Hi all. Sorry if you've been waiting for me to finish this, but it's still going. It's got a little longer than I planned and there is quite a way to go. Reviews really help me to get going and to continue the story. I know the structure of the story, and there will be slash later in the story. Harry's POV is on the way so don't think I'm neglecting him- he's my favourite character! It's gonna be kinda fluffy, and really angsty, hey I love that stuff.

Anyway please review-and most importantly ENJOY!

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Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or associates, all are property of JK Rowling.

Chapter 2; Memories

Thinking back now after all these months, Ron could remember when his love was really beginning to dawn on him. Really it all began last summer, the summer when they went to the Quidditch World Cup final…

It was a sunny Thursday afternoon and Ron lay in the shade of a large oak tree at the bottom of their considerable garden. Its strong branches barely moving in the gentle breeze that cooled the hot day. He was dreamily staring into the field that surrounded the Burrow. School was weeks away, so homework wasn't even under consideration. Instead he sat there just watching the world pass by. He'd been doing this all summer because, well, as much as he didn't want to admit it there wasn't really a lot for him to do at the Burrow (though Mrs Weasley kept offering him to de-gnome the garden, which wasn't really an offer anyway). He was thinking about all the fun that he could be having now if Harry was here. Running around into the woods, playing quidditch, chess and even just talking. Ron supposed that he was just lonely, missing Harry's friendship. Fred and George were usually in their room and didn't want to be disturbed. Well he had Pigwidgeon, but Pig just got on his nerves. So he sat in the garden thinking, which he began to notice was quite tiring. He'd owled Harry a few times, but Harry couldn't always reply quickly so he hadn't really heard that much from him. Mrs Weasley said Harry could stay at the Burrow later in the holiday and this was all Ron could look forward to. Surprisingly he wasn't really that much happier when he heard Hermione could stay too, though it did bring a small smile to his face. He supposed it was just that he knew the first thing Hermione would do was to get them all to do their homework, which he most certainly was not looking forward to. Just as he was thinking this he heard his mum's shouting from the house and knew what it would be.

Penelope Clearwater was coming round for dinner tonight, and Percy was spending an enormous amount of time in the bathroom, making sure that he looked perfect. Fred and George, wanting to drive Percy as far as possible up the wall, had been teasing him day. Ron had joined in earlier, but it got boring after a while. Percy had entered the garden with Fred and George in tow harassing him, and this was beginning to annoy not just Percy but also Mrs Weasley, leading to her shouting. Ron heard Percy shout 'well I don't see either of you with a girlfriend!' and this seemed to dissuade the twins as they turned and headed into the house, much to the relief of Mrs Weasley. This kind of got Ron thinking, as he didn't have a girlfriend either. But he really didn't care. He heard Seamus talking all the time about what he'd like to do to every good-looking girl they'd see, but Ron never really felt like that. He didn't really think it was strange anyway. Not all the boys he knew talked only about sex and girls, and he just thought maybe he just wasn't interested in any of the girls he'd me so far. Besides, he thought, he was never happier than when he was having fun with Harry. Harry was funny, caring and always up for an adventure so he didn't have any reason to find a girlfriend. They'd been through so much together over the past three years, so much pain, mostly on Harry's part, but this brought them together. They would comfort each other, and Harry was always ready to listen. Ron knew that all they hardship that they, oh and Hermione, had been through gave the three of them a very close bond, and they would be friends forever. Ron was slightly puzzled as to why he felt closer to Harry, but decided that it was just that the two of them spent more time together.

Feeling glad that he had Harry and Hermione and that he wasn't really bothered that he didn't have a girlfriend, Ron was happy just top watch the world flow past. He spent quite a lot of the rest of the day watching the birds fly into and around the trees. He liked watching the creatures moving in their own little world, completely oblivious to the rest of the world. He often thought how insignificant he was, how he had no importance in the universe. This didn't really make him feel bad, just more humble. He lay there for the rest of the day, eventually drifting into a light doze.

***

A few hours later Percy woke him, looking quite annoyed really. While Ron was trying to wipe the sleep from his eyes he could hear Percy talking.

