By Serendipity
Author's Note: Once upon a time, I sat down at my computer and typed, "Ron Weasley shuffled down the creaky staircase..." I had no plot, and didn't even know what the next word would be. Without even thinking, I ended up with the first chapter of Without Harry. I am now in the middle of chapter two and a plot (or something close to it) is forming. It's just a short, mostly fluffy humor fic about the summer Ron and Hermione spend without Harry. Harry is probably gonna come into the story later, but I don't know if he'll be with Ron and Hermione. Takes place during the summer after fourth year.
Disclaimer: I do not own a thing and I am not making any money off of this story.
Butterflies
Ron Weasley shuffled down the creaky staircase early one morning pulling a sweater over his tousled red hair. He paused outside of his younger sister's room and brought his ear up to the door. Sure enough, he could hear muffled crying coming from within. Ginny was upset about Harry. Dumbledore had forbidden Harry from leaving the Dursley's that summer, forcing Ron to spend the whole of July with a very gloomy sister.
"Morning, Mum," Ron greeted, coming into the kitchen. He sat down at the table that was loaded with all sorts of breakfast foods. Fred and George sat across from him, both looking very dirty, as if they had been blowing things up all night, which, he figured, they probably were. The twins were eating at an alarming pace, no doubt trying to finish their meals quickly so that they could get back to blowing even more things up.
Mrs. Weasley mumbled a good morning to Ron and set a bowl of oatmeal in front of him. Ron was just about to dig in when a small ball of feathers crash landed into it.
"Stupid, feathery git," Ron mumbled under his breath, reaching into his breakfast to pull the bird out. Pig, his head protruding out from Ron's fist, hooted happily. The letter clasped to his leg had splotches of oatmeal on it. Ron reached for his wand to clean it up, only to discover that his wand had been locked away for the summer seeing as he had no need for it.
"Mum, could you...?" Ron asked taking the letter from Pig and handing it to his mother. Mrs. Weasley pointed her wand at the letter and handed it back to Ron, spotless.
"Who's the letter from?!" Ginny had entered the room. It was the same thing every time that Ron received mail. Ginny would shriek out from behind him, demanding to know who sent the letter, and if it was from Harry, Ron would have to read it out loud over, and over, and over again.
"Don't know yet!" Ron exclaimed, holding the letter out of reach as Ginny's hand shot forward.
"Find out!"
Fred and George looked up from their breakfast and smiled slyly. They thought that Ginny's crush on Harry was sweet. They managed to grab a hold of Ginny's arms and pulled her into one of the many chairs at the table. With Ginny out of the way, Ron turned the letter over and noticed the neat cursive of Hermione's writing.
"It's from Hermione," Ron told Ginny, who was sitting on the edge of her seat, eyes practically bulging out of her head.
"Oh," Ginny replied, looking crestfallen. Fred and George noticed her gloomy expression and each twin ruffled her hair as they ascended the steps to return to their room. Ron offered a slight smile, hoping that it would cheer his sister up.
"Do you want me to read it out loud, Gin?"
Ginny shrugged. She was looking down at her bowl, swirling her spoon around in the oatmeal.
"Well I want to hear what Hermione has to say!" said Mrs. Weasley pompously.
Ron nodded and cleared his throat.
Hey! I'm sorry that Fred and George have been leaving their new inventions around the house, though I wish that I was there to see you turn into a bright blue butterfly. That one will be big at school this year. Yes, I have heard from Harry. He seems to be doing well except for his nightmares. We talked on the telephone and he still sounded like his normal self. He said something about Sirius coming out or something.
Ginny breathed a sigh of relief after Ron read this, and Ron and Mrs. Weasley both smiled at her. Ron continued:
Ron's ears turned pink at this and Ginny began giggling uncontrollably.
Ron finished and folded up the letter.
"So, can I go then?" he asked, looking hopefully at Mrs. Weasley. Ginny erupted with giggles once again. Ron glared at her.
Mrs. Weasley sighed.
"I guess you can go. Write back to Hermione and tell her that your father will connect her house to the Floo Network this Friday."
"Thanks, Mum!" Ron shouted and began taking the steps two at a time, with Ginny close on his heals. He entered his bright orange room and pushed his junk off of his desk to write back to Hermione.
"What am I supposed to do all summer while you're away?" Ginny asked glumly, sitting cross-legged on Ron's bed.
Ron shrugged.
"Have one of your friends come over? You'll have pretty much the whole house to yourselves since Percy's always gone, God only knows where he goes," Ron added under his breath, "and Fred and George are always in their room."
Ginny sighed and fell back on the bed, folding her hands behind her head.
"I guess."
Ron loaded his quill up with ink and began to write:
Hey! The butterfly incident was not funny. Ok, maybe it was a little funny, but I wasn't laughing. Anyway I can come out there. My dad is going to connect your fireplace to the Floo Network on Friday. I'll be there at noon. See you then!
Ron
Ron folded the letter and attached it to a very excited Pig. He watched as the small bird disappeared into the horizon before turning back to Ginny.
"Wanna write a letter to Harry?" he asked.
Ginny sat up, her face turning a slight pink.
"Um, just tell him I said hi," Ginny stammered before leaving the room very quickly.
Ron smiled and turned back to his desk. He popped a blue hard candy into his mouth as he looked around for some more parchment. He was just reaching for a piece when he suddenly transformed into a brilliant blue butterfly, actual size.
"Fred!!! George!!! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU TWO!!!" Ron shouted as he fluttered out of his room. No matter how loud he yelled, he didn't seem to scare the twins. Maybe it was because he was younger than they were. Or maybe it was because butterflies aren't very threatening.
Another Author's Note: Well there it is! It's very short, for my standards; but I have been forcing myself to write a few short fics instead of my usual novel size ones. Chapter two will probably be up sometime over X-mas break...unless of course this one doesn't get any reviews...then I'll just give up. Toodles! And Merry 8 more days till Christmas!
