Drabble: You've just got to have faith, Gen: Ron, Arthur, Rose
Title: You've Just Got to have Faith
Written for round 1 of rw_ldws
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Featured Characters/Pairings: Gen. Ron, Arthur, Hermione (mentioned), Rose
Word Count: 491
Author's Notes: This never would have been written without the men in my life, who always support their teams.
Most people didn't understand. 'Why bother?' 'Why not pick a winning team for once?' Some even thought it was fitting. After all, given Ron's family history and the fact that everything he might possibly do had already been done (and better) by his older brothers, he might as well get used to failure from the start. And maybe they were right.
He could have told them about his first trip to a Quidditch match, and how his father had tried to gently steer him toward Tutshill, but how Ron, stubborn as only a six-year-old could be (obnoxious cousin Mafalda, who'd called him a stupid baby, had been a fan) held firm. How he remembered screaming himself hoarse, and how his father,(though he was a dyed in the wool Wimbourne fan) was shouting alongside him. How it felt to have his dad fully focused on him, for once. How it didn't matter that they were sitting so far down that the players above looked like bright orange insects and that they couldn't afford to purchase any of the mouthwatering Cornish pasties (let alone the butterbeer or the roasted chestnuts) that were being passed down the seats by vendors. How he left the game pink-cheeked and excited, even though it broke his heart to see the orange-robed players flying past the smug Tornados, their shoulders weighed down with failure. Or how his dad had put his hand on his shoulder as they left, asking him if he'd had fun.
"Oh, yes," he'd cried, but then he frowned as he thought of the miserable Keeper who'd started out with a smile not unlike the one Ron saw in the mirror every morning. "But Daddy, I really wanted them to win."
"So did I, Ronnie, so did I." His dad had then squatted down to Ron's eye level and mussed his hair, smiling that special smile that only came out when he was particularly proud of Ron. "But they will, someday. You've just got to have faith."
For years, it had been the very memory behind his Patronus, and it was only replaced by the birth of his children.
Instead of trying to explain, he would simply shrug and say, "What can I say? Never could resist a lost cause, could I?" And they'd laugh, thinking of Hermione, or the war, and say something about it being a good thing he couldn't.
*^*^*^*
"Daddy, I really hoped they would win."
"So did I, Rosie girl, so did I. But they will, someday." Ron lifted his daughter up--mad red hair, silly Cannons hat, toy broom and all--swinging her around in the air and kissing her cheek soundly. " You've just got to have faith."