"You got an O in Astronomy?" Harry asked incredulously.
Ron nodded, still in a daze. He'd had his OWL scores for over a week now, and he'd waited until he'd actually seen Harry before revealing his scores. He hadn't been out of his daze for pretty much that whole week. "Yeah. Look." He shoved his OWL scores under Harry's nose.
"I can't see them from there you idiot," Harry said. He took the sheet off Ron and looked over it. "Wow. There it is in black and white. I'm proud of you, m'boy."
"Cheers Harry. And… parchment's yellow. Not white," Ron yawned. He stretched out over the sofa.
The summer holidays were almost over, only three days left, and Harry had only just arrived at Grimmauld Place, having been at the Dursley's for almost the entire holidays. Ron really didn't have a clue what Harry had been up to the entire time, but he didn't seem to be dwelling on Sirius's death at all, and wasn't too angry that he'd been stuck there for so long. He'd only yelled at Dumbledore, who brought him here, and Snape who had attempted to convince him that Occulumency lessons actually were a good idea. After a lot of shouting, he'd agreed. Ron was glad; Harry had been hard to deal with for the last year, and if he were calmer, it would be a lot easier not to want to smack him every time he spoke.
"Indeed," Harry said. He pushed his glasses up his nose. "So you got an O in Astronomy and Defence, an E in Transfigurations and Care of Magical Creatures, an A in Charms, Potions and Herbology?"
"Yeah," Ron agreed. "Oh, and I got an A in History of Magic and a D in Divination."
Harry laughed. "I got a pissing T in Divination. Making it up didn't work this time. Fred and George weren't joking. There are some retards that get 'Troll'."
Ron snorted and rolled his eyes. "You're not a retard, you twat. You got four O's, three E's, an A and a T. That ain't bad."
"Um, I suppose. Would have been better if I got one of those O's in Potions though. Snape, the jammy bastard won't let me in," Harry complained.
"Oh, that's shite. What do you reckon you're taking then? I reckon Defence, Charms, Astronomy, Care of Magical Creatures and I dunno… maybe Herbology. Nothing with too much writing," Ron decided.
"Not going for the Auror thing then?" Harry asked curiously.
Ron screwed up his nose. "Nah. I don't think so. I mean, I'd have to take Potions, and I didn't get the grade… and I dunno, I just changed my mind."
Harry nodded. "Umm," he agreed. "I don't know if I'll do it. I mean, Dumbledore said he'd try and get me in Potions, but it might not happen. If he does… I'll take Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, Herbology maybe… oh, and Defence obviously."
Ron laughed. "Obviously." Harry smiled. It was good to see Harry smile again. "So, um, what do you reckon Hermione will take? I mean she got all O's and when she last Owled she said she hadn't decided."
"I bet you two Sickles that she takes," Harry paused. "Um… OK, Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Arithmancy and… Ancient Runes."
"All right. If she doesn't, you give me two Sickles. If she does I'll give you it. I don't think she'll take Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. She'll want to take Defence."
Harry swore. "I forgot about that."
Ron sighed. "Ahh. Too late to back out now."
Harry sighed back. "Indeed. When's she coming?"
"Tomorrow. She only gets back from… Egypt… today-"
"Tunisia."
"Huh?"
"She's in Tunisia."
"Oh. Oops. Good job you told me that mate, she would have hit me if I asked her how Egypt was," Ron said gratefully.
"Why did I tell you? That would have been good for a laugh." Harry sighed. Ron hit him round the back of the head. "Hey, hey. Don't touch the merchandise." Harry patted his hair down. Not that it did much to help.
Ron snorted. He was unbelievably glad that Harry was back to being Harry. He'd missed him. Hermione was, you know… his best friend as well, but being with her a lot meant doing lots of homework, and being in the library. Being with Harry was getting detention, flying and punching Malfoy. You didn't have to be Hermione to tell which one Ron preferred the majority of the time.
Harry looked thoughtful. "What?" Ron asked.
"I was just thinking…"
"About?"
"How the hell did you get an O in Astronomy?" Harry asked. His eyes looked very round behind his bottle top glasses.
"Is it that hard to believe?" Ron asked. He knew Harry didn't mean it. It had taken him a long while to comprehend it as well. His mother had almost hyperventilated. Fred and George said it was just like him to get good grades in one of the most useless classes Hogwarts offered. Ron was glad he didn't do well in Divination in that case. He'd have gotten a hell of a lot of stick for that.
"Nah it's just… Astronomy?"
"I know. It's just…." His ears went red. "Hermione alphabetised all my notes, and you know, Astronomy was at the top. I only ever did an hour of revising, I can't concentrate for shite, so… err… I revised Astronomy like, every day."
Harry looked at him for a minute. Ron could see him biting the side of his mouth, trying to hold in laughter. It didn't work. Harry laughed, almost falling off his seat. Ron rolled his eyes. This summer was turning out to be great. He hoped that this year would be just as good. But he knew their luck. Something would happen. It always did.
88—
"It's bloody well raining."
"Oh yeah, would you look at that? That's what that water falling out the sky is called these days," Harry yawned. He flicked a page in Quidditch through the Ages. That book would never get boring.
