The next morning, everyone went down to breakfast to find that Ron had just finished eating. He left the kitchen in a hurry so there was no need for him to talk to anyone.

"Goodness, he never gets up this early." Said Mrs. Weasley after Ron had left the room, "he seems upset about something, do any of you know what's wrong?" she asked the others.

"Absolutely no idea, mum." George shrugged "whatever it is, he's bound to get over it."

Everyone secretly agreed that they wouldn't tell Mrs. Weasley what actually happened.

"I've made pancakes, sausages, bacon, scrambled eggs, some blueberry muffins, and there is still a bit of toast that you can have with some butter, tuck in." said Mrs. Weasley as they sat down and started loading their plates. She went to the sink and started washing some dishes.

"Do you think we should talk to Ron?" Hermione whispered to the others as to not be overheard by Mrs. Weasley.

"He might not want to talk to us just yet." Replied Ginny

"He didn't even make eye contact when we came down here." Said Harry, glancing at Mrs. Weasley to make sure she was not listening in.

"We have to discuss tactics on how we should approach him." Said George

"And what we should say to him because personally, I'm willing to put this behind us." Said Fred. This sounded way too mature for Fred, but everyone agreed to talk after they finished breakfast.

"And when you're done with breakfast," Mrs. Weasley said, still washing a glass, "I want you to de-gnome the garden -don't look at me like that Fred Weasley!… oh, Harry, Hermione, you don't have to de-gnome the garden, you two are guests."

"We'd like to help, Mrs. Weasley." Said Hermione. Harry nodded because his mouth was too full of sausages to speak. Mrs. Weasley hesitated at first but reluctantly agreed.

"Alright, but if you two get tired…"

"Don't worry, Mrs. Weasley." Said Hermione. Harry was whispering to the others that this would be a good opportunity to talk about their plans about what they should say to Ron.

"Alright then. I'll go tell Ron to help; I forgot to tell him when he was down here." Mrs. Weasley left the kitchen to go and find Ron, and left the others to finish their breakfast.

"Uh oh." George said quietly so they wouldn't be overheard.

"This might complicate things a bit." Said Fred in an undertone.

"No it won't." Hermione said.

"What?" everyone asked.

"It won't." Hermione said flatly.

"Hermione, how are we supposed to talk about Ron if Ron is there?" asked Ginny.

"We won't have to." This confused everyone even more. Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Isn't it obvious?"

"That we have absolutely no clue on what you're saying?" Said Harry.

"That you're not going to tell us in this century or the next?" suggested George.

"That we don't have to de-gnome the garden?" Fred said hopefully.

Hermione sighed. "Don't you see? We won't have to talk about Ron, we can just talk to Ron himself." She waited as she watched the others contemplate on this. "Well?" she asked after she let everyone think about it.

Fred spoke up, "I think I speak for the collective when I say, your idea is completely crazy!" Everyone else nodded in agreement.

"What? No it isn't."

"Yes it is, Hermione."

"Why is that?"

"Because if we blow it…" Fred trailed off, and it dawned on Hermione.

"We won't have a second chance." Hermione finished quietly.

"Exactly." There was a pause as everyone reflected on their dilemma.

"Unless…" Hermione said finally, breaking the silence.

"I don't like the sound of that." Said George.

"Unless what, Hermione?" asked Ginny, looking hopeful.

"Unless we try to talk to him one at a time." Hermione answered.

"Ok, I really don't like the sound of that."

"Quiet George, I think she's got an idea." Said Fred.

"Well, if we try to talk to him one by one, we would have more chances won't we? And hopefully, he would consider talking to one of us-"

"Once he's fed up enough." Said Fred triumphantly.

"No, Fred." said Hermione with a disapproving look "once he's realized that we want to talk to him and are willing to put all of this nonsense behind us."

"Who should talk to him first?" asked Ginny.

"I was thinking either Harry or I should approach Ron first." replied Hermione "so we could make it look like we were trying to have a casual conversation with him."

"Ok, it's settled then." said Harry. They all stood up and put their dishes in the sink, put on their coats and went out to the garden. Snow was lightly falling outside and the gnomes of all size and age were out of their holes enjoying it.

