"Merlin, Ronald. Do you ever clean up in here?"

Ron turned his head to look at his brother standing in the doorway to what was his very messy room. He sighed and smiled slightly, motioning for Charlie to come in. The latter raised an eyebrow, but walked inside, nearly tripping over the variety of objects that lay in his path. When he finally got to the bed, he slumped down on it and turned to his brother.

"Well? How goes it, ickle Ronnie?" he asked, in a slightly mocking voice. Ron scrunched up his face at the hated nickname and then gave a little laugh.

"I think you already know..." he replied, his voice trailing off as his expression changed.

"I do," Charlie nodded, "and what kind of brother wouldn't I be if I wasn't here for you at a time like this?"

Ron turned sharply to look at him. "You came here because me?"

"Of course!" Charlie spoke, in a cheerful tone, fishing around in his pocket for something. When he found it, he offered the little brown bag to his brother. "Here. Have one."

Ron peered into it to see an old childhood favourite. "Bertie Botts' Beans?" he asked, with some surprise. Charlie smiled in response and took out an off-white coloured bean himself. Ron sighed again and dipped his hand in, finding a violet bean.

"Ready? On three! One, two, three!" Charlie said, popping it in.

"I got grape," Ron said, still chewing. Charlie laughed. "Vanilla fudge. Guess we're both lucky today, huh?"

Ron looked away again. "Lucky? I suppose."

Charlie put a protective arm around him and shuffled closer.

"Listen up, Ronnie. And you have to, because I get to be bossy. Perks of being older. Plus, I came here from literally another country to tell you this," he began. Ron broke into a small smile at that.

"No witch or wizard, is worth...this," he said, gesturing around the room. "No one is worth your tears. And that Lavender Brown was a right-" he stopped himself for a moment, then continued, "hag, for doing what she did. Are you going to break over her?"

"I don't know," Ron replied, softly, still not meeting Charlie's eyes.

"Look here, Ron. I know right now it feels like she was everything. But you have to remind yourself she wasn't. You need to face the world again. Your team needs you, Your family needs you. Your friends need you. Will you let everyone down for her sake? Will you really give her that power over you?"

Ron took a deep breath. "I I had just imagined a perfect world and a happy family with the witch I loved..."

"I've heard people tell that what you imagine sometimes comes true. But that doesn't mean it'll be exactly as you planned it. You can find love again, you know. The world is made for exploration, after all."

The two sat in silence for a bit, while Ron processed everything.

Then, he spoke. "You're weird when you go all 'protective older brother' on me, you know that?"

Charlie laughed. "And don't you forget it. Now, let's clean up this mess before Mum has a fit, shall we?"

Notes: For the British Literature Challenge at The Golden Snitch. Prompts: Charlie Weasley, violet, Vanilla fudge, I've heard people tell that what you imagine sometimes comes true.

Also for the Through the Universe Challenge: Prompt: exploration

And for the Dialogue Wheel at HPFC. Prompt: "Merlin, Ronald. Do you ever clean up in here?"