Written for the Twin.Exchange Monthly Challenge.
Pairing/prompts: Ron and Hermione, toe ring, "Fee Fi Fo Fum"
Ron sat with his back pressed against the large oak tree in his back yard. His large hands covered his eyes and he counted loudly, "Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, and twenty! Ready or not, here I come!" He stood, uncovered his eyes, and took a good look around the large green yard. He saw a long stream of red hair peeking out from behind a nearby bush. He sniffed excessively loud. "Fee Fi Fo Fum, I smell a little girl, yum yum yum," he said in his most booming voice.
A squeal came from the bushes and they started to rustle. He saw his little niece curled into a ball, hiding her face in her hands. "Where is she?" he asked, leaning over the edge, pretending to not see her. Another squeal followed by a giggle. "Where could she be?" Ron reached a hand out and tickled Lily. "Found you!" he teased. He smiled as the little girl leapt to her feet and tiptoed around the bushes, prepared to help him find her siblings and cousins. "Where do you think they are?" he whispered.
"I bet James is hiding in the broom shed," she giggled.
"Let's go." Ron pulled his hands up in front of him like a rabbit and tiptoed sneakily towards their new broom shed. "Go around back, in case he tries to escape," he whispered. Ron waited until Lily had positioned herself near the window in case her brother tried to dart out of it. "I wonder," he said, opening the door, "if anyone is in here." He peeked around, moving brooms and other objects out of his way. He was just about to give up when an old Comet fell over and his dark haired nephew jumped out the back window before Ron could reach him.
"You'll never catch me, Uncle Ron!" James laughed, dropping to his feet. "You're too old and too slo-Lily! That's cheating!"
Ron circled the shed to see James glaring at his little sister. "Gotcha," Ron smiled at his accomplice. "Who's next?"
"Rose," Lily said with a grin. James grumbled as he followed the other two. They followed Lily to the garden where they separated and started prowling around, looking for Ron's daughter.
"Where are you Rosie?" Ron called in a sing-song voice. "We're gonna find you."
"Got her!" James shouted from near the daffodils. Lily ran over to them, giggling. Then she screamed suddenly and fell backwards. "Lily?" James raced towards her.
A taller boy stood up suddenly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."
"Teddy, you need to be more careful," Ron said sternly. The boy's hair turned a deep scarlet along with his face.
"Sorry, Uncle Ron," he mumbled into his chest.
"That's alright. But really, you have to be more cautious; you completely gave away your hiding space." Ron laughed as he tagged the boy's shoulder before he realized he should run away.
"Never let your guard down around Daddy," Rose chimed in from behind them. "He's brilliant, even Mum says so." She wore her mother's know-it-all expression with her hands on her hips, shaking her head at Teddy.
"Alright, my little Rosebud, who do we find next?" Ron asked.
"Albus," she said assertively. She spun and led the way towards the practice Quidditch pitch Harry had helped Ron set up several years ago. "Now," Rose mumbled and proceeded to talk to herself as the group broke up to scour the field. "Aha!" she yelled and clapped her hands.
Albus climbed down from the tree he had perched in. In his boredom, his foot had dangled low enough for his cousin to reach. "Let's go get Hugo," he announced and headed toward the house.
It was a sure bet, that wherever Hermione was, Hugo was nearby. He always hid near his mother. The large party circled the house, finding Hermione sitting on the front porch with a book. They searched all around her, inside and outside, but couldn't find little Hugo.
"Hermione, love," Ron began. She didn't even look up from her book as she pointed towards the overhang. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and started to climb the beams, James and Teddy, picking different beams to shimmy up. "Oh, Hugo."
"We're gonna get you Hugo," James said in a menacing voice, that made Ron roll his eyes.
Teddy silently reached the top first. He didn't say anything or move further, so confused, Ron continued up. He had just crested the top when he saw his son sitting just to his left. "Gotcha, buddy." He grabbed hold of the boy and started working his way back down to the porch.
"Hand him here," Teddy held out his arms.
No sooner had Ron passed his son off, was he tackled to the grass. He screamed, despite himself, fighting off the hands that pushed him to the ground. Laughter echoed around him and he realized his eyes were clenched shut. He slowly opened them to find his grinning best friend staring down at him. "Blimey, Harry! That wasn't funny." He shoved him off and rolled to his feet. He tried to ignore James bragging about his dad.
"Don't worry, Ron," Ginny said where she sat next to Hermione, playing with her toe ring. "Hugo's too young to remember any of this." She laughed at his red face.
"Yeah, Uncle Ron," Teddy patted him on the back. "You just need to be more careful, is all." He laughed as he followed Harry and the other boys into the house.
Ron sighed as he too, entered the house, not seeing the smirk Ginny and Hermione shared.
A/N: My first attempt at Ron. Big thanks to G.V.S.L. for beta reading this!
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