Summary: To celebrate his birthday, and thank him for all he does, Ron, Harry, Ginny, and Hermione set off to get Arthur the perfect gift. Who knew it would be this hard to find a simple phone?

Disclaimer: I own no recognizable content.

The Greatest Gift

To get through the hardest journey we need take only one step at a time, but we must keep on stepping

~Chinese Proverb

Ron stood before the small assemblage, an accomplished smile spread wide across his face. He took a few more moments to revel in his feelings of brilliance and pride before he began to talk, filing the other three in on his genius plan.

"So," he began, trying to talk slowly to contain his excitement over the whole, "You know my dad's birthday is coming up-"

He was interrupted from continuing by a curse from Ginny. "Merlin's shorts, I totally forgot. I need to get him something." Ron shot his sister an annoyed look but continued on with his genius plan.

"That's exactly why I've gathered you here today. I've come up with the most genius plan to get dad the greatest gift. I was walking through London looking for something for George when I saw this advertisement and I just knew it was perfect!" Ron stood before the three of them, Ginny, Hermione, and Harry, as he beamed triumphantly. They leaned in closer in anticipation, expecting Ron to continue on and reveal his idea. However, he just remained standing before them, beaming slightly manically.

"Well?" Harry asked after several agonizing seconds of silence.

"We should al chip in and buy Dad one of those clever cellular telephone things that the muggles seem so excited about!" Ron finished with a flourish and awaited his friends' excited, wonder-filled reactions to his plans. Instead, he got looks of doubt and trepidation. Ron felt himself deflate a little, but pushed on.

"Trust me. It'll be an easy thin g to get and dad will love it!"

Ron quickly came to regret his words. Not the part about his dad loving a muggle clever phone –or whatever it was called. Ron was still completely convinced of that fact. The words he was forced to eat were the ones about the ease of acquisition.

See, Ron had assumed that a large amount of advertisements meant that a lot of stores had the phone in stock. On his quick foray through muggle London a few days prior, he'd seen no less than ten different advertisements. What he'd failed to consider was the fact that plentiful advertisements would mean that a large number of people would see them. Also, not interacting in the muggle world, he had no idea of the popularity of that particular brand.

"Sold out! Again!" Ginny cried out exasperatedly as they left the fifth or sixth phone store they'd visited. Every single one was out of stock and wouldn't be getting any more for several days. Several days was more than the foursome had as Arthur's birthday was only two days away.

"Well, it's a popular phone. All the muggles couldn't wait to get their hands on them. My dad said the news was reporting on the long lines and people camping out for days before it was even released." Hermione stated, then shrugged at her statement, having come to the understanding that there was little they could do about the phones being sold out.

She'd tried to explain all of that to Ron before they'd left, but he was far too excited and determined to hear her out.

They quickly moved onto a new shop –Ron was quite surprised by just how many places sold these muggle devices. Apparently, muggles found them extremely important.

Like in any other shop, Harry and Hermione did all the talking. Ron had tried to talk at the first store, seeing as it was his ingenious idea. He felt he should be responsible for acquiring it. He'd confidently strode up to the shopkeeper and asked him, "Where are your clever phones? The ones that let you talk to people who aren't in the same room as you?"

The shopkeeper had obviously felt it was some kind of joke, a middle aged man apparently oblivious to what a smart phone was called and all the things it could do. As soon as Ron had finished, the young man had broken out into peels of laughter.

From that point on, Harry and Hermione had done all the talking. Having been raised in the muggle world, they were much more knowledgeable on all things technology. However, the pair of them had been relatively removed from the world they grew up in and they occasionally messed up too. Like the time Harry got very confused by one store owner's enthusiastic discussion of some angry birds that were fighting against thieving pigs.

Harry and Hermione were deep in discussion with the shopkeeper, so Ron decided to peruse the various phone options. Ron wasn't sure why muggles needed so many different options to communicate with each other. And, listening to the storeowners talk about the various phones, there wasn't really all that much difference between them.

"Excellent! That's fantastic, absolutely fantastic! You've no idea how hard we've been looking!" the loud, excited voice of Harry sounded throughout the shop. Ron quickly hustled over in time to see the shopkeeper pull out a small box. Honestly, Ron was a little underwhelmed by the simplicity of the box. All the effort they'd put in for such a simple looking object.

But that was it, finally. The perfect gift. The greatest gift. Arthur would absolutely love it!

That weekend all the Weasleys descended on the Burrow. Molly must have spent days slaving over the stove to prepare the feast and the cake. All the Weasley grandkids were there, running around and eagerly helping Arthur open his gifts. Ron had purposefully withheld his gift, wanting to present it as the final gift, the cherry on the top of Arthur's excellent birthday.

Finally, when Arthur and the grandkids had opened all of the gifts, Ron stepped forward and presented his father with the elegantly wrapped box. Arthur's eyes widened at the sight and he eagerly ripped into it.

"Whoa! Grandpa, that's the newest, best smart phone on the market! It's got tons of space, an awesome camera, and great resolution! You're so lucky!" Lucy, Percy's youngest daughter cooed as she took in the sight. Ron didn't understand a lot of the words she'd said, and Arthur obviously didn't either, but the look of pure joy on his father's face made something clear to Ron.

He'd gotten his father the greatest gift! Ever!