Chapter Seven
The Hogwarts Express
They arrived back at the burrow around 3 PM. "Ron go upstairs and wait for your father to get home." Mrs. Weasley says.
"I didn't do it!" Ron protests.
"Didn't do what?" Fred asks.
"I know you did, there's no point in lying about it! Anyway, you're grounded for that fight earlier." Mrs. Weasley says.
"What fight?" George asks eagerly.
"The one Malfoy started!" Ron says leaving the kitchen.
"Oh, so that was what all that big commotion was about? I never thought of causing commotion in Diagon Alley, it would've been brilliant though." George says.
"Too bad this is our last year." Fred says.
"To go to Diagon Alley, don't be ridiculous! We'll still need to go there for robes and such even after Hogwarts. Oh, do I have a brilliant idea for next time." George says, his eyes widening with mischief.
"Get that thought out of your head right now George!" Mrs. Weasley says.
"Don't worry, mum you won't be able to yell yourself hoarse when we're on our own." George says.
"Don't worry Mrs. Weasley, I don't think they'd remember in a year anyway. They'd probably cause havoc by their nature as it is, anyway." Hermione says.
"Thanks for the tip Hermione, I'll write this down, and look at it in a year's time." George says.
"Your driving me mad, get out of here the both of you!" Mrs. Weasley says shoving her twin sons out of the kitchen.
She turns to Harry and Hermione who still remained in the kitchen. Ginny had already left, claiming she wanted to skim through her new books, to find out what they'd be reading about this year.
"You said you'd explain about your Godmother. Why can't she take you in rather than those horrible-" Mrs. Weasley stopped herself, she never would say anything horrible about the Dursley's in front of Harry.
"Well, she's not actually my Godmother, but she is a Godparent, under a Polyjuice Potion." Harry says quietly.
"I didn't think you had a Godmother, but…" Mrs. Weasley stopped and gasped in the middle of her sentence, when she realized whom he was talking about.
"He's innocent, really he is! Peter Pettigrew is still alive Mrs. Weasley he never killed him! I can't explain everything, but I know he's not guilty, and Dumbledore knows too!" Harry says.
"Well, Dumbledore did seem to trust him." Mrs. Weasley says. "Why don't you two go have some fun, walk around outside or something, it's a beautiful day." Mrs. Weasley says.
"All right." Harry and Hermione agree.
Later that evening, Mr. Weasley and Percy arrived home just as Ron was coming downstairs for dinner. Mr. Weasley saw Ron then looked to Mrs. Weasley, whom he kissed. "No problems at Diagon Alley, I hope?" Mr. Weasley asks.
"Your son got in a fight with Lucious Malfoy's son, and he broke a window with his temper at the Leaky Cauldron, though somebody else confessed to it, I know it was him." Mrs. Weasley says.
"I don't know how you could know if it was me or not, I mean you were laughing a lot and having a deep conversation with that 'old friend of yours' it seemed as if you were in a whole other world." Ron says miserably.
"Ron, don't change the subject!" Mrs. Weasley says.
"Which old friend of yours, did you run into?" Mr. Weasley asks his wife.
"Robert." Mrs. Weasley says.
"Robert Edwards?" Mr. Weasley asks.
"Yes." Mrs. Weasley says. "Have some dinner, then we'll decide on how to punish Ron."
"I'm no longer hungry. Excuse me, I just remembered something I forgot at the Ministry." Mr. Weasley says. There was hurt in his voice. He disapparated.
"See what you did?" Mrs. Weasley asks.
"See what I did? I didn't do anything! You were the one talking to him, when you're married!" Ron yells.
"I love your father very much, I was just catching up with an old friend of mine, nothing happened between us, and you saw that we just talked!" Mrs. Weasley says.
"Yea well I guess dad apparating had nothing to do with your old friend most likely being more than a friend to you at Hogwarts?" Ron asks.
"You've caused enough problems for one day, go up to your room for the night." Mrs. Weasley says.
"Forget it, owl Grandfather, I'd rather go back to his house next summer, rather than come home to people blaming their OWN MISTAKES on me." Ron says. Ron runs out of the kitchen and not surprisingly out of the house.
Mrs. Weasley left the kitchen as well, but instead of running after Ron, she ran up the stairs.
"Are you all right?" Percy asks everybody at the table. All of them nodded, but they looked concerned and confused.
"Look, eat your dinners, Fred and George no pranks tonight, keep it quiet. I'm going over to the Ministry to check on dad. Harry, Hermione, don't bother going after Ron. He'll be at Toby's, most likely. Just everybody stay here, and try to keep the noise down. I'll be back later." Percy says and with a pop he disapparated.
"Ron can't live with his Grandfather!" Harry whispers to Hermione.
"Don't worry Harry, we'll still be here next year, and mum wouldn't allow you to stay the whole summer there, even if nobody was here." George says.
"No, I wasn't even thinking about that!" Harry says, but now he was thinking about that. It was good to know the twins gave him reassurance of a place to stay though. "Your Grandfather would kill him in the first week." Harry says.
"No, he wouldn't risk actually going to Azkaban." Fred assures him.
Meanwhile, at Toby's house, Ron climbed in through his bedroom window. "Haven't seen you in a while. I was hoping you'd drop by, but with your company, I didn't think you would." Toby says shutting the door.
