HARRY AND RON or RON AND HARRY:
THE PERFECT BROMANCE
A/N: A one shot about Harry and Ron's friendship analysed from the perspective of several characters, I may expand this to multi chapter
I've always been fascinated by Harry and Ron's friendship and how it progressed over the series.
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, if I did Albus Potter's middle name wouldn't be Severus it would be either Remus or Arthur.
HERMIONE:
For seven years Hermione had watched her two best friends grow from just schoolboy friends to brothers, it was rather endearing though at times she did feel slightly left out, not to say she wasn't their friend far from it, she was dating Ron and Harry was like a brother to her, but she knew that they were closer to each other, people often asked her if she was jealous, she would say she wasn't and it was true – partially, you couldn't define their relationship no one could, Harry and Ron, or Ron and Harry had one of those bonds that meant that they would go to the ends of the earth for each other sure they had their disagreements over the years the biggest ones were during the tri-wizard tournament and during the Horcrux hunt but other than that the rest was just brotherly rivalry like Fred and George.
In many ways Hermione was very lucky, lucky to have witnessed the growth of the most beautiful friendship since James and Sirius.
After the war both boys became carefree young men free of responsibility
They had both decided not to re-do their 7th year and they rented a flat together in Camden, where more often than not Hermione would floo-call
The boys and they'd both be rather hung-over from the night before, at the time Ron and Hermione had decided to keep an open relationship (it was more her decision than Ron's because she knew he needed time to heal more than she did) and Harry and Ginny had decided not renew straight way, so it wasn't strange to see a couple of girls coming out of their rooms after a rather excitable night before, Hermione wasn't bothered, she knew it was their way of coping with the war and its after effects, it was an agreement that both Harry & Ginny and Ron & Hermione consented to, to keep their relationships open for a while until the healing process had been complete, Harry was most effected by the war and Ron helped him through it during those first few years after the war even though he himself was hurting he told Hermione it was time that he was Harry's rock to lean on and Harry was Ron's rock, Ron was the one who advised Ginny to give Harry some time and space, he really was one of the few people that understood Harry inside and out, and if hedonism was what Harry needed then Ron wasn't going to let him do it on his own and it was a difficult few years they didn't need anyone outside of their friendship they had each other they finally realised that their drink binge and drug fuelled hedonistic lifestyle was only numbing the pain and so they help each other go through cold turkey, they always had each others backs and somehow Hermione didn't mind Ron putting Harry's needs ahead of their relationship after all its what brothers do for each other isn't it?
And again she was very lucky to witness such a closeness between…
Again what were Harry and Ron? They were everything really, they were best mates, brothers and if they were that way inclined lovers, but Hermione knew this wasn't the case, it was a bond that no one but Harry and Ron understood and that Hermione thought was beautiful.
SIRIUS:
'If you want to kill Harry you have to kill us too' said Ron and that was when Sirius's worries about his godson not having any friends subsided
In fact when he saw Harry and Ron he saw himself and James,
In fact both friendships were scarily similar,
Like he and James, Harry and Ron always broke the rules and rebelled
(no matter how much Harry would deny it, Sirius knew he did like the adrenaline of rule breaking and finding trouble) they way they had a rivalry with his snotty cousin Draco Malfoy in a similar way that he and James held Snape in contempt, and also another disturbing parallel was how the Potter's opened their home to Sirius, the Weasley's had more or less done the same thing with Harry, Harry may look like James but it was Sirius that Harry had had a similar life experience to, he never forgot one day at Grimmauld Place the hushed conversation he overheard between the two teenage boys.
'Harry' Ron said 'you must tell Dumbledore about the Dursley's!' but Harry sighed 'Ron, I appreciate your concern but…..'
'But nothing Harry!' Sirius heard Ron say angrily 'Even Dumbledore must know that you can't be safe there! If he thinks otherwise then he's a complete twat! Mum and dad have been trying to adopt you legally for years, ever since the summer before 2nd year, I mean you had bars on your windows!'
Sirius never wanted Harry to be abused like he had been as a child and he was angry at Dumbledore for sending him back to the Dursley's year after year, he was glad that Ron was on his side, Ron was good for Harry, Sirius noticed that Ron was the only person who get Harry to smile, like James had been the one to do that for Sirius, he often saw during that summer of 1995 Ron persuade Harry to join in a three way prank war the teams were; Harry and Ron, Fred and George & Sirius and Remus, much to the annoyance of Molly but even she couldn't deny them fun for long.
