Chapter 3! how will Ron adjust to his new surroundings? read to find out!
Ron could only stare forward after the Sorting Hat had spoken his doom. He had been resorted into Slytherin. Slytherin! The house he was at odds with ever since he had come to Hogwarts. His hands shook as he stood from the stool. He couldn't even look at the Gryffindor table, to see the shock of his friends and family which no doubt equaled his own displeasure. His steps felt heavy, like he had to lift an immense weight with each step, weight that tried to keep him from doom, as he made his way to an empty spot at the table.
The stares of his enemy. They were intense as he took a seat. Unconsciously Ron's hand started moving down toward his boot. The feel of a weapon would be good now. His fingertips just brushed over the pommel, or what should have been if it wasn't in his trunk, he had forgotten it wasn't with him, to caught up to think clearly, when a hand grabbed his arm. There was only two people at this table who knew what he really was, what he was capable of doing and what he could be going for. And the smaller one was down the table with her year. "Daphne." Ron turned and stared into Daphne's blue eyes, finding a little comfort. At least he had one friend….acquaintance here.
When Daphne had seen Ron walk up to the front of the Great Hall she had been curious. She had never heard of someone being resorted. But it made sense to her when she thought about it. He had undergone some drastic changes over the summer. And when she noticed his hand twitch and move down she could only think of what he was going for. Nothing calmed a warrior in a new dangerous situation like a weapon. "Breath." Though she didn't know he didn't have it on him.
Ron took a deep breath, realizing he had been holding it for a while and brought his hands up on top of the table. "Thank you." He said under his breath.
Daphne focused on the table again, ignoring the look from her friends. She knew she took a risk reaching out to the Gryffindor turned Slytherin. But Ron saved her life and he needed to know not everyone at the Slytherin table was gunning for him. Plus she just saved her entire house from a potential massacre so there was that, her good deed for the day.
The young mercenary ignored everything Dumbledore said during the speech. Something about a tournament and other students. He didn't really care about all that now though. Daphne had gotten rid of the initial nerves but now he was paying attention to his surroundings. Malfoy and his goons were staring at him. They were planning something obviously and he'd be ready.
"Let the feast begin!" The food appeared in front of everyone and they started eating. Ron picked a few things and set them on his plate. He wasn't feeling very hungry. Ron knew he'd be craving food later but didn't he'd deal with it then. Daphne glanced at Ron. It was concerning. Ron normally ate a ton of food, to see him picking was strange. She couldn't have been the only one to notice. Glancing at the Gryffindor table she noticed his sister talking to her brothers and the remaining two of the golden trio which had just been broken up.
To Ron dinner seemed to drag on forever and then they were dismissed to their dorms. Unconsciously Ron stuck close to Daphne, the only familiar and somewhat friendly face in this hostile group the was within reach of him. They made their way to the dungeons and Ron saw the door to the common room. He remembered his second year when he and Harry had used polyjuice potion and snuck in to question Draco about the Heir of Slytherin. Oh how he longed for those days again.
Inside Ron noted the over use of green. He was saddened by the lack of red. Feeling Daphne brush past him he watched her as she made her way toward the girl's dormitory. Daphne turned and looked back at him, giving him a small smile before descending. With a heavy sigh, submitting himself to his fate, Ron descended down.
The fourth year dorm was clearly marked by a Roman numeral four, IV, marking a year of madness for Ron. His hand felt heavy as he lifted it up to the door. 'Alright Ron remember your training. Be confident. You're strong. Strong. Stronger than them. Better than them.' Ron took a deep breath, exhaling swiftly through his nose, then pushed the door open. Immediately all heads turned to face him. Confidently Ron walked over to his bed. His trunk was placed in front of his bed as it was each year.
Ron was about to open his trunk to change when he was grabbed from behind, turned around and shoved into the wall. He was face to face with Crabbe and Goyle holding him in place. "Alright Weasley. What are you playing at?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about Malfoy." Ron sneered.
"How did you get sorted into our house?" The ferret was pacing the room. The other occupants, Nott, Boot and Zabini, watched with curiosity from their beds as Malfoy questioned Ron.
"Maybe the Sorting Hat decided it was time to add a little class to this house." Ron chuckled, earning him a punch from Goyle. Ron didn't react to it though. "Now tell your ogres to let go before I force them." The two "ogres" laughed, finding Ron's threat funny.
