Note: Set after DH, early summer. This one's similar to my other story, The Way You Love Them - writing that one made me want to explore the Ron/Ginny relationship a little more. They tend to be so combative in the books, but I always got the vibe that they were very close, and I think Ginny would take learning of his desertion of Harry and Hermione pretty hard, especially since she wanted to have been able to go with them so desperately. Timeline-wise, I'd place this maybe a month after the Battle of Hogwarts - people are finally adjusting to life after war, and Harry's finally telling Ginny what went down well he, Ron and Hermione were horcrux hunting. Anyway, hope it's not too repetitive! It's not my finest, but reviews are always lovely :)

Eventually

"Oi! Lovebirds!"

Ron groaned at the sound of his brother's voice and the snickering that followed as he rolled onto his side and rubbed his eyes, breathing in the scent of moist ground and fresh air.

"Whattisit?" his girlfriend mumbled beside him as she stretched, and Ron grinned. He loved when she was like this - just waking up from a nap, a little disoriented, slightly vulnerable...not the image of poised perfection she liked to project, but a softer, sweeter perfection that made Ron's stomach do funny things (things he was finally done ignoring, after how many years of desperate denial).

"George is being a prat," he informed her with a good-natured eye roll as he positioned his body to hover directly over hers, and she squinted to focus better on his face.

"Hi," Hermione smiled as blue eyes met brown.

"Hi," Ron whispered back as he bent down, and their lips met just briefly before a commotion behind them caused both to jerk up.

Emerging from the pond behind the Burrow was an irate-looking Ginny, and a desperate-looking Harry, both moving quickly and yelling loudly.

Ron and Hermione shared a look - with Ginny this worked up, no one was safe. George, Percy and Bill, who had just come outside to tease Ron and Hermione, began backtracking immediately, wanting no part in whatever was unfolding in front of their eyes.

"I think they've got the right idea," Ron whispered, and Hermione nodded as they both moved to get up. But the next words out of Harry's mouth stopped them both cold.

"Ginny, you didn't let me finish! He came back!" Harry bellowed, finally forcing Ginny to whip around and face him, and Harry immediately regretted his tone (somewhere in the back of his mind, Harry wondered how he could have possibly defeated one of the most evil wizards of all time when he was this terrified facing his own girlfriend. To his defense, he reasoned with himself, with her hair flying around so madly and her face so red and her eyes so cold, Ginny really did look terrifying).

"Oh, and that makes it all better, does it?" She cried, exasperated. "He deserted you, Harry. He left you!"

"Yes, he did! And then he came back and he saved my life." Harry said emphatically, assuming Ginny would immediately stop and listen.

He assumed wrong. "Yeah, right after he basically left you for dead. Sorry if I'm not impressed. Harry, you both could have died because my blockhead brother has no sense of loyalty – no sense at all, apparently!"

Harry winced. "It wasn't his fault, though! If you'll just let me explain - the locket, I told you it was a horcrux, and -"

"I don't care about the stupid horcrux!" Ginny interrupted forcefully as she marched to her boyfriend and poked him in the chest, hard. "He. Left. You." Each word was accentuated with a jab.

Harry's eyes left Ginny's and drifted back towards the Burrow, landing on Ron and Hermione, still sitting stock-still. Neither he nor Ginny had noticed them before, and one look at Ron's ashen white face and Hermione's agape mouth told him that they knew exactly what this row was about. Ron grimaced when they made eye contact, and Harry looked away guiltily, focusing back on his girlfriend, who was still in mid-rant.

"And what about Hermione? After years of yanking her around like a plaything, he just up and ditches her? There's a recipe for true love - how could she have possibly forgiven him?"

Now, Harry felt the anger bubbling up in his chest. "Percy left for years, and you forgave him the second he came back!"

Ginny blanched. "That's different," she said in a low, threatening voice.

"How?" Harry cried incredulously, spreading his arms wide in disbelief. "How is that different? Percy believed something, left, realized he was wrong, and came back. I forgive Percy. I think he's one of the bravest people I know, because he came back - he didn't let his pride rule him forever, and he did the right thing!"

"But that's my point, Harry! Percy believed in the wrong people and made a mistake – lots of mistakes – but he had no idea what the consequences of those mistakes would be. But Ron knew. He knew what leaving you would mean, he understood the consequences and he did it anyway! And why? Because he didn't like roughing it? Because it was too hard?"

Harry had never before thought of Ginny as "shrill" – that was a word he and Ron generally saved for Hermione, or Ron's mum – but suddenly shrill didn't even begin to describe how Ginny sounded. And suddenly something clicked in Harry's head.

"Ginny, Ron's not who you're mad at," he said firmly, grabbing both of arms and holding her in place.

"Oh good, now you're going to tell me how a feel," she bit out venomously.

"Yes, I am," Harry replied forcefully, causing Ginny to stop fighting and finally meet his eyes. "You're mad at me for leaving you. You're mad because Ron left us and we forgave him just like you forgave me for leaving you behind. You don't know how to be mad at me, because as much as you hate me for it, you at least understand why I did it. But you don't understand why Ron left, and it's easy to be mad at him because he's your brother. But do not take your resentment towards me out on Ron – he doesn't deserve that." Harry finished, breathing heavily.

