Summer At The Burrow - Ron Weasley

3. Ron's Return

The next couple days at The Burrow were some of your favorite days ever spent. You awoke every morning to the smell of bacon and eggs cooking downstairs and spent the majority of your days around magic. Every afternoon, you and Ginny would get together and complete your school work together, just like you used to at Hogwarts. It was a bit more difficult to stay focused without Hermione around, you and Ginny kept getting sidetracked with talk about Quidditch, but you managed to get some work done. 

After your dinner in the garden, you spent the rest of your afternoon in the living room talking with Mr Weasley. He was fascinated by muggles and you were more than happy to indulge him and answer all of his questions. You explained the difference between a light switch and an outlet, and even told him about how your television works. 

Whenever you were in the living room, you felt your gaze wonder to the clock hanging on the wall. Ron's hand was still pointing towards "Diagon Alley" and you were starting to wonder why he was shopping for so long.

Pushing the thought out of your mind, you directed your attention back to Mr Weasley.

"Do you have any muggle pets, y/n? What are they like?" He asked. You smiled as you saw the pencil next to him jotting down notes onto a pad of paper. Mr Weasley treated your conversations like an interview, wanting to remember everything you said. He was a sweet man, as all of the Weasleys were, so you didn't mind spending hours chatting with him. 

"I guess the pets are sort of the same in the muggle world and wizarding world. I had a couple of goldfish when I was younger but I kept overfeeding them so my parents gave them away. Then I had a dog named Benji, but he now lives with my cousins because my family travels so much. And then my last pet was Celeste, but she died last spring," you told him.

The thought of Celeste made your good spirits sink a little. You had first met your snowy white cat in Diagon Alley when you were shopping for your first year at Hogwarts. It was difficult to navigate the streets of the busy wizarding shopping centre with two muggle parents, but they were kind enough to offer to buy you a pet for school. 

Celeste had been the best pet you'd ever had. Unlike your boring goldfish, she was rather affectionate and could understand you well. She would cuddle onto your lap while you studied and bite at the ankles of classmates you didn't like. While at Hogwarts, she reminded you of home, and while back in London, she reminded you of your magical school. 

Sadly, you hadn't realized that when you bought her in first year, she was already pretty old. Last year at school she started limping and moving slower than usual. Within a couple of months, she had passed away. It still made you sad to think about so you brought your attention back to Mr Weasley.

"So yeah, I suppose most of the pets are pretty similar. Except, muggles normally don't keep rats as pets," you explained with a laugh. Mr Weasley smiled, thanked you for talking with him, and then excused himself to finish up some work in the shed outside.

You hadn't realized how long you were talking because when you looked outside, it was already dark.  Your eyes found their way to the clock again, forgetting it didn't actually tell the time, and your heart skipped a beat when you saw Ron's hand was now pointing at "home."

Standing up quickly, you brushed down your hair frantically, though you weren't sure why. Ron had seen you at your worst, messy and covered in mud after many Quidditch matches, so you didn't really have a reason to try to straighten your appearance out now. You sighed to yourself, your crush on him was really starting to make your head spin.

Just then, you heard the backdoor close behind you and you turned around. Standing there, clad in a familiar maroon jumper, was Ron. He looked slightly older than the last time you saw him when leaving Platform 9 and 3/4, but that was only a few weeks ago. When your eyes met each others, his face broke out into a wide grin, and he took three long strides towards you before wrapping you into a tight hug.