Harry Potter and all its characters belong to J.K Rowling.
It didn't take long for me to feel really, really good about myself once Hermione decided to become my friend. I told her I had some letters to send and that we wouldn't be there for long, I had been putting this off for a while, even though I had promised my mum that I would write as soon as possible. Maybe it was because I didn't know what to say.
For a minute I considered just telling her everything, about how I was reliving my life, and how I couldn't die till everything was fixed, but she'd laugh at me, or send me to St. Mungo's. I wouldn't be able to change anything whilst sitting in the mental healing ward.
"What is she doing with us?" Harry asked me in a hushed whisper as we made our way down to Hagrid's cabin. Around us, I could see kids running around, and laughing. They were all so carefree, and I was basically living a nightmare and could possibly be going insane. I felt like there was no one I could tell, and right then, as we made our way down to the cabin, I realized just how much I really was alone, and being friends with Hermione was no longer providing me the comfort I thought it should have.
"Ron" Harry said waving a hand in front of me. "Do you just, zone out often?" he asked me. I could tell that he was only half joking. I shook my head, telling him that I'd be fine.
"I don't know" I said, shrugging. "I mean she apologized, and I forgave her, and offered to be her friend-"
"WHAT?" Harry's exclamation had drawn the attention of several people, some scowled, some others laughed upon looking at the expression on his face.
"But Ron" Harry said. "She is really mean"
"She didn't mean it Harry, even you know that" I told him.
"Maybe she didn't" Harry trailed off. "It still doesn't make what she said right though"
"Well, I've forgiven her" I said to him with a tone of finality. "Maybe you should too, if we're nice to her, she'll be nice to us"
"I don't know about this Ron, but for your sake, I'll give her a shot"
"Thank you for giving me a shot" Hermione said from behind, and I smiled. She'd heard everything else. "And I'm sorry for being mean"
Harry looked at me like someone had just hit him with the Stunning spell from the back, he was absolutely mortified. Before he could turn around and start apologizing to Hermione, she waved him off, telling him to let bygones be bygones.
'That's one shot you are not going to regret' I thought to myself before rushing towards Hagrid's cabin.
When we got there, he was standing outside, with a giant, black, boarhound. Now I'm a dog person, my patronus is also a Jack Russell Terrier, and if I was to ever get married, I had dreamed of getting a dog that the kids could play with. Hagrid's dog was called Fang, although a better name would be droopy because it looked ridiculous while it sat there with a droopy expression on its face.
It began jumping up and down in excitement when it saw us, trying to jump up and rest its hands on Harry, or me.
"Back Fang" Hagrid called out. "Yeh bloody dog" his voice was rough, I guess being half a giant does that to you. I turned around to look at Harry and Hermione. Harry was smiling, but Hermione looked downright terrified.
"Don't be scared girl" Hagrid told her. "I don't bite"
I swear I heard Hermione shriek a little.
We went inside and were served with rock cakes while Hagrid regaled me with tales of Charlie, they were pretty close. He continued telling us about the antics of the twins, and slowly the mood in the cabin began relaxing, even Hermione had let go a little and began smiling upon hearing the antics of Fred and George.
"Hagrid" Harry said suddenly, he had been silent for a while. "The day we went to Gringotts to get money, do you remember getting another vault emptied"
It was clear from Hagrid's face that this was a conversation he was not even remotely interested in.
"Yes Harry" he said in his thick accent, which could be difficult to comprehend sometimes. "But I'd rather not talk about that, why don't you tell me about your school instead"
Hermione had been quiet too, and when she heard Harry mention Gringotts break ins and a vault being emptied, she had instantly sat up. She was curious too.
As Harry told Hagrid about Snape, I began talking to Hermione.
"What is he on about?" she asked me. She didn't seem to be pleased by Harry's inquisitive mind.
"Oh, he can get really curious sometimes. I suppose it's kinda cool, you know, being in a daring bank robbery" I told her.
"It wouldn't be daring if people got hurt Ron" Hermione chided me, and I smiled, I wasn't annoyed, I missed this.
