Unexpected | Ron Weasley

Returning to Hogwarts

Bryony couldn't tell if she was excited or anxious to return back to Hogwarts. As ready as she was to be away from home and regain her small sense of freedom from her parents, she was not ready to see a certain Weasley.

But once she was on the train, sitting in a compartment with Daphne, all of her anxiety subsided. The two girls began to share the highs and lows of their vacations, as well as their excitement to return back to school.

"He seriously asked you out?!?" Daphne said in astonishment after Bryony told her about the incident at the Malfoy Manor.

"Yeah. Basically proposed, he kept talking about keeping the bloodline pure or whatever" Bryony replied.

"AND?!?"

"What do you mean and?? Of course, I said no! Daph, you know I haven't dated... and besides, Pansy would kill me".

"I'm just saying, the best-looking guy in our house asks you out, and you of all people have to reject him" Daphne said with a laugh.

"Hey! I did not reject him... I said I'm not ready... so it's more of a maybe..." Bryony replied, trying to defend herself.

"I gotta get you a man" Daphne said jokingly.

~Ron~

Ron sat staring out the window of the Hogwarts Express, trying to jot down some sort of apology to Bryony.

Dear Hey Bryony,

I've wanted to say this for a while, but my dad was attacked by a snake I had some family trouble during break and wasn't allowed to did not have access to an owl. Happy belated Christmas.

I know I screwed up again and I know you're not evil I was wrong. People aren't defined by their house, and just because you know Malfoy doesn't make you evil, and I'm sorry

"Ronald! Are you even paying attention?!?"

"Er... no... Sorry Hermione" Ron mumbled. As much as he wanted to continue, he knew this was probably not the best time to write his letter. He crumpled his draft up and shoved it in the pocket of his robes. It was rubbish anyway.

Unbeknownst to Ron, Hermione got a glimpse of Ron's parchment, and was definitely going to ask him about it later.

"Anyway... Harry and I were talking about the DA. We need to figure out when the next meeting is."

"Oh... er... doesn't matter. Anytime is fine" Ron replied with sort of a disinterested tone. He didn't care, he had much more important things, or people, on his mind.

~~~

As soon as Harry exited the compartment to purchase treats from the trolley, or to find Cho Chang, Hermione jumped on the opportunity to confront her friend about the crumpled parchment.

"So... uh- what's the parchment for? Honestly Ron, it's not like you're studying or doing schoolwork or anything... so what is it?" she asked bluntly.

"Bloody hell Hermione, why do you have to be so gosh darn observant all the time" Ron replied with a moan. He knew there was no way out of this situation without showing Hermione the letter. What could he say, she was clever. "Here" Ron said, handing Hermione his failed attempt at an apology letter.

"Oh Ronald..." she said scanning the contents of the letter. "You can't send this".

"Yeah, clearly, its rubbish" Ron said discouraged. "Hermione I honestly think it's over".

"It's not over Ron, let me talk to her, you know, see how she's doing," she offered.

"Really?" Ron asked hopefully.

"It won't be hard; I see her in the library all the time. Besides, I still feel bad about what happened as well."

"You're the best Hermione."

"I know" she replied with a smile.