Chapter 10
"Bloody 'eck Ron! What is wrong with you!" Ginny yelled, her face scrunched up in anger. Bill, Fred and George (who had the misfortune of walking into the garden at that moment) stood to the side, avoiding her wrath and looking at Ron in confusion.
"Well really Ginny, we wrote up a list last summer." Fred explained to her.
"It's still on the bulletin if you want to take a peek."
"Shut up!" She didn't even look at them as she continued to glare at Ron. He was beginning to grow red in the face as well, as he stood defensively on the path that led to the Burrow's front door. "Well! Spill it! Because I am sick of waiting around for you to explain it to me!"
"There is nothin' wrong with me! There never has been anythin' wrong with me! You've been houndin' on me for months now and I want you to back off!"
"Nothin wrong with you my arse!" She growled.
"Now Ginny, I don't know what's been goin' on but you may just be over reactin' a bit here-"
"I am not over reactin' Bill! Why is it that whenever I think something is wrong I'm the one whose over reactin'?" She rounded her full sized Molly glare on him and the twins simultaneously took one step to their left, leaving Bill to fend for himself as they grinned like cheshire cats, enjoying themselves immensely. It wasn't often they weren't the ones being yelled at.
"Maybe because you always yell about your problems. If you tried to explain them in a calm fashion-"
"Don't you dare go all Percy on me Bill! I have tried, several times in fact, to tell you all that I think there's a problem and none of you think I'm serious! Yelling is the only way any of you will listen to me! So stow it!" She was fast approaching livid, and she looked back at Ron who stood as stiffly as ever. There had been a tension between them for some time, but they had managed to keep it under wraps for the most part, until now that was; Ginny had apparently reached her limit where it came to Ron. The problem she had was that none of their brothers saw what the problem was. And now Bill was getting angry at her for being angry with Ron. This had the potential to turn into a very traditional Weasley family row.
"Ron." She tried to keep her voice calm, but it trembled slightly with tension. "I am not going to back off until you tell me exactly what your problem is, because I will not stand by and watch you push everyone away! I won't have it!"
"Ginny." Ron replied equally as calm, ignoring the presence of his brothers. "I have told you time and again, there is nothing wrong! I am not pushing people away, I am just busy with N.E.W.T.S and quidditch! Just because I'm not holed up with Harry and Hermione every spare chance I get doesn't mean I'm avoiding them. I'm busy is all."
"See Ginny? There's nothing wrong with Ron." Fred said.
"He's always been a bit off." George tried to help, unhelpfully.
"And what would either of you know about it!" She snapped, and was satisfied when they jumped slightly at her tone. "What would anyone in this household other then me know about it?"
"Ginny, leave them out of this." Ron warned softly, crossing his arms tightly in front of him.
"I don't need to leave them out of this Ron, they have never been in this! You have to be in to get out!"
"We know what is goin' on with our kid brother Ginny!" George glared, becoming defensive. The twins never took well to accusations.
"Bollocks! None of you know a damn thing! What, you think because he tells you about all his fantastic quidditch moves, or how he beat Slytherin into the ground in the chess tournament, or how much he hates studying, that you know what's going on?" Her laugh was very edgy. "I suppose he also tells you that he spends a minimum of eight extra hours a week working out on the quidditch pitch when no one else is around. I suppose he told you about the broken bones that have resulted?" Ron was beginning to pale and he tightened his protective stance as the three brothers questioning stares turned on him. "I don't suppose you've been getting up in the early morning to see if he's playing chess with himself in the common room, instead of sleeping. How about the fact that he seems to spend more time than Hermione does studying!"
"Now that's a bit strange mate." Fred interrupted, looking at Ron like he was waiting for him to deny these accusations. Their brother glared angrily at his sister.
"Stop it Ginny! That's none of their, or your, business."
"Like hell it isn't! Ron! What is wrong?" Her voice had taken to pleading now, mixed with her anger.
"Nothing!" He snapped back, and Bill stepped up behind Ginny, his earring swinging as he moved.
"He always says it's nothing. If it was nothing I wouldn't have noticed, and neither would have Harry."
"Leave Harry out of this."
"How can I? I see the looks he gives you, when he tries to get you to eat more at breakfast and dinner. You're losing weight Ron, and you're already thin!" His brothers were suddenly surveying his body, trying to look for this evidence, he stepped back, his face a deep shade of crimson.
"I've been stressed out Ginny! The N.E.W.T.S aren't a joke! Half of the seventh years have already had nervous breakdowns and they're still a week away!"
"You never lose your appetite over studying." George spoke up, beginning to look a bit worried.
