Cooking Lessons-Ron

Ron scowled at the recipe then at the disaster he'd somehow managed to create in the kitchen. How had his mum always made this look so easy?

All he'd wanted was to make a nice dinner. Hermione's parents were coming over, and things were still pretty tense. Mr. and Mrs. Granger's memories had been restored, and they were settled back in their old home, but they hadn't quite forgiven Hermione yet. And they definitely were cool toward Ron. After all, Ron was a wizard, a pureblood at that, native to the magical world that had taken their daughter and put her in danger and caused her to make questionable choices like wiping people's memories.

Sighing, Ron vanished the mess and reread the recipe, trying to figure out where he'd gone wrong. But he really couldn't see any step he'd missed.

Maybe he should floo-call his mum. This was beyond him.

While he contemplated that thought, his own fireplace sparked to life. "Ron?" he heard a voice call.

Ron headed to the sitting room. "Percy. Didn't expect to see you. Is everything all right?"

Percy pushed up his glasses. "Well, yes. But Mum was fretting. She mentioned you were cooking for the Grangers tonight. She thought you might need some help. She was going to come, but…" Percy gave an embarrassed little shrug, an odd gesture for him. "I offered to do it instead."

Ron stared for a moment. "You can cook?"

The embarrassment left Percy's face to be replaced by affront. " Yes , Ron, I can cook. While you and Ginny and the twins were wreaking havoc as kids, I was in the kitchen with Mum."

"Oh. Okay. Well, if you're offering, then yeah-I could use the help. Thanks."

"All right. I'll come on through then?"

"Yeah. Come on."

"Thank you."

As Percy brushed floo powder off his clothing, Ron tried to remember a time when Percy had ever visited the little flat he shared with Hermione. He couldn't think of any.

But Percy still seemed to struggle with a hefty load of survivor's guilt, and he was always the first to volunteer when anyone needed anything.

And Ron definitely needed help at the moment. If Percy really could cook-and Ron had no doubts on that front, given Percy's tendency to excel at whatever he tried-then his arrival in the floo might just salvage the entire evening.

The brothers headed into the kitchen, and Ron handed Percy the recipe he'd been using. Percy shook his head. "Let's start simpler."

"I don't want simpler! I want this to be good ."

"It will be. I give you my word on that. But you have to learn the basics before you go trying to make something this involved."

Ron muttered under his breath but acquiesced.

But to his surprise, Percy was a good teacher—far more patient than Ron had ever realized. Proud of his knowledge, yes, convinced of his expertise, yes, but willing to explain it all multiple times and willing to show Ron exactly where he was going wrong.

Apparently Ron had been too hard on Percy over the years. He wasn't a total git.

As the meal finally began to take shape, Ron relaxed a bit and began to enjoy his time with his brother. He'd always loved Percy—they were family after all—but he couldn't remember really bonding with him before.

It was nice.

"Now," Percy said, pushing up his glasses, "the bread has finished proving, so let's get that in the oven."

"Right. Is that the last step?"

Percy kept a perfectly straight face. "Well, typically, eating is the last step."

Ron chuckled in spite of himself. "Don't make jokes; you're really bad at it."

Percy gave a small grin and embarrassed shrug. "I know. I think somewhere along the way I forgot how."

"And I think I forgot that you used to work with me on stuff when you were home from Hogwarts. You know, back before I was even old enough to go. You're a good teacher, Perce."

A pleased expression lit Percy's face. "Thank you. That means a lot." He hesitated, then added, "I'm sorry I stopped. When I became a prefect, I just got so full of myself."

Ron shrugged. "We probably shouldn't have given you such a hard time about that. It was an accomplishment, and we just gave you grief."

"No, you were right. I was so proud of being prefect. And I wanted so much to be successful. I know the Weasley family poverty was difficult for you, Ron. But it was hard for me too. I desperately wanted to escape it. Excelling at Hogwarts seemed the best path for that. I became obsessed. And Fred and George…well, it bothered me that they didn't take it seriously. I was seriously concerned about their future. But the more I tried to get them to toe the mark, the more they rebelled. And the angrier I got, the more they teased and pranked me." He shook his head, looking pained. "Whereas with you, I began to fear you'd just get yourself killed, following Harry off on some stupid lark."

"Came close a few times," Ron admitted. "But we defeated Voldemort in the end, so it all worked out."

"I know. I'm very proud of you. I may have been the ambitious one, but all my siblings have been more successful than I. Ironic, no?"

"Maybe a little. Although I think you've been plenty successful. Hermione says you're doing good things in the legal department at the Ministry."

"Yes, now ."

"Now's all we've got, Percy. Don't beat yourself up over the past."

Percy laughed softly. "What, like you don't?"

Ron felt his ears go hot. ""What do you mean?"

"Oh, please, Ron. I may not know what you're feeling guilty about, but I do know there's something. When one is doing one's best to atone for previous misdeeds, it's not hard to recognize someone else doing the very same thing."

"I guess that makes sense." Ron stared at the floor for a long moment, then blurted, "I left Harry and Hermione."

"What?"

"When we were gone last year, to defeat Voldemort. I left them. And then I couldn't get back until Christmas day."

Percy stayed silent, looking thoughtful. Ron appreciated that his brother didn't rush to absolve him. But finally Percy spoke. "What caused you to leave?"

Ron shrugged. "Harry and I had a row. It was pretty bad."

"May I ask what it was about?"

Sighing heavily, Ron said, "Nothing. And everything. Dark magic was affecting me, and I wasn't thinking straight. And I was worried sick about everyone. Harry didn't seem to have any sort of plan, and didn't seem to care that I was worried sick, and we fought."

"You were worried, and there was no plan, and there was dark magic involved?"

"Right."

"Ron, I don't see what you have to feel guilty about. Certainly I've seen no indication that Harry or Hermione still hold it against you. You made an error, but you returned as soon as you could and tried to make amends." Percy gazed out the window. "I wish I could say I'd done the same."

"Aw, Percy-"

"No, really. I was too proud and too stubborn to come home and admit I was wrong. And I-I missed out on the last few years of Fred's life. I can't get that time back. And I was there when he died. It-it should've been me. I don't know how George even looks at me. How any of you do, really."

Ron struggled with what to say. It was true that Percy's foolish pride had robbed him of time with Fred, and that truly was tragic. But certainly no one blamed him for Fred's death. And no one wanted to swap him for Fred in that regard-rather, they wanted their family to be whole, intact, everyone alive and well.

But how did he convince Percy of that? "I guess both of us find it easier to forgive others than to accept their forgiveness. You're right that Harry and Hermione both forgave me a long time ago. We all forgave you a long time ago too, Perce. Somehow...we just both have to learn to accept that. And maybe...figure out how to forgive ourselves too."

Percy gave a short nod. "I'll try."

"Me too."

An awkward silence fell. The brothers were unused to such personal conversations and weren't sure what to do now. But the timer spell Percy had set chimed, and he declared that it was time to remove the bread from the oven.

The rest of the time was spent putting the finishing touches on Ron's dinner for the Grangers. The conversation stayed light and easy. Quidditch and work and family events.

But they agreed to meet for lunch the following week.

And somewhat to his surprise, Ron found himself really looking forward to it.