Author's Note: A drabble on Ron's feelings about being the youngest Weasley boy, and what that means to him.
Bottom of the Pile
It's already been done before. All of it, so what does it matter what I do? Charlie was the Quidditch player, Bill was the prefect and head boy, as well as that rat Percy. I managed to get prefect by some miracle, and I'm on the quidditch team. Does that mean I'll measure up to my brother's accomplishments?
I'm not brainy, like Percy or Hermione. Heck, Charlie wasn't really considered a brain, but his grades were quite good as well. Bill was Head Boy, so it didn't really matter about his grades, though they weren't horrible at all. Mine are completely average. Fred and George may not know it, but they are a blessing.
I don't have two more brothers' reputations to live up too, in my mothers eyes, thanks to them. Of course, it's expected of me anyway. Whether I want to or not, after all the greatness they've achieved, and the 'disappointment' of Fred and George's grades, not to mention dramatic exit from school last year, it all adds up eventually.
Fred and George made their impact in a different way than all the others. I suppose in a way, they were more the 'socialites' of the family. So in way, it's like living up to the expectations in a different way. Not only should I be getting great grades, be quidditch captain, and head boy, I've got to be popular while I do it! What a joke!
How much you wanna bet that Harry's gonna be quidditch captain? I mean, he is the youngest player in a century, McGonagall would be nuts not to give him the job. At least, that's what I think.
Anyway, if you think about it, Ginny's got the advantage, because not only is she the youngest, she's also the only girl in the family. My parents expect different things from her, but that doesn't seem to matter either, because she's really great at quidditch. So everyone in my family has some major talent, and accomplishment that they can claim, but what about me?
It's quite easy to get lost in the shuffle, and it doesn't help when you're two best friends happen to be the smartest witch in school and The Boy Who Lived. Not that I think of them that way, really. It's just, the titles they've been given get much more attention than usual. I don't even have a title really. All I'm good at is chess, and that doesn't help anything.
Sad really, I'm at the bottom of the pile. The reject. Who would have thought, Ron Weasley, wallowing in self-pity? Yeah well, Hermione may think I have the emotional range of a teaspoon and she can go on thinking that if she wants too. I don't mind, because it obviously makes her feel better to put people into nice, neat little categories just like her homework and her books. See? I notice more than she realizes.
But how would being good at chess help in the war? Not much really. War isn't supposed to be predictable, is it? People don't move like chess pieces, so I don't really have much importance in the grand scheme of things. At least, that's the conclusion that I come to whenever I think about this. I suppose the only thing that I can claim is that I'm the first ever best friend of Harry Potter, which that's not an accomplishment really.
It wasn't something I tried to do, it just happened, and although his fame gets in the way of things sometimes, I'm glad that I know Harry. He's a great guy, and I know that he's the one to get rid if You-Know-Who. It's an awful lot to expect from him, but I think ever since the day he lived as a baby, people have expected it of him. So maybe I shouldn't be complaining, because my problems are nothing compared to what he's going through. Doesn't mean I'll listen to my own advice though.