"What would you know! You never paid that close attention when you were at Hogwarts." Ron glared at him.
"That's not true!"
"We looked out for you all the time!"
"Right, was this before or after you finished pestering me, or perhaps it was during your quidditch matches? The most time you spent with me was on holidays, otherwise I was just a test subject for your pranks. It was only when something interesting was going on with Harry that you paid attention."
"We never treated you that badly!"
"Very rarely…"
"You were the only one who could take our jokes…"
"And you liked them! Said it made you feel loved you did."
"That was sarcasm, and yeah, I liked some of them, the ones that didn't make an utter fool out of me. I didn't need much help to look like an imbecile, I could manage that by myself." The twins glared at him.
"You should have said something!"
"What? You mean you didn't understand what "bugger off" and "stop making a fool out of me" meant? I know you two aren't that thick!"
"Enough!" Ginny cut into their argument and glared harshly at Ron. "You are not going to misdirect this argument! Not this time!"
"Ron, what's buggering you? Because if Ginny and Harry think something is wrong, then you must be out of sorts."
"Does it have anything to do with your sixth sense thingy?"
"Sixth sense?"
"How the hell did you know about that!"
"Mad-eye Moody was tellin' Mum and Dad after Harry killed Voldie. They were right pissed you never told them, but let it go once they knew you were going to survive." A moment of silence surrounded them and Bill was looking at Ron as though he had grown a second head, which was probably not all that uncommon in the wizarding world.
"You're an aura interpreter?" Bill sounded shocked. Ron glared at the twins but refused to answer, instead he took a step towards the gate, as though looking to retreat.
"That's not all though, is it?" Ginny said. "You don't sleep much anymore, Harry is certain you use charms to make it sound like you're asleep."
"Harry doesn't know what he's talking about." Ron grumbled.
"Does it have something to do with you using wandless magic?" His face shifted to a shocking shade of white and to a scarlet red in a matter of moments as the three brothers gaped between them?
"Since when have you been able to use wandless magic! That is absolutely absurd! Ginny, what the hell is the matter with you!" Bill suddenly looked furious, and they all missed the look of utter panic that briefly emerged on Ron's face as they stared at Bill.
"It's not me that you should be worrying about! Your little brother over there is hiding something from everyone, and I am sure he can do magic without a wand." She stubbornly spat, daring them to contend with her, which they did without hesitation. Fred and George had lost all air of flippancy and were, for a rare moment, very serious as they looked between the group. A sudden tense stillness settled that hadn't been there before, despite all the arguing. This clash was becoming much more serious than was normal.
"That is a very serious accusation Ginny. Wandless magic is very rare, and only the most powerful wizards can do that. Even then it's only the most basic spells and they train very hard for that skill."
"If I said it was Harry, none of you would be questioning me this much."
"Harry conjured a patronous as strong as Dumbledore's when he was fourteen Ginny! Can Ron even do one?"
"Of course he can! He is Harry's best friend, do you honestly think he doesn't have a solid grasp on defences against the dark arts! He knows more then either of you two combined! He was preparing to fight Voldemort alongside Harry the entire way, so don't you dare question his strength as a wizard!" She hissed. Nobody knew who was more surprised at this outburst, but Ron looked the most startled.
"Ginny, I'm not that great of a wizard. I mean, Harry is a lot stronger then me by far, and he learned more magic from the professors then they ever taught anyone else. I just happened to be there the day Mortie attacked, that was all."
"Come off it Ron. You never left Harry's side once sixth year started. You were afraid that if he went anywhere without you he wouldn't come back alive. You and Hermione both were preparing to fight in the final battle as much as Harry, even if nobody else wanted to properly acknowledge this."
"That is not a fair accusation and you know it Ginny! Mum, Dad, and the entire order knew that we were with Harry as much as possible. It was inevitable that we would end up fighting with him."
"We're getting off topic" Bill interrupted sternly, looking between his two youngest siblings. Almost losing Ron in the final battle had been harrowing for the entire family, but it had been true that none of them, even after the incident at the ministry that brought about Sirius's death, had been fully aware of how much danger Ron was always throwing himself into. "Ginny, you can't go about saying that Ron can practice wandless magic! It's dangerous, and he could be hurt if a false rumour like that spread to the public."
"It's not a false rumour." She denied stubbornly.
"It is so you git!" Ron snarled.
"So I suppose that time you summoned the paper in the great hall was just a coincidence then?"
"When I…Ginny! That was practically two years ago!"
"And I've been worried about you for just as long!"
