A/N; I do not own anything you recognise
Chapter 2 “ Dear Stupid Ron
The next morning, every Weasley present at the Burrow was overjoyed with Ron’s return. He spent most of his first day home just being with his family, talking with them. He sent an owl to Bill and another to Charlie so they wouldn’t be left out of the good news. Other than that, he didn’t do much. If you don’t count eating, that is. Mrs. Weasley must have thought that he didn’t eat enough on his own, because there was always food in front of him. His plate was particularly full at regular meals and wherever he was sitting; his room, the drawing room or the garden, he always found cookies, fruits or juice nearby.
He missed his family a lot since he left with Harry and Hermione. During the long months away from home he tried to shut those feelings from his brain to remain focused on their mission and the different tasks to accomplish. The food cooked by three young adults on their own for the first time was not always great and the meals soon became like a routine. There wasn’t much variety in the menu as it was hard to please everyone’s taste and none of them had a very extensive prior cooking experience.
It would not be fair to say that the only thing Ron missed from home was the food. Now that he was surrounded by his relatives once again, it was obvious to him that his family meant much more to him. He was very grateful to be back.
A few days later, the family received a visit from Hedwig. She arrived just before lunch and Mrs. Weasley had been pretty quick in snatching the letter. Ginny and Ron were also present but the twins and Mr. Weasley were at their respective jobs. The youngest Weasley gave a little piece of the crackers she was putting on the table to Hedwig and the beautiful owl hooted softly as a thank you before leaving through the kitchen window. It was a very short note from Harry saying that they should not expect him for ten days or more. Mrs. Weasley sighed deeply. She didn’t voice it but everybody could tell she was worried. At least she would stop asking Ron when Harry would come now. Ginny looked disappointed too.
After the meal, Ron announced that he was going for a walk. This was not unusual. He had done this almost everyday since his return. Mrs. Weasley approved of this new habit. It was, in her opinion, better than staying in the house and she was also hoping that some fresh air would bring back some colour to her son’s cheeks. Only this afternoon, Ginny asked if she could come with him. He agreed and she quickly went to her room to pick up a jacket. They left through the back door and crossed the garden.
It was a moody day outside. The sky was covered in thick grey clouds and from time to time a little mist would fall from them. Just enough to keep the ground a bit moist. The brother-sister pair walked silently up to the edge of the forest. Ron was lost in his thoughts. The path they were following was now very familiar to him. Ginny was also thinking and shooting looks at her brother occasionally.
They were now going uphill and it was misting again. Once they reached the top of the hill, Ginny grabbed her brother’s arm to stop him. She needed a few minutes to catch her breath and he looked like he could use them too. He leaned against a tree panting slightly. A few moments later, he started to walk again and Ginny followed. Once she caught up with him, she asked, “Ron, how is Harry really doing?”
He seemed to think for a moment before answering.
“He’s doing ok, I guess. He just needs a little more time to adjust to the idea.”
“What idea?”
“That this is finally over, I think,” he responded. “He’s been facing Voldemort since he was born, you know, and now it’s over. From the little he told me, he has trouble moving on to the next phase. In fact, he doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life now.”
“But, he will come back, won’t he? He will come home, no?”
“I’m sure he will, don’t worry. Maybe not permanently, though,” Ron answered. He too wouldn’t admit that he was a little bit worried about his best friend. If he himself wasn’t feeling too good, it must be five times worst for him. He had to do most of the last battle alone, after all.
“Do you know where he is?” Ginny had been restraining herself all week from asking her brother too many questions but they seemed to just pop out of her mouth now.
“No.”
“Was he hurt?”
“His right leg caught a really bad hex in the early times, courtesy of Dolohov, and he had difficulty walking for two weeks. The healers at St. Mungos told him he was lucky that it was only a leg and not his thorax or his head. It still hurts him occasionally but it’s much better now. Other than that, he has some new scars but nothing major.”
Ginny opened her mouth to ask yet another question, but when she saw that Ron was now looking away from her, at the trees to his right, she closed it quietly.
They continued to walk silently and were now on their way back home. It took a good ten minutes before either of them spoke again.
“What about you, Ron?”
“What about me?”
“How are you doing?” she asked, observing him.
“I’m doing ok. I mean, I’m doing better. I’ll get there,” he added a moment later.
Ginny tried to catch his eyes. “Do you miss her?”
He refused to look at his sister and simply stared at the ground. They were about to enter the garden when she grabbed his forearm again and forced him to face her.
“Ron?”
“I miss her a lot,” he said very low, meeting briefly with her eyes before heading home once again.
“You should give those letters a chance,” she called after him.
He stopped dead in his track. “How do you know?”
“I was with mum when the muggle mailman came.”
Ron didn’t add anything and went back inside the house to dry himself with a towel. It was true that the letters were addressed to ‘Mr. Weasley’ so his father probably opened the package before realizing the mistake. Did it mean that everybody knew about it? His brothers too?
Later that evening, Ron opened the drawer of his desk and took out the pile of letters. He went to sit on his bed and dropped them on his bedside table. He couldn’t bring himself to break the seal of the first envelope. Not tonight. He laid flat on his back, looking at the ceiling. He fell asleep long after that, fully dressed and still studying the cracks and bumps above him.
He finally ripped open the parchment envelope the next night. It had rained all day and he was so bored that it gave him a great deal of time to think. His curiosity won over his determination to put the past behind him. He came to the conclusion that he could read the first one and that it wasn’t because he read one that he would have to read them all.
Rain was still tapping on the window of his bedroom when his eyes landed on the first words.
Dear stupid Ron,
I guarantee you that if I was the kind of girl to swear, this is what I would be doing just now. You infuriate me so much sometimes. How dare you ruin this evening to me? And accuse me of supporting the ‘enemy’! I can assure you that I am 100% behind Harry and I cannot believe that you would doubt that.
I had to resort to writing to you because talking clearly isn’t effective. I just don’t know what to think just now. I just don’t get it. How can you be mad? You just had to ask me to the ball before Viktor, that’s all. If anything, you should be mad at yourself. And you shouldn’t vent on me, I might add.
I would have said ‘yes’, by the way. I am not sure we would have lasted the entire evening without bickering but I’m sure we would have had fun.
This is just sad, Ron. You should really come clean with yourself and sort out those unhealthy feelings you seem to experience this year. Like when you wouldn’t talk to Harry after he was declared the fourth champion of the tournament. He has a lot on his shoulders and he deeply needs your support. I saw it when you two weren’t on speaking terms. And you need him too. You two definitely make a unique pair.
My point is that you should take a good look in the mirror. I don’t want to have to point things out for you all the way to seventh year. In one point of your life, you will be on your own and it would be nice if we didn’t have to bite each other’s head off to get you there. Just give it a try.
Hermione
P.S It’s been a week now and I still haven’t given you this letter. Probably because I’m sure that it would start another fight between us. I don’t think you would appreciate me trying to give you ‘life advice’… Maybe someday.
Ron lay back against the wall. She was right, as always. Back then, he would not have been happy at all to receive such a letter. Maybe he did needed to come clean with some of his feelings, but that was not her job to tell him to do so. She was supposed to be his friend. Now that those silly events seemed to be ages ago, his perspective was different and he was thinking that she was quite right. It’s not easy to admit it of course, but true nonetheless.
This short letter gave Ron a lot to thing about. Maybe he would read the others, but not tonight. It was getting late and his eyes were starting to burn.
A/N; So this is chapter two everybody. This is also your cue to leave a review. Tell me what you think, like, dislike, etc. I love to hear from you!