Disclaimer: Let me say this loud and clear and please don't make me repeat myself because when I do it just hurts me even more. HARRY POTTER DOES NOT BELONG TO ME! There…now don't make me say it again!
CHAPTER XX: LIKE THE OLD TIMES
Ron hurriedly shoved his way through the usual bustling crowd at Diagon Alley. It was early morning, yet the herd of people kept on coming. Naturally, however, his tall height gave him the benefit and it allowed him to see where he was heading. He finally spotted Weasley Wheezes, a colorful bright joke shop, in the center of the alley. He rushed towards it, while pardoning an old lady he'd bumped into. Breathing a sigh of relief, he pushed the door open and entered the joke shop.
"Wow, my twin brothers certainly had worked to make their shop impressive," Ron thought to himself as he scanned the room, suddenly wishing he had more eyes to see from. There were such a variety of jokes and teasers to choose from that he found it difficult for him to believe that their stock never ran out. He must have been looking ridiculous gaping at the store because Harry's voice interrupted his thoughts, "Ron, wake up."
Snapping back into reality, Ron tore his gaze off the counters and found Harry waving his hand in front of his freckled face, a grin splattered across his face. Fred and George were behind him, leaning their elbows on the counter.
"Like the shop, Ronneikins," George inquired, while drumming his fingers on the counter.
"Love it."
"Glad you like it," Fred remarked as their last customer left the shop with a new pair of joke wands, leaving the Weasleys and Harry as the only people in the shop.
"So Ronald, did Percy teach you how to apparate?" Fred inquired.
Ron rolled his eyes. "Yeah, after what seemed like an eternity of him telling me how important his job at the Ministry is. Honestly, who did we ever manage not to play any jokes on him?"
George's eyes twinkled mischievously. "As a matter of fact, it was Percy who inspired us to have our own joke shop."
"Yea, we wanted to help those younger siblings who had older brothers as annoying as our dear old Percival," Fred chimed in.
Ron grinned and turning away from the twins he asked Harry, "Harry, where's Hermione?"
"She couldn't come because she had to-" Harry broke off from his sentence, suddenly remembering Ron did not know about his own kids and that Hermione had strictly forbidden him from telling him about them, as she was going to tell him herself, when the time was right. Thinking rapidly, he tried to think of something else to say rather than telling him she was at a conference with her children's teacher. Finally, he said quickly, "She was called in for an emergency meeting with the oversees banker."
"Oh," was Ron's reply. Secretly, he was hoping he could spend more time with the brown-eyed witch but this meant that he could now be with Harry. Strangely, this lightning boy, somehow, needed his protection and whenever he was close to him he felt as though he was in charge of his safety. He wanted to ask someone what this meant but he didn't want to add any complications to what was already happening. (A/N: If I write anything stupid, please don't blame me, because Y.M.C.A is playing in my room and I absolutely love this song, so I can't turn it off. Hope you understand!)
"But, I'm still here to tell you about our second year at Hogwarts and I'm gonna teach you how to play Quidditch," Harry notified him.
Ron grinned and leaned against the counter. "Excellent," he exclaimed happily. He seemed so busy in examining the variety of products on the shelf that he didn't see Fred sneak up behind him and gently place a spider onto his shoulder. He was just observing the contents of a Canary Cream, when Harry yelled out, "Ron, look what's on your shoulder!"
Ron whipped his head around and nearly fainted at the sight of a giant black spider perched on his shoulder. "Get off me," he screamed frantically, flinging his arms in the air as if spiders were all around him.
"I'll get it off," George proclaimed boldly, reaching forward and daintily lifting it off him.
"Is it off?" Ron asked, his eyes clamped tightly shut.
"Ron, you can open your eyes now," Fred instructed, stifling his laughter.
Ron sighed heavily and opened his eyes just to see George waving the fake spider in his face.
"Ahh," he shrieked, falling against the counter.
"Ron, relax," Harry, exclaimed, struggling to keep a straight face. "It's just a fake spider."
