A/n: This chapter is a bit on the sad side for
Ron but I promise it will get happier. It's just that this
unfortunate thing leads to a better thing over the next couple of
chapters I promise. This is an all fluff story, the only reason there
is sadness is because it needs to lead to happiness. (Don't worry
nothing is wrong with Ron and Hermione's relationship!)
One and Only
Chapter Thirty-two
The next Friday morning, two days before Ron's 18th birthday, Ron and Hermione sat at the Gryffindor table drinking coffee and eating breakfast with Harry and Ginny. Their fan clubs had abated until the next match, which they had decided to avoid the after party.
There was a sound overhead and the owls flew in to deliver the morning post. An owl dropped two copies of the Prophet in front of Ron and Hermione. They each took one and opened it. Harry and Ginny marveled at the fact that Ron and Hermione did it at the same time. Ron picked up his coffee and was about to take a sip when he read the headline of the front-page article. He slammed his coffee on the table and looked at Hermione who was looking back at him in shock.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked. "Rita Skeeter again?" Hermione handed Harry and Ginny her copy of the Prophet and she looked on with Ron.
"New Editor is Harry Potter's Best Friend...Or is He Just Being Used? By: Ryan Thompson.
"The new editor of the Daily Prophet, Ron Weasley, is best friend to Harry Potter. From sources that wish to remain unknown it is said that Potter used Weasley to get to his sister. Ever since Weasley and Potter's first year, Potter has led Weasley into mischief and trouble, always passing the blame off on Weasley.
"Weasley might claim that Potter is his best friend but Potter has always reigned in the light while pushing Weasley into the shadows. This friendship has been unknown until Weasley gained the title of editor. Now Potter is using Weasley's fame for his own. Not exactly the type to be called best friend.
"Potter may be using Weasley's fame to get more for himself but let's hope that our new editor will choose his friends better the next time." Hermione read the article and looked on the verge of very angry tears. Ron looked angry and Harry and Ginny were in shock.
"Why the bad press now?" Ginny asked. "And it wasn't even Rita Skeeter." Ron was about to make a rude remark but Professor McGonagall showed up behind him.
"Mr. Weasley, the editor wrote me just this morning informing me that he wished to speak to you and he would be arriving at 10." McGonagall said.
"Good, because I want to talk to him too." Ron said. He showed Professor McGonagall the article. Her eyes got wider and wider as she read.
"Mr. Weasley, I'll be there to speak to the editor with you." McGonagall said before walking away in a fury with the paper and bringing it straight to Dumbledore. Hermione turned to Ron with a worried look.
"What do you think is going on?" She asked with a worried look on her face.
"I don't know." Ron answered. He looked at Harry. "I'm sorry about this mate. I'm going to fix it."
"It's no problem. I'm used to hearing all this stuff about me but I'm pissed that they brought you into it." Harry said.
The four of them finished breakfast and went off to their places. Hermione changed her plans of going to work on her book and she went with Ron and Ginny up to the Herald office. She sat with Ron in his office until she had to get to class.
"Bye…" Hermione said, giving him one last kiss. She walked out to get to her class. Ron sat in his office unsure of what was about to happen. Finally McGonagall walked in with David O'Connell. Ron conjured two chairs for them to sit down.
"Now, Ron, I am very sorry to hear about what Harry Potter did to you. And I'm sure that you must want to take your anger out and I have enough article space for you to write about anything that you think our readers would want to know about Harry Potter." David said, starting things off. He didn't look the least bit sincere nor did he sound it. Ron looked at him like he was crazy but McGonagall cut in first.
"Surely, David, you don't believe that." McGonagall said.
"Why of course I do." David said. "When Rita Skeeter told me about Harry Potter being Ron's best friend I had someone investigate their friendship. Of course there might be a bit of a stretch in that article but that's how they all are." Before McGonagall could come in and say anything Ron said something.
