This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.

Word Count: 1125

Title: I've Got Breaking News (and it's not about you)

Note: Muggle!AU, Soldier!AU

Warnings: angst, violence

Beta: Claude Amelia Song, S Lowelle

Quidditch League:

[Team]: Pride Of Portree

[Position] Captain

[Theme]: Quidditch Supplies

[Prompts]: [title] I've Got Breaking News (and it's not about you)

[Theme]: Book Club

[Prompts]: [colour] Plum Purple

[Theme]: Pokemon

[Prompts]: (character) Ron Weasley, [#208.] Steelix: Write a fic set entirely in the dark.

[Theme]: Playing Cupid… Or Not

[Prompts]: Percy & Ron

XX Ron XX

Ron was lucky he had Harry as a friend, he really was. After what happened with Percy, his brother … The thought filled him with anxiety. It was because of Percy that he'd lost his temper. He knew that Percy had done it on purpose; Percy always took the chance to make Ron feel like he was worthless, that he couldn't do it on his own. Ron sent letters home, and his parents replied to each and every one. Even Hermione seemed to understand what he was doing was worth fighting for.

"What are you doing, Ron?" Percy asked, and Ron could feel him watching as he packed his belongings into a trunk. His clothing was neatly folded, and drawers were half-opened; he needed to make sure he got everything that he might need. Harry had told him that he could only bring the essentials with him, and Ron was taking it seriously. There was more to the redhead than his family believed.

"It's none of your business," Ron said, gritting his teeth, trying not to his cool. He and Percy had never been close, and knowing his opinion about the war, and Harry Potter in particular, hadn't helped matters. Ron didn't feel like explaining his choices to him, or anyone in the household, really. Percy had told Ron and their whole family, on more than one occasion, that they were blind when it came to the 'Potter boy'. In his mind, Percy believed that he was the only one that knew better: Harry Potter was a troublemaker, and that was why his father had sent him away to war. Ron knew the truth.

"Hey! Listen! You're following him, aren't you?" Percy questioned, however, and knowing the question was hypothetical. Ron didn't feel the need to reply. "You're running head first into a war you know nothing about!"

Ron sighed. "Percy, I am not going through this with you."

"What about your wife? What about Mum?" Percy's hands were running through his hair, and Ron winced internally, he had hit a nerve; he'd miss Hermione.

However all he said was a murmured, "She knows, you idiot."

"She knows? She knows you want to go and get yourself killed for Harry Potter? She knows you married her, and now you're leaving her alone, not knowing if she will ever see you again?"

His voice was rising higher and higher, and Ron knew that soon the whole household would be awake.

"Shut up!" he hissed, trying to smack Percy's arm. Ron started pulling his trunk downstairs, hoping he could still leave unseen, but it was useless; Ginny was the first to appear at her bedroom door, peering onto the landing.

"Would you two keep it down?" Ginny asked. She was home l for the summer, and she had been enjoying being back with her family. Ron knew she didn't want any trouble, she'd heard enough of their fights through letters.

"I don't think so," Percy replied, haughtily. "He shouldn't just be allowed to sneak off in the middle of the night, especially to follow Harry Potter!"

"Where's Harry?" Ginny asked, looking around as if her ex-boyfriend would magically appear on the staircase.

"Potter is in the army, Ginny, and that's where this one is intending to follow him," Percy said, jerking his head towards Ron who rolled his eyes. 'Here it comes,' he thought annoyed.

"What is going on out here?" Molly asked, wrapping her plum purple dressing gown around her as she spotted her sons bickering in the middle of the night.

"Mum, can we talk downstairs, please?" Ron asked, and he was sure she detected the hint of desperation in his voice.

"Fine. Ginny, dear, go back to bed," Molly insisted. It looked like Ginny wasn't sure if she wanted to argue, but she decided to close her bedroom door again, and the three of them went downstairs into the living room.

"Explain," Molly said, simply. Ron looked livid. He could've strangled Percy right then and there. This was exactly what he had been trying to avoid! He knew his mother wasn't going to be happy that he was leaving to go fight in the war. He was her youngest son, her baby boy.

"Mum, I enlisted," Ron started, and he watched his mother's face turn red with anger.

"You what?" she all-but-screamed. "My baby boy wants to go fight in the war? I always thought that Harry was a good boy, but tempting you into something so dangerous..." her voice seemed to trail off as he stopped taking in the string of insults and accusations. "My ickle Wonnikins…" she sat down on the couch that seemed to sag beneath her weight. It seemed like she was done screaming, but to Ron, this was much worse.

"Mum, I love you, but this is important to me; I need you to understand."

She just shook her head, wiping her nose on the sleeve of her plum purple dressing gown. "I'll make some tea, we can talk about this." She got to her feet, and Ron could hear her bustling around in the kitchen.

"Why couldn't you just leave well enough alone?" Ron hissed to Percy, who was looking smug. "This isn't going to stop me leaving, it's just going to make it harder on everyone."

"No you won't," Percy shot back. "You don't have it in you to leave, not when you have to face Mum! That's why you were running away, like a coward in the night."

"Take it back," Ron snapped, furiously.

"No."

"I said, take it back," Ron repeated.

"It's true," Percy said. "You won't leave."

Ron saw red, and he punched Percy. He heard a crunch, it seemed that he had broken Percy's nose with the force of his swing. His mother ran back into the room, and her eyes wide with shock. She was speechless, and it made Ron nervous. Percy ran to get a towel to stop the bleeding, and Ron just stood there, watching him with grim eyes. He was sure he wasn't the first of the siblings to want to deck Percy, although in the end the satisfaction wasn't worth the cost.

"How could you?" his mother asked, finding her voice.

"I'm not sorry, Mum, he deserved it. I am sorry I have to go, but Harry needs me, this country needs me, and I can't stay here, hiding in the Burrow, when lives are at risk."

She stared at him for the longest time, but in the end, she nodded. "I understand," she said through her sobs. "Stay safe, Ron."

Without an apology to Percy, or another word, he dragged his trunk out the door, and got into the waiting taxi to take him to the airport.