Hi everyone! I wanted to say thank you so much for reading this story! It was the first fan fiction i’ve ever written so it took a little while to get used to it. All of the nice comments and messages helped me through my writing slump and I cannot thank all of you enough. So I dedicate this story to you :)
Introduction / Author’s Note / Chapter 1: The Journey to the Burrow / Chapter 2: Hidden Letters / Chapter 3: Ron’s Return / Chapter 4: Nighttime Conversations / Chapter 5: A Morning Surprise / Chapter 6: The Quidditch Match / Chapter 7: Girl Talk / Chapter 8: Aphrodite’s Push / Chapter 9: Mistakes and Love Potions / Chapter 10: You Would Be Fine / Chapter 11: Spell It Out / Chapter 12: Long Overdue / Chapter 13: Always Want You
Chapter 14: A Magical End and a New Beginning
When you woke up the next morning, Ron's arms were wrapped tightly around you and his snores were loud enough to wake the entire Burrow. Giggling at him, you turned around to kiss him on the cheek. At this, he started stirring in his sleep.
"Wake up, Won-Won," you teased.
Ron groaned sleepily and nuzzled his nose into the crook of your neck.
"Never, call me that," he said, his speech thick from sleep. His morning voice instantly made you feel hot and light headed.
"What would you rather me call you?" you asked, a playful smirk appearing on your lips. "Sweetheart? Lover of mine? Honeykins? Sex Wizard Supreme?"
"My boyfriend will do for now," he responded, kissing your lips. After a moment he pulled away, pursed his lips and said, "On second thought, I kind of like Sex Wizard Supreme."
You laughed, playfully nudging him off of you as he tried to kiss you again. In response to this, he wrapped his arms around your waist from behind and attacked your neck with thousands of kisses. You were giggling and gasping under your breath when suddenly, Ron's bedroom door was kicked open. Both of you froze.
In marched Ginny, Hermione, Harry, and the twins.
"I see we've come full circle," Hermione said with a smirk once everyone got a glimpse of you and Ron, tangled in the bed sheets. You self consciously pulled the sheets higher up around your body to cover up for the fact that underneath the red comforter, you were butt-naked.
"I told you this was where she was," Ginny said, lightly slapping Harry on the shoulder.
Fred made a great deal of dramatically holding his hand out to George, who dug two galleons from his pocket and slapped it into Fred's open palm. George glared at you for a second, presumably for making him lose his bet, but before long he was back to smiling and joking.
"You're welcome for those fireworks, mate," George told Ron. "Without them, I would've bet you never would have told y/n you liked her."
"Bet? Would you like to make another? I could use some extra cash," Fred said, turning to his twin with a smirk. George responded with an eye roll and a shove to Fred's shoulder.
"Ron! You never told me you liked y/n!" Harry protested in disbelief. "I'm your best friend," he added afterwards, obviously a little grumpy that Ron hid this from him.
You felt Ron shrug behind you, his arms still in place on your waist.
"You never told me you fancied my sister," he responded. His voice was still deep from just waking up and it made you wish everyone would leave the room so you could attend to other activities.
Harry's face turned the color of Ginny's hair. Ginny, who was now grinning like an idiot.
"Come on then, Harry," Ginny said, taking him by the hand and pulling him towards the open door. "Ron and y/n had their conversation, now it's time for ours."
Once they left, Hermione and the twins stayed grinning at the two of you.
"Get out," Ron grumbled at them.
"Please," you added with a sweet smile.
Hermione winked at you as she left. The twins followed, but not before shouting "Use protection! Wrap it before you tap it!"
Ron groaned at their words but you knew he was secretly as excited as you were when his bedroom door slammed shut, leaving you alone.
"So," you prompted, rolling onto Ron's stomach. His hands instinctively found their way to your hips, moving up and down the sides of your body, giving you shivers.
"So," he replied with a smirk.
You leaned down to press your lips against his.
"Whatdoya wanna do on this fine morning?" you asked, mumbling the words against his mouth.
Ron's hands trailed from your waist downwards, cupping your bare bottom.
"I could think of a few ideas."
...
After about three rounds of mind-blowing sex, you were really making up for lost time, the two of you headed downstairs for breakfast. Well by now, it would probably be lunch.
Ron had insisted you wear one of his t-shirts, which had been exactly what prompted round number three, so you walked, more like limped (for obvious reasons), down the stairs wearing your jean shorts and his red Chuddley Canons shirt. His hand was pressed against the small of your back to keep you steady and it made you feel warm and fuzzy inside. You wished he would never stop touching you.
"Morning," George said, lifting his mug of tea and smirking at you.
"Y/n!" Mrs Weasley said, brightening once she saw you. "You missed helping at breakfast this morning, but no matter, please sit down! We're having sandwiches for lunch."
You thanked her, sliding into the nearest chair, praying to Merlin she hadn't noticed the way you were walking. Ron sat beside you and before long, the whole Weasley family was at the kitchen table. Plates of food were passed around and everyone started digging into the meal. Talk at the table was joyful and full, and you couldn't have been happier. You were sitting around the table with the boy you loved, your best friends, and the nicest family you had ever met. It was in that moment that you realized, this was the happiest you had ever been in your whole life. All thanks to this wonderful summer, you knew more moments like this would happen again.
After lunch, you played a game of Quidditch with the family and after an astounding match (you had scored at least 7 goals) you found yourself under the familiar oak tree, playing wizard's chess with Ron.
His knight piece had just smashed your pawn into a dozens pieces and you let out a low sigh.
"I've never been very good at this game, Quidditch is more my speed," you admitted.
Ron grinned, happy to have found a game he could beat you at.
"If I let you win will you stay in my room again tonight?" he asked with a giddy look in his eyes.
You laughed, pushing his shoulder. The instant your skin touched his, it was like the same sparks from your first kiss were ignited again. Ron rolled over on top of you, cradling your face with his large hands as he kissed you breathlessly. You couldn't help the sigh of happiness and love that escaped your lips.
"I'll take that as a yes," he said.
Rolling your eyes, you asked, "Won't your parents get suspicious?"
Ron shrugged, kissing your left cheek, then your right, and finally your forehead before pulling you into his side. Now you were cuddling under the oak tree, the summer sunshine illuminating his red hair, and you couldn't have been happier.
"Maybe they will, I dunno. I think they suspected us to be banging for years," he replied.
"Such romantic word choice," you quipped with a laugh.
He kissed your shoulder before responding, "Fucking, making love, bumping uglies. Whatever you want to call it, as long as we get to do it again."
You laughed again and he joined in, the sound like music to your ears.
"I'm serious though," Ron finally said, turning to you with a much more mature look on his face. "Not just about the sex thing. Even though that is very good. But I mean in general." His eyes scanned yours and you had the feeling he was nervous about what he was going to say next.
"In general?" you asked.
He nodded before continuing. "I don't want this, us, to be a just summer thing. I've loved you for years, and I want to keep loving you for years. That means during our last year at Hogwarts, and afterwards."
You were stunned by his vulnerability to say that. In response, you kissed him, trying to pour all of the love and words you didn't know how to articulate into the kiss.
"I want that too. I want you, too. For years to come."
He grinned at that before repeating, "For years to come," as he kissed you again. And again. And again.
Introduction / Author’s Note / Chapter 1: The Journey to the Burrow / Chapter 2: Hidden Letters / Chapter 3: Ron’s Return / Chapter 4: Nighttime Conversations / Chapter 5: A Morning Surprise / Chapter 6: The Quidditch Match / Chapter 7: Girl Talk / Chapter 8: Aphrodite’s Push / Chapter 9: Mistakes and Love Potions / Chapter 10: You Would Be Fine / Chapter 11: Spell It Out / Chapter 12: Long Overdue
Chapter 13: Always Want You
Author's note: okay so this chapter is gonna be a little steamy...pretty much the entire chapter is literally just steam so if you're not comfortable with that please don't read this chapter! thanks! :)
Your knuckles hovered over the wooden door of Ron's bedroom. They were shaky, and your heart was beating faster and faster. You had successfully slipped out of Ginny's room after (of course) gushing to her and Hermione about all the romantic things that Ron had said to you. You were pretty sure they had seen you leave Ginny's room during the sleepover, but they opted to let you have your fun.
And fun you would have. If only you could work up the courage to knock on the door.
You don't know why you were nervous. Ron just bared his heart and soul to you outside a few hours ago but now standing at his bedroom door, you were racked with nerves. What if he changed his mind? What if you messed something up? What if you weren't as good a kisser as he was? Juvenile thoughts, yeah, but everything with Ron was new and exciting, you couldn't help feeling so inexperienced.
Before you could even decide whether or not to turn around and run back up the stairs, you heard a very familiar squawking noise. Dite. Perfect opportunity, you thought, before knocking on the door
The door swung open before you could even lift your hand away. Your knuckle was frozen there in midair as your gaze met Ron's. He had changed out of his button-up from the party and was now wearing loose sweat pants and his signature Chudley Cannons t-shirt. Just the sight of him made your head feel woozy and clouded.
"I....uh...heard Dite, so I decided to come check on her," you said, very awkwardly. Even though you knew how Ron felt about you, and vice versa, you still found yourself at a lost for words standing at his bedroom door. For some reason kissing him now seemed drastically different from kissing him in the garden.
Ron gave you a lazy grin.
"You came just for Dite, huh?" He asked, seeing right through you. Blush spread across your cheeks and you nodded curtly.
Before you could make any more of a fool of yourself, Ron gently clasped his fingers around your wrists and pulled you into the room, promptly shutting the door behind him. He then pushed your back up against the door and kissed you. Surprised, your hands flew to his hair and you deepened the kiss. Even though you had exchanged countless little kisses the entire night (you could barely keep your hands off each other), every single one had felt as passionate and important as the first.
Ron pulled away from you, his grin still playing on his, now chapped, lips.
"Still only here for Dite?" He asked, his eyes joking.
"Definitely," you responded, taking every ounce of your will power to push away from him rather than wrap your legs around his torso. You walked over to the owl cage in the corner of the room. Inside, standing on straw and looking very smug, was your little friend Dite.
You stroked the top of her feathers with the back of your fingers, smoothing out the black heart on top of her head. While you were distracted by your pet, you felt strong warm arms wrap around your waist from behind. Ron leaned down to rest his chin on your shoulder.
"Do you think she knows? About us?" Ron asked, tilting his head towards the small owl you were petting.
"Oh, definitely. She's practically screaming 'I told you so!' right now."
Ron wrapped his arms tighter around you as he chuckled. Your entire body felt warm with him wrapped around you. Wow, you thought. You could get used to this feeling.
He laughed again, kissing your shoulder while doing it so you felt his hot breath on your bare shoulder. You decided to wear a tank top and pajama pants to meet him tonight, and you were glad you did. His breath directly on your exposed skin was driving you insane.
"What're you laughing at?" You asked, your fingers moving away from petting Dite and instead landing on his arm. You traced up and down his freckled limb, soaking in every bit of him.
"People always say I'm the dumb one, but I literally bought you an owl named Aphrodite and you still didn't know how I felt about you," he said. You could feel his shoulders jostling up and down as he spoke so you knew he was still laughing.
Rolling your eyes, you turned around in his arms and were now facing him. Your fingers trailed from his biceps up to his neck as you wove your fingers through his orange hair.
"I didn't want to assume anything," you defended yourself.
Ron lowered his lips to yours. "I wish you would've, then we could've done this a lot sooner," he responded. You could feel the shape of his words barely touching your lips as he spoke against them.
"Done what, exactly?" You asked teasingly.
His lips connected with yours once more and as he kissed you deeply, he slowly walked you back towards his bed.
"This," he mumbled huskily when your knees hit the edge of the mattress.
Desire pooled into every pore of your body as you laid down on his bed, him hovering above you.
"Some privacy, please?" You said, regarding the birds in the corner of the room. Dite sent a wink in your direction as she flapped out her wings and took flight. As soon as your owls had flown out the open window, you dragged Ron's face down to yours.
"Kiss me, Weasley," you breathed.
And kiss you he did.
You thanked your lucky stars you were laying down because if not, your knees would have given out with the intensity of Ron's kiss. His mouth was hot against yours, his tongue dragging across your bottom lip hungrily. You kissed him back with the same feverish energy, wrapping your leg around his waist in one swift motion. He grunted into the kiss, left hand coming up to tangle in your hair as his right trailed down your body, touching you in places you desperately needed him at. His lips trailed from your mouth to your neck, leaving hot wet kisses along your jaw line.
"Y/n," he rasped against your skin, making you shudder under him.
Slowly, he kissed from your neck to your collarbone, relishing in the little moans you were emitting. His fingers bunched around the hem of your tank top, his eyes searching yours for permission. You nodded, letting him lift the material and smiling to yourself when he sharply inhaled. You hadn't worn a bra.
"Decided to keep with tradition, you know?" You joked as his eyes drank in the view of you.
"I love you so damn much," he said, his hands roaming over your body. His eyes bounced back up to yours and held your gaze. "You look so beautiful like this, all splayed out with your hair messy," he said. He was looking at you as if you were the most magical thing in the world-and to him you were. Which is saying a lot, because he was a wizard.
"I'm sorry I ran out on you the morning after we slept together," he blurted out. Wincing, he amended, "I mean not sleep sleep together, but sleeping next to each other, in the same bed, like we did."
It made your nerves ease when you watched him get flustered around you for once, instead of the other way around.
"Why did you?" You asked.
His hands stalled their trek on your body and moved back to your chin, cupping your face. He did that a lot, holding your face in his hands so gently. It made your heart melt and other parts of you heat up.
"I dunno, I guess I've just pictured this moment, right now, what we are doing, for the longest time...and I wanted to act on how I felt so badly that night...but I was too nervous," he confessed sheepishly.
You propped yourself up on your elbows so you could look him deeper in the eyes.
"Apology accepted. Just don't run out on me tomorrow morning, okay?"
