Always the Sidekick

"If we're planning to overturn Fudge, we need a leader." Fred, George, Bill and Ron were sitting across from Fleur, Charlie and Lee Jordan. The dark, dingy Muggle pub they chose to meet in smelled of cheap liquor and stale cigarettes. A dark haired wizard Bill knew from Egypt was looking at the eager faces as he spoke. "We can't just leave them with no government. That would be mayhem."

"Can you think of any wizard mad enough to run a coup d'etat to overthrow the minister? I think we should get our voices heard first, let them know we're legit and then find a leader." George said. They all leaned in close to each other.

"People won't take us seriously unless we have someone who is willing to take a lead in the coup d'etat," Fred looked at George.

"What about your dad?" Lee Jordan said.

"Zat would be too risky. 'E's employed by the ministry," Fleur looked at Bill who nodded in agreement.

"It sounds like we got nothing," Fred said again, looking glum.

"I'm sure we've got something. We just need to get more people on board. We can do this."

The waitress put the bill on the table and Charlie winked at her. A moment later he was talking to her at the bar.

"What's he up to?" Ron asked dumbly.

"He fancies the waitress," George snickered.

"She's a Muggle," Ron said again.

"Yeah, but she's quite lovely," Fred said.

"Well, if we're done with the meeting, Fleur and I need to be getting back to work," Bill said to his brothers.

This made George laugh harder. "Work, eh? Is that what they call you going back to her flat now?"

Bill gave him a threatening look, "I'm still your older brother."

"Yeah, and I can tell Mum you've been sleeping at your girlfriends house."

Fleur gave them a disgusted look, as if they weren't being dignified. Bill just shrugged them off, and he and Fleur left the pub.

Ron leaned into Fred, George and Bill's friend Mattingly, and whispered, "What do you think about Bill? I mean about him being the leader of the coup d'etat."

George laughed even harder now. But Fred and Mattingly looked intrigued. "It was his idea," Mattingly said.

"He's a natural leader. He's brilliant. Wow, Ron, I think you may have been useful at this meeting after all." Fred nudged George.

"But will he go for it?" Ron asked.

"We won't know until we ask, will we?" Mattingly said.

There was still four weeks until the start of term. This summer went by unbearably slow, and the correspondences he got from Hermione didn't help.

Dear Ron

How are things? I am having a wonderful time in Bulgaria. It's quite a lovely country. Viktor is done with Quidditch until October so he's been showing me all the sites.

"Yeah, I bet he has," Ron muttered.

Have you heard much from Harry? He says he's been able to get Grimmauld Place more normal looking, though I don't know what that means and why it is easier for him to do it then it was for Sirius. I worry about Harry sometimes.

I really am missing you this summer. I have enjoyed the time we've spent getting closer. I can't wait to see you. Let me know how things are going there. Viktor doesn't tell me much about his work with the Order. Do you know much more?

Love From,

Hermione.

For some reason, this letter seemed like a slap in the face to Ron. How could she send a letter like the one she sent earlier that summer, then pretend like she never said anything? Maybe she hadn't meant what she'd said in the earlier letter. Maybe she wasn't talking about what he thought she was talking about. He needed fewer women in his life. They were far too confusing.

"This is our first official meeting of Wizards and Witches for an Honest Ministry. Welcome," Bill stood in front of the group. They were in an abandoned barn in back of the Burrow. There had been a bit of tension between his parents when Bill and Charlie brought the idea to his parents about trying to overthrow the Ministry. In the end, they decided it would be best if they kept it from their parents, at least until the support form the Wizarding world went beyond family and close friends.

The group had increased slightly. Lee Jordan had convinced his cousin Amelia to join, and Angelina Johnson was there now. Apparently she had been dating Fred for years, but they never let anyone know. Probably for good reason, since as soon as Ron, Bill and Charlie found out they teased him constantly. It also made Ron wonder if she had some persuasion from Fred about letting him on the Quidditch team.

"So what's first on our agenda?" Bill looked to Charlie.

"We want someone to lead the coup d'etat?" Charlie said.

Bill looked a little puzzled. "Do you have someone in mind?"

"Yes, we do," Charlie said. He nodded to the group indicating that they too were in agreement about this.

"Well?" Bill glared at him.

"We think the best person for the job is you."

Bills face fell. He looked around at all the faces in the room. Fleur was smiling.

"You knew about this?" He asked her.

She nodded. "Zey said if you knew ahead of time you would say no. You are ze best person for ze job." She winked at him.

"It's unanimous. We all agree," George said.

