Dissindere Temporalis

So this chapter was weirdly hard to write. I knew exactly what I wanted from this chapter, but Ron's voice sometimes eluded me. I think I've been writing too many Slytherins!

Thank you to everyone who reviews and sticks with this story.

I hope you enjoy.

Interdum Virtus Opus Est

"What you give comes back to you. It's not tit for tat – life isn't that simple – but what you give always comes back to you."

— Anne Bishop

Ron had a theory that their Fourth Year was cursed.

Not actually cursed, like the Defence Against The Dark Arts job had been, just problems always seemed to crop up around this age.

The first time around there had been the whole debacle of the Tri-Wizard Tournament.

Harry's name being submitted as a way for Voldemort to attack him, Harry being ostracised from the rest of the school, Rita Skeeters smearing, and all the rest of it. There had also been Sirius on the run, Ron and Harry not talking for far too long because Ron had been an idiot, Cedric Diggory's death and how it had affected Harry, and also the Yule Ball fiasco.

Honestly it was a wonder any of them had managed to survive that year at all.

In hindsight it had not been his best year, jealous over Krum and Hermione, resentful of Harry being Champion… embarrassed over publicly asking out Fleur.

Yeah…

It hadn't been his best year.

But it had also been the turning point. The turning point from a yearly quest to keep Harry alive, to actual war.

The Harry that had come back from the graveyard had not been the Harry who'd entered the maze.

The Harry that had returned had been scarred, both literally and figuratively, and the wounds had gone deep.

Sometimes Ron wondered if they'd ever truly healed.

But as far as Fourth Year went, it had been a hell of a year then.

This was the second go round and again, Fourth Year had kicked off with a bang. Walburga attacking and nearly killing Tom, Tom's discovery of his ancestry, the visions of All Hallows Eve, and finally, Harry's revealing of their past, and the future that was now beyond everyone's reach.

It was yet again a turning point.

It was, yet again, messy.

Fourth Year was definitely cursed.

Things were still awkward as January drew to a close.

Everyone was still hesitant around each other, unsure, and this was due, in large part, to Harry and Tom still not being entirely reconciled.

They were cordial, polite, but it was different. Tom was more guarded, and spent more of his relaxing time with Sebastian and plotted more with Aurora.

Which was terrifying all on its own.

Ron had long ago reasoned that he was never going to get on Selwyn's bad side. That girl had a ruthless streak that she backed up with brains and cunning schemes. Thankfully she was on their side, and she listened to suggestions.

At some point after the Christmas break, Tom and Malfoy had, apparently, had a heart to heart. The end result was that Malfoy had stopped flinching every time Tom even looked in his direction, which was positive at least, and it meant that Malfoy was, irritatingly, the first of them that Tom had really forgiven.

The two were both entirely too Slytherin, Ron suspected it would stop them ever being the best of friends, but they understood each other now.

They respected each other now.

So that was something.

The Hufflepuff was holding it all together at the moment, Ron was pretty sure he was the only one to really notice that Hawthorne was the one everyone talked to. And the one that everyone felt safe speaking to, honestly. He was also sure he was the only one to notice the strain it was putting on her, and how tired she was beginning to look.

She would never complain. It wasn't the Hufflepuff way.

But Ron could see that she was almost at the end of her tether.

He just wasn't sure what to do about it.

"A moment of your time please, before you all rush out the door," Professor Merrythought's voice broke into his thoughts one afternoon.

It was the last class of the day, and was the only class a week that the entirety of the Fourth Year attended together, rather than being split into two. After doing some practical work at the beginning of the class, focused largely around counterspelling, they'd all been reading some spell guides that Tia had provided, getting some of their homework done before the weekend.

She was good like that.

"You are all coming along very well," she informed them, smiling brightly, "Remember that there are two facets of Defense, one are your OWL's and your NEWT's, the curriculum mandated learning that you will be expected to achieve…" and here she cocked her head, "And also the ability to defend yourselves should you ever need it. I do not wish to receive a letter some day saying how one of you failed to protect yourselves when needed."