'Why are you down here now! You know Penelope is coming round, she'll be here in an hour! Mum said that we were going to make a good impression, so go get cleaned up and put some nice clothes on.' He said in a rather fatherly manner.

'Okay, okay. Don't have kittens! I'll go and put on those muddy clothes I wore playing quidditch yesterday.' Ron replied, getting a stern expression from Percy.

'Just kidding, god! Leave me alone Perce. I'll get ready in a moment'

'No you won't, you'll get ready now.'

'Fine. Leave me alone.'

Ron, very annoyed for being woken in the middle of a dream in which he and Harry were playing quidditch for England (which they won by especially great teamwork between them) made his way back to the Burrow to have a shower and get changed.

***

Dinner passed relatively quickly. Penelope only said hello to Ron, the rest of the conversation around the dinner table was between Mrs Weasley, Percy and Penelope. Even Fred and George were quiet, probably because Mrs Weasley took all of their inventions and they didn't want to rock the boat, especially with the looks she kept giving them through dinner. They were very annoyed about losing all their stuff, but intended to restart production as soon as possible. Mr Weasley wasn't at dinner, but he said it was because he had to organise a surprise, so no one was worried. Ron ate his especially delightful dinner, Mrs Weasley had gone to extra trouble to make dinner perfect, and left the table saying goodbye to Penelope.

For his birthday he had received a telescope, which he got when he returned from Hogwarts as a late present. Mrs Weasley didn't want to send it in case it was damaged en-route. Ron went up to his room, grabbed the telescope and went outside. The night air was pretty cool, so he had to wear a jumper. The sky was like a blanket of black covered in shiny diamonds. The stars were all out, and the moon was especially bright. Not a single cloud obscured his view. He spent that night, before going to bed, looking at the Moon and Mars, something that he knew Professor Trelawney would be most impressed with. Though in her lessons he wouldn't admit that he really did enjoy studying the night sky.

***

Just as Ron was returning to his room, Mr Weasley apparated into the living room, looking quite pleased with himself. He had just returned from the Leaky Cauldron, which Mrs Weasley noticed and promptly spoke to him.

'I've told you about drinking and apparating' she said in a somewhat severe tone,

'You know the number of accidents occurring, what with people, and not always all of that person, apparating into the middle of lakes and god knows where!' Mr Weasley sheepishly looked at the floor until Mrs Weasley told him to tell everyone what the surprise was.

'Well,' Mr Weasley started (finally)

'the reason I was late was because I had to see Ludo Bagman, you've all heard of him right? Well he's organised us the best seats for the Quidditch World Cup final!'

'YES! YES! YES!' Ron suddenly shouted out, drowning the rest of what Mr Weasley had to say. Ron was mad with excitement, thinking about getting to actually see Victor Krum, he knew the final was Ireland verses Bulgaria and so Bulgaria's prize seeker would definitely be playing. Krum was Ron's favourite quidditch player and Ron would have given anything to get his autograph. But very quickly Ron's thoughts turned to Harry, his best friend Harry. As if Mr Weasley could read minds, his next sentence (after the drown out sentence) was

'Yes, I got Harry and Hermione tickets.'

'Wicked. This'll be so cool. I've gotta go owl Harry right now. And Hermione.' And with that Ron flew up the stairs for a piece of parchment, still whooping. Mrs Weasley tried to say that she would send a letter by muggle post first, but Ron was gone before she could finish her sentence.

***

That night Ron lay awake, unable to sleep for sheer excitement. He lay thinking about how he was going to see Harry again, after all these weeks. He couldn't wait to see Harry. He spent all night thinking about the fun that the three of them would have before he slowly drifted into a contented sleep in the early hours of the morning.

In retrospect, Ron realised this was when his love for Harry was first becoming apparent. When he couldn't go a single day without wanting to spend time with his friend. Without wanting to simply sit and talk, or even just sit in silence, happy that as close a friend as any was sitting beside him. His whole life seemed to revolve around Harry. But still he passed it off as close friendship; the realisation of love didn't come until Halloween…