Pen Pals

by readyurwand

September 2, 1991, she writes her first of many letters to her new Owl Buddy, Ron Weasley. September 5, 1991, she receives the first one back. Even through the heartbreak and the distance, she falls for him and finds herself waiting by her window each night, hoping for a letter from her favorite red head. *A Ron short story in my To Have and To Hold series*

Pen Pals

Dear Ronald, September 2, 1991.

Hello! It's so nice to meet you, well rather write you I suppose. My name is Y/N and I attend Ilvermorny in America and it's my first year, which you probably already knew. I'm originally from England, but my family moved here when I was young because my Mother is a muggle-born and some people aren't very nice to muggle-borns in the UK. But when I found out that we'd be getting Owl Buddies from Hogwarts I was so excited!

I have so many questions for you! What's it like at Hogwarts? What house are you in? What are your professors like? Do you have any pets? Are the towers cold?

I'll stop there so I don't overwhelm you. I've also attached some magical American candy for you to try. The unicorn horns are my favorite (don't worry they're just shaped like the horns- they're not really unicorn horns. That would be horrible!), they make your skin sparkle for an hour after!

Talk soon!

A very excited witch.

xxx

Dear Sweets, September 5, 1991.

I hope you don't mind I've called you sweets, it seems like a fitting nickname considering how much candy you sent me. It was bloody amazing though! I ate it all in one night and ended up getting sick and had to go to the infirmary because my skin was still sparkling the next morning. You can also just call me Ron, the only person who calls me Ronald is my Mum when I'm in trouble.

You sure do have a lot of questions, but Hogwarts is nice! My brothers Charlie, Bill, Percy, Fred and George had already attended/started Hogwarts so I knew what to expect. I'm a Gryffindor, if you know what that is and my professors are nice enough. Snape is horrifying and Quirrell is rather odd, I really hope neither one of them read this or I'll be in detention for a week. I already had detention earlier this week because I brought my rat, Scabbers, to Potions and he knocked a cauldron over on a Slytherin. I thought it was a right laugh, but Snape almost turned Scabbers into rat soup!

What's it like in America? I've never been, portkeys are too expensive so I'm stuck where I am for now. Do you think you'll ever come visit the UK again one day?

See ya,

Ron

xxx

Over the years they continued to write quite a bit. Every week, sometimes multiple times a week an owl would peck at her window and she'd feel her stomach fill with butterflies knowing that it was Ron's letter. She learned so much about him and she looked forward to hearing about the adventures he had with Harry and Hermione at Hogwarts. Nothing crazy ever happened to her at Ilvermorny, but he seemed to be interested in what she had to say anyway. She heard about the time they fought a troll on Halloween, how he made himself accidentally eat slugs once, how he stole his Dad's flying car and the most shocking, when his pet rat, Scabbers, turned out to not be a rat at all, but a Dark Wizard!

He was the most amazing person she'd ever known, even though when she told him this, he insisted that Harry was the brave one, Hermione was the smart one and well, he was just Ron. But she happened to like just Ron.

In their fourth year of letters, she realized she had never actually seen what he looked like. She knew he had red hair, but besides that if she had bumped in to him on the street she probably wouldn't even think twice before she kept walking. So in her weekly letter she gathered up the courage to ask him for a photo, even going as far as to send one of her own. She felt herself grow nervous as she sealed her envelope. What if he found her ugly and stopped writing her? No, she thought to herself, Ron would never do that.

She knew she was pretty, boys around school would ask her on dates, but she always turned them down in hopes that one day she'd get a chance with a certain red headed boy.

Dear Ron, October 1, 1994.

Hello again! I can't believe we've been writing for four years already! Do your friends still write to their Owl Buddies? Mine don't really, said after about two years they got a little bored. I'm lucky that you're not boring, no one else's Own Buddies have ever "borrowed" a flying car before!

Anyway, enough about how interesting your adventures are, I realized something when I was thinking about how long we've been owling each other. I have no clue what you look like! Crazy, right? I could bump into you in the street and I wouldn't be any the wiser. Odd considering I think of you as one of my closest friends. I was thinking maybe you could send me a picture of you in your next letter? You know, just so I know to not yell at you or something if you ever knock into me in the street. Not that I'd ever yell at someone for bumping into me… Well I seem to be rambling, but you get the point.

I've included a picture of me so you're not the only one revealing their ~true identity~.

xx,
Sweets

P.S How is school going? Don't you have a new DADA teacher this year? Also, are you excited for the Triwizard Tournament!

xxx

It took about a month for Ron's owl to come tapping on her window again, she had begun to get nervous after the first week of not hearing back. She thought maybe he didn't like her picture and he wasn't going to respond. Or maybe, like many of her friends and their owl buddies, he simply just got bored and stopped writing; they had been writing for four years after all. But when she saw Ron's familiar owl tapping on the window of her dorm she almost broke a bone with how quickly she got up and ran to the window.

