Versions// Ron Weasley X Reader

Eight

A few days later, I sit at the same spot next to the old shed, this time just me and Ron alone. We're nearing the end of a game of Wizard's chess, and it's neck and neck. Ron hesitates on his move. I sit there in silence for several minutes as he analyzes the board. I've already figured it out. He looks up at me, and I meet his eyes with a smug grin.

"Oh, alright." He grumbles, and makes the only move he can. I immediately move my Queen to take down his knight. The small figures destroy each other on the board. I smile and look back up at Ron. "Check mate." 

He rolls his eyes at me. "Wipe the smug grin off your face, will you?" He cleans up the wreckage on the board.

"Sorry, I can't help it. I just can't believe I beat Ronald Weasley, the king," I tease.

"Oi!" He shouts at me and lightly tosses a broken pawn at my chest. "Thought I told you to never call me that!"

"You say a lot of things, Won Won." I wink at him as he starts steaming at the ears.

"Alright, you're officially uninvited from Christmas next year." He grumbles as he puts his chess board into a bag and slings it around his shoulder, walking away.

"You don't mean that!" I call and catch up to him.

"Of course I don't mean that. But can't you win for once without being all smug?" He grumbles, throwing an arm around my shoulder.

"Weasley, you know I'll never let you hear the end of anything." I grin and pat him on the back. He tries to hide a smile.

Ron suddenly stops walking. "Hey. You know. So, Y/N, listen. I've been thinking about what Harry said. About how we shouldn't tell Hermione? About our, uh, feelings." He says, slowly looking over at me.

"How do you mean?" I ask, and take a step back to look at him properly. He shifts on his feet.

"I mean, I had a crush on Hermione a long time ago. And then it just, never went away. But I never reconsidered it. Like, I never changed my mind. So, young Ron has a crush on young Hermione, but does current Ron have a crush on current Hermione? Or have I just been too lazy to think about it." Ron looks up at the sky as he forms each sentence, as if each word were an individual question that pained him to extract from his brain.

I press my lips together. Secretly, I do love when gets like this, struggling to articulate. What can I say, it's very cute. "I'm not sure I follow..." I say, prompting Ron to keep talking. Ron never talks about his feelings, so this moment felt important.

"I mean, Hermione's a different person now. And so am I. She's a great person, a brilliant one. But I don't know if she's a Hermione that I have, you know, feelings... I don't know if I still fancy her, is all. 12 year old Ron definitely did. But I'm not..." He finally looks me in the eyes. "I'm not 12 anymore."

I nod. That is very true Ron, I think, you're not 12. "Ron, I think that makes a lot of sense. She's been your best friend for a long time, so maybe you felt like you didn't need to change your mind." I don't want to misconstrue his words, so I continue gently. "She's still Hermione, your first crush. But you've moved on."

"Exactly! She's the best! I almost feel bad, you know, for feeling different. Along the way, I think she might've..." He blushed. "She might've had feelings for me too. But, years ago." Ron smiled and shook his head at the ground. 

I wasn't sure why he was telling me all of this. "Well right then, I suppose I can have her all to myself," I try to joke, playfully punching his arm. Ron pursed his lips.

"Really, Y/N?" He said quietly, lowering his eyes. "Do you really like her that much? Are you gonna go for it?" 

I do a double take. "Ron! Hey," I get closer to him and crouch below his lowered head to meet his eyes. "I was just joking. Lighten the mood, I guess. What's wrong?"

Ron studies me for a moment. "Nothing's wrong." He decided. "I guess, I don't want you to do the same thing."

I raise an eyebrow. "What same thing?"

"You know, have an idea about Hermione and not change your mind. How long have you had this crush now?" He asked.

I blink. "Uh, I guess since around the Yule Ball, fourth year," I offer, but for some reason my voice is shaking. Ron is looking at me so intently, and he's standing so close, that a strange nervous feeling fills my chest.

"That's a long time ago, Y/N. How often do you talk to her?" He asked, his voice staying at that same low level. He wasn't being condescending, or rude, but something about his tone just made me feel uneasy. Not in a bad, queasy kind of way. In a nervous, confused kind of way.

"I guess, we don't talk, much. Whenever we're all together, you know, as a group, I suppose, we have some, um, conversation." Why am I stammering? Why is Ron looking at me like that?

Ron brings one side of his mouth up. "Y/N, you barely know her. Not to say you shouldn't have feelings for her, but you got to have 'em for the right reasons." He blinked a few times and took a step back. "Yeah. Er, it's nearly dinner. Think about it, I suppose." He gestured for me to follow him and began walking back toward the Burrow.

The nervous feeling slowly subsided, but I couldn't get that look on Ron's face out of my head. I follow him inside.