Sometimes how ever it pained him to look at Harry and Ron joke about while Hermione watched them trying not to laugh at their antics, because it did remind him of the marauders and it broke his heart, he saw how carefree they were and wished that he were going back to Hogwarts with
Them, Sirius knew he would be Harry and Ron's best friend had they'd been the same age, but he knew that this was their time for fun and frolics, even in death he saw how Ron comforted Harry in a way no could Sirius watched down from heaven and saw Harry sobbing uncontrollably and Ron hugging him without any of his usual awkwardness, like a brother would, he also saw the angst during that tired last year of the war that Ron had inside him, but even then Sirius never lost faith in their friendship because Ron did come back and fought alongside Harry during the battle of Hogwarts,
Yes, Sirius thought, he was glad that Ron was Harry's friend, he saw that aside from their differences there was a deep brotherly love that reached a level so deep that only he and James achieved that, in fact Sirius felt that
Harry and Ron had defined a new type of bond between men that was platonic, and if anyone were to ask him what sort of bond it was Sirius would have no idea how to describe it.
KINSGLEY:
Harry and Ron infuriated him no end! He loved them and their cheeky humour, banter and sarcasm, but bloody hell they were far too reckless for their own good, always risking their lives (usually for one another)
And their blatant disregard for the rules, Minerva had warned him about that when he first hired them as aurors, but he had no idea how bad it was, he remembered on their first day at training they were late, and an hour into his lecture the he saw the door open and close ever so quietly, of course Kingsley knew it was Harry and Ron under cloak so once they were inside 'Accio Invisibility cloak' and just as he suspected he saw two rather hung-over nineteen year old men, Harry's hair was messier than usual and Ron just looked his family ghoul, Kingsley didn't miss a few angry glare's sent their way, but they didn't care Harry was more concerned that his invisibility cloak had been exposed.
All through their auror training they refused to be separated from one another, they after all had been fighting dark wizards since the moment they entered Hogwarts and knew how each others minds worked, of course there were rumours among the other trainees that Harry and Ron were more that friends, even Kingsley had thought they were but, quickly realised that they were just friends, though their carefree and reckless often annoyed other trainees, himself included, Kingsley understood why they had this approach, They along with Hermione had been at the centre of the second wizarding war and for the first time ever they could enjoy their youth, once they passed the training and they were allowed to go on missions the amount of times he came close to suspending those two amounted to into the three dozens within six months, Harry and Ron had gone into missions all wands blazing, throwing spells at rogue death eaters, although 99.9% of the time they always got their man and they were a brilliant partnership, but sometimes the duo's recklessness did bite them on the arse.
It was January 2000 was when Kingsley saw what the two men were willing to do for each other, Ron had been captured by
A rouge death eater and Harry wasn't about to sit around a wait, so without telling Kingsley hunted for his best mate by himself which ended up in a battle to save their own lives, it was the aftermath that touched Kingsley most, it was back at the Burrow where the frantic Weasley's were relived at the safe return of Harry and Ron:
'YOU PRAT!' Ron yelled he had a large angry gash on his arm and black eye 'YOU'RE A COMPLETE AND UTTER MORAN HARRY YOU KNOW THAT!'
'I SAVED YOUR LIFE YOU UNGRATEFUL BASTARD, I WOULDN'T HAVE HAD TO DO THAT HAD YOU CONFIDED IN ME ABOUT YOUR PLANS TO RAID ROOKWOOD'S MANOR'
Harry shouted at his best mate he had a swollen lip, a burn mark on his right arm and his leg was covered in blood, the Weasley's, Remus, Dora, Teddy and Kingsley just stood there watching this unfold,
'That is completely beside the point Harry!' Ron said 'You can't keep doing this to yourself, you could've died! That killing curse missed your ear by just a small inch' Ron emphasised this point by describing the inch with his two fingers 'do you know what that would've done to me Harry!'
'Do you know what you dying would've done to me!?' Harry retorted Harry still looked angry but his expression softened 'I thought we were a team, the dream team Snape once described us as' Ron gave a small chuckle at this 'Potter and Weasley til the end' Harry stated firmly 'if you go into something risky, then I'm right by your side mate, its not selfishness Ron, I'd expect you to be at my side, besides I survived the killing curse twice!' Harry said softly with a roguish grin on his face, Ron looked at him 'Your still a prat but thanks for saving my life and I think that should be Weasley and Potter' he grinned.
