Chapter 11: The Tortures of Ron Weasley

For perhaps the first time since Harry started attending Hogwarts he wished that he was either staying at the castle for Christmas or even worse, going back to Privet Drive, which of course would never happen. No, instead he was ridding the Hogwarts Express on his way to King's Cross Station and then on to Grimmauld Place where he would be spending the few weeks of Christmas Holiday with the Weasleys. Normally, Harry had to admit, he would not consider this a bad thing. The Weasleys were after all his favorite family in the world, and the entire Weasley family, excluding Percy, would be home for Christmas this year which would normally make for a very enjoyable holiday. But these were not normal circumstances.

Ever since the night Ron had discovered the mirror he had completely ignored Harry's existence. It was fourth year all over again, though this time Harry felt he couldn't begrudge Ron his silence.

It was horrible. Over the past week Ron had avoided him and Ginny when at all possible. He sat next to Neville in nearly every class, he no longer ate meals in the great hall but instead made frequent visits to the kitchens. And to top it all of he had filched Harry's map out of his trunk so that when he went off on his own, which he did quiet often now, Harry was unable to go looking for him. Even with his invisibility cloak it was impossible to sneak up on Ron because of course he had the map and cold see Harry coming. He never appeared in the boy's tower before Harry fell asleep and was always gone by the time Harry woke up.

Harry had tried to corner Ron earlier on the journey, being on the train there was no where for him to hide, or so Harry had thought. He found Ron sitting in one of the first cars on the train with Seamus, Dean, Parvati, Lavender and to Harry's great surprise, Rane.

"Ron?" Harry had asked. "could I talk to you?"

Ron's blue eyes narrowed on him. "No. I don't think so." He rose to his feet and pushed Harry into the corridor, striding right past him to the left and slipping into the prefect's car, a place that Harry wasn't allowed to go. Harry turned back to the group of five, his face blushed with embarrassment, unsure of what to say.

"Harry," Rane stopped him as he was turning, head shaking, to leave. "May I ask what's wrong between you and Ron?"

Seamus, Lavender and Parvati, who were always craving a bite of juicy gossip, leaned closer to him to make sure that they didn't miss anything. Harry contemplated for a moment not telling them, but decided in the end that it didn't matter. Everyone knew of Ron's affection for Hermione and they also knew that he wasn't speaking to Harry so really what harm could the truth do.

"I've been talking to Hermione almost every day and I didn't tell him. He found out about a week ago and he's still mad at me."

"Perhaps I should go talk top him." Lavender offered as she rose eagerly to her feet. "Maybe I can smooth things over for you."

Harry rolled his eyes. "I don't think you can help very much, Lavender. Besides you can't." he nodded his head to the side. "He's in the Prefect's car."

"Oh." She sank back into her seat dejectedly.

"Would you like to join us, Harry?" Rane asked, indicating the seat that Ron had been previously occupying.

Harry smiled his gratitude but declined. "I have to get back to my own car."

Rane nodded. "Have a wonderful holiday."

"Hang on." Harry stopped halfway turned, his gaze narrowed on her. "Aren't you going home for the holidays?"

Rane shook her head sadly. "No. My mother and father are taking a trip to Greece this year and I would have to either stay home alone or go stay with my cousin. Her parents are going with mine. So," she shrugged her dainty shoulders. "When Parvati asked me to come home with her over the holidays I decided it would be more fun and educational to celebrate a British Christmas with friends then a Bulgarian Christmas alone."

"Speaking of which," Lavender looked at Harry coyly out of the corner of her eye, "is…is Hermione coming home for Christmas?"

Harry nodded curtly. "She and her parents will be spending Christmas day with the Weasleys and me. It's was just decided the other day." The hopeful look on Lavender's face dimmed to extreme displeasure.

"So she and Ron have made up then?"

"No." the occupants of the car could sense Harry's displeasure acutely. "But hopefully that will change by the start of term. Personally I would love to have my two best friends on speaking terms again." Harry glanced down at his wrist watch. "I've been gone longer then I planned. I really have to be going. Have a wonderful holiday."

