granger; HERMIONE (hgrngr) wrote in reduxpitch, @ 2016-04-02 18:11:00 |
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Entry tags: | !thread, character: hermione granger, character: ron weasley, location: diagon alley |
who ? ron weasley and hermione granger
when ? backdated to thursday, 31st march
where ? diagon alley
what ? hermione runs into ron and forces him to drink coffee with her
status ? complete
It was hardly as if Hermione disliked her job, it just wasn’t quite what she had imagined it to be. When she had first applied to work at the Wizengamot, Hermione had known it was not going to be a fantastic job. She was a paper pusher, there were no two ways about it. But it was a step in her career ladder, Hermione knew that much. It hardly meant she had to enjoy it. Besides, the working environment didn’t much help the matter. If proving herself in school had been easy, then proving herself in Wizengamot was extremely difficult. In school people had encouraged Hermione, whilst at her job it seemed they rather pretend she didn’t achieve than say a nice word at all. It was peculiar and Hermione had no intention of giving up. She was going to prove herself, whether they liked it or not.
Today Hermione had gone into work an hour early. This then meant that she was okay to leave an hour early to run errands. It wasn’t her favourite thing in the world, she doubted it was anyone’s. However, there were things Hermione needed to do. Like go to the bank. Alongside having a rather repetitive and boring job, Hermione also had a job that didn’t pay excellently. She was constantly in a position where budgeting was a must. At least she was good at it, Hermione thought as she walked out of Gringotts after putting money in her savings account.
It was on her way down the steps from the bank that Hermione spotted Ron Weasley. They had been in school together for seven years and he wasn’t exactly hard to recognise. Hermione would have never called herself a friend of Ron’s but she felt confident that they were at least reasonable acquaintances. This was what led her to approach him. “Ron, hi!” She greeted offering him a polite smile. “I haven’t seen you in ages,” Hermione added and quite frankly she wasn’t too sure when the last time they had seen each other might have been. Perhaps Harry’s birthday in the summer. “Are you keeping well?” She asked politely, honestly curious about the reply.
--
There were just too many twins. It wasn’t the first time Ron had come to this realisation, but it always slipped between April and March. At least Uncles Gideon and Fabian didn’t have their birthday until the summer, and Ron hadn’t bought Parvati a gift in years. That still left four people for whom Ron had to buy birthday presents on a pretty limited budget. He didn’t think his brothers or Daisy would appreciate any of Ron’s still beginner-level whittling. Evan might but Ron was trying not to think too much about Evan lately. It just made him uncomfortable to try, because he didn’t know if they were still friends or if he was moving in or - really anything.
Nearly an hour after he’d arrived on Diagon Alley, Ron emerged (empty handed) from the second hand book shop. He always looked for books, because he knew Daisy and Evan both liked them, but he never really know what kind of books they would want. He had a feeling the cloth-bound copy of 1892: Golden Cannonballs wasn’t going to fit the bill for either one of them. Unsure where to go next, he stopped, wishing he could just go home and have Molly buy presents for him the way she’d done when he was a kid. This was one of the drawbacks of growing up. There seemed to be a lot of them.
He was just steeling himself to venture into Madame Malkin’s in search of… something… when someone called his name. “Hermione,” he said, obviously surprised. They weren’t friends and Ron honestly wouldn’t have expected her to talk to him just because she happened to see him. He wasn’t going to argue. Anything was better than shopping and the recent tension between him and Evan and Harry had set Ron to wondering if he actually had any friends at all that weren’t related to him. (Lavender didn’t count, Ron still couldn’t think of her as just a friend.) “Uh, yeah,” he said, doubt obvious across his face. It hadn’t been a good start to the year. “Sort of.” Ron couldn’t actually remember the last time anything good had happened, or what he might say about his life that wasn’t just ‘same as usual’.
“You?” That was the polite thing to ask, Ron knew that. He just hoped Hermione wouldn’t start going on about her job. Ron had to deal with enough of that at home from dad and Percy. “Having a good week?”
