All the Ways to Wound My Heart

Disclaimer: JKR, WB, Scholastic etc are hosting the party; I'm just the gal bringing dip. The OCs belong to me.

Summary: After an Auror hazing prank goes horribly wrong, Ron Weasley discovers his worst nightmare is true. As his family rally behind him, can he learn to forgive Harry and Hermione? Brief past H/Hr, R/Hr and background H/G. Epilogue compliant.

A/N: So this is a story essentially about Ron and Hermione although I have labelled it simply as Ron. There is an element of past H/Hr in this story. If this isn't quite to your liking, I am sure there are other stories out there that will entertain you. I am not looking to be flamed. Mostly, this is about Ron finding the courage to forgive. I thank you in advance for your support. This story is finished.

Warnings: Language, perceived infidelity, some violence, past H/Hr, elements of the Movie!verse.

Chapter One: Never Would I Have Guessed

Becoming an Auror was always on the cards for Ron Weasley. Sure, most people assumed that he was just going to follow in Harry's footsteps because, that's just what Ron Weasley did, wasn't it? Ron liked to think that he had become bigger than that sort of idiotic reasoning. He was an adult now. He did his own washing, cooked his own meals and managed to sort himself out quick enough in the mornings to get to work on time...with Hermione's help, of course. Not only was he now a qualified Auror (record time too!), he also put in his fair share of work at George's shop.

Adult or not though, Ron felt that on some days (most days) people looked at him like he had a horns sticking out of his head. He wasn't stupid—he had heard most of the theories floating around the Auror office and most of the Ministry in fact that he had floated in to the Auror program on the back of the Boy-Who-Lived. Many of them took that a bit too literally and he was quite sick of hearing gay jokes from all the gits over in Magical Law Enforcement. Sighing and preparing for another day of thinly veiled jibes, Ron banished his thick coat to the rack and took his seat at his cluttered desk. He glanced at the clock that peered over to confirm that Harry wasn't at his desk. Feeling smug that for once he had finally beaten Harry to work, Ron took a moment to lean back into his chair and ignore the immensely growing pile of paperwork.

"All right there, Ron?"

Ron nearly fell off his chair as Harry's voice interrupted his attempt at ignoring his desk duties. Turning around, Ron's cheery disposition fell as he realised Harry had beaten him to work, yet again. "What the bloody hell are you doing here so early? You're making the rest of us look like lazy wankers!"

Harry shrugged and pushed Ron's chair in so he could pass. "When Ginny's away I can hardly sleep. What's your excuse? I know for a fact Hermione's an early riser. Why can't she get your pale arse out of bed in the mornings?"

"Seems the witch has an affinity for my pale arse, as you so kindly put it," Ron replied, fighting back a laugh as Harry turned visibly red.

"You're both disgusting,"

"I'm sure what you meant to say was charming."

"Are you two bickering like life-long lovers again?" Ron and Harry both turned to find Quentin Giblorn, their squad leader grinning with two cups of steaming coffee in his hands.

"Piss off, Giblorn," snarked Ron, while eyeing off Quentin's coffee. "Who's the coffee for?"

"Shouldn't you be a bit more respectful to your superiors, Weasley? I would have thought a quick shag from the missus would have set you in right spirits this morning!"

Ron's middle finger shot up before Quentin had even finished speaking.

"Anyway, this fine beverage is going to be for whoever can give me their report on Adrian Pucey's capture and interrogation..."

Before Ron even had the opportunity to remember if he had even started his report, Harry had summoned his report and dumped it on Quentin's desk. With a smirk and a wink, Harry snatched the spare coffee and took a long drink, sitting back down on his desk.

"Brilliant!" boomed Quentin as he followed suit, taking a long drink and staring at Ron.

"Yeah yeah, I get the picture. Come in early, get your reports done, be a wanker and get the bloody coffee. So are we going out in the field today?" he asked eagerly. Since the interrogation of Adrian Pucey two days ago, things had been very quiet in the Auror office. Only standard missions were running and the days had been filled with catching up on very boring paperwork.

"Negatory Weasley. Field's been pretty quiet. Even our good friend Lucius Malfoy has been behaving like an upstanding admirable citizen. Barden swore that he even saw him say hello to a Muggle-born in Diagon Alley last week. Bloke's gone mad."

