Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

"It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."
Albus Dumbledore
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

Part 1: The illness

It was subtle. Suspended hundreds of feet in the air on his broom with eyes watching the quiffle ball fly through the sky from Bill to Ginny he rolled his shoulders in an attempt to abate the ache. The ball raced into Bill's hands even as George sped towards the two to retake the game.

Charlie seemed to rise up out of nowhere and skimmed so close to Bill that their clothes touched. Charlie fell into a barrow row moving in the opposite direction and Ron smiled as Bill realized belatedly that he was no longer in possession of the ball. Ron hovered in front of a ring conjured up specifically for the game. Ron gingerly rubbed his hands, a habit he'd developed over the last year or so, in a subconscious attempt to rid them of the moderate spasms of pain hitting them every few minutes.

George whooped while Harry cursed from his position of keeper on the other side of their makeshift field. Ron knew it was driving Harry crazy to have the position of keeper. It required a person to wait for the action to come to you rather than the other way around. Harry needed to be in the middle of action. Sitting on the sidelines was a nightmare for him. Ron snickered.

He, Charlie and George made up one team while Harry, Ginny and Bill made up the other. Down below Hermione sat on a bench outside the Burrow with a book in her hands. Every once in a while she would glance up and smile at them all with a contented air about her. Fleur would come out once in a while and even participated in a game or two, but for the most part she was more interested in telling Mrs. Weasley how to correctly mash the potatoes or steam the rice. Mrs. Weasley was busy muttering under her breath in ways that caused many of the Weasley children to grin wildly and finally understand where Ron inherited his foul mouth.

Teddy Lupin, Harry's godson, was asleep in Fred and George's old room. It had been agreed upon by Harry and Andromeda, Teddy's grandmother, that it would be in the best interest of the child if she were to take care of him. Harry would be able to finish his Auror training and have some time of freedom that way. Harry still got long visitations and on occasions such as this Teddy came to him for the weekend so that Andromeda could have a few days off.

Another whoop of joy filled the air as Charlie managed to get the ball past Harry. Ron's smile grew. It had been a while since he'd heard George laugh. Not since Fred died. It was good for the sole owner of Diagon Alley's Weasley's Wizarding Weezes. It had been a month since the funeral held in mid-May and the depressed air around the Burrow had been hard pressed to lighten even with baby Teddy's giggles.

All Weasleys unanimously agreed to stay for the summer in order to pull everyone together after Voldermorts defeat. Harry and Hermione were just as much Weasleys as the rest of them at this point. Even Percy was there, though he still went to work during the day, he would return by five each evening. There was still some disgruntlement between the Weasley siblings, but in the light of losing one of their own, holding a grudge seemed like a luxury.

"Heads up!" Charlie called as he threw the quiffle back into play.

Ron rolled his shoulders again. It was subtle. He first noticed it's presence after Slughorn's little Christmas party, but honestly thought nothing of it. The ache had spread from his arms to his shoulders slowly throughout the second semester of their last year at Hogwarts.

The pain had intensified during the summer before the Hocrux hunt began, but since he had more pressing issues to worry about he'd dismissed it as unimportant. It spread down the middle of his back by the time he dived under the ice to save Harry and spread to his chest some time during their planning of Gringotts infiltration. Still it really only bothered him once in a while when the pain became intense, but otherwise it just annoyed him so he continued to ignore it.

His legs ached a bit now though and he found it harder and harder to lift things with his hurting arms. His hands possessed an ever present tremor to them now, slight, but evident to anyone who paid close attention. For the first time in his life he was relieved to be ignored by his family as they gushed over his best friends. And his two best friends were so busy they hardly had time to breath let alone pay attention to such little things.

He knew something was wrong, but going to a hospital because he was sore and tired really didn't sit well with him. George and Ginny would give him a hard time, laugh at him and tease him about what a baby he was. Harry and Hermione would get that petulant indulgent look on their faces that they did whenever he complained about something like his overcrowding siblings or overbearing mother.

Bill would not tease him for it, but Ron knew he would silently think lesser of him for not being able to deal with something so trivial just as he'd done when Ron had abandoned Harry and Hermione during the Hocrux hunt. Charlie would be disappointed in him for whining about such a small matter and though he too wouldn't say anything he would get 'those' looks. Percy would be indifferent. That was how his family was, you don't complain about something like a cold or a broken arm, you just deal with it.

So even though the ache in his body bothered him a great deal he wouldn't say anything because it was the Weasley thing to do. Being strong in the face of adversity and not whining like a child in the face of triviality. If he did go to the medics he would do it quietly and inconspicuously as possible.

The quiffle was aimed to fly over his head, but Ron raised both arms and nocked it away with his fingers. A spasm of pain ran through them and he almost flinched, but he managed to hold the reaction off. A disgruntled huff from Ginny above him and a low growl of displeasure below from Bill mixed in the air in a reassuring manner. Their family was a little broken up but not in pieces. Fred's missing presence was a gaping hole only time could heal, but they had each other to make that time less burdenous.

For now.

"I thought I had you that time." Ginny muttered.

"It will take more than that Gin." Ron replied good naturedly.