--
Personally, Hermione did not feel that ‘sort of’ was any kind of response at all. That could have meant many things. Of course, it would have been unrealistic of her to expect for Ron to give an elaborate answer here on the street. She glanced around to see what was near by. There was a cafe. Perhaps that. “Mundane,” Hermione replied honestly. Her weeks were quite similar to one another. Sometimes she forgot what week it even was. Maybe if she had known Ron better, Hermione would have noted how her job was boring. Complaining about something that Ron certainly would not care about, however, seemed a waste of both of their time.
“Would you like to get a coffee?” Hermione asked instead, presuming he would not care to ask more about the description she had given to her week. “It would be nice to catch up,” she added politely. It would be nice to catch up if only because Hermione liked finding things out about people. She almost felt bad that she didn’t actually have much of an idea of what Ron did these days. Almost, because if she gave it half a thought, Hermione strongly doubted Ron had any idea what her job was. Then again, sometimes neither did she.
--
“Oh.” Even after many years of shared classes, Ron still wondered why Hermione didn’t just say her week was ‘boring’, or ‘normal’. Who used words like ‘mundane’ when they didn’t have to? Ron didn’t even know how to respond. Lucky for Ron, Hermione didn’t seem to want to elaborate which was good, because Ron was pretty sure she worked in the Ministry somewhere, and the Ministry was boring unless you were in the Department of Magical Games and Sports.
Ron shouldn’t get coffee. He should save his money and continue shopping for presents. But it was only a coffee, it wasn’t like it would cost a lot. And the grey sky over their heads looked like it might be about to rain. Ron should know, he was getting pretty good at weather indicators by now. “Sure,” he agreed, gesturing for Hermione to lead the way. Ron might not be any good with women, but he knew how to be polite, when he remembered.
--
“Right,” Hermione nodded when Ron agreed to join her for a coffee. She led the two of them towards the nearest coffee place. It wasn’t particularly busy this time of the day. Most people were either still at work or just coming out of work. Not exactly the prime coffee drinking time. Hermione ordered herself a complex concoction of espresso shots and soya milk, handing over the money when asked. She waited at the end of the counter for the coffee to be made, allowing Ron to order his own drink. “You’re an arborist, correct?” Hermione asked after thanking the barista. She walked towards one of the free tables, glancing at Ron to make sure he followed.
Hermione was sure she was remembering correctly. Why that information existed somewhere in her head, Hermione wasn’t sure. Nonetheless, it was there, so she felt it would be polite to ask. “It’s funny, I never realised you were particularly good in Herbology,” Hermione added honestly. Maybe that was not fair since she hardly remembered much about Ron from school. Still, it had always been Neville who Hermione had competed against in the class, definitely not Ron. Now that she thought about it, Hermione could not recall Ron excelling in any class. Then again, neither had most people, in Hermione’s opinion. “Is it a nice job?” She asked instead, because that was nicer than saying ‘you were rubbish in a class’.
--
Ron was grateful Hermione had paid for her own coffee. He was happy to get his own, but since this wasn’t a date he really hadn’t wanted to pay for hers as well. (He probably would have before he’d said anything, but he’d have been grumpy about it.) His own drink was far simpler than Hermione’s, a simple coffee with sugar. He carried it to the table, grabbing a couple of napkins on his way. For Ron, it was always better to have napkins just in case. “Yeah,” he agreed, a little surprised she remembered. Most people got about as far as ‘trees’ and then lost interest. He frowned slightly at her follow up comment. Compared to Neville and Hermione, Ron hadn’t been great at Herbology - but he’d been better at it than he’d been at most other things. It had been his top subject, tied with Care of Magical Creatures. “I got an Exceeds Expectations!” he said, pouting. He knew (though he couldn’t remember) that Hermione had done better - because Hermione had always done better.
