Telling Ron
Chapter 25: Christmas Day
Author's Note: You know what I noticed? This is chapter 25 and Christmas day is on Dec. 25 and this is the Christmas chapter. Funny, huh? Anyway, thank you guys for your awesome reviews! You're all so great! I'm sorry this is being updated Thursday instead of Wednesday but the chapter came out longer than I expected so it took longer to type. Anyway, here's the last chapter of 'Telling Ron'. Kinda sad but not really since a sequel will be made. I'll talk more about it at the end of this chapter so here it is!
Harry was awakened by Ron shaking his shoulder vigorously.
"Wake up Harry! It's Christmas!" Harry rubbed his eyes and Ron released him.
"Happy Christmas," Harry yawned as he sat up.
"Happy Christmas!" Ron exclaimed and opened the door. "Let's go downstairs!"
Harry stood and looked at the clock. It was six thirty. He shook his head in amusement. The only thing that would make Ron wake up that early was Christmas. Harry stepped out of the room behind Ron and watched as Ron walked to Ginny's door. He pounded his fist on it, demanding they wake up. Hermione opened it moments later and stared at him, her eyes narrowed, clearly unhappy to be awake.
"Happy Christmas Love!" He bent down to kiss her. She gave him an annoyed look as he took her hand and pulled her downstairs.
"Ron!" She tried to resist but he gave her the puppy face. She groaned and let him take her away. Harry laughed and peeked into Ginny's room. Tonks walked past Harry and said hello. Ginny was sitting up in her bed. She smiled at him and he stepped in.
"Ron loves Christmas at home," she said rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, I noticed," he said and sat on the edge of her bed. "Um, you aren't mad at mad about yesterday, are you? I mean, I know you're taller than a seven year old. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings or anything when I laughed." He gave her an apologetic smile. She moved forward and took his hand.
"It's alright. I was mostly mad at Ron."
"You sure?" She nodded and lightly kissed him.
"Alright," he said relieved and squeezed her hand. "I wanted to talk to you about something."
"Me too."
"Oh you can go first."
"No you go."
"Ok," he said. "I think we should tell everyone about us today. I'm tired of hiding it. Ron will just have to accept it. I want to be able to hold your hand and put my arm around you openly. Like Ron and Hermione do." She smiled and hugged him.
"That's what I wanted to say too! But I think we should wait until after we open presents. Give Ron something happy before we tell him." He nodded.
"Alright. Speaking of presents, I want to give you yours alone. After we open ours downstairs, let's come up for a few minutes."
"Ok. By the way, Tonks and Lupin know about us. They saw us holding hands and our feet last night at dinner." Harry opened his mouth in surprise.
"How?" She shrugged.
"I suppose they looked under the table."
"Huh," he said, a bit confused.
"By the way, Happy Christmas Harry." She kissed his cheek.
"Happy Christmas." He hugged her and they snogged for a bit before finally going downstairs.
When they entered the living room, Ron was at work separating the gifts into piles for everyone and humming to himself. Hermione was leaned back against the couch, watching her boyfriend with amusement.
"Honestly, you're acting like you're seven. Now your vocabulary and behavior match." He turned to her and said, "Ha ha."
The twins were on the floor in the corner, whispering to each other. A few minutes later, Lupin, Tonks, Bill, and Charlie came down and called out Happy Christmas. They sat down and waited for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to come in. They finally did and Ron moved everyone's piles in front of them. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley wished everyone a Happy Christmas and they began opening their presents.
Ron opened his gift from Harry and gasped.
"Thanks mate! This is great!" He lifted up his new broom servicing kit and turned it around in his hands. Hermione smiled at him and Harry patted his back.
"No problem. Now you won't use up mine."
Next, Ron opened his gift from Ginny. It was a book about the Chudley Cannon team. It had pictures and information about each member as well as facts about the team. He thanked her and moved onto his gift from his parents. It was the usual jumper with a small supply of chocolate forgs which he immediately began eating. He opened the twins gift and frowned. It was a small, stone object resembling a doll.
"Oi! Fred, George! What is this?" They smiled mischievously and came next to him.
"It's something special we made to bother Malfoy. Just say his name and put your wand on a part of his body. Then say what you want it to do to him. For example you could point it at his nose and say bleed. Then it'll bleed until you say stop. It's a bit like a muggle voo-doo doll. That's where we got the idea," Fred explained in a low voice.
"What's a voo-doo doll?" Ron asked.
"Ask Hermione. Anyway, have fun with it. You have to be able to see him when you use it though. It can be used on anyone actually." George winked at him and they went back to their presents. Ron smiled to himself. This would be very enjoyable. He got a box of Hagrid's homemade treats and put them aside. He didn't feel like gluing his teeth together at the moment. He finished with his other gifts and waited for Hermione to be done. They had also decided to open each other's gifts in private. Ron didn't want to give her the ring in front of everyone.
Hermione opened up a new set of very well made quills from Harry. Then she took Ginny's gift and grinned after she opened it. It was a makeup kit. Ginny saw her open it and smiled at her.
"How did you know I would like the makeup?" Hermione asked.
"I just knew. I'll show you how to do it later." Hermione nodded and continued. Her parents had given her a box of pretty floral stationary. Hagrid had also sent her his treats and she wrinkled her nose. The Weasley's had given her a lovely crimson jumper. The twins watched as she unwrapped a very interesting love novel with a note inside. It read: "In case you ever get bored with Ron. Your dear friends, Fred and George" She rolled her eyes. They grinned and waved at her across the room. She ignored them. They laughed and went back to their gifts, apparently not caring that she wasn't thrilled.
