Little Wizards || AU

Ron Weasley and the Broken Broomstick

It was a bright sunny day, where everything in the world was content. The birds chirped. The sun shined. The sky was blue. Everything was peaceful, everything except one certain house outside of Ottery St Catchpole.

Fred and Ron were chasing each other around the house. A chair fell down with a crash as Fred shoved past it. "Give it back!" Fred whined.

"Not until I ride it!" Ron argued.

"But it's MY broomstick!" Fred shouted, reaching for the toy broomstick, which Ron held behind his back. "George! Help me!"

George, who was outside, engrossed watching the garden gnomes trip over each other, perked up at the sound of his name, and hurried into the house, where Fred now had Ron pinned to the ground, the broomstick under Ron.

"MUM!" Ron wailed. "Fred pushed me!"

"MUM!" Fred shouted. "Ron stole my broomstick!"

"MUM!" George yelled. "Ron stole Fred's broomstick!"

"No, I didn't!" squeaked Ron in anger, and they started arguing in loud voices.

"What's going on in here?" Their mother shouted, coming down the stairs in a hurry. She had just stopped Charlie and Ginny from dissolving Percy's storybooks into dust. Now she stopped, seeing Fred sitting on Ron's stomach, who was wailing on the ground, Fred's broomstick still under him, and George trying to pull Fred off Ron. "What is this??" Molly asked in exasperation. "Fred! Get off of Ron!"

"Fiiiine," Fred sighed, standing up. Just then, they heard a loud SNAP! Molly looked at the twins, suspecting one of their pranks, when Ron suddenly got up, a frightened look on his face. He quickly picked up the broomstick behind him and ran backwards, pressing his back to the wall.

"What happened, Ron?" Molly asked. Ron shook his head, his eyes wide.

"Ron?" asked George. "Are you okay?" George looked at Fred, expecting him to chime in. But Fred pouted and folded his arms. 

"At least give Fred his broom, and you can tell me what happened," said Molly. But Ron shook his head again, eyes filling with tears.

"Give my broomstick to me!" Fred said. "Now!"

Ron shook his head yet again, more terrified than ever.

Then Molly realized something. "Ron, does this have to do with Fred's broom?"

Ron hesitated, then slowly nodded. 

"Was it the broom that made the snap sound?"

Then Fred shouted suddenly. "Yes it was! Ron broke it! He broke my broomstick! RON BROKE MY BROOMSTICK!" He yelled, then started crying.

"Fred, come here," said Molly, and she wrapped her arms around Fred, still sobbing. "Shh. Don't cry. You're a very brave boy, aren't you Fred? So don't cry."

Fred hiccuped, then tried to stop crying.

Molly turned to Ron. "Ron, did you actually break his broomstick?"

Very slowly, Ron nodded. He held out the broom, where the stick was broken in two.

"What do you say to Fred?" Molly asked, stern.

"Sorry Fred," Ron whispered.

But looking at the broken broomstick made Fred start to cry again. "That was m-my favorite broomstick! I j-just rode it once and you b-broke it!" Ron felt guilty all over again and started crying along with Fred. And George, seeing his brothers cry, made him cry as well.

"Ron! Fred! George! Will crying make the broomstick fix itself? Will crying do anything? No! So stop it, all three of you!" Molly reprimanded.

The three of them stopped suddenly, sniffing.