"You wish you could." Malfoy taunted.
"Well I warned you." Ron's wand slid out of his sleeve into his hand and with a flash Crabbe and Goyle were flung across the room. Then quickly he stunned Malfoy before turning his wand on the other three. "Anyone else?" Nobody moved. "No? Fantastic. Good night." Ron hopped onto his bed, closed the curtains and set up several protective barriers to keep the other from trying anything during the night.
Snape was not in a good mood. First a Weasley had been sorted into his house last night. The first one ever. Not only a Weasley but Potter's best friend and sidekick. Second he had woken up to an enraged Draco ranting about said Weasley. Draco's attempt at harassing the ex-Gryffindor didn't go as he had planned. Seems the brat picked up a few new skills over the summer. Of course he knew about what happened to the young lad, all his professors did. All the trusted ones at least. Also he had been there, granted he was unconscious at the time.
So now he had to discipline his newest charge. Snape didn't really want to. Draco needed to learn how to handle defeat better and he didn't really care all that much about a little teenage feud. If he had his way he'd place both of them in a room, arm them with wands and let them work it out. May the strongest and craftiest win.
With a sigh Snape strode into the fourth year male dormitory. "Everyone out! Weasley stay."
"But sir not all of us are dressed." Nott tried to explain.
"Out!" The teens scrambled from the room into the hall. Snape approached the only bed with the curtains still closed. "Ronald Weasley get out here this instant." He waited a few seconds then he reached up for the curtain. A quick jolt of static coursed through his body and he drew his hand back. "A static ward huh? Seems someone from Azkaban's staff had been teaching him.
Meanwhile somewhere far off in a cave a warrior with a shotgun sneezed. "You ok Cam?"
"Yeah Alec I'm good. Just slight allergies."
"You're a werewolf. You don't have allergies." Alec replied, running a whetstone down his blade.
"Maybe someone's talking about me." Cam grinned.
Alec just looked toward his friend. "Probably. Probably talking shit about you too." He teased.
"Hey! Asshole!"
Snape was about to reach for his wand when the barrier cancelled and faded. Weasley stepped out, looking down at his new school clothes. Severus could clearly see distaste on his new student's face. Green and silver really weren't for him. "Mr. Weasley." Ron snapped to attention, finally realizing the room was empty save for him and his head of house.
"Y-yes sir?" Ron stammered.
"I got word that there was an incident last night." Snape crossed his arms. "I was hoping this could've been put off for at least a couple of days."
"Draco started it! He unleashed his goons on me." Ron pleaded his case. "I gave them a fair chance to walk away unharmed. They decided to forfeit their liv-I mean choice!" What Ron said started say but ultimately caught himself. The little slip gave Snape the chills. Ron had obviously given someone an ultimatum before and Snape was sure the outcome was far more severe. He briefly wondered what else his newest student had learned in his three months away.
"Is that so?" Snape knew it was. He had ways of knowing everything that went on. The six other teens didn't realize it but when he stormed in he had used Legilimens wandlessly and wordlessly. He also of course used it on Malfoy when the boy came to whine to him. "Well in that case I'll be taking my leave."
"Wait that's it?" Ron was sure he'd get in trouble.
"Mr. Weasley why would I punish the innocent?" Snape turned to leave. "Just be sure to stay innocent."
"Yes professor." Ron watched as Snape left the dorm and his half naked house mates scrambled back into the room. Ron and Malfoy locked eyes and the ex-Gryffindor suppressed a growl, he could feel his canines sharpen and his nails turn to claws but reeled back his anger. Deciding it was a better use of his time to feed his stomach, as it was empty due to not eating a lot yesterday at the feast, then to stay here and glare at Draco Ron pulled his slit pupils off the ferret and left the dorm. He wasn't used to walking up stairs instead of down for breakfast, which sent another pang of depression through him. No longer would he wear the orange, reds and gold of his old house.
"New challenges mean new ways to get stronger."
Ron remembered one of the phrases that was spoken during his time at the den. It was drilled into his skull repeatedly. It meant that if you face whatever new threat that came at you you'd get stronger. He'd overcome this and be better because of it. 'Thank you, my brothers and sisters.' Ron was so caught up in his thoughts he didn't notice someone in front of him.