"I don't know how to lead a coup d'etat," Bill said. "Plus, I've never even worked in the Ministry."

"Our leader needs to care about what other people need. You do that, Bill. He needs to understand the best interests of the magical community. You do that, too. It was your idea to start this league. You do care about changing the world. I think that's enough." Cheers in agreement added to Charlie's words.

Bill sighed then said, "All right. I will take the responsibility of being a leader to the cause." Bill looked at the small group. That would have to be enough for them. They cheered.

It was later in the day and Ron was exhausted, but the excitement of being included in this was too much to make him want to leave. Everyone had left the barn except Ron, Bill and Fleur.

"I don't see how we are going to convince people." Bill had his head in his hands.

"Well, maybe people don't need convincing. Maybe they just need someone to step up and say, hey, we've got this idea. How do you promote the Order?" Ron asked.

"You know I can't tell you anything about that," Bill said.

"I didn't mean for you to tell me, I just meant think about it."

"Your brozer may be right. Juet tell people what we think and zey will come to zer own conclusions." Fleur had her hand on Bill's shoulder and was rubbing it. His eyes started to close and he groaned, a little too enthusiastically for Ron.

"I think I'm going to head back inside. Mum will wonder what happened to us." Ron left the barn and walked the distance to the Burrow. His mind wondered. He missed Harry. Harry would be chuffed to be involved in the coup d'etat, but he couldn't send him an owl about it because it could get intercepted. Not to mention there were many people who would surely be against this. His parents for one, but possibly Lupin. Harry had sent Ron and owl not too long ago saying how Lupin was taking him under his wing, how he was glad Lupin was there to help with the pain of losing Sirius. Ron didn't want to pressure Harry with something that could interfere with this. Harry had enough to be getting on with; he deserved an adult in his life who would take care of him.

Much to Ron's relief, the summer holiday was almost over. He received the owl from Hogwarts with his Prefect notice and his OWL results. He'd gotten nine, not too bad he thought. And since he got an OWL in Divination, much to his dismay he'd be taking it next year too.

He spent the last few days mostly playing Quidditch with Ginny, who made it clear she wanted to be on the house team this year. There were a few hours spent with Bill on the coup d'etat, but the Order seemed really busy these days, and they were taking priority.

He wasn't sure what was going on around the Burrow. Fred and George seemed secretive about something, and Charlie was rarely around. When Ron walked into the front room of the Burrow, he overheard something between Fred and George.

"You know Mum's going to stew you," George said. Fred looked anxious.

"You think we could just not tell her?" Fred said.

"Like she's not going to figure it out?" The looked up and saw Ron standing there. "Oi, beat it."

Ron rolled his eyes and left.

They had made a trip to Diagon Alley the day before they planned to catch the Hogwarts Express the next day. They had reserved rooms in the Leaky Cauldron, and that night the rest of the Weasleys, Harry and Hermione were expected.

Having gotten bored with his sister, whom he'd spent nearly the entire summer with, Ron walked down to the pub and ordered a pumpkin juice and some chips. He sat staring into nothing, mind wandering to the coup d'etat when a voice called him. Ron shot around and saw Hermione. She was glowing and looked very well. Much better then she had when Ron saw her earlier in the summer. The cause for her happiness was known only a second later. Viktor put an arm around Hermione.

"How has your summer been?" She asked.

"All right," Ron responded, eyeing Krum. "Yours?"

"Well, you know. It's been tough and I really think I need to be there for my dad, but Viktor has a phone now, so I've been able to talk to him. I think we'll make it through this."

Ron tried to smile. He tried to say, "Good." But he felt sick.

"Ve should find Arthur. I need to get back to the Order," Krum said. He was eyeing Ron now.

"Yes, all right," Hermione said. She seemed oblivious to the tension. "I'll come down later, Ron." And they vanished up the stairs.

Dinner that night at the Leaky Cauldron was better then Ron could ever imagine. Harry and Lupin had joined them late in the afternoon. The whole Weasley family, minus Percy, were sitting at a long table. Fleur sat across from Bill and Ron could feel feet playing under the table. Harry and Hermione sat next to each other across from Ron and Angelina sat next to Fred, looking green.

Ron couldn't remember a dinner this fun with everyone there. The private room in the back of the Leaky Cauldron filled with laughter. Ron wondered if anything could spoil the mood. He found out a moment later.

Fred stood up, looking like he would rather be anywhere else in the world besides where he was. "Um, I have something I need to tell everyone."

Ron could see the nod of support from his twin and the small smile on Angelina's face.