She gave the owl a treat and sent it back on its way before making her way back to her bed and opening to letter she had been long awaiting.

Hi Sweets, November 3, 1994.

Sorry it took me so long to return your owl. This year is so different from all the others! Beauxbatons and Durmstrang arrived at Hogwarts a few days ago to compete in the Triwizard tournament and Harry was chosen to compete even though he isn't of age. So it's all a little crazy over here right now!

To answer your question; no, I can't believe it's been four years! It seems like just yesterday you were sending me to the infirmary with sweets poisoning. I'm pretty sure I got the best Owl Buddy there is, so it's no surprise everyone else would be bored of theirs, because they aren't you.

Since I would hate to be punched in the face for knocking over your books on the street, I've sent the only recent photo of me I have. I'm the one with the red hair, that's Harry next to me!

Owl ya soon,

Ron

P.S It took me so long to write back because I was too busy looking at your picture, you're beautiful.

She felt herself blush as she got to the end of the letter. Beautiful. Ron thought she was beautiful. Her; beautiful. She was over the moon with his response and as she pulled his photo from the envelope it was in, she felt herself grow nervous.

She didn't know what to expect and she really didn't know why she was so nervous. It didn't matter to her what he looked like, really. She wondered if he felt the same butterflies in his stomach as he held her picture for the first time?

When she finally gathered the courage to turn the photo over, a smile immediately took over her face. He was the cutest boy she'd ever seen. Sure, he was a little dorky. But he had the kindest blue eyes and the most contagious smile. She knew then that this photo had sealed her fate. She loved this boy and she needed to meet him.

xxx

After she had decided that she needed to meet Ron, there was nothing that would stop her from making that plan a reality. She hadn't told him about her idea and wasn't going to until she knew 100% that it would happen. Finally, the day had arrived where she could tell him!

She had spent the past few months sending her parents an owl per week begging them to purchase a portkey to visit the UK this summer and finally, after what felt like forever, they agreed. Now, she sat with her parchment and quill almost shaking with excitement as she wrote out her letter to Ron to tell him the news.

Dear Ron, June 20, 1995.

I have to most exciting news and you'll never guess what it is! Try anyway though. Take a guess!

Are you guessing?

Are you?

I convinced my parents to purchase a portkey to the UK! I'll be visiting for a few weeks during the first month of Summer break and I'd love to see you. You can finally show me Diagon Alley and the Burrow! I can't wait to hear all about the Triwizard Tournament in person.

I know the last task is coming up in a few days and you also have your end of year exams, so write back when you can. Sending you all the good luck in the world.

See you so very soon,

Sweets

xxx

Ron's letter came only a few days later and the contents would be the cause of her first of many heart breaks. When the familiar owl finally came knocking on her dorm window on the 25th of June, she had been so excited to see Ron's reaction to her surprise. She had almost broken a bone with how quickly she jumped out of bed and ran to the window to retrieve the letter from the owl.

When she finally sat down and opened the letter, her excitement soon turned to dread as she felt herself let the letter fall from her hands and float down to rest at her feet.

Don't come. He's returned.

No Hello. No Goodbye.

Just four words.

Four words.

As much as she didn't want to admit it, she knew who had returned, she knew what those four words meant. She knew that it was you-know-who and she was horrified for Ron and heartbroken for herself.

xxx

Over the next few years she began to expect the heartbreak that would come with each of Ron's letters. He told her of Dumbledore's Army, of Umbridge, his girlfriend Lavender Brown (thank Merlin that didn't last long. She had spent days crying after she had received that particular letter.) the death of Harry's godfather and finally the horrible death of Albus Dumbledore.

She felt helpless over in America. There was nothing she could do for him or anyone really other than read and respond to his owls. They came very infrequently now and there was no way to predict when she would receive her next one. And when the night finally came when she heard the tell-tale sound of an owl pecking at her window, she knew it was Ron.

She was home for the summer before she was to begin her seventh and final year at Ilvermorny and she had no clue what she was going to do after. Not many people her age knew at all really. With the war happening over in the UK, everything was so uncertain.

What she did know though was that this letter would bring her more sadness, though she didn't know it would be the worst of all.

Sweets, August 2, 1997.

The minister is dead. Harry, Hermione and I won't be returning to Hogwarts this year. And before you ask; no, I can't tell you where we're going. I don't know when I'll be able to write again, but I hope you have a wonderful last year at Ilvermorny.

Ron

The minister was dead.

The minister was dead.

The minister was dead.

No other thoughts floated around in her head but those four words. She knew the war was bad, but it was clear that it was getting worse. She wanted to write Ron back and beg him to take a portkey and hide away with her in America, but she knew he never would. He would never leave his family and friends behind to fight the war while he hid away.

