CHAPTER THIRTY ONE - OUT OF SPITE

Ronald Weasley was not excited over the next task he had set for himself. Rather he was dreading it incredibly, but he knew he could no longer avoid what needed to be done. He had been living in a little bubble for a while now, well for a couple of months and he knew today it would all come crashing down. The bubble of joy he was experiencing, the pure happiness would be slashed after just one visit. The dreaded visit to his parents house. 

The crooked house in Devon, his childhood home which at one point had only been filled with happy memories. The place that he now thought of and could no longer feel all those memories. He thought of the home, the one he came back to every summer, which seemed to cast a dark cloud over him. A shadow he could not escape. The earlier shadow of his older brothers, the later shadow of his best friend. Ron couldn't help but feel as though he was never enough for his overly demanding mother. And that everything he did was going to be incorrect. He would never make the right decisions. It was cynical yes, but he knew that what he was about to tell his mother would be just another thing she would be displeased about. 

Yet Ron couldn't bring himself to really care, he was only going over to do the right thing, to let them know he was going to be a father. And he did not particularly care if his mother wanted to be involved in the life of his child. He had come to truly see how she treated some of her grandchildren if they were not of the ideal pairing she had in her head, and he didn't want his child to be treated in that manner. 

When he approached the house he used to be so happy in, Ron knocked clearly on the door. That same single strong knock he had found himself falling into the habit of doing ever since he had met Claudia. He waited for any signs of someone behind the door to let him in, though he got none. And therefore, he tried the door handle pondering if his parents just were not that bothered about someone being at the door. He did take a moment to wonder if they were purposely choosing not the answer the door, noting that none of their children really knocked. And anyone who otherwise came across the house wasn't really overly that important. So he let himself in. 

The inside of the house barely changed, there had been little updates in all the years Ron could remember. The kitchen remained unchanged, no new chairs added despite the large increase in the family size, dinner always seemed to be cooking itself, and clearly no signs of either of his parents. But there was evidence of muffled voices he could hear coming from the living room. Walking down the familiar pathway to the living room Ron noted that not even the pictures on the wall seemed to have changed. They hadn't changed in many years, or so he thought. That was until he took noticed of the corner which was the section of Ginny's photos. The parents having divided the hallway up for each child's photos as the family continued to grow. Ginny was the only one who seemed to have a photo of her wedding day on the wall, she was also the only one whose children were featured. Talk about the golden child. He only gave a little sigh out in reaction and continued on his path, knowing it would be silly to even stop and consider any more of that for now. He had something to complete, a mission and he knew that there was no point delaying the inevitable. 

Inside the living room Ron found not only the two people he was looking for but an added bonus. For sat on the armchair closest to the fireplace was none other than his little sister, and if there was one thing Ron could also do with was pissing Ginny off even further. This would also be the best way to break the news to Harry considering he hadn't seen his best friend in weeks now. 

"Ron sweetie how nice to see you." Molly Weasley greeted her son and Ron could only give his mother a fake smile in response, he couldn't wait to see that smile drop from her face. 

"Hi Mum, I did knock but no-one answered. Hope you don't mind me just walking in here." He replied waiting to see what she said before taking a seat down on the sofa opposite where both of his parents sat. "Hey dad, Ginny." He added on at the end just so they felt acknowledged. 

"You know you don't need to knock here son." Arthur was the one to reply but Ron could only continue the fake smile. "You're always welcome back home." And he knew that those words would likely be refuted after he had finished the conversation. 

"Sorry about that Claudia must be rubbing off a little too much." He shrugged but waited for a response, and when his younger sister grimaced he knew that this would be entertaining. He knew that her response would be something that would hurt at first but he could laugh over later on. 

"How is she?" Arthur lead the question as it was clear that neither of the two Weasley woman liked Ron's partner. 

"Really good, actually that's why I'm here today." Ron responded before moving to shuffled around his coat pocket. Out from it, he pulled a single photo the most recent one. He passed it over to his father and waited a moment before the man responded. Arthur remained silent before passing it to his wife beside him. Ron felt himself close his fists tightly as he awaited what his mum would say to him.

"Ronald, how could you be so careless?" Molly spoke and Ron felt that disappointment he had expected settle deep within him. 

"Mum, how could you say that?" He fired back watching again as the photo was passed over to his little sister. 

"Tell me you aren't keeping it?" Molly continued and Ron rolled his eyes, he had a feeling this was coming but it was still completely unnecessary. 

"I came here to tell you I'm becoming a father. Something I'm really happy and excited for and those are your first sentences to me?" Ron sighed unable to look his mum in her eyes and turning to his father waiting to see if he would provide any help. Rather Arthur seemed to do like he always did and that was blindly stand behind his wife allowing her and his daughter to do whatever they wanted. 

"You're having a baby with a Death Eater?" Ginny's voice was low and Ron assumed it was supposed to be threatening but he had watched his sister grow up and he wasn't scared of her. 

"She was never a Death Eater Ginny, I don't know how many times I have to tell you this. And like I just said I'm here sharing news which makes me incredibly happy." Ron crossed his arms as he stared back at his sister waiting for her next words. 

"You can't have this child Ronald." Molly continued to almost seethe and Ron sighed.

"I will be there for my girlfriend as she has our child, I'll be involved with their life whether you want to be or not." Ron didn't really want to continue the conversation any longer, he had lifted one weight of his chest and had already started to come to final conclusions just from the way they were acting in this moment. 

"You can't be." Molly seemed to remain on a one track path and Ron stood from the sofa.

"You can keep the photo, it'll be the only time you get to see my son." He dropped the final bombshell on the group of three before heading back out of the door he had entered in less than 15 minutes beforehand.