Harry opened Hermione's gift first and saw a watch lying at the bottom of the box. He pulled it out and noticed it was different than a normal watch. It was like the clock in the Weasley's living room that told the whereabouts of the family members. He looked down and saw phrases similar to those on the Weasley's clock as well as 'in class', 'detention', and 'playing Quidditch'. There were different hands with Ginny's, Ron's, Hermione's, Lupin's, Mr. Weasley's, Mrs.Weasley's, Fred's, George's, Tonks, and Dumbledore's names on them. Since there were so many hands, each one was small but still understandable. Harry smiled and put on his new watch. He didn't even know they made anything like it. He gave Hermione a hug and thanked her. She just beamed at him, a tear in the corner of her eye. He got a bag of Honeyduke's sweets from Ron. Ron had given everyone a bag of candy since he had spent most of his money on Hermione's gift. Harry got a nice scarf in Gryffindor colors with some chocolate frogs from Mrs.Weasley and a large box of barely visible rope from the twins.
"Just tie it where Malfoy is about to walk and he'll trip right over it. I'm sure you can think of other uses for it. You can do so much with rope," George said happily. Harry laughed and thanked them.
He got a picture frame from Dobby that was painted an assortment of colors around the frame. Harry had a feeling Dobby had done it himself. Inside was a picture of Harry from a Witch Weekly article next to a picture of a toothy-grinned Dobby. The pictures were taped together to look, he supposed, like they were standing next to each other. Harry laughed. It really was a sweet gesture. He hoped Dobby liked the multi-colored t-shirt he had sent him for Christmas. Actually, he knew Dobby would love it. Hagrid sent him a picture of his parents standing next to Sirius. His mother was pregnant in the photo and his father had his hand on her belly. Sirius had his arm around her and they were smiling happily. On the back, Hagrid wrote, 'I fownd this picher in my closit last weak. Sorry it took me so long to find it. Happee Chrismis, Hagrid.' Harry looked sadly at the picture but smiled after awhile. It was a great photo. He pocketed it and waited for Ginny.
Ginny got her Weasley jumper and a box of Every Flavor Beans. She also got a bag of candy from Ron. Hermione gave her the novel Pride and Prejudice, which Hermione thought she would enjoy. She got a new set of fourty-eight hour paint from the twins in case Malfoy ever needed another makeover.
Mrs.Weasley started to cry and Mr.Weasley asked what was wrong. She sighed.
"I just wish P..P..Percy was here. He didn't send back his gift this year but he didn't send a card or a greeting or anything." Bill and Charlie shook their heads, disgust in their eyes. Ron turned red and his hands balled into fists. Ginny scowled. The twins grinned evilly. Ron looked at them questioningly and they motioned for him to come closer.
"We sent him a howler," Fred whispered. Ron grinned widely. Hermione overheard and her jaw dropped.
"You did not!" she hissed so Mrs.Weasley wouldn't hear. They nodded, continuing to smirk.
"What if he tells someone!?"
"Who cares? Come on, you really think he's going to tell someone that his little brothers sent him a howler? He has too much pride," George said.
"But what if he tells your parents?"
"So what? What are they going to do? He deserves it anyway!" Hermione shook her head at them. Ron patted them on their backs.
"Well done guys," he whispered. They grinned at him. Hermione rolled her eyes and grabbed Ron's hand, pulling him up to his room.
They sat on his bed and she opened her mouth, ready to comment on the twins but he held up his hand.
"Don't Hermione. I can support them about it if I want. They already did it so don't make a big deal about it." She huffed. He looked at her expectantly and she nodded. She handed him his gift and he unwrapped it. When he saw the beautiful watch inside, he opened his mouth in shock. Hermione smiled at him and he looked down at her, completely lost for words. He fingered the watch with his thumb and she laughed.
"Come on, put it on." She took it out and slid it onto his wrist.
"It looks gorgeous on you." He looked from the watch to her face without any sound. He leaned forward and kissed her lips.
"Thank you," he said softly. "This is the nicest thing anyone's ever got me." She smiled at him and kissed his hand.
"Your welcome, Love." He laughed. He was always the one to call her Love. He got over the shock of his watch and handed her her present. She carefully unwrapped it and took out the promise box. She read the message (I Love You Hermione-Ron) on the top and smiled at him.
"Thank you. I love you too."
"It's called a promise box. But that's not all. Open it." She opened it and saw the beautiful ring laying in a bed of velvet.
"Oh Ron," she breathed and lifted it out of the box.
"It's not an engagement ring or anything but it shows that you're my girlfriend and that I love you. Look what it says on the inside."
She looked on the ring (To my Hermione, Love Ron) and her eyes filled with tears. He looked at her concerned and took her hand.
"What's wrong? Don't you like it?" She nodded and sobbed.
"This is the most wonderful thing in the world. I love it. Thank you. I love you so much." She sobbed again and he heaved a sigh of relief. He watched her cry for a moment and pulled her into his lap. He enveloped her in his arms and she squeezed him tightly. He took the ring and slipped it on her right ring finger.
"There. Now we're official." She looked at it and smiled.
"Yes, you're mine and I'm yours." She kissed him and he leaned back onto the bed. He wiped tears off her face as she carressed his lips with hers. He felt the ring against him as she held his face and felt an overwhelming sense of peace and happiness. He wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her closer to him as they continued.
When Ginny finished opening her gifts, she walked up the stairs nonchalantly and Harry followed a minute later. He walked into Ginny's room and closed the door. She was pulling a box out of her closet and came forward to him. She handed him the box and he opened it. He pulled out the black jumper and smiled widely.