"Just let it go" I told her, but I could tell she was not happy about this and was going to try to talk to Harry and tell him not to pursue this any further.
-x-
Nothing gets the blood pumping like a good shag, and a fly around on the broomstick. That's what my brother Charlie had once told me. I was fifteen, and I paled when I heard him tell me that a shag felt good. At that time, my mind had instantly gone to Hermione. Unfortunately for me, I hadn't shagged in my previous life, and I was far away from wanting to in this one, which meant the only way for me to get my blood pumping would be a good fly.
In that case flying lessons were the best things that happened all week.
"I don't understand" Hermione said as she absently waved her broomstick around, changing the color of her socks from red to green. It was what was being taught in the Charms class at the moment. "How can you boys be so excited about flying around on thin sticks, they can't be the best thing for comfort right?" she asked me.
"Spoken like a true non-flier" I told her in a pompous tone. "There is nothing quite like flying Hermione, look, even the Muggle-borns are excited about this one"
It was true, Dean Thomas seemed to be chattering about how great it would be to fly on a broom with his best friend Seamus Finnigan.
"Tha's nothin" Seamus said. "When I was five, I gave me mam a real scare as I got on me broom and flew around the countryside" he told everyone who would listen.
Draco Malfoy had been talking about dodging airplanes all day to anyone who would listen.
"Isn't it silly?" I heard him tell Pansy Parkinson. "That those muggles would need such a big thing to fly around, but we just need a tiny little stick" he had said the word Muggle with such disdain that I was tempted to use the corrupted boil potion Neville had brewed right then and there, but there were other things at hand.
I have to say I wasn't immune to this either, I told different people different stories. I told Harry about the time I almost hit a hang glider when I was out carousing on Charlie's broom. I told Lavender and Parvati about the time I was flying a broom while my brothers sat behind and sent sparks of lights at my other brothers flying a broom. I told Neville that once I flew up so high I almost reached the moon.
"Did you really?" he asked me, he was astounded, but at the same time, what I'd told him was ridiculous and no one would ever believe it.
"Yep" I said with a completely straight face. "But as I got to the Moon, I realized that it was, in fact not a ball of cheese, so I went back"
We made our way down to the grounds at three thirty, and I was delighted that the weather was alright. Today I was going to impress everyone with what a great flier I was. However my day had soured when I remembered what had happened completely. It was Neville, I had to make sure he wasn't hurt too bad, plus his Remembrall was going to be taken from him too.
I knew that I was going to change things, but I did not want to deny Harry the joy of quidditch. After I had left them at the tent and had moved away from the influence of the locket, I'd realized just how much I missed them, both of them, it was all I could think about, making things right. I wanted make things right and Harry playing quidditch just felt one of those things that are right. I was tempted to impress McGonagall myself and take the spot, but this was not the time for it. I could always try out later for the Quidditch team, plus with Wood only being a Fifth year, it was going to be a while before he left.
"Nice day for flying isn't it Weasley?" Malfoy asked me with a smug look on his face. I was half tempted to just empty the contents of the vial on him right then, and there. But I was saving it for something really brutal, something that would hurt and embarrass him.
I merely nodded while Hermione gripped my hands tightly, as though imploring me not to rise up to the challenge.
"Do you even know how to fly?" Malfoy asked me. "Can the Weasley's afford a broom?"
"Can you fly?" I shot right back. "I'd heard that all the Malfoy brooms were shoved up your arse"
People around me laughed when they heard that, Malfoy looked like a kid whose chocolate frog had been snatched from his very hands.
"Ron" Hermione told me, she was really annoyed. "You could get in trouble for that"
"I know, count on it" I told her. She rolled her eyes when I said that.
Then Madam Hooch came down, and she had a no nonsense look on her face, but I already knew that she wasn't that scary. In fact, I don't even remember seeing her that much. We were once told that till there is a foul or something else in quidditch, a referee has to stay invisible, like he's some kind of watchful protector. I reckoned Hooch was a good referee.
