Ron tromped out of The Leaky Cauldron with his hands fisted firmly at his sides and his face burning as hot as the late afternoon sun hanging low in the sky above Diagon Alley. He failed to acknowledge the cheerful 'Hi Ron' that was cast his way as he passed Seamus Finnegan on the street. For once, he didn't notice the new racing brooms in the windows of the Quidditch shop or the pretty birds in the Owl Emporium. The din of the crowds of shoppers fell on deaf ears as he walked along, glaring at the cobblestone under his feet. His face showed plainly his singular focus; only one thing was on his mind.
"Draco Malfoy," Ron growled to himself. He kicked a loose pebble angrily across the way, wishing he had something, or rather someone, more satisfying to lash out at. "Draco-fucking-Malfoy!"
The shock had worn off quickly once Ron left The Leaky Cauldron. Now all he could feel was rage, and all he could be was angry. Angry at Malfoy for cursing him, angry at his dad for offering up such a weak punishment, at Lucius Malfoy for agreeing to it, at his mum for not contradicting his father, at Malfoy for being a git, and Malfoy for sneering and smirking like he did, and Malfoy for being such a bloody Malfoy all the damned bleeding time!
As he came into view of the ice cream parlor, he spotted his brothers and sister sitting at the patio tables in the vestibule. Harry was with them. As Ron approached, their eyes met, and Harry got up from the table and trotted over to his best friend.
Ron smiled slightly as the dark-haired boy stopped in front of him. Harry was the only good thing that had happened to him all day, and he was glad to finally be with his friend again. Harry would understand him. Harry would know the right things to say to make him feel better. They shared so much, but, at this moment, the most important thing they shared was an extreme hatred for Draco Malfoy.
"Hey, Ron," said Harry. "Where were you? Your brothers and even Ginny wouldn't tell me. Did something happen?"
Ron looked uncertain. "Erm...you could say that."
Harry scrunched his eyebrows as he watched Ron's face flush slightly. "Well, can you tell me, or is it meant to be kept a secret?"
"No, I'll tell you." Ron took a deep breath. "When we got here this morning, I went looking for you, and you must have been late because I couldn't find you."
Harry nodded. "Yeah, sorry about that. I got into a fight with my uncle about driving me all the way into town. He wanted to drop me off five miles away from The Leaky Cauldron, so that he wouldn't have to go near 'all that hocus pocus nonsense'. I'm lucky I even got him to drop me off at all. But he realized it would mean that I'd be out of the house sooner, so after yelling at me a bit, he finally agreed."
"I'm sorry you had to ask your lousy uncle for a ride. Dad's been busy. He keeps hinting to the Twins that he's going to charm a new car soon, but he just hasn't had the time. Ministry troubles and all that rot. We would've sent you a Port Key but after...well...you know."
Ron gave Harry a look of sympathy as he watched a faint blush twinge the other boy's cheeks, and his eyes glimmered with sadness and slight embarrassment. Harry had endured so much at the end of their fourth year, but he seemed to be handling it okay. Last year he'd understandably withdrawn into his mind, talking little and struggling in his classes, but he was getting a lot better now. Who knew what would happen when school started up again, but, at the moment, Harry was doing well, considering all that had occurred.
"It's alright. It wasn't so bad." Harry smiled slightly, a reassuring smile. "So what happened after that, then?" he continued, quickly changing the subject.
Ron shook his head and swallowed hard. "I sort of went wandering about by myself for a bit. I went to Quality Quidditch Supplies and then made the rounds to get my school things...spotted Seamus...went back to the Quidditch shop with him, and then I left to see if maybe you had found my family."
"And then?"
"And then...I ran into Malfoy."
"Malfoy? What did he say? Did you get in a fight?"
Ron swallowed again and shifted his weight on his feet. "Erm, he said something nasty about my Mum, and I sort of tackled him. He fell back into that little alley near the Apothecary, and I fell with him. He pushed me, and I yelled something, and then he...well...umm...."
"Ron?"
"He cursed me...er, Crucio."