"Why did you have someone investigate our friendship?" Ron asked. David turned to look at him and so did McGonagall.
"Well…because it seemed odd to me that someone as famous as Harry Potter…actually had a best friend." David said. Ron could see that he reworded the sentence so it wouldn't insult Ron.
"That's not true." Ron pointed out in a calm voice. His tone was indifferent, as he knew what the result of this meeting would be. "You didn't think that someone as famous as Harry Potter could be best friends with someone like me." David looked speechless and McGonagall looked as if she were about to cut in. Ron continued on to make his point across. "See this?" Ron asked, holding up a copy of the newest Herald issue. "This is a newspaper that's filled with the truth. Not lies to make things more interesting. For almost seven years Harry has been my best friend, sure we've had our fallouts once in a while but Harry is the most modest person I know and he doesn't use anyone to get more fame. Maybe you should know that kind of stuff about a person before you print a false article in your paper." Ron said. He was finished now so he crossed his arms over his chest and waited for David to speak.
"Ron you must know that a paper without a little spin on the articles wouldn't sell." David said.
"If a paper can't sell on it's own without lies than it shouldn't sell at all. People read the paper to get the news and to get the straight news not some twisted article." Ron took a deep breath, unprepared for what he was about to but he knew that he didn't want to work for the Prophet if lies was all it was. "Give the job to Rita Skeeter, she deserves this paper." He said.
"Ron this is a once in a lifetime opportunity for you." David pointed out.
"It's Mr. Weasley to you. You no longer have the license to call me Ron. Now if you'll excuse me, the door is behind you, I have some work to do, for a real paper that isn't made up of rubbish." Ron looked away from David O'Connell and started to sort through papers. The editor gave him one last look of astonishment before leaving. When the door was shut he looked at McGonagall.
"Good for you Ron." She said to him before exiting after David with fury in her eyes. Ron watched the door waiting for Ginny to come in like he knew she would. She entered and took the seat that McGonagall abandoned.
"What happened?" Ginny asked. "McGonagall was yelling at him. Is he going to write a rebuttal?" Ron solemnly shook his head.
"No Gin. The Prophet doesn't write the truth." He said in a quiet, no emotion voice. "Even if I stayed on as editor I don't think that they would have written a rebuttal." Ginny looked shocked.
"You quit?" She asked. Ron nodded.
"He made it clear that the Prophet was a paper full of lies and I made it clear that I wanted nothing to do with the Prophet." Ron said. His tone of voice made Ginny worried. It held no emotion, not anger, or sadness, and not happiness that he quit for a good reason.
"Are you ok?" Ginny asked getting up to give him a hug. The stiffness in Ron's hug worried her too.
"I'll be fine." Ron assured her. His tone said different though. "Gin, could you keep an eye on things for a bit? I'm just going to go take a walk." Ginny nodded. Ron got up and started for the door.
"Ron, you're not going to push us away are you?" Ginny asked just as he was about to open the door.
"I just need to be alone for a bit Gin." He said before walking out. Ginny looked worriedly at her brother. He had never acted like this before. He was always one to show emotion but now there was nothing. She went back to her own desk. First it was Colin, then Ernie and Hannah, then Smith that came up to her.
"What's up with him?" Smith asked. She was getting frustrated.
"Let me ask you something Smith." Ginny started rudely. "Say an article was written about a good friend of yours in the Prophet, then you had a meeting with the Editor about it and he told you that the whole entire paper was lies so that people would read it. Would you quit the job that had you set after school because you didn't want to work for a lie?" Ginny asked. Smith's looked softened and she saw sympathy.
"He really quit?" Smith asked. Ginny nodded. Smith wandered back to his desk, deep in thought about what she just said. She was worried about when Harry and Hermione would come in and ask how it went. She had no idea how Hermione would react to him quitting and then walking out. Everyone left before Harry and Hermione came in, she was grateful for that. Alas they walked in.
