Liquor and a Letter

Harry In His Element

As was routine every night around 11pm, Ron would ask his wife which one of them was going to get Harry from the pub he fancied. Tonight, Luna didn't seem up to it, so that meant it was on him. Quickly throwing on his coat and grabbing his wand, Ron quietly stepped down the stairs and opened the door only to be hit with the shock of a lifetime.

"Bloody hell," the redhead exclaimed as quietly as he could so as to not wake his daughter and wife.

There, standing in front of him, was Hermione Granger who conveniently left out the fact that she was returning home in her last letter. She smiled sheepishly at him and he tried to return it but the only thought that flashed through his mind was how Harry was going to react to this news.

"Are you just going to stand there?" Hermione bossily asked, a smile on the corner of her lips still.

"Blimey, Hermione, it's near midnight," he exclaimed again in a hush but gestured for her to enter regardless.

"I know, I'm sorry," Hermione hugged him tightly which he reciprocated, "I just needed to find the courage and I wanted to speak to you alone."

Despite most of his friends and family thinking he was dim, Ron didn't miss the sparkling ring on Hermione's finger. She was engaged and she was most likely here to break the news to him and him alone. Oh, this was getting bad really quickly.

"I'm engaged and you're invited to the wedding." He pretended to look agape at her and searched his mind for anything that would help him right now.

"That's...nice," he mustered out. Telling Harry this was going to be a task harder than hunting for horcruxes. Hermione must have thought the same or else she wouldn't have shown up at his house at near midnight.

"Is that all you can say?" She giggled at him and his pretend face quickly turned real. She was oddly calm and relaxed after the bombshell she dropped on him. Not once had she mentioned a boyfriend, much less a fiancé, to him.

"Look, that's wonderful and all, Hermione," he stood up quickly and offered her his hand, "but...I really have to get to the joke shop to check on something that just simply can't wait."

He didn't know how he got so good at lying but he was thankful for it. She looked confusedly at him so he accepted her invitation to calm her nerves a little. "Luna, Amelia, and I would love to come to your wedding," he told her earnestly.

Hermione beamed at him but looked bothered after the fact, looking down at her feet and shuffling them. "Can you ask Harry to come? My fiancé seems to like him a lot and it was his idea and..." Hermione started to babble incoherently until Ron shushed her.

He was in a tight spot now. Harry was definitely going to say no but he didn't want to disappoint Hermione by telling her that. Moreover, telling her that would make her hate Harry more than she already did and Ron didn't want to do that to his best mate. He decided to lie once again.

"I'm sure he'll agree when I ask him."
———
It was half twelve when Ron arrived at the Witches' Tap, the ironic nickname of the pub Harry loved, and began his nightly search for his best mate. He didn't have to look for long as Harry was currently having the time of his life with the other patrons doing Merlin knew what. Ron never understood muggle culture.

"There he is, fellas. My mate, my brother, the greatest friend anyone can ask for. Let's hear it for Ron!" Harry hollered to the group of drunken men who raised their pints in salute to him and cheered uproariously.

If this wasn't a routine occurrence, Ron would have felt shy at the attention. As it stood, though, this was what he was forced to endure each night he came to take Harry home. Luna always handled it much better than he could.

"Alright, mate, time's up," Ron told his drunk best mate. He lifted Harry's arms over his shoulders and pulled the heavy man away from the counter, hearing the patrons boo and hiss at him. "No, no, Harry," he groaned frustratedly as Harry picked up another unattended bottle of beer and downed it in one gulp.

It was quite the battle to maneuver the pissing drunk body of his best mate into an alleyway to then apparate him to The Burrow but he accomplished it fairly easily. He dragged the now slumbering man up the dirt path and entered the room, thanking Merlin that he had the awareness to send Hermione home, and promptly deposited him on the couch.

"Sleep tight, mate," he called exhaustedly even though Harry was out cold and would be until midday.

Not feeling sleepy anymore, Ron reclined on the seat in front of Harry and considered the events of the night. Things were only going to get more difficult for his best mate from here on out. Hermione returned with news that she was engaged to another man and if that wouldn't send Harry to the grave, he didn't know what would. It was beautifully complicated how easily their relationship fell apart but Ron said and did nothing, a fact which he regretted.

Hermione had loved Harry for nearly all their years of school and it was clear that, up until he got some sense knocked into him, Harry failed to recognize it and his own feelings for her. Of course, by the time he did, Hermione had left the wizarding world to continue her studies. Ron didn't know how that was enough to make their friendship fall apart and Harry never spoke of it, claiming that it was all his fault.

So now, Ron was in a quandary. Could he ask his mate to come and watch the love of his life get married in front of him? Could he disappoint Hermione and make her hate Harry even more by telling her he wouldn't come? It was all so bloody complicated but he knew one thing for certain. If it was truly Harry's fault, as Harry claimed it was, then maybe it was time to make amends.

He wasn't going to try to make Hermione fall back in love with Harry but he wasn't going to let his two best friends live the rest of their lives with her hating him and him hating himself. Something would have to be done and if that meant forcing Harry to sit through a wedding just so the git could prove to Hermione that he was willing to be there for her, then so be it.

Then again, his mind shot at him, doing that could see Harry drink himself six feet under. Or maybe it would see him achieve closure and finally move on with his life, another part of his mind called. Ron could see two paths laid out before him. The first path featured only Harry continuing his lifestyle he was leading now and the second path included both Harry and Hermione once again becoming friends with each other. He didn't want to think of the third path, the part where he could lose both of them.

He was going to have a long and serious talk with Harry tomorrow.