Ginny just stared at Harry, mouth gaping, letting his words rush through her. His gaze didn't soften, and neither did hers.

Ron finally dragged his eyes away from the train wreck in front of him and instead looked at the girl next to him, whose eyes hadn't left Ron since she'd realized what the row was about.

He felt sick. "I'm so sorry, Hermione," Ron whispered for what may have been the hundredth time since he'd come back, but he knew it would never be enough. Hermione didn't say anything; she just moved her hand to cover his.

Ron glanced back at Harry and Ginny, who seemed to be in the middle of a very intense staring competition, and sighed. "I should probably rescue Harry, huh."

Hermione licked her lips thoughtfully. "I think he's right – that she's taking her anger at him out on you."

Ron shook his head. "That might be part of it, but even if Harry managed to calm her down now, it'd just be postponing the inevitable. She has every right to be mad at me. You all do."

Then, Hermione smiled at him softly. "You know, you've really grown up," she murmured, kissing his cheek as he began to stand.

He flashed her a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Always the tone of surprise, eh?" Then he set his gaze on his best friend and baby sister, who still seemed determined to defeat each other without speaking or moving.

Ron took thirteen brave steps forward before finally drawing attention to himself. "Ginny," he croaked, his voice horse from fear or lack of use (he pretended it was the latter). Ginny yanked herself out of Harry's grasp and spun around to face him, eyes flashing.

Harry, too, turned his attention to Ron. "I can handle this," he said evenly.

Ron walked past Ginny, who merely glared, still thrown off by Harry's accusations, and clapped Harry on the shoulder. "I know you can, mate. But you faced You-Know-Voldemort. So let me take this one."

A smile flickered across Harry's face until one highly-offended Ginny Weasley silenced it with a scoff.

"Good luck," Harry mumbled somewhat sheepishly before speed walking towards his other best friend. Hermione shook her head admonishingly before grabbing Harry by the hand and dragging him back to the Burrow.

Ginny didn't look back at Ron until the kitchen door slammed shut.

"You're a bloody moron," she whispered, shocking Ron, who had already braced himself for an onslaught of fists and fury, or perhaps even canaries (he could never be too prepared with all these overly-emotional women in his life).

Instead of arguing with her, Ron merely hung his head and shuffled his feet. "I know."

Now Ginny was the one surprised. Ron wasn't one to back down from a fight – never had been, no matter how wrong he was. Ginny searched his face for some strategy, some clue that would give away his plan of attack. Instead she found herself looking at Ron - really looking, for the first time in ages – and noticing how his mouth formed such a resolute line, how his eyes seemed so devoid of passion, how his shoulders sagged with the weight of what he had done. This wasn't the immature, ignorant, explosive Ron she was used to, and it startled her. She opened her mouth, but the harsh words died in her lips, and she forced herself to look away.

Ginny sighed, dropping to the ground with a small thud, causing Ron to raise his eyebrows. "Just tell me what happened."

Ron slowly lowered himself to the ground and pulled his knees up to his chest. "Where do you want me to start?"

Ginny bit her lip and started picking at the grass by her ankles. "Start...start with the locket. It was a horcrux?" she asked softly.

"Yeah," Ron cleared his throat, "yeah, it was. It was like Riddle's diary - you remember that?"

At this, Ginny looked up, making eye contact with Ron briefly before glancing away. "How could I forget?"

"Well it was sort of like that," Ron mumbled, groping for words. "It was and it wasn't. We all took turns wearing it, but it just...it affected me the worst. I don't know, when I put it on, it was like I was engulfed in this giant cloud of...doubt. I can't even describe it, Ginny, it just, it convinced me that Harry didn't know what he was doing and that the whole thing was pointless. And that he and Hermione were—and just some other stuff, too," Ron finished quietly, face flushed and eyes wet.

Ginny frowned, thoughts of her first year at Hogwarts clouding her head, and she fought hard to escape the memories and listen to Ron's voice. "Okay," she said finally, "So I guess us Weasleys are particularly vulnerable to pieces of Voldemort's soul..."

Ron's eyes flicked up to meet Ginny's, and they both smiled, just a little, before once again averting their gazes.

"But when you weren't wearing the locket," Ginny continued, shaking them both back into their conversation, "You didn't have those doubts?"

Ron grimaced. "At first...but after a while, it didn't matter whether it was around my neck or not, it was in my head. I tried so hard to fight it, Ginny, you have to believe me," he said, stronger now, reaching out and grabbing her hand. And instead of drawing back, Ginny squeezed Ron's hand encouragingly, emboldening him. "It's just, one day, I walked in on Harry and Hermione talking – talking, Ginny, just having a conversation – and I just snapped. Everything tumbled out at once and I was so, so angry. I thought they'd be better off with me gone – thought they wanted me gone. So I left."

"Just like that," Ginny said slowly, shakily, as she stared at her brother's crumpled face.