"Wow Gin! Thank you, it's great." She grinned at him and took the box.
"Mum taught me how to make clothes so I made this for you."
"You made this?" he asked surprised. She nodded.
"It's incredible." She looked at the ground shyly and he set it back in it's box. He took out a small box with a ribbon tied around it and gave it to Ginny. She took off the ribbon and opened the smooth, black box to reveal a delicate silver bracelet. It had the letters, H & G written on it in beautiful cursive writing.
"Oh Harry," Ginny sighed. "Thank you."
"I also wanted to say...Ginny...I...I'm...I'm in love with you," he finished softly, looking into her eyes. Her face lit up and a tear ran down her cheek.
"I love you too." He wiped away the tear with his thumb and pulled her to his lips. She wrapped her arms around his neck and his hands made thier way to her waist. He gave her the powerful kiss he had held back after their Truth or Dare snog. It made Ginny's knees go weak but he held her up. Suddenly, the door flew open and slammed into the wall. Ginny shrieked and held Hary tighter as Fred fell forward into the room. George tumbled over him and Harry and Ginny broke apart in surprise. Ron's door opened down the hall and he and Hermione came to see what happened. All the others came up from downstairs. There was a large crowd in the hallway by Ginny's door. Fred sat up and pointed at the embarrassed pair before him.
"You two! We did it!" he exclaimed and pointed at George who smiled widely. "Our plan worked!" Hermione began to giggle and Ron looked at her curiously.
"What are you talking about?" Mrs.Weasley demanded. "What's going on?"
"Harry just said he loved Ginny and she said it too! Then they started snogging and the bloody door broke! We've been doing things to get them together and it worked!" George explained gleefully. Those who knew about the pair already started laughing and Ron's mouth opened.
"What do you mean they love each other?" Ron asked. Mrs.Weasley gave a happy cry and smiled at them.
"Oh how wonderful!"
Hermione, Lupin, and Tonks were still laughing and the twins looked at them strangely as they stood up.
"What's so funny?" Fred raised his eyebrow at Hermione and she took a breath to calm herself.
"You idiots didn't get them together! They've been a couple since before we got here!" The twins and Ron's jaws dropped simultaneously.
"What are you talking about?" Ron exclaimed. "They weren't together at Hogwarts!"
"Actually we were," Ginny said. Ron looked from Harry to Ginny, his mouth still hanging open.
"Why didn't I know?"
"We knew you wouldn't like it so we decided to keep it quiet for a bit. Then Fred and George started giving us ridiculous poems and stuff so we thought it'd be funny to let them keep going," Harry explained.
"What do you mean 'ridiculous' poems?" Fred asked, looking scandalized. "Those were excellent poems!" Ginny snorted and Fred made a noise of digust.
"How did Hermione know?" Ron demanded.
By this time Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, Tonks, and Lupin had walked away.
"I was looking outside one day and saw them snogging. They never mentioned being together so I figured they didn't want to tell anyone." Ron gaped at her.
"You've known this whole time that my best friend was snogging my little sister and you didn't tell me? And Harry, how could you? It's my sister!" Ginny scoffed and folded her arms across her chest.
"That's why we didn't tell you. We knew you'd act like that."
"Like what?"
"Like a complete prat! You knew how much I've liked Harry and now that he likes me too, you can't even be happy for us!" Ginny exclaimed.
"How can I be happy when my best mate and my sister are...kissing and stuff." He shuddered and Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Look Ron, the thought of you and Hermione isn't exactly appealing to me either but I'm living with it. You'll just have to accept the fact that I love Ginny and we're going to be together!" Harry told him.
"Hermione's not your sister!"
"She's the closest thing I have to one!"
"It's not the same!"
"So what? It's not up to you!" Ron huffed and threw his hands up in the air.
"Fine!" He turned around and stalked out of the room. Hermione shook her head and followed him out. Harry noticed Fred and George were still staring at them, confusion written all over their faces.
"So what we did made no difference? We did all that for nothing?" Fred asked.
"Well no, it wasn't for nothing. We weren't ready to tell so you gave us time together with what you were doing. We enjoyed it." Ginny gave them a comforting smile and they shrugged.
"Oh well. At least you got together one way or another," Fred said and moved towards the door.
"But Harry," George said and put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "If you hurt her, we hurt you." He patted his shoulder and followed Fred out of the room.
Harry turned to Ginny and exhaled. Ginny shook her head, one hand on her forehead.
"That was not how I wanted them to find out," she said.
"Me neither." He walked to her and hugged her.
"I'm going to talk to Ron." She rolled her eyes and said, "Stupid baby." He nodded.
"I love you," he told her.
"You have no idea how happy it makes me when you say that," she said softly. She leaned her head against his.
"Probably the same way I feel when you say it." They touched lips.
"I love you, Harry." He kissed her forehead and left the room.
Hermione followed Ron out of Ginny's room and caught the door before it shut. She walked in and it closed behind her. Ron was pacing back and forth. Hermione could almost see the steam coming out of his ears. His teeth were clenched and his hands were clasped together behind his back.
"I can't believe you lot hid that from me!" He turned and faced her angrily.
"Look Ron, they wanted to keep it a secret. They weren't even going to tell me. I found out by accident."
"You still could have told me!"
"It wasn't my secret to tell!"
"Fine then they should have told me!"
"They knew you'd be upset so maybe they wanted to try it out for awhile before telling anyone. They probably didn't want any interferance at the beginning of their relationship."
"I wouldn't have interfeared!"