"Where's Hermione gone?" Ron asked. They were on the Hogwarts Express. Hermione had come to Grimmauld Place and they'd had a fun few days together. Hermione had lectured them at great length about her trip to Tunisia, and neither Ron nor Hermione had spoken a word about Sirius to Harry, preferring to let sleeping dogs lie. Hermione told him that dogs never slept for long. Ron said he'd try and keep this dog asleep for as long as possible, until it was ready to wakeup. Then he got confused with his analogies, and plainly told Hermione that when Harry wanted to talk about it, he'd be there for Harry to yell at, cry at, even hit as long as it wasn't in the face, or too hard full stop.
"Went to see Ginny and Neville. You were asleep you lazy git."
Ron snorted his agreement and sat up. The door slid open. Hermione walked through.
"Oh," she said, looking down at Ron. "You're awake."
Ron put on a face of mock surprise. "Am I really? Christ, so I am."
Harry laughed, but trailed off at Hermione's cool look. "Er… what's that?" Harry asked her, trying to distract her.
"Daily Prophet," she said. She sat down primly next to Harry. "Headline reading, 'Massacre in Merseyside'. Death Eaters struck last night. Did… did you feel anything?"
Harry looked at his shoes. Ron looked surprised. He hadn't heard Harry having any nightmares last night. At Hogwarts he always did. But… that was because of the charm that Hermione had spelled their beds with… Harry had been suffering last night, and he'd been snoring away, dreaming about Crookshanks eating the Giant Squid.
"Oh, Harry…" Hermione said sympathetically. "You really should…"
"I know!" he yelled suddenly. "I know. I know, I know. I have to take my pissing Occulumency lessons, I can't let that happen again…" he trailed off quietly, drawing his legs to his body. He buried his head in his knees.
Hermione bit her lip and looked at Ron. Ron shrugged. He moved over to sit on Harry's other side. Awkwardly, he put his arm around Harry, who shuffled over slightly and rested his head on Ron's shoulder. Ron decided he'd ignore the red around Harry's eyes and the tear tracks down his face. Hermione smiled slightly, happy to see her boys so nice to each other. If she was honest, she didn't expect it too last long, they were teenage boys after all, but it was lovely. She moved over and curled up next to Harry, kissing his forehead and holding his hand. They fell asleep to the soft lull of the train.
An hour or so later, the train came lurching to a halt. Ron woke up suddenly. He saw the other students wandering out of their compartments, to the carriages out side.
"Shite!" he yelled. He jumped up, and Harry fell off the seat with a thud. Hermione woke up and glanced around, looking worried.
"What?" she asked, helping Harry up. He scowled at Ron. Ron smiled at him weakly.
"We fell asleep. The train has stopped, we aren't changed or anything," Ron said, riffling through his bag. He pulled his jumper off and slid his arms into his robes. Harry swore loudly and did the same. Ron glanced at Harry, and was sure he saw a bruise or something when his t-shirt slid up. He shook his head. Hermione unbuttoned her cardigan and put it in her bag. She slid her robes on as well. Ron drew his eyes away from her chest. For some reason, it felt wrong looking at Hermione's chest. It hadn't been a problem before, but now it just felt… practically like incest.
"Ready?" Ron asked. He picked up his bag, and looked around. Harry was ready and Hermione only had a couple of buttons – yep, they were ready. The Owls, broomsticks and their main trunks were in storage at the back of the train. Ron didn't have a clue how it got to Hogwarts. He didn't care either; all he cared about was that it got there in one piece. If he had to guess he'd say that someone – maybe Hagrid, moved it to the carriages, and then it got taken with the students.
"Yes," Hermione said. She picked up Crookshanks and swung her bag over her shoulder, and walked quickly out the door, following the last stragglers of students.
"Alright 'Arry?" Hagrid yelled, when they came in range of the lake, and the carriages. "An' Ron and 'Ermione as well. Had a good summ'r?"
"Yeah thanks Hagrid, it wasn't as bad as I thought, you know?" Harry yelled. "You?"
"Aye, can't complain. Spent a whil' wiv Olympe, and trainin' Grawp o' course," Hagrid boomed.
"Oh yeah." Harry grinned. "How is old Grawp then?"
"He's fantastic. Bin missin' you 'Ermione!" Hagrid laughed. He held onto a boat, letting some tiny First Years on it.
Hermione smiled in a very sickly sweet way. "We should find a carriage Hagrid," she said.
"O'," he said. "Yeah, I s'pose. There's one a' the back that's only got your mate Longbottom in. I think he was waitin' fer ya."
With that, they said their good byes, and went looking for Neville. He wasn't hard to find. They got in letting the horse-less carriages drive them up to the castle. When they got out, Ron noticed Harry patting thin air. Threstrals, he supposed. Well, they had to be unless Hogwarts had become home to more invisible creatures.
"All right Harry?" he said. It was very disconcerting to be next to them, knowing they were there, but not being able to see them. He moved away.
