Always the Sidekick

Ron woke up the next morning surprised at how much his neck hurt, and then he realized it was because he'd fallen asleep in the old armchair. Hermione was curled up in his bed. They'd spent half the night talking, and he couldn't remember falling asleep. He stretched his arms up over his head and moaned at the pain he now felt in his back.

Hermione stirred and then woke up a moment later. "Morning," she said groggily. Her bushy hair was flattened and she had pillow marks on the side of her face. Ron smiled.

"Morning," Ron replied. "I guess we fell asleep."

"Looks that way," Hermione said, assessing the room. "I haven't sleep that well since I left Hogwarts." Hermione stretched.

Ron wished he could say the same. He rubbed his neck.

Hermione stood up and walked to the door. "I'll see you downstairs," she said opening the door and walking out.

Ron tried to remember when he fell asleep last night. They had talked about everything from school to family. Ron hadn't known that Hermione had a brother who died when he was a baby. It surprised him, since he'd known her for almost five years. "Well, it's not something you bring up in casual conversation is it?" she said to him.

The next night was the same. And the night after that. Hermione would come to his room after Ginny went to sleep and they would stay up talking until their eyelids drooped and they were exhausted. Ron pulled down the Murphy bed in the wall and Hermione got in his bed and they lay there. Ron explained Quidditch to the fullest extent of his knowledge, probably boring Hermione to death, and she told him all about arithmancy and how it was used to create great spells. Ron wondered when they would run out of things to talk about, but to his surprise after a week of the same routine, they were still talking about new things.

"What did they think of that?" Hermione giggled as she laid on her stomach on Ron's bed, her head propped in her hands.

"They just thought it was one of the gnomes, not Fred and George," Ron laughed. There was a thumping on the window, and Ron shot up when he saw a white snowy owl at his window. He opened it and let in Hedwig, Harry's owl. She had three envelopes in her beak, one for him, one for Hermione and one for Sirius. Ron took his letter and Hermione's and opened his bedroom door so Hedwig could find Sirius.

"What is it?" Hermione asked, walking towards him and taking her letter.

"Harry wants us to tell him everything we know," Ron said glumly. He hated not being able to talk to Harry.

"Well, we don't know much, do we?" Hermione said, but she too looked glum. Only a moment later was there another rapping on the door and Hedwig was back.

"Ouch!" Ron hollered as Hedwig pecked at him. "Geroff you bloody bird." Ron put his arms over his head and swatted her away, but then she moved on to Hermione. Hermione guarded her face with her hands, but in doing so had no means of swatting Hedwig away. Ron crossed to her and again swatted Hedwig away, opening his window and guiding her out. He went back to Hermione who still had her hands over her face.

"I think she's gone now," Ron said. And at that instant tripped over a pile of books that had fallen in the mayhem with Hedwig. He landed on Hermione and they fell to the floor. Ron was lying on top of her. He turned scarlet red and quickly jumped off.

"Sorry," he mumbled. But when he looked down at Hermione she was smiling.

"It's all right," she said.

Two days later, Harry arrived.

Harry presented a new obstacle. He was understandably mad and very preoccupied with the events in his life. The most frustrating thing about this was he didn't want to tell Ron about it. He had suddenly closed himself off. He wouldn't talk about Cedric Diggory or Voldemort or anything that Hermione had tried to convince Ron he needed to talk about.

Things hadn't changed until Harry's hearing with the Ministry for which his suspension from Hogwarts was lifted, and he seemed sort of back to normal.

The day before they were to return to Hogwarts Fred and George gave them their school letters. Ron opened it, expecting to find the usual book list. He looked at the letter that read,

Dear Mr. Ronald Weasley

You have been chosen to be a prefect for Gryffindor. Your prefect duties will extend this year and into the next if we deem your duties satisfactory. Your responsibilities will be explained farther on the Hogwarts Express where we will meet with the prefects from the other years and houses. Please attend this short meeting immediately after departing from Platform 9 3/4.

Sincerely,

Minirva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

He read over it three times, and even though it said his name on the letter he flipped the envelope over, checking to make sure he didn't get Harry's. When Harry finally addressed him, he handed him the badge. Maybe it was a mistake. Maybe something would happen when Harry held the badge, like with wands. But Harry just smiled at him. A peculiar smile. One Ron hadn't seen on him before. This badge should be Harry's, and Ron knew it and Harry knew it.

Ron sat on the stairway between the second and third floor staring at his prefects badge. He didn't even notice when Hermione sat down next to him. "What is it?" She asked.

He looked at her, Hedwig perched on her shoulder. "What?" He asked.

"You're in deep thought, what's wrong?" She asked again.

He was quiet a moment. He knew telling her nothing was wrong wouldn't help. She knew something was going on in his head. "This," he said quietly holding the prefects badge up a little.

"I don't understand?" Hermione said.

"I don't want it," Ron said grumpily.

"What do you mean you don't want it? Ron, this can help your future. It will give you some authority. When you finish at Hogwarts it will mean something to say you were a prefect."

"I don't want it," he said again. "It should be Harry."

Hermione sat next to him and put Hedwig on the banister. "Dumbledore chose you, Ron," she said softly.

"Then he really is going senile."

"Don't let Harry hear you say that," she sighed. He didn't say anything, just sat there with his head in his hands. Finally Hermione said, in a voice barely audible, "Maybe we'll get to know each other a little better." Ron looked at her questionably. "I just feel you are so mysterious, and I've really enjoyed getting to know you here, and I hope maybe with both of us being prefects - " she stopped. Her cheeks were turning pink.

Ron smiled, "That could be one good thing to come out of this."

The next day on the Hogwarts Express, Hermione confidently led him to the front of the train where there was a sign that said Prefects. She smiled at him and then opened the compartment door.

"Weasley?" came the sneer from Draco Malfoy. "Are you here to announce Potter, or are you simply following your beloved Mudblood to her seat?"

"He's a prefect, Malfoy," Hermione said, tugging on Ron's robes to encourage him to sit down and not pounce on Malfoy.

"A prefect? They made this git a prefect?" Malfoy sniggered.

"That's enough. Let's get this meeting started so we can move to our own compartments," said the Head Girl, Melora Roscroft, a Ravenclaw. And she was sneering at Malfoy. Much to his dismay, Ron noticed the head boy was also sniggering and wearing green with his robes. A Slytherin?

The meeting was dull and boring. Their responsibilities seemed tedious. He hadn't asked for this, why should he be forced to do this, Ron thought.

On their way to find the compartment Harry was in Ron fumed. "How could Dumbledore make that slimy Warrington Head Boy?"

"Ron, you need to put more trust in him. He chose the best person for the job," Hermione peered into the glass window of the compartment they passed. Nobody she recognized, so she kept walking.

"You know what other Slytherin was Head Boy?" Ron didn't wait for her to answer. "Tom Riddle. And look what he became."

"Ron, really, I don't think we need to worry. And besides Melora seems very together. I'm sure she'll make up for them. Oh, here they are." Hermione stopped abruptly. She slid the compartment door open.

Inside was Neville Longbottom, his sister and Harry and another girl. She was reading her magazine upside-down. Ron made only a brief note of her. He didn't realize then that she would be the one who would add chaos to his life, and help him realize where his heart lay.