"I can see you haven't lost your fear for spiders yet," George remarked, while he took the spider from his twin brother.
Ron glared at the twins. "And you actually enjoy doing this to people?" he inquired, his eyes blazing with anger.
"Hey, Ron, we were just teasing you. Can't you take a joke?" Fred replied cautiously.
"No! Either you guys are playing jokes on me, or you're making fun of the smudge I accidentally had on my nose on my first year at Hogwarts," he snapped bitterly.
Harry stopped controlling his laughter and looked up sharply. Pushing away his unruly hair, he stared at Ron in utter disbelief. How on earth did Ron know about that? He hadn't told him and he was positive no one else had. So how in Merlin's name did he know about it? He was sure the twins were thinking the same thing, because they had exchanged glances with each other after Ron's explosion.
"Ron, how did you know about that?" Fred queried, his face intent.
Ron stared at him blankly. "How did I know about what?"
"About the smudge you had on your nose," Fred answered carefully.
Ron looked confused. "I don't know," he muttered, shrugging his shoulders. "Charlie probably told me."
"He couldn't have," George responded softly, running his fingers through his hair. "He wasn't even there," he pointed out.
Ron stared at the other three boys. Could it actually be possible that his memory was coming back, little by little?
"Do you think it's possible my memory could be coming back?" Ron voiced his thoughts aloud.
Harry sighed. "In the wizard world, anything's possible," he remarked. "Forget it, Ron. Let's go play some Quidditch. Did you bring your broom?" The redhead nodded his head and stated, while rolling up his robe sleeves, "Now let's see if Percy is a good teacher or not." The two friends were getting ready to apparate.
Fred laughed, relieving the tension he'd felt when Ron had spoken about a memory nobody had told him. "Let's just hope you don't end up splinched." The boys winced momentarily and before they left, they waved a quick goodbye to the boys. Harry and Ron quickly apparated to their destination.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~***************************~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Okay, Harry, give me your best shot!" Ron ordered from the goalpost he was defending in the air.
Harry gave him a salute, and turning his broomstick, he flicked the Bludger towards Ron. Like a true Keeper, Ron twisted his broomstick and swatted the Bludger away from the goalpost, while the little kids who were watching them play whistled and cheered.
"Well done, Ron," Harry commented, as they landed on the ground.
"Thanks," Ron replied breathlessly, while wiping away the sweat that had formed on his forehead and neck.
"Can we get you something to drink, Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley?" a young boy of eight offered timidly.
Ron smiled at the boy, and ruffled his brown hair playfully. "Why not, kiddo. Get us anything you want." The young boy smiled gleefully and rushed off to find a refreshing drink for the two friends.
"C'mon, Ron. Let's go sit in the shade," Harry suggested, while gesturing towards an extremely tall tree, located right in the park, in which they had been playing Quidditch. Exhausted, the two boys flopped down on the grass and accepted the drinks quietly. After Harry had handed the boy a few Sickles to pay for the drinks, Ron spoke, "Harry."
"Hmm," was the reply as Harry sipped the cold refreshing lemonade.
"What happened after the Quidditch match? I mean, you did tell me that before it even took place people were being petrified. So, did anything strange happen later on?"
Harry turned to face him, his face dripping with sweat. "As a matter of fact, something did happen, Ron."
"What?" Ron replied, leaning on his elbow to get a better look at him.
"Hermione was petrified."
Ron gasped as he sat up abruptly. "Really?" he squeaked, clutching his drink tightly. Harry nodded his head grimly as he traced figure eights on the grass.
"Didn't we do anything to save her?" Ron asked his eyes opened with terror.
Harry grinned ruefully. "You sacrificed your fear for spiders and joined me to go talk to Aragog, the giant spider who was friends with Hagrid, and lived in the Forbidden Forest."
"I did," Ron remarked stupidly. "What made me change my mind?"