The group echoed back his farewell as he let the door to their compartment slide closed. Harry made his way slowly towards the back of the train where Ginny, Neville and Luna were waiting. He walked with his head down, shoulders hunched, and his hands in his pocket. When he had made the trip down to this end of the train he had hoped he would be making the walk back with Ron.

"Shite." He cursed angrily halfway down the train kicking the side panel. "Shite. Shite, Shite."

He could feel his anger rising with every step he took. How had things gotten so out of control? First the fighting, then Hermione leaving for Bulgaria, now Ron wasn't speaking to him. He was sick of it. And to think, after Sirius died he had thought his life couldn't possibly get any worse. But here he was wrong again. And on top of all that Voldemort and been eerily quiet. The silence set Harry on edge and raveled even more of his finally taught nerves more then a storm of activity would have. At least if Voldemort were active he would now what was happening. Much more of this he admitted to himself, and he feared he might snap.

The only bright beacon in all of this was Ginny. Harry couldn't help but smile at the thought of the beautiful girl with hair that shone brighter then fire and eyes so dark and wonderful he could sink into them. When ever he was with her it felt like the wait of the world was lifted from his shoulders and he could breathe again. Under her coffee brown eyes the world was happy and carefree.

But even the thought of the bright girl weighed heavily on him for he was still unwilling to do anything to about that strange tingling feeling that came into his stomach when ever her saw her. There were times when he greatly regretted his decision to just remain friends with her, but then he thought about what was going on between him and Ron and knew that if he did start seeing Ginny and things didn't work, the consequences would be far worse. If that came to pass he wouldn't have just one member of the Weasley family angry at him but all of them.

To Harry's right a compartment door slid open interrupting his thoughts. He glanced to the side out of the corner of his eye and saw a sneering pointed face capped with white blond hair appear. He sighed heavily at the sound of the drawling voice.

"What's this?" the boy asked in a slimy, malicious voice. "The famous Harry Potter without the rest of his dream team. I suppose you miss that foul Mudblood, don't you?"

"Sod off, Malfoy." Harry tried to push past only to have Malfoy shoved him forcefully back pressing himself into Harry's face.

"I warned you Potter. Making friends with Mudbloods and Blood traitors will only get you into trouble."

Harry's eyes narrowed to tinny slits. "How is you father, Draco? Enjoying Azkaban is he?"

An evil smile slid onto Draco's face and his cold grey eyes gleamed with malice. "Think you're pretty smug, don't you? Let me tell you this Potter. You won't be safe from my father for very much longer."

"You think so?"

"I know so." He gave Harry a final push into the wall. "Have a safe Holiday Potter." Draco forcefully shouldered him as he walked by. Harry watched the pale blond boys retreating back with hate filled eyes.

"Harry." He turned at the sound of Ginny's voice and felt his bad mood vanish at the sight of her. Here was the one bright light in his depressing world.

"Hello, Gin." His face softened into a tender smile.

When she reached him she instantly slipped her hand into his. "What did he want?" She asked nodding her head in the direction Draco had gone.

Harry's emerald eyes narrowed once again. "Great ugly prat." He gave Ginny's hand a tug to direct her back down the length of the train to where the carriage was. "He was lording this shite about Ron and Hermione over my head again."

Ginny nodded causing her bright copper hair to fall over her shoulder. "So I take it Ron wouldn't talk to you?"

"You know," Harry stopped suddenly causing Ginny to collide with is back. "Your brother is really starting to get on my last nerve. And the worst thing is I can't even blame him for it."

"I know, Harry." She gave his hand a squeeze. "But you know how he is. He's stubborn, and thick and..."

"That might be, but I still miss him, Gin."

"Just give him some time. He'll come around." The pair moved on again, unaware that they were still holding hands and only released each other when they came to the car that they were sharing with Neville and Luna.