“It’s - yeah,” Ron answered. It was a nice job. He wasn’t passionate about it, like he’d been about trying to be an Auror or a Quidditch Ref, but he’d also failed at those things. At least in his current job he could do what was expected of him, though it was unlikely to ever stretch him much beyond that. Nice was probably about the best you could say of it. “I get to fly,” he added. People tended to understand that bit, though Ron did remember that Hermione hadn’t really liked quidditch that much, so maybe she wouldn’t. “And be outside.”
--
Hermione had not meant to imply that Ron had not done well in Herbology. She did realise how it might have sounded as that, however. So she sipped her coffee and gave him a small shrug. “My apologies,” she told him honestly. “A lot of my attention was spent on making sure Harry didn’t accidentally eat something poisonous in class,” Hermione explained and whilst it might have sounded as a joke, it wasn’t. In reality, Harry had never been in a danger of eating something poisonous, but that had not stopped Hermione from making sure he didn’t. At least Neville had never required her attention in Herbology. Potions, now that was a different story.
Getting to fly as part of one’s job did not appeal to Hermione. Nor did being outside. Then again, she also wasn’t terribly interested in filling forms all day long, yet that was what she did. Hermione almost wished that her job could be described as ‘it’s - yeah’. Not that she would feel the need to complain about it over a coffee to Ron. “So whereabouts do you live now?” She asked instead, because that was a safe topic. Hermione herself lived in Hogsmeade and was sure she could with some interest tell Ron of life there, if he opted to ask.
--
Being reminded of Harry, Neville and Hermione’s study sessions didn’t do much to stop Ron pouting about his grades. It took him straight back to the Gryffindor common room, where he’d been scratching out the bare minimum inches of parchment for a Transfiguration essay by himself while Hermione took Harry and Neville through her essay plan and Seamus and Dean swapped chocolate frog cards. Ron knew the other Gryffindor boys considered him a friend in a casual sort of way, in that they didn’t dislike him, but until Lavender it had felt a lot like he could disappear at any moment and no one would actually notice. Had anything actually changed on that score? Harry and Evan would probably find life easier if Ron just vanished. Lavender and Astoria were both happy with other people. Even Charlie. “Yeah,” he said, not sure what he was agreeing with.
When Hermione asked where he was living, Ron looked immediately down into his coffee. He didn’t like telling people who didn’t already know that he was still living at home, but he wasn’t going to lie. He could have talked about moving in with Harry, if he’d known that was definitely still going ahead. He didn’t. Harry had made it clear that Evan was his priority. Ron wasn’t even sure he wanted to live with Evan. The idea just made him uneasy. But so did the idea of living at the Burrow forever, and Ron didn’t know if he was ever going to be able to afford to move out. “I was -” he started, then stalled. What if Harry had already told Hermione? They were friends. Maybe she was wanted to know what he was going to do now he wasn’t allowed to live with Harry. “I’m not sure yet,” he said, frowning. “I - Have you spoken to Harry?”
--
As it turned out, asking after where Ron lived was not a safe topic. At least this is what Hermione gathered from the way he looked down at his coffee. She would never claim to be excellent at reading people, but Hermione did not feel like she was terrible at it either. Besides, Ron Weasley had never been able to lie. Hermione had not needed to be friends with him to know this. She had also spent a great deal of time overhearing Lav and Parvati chat in the dorms about Ron. Most of it, Hermione had blocked out with years, but the lying bit had somewhat stuck with her. Perhaps, because it was the sort of information that might be useful.
Hermione had been about to ask, when Ron asked her a question instead. “Harry?” She repeated almost surprised. Hermione had spoken to Harry, of course she had, but doubtfully about whatever it was Ron was referring to. Daisy had been planning to move out, Hermione had known as much. Ron and Harry were friends, she was pretty sure. Evan, too, Hermione thought. “Oh, are you moving in with Harry and Evan?” She asked because that seemed the most likely place Ron was going with his question. Hermione had not realised Harry and Evan had been looking to replace Daisy. Then again, knowing the two, they could probably use a third person just there. Hermione deeply disapproved of the way the two Potter brothers managed to miscommunicate constantly.