Harry's eyes grew wide behind his glasses. "What?!"
Ron nodded. "It hurt pretty bad."
Harry stared at him, his jaw hanging slightly. "Ron...how could he...what...Crucio?"
Ron nodded again.
"Well are you alright?! Did they catch him? Is he going to Azkaban?"
"Slow down, Harry. Yes, I'm all right. I wasn't under it long, five seconds or something. And Mum looked me over after they found me. She used to be a nurse when she was younger, you know. There's no damage. I sort of passed out, but Ginny found me. It seems she'd spotted me after I left Seamus and followed me because she thought I might be going to meet you."
Harry blushed, and Ron's own cheeks coloured slightly in sympathy. "Well, what's going to happen to Malfoy?"
"He ran after he put the curse on me. Ginny had been hiding behind a rubbish bin when he did it, and after he left she ran to get the others. Lucky for me, Dad was just around the corner. He did Finite Incantatem."
"You mean the prat just left it on you? You might've died! The Ministry must be all over him by now. It only took minutes for them to send me a letter when Dobby did magic in the Dursleys' kitchen that summer before second year."
Ron shrugged. "When I came to and told my parents, we went and found Malfoy and his father at the ice cream parlor. I don't think the Ministry knows, though I'm not sure how that is. My dad seemed to understand it though. He got them to go with us to The Leaky Cauldron, to 'discuss' what happened. And my dad, well he sort of...argh, I can't say it. It's too horrible and stupid and unjust and just stupid."
"What is it, Ron?"
"Malfoy...he...he's got to stay with us for the rest of summer," Ron grumbled. "At The Burrow. That's supposed to be his punishment."
"What? But it's an Unforgivable! What about Azkaban?"
Ron shrugged. "I don't know what my dad was thinking. He said he didn't want to send a kid to Azkaban. Even if it's an evil bastard kid who nearly killed me, apparently." He snorted dispassionately. "I don't want to talk about it anymore."
Harry nodded. "Sorry, Ron. That Malfoy's a right stupid prick."
Ron shook his head. "'S alright. Though I would brace myself. The git's going to be coming home with us today. So when you see him, don't die of shock or anything, okay? Wouldn't want to give him the satisfaction." Ron gave Harry a lopsided smile.
Harry sniggered. "Yeah, sure thing, Ron."
"Okay, let's go get some ice cream. I'm famished."
They made their way to one of the patio tables. Molly was already sat next to Ginny who was finishing off her strawberry cone, and the Twins and Percy were at the next table chatting and laughing as they ate their ice creams (the Twins were laughing, Percy was glaring at them from behind the Daily Prophet he was holding up to hide his newly acquired bright green hair).
Ron sat across from his sister, and Harry sat down next to him. "Did you tell them everything, Mum?" Ron asked.
Mrs. Weasley nodded. "They took it fairly well."
"Well, it's not them who was cursed," Ron grumbled. "It's not them Malfoy terrorizes everyday at school."
"I don't terrorize anyone, Weasley. It's not my fault you lack a sense of humour."
Ron turned around to find Draco standing behind him. "Malfoy," he hissed.
"Nice to see we're not on formal terms anymore. Because it would be awkward, you know, living in the same house and all," Draco drawled and walked around the table to sit down in the chair across from Harry -- leaving a space between him and Ginny and crinkling his nose at her in something Ron suspected was disgust.
He turned back to the two boys across the table and smirked. "Well. Potter. Fancy meeting you here. I thought for sure the Dark Lord would have Avada Kedavra'd your sorry arse by now. That, or your head got so big, it exploded. Shame, really. Anyhow, I see even those muggles don't want you anymore. Kicked you out, have they? And as if muggles weren't bad enough, now you're lowering yourself to live with Weasleys. But then again, you always did have poor taste in associates."
Harry and Ron wore identical scowls, giving Malfoy the evil eye from across the table. Ron could veritably feel the tense threads of the hatred held taut in Harry's green gaze directed at their common nemesis.