A titter went around the classroom, and Professor Merrythought smiled indulgently, but Ron was almost certain she hadn't been joking.

"There are formal duels, these are competitions, structured, guided, and they favour technique and power." her lips curved up, "But a magical fight… that is very different. It favours quick thinking, sharp wits and a certain ability to ignore the rules."

This got a bigger laugh, and Ron glanced at Harry. His friend, in their former life, hadn't had the most extensive spell list, but he'd often been able to hold his own, through a combination of luck and swift thinking. Hermione had swung between the two styles, sometimes too stuck to the rules, and the rest…

Sharp thinking.

"With the unrest abroad, I think, and the Headmaster agrees, that you, and the older years, should get more training in how to handle yourselves, in both formal duelling competitions, and more… freestyle melee events. This will be optional, but I strongly recommend you all avail yourselves of it. It will begin in two weeks, and you Fourth Years will be on Thursday evenings."

The bell to signal the end of classes for the day boomed out, and Professor Merrythought waved them off, with a smile, "Have a good weekend, and I hope to see many of you at the Defense Club."

"We're going right?" Ross asked as the fourteen of them bundled together in the hallway, brown eyes bright and eager, "It sounds great!"

"I don't know about great," Victoria nudged him with her hip and Ross grinned at her, "But it does sound interesting at least."

"I'm definitely going," Harry shrugged, but Ron could see that his best mate was just as interested as the rest, "She's right, there's definitely a difference between formal duelling and..fighting."

Everyone glanced at each other, and Tom huffed a sigh, "We're all going. I for one do not plan on letting my skills stagnate."

"I'm going to thrash you Weasley!" Ross called out to him, grinning broadly, "You wait."

"Yeah you keep telling yourself that, Robins." Malfoy sneered, winking at Ron, "Weasley and I have a long put off duel waiting for us."

Ron laughed, remembering the Duelling Club, and his broken wand.

Everyone headed for the Great Hall, chattering animatedly about everything they might learn.

But out of the corner of his eyes, Ron saw Tom's dark gaze shift over them all to lock onto Harry.

Something complicated shifted over his face, competitiveness, eagerness, wariness, uncertainty… all flickered there so briefly they barely registered. And then Tom's face shifted back to impassivity once more.

"Tom's going to thrash everyone," Aurora observed, sniffing haughtily, "He's the most powerful."

"And yet," Kel murmured back, voice soft as she fell into step beside them, "Harry defeated a version of him once before. He remembers it, even if it wasn't our Tom. I wouldn't count him out."

"True…" Druella grinned, "This is going to be so interesting."

"Ron," He glanced up in surprise as Kara thumped down beside him in a comfy armchair in Gryffindor tower.

It was one of the evenings where most of the group was busy with their own activities, and so he'd elected to spend the evening in the Common Room. It was still strange, even after 3 years, to not see Harry and Hermione nearby, or any of his siblings. It gave him a jolt every time he saw Finn Weasley, the boy who was his distant cousin, and who was in his year. He always reminded him so strongly of each of his brothers in turn.

Moody was off in a corner of the space, as always shadowed and hanging out with Julietta Alixan, the descendant of a Gryffindor Quidditch Captain from the 17th century, and the bullheaded Peter Vane. The three had been thick as thieves from the first night in the Castle and both Alixan and Vane seemed to agree with Moody's assessment that Ron was a 'traitor' because of his friends.

Thankfully it meant that the three tended to keep their distance from him, convinced their indifference and exclusion would be enough of a punishment. It was honestly a bit amusing, the thought that their petty 'payback' would affect him at all. But since it kept them at a distance, Ron was reluctant to disabuse them of the notion.

Ross was off participating in the gobstones club, apparently not caring how completely dorky it was. Which left Ron and Kara alone in their corner of the Gryffindor Common Room.

