Chapter 3 Grief
"Ronald Weasley-are you going to sleep the day away?"
Ron groaned inwardly at the sound of his mother's voice, and pulled his blankets over his head. He heard the door to his small, BRIGHT orange bedroom (the same posters of his favorite Quidditch team were still plastered along his walls) and then he heard footsteps.
"Ron, love-you have to stop this. Your father and I are starting to worry about you. I know how badly you miss Charlie but all of us know that no amount of tears will bring him back."
Ron slowly puled the blankets away from his face, and his eyes focused on his mother, who sat beside him. Silence filled the air for a few moments as he sat up, yawning and stretching his arms over his head.
He still had a hard time believing that Charlie was gone. Even though his eldest brother spent most of the year in Romania, it was strange to think he would never come home again for holidays.
Ron had never been more anxious to start another term at Hogwarts; he needed to get back into a regular routine of classes, Quidditch practice, and spending as much time with Lavender, Harry and Hermione as possible.
"Ron-I think this will cheer you up." Mrs. Weasley spoke again handed her son an envelope. "This came for you earlier this morning and Hedwig was the messenger."
Ron nodded. "Thanks, Mum. I'll be downstairs in a minute. What time is it anyway?"
"11:30."
"Eleven-thirty?!?!" Ron cried, whipping his head around to look at the clock on his night stand. "Blimey-I DID nearly sleep half the day away!"
Mrs. Weasley laughed. "Yes, you did. But you haven't missed lunch. Ginny, Fred, George, Percy and Bill are downstairs and they're starting to get the food together. So move your bum along!" She gave him a kiss before standing up and leaving the room. Bill, Ron's other elder brother, had come to stay with them for a few weeks. Bill worked at Gringotts Wizard Bank in Egypt, but he wanted to be there as emotional support for his family that summer.
When he was sure his mother was gone, Ron glanced at the writing on the envelope. It didn't look like Harry's handwriting, so he guessed it was probably from Sirius. "Oh great." Ron thought. "Harry's probably in the hospital again." With trembling fingers, Ron opened the envelope and pulled out a piece of parchment. The letter went like this:
Dear Ron:
You're probably panicking at the moment, so I'll get straight to the point. Since Harry's been feeling better (with the exception of sneezing his head off every other day), I am going to plan a party for his sixteenth-birthday. Here is all of the information you need to know:
Where: Diagon Alley--Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor When: July 28th-August 3rd (You will be spending a week with Harry, Hermione & I-Hermione suggested you needed a home away from home for a while to cheer you up) What to bring: clothes and anything else you, Harry and Hermione enjoy.
Please RSVP as soon as possible! Would appreciate if you could come. Harry says "Hello."
Sirius
Ron re-read the letter and found that his lips had curled into a big smile- the first time he'd smiled that way in a long time. Quickly he grabbed a blank piece of parchment from his desk and wrote an RSVP to Sirius:
Sirius,
Count me in! I'm glad Harry's feeling better (or sort of). I was getting worried. Say "Hello" back to him for me.
Ron
With that, he set the original letter on his desk and hurried downstairs into the kitchen where the rest of his family gathered around the table eating. "It's about time that ickle Ronnekins woke up!" Fred, one of the twins, teased when he saw his brother coming in.
"Good morning, Ron!" said Ginny in between bites. "What's that?" she asked, noticing the letter in his hand.
"An RSVP. Sirius invited me to spend a week with him, Harry and Hermione in London so I'm writing a reply saying..."
"You're not going?" asked Mr. Weasley with a frown.
"What do you mean? Of course I'm going, Dad." Ron snorted. "Think I'm nuts or something? I just came down here so I could send it with Pig." Pigwigdeon was Ron's midget owl, given to him, in fact, by Sirius Black during his third year at Hogwarts. Pigwigdeon was the name Ginny had picked out, and Ron hated it. Plus, the owl was a crazy git-a bit overhyper.
Mrs. Weasley put one hand on her hip and gave Ron the once-over. "Forgive us, Ron, but you've been acting so melancholy lately that we had a bad feeling you wouldn't want to leave home."
"Well-I'm over that now." Ron insisted, ignoring the expressions of disbelief on the faces of his parents and siblings as he began preparing a lunch for himself. He took a seat and Bill got that signal as a cue to start a new conversation, and began talking about the curses he'd had to work with. (Bill was a curse-breaker at the bank)
After lunch, Ron hurried to Pig's cage, rolling his eyes as the tiny owl began sqawking and flying all about, whacking it's head a few times on the top of the cage. "Oi." Ron groaned as he opened the door. "Hold still, Pig! Let me get this on you-there. Send this to Harry and Sirius. You know where they are now." Ginny watched with amusent as Pigwigdeon nearly carried Ron out the window with him.
Now, Ron thought to himself, all he had to do was wait.