"I wasn't allowed. Man, I'm in so much trouble." Ron says plopping down on the floor.
"I heard you ran away again, where'd you go?" Toby asks.
"I just went for a walk, and I kept walking, not realizing what time it was, but there was a curfew, so some muggle please-men arrested me." Ron says.
"Oh, I do reckon you're in deep." Toby says.
"No, I've already been punished for that." Ron explains.
"So what did you do now?" Toby asks.
"We went to Diagon Alley today. Malfoy started a fight, and a Hit Wizard stopped it. Well the Hit Wizard was apparently an 'old friend' of my mum's. He bought her a drink. When Harry, Hermione, and me went in there she was laughing and being too happy. I could sense they were more than friends when they went to Hogwarts. Anyway, I lost my temper with him flirting with my mum, and then a window at the Leaky Cauldron broke. Somebody else confessed to it, but it was really me, and my mum knows it was me too. And there's more. When my mum told my dad what I did, I told him about her and her old friend, and he went back to work, he was really hurt. Then my mum blamed me, and I told her I'd rather live with my Grandfather than stay there with her always blaming everybody else's mistakes on me. It was her fault, not mine!" Ron cries angrily into his knees.
"Ron, your right it was her fault for catching up with an old boyfriend, if that's what he was, I assume he was, because your dad left, like you said. But maybe you shouldn't have said anything, it would've just been left at the Leaky Cauldron." Toby says softly.
"No, you don't understand, she was writing his address down! They were going to stay in contact, without my dad knowing. My mum could have him over or something when my dad's at work, when we're at Hogwarts." Ron says.
There was a knock on the door, and Mrs. Lovegood let herself in.
"Ron, sweetie, your brothers sent an owl to me. They were asking if you were here or not, they're not making you come home just now, but they're making sure your somewhere safe, and not still running like last time. Sweetie, why do you keep running away?" Mrs. Lovegood asks.
"Nobody understands me anymore. I do one thing wrong, and my life has been turned upside down. Now anything that goes wrong, I get blamed for." Ron cries.
Mrs. Lovegood kneeled down beside him and wrapped a comforting arm around him.
"Even if I try to stay out of trouble, someone causes trouble for me." Ron says looking up at Mrs. Lovegood with a tearstained face.
"Explain to me, I don't quite understand." Mrs. Lovegood says.
"I was talking to my friend in Diagon Alley today, and Malfoy overheard me and started making fun of me for it, and I said something back, and he started toward me, but we got kicked out of the shop, and I thought it was over, but he chased us, and if I wanted to fight, I wouldn't have run, but I didn't want to cause my parents anymore trouble. But Crabbe and Goyle stopped us, and Malfoy caught up, and they started fighting us, and I wasn't just going to let them beat me up and humiliate, I had to defend myself, but my mum didn't even want my side of the story." Ron explains.
"So that's why you ran away?" Mrs. Lovegood asks.
"No! I ran away, because my dad left and my mum blames it on me, when it's her fault." Ron cries.
"Your dad left?" Mrs. Lovegood asks with disbelief.
"He went back to the Ministry after I told him about mum catching up with an old friend. He was heartbroken; I think it was more than a friend whom my mum was catching up with. She was having too good of a time for them to have been just friends. She was even writing something down. Probably getting his address so he can stop by when we're away at school, and while my dad's at work. It's not fair, my dad doesn't deserve this." Ron cries.
"If your dad went back to the Ministry, heartbroken, he probably had been more than a friend, but I said had been as in was. Past tense, not present, your mum is married, and she loves your dad. Your getting all worried about what you don't know. You won't know unless you go home and talk to them." Mrs. Lovegood says.
"I'm not going home, I'll leave if you want, but I won't go home, not yet anyway." Ron says.
"Stay here then. I'll let your brothers know that you're here. I'll send up some tea." Mrs. Lovegood says.
"You don't have to." Ron says wiping his tears.
"I'm going to anyway." Mrs. Lovegood says. She leaves the room.
Ron runs a hand through his hair and sighs.
"Everything will be all right eventually, until then, stay here." Toby says. "I'll play you in Wizard's Chess." Toby says pulling out his board.
Ron grinned knowing all these new strategies that Toby couldn't begin to imagine.
After three games of losing, Toby had given up. "Man, I don't know how you beat me. Before you left, I was as good as you. Now, I can't win!" Toby says.
"When my Grandfather thought I had done a good job on my chores he would play a few games of chess with me. It was very challenging, but I still beat him, and I learned new strategies. You noticed that my knight protected my queen the entire game." Ron says.
"Unfortunately. Every time I would think of taking your queen out, I'd see the consequence, and I wasn't about to sacrifice my bishops. They're my strongest pieces." Toby says.
"Sometimes you should sacrifice them. You could've taken out my queen, and I would've taken out your bishop, but still the queen's the best piece in the game. It can move anyway, except for the knight's L movement. You could've taken my knight, but I always line up my queen to be in the knight's path so that it's diagonal to it. That way if you took my Knight, I'd still have my queen, and it would take your piece." Ron says, showing him.
