Title: Is it Okay to Feel This Way?

1 Author: Zipporah

Genre: Humor/Parody/Romance

WARNINGS: Contains EXCESSIVE SLASH! By excessive, I mean EXCESSIVE. By SLASH, I mean boys romantically involved with boys and girls romantically involved with girls. You are warned.

Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine. I am using them without the knowledge or consent of their owners. I am making no money.

Author's notes: Thank you Hurkon, for support and assistance. Thank you in advance to anyone who sends feedback! This is my first attempt at humor – I need to know how it turned out!

The summer morning dawned bright and cheery; the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and the grass had never been greener. It was just the sort of morning that any romance writer or any of Ron's brothers would have called terribly romantic. But all of this was unnoticed and unappreciated by the youngest Weasley when he finally found the strength to rouse himself around noon. In fact, it was unlikely that anything short of the end of the world or a fight between lovers would have registered in the young man's mind, because it was too occupied with other, more important things.

Yes, that's right. Today was the day. Provided nothing happened to take the boy's mind off his task, this would be the morning of the first day of his new life. No more lies; no more hiding and deceit; no more relationships based on deception and fraud. Because in about twenty minutes, Ron was going to come out of his closet.

**********

An hour later, he had his family primped and rowed up, and ready for anything Hollywood could have decided to throw at them. Mrs. Weasley was sitting on the couch proudly displaying a new bow tie and discussing the latest rap with her daughter. Bill and Charlie were having a heated discussion on the merits of pink vs. purple, and each looked resplendent in his skirt of the appropriate color. Between the two sets, George (or was theat Fred?) And Percy were exchanging make-up tips, and Fred (or was that George?) stood behind the couch with and arm around his twin. He honestly looked as if he'd rather sit down, but couldn't in the tight leather.

But however ready they might have been for fan-shots or hot dates, Ron thought it unlikely that they would be prepared for what he had to tell them. Although acutely nervous and paler than usual, he gathered his courage and loudly cleared his throat to gain the attention of his family.

"I - ," he sputtered nervously. His family looked at him with encouraging smiles. "I - ," he broke into a nervous sweat. "I - there's something I have to tell you." Their smiles grew wider and more encouraging. Ron grew tenser. "It's, well..." he trailed off, but after a few moments, found his voice again. "It's something - about - me."

Ginny rolled her eyes and the twins giggled. "It's okay," Mrs. Weasley told her oldest son fondly. "We already know."

Ron stared at her. "You do?" he asked, dumbfounded. The other six children giggled.

"Of course!" Mr. Weasley told his surprised offspring. "It would have been hard to miss."

Ron felt embarrassed - he had been laboring under the impression that he'd done a good job keeping he's sexuality a secret from his family.

"Come on Ron," his brother Fred said. "Look at who your talking to. How cold we not know?"

Ron looked around him and wondered what his brother meant by that comment.

"And it's not as if Neville is particularly quiet or shy about it, you know," volunteered George.

Ron considered and decided he did not like the direction in which this was headed.

In the next breath, his sister Ginny confirmed his worst fears. "You're a Weasley, aren't you Ron? How could you not be gay?"

Everybody laughed. Ron looked wildly from one face to the next. This was worse than he'd thought! He had to say something now! "But - ,"everyone kept on talking. "But - I'm not!" His family looked at him curiously, and exchanged meaningful little laughs. "I'm not gay!" he repeated, more confidently.

His family looked at him, and he felt his face grow pinker than a boxer hound puppy's belly. "That's what I had to tell you," he solemnly intoned in the shocked silence that met his declaration. "I'm not gay," he told them with a sad and somewhat frightened expression on his face. "I'm straight."

*********

"No you're not," Mr. Weasley broke the silence by telling his son. "You just think you are."

This sudden announcement made it okay for everyone in the family to voice their opinion.

"Ron, honey," Mrs. Weasley began gently, "you have to be sure about this kind of decision. Could this just be a phase you're going through? Did you come up with this on your own, or did someone suggest it to you?"

Charley chimed in with his own opinion. "I know it's hard to be different in this family Ron, but don't you think this is taking it a bit far? I'm sure there are other, better ways of expressing your individuality and rebellion."

