Something relaxed inside him, a lessening of the tension in his shoulders like he'd just removed a forty-pound pack from his back. He'd been so on guard, listening to the silence in his mind for any sense of another voice in there.
"Well..that's a," he exhaled sharply, an uneasy chuckle bubbling up as well, "that's a bloody relief. I was, I've been, watching. To make sure he's really gon--"
Ron stopped again. "But this isn't about me, not in that sense. It's about asking, begging if I have to, if you lot can forgive what I dragged you through these past weeks." He held up a hand before they could protest. "I know you've said it's not my fault, but that doesn't stop me from feeling that it was. So I've got to ask."