Hi! This is my first fan fiction so please be nice to me. I'd rather prefer no flames thanks. This chapter is fairly long so please bear with me. I think I got a bit carried away. Got nothing much more to say except that:
Harry Potter and all the characters mentioned in this story do not belong to me and are property of J.K Rowling, so no lawyers better come to my door. It's not as if you are going to get much off me, I'm poor thanks to Christmas.
So just Read and Review my story.
Thanks!
Chapter 1- Being Ron Weasley
The sun rose over the window ledge and sent a blinding light through the thin nylon curtains. The light shone over the man sleeping in the bed but however blinding it was the man still lay there motionless. He probably would still have stayed there no matter what had gone on around him but at that moment a screeching alarm clock went off.
It was 7.30 am, time to get up or a time that you don't want to get up at.
The man picked a wand from the side of his bed. He was always pretty careless about his wand even so that he once broke it but that was a long time ago.
"Silencio!" said the man groggily, as he gave the alarm clock a slight tap with his wand.
He rose from his bed rather slowly, stretching his arms over his head as he done so.
He had flaming red hair and was rather tall. When he was younger he was also rather lanky and had loads of freckles but aged 24 he had put his childhood behind him and had grown in to quite a handsome young man.
He was not really a morning person as his friends at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry used to say, and due to that he stumbled about the floor looking for the clothes that he carelessly had thrown in a heap the night before. He picked them up and took them to the bathroom to get changed.
He put on the shower and stepped inside. The water woke him up a bit but he still needed that sharp cup of tea just to help him through the day.
He heard the door of his room open and someone rattle inside with a tray.
Ah! Tom just on time, he thought to himself.
"Mr Weasley! Ron Weasley!" Shouted Tom, "Will I leave your breakfast on your bed for you!"
"Thanks Tom!" Ron shouted back from within the shower.
He heard the door of his room close as he turned off the shower and put a towel around his waist.
Tom had owned the Leaky Cauldron for years, and Ron stayed there for the time being after moving out of the Weasley family home. He felt like he had to do it sooner or later, or be the only one of his siblings left living there. This would have been pretty bad, considering the amount of siblings he had.
True, he had a lot of brothers.
There was Bill, who worked for Gringotts Wizarding bank. He had married Fleur Delacour 2 years ago and they now had a 1 year old daughter named Beatrice, who of course had flaming red hair like the rest of the family.
Charlie, who worked with dragons in Romania. As far as Ron knew, he wasn't attached to anyone but it didn't mean that he wasn't involved with girls. From what he had heard, Charlie had a new girl every night and usually saw girls on and off. He had problems with commitment and that fact made Ron feel better about his situation.
Then there was ever annoying Percy. He worked within the Ministry but with all the many departments that he had worked in, Ron couldn't tell what he was doing now. But whatever it was he was sure that Percy saw with great importance and licked the boots of whoever was in charge. Percy was defiantly single. Ron's reason for this was that he wasn't sure if there was anyone out there who could put up with someone who was as boring as Percy.
Fred and George had opened up a joke shop in Diagon Alley and were doing really well for themselves. Although they constantly teased him, Ron found that he had a greater bond to them rather than his older brothers due to the fact that they had all attended Hogwarts together and they were only 2 years older than him. From what he had heard Fred was dating his school sweetheart, Angelina Johnston while George on the other hand, was so subsided within their business that he hadn't had a girlfriend for over a year now. Ron had to admit that out of the two twins, George had seemed to be the one that that had matured a lot and surprised even him.
And then himself, which he shuddered at the thought of.
The youngest of all the Weasley siblings and the only girl, Ginny had gone on to work in the Ministry as himself and Percy had done. She was working in International Co-operation, mainly due to the fact that she had been the most Co-operative out of the lot of them because she was the only girl. She was the one who sorted out the arguments and had laid down the rules for the others and no one dared to argue even though she was the youngest. She had been seeing Harry ever since Bill and Fleur's wedding 2 years ago. They seemed really happy together which Ron was glad to see. He was always very over protective of his sister and if he had wanted anyone to go out with her, he was certain that he wanted it to be Harry.
Ron started to pull on his clothes. He tugged his wizard robes over his shirt and tie. Harry was the next person to cross his thoughts. Yes! Harry Potter. The one who conquered the Dark lord. Not once but twice. At his final year at Hogwarts, Harry faced the challenge of Voldemort once more. This time put the end to his constant threat of wanting to have Harry dead. It was not sure how it happened but Voldemort was destroyed by Harry. Harry himself didn't even know how he had survived as there was a time in which he believed that if the Dark Lord had to die then he would have to die too. But somehow this never came. The war had cost many lives but Ron guiltily thought to himself that he was glad that his best friends had survived through it all. Harry now led a fairly normal life, if that's what you could call it. He was seen as being a celebrity and even though how much Harry wanted to stay out of the limelight, it always caught up with him. Harry worked as an auror in the ministry, hunting down criminals. He and Ginny had recently bought a home together which solidified the status of their relationship together. Ron thought to himself that it wouldn't be long before they were married.