There was a knock on the door. Percy entered. "Hey Toby, how are you doing?" Percy asks.
"Fine, how are you?" Toby asks.
"I'm well. Ron, when you're finished your game, why don't you come home?" Percy asks.
"We just finished, and I'm not going home." Ron says.
"Dad's home, and he asked me to come and get you. Look, everything will be all right, but you need to come home." Percy says.
"I don't need to do anything." Ron says.
"Look, mum's not even downstairs. You don't have to worry about her. You can't keep running away Ron. You're only getting yourself into more trouble. Please just come with me now. Mum says if you don't come home with me, she'll owl Grandfather to come and get you, and he said if he hears one more report about your behavior, you'll be living with him on the holidays, until you're out of Hogwarts." Percy says.
"Well, Grandfather can come and get me, because I'm not going home!" Ron says.
"Don't make me stun you Ron." Percy says.
"I'm not going home." Ron says.
"Ron, your decision now, may affect all of your decisions to come. If you don't come home with me, you'll be living at Grandfather's for the next two years. You'll be doing intensive muggle labor, everyday for the next two summers. You won't be able to contact your friends, and you won't be able to make new friends in Ireland. All of your privileges will be gone, Ron. Grandfather will personally owl Dumbledore to have him keep you under his eye. You don't want that. Not only that Grandfather will ban you from Hogsmeade trips. He won't let you go to Diagon Alley either. Now, you have to make a decision. Come home with me, to find a list of chores, and groundment for the remainder of your stay, which isn't really a punishment, as Harry and Hermione are here, or you could go home with Grandfather, take a whipping, and find yourself fixing his fence. Now, tell me you're going to go home with Grandfather." Percy says.
"Go home with Percy! Your mum's upset, but you cooled down, and she had plenty of time to as well. Just go home with Percy, please? I want to hang out with you next holiday. Come on Ron, be smart." Toby says.
Ron stands up and starts walking.
"Thanks Toby, I owe you." Percy says and follows his brother home.
They arrived at the burrow. Ron walked into the kitchen to find his dad at the table looking exhausted.
"Ron, sit down." Mr. Weasley says.
Ron sat.
"I will let the breaking of the window go, only because we have no proof it wasn't the man who admitted to it, and we have no proof it was you. Even if you were responsible, I'd let you off for being so concerned for me. However, you do have a temper, and a bad one at that. I think you had a serious misjudgment of what went on between your mother and her friend." Mr. Weasley says.
"And you leaving like she had told you someone had died proved my judgment wrong, I see." Ron says smartly back.
"I'm not finished talking!" Mr. Weasley says.
"I think it's a bit unfair, how nobody ever lets me explain." Ron says.
"You don't have to explain. You saw your mum laughing and talking to another man, who wasn't me. You lost your temper, whether it broke a window or not, we don't know." Mr. Weasley says.
"Yes, dad you know everything." Ron says rolling his eyes. He looked out the window.
"I'm not going to punish you for that, so it doesn't matter. As for the fight…" Mr. Weasley began, but Ron rolled his eyes again and shook his head. He wasn't going to listen. He knew his father wouldn't listen to any explanation he had to say anyway. "As for the fight, well this is another report of bad behavior. Luckily, your mum made a deal with Mr. Edwards, so that he didn't report it to your Grandfather."
"Whatever. Look, why don't you just give me my list of chores that you want done, and I'll do them?" Ron says.
"Ron, lose your attitude." Mr. Weasley says.
"I just asked a question." Ron says.
"You asked it as if I were wasting your time!" Mr. Weasley says.
"Because you are. I'm not going to listen to you! You won't listen to me, I've got no reason to listen to you." Ron says.
"Yes you do, I'm your father!" Mr. Weasley yells.
"Really? Because I thought I was the son of that Hit Wizard that was flirting with mum." Ron says smartly.
Mr. Weasley hit his son in the face. "Don't give me those smart remarks! Lose your tone and attitude right now!" Mr. Weasley says.
"Dad, calm down." Percy says.
"No, your brother's out of control, aren't you listening to him?" Mr. Weasley asks.
"He might be, but you're not! You won't let me explain anything!" Ron says and ducked under the table, crawling out the other side, fearing another hit.
"Ron! I'm not going to listen to a child. I'm the adult! You're the child! You listen to what I have to say!" Mr. Weasley yells.
"I'm fifteen dad! I'm not a child! If you want me to respect you, you have to listen to me and respect me, or I won't listen to you!" Ron yells.
"Stop acting like a child then, and I might respect you and take you seriously. You're out of control! You have to earn my respect, and you're just losing it by acting the way you are!" Mr. Weasley yells back.
"Maybe I wouldn't be the way I am, if you had just given me a chance to explain. I made one mistake, and you all wouldn't let me explain, you just kicked me out!" Ron says.
"You lied at the beginning of the summer! We gave you the chance to explain, but you lied! How am I supposed to respect a liar? Only children lie!" Mr. Weasley yells.