"Did you hear yourself in there? 'Harry how could you? That's my little sister, blah, blah, blah'. You can't tell me that if you had known about it at the start that you wouldn't have been mad because I know you would have."
"Well obviously I would have been kind of upset but not as much!"
"Why is now so different?"
"Because Harry lied to me! He's my best friend! He's suposed to tell me things!"
"Honestly Ron, Harry isn't required to tell you anything! I'm sure he's kept more secrets than just this from you! Get over it! It's done! They're together, they're happy, and you know about it!" Ron scowled.
"Ron, you should really be happy about this." He furrowed his brow in confusion.
"Happy? Why would this make me happy?"
"A few reasons actually. First, you know Harry very well. Wouldn't you rather your sister be with someone you trust rather than some stranger?" He shrugged.
"Second, Harry is happy. Haven't you noticed what a good mood he's been in lately? It's because of Ginny. Well not entirely Ginny but mostly because of her." Ron looked down at the ground. Hermione walked forward and lifted his face up.
"And third, Ginny is happier than I've ever seen her. She has loved Harry for years and he finally fell in love with her too. This has been her dream. Today must have been wonderful for her to know that he felt the same. Did you see how they looked at each other when we played Truth or Dare? I think he realized how he felt then. I remember how I felt when you said it to me." He sighed.
"I do too." She smiled at him.
"See? This is wondeful whether you like it or not. Harry and Ginny have a connection with each other that you and I don't share with him. They've both had direct dealings with Voldemort and can understand how the other feels. They need each other." He nodded. "So are you going to apologize?" He nodded again.
"Good." She kissed him softly and pointed to the door.
"Now?"
"Yes," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "No point in waiting." He sighed and headed to the door when it was opened by Harry. It ran into Ron's face and he fell backwards. He landed on the ground and grabbed his nose.
"Oh Ron! Are you alright?" Hermione knealt on the floor next to him and Harry's mouth opened in surprise. Ron's nose began to bleed and Harry ran to get a tissue from the loo. He came back in to see Ron and Hermione laughing. He handed the tissue to Ron and eyed them strangely.
"Alright Ron?" Ron nodded and grinned at him.
"I'm really sorry. I didn't know you were going to be there." Harry watched as Hermione continued to laugh.
"Oh he deserved it. Don't worry about it." Ron stood up and pulled Hermione up with his free hand.
"I think I'm getting used to pain," Ron laughed. "Look mate, sorry about the way I was acting. I'm...I'm really happy for you and Ginny." Harry heard the strain in his voice and chuckled.
"No you're not. You don't like it at all."
"Okay, no I'm not wild about the idea but it's fine. I'm glad it's you and not some idiot like Michael Corner." Harry grinned at his friend.
"Alright. I'm sorry I didn't tell you."
"It's okay." Ron looked at his tissue and felt his nose. It was done bleeding. "Let's go have some breakfast. I'm starving." Ron left the room to wash his hands and Harry went to get Ginny. She was admiring her bracelet when he went in.
"It looks great," he said, startling her. Her head snapped up and she laughed.
"You scared me."
"Sorry. So do you like it?" She nodded happily and stood.
"It's definately my favorite gift." He smiled down at her and they laced their fingers together in front of their shoulders between them.
"So what happened with Ron?" Harry snorted.
"Well first I attacked him with the door." She looked at him questioningly. "I opened it and he was right in front of it. It ran into his face and knocked him over." Ginny laughed.
"Serves him right."
"Yeah that's what Hermione said. I got him a tissue because his nose was bleeding and I came back and they were laughing. It was pretty funny but I thought Ron would be mad. He said he was sorry and gave us his blessing."
"Oh really?"
"Well for the most part." Ginny rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"Of all the brothers to be protective of me it has to be my boyfriend's best friend." Harry grinned and kissed her lips.
"Come on. We're going to eat breakfast." They left the room hand in hand and didn't let go when they reached the kitchen.
* * * * *
The rest of the day was spent having fun and playing games. Everyone enjoyed a delicious breakfast and then watched as Ron and Hermione played chess versus Harry and Ginny. Later, they cleaned broomsticks, read books, or in Hermione's case, learned how to use makeup. It was a shaky lesson at first with a few pokes in the eye but she eventually got the hang of it. By dinner time, Hermione had done her own makeup properly. Everyone came together for another wonderfully cooked dinner by Mrs.Weasley. Hermione wore her new ring and crimson jumper, Ron wore his new watch and Weasley jumper, Harry wore his jumper from Ginny with his new watch, and Ginny wore her new bracelet and Weasley jumper. After dinner was finished, everybody talked at the table. Harry could finally put his arm around Ginny like he always wanted. Hermione and Ron held hands and she leaned against his shoulder. That night they went outside to watch a spectacular fireworks display by Fred and George. It was the perfect day for everyone.
Author's Note: Ok! All done! That's the end of 'Telling Ron'! I hope everyone enjoyed it. Now onto the sequel. It's called There For You. Info on it is in the next chapter so go there. I just put it up. The next part will be different than this story in a few ways. I never intended for this to go this long or develop any kind of plot but it has and I love it! Since both pairs are couples now, I want more of an HP plot to happen next. It's going to seem a little strange at first because I'm going to talk about and have stuff that normally would have happened before Christmas but oh well. I didn't know I was going to go this far so I didn't really plan ahead. In the story info, I'll say it's the sequel to Telling Ron so you'll know. Anyway, thank you all so much for reading and reviewing this, it means so much to me. Chapter 26 is just review responses to chapters 24 and 25. Ok, I think I've covered everything. Thanks everyone!