--
“Uh.” That was the problem. Ron didn’t know whether or not he was moving in with Harry and Evan. He didn’t think he was. But as far as he knew, Harry hadn’t found anyone else yet. Would Harry have told him if he had? Did Harry even need anyone else to live in his flat? If Daisy hadn’t been paying rent, maybe Harry and Evan could afford the place on their own and then it would make much more sense if Ron didn’t move in to make things awkward. He felt his ears flush under his hair. He didn’t want to tell Hermione he didn’t know. He also didn’t want to tell her why he might not be. She’d probably yell. Everyone had yelled, except Molly and Lavender but Ron hadn’t found either his mother or his ex-girlfriend to be good examples of the general population. “Maybe,” he said at last, because he did have to say something. “It’s not really decided yet.”
Unless, Ron remembered, Harry had already told Hermione it wasn’t happening. But if he had, she wouldn’t have asked if Ron was going to move in, would she? “I don’t know if they really need me to,” he added, because that sounded a lot better than the real reason. It did also have the benefit of being almost true, which meant Ron could say it without it being painfully obvious he was hiding something. He still didn’t meet Hermione’s eyes, though, or look up at all.
--
Moving in with someone should not have been a blushing matter, Hermione thought. It also should not have been a matter which made Ron avoid looking at her. Something was certainly off, one did not have to be particularly observant to notice that. Hermione also was not sure what to make of ‘maybe’ and ‘undecided’. Ron, as far as she knew, was friends with Harry. This was a fact. As was Daisy moving out. Hermione was sure she was missing something and it irritated her slightly. Not having the full information was always very bothersome to Hermione.
‘Need’ was probably the wrong word to use. Neither Harry nor Evan needed someone to live with them. Not financially, anyway. Perhaps in peacekeeping terms. “Would you not want to live with them?” Hermione asked. There did not seem many reasons for why Ron was staring at his coffee over the topic. Hermione thought that maybe Harry had offered and Ron had not known how to refuse. She had seen this before, the way people hero worshiped Harry, found it hard to refuse him things. Personally, Hermione had never seen the problem. Still, if turning down the offer was Ron’s difficulty here, Hermione was certain she could fix it. Mostly by telling Ron that Harry did not always need to get the things he wanted.
--
“I did!” Ron blurted, still glaring downwards. Hermione was probably not the best person to talk to about this - and Ron knew that - but he also felt like he didn’t have much choice. He couldn’t talk to mum, because she’d just urge him to stay at home. He couldn’t talk to Charlie, not without raking up all the shit they were both ignoring. He could talk to Ginny but she’d just tell him he was wrong. He couldn’t talk to Lav - even though she was the only person he thought might actually be helpful - because he just couldn’t talk to Lav right now. “When Ginny first mentioned it, I thought it would be great.” Ron was friends with both of them, more or less, and the rent he and Harry had eventually agreed on had been fair, and it would have meant getting out of the Burrow. It had been perfect. Until it hadn’t.
Ron wrapped his hands around his coffee cup. “Evan’s got this -” He didn’t know what word he was supposed to use. Even when he’d assumed it was a girl, Evan’s explanation about dating and not dating had been about as clear as tar. Ron made a nonsense gesture with one hand before shoving it into his hair. “This, Andrew.” He glanced up, briefly, before adding, “Which is fine.” If Ron had learned anything, it was that what Evan (or Charlie) did with their sex lives was none of his business. Even, Ron supposed, if he was living with it.
Once he’d started talking, it was hard to stop. “I just -” This time around, Ron didn’t know what he was supposed to ask for. With Charlie it had been time. Ron didn’t think time could solve this one. “I don’t want to think about it, or talk about it.” Ron would much rather just pretend Evan hadn’t said anything. “But I didn’t tell him not to - anything.” Ron was pretty sure he hadn’t, was nearly certain he’d asked Evan if they could not talk about it rather than insisting. “And now Harry doesn’t know if I should live there, because Evan should be able to - you know.” Ron blushed even redder than before.