"Umm," Harry said. He took a deep breath and picked up his bag. "Let's go then," he said in a fake bright voice. Ron wasn't convinced. He didn't think he was supposed to be though. He let it go.
"Yeah. Hermione?" Ron called.
"Yes… just… wait… there, got him!" Hermione said, sounding very flustered. She climbed out of the carriage, followed by a very contrite looking Neville, holding Trevor right. "Daft toad," she muttered as she stalked past Ron and Harry. They just smiled at her, and followed her up to the castle. They were used to Hermione's eccentricities by now.
"I'm hungry," Ron declared. The ickle First Years were being Sorted. There wasn't anyone Ron recognised, and the ones that had been Sorted into Gryffindor so far looked like a decent lot. All scared stiff of Harry of course. Not that it helped that he looked as if he was in cloud cookoo land.
"You're always hungry," Hermione said absently, as she watched Levine, Emily be Sorted into Ravenclaw. "It won't be long now though," she said as an afterthought.
Ron moaned and let his head fall on the table, shaking Harry out of his daze.
"Oh," Harry said. "It started?"
"Umm," Ron agreed, voice muffled by the table. The Sorting carried on, ending with four Gryffindor boys and five Gryffindor girls joining them at the table. As soon as Dumbledore finished his speeches, introducing the new Defence teacher, Nymphadora Tonks, Hermione stood up, dragging Ron as well. She was immensely happy that they were the eldest Prefects now. Seventh Years weren't permitted to carry on, seen as they had extremely important exams, only the Head Boy and Girl.
"Welcome to Gryffindor, I am Sixth Year Gryffindor Prefect, Hermione Granger, and this is Ronald Weasley. The Fifth Year Prefects are Ginny Weasley and Colin Creevey. As Professor Dumbledore said, the Head Boy is Joseph Young of Hufflepuff, and the Head Girl is… Cho Chang of Ravenclaw. If you have any problems, please talk to any of us. Thank you," Hermione said proudly. Beside her, Ron rolled his eyes, and plonked back into his seat, immediately attacking the bowl of mashed potatoes in front of him.
"Seamus," Ron heard Harry say. "All right?"
"Aye," Seamus said. "Had a half decent summer this year mate. And how about you?" Ron was suddenly interested in the conversation. He looked up, shoving a forkful of potato into his mouth.
Harry shrugged. "Weren't too bad to be honest. I was at the Muggles for ages, but it wasn't too bad. Then I was with Ron for the last week." That wasn't anything Ron didn't know.
"Aahh," Seamus said. Ron blocked out the rest of any conversations to be had. He had eating to be doing.
88—
The lads in Gryffindor had a surprisingly quiet first night back. Harry went and shut himself in his bed as soon as he got up there, Ron suspected he was still on a bit of an emotional high after the train ride. Dean and Seamus both sat up, and unpacked their trunks – which for both of them meant throwing all of their things over the room, making it look, as Ron's mother would say, 'a bomb site'. Neville, who had left his Mimbulus mimbletonia in the back of the train, watered it, and began to take out his books on the rather gross looking plant. Ron unpacked the most important things he owned; his Cleensweep, his poster of the Weird Sisters and Flying with The Cannons. He grabbed his wand, muttering a spell to keep the poster on the wall. It fell off. He frowned at it, and said the spell again. It stayed on this time. He looked at it once, before climbing into his bed, and pulling on his pyjamas. It wasn't long before he fell asleep.
He woke up when he realised he was being hit round the head with a pillow. "Piss off Harry," he muttered, turning over.
"Wake up," Harry sang. "Wake up, wake up, wake up…."
Ron grabbed his own pillow, smacking Harry. He fell backwards onto his own bed. Needless to say, there were no pillows left untouched by the time the five boys made it down to breakfast.
"McGonagall has been," Hermione said reproachfully. She handed each of the boys a sheet of parchment as they sat down. "Harry, you have a feather in your hair." Ron snorted and blew it out. It landed in Hermione's porridge.
"Ron please kill me," Harry said blandly. "I have double Potions first. Please. Just… kill me now."
"You got in!" Hermione exclaimed. "Great, I've got someone to sit next to now."
"Umm," Harry said. "What you got Ron?"
Ron sighed and looked at his timetable. Then he grinned. "I have a free lesson."
Harry's jaw fell open. "That is so unfair. I'm sitting in Potions and you get to have a lie in."
"No he doesn't," Hermione cut in. "Professor McGonagall said, when you were still in bed, that during free lessons we either have to be ill, or with another teacher, or in the library. And no, Harry, this is magic, she will be able to tell." Harry shut his mouth. "Don't pout. And we have to go to Potions."
"Bye, Hermione. Good luck, Harry," Ron said gleefully.
Harry mumbled his thanks. Hermione waved. They left the Great Hall.
Ron turned to Neville. "What you got Neville'?"
"Charms," he said.
"Care of Magical Creatures," Seamus told him, and Dean nodded.
"But I haven't got that 'til tomorrow," Ron said, sounding confused.
"More than one class," Dean told him. "Come on Seam, we're going to be late."
"So I'm going to be on my own?" Ron moaned. "I reckon I'd rather be in Potions, laughing at Harry getting yelled at."