"Yes, but I straightened up at Grandfather's. You think six weeks of what I went through would teach one not to lie, and would earn respect, because I wasn't immature enough to hate you for sending me there! You still don't trust me, and you wouldn't let me explain! I didn't start that fight! Yes, I've been in trouble before, but the first time, was the stupidest thing I've ever done, and I've been punished for that… the second time was just for being out past curfew, and may I remind you that Grandfather also punished me for that. You should let it go. The fight was completely different. I didn't want to go back to Grandfather's, so I tried to avoid it, but Malfoy and his friends didn't give me any other choice. They blocked Harry and me off, and Malfoy hit me! I had no other choice than to defend myself. It wasn't me beating the crap out of Malfoy; it was I trying to get away from Malfoy. I could've beaten the shit out of him, but I didn't I suffered the indignity of trying to get away, because I knew mum and you had enough to be mad at me about! I should've beaten the shit out of him, then maybe I'd deserve to be punished, but it wouldn't have made a difference either way! Now you're about to punish me without even knowing the facts, that's real fair. And don't give me that I'm the adult you're the child bullshit again, because I'm tired of it. I'm not a child. Open your eyes and see that!" Ron yells.
"Ron, go to your room." Mrs. Weasley says very softly.
Ron started, as he heard his mum, he turned around and saw that not only had she entered the kitchen, but Harry, Hermione, the twins, and Ginny were in the entry way. They let Ron pass, but Harry followed him. Hermione stayed downstairs.
Harry followed Ron in his room. "What's gotten into you lately?" Harry asks.
"What are you talking about?" Ron asks as he started emptying the clothes in his dresser into his trunk.
"You're changing Ron." Harry says. "I mean last summer you and your parents got along great, now you're yelling at them, and they're hitting you."
"I haven't changed. They have! Nobody understands me anymore. Last year everything was fine, because I didn't make any mistakes. I make just one mistake and they disown me, and then another one and all of a sudden I'm out of control. I've got enough problems, without them making more for me!" Ron says taking down his robes from his closet.
"What are you doing? Your not running away again, are you?" Hermione asks entering the room.
"It's called packing for Hogwarts. I can't wait to go back there. Snape seems fairer than them." Ron says gesturing his head toward the door, indicating his parents, who were floors below.
"Oh, don't be so ridiculous!" Hermione says.
"Your right, nobody's more unfair than Snape. After him, it's them." Ron says.
"Your parents are more than fair!" Hermione says.
"Easy for you to say, they aren't yours!" Ron says.
"Your brothers would say they're more than fair, and Ginny too. Even the twins are thankful to have your parents, and not your Grandfather, and they get into more trouble than you." Hermione says.
"Oh my God, Hermione, won't you ever see that not all adults are right all the time? They'd love to have a daughter like you, because you're the smartest student in our year. You're just like Bill and Percy. They both were brilliant. The twins are the twins, they love them because they're brilliant as well, and they just get into too much mischief to be prefects, not to mention they have Quidditch talent. As long as you got brains or talents, you can fit in this family fine. Charlie and the twins were on the Quidditch team, Bill, Percy, and Ginny have the brains. Not to mention that Ginny's their only daughter, so they'd love her after the twins no matter what. If you mess up and you don't have talent or brains, you might as well not be in this family. Oh, and anybody could be grateful to have my parents when you compare to my Grandfather. It's all easy for you to say they're fair, but you don't understand! Nobody does!" Ron says.
"Stop being stupid! Look at it this way, you're parents are worried about you! They obviously love you. They're trying to prevent you from going back to your Grandfather's. He'd kill you. Besides, you're going through some stupid phase, but one more report of bad behavior could cause the rest of your summers there, and all because of some stupid decision." Hermione says.
"You can only see right or wrong, Hermione. That's your problem. You should realize that I'm right." Ron says.
"Sleeping with Sabrina, running away, and fighting with Malfoy is right?" Hermione asks.
"No! You don't understand! You're not going to either, so why don't you get out? If you need to talk to Harry, he can go downstairs." Ron says.
"Ron, would you-" Ron cut off Hermione.
"No. I don't want to see it through the eyes of one who's perfect. I don't want to listen and I don't want to talk. Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out!" Ron says.
Hermione looked hurt. Her eyes had tears in them. "Your lucky I'm not allowed to use magic. If I was allowed to, I'd hurt you!" Hermione says. Looking around real quick, she found a book and threw it at him before leaving.
Ron looked shocked.
Harry, also surprised, was unsure of what to do. Luckily, an answer arrived. Mrs. Weasley entered the room. "Harry, dear, will you excuse us?" Mrs. Weasley asks.
"Of course." Harry says. He leaves the room in search of Hermione.
"We're moving Harry down into Percy's room. For the last days here, you'll do nothing but chores. You have a restraining charm on you, so you may not leave the back yard or front door. Tobias knows not to come by. Until we leave for King's Cross you are to do nothing but eat, sleep, and work. We'll give you your list of chores tomorrow morning. Until then, I suggest you rest. It'll be a long day tomorrow." Mrs. Weasley says.
She transfigures Harry's bed into a small rock, before she picks it up and leaves the room.
After the last days of hard work at the burrow, Ron found himself waking up to leave for Hogwarts. He smiled. To be leaving his parents, he'd have his freedom back, without worrying about his Grandfather. He didn't speak to his parents during the muggle taxi ride to King's Cross, nor did he speak to them before boarding the Hogwarts Express at Platform 9¾. He found an empty compartment without waiting for Harry or Hermione to say goodbye to his parents. He took out his journal and started writing the events of the last few days.