--
That certainly was not what Hermione had expected. Her eyes slightly widened at just the sheer barrage of words. Of course, Hermione was quite pleased in a way, since she had wanted to know. Hermione just hadn’t expected that to be the reason. And if she wanted to be perfectly honest, Hermione was also somewhat surprised that Ron would admit the reason to an almost stranger. But then, they did say it was easier to talk to strangers. The way Ron said that it was ‘fine’ for Evan to have an Andrew, to Hermione did not seem to imply that it was ‘fine’ at all. But she did also suspect that there was currently a misunderstanding within Ron of the meaning behind the word ‘fine’.
Once he seemed to finish, Hermione nodded. She did agree that Evan should be able to ‘you know’. That didn’t seem to be the point. “I can see why not thinking about it or not talking about it might be difficult if you were living with it,” Hermione said thoughtfully. There was also an issue with identifying Evan’s relationship as an ‘it’, but Hermione would let that slip for a moment. “Is there--” Hermione paused, wondering what a good way to ask would be. Especially since she was not yet ready to identify the actual issue. There were many reasons why Ron might not want to hear about Evan’s relationship. The one thing Hermione had ruled out was jealousy, since it seemed unlikely that Ron had wanted to be the one dating Evan. The idea did seem momentarily amusing, however.
“So would you rather not move in, then?” Was what Hermione finally settled on. It seemed redundant to ask if there was a reason for why Ron wanted to neither think nor talk about Evan’s relationship. Not if the best definition of things Ron could give was ‘fine’, ‘having an Andrew’ and ‘you know’.
--
It didn’t happen very often, but sometimes Ron’s emotions got more complicated than he could really deal with. It was happening now, and he didn’t like it at all. He wanted to move in, but he didn’t want to have to deal with Evan and Andrew and whatever that entailed. “I want things to go back to normal,” he muttered, shoulders slumping. Hermione couldn’t make things go back to normal. Ron wasn’t sure anyone could, except maybe Charlie and Evan. “I want to be friends with Evan. And Harry.” Ron liked Evan and Harry. Up until now they hadn’t been complicated, a trait Ron very much appreciated. But now everything was complicated and Ron didn’t know how to fix it. This wasn’t Charlie who had to keep being his brother because that was how family worked. Evan and Harry hadn’t explicitly said they didn’t want to talk to Ron anymore, but Ron felt it anyway.
“I guess I shouldn’t live with them,” Ron clarified, still failing to answer the question Hermione had actually asked. It would just be uncomfortable, right? For him, and for Evan. Harry obviously wasn’t going to let things be uncomfortable for Evan so Ron should just stay at the Burrow. Mum wouldn’t mind. “But I can’t live with mum forever.” And Ron’s brief attempt at looking for a place of his own hadn’t gone well. He couldn’t afford to live without flatmates, and he didn’t know anyone else who was looking except Evan’s uni friends and even that didn’t seem like a good idea anymore.
--
Hermione hummed lightly at Ron’s proclamation that he wanted things to go back to normal. To her, it did not seem like things were particularly abnormal. It would be a lie to say that Hermione understood how Ron felt. Not on an emotional level, at least. To her it seemed rather trivial whether Evan did or did not have an Andrew. Majority of things relating to anyone’s dating lives seemed rather trivial to Hermione. However, on a more logical level, she supposed she could understand where Ron was attempting to come from. “I assume you have spoken to Evan about this?” Hermione asked rather strongly suspecting that Ron had, in fact, not spoken to Evan. Harry, Hermione could understand feeling odd about the whole situation. Evan? Not so much. The things that Evan considered normal, Hermione strongly doubted had in any way changed with him having an Andrew.
