Intermission:

Ronald's Struggles.

Disclaimer: Well I feel simply terrible for my awful timing. Clearly I had more troubles with school and more trouble with procrastinating then I originally intended. But here is a much needed and requested Ron chapter. I apologize in advance if it is a bit dry or boring, but keep in mind that Ron hasn't really had anyone to talk to all of this about, and he's struggling with all that he has seen and how he would like to prevent it. I need only to edit parts of my next chapter and my plan is to update it in a few weeks. My sincerest apologies. And also, I do not own this franchise or world in any way shape or form! Thank you for all of the reads, and reviews! Thanks to PhilosopherStone909 who is practically my Beta! *Shameless plug:* Check out her story! You won't regret it! Now, on with the show!

"Fred! George! Get down here, now!" Ron sat up with a start, flinching as his mother screeched from the bottom of the stairs. From somewhere below him he could feel the vibration of the floors as the twins bounded down the stairs, deciding against ignoring their mother. With a sigh, Ron flopped backwards onto the bed. He couldn't be sure how long it had been since waking up in his teenage body, but since then he had struggled between elation and grief. Grief over the loss of his future, the life he had created for himself. He could no longer wake in the night and walk across the hall to check on his children. He could no longer hold them, and tell them absurd stories and spoil them rotten. His future was gone. His present was gone. But here, now, he didn't have them. He was in the past…the new present? It was all confusing. Here there was Fred. There was an un-scared Bill. Here was all those he had lost to the war. Here, was the new present; the chance of a safe and smoother future. And that was the thought that flourished his elation.

There were days when Ron was pleased with this turn of events. Who wouldn't be? His knowledge of the future would prevent all his future woes. It would create a better place to raise his precious little ones. Of course, there were the days where Ron wanted nothing more than to be back in his own time, cuddled up on the sofa with his wife and children. Days when he feared that changing his past would change his future so drastically that his children wouldn't come to be. On these days he would lock himself in his room, and avoid his family at all costs. Some days they noticed, and others they hadn't. It was no surprise to Ron that he was awful at lying and pretending that something in his personality hadn't drastically changed. His family had noticed and noted his tilt in behavior, and it was obvious that they were worried. Just last night his mother had come into his room after he had gone to bed and attempted to understand her youngest son's change. Ron had almost come undone at her concerned eyes and gentle softness that laced her worry filled words. So badly did he want to spill every last detail; to have her hug him and tell him that his future would be different, because she was Molly Weasley, and not a soul dared harm any of those under her care! But that hadn't been the case in his future. And so Ron had bit his tongue and tried to alleviate her worries. He told her that he had been having harrowing dreams, and that they were the reason for his change. Molly seemed to have believed it, or part of it at least. Ron could see no other reason why his mother had let him sleep in this morning like he had. Judging by the light that streamed into his bright orange room, it wasn't a stretch to assume lunch was nearing, and Ron groaned, swinging his feet over the side of the bed. His head dropped into his hands and he closed his eyes. He wished he hadn't. The images swarmed him, and they weren't happy ones. They were ugly, gruesome, and filled with death. His hands tightened into fists around his unruly hair as more images and flickers of different battles reminded him of what was to come if he and the others didn't do something. Already Ron could tell that today would be one of those days.

A hand on his shoulder interrupted his dark thoughts and he jumped to his feet, facing his assailant. Ginny. Ron visibly sagged, and Ginny's eyes narrowed at her older brother. Her suspicion didn't mask her worry well, and Ron gave his sister a weak attempt at a smile. "Bad dream," he tried to shrug off his actions. Ginny wouldn't have it, and she crossed her arms, standing a bit taller with confidence.

"Every night Ron?"

"What's it to you?" Ron bit back a bit harsher then he had initially intended, but he stayed with it, glaring back down at the fiery redhead that would one day grow up to marry his best mate. All trace of worry took flight from her face, and she leveled Ron with a defiant look.

"I thought I'd wake you for lunch. Mum has already said no in-betweens until dinner. But I doubt even food would curb your attitude." Ginny's voice was hard and reproachful, and she turned on her heel, slamming the door behind her before Ron could even begin to consider an apology. Another sigh and Ron felt guilty.

