AN: I'm back to writing daily at the moment, fingers crossed it continues and updates will be more steady.
Ron Weasley had no idea what was going on in the world anymore, things had all gone downhill recently and his life had been rocked at the very foundations. His Great Aunt sweeping in and taking control over his life in a way that he would never have expected, even his mother had not been as rigorous in her control of his actions, it was unnerving she seemed to know everything he was getting up to in the house and if it deviated from her orders for him that day.
He had spent the last couple of days thinking over his options, it had been made pretty clear to him that he was going back in to some form of education whether he liked the idea or not. He had already made the decision that he wasn't going back to Hogwarts, that hadn't worked out the last time and he certainly wasn't going to join the class the year below Ginny's, they were so much younger than he was. The idea of having to live in dorms again and having a curfew and all those rules was unappealing. The only good thing about going back would have been quiddich and the possibility of being scouted for a team but he had looked into it properly and because of the potential age gap between himself and the younger players he wouldn't be allowed to play. He would be classed as an amateur player because of his again and therefore couldn't be allowed to play either on the same team or on a team opposing young kids as the potential disadvantage to them was unfair.
Ron knew that his dreams of playing quiddich professionally were over with, as was his dream to be an Auror, there was no way he was going to make the grades he needed on his NEWTs by doing self study and getting an apprenticeship with a Defence Master with only his OWLs wasn't likely. He didn't like having his shortcomings pointed out to him, but Aunt Muriel having done so had woke him up a bit. The only two career options he had ever thought about were no longer options for him, but he didn't know what it was he wanted to do. He would have to go into an apprenticeship or a magical trade, but he didn't know enough about what jobs were actually available in their world, he just knew he didn't want to work in a shop, having occasionally worked in Fred and George's shop he knew that was definitely not what he wanted to be doing with his life.
He had owled Charlie earlier that morning, asking that his brother come and visit him and perhaps help him make sense of the options that lay in front of him. Ron really didn't want to work in any job that meant dealing with lots of people, his time in the shop had shown him that he didn't actually have the patience to be around people much. He wondered about maybe something with animals, maybe not dragons like Charlie, although it would be cool to fly with them, but something with some of the other animals in the magical world. Hagrid had a really skewed view of age appropriate animals to bring to classes, but Ron had definitely learned about a wide variety of the animals out there on offer.
He was still thinking about careers in magizoology when Charlie came through the fireplace followed by Bill, stony expressions on their faces. Ron winced, he hoped they weren't here for him because those expressions didn't bode well, he hadn't done anything that would get him in any trouble that he was aware of, he hadn't left the house since he got here, he hadn't owled anyone other than Charlie and he had no floo contact with anyone.
Aunt Muriel came into the lounge room having heard the floo chime, and it was obvious to Ron that she was taken aback by the look on their faces. He had informed her that he had asked Charlie to visit to help him with his career options, but neither of them had expected Bill as well. They handed her a couple of letters and his aunts face grew more pinched as she read them. Ron doubted he would get to read them, but he wasn't completely stupid, Ginny had obviously done something, probably to do with Harry.
His aunt sent her house elf to fetch her and Ginny trudged into the room a few minutes later a letter clutched in her hand, her eyes red and filled with tears. "Why is he being so horrible to me?" Ginny sobbed as she entered the room walking straight towards Bill for a hug, Ron knew he was the brother she sought comfort from the most.
Bill reached out, grabbing her by the shoulders and holding her at an arms length from him. "Ginevra, I have a copy of the letter here, as well as the letter you sent to Lord Potter-Black, don't try and make this situation something that it is not."
Ginny started to sob harder, "He should be mine, we were perfect together."
An owl tapping on the window turned Ron's attention away from his little sister, he opened the window and let it in, it flew straight to Ginny who just stared at it for a moment.
"That is a Ministry Owl." Aunt Muriel commented, "It is an official post, only you can take it from the owl."
Ginny took the scroll and Ron felt a shiver go through him as Ginny touched it. Looking at the others they appeared to have felt it as well. He watched as Ginny unrolled the scroll and began muttering before dropping the scroll to the ground, shivering herself as the weight of the magic in the scroll sunk into her. Bill reached down and picked it up, scanning it quickly magically to check that it wasn't cursed before reading through it.
"A magical restraining order." Bill stated, "Lord Potter-Black's advisors must have convinced him to filed for as many protective measures as he could, and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement must have seen just cause to implement a magical restraining order instead of just issuing a normal order."
"What's the difference?" Ron asked, not understanding what the big deal was, a restraining order was a restraining order, Ginny just needed to leave Harry alone.