Harry chuckle 'Prat'
'twat' Ron said smiling
'bastard'
'shit head'
They carried on like this for two more minutes before Kingsley said 'oh just kiss and make up already' he said and the two men in question just gave each other a manly hug.
Yes they were reckless, yes they were cheeky and yes more infuriatingly the never followed the rules but underneath all that they did care for one another, they were each others right arm and cared deeply for the people around them and they were the dream team, Kingsley thought.
REMUS:
Remus was very lucky to have survived the second war with Dora, he felt he survived because he had to keep the marauder legacy alive, though it was bittersweet without Lily, James and Sirius he still had his growing family (Dora was pregnant with twin girls), The Weasleys, Hermione and lastly Harry his pseudo nephew/godson.
Harry and Ron or Ron and Harry whichever way you put it sounded good
He remembered two other boys close to him twenty years ago fighting playfully over whose name should go first.
He had always thought that Ron and Harry were a 'perfected' version of the James and Sirius friendship, whereas James and Sirius were arrogant, boisterous and to some extent bullies (though Snape usually started the arguments between them aswell) Harry and Ron were never bullies in fact they hated bullies (though from what he heard from Hermione, Ginny and the twins both boys had a habit of calling Draco Malfoy "ferret boy"), they weren't as arrogant as James and Sirius were but it did show occasionally but both sets of best mates had one thing in common; they cared deeply for one another one day during Teddy's 2nd birthday celebrations Harry and Ron were playing quidditch with Charlie, George, Bill and Neville, when Harry made an attempt at the Wronski feint unfortunately for Harry it failed dismally and he crashed his broom and his body fell limp off the broom, then it was pandemonium, Molly, Ginny and Hermione had tears running down their faces, Teddy was screaming for his godfather so Dora took him indoors and Andromeda being a healer was able to provide first aid, however she took him to St. Mungo's when she confirmed that Harry wasn't breathing right and that he had suffered two broken ribs, a cracked skull and possible internal bleeding Ron was ashen and looked so pale everyone thought he would faint, he refused to leave Harry's side, even George saw how serious the situation was, and Remus felt sickened himself, and insisted that he go with Andromeda and Ron to take Harry to St. Mungos.
Harry was out for nearly a fortnight at deaths door and not once did Ron leave his side, Remus had to because he had to force Ron to eat even if it was a Harry's bedside, Ron hadn't shaved, hadn't slept and had only eaten small bites before he would shove it away, he kept Virgil at Harry's bedside, he raged at the healers who he believed weren't doing anything, the only other person aside from Ron and Remus who visited everyday was Ginny, Ginny of course was still in love with Harry and was as concerned as Ron was, finally the day came when Harry woke up and ironically Ron had been asleep, Remus and Ginny however were over the moon especially when the healer said that Harry would make a full recovery, within an hour Harry was sat up in bed with the Weasleys,
Remus, Dora, Teddy, Andromeda, Neville and Luna, joking as if he hadn't given everyone a scare for the last fortnight, Remus was most relived he was afraid that he was going to lose another member of his pack but now everything would be back to normal, Ron burst through the door and ran to Harry's bed and gave him a bone crushing hug, to which Harry winced as he was still in pain, but he allowed the hug anyway, Ron released him,
'Don't you ever pull that stunt again Harry or I'll gladly go to Azkaban for something Voldemort failed to do!'
Harry just chuckled 'Ron, I've pulled off the wronski feint thousands of times mate it's never gone wrong before' but seeing how serious Ron looked he then said 'but I won't pull of any stunts like that again' he smiled as he gave Ron another hug, at that moment the healer came in
'Ah good mister Potter, your now alert' she smiled 'I suppose your boyfriend is relived now' she said smiling over at Ron, everyone except Harry and Ron fell in fits of laughter for the first time in weeks, but the men in question looked horrified
'We are not boyfriends!' Ron and Harry said at the same time to which Molly surprised everyone when she remarked 'Really? You could've fooled us, after all you are the thing Harry would miss most if the second task is anything to go by' to which everyone fell about into a new wave of laughter even Ginny laughed.
Eventually every one left the hospital room until it was only Harry, Ron, Remus, Ginny and Hermione, the girls had gone to the hospital café to get more coffee and Remus had decided to give Harry and Ron some time alone, though he was outside Harry's room he could hear their conversation
'You know we would make a rather good looking couple mate' Ron said grinning
'yeah I think we would actually' Harry said and Remus could almost hear the grin in his voice 'I mean have you ever told Hermione about those times in fifth and sixth year?' Harry asked seriously
'No' Ron said 'what happened, happened lets leave it in the past, we were drunk, we were fifteen, sixteen, it was nothing mate, have you told Ginny?'