"Ah!" Came a girlish shriek and the sound of someone hitting the floor.
"Astoria?!" Quickly Ron reached down and easily hauled the girl up with one hand. "You ok?"
"Yes I'm fine." She dusted herself off and looked up at Ron. He was a good foot taller then her. "You're strong."
"Have to be to fight bad guys and save your sister from the evils of third story windows." Ron flexed his arm and Astoria giggled.
"Astoria?" And speak of the devil. "We're going to breakfast now." Daphne noticed Ron standing next to her sister. "Hello Ron."
"Morning Daphne." Ron gave a small smile to the other friendly face here. "Sleep well?"
"Not really. Pansy kept talking about the disgrace added to our house for half the night." She noticed Ron's face darken. "Oh there, there dear boy." Daphne reached up and patted Ron's face. "I told her to stuff it for you." Ron just nodded.
"You two done flirting? I'm hungry." Astoria's comment caused the two to blush. "And Tracey is coming up now." True to her word the Davis girl emerged from the girl's stairwell.
Tracey immediately glared at the red head, who went to the other side of the common room to avoid dealing with Tracey. "Ready?" She asked as she joined her friend and her friend's sister.
"Yes just waiting on you." The three moved toward the exit.
"Have a nice chat with Weasley?" Tracey asked once they were out of the common room.
"I don't see what your problem is. He's one of us now technically." Daphne defended. Ron had saved her life, earned her respect. He wasn't that bad. The ginger still seemed to retain a bit of unintelligence but clearly he was more advanced than when he left last year.
"Plus he saved her!" Astoria blurted out.
"It's Weasley though! They're bloodtraitors!" Tracey looked back and saw Ron emerge from the dormitory. Daphne could do worse for a white knight to be rescuing her, she guessed. "Ugh I guess since he helped you out I can tolerate you guys exchanging a few words….but no more than ten words!"
Daphne chuckled at her friend's outrageous stipulation. "Ok only ten."
Ron entered the Great Hall and was immediately enveloped in a hug from his sister before being dragged to the Gryffindor table. "So how was your night Ron?" Harry asked, eyeing his friend's new green and silver wardrobe.
"Pretty much how I expected it to go mate." Ron rubbed the back of his head, noticing to stares of his ex-housemates. "Malfoy didn't waste any time. The prick."
"You'll get through this Ron." Hermione put a hand on his shoulder. "Only four more years to go!"
"Oh gee thanks for reminding me." Ron rolled his eyes and went over to his new table. Finding a spot alone he sat down to eat.
Daphne, from her spot down the table, noticed the return of Ron's appetite. She smiled slightly. "You're staring." Tracey said.
"I'm just making sure he's ok." Daphne replied. "I noticed he wasn't eating much last night. Poor thing must be starved."
"That is abnormal for him. Though given the circumstances I doubt he felt like doing much of anything last night." Tracey popped a piece of fruit into her mouth. "So how much trouble do you think Draco and the goons gave him last night?"
"Oh I doubt he was much trouble." Daphne chewed on a piece of bacon. Astoria just giggled at her sister's comment, knowing what the elder Greengrass was implying.
The first class that day was charms. Professor Flitwick was pacing the front of the room, parchment of the course outline in his hand as he went over the year they were going to have. Ron was only half paying attention. His head was in his hand as he skillfully twirled his wand around his fingers, bored. It was his old wand. If he was using his new one his pack had given him it would raise questions on where he had gotten it. Ron doubted saying it was given to him by a group of werewolf mercenaries so he could study over the summer was a valid explanation.
"Alright students now we're going to review what we learned last year." Ron lifted his head out of his hand for this, finally needing to pay at least a little bit more attention. Lazily he cast the spells as they were easy since he had done them plenty of times last year.
The class after that was one Ron normally hadn't paid any attention in at all. Usually he just slept through it. It was an elective course he had to take until fifth year. Once he took his O.W.L.s he could decide if he wanted to continue it. It would be a good idea to pay attention in this class now. His pack did use runes a lot. Everyone's weapons seemed to have runes on it to enhance its properties.
Professor Bathsheda Babbling entered the class after everyone had taken their seats. "Good morning class." Again they did a quick overview of the year before reviewing. Ron recognized a few, few meaning four, runes from last year but the others were a blur in his memory. The four were strength, protection, knowledge and leadership. The first two Ron had on his sword. Needless to say Ron knew he had some serious catchup work to do in this class.
