Hello to everyone who reads this.
I'd like to ask you to please be brutal about reviewing this story - it's the first thing I've written in ages and I'm not sure whether it's alright or not.
Also a little disclaimer: I do not claim to own anything in the Harry Potter universe. I do not claim to know Ron Weasley, so all of his feelings in this story are entirely of my own creation. But I still don't own anything HP related. That honour belongs to the wonderful Ms Rowling.
It's always the littlest things that ruin your plans, isn't it? When I started Hogwarts, I just wanted to be me, Ron Weasley. Not Fred and George's little brother (I hope he's as funny as they are), or Percy's kid brother (I hope he's not as smart and boring as he is), or Charlie's brother (I hope he can play Quidditch like Charlie) or Just Another Weasley (ginger, freckles, poor… well who cares?). Things never work out how you want, though.
The day that I sat aboard the Hogwarts Express for the first time, I didn't know I was going to end up sitting with Harry Potter, the famous Harry Potter. When I found out who he was, I was so shocked. He seemed so normal, not like the most famous person in the world at all. And he was kind to me. He didn't know anything about my family and so he couldn't judge me. He liked me just for being myself. But of course, everyone else just saw me as his sidekick. I was the one they came to when they wanted to know his timetable so that they could wait outside a classroom for a glimpse of the famous Boy Who Lived. I was the one they asked out to Hogsmeade just so they could ask about the Triwizard champion. Have you any idea how it feels to be used and betrayed like that? Can you really blame me for being so difficult at times? It's not that I wasn't Harry's friend, I was and I always will be. But sometimes it was just too much to bear, knowing that you're only recognised because of who your friends are. Sometimes it was too hard to be Just Another Weasley, fading into the background, while my best friend got all the attention and glory. At times, I was so angry I would have done anything for a share of the spotlight, but other times, I was so scared that I would be thrust into the spotlight that I shied away from it and tried to distance myself from Harry.
When we had our first flying lesson, I thought 'Here's something I might be really good at. I hope I am.' Oh sure, I was the youngest brother of the legendary Charlie Weasley, and the excellent Beaters, Fred and George. Flying was their thing. But I just wanted to be good at it because it looked like so much fun. But of course Harry and Draco Malfoy, they were the two who got all the attention during that class. It's not that I want attention, I'd just like to be acknowledged sometimes or even just noticed. I was looking forward so much to flying, and that just made me so annoyed and upset that for a wile I thought I never wanted to fly again. I tried my hardest to do something right, not even to be best at it, but just to be able to do something, and Harry got offered the position of Gryffindor Seeker, youngest House player in a century while I got ignored. I was so happy for him, but it was hard sometimes to keep the smile in place.
In second year, Ginny was taken into the Chamber of Secrets. I went with Harry to help find her and rescue her because she's my sister and that's what brothers do, they protect their sisters and help them out. I was going to have my memory wiped when the wand backfired on Lockhart, thank God. And I really wanted to go with Harry to save her, I did, but I was too scared. I was left to shift rocks after the wall collapsed while Harry ran off alone to rescue my sister. In the end, he got all the glory. It was just another thing that I couldn't do right.
And to find out that my pet rat was actually a man on the run! That thing slept in my bed for years! Disgusting, isn't it? But still. I was the one who was dragged down that tunnel by the known the mass-murderer, Sirius Black. I was the one who was knocked out cold. And because I was out cold, I never got to use the Time Turner to go back in time and save Sirius, who was really innocent. It doesn't seem very fair, really. Just another something I couldn't do to prove my friendship to Harry. Another adventure that I missed out on. Some days it feels like I have the worst luck in the world.
Soon enough we were in our fourth year at Hogwarts, and on top of all the fame that he already had, Harry's name was pulled out of the Goblet of Fire and he got to take part in the Tournament. Fred and George tried to get across the age line and couldn't do it, but it looked as if somehow Harry had managed and hadn't even bothered to let me in on it. I was so annoyed that he hadn't trusted me, I thought we were best friends. I couldn't look at him for months because I was so disgusted and upset. But when the First Task was complete and I realised someone actually had it in for Harry, I was scared for him and knew that I had to do the right thing and stand by him again. He was my friend, no matter what happened, and he needed me to believe in him. When he pulled me from the lake during the Second Task, I was so pleased for him, and I was secretly pleased that I was actually getting a part in all the fun. So after the Tournament was over and Harry had gotten his winnings, I was so torn that he gave the money to Fred and George to start up their own joke shop. They couldn't have done it by themselves, no matter how resourceful they are. I know he's my best friend, and I should be pleased that he's so generous and kind to my family, but I felt as if I was letting them down by not being able to help out myself.