'Nearly' Harry said 'but your right, it was years ago, it was awkward for a bit, but we got over it and moved on, sixth year on the other hand was pretty interesting with Lavender though' he said
'Yeah' Ron chuckled 'I swear that's all Lavender wanted from me was to see us…..you know….doing that' he said awkwardly 'thank god she didn't tell Parvati'
'exactly, I don't think somehow Hermione and Ginny would be too happy to hear that not only did we fool around but that we had a threesome with Lavender Brown' Harry said
And that was that, no awkwardness, just factual, Remus had a sneaky suspicion that Harry and Ron had experimented their sexuality with each other, with most male friends it would ruin it or they'd never be able to look each other in the eye again, but Harry and Ron weren't ordinary best mates Remus thought.
GINNY:
Ginny used to be extremely jealous of Ron being close to Harry when she was younger, she still was envious occasionally but it wasn't often, one day during the annual Potter-Weasley-Lupin clan get together (Neville, Augusta and Luna were invited as well) auntie Muriel came up to her
Looking at Harry and Ron disgustedly 'Look at them' she said 'I always knew Ron was a poof' she said brazenly Ginny rolled her eyes and watched the two men, she had only just gotten back together with Harry and Ron with Hermione.
Ginny wasn't stupid, she and Hermione both knew of Harry and Ron's
Little experimentations during their fifth and sixth year and she wasn't bothered by it, it was before Harry started dating her, but all the same,
It did annoy her when people would come up to her and ask of Harry was really dating Ron
'I mean look at them!' Muriel said, Ginny had forgotten she was there,
'could they take their little romance indoors!?' she said as Harry and Ron danced slowly (and drunkenly) looking into each others eyes deeply in a way that could be interpreted as being romantic, Harry then swung Ron around into what was supposed to be a drunken Hollywood kiss although they didn't kiss their faces were now inches apart, Ginny could see Gabrielle Delacour and a few of her friends looking at the scene before them hungrily, then Harry and Ron walked off the dance floor with Ron's arm slung over Harry's shoulder they went to the edge of the dancefloor
As Ron took out two cigarettes and handed one to Harry, Harry lit his cigarette and once Ron put his own one in his mouth they both lent into one another as Ron lit his cigarette on the end of Harry's lit cigarette
Ron's hands were on Harry's shoulders as if he were supporting his weight on him.
Ginny sighed 'Harry is my fiancée aunt Muriel' she rolled her eyes at her aunt's clear homophobic behaviour
'Ha! Is that so Ginevra' Muriel asked rudely 'I reckon that Potter lad is a closeted case I mean look at them their practically kissing!' and with that Ginny walked off, Harry and Ron were still in their own world as they silently smoked their cigarettes.
Weeks later she and Harry got married early in 2003 and on their wedding night any doubts that Ginny had about Harry's sexuality that night were disproved she was pleased to say,
It was two weeks into their month long honeymoon when Ginny saw for the first time how deep Harry and Ron's relationship was when they received a patronus from Charlie informing them that Hermione was in
St. Mungo's hospital after she had a miscarriage, Ginny saw Harry's face fall and Ginny didn't have to be asked, she packed their bags and the newlyweds floo'ed back to London, when they got to the hospital
All the Weasley and Lupin families were there, including Luna & Rolf
And Hannah & Neville, and on the seat sat Ron, at that moment Ginny's heart broke for her oldest brother he looked ashen, his eyes dead and defeated, she hadn't seen that look since Fred died in the war, at that moment Ron looked up and saw Harry, their eyes met and Ron shakily walked over to Ginny and Harry, he smiled at Ginny and then at Harry
Who embraced Ron in brotherly hug, she saw Ron's shoulders shake and heard sobs coming from him, it sounded un-human, as he clutched tightly to Harry with all of his might as Harry with tears in his own eyes as he muttered 'let it out mate' with Ron muttering incoherently 'it's so unfair' over and over again, it was a heartbreaking scene.
It had only occurred to Ginny that she had only seen Ron cry three times in her life, the first was when their dad had been attacked by Nagini, the next time was Fred's funeral and now this and she realised that every time Ron had cried it had always been Harry he leaned on emotionally and no one else, she realised that her new husband was the only person Ron would let into his inner self.
