Chapter Text
Ron sighed as he ruffled up the hair that Ginny had seemed to think that he needed to fix. Every day she was becoming more and more like their mother - well, if their mother was obsessed with Quidditch, that was. He knew that she was worried about him, but honestly? He’d never felt better. He had been with Hermione for over twenty-five years, but that didn’t mean that he was now going to let the fact that they had parted ways get in the way of him actually doing things that he enjoyed. He supposed in a way that confirmed that they weren’t meant for each other. He missed her, but not in the way that he expected to miss her. He missed her as a friend, as a co-parent, but he didn’t miss her as a lover.
Ginny didn’t seem to be coping as well with her own separation. He imagined that was why she was going overboard on the mothering thing - especially considering that two of her children had already fled the nest to travel overseas and the third had the same independent streak as both of her parents. He did his best to let her do whatever would make her feel better, which fortunately meant that he got to attend more Quidditch games with her while he steered clear of his best friend.
He was mad at Harry, though for what particular reason he couldn’t be sure. It could have been to do with the fact that Harry had broken his little sister's heart, or could have been all because he had hated Malfoy even before he even knew who the guy was.
He got it, he supposed, that Harry couldn't control who he had feelings for. It just bugged him that it had taken him thirty-odd years to realise that those feelings existed in the first place. It meant that his sister got hurt in the process and it killed him to see her like this.
"Ready to go?" She asked as she turned to face him and Ron quickly dropped his hand from his hair. The last thing he needed was her to fix his hair once again. He looked much better with his thinning hair all mussed up, it was harder to see his bald spots that way.
"Yeah, sure." He gave her a smile as he took her arm and let her apparate them both to the game. Through her contacts, she'd managed to score them tickets to the Bulgaria versus Estonia match and while it might not have been a high profile match, Bulgaria was still one of the best teams in the world and other than the Canons, they were probably his favourite team. Everyone had assumed that his opinion about them would change after Krum had become such good friends with Hermione, but while he admitted to being petty, he wasn't that petty.
The stadium was busy, just the way that Ron liked places to be. They made him feel like he could get lost and escape from the intrusive thoughts that liked to plague him. He stood by the fact that he was over Hermione, but that didn't mean that he didn't miss her. He missed Harry too, and losing both of his lifelong best friends at the same time had taken its toll on him. He knew that they weren't actually lost, but talking to them about what was on his mind wasn't possible just then - not when they were the ones causing the problems.
He supposed he could talk to Neville, but he was usually busy with work and Ron didn't want to be a burden. Not to mention the fact that he had no idea how to start that conversation. Was he meant to just walk up to his friend and declare that he felt like shit? No, their relationship didn't really work that way.
So that was why he preferred to hide in crowds, to drown his thoughts in the buzz of their chattering voices. This was a definite bonus of going to Quidditch matches with his little sister. They both got something out of it, not to mention it meant that he could keep an eye on her without looking too obvious.
Ginny's contacts had meant that they got box seats with amazing views, something that Ron wasn't going to knock at all. The perks of knowing someone in Quidditch was plentiful. He stretched out on his seat and looked out over the pitch. The downside of being this high up was that he was now away from the hubbub of the other spectators, which meant in turn that there was nothing there to drown out the voices in his head that were determined to tell him that he was meant to be unhappy right about now.
He didn't want to listen to them, but it wasn't as if he had a lot of choice just then. The match itself wasn't due to start for a while yet and Ginny had vanished to go and do what she did best and network. Sometimes he hated how easily she could just talk to anyone about anything. He wanted to be like her, but he knew who he was, and he tried to let that be enough for the most part.
He pulled a packet of Bertie Botts out of his pocket. He'd been saving them for later but when the voices got too much, he more often than not found himself turning to food which gave him a lot of comfort. Other than his family, food had been the one constant in his life after all. He was lucky that he had such a good metabolism or he reckoned he'd have been the size of a house, or at least the size of a twelve year old Dudley - and somehow the latter sounded like a worse fate.
He'd just barely managed to erase the taste of an asparagus flavoured bean with a candyfloss one and almost an entire bottle of water when there was the sound of someone clearing their throat behind him. Slowly Ron tilted his head back and almost spat out the water when he realised it wasn’t his little sister standing over him.