"What are you waiting for?" she said, it sounded like she was barking. "Everyone stand by a broomstick"
I looked at my piece of shit of a broomstick and cringed. No one else had a very good broom either, Malfoy almost looked disgusted to even stand in the vicinity of his broom, the bloody ponce.
I looked over at Neville, who was nervously staring at everyone. Hermione didn't look too confident either, this was after all one of the only classes where I could actually beat her (if I wasn't looping that is)
"Don't worry" I flashed her a reassuring smile, and was delighted when she sent me a small smile right back. "It's gonna be alright, you too Neville" I told her. In the background, Hooch asked us to stick our hands over the broomstick.
"Now say 'UP'" Madam Hooch said, as her own broom jumped into her hands.
"Up" I said, pleased to see that the broom jumped right into my hand. I wasn't the only one, Malfoy and Harry had managed to do the same. At least the ponce wasn't lying about flying regularly. Hermione hadn't made any improvement over last time despite my words of encouragement, and that was alright, not everyone was made for flying.
I'm not even the best in my family, but I sure do love it.
Neville was looking scared, it was like he was being confronted by ten thousand Boggarts who were all showing him a very scary Snape. It was hard to believe that this easily scared kid would go on and become the brave guy that he did in our later years, but then again, no one had predicted that my emotional range was going to go above a teaspoon and it seemed to have done just that.
Hooch walked around, I sniggered when I heard her correct Malfoy's form.
"It's the way I've been doing it for years" he had told her defiantly.
"Well I'm sorry to say Mr Malfoy" Hooch said, not looking sorry at all. "You've been doing it wrong"
After what seemed like hours to me (it was getting boring watching other people get their forms corrected. Harry and I had no problem on that end, I'd been doing it for years now and Harry was a natural on the broom. Hermione had given up on saying 'up' and from the corner of my eye I saw her just pick up the broom with a sigh. Neville was already on the broom, looking pink in the face. I resisted the urge to laugh.
"On the count of three" Hooch barked. "You will all gently rise, hover for a bit and then land down" she looked at me threateningly. What the hell was wrong with all these people thinking I was some sort of prankster? "If you do anything funny" she said. "You'll be expelled before you can say the word 'quidditch'" she told us. I couldn't help but laugh, no way was anyone going to be expelled for that.
'Riddle was a dark lord and he got Head Boy, and they're gonna kick me out for flying?' I thought to myself. Hypocrites.
Well, the predictable thing happened and Neville lost control of the broom, what was not predictable was me not being able to control myself again. I kicked off instantly, flying towards the dangling form of Neville. I caught him and hoisted him on my broom, as Neville's broom fell twenty feet to the ground, I realized my mistake.
Without Hooch, Harry wouldn't get noticed, and he wouldn't be on the Quidditch team.
'Okay' I thought to myself. 'Be rational Ron'
In the distant background I could hear applause, and I felt like they were going to burst into a rendition of 'Weasley Is Our King' and sing songs about my first great save on a broom.
I began wobbling. "Neville" I shouted. "No matter what happens, stay on the broom"
"Where are you going?" he asked me with a lot of fear in his voice.
"THE HOSPITAL WING" I shouted as I closed my eyes and fell off the broom.
I really fucking hope Harry appreciates what a good friend I am and forgives me for leaving him in a lurch after this incident.
-x-
"And then McGonagall saw me catch the Remembrall" Harry said excitedly. They were in the hospital wing. I had been knocked out when I hit the ground and came to in the hospital wing. Hermione was there too, she looked worried.
"Honestly Harry" she said in a bossy tone. "Is Quidditch all that matters, our best friend could have died today"
Harry raised his eyebrow at the best friend comment but did not say anything.
"Hermione" I said to her, for some reason, I felt pretty tired. "Let it go, it was only a twenty foot drop"
Both Harry and Hermione looked positively aghast at that. "You got Malfoy good" I said looking at Harry, who grinned.
"Seriously Ron, something could have happened to you" Hermione said as she got up in a huff. "Can you please take your life seriously?" she asked me. "And can you take a mere game not as seriously?" she asked Harry before storming out of the wing.