Really, he couldn't blame his friend; he felt the same thing, even if his eyes weren't nearly so steady. He could hardly stand to look at Malfoy now. He just wanted the boy to disappear so he could go about the business of having a decent holiday, and maybe he could forget about the curse and the way it felt, the way it hurt, the way every muscle in his body tensed and threatened to freeze and snap if he allowed himself to think about it. It wasn't pleasant. The feeling that he could burst into tears at any moment if that boy continued to exist before him was not nice. And behind the pain and the memory lay the fear. That bit was new. And it was for the fear that he hated Malfoy.
But, of course, Malfoy didn't bother to care. Even now, he could talk to Ron and say things that he always had, as if nothing had changed. He didn't even seem to hate Ron more than usual. Hell, he was paying Harry more attention than he was Ron. The git should have been brooding over what he'd done, or even proud. That he wasn't -- that he was unemotional and dismissing and completely normal, well, that was infuriating. For what he'd endured, Ron knew he deserved more; Malfoy owed him more. If only they'd been alone, then he'd have set Malfoy straight on how things were now....
The other side of Ron's peripheral vision caught the look on his mother's face and it gave him pause. For once, Molly seemed at a loss for what to do. She looked like she wished Arthur were there.
"Well? Where're your manners, Potter? Aren't you even going to say hello?" said Malfoy, drawing back Ron's attention.
"We're going to go order our ice creams," announced Ron. Making a point not to acknowledge Draco a second longer, he pushed away from the table and looked to Harry. Harry nodded, rising from his seat. And the two friends headed to the counter leaving Draco to scowl after them, obviously put out by the silent treatment. But not for long -- Ron noted with a quick glance over his shoulder -- as Malfoy quickly found other avenues to express his overt idiocy, turning to his right to prattle off to a wide-eyed Ginny while Mrs. Weasley observed warily.
Ron watched them from behind Harry in the queue. He couldn't understand how this was supposed to be any kind of punishment for Malfoy. On the contrary, the git seemed to be enjoying himself, like any wolf would when thrown into a flock of peacefully grazing sheep.
He shook his head and watched as his father came up the way to the shop front and seated himself next to his wife. Ron's auburn eyebrows scrunched up in wonder at the man. What was he up to? Decidedly, his father had some kind of brilliant plan in mind to hand Malfoy his comeuppance. Or he had completely lost his mind. Ron sighed dejectedly. Knowing his father, the latter seemed more plausible. The man just wasn't that devious. But Ron knew that his father was no idiot. He must have had some reason, but what? The redhead narrowed his eyes in thought until Harry elbowed him gently to order.
He turned to the chipper young woman behind the counter and eyed all the bins full of colourful sherbets and ice creams. At least that would cheer him up a bit. Food always cheered him up. "Please give me a sugar cone -- pointed, not flat -- with a scoop of forbidden chocolate and three gummy bears and colored sprinkles, except not the orange sprinkles because I get enough of that as it is, and some fudge. Thank you." The girl raised her eyebrows at him and shrugged, taking his money. She handed him his order -- a scoop of chocolaty abundance, threatening to fall over with the weight of the fudge and sprinkles. "Hey you forgot the gummy bears," Ron said his brow creased adorably. The girl rolled her eyes and placed three little candy bears on top of the cone that he had thrust back at her.
Harry sniggered. "Come on, Ron," he said and dragged Ron back to the table, leaving the counter girl smiling wryly at their backs.
They made it back to the table with their cones and sat down. Draco was sitting quietly with his arms crossed, and Ron noted that his three brothers at the other table were glaring at the pale boy in a way that suggested a minor confrontation had occurred. Which really wasn't surprising at all. Ron licked his dripping, fudgy cone as he turned his attention to his little sister who was looking forlornly at the table in front of her. Ron frowned as Ginny turned to address their father on the other side of Molly.
"Oh please, Daddy, just this once?" she asked sweetly, crinkling her face in a decidedly juvenile, pleading manner.
Arthur sighed. But Molly was the one who answered. "Ginny, I already told you no. You know how expensive ice cream is here. There's still a tub of the strawberry sherbet I made last weekend in the icebox. You can have some of that when we get home."
