Quadrennial: Occurring every four years

February 29, 1988

Ron Weasley had to stand on tiptoe to see over the high counter. His mother thought he was outside playing with his brothers and sister, but he'd sneaked inside to have a peak at tonight's desert. The large green birthday cake was pushed to the back of the counter, all frosted and decorated with yellow candy snitches and jellybean Quaffles and black licorice Bludgers. All it was waiting for now was a ring of eight candles (eight!).

He folded his arms on the counter and rested his chin on them, staring contentedly at the birthday cake. He could already taste it. Of course, today wasn't exactly Ron's birthday. Normally his birthday was in March, the first day. Ron liked it because it was the only time he got to be first in anything. Today was the last day of February, a ghost day his father called it this morning. Ron didn't exactly want the one day of the year that was for him to be a ghost day, but his mum had already decided that today was when they would celebrate. She'd made his favorite breakfast and piled his little stack of gifts on the table already, so he'd have to share his day with the ghost. But ghosts were mostly not here anyway, so it wouldn't be too bad.

Cautiously, looking around to make sure his mother wasn't about to come back, Ron reached out a finger and dipped it into the frosting delicately puffed around the bottom edge of the cake.

"Ronald Weasley!"

Ron jumped so bad he nearly fell over, and there was a cackle of laughter from the doorway. Fred and George came into the kitchen and leapt up onto the counter on either side of him. Fred admired the cake, taking a swipe of frosting for himself.

"That's the upside to having six siblings," he said. "You get cake all the time. Mum's done a good job with this one, but it's missing the candles."

"Dad'll put 'em on tonight," Ron told him, sucking the frosting off of his own finger.

"Why not save him the trouble?" George said, pulling open a cupboard door and producing a box of striped birthday candles.

Ron watched suspiciously as his brother drew two candles out and placed them carefully in the top of the cake. Then he put the box away.

"There should be eight," he said with a frown.

"But you're only turning two," George told him as though he were in fact talking to a two-year-old.

"Isn't the wittle baby cute?" Fred added, pinching Ron's cheek.

Ron smacked his hand away. "I'm eight!" he insisted.

The twins exchanged looks as if to say 'isn't he precious?'.

"Sorry Roniekinz, but you know you only get a birthday when the day you were worn comes 'round," George told him.

"You were born on the 29th of February," Fred went on.

"And usually we skip that day. There's only been one other 29th of February since you were born, so really this is only your second birthday."

"Mum just pretends all the other years so you don't feel left out."

"But pretty soon you'll be too big for that and you'll only get a birthday every four years."

"But that's not fair!" Ron exclaimed.

The twins shrugged. "Shouldn't have been born on the forgotten day, should you?"

"You know why they call it the ghost day?" Fred asked, lowering his voice to a spooky tone.

"'Cause all the kids who get born today start to disappear along with leap day," George whispered, joining in.

"They get forgotten, just like today."

"You're lying," Ron interrupted, trying to sound like he didn't believe a word of their story. But his throat was squeezing tight.

"Are we?" George asked mysteriously. "Don't you remember our brother Stu? He was born today, right after Bill but before Charlie."

"Of course he wouldn't remember him," Fred intoned. "He was forgotten."

"You're lying!" Ron repeated, stamping his foot this time.

"Boys? What's going on?" Their mother's head appeared around the door. Immediately her eyes zeroed in on the finger prints in her frosting. Fred and George had already leapt off the counter and bolted for the door. "Wait a moment, you two –" But they were gone.

Mrs. Weasley sighed and crossed the kitchen to repair the damages. "I thought I told you lot to stay outside until your father got home, and to stay away from the cake."

A muffled sniff made her turn to look at her youngest son, still standing motionless in the middle of the kitchen, green frosting painting his fingers guilty. She found the wetness in his blue eyes as instantaneously as she had spotted the finger marks in her frosting.

"What's the matter, sweetheart?" she asked in a much softer voice, running a hand over Ron's hair.

"Did I have a brother called Stu?"

His answer was the last thing she was expecting and she had to work hard not to snort with laughter. But she could tell he was upset about whatever this had to do with.

"No, dear. I know all of my sons' names and not a one of them ever came close to Stu."

But this didn't seem to cheer him up. A shrewd suspicion crept into her mind and she glanced out the window where she could just see the twins running about in the yard.

"What did your brothers tell you?" she asked with a heavy sigh.

Ron was really getting too big for her to lift, but she wasn't quite ready for him to stop being her little boy, so she hoisted him onto the counter anyway, the better to look into his face. It only took one look to coax the story of Stu, the forgotten leap day Weasley out of Ron.

"I want to be eight today, and I don't want to be forgotten!" he wailed.

His mother wrapped him in a tight hug and kissed the top of his head.

"You are definitely eight-years-old today, and nothing in the world could make any of us forget you," she promised. "You know better than to listen to the twins. They just like to wind you up."

"I know," Ron muttered, sniffling some more.

His mother pulled a handkerchief out of her pocket for him.

Ron knew he was too big to cry, too old to let the twins mess with him. But the really scary thing was that when he thought about it, it wasn't so hard to think maybe he was starting to be forgotten sometimes.

"Can I have March first again for my birthday?" he asked his mother. "It comes every year."

Mrs. Weasley laughed a little bit and ruffled his hair. "Yes dear, you can have March first for your birthday every year if you'd like. We like to celebrate you at least once a year."

A/N: Yeah, so this is late. :/ sorry! I sort of maybe procrastinated last night because I got caught up in an amazing book, but double post today! Yay! :) And it's extra-long to make up for it, although the next chapter will probably be shorter…

Anyway, I love Ron :) I thought it would kind of be perfect to have Ron born on the 'forgotten' day. My aunt is, and her birthday is usually March 1st, too. I figured this sort of thing with his mother isn't all that common with all his siblings around to take her attention away.

Well, hope you liked it! See you soon! :D