CHAPTER NINE - HEALTHY COMPETITION

Ron awoke to the harsh sound of an alarm ringing. There was no evidence of light entering the room, the curtains drawn closed. He begrudgingly sat himself up from the comfortable position he had once been sleeping in as he looked around the room for the machine that had woken him up. The alarm clock was not his own that had rung, but was located on the other side of the room. He looked over to see if Claudia was about to turn it off herself, considering it was supposed to be her own alarm. Yet he could not see a figure in her bed to turn it off, nor could he spot her somewhere else in the room. 

Ron could clearly remember them both returning to the room the night before, he could remember Claudia shrugging off his suit jacket he had leant her when the temperature dropped before pulling off the dangerously high heels she had been wearing, complaining that the new pair she had brought had obtained a small grass stain from the time they had spent outside. He could not recall her leaving at any point in the night, and considering his bed was the closest to the door, he had expected to hear her if she had gone out the door the night before. 

He did not want to move to turn off the alarm and therefore, decided to just take his time to get adjusted to now being awake. Rubbing his hands upon his eyes trying to adapt to the change from being asleep to being awake he could faintly hear the sound of the shower running in the bathroom. At least his questions were answered as to where Claudia had gone. 

"Oh shit I thought I had turned that off when I got up. Good morning Ronald." Claudia's voice would enter the room where the alarm was still ringing a few minutes later. She had a towel placed on her head and was tightly wrapped up in a dressing gown. 

"Morning Claude, sleep well?" Ron answered her when finally the alarm was switched off. His voice was groggy and he could feel the slight remaining tingle of the alcohol he had consumed the night prior. 

"Alright, might have had a little too much champagne last night woke up feeling like I'd been hit by a bus."

"Ooh I had too much champagne." Ron mimicked his deeper morning voice unable to hit a high enough tone to be overly effective but the idea was still there.

"Not looking all sunshine and roses yourself there handsome." Claudia compliment might have been backhanded in nature yet Ron couldn't help the little bit of colour which took to his face at the fact that she had called him Handsome. "No clever comeback. Don't let up now on me Ron." Claudia teased a little more aware the effect her words had just had on him. 

"What time is it anyways?"

"6:30am now, the alarm was for 6:20."

"Fuck sake its way too early for this."

"Go back to sleep I can wake you up about 20 minutes before we need to leave." Claudia offered but it was too late now Ron was awake. He knew it was unlikely he would be able to fall asleep again. "It's okay I'll just stay here for a little while."

Ron did do as he said, remained rooted in the bed he was staying in, absolutely in awe at just how comfortable it was. It felt just like it was perfectly matched to his presences, not soft and pillowy almost like it had been perfectly made for him. Or at least a spell had been placed on the bed so it was that way. Instead he watched as Claudia took her time to get ready that morning. As she blipped around the room trying to collect different items to get ready he could only watch on. Claudia never seemed overly stressed or as if she was becoming worrisome as she moved, rather as if she was just choosing different options. It wasn't like she was indecisive either, it was strange. Ron wasn't sure the last time he had really truly watched a partner of his get ready, or just a woman getting ready in general. His sister Ginny didn't really wear much makeup, or hadn't until she had gotten older and moved out of the house. And he would never have watched her get ready like ever. And for some reason his relationship with Hermione had been incredibly different. Things that seemed so mundane and domestic like this current moment with Claudia felt, it just didn't happen. 

He watched on as Claudia pulled through a variety of sporting attire, and wondered to himself just how much she had brought for the four day weekend. Before realising, he didn't really care as long as she was comfortable. After all, shouldn't that be the thing that mattered most. What he didn't expect her to do was to change clothes in front of him. He noted that she had already put her underwear on prior, yet he was not expecting her to strip down into her underwear and change before him. As if she didn't care that he was in the room with her. Perhaps she did not. Perhaps she had forgotten he was there, until it was clear she had not. 

"Are you okay there Ronald? Your ears are the same shade as your hair." Claudia queried and she seemed legitimately concerned as if she wasn't aware what had transpired. Ron could not answer properly only weakly nod his head, he was not embarrassed, rather the opposite. But he could feel himself becoming a little bit embarrassed. 

"I'm sorry did that make you uncomfortable? I know I should have changed in the bathroom." Claudia seemed to have worked out what had gone on, perhaps she had overthought that he wouldn't be bothered, that he probably wasn't paying that much attention to her. 

"You're very pretty." Were the only words that Ron responded and Claudia paused, she wanted to laugh, was she tried to work out what was going through Ron's head. 

