The beaming face of Mrs Weasley was one of your favorite sights in the world.
"Oh my dear!" She exclaimed, bustling towards the Ford Angelia. She wiped her hands on her floral apron before crushing you into a tight, loving hug. Glaring at her sons over your shoulder (she still didn't approve of them flying the car), she smoothed your hair down and gave you a kiss on the cheek.
"Thank you so much for inviting me this summer, Mrs. Weasley," you said once she let you go.
"Of course, dear! I know Ron was so excited to have you stay with us," she told you as she gave both her sons a quirk, yet terse, kiss on the cheek. The mention of Ron's name made the twins wiggle their eyebrows teasingly as you felt your face heat up.
"Come on, dinner's almost ready," Mrs Weasley announced, "Percy is working, and Ron is out, as you know, but the rest of the family is here so we will need to set up the large tables outside." Mrs Weasley snapped her fingers at Fred and George who were hoisting your trunk out of the back of the car.
"You two," she directed, "I'll magic her trunk upstairs while you set up the tables. And remember- no funny business. I've had it up to here with your tricks and pranks and the summer's barely started!" she exclaimed.
Giggling slightly as Fred stuck his tongue out at his mother, you turned to watch Mrs Weasley in awe as she raised her wand. Your trunk started lifting gently into the air, flying towards the house. As she focused on her spell, you watched as Mrs Weasley directed your trunk through and open window a few floors up in the house.
It was astonishing to see magic used so casually around a household. You weren't allowed to use magic outside of Hogwarts yet and since your parents were Muggles, this was a new sight for you. No matter how strange it felt, you found yourself excited. A whole summer full of magic and your best friends, what could be better?
"Dear, you'll be staying in Ron's room until he returns, is that alright with you? It'll only be for a couple days," Mrs Weasley told you.
You nodded quickly, "Yes that's great, thank you again for letting me stay."
After she reassured you that it was really no trouble, Mrs Weasley led you inside The Burrow. Your jaw dropped as you took in their home. Magic seemed to be pouring out of every item in the house. The dishes were washing themselves, a pair of floating needles were knitting a scarf, and a peculiar clock was hanging on the wall that had all of the Weasley's faces on it. The clock had each family member pointed to a different location. As Mrs Weasley said, all of them were facing "home", except for Percy which was pointed at "work" and Ron who was facing "Diagon Alley."
"What's Ron in Diagon Alley for?" You asked out loud in the living room. "Is he buying something?"
"It's a surprise," came a familiar voice. You spun around to see your close friend, and roommate at Hogwarts, Ginny.
"Ginny!" You yelled as you ran to her and engulfed her in a warm hug. She returned the gesture and laughed at your enthusiasm. Even though it had only been a few weeks since school let out, you feel like you hadn't seen your friend in forever.
Although Ron was your best friend, it was nice to have your girl friends as well. You always looked forward to nights staying up late in your dormitory with Hermione and Ginny where you could freely gossip and joke without the boys listening. They, unlike the twins, were very understanding of your hidden feelings for Ron and didn't try to pressure you into confessing them.
A loud thud, followed by boisterous laughter, broke you out of your thoughts as you and Ginny rushed outside to see what the commotion was. Lying flat on his back, a large wooden table pinning him to the ground, was none other than Bill Weasley.
The first time you had met Bill was when the Weasleys had come to visit Ron at Hogsmead in your second year. That day was unforgettable. It only took one look, and you had your first crush. He was tall, lanky, with long hair and a dragon tooth earring, and you were done for. You spent a majority of the next few months pestering Ron with questions about his mysterious older brother. After a while, he got so annoyed with you that anytime you even said Bill's name, Ron would threaten to write home and tell his brother that you were secretely a half-goblin.
Your crush on Bill eventually faded and from there on out your feelings for him disappeared with it. He was still your first crush, and your heart still rattled against your ribcage when he winked at you from underneath the wooden table, but you knew nothing would ever come of it.
