Love Runs Its Course

Chapter 2- Running With A Redhead

The next day Rose stood at the end of her drive, wearing her running kit and waiting for the red haired boy. Right on schedule she saw him running towards her. When he got close enough she called out.

"Do you mind if I run with you?" she asked.

The boy stopped moving when he reached her but kept running on the spot. He looked at her for a minute in shock. His surprise was understandable, since he didn't really know her at all. Rose waited patiently until the boy made up his mind.

"If you really want to, I don't mind," he said. Rose was shocked at how much his voice sounded like Charlie's.

They started running and she fell in step with him. She had to go slightly faster to keep up since he was taller than her.

"I'm Rose," she said as they ran.

"Ron," the boy replied.

"Weasley, right?" she asked.

Ron looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "Yes," he said, "how did you know?"

"You're the spitting image of a taller Bill, though you have Charlie's hair and voice. Besides, I'd recognize the Weasley hair anywhere."

"You know my brothers then?"

"Oh yes, I went to school with Bill and Charlie. I knew Charlie very well," she said nostalgically.

"Oh, okay," Ron said.

They spent the rest of the run in silence until they got back to Rose's house. After some stretching Rose invited Ron in for a drink of water. He'd taken his shirt off during the stretches, since the cotton was very hot and sticky after all his running, so he was standing in the kitchen shirtless when a voice called Rose from the hallway.

"Rose, have you seen my..."

Rose turned around as her sister's voice trailed off. She was standing in the doorway gaping open-mouthed at Ron's uncovered back.

"Is that...Ron Weasley?" she asked breathlessly.

Ron turned around and almost choked on his water.

"Lavender? What are you doing here?" he asked.

"What am I doing here?" Lavender echoed. "I live here. What are you doing in my kitchen half naked?" Rose heard Lavender's voice hitch on the last word.

"I was running with Rose and she invited me in for a drink," he explained. Then he turned to Rose, "You never told me Lavender was your sister."

Rose shrugged. "You never asked. How do you know each other anyway?"

Ron and Lavender explained how they were both in the same year and Rose asked to hear some stories from their times at school. Ron told a few about himself, and his best friends, Harry and Hermione, before he had to leave. He and Rose made plans to go running together the next day and he left. Rose then turned to her sister, who was standing with a goofy grin on her face.

"What are you smiling about, Lav?"

"I was just wondering when Ron Weasley got so...hot."

Rose laughed. It looked like her family had a thing for Weasleys. It must be genetic, she thought.