"Where's Ron?" Hermione asked. Ginny looked them in the eye and told them.
"He quit the Prophet." She said.
"What?" Asked both Harry and Hermione.
"He said that the editor told him that the Prophet was a bunch of lies so that people would read it and Ron said that he didn't want to work for a paper like that." Ginny said.
"Is he in his office?" Hermione asked. Ginny shook her head.
"He went for a walk an hour and a half ago. I'm worried about him. I've never seen him like this before. There was no emotion in him whatsoever. He was like a rock and that's not how Ron is." Ginny said.
"We've got to find him." Hermione said. "I don't think he should be alone." The three of them rushed out of the Herald office and went outside to search for Ron. They found him under a tree, ripping a piece of grass and staring out into space. "Ron?" Hermione tentatively asked as they approached. Ron turned to look at her. She lowered herself to the ground to look at him. "Are you ok?" She asked. Ron took a second and then answered.
"I honestly don't know Hermione." He said. "I had the job that I wanted but it turned out to be a bunch of bullshit. Now I've got no plan for when I get out of Hogwarts. I have to start from scratch because it's not like I can go work for another newspaper." Finally after all his no emotion words there was emotion in his eyes. Hermione almost lost it when she saw the defeat in Ron's eyes. She had no idea how to console him.
"Oh Ron." Hermione wrapped her arms around and hugged him. Ron hugged her back. Harry and Ginny watched from nearby. Each of them felt just as upset for Ron. They saw the passion that he had for the Hogwarts Herald and the excitement he had when he knew he got the job...now it was all gone for him.
After a minute Ron pulled back a little and brushed the hair out of Hermione's face.
"I'm gunna go back up to the Common Room and rethink my career." Ron said. He saw the worried look in Hermione's eyes. "I'm ok, I just need sometime to think this over." Hermione nodded, knowing that it was the only thing she could do to help him and kissed him before letting him go. She watched him walk back toward the castle with tears threatening to spill.
"I've never seen him like this." Hermione said, her voice breaking. "He looks so defeated." Harry turned back to the group when his best friend was inside of the castle; he looked upset. That was not Ron and it was a bit scary how he was acting. "I don't know what to do to help him." She said.
"He worked so hard on the Herald." Ginny said. "He was so excited about it and he just started writing articles. He created this paper, he founded it and it was another side of him that I've never seen in sixteen years. He wanted to work at the Prophet and now he can't do what he wanted to do." She looked on the verge of tears as well. It was upsetting to see Ron like this.
"I just wish there was something I could do." Hermione said, nodding at what Ginny said. Harry thought for a second, thinking about what both girls said.
"What if we can do something?" Harry asked.
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked wiping away a tear that had fallen.
"Well he did create the Herald and look how successful it is." Harry said.
"I don't see what you're getting at." Ginny said. "He can't work for the Herald for the rest of his life, it doesn't pay anything."
"Not the Herald." Harry said. "He's already created that but that just proves that he can create one. Tomorrow is a Hogsmede trip and it's right before his birthday. Now if he could create the paper he would need a place for his office." Harry said. "When he bought the shop for Hermione he was cut a deal but since that isn't likely to happen again what we could do is put our money together and buy out one of the stores in Hogsmede. He could use that for space for the paper and I'm sure a few of the seventh years on the paper now would work there would work at the new paper and plenty of other people would want to work there. That way Ron can still work for a paper and I'm sure a paper about the truth would sell better than the Prophet any day." He watched and waited for their reactions. Hermione and Ginny's faces lit up with excitement.
"Harry that's genius!" Hermione exclaimed.
"It's brilliant!" Ginny agreed. "I could keep an eye on Ron tomorrow because I already got him his gift last time we were in Hogsmede." Ginny said. "You two could buy the place."
The plan went perfectly into play and everyone was excited. They all agreed that they weren't going to tell Ron about it because it would be a better surprise.
a/n: REVIEW!
Love you all!
Kylie
