"Ron." Harry took a deep breath. "Hermione and I-"
"Are getting married," Ron interrupted.
Harry froze. "How... did you know?"
Ron rolled his eyes and pulled out the binder he had hidden in his jacket. "Sit down, I've had the whole thing planned for...
"Oh, yeah. I can tell you two are real sibling-like. Very... familial. You've never even had a sister, how did you manage to say that with a straight face?"
"You were angry and had just been holding a sword!" Harry yelled, his face red with embarrassment and looking anywhere but at Hermione. "I was just trying to calm you down."
"Will someone tell me what's going on?" Hermione frowned.
Harry groaned again and Ron happily told her the tale.
What followed was Harry hurriedly trying to explain himself and Hermione dragging Harry off to a room somewhere.
By the time they returned, his hair was tousled in every single direction, his collar was loosened, and his glasses askew. Hermione looked very pleased with herself.
But then she turned her attention on him and Ron started to get a very, very bad feeling.
"I can understand why Harry would say something like that in the moment, even if it made no sense and he didn't mean what he was saying. But why did you see that image in the horcrux?"
"I—" Ron was at a loss for words, feeling as if something was lodged in his throat.
"Ron?" His best friend turned his head sideways to look at him, sincere concern on his face. Well, that was no surprise. Harry had always cared for him, hadn't he? Always put his feelings above his own. Always accepted him back no matter what he did. What had he done to deserve a friend like that?
"I was afraid." He admitted. "I fucked up. I know I did. I left you both when you needed me most and as soon as I left, I realized it was something I could never take back. I was afraid that I would come back and have no place next to you two. That you wouldn't need me. Or want me."
"I would never—" Harry started to protest, but Hermione put a hand on his shoulder.
"Let him finish," she said and Ron felt grateful in that moment. Even if he had never become as close to her as he was to Harry, he was grateful that she was in both of their lives.
"Look, I may not be as brilliant as you, Hermione. Or as brave as you, Harry. But I'm not an idiot. Maybe at one point I would have resented it, but we're not school children anymore—the war is over and things have changed. I've changed. And I've realized that there are things more important to me than my pride."
He didn't say anything, just looked at them, hoping for them to understand.
They did.
Harry was the one who embraced him first, firmly wrapping his arms around him, and Hermione soon followed after, sniffling rather loudly.
"Aww, Hermione. Don't cry."
"Shut up, Ronald! You came in here ranting about some stupid bet and screaming at us for half an hour. I will damn well cry if I want to!"
Ron raised an eyebrow. "You've got a fiery one there, mate."
Harry just chuckled.
"I love you both, you know." Ron finally said, hugging them back fiercely. "And I want you to be happy together."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
