Dislaimer: I do not own Harry Potter

Written for the The Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition, Round 1

Team:Caerphilly Catapults

Position: Chaser 3

Theme (for round 1) family role: (for chaser 3) godparent

Optional Prompts used : (dialogue) "Don't tell me what to do!", (word) stubborn(ess), (quote) "Every family has bad memories." Mario Puzo

Auror Weasley has always been a busy man, but last few days have been a living hell for him. With his partner, Head-Auror Potter away, he had way more responsibility on his shoulders than he'd like! Hence, it was a welcomed change to see is godson charging into his office one fine day. James threw the door open and fell heavily into the office chair; without any greetings. Ron frowned at the display of irritation, but decided against telling him off; he had a 'cool-uncle' reputation to keep.

"Hello, James… Long time no see." He greeted the twenty-three year old, but James Potter was contented with burying his face in his hands, with his elbows on the desk. Ron shuddered his shoulders and got his attention back to his work. He didn't find anything out of place about it. It is quite apt for a Quidditch Pro to be ultra-tired.

"How's Grace?" Ron asked after a while, as he signed off another report.

"Grace who?" James asked in a heavy voice. He was sitting upright now and staring at a spot on the wall with undying concentration. Ron rolled his eyes, trouble in paradise he mused. James was crazy about that girl, but Ron was glad he had her; the Weasleys already considered her family.

""Let me think… She might be the girl who a certain godson of mine has been trying to plunge up the courage to propose…since ages!"

"I did that today."

Ron raised an eyebrow. "Proposed?"

"Yes."

"So… She declined or something?" Ron asked, he abandon his paperwork to give James his full attention, things seem seriously wrong.

James gave him a hard laugh and threw his arms in the air. "No, the girl I proposed accepted..but I proposed to the wrong girl… I fell in love with the wrong girl… She's not what I thought she was!"

Ron got up from his seat and went over to lean on the desk in front of James. He put his hand on his shoulder which James instantly slapped away. Ron put his hand on his godson's shoulder yet again, more firmly this time and met his eyes with concern.

"James… what happened?"

James clinched his fist and shook his head vigorously, "She's not who she is! She lied…All this time!"

This hardly made an ounce of sense to Ron; he pursed his lips. He tried to comfort James by rubbing circles on his back and silently observed him go through a wordless emotional hippogriff ride.

"James, tell me." He urged gently, "What did Grace lie about?"

"Everything" James replied heatedly, but seemed to calm down a bit; comparatively.

"What do you mean?" Ron asked, when he noticed that James was not offering any more information.

"Carina Carrow… that's her name."

James watched in satisfaction as the colour drained out of his Uncle's face, hearing his declaration.

"As in… the Carrows?" Ron asked.

"Their niece."James offered; sharing this was truly helping him get over his own shock.

"You said she's from America."Ron protested.

"Nah! That was Grace Watson, who doesn't exist. Miss Carrow grew up in Scotland; homeschooled."

Ron got back to his seat and leaned back. He closed his eyes and slowly rotated in his office chair in half circles. It was shocking news, not that Grace is a Carrow, but that the girl the whole family had come to adore was not who she said to be. But right now all he cared about was his godson, his state of mind and his happiness.

James abruptly got off his seat and started pacing around at an outrageous speed.

"She told you all this after you proposed?" Ron asked him.

"Yes!"James exclaimed, punching into the air. "After I fell in love; after we dated for four years; after I proposed…"

"And what did you do?" Ron interrupted, which got James to stop pacing; at least.

"What?" he asked irritatedly.

"What did you do after she told you all this?"

"What can I do? I got the hell out of there! Who wants to do anything with a death–eater?"

"I hope you didn't tell her that, James." Ron said. He felt guilty about worrying about her now, he should be on James' side, but whatever her crimes, Grace was a sensitive girl, and being called a death-eater is a serious insult, as bad as being called a mudblood used to be…until people started tattooing the word on their arm!

"I very well did!"James admitted guiltlessly.

"James, she's not involved… as far as I know, the only Carrows involved are Alecto and Amycus, the others have clean records." Ron explained; he didn't want the drama to go unnecessary places.

"Then why hide like this?"James countered. Ron subconsciously noted how well James displayed his inherited infamous Weasley stubbornness.

"Well they don't have anything to be proud of…"

"That does not justify anything! Every family has bad memories, even ours do…" Ron narrowed his eyes at James, which he fearlessly met. Ron finally turned away and sighed. It seemed very recent when Ron's flight at the horcrux hunt had been flashing around in almost every wizarding newspaper. Harry and Hermoine had agreed to keep the fact a secret, even from the family, but they had confessed every detail in a post-war questioning, with a promise that all the information they provide is to be kept confidential. But it came out anyway; after all this time. Fuelled by this, the newspapers reported numerous Weasley scandals, some true, like Percy's changing sides, and some as outrageous as Teddy being Harry's illegitimate son! After everyone had had their turn in berating Ron, including the kids, Ginny declared that no one should have a problem with it if Hermoine and Harry does not, and Arthur ordered firmly that it is not to ever be mentioned again. James hadn't exactly mentioned it, but both of them knew what he was referring too.

"We might have a few memories to be ashamed of James, but they have crimes." Ron said finally.

"So does the Malfoys…wonderful! I thought Rose is the only one dancing around death eaters, and all this while I have been doing that too! And I didn't even know it!"

"James!" Ron reprimanded sternly, "Leave Rose out of these. And Scorpius is a fine a man, everything I would want for my daughter." No one can talk about his little girl like that!

James smiled it spite of himself, Ron never approved of Scorpius, "Who are you and what did you do to Uncle Ron?"

