Title: Passing the Torch Part 1 of 5

Fandom: Harry Potter

Characters:Hermione/Ron

Prompt: 44 - Circle

Word Count: 1378

Rating: M (for future chapters, this one is like K, there's nothing in it yet)

Summary:This is Bill's extremely information and uncomfortable talk with Ron about sex. Very M for a mature but it's all in an informative 'this is what a boobie' is sort of thing.

Author's Notes: This fic was hard to split into parts, the first portion is really the only clear cut division while the other 4 are sort of just trying to end it on a funny line somewhere in the middle. Thanks to CasaKitten who laughed really hard when I told her what I was pondering and then told me I had to do it. The prompt my seem weird but it's Molly wanting to enclude Hermione in the family 'circle' that is the link.

Passing the Torch Part 1 of 5

Bill watched his baby brother interacting with a girl for the first time since before he'd started Hogwarts. As he watched him with his friends sitting on the back lawn tossing a quaffle between them, he felt a small ache of nostalgia for it all. Being that 14 and oblivious, and of course little Ronnie was completely oblivious to it all. Then again he'd never even managed to have a girl spend 2 weeks at his house over the summer, let alone at that age. So maybe Ronnie would be the real ladies man in the family after all. It seemed doubtful just looking at the scrawny little bean poll but who knew, he was only 14.

"Hey Mum, how come Ron got to bring two friends to the World Cup and no one else brought any?" He asked his mother when she walked into the kitchen with a large basket of laundry.

"Oh well we told all of them, the ones still at Hogwarts that is, that they could bring a friend, Bagman said we have use as many tickets as needed, but it seems everyone Fred and George wanted to bring were already going. Well we all knew Harry would come of course, that is if we could get him away from those awful relations of his," his mothers face grimaced. It was no secret that she didn't like his family and wished she could keep the boy full time. "The funny part was Hermione though." She walked into the small room off the kitchen they did laundry in and he followed, leaning against the door frame.

"What do you mean?" He asked, grateful she was hitting on the exact part he wanted to know about. She pulled out her wand and with a well practiced swishing of her wand the laundry began sorting itself as she began to pull the wet laundry out of the washer and to running her wand over them to dry.

"Well Ronnie asked your father if he could bring Hermione too, but we'd already said one friend each. This was at dinner and so he just got really quiet, we could all tell he was thinking. Then he turned to Ginny as casually as he could and asked her who she was taking." Molly glanced over her shoulder at Bill with a wicked smile.

"That girls the one we have to watch out for, she just looked at him with wide eyes and said she didn't really know for sure. Which is a big fat lie because she told me that morning she wanted to ask Hermione herself. Said they always got along great, her friends were all going too like the twins and knew Ron could only bring one friend."

"So you just let her lie?" Bill sounded more shocked then he really was, the twins didn't get their mischievous nature from their father after all. She giggled as she folded a pair of socks she'd just finished drying and tossed them into Charlie's basket.

"I guess 'lie' is a bit strong, she said she didn't know for sure. She just didn't mention she was considering one of his best friends. Any way Ronnie with his strategies, you know how he gets. Once he gets a little plan in his head he'll go for it. At least that boy doesn't plot troublesome things like the Fred and George. Thank Merlin it's just about a little crush, then again perhaps it's more troublesome that he's doing this about girls."

"So you think he's got a crush on her? It's pretty bold of him to invite the girl you fancy to stay with your family for two weeks." Bill was more and more impressed with his little brother.

"Oh he doesn't realize it yet. I'm sure he won't cotton on for a while at least. I'm putting my sickles on it being the first time another boy shows interest in her." His mother looked at him. "If you're just going to stand there could you at least lend me your wand, help me dry these you big lump."

"Yes Mum," and he began helping her with a pair of y-fronts. "Do you think that other boy showing interest in her will be Harry? They seem pretty close too." He threw the now dry pair up underpants onto Percy's pile and picked up an orange Chudley Cannon's shirt.

"Ya know I just don't think so," she said with a sigh and a shake of her head. "I could be wrong but sometimes you can just tell. When you watch the three of them together you'll notice it. Harry and Hermione don't avoid each other." Bill looked at her quizzically. "Oh you remember what how it was, when you like someone at that age every touch is such a big deal.

"Her and Harry can touch and it's not a second thought. She and Ron don't touch, ever. I saw their hands bump at the table once reaching for the gravy and Ron's ears lit up like a Christmas tree and Hermione's cheeks just turned pink." Bill smiled, it was just like his mother to be cataloging every interaction like that.

"So what about Ginny and the tickets, how did he get her to invite Hermione?" He tossed the now dry shirt into Ron's pile.

"Oh but she didn't."His mother's eyes sparkled with merriment.

"But she's here, how else--" But Bill's question was cut off by her chuckles.

"Ginny offered him her spare ticket if he did all of her choirs for two weeks." His mother was positively beaming as she folded a pair of denims and tossed them on Fred's pile.

"She's good." Bill said with a laugh. "So when are you going to start making her the traditional sweater? Induct her into the fold officially?" She sighed sadly and looked out the small window to where he knew the trio to be sitting.

"I've been banned," her voice was soft and sad.

"What? How can you be banned?" he said rifling through the basket carefully avoiding two small bra's. It didn't matter how old she was, he didn't want to know his baby sister needed a bra. His mother let out a deep sigh that told Bill have very sad she was by whatever it was.

"In first year Ron wrote home about her in every letter. At first just annoyance at the know it all but then at the beginning of November he said it was all sorted now and they were all best friends. Then he talked about her helping him with his homework and being a pain, but a lifesaver.

"Well I hadn't even said a thing about it, but he wrote right before Christmas saying if I made her one of my sweaters he'd eat doxie eggs and die. He wouldn't stop me with Harry because the boy didn't have a proper family of his own but Hermione always had fancy store bought sweaters and didn't need my homemade ones."

"The prat." Bill mumbled, knowing how that must have hurt her feelings.

"Well I think he was just feeling self conscious. I've meet the Granger's two summers ago, and they definitely have more spare change then we do. Let her buy every book she touched, I think her total came to more than all 5 we were buying for. Didn't even bat an eyelash about it either." Bill was about to interrupt, something consoling to his mother about finances.

"The girl's never been anything but polite and courteous. You might not know because you were first with everything but it's a real sore spot for Ronnie. So I didn't send her the sweater, but I'd already made it by the time I got his letter."

"So what'd you do, just give Ginny two?"

"No, I have Hermione's sweaters in box upstairs, I've made her one every year hoping he wouldn't say anything but every year I get a letter warning me not to send one. Some day I suppose, if she every really gets to by my daughter I'll give her the lot of them and she'll know the whole time I've always thought of her as family."