He glanced up at his fellow redhead and blinked as he took in her expression.

"What's wrong?"

"What makes you think something is wrong?" she blinked at him, forehead still scrunched in the way it always did when she was worried.

"You look like something's wrong?" Ron pointed out, and leaned back in his chair.

He'd always liked Kara.

She was straightforward, clever, and liked a good joke as much as the next person, and on top of that, she was fun to talk to.

She wasn't a walking encyclopaedia like Hermione. Nor was she a bundle of inevitable chaos like Harry.

She was just Kara, his friend, and thankfully, such a Gryffindor that it made her both safe, and familiar.

Slytherins were just exhausting.

Now, however, she gnawed her bottom lip hesitantly, before opening her mouth again.

"Ron, was it different? In your… time? The whole mudblood thing?"

Ron felt a flash of anger at hearing that term on her lips, and immediately bonked his shoulder against hers.

"That term is something that should die in fiendfyre, Kara."

She sighed softly, "And yet that's how they see me. Dirty, unworthy. Mudblood."

"Don't talk about yourself like that." he ordered, meeting her soft hazel eyes with his blue, "You're a witch, you've got more magic than most of them, and you belong here, no matter what some wizened up ballbags think."

Kara snickered, obviously scandalised but also amused, "Ron!"

"What!" he grinned, "It's the truth. And no. It wasn't fixed in our time. It was a much murkier subject with Voldemort and all that." the last part was murmured, quieter, "So no, it wasn't fixed, but it didn't stop being wrong either."

The red haired girl smiled faintly, but the little furrow of worry on her forehead remained, "What… what if they're right?"

Ron stared at her, "Are you mental?" he scoffed after a moment, "There's no way."

"A good discussion looks at all sides-"

"This isn't a discussion." he growled vehemently, "If you're talking about people's rights, their existence, the ridiculous notion that anyone's life or happiness is less than someone else's then it's not a discussion. They aren't right. They are definitely, profoundly wrong."

"But-"

"No." he reached out, grabbing her hand firmly, "Kara I want you to hear me. There is no way. If there were a million different timelines, they would be wrong in every single one. And in every single one you are worth as much as anyone else in this castle."

Something like relief flickered over her face, and Ron couldn't help but wonder where the hell they'd gone wrong that their muggle-born friend was doubting herself this badly, "I didn't want to assume…"

"How is it assuming?" he was firm, insistent, "We've always seen you as one of us, a bloody brilliant witch in your own right."

Kara smiled, and there was an almost painful relief to it, "Really? I mean I thought so, but when Black said-"

She caught herself, but the damage was done, and Ron felt his temper surge.

"Black?" he growled, "What the hell did she say?"

Kara looked down.

Oh, Ron was going to throttle her.

Of course she hadn't given up, Blacks were stubborn idiots to their core and Walburga was no different. She couldn't strike at Tom now, she'd made her move there and failed, so she'd turned her attention to those he spent his time with, those he considered his.

And of course she'd started with the sweet, brave Muggleborn girl.

"Why would you listen to her?"

"She didn't say it to me… just… I overheard it."

Merlin's breath, Slytherins were so damn sneaky.

"Staged." Ron snarled, "To get in your head."

"I mean…" Kara hesitated, "Can you say she was wrong?"

"Probably, it depends," Ron leaned in, "What did she say?"

Kara hesitated.

Ron glared.

"She said," Kara bit her lip, "She said that if Tom was truly Slytherin's descendant then I must be…" she faltered, "I must be the example for a lack of good breeding, to show people how good blood will always be… better…"

Ron made a noise rather like a tea-kettle. Actually it was a noise rather like Hermione, when she got really agitated…

"Because no true Heir of Slytherin would have a Mudblood around unless it was to prove… prove the superiority of…"

She couldn't finish and honestly Ron couldn't blame her.

It was vile. It was repulsive.

It was the perfect doubt that would niggle away at someone, especially someone as good as Kara.