That made her angry. Not because he wouldn't leave, but because she couldn't go to him. She had been feeling helpless for years and this was finally the last nail in her coffin. She should be there helping them fight you-know-who. She should be there protecting Ron and helping Harry and Hermione. Yet, she was stuck here in America with no way to help other than offer the comfort of her words.

So, that's exactly what she did. She knew he would never receive the letter, but she had to try anyway.

Ron, August 2, 1997.

Stay Safe.

With all my Love,

Sweets

Those are the only words she could offer him. Nothing she could ever say would be enough, she just hoped that one day she would get the chance to write to him again.

xxx

Nine months. That's how long it was until the sound of an owl tapping at her window filled her ears again. She had spent the last nine months worrying and wondering what was happening to Ron. Was he injured? Was he still hiding or running? Where was he? Was he even alive?

Those thoughts filled her head every day, taking up many of her passing thoughts and it became almost like a routine. A never ending cycle of worrying for the boy she loved. A cycle that immediately ended when she looked at the handwriting of the letter she had just received.

He's dead.

Who knew two words could hold so much meaning? She knew what that meant. Voldemort was dead, Ron was alive and finally, after months, she could breathe again. She felt a single tear slide down her cheek as she laid back in bed with the letter still clutched between her hands.

He was safe. The war was over. Life would go on.

She felt her eyelids begin to droop as the anxiety that had plagued her for the last few months slipped from her mind. She was so tired and she would finally be able to sleep and maybe, if she was lucky, her dreams would bring her to a certain red-headed boy.

2003

She had never written him back, too caught up in the end of the school year and her new job at the American Ministry. He never wrote her again either, too caught up in life after the war, finally getting a chance to live. She kept up with him in the papers for a while, learning that after school he had become an Auror and eventually got engaged to Hermione. After shedding a few tears over that announcement, she filed the thought away in the back of her mind with the rest of the memories of him.

She didn't think of him much anymore and now, as she walked the streets of Diagon Alley, the only reminder of him was a small nostalgia in the bottom of her heart as she took in the sights for the first time. When her boss had offered her a promotion and a transfer, she had accepted the moment the words "British Ministry of Magic" had come out of her mouth.

She found that she hadn't accepted because of a certain owl buddy, but because all her life she had dreamed of living in the place she had heard so much about and she was finally getting the chance. Now, here she was, walking down the streets of Diagon Alley for the first time and it was everything she had hoped it would be. There were so many shops and people and sounds and she was almost overwhelmed, but Merlin was it truly magical.

But, her observation of the street around her was cut short when she rammed head first into another person. Giving a small oof as she fell to the ground, she didn't even have a moment to think or speak before the hands of the person she had bumped into were reaching down to help her up and saying a million "I'm so sorrys".

She knew it was mostly her fault though; a thought she voiced as she began to brush the dirt from her pants. "No harm done, really! It was mostly my fault. I've never been here before and I simply can't seem to take my eyes off of all the things around here. There's just so many shops and people an-" The rest of her sentence went unsaid as the words got stuck in her throat the moment she laid eyes on the person she had just bumped in to.

Red hair. Kind, blue eyes.

She knew exactly who this man was. Though he was older, he was still the same boy from the picture all those years ago. Ron Weasley. She had bumped into Ron Weasley.

Never in a million years did she think she would bump into her old owl buddy today in Diagon Alley and it was clear he was just as surprised if the look on his face was any indication.

"Sweets? Is that you?" He sounded as though he was in complete disbelief, almost like he had seen a ghost (which she knew he had, so why was he so surprised?)

But, she chuckled anyway. "In the flesh." She said, holding her arms out beside her, in an almost "ta-da" like fashion.

Instead of responding, Ron just reached for her, grabbing her by the shoulders and pulling her into him in the most bone-crushing hug she had ever had. And even though she slightly felt like she was suffocating, she didn't mind one bit.

She hugged him back, wrapping her arms around him and breathing him in. He smelled like mint, soap and home. She felt his disbelieving chuckle vibrate through her face with her cheek pressed against his warm chest. It was clear he had grown since the picture he had sent her back in fourth year. He was definitely taller, he had his chin resting on top of her head at the moment and he had filled out and was definitely less dorky, but he was still him, and for that she was grateful.

Finally, he pushed her away from him, still holding her by her shoulders just in arms reach and he gave her a stern look. "Why didn't you owl me and tell me you were here?"

She thought for a moment. Why hadn't she owled him? When she was younger she always imagined seeing Diagon Alley for the first time with Ron, now here she was alone. "I guess I didn't really think about it." Though sad, the statement was true. She hadn't thought about it. She hadn't thought about him much at all really, not since she read of his engagement to Hermione.

