Break it Up (Ron Weasley)

1. The First Day of Potions

"Ah, it seems you are the first to arrive," Professor Slughorn commented as I strolled into his otherwise empty classroom. I smiled at his remark and decided to sit in a desk off in the front left - the front center was always reserved for Hermione.

"So, who might you be?" Slughorn asked, trying to make conversation before the rest of the students showed up.

I smiled again. "I'm y/n. Y/n y/l/n. I'm a sixth year."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Professor Slughorn. Ah, I see you're a Hufflepuff," he replied, gesturing towards my yellow tie. He leaned in close as if to tell a secret. "Hufflepuff has always been my favorite house," he whispered, chuckling.

The rest of the students soon came in and took their seats. I kept glancing back at the door, waiting for Cedric to enter, but he didn't. I could've sworn he said he had potions first period as well.

The bell rang, and there was no sign of Cedric. Cedric's my best friend; the two of us have been inseparable since first year when he sat next to me after the sorting ceremony.

I sighed and turned around to face the front of the class once again, giving up on the possibility of him arriving. Great, now I was sitting at the front of the room, alone. I sank into my seat to hide a little.

Slughorn began introducing himself to the rest of the class and going over the usual first day rituals. It was nothing we hadn't all heard before.

Suddenly, the door burst open. It was Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, who entered chatting both loudly and obnoxiously. They stopped when they realized the entire class's eyes were now on them.

"Ah, Harry my boy. I was beginning to worry," Slughorn said, turning around to face the two boys. "Brought someone with us, I see?" he said, gesturing to Ron.

"Ron Weasley, sir."

I hadn't seen Harry or Ron since last year. They had both grown up a little bit since then. I couldn't help but notice that Ron's voice had gotten a little deeper as well.

"But I'm dead awful at potions. A menace actually. So I'm probably just gonna..." Ron trailed off as he began slowly backing out the door.

"Nonsense. Any friend of Harry's is a friend of mine," Slughorn said, casting off Ron's argument for not taking the class. "Take a seat."

Harry ran up to the front of the room to sit next to Hermione, the desk next to mine. Hermione scowled at him for being late and disrupting the class.

Ron, on the other hand, slowly trudged to the front of the room where his friends sat. He stood next to their desk and looked around. "Well, where the bloody hell am I supposed to sit?" he asked with plenty of attitude in his voice. He was clearly annoyed.

Hermione's cheeks turned red as the entire class watched the scene Ron had created with the three of them. She sat up and pointed over to me. "Sit over there, next to y/n."

Ron and the rest of the class turned to face me as I now felt the warmth rush to my face. He let out a heavy breath before trudging over to my desk.

Wow, so glad to be sitting next to you, too, I thought. Potions should be fun this year.

Ron huffed as he slammed his bag down on the floor. He crossed his arms and took a seat. I tried not to look at him and made an effort to keep my eyes glued on Slughorn at the front of the class.

Slughorn folded his hands together. "Alright, now that everyone is seated, let's begin, shall we?"

Slughorn's sole lesson plan for the first day consisted of telling us old stories from his earlier days at Hogwarts. As exciting and interesting as they were, I couldn't help but yawn as he concluded his fourth anecdote about Lily Potter.

A weird noise came from next to me and I looked over to see Ron face down in his arms, snoring.

Hermione nor Harry had noticed their friend sleeping through class, as they were both too invested in Slughorn's tales.

I tried to be as attentive as them, but I felt my eyelids growing heavy as well. I envied Ron and his essence of just not giving a damn.

I glanced around at the rest of the class, who looked as tired as I felt. Thankfully, the bell should ring any second.

Then it did.

Everyone began scrambling to gather their stuff and get to next period. Hermione and Harry were in such a rush, they still didn't notice Ron, who was now snoozing in a puddle of his own drool.

Students quickly filed out of the room as Slughorn began erasing the chalkboard. I gathered my stuff and stood up to follow them out.

After a few paces toward the door, I stopped in my tracks to look back at Ron. I should probably wake up him.

Yeah, since he's been so nice to me today, I thought as I retraced my steps back to our desk.

"Ron," I said, leaning over him. He didn't move. "Ron!" I yelled, louder this time.

Nothing. That boy sure can sleep.

Running out of ideas, I put my hand on his arm and shook him gently. "Ron!"

He jolted awake, gasping loudly. He glanced anxiously around the room, obviously confused as to his whereabouts.

"Oh, is class over?" he asked, yawning and stretching his arms over his head.

"Yeah, you slept through most of it. Slughorn mostly just went over the material that's gonna be on tomorrow's quiz," I joked, folding my arms.

Ron's eyes widened and I smiled. "I'm kidding," I laughed.

"Oh," he answered, beginning to gather his stuff. He stood up to walk out. "Thanks for waking me."

"Yeah, no problem," I replied standing next to him. I don't know why, but I kind of expected us to walk out together. Ron had other plans, though, and he ran ahead of me and slipped out the door.

I sighed and turned back to face Slughorn. "Thanks Professor!" I called, waving.

He turned around and waved back. "Bye Miss y/l/n!"