"Come on," He grabbed her hand, and dragged her up on her feet, whisking them out of the Common Room.

"Ron, where are we going?" Kara's voice was worried now, "Tell me you're not going to confront her…"

"Oh no," Ron growled, storming down the hall, "She's safe. For now."

"I just, this isn't something to worry the others about…"

"Not all of them."

Kara tugged on his arm, trying to drag him to a stop, but ended up just trotting behind him, "Ron, please… I don't want them to worry…"

"Tough,"

"Ron!"

He turned to face her.

She was flushed, her eyes were wet, and there was a world of fear on her face.

And he realised that a part of her expected this to be laughed off, to be dismissed or ignored as unimportant.

She thought she was unimportant.

"Do you trust me?"

"Ron…"

"Kara," he squeezed her wrist gently, "Trust me…"

"Ron…" she floundered, "It's not important."

"What's not important?"

Sometimes he really loved that Riddle had all the timing of someone blessed with felix felicis.

Kara paled, and Ron grinned as he turned to face the Slytherin, who had been coming up one of the side passages, clearly heading, as they had been, towards the Room of Requirement.

His dark eyes flicked between them, unsure, but frowning.

"Black attacked Kara." Ron informed him, and something rolled through the air like a magical thunderstorm.

"She did what." There was something in the other boy's voice that promised violence, but Kara was not having it.

"She didn't attack me!" Kara yanked her arm out of Ron's grip and glared, "She just said some stuff-"

"Like?" Tom's voice was soft, almost silky, and he moved up to stand between them, weight shifted to face her.

Kara paused, and then she glared at Ron, who smirked back.

"You tricked me." she growled.

Ron chuckled, having known that Kara hurrying to clarify his words would leave her open to having to explain exactly what had gone on, "Come on, let's go inside. This isn't a conversation for a hallway.."

Tom nodded, and gestured for Kara to lead the way as they headed up to the Room.

Once inside, Kara fussed with some cushions on a couch and Ron sighed, moving forward to grip her shoulder.

"You need to tell him Kara."

Kara's hazel eyes shifted to pleading, before flickering over to meet Tom's steady, intent, indigo gaze.

"It's nothing…"

"Clearly it is something." Tom murmured, frowning slightly, "What did she say to you Kara?"

Kara's mouth opened, and closed, and Ron sighed, "She said the only reason you have Kara around is because you're using her to prove the inferiority of all 'mudbloods'." he felt something surge in the air, magic he was sure, and he was also sure that it was Tom's, "And she said it where she knew Kara would hear."

"Ron! She might not have known…."

"Oh she would have known." Tom's face was dark now, thunderous, before the clouds seemed to lift and he moved forward. Ron stepped back as Tom hesitantly, carefully, took her hand in his. Slowly his thumb brushed over her pulse, a gentle, soothing caress, "Kara… I don't want you to believe a word she said."

"Tom." Kara swallowed, "What if she's right? What if I'm not…"

"No." Tom's voice was firm, heavy with certainty, and for a moment Ron envied him. Tom was in complete command, the air was almost rich with it, and there was no way to doubt his words.

He wished people would believe him like this.

"She is incorrect. More than that…she is fundamentally, and completely and utterly, wrong."

The redhead laughed weakly, "That's almost exactly what Ron said."

Tom's dark eyes flicked to him, warming for a moment, before they locked back onto Kara's face, "He's correct. We are correct."

Kara's eyes gleamed with tears, "Are you sure?"

Tom's lips curved up in a slow smirk, "I am certain. You are worth more than any of them Kara, simply because of the woman you are. You are a blessing, magic returned to our world. It is their own foolishness that turns that gift away. And if you ever doubt it, come to me, any of us. We'll all reassure you of your place. You belong here, with us."

Kara nodded, holding herself together, but there was a waver in her voice, "Well if you're sure."

"If you don't believe me you could always ask Potter, or the Hufflepuff," Tom remarked dryly, "Harry wouldn't leave you alone, for ensuring that you absolutely believed him, and Tierra would bury you in blankets and cookies and cuddles."