His breath caught in his throat.
"You want to stay the night? With me? In my bed?" He asked nervously, as if he couldn't believe his luck.
After glancing down at your bare chest, you looked back up at him.
"Well, obviously," you joked.
He laughed through a grin and brought his lips to yours, before pushing you back into the pillows. Your head rested on his soft pillows and he kissed you again, making you feel like you were floating. His hands explored your chest while your fingers gripped the ends of his t-shirt, tugging it up slightly.
As if he could read your mind, Ron leaned back, quickly taking off his shirt and casting it away. Instantly, you attacked his shoulders and collarbones with hot, open mouthed kisses. You kissed every freckle, every mole, and every muscle on his chest.
Once you felt satisfied, you made your way back up to his lips, attaching yourself to them like they were water and you were dying of thirst. Ron eased you back to the pillows once more as his lips started kissing and sucking at the crook of your neck. You pressed you face into his red hair, the smell of cinnamon and apple filling your nose. He licked a particularly sensitive spot on your neck and you groaned, back arching.
Ron's fingers reached the drawstring of your pants, and he pulled away to look you in the eyes.
"Are you sure you want to do this? Because we can wait if you want," he rushed, his words tripping over one another.
You pulled him back into a kiss, breathing through it, "Ron, I want this, I want you, as long as you do too."
"I'll always want you," he replied.
His fingers dipped below your waistband. They immediately found their way to your core and you moaned louder than you expected, heat rushing to your face.
"Alright there, love?" Ron asked with a smug grin.
"Perfect," you replied, moaning again, not really caring about how desperate you must have seemed in the moment.
The rest of the night was filled with the same rhythm, kissing and asking permission and unabashedly showing each other how badly you wanted one another.
This lasted for quite some time, but by the time Dite and Pig had flown back into the room, you and Ron were cuddling together, out of breath, legs tangled up in the sheets.
"Hello," you greeted your owl. She gave you an approving nod before nestling into the straw of her cage, soundly falling asleep.
You turned your attention to the red haired boy laying next to you, his arms wrapped tightly around you. His eyelids were heavy, and you could tell he was just as tired as you were. Taking out years worth of pent up desire and lust really tires a person out.
Ron pressed his lips against your mouth, your temple, your cheek, all the while mumbling "I love you," against your lips, again and again and again.
You fell asleep to that mantra, heart full, hair a mess, and absolutely, blissfully in love.
Introduction / Author’s Note / Chapter 1: The Journey to The Burrow / Chapter 2: Hidden Letters / Chapter 3: Ron’s Return / Chapter 4: Nighttime Conversations / Chapter 5: A Morning Surprise / Chapter 6: The Quidditch Match / Chapter 7: Girl Talk / Chapter 8: Aphrodite’s Push / Chapter 9: Mistakes and Love Potions / Chapter 10: You Would Be Fine / Chapter 11: Spell It Out
Chapter 12: Long Overdue
Author’s Note: okay i know the gif is romione but just pretend it’s y/n okay? okay! enjoy this chapter!
This was it, you thought.
Ron was towering over you, his hands cradling your face so gently it was as if you were the most precious thing in the world to him. He licked his lips slowly, seductively, and leaned even closer. Now your lips were almost touching. If you would lean forward just the slightest inch, you would be kissing. But instead of doing that, you waited, your heart in your throat and your knees weak, for his next words.
These next words, you thought, are going to change everything. What he says next will be years worth of pent up desire and longing and finally he was going to tell you he loved-
"Nice dress," he whispered.
You remained still, stunned.
Ron broke out into boyish laughter.
"Ronald!" you yelled, slapping his chest with the palm of your hand.
"Are you kidding me?" you demanded, equally hurt and embarrassed while also trying to suppress a laugh. This was him complimenting your cheesy shorts instead of kissing you in his room all over again.
Ron laughed a little more, before turning back to you and almost closing the gap. Almost closing it completely, but not quite.
"What were you expecting me to say, y/n?" he asked, his voice dropping an octave lower as his eyes searched yours. The atmosphere between your bodies quickly changed to something more serious.
You shrugged. "Dunno, something a bit more romantic than that," you replied.
Ron put his fingers up to his chin and pretended to think. He was back to his goofy self and no matter how annoyed you were with his antics, you still found yourself madly in love with him, faults and all.
"Alright," he said, drawing out the word. "How about this?" His hand dropped from his chin to your waist, pulling your body flesh against him. Your heart skipped a beat and you knew that if he kept this teasing up, you were going to have a heart attack.
"Would you have wanted me to say that I've dreamt about holding you every night since we danced together at the Yule Ball? That every time I see you with Bill I get crazy jealous because I wish you would want me as much as you wanted him?"
He looked like he had more to say so you stayed silent as he kept saying those words that made your heart melt.
"Or would you rather me have told you that every single time we took walks around the Great Lake together back at Hogwarts, I thought about kissing you? Every damn time. Would you have wanted me to tell you that I keep every single one of your letters in a box under my bed because I miss you so fucking much in the summer that they are the only things that get me through?" he said, a little breathless, cheeks pink, and looking more vulnerable than you've ever seen him.
"Would you have wanted me to tell you how desperately I'm in love with you?" he finished.
It was dead silent between you, the only sounds the distant fireworks in the sky. Their vibrant colors reflected onto Ron's skin, his face turning shades of blue and red as the fireworks erupted. In that moment, he was the most breathtaking thing you have ever seen.
"Yeah, I probably would have wanted something like that," you joked quietly, flashing him a small grin. He returned it.
"C'mere," he mumbled, lifting your chin with his fingers as he finally closed the distance between you.
Even despite the fireworks exploding in the night sky, you could have sworn sparks were flying.
You had been dreaming about this kiss for the longest time, and it was already exceeding your expectations. His lips were soft against yours, but his rhythm was passionate. As soon as you connected, he had parted his lips, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Your lips molded to his and parted as well. He pushed your back up against the tree, kissing you harder, more passionately. Standing on your tiptoes to wrap your arms around his neck, Merlin he was taller than you remembered, you pulled him in closer. He responded immedietly, tender hands finding their way to your hips and squeezing lightly. And you continued like that, mouths connected, hands roaming, finally sharing the kiss that you had both been wanting for years.
You don't know how much time had passed, it could have been 5 minutes, or perhaps an hour, but at some point you had to come up for breath. Pulling away from him, you leaned your head back against the wood of the oak tree as you caught your breath. Your knees were so weak from the kiss that the only thing keeping you standing up was Ron's strong arms holding you in place.
"You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that," Ron whispered, breathing heavy.
Giggling, you replied, "Probably not as long as I've wanted to."
He leaned down next to your face and pressed a light kiss to your cheek. "I seriously doubt that," he mumbled against your skin.
The fireworks continued filling the sky as you stood with Ron under the oak tree, leaning against one another like you were the only people in the world.
"Y/n," he said, lifting his head to look you in the eyes. "I'm sorry that I've hurt you, I'm an idiot sometimes."
Laughingly lightly, you nodded your head. "Yeah, you are." He laughed too, kissing your forehead. Despite how happy and full of love you were in that moment, a question still nagged in the back of your brain like a parasite.
"Ron, why did you say what happened in your room was a mistake?" you asked, trying to keep your voice steady but the words ended up quivering anyways.
He shook his head, trying to find the correct words.
"I didn't mean that you and I, us, was the mistake. I meant it was a mistake for me to act like that when I was drugged up on Love Potion. I wanted our first kiss to be romantic, I guess, and in that moment I wasn't thinking clearly enough to tell you how I felt. I wanted you to know I loved you before we ever had our first kiss."
You were taken aback by his words. Ron had always come off as a goofy and silly guy, you never knew he had this romantic side to him. This only made you fall deeper in love as you grabbed his face, dragging him down to meet your lips again.
The second kiss was just as magical as the first, gentle yet passionate and as soon as it was over you couldn't help wanting more .
When the kiss ended, you stayed wrapped in each other's arms.
"So what do you say," he said, biting his bottom lip and swaying you slightly by the hips.
"What do you mean?" you asked, melting into his touch.
"Do you love me back?"
Now it was your turn to mess with him, just like he did with you.
"Hmm, I don't know, I'll have to think about that one," you said, your voice sing-songy as you grinned at him.
Ron rolled his eyes and brought you back in for a another breathtaking kiss. When you broke apart, he looked at you again, the question still in his eyes.
You nodded, pulling him closer, your lips ghosting over his.
"I love you, Ron, I always have," you whispered against his lips. The smile that spread across his face made every single emotion of this rollercoaster of a summer worth it. He kissed you again. By the end of the summer, your lips were going to be so swollen and chapped but you couldn't really bring it upon yourself to care.
As the kiss deepened, Ron's hands squeezed your hips again and you moaned in his mouth before you could think of stopping yourself. He froze immediately, and you winced, wishing you hadn't been so eager so soon.
He didn't miss a beat. "My room, tonight?" he whispered, holding you closer against him. So maybe he was equally as eager as you were...
You nodded, before replying, "Your bed is always open to me, right?"
He grinned, kissing you in response.
Your brain was so full of Ron and his lips and his hands that you forgot there was a party going on behind you. The fireworks had stopped a while ago and neither of you had even noticed.
But you noticed now when you heard loud, boisterous cheering. You and Ron froze as you looked towards the sound of the noise. From across the garden, Fred and George were jumping up and down, cheering, and high-fiving one another. Next to them stood Harry and Hermione who were both grinning.
"Bloody FINALLY!" Ginny shouted at you. Her shout brought the attention of Mr and Mrs Weasley to you and Ron. Mr Weasley gave his son a thumbs up while Mrs Weasley gave you a loving smile.
"We're never going to hear the end of this, are we?" he asked you.
Smiling, you replied, "not likely."
Ron grinned as the two of you walked back towards the crowd, hand in hand.
okay so I mapped out my thought process for the rest of the fic and I think there’s only two (or three) chapters left 👁👄👁 I’ve started writing it and I’m kind of sad that I’m going to be finished soon bc I love writing it so much, but I really don’t want to drag it out!! like the story has its timing & rhythm so I know how/when it’s gonna end but it makes me sad it’s so soon :(
Introduction / Author’s Note / Chapter 1: The Journey to the Burrow / Chapter 2: Hidden Letters / Chapter 3: Ron’s Return / Chapter 4: Nighttime Conversations / Chapter 5: A Morning Surprise / Chapter 6: The Quidditch Match / Chapter 7: Girl Talk / Chapter 8: Aphrodite’s Push / Chapter 9: Mistakes and Love Potions / Chapter 10: You Would Be Fine
Chapter 11: Spell It Out
It was the night of Percy's birthday party and you had successfully avoided Ron the entire day. It wasn't difficult to do, considering the fact that everyone was so hectic and busy running around to complete Percy's demanding orders. He was usually uptight, but the stress of his work friends and boss attending his party had him so wound up you were afraid he was going to snap in two.
Not ready to face Ron after your screaming match last night, you stuck by Hermione and Ginny's side the entire day as everyone prepared for the party. You also avoided Bill too, just in case Ron was still jealous enough to make a scene. You didn't want any more emotional outbursts for a while. You were a little worn out from those this summer.
Now you stood next to the large oak tree, you had come to call it your tree ever since you snuck out at night to sit by it, and observed the party. Wizards in capes and tunics milled about, mingling with one another while sipping the punch Mrs Weasley had made. A laugh bubbled out of you as you remembered the verbal whipping she had given Fred and George when the twins tried to spike the punch with their newest prank concoction.
"It's a nice night, isn't it?" A velvet voice asked you. Turning around, you were met with the smiling eyes of Penelope Clearwater, Percy's girlfriend. You had seen her around school before she graduated, and she was really smart. She was top of her class in Ravenclaw, and her straight black hair framed her delicate features nicely. She was really pretty and you were surprised she was with someone as irritating as Percy.
"It's wonderful," you replied, turning back to admire the decorations of the night. Your muggle Christmas lights were a huge hit, and you watched as Ministry officials stepped closer to the bulbs to inspect them further. Everyone looked in awe of them. The night was perfect summer weather. It was warm enough that people could wear dresses but not too hot that those in long capes got too overheated.
You toyed with the hem of your dress absentmindedly. Since you hadn't brought any fancy clothes with you from home, Ginny had lent you one of her dresses. Ginny hated wearing dresses, "How can I play Quidditch in a dress?" she used to complain to her mom, but Mrs Weasley still made or bought a couple of them for her. You were glad she did, because the white dress you were wearing right now was stunning. Although you were a little taller than Ginny, the dress fit like a glove. It had a delicate lace neckline with matching short sleeves and came down to right above your kneecaps. When you had walked out of Ginny's closet to show her your outfit, she had grinned and said, "Ron doesn't know what he's missing."
Sighing as your brain yet again wandered to the redheaded boy, you turned to Penelope to take your mind off of him. You chatted with her for a few minutes about her work, and she was surprisingly a lot more interesting than Percy made her out to be. She was intelligent and passionate about her work, and pretty soon you and her began talking like old friends.
"It was really nice of you to help Percy plan for this party," she said, giving you a warm smile that almost made you forget all of your current boy troubles. "He appreciates it, even if he can't find the words to tell you. I know he can be a bit uptight sometimes, but he's really a good guy. I'm so thankful for him."
When Penelope talked about Percy, her eyes lit up and her elegant smile grew.
"You must really love him, huh?" You asked her. Your heart ached because you knew what it was like to care for someone that much. At least Percy loved her back.
She nodded. "I wasn't really expecting to. At first we were kind of in competition with one another, to see who would be the best Prefect. But then feelings developed, and everything changed." She laughed to herself and said, "sometimes, love happens unexpectedly."
"That's what Mrs Weasley told me," you commented, remembering your conversation in the kitchen.
Penelope raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow at you. "You get love advice often from your boyfriend's mother?" she asked jokingly.