Potions was an interesting class to say the least. Malfoy kept sending glares and insults his way, which was normal. He sat next to Daphne just to be away from the hostility somewhat. Daphne didn't mind. She understood his reasoning for not wanting to be near Malfoy and his cronies. They were a bunch of idiots. What struck Ron as strange was Snape not insulting him. Ron thought it was due to the fact that he was now a Slytherin. Snape was known for favortisim. Ron enjoyed being on this side of it, he had found his silver lining.
Ron had lunch after that and it was uneventful. Talking briefly with his siblings, Harry and Hermione before going over to Slytherin's table and eating as much as he could. After his meal he had Transfiguration and that was calm. Only thing was McGonagall was sending sad looks his way. She was sad to see him go but the Sorting Hat decided Ron needed to be somewhere else to grow into who he was becoming.
Defense against the Dark Arts was interesting to say the least. The new professor was Alastor Moody. A dark wizard hunter. His goal for this year was to teach constant vigilance and inform the students about the unforgivables and other really nasty curses. Ron paid extra attention. This class would teach him some of the things he could encounter while in the field.
Care of Magical Creatures was enjoyable as always with Hagrid. Of course Ron had to battle that stupid Monster Book Hagrid had listed as required materials. Ron wasn't the only one who nearly lost a limb. A book with a mouth on it. Sometimes he hates magic.
Ron was by himself at dinner. Currently he was thinking. He needed a place to train. An empty classroom was out of the question. Ron couldn't risk damaging school equipment beyond repair. The repair spell could only do so much at his current level. Outside in the grounds wasn't viable. It would be bad enough getting caught at night, worse if he was caught outside. Plus he didn't want to reveal too much of his new abilities so the less chance of others catching him train the better.
Finishing his meal Ron went to walk the castle and came to a dead end hallway after a bit and sighed. "There's got to be a place somewhere." He paced back and forth in the hall. "I need a place to train." Sighing dejectedly Ron leaned against the wall. No spots met his specific qualifications.
The sound of stone moving against stone broke him out of his thoughts. Looking toward the origin Ron noticed a door that wasn't there before. "The hell?"
Pushing open the door revealed a large room empty. "This can work I guess. If only I had some training dummies." Immediately several suits of armor materialized in. They turned towards Ron, swords and shields raised and moving. "Stand down!" They froze in place. "Perfect. Now to get my gear." Ron left the room and ran back to his dorm. Mounted on the wall next to his bed was his sword and shield. Waving his wand he broke the charm that kept his hostile roommates from taking them. Grabbing his weapons he shrunk them down to get them out easier and pocketed them.
Leaving the dorm he blew through the common room saying hi and bye to Daphne, who was sitting in a chair by the fire reading. Daphne just raised an eyebrow in confusion as she watched Ron rush in and out of the place. "Someone's in a hurry." Was all she said before turning a page in her charms book.
Back in the room Ron stared down five suits of armor. Red light shone brightly through the slits in their visors. Tightening his grip he lunged toward the closest. It blocked with its shield and countered. Ron swung his blade to intercept the hit. Ron kicked the shield staggering the armor and slashed across the chest. The helmet fell off and the light faded from the visor, signaling it was "dead." The other four pressed in on Ron together.
Holding his sword horizontally, the flat of the blade parallel to the ground, Ron swiped his hand across it, from the guard up. Runes lit up and the blade was covered in a bright white light and extended it about two feet. "Lunar Slash!" Ron yelled as the blade of energy cut through the armor. Panting heavily Ron looked over the carnage, counting the helmets. "One two three…" Ron's ear twitched as he heard the metal footfall of the last armor. "Accio shield!" Ron's shield flew up onto his arm and blocked the sword. Ron shoved the blade back and slashed across the neck of the armor quickly.
"By the moon this is intense." Ron wiped sweat from his forehead. Unlike his usual training partners at the den the suits of armor didn't tire nor did they hold back. They came at him with intent to kill. A perfect method of training. "Alright reset!" The armor pieces lifted off the ground and reassembled. "Let's go again."