"Does she bury you in cookies and cuddles?" Ron remarked, smirking at the Slytherin who shot him a glare.

"As if I would allow that." he sniffed, "Cookies and cuddles are suitable for Gryffindors, not Slytherins."

Ron and Kara rolled their eyes at each other, and Ron was pleased to see that the tension was eased from her face.

She looked happier than she'd been in weeks, and he kicked himself from having missed it for so long.

He was still kicking himself when she excused herself back to the tower to finish off the work she'd left there.

He stopped when Riddle lingered, waiting for the door to close behind her, before he turned to him.

"You're smarter than you act, Weasley."

Ron frowned slightly, bemused, "Was that a compliment or an insult Riddle?" he asked, comfortable enough with the other boy to do so.

"Just an observation." Tom's gaze was dark, intent, "You use humour to deflect, temper to shield. But you're smarter than most people would realise…I think."

Ron sighed, and turned to face him, "Thanks, I think."

The corner of Tom's lips curved up and then his gaze intensified a little, all humour falling away, "Why did you come back Weasley? Out of all of them… you had the most to lose. Your family… your place as a hero…it can't have been easy, always being second best to Potter," He stepped forward, "So why?"

The old Ron, the teenager who had been fourteen the first time around probably would have snapped at the question, insulted and angry.

But Ron wasn't that boy anymore. Just as Harry wasn't the boy whose name had come out of the Goblet, just as Hermione wasn't the girl who'd set up Dumbledore's Army, just as Malfoy wasn't the little git who'd been turned into a ferret and been bounced by a Death Eater in disguise.

"Harry and Hermione grew up in the Muggle world. Like you," he informed him, deciding to be brutally honest, "I grew up loved, protected, sometimes overlooked but always loved." He stepped forward, keeping their gazes locked, "It meant that I was slower to realise the problems with the world. Things were the way they were. I accepted them. It took me longer to see the problems, but once I did… once I did they couldn't be ignored anymore. They hit home harder for me, because they shook the foundations of everything I'd been raised with."

"And Malfoy?"

"Malfoy…" Ron chuckled weakly, "Malfoy grew up in this world, and with problems that are even more obvious to him. But he grew up with a silver spoon. He grew up with the people who lost. My side supposedly won…but there were problems ingrained there too. This… drastic option? This actually seemed like the best choice."

"And what about me, Weasley?" Tom moved forward, so they were standing closer together, "Why did you choose to try and shape me?"

It was a dangerous question.

Ron decided to be honest, he was a Gryffindor after all.

"Harry wanted to. Harry was the one that…knew you. He understood you. I've learned to trust him. Hermione too." he folded his arms easily, "Any time in history would have been fine by me. I had no personal stake in…you."

Tom's gaze remained steady, "And now?"

"Now?" Ron felt his lips curl in a small smile, "Now you're my friend. I know you, I've spent 3 years at your back, and I see what Harry already knew. You deserved a chance Tom. And if you decide to throw it away and muck everything up then I'll be there with Harry when he faces you down. As he inevitably will have to, should you make that choice."

The dark eyed boy considered him intently, "You consider me a friend?"

"Yeah," Ron nodded, smiling a little more broadly, "Now that I know you're not as arrogant as you sound."

Tom's laugh was a sharp little sound, but the smile on his lips was honest, surprised, "Agreed. Now that I am aware that you are not as big a fool as you pretend."

"Who's pretending?" he winked, "I'm just a Gryffindor Tom."

"So all Gryffindor's are fools?" Tom's grin back was razor sharp, "Noted."

He shoved him, like he would Harry, like he would have any of his brothers.

And for all that Tom huffed like he was insulted.

Ron could tell he was faking it.

He was pleased.

He'd completely forgotten it was Valentine's Day until he saw a pair of seventh years exchanging flowers and gifts in the Gryffindor Common Room on his way to breakfast.