About ten minutes after the Hogwarts Express left Platform 9¾ Harry and Hermione knocked on the compartment door, and entered. The anxiety on their faces changed to great relief after finding him. Harry had noticed he was writing in the same book he had been writing in the night of his return.
"Why couldn't you have waited for us?" Harry asks.
"Why couldn't you have said goodbye to your parents? They were really upset when they realized you had already boarded the train." Hermione says.
"When they realized." Ron laughs shaking his head.
Harry and Hermione exchanged glances. Before they could say anything to him, there was a knock on the door.
Remus Lupin entered the compartment followed by a black shaggy dog, that jumped on Harry's lap.
"Professor Lupin! Have you come back to teach?" Hermione asks eagerly.
"No, I'm afraid my teaching days were over at Hogwarts when Snape revealed to everybody what I was. Professor Dumbledore needed to see that mutt, and me and suggested that it would be in Harry's best interest to go on the Hogwarts Express. I would've left the mutt with you of course, but he's been known to cause trouble. So I couldn't leave him here unsupervised." Remus says earning a growl from the dog. "Hey, I thought I said no growling!" Remus said. He smacked Sirius on the nose.
Somebody else knocked on the door now. Padma Patil came in wearing her Ravenclaw robes. She smiled as she saw Ron. Ron grinned back.
"Hey Ron, can I speak to you for a few minutes?" Padma asks.
"Sure." Ron says getting up.
He saw Hermione stand up in the corner of his eye.
"Just a second," Ron says. Padma waited outside the compartment.
Ron turns to Hermione who looks at him incredulously.
"Your mum doesn't want you around girls." Hermione says.
"I know so I'm leaving to get away from you." Ron says sarcastically.
"Your mum said you're not allowed!" Hermione says.
"I don't care! She's not on this train, is she?" Ron asks.
"Ron, you can't-" Ron cut Hermione off.
"I can, and I am. I don't know what your problem is. I already told you to stay out of my business, and you're the one saying I have the hearing problem?" Ron asks.
"Your mum will find out about this! You'll be shipped off to your Grandfather's every summer." Hermione says.
"She won't find out about this, unless you say something, and I wouldn't tell her if I were you, because you'll regret it. Besides, I'm getting shipped off anyway, and it's only two summers. So I figure I might as well make it worth all the work I'll end up doing." Ron says.
"Ron!" Hermione snaps.
"Hermione, go back to reading and mind your own business." Ron says coldly. He leaves shutting the compartment door behind him.
Padfoot (Sirius) looks up at Harry and looks at the door, then looks at Harry again.
"What? You want me to follow him?" Harry asks uncertainly.
Padfoot shook his head.
"I think what Padfoot wants to know the deal with Ron." Remus says causing Padfoot to wag his tail and nod.
"Ah, he's been getting into trouble… not dark magic trouble, but trouble in general." Harry says.
"How so?" Remus asks.
"He's been fooling around with girls, he's been running away, and he's been fighting." Hermione answers, rolling her eyes toward the door.
Remus looked at Sirius who looked back with the same curious look.
"It's not what you think. Ron's only fooled around with one girl, and he ran away because I upset him, and he was just defending himself when Malfoy started with him." Harry says.
"He's out of control. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley didn't know what to do, so they sent him to his Grandfather's, who is very mean and strict. Maybe he deserved it though. I can't believe he won't listen." Hermione says.
"You don't honestly think he'll do something with Padma? This is Hogwarts." Harry says.
"I don't know Harry, the way he's been acting. I didn't think he'd be foolish enough to risk any of the actions he made this summer, but I was wrong about that. Did you hear how cold he was toward me? I really should owl his mum." Hermione says.
"Hermione, you shouldn't have said anything. He's not dumb enough to do anything on the Hogwarts Express, and it really isn't your business. You're supposed to be his friend, but you're acting like his mother." Harry says.
"He was dumb enough to do something in the first place, and it really is my business, because she is just using him, and you won't see that. I am his friend, but he's going in a wrong direction, and I'm trying to help him. You saw how out of control he was. He's never talked back to his parents before, and he was screaming at them, not bothering to keep his tone down or to watch his language." Hermione says.
"He was upset." Harry says.
"He's out of control. He won't see things any other way than his own!" Hermione says.
"He was mad Hermione. We can easily say he was being stupid, but if you looked at it from his point of view, he had that building up. I mean I'm an only child, as are you. I've had to deal with a lot of crap from the muggles, but you have a normal upbringing. He said 'When they realize.' He's the last to be realized and the one to get the least amount of attention. He's got a lot to live up to. He's got five older brothers and only one sister. Automatically, Ginny gets attention because she's their only daughter, and she's like you with books. The twins get attention with their pranks, jokes, and when they get into trouble. Percy gets attention from being so intelligent. Bill and Charlie probably never had to worry about getting attention from their parents, I mean they were the first to go to Hogwarts, one got brains, and one got talent. Ron's not on the Quidditch team, and he could be a bit less lazy with his studying.
