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Author: Lady Chi Story: Thoughts of Ron Rating: Young Teens Setting: Pre-OotP Status: Completed Reviews: 5 Words: 1,398 Author's Note: What do I do while I'm waiting for Paula to beta my new material? It's quite simple, really. I write fluff! This is along the same lines as "Waltzing With Bill", which was almost too much fun to write. Anyway, this satisfies my need for fluff. For a while, at least For Eric, the flying llama. May life always hold the same charm it does for you now. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I don't really know what to say about Ron. To most people, he's Harry Potter's best friend, Head Girl Hermione Granger's boyfriend and now fiancé. To me- well, to me, Ron will always be Older Brother Ron. I've had some people tell me that they think some of their friends treat them like an older brother would treat them. Ron has always treated me like a friend, at the same time constantly watching me. Older brothers are wonderful things. When you have one around you, you always feel safe. When they smile at you, or recognize something wonderful that you've done, you feel as if you're on cloud nine. Ron and I, we were close. Tight knit, always together. He was so excited about going to Hogwarts, I remember, and I wasn't happy about him going at all. We never fought about it, hardly ever talked about it, but it was still there. Ron was leaving me, and I was taking it personally. Ron was always afraid of spiders. I mean, seriously scared. Wouldn't even go near one, not even the little ones, and boy did I know it. I wasn't particularly fond of the little buggers myself, and I'll always remember the time we fought off the gigantic spider together. We must have been about seven, or eight at the time. Walking in the woods behind our house. "Ron! Look!" "What now?" "Look, Ron!" "I'm busy!" "No, look!" He turned quickly and paled. "It's in our way," he said firmly. "What are we going to do about it?" "Er… Knock it out of the way!" It took us ten minutes to find just the right length of stick, and when we did, another five to work up the courage to touch the spider. Needless to say, we survived the encounter. Ever since then, we've been tight. He just got a hold of me last night, and that's what brought this on. He's going to marry Hermione. I knew, of course. Harry and I have always known that their constant bickering was just a way of expressing their affection for each other. But it took them long enough. We got to talking, Ron and I did, about the way things used to be, and the way they're going to be. He's a happy man. You wouldn't have thought that he was going to turn out the way he did when he was younger. Ron was protective, loyal, and wonderful, as far as I was concerned, and he still is. Now, though, there's another side to Ron. He's brave, he's handsome, he's charming, and he's no longer jealous. That was the hard part about being Harry Potter's best friend for Ron. He was always in the shadow of everyone else, and never really considered himself anything amazing. Being with Harry only made it worse sometimes. He can look back on it now and shake his head, but it took a lot of time and work to overcome those feelings, to assure himself that he was someone. And I'm damn proud of him. Isn't that odd for me to say? He's always telling me that. He'll say, "Gin, you turned out to be one hell of a woman. I'm proud to know you," whenever I get upset and run to him, but now it's my turn. I told him so, and he blushed. Ron has a wonderful way of blushing; Hermione has assured me of that many times. Hermione Granger. If there was ever a woman who deserved my brother Ron, it's her. Studious and hard working to a fault, she'll be sure to keep Ron in line, and Ron will be sure to keep Hermione out of line as much as possible. They're wonderful together. They walk in a room and they fill it with their presence. They certainly aren't concerned with what people think (except for maybe Harry and myself), and they just ooze love and devotion for each other out of their pores. Disgustingly happy, that's what they are. I remember when Ron finally asked Hermione to the Yule Ball. He was so nervous, he couldn't even speak around her, which only confused Hermione. In fact, I remember one conversation in particular. "Ginny, you've got to help me with this." I turned around slowly, not believing what I was hearing. "Excuse me?" "I need your help." He had my attention. "What is it, Ron?" "It's this whole Yule Ball thing. I want to ask Hermione." I rolled my eyes. "That's news to me." "Gin!" He protested. "Okay, I'm listening." "Well, how do you go about asking… What I mean to say is… How would you prefer to be asked… Well… BUGGER IT!" That last part he shouted, and I chuckled appreciatively. "You want to know how to ask Hermione to the Yule Ball." "Exactly." "I imagine Fred and George weren't much help," I said cautiously. "How did you know?" "Those Divination classes must be paying off," I said sweetly. "Ginny," he whined. "Oh, all right. I suppose you haven't confessed your undying love for her or arranged for a white horse to ride her off into the sunset?" "Ginny, be helpful, please?" "I'll try. Have you tried to ask her simply?" "What do you mean?" "Oh, I was thinking something along the lines of, ‘Hey Hermione, would you go to the Yule Ball with me?' It would work for me." "Do you really think so?" There was no denying it. My older brother was thick. "Yes, I really think so." Anyway, he ended up trying it, and it worked (amazingly), and that was the start of it all. Much "ooing" and "ahhing" was made over their relationship during the first few months, but then everyone realized they were serious. Really serious. The winter of Ron's seventh year, chaos ensued, and Hogsmeade was attacked on a Hogsmeade weekend. There was no way to foresee it. Ron was there. I've never seen Hermione more worried. At first we didn't know if Ron had made it out alive, much less injured, and then when we knew, it was almost worse. We sat together in the Common Room, waiting for news. Hermione and I had decided not to go, so the boys could buy us our Christmas presents. Dumbledore walked in. His eyes were tired, almost lifeless. "Ms. Weasley, Ms. Granger, they've found Ron." Hermione let out a choked sob, but I found my voice. "What is it? Is he alive?" Dumbledore inclined his head. "They didn't kill him, but he hasn't woken up yet. Mr. Potter is in the Hospital Wing, as well." "What happened?" Hermione demanded. "We believe it was the Cruciatus curse." "Ron!" she shouted and ran out of the room quickly. "Wait for me!" She was the only one who was there when he woke up. They were reluctant to leave each other's side after that. Amazingly enough, the boys had managed to save our Christmas presents. They left school, and Ron joined the Department of Mysteries and Hermione settled in to a comfortable job at the world's largest magical library. When they announced they were living together, Mum tried very hard to disapprove, but she couldn't. "Well, dears, as long as you're happy." That year we all attended a lot of weddings. Gryffindors married Gryffindors, Ravenclaws married Hufflepuffs, and it seemed as though the entire school was invited to every event. There was not a hint from Ron and Hermione that they were thinking of marriage. It became almost a joke between Harry and I, who were living together as well. We both were in the running for the "Longest to Put off Legal Ties" contest. Now they're getting married. Harry and I did the deed many moons ago, and we were proud to announce just last month that we were adding to the Potter side of the Weasley family. I guess it's only right, but, by Merlin, it took them long enough. The End |