“Ron, honey, a letter is here for you,” Mrs. Weasley said as she gave a small letter to her youngest son.
Ron grabbed it from her with the same sad look that has been on his face for weeks now.
“Uh…I’m gonna go upstairs for a little while,” He mumbled while clutching the small piece of parchment.
“But Ron, you didn’t even eat!” Molly said.
“Not hungry,” he answered.
He climbed the staircase that led to the upstairs and made his way to his room. He sat down and unrolled the piece of paper. He immediately knew who it was from- he could tell from the writing.
It was from Hermione.
He didn’t understand how she could have written it without him knowing. He had been at the hospital every day that week and never left until she was finally asleep late at night.
Just thinking about what the letter said made his stomach churn.
It had been a hectic month. The war was finally over, and everyone made it out alive-except for Voldemort. Harry had destroyed him with everything he had. Hermione had been hospitalized for 3 weeks now and was told she would die in less than 2 months. She has been tortured with the Cruiciatus curse by Bellatrix and was so hurt from it that she had little life left inside her body.
Ron visited her every day and stayed all day. They had gotten together right after their 6th year and had been dating for only a few months. Everyone seemed happy except for Ron. They didn’t know how he felt. They didn’t know that he was hurting inside.
Ron signed and focused on the letter, ready for whatever was going to be written on it.
Dear Ron,
First I want to tell you how much I love you. You are the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. I think you have actually kept me alive longer.
That brings me to what I want to say to you.
I’m dying. I don’t want to leave you. We have known each other for so long, and I can’t live without you. I’m so sorry for all of the pain I have caused you. I feel really bad. You sit by my bedside everyday and talk to me about everything. I really appreciate it. I love it when you and I talk about Harry and ourselves back at Hogwarts.
I wish I could go back to that time and do so many things differently. I want to go back and do something to prevent this from happening.
I’m sorry that we can’t do all of the things we wanted to do together. I was looking forward to spending my life with you on earth until I was old and aged.
But my time has come early.
I don’t want you to be angry. I don’t want you to think that you can’t go on living your life. You can. I’m still going to be with you. Maybe not literally here on Earth, but in your heart. I will always be with you. You will always be with me. My love will never die for you. I will always be with you.
It seems that everything has happened so quickly. I know that the war was a month ago and I found out that I’m dying 2 weeks ago, but I want to go back and fix everything.
Do you remember when we were in our fourth year at Hogwarts and we had the Yule Ball? Do you remember Krum? I bet you do, it wasn’t that long ago. You know, I never really liked him that much. I never told you, but now I wish I did. We could have been together longer. I’m sorry about that too.
I love you so much. You have always stood by me and helped me through tough times. We have had our doubts but we have always had an understanding.
Ron, I want you to promise me one thing when I leave. I want you to promise me that you will never forget all the times that we have had together. It would mean the world to me if you would do that one thing for me. You have already done so much, but I need you to do this for me.
You keep telling me that it’s going to be okay, and I believe you. I always believe you. It will be okay. You’re going to be okay, Ron. There’s a lot of pain in both of our hearts, and there always will be pain, but you need to know that I’m not leaving you for good. You’re time will come when you’ll be lying in a tiny hospital room waiting for the day when your life leaves your body. I don’t want you to think of it as a bad thing, because it’s not.
Just please don’t forget about me.
Ron, I love you. I will always love you.
Love,
Hermione
Ron swallowed hard and took in a deep breath. He was trembling. Reading those words of Hermione’s made his heart break even more.
“Hermione, I will never forget about you. Never,” he whispered under his breathe.
I love you.”
He stood up, rolled the paper back together, and made his way downstairs. He was going to visit Hermione like he did every day, but he was going to be in a better mood. He was going to show happiness in Hermione’s presence. He wasn’t going to let the sadness take over him.
Hermione was right, he was going to be OK.