Harry grinned wistfully. "I don't know that Ron. You were always quite secretive about your feelings for Hermione, back then."
Ron glared at Harry. "Hahaha!" he stated sarcastically. "I'm glad I didn't pour out all my feelings to you, Harry Potter, or you would have blabbered it to the entire school."
"On contrary, Mr. Weasley, that job is reserved for your annoying brothers," Harry pointed out.
Ron smirked at him; while Harry related to him what happened after the attacks, about how he saved his little sister, came face-to-face with the Basilisk and eventually killing Tom Riddle. Harry was just about to get ready to go home, since the stars were out and the park was getting deserted and he had told him everything about their second year, when Ron asked, almost shyly, "Harry, what did Hermione say to us when she woke up with the Mandrake's help?"
Harry glanced at Ron and even in the darkness; he could have sworn his face was turning a deep red. "I don't quite remember, Ron," he answered, keeping his voice cool. "I do remember hugging her, when she burst in through the Great Hall but when she came to you, she…"
"She what?" Ron asked impatiently. Harry grinned to himself; he always had been quite impatient.
"She shook your hand," he finished calmly.
"She shook my hand," Ron repeated dumbly, as his face fell. Harry nodded his head solemnly as he helped Ron up. "That's it," he continued as they started to walk out of the park.
"Well, I don't know Ron," Harry replied, as they started to walk down the empty lane. "She could have said something to you without me being there, but honestly, that's all that happened in front of me."
"Yea," he replied softly. "I just hope she did," he muttered under his breath. Harry smiled to himself. Ron would never change. "Listen, Ron, I won't be able to tell you about our third year because I'm going apartment shopping with Sirius."
"Sirius?" Ron asked, his face confused.
"My godfather."
"Oh," Ron replied, scratching his head. "I thought you lived with the horrible Dursleys. Where does Sirius come from," Ron continued, apparently confused.
Harry smiled and replied, "Don't worry. Hermione will explain everything to you."
Ron smiled. "Yea," he murmured dreamily. "Hermione will." Harry chuckled under his breath and thought to himself, "Ron was returning to his normal self. Just like the old times."
***
CHAPTER XX: LIKE THE OLD TIMES
Ron hurriedly shoved his way through the usual bustling crowd at Diagon Alley. It was early morning, yet the herd of people kept on coming. Naturally, however, his tall height gave him the benefit and it allowed him to see where he was heading. He finally spotted Weasley Wheezes, a colorful bright joke shop, in the center of the alley. He rushed towards it, while pardoning an old lady he'd bumped into. Breathing a sigh of relief, he pushed the door open and entered the joke shop.
"Wow, my twin brothers certainly had worked to make their shop impressive," Ron thought to himself as he scanned the room, suddenly wishing he had more eyes to see from. There were such a variety of jokes and teasers to choose from that he found it difficult for him to believe that their stock never ran out. He must have been looking ridiculous gaping at the store because Harry's voice interrupted his thoughts, "Ron, wake up."
Snapping back into reality, Ron tore his gaze off the counters and found Harry waving his hand in front of his freckled face, a grin splattered across his face. Fred and George were behind him, leaning their elbows on the counter.
"Like the shop, Ronneikins," George inquired, while drumming his fingers on the counter.
"Love it."
"Glad you like it," Fred remarked as their last customer left the shop with a new pair of joke wands, leaving the Weasleys and Harry as the only people in the shop.
"So Ronald, did Percy teach you how to apparate?" Fred inquired.
Ron rolled his eyes. "Yeah, after what seemed like an eternity of him telling me how important his job at the Ministry is. Honestly, who did we ever manage not to play any jokes on him?"
George's eyes twinkled mischievously. "As a matter of fact, it was Percy who inspired us to have our own joke shop."
"Yea, we wanted to help those younger siblings who had older brothers as annoying as our dear old Percival," Fred chimed in.
Ron grinned and turning away from the twins he asked Harry, "Harry, where's Hermione?"
