‘ do you think you might change your mind? ’
MEME. ( to all the boys i loved before meme ) @wizardddads
he understood the concern or maybe just the question in general. after all, it was somewhat of a big decision to make after all of that training and hard work he’d put in over the past few years. then again, ever since the war had been won, ron was positive he hadn’t actually been living life the way he wanted. he was simply following in footsteps that he thought were necessary. after all, ever since he’d sat opposite harry on the way to hogwarts that first year, his life had taken quite the turn. for as long as he could recall, the past ten years had been a constant war against the evil in the world, doing the job that he’d fallen into after it all. being an auror was fine. it was respected and appreciated and it made people proud. it kept him busy and his mind working to avoid falling into a pit that he was sure many expected him to fall into. it also meant that he was still by harry’s side, which had been an important factor in his decision alongside making sure that he could make a decent living.
while they had all been far to young to have experienced what they had, ron knew that harry had been through far worse. he’d never had a moment in his life where he could sit back and breathe and not have something worming away at his mind. even now, ron was sure harry had some form of survivors guilt - hell, they all did. but harry had died. and if that wasn’t the most terrifying thing to try and comprehend, ron didn’t know what was. but he wasn’t going to let his best friend deal with it alone. so, when harry fell into being an auror - which had seemed like the natural next progression to everything he’d already done - ron had followed suit without even really considering if it was what he wanted to do. hermione had still been in school, so it was just the two of them and ron keeping an eye on harry as best he could. plus, selfishly, he didn’t want to be alone. it was why he visited the burrow often even after moving out or spent a lot of time in george’s flat above the shop or even in the shop itself.
ron’s eyes were fixed on the old table, fingernail tracing a groove in the wood like he’d done all through growing up whenever there was a conversation he wasn’t too keen on having. ❝ i don’t think so, ❞ he countered, although there was a level of uncertainty to his tone. george had done an amazing job with keeping the shop running, that wasn’t the problem at all. while there was uncertainty in what he would take home, ron had complete faith in his brothers’ idea and was more than happy to throw himself into it. his fear was more so seeming like he was giving up when things were getting too hard. but, considering voldemort had been killed and any straggling death eaters had mostly been captured? there wasn’t anything hard out there for him to do anymore. things were quiet and he hated it.
❝ do you think it’s stupid? ❞ his eyes lifted from the table, settling onto his dad’s face for a moment. ever since leaving hogwarts after his sixth year, ron hadn’t really asked anyone’s opinion on his future. he’d talked about it a few times with hermione, who had been more than supportive with any idea that he’d had - well, apart from the ones that were pretty much life threatening or plain idiotic - but never with much seriousness. ❝ i mean... george could use the help. ❞ it was an excuse, really. while it was true, the shop was too much for just one person to run, it wasn’t the reason that ron was contemplating giving up travelling and hunting down the bad in the world. truthfully, since they had lost fred, ron hadn’t stopped to take stock of it at all. instead he kept himself on the go or focused on making sure harry was okay, hermione was okay, his parents, george... everyone but himself. and only recently had there been some nagging in the back of his mind to just slow down and really embrace time with his family and cherish them more.
❝ i’d be doing better hours? that’ll make mum happy, even if she isn’t all that keen on the shop, right? and hermione’s been talking about looking at places to live. it’d be nice to settle down. ❞ fewer hours meant he could promise going to weekly family dinners. maybe he could drag harry and hermione along too, keep the table full. plus, there was something nice about the idea of putting down roots, even if he was still maybe a little too young to be thinking about that. he’d lived too much of an exciting and painful life the past decade or so, maybe it was time to just relax and live a normal life for some time. a heavy sigh left him then, lifting his shoulders from where they were slumped. ❝ i’m done with trying to be a hero, dad, ❞ he confessed, legs shifting from their relaxed stretch to his feet being planted on the floor. ❝ i think i’ve had enough adventure for a lifetime. risking life and limb just... i don’t know. it’s not for me anymore. and i know you and mum worry. i don’t want to put either of you through that again. ❞