"Just like that," he repeated.

"Where did you go?"

"I tried to find them. The second I was gone, everything came crashing down on me - what I'd said and done, Ginny, it was horrible. I've pulled a lot of stupid, stupid shit in the past seven years, but I never thought I'd do that to my best friends. I...I hated myself," Ron paused, grasping for some semblance of composure, hot wet streaks dripping out of his eyes. "Still do, sometimes," he finished more quietly.

Eye's brimming with tears, Ginny clasped Ron's hand with both hands now, words escaping her completely.

"I stayed with Bill, wallowing in my own...self-loathing."

"Ron..." Ginny breathed, tears spilling out finally.

He shook his head. "If I hadn't found them..."

"How did you?" Ginny interrupted, more harshly than she'd intended to due to her throat closing up.

Ron shifted to pull the deluminator out of his pocket with his free hand, and handed it to Ginny, who held out one hand while keeping the other firmly around Ron's.

"This is that light trapper thing you keep playing with," Ginny mused, holding it up to her face for closer examination.

"Yeah," Ron smiled ruefully. "Say what you will about Dumbledore, but the man's a genius."

"This is Dumbledore's?"

Ron nodded. "He left it to me in his will. Guess he knew I'd need to find my way back." Ron wiped at his eyes quickly and continued. "I was laying in bed, and all of a sudden, I could hear Hermione calling my name. So I flicked it on, and suddenly I was in a forest in the middle of nowhere, chasing after Harry who was chasing after some shiny thing I couldn't really see."

"So," she paused to wipe her own eyes with the back of her hand, "it just transported you to where they were?"

"I guess. I don't know how it worked, but I'm glad it did. I've never been more thankful for anything in my entire life."

Ginny bit her lip, feeling suddenly foolish for the screaming match she'd instigated with Harry. "Then this is the part where you saved his life, huh."

"Well, if the git hadn't decided to go swimming in ice water by himself, he wouldn't have needed any saving," Ron muttered.

"What?" Ginny asked sharply.

Ron launched into explanation mode. "Turns out," he said, "Harry was following a patronus – Snape's, actually – to this lake, and he saw Gryffindor's sword at the bottom, so he dove in to go get it, naturally. But he was still wearing the locket, and the damned thing tried to strangle him underwater. I'd just caught up with him, so I jumped into get him and pulled him out. So then—"

"Wait – slow down – you just added a lot of factors to this story that I haven't heard about yet!" Ginny interrupted, feeling completely lost.

Ron shrugged. "A lot of stuff happened that night!"

"Clearly!"

Ginny stared at Ron for a long time, who stared right back – both were smiling slightly, but neither were entirely sure why.

Finally, Ginny spoke softly, looking down. "I forgive you, if you didn't already know."

Ron shook his head. "You don't have to – I don't forgive me."

"But it..." Ginny started, once again feeling foolish, "but it wasn't your fault. If anyone should understand that, it should be me. And I was the only one who went flying off the handle."

Suddenly, Ron grinned. "Oh, you should've seen Hermione when I got back. She put you to shame. If Harry hadn't been there, wand at the ready, I wouldn't be here today."

Now Ginny laughed, loudly and openly; she felt as if she was finally letting out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. She felt finally at ease.

Smiling, Ron stood up abruptly, yanking Ginny along with him. "C'mon," he said warmly as he began walking toward the Burrow.

Ginny pulled back and pouted. "I still want to know what else happened! You have done a horrible job of explaining anything."

Ron sighed dramatically. "I know. But, I know two people who love you almost as much as I do and who will want to have a part in the story-telling."

Ron's ears were bright red, but he was smiling, and Ginny felt warmer than she had in weeks. She pulled her brother into a tight hug, ignoring him as he mumbled "Gerroff me, Ginny," and grinning widely when he finally hugged her back.

After a little over a minute, Ron finally pulled away, shaking his head.

"What is it?" Ginny asked suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing, nothing," Ron teased as he began walking back to The Burrow, his sister at his heels. "I was just thinking about how unfortunate it is that you and Harry are still in the middle of a giant row..."

Ginny's eyes grew wide and she groaned.

"I mean, I thought Hermione and I were bad, but you two really know how to go at it!"

"Oh, shut up, Ron," Ginny whined, punching Ron lightly in the arm. "We were fighting about you."

"Generally a worthy cause!" Ron smirked. "Anyway, I was kidding before, you and Harry can't even touch me and Hermione."

"You know, I think I'm okay with that," Ginny smirked right back, and the pair made their way to the door.

Just before he reached for the handle, Ron stopped, suddenly serious. "You know, Gin, if you can forgive Harry for leaving, I think he can forgive you for this one."

"I will forgive him," Ginny said confidently as she pushed past her brother. "Eventually," she added as an afterthought, causing Ron to grin. "But only," Ginny stopped, squeezing her brother's shoulder, "if you promise to forgive yourself."

Her hand fell away, and Ron followed his sister inside, staring determinedly at the back of her head. "Eventually," he said, mostly to himself. "Eventually."