-Preface-

Hi all,

Just a quick note before this to say that I'd really love any feedback on this any of you feel willing to give, its all appreciated.

This isn't as polished as I think I could have made it now I'm looking back but that's because this has been a good learning curve for myself. This started as a half written chapter I started around seven years ago and found recently on my old laptop. I read it and wanted to carry it on but, while I know that I had a decent plot then, I couldn't for the life of me remember what it was. So because of this I've had vague ideas where this story goes but for the most part its blindly led me as I've written which has been fun in its own right.

For anyone that decided they want to read more and gets to the end, amazing, I don't want to presume but I'd love knowing that and would love to hear your thoughts. I am marking this as incomplete as I'm waiting to see if more is wanted so I can focus on other story's and if this is liked then I can get back into it for any audience that pick this up. That said, there is a natural pause point that shouldn't leave anyone feeling duped out of an ending so hopefully thats also something.

No warnings needed for this I feel. For anyone who's ready my very limited other few, I don't go anywhere near as hard with the language in this. It is mild and barely any swearing/cursing and for the most part its people being interrupted as they do.

Sex, Violence, Abuse, again this is some of the base material but there is nothing explicit in the story so if that is an issue then you should have no issues with this.

Please do enjoy, I hope you do and await hearing back.

Much Love,

Pairing: Ron Weasley/Pansy Parkinson

Genre: Angst, Mild Fluff, Romance, hopefully-Comedy

Rating: K+

Warnings: Occasional Mild Language with reference to Sex, Violence, Abuse, Original Characters (these are not true OC as they are not main characters, their addition is to fill out the school with friends other then just the same names).

I do not own Harry Potter, the story or any characters, these are just lovingly written ramblings.

Summery: Start of the Fifth year term for Ron and Pansy begins with a strange new way of bringing the school together. Meanwhile they both unknowingly deal with similar issues of feeling alone, identity and changes within themselves and how others see them.

Chapter 1

"Well this is rather unusual isn't it? But you have to agree, he's right!" Hermione was looking around the Gryffindor table eagerly. "Nothing like this has ever happened before, it could prove as beneficial as the Triwizard Tournament if you think of it as bonds of friendship being forged and…" Hermione stopped suddenly, locking eyes with Harry, she gave him a considerate look. She hadn't meant to mention the previous year.

But Harry was already smiling at her. "It's fine honestly", he soothed quietly "I know what you meant". It had been long enough that talk of the tournament didn't have to be tarnished by the memories of the graveyard. "And", he added a little louder with a shrug of his shoulder, "Yeah, I agree. It might bring the school closer together and it's nice to know you'll wake up to some mail".

At this point Dumbledore excused them in his usual cheery and eccentric way and the students began creating the familiar sound of benches scraping the floor of the Great Hall signalling bedtime. This sound had little effect on Ron. He was sat resting his head in his hands with a relentlessly bored look slapped across his face.

When he continued to remain seated, he received a kick to the shins from Hermione." Come on Ron you can't spend the first night of the year in the Great Hall".

Ron snapped back into the room with a start and began to rise, his hand absentmindedly rubbing his shin. Ten minutes later he reached the Gryffindor common room with Harry, Hermione, and the rest of the students. The usual start of term jumble was taking place, from first years who wandered as a group in awe of their new house, to friends reuniting and talking of their summer. The three sat themselves down in their usual spot, which by now had officially became known as, 'their spot'. They sat by the fire in the warm red and gold glow of home.

Surrounded closely by his best friends and many others, like his dorm mates, Ron began to feel the rush of excitement that was to being back at Hogwarts. Without yet having to worry about homework, essays or dealing with the Slytherins. As Hermione pulled out a book Ron got comfy and began striking up the usual Quidditch topic with Harry, now that they were back with a new season to look forward to, but he found it oddly difficult to engage.

Quickly Ron began to feel like he wasn't quite in the loop with something. It was then that he realised that Harry was paying him no attention at all. He was too busy staring at Hermione and looking away when he thought she was about to look up. Hermione, Ron saw, was doing the same. Peering over her book at Harry when he wasn't looking, the look in her eyes instantly made Ron feel odd.

When Harry also pulled a book and quill out Ron decided he'd had enough, he wasn't going to sit through a game of peek-a-boo like a spare broom. "Night", he called in a genuine effort to sound casual.

"Night", they both chimed together, both equally lacking any conviction.

It wasn't until Ron got up to leave that the two seemed to realise, he was actually leaving.

"Awe, night Ron", Hermione smiled, "See you in the morning", Ron wished he'd missed the tone in her voice, like a child being wished 'good night' by a mother. It further reinforced his wish to leave.

