PART 18

Ron sat down between Percy and Charlie; seeing as the twins tried many a time to squeeze him to death during the reading, he thought it'd be safer to sit across from them. Bill sat down opposite him. Ron wondered what this meeting was about.

"Ron," Bill began and stopped. He wasn't prepared to deal with a brother with an inferiority complex, especially one who was so much younger than him.

"Why didn't you tell us how you felt?" Fred beat Bill to the question. But then, to Bill, it wasn't surprising. Despite having a twin, Fred was as close to Ron as he was to George. If it hadn't been for the age difference, Bill might have thought Fred and Ron were the twins.

"Oh, sure. That would have gone over well," Ron muttered but it was still loud enough to be heard.

"What do you mean?" George asked.

Ron rolled his eyes. "I mean, would you have even listened?"

"Of course we would have," Bill said in shock. Did they really present the aura of being too aloof for their baby brother?

"Bill, you and Charlie are not even in the country. Percy, you're a prefect and the twins are jokesters. It doesn't even matter what I do, it always seems like you've done it first." Ron said, drawing one leg up onto his chair so his arms were around his knee.

"Well, look what you've done." Fred said with a smile. "I don't think any one of us went up against a fully grown mountain troll at age eleven."

"Or helped save the Sorcerer's stone," George added, smiling at his little brother. "I don't think any of us have done that."

"I don't know a single soul who's survived a bite from a Ridgeback," Charlie told him.

"And don't forget your awesome chess skills," Percy piped in. "From what I heard, you were playing McGonagall in that game, and she holds the Hogwarts record for most chess games won."

Ron seemed to lighten up with each word spoken, but Bill could see a glimmer of doubt in his youngest brother's eyes. It seemed as if Ron thought they were just saying those things to ease their uneasy feelings.

"Ron, come on! You're amazing at chess, and you're a brilliant keeper when we play pick up games." Fred said, slightly tired of how Ron was still unbelieving of their words. "You've done things that we've only dreamed of. You've broken more rules than me and George combined. What more do you need to hear before you realize that you're just as important as any other member of this family?"

Ron was silent for a few minutes. Fred was afraid that his past pranks on his brother might taint his words against him. Unfortunately, it wasn't as if he could apologize for it with his brothers in the room. Bill and Charlie were in school already and Percy had gone into work with their dad. It'd been take your child to work day—except the twins were too rambunctious and Ron was too young to go.

It's not just the spider prank you have to answer for, Fred realized. The acidpop prank, the almost Unforgivable vow. All of those were his doing. Not him and George. Just him. Just Fred. Maybe George had been with him for a few of those pranks but not for the spider one. No. That one was pure Fred.

"Ron," Percy's voice broke the void of silence that had filled the room while Fred was lost in thought. "Say something."

Ron had been staring at his knee the entire time. No one could be sure what was going through his head. Fred had thought that he and George had covered Ron's doubts when they had their meeting earlier. He was wrong.

Charlie wondered how no one was able to notice Ron's inferiority complex. The minute mum knew about it, he would have had a floo call in two seconds ordering him to come back home for a family meeting.

"I just don't want to feel invisible anymore," Ron said softly to his knee. "Mum's always talking about Bill or Charlie or Percy. I guess I'm just tired of feeling overlooked."

Bill and Percy looked at each other. Somehow, they'd all been able to hear that. Mum did tend to talk about their accomplishments, but Bill didn't know it affected how his younger siblings felt. He was spending too much time in

Egypt; so much time that he was loosing a connection he'd made with all his siblings.

"Hey," Charlie said getting down on one knee, "just because Mum doesn't go on and on about your accomplishments doesn't mean she's not proud. Did you know that I got a five page owl this July all about how you made fifth in your class?"

"Really?" Ron brought his head up.

"Really, welshie." Charlie said, using the old nickname he'd made for Ron when Ron was five. Back then, Ron reminded him of a Welsh Greenback: all calm at times but a temper to rival the worse dragons. "Errol had to stay at my camp site for two weeks to recover from the journey."

"The few wizard coworkers I have constantly get letters from home talking about the one kid in Gryffindor who kills everyone in chess." Bill said ruffling Ron's hair. "Is it true that you've managed to clear out your common room when you come down with a chess set?"

"Yeah," Ron nodded. "Only Harry and Hermione ever want to play any more."

Everyone chuckled at that. It seemed to be the thing to help Ron eliminate his inferiority complex. Bill swore right then and there, as he was standing with his siblings, to try to come home more often. He could see the same promise in Charlie's eyes.

"You understand what we're saying?" Percy asked. Ron nodded but everyone doubted that he understood.

"Really Ron?" Fred asked. "Are you sure?"

"I understand Fred. I need to focus on what I'm good at and not what you've done. That's what you're getting at, right?"

"Pretty much," George chuckled. Bill knew that they would have to have another chat soon—with their Mum and Dad—but this was the best they could do with out wasting everyone else's time.

"Come one then," Fred said. "We've got a book to read."

"You sure you're really Fred?" Ron asked with a smirk on his face. "Sure you're not Percy in disguise?"

Fred chuckled and ruffled Ron's hair some more. "You're alright kid," he said. They all went out and sat back down in the circle. Fred and George sat next to Ron, who sat next to Harry (basically it was Hermione, Harry, Ron, Fred, George.). Bill and Charlie sat on the other side, and Percy sat next to Oliver.

It was time to start the second book.