Chapter 25: Christmas Day
Author's Note: You know what I noticed? This is chapter 25 and Christmas day is on Dec. 25 and this is the Christmas chapter. Funny, huh? Anyway, thank you guys for your awesome reviews! You're all so great! I'm sorry this is being updated Thursday instead of Wednesday but the chapter came out longer than I expected so it took longer to type. Anyway, here's the last chapter of 'Telling Ron'. Kinda sad but not really since a sequel will be made. I'll talk more about it at the end of this chapter so here it is!
Harry was awakened by Ron shaking his shoulder vigorously.
"Wake up Harry! It's Christmas!" Harry rubbed his eyes and Ron released him.
"Happy Christmas," Harry yawned as he sat up.
"Happy Christmas!" Ron exclaimed and opened the door. "Let's go downstairs!"
Harry stood and looked at the clock. It was six thirty. He shook his head in amusement. The only thing that would make Ron wake up that early was Christmas. Harry stepped out of the room behind Ron and watched as Ron walked to Ginny's door. He pounded his fist on it, demanding they wake up. Hermione opened it moments later and stared at him, her eyes narrowed, clearly unhappy to be awake.
"Happy Christmas Love!" He bent down to kiss her. She gave him an annoyed look as he took her hand and pulled her downstairs.
"Ron!" She tried to resist but he gave her the puppy face. She groaned and let him take her away. Harry laughed and peeked into Ginny's room. Tonks walked past Harry and said hello. Ginny was sitting up in her bed. She smiled at him and he stepped in.
"Ron loves Christmas at home," she said rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, I noticed," he said and sat on the edge of her bed. "Um, you aren't mad at mad about yesterday, are you? I mean, I know you're taller than a seven year old. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings or anything when I laughed." He gave her an apologetic smile. She moved forward and took his hand.
"It's alright. I was mostly mad at Ron."
"You sure?" She nodded and lightly kissed him.
"Alright," he said relieved and squeezed her hand. "I wanted to talk to you about something."
"Me too."
"Oh you can go first."
"No you go."
"Ok," he said. "I think we should tell everyone about us today. I'm tired of hiding it. Ron will just have to accept it. I want to be able to hold your hand and put my arm around you openly. Like Ron and Hermione do." She smiled and hugged him.
"That's what I wanted to say too! But I think we should wait until after we open presents. Give Ron something happy before we tell him." He nodded.
"Alright. Speaking of presents, I want to give you yours alone. After we open ours downstairs, let's come up for a few minutes."
"Ok. By the way, Tonks and Lupin know about us. They saw us holding hands and our feet last night at dinner." Harry opened his mouth in surprise.
"How?" She shrugged.
"I suppose they looked under the table."
"Huh," he said, a bit confused.
"By the way, Happy Christmas Harry." She kissed his cheek.
"Happy Christmas." He hugged her and they snogged for a bit before finally going downstairs.
When they entered the living room, Ron was at work separating the gifts into piles for everyone and humming to himself. Hermione was leaned back against the couch, watching her boyfriend with amusement.
"Honestly, you're acting like you're seven. Now your vocabulary and behavior match." He turned to her and said, "Ha ha."
The twins were on the floor in the corner, whispering to each other. A few minutes later, Lupin, Tonks, Bill, and Charlie came down and called out Happy Christmas. They sat down and waited for Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to come in. They finally did and Ron moved everyone's piles in front of them. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley wished everyone a Happy Christmas and they began opening their presents.
Ron opened his gift from Harry and gasped.
"Thanks mate! This is great!" He lifted up his new broom servicing kit and turned it around in his hands. Hermione smiled at him and Harry patted his back.
"No problem. Now you won't use up mine."
Next, Ron opened his gift from Ginny. It was a book about the Chudley Cannon team. It had pictures and information about each member as well as facts about the team. He thanked her and moved onto his gift from his parents. It was the usual jumper with a small supply of chocolate forgs which he immediately began eating. He opened the twins gift and frowned. It was a small, stone object resembling a doll.
"Oi! Fred, George! What is this?" They smiled mischievously and came next to him.
"It's something special we made to bother Malfoy. Just say his name and put your wand on a part of his body. Then say what you want it to do to him. For example you could point it at his nose and say bleed. Then it'll bleed until you say stop. It's a bit like a muggle voo-doo doll. That's where we got the idea," Fred explained in a low voice.
"What's a voo-doo doll?" Ron asked.
"Ask Hermione. Anyway, have fun with it. You have to be able to see him when you use it though. It can be used on anyone actually." George winked at him and they went back to their presents. Ron smiled to himself. This would be very enjoyable. He got a box of Hagrid's homemade treats and put them aside. He didn't feel like gluing his teeth together at the moment. He finished with his other gifts and waited for Hermione to be done. They had also decided to open each other's gifts in private. Ron didn't want to give her the ring in front of everyone.
Hermione opened up a new set of very well made quills from Harry. Then she took Ginny's gift and grinned after she opened it. It was a makeup kit. Ginny saw her open it and smiled at her.
"How did you know I would like the makeup?" Hermione asked.
"I just knew. I'll show you how to do it later." Hermione nodded and continued. Her parents had given her a box of pretty floral stationary. Hagrid had also sent her his treats and she wrinkled her nose. The Weasley's had given her a lovely crimson jumper. The twins watched as she unwrapped a very interesting love novel with a note inside. It read: "In case you ever get bored with Ron. Your dear friends, Fred and George" She rolled her eyes. They grinned and waved at her across the room. She ignored them. They laughed and went back to their gifts, apparently not caring that she wasn't thrilled.
