Chapter 1 – I am Ron Weasley

I am on the Hogwarts Express. It is the last time I will ever ride it. This is my last journey home from Hogwarts. I won't go back next year or the year after that. I am a fully trained wizard, and now I must work for the Order.

Harry is in a strange mood. He is not talking. He is just sitting there, staring out the window. I don't think he wants to leave. Hogwarts saved him. If it weren't for Hogwarts, Harry would have to stay at the Dursley's all the time, and he would be stuck at some weird Muggle school.

Sitting here, now, I remember meeting Harry for the first time. On this train. Possibly in this same carriage. I don't know; I don't remember things like that. I remember it clearly. As if it were yesterday.

Uh-oh, here comes Hermione! Hasn't she changed since our first year? So much prettier. And . . . this is gonna sound strange, but now when she tells me what to do, I get a weird kind of thrill. She makes me feel so . . . right. She makes me want to stand up and shout:

"I am Ron Weasley!"

Because that's who I am. Except I didn't see that before I knew her. All I thought was that I was some bloke who nobody liked and who was recognised only by his untidy mop of red hair. But now I know who I am. I am Ron Weasley.

"Hermione? Hermione!" I call anxiously. She is crying. I do not know why. I hug her close. I cradle her in my arms. That feels good. It feels so good. To belong to her, to be part of her, to hold her.

"Why are you crying, Hermione?" it was Harry who spoke that time. The question is echoing round my head.

Why are you crying, Hermione? Why are you crying?

Damn, I should have asked that question first!

"Yeah, Hermione, you should be happy!" I add. God, I sound so stupid!

"It- it's just . . . I love you!"

Oh my God. Oh. My. God. Hermione Granger just confessed her love to me! That feels so good! That feels sooo good!

"I love you t-" I began.

"I love you all! Everyone, all my friends! Harry, Ron, you were my first ever friends. Then there's all my other friends, and everyone who has made me who I am!" Hermione continued.

Oh. That kind of love. As in; I love you as a friend. Harry is grinning at me. Why is Harry grinning at me? God he's getting aggravating now! Ooh, wait. Harry's speaking!

"You were saying something, Ron?"

Huh? What is he on about? I wasn't saying anything! Oh. Ah. I geddit. I began to tell Hermione that I loved her too. Ah. Oh God, now I'm blushing! Why me?

"Um, yeah. I was just saying that I love you guys to; in a friend kinda way, I mean!"

Oh no, now I'm blushing even harder! Arrgh, so unfair! Why was I born a redhead?

Oh crap. I'm stroking Hermione's hair! I can't help it, I'm just doing it! Oh no, please make it stop! Arrgh, I'm still stroking her! Why can't I- ah, that's better. I've stopped. Whoa, that was a scary moment. For God's sake Harry, stop grinning at me! Oh, wait. He can't hear my thoughts, can he? Oh damn. Oh well, I can't be bothered to go to all the effort to open my mouth and speak. Ooh, the lunch trolley! Now that's something worth speaking for!

"Oh, crap, I don't have any money!" whoops, I shouldn't have said that! Now Harry will insist on buying m something. I hate it when he does that. It's so embarrassing. And it makes me feel really embarrassed. It's so unfair! How come he gets all the money? How come he gets all the attention? How come he gets- oh my God I hate myself. I am the worst friend ever. I have a family. I have a home. Harry lost his parents. He lost Sirius. Bloody hell now I'm choking! Mustn't cry, mustn't cry. Oh God I'm crying!

"Are you all right, Ron?" that was Harry. Oh no, now Hermione's looking at me!

"Sorry, Ron. Is my crying infectious?" now I'm chuckling. Chuckling! Since when did a Weasley chuckle?

"Yeah, it is, Mione. I'm not crying for the same reason as you though." What happened to a witty reply?

"So . . . what's up, then?" aww, Hermione's so sweet and caring. Should I tell her? About Sirius, I mean. Better not; I might upset Harry. No, wait, Harry's busy buying stuff from the lunch trolley.

"I was just thinking about . . . Sirius."

Oh. My. God. She's touching me! She's wiping my tears away! How sensitive. I love her. But . . . somehow it wouldn't seem right to ask her out. It wouldn't seem right to date. I've been friends with her for seven years now, and I don't want to ruin our friendship by asking her out. It's too much to risk. Yeah, we've had our ups and downs. But doesn't everyone? Ooh, Bertie Botts. I love those! Well, the nice ones!

"Ron, I dare you to eat that bogie green one!" Hermione giggled in my ear. All right. Anything for my girl! I wish she were my girl!

"OK then!" I'm picking it up now. It really is a rather . . . ahem, strange colour. But Hermione dared me, and I'll do anything for her! It's getting nearer and nearer my mouth. The other two are watching me with interest. OK, it's in my mouth. It's in my mouth, and it tastes of . . .

"Melon!" I happily tell the others. "OK, your turn, Mione!"

"Oh, give me a nice one, please Ron!"

"OK, fine. How about that chocolate one there?" I point out.

"That'll do!"

She's picking it up. It's getting nearer her mouth. Her lips part slightly. Her lips. I never noticed her lips before. They're perfect! And they look highly kissable! It's going in!

"Eurggh, coffee!" she's saying spitting it out. "OK Harry, your turn!"

"I think you should it that yellow one, Harry!" great suggestion from yours truly. It looks like it might be . . . something rather disgusting.

"Let's give him a count down, Ron! 3, 2, 1- eat!"

Harry just put it in his mouth. He's raising his eyebrows. OK, now his eyebrows are really high. Now he's coughing. Wow, I wonder what it is . . .

"Chilli!"

Ha! He got chilli! Woah, he's kinda going red! Uh-oh. Who's that at the door?