"She couldn't come because she had to-" Harry broke off from his sentence, suddenly remembering Ron did not know about his own kids and that Hermione had strictly forbidden him from telling him about them, as she was going to tell him herself, when the time was right. Thinking rapidly, he tried to think of something else to say rather than telling him she was at a conference with her children's teacher. Finally, he said quickly, "She was called in for an emergency meeting with the oversees banker."
"Oh," was Ron's reply. Secretly, he was hoping he could spend more time with the brown-eyed witch but this meant that he could now be with Harry. Strangely, this lightning boy, somehow, needed his protection and whenever he was close to him he felt as though he was in charge of his safety. He wanted to ask someone what this meant but he didn't want to add any complications to what was already happening. (A/N: If I write anything stupid, please don't blame me, because Y.M.C.A is playing in my room and I absolutely love this song, so I can't turn it off. Hope you understand!)
"But, I'm still here to tell you about our second year at Hogwarts and I'm gonna teach you how to play Quidditch," Harry notified him.
Ron grinned and leaned against the counter. "Excellent," he exclaimed happily. He seemed so busy in examining the variety of products on the shelf that he didn't see Fred sneak up behind him and gently place a spider onto his shoulder. He was just observing the contents of a Canary Cream, when Harry yelled out, "Ron, look what's on your shoulder!"
Ron whipped his head around and nearly fainted at the sight of a giant black spider perched on his shoulder. "Get off me," he screamed frantically, flinging his arms in the air as if spiders were all around him.
"I'll get it off," George proclaimed boldly, reaching forward and daintily lifting it off him.
"Is it off?" Ron asked, his eyes clamped tightly shut.
"Ron, you can open your eyes now," Fred instructed, stifling his laughter.
Ron sighed heavily and opened his eyes just to see George waving the fake spider in his face.
"Ahh," he shrieked, falling against the counter.
"Ron, relax," Harry, exclaimed, struggling to keep a straight face. "It's just a fake spider."
"I can see you haven't lost your fear for spiders yet," George remarked, while he took the spider from his twin brother.
Ron glared at the twins. "And you actually enjoy doing this to people?" he inquired, his eyes blazing with anger.
"Hey, Ron, we were just teasing you. Can't you take a joke?" Fred replied cautiously.
"No! Either you guys are playing jokes on me, or you're making fun of the smudge I accidentally had on my nose on my first year at Hogwarts," he snapped bitterly.
Harry stopped controlling his laughter and looked up sharply. Pushing away his unruly hair, he stared at Ron in utter disbelief. How on earth did Ron know about that? He hadn't told him and he was positive no one else had. So how in Merlin's name did he know about it? He was sure the twins were thinking the same thing, because they had exchanged glances with each other after Ron's explosion.
"Ron, how did you know about that?" Fred queried, his face intent.
Ron stared at him blankly. "How did I know about what?"
"About the smudge you had on your nose," Fred answered carefully.
Ron looked confused. "I don't know," he muttered, shrugging his shoulders. "Charlie probably told me."
"He couldn't have," George responded softly, running his fingers through his hair. "He wasn't even there," he pointed out.
Ron stared at the other three boys. Could it actually be possible that his memory was coming back, little by little?
"Do you think it's possible my memory could be coming back?" Ron voiced his thoughts aloud.
Harry sighed. "In the wizard world, anything's possible," he remarked. "Forget it, Ron. Let's go play some Quidditch. Did you bring your broom?" The redhead nodded his head and stated, while rolling up his robe sleeves, "Now let's see if Percy is a good teacher or not." The two friends were getting ready to apparate.
Fred laughed, relieving the tension he'd felt when Ron had spoken about a memory nobody had told him. "Let's just hope you don't end up splinched." The boys winced momentarily and before they left, they waved a quick goodbye to the boys. Harry and Ron quickly apparated to their destination.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~***************************~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Okay, Harry, give me your best shot!" Ron ordered from the goalpost he was defending in the air.