"You're mad," Neville said.
"Crap," Ron said, letting his forehead hit the table. It was going to be a long first two lessons.
88—
Ron looked around the Astronomy Tower. Dinner had just finished, and he still had another lesson to do. He hadn't caught Harry or Hermione all day, only a minute or two at lunch before they had to scurry off to another class. Astronomy, obviously, had to be at night, or there was nothing for them to look at. It was a small group. Very small. There was him, the only Gryffindor, two Hufflepuffs, Sally Anne Perks and Megan Jones, two Ravenclaws, Kevin Entwistle and Padma Patil and the only Slytherin, Pansy Parkinson. Inevitably, he was partnered with Pansy.
"Weasley," she said as she sat down next to him.
"Parkinson," he said back warily.
"This is shite," Ron muttered. He poked his textbook with his wand. It flickered blue before it faded back to its normal reddish colour.
"God yes," she muttered back. "Look, Weasley, I don't want to be partnered with you. But I am. I want to do well in this class, so we're going to have to agree to be… some semblance of decent to each other. Is that all right?" she asked.
Ron nodded. "Er… yeah. I was going to suggest something like that too." He had planned nothing of the sort.
"Right," Professor Sinistra said. "Let's begin…"
"Weasley," Pansy said as she packed away her telescope at the end of the lesson.
"Er…" Ron said. He scratched the back of his neck.
Pansy rolled her eyes. "Tonight was good. Partner again tomorrow?"
Ron hesitated. "Yeah. OK." She nodded, picked up her bag and left, walking briskly. Ron stood, watching her walk away. Slightly confused, he made his way back to Gryffindor.
When he got back, Harry and Hermione were sitting in front of the fire, Potions books out. Hermione was lecturing Harry about something. Harry was rubbing the bridge of his nose and for all intents and purposes, was ignoring her. The portrait hole shut, and Harry looked up sharply.
"Ron!" Harry said. He looked relieved. Ron smiled and sat himself on a cushion next to him. "How was Astronomy?"
"Er…" Ron said. He screwed up his nose. "Not too bad. There's only eight of us."
Harry nodded. "Yeah, same in Potions. Just gives Snape more of a chance to notice me and, you know, put Gryffindor in minus points."
"How many?"
"Twenty five. And detention tomorrow," Harry said gloomily. He stabbed his book with his quill.
Ron winced. "What did you do?"
"He called him a greasy git," Hermione said. "He lost his temper and stormed out five minutes before the end. Snape called him back, Harry ignored him, and got a note to say he had detention tomorrow."
Ron laughed, and Harry smirked. "He so had it coming," Harry muttered. Hermione rolled her eyes, and turned her attention back to the book.
"What did you do in Astronomy then?" Harry asked.
Ron shrugged. "Not much. We tried to find Mars with the telescopes, and we went through stuff about it. And Sinistra got all excited because we could see Canis Major really well. Oh. Guess who my partner is?"
"Not a clue," Harry said. "Guess mine."
"Pansy," Ron said. "She's not been too bad so far. Told me off a few times for laughing at 'Uranus' but… how can you not? I'd say, seen as Snape's a sadistic bastard, you got Malfoy for a partner."
Harry nodded. "Yeah. Daft bastard made me de-claw rats for the potion." Harry shuddered. "I did it. But then Malfoy moaned at me, so I threw the rat at him, then… you know the rest really."
Ron snorted. "Sounds fun."
"Indeed," Harry said, and went back to his Potions text.
88—
"Tell me you're joking," Ron said. He was in a complete state of shock. This was a complete disaster; there was no way that they were going to recover from this. It was literally the worst thing that could happen. Ever.
Harry sighed apologetically. Then grinned. Ron's eyes widened, and then the two boys found themselves wrestling on the floor. Harry came out on top, with only a bloody lip for his troubles. "I am so joking."
"Bastard," Ron said. "Thank God, though, I mean… if you hadn't. I mean, Ginny's all right and that, but you're like a thousand times better."
Harry laughed. "Cheers." He pulled himself up, Ron rolling out underneath him, and climbing on the Common Room couch. "My lip hurts."
Ron winced. "Yeah, sorry about that. Heat of the moment, you know? Served you right though – how could you joke about not being allowed to play Seeker this year? We'd bomb! And Angelina would kill you!"
Harry attempted to look at his lip. "I know. I feared for my life last year when I had all those detentions. It was like a massacre. She was on the war path." Harry shivered.
Quidditch Season was about to start, it was the middle of October, and teams were allowed to begin to book the pitch for practise. This year was a good year. None of the players had left, and Harry was back, so they didn't have to hold try-outs; just go straight into practising. Ron couldn't wait.
School had been going all right, and Ron hadn't heard anything of Voldemort, apart from a lone attack at the beginning of the year. It had taken Harry a lot to accept it wasn't his fault. Ron didn't quite understand why Harry thought it was fault in the first place. But he realised that if Harry wanted to share, eventually he would.
But now he had Astronomy. He said good bye to Harry, who was now poking his lip with his wand, looking in the mirror. He hadn't a clue where Hermione was. Library probably.