Not even bothering to hide your blush, you replied, "He's not my boyfriend." But oh Merlin, you wished he was.
"Really?" she asked, the moonlight illuminating her perfect features. "Huh, from the way you two acted back at Hogwarts, I would have thought you'd been in love for years."
Only one of us, you thought.
After chatting with Penelope a little bit more, you both made your way back to the party when dessert was served. Ice cream, tarts, and chocolate cake greeted you when you walked up to the dessert table. Your brain was so distracted by all of the delicious food that you barely noticed Bill walking up next to you.
"Hi y/n," he said as you spooned some ice cream into a bowl. You smiled politely at him as he made a bowl for himself.
"Hello," you said, topping your dessert off with sprinkles and chocolate sauce and whipped cream. Mrs Weasley really made the best food of all time. You were going to miss her cooking when the summer was over. Thinking about the end of summer sent a pang of sadness throughout your body. Although the summer had been fun, it was winding to an end and your last year of Hogwarts would be soon. You were going to miss your friends and the Weasley family.
Bill followed you to an empty table and you both sat down, immediately digging into your ice cream. Neither of you spoke as the next few minutes were reserved for devouring the delicious food. After you had both finished, Bill looked up at you and chuckled.
"What?" you asked defensively. It seemed like he was laughing at you.
"You got a little something right there," he said, motioning towards the corner of your mouth.
Embarrassed, you swiped at your mouth, but Bill kept chuckling.
"Here, I got it," he said, reaching across the table to wipe the extra ice cream off your mouth with his napkin. He was so close you could smell that pine-needle scent on him. His eyes met yours and you tried to steady your breathing. This felt wrong, you thought. I want this to be somebody else.
"Thanks," you replied, leaning back in your chair to put some space between you.
Bill nodded, folding the napkin casually before dropping it in his lap.
"You're really over me, aren't you?" He asked. At the same time the words left his lips, your eyes caught on the sight of a lanky ginger boy stealing ice cream from Harry's bowl when his head was turned. Your stomach flipped at just the sight of Ron.
"Yeah, I am," you responded, still not looking away from the boy you loved.
You heard Bill standing before you saw him getting up from the table.
"You should tell Ron," he said.
"Tell him what?" you asked, forgetting how clever Bill was. He gave you a knowing smile before speaking again.
"If someone loved me as fiercely as you two love each other, I would sure as hell fight for it."
And just like that, Bill walked away, towards a blonde girl you recognized as Fleur Delacour from the Triwizard tournament. You had no idea why she was attending Percy Weasley's birthday party, but Bill introduced himself to her anyway.
With Bill gone, you were alone with your thoughts. Bill had said "as you two love each other," implying that Ron felt the same way. Although you were almost certain Ron didn't love you back, Bill's words gave you a new sense of hope. A fire ignited in your heart as you looked back at Ron, who was joking and goofing around with Harry. That boy, however flawed and imperfect he was, was the one you loved. You couldn't just give him up because you had one disagreement.
"I would sure as hell fight for it."
Maybe that's all you and Ron needed, just one of you to build the courage to fight for the other. It was there, standing under the stars and twinkling lights of the summer night, that you decided that person was going to be you. You weren't going to sit around, crying for a boy to want you. Instead, you stood up and made your way over to Ron. You had held your love for him in your heart for so long, it was time to finally let it free and tell him.
As you walked across the grass yard towards him, Harry and Hermione saw you approaching and left. Bless them for being such good friends. Now Ron was alone and he looked up at you from across the sea of moving bodies and lights. His eyes met yours with a smile, and your heart threatened to beat out of your chest. He was looking at you differently, you realized. Maybe it was the dress that fit you so well, maybe it was the moonlight shining on your skin, or maybe it was just years of longing and desire building up to this very moment. Because as you walked towards him, Ron thought, "There's my love."
You weren't aware of what Ron was thinking but you knew he was in a significantly different mood from the last time you spoke. By now, you were almost at Ron's table, and he stood up quickly to greet you, knocking a couple spoons off the table in his haste.
"Hi," you said shyly, tucking your hair behind your ear when you were a couple feet from him.
His eyes glanced up and down your figure and he before he could think, he blurted out, "You look beautiful."
You couldn't tell whose cheeks turned redder, yours or his. But in that moment you didn't really care, all you cared about was coming over here to tell him the truth of how you felt.
"I have something to tell you," you started. "I-"
An explosive BOOM ricocheted into the night sky, cutting off your words. Everyone looked around them in surprise, and a second later another BOOM echoed, followed by a loud CRACK as fireworks were released into the sky.
"Welcome to Fred and George's Magical Firework Extravaganza! Please enjoy the show!" you heard the twins voices magically project throughout the garden. At their words, more fireworks erupted in the sky, vibrant colors of blue and red painting the dark backdrop. They were so loud that you knew your chance to tell Ron that you loved him would have to wait until later, when it was quieter. In the meantime, you were going to enjoy the show.
Scooting next to Ron, you both leaned against the table together, your faces angled up to watch the sky. Firework after firework was released, each more intense than the last. Before you could even wonder what made their fireworks different from muggle fireworks, you received your answer.
One firework spiraled up into the air and exploded into a large green dragon. It swam through the stars before opening it's mouth to breath fire. But instead of fire coming out, orange and red sparkly figures danced out of the beast's mouth. At first you thought they were leprechauns, similar to the ones at the Quidditch World Cup show. But upon closer inspection, you started to recognize the figures.
"That's us! That's our family!" Ron said, his voice giddy with childlike excitement.
Leading the pack of orange figures made up of the firework trails and sparks was Fred and George, clad in the silly three piece suit that they had teased Percy about so relentlessly. Next came sparks in the shape of Mr and Mrs Weasley, walking hand and hand with one another. The rest of the family followed in age order; Bill, Charlie, Percy (who was wearing a large IT'S MY BIRTHDAY button), Ron, and then Ginny. After them followed Hermione, Harry, you, and Penelope. You laughed up at the firework version of yourself, beyond amazed at the magic it must have taken to make this special show.
Suddenly, you felt a pang of fear. The memory of Fred and George saying, "the fireworks are nonrefundable, we have to use them," and "we thought you would have told Ron how you felt by the time of Percy's party." Oh no, you realized. You were too late. You closed your eyes and cringed as you thought about what was about to happen next.
As soon as you opened your eyes, you saw all the firework figures doing a line dance and kicking in time with one another. Everyone in the garden was laughing, clapping, and cheering for the show.
Then, pink firework hearts exploded into the sky. Here it comes, you thought.
In a giant red heart, the figures of Penelope and Percy emerged, holding hands and walking together. Laughter filled the garden as everyone enjoyed the cheesy display. Looking over at Percy, you were expecting him to be embarrassed by Fred and George's show. Instead, he smiled wide, simply wrapping his arm around Penelope and planting a kiss on her cheek.
Next, Mr and Mrs Weasley emerged from the heart, waltzing with one another through the sky. People cheered and awed at their dance. You looked over at the real Mr and Mrs Weasley and your heart warmed as you saw Mr Weasley sweep up his wife in a goofy manner, beginning to waltz her through the garden just like in the sky.
Following them in the sky came Harry and Ginny. Everyone laughed when Ginny's figure scooped Harry up bridal style and kissed him on the lips. Fake smoke erupted from Harry's firework ears as he kissed her back. So I guess you and Ron weren't the only ones the twins would tease about their love life. You glanced over at the real Ginny and Harry, laughing as you saw Ginny slapping her knees from laughing so hard. Harry stood next to her, his face as red as the fireworks.
After their figures left the sky, you knew what was coming.
"You don't think they're gonna..." Ron started, his voice sounding shocked.
"Yes, I think they are," you responded, equally as stunned at Fred and George's antics.
And then there you were. Yours and Ron's firework figures were running through the heart together, your hair whipping behind you in a beautiful display of orange and red sparks. Your heart stopped when you saw Firework Ron turning to Firework y/n, dipping her low into a stereotypically cheesy pose, and kissing her. The garden erupted into even louder cheers and laughter. Fred and George were smiling and giving you double thumbs up from across the garden.
You couldn't help it, you laughed along with them. It was so ridiculous, that everyone knew how you and Ron felt about each other all these years, everyone except the two of you. It took Fred and George literally having to spell it out in the summer night sky for you to realize that maybe Ron did feel the same way.
You turned from watching the sky to Ron, still laughing, and noticed he wasn't looking at the fireworks. He was looking at you. He was looking at you like you were the most important thing in the summer night, nevermind the fact that there was a grand firework special going on behind him.
Before you knew what was happening, Ron had grabbed your hand and was dragging you towards the oak tree on the side of the house. Since everyone had gathered in the garden to watch the fireworks, the tree was well away from the others and it was significantly quieter. Your heart was beating so loud you were sure it was just as loud as the booms of the fireworks. The show continued in the sky as Ron led you to the tree, not releasing your hands until your back was pressed against the hard bark of the oak.
"Y/n," he whispered, leaning closer and closer to you. His hands slipped out of yours as he reached up to cup the sides of your face.
"I have something to tell you," he breathed, his eyes glancing from your lips to your eyes.
You held your breath, heart hammering against your ribcage, as you waited for the words you had been dying to hear for years.
Introduction / Author’s Note / Chapter 1: The Journey to the Burrow / Chapter 2: Hidden Letters / Chapter 3: Ron’s Return / Chapter 4: Nighttime Conversations / Chapter 5: A Morning Surprise / Chapter 6: The Quidditch Match / Chapter 7: Girl Talk / Chapter 8: Aphrodite’s Push / Chapter 9: Mistakes and Love Potions
Chapter 10: You Would be Fine
Author’s Note: Hi everyone! Thank you so much for all the love and support for this fic, it means so much to me :) Get prepared because this chapter is a lengthy one (about 4,200 words I think...oops). Also, the gif has nothing to do with the chapter I just thought Ron looked really cute lol. Okay anyways enjoy!!!
You were fine. Really you were.
Every time Hermione or Ginny gave you a concerned look while passing, you could easily plaster on an "I'm-good-everything-is-good-thanks-for-asking" smile onto your face.
In reality though, your heart hurt ever damn day.
About 2 weeks ago, Ron broke your heart. Under the oak tree outside, he told you that whatever happened between you was a mistake. Mistake. So instead of moping around for the rest of your summer vacation, you tried to be happy. During the day time you would laugh and joke with the Weasleys, help make meals, finish your school work, and do chores. But at night is when you finally let yourself feel your heartbreak. Once everyone fell asleep, you would creep down the stairs and sit underneath the oak tree, and cry.
It was therapeutic, kind of. With each passing night, you felt better. Yes, it still hurt seeing Ron's freckled face every morning at breakfast. And it still made your skin and body ache when he accidentally brushed up next to you in the tight kitchen. But you were okay.
You knew that if you let Ron fully see how heartbroken you were, it would change the dynamic between you. You were best friends, and nothing more. No matter how much you loved him, that's all you would ever be. Instead of jeopardizing the friendship you had come to cherish so greatly, you simply suppressed your love for Ron so you could maintain it. And it was working, king of.
The night after your heartbreak at the oak tree, you started treating Ron exactly as you had before you came to the Burrow, before you had let your emotions run wild. He reciprocated this and before long, you were best friends again. You played Quidditch on each other's team, joked around with Fred and George, tried the newest Weasley Wizard Wheezes products (though you stayed away from the love potions), and played wizard's chess together. Although your heart still skipped a beat whenever Ron leaned closer to you, everything was back to normal with your best friend.
Over the past 2 weeks, you had been alternating between sleeping in Ginny's room for sleepovers, the bed in the attic, or the couch in the living room. Ron didn't offer his room to you again, which made you sad but you understood. If you were alone with him late at night when your emotions were high, your cover of "nope-i-don't-love-him-we-are-just-best-friends" was going out the window. So you stuck to your usual 3 beds.
That morning, you had awoken from the attic bed bright and early. Hermione had been getting the girls up at 8am for the past 2 weeks so that you could finish your school work early in the morning and have the rest of the day to relax. Although you hated her every morning for this, you were glad she had such a strict regimen because you had all finished your homework yesterday. Now, for the rest of the summer you were homework free.
By now you were so used to waking up early that it was no longer a surprise for anyone to see you help cook breakfast with Mrs Weasley. Besides Hermione, you two were usually the first awake and in the kitchen right away. This morning was no different as you padded down the creaky wooden steps into the kitchen.
"Good morning Mrs Weasley," you greeted her, tying an apron around your waist. There were four aprons in the Weasley house; a floral one designated for Mrs Weasley, a dark blue one for Mr Weasley when he would attempt to use a muggle grill, a plain white one for whoever decided to help cook, and a yellow one with stars for you. Mrs Weasley even spelled your name, y/n, on the edge in elegant cursive.
"For my newest child," she has said when she showed it to you. She pinched your cheeks, the way she did with all of her kids, and the action almost made you tear up. You threw your arms around her in a tight hug and thanked her profusely.
Mrs Weasley smiled approvingly at you as you started on the breakfast. As the usual morning rhythm took place, you cherished the routine of cracking the eggs, putting them in pans, flipping them, and then doing the same thing again and again.
But soon, Mrs Weasley's voice broke the silence. "Sweetheart, what happened with Ron?" she asked.
Your head snapped up from the frying pan, your eyes meeting Mrs Weasley's. She looked at you with motherly concern, and for some reason you couldn't look at her loving face and lie to her.
"I don't think he feels the same way that I do about him," you stated, turning your attention back to cooking.
Mrs Weasley huffed. "Well, my son has never been the sharpest boy, as you know," she said. You giggled, though you were still sad, and she smiled at you. "Maybe things will change honey," she told you, "love happens unexpectedly."
Before you got the chance to reply, thundering footsteps sounded from the staircase. You whipped your head around to see the twins barreling down the steps, practically tripping over one another in their hurry.
"Where's the fire?" you asked.