"A restraining order is the more simple order, Ginny would have to stay away from Harry, whatever distance was imposed by the order, two metres, five metres, whatever had been decided. It is only enforceable by people though, so Ginny could still walk right up to Harry if she wanted to, it would be up to him to contact the DMLE to inform them that Ginny was breaking the order." Bill stated, looking at the letter again. "A magical restraining order is different, as you saw and probably felt, the magic of the order itself sinking into Ginny, it is self-enforcing. If Ginny gets within five metres of Harry the restraining order will take action, and that can be in many different ways. If it is unintentional, say she truthfully didn't know Harry was somewhere and she ended up there for instance Harry was in the Leaky Cauldron and Ginny flood in not knowing he was there she would be buffered out the five metre radius without any major consequence. However if she was intentionally trying to get close to Harry, and the magic will know, the consequences can be much more severe. I once heard of a wizard who in breaching his magical restraining order was force apparated out of the area and splinched into thirty-seven parts. To have a magical restraining order taken out against you is something of a great shame, that there is enough evidence of potential threat that it is warranted, and that it is not believed that you wouldn't break the terms of a normal order."
Aunt Muriel's face showed her thoughts, she was definitely not impressed by the situation and Ginny's latest blunder. "Ginevra, I believe that other than your classes at St. Mungo's you should be restricted to the house for now. It would not be a good idea to be in public for a while, let all the media from your previous incidents die down and hopefully remain out of Lord Potter-Black's way. The last thing we need is the media getting the knowledge of the restraining order or word of your behaviour, there has been enough negative media attention to last this family a lifetime."
Ron thought that might have been a bit of an exaggeration, but then again Aunt Muriel would probably prefer that they were never shown in the papers in a bad way, she had always been a stickler for proper behaviour. He hadn't even known the majority of the mannerism or things she expected them to display, but it was now being drilled into him on a daily basis. He had to admit he didn't mind some of the things she was teaching them, the main thing he disliked was the way she would make them eat dinner, with all the different cutlery for different things. He didn't need multiple forks or spoons, he just needed to be allowed to eat his dinner, it wasn't like he ever really intended to go to any fancy dinner parties, he had wanted to go and be posh. He had always known that it was unlikely with the way his family was treated that he probably wouldn't be invited, so what was the point in learning all the stuff to do with that if he wasn't going to need it.
Ginny started to protest about how it wasn't fair and that she hadn't done anything wrong, that Harry was overreacting to such a little argument between them. Ron hadn't read the letter Ginny had written or Harry's reply, but he had been friends with Harry for years and he knew that Harry didn't tend to make waves unless it was necessary, he didn't complain he just got on with things. Him taking steps to keep Ginny away from him meant that he felt that there was a real concern or need to it. He did think about saying something, but decided to keep out of it, he didn't really want to end up getting himself in trouble with his Aunt Muriel or his brothers.
Charlie it seemed had no such thoughts and eventually cast a silencing charm on Ginny, quieting her so that he could speak. "This is not up for discussion Ginny, we are trying to help you and stop you making mistakes that will completely ruin your future."
"I will make some discrete enquiries," Aunt Muriel began, "and see if I can't get a Mind Healer to make a home visit to do an assessment. If Ginevra has undiagnosed damage from the events of her first year then she will need to be treated, the school should have had all the children involved checked out by a certified Mind Healer to assess how much they had been affected and if there could be lingering issues for them."
"Can I speak to them as well?" Ron asked, "I've never been checked by one either, although I remember Hermione saying that we should have been given a Healer to speak to after what happened in the Department of Mysteries."
Ron didn't know if would help him, or even be of any use to him, but if they were coming to see Ginny anyway they could see him at the same time. He had often wondered if the brain that had attacked him in the department had done more permanent damage to him than just the scars it had left on his arms. Madame Pomfrey had told him that thoughts could leave deep scars, but he had never thought that they might be more than just the physical marks that had been left on his body.
Aunt Muriel agreed, but not before telling him that she was expected a thorough run through of all he had been involved in at his time at Hogwarts. He had gulped a bit at that, but he had a feeling that she wasn't looking to find fault with him and his actions, but rather to know what had happened to him and around him. She told him that they would spend some time talking about his Hogwarts years later on before she used the floo to go to St. Mungos to see if she could speak with a Mind Healer. Bill escorted Ginny out of the room without removing the charm Charlie had cast on her as she continued to speak in silence.
When it was just him and his second oldest brother left in the room Charlie spoke up, "Sorry Ron, you asked me to come and see you, I didn't mean to push that aside, but this had to be dealt with. You said you wanted to talk, and to ask me some questions."
Ron thanked Charlie for having agreed to come and then launched into questioning him about careers with animals and careers in general, telling him his thoughts so far and asking for help. Ron didn't know what he wanted to do with his life now that his first and second career choice were no longer options for him, but he did know that he had to do something, maybe Charlie would be able to help him find a path that would fit him.