Grimmauld Place was not nearly as quiet and depressing as Harry feared it was going to be. True Ron kept to himself spending most of his time alone in the room that he and Harry had been sharing since the summer before fifth year, but the presences of the other Weasley children was enough to make anyone almost forget that Ron wasn't there.

Bill and Charlie had both come home to celebrate the holidays with the rest of their family and to everyone's surprise had both brought their girlfriends with them. Though Ron hastily greeted Fleur Delacour and made a hasty retreat, still embarrassed over his behavior fourth year, Harry was more then thrilled to see her again.

Sarah Bishop, the girl Charlie brought home with him, was very sweet and surprisingly open and comfortable with the large family. Harry liked her instantly. When she was introduced to him she didn't look for his scar like most people did or stare at him like he was a frightening creature or someone greater then human. She looked him right in the eye like a friend and greeted him warmly.

As soon as the introductions had all been made Ginny had pulled Harry aside, her eyes wide with wonder. "What is it?" Harry had asked upon seeing her face.

"Bill and Charlie must be really serious about them." She confided as she nodded to the two girls who were now chatting animatedly with Mrs. Weasley.

"Why do you say that?"

"Because," Ginny rolled her dark brown eyes. "I guess it's kind of another Weasley tradition. Bill and Charlie have never brought home any of their other girlfriend's. And we knew Bill and Fleur were getting serious. It's obvious every time Bill talks about her that he's mad for her. His eye's gloss over and he gets this sappy grin." Ginny bulged out her eyes and smiled stupidly in an exaggerated imitation of her brother.

Harry covered his laugh with a cough. "And what about Sarah? Do you think Charlie's serious about her?"

The two turned to look at Charlie who was standing near the fireplace with Bill and his father. While he was participating in the conversation, chiming in with his own opinions and observations, his eyes were fixated on the girl he had brought home. Neither were surprised to see that she was glancing over at him out of the corner of her eye just as much. It was easy to tell when she did so because a broad smile appeared on her lips.

Ginny smiled herself. "Absolutely. It's plain to see they're crazy in love."

"Yeah." Harry had to agree. He was watching the two couples intently. Ginny was of course right, it was plain to see the love between the pairs. One would have to be blind not to see it.

Harry's eyes narrowed in thought. So this is what loving couples looked like, he thought to himself. It was all strange for him. His Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon never looked at each other like that, or purposefully touched each other like these couples were constantly doing. He hadn't noticed it before, but now that he thought about it he couldn't remember a day that he had spent with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley where he hadn't seen them touch with affection. Whether it was a kiss on the cheek, or a hand on the others arm and then there was also the looks they shared with one another. The same looks that Bill and Charlie were bestowing upon their chosen partners. Harry glanced over to where Ron was sitting with Fred and George. It was the same look he now realized Ron had been giving to Hermione for years.

Harry shook his head sadly. If that were true, why weren't Ron and Hermione as blissfully happy as the older couples in the Weasley family? He didn't think Ron loved Hermione any less then Bill and Charlie did Fleur and Sarah; so why was he so miserably unhappy while they were painfully blissful.

Deciding to steer clear of questions he didn't have the answer to he turned his focus on the twins. "What about Fred and George?"

"What about them?"

"Are their relationships any more serious then before?"

"Besides for each other?" she asked smartly, her eyes twinkling with mirth.

Harry snorted with laughter. "Yeah, besides with each other."

"Those two." She rolled her eyes with exasperation. "Still as dimwitted as ever. I don't know how Angelina and Katie put up with them. If it were me I would have ditched them long ago."

"Hmm." Was all the further he responded for he had ceased listening to Ginny when he noticed how red Ron's face had grown in the past few minutes. He recognized that look well. It was the one he and Ginny had seen a week ago in the common room. Ron was going to explode any moment now if Fred and George didn't end what ever obnoxious antic they were partaking in.

Abruptly Harry left Ginny's side and began to stride across the room in brisk steps hoping that he would get there soon enough to calm Ron before he lost it. He was half way across the room when Ron shot to his feet, face as red as a tomato, fists clenched so tight at his side that his knuckles were turning white and his blue eyes were blazing with untamed fury.

