This Dance We Do

Chapter 2: Decisions, Decisions

Ron awoke at a fairly early hour the next morning. He looked around, wondering what in the name of Merlin could have woken him up when he had gotten so little sleep when he saw his younger sister, Ginny, standing at the foot of his bed, looking at him.

"Good morning."

Ron grunted in response, then looked for his watch. "What time is it?"

"It's nine thirty-two."

Ron groaned and pulled the covers over his head. "Ginny, wake me up when it's a decent hour. I didn't sleep well last night."

"Oh, I'm not waking you for my good," Ginny said as she pulled the covers off Ron's bed, almost taking him with them. "Mum wants us all downstairs. She was going to send Fred and George up to wake you, but I wasn't sure what they would do, so I offered."

"Thanks. Tell Mum I'll be down in a minute, let me get dressed."

Fifteen minutes later, Ron stumbled into the kitchen, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes. When he was in view of the table, he stopped. When Ginny had said that their mum wanted everyone at the table, she was not kidding. It looked as though every one of his siblings, save Percy, were sitting there, munching on toast or sipping coffee. When his mother caught sight of him, she bustled him into a seat and began filling his plate.

"Good morning, dear. Would you like some coffee? You look like you could use it. I'm sorry to wake you, I know you haven't been sleeping well ever since...well, ever since the end of term, but I wanted a family meeting while I had everyone here."

"They're not staying?" Ron pointed a piece of toast at Bill and Charlie. The twins still lived at home, at least until they could find a flat in London.

"Oh no, they'll be here all day. It's just Fred and George have, um, places they've got to be this afternoon."

"That's right little brother," George piped in. "Now that we're of age--"

"--and out of school--" Fred added.

"--and official members of the Order--"

"--we have important things to be doing--"

"--important places to be going--"

"--important people to see--"

"--important--"

"We've got it, boys," their mother said sternly. "The point is," she continued, "that I wanted to talk to you all. Now, Ginny told me this morning that Hermione invited you to spend the rest of the summer with her," she said to Ron, "and I think that's lovely. I've already sent Errol to let her know that you will be coming."

Ron looked at his sister. "How'd you know--"

"Before you yell at me," Ginny interrupted, "Hermione and I have been writing and she told me that she invited you. She didn't know if you'd remember to ask Mum, so she asked me to ask for you."

Ron rolled his eyes. After all he had done, Hermione still did not think that he was responsible enough to remember to ask his mother if he could go somewhere. He scowled down at his breakfast as his mother went on.

"Anyway, she also invited all of us to a surprise party for Harry. She thought that since Harry has never had a birthday party, it is about time he had one, and I have to say that I agree with her. She said that she was going to take the two of you, "she gestured towards Ron, "around her town for a while so that I can come by and start the cooking. When you all are gone, the rest of the family will show up. We will set up in her back garden, and then when you lot get back, we'll surprise Harry.

"Now, I need to know two things: who all is going to be there and what do we want to get him?"

"Wait a minute," Ron said. "I still don't see why I'm needed for this. I've already got his gift, and we know I'm going to be there, so can I go back up to bed?"

"In a minute dear. I just thought it might be nice to get him a gift from the Weasleys, and in order to do that, all of us have to have a part in deciding what it is."

"A Blast-ended Screwt," George said at once. "To put in the next Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher's office if they're a hag like Umbridge." Everyone laughed at this.

"We could get him one of those Quidditch sets, where the figurines actually play," Bill suggested.

"No, those are more for little kids," Ginny countered.

"We could get him a load of sweets," Ron offered. "You can never go wrong with sweets."

"No, that's not really personal, dear," Mrs. Weasley said.

"Oh!" Ginny squealed, "I've got it!" Ginny spent the next twenty minutes describing a gift that Ron thought was sappy, but that Harry might actually like.

When the family meeting finally finished, everyone having decided that Ginny's idea was best, Ron made his way back up to his room and crawled back into bed. After several minutes, he was able to fall asleep, images of Skrewts and Quidditch players swimming through his head.

Saturday finally arrived, cloudy and wet. Ron got up early to finish his packing. He was not exactly sure what to bring, so he just packed everything he would need for school--Hermione told him that they would be going to King's Cross from her house--then added a few summer weight things and his bathing suit.

Ron put his trunk by his bedroom door, setting Pig's empty cage on top of it--Pig was still at Hermione's house so he did not have to make the trip--then looked at himself in the mirror. He hated his red hair and freckles, hated his long nose and lanky figure. It was times like these that he envied Harry. Ron was no expert, but he knew that Harry was better looking than he was. Sure, he was short, but at least his hair was a normal color and he did not have to deal with spots all over his body.

Ron ran a hand through his hair to see the effect. Red locks fell all over the place, pell-mell. It looked almost like he had just stepped off a broom. He took a step back to admire the effect and jumped a foot when he heard someone snicker.

"You know, it will only get all messed up when you get there," Ginny said from his doorway. "That and you'll have soot all over you. Don't think she'll care, though."

"Who'll care?" Ron tried to sound nonchalant, but he could feel his ears burning.

"No one," Ginny said innocently. Merlin, was he that transparent?

"Look," he said, temper rising, "unless you want to help me carry my trunk downstairs, get."

"Fine," she raised a shoulder in a half shrug, then bent down to grab a handle of his trunk. "Come on then."

With a lot of manoeuvring and several bumped elbows they managed to get Ron's trunk down in front of the fireplace. Ginny ran back up to get Pig's cage while Ron hugged his mother good-bye.

"Now, you remember to thank her parents for letting you stay there, all right?" his mother said as she straightened his collar. "And remember to be polite."

"Yes, mum," Ron said mechanically. His mother had been doing this to him every time he went some place since he was five.

"Wow, this is an opportunity!" his father was saying. "What I would give to spend some time in a Muggle household. You'll be able to watch their actions and observe them, it's going to be amazing!"

"Honestly, Arthur, you're talking like he's going on some expedition. He's just going to spend the summer with friends. He won't be observing anything."

Ron heard Ginny go into a loud, and obviously fake, coughing fit behind him. He turned to glare at her, but she just handed him Pig's cage and gave him a mischievous grin.

"Have a nice summer, Ron."

"Yeah, you too," he mumbled at her.

"Oh, it's two o'clock, dear. Into the fire with you."

His mother threw the Floo powder into the fire and his father helped him balance his trunk and Pig's cage.

"The Grangers'."

Soon the world was spinning away in flashes of green light and other people's fires. Ron closed his eyes against the impending nausea. Finally, the world stopped spinning and he opened his eyes. There they were, sitting across from each other sipping tea, his two best friends: Harry Potter and Hermione Granger.