Sweet Adorable Ron

"Hi, Mum."

"Oh. Hi, dear. Why are you up so early? Is everything okay?" Molly Weasley looked worriedly at his youngest son and began mentally ticking off the various maladies he could be suffering from. It was 5 AM and she'd gotten up to treat herself to a nice cup of tea. She'd awoken early to find Arthur gone again.

Ron lumbered around the kitchen gathering food. He murmured quietly, "I couldn't sleep."

"Bad dream?" Molly answered. "Wanna tell your mummy about it?"

Despite his sleepiness Ron couldn't help but smirk at his mum's tone of voice. "Really, mum. I'm not a kid anymore."

Molly smiled inwardly. She certainly couldn't argue with that. At 16, Ron was the tallest of her 6 boys and his features had sharpened into maturity. He looked so much more a man than her little boy. It almost brought tears to her eyes. Ron was growing into a very handsome boy and she realized, despairingly, how many girls' hearts he could break with his shy smile.

"Mum?" Ron's quiet voice interrupted Molly's reflection.

"Sorry, sweetie. What were you saying?" she asked.

"Um...I was...uh..." Ron fidgeted and started playing with his food.

"Come on, Ron. Spit it out. And don't play with your food!"

"I was just...uh...wondering about something..."

"Go on."

"Umm..."

"You just go ahead and tell me what's wrong, okay?"

Ron inhaled deeply and said hesitantly, "I was just wondering about girls."

Molly raised her eyebrows. "Were you? I realize you would be. What exactly about them were you wondering about?"

"Them and..." Ron gulped and sighed almost resignedly. "Me."

Molly just stared at Ron and waited for him to say more. After a while he continued, "If you weren't my mother, and a girl my age, would you possibly...I mean could you fall for a guy like me...That is, would any girl even look twice..." Ron was stammering clumsily. He looked intently at the table, his food forgotten.

"Ok. That's enough, Ron," Molly cut in. Ron looked up at his mum. She knew where he was headed with this, her sweet, adorable Ron. It was only a matter of time before the effects of having 5 older brothers would show itself in Ron's personality. And it certainly didn't help that he was bestfriends with Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. She would not have it! Ron was every bit as special as every one of his brothers or friends and Molly Weasley would put an end to all the nonsense right now!

"Ron, you are a sweet, adorable, not to mention handsome--" Molly was talking directly to him, her eyes unfaltering.

"Mum--" Ron's ears were turning red and his face was threatening to do the same thing too.

"Shush, now let me finish. You are handsome...Not only that, you are caring and loving to your family. You are fiercely loyal and kind to your friends. You're smart, you're funny..." Molly started to enumerate all the good things her little boy was. She got so worked up thinking about how insecure he must have felt to pose this question to her, of all people. "You..."

"Okay, okay, I get it." Ron was smiling stupidly and blushing crimson.

Molly couldn't help but stifle a laugh at the expression on her son's face. She gently told her son, "Ron, dear, any girl would be lucky to have you. And if they say otherwise, then they don't deserve you. Really, you shouldn't feel insecure."

"It's not that..." Ron put in quickly.

"What is it then, hon?" Molly insisted, her maternal senses working overtime. "Is it Hermione?"

"Wha--Hermy--" Ron stuttered, suddenly getting nervous. "Who said anything about Hermione?"

Molly studied Ron's face closely. She couldn't help but wonder at how clueless he was.

"Ron, I am your mother. I have a sixth sense about these things. I know you fancy her," she declared matter-of-factly. "Of course, it is quite obvious when Hermione is around, dear. It's in your eyes. It usually is. She fancies you too, actually." She said this nonchalantly. Obviously, this piece of information wasn't as new to her as to Ron.

"She does?" Ron asked to inaudibly. He started gobbling up his food frustratingly. His mom was really confusing him now.

My eyes? I didn't know my eyes gave away so much! Bloody traitor!!!

Hermione likes me? Me? Ron Weasley? Ickle Ronniekins who can't complete his Transfiguration, Charms, Potions--whatever--homework without help from...well, Hermione!

HIM?

What sixth sense is she going on about? She doesn't have a sixth sense! Oh, why is she confusing me like this!!!

Okay, considering what happened last night...Maybe it is true...Maybe...

Oh, dream on, Ron. You're her bestfriend! That's all there is to "last night." Still, it's a nice thought. Hermione likes me...

In your dreams, pal!

Well, a man can dream, can't he?!

Ron was still musing when his mother stood up from the table and started cleaning up after herself. Molly knew he'd need time to process all the information she'd revealed to him. Knowing him, he would probably spend a very long time thinking about it. Ron was very much in touch with his emotions. It was because he was the youngest boy in the family. He wore his heart on his sleeves, and it worried her sometimes. Maybe she was wrong after all. It was his heart that could easily be broken by a girl. Before she could leave, though, Ron cut into her thoughts. "Did you know when dad first fell in love with you?"

Molly was caught off-guard at her son's question. Before she answered, she went to put her cup in the sink, thinking about how she would answer her son's question. "Oh it was such a long time ago. I don't really remember." Actually, Molly did remember. She was too embarrassed to recount to her innocent son the story of her and Arthur's love story.

"Please, mom?" Ron insisted with a pleading look on his face.

Molly studied her son closely. Then coming to a decision, she sighed and started, "No, son, I didn't know when your dad first fell in love with me. But I made sure he knew that I was in love with him..." Molly said this last part faintly so that Ron had to lean in closer to understand what she was saying. He pulled back immediately.

"Mum!"

"Oh it wasn't like I came on to him or anything. I merely, well, I just told him I fancied him and tried to ask him out..." She was turning redder with every word she spoke.

I guess now I know where Ginny got her guts. Amazing! Of course, the musical valentine message Ginny got Harry couldn't compare to what her mom did. Oh, bloody hell, she'd be worse in a few years!!!

Noticing the reminiscent look on his mom's face Ron sniggered, "He obviously said yes from the looks of it."

"Yes, he did. He was very shy back then. And if I hadn't taken any initiative, he probably would never have approached me himself," stated Molly, thinking back to the past. The memory of Arthur's look on his face when she asked him out was priceless. Then of course, he grabbed her by the neck and snogged her crazy; but she didn't need to tell her son that.

Ron looked at his mum who was wearing a dreamy look and strange smile on her face. He laughed to himself. Who would've thought? His mum!? On second thought, it probably was all true...Molly took Ron's silence as a sign that she could leave. She stood up and proceeded to do battle with the messy living room. Ron also stood up and went back up to his bedroom, getting lost in his thoughts once again. My mum rocks! If only I had her nerve...