AN: This was inspired by a comment by Elflina. We've both trailed in the shadows of siblings and parents and recognise this in Ron. Not just in the first book, but in the others as well. To me, a lot of the things that people hate about Ron come from two things - 1. he is a child who has a temper. 2. he is a younger sibling of some really brilliant older siblings.
Elfina was nice enough to look over this one to make sure it was as it should be. Thank you, dear.
Also, the section on the train ride, I used JKR's dialogue.
Jake Crepeau pointed out the third thing people seem to hate Ron for - his appetite. He's a teen! They eat people out of house and home, especially the boys! Thank you for pointing it out and explaining why it's dumb.
In the Shadow
Ronald Weasley knew what it was like to be in his brothers' shadow, he'd been there all his life. A quick walk around Ottery St Catchpole would have him called every name but his own. Some oldtimers even called him Arthur since his dad grew up in the area. He'd hoped that going to Hogwarts would change this, but it started as soon as he got on the train not long after he'd wished Mum bye and he let the twins move on without him. Up until that moment, he'd hoped for something to change, but it didn't.
As he walked down the hall or looked into a compartment he was called Percy, Fred, and George. Some older students even thought he was Charlie. Then there were the ones who didn't use a name, but the questions were such that it was obvious who they thought they were talking to.
Eventually, he found a compartment with only one boy sitting in it. Excitement started bubbling up in him – it was the boy that they helped get through the barrier! He only knew his family from here – he didn't know tales or anything else about them. Here he might get a chance to be himself. 'No, Fred and George helped him get his things on the train. He might think I'm one of them – we are practically the same height.' Deciding to try, not hope, but kind-of beg in his mind to Merlin that the boy would not do so, he slipped in.
"Anyone sitting there?" He pointed to the empty bench. "Everywhere else is full." He left off the end of that sentence – they were all full of people who knew his family and had expectations for him because of that.
The black haired boy shook his head and Ron sat down. 'I wonder if he really is Harry Potter?' Trusting Fred and George was not something he'd recommend to many people, and typically only to the ones he'd want to see fooled. Remembering Mum's parting order – not to ask Harry about You-Know-Who – he stared out the window worrying about what to talk about throughout the train ride. Maybe he'd read one of his books. 'But that's what Percy would do, or Charlie, or Bill. I don't want to be them!'
"Hey, Ron." It was Fred's voice and Ron jerked his head around to see what he needed. Both Fred and George were in the doorway.
"Listen, we're going down the middle of the train – Lee Jordon's got a giant tarantula down there."
"Right," he mumbled. He thought they were going to tell him to go with them, Mum had told them to watch after him, but he saw George give a small negative shake to his head when he put a hand down on the seat to push off of it.
George's brown eyes shifted to his compartment companion, "Harry, did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley, and this is Ron, our brother. See you later then."
"Bye," Ron was surprised to hear the word echo as Harry said it as well. Relief washed over Ron as the door closed behind the twins. They could be cruel sometimes, but at least they weren't expecting him to deal with a spider today as he was already on edge. Then it registered what George had called the black haired boy. Surely it had been a joke.
"Are you really Harry Potter?" The words were out of his mouth before he intended them to be. The other boy nodded. "Oh, – well, I thought it might be one of Fred and George's jokes,' he continued, his tongue running away with his thoughts before he could censor them. Before he knew it, he'd asked about the scar, learnt that Harry had no idea why he shouldn't say You-Know-Who's name, and that some Muggles were worse than others.
Through it all, he couldn't help but smile. He got to be himself with nothing colouring his relationship with the other boy. Harry seemed to understand this too. Maybe his cousin he'd mention looked a lot like him as well and people always mistook Harry to be him.
When Malfoy invaded Ron couldn't help but snigger at the way he introduced himself. It was dramatic and the twins would have loved it. Then the boy had to go and summed up his entire family with such generic descriptors. He held his tongue – there are just some things you can't fight against, and this was one of them. He'd learnt that early in his life. But the moment the boy slandered his family, he lost it.
Scabbers saving the day was not what he'd expected but it was far better than starting the school year with a fight. Mum would've never had let him hear the end of it.
§§§§§
It hadn't taken long – Ron was sure it happened the moment he was placed in Gryffindor – but once again people didn't see Ronald Bilius. No, they saw his brothers and he swore the teachers sometimes saw his dad instead.
Take Charms. Professor Flitwick told him just the other day that he should have no problem since he mastered the Levitating Charm in a class. He hadn't done that. No, that was Percy. Flitwick should be able to tell the difference between him and Percy – he had blue eyes, for Merlin's sake! Percy's were brown. He'd give the Professor the glasses thing – Percy didn't get them until his third year, but still!
Then in Transfiguration, Professor McGonagall had thought he was Charlie or Bill, he's not sure which, but he knew it was one or the other by just the look given. He'd only seen that look from others when they were dealing with his eldest brothers or they thought he was them.
It was Professor Sprout's inflexion on Weasley that let Ronald know that he was being someone else – he not sure who, but someone older than he was. He'd backed up right into a plant – he didn't know what it was – and she expected him to know better. Her look said it too, that she'd already explained it to him millions of times. Not that she had – not to him.
Ron worried about how knowing him would hurt Harry, especially in Snape's class. As they were pranksters, the Professor gave those two lots of detentions. 'Maybe he'll think of Bill or Charlie or even Percy instead.' He tried not to sit next to his friend just in case, but Harry was having none of it.
By the middle of class, Ron knew that he was being categorized with the Twins, but that didn't affect how Snape treated Harry. No, the man must have known some other Potter and really really hated them. Harry was in their shadow and it was darker than his brothers'. Ron was positive if Snape looked close, he'd see Ron, but seriously doubted he could see Harry in whosever shadow he was in.
§§§§§
Ron stared at Harry's empty bed. They'd gone down the rabbit hole, so to speak, and found a massive danger. One they weren't expecting to find. Instead of Snape, they found You-Know-Who and Quirrell. He shuddered, hoping against hope, that his friend – the one that saw HIM – would be okay.
§§§§§
Being awarded points for a game of chess didn't seem like a really big deal to many people. Most of Gryffindor were only happy because it allowed them to get enough to win the House Cup.
But for Ron, it rocked his world.
He was recognised. He – Ronald Bilius Weasley – was recognised for something he had done. It didn't matter that his brothers could have done it too. That his Dad could have. No, it mattered that they hadn't and he had and someone noticed.
Through all the cheering and yelling, a small part of him was curled up deep in his heart savouring this. When he'd seen the Mirror earlier that year with Harry he could only think of being things that his brother's had been but doing more of them than they had. He could only see himself as a shadow of them.
Now, though, the world had opened up.
Why? Because he'd done something that they hadn't and it was worthy of notice.
It wasn't something he'd brag about, it wasn't something that many would care about, but it was something. And it was something he loved and he could build on it. Make it something he could be noticed for. Not in the extreme style he was recognised for today, but more like a family thing. 'If you beat Uncle Ron you're great!' He'd like to hear that someday.