"Angelina and I are going to get married." There was a gasp from Mrs. Weasley. It was a moment before they could tell whether it was a gasp of joy or of horror. The answer came soon after.

"You can't get married. You are far too young. You don't even have a place to live."

Fred looked even more uncomfortable. "We're looking for a place. Close to Diagon Alley, so to be near the shop." The room was silent. There were uncomfortable shuffles from all sides of the table. Fred gulped. "We're looking for a nice two bedroom flat," his voice cracked.

It seemed Hermione knew instantly what this meant as her eyes got big and a smile crept on to her face. However, everyone else seemed at a loss. Angelina stood, unable to take the nerves Fred was feeling. "We want to get married next month. A small ceremony."

Molly sighed and said, "Well, why do you want to rush it? You can have a nice long engagement. You are both so young. Perhaps if your engagement it a year or so you will be more ready."

"Mum, we can't wait. Angelina is pregnant," he blurted it out like it had been stuck in his mouth and he'd been wanting to say it for ages.

Another gasp from Molly. This time Lupin said, "Harry, I think we should head to our rooms now, it's getting late." Harry nodded at him and they left the table.

"Um yeah, Ron, I have something I need to show you," Hermione said, and she stood up just as Molly started to screech. They left the room seconds later, Fleur and Bill at their heels. Ron followed Hermione upstairs and watched Bill and Fleur leave the pub.

"What did you need to show me?" Ron asked standing outside Hermione and Ginny's room.

"What? Oh, nothing. I just thought we shouldn't be there for that argument. I mean, that's a bit personal isn't it?"

"I dunno," Ron said. He really didn't know what to think. So Fred was getting married. Mum had been saying for ages she wanted grandchildren. The quick breaths of Ginny and Charlie joined them a second later.

"I haven't seen Mum that mad since I told her I bred the cat with a garden gnome." Charlie looked down the stairs like he expected to see and explosion. Then he shook his head. "I thought Bill and I taught him about ways to prevent stuff like that."

Ron gave him a confused look. Charlie looked back at him. "We haven't gotten around to telling you yet. Guess we should though. Wanna go in your room and we'll discuss it?"

Ron turned scarlet. He would have given all the money he had to make Hermione and Ginny disappear. "No, I think I can hear about it later."

Charlie was clearly amused by Ron's discomfort and chuckled. "All right. Suit yourself." And he walked to the fireplace at the end of the hallway and was gone.

Ginny looked at the two of them and turned to go into the bedroom. Ron was alone with Hermione.

"So your summer was good then?" She asked. The tension in the air was suffocating.

Ron nodded then said, "Yours was too? Did you spend all summer shagging Krum?"

Hermione looked scandalized. "That's none of your business." Her eyes were filling with rage.

"It's all right. That just answered my question." Ron blurted, trying to keep his voice down, but failing.

"How?" Hermione's pitch now matched his.

"Because if you hadn't you'd have said so and told me how inappropriate it was for me to think that."

"It is inappropriate. You have no business asking what I do with my boyfriend."

"So, he's your boyfriend now? That's the first time you've said it." Ron's chest ached.

"You are so out of line. What Viktor and I do has nothing to do with you. Good night," she turned on her heal and slammed her bedroom door. Leaving Ron staring at the brown wood.

A few minutes later Ron entered the room he was sharing with Harry. "You awake, mate?" Ron asked.

A mumble from Harry answered him in the affirmative.

"Did you hear that? With Hermione I mean?"

Harry mumbled something again.

"Well, do you know anything about her and Krum?" Ron sat on the edge of the bed with baited breath.

"You know the world doesn't have everything to do with you, Ron. There are other people who have stuff going on too, but you never seem too worried about that." And Harry rolled over so his back faced Ron.

What was with everyone tonight? Did the innkeeper put something in the drinks that made everyone in a bad mood? Ron fell asleep that night fully clothed, and when he woke up the next morning he still had his shoes on.

The mood the next day was tense. Harry seemed to be snapping at everyone, Hermione wouldn't even acknowledge Ron, Molly seemed to still be fuming about Fred, and Ginny never left her room. They sat in silence at breakfast. And then when the cars came for them to take to King's Cross, Molly took one with the Advanced Guard while Harry, Hermione, Ron and Ginny sat in silence in another. The only noises in the car were the purr of Crookshanks and the twitter of Pig and Hedwig.

"What is with everyone today?" Ginny finally said in a tone that would have been normal had the car not been so silent.

Harry glared at her. Hermione just responded with, "I guess I'm just tired." But she didn't make eye contact.