Ron went over to the tray on his bed and picked up the cup of tea that sat on the saucer. He sat on his bed resisting the urge to jump back inside it and picked up the newspaper that also sat on the tray. He read the first page article with interest but also disappointment:
Viktor Krum announces Engagement
Bulgarian quidditch star, Viktor Krum has announced his engagement to his girlfriend of 4 years, Hermione Granger after speculations that he may be quitting professional quidditch. He commented, "For the moment I intend to do no such thing. I am very happy and the only thing that could disrupt me from any quidditch would be the organisations of my marriage to Hermione Granger."
Ron threw the paper down on to the floor. He had read enough to get the picture. He lay back down on the bed covering his face in his hands. Why did everyone else have a great life and he have a rubbish one?
Ron was the youngest of all his brothers. He was always overshadowed by all of them and even now in his life he still felt that way. They all had great lives. They had great jobs and someone in their lives to love or to at least to lust over. Himself, on the other hand worked in the most boring job in the department of law enforcement in the ministry. He sat at a desk for 9 hours a day writing up reports from raids that he had not even been present at, so he sat there trying to map out what happened by taking accounts from the wizards who had been present. He even wished that he had at least a job out in the field but the nearest thing he got to outdoors at his desk was a light breeze that occasionally got through the broken window in his office. After finishing work, he returned to the Leaky Caldron as he had no proper home yet but Tom was always jolly enough to let him stay there for the time being. He even gave Ron half price rent, which Ron was very grateful for. He didn't earn a lot of money in his job so any helping hand he felt grateful for. Although he had nothing to look forward to when he came home. He had no one to love, no one to hold, no one to kiss or caress.
He pushed these thoughts out of his head. But he couldn't stop thinking about it especially now, after he read the front page article.
Hermione Granger, one of his best friends like Harry. Although, he wasn't sure if he could call her his best friend any more. Unlike Harry, he hardly saw Hermione except for things such as Christmas, the New Year or any other special occasions. Not that they had fallen out or anything, it was just that she had been far more ambitious than he had been. She was now the editor of the Daily Prophet, the paper that he picked up just a few minutes ago. That's why he assumed that an article such as the one he just read had appeared in it. I mean, sure it probably would of appeared in the paper but he didn't think that it would be front page news. Just from the article you tell how Hermione's romantic life was going. She had been dating Viktor Krum for 4 years now and by the looks of it had accepted his proposal for her hand in marriage.
He stood up, picked up his wand and put it in his robe pocket. He tried so hard not to think of Hermione but he usually found it impossible to do once she was in his head. In fact, he always thought about Hermione. Whether he was sitting at his desk at work or lying in his bed at the Leaky Cauldron. He had known for years why he kept on thinking about her but at the moment he was in denial to ease his, once again, broken heart. Oh! What the hell! He loved Hermione Granger. He had always loved Hermione and there wasn't a moment of the day where he didn't think about her. Oh! How he wanted so much to be the one to love her, to hold her, to kiss and caress her. And at some point, he was sure that she had felt the same way, because of their constant bickering and fighting throughout their time at Hogwarts. Ron had something special with both of his friends but he seemed to be always closer to Hermione. He teased her and she lectured him, it brought a balance to their friendship. Sometimes after their rows he wondered how they had stayed friends for so long and he thought that it must have been something more than friendship that held them together. Maybe even love. They were always jealous of each others crushes and admirers. Ron remembered the time in 4th year when Hermione had gone to the Yule ball with someone else instead of him and how jealous he had been. That someone else had been in fact Viktor Krum.
Ron apparated into the entrance hall of the ministry of magic. He walked to his department, still thinking about him and Hermione, and what had caused them to grow apart from each other. Ah! Yes! Viktor Krum!
Viktor Krum used to be Ron's quidditch hero but now to him he was an interfering zero. Not once but twice had Mr Krum gotten in the way of Ron and Hermione's budding romance and friendship. Although he wasn't sure if he could call it budding romance as he had never told Hermione how he had felt about her even when he did have the chance. But their friendship had definitely deteriorated because of her relationship to Viktor Krum. Ron felt as if he couldn't be in the same room as they were hence his lack of communication with Hermione. The only time he liked to see Hermione was without Viktor. He even avoided spending Christmas with his family last year as Hermione was bringing Viktor. And even though how disappointed his mum was about him not coming, he still didn't change his mind. He didn't want to give himself nightmares of heartache once again by having to sit at a table and watch another man kiss and hold hands with his Hermione.
As he reached his department, a man poked his head from his office door. It was his boss.
"Late! Again!" His superior, Mr Jenkins shouted, "I don't mind you being late once but this is getting seriously out of hand. You are going to have to make up the time tonight, you do realise that?"