It had been a tradition mostly ignored the previous three years, their group being young enough that no one was really interested in such displays. But Ron had begun to notice a few of the group blushing now and again, and the girls giggling together every so often.

Apparently the hormones had kicked in.

But he hadn't really considered anyone that way.

And if he ever thought of a beautiful, doll-like face, and blonde hair like spun faerie silk, well… he certainly didn't tell anyone about it.

Still he had rather suspected that things would stay the same this year, as it had been for the previous three.

He'd been wrong.

"Merlin's beard." Ross sniggered, coughing into his juice to hide his laugh, "Look at Riddle…"

Ron twisted and his eyes widened in shock as he took in the veritable storm of cards and gifts that had landed on Tom's plate.

The dark haired boy looked impassive, but Ron knew him well enough to know that he was both shocked and pleased by the display before him. Abraxas was smiling, hiding it behind his hand, but Sebastian was openly amused. Both of them had their own modest piles before them.

Harry's pile was large too, not as large as Tom's but certainly larger than the other two.

Hermione and Druella's piles were also large.

Ron chuckled, and turned back in time to see an owl swoop down and drop a package before Kara.

The redheaded girl stared at it, surprised, a pleased little smile on her lips, and Ron silently cast three quick spells.

No curses, no poisons, no embarrassing charms.

Good.

Slowly she opened the note attached to the small box.

"A treat as sweet as you. May they bring you as much joy as you do to me…" Kara read out loud, and blinked as she opened the box to reveal honeycomb treats, "...it's not signed." she mused, looking stunned, "And they're my favourite…" her eyes snapped up to Ron's, "A trick?"

He shook his head, "They're not spelled."

Kara blinked at him, a flicker of something warm shifting over her face, before she looked down at the sweet gift, "..if it's not a trick. Who could have sent it?"

"Someone who knows you well enough to know your favourite sweets," Ross mused, grinning, "You have an admirerrrr."

Kara shoved him, and Ross cackled gleefully.

Which was when a small package landed gently in front of Ron.

He stared at it.

Ross and Kara stared at it, and then at him.

"Go on!" Ross urged, when he continued to just stare, "Open it."

He cast the same charms he had on Kara's package, and found that yet again they were clean of tampering, before he slowly, and carefully opened it.

Within he found a box of chocolate frogs, one of the vintage, though he realised they were actually now just the modern, limited sets.

The cards within them had been worth a fortune back in his original timeline.

It was a personal gift, someone who had known he loved them.

The note was simple, 'Hopefully some of these will belong in your collection. They won't have my favourite, however. Happy Valentine's Day Ron.' and below it was a tiny, beautiful sketch of a Ron Weasley chocolate frog card.

He stared at the gift.

It was beautiful.

It was thoughtful.

And he had no idea who had sent it.

The Room of Requirement that night was hilariously awkward.

All of them had received Valentine's gifts.

Ross had gotten one from bright and bubbly Samantha Fawley, a fifth year Hufflepuff who had winked at him across the hall after he wiggled his eyebrows at her.

Victoria meanwhile had gotten one from the unfortunately named Richard Wood, a fifth year Gryffindor and Kel had received three, one of which had included the worst poem he'd ever read.

And he'd heard his sister's attempt at wooing Harry many years ago.

This… somehow… was worse.

Aurora had gotten quite a few including one from Rexton Lestrange, which was filigreed and ostentatious. Ron had caught Draco sneering at it, but he didn't call the Ravenclaw out on it.

He was better at reading the signals now.

Meanwhile, Draco himself, Sebastian and Abraxas had all gotten lots of Valentines from various girls in both Ravenclaw and Slytherin.

Hermione and Druella had a great many cards, sweets and flowers from boys in all the houses, which Druella had accepted like it was expected, and which Hermione had been hilariously flustered by.

"You're a catch." Ron had teased her, the tension between them a long way in the past, allowing him to do so, "Who would have thought."