"Maybe you should have slept more on your holiday," Ron said scathingly.

"Maybe you should mind your own business if you know what's good for you." This time she did make contact with Ron's eyes. And he saw fury in them. He didn't like that look. And he didn't make any remarks back.

"Have a good year, dears," Molly said, kissing each one of them in turn. The Hogwarts Express sat motionless on the track and Harry was off almost immediately to find a seat. Ginny spotted Dean Thomas and walked to him. Ron watched out of the corner of his eye for a moment until Hermione spoke.

"The prefects' car is in the back this year. I think we should put our things in there for now." Her tone was calm, but he could still hear hurt in her voice.

Ron's attention left Ginny and Dean and he followed Hermione onto the train. It was cramped and already filling up. They stood outside the door waiting to get in as people crowded the train.

Ron watched Hermione. Her expression of annoyance at the slow pace the students were moving. She looked irritated at a cat that wasn't in a cage. "I'm sorry," he said, not even knowing he was going to say it.

"About what?" She asked, sighing heavily at the crowd.

"About being a git about Krum."

She turned and looked at him. Had he made her speechless? He couldn't help but smile inwardly at that thought. She stuttered for a minute then finally got the words out. "You were a git. But I guess that's okay. It seems we've all been a bit on edge this summer."

"I just don't want you to get hurt and all. I worry about you."

Hermione smiled. "I can take care of myself, Ron. I'm quite capable."

They were quiet a moment. The corridor of the train was starting to clear and they were slowly moving toward the back now. The steam could be heard blowing out of the chimney.

"I remember when we were younger we could walk side by side down the corridor. Have they made the train smaller?" Ron asked, walking behind Hermione.

Hermione laughed, "No, we've just gotten bigger. You more so then most."

He grunted, but it was true. If he didn't stop growing soon he would be as tall as Hagrid. They kept walking single file down the train, Ron having to duck every time they passed a threshold to a new section.

"We have to deal with new firsties again," he moaned, passing a compartment full of a group of kids who looked more like six instead of eleven. His head turned, looking into the compartment, he hadn't seen Hermione stop to let a door close. He stumbled into her, his hand grazing her hip.

"Uh, sorry," he said, pulling his hand up immediately as if her hip were on fire.

"It's okay," Hermione said, she had turned and was now facing him. They stood there, quiet a moment, just looking at each other. And for the first time Ron figured it out. He wanted to kiss her. He tilted his head down and started to close his eyes when a voice said, "Are you two going to move? You're blocking the corridor."

Ron wanted to pummel the third year boy standing behind him. He smiled awkwardly at Hermione. "Yes, we're going," she said. She turned and they continued up the corridor to the prefects' compartment.

They arrived at Hogwarts on the same Thestral-pulled carriages as always. Ron, Hermione, Harry and Ginny in one with Luna Lovegood, who was silent for the ride.

"Luna, I heard about your uncle, I'm sorry." Ginny said gently.

"Oh, it's okay. We weren't close at all." Luna looked out the carriage window as the castle came into view.

Hermione leaned into Ron and smiled, "We're home."

Ron looked back at her and nodded. Indeed, spending nine months a year in the place made it more like home then the Burrow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What do you reckon he's like?" Ron asked Harry. The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher sat quietly next to Dumbledore. He reminded Ron of Quirrell, skinny and small. Harry didn't say anything.

"We went to America over holiday," Seamus was saying. "You know the Wizarding community there is so small and concentrated in generally one area. So we didn't get to see much, but it wasn't such a bad place. They talk funny though. Couldn't understand the lot of them."

Ron nodded to indicate he was listening and bit into the pork chop he had on his fork. It was then he noticed someone sitting at the Ravenclaw table. "Who's that?" he said to Harry.

Harry had been quiet and distant since they'd boarded the Hogwarts Express. He looked across at the Ravenclaw table and shrugged. "Dunno."

Hermione looked and saw the pretty blonde girl. "Well, she's not a first year, she looks about our age. Maybe she's always been here. We just haven't noticed."

"I would have noticed," Ron said blankly.

Hermione glared at him.

"Maybe she's new," Harry said. "They don't Sort older students with the first years, so we wouldn't have seen her in the Sorting Ceremony."

Ron continued to stare at her until Hermione nudged him. "Are you going to eat or just drool all night?" She asked hotly.