"Yes, sir." Replied Ron, rather warily, as he opened his office door. His back was facing Mr Jenkins so he wouldn't have to look him in the eye. For some reason, Mr Jenkins was that type that if you looked at him face on, he would have accepted it as a challenge. A challenge that Ron couldn't really be bothered with at that moment of time, so he just continued to let him talk to his back while he stood at his office door. He wasn't really taking in anything that he said and just occasionally answered with a "Yes sir" or a "No sir". Mr Jenkins somehow noticed this.
"Is something the matter, Weasley?" asked Mr Jenkins concernedly.
"No Mr Jenkins. Everything's great, sir, just great," lied Ron to his superior.
"Good to hear!" shouted Mr Jenkins, and then taking the hint he disappeared behind his office door again to leave Ron standing alone outside his own office.
Ron pushed open the door and disappeared rather quickly inside. That was all he needed. He had already been late every other day this week and he made up the time usually by staying in later. It was a Friday. He loved to get out early on Fridays but it looked like it was not going to be happening today.
He sighed and sat down at his desk. The paperwork on his desk was piled mountains high. It mounted way beyond his head and that was saying something considering how tall he was. He found that filling out the paperwork was slow and tiresome, what with the long interviews he had to carry out and the lack of enthusiasm he had towards his job.
He moved some of the paperwork on to the floor and buried his face in his hands once again. Frustrated, he put his fingers through his flaming ginger hair.
"Haircut" he sighed, implying that he could do with a haircut. Not that his hair was very long, it just went over his eyes and had started to curl at the bottom. But he was sure that his mum wouldn't approve to it. His mum once told him that he didn't look after himself properly and that bit he had to agree with. He could admit that he didn't eat or sleep properly, he could go with out a shave for days at a time, he only cut his hair when he needed to, sometimes at the weekend he found that he didn't even have the energy to get up and face the day ahead of him, he started to drink a lot and just basically he didn't know what was good for him. Maybe he didn't want to be good to himself. At that moment he felt he was at the lowest point of his life. Nothing could get any worse.
He sat for hours completing the paperwork that was sprawled out over his desk. He never even went on a lunch break. He never usually went on a lunch break anyway. He tried to get through as much paperwork as possible that day but it was hard especially with thoughts of heartbreak and depression in his head.
And yet again by 9.00 pm at night, he was the only one left in the department. Everyone else had gone home to their families and loved ones but he was sitting at his desk, with his quill in his hand completing one of the last reports.
When he had finished, he stacked the pile of papers in the tray on his desk.
"That's that all done for a week" Ron sighed to himself.
He exited his office and locked the door behind him. Someone had turned off all the lights in the department, so he carefully walked in the dark to the department entrance trying not to stand or trip over anything. He walked casually to the entrance hall of the ministry of magic and taking one last glance at the grand, near empty space, he disapperated into thin air.
He apperated into the Leaky Cauldron to be greeted by witches and wizards sitting in the pub drinking firewiskey and butterbeer. It was a Friday night so he couldn't blame everyone for sitting back, having a drink and enjoying themselves.
He approached the counter to be welcomed by Tom, the innkeeper.
"Usual Ron?" asked Tom, picking up a glass and wiping it down.
"No thanks," replied Ron, "I going to have an early night tonight."
And going round the counter, he exited through the back door to go up the stairs to the upper level of the pub.
He opened the room to his door and hurried quickly inside. He wanted to go to bed as soon as possible to drown out the thoughts of another bad day.
He locked the door and started to undress, throwing his clothes on the floor as usual.
He undressed down to his boxer shorts and sat on his bed. He looked across the floor and spotted the paper still there from the morning.
He walked across the room and picked up the paper glancing at the article once again.
He sighed and walked over to the glowing, warm fire that burnt in the fireplace still clutching the newspaper in his right hand. With one more glance at the paper he tossed it onto the burning fire and watched it curl up and disintegrate into ashes.
He walked back across the room after leaning on the fireplace for about 10 minutes, although it seemed like it had been for eternity. He pulled back the covers on his bed and jumped inside it. He wrapped the covers round him to produce some heat for himself. It was November, so it was naturally quite cold.
He put his head on the pillow and thought about Hermione once again, even though he didn't want to. He tried so hard no to think about her as he didn't want to dream about her like he had done last night, or the night before that or every night since his 4th year at Hogwarts. But thinking about her was his only comfort, the only reason how he got to sleep at night. As long as he still loved her, he didn't give up the chance that maybe one day she would love him too but for now it seemed like an eternity away. And as he closed his eyes, he thought how it would be like to kiss her and to hold her in his arms. He was not sure if it was a dream or a nightmare. How he longed so much to do it but on the other hand the heartbreak that filled him about not being able to do it was equal. "Oh! Hermione! Would you ever know?' Ron though to himself, 'why is so tough being me? Being Ron Weasley.'
And with that he drifted into a slumber of nightmares and unfulfilled dreams.
What do you think? Is it any good for the first chapter? I am going to write up the second chapter as soon as possible but I'd rather prefer to see a couple of reviews before I do so. So please R & R this chapter. Till next time, bye!