"WILL YOU SHUT THE BLOODY HELL UP?" He roared shocking the entire room into silence. "DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW IT'S MY BLOODY FAULT? DO YOU REALLY THINK I DON'T WAK UP EVERY RUDDY MORNING WISHING THE PAST FEW MONTHS WERE A BLODDY NIGHTMARE? THAT I'VE FINALLY FUCKEN WOKEN UP AND THIS HAS ALL BEEN A BLOODY DREAM? IT'S FUCKING TORTURE! SO WHY DON'T YOU TWO JUST FUCKING SOD OFF AND LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE?" And with that Ron stormed from the room, slamming the door so hard that the plaster surrounding the frame cracked upon impact.

The room was blaringly quiet as they stared at the shut door in shock. The first one to move was Mrs. Weasley and she turned on her two sons, her eyes blazing with furry almost as strongly as Ron's had. "I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO LEAVE YOUR BROTHER ALONE!" she shouted loud enough to make the chandelier shutter.

"We didn't know he'd get that upset." Fred defended their actions meagerly as he coward under his mother's angry glare.

"I don't care! I told you to leave him alone! Now look what you've done. We finally get him to leave his room and you two send him scurrying back!"

"We didn't mean to." George piped in now.

"You never mean to." Mrs. Weasley snapped. "Jus like you didn't mean to turn his bear into a spider either."

"Mum that was…"

"No." She cut Fred off with an angry bark. She pointed her finger at the door. "You two march upstairs right now and fix this. I don't care what you have to do, but you make it right."

"Fine." The twins murmured as they rose to their feet, heads bowed, shoulders hunched as they walked from the room in search of their younger brother.

Face still rosy and flushed with anger, Molly turned back to the room. "Fleur, Sarah. I'm sorry you had to see that."

Sarah smiled brightly at the short, podgy woman. "It's all right, Mrs. Weasley. Don't fret about it. I really don't mind. Actually," she chuckled displacing some of the awkward silence. "You remind me very much of my own mum and how she use to shout at my brothers and sisters when they were causing trouble. It really does make me feel right at home."

"Just the same." Molly softened at Sarah's carefree dismissal of the scene. "It's Christmas and I didn't want to be shouting at anyone for once."

Bill and Charlie glanced at each other then rolled their eyes. "Mum," Bill wrapped an affectionate arm around her shoulders. "I'm sorry to tell you this but you will never experience a Christmas where one of us doesn't do something wrong and need you to shout at us for it." He smiled cheekily down at her. "But you know we wouldn't have it any other way."

Still slightly annoyed Molly removed Bill's arm from around her shoulder and walked briskly out of the room calling over her shoulder for Ginny to come help her in the kitchen.

Dinner was almost finished when Fred and George reemerged from up stairs. Harry noticed immediately that Ron wasn't with them.

"Where is your brother?" Molly barked, voicing Harry's silent question when they came into the kitchen.

The two red heads sank onto the bench next to each other. "He's a bit embarrassed about exploding like that it front of everyone so we told him we'd bring him some dinner later." Fred explained as he pilled large helpings of food onto his plate.

"So, did you fix things?" Molly asked in a menacing tone.

Fred and George looked at each other than at their mother all the while fidgeting awkwardly in their seats.

"Yeah, we fixed it." George mumbled. "Only…"

"Only what?" Molly raised an expectant eyebrow.

"Only…well… You're not going to like it."

"What did you do now?"

"He was in a right state." Fred said defensively, picking up for his brother. "I really didn't know this whole Hermione business got him so worked up. I mean honestly, everyone knows that those two are going to get together someday."

"Don't know what he's so worked up about." George agreed.

"But he wouldn't calm down. So…we had to promise him that…"

"What?" Molly's voice dropped several octaves.

"We had to promise him we would bring him to the shop when Hermione arrives tomorrow." Fred ducked his head under the table as soon as the words were out to escape his mother's wrath, which he knew was short in coming.