When they got to the Common Room there was a stack of papers waiting for the Prefects on a table in the corner. Ron plopped down in a chair and started reading. They didn't have to show the first years to their rooms and they didn't have to patrol the hallways for lost students. As sixth year prefects, their jobs seemed rather light. In fact, Ron thought, this year shouldn't be too difficult. They didn't have any big exams like the O.W.L.S or the N.E.W.T.S, though he was sure their workload would increase to get them ready for those tests. And he would be better prepared to get his Quidditch practice in. It was just then he realized, "Who do you recon the new Quidditch Captain is?" He asked Hermione. She was flipping through the Prefect Papers.

"I don't know." She said distractedly.

"I do," Harry stated. He was looking directly into the fire. Ron wondered if he was remembering the times Sirius' head appeared in it.

"Who is it, mate?" Ron asked, gently since Harry seemed to be in a state.

"Me." It was said tonelessly.

"All right," Ron said happily.

"Harry, are you okay?" Hermione asked leaning into him. For some reason this bothered Ron greatly.

"I'm fine," he said, still toneless.

"You aren't the only one who lost someone they loved, Harry. You can talk to me." It was the first time she had brought her mother's death up since the funeral. Ron felt stupid for being so blithe.

Harry nodded at Hermione. "Do you want to talk in private?" She asked again. Gently.

He nodded again. They got up and left the Common Room, much to the dismay of Ron.

"At least we don't start the week with Snape again," Ron said looking over his schedule. "I wonder how this new teacher is."

"I hope he's good. You would think Dumbledore would hire someone who could teach us now that Voldemort is back." The table went quiet when Hermione said the name. She blushed a little and took a bite of her sausage.

"You would think, but look at Umbridge. She was the worst one yet," Ron said in a whisper as the table started talking again.

"He doesn't look so bad," Hermione said eyeing the new teacher.

"He looks like he's our age," Ron contradicted. "What do you think, Harry?"

Harry was staring across the Hall at the Slytherin table. "I think Malfoy's up to something."

"Why?" Ron asked. "He hasn't bothered us at all yet this year."

"That's what I mean," Harry said now turning to Ron. "He hasn't as much as given us a sneer. How was he in the prefects' meeting on the train?"

"Quiet," Hermione said. "I think you may be on to something Harry. We should keep an eye on him."

"Looks like he's keeping an eye on the Ravenclaws," Ron said, then once again his eyes fell on the blonde haired girl. "Her. He's eyeing her, you don't think he fancy's her? I hope he's not plotting against her. Malfoy doesn't usually go for Ravenclaws."

Hermione sneered. "It wouldn't be the worst thing for Malfoy to do." She took a drink of pumpkin juice and ignored the glare Ron was giving her.

Defense Against the Dark Arts with the Hufflepuffs was their first class on Mondays. Anxious to see what their new teacher was like, Ron sat in the front next to Harry, Hermione on Harry's other side. A moment later, as if out of thin air, the skinny mousy-haired professor appeared.

"Welcome class," he said. His voice was surprisingly low and harsh and didn't seem to match the person who was using it. "I am Professor Xenocrates." the class all looked at him, eyes wide. "You may call me Professor X." There were a few sighs of relief.

He looked down the attendance sheet. He stopped and looked at the front row. Ron was expecting the familiar, "Potter," but he didn't get it. Much to his surprise Professor X said, "Weasley?"

Ron looked surprised at the man. "Y-yes, sir?"

"I know your brother," he said simply. Then moved on to teach his class.

He knows my brother? Ron thought. He wondered which brother. If it was Percy then he was sure it wasn't good things Professor X had heard. And he doubted anyone who knew the twins well would teach Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Ron opened his book and started taking notes.

"It hasn't been such a bad first week," Hermione said cheerfully over her Arithmancy homework. Even though she had explained parts of it to Ron the previous summer, he still didn't understand it. He doodled little pictures on his potions notes.

"Speak for yourself," Harry mumbled. He was bent over his Defense Against the Dark Arts homework.

"What do you think of Professor X?" Ron asked.

"Bit odd, isn't he?" Harry replied, happy to take a break from his homework.

"He seems pretty good," Hermione said. "He's no Lupin, but he's certainly better then some of the other teachers we've had."

"Wonder how he knows my brother," Ron sighed. He went back to his doodle when he noticed an envelope on the floor. He picked it up.

Hermione Granger

Hogwarts

"What's this?" Ron showed the letter to Hermione.

"Oh," she turned pink and snatched it out of his hand. "That's just a letter Viktor sent this morning at breakfast. It's nothing."

But it didn't look like nothing. Hermione was still pink when she put the envelope in her books and went up the stairs to the girls' dormitory.