AN: Elflina asked for a sensible/nice Ron tale for her birthday present. It is a little bit late in coming, but I gave it a shot. YenGirl handled the beta work on it, and I held in mind a comment from SuNoYo: "contractions are my friends" - we are - oops - we're currently working out an alliance as we speak.

Jealousy's Resolution

Ron leant against the wall as the trainees trickled out the door. Harry was standing behind a small protrusion from the wall, almost a column, quietly tagging random trainees with tracking spells.

Today's lesson had been on stealth – determining when to use it and when it was being used against you. It was mildly disappointing to see not one of the trainees notice the spell being cast upon them. The spell would record every location of each trainee from now until when either they or Ron and Harry finally dispel it.

The door closed behind the last one and Harry sighed. "Not one noticed. After all the warnings, explanations, not one figured out they were tagged."

Ron nodded, his face showing the same disappointed expression that covered Harry's. "Sad, isn't it? I did hope they will notice before the end of the class."

Their eyes met and the memory of the one trainee who hadn't known until Harry cancelled the charm and kept on insisting there wasn't any cast upon her was tangible between them.

Shaking his head to clear that memory, Ron pushed off the wall. "Want to dine together? Or do you and Severus have plans?"

The flash of jealousy crossing Harry's face caused him to sigh. "Severus dining with Mitch?"

The quick nod said it all. Harry then frowned slightly. "Aren't you planning on meeting with Hermione?"

Jealousy, hotter and more volatile that what he had seen on Harry's face, flashed through Ron. "She went out to dinner with a Philip person in her department."

"Philip is a new one. What happened to Carl and Barry?" Harry opened the door and led the way to the locker room.

"She still sees them for lunch, but Philip just joined the department, so she's being nice and helping him adjust to the people," growled Ron. "He's 'an excellent conversationalist and is really good at research – such an asset to the department.'"

Harry rested a hand on his arm, his green eyes full of understanding. "Let's get curry. Severus introduced me to this lovely place near home."

"Muggle?"

"Yep."

Ron grinned. "Knew it – curry here just isn't the same as the Muggle version."

Harry nodded in agreement, his own grin stretching his lips.

§§§§§§

They set facing each other, their food half eaten, drinks refilled, and work talked out, when Harry leant back against the booth back. "What do your parents do?"

Ron blinked, trying to figure out how they got from talking about next week's lesson - duelling for a new group of trainees - to his parents. "My parents do what? Mum and Dad are not professional duellers, but they are good at the basics."

Harry shook his head. "They are really good at the basics and more, but that's beside the point. How do they keep the other one from getting jealous? I've never seen either of them jealous of the other. I know your Mum had to have others who talked to her, others that your Dad could be jealous of – even now. And you Dad isn't a slouch either."

Ron blinked again and then wrinkled his nose. "Not the way one wants to think of his parents, mate."

"Sorry, but they're the only set of parents that I kind of know that have a healthy working relationship between themselves and their children." Harry shrugged slightly, before shuddering. "If we look at Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon – I would say it was pet names, and spoiling with presents, but I honestly don't know if that's a healthy relationship."

"Maybe between them, but not with a family. Look at how they treated you." Ron pushed his pork curry about his plate, mixing it more with his rice while he gave Harry an earnest look. "The Malfoys are another example – I know, another family we don't truly like, but take out the Voldemort issue, and they've a way of making it work. Lucius isn't overly possessive of Narcissa, and the reverse is true as well. Draco never doubts if his parents care for him and will back him up if necessary."

"Could be that no-one is crazy enough to mess with a Black descendant," Harry flashed a quick grin before taking another bite of his chicken curry, shoving it onto a piece of nann to carry it to his mouth.

"So am I, on Dad's side. No, can't be that." Ron shook his head. "It has to be that they trust each other. They know the other won't mess around with someone else."

Harry's eyes narrowed briefly. "And that they are capable of taking care of themselves. Well, except Draco – but he was a child, so his calling for aid was to be expected. Same for your family, actually. Molly and Arthur knew the other could take care of themselves, and the children were to be guarded. I can't say if the same was true about Aunt Petunia or Uncle Vernon – but they were too protective of Dudley."

Ron snorted lightly. "He got your share of their protection. So, we know that trust is a component – but how does that curb being jealous. I … I can't even look at the men Hermione goes out to lunch with." He drained his glass of masala teabefore continuing, his face showing exactly how he felt when Hermione told him she was eating with another man. "I trust her – I wouldn't let her go if I didn't, but … Dad, he doesn't bat an eye when Mum goes out to lunch or dinner with others."

"She goes out?"

Harry's wide, disbelieving eyes caused Ron to laugh. "Yeah, mate. I know, you only see her staying home, taking care of the house, cooking, and such, but Mum has been known to go out a time or three. It is her moment of sanity, Dad says."

"Maybe that's what it is for Severus as well. A moment to converse with someone whose not quite as dense as I am." Harry frowned slightly, refusing to give into the feeling of worthlessness that welled up from that thought.

"Mate, it isn't that you're dense, it is your speciality lies in other areas. You understand Quidditch and flying, he understands potions and books. You both know a bit about the other subject, and are willing to listen to the other – that's what I find amazing." Ron shook his head slightly. "You're willing to listen to him go on and on about some potion he's researching – and from what I've heard, you sometimes see things he didn't and it can give him another route to pursue when he's stumped. Last Christmas – when we were playing that pick-up game of Quidditch – I heard him give you a possible change in one of your normal flying patterns."