"Sorry," he muttered belatedly to the closed door. It wasn't as if he wanted to act like an arse. In truth, it wasn't even done on purpose. The fact was Ron wasn't a carefree teenage boy anymore. The stress and knowledge of his future weighed on his shoulders heavily. He wondered idly if perhaps he would be acting differently had he the chance to fully discuss the situation if Hermione and Harry. He knew they were residing together, and the thought irked him. It wasn't that they were staying together without him, well not really. It was agitating knowing that while he was living under his parent's roof, having to abide by their rules and run of the house, his two best mates were living a carefree and stress-free summer. At least the two of them could talk to each other about their situation. Ron had no one. Only on one or so occasions was he able to make contact. All this pent up information was killing him. Still he was confused and felt left in the dark. On top of that, the chaotic environment of the Burrow had him jumping at every turn. His own future had been hectic, but it hadn't been like this since, well since he really was fourteen. It had been a different kind of hectic chaos, and Ron was still trying to adjust. Compared to the day he woke up, Ron felt he had done quite a bit of adjusting. He no longer cried at the sight of Fred, who had surprisingly, and rarely, seemed to be so shocked he was unsure of how to act. It had only been a stroke of luck that he had been alone when he had run into the twin. The memory of how he felt when he first saw Fred sent chills down his spine. To be reunited with a brother that had died and with whom you had lived without for years was enough to break any man. And Ronald was no exception. He had clung to his brother and sobbed. Fred had been so stunned by his baby brother's tears that he had forgone the first crack that had come to mind and instead worried for Ron's sanity. Only after Ron brokenly told Fred about a nightmare involving his death, and Fred assuring the teenager that he was still alive and looking for trouble, did Fred crack a joke about Ron's hormonal side showing itself. Fred had not forgotten to teasingly add that Ron ought to come to them if he had any questions about his "changing body." There was truly no telling what they would have actually told him had even considered approaching them. However, it had gotten a chuckle from Ron, and that had been what Fred was going for.

After cleaning up a bit and slipping into a fresh pair of trousers and a singlet top, Ron headed down to the kitchen. The old wooden steps protested his movements, and Ron began to slow down as he approached the ground floor. His mother's yells drifted towards him easily, and with some hesitation Ron entered the small kitchen. Ginny was sitting closest to him with her head low, shoveling food in her mouth. She paused momentarily when Ron entered, but after seeing him she immediately turned back to her meal. Ron noted Percy's lack of appearance and inwardly scoffed. In the end Percy had realized his wrongs, but until then, he was still an annoying git. Quickly, Ron slid into the seat opposite his sister and began piling food onto his plate. His attitude may have changed some, but his appetite sure hadn't.

"Ronald, slow down," Molly said sharply, pausing in her berating of the twins, "just because you wouldn't get up for breakfast doesn't mean you have to make up for the lost meal now." Ron's eyebrows drew together. It was rare that his mum ever truly scolded him for his proportions. The twins must have really screwed up somewhere. Glancing sideways at the two in question, Ron noticed the twins were keeping quiet. He continued to glance around and finally he saw the source of the argument. A stack of forms lay on the counter behind Ron's mum. Ron recognized what he could see of them as order forms for the twin's future shop. Molly had taken a good deal of time getting used to the shop, but eventually she had come around. That was eventually though, and now was now. And now, she was not happy at Fred and George's antics. Ron glanced back at the twins. Even they knew when not to argue. At least not while their mother was speaking that is. Molly turned back to her trouble making sons, and in a moment of bravery, George opened his mouth to speak before his mother could.

"But Mum, we don't want to work at the Ministry."

"Yeah, we want to open our shop," Fred added. George continued, and from there they only bounced off each other.

"We've got it all worked out, Mum. We know what it costs to open a site for the shop, and the upkeep."

"And we already know our consumer base. Everyone needs a good laugh, Mum."

It amazed Ron to see the twins like this. Not only back together and building off of each other, but to see them so serious. It only happened rarely, and really only when they were discussing the finer points of business. Especially their own.

"I think it's a good idea," Ron cut in, mouth full. Fred and George looked down at him with an approving look. Molly however turned her reproachful look back onto her youngest son. She had yet to touch her food, and now it seemed that she wouldn't. Molly set her silverware down and crossed her arms.

"And you know all about this?" Molly sent Ron a pointed look and Ron quickly swallowed. Perhaps he should pretend he hadn't known what his siblings were up to. A small shrug and Ron continued forward, a sincere grin presenting itself.

"Yes, and so do some of the students at Hogwarts. People already love it, Mum. Imagine if they had a shop! They'd make loads of galleons, Mum. It would be bloody fantastic," Ron finished with a large bite off his plate. Molly snorted.

