⟢ pairing. ron weasley x fem!reader ⟢ summary. you, oblivious as ever, hadn’t caught on to ron’s not-so-subtle signals about his feelings for you. ⟢ friends to lovers. he fell first, he fell harder. ⟢ wc. 1,8k ⟢ masterlist!
ron was someone who was obviously terrible at masking his feelings. he was so awfully bad at it, that even neville had managed to catch on; at this rate, the fat lady probably knew too; everybody seemed to know, except for the one person thick enough not to notice, the one person who he actually wanted to.
harry and hermione, who from the very start had always knew about ron’s secret, sometimes wondered how long it would take before you finally caught on. as hermione once said, “honestly, i’ve never met such a thick person as to not notice you making it so ridiculously obvious.”
it was in the way ron always saved you a seat beside him, even if it meant shoving his books across the bench or glaring at anyone who dared to sit too close. it was in the way he slid the last roast potato onto your plate at dinner, ignoring the fact that food was practically sacred to him. it was in the way he lingered by the portrait hole in the mornings, pretending to retie his shoelaces just so you wouldn’t have to walk to class alone. it was in the way he carried your books when you looked tired, muttering something about how “they weren’t heavy anyway” even as his ears turned scarlet.
every single thing he did was a miserable attempt at making his feelings known, though you never once caught on. hermione, in particular, had long abandoned subtlety; she no longer bothered with knowing looks and had moved straight into exasperated sighs and muttering under her breath whenever you missed yet another painfully obvious signal. harry, on the other hand, found the whole thing hilarious and had even roped ginny into betting on how long it would take before you finally noticed.
fred and george, of course, never missed a chance to make things worse. they teased ron mercilessly, dropping not-so-subtle comments whenever you were around or nudging him dramatically whenever you walked past. the twins, however claimed that they were doing him a favor.
“you gonna finish that toast, or are you saving it for a special someone? y/n, perhaps?” fred, who leaned over the table with a grin, snickered loudly. “shut it, fred.” ron scowled, already red in the ears.
“special someone? me? what d’you mean?” you blinked, completely stupid enough not to understand as ron choked on his roasted turkey. “oh, you know..” george suddenly chimed in, but ron cut him off quickly before he managed to utter a single word.
“don’t you dare, george,” ron warned sharply, his face turning crimson as he shoved another bite of toast into his mouth to avoid looking at you. fred raised his brows in mock innocence. “what? we were only going to say you’re his favorite study partner. right, george?”
“absolutely,” george agreed, smirking. “his very favorite. can’t stop talking about her, can you?” ron nearly dropped his goblet, choking out, “i do not!”
doing him a favour, they said. not to ron, no. but either way, ron couldn’t help but silently hoped you had caught on. he would rather die than admit his feelings to you aloud. he’d much rather you pieced it together yourself. oh, yes, that would save him the humiliation of confessing his feelings out loud.
it came to a point where hermione, already exasperated beyond belief, had enough.
“honestly ron, just tell her how you feel! or—or ask her out on a hogsmeade weekend or something—alone, this time..” hermione trailed off awkwardly recalling the last time ron had did exactly that, but didn’t quite go exactly as planned.
“i was, you know.. um.. wondering, if you’d wanna spend the day toromow—i meant, tomorrow,” he stammered, ears already turning red. he cleared his throat, fumbling over his words. “with—with me, i mean—well, if you’d like, of course! we can also go anywhere you want.” he then awkwardly fiddled with his sleeves out of nervousness; he could practically hear his heart thudding loudly in his chest.
please say yes.. oh, help me..
“of course we can,” you shrugged, smiling softly. it was then that ron froze for a moment, blinked, and stared at you in disbelief. he had thought it ought to be more difficult than this. “wait, really? you—you mean it?” his heart thumped painfully fast, and his stomach did that weird twisty thing whenever you looked at him that he couldn’t quite name.
“of course i do!” you beamed. “ooh, you can accompany me and hermione at honeydukes! we’ve been craving some chocolate frogs lately,” you added cheerfully, clasping your hands together in excitement at the thought.
ron felt as though a thunder had struck him completely. his eyes were practically bulging at this point.
“but—” he sighed, deciding not to say anything. “well.. that’s fine, i suppose.. yeah. sure, brilliant idea.” he forced a smile, shoving his hands into his pockets, shifting from foot to foot, looking like a dramatic puppy pouting from disappointment.
oh, hermione didn’t want to remember that, and neither did ron, who sank onto his fluffy armchair near the fireplace in the common room as he painfully replayed the scene in his head.