"You and Hermione do the same thing. She talks work out with you because you can see things differently than she does, and you talk to her about things for the same reason." Harry gave a relieved laugh. "So, we have that part down right, now we just need to figure out how to control the possessiveness – the desire to rip off the idiot's head who is daring to try and take our partner from us."

"A way of staking a claim without insulting them." Ron's expression reflect just how little he wanted to insult Hermione.

"It doesn't need to be obvious to anyone but us." Harry leant forward, his eye shining. "Like your parents! Your Mum feeds everyone – I mean she makes their tea, gives them biscuits, loads down plates just for them. She does this for everyone but your Dad. Your Dad does it for her. I've always wondered about that."

Ron's eyes widened again. "You're right! I mean, I knew. All of us know, but I never thought a thing about it – it's just normal, just the way it is. And Mum never ever fusses at Dad about his Muggle collection unless it's littering the house – but it's not the same tone she uses when we leave a mess. It's more of a gentle reminder, and half the time she just takes it out to his shed and puts it there without saying anything."

Harry nodded slowly. "So, they have a quiet way of showing the other one that they are important, that they're being taken care of. I help Severus clean up his home lab without being asked, it isn't the most fun thing to do, but it's for him."

"I help Hermione research hard to find information – and we both know how much I love researching."

"Now we need to find something that only we can do for the other. I mean, how many people are allowed to fix your Mum's tea?" Harry rolled his eyes. "I've tried once, and that was … not a good idea. Your Dad nearly blew his top, and your Mum wouldn't touch it."

Ron shuddered, his fingers convulsing slightly around his spoon. "Gryffindor – I don't care that you said the Hat wanted to put you in Slytherin, you're a Gryffindor. No one, and I mean no one, makes Mum's tea but Dad."

"I figured that out." Harry studied the man across the table from him, before his jaw sagged slightly and his lips formed an 'o' of amazement. "You move Hermione's hair."

Ron shrugged. "So, you brush Severus' out of his eyes periodically, too."

Harry shook his head quickly. "No, it is not the same. Hermione doesn't like people touching her hair. I guess it reminds her of how bushy and out of control it was."

"Like no one can mess with yours?" Ron chuckled. "I've watched you dodge Mum all the time, and Dad and George and Percy and Luna and Shacklebolt and … everyone. It is funny to watch. I know they're going to fail, but it's too funny to watch their expression when it happens, so I don't mention it."

Harry sighed but grinned at the same time. "Yes, like that. Most people don't try to mess with Hermione's hair, but the few who have, well – I can understand why you like to watch them fail with me. You're the only one who has never failed. Even when we were in first year, you could brush it out of her way. I can still remember you pulling it back and plaiting it!"

A pensive look filled Ron's face as he idly continued eating.

Harry continued his meal while he waited. He knew that look.

"You really are a Gryffindor."

Harry looked up from his plate to see Ron staring at him, his eyes full of awe. "Huh?"

"Mate, I've seen you do it – I can't believe it now, but I've seen you do it."

"Do what?"

"You – and only you – can touch Snape's wand arm. I've seen people reach out to it to lead him, to guide him places, or just to touch him, thinking it was his non-dominant side – if you watch him do anything else, you would think that – and he avoids them. He doesn't even have to look, he can sense it." Ron gestured towards Harry's left arm. "But I've seen you touch his arm as if it was nothing. You don't do it often, but you can."

Harry searched his memories, hunting for ones to support what Ron noticed.

"He trusts me." The shocked awe in Harry's voice made Ron nod.

"And she trusts me." Ron tried to keep the same tone out of his words but knew he failed. The relief that filled him from just saying that felt good. "And since she trusts me, and I trust her – I can't be acting all jealous. I have to show her that I trust her. I can't blow up, I can't lose my temper just because she wants to go out and talk to people of her department. She's allowed friends."

Harry nodded. "Same with Severus. I can't prevent him, even if I wanted to – I know, but I can't anyway all because I trust him and he trusts me, at least a little bit."

"Where it counts, Mate." Ron rested his hand on Harry's arm. "He trusts you with himself, with his life. That's the one thing I swear that man has never trusted to anyone else – not even Dumbledore."

They sat in silence, letting the knowledge that they were trusted and the feeling of peace it brought seep into them.

"When they tell us they are going off – how can we reassure ourselves that it's okay?" whispered Harry.

"Well," Ron frowned in thought before continuing. "He only lets you touch his wand arm. So, do so. Not long, not enough to make him anxious, but lightly and briefly. No one else might understand what you are doing, but it should reassure you."

"Just as you brushing Hermione's hair out of her face should remind you. No one would even think twice about you being able to do so. They probably wouldn't even understand if they tried." A smile curled Harry's lips. "And neither one of them are brash displays, so we can do them anywhere, and it won't matter."

Ron smiled as well. "It doesn't matter if they understand, either. It's us we're reassuring, not them. It's a gesture to remind ourselves that we don't need to be jealous. That they trust us as much as we trust them."

Harry chuckled. "Yeah – we're the two who are worried. Those two – they're smart and can get whatever they want."

Ron joined in with Harry's chuckle. "We are sooo messed up – each of us picking someone scarily intelligent and doing our best to keep them."

"But we will – we won't run them off by being brash," Harry pointed at himself, "or losing our tempers," he pointed at Ron, "over silly things."

Ron nodded. "We'll keep them – I can't see the future any other way."

"Neither can I."