The point is his parents were talking to him like they've paid attention to him all his life, but they never had to, and probably didn't have the time. They were treating him like a child, too. Ron made one mistake, and he was afraid, because he's never been in real trouble with his parents before, so he lied, and his parents didn't know what to do with him. So they sent him off. The way his Grandfather is probably made him hate his parents.
Then I got mad over something stupid, and said something, and he left. He said he knew he shouldn't have left, and would be accused of running away if he left the house, so he just figured he'd earn what was coming, because his parents don't let him explain. Malfoy started that fight, Ron told the truth, and I was there. Malfoy started with him, so Ron and I walked away, but he chased us. Ron would never sacrifice his pride by running from Malfoy, but he did it because he was tired of upsetting his mum. Still, Malfoy punched him, and Crabbe and Goyle were helping him out. How was he not supposed to defend himself?
I mean, he's been strained through out the summer, his brothers and sister have always come before him, and he feels like his parents disowned him. Then his mum blamed him for making his dad leave. He didn't know all the facts, but he told them, just like they didn't know all the facts, but still punished him. I could imagine being that fed up. He's just lucky his mum didn't kill him." Harry says.
"It doesn't matter, he was still wrong! And him leaving with Padma is only helping him get into more trouble. Professor, tell Harry who's right." Hermione says to Remus.
"Hermione, I'm not your professor anymore. Remus will do just fine. And I agree with Harry that he had a lot of reasons to flip out. However, you're right as well, he may have had a lot of reasons to lose control, but he should've kept it. His actions were wrong, but you can only learn from your mistakes, but I believe that you're right when saying Ron should not be near Ms. Patil. However, he's a boy, and a teenager, which is probably why he's out of control." Remus says.
"Oh, so it's a guy thing?" Hermione asks.
"No I meant, he's probably out of control, because he's a teenager. Sirius was worse than him. What it all comes down to is Ron and his parents not seeing eye-to-eye. They still think of him as a child, and they're used to him staying out of trouble. He thinks of himself as an adult, and he's not used to consequences." Remus explains.
Sirius looked like he was laughing or grinning, although dogs couldn't laugh.
"Shut up, or I'll beat you with the Daily Prophet." Remus says. "People have advantages over mutts."
Sirius growls, and Remus smacks him on the nose. "Don't, I mean it. The lunch trolley will be by soon, I'll grab a copy from the cart." Remus says.
Sirius whimpers apologetically.
The train ride was generally calm, with Hermione and Harry talking about their summers to Remus and Sirius, and trying to figure out, what secret mission Dumbledore needed them for, but they wouldn't tell. When it grew dark, they knew they were less than an hour away, and that's when they heard commotion from outside the compartment.
"SEAMUS, DEAN! Come quick! Come quick! There's a fight!" Someone yelled. They saw more than two people run past their compartment.
Harry and Hermione stood up. "It's probably Ron!" Hermione says irritatingly.
"I got to go help him." Harry says.
Sirius growled and tugged on Harry's robes.
"You're not getting involved in the fight. I'll break it up." Remus says.
Remus followed other students to a compartment. Malfoy was getting up off the ground. Ron was pinned against the window of the compartment, while Crabbe and Goyle punched him. Ron kneed Crabbe in between the legs and punched Goyle in the nose. Malfoy was up now, and he punched Ron into the window, causing it to break, and cut Ron's arm. Ron elbowed Malfoy in the jaw. Malfoy responded by punching him hard across the face, making him fall to the ground. Goyle kicked him in the ribs, hard, while he was down. Crabbe wasn't moving as he was hurt from where Ron kneed him.
Goyle and Malfoy however had no hesitation kicking him as hard as they could in the ribs. Ron's trying to get back up didn't work, so as a last resort, he swung his leg around and kicked them in the back of the shins, where they started, and fell on their backs. Ron crawled over to Malfoy and punched him hard in the face. Malfoy punched Ron in the nose, and Ron fell backwards, not even realizing it started to bleed. Malfoy took the advantage and punched him hard across the face, while Goyle stood up and kicked Ron in the ribs again. Ron kicked Malfoy away from him and avoided Goyle's kick as he rolled away. He got up and punched Goyle to the ground. He started backing up, but tripped over Malfoy's foot causing him to fall hard on his back, hitting his head against the doorframe.
Luckily, at that point Remus had been able to push through to get over to them. "Enough!" Remus yelled at Malfoy and Goyle who were about to clobber Ron. He helped Ron up. He was clutching his head.
"Aww, is the werewolf protecting you Weasley?" Malfoy asks.
"No, Professor Lupin is protecting you." Ron says, and punched Malfoy in the face before kicking Goyle down to the ground.
Remus pushed Ron out of the compartment and down the corridors until they got to the compartment of the train where Harry was pacing and Hermione was reading.
They saw him come in. His nose was bleeding, there were a couple of bruises forming on the side of his face, and his elbow was bleeding. He was clutching his ribs with one hand, and his head with another.
"Need I ask what you did now?" Hermione asks.
"Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle had the nerve to start with me." Ron yells.
"Of course, they started it." Hermione says.
"Yes, they made me punch them." Ron says.
"Is there a charm to make one punch another?" Remus asks amused.
"I don't know, ask Hermione, she knows all the spells in the book." Ron says.