"You're too young to understand. And don't go and get any ideas! You have two years to prepare for your OWL's, and I won't see you blow it," she glanced at the twins, who grinned at their plates, understanding their mum's train of thought. "And on that note," Molly turned back to the twins. Apparently she hadn't lectured them enough on that matter either. With wide eyes the boys looked at each other and then back at their plates. There wasn't much left, and with agile speed, they dumped their plates onto Ron's before he could protest.

"Would you look at that, George?"

"Well Fred, it would look as though we've finished our lunch. Shall we-"

"Finish up our school homework?"

"Yes! What a fine idea, Fred!"

Ron could only watch in awe as the twins made their escape. Molly looked about ready to follow after them, but instead turned her gaze to her youngest children. She gave them her serious look, "If either of you slack in your studies this year, you will regret it!" Leaning across the table, Molly picked the twins plates up and dumped them in the sink. She turned to her own plate and grimaced, not quite feeling up to eating now.

"Mum, I don't think you have to worry about me. I actually enjoy most of my studies," and with that, Ginny handed her Mum her plate, and left the kitchen, not even looking at her brother once.

"It'll be different this year, Mum. I promise." It wasn't a stretch, as Ron made this promise at the end of every summer.

"Is the yelling finally over?" Ron turned his head as Percy strolled in, trying to look important. He went to make himself a plate, but Molly offered him her untouched one.

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After lunch, Ron had wondered around the yard, thinking. He did that a lot lately, and he didn't like it. Once he was back together with Hermione and Ron, he would be back to his old self. Well, he would be more loud and rambunctious. Right now he was just feeling isolated and a bit lonely. The arrival of his friends couldn't come soon enough, and Ron waited day by day for his father to come home with news of acquiring tickets. Finding himself growing bored quickly, Ron made his way over to the garden, where he watched the gnomes play around with each other. Some of them wrestled with each other, while a few of the younger ones had taken note of the human watching them. When the sun began to set, Ron finally headed back to the house.

Upon entering the living area, the Floo flared to life in a fantastic show of emerald green fire, and when the flames died away, Ron's jaw dropped. There, standing before him, was a younger, happier, and un-scared Bill Weasley. He smiled widely and bent down to return his mother's embrace.

"It hasn't been that long, Mum," he chuckled lowly, shaking his head. George rolled his eyes dramatically, grinning all the while.

"But you see, Bill, the Golden-"

"-Son has now returned," Fred gave a theatric bow, humbling himself in his brother's presence. Molly pointedly ignored them, but Bill erupted into laughter and before anything could be done about it, he had swept his twin brothers into identical hugs reminiscent of a headlock. Fred and George both struggled against their older brother, and memories of their childhood with varying scenes such as this floated to mind.

"Mum!" Both the twins whined together.

"You boys aren't giving my mum a hard time, are you?" Bill said with a growing mischievous grin. Being the oldest, Bill had always been close, and thus very protective of the Weasley matriarch. And when was it not fun to bully his siblings? Molly however didn't seem to agree.

"Oh put them down!" Molly swatted her oldest son, but not without giving him an approving wink. Ginny had her hands at her sides, laughing bubbly and loudly at her older brother's troubles. Mischief peppered the eyes of Bill Weasley as his sights turned to his youngest and only sister. He had been in and out of her life as she grew older, but despite that they had their moments as Bill tried to be there for all his siblings.

"I'm not seeing the humor, little sister." Ginny could see the trouble in his eyes and her own eyes widened. In a second Bill had her thrown over his shoulder like a sack of vegetables. There was nothing she could do but laugh and flail, demanding to be set down. Only after the threat of her Bat-Bogey Hex did he finally relent.

"I see the sass sure didn't skip this Weasley generation," Bill muttered, looking over Ginny's head at Percy. He nodded politely at Percy, knowing the boy wouldn't appreciate the physical contact. Finally Bill noticed his gob smacked little brother.

"Do I get a hug, or are you going to stare at me like you've just seen a boggart?" Bill beckoned Ron closer.

"Has he wet himself?" George snickered.

"Least I'm not the only one," Fred muttered to himself in response to Ron's staring. After shaking his head, Ron smiled widely and closed the gap between himself and his brother, accepting the embrace. Before he had fully pulled back, the Floo flared again, and out stepped Charlie Weasley. That was when Ron remembered. This was the night his dad had told them the news about the World Cup tickets. Ron could have done flips. His excitement must have been obvious, for Charlie approached him first.