"I'll be up soon mate", Harry too giving him his attention at last.

He entered his Dorm room with a bang, being alone he could now unleash his frustrations with a strait kick to the door. He slumped down onto his bed and kicking off his trainers so hard they hit the ceiling. He was pissed, if that description did any justice. He wasn't an idiot, but he felt like one now. How could he have ended the summer feeling that he finally started to understand how he felt about Hermione, only to find Harry and her ogling each other the first day back. And all the while he was just sat there being completely overlooked and then patronised. He had an ebbing in the back of his mind like a dull ache and somehow knew it tied to the fact that they were doing nothing wrong. Almost as if some part of his brain was trying to tell him to stop being a prat. All three of them were young free and single and what was more, they were an extremely close threesome. So, he could have just been misreading the room on this. But then that was the problem, they were an extremely close threesome. Was it so hard to think that they'd both fall for her? Hermione was growing up fast and they were the closest ones to her to see those changes first hand, they were bound to feel this way.

But then a deeper ache in his head countered this thought, he'd opened up to Harry about how he felt. And this was how his best mate behaved? To jump in first and grab Hermione's attention before he could. 'Well, no', he thought, and now reflected on just how clear he'd been to Harry. He was quite coy with the specifics and hadn't actually told Harry the truth out right about who the girl was. So, Harry didn't know, for definite, it was Hermione he liked. And Hermione, she wasn't really doing anything wrong by showing someone attention.

Another thought, another headache. It was laced with memories of the two of them, he and Hermione. Almost all showed her displaying a liking towards him, affection even, and in a way that went beyond friendship. Displays that on replay surely meant she felt the same as he, Ron, now did for her. Ron, and not Harry or anyone else.

Decidedly tired of both accusing and defending his friends and much too annoyed to wait for Harry or any of the others he kicked his clothes off, again with a little too much venom and yanked the curtains round his four-poster.

The next morning in the Great Hall Ron sat eating his breakfast alone when his best friends sat down next to him.

"You didn't wait up for me last night?" Harry raised a brow with a smile.

"Tired", Ron found his sausage was too good to look up from.

"And this morning?" asked Hermione.

"Hungry", so were his eggs. He managed to glance up in time to see her roll her eyes before filling her plate though.

They didn't sit in silence over breakfast, but they never got much further than small talk. No sooner had they finished when there was an instant ripple of excitement that fell over the Great Hall. Trying to find the source of the commotion didn't take long, it was clear that no less than three times the usual number of owls had flooded into the vast room. Letters began to hail down, but Ron noticed no one seemed to be as surprised as he was. In fact, he again began to feel as though it was him that was the last to arrive on this one. This was further evident when he noticed that many of the letters that he could see were identical as they fell from above. They were all the same small size, black in colour and as they fell, he noticed from afar that they sported a single red dot.

"What the bloody hell is this about", he turned back to the others as every other person around them began to catch the small letters as they fell towards them. One landed in front of him, it was small with a blank envelope, he picked it up and turned it over in his hand eyeing it suspiciously. Up close, it was as small as they had appeared from afar, with an all-black charcoal envelope speckled in shiny silver flecks, the red dot turned out to be a red Hogwarts wax seal.

"What's what about?"

"What's…" he held his letter up to Harry, "This?"

"It's a letter Ron", Harry sniggered, "You generally open them".

"Very good Harry but why do we all have them", Sarcasm wasn't going to sit well with him after a morning of stewing over the night before.

"Oh Ronald… you didn't?" Hermione sighed, frustratingly shaking her head, "You did, didn't you. You completely ignored Dumbledore's speech last night". She gave her head another little shake, her eyes giving a subtle but all too condescending eyeroll. Ron found it even more annoying than Harry's sarcasm. "Well, you've only yourself to blame".

Ron turned to Harry, clearly showing his indifference to her attitude with a shrug. "Harry?"

"Right, so while you were taking a nap yesterday Dumbledore explained after dinner that we're going to be 'pen palling' with other students this year", Harry now lifted Ron's letter to wave back in his face, "They could be from anyone, you can stay anonymous or reveal who you are. The only thing is that we've all got to reply, and you can't change who you're paired up with…oh and there's no opting out, and that's about it".

"So where are your letters", he frowned, but looking around he also noticed that there were quite as many people without letters as there were those with.

"Oh honestly", Hermione chirped up in exasperation, "some of the other prefects were handing out envelopes sporadically to everyone as we left the hall. I'm going to guess you missed that too, but that's no real surprise, is it?"