Harry gave him a salute, and turning his broomstick, he flicked the Bludger towards Ron. Like a true Keeper, Ron twisted his broomstick and swatted the Bludger away from the goalpost, while the little kids who were watching them play whistled and cheered.
"Well done, Ron," Harry commented, as they landed on the ground.
"Thanks," Ron replied breathlessly, while wiping away the sweat that had formed on his forehead and neck.
"Can we get you something to drink, Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley?" a young boy of eight offered timidly.
Ron smiled at the boy, and ruffled his brown hair playfully. "Why not, kiddo. Get us anything you want." The young boy smiled gleefully and rushed off to find a refreshing drink for the two friends.
"C'mon, Ron. Let's go sit in the shade," Harry suggested, while gesturing towards an extremely tall tree, located right in the park, in which they had been playing Quidditch. Exhausted, the two boys flopped down on the grass and accepted the drinks quietly. After Harry had handed the boy a few Sickles to pay for the drinks, Ron spoke, "Harry."
"Hmm," was the reply as Harry sipped the cold refreshing lemonade.
"What happened after the Quidditch match? I mean, you did tell me that before it even took place people were being petrified. So, did anything strange happen later on?"
Harry turned to face him, his face dripping with sweat. "As a matter of fact, something did happen, Ron."
"What?" Ron replied, leaning on his elbow to get a better look at him.
"Hermione was petrified."
Ron gasped as he sat up abruptly. "Really?" he squeaked, clutching his drink tightly. Harry nodded his head grimly as he traced figure eights on the grass.
"Didn't we do anything to save her?" Ron asked his eyes opened with terror.
Harry grinned ruefully. "You sacrificed your fear for spiders and joined me to go talk to Aragog, the giant spider who was friends with Hagrid, and lived in the Forbidden Forest."
"I did," Ron remarked stupidly. "What made me change my mind?"
Harry grinned wistfully. "I don't know that Ron. You were always quite secretive about your feelings for Hermione, back then."
Ron glared at Harry. "Hahaha!" he stated sarcastically. "I'm glad I didn't pour out all my feelings to you, Harry Potter, or you would have blabbered it to the entire school."
"On contrary, Mr. Weasley, that job is reserved for your annoying brothers," Harry pointed out.
Ron smirked at him; while Harry related to him what happened after the attacks, about how he saved his little sister, came face-to-face with the Basilisk and eventually killing Tom Riddle. Harry was just about to get ready to go home, since the stars were out and the park was getting deserted and he had told him everything about their second year, when Ron asked, almost shyly, "Harry, what did Hermione say to us when she woke up with the Mandrake's help?"
Harry glanced at Ron and even in the darkness; he could have sworn his face was turning a deep red. "I don't quite remember, Ron," he answered, keeping his voice cool. "I do remember hugging her, when she burst in through the Great Hall but when she came to you, she…"
"She what?" Ron asked impatiently. Harry grinned to himself; he always had been quite impatient.
"She shook your hand," he finished calmly.
"She shook my hand," Ron repeated dumbly, as his face fell. Harry nodded his head solemnly as he helped Ron up. "That's it," he continued as they started to walk out of the park.
"Well, I don't know Ron," Harry replied, as they started to walk down the empty lane. "She could have said something to you without me being there, but honestly, that's all that happened in front of me."
"Yea," he replied softly. "I just hope she did," he muttered under his breath. Harry smiled to himself. Ron would never change. "Listen, Ron, I won't be able to tell you about our third year because I'm going apartment shopping with Sirius."
"Sirius?" Ron asked, his face confused.
"My godfather."
"Oh," Ron replied, scratching his head. "I thought you lived with the horrible Dursleys. Where does Sirius come from," Ron continued, apparently confused.
Harry smiled and replied, "Don't worry. Hermione will explain everything to you."
Ron smiled. "Yea," he murmured dreamily. "Hermione will." Harry chuckled under his breath and thought to himself, "Ron was returning to his normal self. Just like the old times."
***