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Ron was sick of it. He was sick of all the romance that was shoved into his face. He was just tired. He didn’t understand why everyone felt a need to pursue romance. But the more and more everyone flaunted it, the more and more he felt left out. He was sick of Percy talking about his girlfriend all summer but he didn’t really understand why. He had chalked it up to it being his brother. But he wasn’t so sure anymore. Harry and Hermione had finally gotten together and they were constantly being all lovey-dovey with each other. He had assumed and been told he didn’t like it because he felt like a third wheel. The twins even teased him for having a crush on Hermione and that was the reason he was so disgusted by the romance of his closest friends. But that wasn’t it. He wasn’t jealous. He just found it gross. He had no reason to want that.
Ron did feel a longing for that type of relationship after a while. So he tried. He tried really hard to date. But he just couldn’t feel any romantic attraction to any girls. He started thinking maybe he liked guys so he thought about it. He tried to test romantic things with guys. But that didn’t do anything. Sure he felt a sexual attraction to both girls and guys but nothing romantic. Eventually, he just accepted that he was broken and he settled on dating Lavender. Logically, he knew this wasn’t fair to her. He had just settled on her because she confessed to him. She told him that she was totally in love with him and he accepted it. They started dating and it was nice at first. The cuddling, the hand-holding, and finally being able to say he wasn’t the only one of his friends that wasn’t dating.
But eventually, it got tiring. He didn’t even see Lavender as a friend. He really had no desire to be with or around her. Soon he found himself trying to find ways to avoid her. He may or may not have purposefully snarked to Snape and snuck out to get caught after curfew to rack up some detentions. Eventually, others seemed to catch on to him. His friends were confronting him, his teachers were throwing him glances and it seemed Snape had come to give him detentions for small things that would normally just get a warning but kept the detentions easy and not very tiresome. The final straw was Lavender. She cornered him after one of his detentions with Snape and she looked pissed. Her face was red in anger, smoke practically pouring from her ears.
“You’ve been avoiding me.” She accused. Ron knew this was true but he’d be damned if he didn’t try to deny it. “What? No, I haven’t!” Lavender grabbed the front of his robe and dragged him down to her level. “Ronald Weasley. I know you’ve been avoiding me. You can’t deny it. I want to know why.” Ron sighed. “I’m sorry.” No use denying it now. “I just don’t really feel that way about you… You’re a great person but I’m not interested in you romantically.” That didn’t seem to be the right response because Lavender’s eyes filled with tears. “I knew it. You like someone else! It’s that Granger girl, isn’t it? You’ve got a crush on her, don’t you?” Her voice raised an octave as she fought back tears. “What? No! I don’t like ‘Mione! She’s just a friend and she’s dating Harry!” He said.
“You love her! I know it! Everyone does! Everyone told me I was signing myself up for heartbreak by telling you how I feel! I should have listened.” Tears started rolling down her cheeks. Before Ron could think about it, he was wiping them away. “Hey, I don’t like her. I just don’t get crushes. I wanted to know what everyone was talking about. And you were an amazing girlfriend. Anyone would be lucky to have you. I’m sorry I hurt you. I should’ve turned you down. I’m sorry, Lavender.” She threw herself into his chest and sobbed. Eventually, she realized what she was doing and tore herself away from him. “We’re through! I never want to be near you ever again, you prick!” And Lavender stormed off, leaving a stunned Ron in her wake.
Eventually, he decided to head back to the Gryffindor tower. Once he arrived, he headed straight for his dorm. He was stopped by Hermione who was cuddling with Harry on the chair byt the fireplace. “Ron! How was detention?” He stopped and stared at them. “It was fine.” Harry seemed to catch his sour mood because he spoke up, “Ron, what’s wrong?” Ron sighed. “Lavender dumped me. I’m fine, though. You guys just stay here. I just want to be left alone for now.” He said before Harry could move. Ron didn’t wait for a response and just headed up the stairs. When he got to his dorm, he faceplanted right into his mattress. He didn’t know how long had passed but eventually, the door opened. He heard footsteps approaching his bed.
“Hey, Ron. Harry and Hermione told me what happened. Want to talk about it?” It was Percy. Ron sat up and nodded to a spot on his bed, Percy sitting. “I just don’t know why everyone has partners. They all seem so happy and in love but I just can’t.” Percy nodded, encouraging his youngest brother to continue. “Harry talks about how much he loves ‘Mione and I don’t understand it. I’ve never felt that. They all talk about crushes and how much they love their partners. Lavender told me she loved me and wanted to pursue a relationship. I agreed so I’d know what everyone was talking about. And it was nice, at first. It got hard to pretend that I loved her. I can’t even see her in a friend way. I got tired. I started avoiding her. She confronted me. Accused me of liking ‘Mione. But I thought about ‘Mione before. Having a crush on her. That’s what the twins said the reason for my dislike of her relationship with Harry was, but it’s not. I don’t see her that way. I thought I liked blokes but I can’t see myself in a romantic relationship with anyone. I’m incapable of feeling love… Percy, am I broken? Is something wrong with me?”
Percy hugged him. “Ron, you aren’t broken. You remember Charlie avoiding all the romantic questions mom asked, don’t you? Charlie told me last year that the reason he didn’t have any partners before was that he wasn’t interested that way. He doesn’t want sex or romance, he just wants us, friends, and his dragons. There’s nothing wrong with you for not feeling romantic attraction. It doesn’t come to everyone. Let me tell you a secret, Ron.” Percy pulled back and rested his hands on Ron’s shoulders. “I don’t feel sexual attraction. I didn’t realize that until Charlie confided in me about himself. We are not broken, there’s nothing wrong with us. We are perfectly normal and it’s ok to feel the way we do. I want you to know that I will always love you no matter what, Ron.”
Ron let out a pathetic sob as tears flooded his face. “Thanks, Perce. I appreciate it. Thanks for listening and telling me that.” The older Weasley responded with another hug instead of words while the younger buried his face in his shoulder and sobbed openly. He didn’t feel so alone anymore. He had his big brother to help him. And he could always turn to Charlie if he needed advice. He was so happy to have such understanding siblings. Maybe he wasn’t normal but what fun was normal?