"Parkinson," he greeted Pansy as he entered the Astronomy Tower. She was looking through her telescope at the night sky. She turned, her dark fringe swinging in front of her blue eyes.
"Weasley," she said, nodding. She put her eye back to the telescope. "Had a good day?"
Ron was a bit surprised. He always was whenever she said anything nice, and it also surprised him that she was nice to him more often than not. It was always laced with sarcasm and humour, but still… he knew she was at least partially interested, because if she wasn't, she wouldn't talk to him at all.
"Yeah thanks. Gave Harry a bloody lip. Lost Hermione. 'Twas good. Er… you?" Ron told her. He stood over her and peered at the sky.
Pansy turned around, looking amused. "What did he do?"
"Being a twat. He's good at it. He told me that he hadn't been allowed back on the Quidditch team, but he had… and then… you know," Ron laughed. He rubbed a stain off the telescope.
Pansy chuckled. "Potter's back hey? Can't say it's a surprise really. My day was a normal Monday. Draco was moaning about being paired with Potter in Potions, even if he does think it's funny when Potter fucks it all up."
Ron snorted. "How he got in Potions is beyond me." Pansy laughed. She put her eye back to the telescope. It was a magically amplified one, otherwise they wouldn't be able to see half of the constellations. She fiddled with the focusing wheel, turned the telescope around slightly, and gasped.
"Shite," she said. "I think I can see Pluto. I didn't think that was possible this far south. Have a look."
"Blimey," Ron said, and he stuck his eye to the lens. "Bloody hell, it is as well. That's wicked." He moved away, and Pansy stood back there, looking through it. Ron stood right behind her. They stood like that for a few minutes, close together, looking at the sky. Then, Pansy stood up, and turned around. Ron suddenly noticed how much shorter she was than he, how dark her hair was, and that her blue eyes were rimmed with green.
"There was a cloud… or something…in the way," Pansy said. Was it Ron, or did her voice sound a bit deeper and huskier than normal? Ron decided it was him.
"Hello class!" Professor Sinistra interrupted. Ron blinked and turned away, his ears going red. Pansy stood there, biting her lip, contemplatively watching Ron. They didn't speak much for the rest of the lesson, just stood in companionable silence. Ron decided it was nice.
88—
"Hello, Ron," Hermione said as he entered the Common Room. "Did you have a good lesson?" She stroked Crookshanks, and he purred loudly.
"Er…" Ron said. He sat down on the couch next to her, dropping his bag on the floor. "Yeah. I reckon so."
"You 'reckon'?" Hermione asked. She flicked her hair back from her eyes.
"Um," Ron agreed. "I dunno… it was…" He shrugged. He could just feel his ears going red.
"Oh," Hermione said. Ron could hear all the implied questions in her voice. He decided to feign ignorance, and ignore them.
"Where's Harry?" Ron asked, scratching his neck.
"God knows," Hermione said. She sounded most annoyed and disapproving. Ron took that to mean Harry wasn't at the library. "I haven't seen his at about this time for weeks." She sounded accusing now. Ron felt the urge to protect himself. From Crookshanks, who had just jumped on his knee, as well as Hermione.
"Hey, hey, don't look at me," he said, holding up his hands. "Now I think about it, neither have I, not since like the second week or term. Except for… er… I dunno. Blimey. He's good at this," Ron said. He tried to hide the awe in his voice. Hermione wouldn't like it.
"Hmm…" she said, disapprovingly. "Well, if you're going to keep secrets, I suppose he can too. Just be warned; I will find out. No exceptions."
Ron felt his ears going red again. He wasn't hiding anything. Much. No, there was nothing there. Yet. No. There was just nothing there. Hermione sighed, and smiled a smile Ron didn't understand. She stood up.
"Good night Ronald," she said, and walked up to her dorm. Ron sat up thinking for a long while. Harry still didn't return. Ron decided the 'when he's ready, he'll talk' rule was best used here. It made everything simpler.
88—
"Oh," Hermione said happily. She'd just received a letter from her parents. "My parents will be home for Christmas. My father had a meeting in France on the 23rd, and they couldn't get home," she explained. "But it's been cancelled. Oh, good."
Ron mumbled something around his mouthful of toast. He waved his letter as well. He swallowed. "Yeah, I'm going home too. Harry, you want to come?"
Harry looked up from his Potions text. Ron noticed he'd been reading it a lot lately. "Er… I dunno," he said. He hastened to explain when he saw Ron's crestfallen expression. "I mean, I'd love to but… er… you know it's not up to me. I'll ask Dumbledore later. Thanks," he added belatedly.
Ron nodded his mouth already full again. "'s'OK." He was distracted looking at someone… no that clock over the Slytherin table.
Harry nodded and turned back to his book.
Hermione frowned. Something was wrong. She'd never known the lads to be this distracted over anything. Only Harry with Cho. No… could it be? Ron and Harry both liked someone? Ron; someone in Slytherin? Harry; someone good at Potions? When she really thought about it, there were very few possibilities. Which one was right was a different question entirely. She wasn't sure if she'd like any of the answers. She hoped she'd be proved wrong.