Fred ran across the room, picked you up around the waist, and spun you around.
"Percy's home! His work is called off for the week because of his birthday!" He shouted excitedly. You laughed, swatting at him with your spatula until he set you down.
"I didn't know you two were so excited to see your brother," Mrs Weasley noted, fixing her sons with a stern and skeptical stare.
"Oh mother, we're not," George replied.
"We're excited to mess with him for a week straight," Fred added with the largest grin you had ever seen.
As soon as the words left his mouth, more of a promise than anything else, the front door swung open and in entered the most prestigious Weasley of the house. With his rigorous work schedule, you hadn't seen Percy once this entire summer. But now, here he was, standing in the kitchen in a three piece suit with a pocket watch and shiny black shoes at 8 in the morning.
"Hi Percy," you said, trying your best not to laugh at the long tail of his suit coat.
"What the hell are you wearing?" Fred asked, his face shocked as he took in Percy's outfit. George's face was bright red as he held in his laughter.
"This," Percy said, unironically spinning so everyone could see his outfit, "Is traditional Muggle-wear. As I climb higher in the Ministry's success ladder, sometimes I have to encounter Muggles, so I must dress accordingly. This particular suit was a gift from one of my many clients."
He turned to you and you tried to wipe the teasing smile off your face. "Y/n, this is what muggles wear to their jobs, isn't it?" he asked.
You schooled your features into seriousness. "Oh yes," you responded, "definitely."
At that moment, Ron, Harry, Ginny, and Hermione stumbled down the stairs, looking like they had just woken up. Everyone stayed up late last night playing nighttime Quidditch (an especially difficult yet fun game considering the fact that you can't see the bludgers because of how dark it is).
Ron froze when he saw Percy standing in the kitchen, his shoes so shiny they were reflecting the kitchen lights into the eyes of anyone who looked at them.
"Bloody hell, what happened to your clothes?" he asked incredulously. Him and Harry shared a look and then burst out in laughter.
Percy's ears turned pink at the tips as he huffed before sitting down in one of the chairs around the kitchen table. You and Mrs Weasley decorated the center of the table with plate after plate of delicious warm breakfast food. Proud of your hard work, you took off your apron and sat down next to Percy.
Ron sat down next to you as the others joined the table.
"For your information, Ronald, your girlfriend says my clothes are the proper Muggle attire," Percy said, glaring at his little brother.
"She's not my girlfriend," Ron responded, his ears turning pink now too.
"How's Penelope?" you asked Percy before you could let yourself get too caught up in the fact that you really wanted Ron's response to that question to be different.
Percy smiled at the mention of his longtime girlfriend, who had been a Prefect at Hogwarts with him. "Oh she's fantastic," Percy said before launching into a long-winded story about Penelope's latest project she was working on at the ministry. Words such as "top-secret" "highly important" and "imperative job" floated past your ears.
Ron leaned closer to you and mumbled in your ear, "I wish you hadn't asked him that."
"Me too," you whispered back, giggling behind your hand.
As breakfast began, you were proud of all the compliments you received on your cooking. Waking up early to cook with Mrs Weasley was a part of the day you always looked forward too, and the compliments only made you feel better about it.
After everyone finished eating, and cleared their plates, chairs scraped against the wood of the floor as everyone prepared to go about their daily business.
"Wait!" Percy shouting, using his wand to spell everyone back into their chairs. "Nobody leave this table until we discuss my birthday party details."
Theses past few weeks your brain had been so focused on Ron that you had forgotten Percy's huge birthday party that was taking place at the Burrow next week. From the guilty expressions of everyone else around the table, you could tell they had forgotten too.
"I want this party to be perfect," Percy said. "My bosses are coming to this party, as is Penelope, so I will not tolerate any shenanigans." He fixed his eyes on the twins and gave them an icy glare. "I mean it, no funny business."
Fred and George saluted him, shouting "yes mother" before jumping out of their chairs and running to their room. A memory flashed in your head from the beginning of summer. The twins were showing you fireworks in their room, "special fireworks for Percy's party" they had said. There was definitely going to be some shenanigans taking place.
Increasingly interested about what kind of pranks the twins were going to pull on Percy, you excused yourself from the table and followed them upstairs. You were about to knock on their door before it swung open and Fred dragged you inside.
"Can I have a sneak peek?" you asked them giddily as soon as the door closed behind you. Apart from the twins, you were the most excited about their funny products and pranks they always pulled. You knew Percy's party wasn't going to disappoint.
Instead of reciprocating your excitement, the twins traded nervous glances.
"What is it?" you asked them. You felt a strange sense of deja vu to the time when they picked you up to drive you to the Burrow in the beginning of summer. They were hiding something from you then, and they were certainly hiding something from you now.
"So we take it you're not going to tell Ron about your unconditional love for him anytime soon?" George asked, rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish expression on his face. Fred was ringing his hands nervously next to him.
"That is correct," you responded flatly.
"Well, you see," Fred began, "When we ordered these special fireworks for Percy's party, we assumed you two would be dating and in love by the time of the party. And the thing is, there's no refunds on the fireworks, so we kind of have to use them." He spoke so fast that the words were tumbling together in your head.
"Okay...what does that mean? What do the fireworks have to do with Ron and I?" you asked, getting increasingly more upset by the moment.
The twins must have sensed your anger because they traded a quick glance before assuring you "Okay, never mind, love, everything is under control," Fred promised.
"Yep, totally under control," George said, steering you out of the room. You didn't even register what they were saying before you were standing in the hallway.
"What aren't you telling me?" you asked, eyes narrowing into a glare at the twins.
They both gulped nervously.
"Don't worry about it, y/n, everything is fine. Percy's party will be full of lots of laughs and fun," Fred promised, before promptly shutting the door in your face. Once again, you got deja vu.
And with that, you left the twins room, feeling even more confused about your relationship with Ron than ever.
...
The next week was frantic, hectic, and insane as you all scrambled to prepare for Percy's big party. Decorations needed to be made, food needed to be cooked, and you totally forgot to get Percy a present. After a day trip to Diagon Alley, you had returned home with a bag of more owl food for Dite and a magical watch for Percy. Despite all of the high energy and excitement in the house, the twins words still weighed on you. The party was quickly approaching and you had yet to "confess your unconditional love" to Ron. What would happen if you didn't? You didn't even want to think about it.
It was the night before Percy's party, and you were in the garden helping Bill string up lights around the outdoor tables. You and Bill had been spending a lot more time together over the past week. Bill had always opted to help you in whatever decoration or cooking you were tasked with for that day. Although you could tell that made Ron grumpy, you tried to ignore it. Your feelings were confusing enough without trying to unpack Ron's jealousy at the moment.
You wobbled on the chair you were standing on as you tied the last string of lights around the nearest tree branch. After you finished, you put your hands on your hips and took a look around the garden. It looked amazing. 10 tables were arranged in a neat circle around the yard, completed with white table clothes and centerpieces with Percy's photo in the middle. You bought a couple packs of muggle Christmas lights to hang from the trees to illuminate the area, which Mr Weasley was very happy about. He spent about 2 hours asking you about the mechanics behind muggle electricity.
There was a long table for the buffet to be served at and a short circular table for Percy's gifts to be placed on. At the corner of the garden the twins had set up a firing booth for the fireworks. To be totally honest, the decoration fit more for a wedding than a birthday party, but Percy wanted things to be perfect, so the family followed his decoration ideas to a tee.
While being distracted by observing your handiwork, you weren't really paying attention to what was happening behind you. This was unfortunate because Harry and Ron were practicing disarming charms right behind you.
"Y/n, look out!" you heard someone yell behind you. Whipping around towards the voice, you saw a red ball of sparks sailing towards you from the end of Harry's wand. How did Harry always manage to accidentally attack you?
You dove from your chair to avoid the sparks, and were fully expecting to land roughy in the grass. Instead, you felt strong arms wrap around you to prevent you from hitting the ground. You looked up to see none other than Bill Weasley as your knight in shining armour.
"Thanks," you said quietly.
Bill didn't let his arms drop from around you.
"Anytime," he replied with a grin. His arms were still wrapped around you when you heard angry footsteps marching towards you.
"Get your hands off her, you prat," you heard Ron's voice say. Bill's arms dropped from your sides as you both turned to face Ron.
"Calm down, Ron," Bill told him.
Ron glared at his older brother. "Stop flirting with her, she's my best friend," he said sternly.
Your heart hurt. You wanted Ron to be jealous because he liked you, not because you were just his best friend.
"He can flirt with me if he wants." The words were out of your mouth before you could even filter it.
Ron's gaze snapped towards you and you almost had to take a step back from their intensity. "Do you want him to?" He asked you, his voice strained.
The answer was easy. No. You knew you didn't want Bill to flirt with you. He had been your first crush and he was beyond attractive, but he wasn't Ron. The only person you wanted was Ron. You said those words not because you wanted Bill, but because you wanted Ron to stop acting possessive if he didn't even love you back. It just hurt too much for him to act like your boyfriend if he was never going to be.
"Ron, I'm sorry," Bill said, mediating the situation. "I know you and y/n have something together, I shouldn't have overstepped. I'm sorry. It won't happen again."
It won't happen again.
That's exactly what Ron told you after the night he had taken the love potion. The night that made you believe that maybe he did have the same feelings for you. But in the end, he regretted the moment that you had loved so much.
It won't happen again.
Tears crowded your vision and you tried your best to blink them away, you were not about to cry in front of him and show him just how much power he had over you and your emotions. But soon there were hot tears slipping down your cheeks and there was nothing you could do to stop it.
Bill and Harry exchanged nervous glances as you and Ron just continued staring at each other. They both took a couple steps away to give you and Ron the space you needed to hash things out. Ron was breathing heavily, obviously still angry from the flirting between you and his brother. But you were angry too, angry that he didn't want you the way you wanted him.
"I don't want you flirting with my brother," he said, his intense gaze never leaving yours.
You rolled your eyes, "It's not your choice if I do."
Ron bristled at your comment, taking another step closer to you. You could practically feel the heat and anger radiating off of him.
"You know, you've really been pissing me off these past couple weeks," he said. "You prance around making breakfast in the mornings, but in reality all you're doing is trying to get with Bill. It's so fucking frustrating! I'm your best friend, we were supposed to be together every day you visited, but instead you found someone better to spend your time with."
God, he was thick. You told him that.
"I'm not trying to get with Bill, you dumb git!" you shouted back. Why couldn't he see that he was the only one you wanted. Bill hadn't even crossed your mind this summer, your heart was too full of Ron as it is.
At this point, you were practically nose to nose with him, your shouting words bringing you closer and closer towards each other.
Ron mimicked you from earlier and rolled his eyes. It was beyond infuriating. You set your jaw and clenched your hands as you tried not to yell more.
"Oh of course you're not. You just spend every waking moment with him and barely hang out with me, but sure you're not trying to get with him," he said, sarcasm dripping from his voice.
Now it was your turn to get angry. "Oh really? I'm the one to blame right now?" You shouted at him. The words were hot rolling off your tongue.
"You're the one who treats me so poorly! You cuddle me in your bed, and then run out the next morning. You almost kiss me and then act like it didn't happen! You told me what happened in your room was a mistake," the last sentence flew out of you, the anger just boiling and boiling up towards your breaking point.
Even though you knew it wouldn't do you any good, you kept talking. "Don't you dare try to put blame on me for this summer going to shit, because it's not my fault Ron! It's not my fault you're jealous of Bill, it's not my fault things aren't the same between us, and it's not my fault you don't love me back!"
Both of you froze as the words left your mouth. You wanted Ron to say something, needed him to say something, but he remained silent. You couldn't read his emotions and it was going to drive you crazy.
Ron stared at you, his eyes full to the brim with turbulent emotions that you couldn't read. All he did was shake his head.
"I don't want you with Bill," he finally said.
"You're not my boyfriend! You've made that perfectly clear!" You shouted back, your voice cracking halfway through the sentence.
Ron raked his hands through his messy hair, obvious frustrated. "If I were your boyfriend..." he started. "If I were your boyfriend... I wouldn't...." He glanced up at you and the words stopped forming at his mouth. You had tear streaks on your face and your eyes were still watery. The look of you must have shaken him too much for him to continue speaking.
"But you're fucking not! So stop acting like you are, because it hurts too much," you responded, all the fire gone from your argument. Instead it was replaced with a sad silence, the only sounds were the rustle in the tree branches and your occasional sniffle.
"I never meant to hurt you," he said, taking a step closer with his hand out to you, almost like he was thinking of reaching out to you.
You couldn't do this. You couldn't stay there, letting him reach out to touch you. It was clear he didn't love you back, so you couldn't stay and let him hold you when there wasn't any hope. You backed away from him, shaking your head as tears continued to fall down your cheeks.
"You did. You do," you said, your voice barely above a whisper. If not for Ron's body suddenly becoming stiff, you would have thought he didn't hear you.
"Y/n, please..." he began, but no words followed. You shook your head again before turning and running back inside to the Burrow.
Nobody moved when you entered the dimly lit house. The family was sitting around the crackling fire, chatting with one another. But all talk stopped as soon as you entered.
Hastily wiping the tears from your eyes, you tried to make yourself presentable.
"Sweetheart," Mrs Weasley said with that loving tone of hers only a mother could have, "are you alright?"
You nodded, despite the fact that you knew none of them believed you.
"I'm just a little tired is all, I think I'm going to head up to bed," you said, before climbing the stairs as quickly as possible.
As soon as you entered your makeshift room in the attic, you slammed the door shut behind you. You couldn't even make it to the bed before you crumbled onto the ground, your back pressed against the door. Drawing your knees up to your chest, you buried your head in your arms and let yourself cry.
Sobs racked your body as you replayed the conversation from outside. Ron didn't want you. He didn't love you back. He was angry and jealous, but he still didn't love you back.