"She's just worried about you" Harry said trying to defend her. "She was really nervous when you hadn't woken up for a while, I had to stop her from going to the library and look for a cure" I laughed at that.
"That's okay" I told him. "Congratulations man, the youngest seeker in a century right?" I asked him. Harry's smile faded and he began feeling guilty.
"I don't know Ron" he said to me. "I mean you had to fall off a broom for me to get picked for this team"
"Yes" I told him. "And you better remember that"
I was out of the wing as soon as I woke up, Madam Pompfrey had fixed me up pretty well and told me to take it easy for a while, but that I was fit to leave, and so I did. Hermione seemed glad that I was healthy again, and smiled at me when I came back to the dorm. I ran into McGonagall outside, who told me that what I'd done was the stupidest yet the bravest thing she'd seen a first year do, and decided to cut ten points for being reckless and gave me ten points for being brave.
'Just wait' I thought to myself as I watched her walk away. 'Just wait till this year is over'
The reception I got in the common room was pretty great. It seemed like it was a joint party for both Harry and me. The twins had even managed to get some butterbeer. Hermione wasn't happy that rule breaking had led to Harry getting on the quidditch team but the festivity of the situation meant that she wasn't complaining about it.
We were accosted by Malfoy and his cronies as we were eating dinner later that night.
"When are you going back on the train Potter?" he asked Harry with a snide look on his face.
"Look at you" Harry said. "You're brave now that you have your lackeys behind you"
"You know" Malfoy said. "I can prove to you how good I am, how about you and I have a wizard's duel at midnight?" he asked Harry.
"Piss off Malfoy" I said to him, which made Hermione scowl and Neville jump. "Go take your wand and stick it up your-"
"YES I GET IT. MY ARSE" Malfoy shouted, the room that was completely abuzz with laughter and noises of people eating was now suddenly dead quiet. "You know what, you're going to pay for that" he told me.
"What are you going to do?" I asked him. "You need to pull the wand out of your-"
"Don't" Malfoy interrupted me. "Are you going to be his second or not?" he asked me.
"Who's yours?"
Malfoy looked at Crabbe and Goyle, sizing them up, before saying that he was going to pick Crabbe. We agreed to meet in the Trophy Cabinet and then Malfoy stormed off.
"Ron" Fred said to me with an earnest expression on his face. "I'm really proud of you"
"What is a wizard's duel?" Harry asked me. I explained what it was to him, before reassuring him that he and Malfoy weren't going to have some kind of grand fight and it was going to be more stuff like shooting sparks and the like.
"He's not going to show up" I told him. "We shouldn't either"
"What do you mean we shouldn't show up?" he asked me. "It's going to make us look like cowards"
I sighed, if this was my first time on this thing, I'd be itching to fight Malfoy, but he was only trying to get us in trouble. This was also the day we had discovered Fluffy, the adorable music loving three headed dog. I could let things play out as they generally do and discover the dog along with Harry, while risking detention, or drawing Hermione's ire. But I wasn't interested in doing either of those things.
"Listen, what do you think he's going to do?" I asked Harry. "We aren't good enough to fight duels, he knows that, I know that, he's trying to get us into trouble, which is what is going to happen if we go there" I told him. "Let's lay off on that idea alright?" I asked him.
It took some convincing, but finally Harry reluctantly agreed not to go chasing Malfoy and seeking a duel.
"It's a good thing you don't actually believe Malfoy" Hermione told me later, "It's pretty obvious what he was trying to do"
The one thing I was going to do differently this time was wander around, and find the third floor on my own. Another reason was that I was trying to look for some more books in the restricted section, books that would help me defend myself better, spells that were going to help me mold the future into a nice, convenient pretzel that everybody could stomach, and how hard could that be really?
It was with slight trepidation that I cast a Disillusionment Charm on myself, hoping to whoever it was above that it would work. I checked myself out in the mirror and it did seem like it was holding up. Obviously, it was not Harry's cloak, but you'd have to look really closely to find anything, while it'd give me time to bail if someone suspected anything. I just hoped that I wouldn't run into any teachers, like Snape, and Dumbledore, who were good at finding this kind of stuff.
