This is written for SiriusMarauderFan. This is also written for Weekly AU! Competition.
"No!" Ron yelled as he crossed his arms petulantly. "I don't want to go to bed!"
Molly groaned as she briefly looked at her youngest son. She couldn't spare too much attention to him however, as the twins had just caused a rather major explosion in the living room, Ginny was crying, Bill and Charlie were fighting, and Percy was complaining.
"Now, Ron!" she yelled, harsher than she meant. "I don't have time to listen to your complaining, so go to bed. I'll be up in a minute." Not paying attention to see if Ron was doing what she told him, she grabbed her wand to clean up the mess.
Ron glared at her as she went. He didn't want to go to bed, he wanted to stay up and play! Quickly, before she would realize that he had left, he snuck out the backdoor. He started walking towards the forest, where he wanted to go play and climb some trees.
Percy, who had been shooed from the living room, went to the kitchen to grab an apple before he went to bed. He saw Ron walking towards the forest and rolled his eyes. His little brother was going to get in so much trouble with their mother later, unless someone stopped him. Percy supposed that someone was going to have to be him.
He walked out of the Burrow, preparing to yell at Ron to come back here before Mum killed him.
Then he saw it. A long creature came out of the woods, his glowing amber eyes on his little brother. Percy felt his heart drop and his palms became sweaty. His stomach bottomed out and Percy started walking faster. He didn't dare make a sound, not wanting to scare Ron or alert the creature to his presence and lose the element of surprise.
For the rest of his life, Percy wished that he had done something. Anything, because the creature suddenly lunged at his little brother and all that Percy was aware of next was Ron's scream, the creature's growl, and then a blinding flash of light (Percy wondered if that was him) that made the creature fly through the air and slam into the tree. Percy was running, faster than anyone in the world has ever run before. He was vaguely aware that he was screaming, though for what he wasn't sure.
He got to Ron. Ron, his little brother, his little brother who he didn't want anything bad to happen to, who now had a bleeding wound in his shoulder, a wound that looked very much like a-
Percy went cold.
It looked a lot like a bite. Slowly, Percy turned his gaze toward the moon.
The full moon.
He heard his mother screaming, his father yelling, Bill and Charlie running towards him. None of it registered though. He was only aware of Ron and the fact that his breath was becoming more and more shallow. Percy had his hand over the wound, over the thing that would change his family forever.
Percy wasn't sure what happened next. He was aware that his parents were pushing him out of the way to get to Ron, but after that, he knew nothing.
(o)
Ron woke up screaming. His entire body was on fire and it hurt. He wanted it to stop, he wanted it to end, and he wanted his mama.
Where was his mama? He needed her. She would make everything better if she were here. Ron was vaguely aware that he was yelling something, aware that someone else was yelling, but he didn't pay any attention. He just wanted his mama.
Ron only truly became aware of what was going on around him when he felt arms wrap around him, pulling him into a warm embrace. He heard his mother. She was telling him it was okay, everything was alright, she was so sorry he was hurting and if she could, she would take away all his pain. She would bear this curse herself.
Ron listened to her words as he sobbed his heart out. He wasn't sure what happened to him.
He just knew that it hurt.
(o)
Arthur watched his wife and youngest son with a heavy heart. Ron had woken up when he and Molly had been talking to the Healer about what they would need to do now that. . .
Now that Ron was a werewolf.
Merlin, his little boy was a werewolf. Ron would live his entire life not knowing what it was like to not live in fear of what you were, hated for it.
Arthur would do anything to prevent that. He would gladly take this curse if need be. If forced to choose between Molly or Ron, there would be no question about it. He would choose Molly. If he could pass this off to any random person on the street, he would. Anything to prevent one of his children from living a life of hell.
That's all it would be.
The Healer seemed not to care too much about his son, and Arthur was moments away from throttling him. Ron was nothing but a little boy who was sick and anyone who said differently was going to meet the business end of his wand.
Charlie, Percy and the twins were sitting on the floor in the hospital corridor. For once, the twins weren't taunting Percy, instead trying to get him to do something, say something.
All Percy had done since the attack was stare blankly at various things and move only when someone guided him. He had said nothing, not even about how it happened, and various Healers had all said the same thing: Percy was in shock and nothing could be done about it, except perhaps confirmation that Ron was okay.
But they all knew that Ron was never going to be okay.
Not truly.
Bill, God bless Bill, had taken Ginny to the cafeteria to get something to eat. Arthur wasn't sure what he and Molly would have done if they hadn't had their eldest taking care of their younger children.
All of them, almost half-dead, had woken up when they heard Ron scream. Quickly, they ran into the room.
Molly grabbed their little boy, their little boy who was going to be forced to grow up too soon, and started soothing him. Everything she said, Arthur wished he could do the same.
(o)
"Is this Ron Weasley's room?" Molly heard someone ask. She was cleaning up the room, making it as nice as she could. Ron was sleeping again. He had only woken up a few times in the past few days, each time screaming and crying. Arthur had taken the kids home, bringing them by every day of course, but the kids needed have some semblance of normalcy. They needed to adjust to what happened and Molly knew that couldn't happen in the hospital.
Molly refused to leave, of course.
She looked up, and saw a young man, who looked like he was in his mid-twenties with shaggy brown hair and amber eyes. Cautiously, she straightened up and grabbed her wand.
"He was bitten by Fenrir Greyback, correct?" the man continued. Molly nodded jerkily. "He's four, right?" She nodded again.
The man sighed. "I was too. Bitten by him at four."
Molly's eyes widened. "Who-?"