You stayed there, pressed against the door for the next hour. Everyone headed up to bed at some point and Hermione and Ginny came to check on you. They explained how Harry told them about what happened outside but you just asked them to let you be alone for now. Being the good friends they are, they listened to your request, but not before Ginny promised to "beat Ron to a pulp for hurting you" the next morning.
Even Harry came to check on you. He was visibly uncomfortable, crying girls were never his strong suit (as you could remember from his first kiss with Cho Chang) but he still managed to give you a comforting hug. You thanked him and he left almost as quickly as he arrived.
You got ready for bed in a trance, your eyes now swollen from the crying. Slipping on your pajamas, you barely noticed you were throwing on the vintage band shirt Ron had gotten you for a gift earlier. This only made you cry more. Dite landed on your shoulder as you lay in your bed. She affectionately pecked your ear and nuzzled her feathers against your cheek.
"I'm okay, Dite," you told her, petting her soft feathers. Your fingers traced the black heart on her head. Ron bought you an owl named Aphrodite, with a heart literally on her feathers, but he couldn't even tell you he loved you. These mixed signals made your head and heart both throb.
You fell asleep fitfully, waking up every couple of hours and tossing and turning in bed. Tomorrow was Percy's party, and you had to be okay for it. You couldn't let Ron know just how much he had hurt you. You would be fine tomorrow. You would be fine, just like you had been these past few weeks. You would be fine.
Introduction / Author’s Note / Chapter 1: The Journey to the Burrow / Chapter 2: Hidden Letters / Chapter 3: Ron’s Return / Chapter 4: Nighttime Conversations / Chapter 5: A Morning Surprise / Chapter 6: The Quidditch Match / Chapter 7: Girl Talk / Chapter 8: Aphrodite’s Push
Chapter 9: Mistakes and Love Potions
You barely got a wink of sleep that night. Every time you closed your eyes, you could see Ron's eyes filled with regret. What had been the hottest moment in your entire life was punctuated by Ron wishing it hadn't had happened. Maybe it shouldn't have. Maybe you got carried away and he didn't actually feel any attraction to you. His mind was probably cloudy from it being so late and you just throwing yourself at him in the middle of the night.
A bright light switched on which jostled you out of your thoughts.
"Rise and shine," Hermione sang, seeming very excited for so early in the morning.
"What time is it?" Ginny asked, her voice groggy and her hair a bird's nest.
"About 8am," Hermione replied, already folding her blankets and putting them away neatly. She always liked to wake up early. Maybe that's why she always did so well in school.
Ginny angrily threw a pillow at her as you buried your head back into your blankets with a groan. You didn't want it to be morning. You didn't want to have to walk downstairs and face Ron in the light of day. Again, his face flashed in your mind. Regret.
Hermione threw the pillow back at Ginny, hitting her in the back of the head with surprising accuracy. "Get up, lazybones!"
After 20 minutes of bickering, Hermione had finally coaxed Ginny out of bed. Ginny's room was a whirl of clothes as all three of you got dressed for the day. Your movements were delibertly slow, the thought of having to see Ron making you dread the journey downstairs. But soon enough, you couldn't delay your inevitable fate anymore and the three of you headed downstairs for breakfast.
Usually the smell of Mrs Weasley's famous bacon and eggs was a wonderful greeting in the morning, but this time your joy was dampened when you saw the back of Ron's head sitting at the breakfast table. Pretty much everyone was awake and sitting around the long wooden table, except for Percy and Mr Weasley who were both working.
"Good morning dears!" Mrs Weasley said, plopping a large egg with hash browns onto a plate before handing it to you. Thanking her, you took the plate and turned towards the table. Without making eye contact with anyone, you took the furthest seat from Ron, which happened to be right next to Bill.
"Morning y/n," he said, giving you a closed lip smile as he chewed his breakfast.
Looking up at him, you smiled back politely. He was wearing a black button up shirt with the top three buttons undone. His pale chest contrasted greatly with the dark material, but he made it look good. His dark clothes, long hair, and dragon tooth earring made him look like a sexy vampire. No wonder you had such a big crush on him when you were younger.
"Morning," you replied.
"I heard about your fall during Quidditch yesterday," he said, trying to make casual breakfast conversation. Although you were usually chatty with the Weasleys, your heart was hurting too much to put much effort into talking today.
"Yeah, I did" was all you said.
"Reckon it was Fred or George's fault, huh?" Bill asked with a wink. You laughed lightly but kept your eyes glued to your breakfast. Looking up at the others would only make you want to look at Ron. And if you looked at Ron, and if he looked back with the same eyes from last night....your heart sank at the very thought.
A breakfast roll sailed overhead but Bill caught it in one hand before taking a large bite out of it.
"Good throw," he said to the twins, before turning his attention back to you. "Your cut looks like it's healed up nicely," he commented.
You nodded, "Yeah, Ron helped patch me up."
Just saying his name sent an ache throughout you but you still avoided looking towards his end of the table.
But then you felt someone leaning closer to you, the smell of pine needles filling your nose. It was a pleasant smell, but not as nice as apples and cinnamon.
From under your lashes you looked up to see Bill closing the distant between you rather quickly. Your heart skipped a beat as he raised a hand to brush your hair away from your face.
"Yeah, looks like he did an alright job," Bill said, lifting your hair to observe the healed bump on your forehead.
Second year y/n would have fainted in this moment. Bill Weasley, your first real crush, was leaning across a table to touch you? He was looking at you intently while brushing your hair away from your face? You should have been ecstatic. You should have been sweating from head to toe. But you weren't. Instead, all you could think about is how you wished you were smelling apples and cinnamon instead of pine needles.
"Oi, mate, stop flirting with her or I'll throw up my breakfast," George replied. Laughs erupted from the table and your face burned red.
You couldn't help yourself, your eyes glanced up and you immediately made eye contact with Ron. He was looking between you and Bill, an angry sort of look on his face. You knew he had problems with jealousy, being The Chosen One's best friend came with those kinds of setbacks, but why was he jealous about this? He was the one who regretted everything from last night, not you. An anger boiled up in your stomach, the image of Ron's regretful eyes playing on a loop in your head. Suddenly, you wanted to make him just as hurt as he had made you.
Turning back towards Bill, you put on your most charming smile. "I mean, you can flirt with me if you want to. Not that I'd mind," you said, batting your eyelashes. You were half joking, but half wanting to piss off Ron.
Ginny chuckled as Bill's cheeks took on a slightly warmer color. Fred and George faked puking into their cereal bowls. You looked at Ron and were pleased to see he looked absolutely furious. His knuckles were white from how hard he was gripping his fork.
"Maybe y/n took our missing Amortentia from last night," Fred joked.
Your heart stopped as you turned to face the twins.
"Huh?" You asked.
Fred smiled before he launched into explanation.
"We had a couple boxes of chocolates with Amortentia drops in them in our room. We were planning on putting a few in Percy's morning tea, but when we tried to find them they were gone. Based on your flirting this morning, maybe you had eaten a couple," he said.
You shook your head, a feeling of dread starting to fill you stomach.
"I didn't take them," you responded. But you think you knew who did.
Ron cleared his throat uncomfortably before asking, "Were they in a blue box? With a little pink ribbon around it?"
Fred and George nodded their heads, every head at the table swerving to look at Ron.
Ron swallowed nervously. "Uh, I might've eaten them. Not on purpose though!" He promised, his face looking guiltier by the minute. "I was hungry when I was in your room the other night, so I took a couple of boxes. I didn't know they had Amortentia in them."
"Did you feel any different? Do anything different?" George asked, looking at Ron skeptically. Ron shook his head, and you knew he was trying his very best not to look at you.
Fred swore, which earned a disapproving glare from Mrs Weasley. "That means they're defective. We'll have to make a whole new batch before we can sell them at the shop."
"Or maybe," Hermione interjected, "You shouldn't be selling love potions at all! They are one of the most dangerous potions, and it is clearly wrong to be selling them in the first place. Honestly, didn't either of you pay attention in Potions class?" She looked distressed, obviously very upset that the twins didn't recall the negative side effects of Amortentia that Professor Snape had taught.
"Psh," Fred said, brushing her off with a wave of his hand as the conversation at the table changed. Everyone was talking about their plans for the day, full of ideas of playing Quidditch or Gobstones or maybe even taking a trip to the Leaky Cauldron for lunch. Usually you would join the conversation, but your heart felt like it was cracking in half. The only reason Ron acted the way he did last night was because he was high off of love potion, he didn't actually feel anything for you. He didn't feel the same way you did, and you started to doubt if he ever will. Before tears could form in the corner of your eyes, Mrs Weasley made a statement that drew everyone's attention.
"You will be doing nothing of the sort today. Today you're all going to finish your summer Hogwarts homework," she held her hand up sternly to stop Harry and Ron from protesting, "no if's, and's, or's, or but's!" Her tone let everyone know that her word was final.
Everyone around the table groaned, except for those who had already graduated and Hermione who clapped happily at the mention of school work.
For the rest of the day, you and Hermione sat at the dining table working hard while everyone else half-assed their homework. Ginny and Harry sat on the couch, distracting each other and joking, while occasionally picking up a quill to write. Ron sat alone leaning against a tree outside with his books open but a blank expression on his face. You sighed unhappily as your gaze wandered over to him for the millionth time that hour.
"Okay, what's up," Hermione said, surprising you by setting down her quill and closing her Transfiguration book.
"Nothing," you lied, pretending to write an answer to your Divination homework. But your brain was too scrambled and your heart too heavy to get any real work done at the moment.
Hermione yanked your parchment out from under you to read your work.
"Hey!" You protested, but she started reading your answer aloud anyway.
"What does the moons transit into Venus this month mean for your love life?" Hermione scoffed. "What a load of crap."
You nodded. Usually your grades were pretty good, not as good as Hermione's, but you were better at Divination. For some reason Professor Trelawney liked you and said you had an "inherently observant third eye." But today, your third eye must have been squinting because most of your homework answers were a little ridiculous.
"You answered with, 'Venus is just a big ball in the sky, therefore it knows nothing of love,' " Hermione gave you a wary look. "I hate Divination and even I know that's not the correct answer."
Shrugging, you grabbed the paper back from her and continued writing bullshit answers. The moon's transit into Venus was supposed to bring abundant love and joy, but right now that felt like the worst prediction in the world. The only boy you cared about couldn't even kiss you, even when he had taken love potion. What does that say about his feelings towards you?
"Y/n, tell me what's wrong," Hermione said, her voice almost as stern as Mrs Weasley's. Something happened with Ron, didn't it?,"
You had been holding in how you felt all day, and it was going to drive you mad. But just at the mention of his name, your emotional dam broke open. Before you could stop yourself, you gushed out everything that had happened last night to Hermione, your voice hitching towards the end when you recalled Ron looking at you with such regret in his eyes.
"Oh, honey," Hermione said, wrapping her hands around yours. "That's hard, but I think the best thing you could do is just talk to him about it." At the moment, you didn't really want to hear Hermione's advice. She was always right, and right now you just wanted to wallow in your self-pity.
She patted your hand, and inclined her chin towards the window, where you could see Ron sitting outside with a puzzled expression on his face.
"He hasn't written anything for the past 20 minutes, he's probably just as confused and upset as you are. Either that or he just started his Potions homework. Either way, just go tell him how you feel, you'll feel better," she promised.
You nodded, thanking her for always giving you the most wise advice. Before you could lose your nerve to do so, you packed up your books and parchment and walked outside. Ron heard you approaching and set his quill in his book before shutting it and setting it beside him. The trunk of the large oak tree he leaned against was thick enough that he didn't even have to move over as you plopped down next to him. The hard bark of the tree pressed into your back but it was comforting to feel something to keep you grounded as you started this tricky conversation.
"Hi," you said, refusing to look at him. His face was turned towards you but you couldn't bring yourself to turn towards him. If you did, you wouldn't be able to stop yourself from kissing him.
"Hi," he replied.
A long silence stretched out into the summer air before you both started talking at the same time.
"I wanted to talk to y-"
"We should probably t-"
Blushing, both of you stopped.
"You go first," you said.
Ron nodded, his hands fiddling with the grass in front of him. He kept pulling at the roots, rolling the grass between his fingertips, and then pulling at the roots again. It was like he couldn't keep his hands still, like he had to be doing something with them. You desperately wanted to reach over and grab his hands in yours, but before you could muster up the courage to do so, he began to speak.
"I wanted to apologize for last night," he said. Your heart dropped. You came out here to tell him you had an amazing time and the only bad part was that you hadn't had the courage to go further, to kiss him. Yet here he was, apologizing. Apologizing as if last night had been a mistake.
"I didn't know I ate Fred and George's Amortentia, so that's probably why I was acting so...funny," he said, trying to find the right word. His voice was low and he was talking fast, like he always did when he was nervous. "So, anyway, I just wanted to say I'm sorry, and it won't happen again."
Your breath caught in your throat.
"It won't happen again?" You asked, desperately hoping that wasn't true. You turned to look Ron in the eyes, and as soon as you did he looked away.
"It was a mistake," he said, his adams apple bobbing up and down as he spoke.
"Oh," was all you managed to say.
And then Ron was standing up. He was standing up, gathering his school things, and walking away. Before you could even register what had happened, he was gone. You watched his retreating figure enter the house as you felt a hot tear slip down your cheek.
A mistake.
The word repeated in your brain and you choked on a sob. All you wanted, all you ever wanted from him was full honesty. And he had given it to you. He didn't want you, not in the same way you wanted him. You had to accept that. You had to.
So you gave yourself 15 minutes. 15 minutes to sit outside, cry, and let yourself be sad about how the boy you loved didn't love you back. After those 15 minutes, you promised yourself, you would walk back into the Burrow and pretend nothing happened. You would pretend Ron hadn't almost kissed you in the bathroom upstairs. You would pretend he hadn't cuddled with you the night he first came back to the Burrow, and you would pretend he hadn't touched you with such passion the night before. You would pretend you weren't deeply, madly in love with him.
