Written By PBMAXCA
There was something about watching a Quidditch match.
Something simple.
Something pure.
Something absolutely normal.
It was one of the added perks of owning a home. Granted he didn't own the biggest place in the world; it had enough room to put up a TV and install a fireplace so he could visit home at his convienence. He'd been able to watch games during his travel over the last few years, but owning a house with a big screen made the whole experience a little more relaxed than what most people in London were used to.
Sitting just inside the sliding glass door, he sipped coffee every other Saturday morning as the younger, now hard to follow teams did battle.
The sound of the French doors that separated the family room from the kitchen being opened brought him back to reality. Ron looked over his shoulder at his girlfriend. While it shocked him to see her dressed in formal clothes this early in the morning on a Saturday, he tried to ignore it.
With a smile, she motioned towards the television. "They▓re good this year."
A frown formed on her face. She wasn't sure if he was upset about the comment, clearly something to distract her from the conversation she was going to have with him, but he soon found out. "Why aren't you getting ready?"
Ron stared at the television as the teams lined up after a point was scored. The commentators were going wild with stats and comments about the game. He knew he should look at his girlfriend. It was rude to not look at her when they were having a discussion, but he knew that one look from his girl could change his mind about the decision he'd already told himself that he was going to make. "I'm not going."
"Babe," Gabrielle said with a soft voice taking the seat next to him.
It was amazing how they▓d ended up together. They▓d spent some time together over the last few years, since her sister was married to Bill and her sister had always seemed to include the two of them in anything that the family did. He▓d tried to avoid her for the first few times they▓d been set up, but once they▓d realized they both felt a little uncomfortable about being set up on dates, they tended to enjoy themselves a little more.
Ron watched her look at the television for a moment before he turned to look at her. "Hermione is going to be devastated if you don't go."
He sighed and leaned back in his chair, picking up his mug of coffee.
Concentrating only on his cup, he turned it round and round watching the coffee and the cream spin. It was such a simple thing to watch, but it showed so simply what he was going through. He'd been spinning and spinning around and around for days and wasn't sure when it was going to stop. "She's going to be devastated if I do go."
Gabrielle moved a hand out and touched his arm, taking his focus away from the cup. "She's your best friend honey, I know that means something to you. You may be angry, but friendship runs deep with you."
"So deep," Ron said, "You aren't going to start yoga and chanting and burning candles?"
Gabrielle's eyebrows rose in shock. "Ronald."
Frustration made his blood pressure rise, causing Ron to lash out a little more than he would have like. "I don't care." Ron moved his hands away. He felt like getting up and walking away, but where was he going to go? "I don't care," he whispered again.
"You're going." Ron watched Gabrielle▓s very petite and womanly jaw square mimicking his tougher tone to his voice.
Ron squared his shoulders, set down his cup and folded his arms across his chest. It was a juvenile move to make, but he had to do something. "No."
Gabrielle sighed. "You're going to regret this."
"No I won't." He shook his head. He could only imagine what would happen at the ceremony. He wasn't about to be the one to stand up and protest when the preacher asked the whole part about speak now or forever hold your piece. "I told her what I thought. If she wants to go off and ruin her life-"
Gabrielle's mouth cracked into a quick smile then flatted into almost a scowl. "She's getting married not murdering someone."
He threw his hands up and let his temper fly. "She's murdering her life."
He got up, taking his coffee cup into the master bedroom. He started to close the sliding glass door, but Gabrielle caught the edge of the door as he moved inside.
"You have lost your mind." Gabrielle was the only person in the world, other than Hermione who would be able to get away with speaking to him that way. They were both bluntly honest with him, probably one of the reasons that he'd found so much in common with Gabrielle. He was the French version of Hermione. "You need to support her. She's backed you on every move you've ever made."
The kitchen was completely modern and despite it being somewhat of a bachelor pad, since Ron and Gabrielle weren't living with each other just yet, it was pristine. Ron moved around the far side of the island in the kitchen and dumped his coffee in the sink and rinsed the cup.
Ron frowned. He wasn't about to pout. He wasn't a pouter, or at least he tried not to be that way. "How can I go there when everyone knows I don't approve?"
"Is that what this is all about?"
Ron nodded.
Gabrielle came around behind him and hugged him before she twisted him around and made Ron face away from the sink. Ron knew this was a tactic to get him to look her in the eyes. He kept his eyes on the floor not wanting to show Gabrielle too much of his vulnerable side that morning.
"I just don't feel like partying," Ron said.
"Are you completely ill?" Gabrielle moved a hand to his forehead.
It sounded crazy, but Ron was never one to pass up a good party. He normally was the life of the party, the one that kept that partying going into the wee hours of the morning and sometimes until the next evening.
"You go." Gabrielle put a hand under his chin and lifted his gaze to her own face. She smiled devilishly, "You bring a cute date to distract them--"
Ron laughed.
Gabrielle smiled and pointed a finger at him as if she was teaching him a lesson. "And you choose every word that comes out of your mouth VERY carefully."
Ron laughed more.
"See. You're in the mood to party."
She smiled and leaned forward.
"We'll go and have drinks and you'll dance with me."
(c) 1999-2007 Pit Pat Productions