“don’t—even—remind—me.” ron said, burying his face in his hands. he needn’t remember that mortifying moment; the memory alone made his ears burn. from behind, he could hear muffled, stifled laughter. “oh, shut up, harry.” he groaned, finally lowering his hands just enough to glare over at his best friend, who was trying—and failing to look innocent.
hermione, too, stifled a laugh upon seeing harry. though, she quickly recovered once she saw how serious ron actually was. “well, maybe.. this time, you can go and ask her to go to hogsmeade together again. just make sure it’s only the two of you this time.” hermione suggested, looking over towards harry, awaiting for any sign of approval.
“yeah, go get her ron.” harry urged. “d’you reckon she’d say yes?” he asked, his voice dripped with uncertainty. harry and hermione exchanged glances, before hermione spoke up. “well, i suppose she would. i mean, she has to, wouldn’t she?” ron swallowed hard.
the morning after, precisely when the whole school had gathered for breakfast, ron managed to inch his way toward your table, shoving down his nerves like they were a particularly nasty potion. he clutched his tray like it was a shield, muttering under his breath, and stole quick glances at you, trying to work up the courage to speak without turning into a complete disaster.
fred and george, conveniently seated a few tables away, were already grinning like the cat that got the cream, clearly anticipating the spectacle about to unfold. hermione shot ron a quick, pointed look from across the hall, silently urging him to just go for it before you wandered off or someone else interrupted.
ron cleared his throat loudly, attracting a few curious glances, which he was too preoccupied to even notice. “hey, um.. y/n, can i talk to you? like—alone?” he managed. you turned around, now facing him. “sure, what’s up?” your full attention was now at ron, who, once again, cleared his throat.
“well.. maybe we can talk outside? be—because it’s quite noisy here, don’t you think?” he suggested. you tilted your head slightly, smiling. “oh, alright, we can go outside.”
you hadn’t noticed ron exchanging looks with harry and hermione, who both gave him a thumbs-up. you then followed him out of the great hall, the clatter of trays and chatter of students soon blurred, where the two of you settled in a corner, far enough from the great hall.
“so, what d’you wanna talk about?” you asked curiously, a crease forming between your brows. you thought it was unusual for ron to want to talk to you away from the others. ron, who’s face was almost as red as his robes, suddenly spoke.
“well, i.. just thought we could—uh, you know, talk,” he muttered whatever popped up into his brain, glancing at the ground before quickly looking back at you.
you chuckled. “you’re acting really funny, what’s going on?” he swallowed hard. “would you..” he trailed off, his heart beating so loudly he swore you could hear it. you tilted your head.
“would you like to go to hogsmeade with me later this afternoon?you know.. just—just the two of us..” he mumbled, rubbing the nape of his neck as he avoided your gaze. suddenly the solid stone floors were interesting.
you widened your eyes, taken aback, but soon broke into a soft smile. “sure, that sounds fun.” and for some reason, you felt a little flutter of excitement at the idea of spending time with ron—though you couldn’t have known why.
“really? brilliant!” he beamed, then tried to steady himself. “i mean, yeah—cool.” he added quickly, running a hand through his hair and shoving the other into his pocket, trying desperately to act casual, completely ignoring his now flushed cheeks.
you laughed softly. he sure was acting weird today, you thought. “we should probably get back, shouldn’t we? before food’s all gone.” you suggested. “food? oh, right.” he said quickly as he fell into step beside you.
the blurred noise of clinking plates and laughter swelled again, and before you knew it, you were stepping back into the great hall. fred, who saw ron’s unmistakable grin—which ron tried to hide, but is obviously failing miserably—wore a smug smirk as he nudged george.
you quickly slid back into your seat, picking up your abandoned spoon to resume your breakfast as ron followed suit. hermione studied your face, which looked usually fine, before turning to ron, who seemed as if he had just won the quidditch cup, and so she took it as a good sign.
three heads away, fred and george wore a wicked grin. “looks like little ronniekins has got himself a date,” george whispered back, just loud enough for ron’s ears to burn all over again as harry bit back a laugh, before it quickly turned into a grunt. hermione had apparently kicked him under the table to shut him up, her expression schooled into feigned innocence as she buttered her toast. harry had a good feeling he was about to win his bet against ginny.