Ron Weasley stood next to his best mate, Harry Potter, and surveyed the brightly lit Room of Requirement. It was their last D.A. meeting before the Easter holidays, and Harry had finally allowed them to work on their Patronuses. At first, Ron had been as excited as everyone else. That was, until he tried to cast his own Patronus. No matter how hard he tried, nothing but a few measly wisps of smoke ever came out of his wand. He was beyond frustrated.
“I just don’t know what I’m doing wrong,” Ron exclaimed, staring at his fellow D.A. members. A few of them had succeeded in producing the complicated spell, but most were at the same stage as Ron. He reached back and rumpled his hair in annoyance.
“Look, mate, just set up and try again,” Harry said, keeping his eyes on the group before him.
Ron sighed before turning and saying aimlessly, “Expecto Patronum.” Absolutely nothing happened. Even the small puffs of silver smoke were gone. Ron growled under his breath, and Harry turned to him.
“Come on, Ron! You have to say it with more force. Also, is your memory good enough? If you don’t have a powerful memory, then it isn’t going to happen. Concentrate, okay?” Harry clasped him on the shoulder before hurrying to help Neville, whose face was streaked with sweat from the effort of pulling off the spell.
Ron turned back to look at his friends. Hermione, he noticed immediately, knew exactly what she was doing. A small otter was gambolling around her, and she was smiling brightly. Ron watched in envy as the otter rose on its hind legs and began giving itself a bath.
Turning back to his own problem, the red head scratched his nose while trying to think of his happiest memory. He remembered how elated he had been when he had scored the Gryffindor Keeper position, and he tried to recall just how that had felt. Raising his wand, he let it swish through the air before saying, “Expecto Patronum!” A large cloud of silver flew out of his wand, but did not take a shape. Ron cursed loudly, which had several heads turning to face him. They all nodded in understanding before going back to their own Patronuses.
Ron backed up until he was leaning against the large bookshelf before slowly sliding down into a sitting position. He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate through the muffled shouts around him. Suddenly, he felt air tickling his nose, and when his eyes popped open, they were met with Hermione’s silver otter goggling at him. Ron leaned past the otter to look at Hermione who was giggling into her palm.
“Reminds me of Holly,” Ron shouted to her. She nodded and he shooed the otter away. Closing his eyes, he let one of his favourite memories come to mind.
.::.::.::.::.
“Has he asked anything about me?” Ron questioned intently, dropping down beneath the birch tree by the lake. He mused his red hair, watching Hermione as she settled herself beside him.
Hermione sighed before exclaiming, “If you are so worried about it, why don’t you just go ask Harry yourself? I am sick of you two fighting!” She kicked her shoes off and scrunched her toes deep into the grass.
“Well, you know he started it. If he hadn’t lied to me about the Tournament, none of this would be happening,” Ron said stubbornly, looking out across the water as a few tentacles floated lazily on top. Relaxing, Ron leaned back onto the lush carpet of grass.
“You very well know Harry did not put his name in the Cup, Ron,” Hermione reprimanded. She pulled out a book and began reading, obviously telling Ron the discussion was over. Ron grumbled under his breath. He knew Hermione was right, but his pride wasn’t ready to admit defeat.
The two of them sat under the old tree for what felt like hours, Ron drifting in and out of sleep. A chattering noise woke him and he swivelled his head around the face the water again. There, his little brown head poking against the surface was a small otter. He wasn’t as large as an ordinary river otter. Ron smiled as the small animal watched the pair of them.
“Hermione,” Ron whispered, attracting her attention away from her book. She looked up and spotted the otter immediately. Her hazel eyes lit up and she giggled as the tiny otter waddled onto shore.
The otter watched Hermione intently before shuffling closer to her. Hermione became nervous, her eyes darting toward Ron. “What do I do?” she questioned nervously.
Ron shrugged his shoulders. “Just let him come to you.” He wondered why the otter was so attracted to Hermione. The little creature sat down next to her knee and gazed up at the young witch. “I think he likes you,” Ron laughed.
Hermione had a bright smile on her face as she gazed down at her new animal friend. Looking up though, Hermione started laughing and pointed behind him. Flopping over onto his other side, Ron saw a weasel hiding behind the birch tree. Of all the animals, Ron thought, it just had to be a weasel.
“Ron, he’s watching you,” Hermione said, stroking her otter. Ron looked back at the weasel, which was indeed looking at him. “Uh, what do I do?” Ron asked, staring into the weasel’s beady eyes.
“Just let him come to you,” Hermione quoted him. Ron rolled his eyes, and in a flash, the weasel was hopping toward him. Ron pushed up off the ground and stumbled backwards, and Hermione giggled loudly. The weasel, however, wasn’t interested in chasing Ron at all, for it ran straight for the otter and pounced. Hermione stood up and watched with Ron as the two animals, which looked so much alike, gave chase to each other.
The two teenagers laughed as the otter pounced the weasel. “How is it that the female always bests the male, even in the wild?” Ron questioned. The otter was obviously winning the play fight.
Hermione laughed as Ron gave the otter a dirty look. “Can we name them?” she asked.
Ron looked down at her smiling face and nodded.
“Um, I like the name Holly for mine,” Hermione said as the otter jumped back into the water. She waved at the little creature and it darted below the surface.
“You name the weasel, too,” Ron requested as it stood on its haunches, watching as the otter swam farther out into the lake. He thought Hermione was being a little girlish by naming the animals, but he wasn’t about to contradict her.
“How about Robbie?” Hermione questioned as they watched the weasel sniff at the air. Ron nodded, confirming that it was a good name. And as the weasel turned to hop back to his burrow, Hermione reached down and squeezed Ron’s hand, making the teenage boy’s ears glow.
.::.::.::.::.
A smile brightened Ron’s face as he came back to the present in the Room of Requirement. He clambered to his feet and walked over to Hermione, who was still letting the otter circle her.
Ron raised his wand, his mind full of the memory from the previous year, before exclaiming, “Expecto Patronum!” He closed his eyes tight, wondering if it had actually worked this time. When he heard Hermione let out a delighted gasp, Ron’s eyes sprang open to behold a small weasel pouncing on Hermione’s silver otter.
Punching the air with his fist, Ron let out a whoop of triumph. Hermione looked at him with knowing eyes as they both turned to watch their Patronuses play.
Weasels and Otters by beauty and brains
Chapter Notes: [A/N] A Mod pointed out to me that Ron's patronus was actually a terrier, and that is the reason for the AU warning. Don't be put off.