Romancing the Sorcerer's Stone

Chapter 6: Weasleys

Ron pats Harry's shoulder absently, worrying his lip between his teeth as he brushes a few imaginary specks of lint off Harry's jacket. "Y'know, mate," he says, forehead creasing into a worried frown despite his best efforts to keep a straight face, "you don't have to go through with it."

Harry stares incredulously at him.

Ron backtracks hastily.

"I mean, of course, we'd love to have you as part of the family mate, all legal and such — you know that. But, well, you are anyway, you know? You don't have to marry Ginny just to be my brother."

Harry holds his gaze for a moment, green eyes oddly intense. Then he throws his head back and laughs.

"Ron," he says, raising an eyebrow in a way that Ron feels that he really ought to recognize, but can't quite place, "I'm not marrying Gin just to be your brother."

He leers at him, the expression seeming out-of-place on his familiar face.

"Anyway," he says dismissively, brushing his friend's unease aside, "we all knew I'd marry her eventually, didn't we?"

Ron can't help but feel that that isn't quite the right sentiment either, but he doesn't say anything else. He doesn't think anything he could say would get through to Harry anyway.

He pats his shoulder again and wanders off to talk to Hermione. Surely she'll know what to say to make him feel better; she always does.

Unfortunately, all she has time for is a soft huff of "Oh, Ronald," that doesn't do anything to allay his unease, before she sprints off after his sister. Harry is gone, and Hermione is busy with Gin, and Ron doesn't know what to do with himself.

It's a familiar feeling, though, and Gin had just invited everyone to stay and enjoy the buffet, so he makes his way over to the food tables.

After all, he's worse than useless to the girls just now, and Harry certainly doesn't need him. He can't quite wrap his head around that — Harry's strange ambivalence, the way his face lit up as he read that note and disappeared... Oh well; Hermione will no doubt explain it to him later.