Telling Ron

~~~~~

“Hey Ron?” Ginny said cautiously as she approached Harry and her brother in a corridor near their common room. They were just coming back from dinner and seemed very content, so now seemed like a good time to break bad news. Ron was always in a better mood when he had a full stomach.

“Yeah, Gin?” he responded absently.

“Um, can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure, I guess.”

“I mean alone.” She glanced meaningfully at Harry.

Ron did a quick check over his shoulder. “But there’s no one here. This corridor is empty.”

Ginny let out a small sigh at her brother’s obliviousness to subtle hints and said, “Yes there is; Harry’s here.” She turned in his direction and added, “Sorry, but I really do have to talk to just Ron. It’s a sibling thing.”

“No problem,” Harry said. “I’ll just head to the common room and wait for you there, okay Ron?”

“Sure,” Ron replied. Harry then walked off toward the Fat Lady with Ginny watched him closely until he was out of sight.

There was a small pause for a moment before Ron hesitantly asked, “So, what’s up?”.

“Okay...how do I say this...um, what would you say if I was in a serious relationship?”

“How serious?”

“Well, we’ve been going out for almost a year--“

“A YEAR? And you’re just telling me this now?” Ron yelled in a small amount of shock. He’d never liked any of the boyfriends that she dated for a month; it wasn’t surprising that he didn’t like the idea that this time his baby sister might actually be serious about someone. He looked as though he was about to say more, but Ginny cut him off.

“I’m sorry, but at least I’m telling you at all. Anyway, I just thought you should know that we’re in love.” She emphasized this, realizing it might possibly soften the blow of the pregnancy part if he knew the guy was serious as well. Not that anything would really help at this point, but it couldn’t hurt.

Ron’s eyes became even wider than they had at the previous confession, and he began to adopt the overprotective-brother face. “Well get out of love, because you’re way too young to be that serious about someone!”

Ginny couldn’t help but cringe slightly at that comment; if he thought she was too young to be in love, he would definitely not be pleased about the baby she was carrying. Perhaps if she could really convince him that she was standing firm on this point...

“Well, I’m sorry Ron, but you’re going to have to deal with it. I love this man!” she snapped, her temper starting to rise.

“Don’t talk to me like that!”

“You’re not my mother. I’ll talk to you however I want to when you insult me like that. I despise that you still treat me as though I’m six years old!”

“I’m not insulting you! I’m trying to save you from making a big mistake! And who’s this git you’re in love with, anyways?”

“Don’t you dare call him a git! And I am not going to tell you who it is! I like him all in one piece, thank you very much! You’re not exactly known for being the kindest with my boyfriends, you know!”

“I don’t think that whole one-piece thing is going to be a possibility. Now tell me, who is this bastard that has brainwashed you and turned you against me? I think he is in serious need of some arse kicking!” he said, yelling loudly enough to prompt one of the nearby paintings to shout “Quiet down, won’t you?”. At this point, both of their faces, especially Ginny’s, had begun to turn bright red in anger, and the volume was increasing with each new argument. It was actually quite surprising that no one had appeared to break them up yet; when the two of them really got to fighting, you could actually feel the rise in decibels from several rooms away. And this was about as much as Ginny could take.

“HE IS NOT A BASTARD! YOU ARE THE BASTARD FOR ACTING LIKE SUCH AN IDIOT! HE DID NOT BRAINWASH ME, AND YOU ARE TURNING ME AGAINST YOU ALL BY YOURSELF!” Ginny shouted, her small body shaking with anger. She stomped off, resolved to quit speaking to him. Which meant telling him about the baby would have to come some other time, of course.

~~~~~

Ginny sat at the table the next morning eating her breakfast silently. Ron was sitting across the table from her, and every time he looked up she would look down into her food.

“Gin?” he said timidly. She just glared at him.

“Ginny, I’m really sorry about last night. I should not have insulted your boyfriend like that or threatened to beat him up. It was very wrong of me. Can you forgive me?” At this statement, Ginny stopped staring at her toast, surprised at his willingness to apologize. But then she noticed a proud smile on Hermione’s face. Realizing that she had coached her brother into a peace offering, Ginny mouthed “Thank you” to Hermione. Hermione nodded and followed up with a silent “No problem.” They both grinned.

“Ronald Weasley, I’m still mad at you–and don’t think that I’m not--but I’ve decided to speak to you again.” Ginny said with a stern look on her face. As Ron winced at the coldness in her voice, she smiled quickly to let him know she was just kidding. Sort of.

“Thanks, Gin.” he said, looking very relieved.

“I’ll see you later, Ron. And please refrain from interrogating the males in the school about who my boyfriend is, because I have enough to deal with right now without you making a fool out of me. And yourself.”

“So he goes to Hogwarts? Interesting. . .”

“Oh, stuff it.” Ginny walked out of the Great Hall to head to the common room.

Ron suddenly turned to Hermione, looking slightly confused. “What was that about having enough to deal with right now?”