As I made my way to the library, I found the classroom. I'd been here before of course, a long, long time ago. I was only a kid then. Hell, I'm not that much older now, I'm still mentally only around eighteen years old, but I'm still older than what I was back then.
How could I forget something like this, it was the mirror. Wasn't it called the Mirror Of Erised or something? Harry had brought me here, telling me that it was something that showed you your family. Of course, that wasn't the case as Harry later told me, it showed you your deepest desires, what your heart truly wanted.
And for some reason, I wanted to see what my heart truly desired.
When I entered the classroom, I was glad to see that it was still there. For some reason, it was less dustier than I remembered it, or maybe it was not that dusty at all.
I came across the mirror, and the inscription.
Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi
Of course, when looked at in reverse, what it really said was 'I show not your face, but your heart's desire'
'Cute' I thought to myself as I stood in front of the mirror, waiting to see what it was I really desired. I took off my Disillusionment Charm.
When I saw the picture, I was breath taken. It wasn't what I had seen last time. When I was truly young, I realized that I had desired things that in the long run held no meaning. I had wanted to be a head boy, and the Quidditch Captain. I'd be lying to myself if I said that I deserved either of those things. Better people deserved it, and maybe I was just not ready to accept that.
This time what it showed me was different. It was Hermione, and I. We were holding hands, and smiling. She seemed to have a big belly. She was carrying my child.
I don't know how long I stood there, staring. But then a gust of cold wind distracted me, I whipped around, only to see nothing. That was when I realized how dangerous this mirror was, just how alluring it could be. As tempting as this was turning out to be, I knew I couldn't be here. Not today, not any other day.
"Get your head together" I said, with a little bit of bitterness in my voice. "This is not real"
"Indeed it isn't Mr Weasley" a voice called out. Of course, it had to be Dumbledore. I always screw everything up.
"It's not what it looks like" I told him, perhaps a little too quickly.
"I think Mr Weasley" Dumbledore said with a smile on his face and mirth on his voice, "This is exactly what it looks like"
"I was trying to go to the library" I told Dumbledore. "I wanted to finish some homework" that was obviously a lie, a lie I hoped Dumbledore, a master Legilmens was going to buy.
"Isn't it very alluring Ronald?" Dumbledore asked me. "Too see what your heart truly desires? To see it come to reality, if not in this world then in the world of the mirror?"
I nodded, suddenly my throat felt like it had jammed, maybe it was the emotions.
"What do you see?" I asked him, my voice barely a whisper. Dumbledore picked up on it, because he seemed concerned. I knew he was a manipulator, I had always known that he was lying to get things done, maybe it was for something greater than anything anyone of us mere mortals could comprehend, but in that moment I saw Dumbledore for the man that he was before he died. He could have been like other people and could have punished him, but Dumbledore cared. He cared about everyone, he cared about the bad students, and he cared about the good ones too. The look of concern in his eyes had me surprised for a bit, and strangely moved.
"Ronald?" Dumbledore asked me. "Are you okay?"
I nodded. "What do you see?" I asked him, much better this time.
"I see myself holding a pair of new socks Mr Weasley" he said to me, the mirth back in his tone. But I knew he was lying, he saw something much more. Maybe it was because I had seen something I could have had, and lost, or maybe it was just me being older and slightly wiser, Dumbledore was lying.
"That can't be true" I told him. "You see something else, don't you?" I asked him. Dumbledore looked taken aback by that question, almost like he wasn't expecting me to demonstrate that kind of perception.
"You shouldn't underestimate yourself too much Ronald" He told me. "You are far more smarter than you give yourself credit for" he continued.
I knew I was blushing. Even though in the dark, you probably couldn't tell. He was after all the greatest wizard to maybe have ever lived.
"Yes, I don't see myself holding a pair of socks, but it seemed like an answer I am ready to deal with Ronald" he told me. "You see, this mirror, is dangerous. Many a great man have been lost standing and staring in front of it. Don't be that person Mr Weasley"
I nodded. "Professor" I told him. "I won't come here, but I don't think you should move the mirror"
He seemed interested when I said that. "What made you think I was moving this mirror Mr Weasley?" he asked me.