Ron returned the smile, "Come on! I hate him only 'cause he's stealing my little girl from me… you have to admit, he's actually quite fine… Albus gave him his vote of confidence, so did Hugo, it's just you and me being stubborn."

"And I plan to stay that way." James declared.

"As you wish," Ran allowed; he had no intention of defending Malfoy, and he also didn't want to spoil his godson's improved mood. "Why are you here anyway?

James widened his eyes, he hesitated for a second and started towards the door, "I'll just go."

Ron frantically waved him back to his seat, "No, no! I mean, why here. You expected me to give you some valuable advice or something?"

"You? Advise?Of course not… you seemed to be the only one who'd actually listen to me."James said.

Ron rolled his eyes,"Why not Roxy?"

"Roxy…Naah she'll tell me ways to get over it. I wanted someone old_"

"I'm hurt" Ron said, putting on an expression to match his statement.

But James took no notice of it, and continued, "Mum would have ranted about Grace…Carina deceiving her poor son, Aunt Hermione would have lectured me about judging people accurately and Merlin knows what, and dad… where is he anyway?"

Ron was surprised James could still worry…wonder where his father was with so much on his mind, "Harry's in Nigeria, he'll be back tomorrow," He replied.

"Oh! The last time I saw him, was at Nana's birthday, he was chastising Molly over her treatment to Uncle Perce" James offered, shaking his head disapprovingly.

It occurred to Ron that the Weasley family was just having a really bad phase on the whole! Molly and Percy's episode have been in progress from almost a year!Percy expressed his discontentment on his daughter's poor choice of a life partner, they had a row, and Molly refused to talk to her Father ever since! Molly even refused to let him walk her down the aisle; it was the godfather, George who did that instead…and now James just bought more trouble, as if that and Bill's illness wasn't enough!

"Good. She had that coming, how did it go?" Ron asked.

"It was useless, she's still being stubborn." James replied.

Ron sighed; it really seemed useless, poor Audrey, she's stuck between her daughter, who refused to acknowledge her father, and her husband, who refused to make the first move. But there's nothing Ron could do about that. He decided to get back to what he could control.

"Let's get back to Grace."

"Grace and I are over…" James declared trying to make it sound off-handed.

"Grace and you can never be over James." Ron told him gently, "You love her with all your heart. And think again, you aren't mad because she's a Carrow, you're mad 'cause she lied to you."

"And that's a valid reason."James said.

"True, but forgivable." Ron countered.

"I can't" James decided, "I won't"

Ron couldn't help but remember the times when James would refuse to meet the Dursleys as a teenager. He refused to forgive the people who had hurt his father. Ron never understood how Harry even expected him to! Ron would have behaved the same way if he'd have been in James' place. Comparing the similarity of the situation, Ron decided to use the same approach, Harry had to unwilling to use…

He gave his godson a stern look, "talk to her, James."

"I won't" James said firmly, stamping his foot.

"Go and talk to her once, you can solve everything if you talk."

"Don't tell me what to do!" James yelled.

Ron gave him a hard stare, James was usually respectful, at least with the people he liked, and that came quite unexpected. James' eyes softened as he saw the hurt on his Uncle's face.

Ron looked away, and pulled another report from the pile.

"If it is so, off you go then. I have loads of work to get done, with your dad away." Ron said and busied himself, letting the guilt take over James. James slowly moved towards the desk and stood in front looking abashed. Ron gave him a quick glance, and got back to his papers.

"Sorry" James whispered. Ron turned towards him; he found the scene oddly amusing: his godson in his twenties, standing in front of his desk, hanging his head and apologizing. He raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"I didn't mean to be rude" James said, louder this time, "I am sorry,"

Ron was tempt to say 'I am sorry, who?' but he feared he himself wouldn't survive it without bursting out laughing.

"Forgiven" Ron said instead and offered him a smile. When he realized it's not enough, he got up and engulfed James in his arms. James wasn't very tall, which made it easy for Ron to cuddle him, and James, surprising didn't protest. Ron lovingly stroked James' hair, making the most out of what the twenty three year old was allowing.

When James finally pulled away, Ron held him by the shoulder and looked at him right in the eyes.

"James, I know it feels bad to be lied too, but you can't end a relationship by just walking away, communication is important, even if it is an argument, it's much better that nothing. You can still break up if you want nothing to do with her, but talk to her once. When I say this, James, I speak in only and only your concern. You love her, and you would be hurt to be without her. Go and talk to her..."

James shook him head, "I might yell at her, and she might start crying."

"Then you can comfort her, and everything will be fine." Ron replied in a singsong tone.

"You actually think it's that easy!?"James exclaimed.

"No, but a good argument never hurts." Ron said, smiling playfully… Ron and Hermione's daily banters were an amusement to everyone.

"Of course, Uncle Ron," James said, rolling his eyes, "should I go now?"

"It's up to you, or you can wait for her to contact you… but as they usually say: the sooner, the better." Ron said giving an encouraging pat and proceeded back to his desk. "And get lost now; I am supposed to be approving reports, not running an advice agency."

James nodded and turned to leave. He stopped and the door and looked over his shoulder, "Hey and Uncle Ron"

"Hm?"

"Thanks"

"Anytime."

"For everything… I really needed it." He hesitated a bit, and then departed silently.

"Close the door behind you." But James never heard, since he was long gone.

Ron massaged his temples, and prayed that James and Grace's relationship would somehow be saved…for James' sake, or maybe he actually wanted them together, the girl was family after all. As he aimed his wand at the door to close it, James' head again popped in, "Hey, Uncle Ron, did Aunt Hermione say that? 'Communication is better that nothing, even if it's an argument.'"

"Obviously." Ron replied with a dramatic sigh, "who else?"

"Yeah, who else."