Author's note:
It has been a tough time this past year for me mentally, what with the political situation in my country, reports of genocide worldwide, the climate change emergency and my life in general. I desperately looked for comfort and familiarity, which I finally found in rereading Harry Potter. While reading the Half-Blood Prince, I realised that Ron had a lot going on in his life too, although we have just been focusing on Harry and his potion book.
I love Harry tons (who wouldn't love a highly interesting, charming, smart and courageous protagonist, who is also sassy af?), but I love Ron more. I have always considered him to be the most relatable of the trio. He can be a jerk quite a lot of times; he can be idiotic the rest of the time. Just like most of us. But underneath this normalcy is one of the most admirable characters I've ever read.
Ron is hot af. Not only that. He's smart af. He's one of the 3 that brought down Voldy. He became an Auror, already no mean feat, without having to pass his NEWTs. He went on to become a very successful businessman. He was caring, brave and never hesitated to give his life for his friends and the general good, all at the age of 11! (and onwards!). Despite being overshadowed by his brothers and his friends, he held his own. He got over his mental block of inadequacy and became the charming man he did. Despite obviously being looked over by almost everyone, including his own mother, he proved his mettle. And he never, ever stopped caring. He learnt from his mistakes; Dumbledore knew he'd always want to come back. He learnt from his mistakes to become worthy of Hermione, through and through.
If you, my dear reader, has gone through the murkier phases of life, you'll know that everything that I have noted in the preceding para is very very difficult to do, no matter how easy it may sound. Many adults fail to do what Ron did. Despite his obvious charm, dear JK Rowling went on to insult him eventually. The movies did him dirty, the movie-going audience started hating him, and JK Rowling jumped onto the bandwagon, for reasons best known to her.
I have since become very aggressive at defending Ron and trying to understand his character more. I have also since wondered what would be Ron's POV.
Book 6 is my favourite book. I have always wanted to try my hand at writing. Ron is my favourite character. So I decided to embark on this journey. It will be long and very difficult, considering that I've never written before. But I hope dear reader, that you like what I have to offer and give me your support on this journey.
Thank you and happy reading!
(See the end of the work for more notes.)
It was the first day of summer break. Ron had woken up, well rested, to a growling stomach in his attic room at the Burrow. But his feet felt leaden. As the blanket of exhaustion lifted, his head started buzzing with the recent goings-on: 'What a school year this has been! Sirius, Harry's only family, dead! I'm going to miss him too. He may have been an adult, but he was one of the coolest ones I'd known. His death was tragic, his life was tragic. This sucks; why did this have to happen? Why Sirius? Why Harry? His only family... What in the name of Merlin's most baggy Y-fronts! We're all Harry's family, yes we are. I hope he knows this though... Does he? What must he be doing at the Dursleys' right now? They probably don't know what Harry's going through. Like they'd care even if they knew, ha! I can't leave Harry alone this summer, with his thoughts and grief, and no one to share them with. I can only imagine what he's going through, mum's never stopped mourning her brothers...'
Ron soon found himself at the breakfast table with Ginny next to him. His father had rushed to the Ministry this morning. He'd been summoned by the new Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour. His mom, having fussed over his dad, had finally let him leave for work, and was now serving them a large spread of breakfast. But she was preoccupied with why Mr. Weasley had been summoned with such urgency. She feared for Percy and went through every horrible scenario imaginable. It was no help that on her clock, every single one of its nine hands was now pointing at 'Mortal Peril'. She still held out hope for Percy to come back, it had been only a few days since He-who-must-not-be-named was spotted; Percy would need time to gather his thoughts.
Ron interrupted Mrs. Weasley's anxious train of thought. "Mom, do you think we could have Harry over sooner this summer? I reckon he's taking everything that happened too hard. And the Dursleys' certainly won't be any help." Mrs Weasley rushed to Ron and trapped him into a tight embrace. "Ron, you're growing up to be a such a thoughtful man," she exclaimed jubilantly. Then, collecting herself, she let him go and muttered red-faced, how she was strung up because of Percy and his father.
Ron, massaging his neck, which had turned a deep shade of red, looked pleased with himself.
Ginny piped up from next to him, "Mom, should I write to Hermione too?" Suddenly, Ron felt the bottom of his stomach fall down. For a moment there, he felt excited, but scared at the same time. Thinking this must be how one felt with a war approaching, he shook those feelings away.
"That's a great idea sweetheart," Mrs Weasley replied, a bit overenthusiastic. "I'll have a word with Dumbledore about Harry. In the meanwhile, Ginny, send an owl to Hermione, while I send one to her parents. It would be rude of us to take away from their time with their daughter," finished Mrs Weasley as she bustled out of the kitchen.
With breakfast done, Ron wandered out of the kitchen. Home felt eerily empty now. Fred and George had moved out to a flat over Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes in Diagon Alley. Percy didn't live with them either; not that that git-face made it any fun to be around. Bill had moved back home from Egypt last year to work for the Order. He'd yet to actually meet Bill this summer. He returned home last night after Ron had gone to bed, and left for work at Gringotts before Ron went down for breakfast.
He found himself in the backyard. Reminiscing of the time he and his brothers played Quidditch right here, he wondered how he'd spend his time this summer. Visiting Fred and George in Diagon Alley was already out of question. His mother had warned them against loitering around purposelessly, unless important, in such scary times.
Now that He-who-must-not-be-named had been spotted, he and his Death Eaters made no efforts to hide in the shadows anymore. As far as Ron had heard from his father last night, he had challenged Fudge to stay out of his way, otherwise he'd pay with Muggle lives. And he was true to his word. A bridge had collapsed suddenly, with the death toll going up to 36.