"Thank you Ronald." She chose to let him off, not pry further into it. Rather allow him some time to get his self reorganised or at least over the show she had put on without exactly thinking about it. Claudia returned to getting the final parts of her outfit ready, she intended to look just like she fit in around the onsite golf course that had been set up for the group to use. Considering she possibly did with the lifestyle she had lived whilst growing up. And did live now. Her privilege considerably helped ensure she fit into places such as a golf course, large chateau and probably anything else she was to partake in for the rest of the wedding weekend. 

As a silence settled over the room, Claudia hoped that she hadn't ruined whatever form of friendship which was forming between the two of them. A catastrophist in nature, it was hard for her to think other than everything was possibly over. It was why she was horrible at keeping relationships, always seeing them doomed to end from the very beginning. It was also why she was so good at her job. It definitely helped when she was trying to sort out patents or go through the legal documents prior to establishing the case. If her senses told her that something was going to go wrong it usually helped her prevent it at work. She only wished that it was the same in her day to day life. 

The atmosphere remained slightly awkward as the pair continued their morning of getting ready. In true fact, the atmosphere only started to shift when they had left the room and started to make their way towards where the group were supposed to be meeting to start the game of golf. Conversation was started with a completely different topic in mind and things seemed to be moving on and away. And Claudia felt relief at the thought that things seemed to have been forgotten. 

"Claude." Ron whispered once they had finally made it to the rest of the group waiting on their arrival. It would appear ten people would be out on the course for the match. 

"Is everything alright?" Claudia had shifted closer to him to hear what had caused him to whisper so greatly, her body automatically moving to provide comfort, knowing that the man knew her enough where he barely knew most of the others surrounding them. At least in a way of which wasn't whilst they were school rivals. Her hand returning to rest on his left bicep, something she knew was becoming a bit of a subconscious habit. 

"I might have lied yesterday when I said I was any good. I've play mini-golf like once with my brothers." Ron continued to whisper not wanting people to catch on. A little embarrassed about his lack of play when it was clear there was bound to be a competition. 

"Don't worry too much you'll beat Draco easily. For an ex-seeker his hand-eye coordination sucks." Claudia whispered back the first part before speaking loudly as to taunt the man she was talking about. 

"Hey at least I had an athletic career. Miss I'm too scared to damage my manicure." Draco called back. 

"I'm going to trash you so hard that even the next generation is going to feel the shame." Claudia sent a small smile in Ron's direction and the man felt himself feeling as if he was back in school for a moment preparing for a match. The rivalry was present, but there was also no real pressure to it. 

The rounds progressed well, and despite his lack of knowhow Ron was doing better than he thought he would. Claudia had been correct when she stated that Draco had no co-ordination and was thoroughly embarrassing himself. Yet despite this, Ron also did not feel uncomfortable with everyone in the group making a collective effort to make him feel welcome. Greg Goyle, who despite having been possibly the biggest bully Ron had encountered during his time at school, was incredibly approachable, and it was clear he had done a lot of growing up in the short amount of time they had left school. Perhaps it was due to the witnessing of one of his best friends deaths which aided it. Whatever it was, Ron would not focus on it, but would rather focus on the fact that despite them having been on polar opposite sides conversation was easy. Gregory, who only went by Greg now, was still a massive dick. He wasn't overly likeable. But he was pleasant enough. His also barely 18 year old girlfriend was also another red flag. 

Then there was Theo Nott, someone who had apparently only truly become part of the group when he and Draco began working together. He was possibly the nicest member of the groomsmen that Ron had met. A lot more open and happy to talk about anything that wasn't school. So it felt more like an adult friendship forming than a teenaged one. He was also much better at Golf than Draco and wouldn't stop letting his best friend know this. He had brought along a random woman for the 4 day event, knowing that it wouldn't matter who he had with him as he would be too drunk to remember when the wedding itself was over. Or that was at least what Theo let Ron know. 

And as they came to the last hole of the game, Ron came to realise that the people he was surrounded with, other than possibly Grey Goyle he wasn't still that fond of the man, weren't exactly bad people. They for sure weren't people he would be going out of his way to form closer friendships with, but they weren't people he would actively be avoiding. They were for sure very different to the usual people he associated himself with. But it wasn't in a bad way. 

And all this fake friendship, being overly polite and nice to them all, if it caused Claudia to give him that look. The one which wasn't exactly a bright and cheerful smile, but still showed just how happy she was with him. Then it was all worth it.