Ron was pleased to see Harry rolling his eyes at her. "Me and Hermione were writing our letters last night when you went to bed…sorry if it looked like we were ignoring you", Harry added a little sheepishly.

As Ron sat spinning the little envelope round in his fingers, he gave the previous night a bit more thought. It was possible he'd overreacted and very likely they were distracted with these letters it seemed they had to now write. A few more moments passed, and he started to feel more and more guilty for jumping to the wrong conclusion and being so cold to his friends.

"So are you opening that or what", Harry was now leaning over the table ready to have a good look.

Ron began to tear open the envelope which didn't break but instead repaired itself ready to be reused. "Sorry about being such a misery arse this morning you two, I just…hey?" he stopped having read his incredibly short letter.

"What?" Harry leaned further over, craning his neck to read. It took a few seconds but Harry eventually burst into laughter. "Oh, wow, mate you're onto a winner there. Can see you having some real captivating conversations with that one."

"What does it say", Hermione's interest now peaking.

"Keep it short, and mind your own business", Ron read aloud quite perplexed.

"Charming".

Another burst of laughter from Harry, "Has to be a Slytherin", he was joined by a ripple of sniggering from their fellow Gryffindor's as they watched on. Harry began to crane his neck to look at the Slytherin table, "wonder who you got?"

Feeling as though this whole pen pal thing was going to be nothing more than a nuisance Ron groaned and got to his feet. "Oh come on, it's double Charms this morning, Can I reply to this any time or does it have to be now?"

"Posts at Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner for these", Hermione pulled her bag over her shoulder, and they began walking out of the Hall, "Write your response on the back of your letter and seal it. What you previously wrote should disappear by the time to get a response and, well just sort of keep going from there. It's a minimum of one response a day but in all honesty, I don't know, I mean its Dumbledore so who knows what rules apply".

"I'm just thankful it's not a bloody Howler".

Ron's unrealistic idea that the first day of term would be an easy one proved to be just that, unrealistic. Charms had started and ended by setting the tone for the rest of the day, the practical lessons being the hardest they'd attempted yet and by the end of the lessons Flitwick had set them a large amount of homework.

By the time he entered the Great Hall for Dinner that night he'd accumulated three sets of essays to be completed by their next lessons, received a mean looking burn from an even sinister looking plant in Herbology and heard word that Gryffindor Quidditch trials were only three weeks away.

"Well, it's not the worst start of term we've ever had is it", Harry whined sarcastically as they sat down. He hadn't fared much better as he'd narrowly avoided a fist fight with Malfoy after Lunch.

"Ronald?" as Hermione spoke his full name, Ron's ears pricked, it was the usual sign he'd done something wrong and was about to find out about it. "You've sent your letter, haven't you?"

Ron groaned, he'd completely forgotten about the letters and Hermione new it, as much as he liked her, she really knew how to push his buttons. "Can't we just eat in peace; I mean after the day we've had my Pen-pal can go fuc…"

"RONALD!"

"FINE", he slammed the little black card down with a thud. Ink quill in hand he opened it and scribbled. Only seconds passed when he spoke again, "Huh!".

"Oh what now", Hermione huffed, Harry also watched on from where he was filling his plate.

Ron wasn't paying them any attention though. In his abundance of good mood, he had just written, "Bugger off", as his response. But the words had vanished, they seeped into the parchment and in its place appeared the words, "I don't think so, do you". And then, just as his did, it disappeared.

"Wait a minute!", Hermione's voice was filled with a forceful curiosity as her interest was suddenly peaked. Leaning over the table she began examining with a face full of concentration. What had only just been an uninteresting object, now turned little wonder before her.

"What happened, what I miss", Harry clearly hadn't been as nosey as Hermione had, but he too was now giving his full attention and leaning over from opposite Ron.

Hermione began to reach out for the small piece of parchment and Ron dragged it back, shielding it from her with his hand. While he couldn't have cared less a minute ago, right now this interesting little thing was still his, and he'd be damned if he was giving it up. The curse of a large yet poor family, never truly owning much that wasn't handed down or needed to be shared.

"Ron do that again, write in it again I mean, write something…well something very…you".

He glared at her but then, quill-end in his teeth while he pondered for a moment, began to scribble, "Get stuffed". Again, the words remained for a second, then seeped into the paper and disappeared only to be replaced with, "You can do better than that", in much neater, fancier looping scroll.

"Hermione!" Harry began to get to his feet, his eyes widened and locked on the parchment, a fearful look now showing on his face, his voice was horse and trembling slightly.

"No Harry, Its ok", Hermione soothed, putting up a hand towards him reassuringly, trying to coerce a bit of calm out of him.