88—
Ron knew that Pansy was in his Charms class; he wasn't blind. Bt they didn't usually speak, and she sat all the way over on the other side of the classroom. He sat with Harry and Hermione, with a couple of Ravenclaws. Pansy sat with Bulstrode, Moon and Malfoy. Hermione was most disapproving, saying that House unity would never happen at this rate. Apparently Flitwick had the same idea.
"Choose a partner," he squeaked. He stood tall on his stool. Ron poked Harry with his wand. Hermione smiled at the Hufflepuff sitting next to her, Wayne Hopkins. "Different house partners please," he added.
Ron groaned. There was a shadow in front of their desk. He looked up. "Potter?" Malfoy said. Ron noticed a quirk of his lips. Harry sighed and smiled.
"Go on then. See you later, Ron," Harry said and stood up, following Malfoy back to his seat, kicking him in the shin as he did so. Ron was very confused. Someone sat next to him.
"Ron," Pansy greeted him, twirling his wand her fingers.
"All right Pansy?" Ron said. He took his wand off her.
She nodded. "I am indeed. You?"
He scratched his neck. "Er… yeah, thanks. What's this with Harry and Malfoy?" he asked.
Pansy sighed. "I don't know," she said thoughtfully. "They're not friends or anything, they still call each other names and argue. But... they're only mucking around now. There's no animosity behind it. Maybe they are becoming friends. Draco doesn't say much. He's not around much in the evenings and we don't have many classes together now. He's with Potter a lot."
"Umm…" Ron said. The part about Malfoy not being around much in the evenings stuck in his mind.
"Please turn to page 23," Flitwick said, waving his textbook. It was almost as big as him, and he had difficulty holding it up. "Please practise the Protean Charm with your partner, on the sheet of paper on your desks."
Ron heard Hermione squeal happily next to Pansy. He smiled at the Slytherin. "This shouldn't be too hard," Ron said. "I did this a couple of times last year."
"Really?" she asked. "When?"
"Er…" Ron said. His ears started to go red. "Well…"
Pansy looked at him frostily. "Look, Weasley, if it's little Gryffindor things I don't mind. It's nothing." She looked away from him. Ron wondered what he'd done wrong. Then he wondered why he cared.
"No! No," Ron said. "It's… no. You know the DA last year?" She nodded. Ron continued, "We used the Protean Charm on coins to change the numbers around the edge so that members would know when the meetings were."
Pansy looked impressed. "Wow. That's quite cool. Granger's idea I presume?"
Ron laughed. "Yeah, of course it was. Harry and me are just the brawn. She's the brains."
Pansy smiled. "Bless. Shall we start then?"
Ron looked around. Harry and Malfoy were arguing, and both looked completely at ease, and as if they were enjoying it. Hermione and Hopkins were already done. "Yeah. Ladies first?"
"Thanks." She smiled, and blushed. She brushed her hair behind her ear. Ron felt his heart in his mouth. His mouth went dry. He was in trouble now. There were butterflies in his stomach. He fancied Pansy Parkinson. When the hell had that happened? He'd be buggered if he knew.
Once the realisation had happened, Ron started to see Pansy everywhere. She was always facing him at breakfast, in his Charms class, in his Astronomy class, in between his other classes, at dinner, and other random times.
He'd been flying around with Harry when he'd seen her last. She'd been on the floor with Malfoy, and another couple of Slytherins. Both he and Harry landed. Harry immediately began to talk to Malfoy, and Ron had smiled at Pansy. The lad next to her threw his arm around her shoulder and scowled at him. Something in Ron's heart disappeared. Pansy smiled apologetically at him, and they'd walked up to the castle, just as the heavens opened. Pansy, Blaise, the lad she was with, and Tracy Moon, walked up to the castle. Blaise took Pansy's hand and even from this distance Ron saw her squeeze it. He heard the doors to the broom shed close, and when he turned around Harry and Malfoy had disappeared. Ron stood there, broomstick laying on the ground, and he looked at the sky.
Once he realised Pansy had a boyfriend, he started seeing them everywhere. They spoke politely enough in Astronomy still, and occasionally partnered in Charms. It wasn't the same. Ron doubted it ever would be.
88—
Ron sat gloomily at the breakfast table. He let the milk drain off his spoon, watching it splash, then ate the cereal. He didn't like milk very much, but cereal wasn't right with out it. This was the approximate depth of Ron's thoughts for the last three weeks. Anything more required too much effort and analysis, and the result of him hitting someone. Probably Harry, as he was the only person he knew that didn't hit back too hard. He'd hoped that the Christmas holidays would have dampened his crush – Harry hadn't been able to come after all and was stuck here with a few 1st Year Hufflepuffs and bloody Malfoy. All the holidays had done had made Ron miss Astronomy.
He could feel Hermione's gaze on him, watching him, waiting for him to look up so she could have a go at him. He looked up. Best to get it over with.
Hermione was looking at him with what looked like sympathy. It had to be a trick. Hermione didn't do sympathetic very well, or very often.