As Ron took a second to cope with the thought of yet another dreary day doing paperwork at the office, the rest of their squad arrived from the cafeteria. "Potter, Weasley," acknowledged Chaser King, their squad's second-in-command. Named for his parents' obvious love of Quidditch, Chaser had worked extra hard at his job and projected an air of authority, mainly so nobody would even consider for the briefest of moments, taking the piss out of his name. He was followed by Roger Burke, who had been in Percy's year in Hufflepuff and Benjamin "Beef" Barden, who had been one of the few decent Slytherins either Ron or Harry had ever known.

"Oi Giblorn, Henrietta said you nicked off with my special order of coffee," complained Roger. "The one with the red quill marks on it."

Quentin checked his own cup and shook his head. "Must be Potter's. Got a problem with it, take it up with him." Ron grinned as everyone's eyes went to Harry who just shrugged and took another sip. "Your special blend is delicious, Roger. Mind telling Henrietta to make me this blend every time I pay her a visit in the cafeteria?"

Suddenly, the all three of their squad-mates began laughing hysterically. "You're both idiots. That cup of coffee you're drinking from, Potter, has been dosed with Veritaserum!" Harry's eyes went wide and he dropped the coffee cup all over his freshly laundered Auror robes, prompting more laughter, with Quentin and Ron joining in.

"So Potter, how does that feel?"

"Fucking hot," Harry automatically answered.

"If Robards finds out, you're all dead," warned Quentin as he pulled up a chair in front of Harry. "So no reason for Robards to find out then, eh? What do you think of Robards' tie this morning, Potter?"

"Hideously ugly. Ties shouldn't be worn with Auror robes, Sir. They don't match at all. I read that in Witch Weekly."

"You're screwed mate," Ron laughed as he pulled his chair closer. The other squad members had sat on the empty, surrounding desks. "Who were you going to give Veritaserum to?"

"We were going to take it down to the Potions lab and see if it could be detected either by taste or smell," replied Chaser, picking up the empty cup from the bottom of Harry's desk. "Not exactly the most approved methods of tricking suspects but we thought we could give it a shot pitching it to Robards, if we proved it worked. Reckon Harry's done well as our first test subject."

"Hmm, could you taste the difference Potter?" enquired Quentin.

"Not at all Sir."

"All right, all right, my turn for some fun," Beef said and pushed Roger out of the way. "Oi Potter, have you ever worn ladies knickers?"

Harry was beginning to turn an interesting shade of red. "No,"

"But have you ever thought about it?" prompted Ron.

"Yes, when Ginny left a pair of her red boylegs at my place. They looked uncomfortable and wondered what she saw in them," Harry replied diligently.

"Reckon you won't be asking any more questions after that answer, eh Weasley!" chortled Roger and slapped his leg, clearly enjoying both Ron and Harry's discomfort. "Might want to block your ears, I bet I know what Beef is gonna ask next!"

Harry's eyes widened. "Er, you don't mean..."

Chaser nodded. "I've always been curious too, Potter. Being a celebrity sure would have its perks, don't you reckon?"

Harry shook his head vehemently. "Guys, this has been really uncomfortable and awkward and all, but do you think we could just leave it here?" Ron could have sworn there was a note of desperate pleading in his voice. Ron had known Harry a long time and when he was uncomfortable, tiny beads of sweat would form on his brow. Now was one of those times.

"Harry Potter, Boy-Who-Lived. With you being such a great celebrity and all, I've always wondered...just how many birds have you managed to shag over the years?" Beef asked and everyone but Ron leaned in to listen to the answer.

Ron just rolled his eyes, expecting to know exactly what the answer was, however much he didn't like it. Harry had shagged, was shagging and would continue to shag his little sister. Sticking his fingers in his ears and humming the tune to "Mad Muggles Are Going to Steal my Boots" wasn't going to help the situation but he certainly didn't want to hear any details.

Harry's skin suddenly turned an eerie shade of grey and Ron thought it looked like he was trying to fight off the effects of the Veritaserum. Harry turned his head away from Ron, with one last look of pleading and defeat in his eyes.

"Two," he whispered.

The rest of the squad groaned, including Quentin. "I thought it was going to be something good," lamented Roger. "You went all quiet and secretive there for a moment."