Ron suddenly noticed an owl, a muddy speck in the gloomy sky. It whooshed past him, neatly gliding into the open kitchen window. He rushed back into the kitchen, where Mrs Weasley stood, tearing open a letter addressed to herself. Mrs Weasley stared at the contents of the letter, quivered imperceptibly and suddenly squealed with delight. Ron, who was expecting not-so-good news, jumped where he stood, banging his head against the edge of the open cabinet door overhead.
"It's your father! He's been promoted! The Minister has designated him Head of the Office for the Detection and Confiscation of Counterfeit Defensive Spells and Protective Objects- well that's a mouthful- ten employees will now work under your father! Oh Ronnie!" Mrs Weasley squeezed Ron in another bear hug, the second this morning.
Mrs Weasley suddenly sobered up, grabbed the letter and began reading it again. Ron stood non-plussed, glad about Mr Weasley's elevated status. Mrs Weasley suddenly started sniffling, which confused Ron. Was she crying of happiness? 'Figures,' he thought. 'I'm delighted. With Malfoy out of the way, dad's had finally got the recognition he deserves. No worries now about the 12 Galleons for Apparition lessons... Wait! Mum's crying...?'
Mrs Weasley had now burst into tears, clutching at the letter. She whispered imploringly, "Oh Percy...," to the letter, as if it were Percy's face. Ron realised she'd been looking for news of Percy's return or apology. His ears turning red, he offered, "Mom, you won't miss Percy, Bill's here, isn't he?" At this, Mrs Weasley wailed even louder. Ginny, having heard this exchange, shot him a glare and rushed to her mother. Ron, now red-faced, turned on his heel and ran straight to the garden.
In the garden, Ron decided to pay a visit to the village fête. On the walk downhill, he fantasized about being able to Apparate there next summer. How many attempts would he take to pass the Apparition Test? Fred and George took one, Charlie took two- it reassured Ron that Charlie is only human too-Percy took one...Percy, that selfish, self-absorbed, good-for-nothing cur! Did he not realize how much he was hurting mum? How long does he need to apologize and mend his ways? They should've seen it coming! His self-importance was a huge red flag. Oh how proud his parents felt, for that very self-importance! Fred, George and himself never heard the end of it! Bill and Charlie, for all their perfection and smarts were never show-offs like Percy was. That baboon's ass!
He looked up with a start, as someone called out to him, "Hey! Mr Red-head! Watch where you're going!" He was about to trip over a huge, exposed root of a tree that had failed to regrow almost all of it's leaves over this spring, or- on second thoughts- had it LOST almost all of its leaves? In the summer? Wrenching his thoughts from the tree, he turned around to thank his saviour. There she stood, a wide-eyed girl, around his age, laughing brightly. He gaped at her with his mouth hanging open, the thanks lost somewhere in his throat. She was beautiful! Tall, with short blonde hair, a well endowed frame, tinkling laughter, and bright blue piercing eyes. Suddenly, she turned away. Ron followed her retreating frame to the village square. There she held hands with a horse-faced boy, and followed him behind the tree. Inching around the tree, Ron spotted her snogging him. He immediately tramped away, toward the fête. He longed to snog someone! He fantasized himself, snogging away. He couldn't imagine the technicalities, though he did imagine his hands, making their way around a girl's back, pushing her small body into his, and then into her bushy brown hair, taking in her peculiar scent, the scent of a dusty old tome. He suddenly felt a shiver run down his spine. It had nothing to do with the chilly air around him. Come to think of it, it was uncharacteristically cold. The village fête lacked lustre. Hardly anybody was out of their houses. Most of the stalls were shut. He felt a bit hopeless really. Shooting a nasty look toward the girl and her horsey, he trotted back home.
It was lunch time when he returned. He walked into the kitchen, stomach growling, when he heard, "...another onion, s'il vous plaît! Eez not how we do eet in France" Mrs Weasley moved aside and Ron caught Fleur's eye. A lot of things happened in this moment. Ron's breath hitched in his throat, his jaw fell to the floor, his brain became addled (as if he had just downed a mug-one of Hagrid's bucket sized mugs- of firewhisky), the air around him felt heavy with perfume, almost as if he were back in Trelawney's classroom, though this time he wasn't nauseated, but floating on the fruity haze of perfume. He stumbled over the threshold and in front of Fleur.
"'Ello Ron, I see you 'aven't been told of my veesit. 'Ow are you?" Ron couldn't reply, try as he might. All that came out was a faint, gurgling sound. Fleur went back to the stove, while Ron groggily stumbled up to his attic room. He lay there till he cleared his head, then made his way back to the kitchen.
"Fleur's gone, you pathetic loser," barked Ginny, with a howl of laughter. She had witnessed his embarrassing ordeal. And to top it all, his face was now progressively turning an ugly shade of purple.
Ron turned his attention to his mum, who explained, "She's moved in with us for a while. Apparently, Bill thinks that he wants to marry Fleur. He wants us to get to know each other better. She's got a part-time job in Gringotts, so she spends the rest of her day here." "Because this is her home now," finished Ginny sarcastically.
It was late at night when Mr. Weasley and Bill returned home. They came bearing grim news. The Dementors had staged an exit. They had pledged their allegiance to the other side and were spreading out now, terrorising Muggles blind to their presence and helpless against the despair they spread. No wonder the village fête had been such a sorry affair. All through dinner, Fleur made sure that Bill didn't have to lift a finger to put food into his own mouth. Bill repaid her kindness with a kiss every few minutes. It was disgusting, to be honest! He smelt the old, dusty tome again.
Finally, Ron lay on his bed. It felt weird. He couldn't say why. He turned to his side and was soon transported to the edge of the Great Lake, a frizzy strand of brown hair barely visible from the corner of his eye.
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