Don had tea ready to go for him when he stepped into his room. "I don't understand," Ron said first, taking a hesitant sip of the tea. It was just the right temperature.
"I know how you feel. When I was chosen to be the successor of my own mentor. I was confused, I hadn't even been a vampire for long. Beforehand I lived in slums, I was beaten for merely looking at girls much higher than my standing" Don said.
"You were?" Ron asked he couldn't imagine his well mannered and elegant mentor ever being like that.
"Yes, I was wild. Too much of my life relied on stealing and fighting to survive. When your starving, morals become difficult to hold onto" Don said.
"Is that why you always want to hand me the most expensive thing around?" Ron asked and Don smiled.
"You remind me of myself, the fire of determination that had my own mentor to pluck me off the streets," Don said.
"Tell me," Ron said, he craved to know more.
"Alright, well this was a long time ago and I lived in London's east end with my mother. My mother worked hard, she was Romanian and not a very good English speaker. I remember she was pretty underneath all heavy make up her job forced her to wear. I was an unexpected child but not unwanted," Don explained.
Ron felt that the last part connected with him. He was the son born when his mother expected and wanted a girl. He never felt his mum never loved him, he just felt that if it were between him or Ginny it was an obvious choice.
"What was her job?" Ron asked.
"Prostitution" Don replied and Ron nodded, now getting how Don was born.
"I was a wizard if you remember. My father must have been one or my mother but skipped a generation. Now that I think I may have gotten a Hogwarts letter if I'd not been turned before 11" Don said.
"How were you turned?" Ron asked.
"It was not traumatic like yours. My mother died an illness, must have been pneumonia. With no one to take of me, I was forced into the streets more so than ever. I was quite thin but I made do with purse snatching and pickpocketing. My mentor caught me trying to lift his purse. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me into Carriage. Oh, believe me, I was absolutely terrified" Don said.
"That you'd be beaten?" Ron asked.
"Or worse, not many would look very hard for a little orphan boy," Don said. Ron nodded "however, he was gentle and despite how hard I fought him he refused to retaliate. He handed me a piece of bread when I exhausted myself. I ate it like it was my last meal. I don't remember what I said while I conversed with him, I was about 10 years old and world-weary. But he liked me. After learning he was a vampire and about magic and everything I agreed to be turned" Don said.
"Just like that?" Ron asked.
"He offered me everything I thought I could never have. Of course, I did. Even among the prejudiced against vampires I never regretted it."
"Did it burn as much as my turning did?" Ron remembered the pain before he'd passed out.
"Oh, it hurt like a mother" Don agreed and Ron grinned, he loved it when he dropped some of his politeness.
"Then, how did you feel when you learned you were chosen?" Ron asked after a moment.
"I expect I was a little like you. Confused and considering how very poor I was, much poorer than you and feeling quite unworthy. What could a street urchin child offer to an entire society of people? I discovered my strengths and grew into my leadership. So long as you do not throw your title, you will do the same" Don said.
"I can do that?" Ron asked, "just relinquish it?" he was a wizard, that was all he could think this year but every new change had forced him to hold onto being a wizard-like a lifeline.
Donovan nodded "yes if you choose to," he said. Donovan didn't say anything else. No convincing him to become the Prince.
Ron glanced at his tea leaves swirling the small amount of tea at the bottom of the cup. He sipped the rest and stared at it, his heart seized, it made a near-perfect crown shape.
"You know Harry has always been the most important since I got to Hogwarts and then Hermione is next," he said after swallowing the lump in his throat. "And before that it was Ginny. Pretty sure I became forgotten the moment mum learned she was pregnant with a girl for once" Ron said.
"They are part of the reason I have such faith in you, Ron. You could become a bitter person. You could throw your friends and family away to step out of that shadow. You don't though, you have such loyalty to them you could never do it" Don said.
"Well its cause I love them," Ron said and Don smiled. "Don, for now, I'll accept the title. I don't know anything about how being a vampire prince works but I'm sure that's your job isn't it?" he said.
"Excellent, should we arrange to inform your family?" Don asked. Ron flushed to his ears, he could only imagine the talk they would have. Fred and George would be making jokes within an inch of his life.
"No, um, do we have to?" Ron asked.
"Not this moment, I suppose but it will be public knowledge in Romania that there is a new Prince," Don explained. "And you will need a vault set up in Gringotts"
"A vault?" Ron asked.
"Yes, now that you've accepted your title, there is no reason to keep your own wealth from you. It is a job, think of it like a paid internship. You may be pleased that you can give back to your family as well" Don explained.
"I have money?" Ron asked.
Don nodded and suddenly the crippling grounded limits that kept him from asking for anything flew to soaring heights. He suddenly had an opportunity to become something other than a poor Weasley.
Notes
I promise I haven't gotten about this!
So sorry for the very brief length of this chapter, I am finishing my finals before I break for the holiday. As soon as I am done, I will be able to drop more content.
Please drop a comment, it really does give me life to continue writing this story. I love posting online but it can be a bit like a brick wall without a response from people who enjoy my story.