"Calm down little brother, I know you missed me, but no need to jump out of your skin." Charlie wasn't much for physical affection, so he merely patted Ron's shoulder, a warm and sincere smile pulling at his hard features. In fact, he only hugged his mother and his sister. Ron had practically been bouncing on his toes waiting for the pleasantries to finish. He kept glancing between his eldest brothers and his father. Arthur clapped his hands together and prepared to speak.

"Finally," Ron said in a sighed exasperation before blushing and motioning for his dad to continue. Arthur gave his youngest son an odd look, but turned to everyone and continued.

"For some of you, this isn't too big of a surprise," he glanced at the new arrivals, "but for others it is. You all know I've been trying to get a number of tickets to the upcoming World Cup between Ireland and Bulgaria." Arthur never got to finish his nice little speech, for everyone had figured out the rest. Especially with the tip-off their brother's arrivals gave. The Weasley children erupted into cheers; the excitement in the room was all too palpable. It hadn't taken long at all for the boys to find themselves rolling around on the floor arguing about the game's outcome. Laughing and joking all the while. And even Ron was just as excited as he had been the first time.

"You got Harry a ticket?"

"Do you even have to ask?" Arthur laughed at his son's question, and Ron noticed his sister's excitement increase that much more.

Authors Note: Again, my apologies on timing. I wrote this the other night! Stayed up all night to complete it! I know it isn't the most thrilling, but our poor lonely Ron is feeling isolated as of now, and is having trouble sifting through his feelings without his Hermione. Still working on review replies! 3 And if anyone ever has any comments, questions, or concerns, don't hesitate to PM me. I listen openly and don't take offense easily. Also, if you see mistakes, let me know!

Thanks to those who continued to participate in my House Cup! The answer I was looking for was:

Wools Orphanage

With the new updates, the House Points are now as follows:

Hufflepuff: 128 points

Ravenclaw: 166 points

Gryffindor: 78 points

Slytherin: 221 points

Congratulations Slytherin for winning this round.

Your new question for a possible total of 20 points (4 parts) is:

Who is the House Ghost for each of the Hogwarts Houses?

I hope this chapter was satisfactory! Would anyone like to see smaller Ron scenes slipped into my other chapters between now and them all being back together again? I don't mind doing that. Secondly, the sneak peeks for my next chapter is the same I gave you in the last chapter. As I posted it before I knew I was going to post a Ron chapter.

One:

The two almost simultaneously crashed into the door to the pharmacy. Luckily they were able to slow down enough to where the door simply barreled open and they tumbled inside. The few people in the store, along with the pharmacist looked up with a mixture of amusement and disapproval. Hermione berated herself for her childish act. She was in her thirty's for goodness sake! Danny quickly dashed off and Hermione perused through the isles looking for cough syrup. It didn't take her long to find it and she was loading up an armful when around the corner of the isle came a red-faced Daniel and a tall rather large and balding man who had Daniels upper arm in a tight grip. The man looked aloof and angry.

Two:

"Sirius, you care about me right?" Sirius rolled his eyes at his godson's mundane question. Harry continued. "Then you wouldn't want the whole Wizarding world to know about this would you- With people like Rita Skeeter getting involved?" Sirius narrowed his eyes.

"What do you know of Rita Skeeter?" Harry almost punched himself for his words. He hadn't heard of her yet obviously. He took a deep breath.

"I may practically be a Muggle Born Sirius, but I do hear things. I do know that she a fowl, beetle of a person." He couldn't help but refer to her as her unregistered Animagus form. Sirius dipped his head, wanting Harry to continue.

"Anyways, like I was saying, you wouldn't want that splashed all over the Daily Prophet and the Wizarding world right? I know I certainly don't! And if I went to the Muggle authorities, a huge investigation would be launched and I would be taken away from them, which would probably not sit well with Dumbledore and his Blood Wards. So if you are set on them being punished legally, I don't want you doing anything stupid, why not wait until I become of age, and then I will go to the Muggle authorities. Although I will have to wait until I am eighteen, as coming of age in the Muggle world is eighteen and not seventeen. Will that please you?" Sirius seemed to think about it. He hated to be selfish, but this way he could keep an eye on Harry all summer. Dumbledore wouldn't let him just take Harry, which really pissed him off. But this way they could work around Dumbledore. James would be proud of his son's plan.