Ginny pouted some more. "It's not the same. Daddy...? Just one more scoop?"
"I'm sorry, Ginny, listen to what your mother says," he said, looking very sorry, indeed.
Ginny frowned, and Ron frowned deeper. That was expected. Ice cream was expensive here -- twice as much as it cost for Molly to make it at home from scratch.
Ron knew about the money Harry had given the Twins. He wasn't stupid. When they had bought him a new pair of dress robes and new lab equipment to research their Weasley Wizard Wheezes products, he knew instantly how they were able to afford it. Ron didn't like it, but he decided not to mention it to Harry, to spare his friend any embarrassment. That money was gone now though. Money didn't last long, especially in their household, where the need was great.
And things at the Ministry were getting very stagnant as of late. Arthur's department had undergone a crunch after the Ministry's mid-year budget review, resulting in a department-wide pay cut, supposedly to redirect funds to more 'important' offices. For people like the Weasleys, it hit quite hard. Employees could complain, but without any kind of union or collective to speak of, nothing would come of it. The Ministry could do what it wanted as long as it gave a nicely spun reason to the press. And with rumours of the Dark Lord's return and the immanent war rampant, it was not the time to stir up trouble.
Money was tight.
Ron could tell by looking at his father's face how worried he really was. Percy's salary helped some, but even with that, it never seemed to be enough. They all understood and so, for their father's sake, tried not to complain too much about things. Ginny knew it too but when they came here to Florence's, she always asked. Even though she knew that most of the time the answer would be no.
It was only one extra scoop, but there were family rules, a budget. When things were tight, abiding by the budget was that much more critical. One scoop with basic toppings, unless it was a special occasion. It had been the same since as far back as Ron could remember. He didn't mind that Ginny asked; she'd been doing it since she was a little kid. But she should have known better than to ask in front of Malfoy.
Ron watched as the boy rose haughtily from his seat and made his way to the counter, returning moments later with three scoops of mint chocolate chip slathered in whipped cream fudge and chocolate flavoured sprinkles in a long dish.
Malfoy sat down and smirked at Ron. "Compliments of the house," he said, sneering.
Ron looked away and glared at the floor, fisting his hands under the table. It wasn't fair. Here they had to count ever sickle, every knut -- they couldn't even buy Ginny a single extra scoop of ice cream -- and Malfoy with all his money got stuff for free just because of his name and his father's prestigious (and intimidating) reputation. It just wasn't fair.
Ginny watched Draco spoon some of the cool treat into his mouth. He made a show of licking the spoon clean and scrunched his nose up at the bowl. "Hmm...well, I'm full." He got up and threw the dish into the nearest rubbish bin.
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley looked at each other, not quite sure how to handle the situation, especially so early into game and in public at that.
Ron glared at the blond bane of his existence. The bastard had taken one bite. Just one and thrown it away. It was so obvious what Malfoy was doing, but it didn't make the look on Ginny's face as she watched him any less heartbreaking.
So Ron could understand when his father broke. "Okay, Ginny. Just this one time."
She blinked and cleared the distress from her face. With a shake of her head, she smiled brightly at her father.
"No, it's alright, Dad. I don't want it anymore. It's getting chilly out."
Ron hid a small smile. That was their Ginny; she wouldn't let the Malfoy git show her up. He licked the fudge from his fingertips as he watched a slight perturbation wash over Draco's face. He felt like laughing, reveling in the knowledge that Malfoy would quickly learn that the Weasleys were never that easy. They could handle a Malfoy. Perhaps there was hope for the summer after all.
"It is getting a bit chilly. Shall we head home?" Molly asked. "Percy, we're leaving," she called to the boys at the other table.
As the wind picked up they all made their way (some sulkier than others) back to The Leaky Cauldron and flooed home, to The Burrow.
E/N: It should be apparent now, the reason why I've quit writing and do mainly art these days. Next chapter: At the Burrow, Arthur's motivation, Ron's feelings on the subject, and Draco gets sent to his room for he is a bad boy. Thanks for reading.