"Others are going to find them, and while it is dangerous, it still is a good lesson don't you think?" I asked him. He chuckled.
"That sounds like something I would say" he told me. "Very well, I agree, it should be left here, for testing other people, but I'd better not see you here again Mr Weasley" he told me. "Now while I don't like giving out detentions, Argus wouldn't be so generous. I suggest you sneak your way back into the dormitory. Good night" he told me and walked away, his robe sweeping the ground. I watched him leave, awed.
"What a crackpot" I said out loud when he was out of sight.
-x-
I decided to exact my revenge on Malfoy the next day. As I walked in to breakfast, he seemed surprised to see Harry and I both walking around, not bothered by any of the things that he assumed happened last night. Hermione waved and Harry waved back, walking over. I told him that I had some business to attend to, and walked towards the Slytherin table.
"Your table is that way Weasel" Crabbe called out as I approached. With his child like voice, he was hardly intimidating.
"I know you idiot" I told him. "I'm surprised you were able to string a sentence together"
Daphne Greengross and Tracey Davis chuckled at that. Malfoy looked worried, a look I decided suited him well.
"Now listen here" I told Malfoy. "I know what you were planning on doing, but it didn't work. It will never work, because I'm smarter than you"
People sitting nearby perked up, waiting for a confrontation.
"Try something like that again, try even thinking of doing something like that again, and I'll make you regret being born" I told him, and much to my delight, he was intimidated. I did know how to do that after all.
"Hey Ron" Neville told me. "Where were you last night?" he asked me. "I came to bed at around two and you weren't there"
"I was staring at the moon Neville. I was kinda hoping that it really was a big ball of cheese" I told him, with a wink.
"What's going on Harry?" I asked my best friend, who was looking contemplative.
"Well, now that you ask, I've been thinking about that Gringotts robbery"
I made it a point to roll my eyes. I had forgotten just how inquisitive Harry could get sometimes, he really did have an urge to find trouble.
"Didn't I tell you to drop that?" I asked him. "What's the point of digging into something that is not our business?" Hermione nodded when I said that.
I knew he wasn't going to drop it, I was counting on him not dropping it. But it couldn't seem like it was coming from me. Harry Potter had to defeat You-Know-Who, that's how the prophecy went, or something like that. He couldn't be the person he was if his experiences hadn't shaped him. That meant throwing him in a lot of danger for no reason, and this was going to be his first encounter with the so called dark lord, which meant this was something he couldn't miss.
"I think Dumbledore hid it in Hogwarts" he told me, completely ignoring my last sentence. "It makes total sense now, why the third floor is cordoned off. It's because Dumbledore has hidden whatever was in the package there"
"You know" I began. "I really think-"
I couldn't really say anything because this was the moment owls began flooding the great hall, bringing the letters for the day. I did manage to send a letter, not before getting chastised by my mother for falling off a broomstick, and Charlie asking me if I was alright because I always seemed alright on a broom to him. I wanted to tell him that I fell off on purpose, risking my life and limb so that my best friend could play in a quidditch team, but how the hell was I going to write that down. I'm not that good a writer.
What distracted everyone was a big package, that looked suspiciously like a broomstick, being carried by owls that looked like they would drop dead any second. Those broomsticks were very heavy after all. This was Harry's first broomstick, the Numbus Two Thousand, and just like that, I felt a slight flicker of jealousy. He had something I could never afford, and when this broom would break, he'd get a Firebolt. I'd have to work for years just to be able to afford a decent broom.
'Fuck you Ron Weasley' I said to myself. Maybe I was trying to make myself feel more bad and less jealous, I don't know. Maybe I was fooling myself, and this was all just a big joke. I knew that I had no reason to feel jealous, and yet I was. I was feeling jealous of an eleven year old kid.
I stared in silence as Harry admired the broomstick, and there were appreciative 'Ooohs' and 'Aaahs' on both ends of the table. Malfoy came over and probably said something offensive, but I didn't even listen, I didn't even care.