"I doubt so many of them would have done so if they knew my true origin," Hermione scowled, huffing at him. "I'm a Muggleborn, remember?"

"There's no lie," Ron reminded her firmly, "Your parents were descended from Hector, and you belong in this world. Muggleborn or otherwise. Any wizard would be lucky to have you."

She shoved him fondly at that, "I heard you got a few Valentines too?"

He had, not quite as many as the Slytherin boys, but none had been as thoughtful as the first, mystery Valentine.

Meanwhile across the room Tierra was considering the trio of letters and gifts she'd received. She had gotten Valentines from all three Diggory brothers. The twins, Luca and Liam, who were Fifth Years and also from Eli, one of their classmates.

"It's weird." Tom informed her, and by extension all of them there, sniffing haughtily.

"I like it," Tierra informed him calmly, tucking them away carefully into her diary, and missing the frown that flickered over his face, "And they're all very nice."

"The gifts?" Aurora teased, smirk wicked, "Or the Diggory brothers."

Tierra pegged a pillow in her direction.

"Ron?" A soft voice drew his attention away from the conversation between the others and he turned to see Druella, looking as painfully beautiful as always, smiling prettily at him.

"Hey," he greeted her quietly, feeling those old butterflies in his stomach, "Uh, you got a lot of Valentines today. Did you have a good day?"

"Mmm yes." she smiled, those bright eyes sparkling a little in the firelight, "Except…"

Here she paused delicately, lips slightly parted.

"Except?"

Slowly her gaze lifted to his once more, "Except I didn't get a Valentine from the boy I wanted to…"

She smiled at him meaningfully

If she'd punched him, Ron didn't think he would have been more stunned.

"You-what?" he spluttered faintly, "Who-?"

Her eyes crinkled as she giggled, "I forget sometimes that you Gryffindors don't sidle around things like we do. I mean you, dummy."

Merlin's saggy-

"Oh…" he blinked at her, and then realised he should probably reassure her, "You wanted a Valentines from me…?"

"Mmmm…" Druella smiled at him, before it flickered a little, "Unless you had someone else in mind…?"

For a moment he thought of his gift, the thoughtful, sweet gift.

Could Druella have been the one to give him that?

"No." he hurried to assure her, blurting it out quickly, but quietly, "No…I… honestly thought you'd have…better offers."

"Pfft." her eyes were bright again, "Who could possibly be better?"

'Anyone', Ron's brain provided, his eternal lack of self confidence kicking in.

He didn't say it out loud though… which was something.

"Would-" he hesitated and then continued, "There's a Hogsmede weekend. In two weeks. Would you-?"

He trailed off.

Druella's smile was bright, and it was all for him.

"It's a date." she whispered conspiratorially, and walked away, all casual to rejoin Aurora on a couch.

"It's a date." he breathed, feeling a little dazed.

Merlin's beard.

It turned out girls never got less confusing.

To Be Continued...

Reviews

Doreene - Glad to have you back! I want to make sure we don't skate over everything, that the relationships remain realistic and grounded. The world is so fantastical, it's important that the people remain familiar.

Shiara - One of the things that drives me nuts in stories is the 'obvious conflict'. And by this I mean like a couple on a TV show. They get together after some build up, but you know that something will be cooked up to split them apart because you can't have them resolve this before it's been fully milked. It happens a lot in fanfictions too. And not just about romantic things. Draco's wariness of Tom was signalled early, and could easily have destroyed everything, but in this world it became an asset. But maybe something small, that's overlooked could cause a ruckus... I like to surprise you.

Peggy77 - Thank you for all the reviews, going through the chapters to the present time. I'm glad you enjoyed. I hope you continue to!

Against Fate - Any time! I like chatting with reviewers. Some people leave detailed ones that continue to make me think about this version of the world I'm shaping.

amk - It's good to have some lighter chapters among the mucky ones. We're probably due for a mucky one soon however...

Smithback - Thank you very much!