Ron stared at Harry, now puzzled by the reaction.

"I know what you're thinking and no, I don't think its that", she spoke more softly, almost a hiss, hand still outstretched. The gesture puzzled Ron. He couldn't understand Harry's fear and Hermione's reassurances. "I thought that too…but 'This' is not 'That' Harry…it's not like that at all, it's like a censor charm, see". Ron raised his eyebrow at her, then she whispered, "Riddle's Diary".

The realisation hit Ron now and he looked between Hermione and Harry where he felt a great concern for his best mate. But then almost subconsciously his gaze then found Ginny sat a few places away by her own friends, perhaps it was the big brother in him. Likewise, perhaps she too was tuned into their voices or was just generally overhearing them, but her eyes had trailed along the table to the trio where she met Harry's gaze. Ginny frowned and then looked down at the parchment. Another moment passed with an intuitive gaze and Ginny noticed a small tier of ink that fell from Ron's quill still stationary above the page. The droplet landed and blotted the page. It sat and swelled until it seeped into the letter where it vanished. Ginny's eyes snapped up to Harry's and she almost fell over herself to get to them. Coming to stop at Ron's side he failed to notice his hand placing over his sisters as she leaned on the table looking down at the page intently. Her face was pale, and now they both stared down at the small piece of parchment with a matching fear and loathing.

Hermione put her hands up again and spoke quietly, she was pleased to see no one else was paying them any attention, so far. "Now, you two just calm down… it's fine honestly. I thought it too for a second, but this is clearly not…that! Look, this is Dumbledore who's orchestrated this, and I don't doubt for a second, it's just a minor oversight with the two of you. But…. this is not that!". She filled Ginny in on what Ron had written and the words that replaced his and then, forcibly now, pushed her view that they were not the same magic.

It took a few moments for Harry and Ginny to relax but soon they softened and when Ginny spoke, she showed less signs of being shaken. "So, what is that then". Ron couldn't be sure but he thought that his sisters words sounded a little overly sharp as soon as she snapped out of, what Ron had presumed was, a paralysis of fear.

Now sounding much more like Hermione and in her know-it-all voice as Ron affectionately thought of it. "Well, I think it's like a form of censoring. Maybe it works on foul language or…No Ron!" she scolded in exasperation. She had spotted his eye's alight in mischief at the idea and his quill flash towards the ink pot, "don't go trying it!"

He sulkily put his quill back in his mouth and rolled his eyes deflated. But then, he again saw what he could only describe as an odd look on Ginny's face as she looked on at Hermione. It seemed so out of place for them both, Ginny was almost thin lipped and complacent or dissatisfied, Ron couldn't be sure. It just didn't sit right for someone who got on so well with the other girl.

"Or maybe it forces you to write more than a one-word reply, makes you engage, or it could put a stop to any hurtful or bullying responses, its quite clever really", Hermione looked down at the paper in admiration. "In fact, I'd say that's definitely what it is, I already know the page grows and shrinks with whatever amount you write. I wrote two parchments worth last night".

"Two?…two! about what! You don't even know who you're talking to, what could you possibly put into two parchments worth", the idea was almost offensive to Ron, whether it was the amount of effort that would of entailed or the idea that he might have to commit to the same kind of thing himself were both repulsive to contemplate.

Hermione ignored him as Ginny spoke, "Wait a minute, does that mean our mails being, pre read?", the idea made her pull a face.

Hermione shook her head, "No, that kind of magic would be extremely different and not to mention difficult on this scale. This is purely what we're seeing here. Again, it's all quite clever. I saw people swapping before and they couldn't open them, there for the recipient only, so it's secure too".

Once again Ron thought he noticed an eyeroll from his sister. A look that Ron had seen many times during his years at school from people, him included, that were fed up with Hermione's brain-box moments. The look on Ginny's face was gone in an instant and she was back looking at Hermione with a normal expression. It was so quick and over even faster, but something he was sure he'd seen all the same.

Back to the scene in general and a thought came to Ron, "How come your all seeing this for the first time then, shouldn't you have had a reply by now".

Harry shrugged, "mine arrived at lunch, thought I'd read it tonight".

Ron put his hand up to stop Hermione, "It's fine, I already know your pen pal is still reeling after the shock of receiving a novel!"

Hermione stuck her tongue out at him.

They all seemed happy with what they'd seen though, especially Harry and Ginny who appeared to have returned to how they had been before the shock of seeing something so similar to something that had been so torturous. Ginny went to sit back with her friends. Harry and Hermione went back to their food, with a little emphasis on watching Ron.

Ron readied his quill.