Unofficial Portkey Archive

Title: Harry Potter's Day Off

Author: Arachne

After administering a few Drying Charms, the trio donned their outerwear again and walked over to the Weasleys' garage.

"You know, that whole time, I was just mulling things over. Kind of ... meditating," Ron mused, almost to himself. Harry and Hermione exchanged a glance. "Then I sort of watched myself from the inside," he continued softly. "I realised it was ridiculous, being afraid. Worrying about everything ... getting caught today, graduating, my parents, the war ... all that crap. I'm tired of it. This was the best day of my life." He gave them a wistful smile. "I'm going to miss you next year."

"It isn't like our friendship will suddenly cease to exist after Hogwarts," Hermione chided gently. "It'll be different, of course, but we'll always have each other. Harry and I will always be there for you."

"It won't be the same," Ron sighed. "We won't see each other every day. You'll be off to Uni, Harry'll be off to Auror College and I'll be stuck living here and working in some dead-end Ministry job my father pulled strings to get me."

"We already don't see each other every day during the summer but somehow our friendship magically stays intact," Hermione pointed out with a smile. "We'll manage. And when we can't be there in person, all you need do is think of us and it'll make you feel better--like warding off a Dementor. Just think of a happy memory involving me, or Harry, and I guarantee it'll help keep your pecker up."

Suddenly, Ron's eyes grew wide and he paled, save for two faint spots of colour in the middle of his cheeks.

Hermione frowned. "What's wrong?"

"No-no-nothing," he stammered, clearing his throat. "Nothing."

Harry looked from his best friend to his girlfriend, then back to his best friend again, studying him for a few moments. "Ron, can I ask you a question?"

Ron winced in anticipation as Hermione watched them, bemused. "Okay ..."

"Did you see Hermione change her clothes in the garden?"

Hermione's head snapped towards Ron. "Did you?" she demanded. He hesitated, but the deep blush that now spread across his cheeks answered for him as he stifled a sheepish grin. "You saw me?" Unable to contain himself any longer, Ron began to snicker. Hermione folded her arms across her chest and arched an eyebrow. "I thought you were catatonic?"

"Er ... I'd best go and have a look at the mileage," he muttered, the tips of his ears glowing a bright pink as he jogged ahead to the garage.

"RONALD WEASLEY!"

Inside the garage, the Austin Mini had been Hover Charmed a short distance above the ground, in order to let the wheels move backwards freely (as per the High-Speed Reversal Charm Harry had placed on them). Ron took one look at the odometre and felt a cold sweat break out along his spine.

"Hey, Harry! HARRY!"

Outside, Harry continued to amble towards the garage at a leisurely pace. "Yeah?"

Ron met him at the entrance, breathless. "It's not working--the miles aren't coming off going in reverse."

Harry ran over to the car, Ron and Hermione hot on his heels.

"I told you that wouldn't work," she muttered.

"Huh," Harry said, bending down to examine the odometre. "I thought that might be a problem." He took out Malfoy's wand. "No worries, we'll just cast a Severing Spell to crack open the odometre, then roll it back by hand."

Ron snatched the wand out of Harry's hand and shook his head. "No. Forget it."

Harry looked take aback. "What do you mean, 'forget it'? Give me back the wand. It's not too late to salvage thi--"

"No," he replied, more forcefully. "I've got to take a stand." Ron stuck the wand in his pocket and walked to the front of the car, spreading his hands across the bonnet. The Mini bobbed a little under his weight, the wheels still spinning backwards in mid-air.

"I'm rubbish. I put up with everything. Happy-go-lucky Ron, the pathetic little waster who can't do anything right. I'm not the first-born or the baby; I'm not cool or brave or clever or funny. I'm nothing. My parents don't give a damn about me, and I never say anything. Well, they're not the problem--I'm the problem!" He looked up at Harry and Hermione, his eyes tortured. "I've got to take a stand. I am not going to sit on my arse as the events that affect me unfold to determine the course of my life. I'm going to take a stand and I'm going to defend it. Right or wrong, I'm going to defend it!"

He slammed a fist into the centre of the bonnet, where it made an impressive dent. Hermione gasped and took a step towards him, but Harry held her back.

Ron walked slowly to the passenger's side of the car. "I am so sick of this crap! I can't stand it, and I can't stand this effing car!" Each sentence was punctuated with a violent kick to the door, causing the Mini to list more and more to the driver's side with every blow. "Who do you love? The car, damnit! You love the bloody car!" His voice broke and Hermione turned away, aghast, tears in her eyes.

The last echoes of crunching metal reverberated throughout the garage, leaving only the sound of Ron panting and the hum of the wheels turning.

"Bloody hell ... I dented the crap out of it." He stared down at the Mini as if having an out-of-body experience, then seemed to recover himself. "Good. My mum and dad will come home, they'll see what I did--"

"We can cast a--"

"No." Ron held up a hand to silence Harry. "They'll come home, they'll see what I did and, for once, they'll have to deal with me." He shook his head. "I don't care. I really don't. I'm just tired of being invisible. To hell with them. I can't wait to see the look on their faces."

Without thinking, he rested his foot on the elevated passenger-side corner of the bumper. The driver's side of the car already dipped precariously close to the ground from Ron's repeated kicks, and his weight on the passenger's side now brought it down, too--too far. A second later, the Mini's wheels slammed down on the earthen floor of the garage. Tyres still spinning wildly, the small car catapulted backwards, crashing through the wooden wall of the garage in a cloud of blue smoke.

Harry and Hermione ran to the back of the garage just in time to see the Mini careen down the end of the garden and into the pond. The car's short journey came to an abrupt halt after it impaled itself upon a cluster of large rocks, its front wheels still spinning madly in the air.

"What did I do?"

Harry slowly turned to face Ron, Hermione echoing him a moment later.

"What did I do?" he demanded again.

"You killed the car."

Slowly, Ron walked over to the gaping Mini-shaped hole in the wall. Harry and Hermione moved aside to let him look.

"Bloody hell."

"This is all my fault," Harry gulped. "I'll take the stick. We'll just wait for your father to come home and when he gets here, we'll tell him I did it. It might not be so bad--he likes me--"

"No." Ron shook his head calmly. "I'll take it."

"No ... Ron, you don't want this much stick. Trust me--this is going to make my upcoming date with little Tommy Riddle look like a picnic in the park!"

"No," he insisted. "I want it. If I didn't want it, I wouldn't have let you take the car out this morning."

"I made you take the car out this morning!"

"I could have stopped you. It is possible to stop the great Harry Potter, you know." Ron gave his best friend a cheeky grin, but it faded fast. "No. I want it, I'm going to take it. That's all there is to it. When Arthur and Molly come home, they and I will just have a little ... chat." He smiled, wearing a look of resolved determination. "It's cool. Thanks all the same."

Wordlessly, Hermione burst into tears and flung herself into his arms, hugging him as tightly as she could. Ron awkwardly patted her on the back, then looked over at Harry, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again ... mental, this one."

Harry laughed and slapped Ron heartily on the back, joining in on the hug.