You would go back to being best friends, just best friends. And you had to be okay with that, or else you would lose him.
Introduction / Author’s Note / Chapter 1: The Journey to the Burrow / Chapter 2: Hidden Letters / Chapter 3: Ron’s Return / Chapter 4: Nighttime Conversations / Chapter 5: A Morning Surprise / Chapter 6: The Quidditch Match / Chapter 7: Girl Talk
Chapter 8: Aphrodite’s Push
Author's Note: hi everyone! thank you so much for being patient with me & my writing!! it means a lot :) also, just so you know, this chapter gets a little bit steamy so if you're not totally comfortable with that, please stop reading now. okay thanks! enjoy <3
Your eyelids barely fluttered shut before you were awoken by a strange pecking sensation on your fingertips. You groggily opened your eyes and were startled to see Dite sitting on your hand, pecking at your fingers in an urgent matter.
"Dite? What is it?" You asked, growing increasingly concerned at her hectic motions. Dite picked up your pinky finger in her beak and pulled it towards the door. She wanted to show you something.
"Okay, okay, I'm coming," you assured her as you released yourself from the tangle of blankets you were sleeping with. Standing up, you stretched lightly, pulling down the tank top you wore to bed as it rose over your belly. Ginny liked to keep her room boiling hot, so you opted for a small tank top and pajama shorts. Your shorts were definitely a few sizes too small, rode up too much, and sometimes showed a little more skin than normally appropriate. However, they were a gag gift from Ginny so you loved wearing them. Despite being super comfy sleeping shorts, they were also decorated front to back with grinning photos of Gildeory Lockhart, with pink little hearts plastered around his head. You still can't believe he sold his own face on merchandise in the form of sleeping shorts.
Ginny and Hermione were still sleeping soundlessly around you, so you carefully and quietly stepped outside of the room so as not to wake them.
When you reached the hallway, Dite fluttered up the stairs to the next story. In your half-asleep state, it was difficult to follow her up the many stairs, bumping your shins against the wood many times before you reached your final destination. Dite stopped and floated in midair right outside Ron's closed bedroom door. Before you could even register her actions, she was beating her beak against the wooden door.
Hurried footsteps sounded behind the door before it swung open to reveal Ron, hair messed up from sleep and wearing only red striped pajama pants. Your cheeks flushed. Did he always sleep half naked? You wished he would have last night when you were with him. Is this normal for friends to think of each other like this? you wondered.
You were snapped out of your mildly inappropriate thoughts when Ron asked, "Y/n? What're you doing here? What time is it?" His voice was thick and raspy from just being woken up and you felt a warmth travel from your heart downwards as you heard his morning voice.
"Um, I dunno. Dite woke me up, she seemed urgent," you explained. Now, as you were more awake, probably from seeing Ron's bare torso and abs and v-line, you came to realize that your reasoning for being at his door so late at night was probably not the best.
Both you and Ron turned your eyes towards Dite. She floated innocently in the air, looking between the two of you expectedly. As a long silence stretched out in the small hallway, she rolled her eyes (you didn't know owls could do that) and flew into Ron's room.
Ron shrugged. "I think she misses Pig," he said as Dite flew into the owl cage and nestled next to Ron's owl. You nodded, although you weren't that easily fooled. Dite was smart, she definitely brought you here for a reason. The black heart on her feathers gleamed up at you from her cage and you knew she was sending you a message. After all, her name was Aphrodite.
"Can I come in?" You asked quickly and abruptly. Ron looked startled by your question, but his surprised expression soon changed to a concealed smile.
"Sure," he said, so quietly it sounded no louder than a breath.
You stepped into his room, taking into account the rumpled bed sheets and messy floor. Ron closed the door behind him and did his best to straighten up.
As he started throwing dirty clothes into a pile in the corner of the room he said, "Sorry. If I knew I would have a visitor I would have cleaned up more."
"I thought you invited me," you said boldly, your playful side coming out. "Isn't your bed always open to me?"
The moonlight shining in through the bedroom windows illuminated Ron's face as he glanced at you. His grin widened and you swore your heart skipped a beat. Standing there, 4 feet apart in the room of the boy you loved, with him smiling at you like that, you swore there was no better view in the world. You palms were sweating and your heart was beating and Ron was suddenly a lot closer than before.
He was now standing chest to chest with you, he was so close you could smell his familiar scent. His bare torso was pressed against yours and your eyes fell from his face to his shoulders and you gazed at the freckles splaying across his broad muscles. Your stomach flipped as you felt a warm hand press into the small of your back.
Breathing seemed nearly impossible as you felt Ron lower his mouth to your ear. Hot breath fanned against your neck as he leaned in so close you felt his lips brush your earlobe ever so slightly. You had never felt so flustered in your entire life.
This was it, you thought. This was the moment he was going to kiss you or tell you everything you wanted to hear. The moment he would lean in, make you his, get close and tell you he loved-
"Nice shorts," he whispered into your ear.
A surprised laugh erupted out of you as Ron broke out in laughter, stepping away from you and reclining onto his bed. Here you were convinced he was going to announce his deepest and truest romantic feelings for you, when in reality he was just joking around. You were beyond embarrassed, so you tried to cover it up with humor before he could sense your disappointment.
As casually as you could with your heart beating a million miles a minute, you leaned against Ron's dresser.
"Thanks," you replied, "I know you're the biggest fan of Lockhart around, so I made sure to wear them for our nighttime visits." Maybe joking about your odd ability to always be together at night when no one else was awake would make up for the fact that you longed to do lots of other things with him when no one else was around.
Ron laughed at your comment, the sound making you feel short of breath and light headed. How did he have such a strong effect on you? Did you have this same effect on him? Merlin, you hoped so because you couldn't stand another minute of pining after him so badly without any reciprocation.
"Not likely," he said, "after all, he is just a giant git who lied and stole peoples stories."
You nodded, the fall of Gilderoy Lockhart at the end of your second year of Hogwarts was one for the storybooks. Ron had made sure to take every chance to boast to you and Hermione and any other woman who was taken by Lockhart's golden hair that, "I knew it all along! He was always a crook!"
"Yeah, that's true," you conceded. "But he's hot."
A mischievous glint flashed in Ron's eyes. A short silence filled the air between you before he replied. His voice was an octave lower when he said, "So is your ass in those shorts."
Your cheeks flamed red. Ron has never, ever, complimented you so directly like that. If any other guy would have made such a forward and direct remark about your body, you would certainly have been annoyed, maybe even disgusted. But not with Ron. When those flirty words left his lips, which were smirking at you from across the room, you felt every inch of your skin heat up.
Ron's eyes were practically undressing you from across the room, roaming over your body in a hungry manner. His intense gaze made you squeeze your thighs together as you tried not to stare at his bare chest that looked so inviting for you to wrap yourself around.
Glancing down, you realized how little skin you had covered in your nighttime attire. A sliver of stomach poked through between your Lockhart shorts and your thin grey tank top. Upon further observance, you remembered that you had forgotten to wear a bra that night. And Ron's room was much, much colder than Ginny's. You were embarrassed to see your entire chest was practically on display through your thin shirt, your nipples very noticeable in the moonlight.
Ron's eyes never left your body but suddenly you felt nervous. You had never had a boyfriend or girlfriend before at Hogwarts so this was all new territory for you. Sure you flirted with a couple people, and they flirted back, but nobody had ever watched you with such intense eyes that Ron had right now.
Suddenly very aware and self conscious of just how much skin you were showing, you wrapped your arms around yourself to cover your chest.
You didn't want to meet Ron's eyes, so you trained your gaze to watch the floor. The only indication you had that he was getting closer to you was the sound of his steps against the carpet as he approached you. You kept your eyes fixed to the ground, and you only looked up when he was standing a foot away from you.
Afraid to meet his gaze right away, you let your eyes scan his body. His pajama pants hung low on his hips, exentuating the prominent muscles that shaped a V along the waistline of his pants. You swallowed hard and tried your best to not think about what that v-line led to. If you kept letting your mind wander to such territories, you weren't sure you could restrain yourself from practically jumping into his lap.
"Y/n, you don't have to do that," He said, his voice low and gruff. Your eyes flickered up to meet his and the intensity of his stare made you feel a little weak in the knees.
"What do you mean?" You asked, your voice high and strained, a clear indicator of how flustered you were.
He took another step closer to you. Now you were sandwiched between his chest and the dresser behind your back. You wondered if he could hear how loud your heart was beating in your chest.
"You don't have to cover up around me, y/n," he said. "Not ever."
Gently, he took your arms in his hands and uncrossed them, to expose your scantily clad chest, letting his fingertips trail down your skin. Goosebumps erupted on the skin his fingers grazed over. His hands reached the end of your arms and he interlaced his fingers and yours.
If your friends thought it was suspicious you were laying in bed together last night, imagine what they would think if they walked in to see him, half naked, pressing you against the dresser while holding your hands. That was surely a sight that would cause a few questions.
At a lost for words, you could only stare at Ron. He was being so confident and sultry, was he always like this? Have you just never noticed? Did he act like this was Lavender Brown?
The thought of his ex girlfriend sent a pain straight through your gut. What was Ron playing at? you wondered. You think he likes you, but then he gets a girlfriend in sixth year. You think he enjoyed spending the night cuddling with you, but then he practically runs out of bed the next morning. You think he might confess his feelings for you, but then he just makes a joke about your shorts. You wondered what kind of switch he was going to flip after this moment.
Ron must have noticed your change in demeanor because his eyes dropped the intense gaze he held with yours as they swept across the rest of your face. His warm hands reached up to cradle your face, and you found yourself leaning your cheek into his open palm. Merlin, you were like putty in his hands.
"How's your head?" He asked, his voice barely above a whisper. When you were standing this close, he didn't need to talk loud for you to hear him.
It took you a moment to register what he was talking about. Your hand skidded up to feel the bandaid still pressed to the side of your forehead. "It's s'okay," you replied, still feeling way too many emotions at one time.
"It's probably healed by now, you can take the bandaid off," he said. How could he talk to you so casually when you were this close to each other? You could barely string together a coherent sentence.
You nodded and raised your hands to peel off the bandaid, but his calloused fingers stopped you by wrapping around your wrist.
"I can do it, if you want," Ron said. He smiled lightly, "Mum used to always pull the bandaids off for us when we were little. She said it hurts more if you do it yourself."
You smiled back at him, your chest warm as you watched him relive the memories of his childhood, playing in their backyard and getting scraped up and his family being there to patch him back together.
Nodding, you let him grab the bandaid with his fingers and peel it off. Shutting your eyes, the skin stung for a moment, but then the pain subsided. You opened your eyes to see Ron throwing the band aid in the nearby trash can, but still not letting any more distance come between you.
The atmosphere changed as Ron's gaze settled on you again. One of his hands traveled from your cheek to the side of your jaw, trailing along the crook of your neck and stopping at your collarbone. His other hand remained cradling your face, forcing you to not be able to turn away from him.
His eyes flicked from yours down to your bodies pressed firmly against one another and then back up again. His fingertips traced light patterns against your collarbone and you instinctively wrapped your arms around his torso, feeling his bare skin. Your fingers felt every groove, every muscle, and every freckle on his side as you let yourself become drunk on him. Fingers feeling the muscle of his abs, you finally let yourself touch what you had been staring at all day during the Quidditch match. It was as if the air between you and Ron had been sucked away and replaced by only the burning need to feel one another, and memorize every inch and line of each other's skin.
Ron's fingers left the hollow of your collarbone and trailed to the front of your chest. His thumb lightly pressed against your sternum as he dragged his fingers along the valley between your breasts. This was a new sensation, taking your touching from "okay-maybe-friends-do-this-sometimes-I-don't-know" to "this-is-definitely-a-no-friends-territory," and both of you sucked in a breath.
He leaned his head next to yours, his lips reaching your ear once again.
"Tell me if you want me to stop, and I will," he whispered. A tingle spread throughout your entire body.
As he said those words that sent heat right to your very core, his hand trailed from your chest down towards your hips. He felt your waist all the way down to the grooves of your love handles and then settled on your hips. He gripped the sides of your body and you held back a small moan in the back of your throat.
If he stopped, you thought, you were going to absolutely lose your mind.
"Don't stop," you whispered back immediately. Realizing how urgent and needy you sounded, you added, "please," to the end of your demand.
In response, Ron hummed underneath his breath as he continued grazing his hands up and down your sides.
"I saw you dancing today, in the living room," he told you, his voice still husky with his lips pressed against your ear. His hands squeezed your hips once more and started to palm at the backs of your thighs. The material of your shorts was riding up underneath his grip, exposing even more flesh to his hands. "I've thought about doing this all day," he said.
One of his hands broke free and trailed up to your face as he cradled your cheek once more. You leaned into his touch, his thumb accidentally brushing against your lips. Having any part of him that close to your mouth drove you crazy, and before you could think of what you were doing, you lightly kissed the pad of his thumb.
You heard him draw a sharp intake of breath and then press even closer to you. Your back was digging into the handle of the dresser, but you couldn't care less about that right now. Instead, you focused on his thumb which was tracing the lines of your lips. You still weren't looking at each other, you noticed, as his lips remained hovering near your ear. Maybe if you looked at each other during this rare and complicated moment, the feelings would disappear and neither of you would know how to act. This wasn't something friends did.
Ron's thumb traced along your lips again and the hand that wasn't on your face was still caressing your hips and thigh. Deciding to be bold, wanting more, and needing more from him, you progressed past just kissing the tip of his finger. Now, when he pressed his thumb against the middle of your lips, you parted your lips ever so slightly.
His thumb entered your warm mouth, and he shuddered against you. At the same time, his warm hand transitioned from feeling your hips to fully grabbing your ass, kneading at the exposed skin under your small shorts. Your mind was drunk on him, and you were taking risks that you normally wouldn't have even thought existed in the light of day.
