Rather than celebrate with the rest of his team and his entire house, Ron hung back and watched. His team had just won the first game of the season under his leadership. He was the captain of the team. He designed all of their plays and strategies, though he had Harry's help a lot of the time. But nobody noticed his absence; he tried not to be bothered by that. Their attention was all riveted on two people: his sister, Ginny, and his best friend, Harry.
For once in his life, Ron didn't begrudge either of them their limelight. Ron was the leader of the team, and they won under his leadership, but it wasn't his leadership that won them this game. Ginny won them the game. Had she not caught the snitch when she did, the score would have continued to favor Slytherin, and it wouldn't have been long before a victory was outside of their reach. It was his leadership that put them in a position that could have easily led to their defeat.
He had let in eighteen goals. And his chasers had only managed to score eight. He couldn't blame them, though. He had taken away part of their team and ruined the rhythm that the three girls had been building up over the past couple months. He had underestimated Slytherin and should have lost the game. And he would have if his sister hadn't bailed him out on his best friend's broom.
The first practice after he'd kicked Harry off the team had been horrendous. After that the team had worked hard to adjust to the change he'd forced on them. Not that they'd had much of anything to say to him. He didn't know why they started trying in practice again, but he thanked his lucky stars that they had.
One evening this past week he'd been in the captain's office supposedly working on plays but in reality he was missing Harry, when he'd overheard some of the reserve players talking. The guy they'd been talking about had sounded like a bloody prat, it had taken a few minutes for him to figure out they were talking about him and how he'd treated Harry.
Ron was willing to confess that he probably shouldn't have thrown Harry off the team. He had already admitted as much. Not out loud, of course, but in his head. He knew he had made a mistake. He should have crawled on his hands and knees when he realized this and begged Harry to forgive him and rejoin the team, yet he hadn't. No, he'd decided it could wait until things blew over a bit, then admit that he might have been out of line, and everything could go back to the way it was. He'd made some pretty big mistakes before in his friendship with Harry and Harry had always forgiven him, so he wasn't that worried about it.
That's what he had been thinking for the past week. They would win the game despite Harry's absence, everyone would be in high spirits, it would be a perfect time to get it over with. It had sounded like a good plan at the time, but then again, anything that put it off until later probably would've sounded good at the time. Now that he was facing the prospect of actually having to go through with it, he was having second thoughts.
It didn't help that Harry had just saved his sister's life, and not for the first time. He was incredibly happy that Harry had saved Ginny, but it certainly made him feel worse about the situation. Now that the game was over and the pressure lifted, Ron couldn't help reflecting back on the argument that had led to his and Harry's estrangement. Harry had told him that he had to realize that some things were more important than Quidditch.
His sister's close call was a forceful reminder of what Hermione had been trying to tell him for two weeks now and what was at stake in the world right now. People were dying. There were attacks reported every morning in the Daily Prophet, and the entire castle was restless and feeling helpless. Ron knew, once again thanks to Hermione, that Harry's classes were a way for him to feel useful in the war, to feel like he was actually doing something. And if all the effort managed to save just one life, he knew that Harry would think it all worth the effort. Ron couldn't say he disagreed with that viewpoint.
Ron left the pitch and entered the changing rooms with mixed emotions. He was still a bit bothered by how he'd failed the team, and he also couldn't help but notice how much he missed a rousing chorus of "Weasley is Our King" being sung in his honor by the Gryffindor fans. But on the bright side they had won, he'd seen Malfoy being chewed out by Madam Hooch for what he'd done to Ginny, and after a quick apology he'd have his best friend back. With that thought in mind he decided he couldn't wait to get back to the tower, surely someone would see to making sure they had a bloody great party to celebrate the victory.
....
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