"Remus Lupin," the man said.
Molly looked at him. "How-?"
"It was okay," the man said. "It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, as my parents thought it would be. Many times, it was great."
Molly swallowed the lump in her throat. "Why are you here?" she asked softly.
"I have a message from Albus Dumbledore," Lupin stated.
Molly felt her knees go weak. Hogwarts. She hadn't even thought about Hogwarts, but she should have. She should have thought about-
"He'll always be welcomed. And anyone who doesn't accept him won't be."
Molly didn't think she had ever felt more grateful in her life.
(o)
Ron closed his eyes as his father carried him inside. He was still tired and his body ached, though compared to what it had felt like before, it felt like nothing.
He didn't want to think about why he was hurting.
He never wanted to think about it.
"Ron," his father said gently as he sat Ron gently down on the couch. "Ron, what do you want to do?"
Ron shrugged. He wasn't quite sure. He could feel his siblings watching him, and he paid them no mind.
"So!" his mother said with fake cheer. "What do you want to do?"
Ron looked at his mother. "Sleep," he said miserably. He was really tired and he just didn't want to be around his family. He just wanted everything to go back to normal.
Why couldn't everything go back to normal?
His mother's face fell, and Ron felt bad, but he could feel his eyes closing as he sat. "Of course," she said. "Whatever you want."
His father looked at his mother, a silent conversation passing between them. Carefully, his father picked him again and carried him to his room. With his help, Ron got changed into his pajamas and laid down. He was aware of his parents kissing him on the forehead before they left the room to sleep.
He wasn't sure, but he also thought Percy came in and apologized.
For what, Ron didn't know.
(o)
Percy stared at the floor as his whole family stayed up, even Ginny. Earlier this evening, a man who his parents had introduced as Mr. Lupin, but who told Percy and his siblings that he could call him Remus, had come to get Ron.
His parents had half-heartedly tried to send them all to bed, but none of them accepted that. They were all going to wait for Ron.
"Where's he going?" George asked, quieter than Percy had ever heard him before.
"He's going to a safe place, a place where someone can watch Ron and make sure everything is okay," his father said. "Mr. Lupin is an expert in werewolves, so he's the best person that can watch Ron."
"He just wants to study the little werewolf," Percy said bitterly. "He doesn't care."
"He does, Percy," said his mother. "He's dedicated his life to make werewolves lives better. And that mean that he's dedicating his life to making Ron's life better."
Percy looked at his mother. He wasn't sure if she was telling the truth, but right now, he had to believe that she was.
(o)
Remus looked at the boy in front of him. It had been three years since Ron became a werewolf, and Remus had a feeling that he was just now accepting that this was never going away.
That was how old Remus was when he realized no matter what, this was going to stay with him forever.
Ron had put back on his clothes, and was hugging himself, his knees up to his chin. There was a scratch on his wrist and Remus felt his heartbreak. He knew exactly how the boy must be feeling, how lost and confused and frighten. Remus opened to say something, but Ron beat him to it.
"I don't think Percy likes me anymore," he whispered, his eyes on the ground.
"What?" Remus asked, honestly confused. All the Weasleys had seemed protective of their brother, but Percy seemed by far the most. "Why do you think that?"
"He's never around. Hasn't been . . . ever since. He always leaves when I come into the room now. Why?" Ron asked, turning to look at Remus with big blue eyes that made his heart break.
"He's guilty," Remus said bluntly, more than he should have.
"Why?" Ron asked, confusion apparent in his eyes.
"Because he feels like if he had stopped you sooner, caught up with you sooner, you wouldn't be a werewolf." Remus knew that he wasn't speaking to Ron like the boy he was, but he knew that he couldn't. Ron had been forced to grow up far faster and more brutally than he should have.
"It's not his fault though," Ron said indignantly. "It's Greyback's!"
Remus sighed and gave him a soft smile. "Has Percy ever heard you say that?"
The look on Ron's face told Remus all.
(o)
Ron woke up. For a minute, he forgot what day it was, and then he remembered.
It was his first day of Hogwarts.
Ron quickly got up and got dressed, shaking from the combination of excitement and nervousness he felt. Hogwarts. It was finally here, this long awaited goal, and Ron wasn't sure how to take it all in.
He wasn't sure how Hogwarts would take him.
Ron went downstairs, seeing that the sun had barely began to rise. He wondered if anyone else in his family had woken up.
His question was answered by Percy sitting at the kitchen table. His older brother was dressed, and was watching the sun. Their relationship had gotten better over the years, after Ron made it abundantly clear that it was not Percy's fault, but there was still a distance born from Percy's guilt. Ron just wanted it to go away.
"Percy?" Ron said.
Percy whipped his head around when he heard Ron's voice and blinked. Ron must have disturbed him from some pretty deep thoughts. "Ron," he said. "What are you doing up?"
"I could ask you the same," Ron retorted.
Percy rolled his eyes. "I couldn't sleep. You?"
"I just woke up," Ron replied.
Percy grinned. "I was the same. It's like our mind knows that we need to be up from the beginning of this day."
Ron nodded. The thoughts that had been plaguing him from the time that he was four were reaching a high crescendo, the wonderment that he could go to Hogwarts, and the fear that he might not last there long. Remus told him that he had often felt the same, but Ron knew that just because Remus did it didn't mean that Ron could.
He felt Percy's arms circle around him, and Ron returned the embrace.
"Don't worry," Percy whispered into his ear. "I'll make sure everything will be okay."
It was odd that those simple words could almost erase years of doubt and make Ron finally feel like it was going to be okay.