"Ron, tell me what's wrong," she said softly. She'd even put her book down. Ron realised she was serious.
He glanced at Harry, who gave him a smile and a nod. "Nothing," he said. "Don't be daft. I'm fine."
Harry snorted and coughed. "Bull shit." Hermione nodded.
"Tell me who she is so I can go and knock some sense into her," Hermione said seriously. "She's not worth it, Ron."
Ron shuffled uncomfortably. "There's no girl," he said.
"Yes there is," Hermione said. "Harry, don't look so smug. You want to tell me who yours is so I have some notice?"
"Er…" Harry said. "You know what, you're all right there Hermione. I'm late for er… I'll go and see Dumbledore. Good luck Ron. Fill me in later," Harry muttered, and walked off quickly.
"Bastard," Ron shouted after him.
Hermione sighed and turned back. "Do you want to tell me? I'll help."
"If you promise not to tell that tosser," Ron said meanly.
"OK," she agreed. "Only if you promise to tell him."
Ron hesitated. "Nah you tell him, he won't be too mean to you."
Hermione nodded. "Right…"
"Well you see," Ron started, "It's like this. You know Pansy Parkinson…"
88—
After talking to Hermione, Ron did feel better about it. She was right, and Ron hated it when she was right, even if it did happen quite often. Too often, but that was beside the point really.
She'd told him that maybe Pansy had liked him for a while, and maybe things could have worked out between them for a while. But it hadn't. If it was meant to be, eventually they'd be together, if they weren't they'd just be friends. She told him not to give up their friendship, as she hadn't seen Ron that happy for a while, but to get over his crush, and do the best he could.
Ron didn't know how easy this was going to be, or if he could do it at all, but the best he could do was try, wasn't it?
"All right Ron?" Harry said. He sank into a comfy chair, looking a bit uncomfortable.
"Yeah," Ron said heartily, in a voice he didn't recognise as his own. "Has er… Hermione spoken to you?" he asked.
Harry looked confused and screwed up his nose. "Oh yeah, tough call there mate. You'll have better luck next time," Harry said consolingly.
"Er… yeah," Ron said, sounding a bit puzzled. "You don't mind that it was Pansy?"
Harry laughed. "Nah. Believe me when I say I know you can't help who you fancy. She seemed all right when she was with you," Harry said. He propped a cushion behind his back.
"Don't mind she was a Slytherin then?" Ron asked. It had bothered him at first. He would be surprised if it hadn't bothered Harry as well. Slytherins and Gryffindors didn't mix. It was a well known fact, almost like an unwritten rule.
"Nah," Harry said. He shrugged. "I mean it used to but… you know, you get over stuff like that don't you? It's all kids play, and it seems a bit pointless after a while. Course some people don't get over it do they?"
"Yeah," Ron agreed whole-heartedly. "Like Malfoy, he's still a tosser. Always will be. Just like his bastard of a father."
Harry didn't say anything.
"What?" Ron asked. "Did I say something?"
Harry shrugged. "I dunno. Malfoy I mean. He's a tosser all right, but he's not his father is he?" Ron suspected there was some deep rooted meaning that Harry was half expecting him to understand. "For all we know he might be Death Eater scum but… I reckon he deserves the chance not to be."
"Is that why you're being all chummy with him then?" Ron asked sounding a bit put out.
"Chummy? That's me and Malfoy," Harry laughed. "Nah, we're not. I'm just there enough so he knows he's got another choice if he ever has to make it."
"And if he doesn't?"
"Up to him isn't it?" Harry sighed. "As much as I'd like everyone on Dumbledore's side, I've sort of accepted I can't save everyone. But I'm damn well gonna try and save as many people as possible."
88—
The weeks flew by after that. Ron was still hurting over Pansy, but not as much. He still spoke to her, and saw that she was happy with Blaise, and he tried to be as happy as he could for them. While planning 99 ways to kill Blaise in his head of course. Harry was still as elusive as he had been all year, sometimes there, but most of the time not. Hermione was the same. She spent more time than was healthy in the company of books, and a bit more than Ron liked with her Charms partner, Wayne Hopkins. Apparently they weren't "together" as it was just too complicated, with exams and he wasn't over his ex. Ron hadn't the heart to tell her he was just messing her about. Maybe it was true. But he was a lad too, he knew the language better than Hermione ever could hope to.
Ron slowly wandered up the steps to Astronomy. Today wasn't a good day. He had days where he was very much still in lust with Pansy, and days where he was fine. His bag dragged behind him, clanging up the stone steps.
"All right Pansy?" he said as he opened the door. He soon found her clinging to him, arms round his neck. "Er…" he said.
"Shut up, Ron," she said into his shoulder.
Ron didn't say anything, and just put her arms awkwardly around her and hugged her. He wasn't going to protest. She pulled away a couple of minutes later.
"All right?" Ron said.
She nodded and sniffed. "I'm fine. I am. It's just… I broke up with Blaise. Not that I'm crying over him… I had something in my eye," she protested fiercely.
Ron smiled wryly. "Yeah? Want to tell me what happened?" Ron wondered how it had come to this. He was the girl he fancied's shoulder to cry on when she was moaning about her ex.