She just continued eating her breakfast silently.

~~~~~

Ginny took a deep breath. ‘I will just go in and tell him now. No point in putting it off. And besides, what’s the worst he can do, strangle the air to death? He won’t know who the father is, so he won’t have anyone to kill.’ Determined, she slowly walked up to him.

“Ron, can you come outside with me for a minute?” she asked firmly, leaving no room for argument.

“Sure, what’s up? You don’t have a second boyfriend to tell me about, do you?” he responded jokingly. But seeing that her expression was far from joking, he started to get a little worried about what she was about to tell him.

“No, there’s no other boyfriend....” She took his hand and led him out to the garden on the south side of the castle. It was a beautiful night, and the stars were breathtaking. After a few moments, she sat down on a nearby stone bench and he followed suit.

“So, what did you need to talk to me about?” Ron asked, wondering why she had brought them all the way out here. 

“Remember the boyfriend I told you about? You know, the one I’m in love with?”

“Yeah. . .”

“Well, we really are in love. I just wanted you to know that. He’s not just using me or anything.”

“Well good. Is that all? Can I go back inside? It’s a little chilly out here.” He started to stand up, but Ginny pulled his arm so that he was sitting again.

“Wait, that’s not it...” she said hesitantly. Wow, this was harder than she thought.

“What else do you need to tell me?” he asked, confused.

“I’mgonnahaveababy,” she mumbled.

Ron did a small double take and asked, “What was that? I couldn’t quite hear you,”

“I’m pregnant,” she finally declared, bracing herself for his reaction.

He was in a bit of shock. The reality of the situation had apparently not struck him yet, as the next thing he said was, “No you’re not. That’s not possible. You have to have sex to be pregnant.”

She just looked at him with a face that clearly said ‘wow, you’re stupid.’ He glanced over at it and took a few moments’ pause....

“You’ve WHAT? You’re WHAT?” he yelled as the news finally started to sink in.

“I know, I’m sorry-“ she tried to say, but she was interrupted by all the shouting.

“HOW COULD YOU DO THIS! IT’S BAD ENOUGH THAT YOU ARE SIXTEEN AND NO LONGER A VIRGIN, BUT NOW YOU’RE PREGNANT TOO? HOW COULD YOU NOT USE PROTECTION?”

“But I did-“ she tried to slide in, but to no avail.

“I’M NOT DONE YET! NOW TELL ME WHO THE FATHER IS! RIGHT NOW! I NEED TO KNOW WHO DID THIS TO MY BABY SISTER! HE HAS JUST WON HIMSELF A PERMANENT PLACE IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM AT ST. MUNGO’S FOR WHEN I’M THROUGH WITH HIM!”

At this point, Ron had to take a breath so Ginny tried to calm him down.

“Ron, please stop yelling, it’s not good for the baby. Besides, as I have told you many times, we love each other. I’ve already told him and he has agreed to stand by me. He’s really being very wonderful about the whole thing. And by the way, we did too use protection. It just doesn’t always work.”

“Wait a minute. . .contraceptive charms don’t always work?” Like Draco, Ron also looked a little pale upon hearing this information.

“Okay, Ron, please focus here.”

“Yeah, right, sorry. But Gin, how could you let someone do this to you?”

“Ron, Hermione and I talk, and you are not really one to judge me for losing my virginity at sixteen.”

At this, Ron’s face turned a very bright shade of scarlet and he began to stutter out, “Yes, well, um, wait, we’re getting off the subject. You’re still much to young to have a baby. Now seriously, who is the father?”

“I’m not telling you that. I’m not completely stupid; you would never let him live.”

“Oh yes I would. I would limit the damage to maiming. He can’t be dead, because he’s got to marry you.”

“Ron, you can’t force him to marry me.”

“Oh yes I can. He got you knocked up, and he can pay the price.”

“Ron! So now being married to me is a punishment?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Ginny just glared at him. “Ron, you better start begging if you want to stay in contact with your darling little niece or nephew.”

“Sorry Gin, I really didn’t mean it that way. I just meant that he should be forced to realize that there are consequences to his actions. He’s going to have to be a father,” Ron put his face in his hands. He was completely overwhelmed with this whole situation.

“Why are you saying that like it’s a bad thing?”

“You’re just so young!”

“Well, there’s nothing I can do about it now. I’m keeping this baby, and I love it’s father. Now I just need to know if you’ll support me.”

“To support you, I need to know who the father is. It just wouldn’t feel right not knowing whose child you’re carrying. And he needs a serious talking to.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t tell you,” she said in tone of finality.

“Then I can’t support you right now. I have to think about this.” He got up from the bench, turned away from her, and walked back toward the castle.

Ginny watched him leave, and she began to cry. Hard. She couldn’t even remotely control the tears that were falling down her face. ‘Okay,’ she thought. ‘This is so not fair. People should not be allowed to be mean to pregnant women!’

~~~~~

On to The Howler
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