Her response brought sadness to his blue eyes, but with a blink and a shake of his head, the sadness was gone and his usual kindness was back where it belonged. "Well, how long 'ya here for?" He asked, releasing her shoulders.

"Well actually." She said, adjusting her shirt. "I live here now! Just down the way. I got a promotion to work at the British Ministry of Magic, I just got here about a week ago."

He smiled at her, one even bigger than the one he had been giving her before. "Well blimey, Sweets! We should get dinner tomorrow night and catch up. I was actually just on my way to work at the shop with Georg- Bloody Hell!" He exclaimed, suddenly looking very frazzled. "Work! I forgot! I gotta run. I'll owl you!" And before she could even say a goodbye or anything really, he was off down the street in the direction she had just come from.

She stood in that spot on the street for a few moments, trying to get her thoughts to gather and catch up with what had just happened. She had just run into Ron Weasley on the streets of Diagon Alley and he was going to owl her to get dinner! She couldn't believe it really.

When she finally made it home later that day, sure enough there was a familiar owl she hadn't seen in quite some time sitting at her window with a letter from Ron.

Sweets, September 2, 2003.

I'm lucky that all those years ago you convinced me to reveal our ~true identities~, as you put it, so that I knew it was you today. Dinner tomorrow at 7?

I missed you,

Ron

December 25, 2005

She had gone to dinner with him the next day at 7, where she had learned that him and Hermione had broken off their engagement about a year prior, deciding that they were simply just better off as friends. After that, there were many more dinners, as well as quiet nights at home, traveling all over the world, meeting each other's families.

Now, here she was getting the best Christmas gift of all. She was going to marry that owl buddy of hers and she felt the tears begin to well up in her eyes as he began his vows to her.

"Well Sweets." He said, clearing his throat. He was clearly a little nervous, but so was she, so she didn't mind. "Instead of writing something out, I have something much better to share."

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a photo she hadn't seen in years. 11 years to be exact. It was the photo of her that she had sent him when they were owl buddies. She felt the unshed tears begin to silently slip down her cheeks as she realized that he had kept the photo all those years.

It was beat up and had four very prominent creases in it from being folded and unfolded so many times. "Since the moment you sent me this photo I loved you. I might have been a right git and not realized it for some time, but when I think back to the feeling I got when I first pulled this photo out of the envelope you sent it in I know now that it was love. I remember when Harry, Hermione and I were on the run I'd pull out your picture and wonder if you were okay, I'd wonder if you were eating those sweets you loved so much, I'd wonder if you were thinking of me too."

He reached out and wiped one of the many stray tears that were falling down her face with the side of his thumb as he cupped her cheek. "My vow to you Sweets is that I will never forget the feeling I got when I held this picture for the first time. I'll never again forget to write or leave you wondering where I am or if I'm okay. I vow to be the best owl buddy anyone's ever had for the rest of our lives."

Then, before she could begin her vows to him, Ron handed her a small piece of parchment.

Dear Sweets, December 25, 2005.

I love you.

Ron

She let out a small laugh and wiped the rest of the tears from her face. After taking a moment to catch her breath and clear her throat, she looked up into the blue eyes she had spent years memorizing. "Ronald Bilius Weasley." She heard George let out a laugh at her use of Ron's full name, but she continued on anyway.

"I can't tell you how excited I was during my first year when I found out we'd be getting owl buddies from a place I had only heard about in stories. Then, imagine my surprise when I find that mine seems to be the best of them all. Smart, kind, funny, brave, absolutely ridiculous; you're everything I've ever wanted. I am so happy I get to spend the rest of my life with you by my side, because you've already spent too much of it away from me." She watched as a blush crept up Ron's cheeks as she listed what she loved about him and she made a mental note to add that to the list of reasons.

"I vow to always give you enough sweets to make you sick. To love you even when you're a right git, to remind you to do chores and to get to work on time. Finally, I vow to always tell you I love you to make up for all the time we missed."

Then, just as he had, she handed Ron a small folded piece of parchment. Whenever they had big news, letters seemed to be their way of communication. Maybe it was habit, but mostly it was tradition and she knew this would be a letter that he would love.

Dear Ron, December 25, 2005.

I'm pregnant.

Love,

Your wife

He looked up at her, tears in his eyes and a question on his face. Giving him a small smile and a nod, his face broke out into one of the biggest smiles she had ever seen him give. Then, before the officiant could even declare them husband and wife, he was taking her face between his warm hands and kissing her with everything he had.

As they kissed, she felt years of love pour out from him and she knew that while their life may never be perfect or easy, it would be so worth it.

---

Hi All!

Here's Ron's short story from my To Have and To Hold Series (Which can also be found on my Wattpad, readyurwands). Remember- the story with the most reviews and favorites will get turned into a full complete fic! So vote on which story you'd like to see more of.

xx
Jayne