Fifth year came, and we sat our OWLs. I knew Hermione would do better than me, but I never thought that Harry would as well. That annoyed me a little, as if I was the dumbest of the three of us, as if I wasn't clever enough or good enough. It was the same in Dumbledore's Army. Harry was voted the leader, Hermione mastered all the spells and jinxes the quickest. Even Ginny was better than I was. And of course, Harry had the vision of the snake that saved my dad's life. I couldn't even look out for my own family! It was just so depressing to realise that I would never be as good as my friends. But we still had adventures and fun around Hogsmeade and the castle. We still stuck together to do whatever we could to protect each other from the Dark Wizards and Death Eaters. We ended up in the Department of Mysteries because You-Know-Who wanted Harry there. Harry thought Sirius was there and we went tearing off to rescue him with some other DA members. I wanted to do something because Harry was my friend, and he loved Sirius, so we couldn't just leave him there at the mercy of the Death Eaters. Only he wasn't there. I got attacked by some crazy brains while we were trying to escape, and I fought against You-Know-Who's supporters as well, but somehow I was overlooked yet again. Even Neville was recognised that time.
My first Quidditch match, during sixth year, I was finally recognised. But for all the wrong reasons. I was the Keeper who couldn't Keep. I was useless. It was so horrible, knowing that all these people are watching, just waiting for you to make a mistake so that they can hate you, or waiting for you to do better than anyone who has gone before you so they can love you. It's horrible. I never want to have to feel that again. So I tried harder each game after that until I knew that I was the right choice for the Gryffindor team, until I was happy with myself. And I thought Lavender Brown had cared about me, but of course, I was wrong. She only wanted a Quidditch-playing boyfriend and Harry was considered "out of her league". Once again, I was the second-best, the consolidation prize.
We went Horcrux hunting instead of going back for a seventh year at Hogwarts. And I couldn't cope with it. I tried so hard, but I was just wasn't used to being away from friends and family, at having to cope on my own, being cut off from the world. I wasn't strong enough to handle it. Hermione and Harry could, and every time I looked at them I just felt so ashamed. Harry, an orphan raised by the most horrible Muggles that you can imagine, was able to put everything out of his mind except the task of finding the Horcruxes. Hermione Granger was able to put her entire life behind her and cut herself off from everyone, not just wizards but her Muggle friends and family as well. I've never known two people with more courage. I, on the other hand, was so scared that I ran away and left my two best friends alone to fight for themselves. Some friend I was.
And then fighting You-Know-Who at the Battle of Hogwarts. I didn't want to. I was so scared. All I wanted to do was run as far away as I could. But I knew that if I didn't stand up to him, he would destroy my family and kill all my friends. I had to do something, I had to fight for everyone's sakes. It didn't make a difference. Lupin and Tonks still died. I wasn't able to save my brother Fred. No matter how hard I tried, I failed in the end.
I never wanted to be famous, I just wanted to be myself. I never really gave much thought to my future, but I assumed I would always just find something I was good at and do that for a living, maybe marry a girl that I liked, have a few children...
I never wanted anything fancy. I was always so scared of being poor when I was an adult. I saw how hard things were for my mum and dad. They tried to smile through it all, God knows they did. My mother did everything she possibly could to make sure we never did without. Yeah, some of our stuff might have been second-hand or passed down through the family, but she still cared enough to provide it for us. She never let us down. Us Weasleys don't have much, but we will always have Mum. And we always have our friends. Good friends, people like Harry and Hermione.
Hermione Granger. When I first met her, I really wanted to hate her. I tried, believe me, I tried to hate her. She was always right, she knew everything, she wouldn't have any fun or play any pranks, she ignored me to talk to Harry, and the list goes on and on. All good reasons to hate a person. But I just couldn't. Sure, I laughed along with everyone else when they were making fun of her for always being right, and yeah, I called her a know-it-all at least three times a week. I still call her a know-it-all and we aren't even at Hogwarts any more. But I just couldn't hate her. There was something about her, something that you just can't hate no matter how annoying and uptight she is.
And yet somehow we've ended up together. After all the years of teasing and taunting each other, all the tears and fall-outs that we had, we honestly couldn't be happier. When I look back now, I'm not sure I can tell when I stopped trying to hate Hermione and wanted to be her friend, or when I started to care for her as more than a friend. All I know is that she's brilliant.
She likes that I'm just Ron Weasley, because I'm nothing like any of my brothers, regardless of whether I'm sidekick to Harry Potter or not, no matter if I'm good at things or rubbish at them just so long as I try, even though I am poor. Hermione loves me, as long as I stay true to myself. And that's all that matters.
The littlest things don't have to ruin your plans. They just make it slightly different.
And a hell of a lot more fun.