“I’m not going to lie to you, Ron,” Hermione said resting one of her elbows on the table as she held the mug of coffee between her hands. “If you find it difficult to be around Evan because he is dating a man, then no, you probably shouldn’t move in with him,” Hermione told him with a small shrug of her shoulder. It made sense that if everyone in the equation was going to be uncomfortable one way or another, that was not the optimal solution. “Alternatively,” she carried on. It seemed to her that Ron was in a need of an alternative. Living with his mother forever would most likely be awkward. “You might want to consider what about Evan ‘having an Andrew’ and it being ‘fine’ because he should be able to ‘you know’ makes you identify the situation as abnormal,” Hermione concluded thoughtfully.
--
Ron frowned. He hadn’t really talked to Evan. Not since before he found out Daisy was moving. At least, not about this. He’d been putting it off, not wanting to hear that Evan didn’t want him to move in. Also not sure how to bring it up, when Ron had been the one to ask if they could not talk about it. “Sort of,” Ron hedged. “I mean, he told me about Andrew. And I sort of said I didn’t want to talk about it.” And now Ron didn’t know whether they were friends or not. Evan hadn’t shouted at him, not like Charlie, but that didn’t mean Evan liked Ron right now. Ron thought he probably didn’t. “Harry talked to me, about moving in,” he explained. “I was going to talk to Evan as soon as I knew I could afford it....” But then Ron had found out about Andrew and now nothing was certain and Ron didn’t know what to do.
After a gulp of coffee, Ron sighed and wrinkled his nose. “It just is, isn’t it?” Normal was wanting a girlfriend and dating and eventually getting married and having kids. Maybe, maybe the marriage and the children were option, but men dating men was just - strange. Especially when it was his brother or his friend and he’d never previously had any idea they might want that. “And sudden,” he added, because Lav had correctly identified that as part of the problem. He picked at the dirt under one of his nails and glanced up. “I’m supposed to be getting used to it. For Charlie.” He had promised he would try. But what if he moved in with Evan and he couldn’t get used to it?
--
‘For Charlie’ made Hermione frown. It took a moment to remember that Charlie was one of Ron’s brothers. The one who worked with dragons. Hermione was rather good with names. Presumably, taking her clues from the context, Charlie was also dating a man. This was quite a good reason to get used to it, Hermione agreed. Still, it also did not surprise her that Ron’s answer was ‘it just is’. Perhaps if he had been able to identify his ideas better, he would struggle with them less. Hermione was not sure whether she was in a position to comment on the suddenness of the situation. Evan’s or Charlie’s. Hermione was not sure whether her and Ron would identify something being sudden the same way.
“You should talk to Evan,” Hermione instructed Ron. Avoiding the issue was hardly going to help. “As his friend, I’m sure you are aware that Evan--” Hermione paused slightly. “Just talk to him,” she said with a small shake of her head. Hermione might not have had any idea how Charlie would react to Ron’s ideas of normality but she had met Evan before. Albeit, Hermione did almost wish she could witness that conversation. Ron, Hermione had recalled rather quickly throughout this conversation, was not very good at explaining anything. It would be interesting.
“How does one get used to being uncomfortable about homosexual relationships?” Hermione asked genuinely curious. She doubted he would know the answer. Then again, Hermione was also rather sure there wasn’t an answer. This might have been Ron’s problem.
--
Ron shrugged. Talking to Charlie had definitely not helped. If anything, it had made things worse. Ron had insisted he wouldn’t lie and Charlie had ended up hurt and angry. Ron didn’t want Evan to end up hurt and angry. True, Charlie and Evan were different people. Evan didn’t have the Weasley temper. But Ron didn’t know Charlie or Evan as well as he thought he had, so maybe he didn’t know what would hurt them or make them angry. Hermione was probably right, though. Ron couldn’t think of anything else he could do that would fix the situation. If it even did. “I will.” Eventually. Ron wasn’t going to never speak to Evan again.
As she predicted, Ron didn’t really have an answer to her question. It didn’t seem to him to be the right question. “I think I’m supposed to stop being uncomfortable with it,” he said. He still didn’t know how. He had tried! He’d invited Oliver for cake, and they’d talked and it had been… awkward. Civil, at least, but still awkward. And Ron didn’t have to live with Charlie and Oliver.
