1.
Ron Weasley threw himself onto his bed, staring up at his ceiling and listening to the faint voices downstairs. The Order had arrived a mere 10 minutes ago, and even despite Ron's protests to his mother that he was of age, she practically forced him up the staircase and into his bedroom.
He could hear Lupin's voice, and even though he strained a little harder to attempt to understand what they were saying, it was muffled by the sound of the ghoul upstairs, clanging about.
Frustrated, Ron turned over in his bed, punching out the lumps in his pillow and resting down on them, facing his window. It was already dark. And he already missed Harry and Hermione terribly. It was only yesterday that they departed from King's Cross, after Dumbledore's funeral, and Ron swallowed, remembering clutching Hermione a little longer than he anticipated.
Ron knew that it wouldn't be long before both Harry and Hermione would be back here. Ron knew Harry was safe. The Trace, and his protection, didn't shift until his birthday, so he was safe until that time. But Hermione … Ron knew that she was perfectly capable of looking after herself, but it didn't stop the knot in his stomach tightening everytime he thought of her at her parent's house. They couldn't protect her.
Ron closed his eyes, trying to get his mind away from the horrible feeling that was invading his mind. He didn't want to think about it anymore; about the possibility of an attack. Not when he … -
A bang on his window made him sit up straight, his eyes focusing outside. Pigdwidgen was tapping on the window, a tiny note taped to his collar.
Ron flew off his bed and over to the window, pulling open the lock and letting Pig settle on his windowsill. He took the note off his collar and opened it:
I'm at home. Everything's fine. The Order put spells up all around the house when Kingsley assisted my parents and I home. It's safe for the moment.
I'll see you soon.
- Hermione.
Ron breathed out, a swoop of relief echoing through his body. He grinned at himself, tucking the note into his jeans pocket and grabbed Pig, shutting and locking the window before moving over to Pig's cage and putting him inside. He reached over to the box of owl treats and tossed a couple into the cage before moving back over to his bed and lying down.
The voices were still heard from downstairs and Ron blocked them out. He didn't want to think about what was going to happen. He preferred to live in blissful ignorance for at least a few minutes, now that he knew that Hermione was safe.
Blissful ignorance was supposed to come with a little bit of peace and quite, but 10 minutes later Ron's door banged open. Ron threw himself up so quickly that he almost gave himself whiplash. Fred and George bounded into Ron's room, and Ron saw that Fred was hiding something behind his back. But before he could see what it was, they both seated themselves on the corners of Ron's bed, staring up at him gleefully.
"What didn't apparate this time?" Ron asked grumpily, sitting back down on his bed and rubbing his neck.
"What and just intrude on your private time? That would be rude," George replied, grinning at Fred.
Ron rolled his eyes and rested the back of his head on his wall, glancing up at the ceiling again. There were murmurs from downstairs again, and Ron shook his head and glared at Fred and George.
Fred spoke before Ron had a chance to open his mouth. "We have something for you, Ronnie."
Ron's eyes narrowed. "What is it?"
Fred looked at George and he nodded to his twin. Fred pulled the object he was hiding from behind his back: it was a book. Ron looked confused as Fred handed Ron the book. He took it, staring down at the title that blazed the words "Twelve fail-safe ways to charm witches."
Ron could feel his neck turn red.
"Now, we saw the way you and Hermione were being complete idiots last year; or rather, you were the one being the idiot, hooking on with that Lavender girl, so we decided to give you some assistance," George said, nodding importantly.
"I don't need any…" Ron spluttered.
"Oh, but you do," Fred cut in. "You have no idea what you are doing, little brother, so this book will help you. Trust us. It's got us through plenty a dodgy situation. Plus, it's full of heaps of things which will help you…"
George held out his hand. "Let's not spoil it for him, Fred. We've done all we can," he said seriously. "Now it's up to Ron."
They both nodded at him and got up. Fred slapped him on the back and led the way out the door. They closed it behind them, and Ron was sure he heard a snigger from outside. But he was too momentarily shocked to do anything; all he could do was stare at the book, completely dumbfounded.
He didn't think he had no idea what he was doing. He thought he had been doing pretty well, since he and Lavender broke up. He did everything he thought he was supposed to do. Wasn't that good enough?
The knot in his stomach twisted uncomfortably.
He opened the book and fingered through the pages. 'Chapter 1: Eyes on the prize" … 'Chapter 4: Complimenting' … 'Chapter 6: The art of snogging" … "Chapter 10: The art of seduction" … "Chapter 12: How to turn …-"
Ron snapped the book shut, staring around wildly, his face turning a bright scarlet.
He didn't need that kind of help.
Slowly, he opened the book again, looking through the first through pages. "The stuff in here is pretty good…"Ron thought, skimming through the chapter labeled "Subtlety of touching."
He flipped through the book for more than an hour. A little after 7, his door banged open again, and Ron threw the book on the other side of his bed, away from sight. Staring at the door, Ginny appeared, looking annoyed.
"Dinner's ready, they just finished the meeting," she told him.
Ron nodded and Ginny turned back around, walking down the staircase to the kitchen. Ron's gaze quickly focused back to the book on the floor. He leant down and picked it up, opening his bedside drawer and hastily shoving the book in its confines.
"I'll get back to it later," he mused to himself, as he got off his bed and bounded down the stairs to the smell of dinner brewing.
--