Flipping through his textbook Ron was seeing a ton of useful runes. It had been a week since classes have started. "Oh Merlin why have I not been paying attention in this class last year." Storage runes, defensive runes, and knowledge runes the list went on and on. "This one looks good. Rune of language comprehension. A permanent form of the comprehend language ritual, huh. I just need a ritual book." Unfortunately Ron's textbook didn't tell him how to apply the rune to himself. He'd need a ritual book from somewhere and the materials. And he knew exactly who to ask to get them for him.
Ron grabbed a sheet of parchment and a quill. Writing a quick message to the clan he told them what he planned on doing and asked for the required materials. Signing it he sealed his letter and took off toward the Owlry. Finding his owl was easy, it was the one crashing into everything and every other owl. "For the love of moonlight Erol learn to fly."
The owl just hooted and waited as Ron attached the letter to his leg. "Take this to the Den." The little owl took off. Ron had no idea how owls could find their destinations. Especially if they've never been there before. He just chalked it up to magic and left it at that.
He hadn't heard back for a couple days. Ron could only assume they were gathering the required materials for him. So at breakfast on the fifth day Ron was unsuspecting. He was just sitting at the table, minding his own business, eating a delicious plate of eggs, toast and bacon. Glass of juice half empty and a muffin crumbs dusting his plate with a bite taken out of on the side of another one and sitting waiting patiently to be finished. The only warning Ron had was a shrill hoot before Erol crashed onto the table in front of him not a second later.
Ron, startled, fell backwards onto the floor. "Son of a bitch!" The Great Hall erupted into laughter, he could hear Daphne laughing the loudest. The ginger picked himself up and glared intently at his family's owl. The tiny bird just sat there picking at his owner's breakfast. Ron, still glaring, sat back down and took the parcel and quickly opened its contents. He smiled at them before wrapping them back up and stuffing them into his pocket.
Classes had taken forever to finish and Ron had sped through dinner before rushing off to his training room. There he sat following the instructions. In the dish he crushed the stones. The bright purple gems needed to be turned into a fine powder to harness their essence. Grabbing his knife Ron slit his palm open and dripped some blood into the dish before mixing it thoroughly. In a matter of seconds the wound on his hand healed.
Dabbing his finger into the mixture he traced the rune onto his forehead before rubbing it off and doing it again for he had drawn it backwards. "Ok last but not least." Ron sat cross-legged in a circle of other runes and he set a large blue sapphire down in front of him. A rune stone. Used to activate runes and channel energy when applying runes to yourself. Ron made a hand sign and channeled his energy into the circle and the sapphire. The stone glowed with the runes on the ground and energy from the stone arced out and into Ron's forehead.
Ron could feel and intense heat on his head. It seemed like forever until finally the heat faded and the sapphire's glow died down. Ron got up and went over to the wall where a mirror appeared. He could see a glowing purple rune on his head before it faded and it vanished. "Did it work?" How could he test it he wondered. "I need to find something with another language on it."
Packing his things up Ron headed for the library. Finding the language section was easy, it was labeled. He grabbed a book that had German in it he opened to a random page and he read. He read several pages, several chapters. "Wow." Shutting the book he shoved it back onto the shelf and left the library.
Returning to the dorm he saw several people in the common room. He had a large grin on his face. "What's that look for?"
"Oh nothing." Ron moved past Daphne and Tracey. "Gute Nacht, mein Freund." Daphne just blinked as Ron entered the male section of the dorm after saying goodnight to his friend.
Tracey looked at Daphne. "Your new friend is weird."
Ron was in a good mood as he sat down to dinner. The language rune was fantastic and the last three nights after the first he had said goodnight to Daphne in different languages. Swedish, Spanish and Italian. It would be a very useful thing to have. "Attention students!" Dumbledore was up at the podium that Ron failed to noticed, too caught up in his good mood. "Today is the day we meet our guests from the other schools!" Dumbledore went about introducing the Beauxbatons and Durmstrang schools. The only interesting thing Ron noticed was that Beauxbatons was an all-girl school. Actually that was very interesting to the teen, and all the other male teens in attendance. And the other interesting thing was Viktor Krum, the Seeker for the Bulgarian world team, was here with Durmstrang.
Dumbledore continued to explain the rules of the tournament. Something about seventh years only but Ron didn't care much for it. Sure his wild side wanted him to test his mettle but he knew there was no chance of him being allowed to compete so he just sat back and ate his meal.