"I need to go" was the first, and last thing I said. Just like that, I left.
The funniest thing about all this is that I wasn't really all that jealous the first time this happened, and yet I was this time. I wondered if I could have let Neville get hurt, and then taken the glory all for myself. That was something I most certainly could have done, maybe I even would have at some point. I made my way to the Room of Requirement, this wasn't a problem that could be solved normally.
'I need firewhiskey' I thought to myself, pacing in front of the room. I almost groaned when the door materialized and I stepped in.
I got into trouble, but it wasn't too bad all things considered. I only lost fifty points and was stared at with hatred and disgust for the next week or so, while Harry and Hermione were puzzled as to why I would do what I had done.
-x-
Halloween had come, and I had mostly forgotten about the incident. I was filled with so much self doubt when it had happened, I wondered if I could even carry on with the mission I had given myself.
I was mostly a ghost, not really giving a single shit about anything that was happening. It was going through the motions, I did not enjoy any of it. I just kept going. Malfoy apparently had decided to wage some sort of war against me for threatening him the way I did, and I had almost been jinxed by a couple of fifth year Slytherins. My reflexes meant that I managed to escape, but that had angered me.
"This means war" I told Fred and George later, as I absently felt the vial of the screwed up Boil Cure potion Neville had made for me.
It was charms class, and how could I forget this. This was a day before we had become fast friends the first time we had done this. Hermione and I, it was here I'd shown just how jealous I could be. But it was also here that I should have figured out that listening to Hermione Granger wasn't always a bad idea.
This time things were different though, I was doing well in class, which meant I was partnered with Neville and Harry and Dean were partnered up. This meant Hermione and Seamus were partners. The lesson sure did move along much better than the last time I remembered it. The problem really occurred when the class was over. I told Hermione that I had some letters to owl, as I made my way back from the owlery, I saw Pansy Parkinson, Millicent Bullstrode and Draco Malfoy. They were talking to Hermione, or more like bullying her, and laughing at her. She was in tears.
I was filled with rage, rage like I had never felt before, and all of a sudden I was shaken out of my funk. Hermione was in trouble and needed saving, and I was going to do it.
"OY" I shouted, running over to Malfoy and his two bitches. "I don't believe it, you found yourself a female Crabbe and Goyle" I said in mock surprise. "They look like cows too"
Pancy and Millicent began shouting, but Malfoy stopped them.
"Come here to defend your Mudblood friend Weasley?" he asked me. "Why do you even spend time with her, if not for you, she'd have no friends. She's a nightmare"
Oh oh. Hermione let out a gasp, and then ran in the opposite direction. I was seeing all kinds of red now. Now was not the time to get in trouble though, I had to go to the bathroom and make sure Hermione was alright.
"Listen Malfoy" I told him. "You got lucky this time, but always sleep with one eye open, because I'm coming for you" I told him. "And you two cows as well, you're all done"
-x-
"Can you just stop crying and come out?" I asked Hermione.
"Leave me alone Ron" she said to me, between tears.
"I'm not going to leave you alone, you're my friend after all"
"Why am I your friend?" she asked me. Maybe she thought it was a difficult question, but it wasn't a difficult question. The correct answer to that would be because I loved her and if I couldn't have her as my girlfriend, I could at least be her friend, but I suppose telling a twelve year old that wasn't the right option.
"That is such a simple question" I told her. "You're smart, and you're bossy, you piss a lot of people off, but your heart is in the right place, and you might not know how to express it properly, but you care" I told her. "And you will learn how to express it properly, I'm sure, but seriously, crying in the bathroom won't do anything, so please come out, and let's go to the Halloween feast because I'm hungry"
There was silence for a bit but finally the door opened and she came out, her eyes were red but her cheeks were pink. What I'd said had gotten to her.
"That was a very good answer" she told me as we walked back to the dorm.
For the first time in a long time, I felt better. For once, it felt like I had all the answers. Now all I had to do was make sure Malfoy got his just dues, and I knew what I had to do.
-x-
So that's it. Tell me what you thought of this chapter.