"I've researched the matter and I know we got off lightly. Especially Hermione and I since we owe him a life debt. He could've called it in at any time. He didn't and I don't think he ever will. He doesn't save lives to gather favors from the victims he saves. That's something the Headmaster would do. Not Harry." Ron looked as if he would deny her words. She knew he didn't like the thought of either girl owing a life debt to Harry. Or anyone really.
"We do owe him, Ron. Both Hermione and I had our lives saved by him at great personal risk to himself. You may have been with him when he saved her from that troll, Ron. But you know as well as I do, not only were you the reason she was there and at risk, but he was the reason you went to her rescue. Her life debt to him was confirmed when he saved me in the chamber while she was a stone statue in the infirmary. The two different acts combined into a single life debt because in both instances his life was in peril equal to or greater than her own. In the first, it was your action in levitating the club that felled the danger and in the second she was petrified when he wasn't present. But while you stayed safely at the bathroom door and behind a wall of fallen rocks, Harry was up front and in the face of the monster that threatened both Hermione and I. That's why the two acts combined into a single debt instead of a double. Understand?" Ron grimaced again but gave a slow nod showing he was at least thinking about it now.
"So maybe instead of being angry with him you should consider thanking him. He saved my life when Merlin knows he didn't have to. When everyone else, including that Headmaster you so respect, had written me off as dead."
She paused and tipped her head to one side. "You do know could have sent you straight to Azkaban since you very clearly did try to kill him with that Chamber of Secrets mess, don't you? At the very least, you could have crippled him for life by hitting him on the spine with that chunk of porcelain sink you used. People have been permanently crippled by a blow to the back before. And if the monster had been waiting at the bottom of the pipe, he could have died. No, he would've died. You would've killed him." Ron was wearing his bullhead expression so she continued on the topic. No matter what she had to get it through his head how very easily his action that day had nearly cost Harry his life. It was the reason for the rune on his forehead and Ron needed to admit it.
"Even if it wasn't, Ron he still could have died by your hand. If he came out of that pipe wrong and landed on his head he could have snapped his neck or crushed his skull. In either case, he would have died. Because Madam Pomfrey wasn't there to fix his injury. Nor could you have gotten him to her in time for her to save him. You would have killed him because people don't live through crushed skulls or snapped necks, Ron. Do you understand now?"
Ron had paled as she explained what his hotheaded snap decision could have resulted in for him. At the time he'd been angry and scared. Harry wanted to go get Snape because Snape knew a lot of spells and could probably save Ginny faster and more easily than they could without him. But Ron didn't trust Snape and Dumbledore had said to take Lockhart. And Ron was worried Ginny would die before they reached her. So when Harry opened the pipe, he picked up a broken piece of the sink and smacked him with it to knock him off balance. Harry fell into the pipe and the rest was history. He'd never thought about what could have happened. Because it didn't happen. Harry had been fine. Softly, Ginny said, "I saw the bruise you left on his back, Ron. It was very near his neck and very large. You came very close to killing him. Closer than I think you actually knew. Or would admit to since that rune on your forehead clearly says you did know." Ron gulped and squirmed some more.
"Instead, even though you'll wear that rune for the rest of your days, you're here. At Hogwarts. Getting the chance to finish your education. And when you're finished here, you'll get the chance to live your life as a free man. I'd say that's reason enough to thank him. To be grateful all you got was a rune on your forehead. Yet all I've heard from you is grumbling about how unfair it is you got branded."
"He was right, you know. In the Library. He said you've always been jealous of him for the scar on his forehead. Always felt it gives him an unfair advantage over you. Because people see it and instantly know who he is. Well, now you have your own mark. And people will see it and instantly know who you are, too. You no longer need to be jealous of his scar, Ron. Now you have your own claim to fame. What will you make of it, I wonder?" Ron sat there blinking as he considered this fresh point of view.
She spoke up again as she twiddled her quill between her fingers. "Also, kindly remember he's still our patron since our scholarships haven't been revoked. So get your grades up. Besides which you do realize you'll need decent grades on your Owls and Newts now that we can't rely on having access to Harry's vaults to pay our way through life, don't you?"
Ron snorted, ignoring what she said about having to work for his dinner when he graduated. On the one hand he knew he'd need to get a job when he finished school. But on the other hand that was still years away and he really didn't have anything he'd prefer to do with himself. A career counselor at a muggle school would've said he lacked direction. They'd have had him filling out different questionaires and taking tests to find a possible direction for himself. But Hogwarts didn't offer that for her students. Instead, he responded to the bit about their scholarships and being under Harry's patronage through them. "That's not his choice. Dumbledore says it's his decision who gets a scholarship and who doesn't."
"Bull," Ginny said bluntly. "In the first place, Dumbledore is only the Headmaster here Ron. This school is run by the School Board. Not the Headmaster. They are the ones that approve scholarship students. Not him. Yes he set them up but it's Harry's coin backing them, Ronald. Harry can pull the funding any time he wishes. No funding means no scholarship to offer. And that means it's not the Headmaster's choice at all. It's not even the School Board's. It's Harry's. And only Harry's."