“Uh - hi?” He said as he swivelled in his seat so that he could face the man, someone he hadn’t seen since his niece’s funeral. Viktor Krum, someone he should have expected to be at a Bulgaria match, but also not someone he had expected to come face to face with.
“Hello.” Krum nodded at him and Ron couldn’t help but stare. Why was he here? Where was Ginny? Why had she left him alone with this… titan? “I can sit?” Krum gestured to the bench next to Ron and he remembered his mother’s words, ‘it’s rude to stare’.
“Oh, yeah, sure..” He said slowly as he steadied his heartbeat, his eyes now fixed on the pitch below them again. There had always been something about Krum that had made him feel... something.
He folded his hands in his lap in an attempt to get himself to stop nervously fidgeting with the cardboard box in his hands. He couldn’t think of anything more embarrassing than ripping the box open and having beans skidding all over a box as fancy as this. He didn’t know what he was nervous about though, if he was completely honest. It wasn’t as if Krum was a stranger to him, they’d know each other for almost thirty years - and he was totally over the boyhood crush he’d had on the seeker once upon a time.
He allowed himself to glance sideways at the man who was leaning back in his seat, his hands behind his head and his legs crossed at the ankles as he rested his feet on the barrier in front of him. "Is this - are we in your box?" He stuttered out his question, mentally kicking himself for sounding so ridiculous.
"Yes. Ginny is good friend." Krum told him with a pointed nod and Ron found himself half-wishing that the Bulgarian would at least make eye contact with him when they spoke. He knew that many years ago that there had been bad blood between them, but surely Krum had had time to put that all behind him by now? Ron had, and now that he was no longer a silly teenage boy he could see that the whole jealousy thing was ridiculous.
"Well, thank you." He said after a moment before he looked away again, feeling just a little bit awkward and wondering if he should pretend that he needed a drink just to get away. He couldn't seem to make the words form on his lips however so instead they sat in relative silence for just that little longer.
It was Krum who broke the silence, which surprised Ron enough to make him jump. "You still love Mione?"
Ron's eyes shot wide and he turned to stare at Krum again. "Pardon?" He asked, his voice more of a yelp than anything else. Krum wasn't still pining after the mother of his children after all this time, surely? Though he supposed that now he and Hermione could reconnect if that was what Krum wanted. "No, we're no longer together." He managed to answer as he got his voice under control.
Krum just nodded in a way that made Ron feel more than a little uncomfortable. He sort of wanted to ask him to leave but as Krum had already pointed out, this was his box.
They were silent for a little longer in which Ron found himself checking his watch to see how long he'd have to sit like this before the game began and he silently cursed his sister. She'd brought him along and yet she didn't seem to want to actually spend any time with him.
"I am sorry to hear of split." Krum said after another moment of silence between the pair of them.
Ron just shrugged at that. "It was best for everyone." He said with a small shrug. He didn't regret it so he wasn't going to let anyone feel sorry for him.
"You are not sad?" Krum asked as he turned to face Ron who immediately felt so much better now that he had eye contact.
"No, I'm not sad." He told Krum as he actually managed a smile. "We're better as friends."
"Yes. Better as friends." Krum agreed, surprising Ron again with his response. How did Krum know what was best for him and his family? "I am better as Mione's friend as well."
Ron gave a light laugh at that. "Would it be awful if I said that I am glad to hear that?"
A smile flickered across Krum's lips. "No, not awful."
Ron met his gaze for a split second. His dark eyes seemed to see all the way through to Ron's soul in a way that made the ginger man's breath catch in his throat. He forced himself to look away just before a pair of hands landed on his shoulders, giving them a squeeze.
"You two having fun?" Ginny asked as she dropped onto the bench on the other side of Ron who was both glad that she had returned and kind of wishing that she would leave for a few minutes more both at the same time.
He nodded in answer to her question. "Sure." He said quietly, though neither he nor Krum had time to elaborate on that any - which was probably a good thing - before the crowds below them roared signalling the start of the match and the end of any conversation.