"Dimwit, he meant how did they make you punch them?" Hermione asks.
"They went and ran their mouths! I was sitting there talking to Padma-" Ron starts, but Hermione laughed.
"I'm sure." Hermione says.
"I was sitting there talking with her, and they barged in, and started crap. They should've just left, but they stayed and ran their bloody mouths." Ron says.
"Oh, and of course that made you punch them. Now I understand. I mean it's not like you ever run yours." Hermione says.
"Shut up! You may know book stuff, but you don't know what they said!" Ron says.
"Well enlighten us. What did they say?" Hermione asks.
"It's none of your damn business." Ron says.
"Oh, did it have to do with what was said in the apothecary?" Harry says in a whisper.
"No, completely different." Ron says. "I don't think they'd remember." Ron adds.
"Ooh, what was said in the apothecary?" Hermione asks.
"Nothing." Harry says.
"None of your bloody business." Ron says.
"Oh, so now you're both against me? I'm okay with not talking to him." Hermione says nodding toward Ron.
"Let me get that in writing." Ron says.
"Not until you say what was said in the apothecary." Hermione says.
"Ha! You talked! Anyway, Harry merely suggested that you were jealous of Padma, because of the way you were acting." Ron says.
"What? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard, and to talk behind my back? I can't believe you Harry!" Hermione says getting up to leave. Harry crossed the compartment and stopped her.
"No, Hermione, I was only trying to raise Ron's self esteem. He was real upset about what you said." Harry says.
"Oh, so you lied to raise my ego, because the truth would only lower it, right?" Ron asks with hurt and confusion in his voice.
"No, no, I really thought that's why she was acting like that," Harry grabs Hermione by the arms, "but it was the only logical explanation for why you were being so cold toward Ron when he was with Padma, and if it's any consolation, I thought he was jealous of Viktor, because he was dating you." Harry says.
"Harry, you've lost your mind! I can't believe you would think that, let alone say that." Ron says. He leaves the compartment.
"You're lucky I have enough sense not to be immature and flip out. I'm going to cool down." Hermione says as she leaves.
Harry sat down and rested his face in his hands. "I was just trying to make everybody happy." Harry says. "I really thought they were jealous, both of them. You should've seen the way Ron acted around Hermione and Krum. He was cold to Padma at the dance, because he was too busy staring at Hermione. Hermione was snappy around Padma and Ron when they talked in the corridors, and now she's been watching him like a hawk. I could deal with not having one friend to talk to, but both of them, I can't deal with." Harry says.
"Want some advice?" Remus asks.
"Yes." Harry says.
"Don't tell your friends that you think they've got a crush on each other." Remus says.
"That would've been useful ten minutes ago, thanks." Harry says miserably.
The Hogwarts express came to a stop at Hogsmeade station, and Harry hadn't been able to talk to either of his friends. He found Hermione first, when he was getting his trunk. "Look, I know you're mad at me, but the truth is I was just trying to boost his self-esteem. You made him depressed that day, and that flattered him. I only went back to what I said before, because Ron started getting mad at me, and I hate not speaking to Ron. Please talk to me again. I need a friend right now." Harry pleads.
"All right." Hermione says. "Don't talk behind my back though!"
"I swear I won't!" Harry promises.
They walk up to the gates and climb into a horseless carriage. Ron was talking to Neville there. Ron glared at Harry, but continued talking. Harry and Hermione were having their own little conversation, plainly not listening to Neville and Ron's conversation, that wasn't until they heard Ron bring up Neville's parents.
"Neville, may I ask why you don't live with your parents? I mean I always see you with your Gran. I didn't think it was appropriate to ask in our four years of knowing each other, but I was wondering why. You don't have to answer, if you don't want to." Ron says.
"No, it's all right. My parents were tortured by You-know-who. They're at St. Mungo's, because they're insane. They don't even recognize me." Neville answers.
"That's a shame, Neville. I'm really sorry. That must be horrible; they never knew how great a kid they had. They'd be proud of you." Ron says.
"Proud of me, I doubt it. I'm practically a squib." Neville says.
"They would be extremely proud. You're not a squib, and you're brilliant at Herbology. You can actually translate what Professor Sprout says, which is something, because I don't understand teachers, not even when Hermione tries to explain, but some how I learn in that class. I'd say you're a better teacher than Professor Sprout in that area." Ron says.
"Wow, really?" Neville asks.
"Honestly." Ron says.
"That would be a wicked job to teach here at Hogwarts, and Herbology… I never even thought about that. Thanks Ron!" Neville says.
The carriages stopped at the steps of the castle. They all got out. Neville was extremely happy, and he was thinking of all of the possibilities as they approached the doors, but they were locked. Everybody was confused.
Finally, Professors McGonagall and Snape opened the doors. They looked disappointed. "Mr. Weasley, Mr. Crabbe, Mr. Goyle, and Mr. Malfoy come forward, please." Professor McGonagall says.
"Which Mr. Weasley?" Fred asks.
Professor McGonagall didn't need to answer. Ron stepped forward with the others. "Follow Professor Snape to the dungeons." Professor McGonagall says sharply. They did as they were told. Ron followed Professor Snape and the three Slytherin students down to the dungeons.
