concept:

ackamarackuss:

ron is the only straight person he knows. 

dean and seamus are married. lavender and parvati are Living Together, not just living together, apparently, and boy did he get an earful about that misunderstanding. slytherins are always a little queer but their year seems to have taken it particularly literally, and of course hufflepuffs aren’t choosy. luna and his sister have something going on he doesn’t want to think too closely about, and there’s harry, who’s never really been one for dating but who’s been pining around and mumbling sadly about boys as much as girls, these days. and going through people’s papers after the war had all sorts of surprises come to light – tonks did her whole third and fourth years as a boy, apparently – that’ll be something to watch for with teddy, maybe; remus and sirius, as miserable together again as they had been apart. dumbledore, alone. ron thinks (hopes) hermione is straight, too, at least, but he gets the sense she’s just humoring him whenever he brings it up.

so his life is going fine. but then he and his girlfriend (!!) hermione run into viktor krum after the war. fleur, who’s still close to krum, had a baby; he’s at the naming. 

ron isn’t worried about the end of the world or danger to his family or his own jealous self-esteem anymore. he’s got time.

and it’s… well. krum’s victoire’s godfather, which makes him practically a weasley. ron’s stuck with him now; he can bear hermione’s friendship with the man with good grace. ron grew up a lot, during the war. he hasn’t got anything to prove anymore. 

but ron also learned how to notice things during the war, and he doesn’t know how to turn that off. it’s not even about hermione; that’s not what he’s noticing. it’s clear krum never got over her, but ron wouldn’t have either, so that’s a fair cop. 

it’s krum he’s noticing. he can’t figure out what it is but he can’t stop staring at krum, at the way he still gorgeous in the air but walks a little awkwardly, not just teenage gangliness but spell-damage from the war. he can’t keep his eyes off krum’s frowning serious face. 

krum may have long conversations about magical theory and spellcasting with hermione, they’re both brilliant, but krum talks to ron for hours about quidditch, too, and his face lights up the same way when he does, his hands sketching out plays. krum has elegant fingers. even though half the ones on his left hand have been broken and poorly reset, they’re still nimble. 

ron spends a lot of time thinking about krum’s hands. 

to his credit, once ron figures it out, he doesn’t spend a lot of time in denial. if that’s the way things are he’ll just have to do something about it. he’s got a plan within the week and starts implenting his strategy the next time krum visits england, three months later. (he moves slowly, sure, but ron’s always played a long game.)

five years later, krum’s living with ron and hermione, and playing for an english team. (ginny fouls him fondly but mercilessly every time their teams are up against each other.) hermione still doesn’t care about quidditch; viktor is going to retire soon because flying is hard on his injuries and they’re thinking about trying for kids. the three of them are so happy.