met Eva. She really is quite wonderful. I think you would have been friends with her. I think she’s right; I don’t want to lose you as my guardian angel. I want to be happy again. I think I’m going to like Eva a lot. I hope that’s ok. Since, you are my guardian angel then you might have even led me to her.” He chuckled before he continued; “You always did know what was best. As usual, I miss you and… I love you. I have to go now, though.” He paused before adding, “Bye.”
He stood up and walked slowly back towards the cemetery path. He was ready to go but not back to his house. He ambled along gazing at the tombstones. He saw Harry’s parent’s graves. He saw some of his relatives graves nearby too. He sat down on a bench near the entrance. He folded his hands in his lap and rested his head on them. It was too hard to feel happy this soon. He knew the change would hurt but this was for Eva, for himself, for Hermione…
Ron walked through the door to the Burrow. His heart was as heavy as a hippogriff and yet, just as free. Eva was talking to Harry when he arrived. She looked up and smiled at him. His mouth twitched into a jerky grin but it fell immediately. It was a start. He summoned a butterbeer and sat down across from Harry.
“You ok?” asked Harry timidly. Ron could tell that Harry didn’t want to upset him.
Ron gulped down the lump in his throat for what he hoped was the last time. He nodded. Eva smiled and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Ron couldn’t help but trust her. She was so warm and gentle.
“Harry has some good news, don’t you Harry?” Eva looked towards Harry who was picking at his cuticles.
“Oh, yeah! Ron, Minerva McGonagall stopped by today and offered me the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher! Now that Voldemort is gone I figured it couldn’t be jinxed any more, right? Well, I accepted! Isn’t that great?”
“Excellent!” Ron clapped Harry on the back. He was truly happy for him.
The next day Ron awoke and went down for breakfast. Eva was already sitting at the table deep in a conversation with Mrs. Weasley. When Eva saw him, she stood up and made her way over to him. “Good morning!” she chimed happily. “Did you sleep well?”
“Yeah,” said Ron, “You?”
“Of course!”
“Excellent…Morning Mum!” Ron gave his mother a kiss on the cheek.
“Well, you seem happy today,” said Mrs. Weasley to Ron. She watched as he sat in a chair and hungrily dug into his breakfast.
“Did Harry tell you?” Ron asked between mouthfuls.
“Tell me what, Dear?”
“He got a job…At Hogwarts.”
“Well, that’s excellent news!” Mrs. Weasley called up the stairs for Harry to wake up and come down. Within a few minutes, Harry was groggily coming down the staircase. “Congratulations, Harry dear!”
“What? Oh, thank you!” said Harry.
“When do you start?”
“Next week, I think…”
“Well, we’ll have to get you some new things. Your robes are looking a bit shabby and you could do with a wand polish…and a haircut…”
“Thank you, Mrs. Weasley. That’s very nice, but I can get everything. I’ll be getting a salary now.”
“Nonsense!” cried Mrs. Weasley, throwing her hands in the air, “You’ve always been, and always will be, a member of this family.”
Harry thanked her again and started eating his breakfast. Eva went outside without a word, and, being curios, Ron followed.
He walked into the garden and she was sitting out by the pond. He had her wand out and was idly swirling it above the water causing it to swirl in circles. He crossed the yard and sat next to her. “Now, why would Eva want to come outside and sit by a puddle of water if there was no good reason? Hmm…I wonder…” He looked at her and laughed at his own childish game.
“There is no reason, Ron. I just wanted to relax, but I was hoping you would follow me.”
“And I did. What now?”
“I like this pond. It’s comforting. I feel closer to my…my dad. It’s so quiet. I can hear all of the birds…”
“I never noticed that it was this comforting before…” Ron looked at his reflection in the water. He relaxed in a peaceful state of mind. All of a sudden an object skipping across the surface disturbed the water. He heard laughter and he spun around. Eva was standing behind him with a stone in her hand.
She tossed it into the air and caught it with one hand. “It was the perfect skipping stone,” she said innocently.
“Oh yeah?”asked Ron as he got to his feet; “I’ll show you the perfect skipping stone!” He laughed and grabbed her around the waist. She laughed as he spun her around. It was the first time since Hermione’s death that she wasn’t on his mind.
Ron's New Life by rupertgrintlover13
Chapter Notes: Things between Ron and Eva are getting more intense in this chapter. Ron's love for Hermione is still lingering, but the transition has begun! Please read and review! J.K. Rowling gets credit for all (except Eva!!!)!