"What are you talking about?" Fred's voice was unnervingly low. He was watching Ginny carefully and George was watching Ron. No doubt they would later combine the two's reactions to get a solid idea of who was telling the truth. This attention to detail is why they were such good pranksters (never getting caught), and why their shop was turning out so well.
"It's nothing." Ron protested but they weren't really interested in his account at the moment. Bill was staring at Ginny intently, but she refused to squirm. She had been under the gaze of her entire family numerous times throughout her life, and it would take more then four brothers to get her to back down.
"It was when Fudge announced that the Quidditch cup would be postponed." She glared at Ron threateningly as he opened his mouth to comment. "Ron hadn't read the paper yet when he sat down to breakfast, and a group had one down the table. He said, and I quote 'Let me see that!' and the bloody prophet flew straight into his hand. It was a summons, and he DID NOT USE HIS WAND!"
"I did to!"
"Did not!"
"Did to!"
"Enough! Ron," Bill frowned at him assessing, "is this true?"
"Yes, of course it is! The whole bloody table saw me summon it. But I USED MY WAND!" He spoke in the same tone as his sister, his glare promising her a lifetime of punishment for this entire argument. He was defensive, and holding himself tightly, his hands clenched. A Ron with curled fists at his side was an angry, aggressive Ron looking to fight with what he thought was the truth. A Ron with his arms crossed was a defensive Ron, and often had something to hide. His entire family knew this, even if he wasn't aware of it himself. Bill's frown deepened, and the twins were beginning to look…well, really unsure. Ginny was feeling their perceptions shift to her side, and was relieved to finally have someone, other then herself, really understand that something very serious was wrong with her brother. With this confidence she could speak calmly again, knowing that they would finally listen.
"You did not use your wand Ron, I don't care what you say. He convinced the table he used ambidextrous magic," she informed her brothers, "But that's absolute bollocks."
"It's not that difficult Ginny! Neville used it all year, and it came in bloody useful when he broke his wand wrist in the final battle." He spit the words out, desperately trying to hold his ramped emotions in check.
"Then let's see you do it then." George announced.
"What? I'm not going to bloody do ambidextrous magic to prove that I'm telling the truth! You're all loony if yer buyin into even a fraction of this fallacy."
"Just show us Ron, and then we can forget this argument ever happened." Bill sounded severe, and Ron spluttered. The youngest male Weasley was fast loosing ground, and he was going to panic any moment now, because he knew full well that he had never been able to do ambidextrous magic. He had tried to learn, but it had been utterly useless, he would have been better off trying to use his wand with his right foot. He was about to open his mouth again to stall, when his mother, just flooing in from the market place, yelled out to them.
"Boys! Come help me with the groceries!" Molly Weasley ordered, coming to the doorway of their house and looking at the silent, still, and tense group.
"In a moment Mum, Ron was just going to demonstrate something for us." Her eyes widened as they landed on her youngest boy, noticing him for the first time.
"Ronald Weasley! You should be in Hogsmeade meeting with Harry and Hermione right now! There is no reason for you to be keeping them from heading back to school! You have N.E.W.T.S. to study for! Shame on you, making your friends wait like this!" Ron, startled out of his glare with his siblings, looked at her blankly for a moment, before he erupted with energy.
"Right! I'm such a ponce! I completely forgot. I'd best be off then, say bye to Dad for me!" He was rushing into the house, past his mum and through the floo before his siblings could properly protest (forgetting the items he had originally floo'd home for). After his departure they looked at each other in worry.
"He's not eating you said?"
"Not enough. I'm not making this up guys, there is something wrong with him and he hasn't even confided with Harry. He tells Harry everything, especially since Voldemort. I am really worried."
"And he used wandless magic? You're sure?"
"He might be able to fool everyone else, but I know him too well. Somehow that paper went to him, and he did not use a wand." All three boys hissed quietly, and Bill rubbed his forehead.
"Right. Okay, obviously he doesn't want us to know, which means he is most likely terrified that whatever it is that's happening to him won't go over well with anyone. Ginny, keep an eye on him. We're not going to say anything about this until after his exams."
"Bill, we really should tell Mum and Dad."
"They won't let him alone enough to finish his term then, and despite everything we can't let Ron be ruined for his exams. He's worked hard, and he is dead set on becoming an auror. If he doesn't do well then he won't forgive us. The second he's done though, we are going to get to the bottom of this." There were agreeing nods all around as the four made a pact to help their brother.
TBC
Now, admittedly, this was perhaps my favourite chapter to write. This was exactly how I pictured a Weasley family argument. I hope it worked for all of you as well. Good luck with your exams Harry Lvr.
Next Update: August 8, 2005