And now we tell Ron... Who: Harry Potter and Ron Weasley When: May 23rd, 1998, midday Where: Entrance Hall, Hogwarts What: Harry explains his little spur of the moment plan to Ron! Notes: More on this weird twist of ours! Status: Complete
Harry walked back over to Ron after speaking to Malfoy about his spur of the moment plan, really hoping that Ron wouldn't make too much of a big deal out of it once he told him.
"Ron!" Harry said, smiling at his best mate. "How're you feeling?"
Ron had been re-reading the new notice over and over again, thinking that perhaps now would be a good time to at least owl Hermione to let her know what was happening, since he figured that his family being here would be a pretty big indication that he was going home now.
He looked over at Harry and forced a rather cheerful smile on his face, feeling glum about the whole thing.
"Ah, good as new. Say, you haven't seen my wand, have you?"
"I dunno, have you checked your pockets?" Harry asked, shrugging. "And you're feeling down about this whole thing, too? I really don't want to go, but we don't really have a choice..."
Ron didn't bother checking his pocket since he already knew it wasn't there, but he nodded anyway.
"Yeah, I know. The only good thing is that at least you'll be staying with us and I won't have to suffer through Mum fawning all over me. And George."
"Yeah, Ron...about that." Harry paused, glancing down at the ground as he thought of how to explain it.
"I was thinking about getting my own place...your mum already has so much going on and I don't want to be a burden." He didn't want to mention that he wasn't sure if he could handle being in the family after what had happened. They had all continued to tell him that it wasn't his fault that Fred wasn't there anymore, but he still thought there might've been something he could've done.
Ron's face brightened up. "Oh, hey. Brilliant idea, mate. We can do that and then Mum can't be on my case then. George won't want to stay home either and that will work out then."
That surprised Harry for some reason, he hadn't expected him to want to come with him.
"Oh, you can join us," Harry said thoughtfully, thinking that it was better because there was another hand to help pay the rent. Only thing was...Malfoy and Ron, well. They never did have a chance to get along.
"Where's Hermione staying? Do you know?"
Ron frowned,shaking his head. "I don't know yet. With her parents coming back, she might decide to stay with them a while, but I know she wanted to stay at the Burrow. Well, with me," he blushed, but knew Harry wouldn't take the mickey at him for it.
It wasn't until after he said that, that Harry's words registered. "You said 'us'. Who's staying with you?"
He then had a horrible thought and paled. "Harry..it's not...Ginny, is it? Mum would kill you mate, I swear, and I don't think I can stop her."
Harry smirked when he mentioned Hermione wanting to stay with him specifically. "We can get a big enough flat so that there's a few rooms," Harry said, shrugging.
Harry paled a little, too, at Ron's next question. "Oh, no, Ron...not Ginny," he replied quickly, shaking his head. He also didn't want to admit that Ginny was another one of the reasons he didn't want to stay at the Burrow. He knew that he asked for time, and Ginny would assume that as soon as he went back to there that he didn't need anymore to himself. He didn't want Ron to know that, though.
"I was talking with Malfoy about it. He said he could help pay," Harry said, smiling a little because he knew, he just knew, Ron would not like Malfoy being involved. "I thought it would be a good idea."
The sudden thrill at the next occupant not being Ginny and him and Harry being flat mates dissipated as he stared at Harry, thinking that he had to be joking.
"Malfoy?" he asked slowly. "The same Mafloy we both know?"
He knew it had to be and Ron felt entirely sick to his stomach.
"Not chummy with him, you said," Ron said weakly, turning around and not wanting to even look in Malfoy's direction, mostly because he wasn't sure what he would do to his pointy face.
And now this.
He couldn't look at Harry either, because the disappointment he felt hurt right down to his gut.
Harry had promised...
"Ron..." Harry murmured, stepping closer and around him. "I'm not leaving my best mate. I promised I wouldn't, and I'm not. Malfoy honestly isn't as bad as he was. And it's not even like we're the best of mates now, I swear. I just thought of the idea while we were talking, and it was obvious that we both didn't want to go back to our homes, so..."
He reached out to grip Ron's shoulders. "It's even better now that you're coming with me. There's only so much I can talk to him about." He smiled weakly, wishing Ron would look at him.
Ron couldn't, not yet. "Let go, Harry," he murmured, knowing that he was probably overreacting to the whole thing, but for some stupid reason, he envied Malfoy.
"Move in with Malfoy, if you want. I don't--I don't need to come," he said shiftily, trying to get away from there before he did something stupid like cry. "You wouldn't have asked if you didn't mean it and you obviously do. It's fine. I'm fine about it."
"Come on, Ron...I want you to come, please," Harry said, not letting go yet. "You're not fine about it, don't lie. I can tell that much." Harry could see why Ron was being like this, and all he wanted was for him to get past it and at least tolerate Malfoy.
"Please? If I didn't want you to come with us, I would've told you no, and I didn't, because then I'd be lying. So, please? Ron...do it for me."
Ron scoffed and then laughed. "Do it for you? For you I'm not going over there now and kicking his bloody arse! Honestly, Harry, think about it. Malofy and me living in the same roof, day after day will not go without one of us cursing the other off. I...I can pretend he's not there or something, but what's he gonna do for me, eh? He's just going to pretend I don't exist either. Is that what you want?"
Harry went quiet for a moment. He didn't want them to be fighting constantly, no, but it wasn't as if Harry wasn't used to it.
"If you both want to pretend, then do that. What's even better is if you both try to tolerate each other. But...come on, Ron. Just give it a try. It'll be fun, too. Imagine us, all on our own."
Ron sighed, and turned around to look at him. "Harry, I've imagined nothing else but that. You want us to tolerate each other? Fine, I'll try, but will he? You think he's gonna stop being a arse just because you and him are now, weirdly enough, friends? You ask him, Harry, what he's doing for you and I'll do my part."
"I think he would've said no if he wanted to be an arse," Harry said, sighing deeply. "He wouldn't have helped me get rid of those inferi, he would've just helped himself and ran off, leaving me with the lot of them. There's a lot of things that he didn't have to do, but he did, and I think he proved that he's worthy of at least a friendship."
Ron rubbed his face wearily, wishing he could do what Harry wanted him to do.
"He's done that for you, Harry, I know that. I know now what he did for Ginny too, and trust me, I would say thanks except I know he's gonna throw it back in my face and then I'll punch him."
"Just give it a try," Harry said. "I swear if he does something like that, I'll punch him for you. And then let you punch him again."
Ron managed a small chuckle at that. "All right, Harry. That's a deal." Ron pointed his face in Malfoy's direction and asked, "Have you given him this same lecture, or was this just my own treat?"
"He knows it's implied, but I think I'll have to talk to him about it now." Harry grinned. "This'll be great, Ron!"
Ron sighed, looking over at the announcement on the wall. "I hope so, Harry. I hope so."