𝑺𝑶𝑳𝑺𝑻𝑰𝑪𝑬 [𝑯𝑨𝑹𝑹𝒀 𝑷𝑶𝑻𝑻𝑬𝑹/𝑻𝑾𝑰𝑳𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻]

𝑇𝐻𝐸 𝑀𝐴𝑁 𝑊𝐻𝑂 𝑆𝑂𝐿𝐷 𝑇𝐻𝐸 𝑊𝑂𝑅𝐿𝐷

Gwen kept her face emotionless as her thoughts immediately went to Astoria. Though later she would regret thinking ill of her intern and friend, in that moment, she felt an eerie feeling as though she were truly alone in this world.

"Greengrass..." Gwen stated, as Ron nodded.

"We ran into each other in Australia--" Ron began, before taking a deep breath. "Well, I guess now I know she found me on purpose. I didn't recognize her at first. But she recognized me--obviously, now we know why--"

"Get to the point" Gwen insisted.

"Right--uh--well, we er--" Ron attempted, as he looked to Harry for help.

"She tricked him" Harry said, helping Ron.

"He can speak for himself" Gwen said, meeting Harry's green eyes. "If you think they're going to go easy on him when this goes to trial, you're mistaken. You're not going to be able to be there to hold his hand."

"Harry's right," Ron began once more. "She tricked me. She said she recognized me, said she was staying nearby. I didn't get it. I hardly remembered her from school, with her being a Slytherin and all. But she said she remembered me. We kept running into each other, making conversation, you know? Now, it was weird. I knew that. I didn't want her to figure out I was with--Well, who I was protecting. So I pretended I was staying there too, for traveling."

Gwen raised her eyebrow, exchanging looks with Harry as she wondered where this story was going.

"We spent some time together, it sounds silly saying it now but...I didn't realize how lonely I'd been. I'd been gone for so many years...it was only talking with Daphne that I realized how much time had passed..." Ron paused, as he took a breath and drank some water. His bruises were more pronounced now, as the blood had dried on his face. "We continued to see each other more often. We even...Well, we got together for some time."

"You and Daphne Greengrass?" Gwen asked, her mouth falling open as Harry nodded in agreement. "How--? How did you not think that was a trap?"

Ron glared at her, "Did I not just say I was lonely?"

"What could you have possibly bonded over?" Gwen asked him. "Her dislike for Muggle-Borns? Your Pure Blood status?"

"She wasn't like that!" Ron said, raising his voice. "At least not with me. She told me she had parted ways with her family, that she grew away from that--I know! I know it sounds stupid! But she was there for me! She was kind and she was patient! She made me...She made me believe life was worth living again..."

Ron's voice grew silent as he looked away from both of them. Gwen noticed him tense up, as though he were holding in a sob. Maybe before she would have felt for him, maybe before she would have comforted him. But whatever he felt, whatever heartbreak he was going through, did not release him from what he did.

"So that was it?" Gwen asked sharply. "You fell in love with Daphne Greengrass and you thought, Hey! Let's fuck over the government?"

"No, no that's not what we thought!" Ron growled, glaring at Gwen. "I didn't know any of this was going to happen!"

"Well what exactly did you think was going to happen when you started to leak secrets?" Gwen pestered, knowing if she riled him up enough he would give her more information. She had seen the personnel in Magical Law Enforcement do it multiple times during the War Trials. And it worked every time. "Did you think Greengrass just wasn't going to use them? Did you think no one was going to get hurt? Did you not think far enough to know this would ruin lives?"

"No! I just wanted to ruin YOUR life!"

Gwen kept her face emotionless as she was surprised to how well it worked. Though, she was surprised to hear it really had been all about her.