Harry opened Hermione's gift first and saw a watch lying at the bottom of the box. He pulled it out and noticed it was different than a normal watch. It was like the clock in the Weasley's living room that told the whereabouts of the family members. He looked down and saw phrases similar to those on the Weasley's clock as well as 'in class', 'detention', and 'playing Quidditch'. There were different hands with Ginny's, Ron's, Hermione's, Lupin's, Mr. Weasley's, Mrs.Weasley's, Fred's, George's, Tonks, and Dumbledore's names on them. Since there were so many hands, each one was small but still understandable. Harry smiled and put on his new watch. He didn't even know they made anything like it. He gave Hermione a hug and thanked her. She just beamed at him, a tear in the corner of her eye. He got a bag of Honeyduke's sweets from Ron. Ron had given everyone a bag of candy since he had spent most of his money on Hermione's gift. Harry got a nice scarf in Gryffindor colors with some chocolate frogs from Mrs.Weasley and a large box of barely visible rope from the twins.
"Just tie it where Malfoy is about to walk and he'll trip right over it. I'm sure you can think of other uses for it. You can do so much with rope," George said happily. Harry laughed and thanked them.
He got a picture frame from Dobby that was painted an assortment of colors around the frame. Harry had a feeling Dobby had done it himself. Inside was a picture of Harry from a Witch Weekly article next to a picture of a toothy-grinned Dobby. The pictures were taped together to look, he supposed, like they were standing next to each other. Harry laughed. It really was a sweet gesture. He hoped Dobby liked the multi-colored t-shirt he had sent him for Christmas. Actually, he knew Dobby would love it. Hagrid sent him a picture of his parents standing next to Sirius. His mother was pregnant in the photo and his father had his hand on her belly. Sirius had his arm around her and they were smiling happily. On the back, Hagrid wrote, 'I fownd this picher in my closit last weak. Sorry it took me so long to find it. Happee Chrismis, Hagrid.' Harry looked sadly at the picture but smiled after awhile. It was a great photo. He pocketed it and waited for Ginny.
Ginny got her Weasley jumper and a box of Every Flavor Beans. She also got a bag of candy from Ron. Hermione gave her the novel Pride and Prejudice, which Hermione thought she would enjoy. She got a new set of fourty-eight hour paint from the twins in case Malfoy ever needed another makeover.
Mrs.Weasley started to cry and Mr.Weasley asked what was wrong. She sighed.
"I just wish P..P..Percy was here. He didn't send back his gift this year but he didn't send a card or a greeting or anything." Bill and Charlie shook their heads, disgust in their eyes. Ron turned red and his hands balled into fists. Ginny scowled. The twins grinned evilly. Ron looked at them questioningly and they motioned for him to come closer.
"We sent him a howler," Fred whispered. Ron grinned widely. Hermione overheard and her jaw dropped.
"You did not!" she hissed so Mrs.Weasley wouldn't hear. They nodded, continuing to smirk.
"What if he tells someone!?"
"Who cares? Come on, you really think he's going to tell someone that his little brothers sent him a howler? He has too much pride," George said.
"But what if he tells your parents?"
"So what? What are they going to do? He deserves it anyway!" Hermione shook her head at them. Ron patted them on their backs.
"Well done guys," he whispered. They grinned at him. Hermione rolled her eyes and grabbed Ron's hand, pulling him up to his room.
They sat on his bed and she opened her mouth, ready to comment on the twins but he held up his hand.
"Don't Hermione. I can support them about it if I want. They already did it so don't make a big deal about it." She huffed. He looked at her expectantly and she nodded. She handed him his gift and he unwrapped it. When he saw the beautiful watch inside, he opened his mouth in shock. Hermione smiled at him and he looked down at her, completely lost for words. He fingered the watch with his thumb and she laughed.
"Come on, put it on." She took it out and slid it onto his wrist.
"It looks gorgeous on you." He looked from the watch to her face without any sound. He leaned forward and kissed her lips.
"Thank you," he said softly. "This is the nicest thing anyone's ever got me." She smiled at him and kissed his hand.
"Your welcome, Love." He laughed. He was always the one to call her Love. He got over the shock of his watch and handed her her present. She carefully unwrapped it and took out the promise box. She read the message (I Love You Hermione-Ron) on the top and smiled at him.
"Thank you. I love you too."
"It's called a promise box. But that's not all. Open it." She opened it and saw the beautiful ring laying in a bed of velvet.
"Oh Ron," she breathed and lifted it out of the box.
"It's not an engagement ring or anything but it shows that you're my girlfriend and that I love you. Look what it says on the inside."
She looked on the ring (To my Hermione, Love Ron) and her eyes filled with tears. He looked at her concerned and took her hand.
"What's wrong? Don't you like it?" She nodded and sobbed.
"This is the most wonderful thing in the world. I love it. Thank you. I love you so much." She sobbed again and he heaved a sigh of relief. He watched her cry for a moment and pulled her into his lap. He enveloped her in his arms and she squeezed him tightly. He took the ring and slipped it on her right ring finger.
"There. Now we're official." She looked at it and smiled.
"Yes, you're mine and I'm yours." She kissed him and he leaned back onto the bed. He wiped tears off her face as she carressed his lips with hers. He felt the ring against him as she held his face and felt an overwhelming sense of peace and happiness. He wrapped his arms around her back and pulled her closer to him as they continued.
When Ginny finished opening her gifts, she walked up the stairs nonchalantly and Harry followed a minute later. He walked into Ginny's room and closed the door. She was pulling a box out of her closet and came forward to him. She handed him the box and he opened it. He pulled out the black jumper and smiled widely.