"What?" Molly rose threateningly to her feet, placing both heads firmly on the table, effecting an extraordinarily fearful pose.

"Mum, you should have seen him." Harry was surprised to see that for the first time since he had met the twins they had completely dropped their buoyant attitude and were completely serious. George frowned into his plate as he remembered the look on his little brother's face when they had been talking to him a few minutes ago. "He wants to see her mum, he really does. But he also knows that she doesn't want to see him. That she almost didn't come for Christmas because of him."

"And he doesn't want to ruin Christmas for everyone else." Fred's eyes popped up from under the table. "He doesn't want to see her because he thinks it will ruin her holiday. And ours." He added almost as an afterthought.

"But its Christmas." Mrs. Weasley's eyes glistened with tears. "You three can't not be here on Christmas." Molly sank into her seat completely dejected. "It's bad enough without Percy being here," everyone around the table flinched including Fleur and Sarah, who had obviously learned about the estranged family member through their boyfriends. "I wanted to celebrate as a family all together." Inadvertently her eyes drifted to Harry and a tear streaked down her cheek. "While we still can." She brushed it away but it was too late for Harry, he had an ominous feeling in the pit of his stomach from her words. The fact that Mrs. Weasley considered him apart of the family and that she worried he might not be there to celebrate next Christmas left him feeling cold inside.

"Mum." Fred reached across the table in an uncharacteristic show of affection, placing his hand on his mother's. "We'll be here until just before the Grangers arrive and come back as soon as they leave. But we promised Ron we would take him out while she was here so she wouldn't have to see him."

"No." Molly shook her head emphatically, pounding her fist on the table. "It's too dangerous. You know Ron's a target. I can't believe…"

"We promise we won't leave our shop." Fred assured her.

"We'll spend a few hours lounging about the back room playing cards, drinking Butterbeers and trying some of our new products. No one need know we're there."

"No." Molly still objected. "It's too dangerous. You're nothing but three children."

"We're of age!" The twins cried together for what felt like the thousandth time.

"I don't care if you're of age. You both are still my little boys and I will not allow the three of you out of this house on Christmas day without fully grown witch or wizard supervision."

The room fell into silence once again as the three Weasleys glared at each other. Hardly a moment passed when Mr. Weasley chimed in from his end of the table.

"I'll go with them."

Molly gasped as she turned to her husband. "Arthur!"

"Molly, I wanted every one to be together as much as you did. But you know as well as I do that if we force Ron to be here tomorrow he is going to be miserable and hide himself away somewhere. At least at the shop he won't be alone."

"But I…" Mrs. Weasley stammered in uncharacteristic disbelief. A silent tear slid down her cheek. "I wanted to fix… and…"

"I know," Mr. Weasley assured his wife. "I wanted that too. But we can't force them to reconcile if neither of them wants to."

Mrs. Weasley was silent for several minutes as she fought an eternal battle with herself over her natural instinct to clutch her children close and try to fix their problems for them and the realization that her children were growing up and needed to fix them on their own.

"Fine." Molly turned from the table and started clearing it off. "But you aren't to leave until the moment the doorbell rings announcing the Grangers' arrival and I want you home again the minute they're gone."

"Of course dear." Mr. Weasley looked down at his watch. "Well would you look at the time. Fred. George. You better finish eating. Harry son, would you mind bringing Ron a plate to eat?"

Harry sat staring at Mr. Weasley a moment in surprise. He knew that Mrs. Weasley considered him as a son, but Mr. Weasley was harder to read in his affection. He wasn't sure if his reference to Harry as son was deliberate or a slip of the tongue, but he liked it just the same.

When Harry still hadn't moved Ginny nudged him with her shoulder and he snapped back to attention taking the plate that Mrs. Weasley had prepared for her youngest son and was now holding out to him.

Rising from the table Harry looked one last time at Ginny who smiled at him assuring, buoying his confidence. He walked reluctantly from the room and up the stairs to the bedroom that he and Ron shared. He knocked on the door and waited for an answer.