In the end can they just pretend?
Ronald Weasley had hit rock bottom, his life as he knew it was over. He had lost everything. Well not everything, but it felt like the life he had imagined for himself was over. And his family wasn't helping him. Th...
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The following few days of the holiday would pass well without a hitch, Claudia was surprisingly able to get along with a few of Ronald's siblings, their partners and children. Much better than she thought she would be able to. Adjusting to a family so large when yours was a humble UK average size was unusual, but it worked well. Or at least seemed to work in the Weasley favour. Claudia knew for her family it could never work, she knew not only would there be too many personalities clashing in a bad way, but the size was not attainable in the pureblood circle. Too many people fighting to take inheritance, organising seats and things. It was just not plausible.
That was until the night of Molly's birthday. That was when things started to kick off again. Everyone had been drinking, some more than others. And Ginny had taken the opportunity to let her hair down for the first time in a while, if it was not evident up to that point. Yet by taking the chance to let loose, Ginny had also taken the chance to let loose her actual opinions on everyone around them. And nobody was safe.
She had succeeded in making Angelina cry. The other star quidditch player having been called many not so nice names for having married George. The worst of one being that they had only got together because Angelina missed Fred too much and wanted the identical twin to take his place. She had turned on Fleur, re-etablishing the harsh nicknames that she had given the older woman when she first came to the family. Though they had done nothing to waver the strong woman who had become used to the nasty way of behaving it was clear that Ginny had a bone to pick with everyone who had joined the family or at least it would seem.
And as she finished berating Audrey for being some random woman her brother had found at work, essentially silencing the woman into shame, she turned upon Claudia. Claudia waited to see what Ginny would throw her way, having been at the end of the witches wrath for the entire holiday and slightly before. She knew as the newest partner to be introduced to the family, that she would have things a little harder than the others. Or well she thought so but the way Ginny had been acting perhaps this wasn't the case.
"Seriously I can't believe I'm sat here around a table with death eater scum." Ginny seethed as she looked at the younger woman. Claudia rolled her eyes, she by this point was rather used to this comment, she couldn't control her parents actions or what decisions they had made during the war. She had been 15 not quite 16 when most of it occurred and therefore, no matter how much she wished to have controlled the narrative she could not.
"It's because of people like you my brother is dead. People like you made it so I have to raise Harry's godson because both of his parents are dead." Ginny fired away and Claudia felt the atmosphere drop, Ginny had hit a sensitive spot for the sake of belittling Claudia and now the younger girl generally felt a little bit guilty. But there was nothing she could do to fix things, nothing she could do to fix the past.
"I'm sorry Ginny but I could not control my parents actions at that time."
"No but you could do us all a favour and crawl back into the silver spoon societal hole you escaped out of like the dirty little snake you are and leave us be." Ginny's fire hadn't been this strong with everyone else and Claudia could feel the gentle squeeze of a hand on her knee under the table. She would give two weak squeezes back, even if they weren't true. There was no way that any of these people would see their words getting to her.
"Even better yet, you could go and take my brothers place. Do us all a favour and just drop dead. It would be better for everyone." Ginny's words were clearly effected by the alcohol she had consumed but Claudia and she was sure everyone else around that table knew that there had to be some actual truth behind the words she spoke or at least Ginny had to believe in them slightly to have even had the thought to say them. This comment was enough to bring tears to Claudia's eyes. Ones of which she had no intent to shed but it was enough to ruin her spirit and the feeling she had of starting to get along with the others around them. Because if Ginny had those kind of harsh cruel thoughts and feelings towards her what did the others think. She had the intent to say something back when another squeeze tore her attention away from the ginger haired woman.
Claudia would turn her head to see Ron staring at her, a fury in his eyes she had yet to see. He mouthed something to her, but she was unable to catch what he was trying to say. Noting she needed to work on her lip reading skills. For had she been able to read what he had said to her she would have seen the words 'I've got this.' And his next actions would have made just the tiniest of more sense. For it wasn't long before Ginny was doused in the beer of which had been just moments prior inside of Ron's glass.
"What the actual fuck Ginny?" His words accompanied his actions as the woman protested at the sudden covering of drink. "How on earth do you think that is appropriate to say to anyone?" He continued on. Looking at his best friend who had remained silent for it all.
"I never once said anything about you dating my best friend. I stood by and let it happened when you married him for crying out loud. You married my best friend. You took away the one person I had outside of the family that nobody else had." Ron was finally sharing pent up emotions and feelings he had about his younger sister over the years.
"And when I finally find someone else. Someone that is mine. You act like this. I let you love whoever you wanted, even when it cost me my best friend. But I can't love the person that I do?Why is it one rule for you and another for everyone else?" At Ron's words Claudia felt her eyes widened, she was unsure whether he had just admitted what she thought he had or not, or if it was an act.
"How come you and mum get to be so nasty and vile to every single person the rest of us bring home. How come you get to make them cry. Yet none of us can do that for Harry? He was welcomed with open arms but none of the others have been. You called Fleur snot for years, you wore white to Audrey's wedding. You ask how Angelina's marriage to Fred is going. And Claudia, you tell to kill herself just because of her surname?" Ron was ready to hit his sister, and he heard the gasp his mother let out as he turned his anger towards her slightly having never been expected to be brought up on her own actions by her own son.
"You're going to wake up in the morning and blame this all on the alcohol, but we all know its because of your rotten personality. Because Ginevra you are the cruelest bitch I have ever met. Happy birthday mum hope you're proud of us." With these being his parting words Ron took Claudia's hand pulling her gently from her chair and back in the direction of their room. Hoping to have had at least a lasting effect upon his family revelling in the sharp shock of silence which he left in their wake.
Upon entering the room Ron was quick to continue marching in the direction of the bed they had been sharing. Not taking the time, like he usually did, to kick his shoes off before sitting himself down and dragging Claudia down with him. His eyes immediately made eye contact with her own and as he took in the tears she had yet to let fall she noted that the anger that had once been there was no longer simmering. And he too had a few tears gathering.
"Claudia." He started and she knew what he wanted to say, he had deemed it serious enough to use her full name. "Never ever take what my sister said to heart. You are the best thing about this place. This world. And I want to spend the rest of my time in it next to you." Claudia no longer felt the urge to cry in sadness, yet his words, how genuine they felt they were enough to cause her to let a few tears fall. And as his hands moved to catch them she knew that her feelings were much deeper than she had thought at first. She knew she loved him in that moment. And she didn't care if he did not feel the same way either.
"I do too. I want to spend whatever time we have left together."