"Wow Gin! Thank you, it's great." She grinned at him and took the box.
"Mum taught me how to make clothes so I made this for you."
"You made this?" he asked surprised. She nodded.
"It's incredible." She looked at the ground shyly and he set it back in it's box. He took out a small box with a ribbon tied around it and gave it to Ginny. She took off the ribbon and opened the smooth, black box to reveal a delicate silver bracelet. It had the letters, H & G written on it in beautiful cursive writing.
"Oh Harry," Ginny sighed. "Thank you."
"I also wanted to say...Ginny...I...I'm...I'm in love with you," he finished softly, looking into her eyes. Her face lit up and a tear ran down her cheek.
"I love you too." He wiped away the tear with his thumb and pulled her to his lips. She wrapped her arms around his neck and his hands made thier way to her waist. He gave her the powerful kiss he had held back after their Truth or Dare snog. It made Ginny's knees go weak but he held her up. Suddenly, the door flew open and slammed into the wall. Ginny shrieked and held Hary tighter as Fred fell forward into the room. George tumbled over him and Harry and Ginny broke apart in surprise. Ron's door opened down the hall and he and Hermione came to see what happened. All the others came up from downstairs. There was a large crowd in the hallway by Ginny's door. Fred sat up and pointed at the embarrassed pair before him.
"You two! We did it!" he exclaimed and pointed at George who smiled widely. "Our plan worked!" Hermione began to giggle and Ron looked at her curiously.
"What are you talking about?" Mrs.Weasley demanded. "What's going on?"
"Harry just said he loved Ginny and she said it too! Then they started snogging and the bloody door broke! We've been doing things to get them together and it worked!" George explained gleefully. Those who knew about the pair already started laughing and Ron's mouth opened.
"What do you mean they love each other?" Ron asked. Mrs.Weasley gave a happy cry and smiled at them.
"Oh how wonderful!"
Hermione, Lupin, and Tonks were still laughing and the twins looked at them strangely as they stood up.
"What's so funny?" Fred raised his eyebrow at Hermione and she took a breath to calm herself.
"You idiots didn't get them together! They've been a couple since before we got here!" The twins and Ron's jaws dropped simultaneously.
"What are you talking about?" Ron exclaimed. "They weren't together at Hogwarts!"
"Actually we were," Ginny said. Ron looked from Harry to Ginny, his mouth still hanging open.
"Why didn't I know?"
"We knew you wouldn't like it so we decided to keep it quiet for a bit. Then Fred and George started giving us ridiculous poems and stuff so we thought it'd be funny to let them keep going," Harry explained.
"What do you mean 'ridiculous' poems?" Fred asked, looking scandalized. "Those were excellent poems!" Ginny snorted and Fred made a noise of digust.
"How did Hermione know?" Ron demanded.
By this time Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Bill, Charlie, Tonks, and Lupin had walked away.
"I was looking outside one day and saw them snogging. They never mentioned being together so I figured they didn't want to tell anyone." Ron gaped at her.
"You've known this whole time that my best friend was snogging my little sister and you didn't tell me? And Harry, how could you? It's my sister!" Ginny scoffed and folded her arms across her chest.
"That's why we didn't tell you. We knew you'd act like that."
"Like what?"
"Like a complete prat! You knew how much I've liked Harry and now that he likes me too, you can't even be happy for us!" Ginny exclaimed.
"How can I be happy when my best mate and my sister are...kissing and stuff." He shuddered and Hermione rolled her eyes.
"Look Ron, the thought of you and Hermione isn't exactly appealing to me either but I'm living with it. You'll just have to accept the fact that I love Ginny and we're going to be together!" Harry told him.
"Hermione's not your sister!"
"She's the closest thing I have to one!"
"It's not the same!"
"So what? It's not up to you!" Ron huffed and threw his hands up in the air.
"Fine!" He turned around and stalked out of the room. Hermione shook her head and followed him out. Harry noticed Fred and George were still staring at them, confusion written all over their faces.
"So what we did made no difference? We did all that for nothing?" Fred asked.
"Well no, it wasn't for nothing. We weren't ready to tell so you gave us time together with what you were doing. We enjoyed it." Ginny gave them a comforting smile and they shrugged.
"Oh well. At least you got together one way or another," Fred said and moved towards the door.
"But Harry," George said and put his hand on Harry's shoulder. "If you hurt her, we hurt you." He patted his shoulder and followed Fred out of the room.
Harry turned to Ginny and exhaled. Ginny shook her head, one hand on her forehead.
"That was not how I wanted them to find out," she said.
"Me neither." He walked to her and hugged her.
"I'm going to talk to Ron." She rolled her eyes and said, "Stupid baby." He nodded.
"I love you," he told her.
"You have no idea how happy it makes me when you say that," she said softly. She leaned her head against his.
"Probably the same way I feel when you say it." They touched lips.
"I love you, Harry." He kissed her forehead and left the room.
Hermione followed Ron out of Ginny's room and caught the door before it shut. She walked in and it closed behind her. Ron was pacing back and forth. Hermione could almost see the steam coming out of his ears. His teeth were clenched and his hands were clasped together behind his back.
"I can't believe you lot hid that from me!" He turned and faced her angrily.
"Look Ron, they wanted to keep it a secret. They weren't even going to tell me. I found out by accident."
"You still could have told me!"
"It wasn't my secret to tell!"
"Fine then they should have told me!"
"They knew you'd be upset so maybe they wanted to try it out for awhile before telling anyone. They probably didn't want any interferance at the beginning of their relationship."
"I wouldn't have interfeared!"
