Ariadne's Thread ⭒ h. potter

Bilius

Ronald Bilius Weasley had been looking forward to this Hogsmeade trip for a long time.

The last one was alright, really, except it would have been a whole lot better if his best mate Harry had been able to go. Ariadne too, but she's too young anyways. And Ron liked Hermione well enough, but she could be a bit of a stickler for the rules sometimes. If Harry'd been there, he wouldn't have rejected the idea of sneaking off to investigate the Shrieking Shack.

Not to mention what happened that night really did put a damper on the memory of the day. Sure, Sirius Black had broken in and all, but that was all par for the course when going to school with Harry Potter. The real issue began when Ron woke up the next day to find Ariadne in a puddle of tears and Harry in a foul mood across the room, neither one of them having slept.

And neither one of them had spoken since, as far he knew.

And even that really might not have been so bad, if it wasn't for how Harry'd been acting ever since. Don't get him wrong, Ron considered Ariadne to be one of his best mates, up there with Harry and Hermione. She was a dodgy sort at first, Sirius Black's daughter and Malfoy's cousin and more Ginny's and then Harry's friend than his. But she'd grown on him, 'cos she didn't take herself too seriously and could tell Malfoy to stuff it with just a look. If anyone tried to mess with her, he'd mess with them right back is all he's saying.

But Harry was his best mate. Harry'd gotten offered the golden ticket in the Wizarding World, when Draco Malfoy held out his hand that day on the train. Harry met Ron first, sure, but Draco had a lot more to offer. And not a lot of other wizards would have turned that down.

Harry was the furthest from Malfoy that a person could get in all the ways that counted. But they were similar in a lot of ways too– they were rich, popular at school, and commanded a fair amount of power in society at large. And Harry'd chosen him, with his hand-me-downs and his corned beef. They'd been inseparable ever since. And he'd saved Ron's sister from Voldemort and a Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets.

So yeah, if Harry came up to him one day and told him to cut off his own foot, let alone to stop being friends with someone, he'd do it in a heartbeat.

Only Harry didn't tell him to stop being friends with Ariadne. In fact, Harry didn't tell him what happened at all. He'd just brush it off whenever Ron asked, and pretty soon Ron learned to stop asking.

And that didn't bother Ron either. Harry's allowed to have secrets, and Ron knows not to push. Harry's not like him, didn't have six siblings to needle him every step of the way. Sometimes the best thing for Harry is space, and Ron knows that given enough time, Harry'll work things out with Ariadne. It's Ariadne, after all, and to Harry that's no small thing. So Ron would just leave him to it.

Except, Harry's miserable.

Ron would be the first to admit that he's not the most perceptive of blokes. But he knows Harry, and Harry could barely function without Ariadne. It had been nearly two months since the two fought, and Ron didn't know what Ariadne did, exactly, but he knows that neither one of them is enjoying the fallout. He asked where she was as soon as he woke up after his flying accident, for Merlin's sake. Even his subconscious missed her.

So, Ron's been looking forward to this Hogsmeade for a long time. For the chance to sit down with Hermione and discuss what the bloody hell they're going to do to repair their fractured group, because Ron can't take another day of watching Harry and Ariadne stare at one another during meal times when they think the other isn't looking. It's embarrassing, really.

Only, this was Harry Potter that Ron was dealing with, so he should not have been as surprised as he was when Harry popped up behind him in Honeydukes despite being banned from doing so. And alright, he was a little hurt that Fred and George gave the Marauders Map to Harry and not to him when he was their actual brother, but he understood. They never would have parted with anything that valuable if it wasn't to give to Harry, who sort of inspired that kind of magnanimity in people. Even in Fred and George.