"He was mucking me about," she said decisively. "I won't take that from anyone. That's a thing with going out with a Slytherin. We look out for ourselves, we have to. Didn't care what he did to me, as long as he was happy. Be a long time before I trust another Slytherin lad, believe me. Draco's got the right idea," she muttered.
"Huh?" Ron said.
She shook her head. "Never mind. Shall we get on with this then?" she asked, smiling brightly. And just like that, thought Ron, things would be how they were before.
88—
"You're in a better mood," Hermione observed a week or so later.
"Am I?" Ron asked, cramming a chocolate frog in his mouth. "Hadn't noticed." They both knew it was a blatant lie.
"Nothing to do with Parkinson breaking up with Zabini then?" she asked, still perusing her book carefully.
Ron went a bit red. "Er… no. No, course not. Dunno what you're chatting 'bout Hermione."
"Hmmm…" she said. "Seen Harry lately?"
Ron snorted. "Course not. Daft git is always training or with his secret girl, isn't he?"
"Hmmm…" Hermione said.
88—
"Your Mum," Harry declared, "is my favourite person. Ever." He crammed another part of his chocolate Easter Egg in his mouth.
Ron nodded his agreement, but his words were muffled by his full mouth. Hermione's egg was still unwrapped, sitting, looking perfect in its pretty paper.
Another owl flew over the table and landed in front of Ron. He swallowed his chocolate and took the package. "It's an egg," he said.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Ten points to Mr Weasley for stating the obvious."
"Piss off," Ron said. He undid the card and read it to himself.
'Ron, a thank you for the help you've been recently. I really appreciate it. It took all my inner Hufflepuffness to send this, and all my Gryffindorishness as well. See you in Astronomy, Pansy xx.'
Ron passed the note to Harry. "I'd say you're well in there mate," he said.
Ron nodded, and his ears went red. "Er… right. Didn't get anything off your girl then?"
Harry laughed, and Hermione looked amused. Ron wondered what he'd said. "No," Harry replied. "I did. Gave it to me yesterday. I'll show you it later."
"Are you going to give this up and tell us who it is?" Ron asked bluntly.
Harry shook his head. "Nope. I don't think you could handle it. Almost gave myself a heart attack."
"Right," said Ron slightly miffed. He'd be buggered if he understood. Stupid Harry. He noticed a figure stand from the Slytherin table. Ron looked over straight away. So did Harry. Pansy picked up her bag, and swung it over her shoulder. Malfoy walked straight out, and Ron noticed Harry roll his eyes as well as Pansy. She glanced at Ron and smiled in the corner of her mouth. Ron raised a hand, and she looked down, still smiling. Ron thought his heart was going to explode as he watched her walk out the hall. Ron had never noticed someone's hair shining before. He did now.
Ron arrived early for Astronomy. He told himself it wasn't so he could talk to Pansy, but he knew it was really. Plus Hermione was with her Hufflepuff, and Harry was… fuck knows where Harry was, but he wasn't with Ron in the Common Room.
"All right, Pans?" he said as he entered the room. He chucked his bag on the floor.
"Yes, thanks, Ron. You OK?" she asked back. She stood a few steps closer.
Ron ruffled his hair. "Yeah, I'm great thanks. Er… thanks for the egg. It was really nice."
Pansy nodded. "That's OK. You've already eaten it?" she teased.
Ron blushed. "Er… yeah."
Pansy laughed and nodded. Ron hesitated and held out his arms a bit. Pansy smiled at him, and put her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. She stood on the tips of her toes to reach, Ron stretched his hands round her waist and let them rest. They stood for a minute, Ron listening to the regular rhythm of her breathing. His eyes snapped open as he felt something soft and wet on his cheek. The sensation moved along. "Is this OK?" she whispered.
Ron nodded, he couldn't do anything else. He turned his head and their noses bumped together. He rubbed his nose along hers. Before he knew what was happening, they were kissing, her warm, soft mouth hesitantly tracing his own, and Ron hadn't got a fucking clue what he was doing, he copied her, getting braver as the seconds passed. He felt her pull away, the touch of her lips getting softer and gentler. She smiled at him, and he was a bit shocked at how red her lips looked. She rested her head on his shoulder and sighed.
"You're a really good kisser," Ron whispered, then blushed. He felt her smile against his neck.
"So are you," she whispered. Ron didn't know what else to say. He decided that nothing was his safest option.
When he arrived back at the Common Room, Hermione was sat cross-legged on the sofa, knitting… something. He sat down next to her heavily. He just knew he was smiling. He couldn't stop. He also knew that Hermione was looking at him curiously. He turned to look at her. "All right?"
"You kissed Pansy," she said.
"How do you do that?" Ron marvelled.
"Magic," she said dryly. "Was it good?"
Ron opened his mouth and blushed. He nodded.
Hermione sat quietly for a minute. "Good. I think you're perfect for each other. I'm glad you've both finally realised. The Gryffindor/Slytherin thing won't be a problem will it?" She narrowed her eyes.
Ron laughed. "The thought never even crossed my mind," he said.