"Did you hear yourself in there? 'Harry how could you? That's my little sister, blah, blah, blah'. You can't tell me that if you had known about it at the start that you wouldn't have been mad because I know you would have."
"Well obviously I would have been kind of upset but not as much!"
"Why is now so different?"
"Because Harry lied to me! He's my best friend! He's suposed to tell me things!"
"Honestly Ron, Harry isn't required to tell you anything! I'm sure he's kept more secrets than just this from you! Get over it! It's done! They're together, they're happy, and you know about it!" Ron scowled.
"Ron, you should really be happy about this." He furrowed his brow in confusion.
"Happy? Why would this make me happy?"
"A few reasons actually. First, you know Harry very well. Wouldn't you rather your sister be with someone you trust rather than some stranger?" He shrugged.
"Second, Harry is happy. Haven't you noticed what a good mood he's been in lately? It's because of Ginny. Well not entirely Ginny but mostly because of her." Ron looked down at the ground. Hermione walked forward and lifted his face up.
"And third, Ginny is happier than I've ever seen her. She has loved Harry for years and he finally fell in love with her too. This has been her dream. Today must have been wonderful for her to know that he felt the same. Did you see how they looked at each other when we played Truth or Dare? I think he realized how he felt then. I remember how I felt when you said it to me." He sighed.
"I do too." She smiled at him.
"See? This is wondeful whether you like it or not. Harry and Ginny have a connection with each other that you and I don't share with him. They've both had direct dealings with Voldemort and can understand how the other feels. They need each other." He nodded. "So are you going to apologize?" He nodded again.
"Good." She kissed him softly and pointed to the door.
"Now?"
"Yes," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "No point in waiting." He sighed and headed to the door when it was opened by Harry. It ran into Ron's face and he fell backwards. He landed on the ground and grabbed his nose.
"Oh Ron! Are you alright?" Hermione knealt on the floor next to him and Harry's mouth opened in surprise. Ron's nose began to bleed and Harry ran to get a tissue from the loo. He came back in to see Ron and Hermione laughing. He handed the tissue to Ron and eyed them strangely.
"Alright Ron?" Ron nodded and grinned at him.
"I'm really sorry. I didn't know you were going to be there." Harry watched as Hermione continued to laugh.
"Oh he deserved it. Don't worry about it." Ron stood up and pulled Hermione up with his free hand.
"I think I'm getting used to pain," Ron laughed. "Look mate, sorry about the way I was acting. I'm...I'm really happy for you and Ginny." Harry heard the strain in his voice and chuckled.
"No you're not. You don't like it at all."
"Okay, no I'm not wild about the idea but it's fine. I'm glad it's you and not some idiot like Michael Corner." Harry grinned at his friend.
"Alright. I'm sorry I didn't tell you."
"It's okay." Ron looked at his tissue and felt his nose. It was done bleeding. "Let's go have some breakfast. I'm starving." Ron left the room to wash his hands and Harry went to get Ginny. She was admiring her bracelet when he went in.
"It looks great," he said, startling her. Her head snapped up and she laughed.
"You scared me."
"Sorry. So do you like it?" She nodded happily and stood.
"It's definately my favorite gift." He smiled down at her and they laced their fingers together in front of their shoulders between them.
"So what happened with Ron?" Harry snorted.
"Well first I attacked him with the door." She looked at him questioningly. "I opened it and he was right in front of it. It ran into his face and knocked him over." Ginny laughed.
"Serves him right."
"Yeah that's what Hermione said. I got him a tissue because his nose was bleeding and I came back and they were laughing. It was pretty funny but I thought Ron would be mad. He said he was sorry and gave us his blessing."
"Oh really?"
"Well for the most part." Ginny rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"Of all the brothers to be protective of me it has to be my boyfriend's best friend." Harry grinned and kissed her lips.
"Come on. We're going to eat breakfast." They left the room hand in hand and didn't let go when they reached the kitchen.
* * * * *
The rest of the day was spent having fun and playing games. Everyone enjoyed a delicious breakfast and then watched as Ron and Hermione played chess versus Harry and Ginny. Later, they cleaned broomsticks, read books, or in Hermione's case, learned how to use makeup. It was a shaky lesson at first with a few pokes in the eye but she eventually got the hang of it. By dinner time, Hermione had done her own makeup properly. Everyone came together for another wonderfully cooked dinner by Mrs.Weasley. Hermione wore her new ring and crimson jumper, Ron wore his new watch and Weasley jumper, Harry wore his jumper from Ginny with his new watch, and Ginny wore her new bracelet and Weasley jumper. After dinner was finished, everybody talked at the table. Harry could finally put his arm around Ginny like he always wanted. Hermione and Ron held hands and she leaned against his shoulder. That night they went outside to watch a spectacular fireworks display by Fred and George. It was the perfect day for everyone.
Author's Note: Ok! All done! That's the end of 'Telling Ron'! I hope everyone enjoyed it. Now onto the sequel. It's called There For You. Info on it is in the next chapter so go there. I just put it up. The next part will be different than this story in a few ways. I never intended for this to go this long or develop any kind of plot but it has and I love it! Since both pairs are couples now, I want more of an HP plot to happen next. It's going to seem a little strange at first because I'm going to talk about and have stuff that normally would have happened before Christmas but oh well. I didn't know I was going to go this far so I didn't really plan ahead. In the story info, I'll say it's the sequel to Telling Ron so you'll know. Anyway, thank you all so much for reading and reviewing this, it means so much to me. Chapter 26 is just review responses to chapters 24 and 25. Ok, I think I've covered everything. Thanks everyone!