The twins fell into another fit of laughter at the sight of Bill splayed on the ground, obvious that he just lost a mid-air table fight that Ginny said were common at the Weasley household before dinner time.
After the tables had been assembled properly and you helped lay out the plates, Mrs Weasley brought the food to the table. The sight of fresh salad, roast potatoes, chicken-and-ham pie, and meatballs with onion sauce made your mouth water as you realized how hungry you were. Once the food hit the table, forks and spoons were already digging into the delicious meal.
You were so pleased to be eating with the Weasleys that at multiple points at dinner you felt yourself gazing around the noisy crowd, beyond thankful for the millionth time that day to be staying with them the whole summer. You grinned as George put two breadsticks under his mouth to look like a walrus, which earned a laugh from both Fred and Ginny. Mrs Weasley and Bill were arguing about Bill's earring again, and Charlie and Mr Weasley were deep in conversation about the next Quidditch match between the Falmouth Falcons and Holyhead Harpies.
Once dinner was finished, you helped clear the table and went to the kitchen to ask Mrs Weasley if she needed any more help. You offered to do the dishes, but she only laughed as she waved her wand and the plates started bubbling with soap and scrubbing themselves.
The family said goodnight to each other as the sun set and you followed Ginny up the stairs, parting with her once she pointed out where Ron's room was. You thanked her as she trudged up the stairs to bed and you slowly pushed the door open. Once or twice you've caught yourself wondering what Ron's room looked like, but no amount of thought could have prepared you for the vast amount of violent orange that hit you once the door opened.
You walked into the room, spinning in a circle as you took in the decorations. Covering every inch of the walls and ceiling were Chudley Cannons posters. You knew the Cannons were his favorite Quidditch team but this was really some dedication.
The messy pile of school books and parchment shoved in the corner of Ron's room made you laugh. You knew this summer you were going to have to pester him to complete his summer work or else it will never get done.
Closing the door behind you, you set your trunk on the bed, the sheets also a bright orange color, and pulled out your pajamas. You hastily changed into them, feeling quite odd to be taking off your clothes in your best friend's room, and then put your trunk back down on the floor.
The bed sank underneath your weight as you sat down, pulling the covers over yourself. You took a deep breath in and smiled subconsciously as you realized the sheets smelled like Ron's shampoo.
As you reached to turn off the light on the nightstand table, something caught your eye. Hidden underneath the table was a light brown shoebox, labeled with what looked like your name on the side. Before you could even think about it, your hands were reaching down and pulling the box onto your lap. Sure enough, "y/n" was scrawled onto the box in Ron's slanted handwriting.
Was it an invasion of his privacy to open this box? You wondered to yourself. It's in his room, obviously hidden under the nightstand so nobody except him could find it. But it has my name on it, so surely I'd be allowed to look at it. Right?
In the end, curiosity got the better of you and you flipped the lid open.
Inside were hundreds of pieces of parchment, with black inked handwriting sitting inside. Upon closer inspection, you realized every piece of paper was from you. Every sly note passed in Charms class, every silly cartoon you drew of Snape, and every letter you ever sent Ron was sitting in this box. Your cheeks flushed as you picked up a longer letter you wrote him.
Last June, when your parents unexpectedly left for another foreign trip again, you confided in Ron about how lonely you felt. That summer, you and him exchanged long letters constantly, talking about anything and everything. The fact that Ron had saved all of those letters, just as you did in the drawer in your room, made your heart warm.
Sighing lightly, you put the letters back into the box and put it in its place under the nightstand. You turned off the light and soon were met with just your own thoughts to keep you company.
You drifted to sleep with the thought of Ron's hidden letters, wondering if this meant he felt the same way about you. Pushing the thought out of your mind, you hated to get your hopes up, you flipped to your other side and tried to go to bed. But Ron's smell was still on the pillowcase and you fell asleep with the freckled, red haired boy on your mind.