Things were certainly different with the other students here. The hallways were more packed. It was generally a friendly atmosphere though there was a bit of tension Ron's animal instincts could detect. School rivalry was being suppressed for now. But Ron knew it was only a matter of time before things became heated and lines were drawn for each school's champion.
Ron was coming back from training one night and things took a bit of a turn. Some Durmstrang students had bumped into him. "I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention." He really wasn't, he had just been on autopilot back to the dormitory, his mind elsewhere. Thinking of new attacks and defensive strategies. What he had now was very basic.
But they didn't accept his apology though. "Just like Hogwarts student not paying attention. Idiot. Ublyudok." If this had been Ron from about two weeks ago he'd just walk off without any clue as to what was said. But it wasn't Ron from two weeks ago. It was Ron from here and now. The Ron that had the comprehend language rune on his forehead. The Ron that understood everything that was said.
"What did you just say to me?" Ron turned, fire in his eyes. He was mad. Here he was accepting the fault and apologizing and yet they stand here and antagonize. Ron's nose detected the scent of alcohol on their breath. Clearly someone smuggled some in, or maybe not who knew what those Durmstrang officials allowed. "Did you just call me a bastard!?"
The group of males paled. They hadn't expected anyone here to understand Russian. But they recovered quickly. "What you going to do about it?" Ron was going to retort something clever about their mothers but they struck preemptively before Ron could. They jumped Ron. The ex-Gryffindor was locked in a grapple with one, it was proving difficult as they were all huge and tugging on him trying to get a hold of his arms and open up his guard.
Ron slipped out of his robe, catching the assailants off guard. Ron was facing off against the biggest one of the four landing a punch to his jaw before tackling him. The Durmstrang student was pounding on his back and did whatever he could to get Ron off of him. Ron felt his shirt give and he was pulled back by the other three. Next thing he knew it came off and he was receiving punches to the chest.
Ron used his head, striking the boy who had his right arm held effectively freeing himself. Using his now free arm he punched the one who held his left arm. Now free completely he gave a straight kick to the one he had attempted to tackle, followed by a quick elbow. The fourth got Ron in a hold from behind but Ron managed to flip him forward.
"What's going on here!?" Shouted a Russian accent. Iggor Karkaroff was searching for his students when he encountered them in a fight with a Hogwarts student. The young teen had his four students on the ground. The only thing that seemed to happen to Ron was that his shirt had gotten lost somewhere in the struggle. Iggor eyed the boy, inspecting him. It was then he saw the tattoo on Ron's chest. The moon tattoo. He knew that mark, he's seen it before.
Ron picked his shirt back up, listening to the Durmstrang Headmaster berate his students. One would think he was yelling at them for fighting. Technically he was but it was for loosing. This caused Ron to smirk as he walked away. Though that smirk dropped soon after when he realized he had just painted a target on his back. Ron cursed himself, he should've just taken a dive. He would've healed in minutes. Now Durmstrang is going to be gunning for him.
Returning to the Slytherin dorm Ron encountered Daphne again, who was waiting to hear what language Ron would use next. But she noticed he was a little put off. "Hey Ron. You ok?"
"Watashi wa bakada." Ron called himself an idiot in Japanese and descended the stairs for some sleep.
Ron really wanted the champions to be picked already. Durmstrang was messing with him whenever they could for the last couple days, or at least trying to. They were easy to avoid due to his senses. He could always see, hear or smell them coming. So confronting them wasn't a problem it was the effort he had to put in to avoid them. He was getting good at stealth at least. But now he, unintentionally, added fuel to the fire. Male teenage jealousy.
Sometime during the early morning Ron was on his way to breakfast. He had just successfully evaded another Durmstrang hit squad, as he had started to call them, when he bumped into someone. 'This running into people thing has to stop.' Looking down Ron saw a head of blonde hair. His first thought had been Daphne but he remembered she still had traces of black still in her hair. Plus the entirely light blue uniform gave it away once he finally noticed it. "I'm sorry." 'Been saying that a lot lately.'
Ron reached out a hand to help. "C'est bien." Hearing it was ok made Ron relax a bit. The girl looked at Ron curiously. "Vous sentez-vous bien?"