"What do you mean two?" Ron suddenly asked, after letting the information sink in for a brief second. In a split second, all of the attention was on him. Harry shook his head in response. "Ron, don't. Please. Just...don't," he begged.

"Fucking hell, Potter, have you cheated on my sister?" Ron yelled, standing up from his chair, his face and ears turning a bright shade of red. Quentin and Beef stepped in front of Ron, while Chaser and Roger simply looked on in amazement.

"No," said Harry firmly but remained in his seat.

"All right, that's enough," commanded Quentin. "Potter, go somewhere else. Somewhere far away from here until that shit is out of your system. King, take Potter." Chaser stood but Ron shook off Beef's grip on his arm.

"Well then who the bloody hell was it?" Ron asked, his tone softening. "Who was the other woman?" Ron knew he was being irrational. Harry had sworn under Veritaserum that he hadn't cheated on Ginny and that should have been good enough. Harry and Ginny had gotten back together only four months after the War had ended. So whoever this other woman was would have had to have been around during that time, before Harry and Ginny had been together or when Harry and Ginny had broken up, around the time they had left for the Horcrux hunt. Call him crazy but Ron was desperate to know who had been so special or so crap that his best mate hadn't even told him that he had shagged her.

Harry took on that look he had sported earlier, clearly trying desperately to fight off the Veritaserum. Harry visibly fought the potion's effect on moving his mouth. His face now white as a sheet, silently pleaded with everyone around and Ron certainly had seen that look before. Harry bowed his head, as to not look Ron directly in the eyes. Beef loosened his grip and during the few seconds Harry had struggled, Quentin had moved slightly to the left, out of the way.

"Hermione," Harry whispered. "It was Hermione."

The room went deathly quiet. "What did you just say?" Ron said, feeling like all the blood was slowing draining away from his body.

"Hermione," Harry repeated, bringing his eyes up to meet Ron's. Ron felt as if he had been punched in the guts. His head swam with the image of Hermione, his Hermione. He saw Hermione laughing, Hermione holding his hand as they walked through Hogsmeade; and then abruptly the images changed. Hermione was touching Harry, running her hands through his black hair. He saw Harry's hands run down Hermione's beautiful legs, stopping at that ticklish spot on her knees that only he was supposed to know about. He saw the Horcrux spring forth from the locket and recalled Harry telling him, 'she's like my sister'.

"Ron, I'm so sorry..."

Beef and Quentin held his arms while Chaser and Roger had their wands drawn in front of Harry. "Calm down Ron, it's not worth it," warned Chaser as Harry clutched his own wand.

"SORRY? You're fucking sorry?" screamed Ron, fighting against his captors, desperately wishing he had grabbed his wand. "You fucked my girlfriend, you fucked Hermione AND YOU'RE FUCKING SORRY?"

"Just hear me out, Ron, I can explain..."

"What the fuck are you going to explain, Harry? How the fuck do you explain this!" Ron roared, making Beef and Quentin cringe.

"Better get out of here, Potter," hissed Quentin. The entire department, plus more were now watching, unable to tear their eyes away. "Get the fuck out of here Potter, NOW, before Weasley does something he will regret."

Harry shook his head. "No, I don't want to go. I want to explain. Please Ron, if you would just listen to me..."

Ron summoned all his might and tore out of Beef and Quentin's grips and using his Auror stealth, bowled past Roger and Chaser and punched Harry in the face, breaking his glasses in the process.

"You fucking areshole," hissed Ron as Beef shouted "Stupefy!" simultaneously. Ron went flying across the room and landed against the bookshelves next to Robards' office. Harry grabbed his wand and wrestled out of Chaser's grip, running towards Ron. Harry's nose was bleeding uncontrollably. "Someone get the Medi-Witch on the third floor!" hollered Beef as he attempted to push Harry away from his target.

Disturbed by the commotion, Robards pushed open the door to his office, taking in the scene in front of him. "Ennervate," he hissed at Ron. "Potter, Weasley, my office NOW."

Ron stood shakily, trying to counter the effects of the Stunner. "Fuck you," he shouted at both Harry and Robards. He grabbed his wand, which had fallen beside him and tore out of the office, pushing past the small audience that had gathered in their department.

"Bloody hell," whispered Roger as he surveyed the scene in front of him. Resigned, Harry went into Robards' office.