--
Hermione nodded when Ron said that he would talk to Evan. Good. Personally, Hermione really did think that it might be helpful for Ron. Certainly if there was any hope for him living with Harry and Evan. Avoiding the issue as a whole was not going to help anything. Of course, the risk was there of it not making things better. That, unfortunately, was just how things were. Hermione doubted that this in any way was an unsolvable problem, however. To her it also made sense when Ron said that he thought he was supposed to stop being uncomfortable. Yes. That was the endgame. It hardly seemed like the proceedings.
“Are you even aware of what it is you are uncomfortable about?” Hermione asked taking another sip of her coffee. Being uncomfortable because someone you knew was dating ‘an Andrew’ was quite unreasonable. That was just a fact. Hermione did not, however, for a moment doubt that just because something made little sense undermined the emotion with it. It would have been easier if Ron could explain, or even understand it, though. “Let me tell you what I think, Ronald,” she said putting the mug down. Hermione was very hard to stop when she wanted to share her opinions. Even the mug had to stop being in her way.
After a small sigh, Hermione flicked a lock of hair out of her face. She looked straight at Ron for a moment. “You don’t like change, correct?” Hermione asked but did not pause to let him answer. “Frankly, this is not one, but I believe that to you it might feel like one,” she said blankly. “The problem then with you feeling uncomfortable about this, then, arises from the fact that you clearly don’t know how to cope with this,” because he obviously did not. “But this is not different from any other change you have encountered,” Hermione told him because personally she felt like she knew all the answers. “I am giving you the benefit of doubt that you are not actually homophobic, because that might imply that you would hurt someone because of who they choose to be with, and, quite honestly, Ronald, I don’t think you could even if you tried to,” she assured him with a flick of her finger. It was not intended to be an insult. Personally, Hermione thought it was a compliment.
“I do not think that you are going to stop being uncomfortable about this if you don’t address it,” Hermione added. “Talking about things might be an idea,” she strongly suggested. It was barely a suggestion at all. “Expecting that you will just one day wake up and not be uncomfortable about ‘you know’ is in no way productive for you,” Hermione finally concluded. The mug returned in her hand, so she could wet her lips.
--
“I don’t want to hurt anyone!” Ron interjected. Hermione apparently already knew that, but Ron still felt like he should say it. He wasn’t completely sheltered, he had known even before Charlie and Oliver started going out that gay wizards and witches existed. He just hadn’t expected to discover them amongst his brothers and friends. She was right that he didn’t know how to cope, though. He didn’t know how to think about it, so he mostly didn’t until situations like moving in came up and then he had to, no matter how unprepared he was.
Ron opened his mouth, then closed it again. He didn’t want to talk about it. The continued redness of his ears and neck probably made that clear. Ron wasn’t really comfortable talking about normal relationships either, except in the most family-friendly of terms. “Talk about it to who?” he asked, instead of objecting. He wasn’t willing to bring it up with Charlie again when it would only remind Charlie that Ron was still struggling. Ron rubbed a hand over his face. This was what he kept coming back to. He had no one to talk to. Except Hermione, however that had happened.
--
Hermione really didn’t need the confirmation. Still, it was probably good to have it. Personally, she did not think Ron’s problems really stemmed from someone dating a person of the same sex. As a general concept, it was quite trivial. Having one of his brothers be dating a man might have come as more of a shock. At least if Ron’s reaction was anything to go by. “Talk about it to whom,” Hermione corrected scrunching up her nose briefly. It was a good question, though. Even if not a grammatically correct one. Hermione knew nothing of Ron’s friendship circle. Not really. She knew he was friends with Harry. When not confused about functionality of things, Harry could be quite good at listening, Hermione thought. Still, in this particular situation, Hermione could see why it might be difficult to go to Harry.