"Me? I'm fine you're the one who got knocked down." Ron didn't know why she was asking him, he was able to remain standing.
"Vous comprenez français?" She asked.
"I think if I'm responding to you I can yes." Ron replied when she asked if he understood French. "Je peux parler trop." He could speak it too.
"Fantastique!" She beamed. "Je suis Fleur Delacour."
"Ron Weasley." The two shook hands. "Au revoir." After saying goodbye he went to his table to eat.
"You have fun?" Daphne's voice next to him surprised him. "Girls with accents do it for you?"
"Ok I know you're teasing me." He replied. "Besides you know my opening move is saving girls from windows."
Astoria wanted to scream 'JUST KISS ALREADY!' but bit her tongue. She was thinking she should go up to Weasley's little sister and make a bet with her about how long it'd take their siblings to get together.
After that incident with Fleur that one morning she had taken to seeking him out and conversing with him. There was something about him that interested her. It seemed he was unaffected by her Veela powers. When someone, Daphne, pointed out to Ron that she was Veela he groaned. Being a werewolf made him immune to charm effects, he knew that. So Fleur was happy to receive male attention from someone who wasn't overcome with extreme desire, just his luck.
Which caused jealousy within the entire male population who would kill for even a second of the time Ron was getting with Fleur. "Ugh just fuckin kill me." Ron leaned against the wall in his training room, his one refuge from the madness. A ding sounded, Ron set up an alert charm for when he was in here, to let him know if it was approaching meal times or any other time he wanted.
Sighing he pushed off the wall and left the room, waiting for the door to reform into the wall and that no one saw his secret place. With everyone at dinner Ron had an easy walk to the Great Hall. No Durmstrang students trying to jump him. No Fleur stopping him for a conversation thereby having every male in the vicinity want to murder him out of anger, jealousy and small mindedness. Despite both problems the rune of language comprehension was still worth it. Knowing other languages would be helpful, especially if he took assignments in other countries when he really started working for the Lunar Knights.
The Great Hall was nearing full, Ron was in the last group of stragglers inside. Finding a seat he started eating. This dinner seemed important as the podium was set up again. Ron made sure to notice it this time. It was a good meal. Ron piled his plate with succulent chicken, potatoes, green beans, salad and at least three rolls to start off with. It didn't take Ron long to eat his fill.
"Attention everyone!" Dumbledore's voice boomed and everyone turned to face the Headmaster. "As you all know for the last two weeks we gave the seventh year's ample time to decide whether or not they wanted to compete. Now it's time to see who are champions are." Ron watched with mild interest as the Goblet of Fire, the trophy for the Tri-wizard tournament, put on a flashy light show before spitting out a piece of paper. Dumbledore caught it and read the name out. "From Durmstrang, Viktor Krum!" The hall erupted in in applause as the Bulgarian Seeker stood and made his way up to the stage, shaking hands with Dumbledore before leaving out a side door.
For the second time the cup flashed and regurgitated a name. "Representing Beauxbatons, Fleur Delacour!" Applause once again along with a few catcalls. Ron just applauded for his new acquaintance. Fleur shook Dumbledore's hand, blew the crowd a kiss which sent the boys crazy, and left out the same door Krum did.
"Best for last! As they say!" Hogwarts students cheered as the cup, for the final time, put on a show. The piece of paper was spit out and Dumbledore caught it. Ron was eager to see who was representing his school. Someone who could take some of the heat off him he hoped. "Cedric Diggory!" Ron clapped for Cedric. When they met at the World Cup he seemed like a decent guy.
After the crowd settled down Dumbledore addressed the crowd again. "Let's give another big round of applause for our champions!" Once again the students cheered. "Now then I would like to say-" Dumbledore was cut off as the Goblet of Fire started to act up. It was glowing and spit out another piece of paper. It floated down into Dumbledore's hand. Albus glanced over at Harry, Ron did too. Honestly knowing Harry for three years he knew weird things happened to his buddy.
But as Albus opened the piece of paper and glanced at it his eyes shifted up. Ron didn't notice the second time, too busy eyeing his friend and waiting for the bomb to drop. Which was why he was surprised when he heard. "Ronald Weasley!"
so things are getting really interesting for Ron as you can see. honestly this little plot twist is something I had planned from the beginning. how does Ron handle himself in the tournament? check back later to find out!