Ginny walked toward her family as she hugged her mother, they looked at the two men and for that moment in it was only Harry and Ron in their own little world, most male best friends would be to embarrassed to show their emotions and feelings, but Harry and Ron (or Ron and Harry) had no shame in expressing their deep understanding for one another, the couple spent the remainder of their honeymoon staying at Ron and Hermione's cottage in Buckinghamshire, Hermione was naturally upset and depressed but Ron was shattered and only opened up to Harry.
For the first time in Ginny's life she wasn't jealous because she had Harry romantically and emotionally, but she would never deny Harry and Ron time together because you may as well cut their oxygen supply.
JAMES SIRIUS:
James loved all of his uncles, but while most would assume George was his favourite uncle, it wasn't the case because Ron was his favourite uncle, Ron was his godfather and had a similar bond to that of
Harry and his own godfather (and James' partial namesake) Sirius Black, Ron was like a second father to him, on a few occasions many believed that he was Ron's favourite nephew, this was probably true, on more than a few occasions he had heard Ron call him or Al 'Harry' before he would laugh off his mistake, Harry would do the same to Hugo, Hugo looked like Ron's twin just a s much he and Al looked like Harry's doppelgangers.
All through Hogwarts he often heard tales of his father and god-father's shenanigans with aunt Hermione and refused to hear anything bad about them.
He watched the bond between his father and uncle/god-father when he was growing up and he always wanted what they had at school his best friends were Lorcan Scamander, his siblings Albus and Lily and cousins Rose and Hugo they decided to pick up on where the Golden Trio left off and get into trouble or find trouble, he found he was closer to Hugo than Albus and Lorcan and more often than not his head of house Professor Lupin and headmistress Professor McGonagall compared the two with James Potter I & Sirius Black and Harry Potter & Ron Weasley
Though McGonagall always looked like she was about to have an aneurysm when she mentioned her four former students, James was extremely proud and took it as a complement, Professor Draco Malfoy however hated James, Al and Hugo (though he hated everyone whose surname happened to be Potter, Weasley or Lupin) and always insulted their dads
He had heard over the years how deep his father and uncle's friendship was from various members of his family and he and Hugo wanted to replicate it, much to their respective father's joy and to their mother's horror.
In the summer of 2024 when he was nineteen his girlfriend of three years;
Abby Longbottom had given birth to twins, the girl was named;
Dora Ginevra after Nymphadora Tonks and his mother,
He never forgot how he announced the name of his son
'So James' his father said holding his new grandson 'Thought of any names yet?' he asked and uncle Ron looked up, up until this moment he hadn't decided on a name but it was obvious, he was named in honor of his grandfather and his best friend so why not do the same…..
'I've decided to call him Harry Ronald Potter' James smiled as the whole
Potter-Weasley-Lupin clan stopped to stare and Abby said 'I like that, it has a great ring to it'
Ginny smirked at her son 'we better warn Minerva she barely handled a
James Sirius I honestly think she would have a heart attack if she had to be a headmistress to a Harry Ronald' she and Hermione chuckled as she passed the baby over to its Godfather; Hugo 'I guess when Harry Jnr has his son he'll have to call him James Hugo' he said
But James looked at his father and uncle and saw they had tears in their eyes 'that's great James, thank you for honouring me like that' Ron said as he put his hand on James's shoulder, Harry then got up and hugged his son.
And now after all these years James was standing over the graves of his father and uncle, Harry had died first at the age of 125 and Ron followed just a year later, it was fitting the two mates couldn't really live without one another, James liked to think that Harry and Ron were up in heaven somewhere drinking a pint or tormenting Draco Malfoy or watching over their widows, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
James was now 100 years old he looked at the graves, he imagined the moments between his father and uncle, from their first meeting on the Hogwarts express as the redhead boy with smudge on his nose befriend the shy raven haired orphaned boy to when Harry and Ron went into the Chamber of Secrets together to save his mother to when Ron bravely stood in front of Sirius Black willing to die for his mate at the age of fourteen to when Harry saved Ron in lake in the triwizard tournament to when they fought side by side in the Dept. Of Mysteries to when Ron came back from his month long absence and rescued Harry from the lake
And fought side by side in the Battle of Hogwarts and beyond,
Their friendship wasn't always perfect every relationship had its ups and its downs but Harry and Ron or Ron and Harry's friendship only deepened to a new level each time they broke all boundaries of male friendship from the outside they could be brother's, best mates or lovers
But to those who knew them best they were just Ron and Harry or Harry and Ron or to some people like George they were HaRon,
say it which way you want to because either way they really were the
Dream Team.
THE END
I hope you like it please send reviews.