"Funny things, gnomes." Harry said thoughtfully.

"You two already know how to de-gnome, right?" asked George. Harry and Hermione nodded. "Ok, guess we should get started. The sooner we finish, the better." A few minutes into the de-gnoming, they were joined by Ron (well, not really. He went to the other side of the garden).

"Ok" said Ginny, glancing back at Ron "Harry, Hermione, one of you should go first."

"I'll do it." Said Hermione.

"Good luck." Said Harry.

-- --

Hermione took a deep breath and walked towards Ron. It's now or never. Don't be nervous, act casual.

"Hi Ron!" she said cheerily, but Ron didn't seem to notice her "er… want any help with those gnomes?" Ron didn't answer. Ok, try another approach.

"So…" she tried to start another 'conversation' "I haven't seen much of you in a while."

"I live here don't I?" Ron said coldly without looking at her. Hermione heaved a sigh and told herself to be patient with Ron.

"Look Ron, can't we just… you know, talk?"

Ron didn't answer. Hermione couldn't take his attitude so she decided to let Harry have a go at him. "All of us just wanted to talk, Ron." She said quietly before heading towards the others.

-- --

"How do you think its going?" asked Ginny as she watched Hermione's futile attempts to talk to Ron.

"Not so good." said Fred as he shook his head.

"I don't think he even hears her." George commented "I mean, he's not even making eye contact with her." Just then, they saw Hermione turning her back to Ron and heading towards them.

"No luck huh?" said Harry once Hermione joined them.

"No" she said sadly, "he wouldn't even make eye contact. Maybe you should have a go at him, Harry."

"Ok, I'll try my best." He said and walked towards Ron.

-- --

He reached Ron and took a deep breath. "Ron?"

"Hermione said you all wanted to talk." said Ron, turning around to face Harry.

"Er… yeah Ron, we did." This might be easier than expected.

"So why are you trying to talk to me one by one and not as a group?"

"We just thought that if we came to you as a group and you blew us off, that would be it. But if we came to you one by one, we would have more chances to talk to you, and you could hear more from us on what we have to say."

"That makes sense."

-- --

"How do think Harry's doing?" Hermione asked nervously.

"I think its going well." remarked Ginny.

"I think you softened Ron up, Hermione." said George.

"They're actually having a conversation." said Fred.

-- --

"And it's not like Hermione and I sided with Ginny or anything. So are you willing to put all of this stuff behind?" asked Harry looking anxious. "I mean, you weren't upset in the slightest when we laughed at you when you had that bow on your head."

"I'm willing if everyone else is." said Ron.

"Of course we are, that's why we wanted to talk to you in the first place."

"Ok, then."

"Good to have you back, mate."

-- --

"Look! I think Harry's done it." Fred exclaimed.

"Indeed he has!" said George. Harry and Ron were approaching them both looking relatively satisfied. Ron went up to Fred and held out his hand.

"Truce?"

Fred smiled and took Ron's hand. "Truce."

"Ron…" said a quiet voice behind Ron. He turned around and saw Ginny, she was shuffling her feet. "I'm sorry that I yelled at you."

"Its ok, Gin. I'm sorry for being such a prat, everyone."

"It's ok, Ron." Said Hermione, and she gave him a hug.

"HAVEN'T YOU FINISHED DE-GNOMING THE GARDEN YET!" Mrs. Weasley was yelling from the kitchen window. This snapped everyone back to the reason why they were all outside in the first place.

"Oops!" said George.

"Sorry mum!" Ginny called back to her mother.

"We'd better finish up, it's getting cold." said Fred. Everyone agreed and returned to de-gnoming the garden, but this time, they were in higher spirits than they were a while ago, because now, Ron was talking to them, and they remembered that Bill and Charlie would be arriving the next day.

xxxxxxxxx

So sorry for taking forever to update...

Mariomarie: hahaha! I hoped someone would notice that! I love Potter Puppet Pals! hehe...

x-Ice-Queen-x: I wouldnt need persuasion either! hehe.

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Everyone else: thanks for the reviews!