Zirconia- A Ron Weasley Story

Diagonilly

"Diagonilly" -Daniel Radcliffe

"That was hilarious!"

"That was embarrassing, actually."

You and your friends were sitting inside Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor. Everyone seemed to have found the incident with Cormac "funny" or "awesome", but deep down you wished they would forget about it.

They boys had no idea what it felt like to be catcalled, and Ginny and Hermione were only focused on the fact that you had kicked McLaggen in the balls. And the more they talked about it, the more you were forced to replay the memory of it all.

Your only solace was the comfort of Ron's hand resting protectively on your thigh under the table. You were in too bad of a mood now to feel flustered about it, and you were even close to resting your head on his shoulder when George very suddenly changed the subject. Finally.

"There's an empty store for lease. Do you see it? Right there in the middle of the Alley," He said pointing out the window to a boarded up shop. Fred squinted at it, "Yeah, you're right. That would be the perfect place for..." He trailed off.

A tray filled with bowls of ice cream magically floated in front of your table. Unloading the tray, and handing out everyone's ice cream order, Hermione asked, "It would be a perfect place for what?"

Fred and George shared a look, then began to share. "Well, we were thinking, since our Weasley Wizard Wheezes products have really taken off-" "-And we're graduating this year-" "Why not sell our products for real, in our own shop?" The twins finished each other's sentences.

"That's an incredible idea!" You said excitedly. You had always been an avid supporter of the Weasley Wizard Wheezes company, especially when it targeted Umbridge.

Everyone seemed to share your level of support, except Hermione, but that didn't surprise you. She was a prefect at heart, and you knew she so desperately wanted to tell them off for their pranks.

"Did you guys see the gold cauldron in Potage's Cauldron Shop? Wouldn't mind getting my hands on one of those," Harry said with an inflection that meant he was throwing out ideas for what to get him for Christmas. Ron must have picked up on this.

"Oh, yeah lets just waltz down to Potage's and buy ourselves some solid gold. Bet that comes cheap," He said pointedly. You all chatted for a while on gifts, occasionally mentioning an item you had been eyeing for a while, hoping someone would pick up on the cue.

By the time you had finished your ice cream, you could see Mrs. Weasley bustling through the crowd carrying bags filled with knuts, sickles, and galleons. Hermione collected everyone's dishes and placed them in a neat pile on the table. Everyone paid their share of the bill, and you all made your way outside to meet Mrs. Weasley at the Leaky Cauldron.

"Hello children, your mother's over there," Tom the bartender greeted you as you walked inside. Mrs. Weasley was sitting at a table in the corner, counting out and splitting the money for each of her kids.

"Oh, hello you all, I've just finished sorting the money out. Fred, George, here's your share-I expect it not to be wasted at that bloody joke shop-Ron, and Ginny...Hermione...Harry, dear, could you hand this last bag to your sister...thank you..."

Money in hand, you agreed to meet back at the Burrow in two hours, then watched as everyone parted ways to begin shopping. You already had a few items in mind for your friends.

Ginny had been talking about a pair of very expensive earrings she desperately wanted for weeks now, and Hermione had mentioned wanting a Quick Quotes Quill (She complained her hands couldn't move as fast as her brain).

At one vendor, you found a pair of enchanted gloves Charlie could use when handling dragons, as well as healthy venus flytrap that Neville would love.

A music store was selling the Hobgoblins newest album, so you bought that for James and Lily, they were super-fans of the band. You laughed a little when you found a mug set that was perfect for your dads (One said "I'm a morning person" and the other said "I'm not").

You bought a box of Dr. Filibusters Fabulous Wet Start, No Heat Fireworks for the twins. They had been experimenting with their own brand of fireworks, and you thought they could use them as an outline for theirs.

You bought Harry a new wizard chess set, and that left one more person, Ron. You wanted your gift to him to be perfect, especially now that he knew about your feelings. You for some reason felt you had to prove your love to him with the gift.

You wandered aimlessly for a while, viewing display cases, trying to come up with something. You couldn't buy him something for school, he'd hate it. You couldn't buy him food, he already had the greatest cook in the wizarding world for a mom. What were you going to do...

You were completely out of ideas when you passed by Quality Quidditch Supplies. A gaggle of first and second years were crowded outside the display window, admiring the newest broom models.

That's it! you thought, A new broom! His Comet was older than the Whomping Willow, and if he was going to try out for the Quidditch team again, surely he'd need a newer, quicker broom. You quickly passed the kids and walked inside.

You had never been inside Quality Quidditch Supplies before. Sure, your dads, James, and Harry were all big Quidditch stars, but you and Lily were never the best on a broom. Whenever the boys went shopping in the Quidditch store, Lily always took you to the Magical Menagerie to look at all the creatures.

The store was fairly big, with brooms suspended in air above shoppers to display the different models. There were racks of safety gear, and broom maintenance kits, and boxes that shook by themselves every so often.

"May I help you, young lady?" The man behind the counter asked. He was short and stout with a black handlebar mustache. "I was wondering," you began, still eyeing one of the shaking boxes, "What is the newest broom model you have?"

The man chuckled, "That would be the Firebolt! But those are very expensive, indeed. 600 galleons a piece!" You definitely didn't have 600 galleons left in the bag of money Mrs. Weasley had gotten for you, but the price didn't scare you. Your dress for the Yule Ball had been over 1000 galleons because Sirius had wanted to spend as much of his family's money as he could.

Thankfully, you didn't have to go all the way back to your vault to get the rest of the money, Gringotts was trying out a new system that let you sign your name on a piece of paper, and they would take the money from your vault, so you didn't have to. It was quite convenient.

You thanked the man with the handlebar mustache as he wrapped and handed over the new Firebolt. And, with all your gifts in order, you headed back to the comunal fireplaces and headed back to the Burrow.

Luckily, you were one of the first to get back. No one was in the kitchen, so you quickly ran your gifts up to Ginny's room. Hermione was already there and, unsurprisingly, had already wrapped and alphabetized her presents based on who they were for.

"Oh, y/n! Your back! Whoa, is that a broom?" She asked. It was pretty obvious what was in the long and thin box with the words "Quality Quidditch Supplies" on it. You nodded, "It's for Ron. It has to stay hidden up here so he doesn't find it."

She agreed and together you wrapped the broom in wrapping paper covered in candy canes and hid it under Ginny's bed. You moved a few boxes so it was totally concealed. "I'll leave you then, so you can wrap all the other gifts without prying eyes," She giggled.

You spent what felt like hours wrapping and labeling all the other presents. You couldn't lie, you weren't the best at gift-wrapping. Finally, you finished the last one. Placing it with all the others, you heard the door to Ginny's room open. "Hey Gin, I just finished wrapping everythi-" You turned around.

"Last time I checked, I'm not Ginny," Ron said, standing in the doorway. "Oh, Ron! Hey!" You blushed. You quickly double checked that you couldn't see the broom. "What are you doing here?" You asked.

"Y/n, we need to talk."