the only exception | ron weasley

ii. my summer?

Lorraine had sent him two letters over the break, with neither one being replied to. It had been a disappointment at first, but she was much too busy to even let it affect her for long. "You wrote back?" she whispered.

"Yeah, like, three or four times, Lorraine," he said with a breathy laugh. "You don't remember?"

"I never got them."

"Really? No wonder you're so surprised. Errol's completely unreliable when it comes to letters, sorry about that."

Lorraine recalled seeing a grey owl arrive at the Malfoy Manor every now and then. It had elicited an excited smile to make its way onto her face and she had rushed to the front door, only to slump at the sight of...well, nothing. Maybe Errol did lose the letters.

She smiled and shrugged. "It's alright. You can catch me up now, right?" she asked, eyes sparkling with hope as she watched for any sort of response. He smiled.

"I'm going to sit with Pansy," Draco said with an irritated sigh, walking to the girl without giving Lorraine a chance to say goodbye.

"Sure," Ron hummed. "I'll do so after whatever meeting we have in here."

Lorraine beamed and nodded, watching as he walked over to Padma, Anthony, and Ernie to join their conversation while they all waited. He must've known that Hermione wanted to talk to Lorraine--something the girl noticed the moment she glanced at her and saw her practically bursting.

"You should've seen him!" she whispered excitedly, grabbing Lorraine's hands and shaking them gently. "Oh, he's so whipped!"

"W-What?" Lorraine stuttered, her cheeks flushing at the thought of Ron liking her.

"I can't believe you can't see it, Lorraine...! Ugh, all he could talk about was you. Harry got sick of it after a while, actually. I found it cute. He kept just asking and asking if you could stay over but Snape was all like, 'no, Mr Weasley'. And you're the only one he wrote to!"

Lorraine's eyes widened, completely abandoning the thought of Ron wanting her to stay over. "Snape? He was with you all?"

Hermione's own eyes widened. "I'll tell you later. But forget him! Ron could talk for hours about you and not get bored. He so likes you."

"H-Huh? Hermione, you've gone 'round the bend. I-I don't like Ron like that."

The Granger girl rolled her eyes and gave Lorraine a look. "Ha ha. Lorraine, anyone can see it. I've known you for a year now and I know that look."

Lorraine wasn't sure that it was possible to feel her cheeks reddening, but she did. Her face was warm all over and her hands were slightly clammy while her stomach was overflowing with butterflies.

"And you blushing like that is evidence enough," Hermione added with a satisfied smirk. Lorraine didn't have the heart to deny the words because she knew something had changed ever since the night of the Yule Ball. She cared for Ron deeply, that she knew.

"I can't help it," she decided to say. "He's just...special. I've never met anyone like him. He makes me feel...nice."

Hermione smiled softly and rested a hand on the girl's shoulder just as the Head Boy cleared his throat. It was Jacob, one of Cedric's friends whom Lorraine had met a few times. He wasn't a Prefect last year, but now he proudly wore both the Head Boy and Prefect badge on his Hufflepuff robe. So, he was the one who replaced Cedric.