You swiped your tongue against his thumb that rested in your mouth, savoring the salty taste of his finger. Ron let loose a small groan, pressing against you once more. Sucking his finger more into your mouth, you massaged his thumb with your tongue. Your breath hitched in your throat when you felt something hard pressing against your upper thigh.
This time, you couldn't help the moan that tumbled ungracefully from your lips. You had never been this turned on in your entire life.
Suddenly, an explosive noise sounded from upstairs.
You and Ron froze. His thumb was still in your mouth, and his hand was still gripping your bum, but neither of you moved.
Another loud explosion followed the previous one, this time accompanied by cheers from Fred and George. As if flicked on by a light switch, the entire Burrow woke up.
You could hear feet stomping and doors slamming open as residents of the house awoke from their slumber. The sounds of Mrs Weasley yelling at her sons for causing such a ruckus hit your ears. Muffled shouting from other family members followed.
Slowly, Ron lifted his head from its spot next to yours and locked eyes with you. There was a deep lust there that you knew your eyes reflected.
"Y/n? Where are you?" You heard a voice, Ginny's you think, call from upstairs.
And with that, you and Ron sprang apart from one another. His hands left your body and you felt cold without him holding you. He took several steps away from you, his eyes not leaving yours until the back of his legs hit his bed.
Your eyes trailed down and you gulped as you saw a large bulge outlined in his pajama pants.
"Y/n!" Ginny called again. If she didn't know where you were, she was going to keep calling. You didn't want to move towards the door. You wanted Ron to say something, or do something, to get you to stay.
All he did was look at you, the lust still there but you noticed something else too. What was that? Your heart dropped as you felt him looking at you with regret. Regret. His gaze broke from yours and you felt hollow inside.
Before you could even fix your mussed up hair, you fled from the room. Your mind jostled with everything that just took place. Your skin was still hot from where his hands had touched you and you could still remember the taste of his thumb in your mouth.
That was the single hottest moment of your entire life, and he didn't say anything to stop you as you ran out of his room. What did that say about how he felt about you? A headache started to form as you let all of these thoughts bombard you.
Your mind was so full of chaos that you ran right into Ginny in the hallway.
"Y/n! Where were you? Fred and George let off another explosion testing products and it woke everyone up. We freaked out when we couldn't find you," she said as she gripped your shoulders.
Her voice barely registered in your brain, you were still too caught up in the moments before in Ron's room.
"Uh, I was, uh, in the bathroom," was all you said.
She probably thought you sounded drugged because everyone else was half asleep, so she assumed you were as well. In reality, you were the furthest thing from it. Ginny nodded, taking your arm and dragging you back up the stairs and into her room. Once there, Ginny and Hermione got under the covers again and soundly fell asleep. You lay down on your makeshift bed of blankets next to them, but you didn't close your eyes.
Your mind wandered back to Ron's room and the events that took place. You hadn't even confessed how you felt about each other, let alone had your first kiss yet, but you already had tasted his skin and let his hands roam over your body. And you had loved every single second of it.
You had no idea how you were going to face Ron tomorrow. How could you act the same around your best friend when he had heard the desperate moan you made? The desperate moan for him?
Pressing the heels of your palms against your eyes, you tried to will sleep to happen. At least when you were asleep, you wouldn't have to worry about tomorrow. But alas, no such luck. So that night you stayed awake, rethinking the entire night with Ron and wishing more than anything that he would barge into the room and kiss you right now. But he didn't.
So you let yourself replay the moments with Ron, just wishing there had been more.
Hi everyone! I know it’s been FOREVER since I’ve last updated the Ron fic, but I really want to continue it & keep writing! I already have all the chapters planned out in my head & hopefully I can start writing as soon as tomorrow. I guess I just wanted to reach out and ask if anyone is still interested in reading the fic? Ik it’s been months since I last updated so I didn’t know if people were still wanting to read it lol. Lemme know!
Introduction / Author’s Note / Chapter 1: The Journey to the Burrow / Chapter 2: Hidden Letters / Chapter 3: Ron’s Return / Chapter 4: Nighttime Conversations / Chapter 5: A Morning Surprise / Chapter 6: The Quidditch Match
Chapter 7: Girl Talk
Lunch passed by in a whirl. Numerous freckled hands snatched sandwiches off plates and scarfed them down. Jokes were played on family members as messes were made on the wooden table. The atmosphere of the dinning table in the Burrow was as it always was: chaotic and wonderful. However, you had a hard time enjoying the usual festivities. Your mind, and heart, with both still upstairs with Ron in that tiny bathroom. You wished more than anything to be back there, leaning in to the one person you wanted more than anything.
You risked a glance at Ron. He was unusually silent, not bothering to jump in when the discussion turned towards Quidditch. His eyes met yours and your heart skipped a beat. His cheeks reddened as he looked away quickly. You couldn't help but think that his thoughts were also focused on the same moment that had been replaying in your head.
"Y/n, do you want thirds?" Ginny asked from across the table. She had always been clever, and her steady look let you know she noticed your absent disposition. Her arched brow and knowing eyes told you that you needed to talk- soon. You shook your head to answer her question, despite how good the sandwiches were.
The rest of the day was spent doing chores. With most of the Weasley family home this summer, along with some additional guests, the house got messy very quickly.
"Couldn't you just magic everything clean?" George grumbled at his mother when she gave the list of chores to the group.
Mrs. Weasley's tone was as cold as ice. "Maybe if you children wouldn't have dragged mud all over the house after your Quidditch game, I would be happy to use magic. But since you did bring the entire garden into this house, you will clean it yourselves!" Her narrowed glare lessened as she looked upon you and Hermione.
"Of course, I don't blame you dears. You can rest while my children- yes Harry that includes you- clean the house," she told you with a loving smile.
Despite the offer, Ginny forced you and Hermione to help her sweep and mop the floors. The twins were tasked with putting away all their joke items and Harry and Ron were outside degnoming the garden for the second time that week.
To lighten the mood, you ran upstairs to retrieve the muggle radio you brought from home. You spent a lot of your time listening to it while you were lonely, dancing around your room when you knew no one would be watching. Turning the dial to your favorite station, you placed the radio on the shelf so everyone could hear it. Then your chores begun.
Sweeping wasn't so bad while you were doing it with your best friends. You joked and laughed the entire time, singing badly and off-key to your favorite songs. Ginny used her mop handle as a microphone to dramatically serenade Hermione. The twins even joined in on the fun by dancing next to you, feather dusters in hand. You threw your head back in a laugh as Ginny fell to her knees for her final solo.
This is what family is, you thought to yourself.
You didn't notice when Ron stopped in from outside to grab water for him and Harry. You didn't notice his gaze softened as he watched you dancing with his family. You didn't notice his eyes dropping to the way your hips swayed to the music, and you didn't hear Harry mumble, "Mate, you're whipped," to his friend.
...
The sun set as you completed your chores and you found yourself cornered after dinner.
"Sleepover. Tonight. My room. You, me, and Hermione" Ginny said with a tone that made it impossible to argue with her. Not that you wanted to argue that, you actually missed having sleepovers with your dorm mates.
You made your way over to Ron who was just finishing up washing the dishes. You tried to ignore the way his broad shoulder muscles moved beneath his thin cotton shirt. You also tried to ignore the freckles peeping out from behind his hairline. Everything about him made your head feel dizzy and you suddenly felt the need to chug a large glass of water to cool down.
"Hey," you said gently, standing next to him and picking up a dish rag to help dry the plates.
"Hi," he responded, his voice alone making butterflies erupt in your stomach.
The next ten minutes passed without either of you saying a word. You fell into the familiar comfortable silence that only best friends can experience with one another. The rhythm of him washing the plates, you drying them, and then them magically floating back into the cabinets felt good. Everything you did together always just felt right.
"So," you said, speaking up once the dishes were done, "Hermione and I are sleeping over in Ginny's room tonight." You don't know why you brought it up, maybe as just another excuse to stay around him for longer.
You were surprised by the grin that immediately spread across Ron's face. "So I don't have to sleep on the couch tonight? Wicked."
Your smile subsided slightly. Ron didn't assume you and him would share a bed again tonight like you did the night before. You were silly to have hoped that would become a regular occurrence. Confused thoughts swirled around you in a whirl as you tried to hide your disappointment.
You nodded, and as you turned to walk up to Ginny's room, you felt Ron's hand reach out to catch yours.
"Y/n- wait..." he began. You looked up to meet his eyes and your insides melted when you saw him looking at you differently. He looked at you with determination and absolute attention- the same way he looked at you earlier that day, when you thought he was going to kiss you.
"If you have nightmares tonight, you know where to find me. My bed is always open for you" he said with a cheeky smile. His smugness and arrogance took you back for a second. Fred and George must be getting to him. You blushed as you turned back up the stairs.
Was that an invitation? Or just a flirty joke that friends say to one another?
These questions filled your mind as you changed into pajamas and made your way to Ginny's room. The moment you approached her doorway the door swung open and you were yanked inside. Ginny swiftly closed the door behind you to ensure privacy.
"Talk," was all she said.
You blushed as you sat down on her worn blue carpeting. Hermione was sitting on the floor, leaning against the bed with a book in her hand. The redhead plopped onto the ground next to you, laying on her stomach as she propped herself up on her elbows. This was the usual procedure for girl talk back at Hogwarts- Ginny leaning in, eager to hear your gossip as Hermione pretended not to notice but eventually gave in and joined your discussions.
"About what?" you asked innocently. Ginny rolled her eyes as Hermione shut her book, her attention now focused on you. They were two of the smartest witches you ever met, and knowing you couldn't fool them, you decided to come clean.
"I think Ron and I almost kissed," you blurted out.
Hermione's mouth hung open as Ginny exclaimed, "Shut up!"
You nodded at their reactions, closing your eyes for a brief moment to relive the moment.
"When? How?" Hermione asked, scooting closer to you.
"Upstairs, he was helping me clean my cut after the game and then I guess...we started leaning in. I don't know if the kiss actually would have happened though- we were interrupted before I could tell what was going on" you explained.
Ginny's eyebrows knit together with anger. "Who interrupted? I swear if it was Fred or George I'm gonna beat their-"
"You did, genius. Your voice carries throughout the entire house," you said with a hint of humor, cutting her off.
"Oh," she replied, her ears turning pink.
Hermione grinned at you, "well this is good! Maybe you didn't kiss that time, but there will be other opportunities."
You smiled at your friend's optimism. As much as you loved your friends for supporting you and being interested in your love life, a part of you wanted to keep a part of the interaction between you and Ron to yourself. You wanted to keep a part of him close and secret to only you, so you switched the topic of conversation.
Turning to Ginny you asked, "So, how's Harry?" You wiggled your eyebrows in a teasing manner. The question made her launch into a hilarious story about how she caught him staring at her during Quidditch and managed to knock him off his broom.
"That's what boys get for not keeping their eyes to themselves, right y/n?" Ginny joked.
You laughed, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Oh please! You should have seen the way Ron oggled at you while you were dancing today! His eyes were practically glued to your arse. I almost would have told him to get a room, it was so intense," Hermione said with a giggle.
You rolled your eyes, pretending this new information didn't make your heart race. If he really watched you the same way you watch him, maybe this fantasy of yours wasn't so far-fetched. Maybe, just maybe, he felt the same way.
The rest of your girls sleepover was filled with laughter and chatter as you talked into the wee hours of the morning. As Ginny and Hermione drifted off to sleep, you couldn't help but wonder if Ron was in his room right now- waiting for you. Each time your eyes closed, all you could picture was Ron, leaning closer and closer and closer... You fell asleep to your imagination wondering what his lips would feel like against yours.
Introduction / Author’s Note / Chapter 1: The Journey to The Burrow / Chapter 2: Hidden Letters / Chapter 3: Ron’s Return / Chapter 4: Nighttime Conversations / Chapter 5: A Morning Surprise
Chapter 6: The Quidditch Match
You were greeted by a grinning Ron in the kitchen.
"I see your mood has changed," you noted, gratefully taking the buttered toast he was offering you as you heard your stomach rubble loudly.
He nodded. "Fred and George talked to me," he stated.
A bolt of terror ran up your spine. Talked to him? Talked to him about what? Surely they didn't tell Ron how you felt about him? You knew they were pushing you towards confessing, but you never thought they would betray you like that.
"Oh?" you asked, trying to keep your voice neutral. You took a big bite of toast and chewed to keep your mind off of Ron's next words, and your impending feeling of doom.
Ron nodded, his smile returning. "They said I can use the best Cleansweep Five we've got. Thank Merlin too, all our other brooms give me splinters."
Relief washed over you like a great tide. They hadn't ratted you out after all. You felt a twinge of guilt from believing the twins would go behind your back like that, you knew they wouldn't.
After you finished your breakfast, you headed out to the field behind The Burrow. You were greeted by the sight of quidditch balls already laid out, goalposts standing ready, and redheaded boys fighting over brooms. Hermione and Ginny chatted pleasantly with one another to the side.
You walked over to them and offered an apologetic smile. "Sorry I was so uptight upstairs," you said.
Ginny waved you off with the flick of a wrist, "We understand. Although we were quite hopeful seeing you in Ron's bed," she added with a wink.
Hermione gave you a hug with one arm and whispered, "We expect to hear all the details later." You laughed, happy to have your girls back, and followed them to the others.
"I called this one!"
"No you didn't, you great git, I did!"
"Yeah right, get your own!"
Laughing at the twins' argument, you grabbed the shabbiest looking broom in the pile. It was no secret that you were the best Chaser on your house team so you thought taking the worst broom was a fair way to even out the match. Also, you weren't in in the mood to fight tooth and nail with a ginger about a broomstick.