"Let me tell you four," Though Snape was staring only at Ron when he said this, "That I am highly disappointed. All four of you should be suspended, but you would all miss too many lessons, when your OWLS are coming up." Snape says.
"Therefore, you will serve the next two weeks in detention. Your evenings and weekends belong to us. To be fair, you four will all have the same detentions. The first week belongs to me. The next Professor McGonagall. Your weekends will be devoted to cleaning the castle with Mr. Filch… the muggle way." Snape says.
"Professor, that's not fair! He hit me first, and Crabbe and Goyle came to my defense." Malfoy says.
"Yes, but as there were some fists thrown at him, you three will serve the same detentions. However, you have the option to be suspended, if that's what you choose." Snape says.
"No, sir." Malfoy says.
"May I be dismissed now? I heard you give out the detentions." Ron says.
"No, you may not." Another voice only belonging to Professor McGonagall says. "Hogwarts does not wish to have ill-mannered students in the Dining Hall. You'll eat here." Professor McGonagall says.
"I'm not hungry. May I go up to the common room?" Ron asks.
"If you won't be eating, you can get straight to work on your detention this evening." Professor McGonagall says.
"What am I doing?" Ron asks Professor Snape.
"Who needed their classroom cleaned?" Professor Snape asks.
"Nobody, although Sibyll could have her room sanitized of all those fumes." Professor McGonagall says.
"As much as I'd agree, I know she wouldn't. Sweep and mop the fifth, sixth, and seventh floors." Professor Snape says.
"Yes sir." Ron says standing up. He starts for the door.
"Minerva, I trust you to get him a broom and dustpan and a mop and bucket of soap water from Filch." Snape says.
"Of course." Professor McGonagall says.
"I along with Mr. Filch will be up to examine the cleanliness of the floors. If it's not done right the first time, you have to do them all over again." Snape says.
"Yes sir." Ron says tiredly.
Ron finished all three floors at midnight, but Ravenclaws were just coming up to their common room, and walked all over the wet floor. Tabitha stopped and saw Ron, bruised, with dry blood on him. She also saw the mop in his hand and she noticed the wet floor becoming covered with muddy footprints.
"Since when are you the janitor?" Tabitha asks.
"Since Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and I had a fight on the Hogwarts Express." Ron says with a yawn of exhaustion.
"Ouch. Do you have to mop all of this up again?" Tabitha asks.
"I'm not allowed into my common room until they're spotless." Ron says irritated.
"Sorry. I won't hold you up any longer." Tabitha says.
"See you later Tabby." Ron says.
"See you Ron." Tabitha says.
Just then Snape and Filch came up the stairs.
"Weasley, this floor is filthy." Snape says.
"Yes sir, the Ravenclaws just went to their common rooms, walking all over the floor." Ron says.
"Wash all three floors again!" Snape says.
"The other floors aren't dirty sir." Ron says.
"Maybe not, but you failed to clean all three, by the time we inspected them. I said you'd do it all over again, if you didn't do a good job of it the first time. Filch, follow me to the sixth floor." Snape says.
Ron watched them as they walked all over the steps, and the sixth and seventh floors. Now Ron would have to mop them all over again.
He finally was allowed to go to bed at three AM when Snape came out, shocked he was still awake, and more surprised he was still cleaning. Ron started for the common room, knowing Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle hadn't been given the task of mopping three floors, inside and out, and the staircases leading to them twice. He also knew, Professor Snape probably let them go at midnight. Ron got to the portrait of the Fat Lady, and realized he didn't know the password, and nobody was awake at this time of night to give it to him. He thought perhaps the Fat Lady would realize he was in her house and just let him in, but she did not.
He had to yell for her to wake up. "Password?" She asks.
"I don't know it. You know I'm a member of your house. I'm a Weasley, every Weasley's in this house. Let me in I'm tired." Ron says.
"I can't let you in without a password." She says.
"You can too. Just swing open, please? I'm exhausted!" Ron cries.
"No, I'm sorry." She says.
At least the Slytherins had Snape to tell them their password after their detention. He didn't remember to get the password from Professor McGonagall. Ron sat down against the wall and cradled his knees. He would just have to spend the night outside the common room. He stared at the Fat Lady angrily.
"You're not going to sit there all night, are you?" She asks.
"You won't let me in, where else am I supposed to go?" Ron asks.
The Fat Lady fell asleep, pretending Ron wasn't there. Ron wanted to scream or cry in frustration, but he was too tired to. He fell asleep, but not for long.
He was shaken awake by Filch. "What are you doing out here?" Filch asks.
"She won't let me in. I was serving detentions from nine until three, or don't you remember walking on the floors and stairs I mopped?" Ron asks yawning.
"Why didn't you ask your head of house for the password?" Filch asks.
"I would've been done in time to go in with my classmates, but you and Professor Snape didn't inspect the floor, until everybody went to bed. So I was unable to ask a prefect. Instead I had to mop the floors again!" Ron says.
"Come with me." Filch says.
"Why?" Ron asks.
"I need to write you up." Filch says.
"No, I've already got detentions for the next week! Just make her let me in!" Ron says.
"Are you failing to cooperate with an authority?" Filch asks.
Ron stood up. "No sir, I'm coming." Ron says.