Asking whether Ron had no friends to talk about seemed rude. Especially if the reply would be ‘no’. That would be most unfortunate. “Evan would be a good start,” Hermione said instead. After all, that was where one of Ron’s problems lied currently. “Counsellors, I find, can also be very good at helping with one’s feelings,” she added more thoughtfully this time. Hermione had been to a counsellor or two in her life. Mostly for things concerning her fear of failure, which she knew about and acknowledged. They had not always been the most useful of sessions but Hermione did think that they could help with sorting one’s thoughts out. Especially if one’s thoughts were as limited in their variety as Ron’s appeared to be. “I would offer you talk to me but I doubt I could be able to explain much of anything to you,” she concluded. Hermione did not feel she had the correct words, or more importantly, the answers Ron would like.
--
Ron ignored Hermione’s correction. If she said that was right then Ron absolutely believed that it was, but he also didn’t care very much. She’d understood what he’d meant, and her way seemed complicated. “Right, yeah,” he said, because they’d already agreed he would talk to Evan - about moving in. After that, maybe, Ron could try to talk to Evan about Andrew or how to feel less uncomfortable. Evan probably wouldn’t shout. He might even appreciate that Ron was trying. Maybe. If they were still friends. Which was why they needed to talk about moving in first.
He frowned at her second suggestion. Ron wouldn’t know where to find a counsellor, or how to talk to one if he did. “What?” he asked, “like McGonagall but for … friends stuff?” Ron didn’t have a very clear idea of what a counsellor did. Some, he thought, were for if you went crazy. Did Hermione think he had some kind of brain problem because he didn’t like being surprised by people’s boyfriends? McGonagall had offered career counselling, which hadn’t been very helpful. She wouldn’t do it for free, though (would she?) and Ron wasn’t at school anymore. He opened his mouth to say he couldn’t afford it, then stopped. Hermione didn’t need to know that. She already knew he was still living at home. “Maybe.” He sounded dubious.
--
It shouldn’t have been surprising that Ron didn’t know what a counsellor was. Hermione wasn’t even sure if she was surprised. She knew it wasn’t just a Muggle thing, especially since some of the counsellors she had seen had been magic. Still, people who were less aware of their emotions would not have a reason to know of counsellors. “More emotional stuff than friends stuff,” Hermione replied. Briefly she wondered why she was attempting to mimic Ron’s vocabulary. The answer was rather clear, she did want him to understand her.
“A counsellor might be able to find a way to help you get accustomed to change,” Hermione explained. It felt like Ron needed the explanation. And perhaps the help. “Change in general, not just this,” she added. To Hermione it seemed that whilst the complexities Ron might be experiencing with adjustment of people’s relationships were current, the stem of the problem was his inability to accept change. There wasn’t a solution Hermione could offer, not one she knew anyway. What Hermione could do, though, was give advice for who might be able to help. “It’s clearly distressing to you,” Hermione observed. “And you deserve to have some support to deal with that,” she concluded finishing her coffee, putting the mug down.
--
Ron really thought that he would rather things stop changing altogether. That might not be realistic, but it was what he wanted. Obviously, he didn’t want everything to stay the same forever. He wanted to move out of the Burrow and eventually buy a house and have a family. He wanted, in theory, to meet someone new to fall in love with (except, he really didn’t). Those things were expected changes. It was the ones that came as a total surprise that he didn’t like. Why couldn’t people just stop surprising him with unpleasant things? Hermione was right, it was distressing, and maybe having someone to talk to that wasn’t Lavender would be good. If he could find someone just like Lavender, especially.
“Thanks,” he muttered. It was weirdly reassuring to know someone thought he deserved support. It wasn’t really a feeling he’d gotten from anyone else, except maybe Molly. He’d always have his mum, but talking to her about sex-things (even if only distantly related) wasn’t an option. Of course, talking to a stranger might not be much better. At least Ron had a plan now, sort of. Talk to Evan about moving in and then - maybe - about whatever was happening with Andrew. Ron offered Hermione a smile. She’d helped, and he was grateful for that, even though the conversation hadn’t been pleasant. He still had quite a lot of coffee left in his cup, but he was starting to feel hungry. “I should probably go home.”