After the broomsticks were distributed to each player, George still grumbling about Fred taking his broom, the teams were determined. On one side: Fred, George, Ron, and Harry. On the other: you, Hermione, and Ginny. You were the chaser, Ginny the beater, and Hermione the Keeper. Much to Harry's dismay, the group had opted out of the need of the seeker role and Snitch. Instead, you would just be playing to see how many points you could score through the goals.
"Shirts vs skins!" Fred and George shouted. "Isn't that what the muggles do to keep track of their teammates, Harry?" They asked him, already yanking their shirts off their backs.
"I suppose," Harry said, following their action.
You laughed, "Yeah, except nobody ever offers to be the skins."
"Well if they looked as good as I do, they would," Fred replied confidently, earning giggles from you and Hermione. Ginny, however, scoffed at his words.
You were so busy talking to Fred that when you turned your head, you noticed Ron had already taken his shirt off. Maybe you were imagining it, but you felt his gaze flick quickly to yours and then both of your cheeks reddening instantly. This had been the second time in 24 hours that you had seen your best friend with his shirt off and it still made your heart skip a beat and your head feel dizzy. Hopefully you could keep your eyes on the Quidditch match instead of him.
Before you knew it, the match had started.
You had grabbed the Quaffle once it was in the air, and were rushing towards the other team's goalposts. You noticed your broom was a lot slower than yours at home, drifting slightly to the right as you propelled yourself forward, but that didn't impede your skills at all. In fact, before long, the score was 50-10.
"That's rubbish!" Harry shouted as you scored yet another goal. He was really getting into the spirit of Quidditch.
"The only thing that's rubbish is your flying!" Ginny countered back with a wicked smirk.
Being here with your friends, playing Quidditch outside under the sun, wind whipping through your hair- it was everything you wished for and more. You recalled sitting all alone in the great big empty house of yours, your mind would often wander to wishing for something like this. A sense of community, friendship, and family. Right now, you couldn't be happier.
"y/n, look out!"
You heard it too late. By the time your head turned in the direction of Ginny's voice, the Weasley's battered old bludger from their home Quidditch set had smacked into the side of your head. Falling from your broomstick, you really wished you hadn't forgone the helmet offered to you before the match began.
The match abruptly ended as you hit the ground with a thud. Admittedly, you weren't flying that high up, but the fall still stung. You felt a large welt on your forehead, and as you touched above your left eyebrow you were surprised to see blood.
"Ow," you commented.
The first person to reach you was Ron, looking pale with worry.
"Y/n! Are you alright?" He asked, his voice quivering as his eyes flicked between your eyes and bloodied forehead.
You nodded, but the effort in doing so made you dizzy. You swayed a little from where you sat, and Ron wrapped a protective arm around your back to steady you. Despite being on the precipice of passing out, Ron's palm being pressed flatly to your lower back made butterflies erupt in your stomach. So now you had that making your head spin too.
Concerned blue eyes stared intently at you and you tried your best to not notice how close Ron's bare chest was to you. He was breathing heavily from the game and despite being sweaty from the heat, he still smelled like cinnamon and apples. His red hair was tousled from the wind and you wanted nothing more than to reach out and run your fingers through it.
"I'm alright, just a little fall," you said, struggling to your feet. Ron kept his arm wrapped tightly around you to keep you from toppling over.
"Alright there, y/n?" Harry asked as the others came to join you. "I didn't mean to hit that blunger so hard, I'm sorry."
You waved him off with your hand. "S'all right, I've suffered from worst during Quidditch," you replied. And it was true. Last year, you had broken your arm three times during the Quidditch season. Madame Pomfrey welcomed you as a regular visitor in the Hospital Wing. You had even managed to become quite good friends with her.
After a quick survey of the group, it was obvious everyone was beaten and tired. Two hours of Quidditch can do that to a person.
"I'll take her upstairs and clean her cut. Will you lot make lunch? Or ask Mum too?" Ron asked. You were surprised by his taking charge, usually he was one to sit back and let Hermione make all the plans.
Everyone nodded and then embarked back to The Burrow.
"Despite my fall, we were winning," you proclaimed as you entered the house. You, Hermione, and Ginny shared a satisfying smile at your victory.
"I call a rematch for tomorrow," Harry insisted as he followed the twins into the kitchen.
Ron led you upstairs, his hand still planted firmly on your back, as you walked up the countless steps. After a couple levels, you had reached the tiny bathroom all the Weasley's shared.
You entered it, followed by Ron. It was quite a tight fit. With both of you standing in it, backs facing the wall, your chests were almost pressed against one another. Ron still hadn't put his shirt back on. You tried your best not to notice this fact.
He stepped closer to you, and your heart started beating so fast you felt there was a hummingbird trapped in your ribcage rather than an organ. Ron wrapped his arms around you, lifted you up, and set you on the bathroom counter. You blushed at the ease in which he did this. He really was quite strong. You remembered back in second year when he could barely push open the heavy common room door, now here he was lifting you onto counters as if you weighed nothing.
Ron searched above you in the mirror cabinet for some bandaids and ointment for your head. You waited patiently, taking advantage of his distracted attention to stare at him. He really looked good. He was biting his lip in concentration as he read different bottles to find the correct medicine, and his eyebrows were knitted together. A bead of sweat trickled down the side of his face and his freckles looked like constellations on his skin. In that moment, you swore he was the most handsome wizard you ever saw.
"Got it," he said, his deep voice snapping you out of your fantasy. "Mum used to put this on our scrapes when we were little. It might sting a bit," he warned you.
You nodded and shut your eyes as Ron wet a rag and turned to you. You felt him lean closer. Cinnamon and apple. His smell was intoxicating.
Ron lighted brushed your hair behind your ear. With a wet cloth, he dabbed the blood away. His touch felt so soft and gentle that you fought the urge to sigh and melt right into the arms. But that feeling quickly subsided as a new sensation of an intense burning reached your cut.
"Ow," you muttered through gritted teeth as he continued applying the ointment.
"I know, sorry," he replied, still concentrating.
You opened your eyes to sneak a glance at him. He was so close to you that if you moved forward a little bit, your noses would be touching. You snapped your eyes shut again, afraid that if you kept them open for a second longer, you wouldn't be able to restrain yourself anymore. You were certain you would kiss him if he stayed that close to you.
The feeling of a dry fabric being pressed to your head brought you out of your thoughts as the stinging subsided. The bandaid Ron pressed gently to your forehead seemed to help because you didn't feel dizzy anymore. Magic, it was great at healing.
Taking in a deep breath, you opened your eyes. Ron was still standing so close to you, both of his arms resting against the counter on either side of you. His eyes immediately met yours and you could swear that every sound in the world went quiet. The temperature in the bathroom seemed to increase as you were so close to one another. You couldn't help yourself, your eyes slipped from his blue eyes to his lips. Merlin, you wanted to kiss him so badly.
Looking back up, you saw his gaze was focused on your mouth as well. His eyes met yours once again. Was he leaning in? He definitely looked like he was getting closer. Is this really happening?
"Lunch is ready!" Ginny's voice traveled from downstairs to the bathroom like a shrill bullhorn. You felt as if a bucket of cold water was poured onto your head, that's how quickly you jolted from the dream-like trance you were in.
Ron cleared his throat awkwardly, moving backwards to give you more space. The absence of his proximity made you feel colder, and you wished Ginny had called you a minute later.
"Shall we?" He asked, offering you a hand as you climbed down from the counter.
"Yeah, I'm starving," you replied as you exited the bathroom and made your way downstairs. But you were more than just hungry for lunch. You had a hunger for whatever atmosphere donned upon you and Ron in that tiny bathroom. You were hungry for that feeling of being the only two in the world. It was in that moment that you realized how strongly you felt about Ron. How strongly you felt about your best friend. It was there, atop the rickety steps of The Burrow, that you vowed that this summer was the one where you would tell Ron Weasley that you were in love with him.
Introduction / Author’s Note / Chapter 1: The Journey to the Burrow / Chapter 2: Hidden Letters / Chapter 3: Ron’s Return / Chapter 4: Nighttime Conversations
Chapter 5: A Morning Surprise
That morning, you awoke to a surprised gasp.
You jolted upwards to look towards the sound, promptly smacking your head against Ron's.
"Ow," you both mumbled, fully awake now. With the nose injury from last night, and this today, Ron was going to be covered in bruises by the time the summer was over.
Your eyes settled upon a stunned looking Harry Potter standing in the doorway. His mouth was open, his eyes wide. Perhaps he wasn't expecting to walk into his best friend's room and see him cuddled up with a girl.
Words couldn't form in your mouth to explain the inappropriate situation. How could you explain how you looked right now- hair disheveled, under the covers, with Ron's arm still wrapped tightly around you.
As Ron was about to speak, Harry's face broke out into a wide grin. Smirking he said, "well done, mate."
"Well done? Well done for what?" You heard a familiar voice say from the hallway. Within seconds, Hermione's head was peeking into the doorway.
"Oh my!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands up to her mouth in shock.
Harry chuckled as you heard even more footsteps approaching.
"What is it, Hermione?" you heard Ginny call before she, too, entered the small room, freezing when she saw you and Ron.
"Fred! George! Get in here!" she yelled, her lips forming into the same satisfied smile Harry wore.
"Oh please let's just invite the whole family," Ron said sarcastically. The room was already crowded with the 5 bodies in it, every eye strained upon you and Ron. But oddly enough, his arm was still wrapped protectively around your waist.
Soon, Fred and George apperated into the room, standing at the bottom of the bed.
"Would you look at that Georgie," Fred said, nudging his brother in the side. "I believe you owe me 5 galleons." George rolled his eyes and handed over the coins.
"You bet on us?" Ron asked. His face was growing red, but more from annoyance than embarrassment.
The twins nodded at the same time.
You made eye contact with Ginny and Hermione, who were both grinning, their eyes sparkling. They knew you'd had a crush on Ron for years, and they mistakenly thought you had confessed to him, leading to the sleeping together situation. Terrified that they would say how you felt about him, when in reality you hadn't confessed anything at all, you spoke up.
"It's not what it looks like," you mumbled, really wishing it was what it looked like.
Ron glanced at you and then let his arm slip from your waist. You felt your body get colder as he moved away from you.
"Nothing happened, like it ever would," Ron said, his voice dripping with dry sarcasm. You felt your heart drop as you processed his words.
"Like it ever would." Does that mean he didn't want anything to happen between you?
"So you can give him your money back," Ron grumbled at Fred, getting out of bed and walking straight out the door. You heard his loud footsteps march downstairs to the kitchen. His angry attitude left an uncomfortable silence in the room.
You groaned, covering your face with your hands.
"I take it you didn't tell him then?" Hermione asked, sitting on the side of the bed and soothingly brushing your hair with her fingers.
"No, I didn't," you replied.
"Tell him what?" Harry asked cluelessly.
Hermione and Ginny shared a look. "Boys," they muttered together, shaking their heads at Harry's oblivion.
The twins took it upon themselves to thoroughly explain the situation to Harry.
"You see, our friend y/n here is in love with Ron. Has been for quite a while, we reckon. So when we see the two of them canoodling together in bed in the morning, one gets to thinking that maybe some confessions were made," Fred told him with a smug smirk.
Keeping your head in your hands, you didn't look at Harry.
"Well that's perfect!" Harry blurted out, "Ron feels the same way!"
Your head shot up and you stared at him.
"He does?" you asked him. Of course you knew that Ron treated you different from his other friends, but you never wanted to jump to conclusions.
"Well I mean, yeah. He's never outright said anything about it, but I can tell," Harry explained.
You groaned again, the swell of hope in your chest quickly dying down. No offense to Harry, but sometimes his intuition wasn't the best. You thought back to the countless times he was convinced Draco Malfoy had poisoned his morning pumpkin juice.
"I hate to break it to you lot, because you seemed quite excited barging in here this morning, but I'm positive he doesn't feel the same way. Did you hear him? 'Like it ever would.' That means he doesn't want anything to happen with us," you huffed.
Ginny shook her head.
"No, it means he's a stupid git who doesn't know how to say what he's feeling," she said confidently.
You wanted to believe her. You really did. But if he felt the same way, he would've said something by now. Last night was the perfect opportunity, and he didn't tell you anything. That was all the confirmation you needed that your feelings were one-sided.
Throwing your legs over the side of the bed, you stood up. Although you felt your heart break slightly, you couldn't let this ruin your summer.
"Let's just forget this happened, okay?" You said, looking each of them in the eye. "Please don't mention it again, he's already pissed off enough."
Your friends nodded, but not without reluctance.
"Mum's making eggs this morning, then we could play a game of Quidditch in the backyard," Ginny offered. You thanked her silently for following your request.
"Sounds great, I brought my Firebolt," Harry said.
And with that, the crowd change the topic of conversation to Quidditch. Their chat continued as everyone made their way to the kitchen.
Left alone upstairs, you changed out of your pajamas. You reached into your trunk to put on your favorite t-shirt. It was a vintage muggle band t-shirt that you used to listen to with your dad all the time, before travel got in the way and you barely saw him anymore. Ron, with the help of Mr. Weasley who knew the muggle world better than he did, searched high and low for this one specific shirt for your birthday last year. You loved the shirt and wore it all the time, Ron always was a great gift giver for you.
At the thought, you turned your attention to your new owl, who had just woken up. She was as adorable as when you first saw her. Friends get each other amazing gifts all the time, this doesn't mean he's in love with you, you tried to remind yourself.
"Good morning, Dite," you said, rubbing her tiny head. She pecked your fingers affectionately, before flying over to the bed, where she sat down on Ron's pillow.
"You saw all that, huh?" You asked. Even the owls saw your embarrassment from this morning.
She nodded her head and then fluttered over to the box of letters under his nightstand. She nudged the side of it with her beak.
"They don't mean anything," you told her. She didn't understand. No one did. Ron, despite your best wishes, wasn't in love with you. It was just a fact you needed to accept.
You cocked your head towards the door. "C'mon," you said to Dite. She flew onto your shoulder and nuzzled into your neck.
