Chapter 1.
One gray warm August evening when the weather was mild, Ron Weasley toured Diagon Alley's trash filled streets. Having recently returned from a holiday in Finland where he visited his brother Charlie and helped with dragons, he was glad to be back in England. He had a soft rosy face and long red hair, a fox's colour, like his family, because of genetics. Even though he was a wizard and could change his hair to not ginger, he kept it like a red sunset because he loved his family. He was going to get new robes for school, because even though his family were poor, he needed new robes for school.
The robemaker said to Ron, "You have very delicate features."
Ron blushed and looked away with his wide shy blue eyes.
"I don't even know you, but I think you look like a baby angel." Ron was really embarrassed and was thinking of leaving when he heard a big laugh. He looked around to see who was laughing and saw Cedric Diggory, a very pretty boy with curled brown hair, a rosebud mouth, and big grey eyes. He was the year ahead of Ron at Hogwarts, and Ron was really discomfited that he had heard the robemaker. She laughed because Ron was really red and it was very funny for everyone except Ron. Ron got angry and left in a hurry, and decided to get robes somewhere else!
"That robesmaker is a creep!" Ron thought to himself, his pale blue eyes watering with emotion as he remembered all that he had said. Now Cedric would think he was weird. Cedric ran out the door after Ron and called out to him, "Come back and buy robes, I am sorry I laughed at you!" He had caught up with Ron and grabbed his arm. Ron pulled away his arm and said "I don't need your pity, I know I'm ugly, you don't need to mock me, I'm not a Peppermint Boy anymore." Ron ran away too fast to see the surprise and regret and emotional pain in Cedric's handsome dishevelled face. He was also running too fast to see Snape coming around the corner. Snape had been in the butchers buying meat for a party he was having with some old friends he knew from the Caribbean.
"Get up you idiot! Oh, the poor sausages – all squashed as flat as pancakes!" Ron tried to press the little sausages back into their ordinary shape again. They were broken. Snape was very angry, and shook with rage. Ron gave him back the sausages that were now all flattened but still delicious probably. "Kingsley will probably still enjoy them," Ron joked feebly, even though they both knew he wouldn't. Snape paled as he put the packet of sausages into his pants pocket. All was not well.
"I saw you run away from Cedric, why were you fighting? There will be no fighting in school this year. We've had terrible problems with bullies last year, and there will be no bullying this year." Ron nodded, because he knew the teachers had been annoyed at the bullying last year, and wanted no bullying this year. Last year lots of people were bullied by the year that had just left the school and everyone was afraid other people would now start bullying. The worst bully this year was Draco Malfoy but last year the worst bully was Tom Riddle who everyone hated. He had been really mean to most kids, and even some teachers. Kingsley had eventually kicked him out of Hogwarts and everyone was really happy. So Ron understood that Snape didn't want to see him fight with Diggory.
"We weren't fighting, he just...he just..." Ron couldn't say anymore because he was crying now. Snapes' face filled with understanding and pity because he knew then how much Ron cared about Cedric, Ron just didn't know it yet.
"Well, just don't let me see you fighting anymore." Snape walked off with Lupin, who gently comforted him as they walked along because he knew his friend was upset that the dinner was now ruined. Lupin looked back at Ron, to see that he was okay now, because he knew him well even outside school, because he was friends with Ron's parents, and like a father to Harry once Sirius was dead.
Ron walked sadly back to the dressmaker because he remembered that he had left all his stuff there. He wished that Cedric wouldn't still be there when he got back, although he secretly wished he would be.