Chapter Text
“I’ll write to you.”
Four words. That was all he said. Four words with a straight face. Four words that Ron had no idea would change his life.
Ron blinked twice. “What?”
“I’m going to write to you. Over break.” He repeated
Blaise stared at him unblinking, and Ron realized a little too late that the slytherin was being serious, and expecting an answer.
“Uh, ok, I guess I'll be waiting for that then..?” Was all he was able to mutter out. Blaise nodded before swiftly turning on his heels and walking away from the golden trio, his robe flowing dramatically around him in the way the school robes did around most Slytherins. Ron was convinced that they must have a secret class where they learned how to do that, but that wasn’t what he was thinking about at the moment.
“What was that?” Asked Hermione with an equally confused expression. She had just finished saying goodbye to Luna.
“Have you and Blaise secretly become friends?” Harry chimed in when Ron didn’t answer Hermione’s previous question.
“I have no idea!” Ron exclaimed, looking back at Blaise who was already far across the platform and had just rejoined his usual friend group. “I barely even know him!” Harry and Hermione looked at each other before shrugging.
Ron was utterly confused, he could barely seem to find the strength to move or turn his gaze away from the slytherin boy’s direction. Sure, he and Blaise had been paired together in potions class a few times, but that was the extent of their relationship. And even then, Blaise barely spoke a word to him, mostly answering in grunts and nods.
He must have been standing there for quite some time, considering Hermione had to shake him by the shoulder slightly to get his attention again. “Ron! Come on! Let's go! I don’t want to miss the train!” She cried, attempting to rush the ginger-haired boy along with Harry.
“Hermione, we’ll be fine!” Harry and Hermione bickered all the way onto the train until the three sat down in their booth.
Harry’s glasses were skewed, so Hermione spelled them back to normal. Harry thanked her, but of course, Hermione couldn’t pass up the opportunity to lecture him about wearing his glasses during his quidditch games. Usually, Ron would usually try to defend Harry, saying that he couldn't see without his glasses, or simply laugh at how stiff Hermione could be, but he was lost in thought, his friend’s voices fading into the background.
He stared out the window. Still, he wasn’t even processing anything, not the green hills or the faint sight of smoke descending from the top of the train, everything blurring into a hazy backdrop, the rhythmic clatter of the train wheels providing a steady, hypnotic soundtrack to his thoughts.
"Ron, are you alright?" Hermione's voice broke through his trance, pulling him back to reality once again. She peered at him with concern, her eyebrows furrowed.
“Oh uh, yeah! I'm okay, I'm just thinking.”
Ron answered, giving an awkward smile, as Hermione gave him a skeptical gaze. “About Blaise?”
“No! Well… yes? It’s just-” Ron stuttered, unsure how to explain this to his friend without her taking it the wrong way. He didn’t want her to think that he thought about Blaise the same way or regularity that Harry thought about Draco. “It’s weird, isn't it?" Ron mused, his entire face scrunching up. “I mean, as far as I’ve been concerned he didn’t like me at all. Now he wants to write to me?”
Hermione couldn’t remember the last time she saw her friend in such a confused state outside of an exam. “Maybe he just wants to try and make other friends. I can’t imagine Draco being very good company.”
Ron shook his head skeptically. "I don't know, ‘Mione. It just doesn't make sense."
As the train rumbled on, Ron stayed awfully quiet throughout the rest of the journey, even if his friends were able to pull him into conversation from time to time. He kept trying to bring the topic back to Blaise, trying to think of a logical explanation for the sudden behavior, but the two mostly just shrugged it off.
Only when Ron didn’t react to the candy kart coming past did Harry and Hermione decide they were fed up.
“Ron!” Hermione snapped, slapping Ron on the knee. “You’ve been zoned out for the entire train ride!”
Harry nodded in agreement. “Mate, you don’t need to keep thinking about what he said. It was probably just one of Malfoy’s pranks anyway.” He shrugged, before throwing a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans onto Ron’s lap. “Now cheer up and pick one. I want to see if you get dirt like last time.”
Ron chuckled, taking a bean out of the box and actually joining the conversation this time. Though something lingered in the back of his mind...
A prank...
Yeah, that was probably it.
They went mostly back to normal conversation. Harry bought plenty of treats to last the rest of the trip and more, despite Hermione’s protests. Ron kept his thoughts to himself as the train rumbled on, eventually arriving back at Hogsmeade station, where he, Harry, and Hermione all made their way to the exit, their baggage packed with their belongings for the break in hand.
They said goodbye one last time, and went their separate ways for the summer, Ron joining his siblings to go meet their mother where she was picking them up.