Bill looked at his younger brother critically. "Ron, you have a boyfriend already, remember? And he's very happy with you. Until this morning, you were very sure of him, too. There's a deep and meaningful commitment there. Is that something you can justify giving up for a moment in the spotlight and a life without him?"

"Have you considered children, Ron?" Ginny asked her brother. "If you and one of your 'girlfriends' has them, they could be terribly embarrassed by your lifestyle, and they might feel pressured into following your example, and where would that leave them? And can you really justify bringing more Weasleys into the world? I mean, isn't nine enough?"

Fred and George looked at Ron, concern and guilt evident in their faces. "What did we do wrong, Ron?" asked on twin. "We're sorry we teased you, we didn't think it would come to this."

"How did we make you feel like you needed to do this, Ron? We've tried to be good brothers," the other explained. "Just because we tease you doesn't mean we don't love you. What can we say to change your mind?"

"This is a big decision, Ron," Percy told his brother gravely. "And you seem to have made it quickly. Maybe you need to slow down, and consider other things that could be influencing you. I'm sorry if I sound condescending, but this is all rather sudden. This is the first you've said anything about doubting your homosexuality, and already you 'know' that you're straight. You shouldn't be leaping to conclusions."

Ron looked helplessly from one family member to the next, until he'd thoroughly examined the entire row. "I - ," Ron began to tell them. "I can't help it. I like a girl!"

*********

This time, it was Percy who was the first to break the silence. "Ron, I know you think you're attracted to a girl, but how lasting is that likely to be? As long-lasting as your relationship with Neville? I used to date Penelope, remember, but I've never before in my life been as happy as I am with Oliver."

Bill took the floor as soon as Percy had finished. "A girl, Ron, or girls in general?" he asked. "This could just be overactive hormones. It's not uncommon for teenagers to develop little crushes on members of both sexes, but they usually settle down when they're older. Could this 'liking a girl' be a one time thing?"

"Perhaps you're misinterpreting friendship as something deeper," Fred (or was it George?) suggested. "Maybe you see her as a sister, but haven't realized it."

"That's the way we feel for Katie and Angelina," George (or was it Fred?) added helpfully. "You could be mistaking one type of love for a completely different one."

Again, Ron looked helplessly from one family member to the next, until he'd again thoroughly examined the entire row. "I - ," Ron began to tell them. "I can't help it. I think breasts are sexy!"

*********

This time, the silence stretched so long that Ron himself was forced to break it. "It's not so bad, is it?" he asked his family nervously.

Mr. Weasley looked at his son. "Neville will be very upset," he told him. "The boy is honestly in love with you."

But Ron had a reply ready, this time. "He might be happy with me now, father, but he won't be in a few years. I can't love him the way he loves me. Continuing this relationship would only result in pain for both of us."

"Straight intercourse has several serious consequences," Ginny told her brother. "You could impregnate a lover, and then be stuck with a kid to raise and give money to for the next twenty years!" (Mr. And Mrs. Weasley nodded vigorously in response to their daughter's argument.)

"Ginny," he told his sister patiently, "there are ways to avoid conception. Muggles have an entire line of products they call contraceptives. My girlfriend could take birth-control pills, which would influence the hormones in her body and keep her body unfit for a baby. I would wear a condom, which prevents sperm from reaching the uterus. If both of these methods, fail, there is the morning-after pill, which my girlfriend could take to prevent the fetus from developing, or if all else fails, abortion."

Mrs. Weasley looked Ron, maternal love and the pain only a mother can feel for her son shining in her eyes. "But, Ron, you'll be so alone! No one to talk to! No one who understands you! You'll be practically isolated!"

"Did you know," Ron addressed his mother, "that if the world was shrunk to only a hundred people, as many as 89 of them would probably be straight? I know you're worried, but there's no need. I'll be able to find plenty of people who understand me."

*********

"Ron," Charlie told his brother, when it appeared that no one else had anything left to say,"this is difficult for us. But try and give it time. We all just need to adjust."

Ron smiled gratefully at his brother. "That means a lot to me," he told his family. "I can wait." That said, he turned around and walked back to his room. It was as if a ton of bricks that had been weighing him down had suddenly disappeared. He couldn't ever remember feeling better.

A/N: Here's part two! A little long, and a little long in coming, but tell me what you think anyway! Should I write more? I love feedback!