All That Matters
Ron stepped uneasily into the football stadium, his hand firmly classed around his wand just in case he needed a quick escape. It felt strange being surrounded by hundreds and thousands of Muggles and attending a sport’s game he knew nothing about.
“Tickets, daddy?” Rose asked excitedly, her eyes taking in everything around them.
Ron dug into his other pocket and pulled out two cardboard strips which Muggles accepted as tickets. Despite spending a lot of time with them, because of Hermione’s family, their ways never ceased to amaze him.
He showed them to a bored-looking man, who lazily directed them to the second row from the front.
Rose glided into her seat with an anticipation Ron didn’t understand.
Was this what Muggles entertained themselves with when they didn’t have Quidditch? What was football, anyway? They only played with one ball and they couldn’t even fly. He wondered how Rose found it interesting.
The grass field was rectangular and instead of three large goal posts at each end, a strange, rectangular net was there.
The mascots were pretty lame, as well. They were just people in costumes.
Sometimes it really annoyed him that Rose had inherited his own father’s obsession with all things Muggle. It seemed she found anything magical quite uninteresting, and that included Quidditch. But give her a ‘television’, or a ‘computer’ and she would be entertained for hours. But her greatest passion of all seemed to be this… football.
It was quite disappointing for Ron that she liked it more than Quidditch. His own daughter, a Weasley at that, who didn’t like Quidditch. But with a strong insistence from Hermione, Ron had reluctantly agreed to take her to this football game.
“She asked you. She wants you to take her.”
Ron had had no choice but to go after that. How could he say no to his little girl?
“What exactly is the aim of this game, Rosie?” he suddenly asked as a bunch of players in shorts and shirts ran out onto the field.
Rose sighed and he could have sworn she even rolled her eyes. “To score goals,” she told him as if she had said it a hundred times already. “Just like in Quidditch.”
She then went into a long explanation of how it was played, using words that made no sense to Ron. He was almost going to suggest they go home and she could come again with Hermione, but when he saw the absolute look of delight on her face as a whistle was blown and the players started using their feet to kick the ball, he couldn’t bring himself to say anything. So they stayed and watched, not understanding what was happening at all.
“That’s him, daddy.” Rose squealed, jumping onto her seat. Ron pulled her by her shirt sleeve to sit back down.
“Who, Rosie?” he asked once she was seated again.
Rose pointed to a long-haired man who looked as if he’d just crawled out of bed and come straight here. “Him.” She spoke with an awe that made Ron reminiscent of his once-obsession with Viktor Krum. “He’s the best. He scores all the goals for England when they play other countries.”
“Huh. So a bit like your Aunt Ginny then.”
Rose frowned.
The game went on for some time with no one scoring anything. The scoreboard sat at 0-0 for almost seventy minutes, until a cheer suddenly erupted around the stadium. Everyone clad in blue and yellow jumped to their feet, clapping, shouting and the players on the field were doing some kind of ridiculous dance.
However, Ron’s attention quickly moved to something else. He didn’t know anything about football, but he was pretty sure that it didn’t involve any flying balls. And there was a flying ball, zooming above their heads.
The crowd had also noticed, pointing in disbelief as the ball picked up speed.
Oh no, he thought, clutching his wand tighter. He wondered if he could stop it quickly without anyone noticing. But then he noticed two familiar faces amongst the crowd. His dad and Dean Thomas. They were here on business. They’d detected magic in a Muggle space and had come to investigate.
He groaned internally.
“Did I do that?” Rose questioned, panic in her voice. The ball fell to the ground on the field and the crowd cheered at what they probably assumed to be part of the celebration. “Oh no, I didn’t mean to! I mean it, Daddy! I didn’t!”
“It’s okay, Rosie,” Ron assured her. “We’ll sort it out. Come on, Grandpa Weasley has come to help.” He took her hand and they went over to where the two wizards stood. They both looked surprised to see Ron there.
Dean Thomas recovered quickly and said, “We’ve detected the use of magic here…” his eyes flicked down to Rose, who had her head down in shame. Ron squeezed her hand, letting her know it was okay.
“Yes,” Ron said. “It was… well, you know how little underage magic can be controlled. She got… excited. That’s all.”
His father and Dean seemed unsure on how to proceed. They’d probably come here expecting to confiscate a wand for some wizard being funny in front of Muggles. It was his dad who spoke next.
“Probably not the best idea taking someone so young to a place filled with Muggles, Ron.”
Ron almost blurted out that it had been Hermione who’d made him, but he thought better of it. He had as much responsibility for Rose and her wild magic as Hermione did.
“Yeah,” was all he said.
“Maybe you should head home?” Dean then offered kindly.
“Okay,” Rose answered, peering up at Dean. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She thought she was in trouble.
Ron opened his mouth to agree with Dean, but then changed his mind at the last minute.He shook his head.
“I’ve got it under control,” he said. “It was only a flying ball. They thought it was part of the show. They’ll probably have forgotten about it by now anyway. Besides, it could have been worse, right? At least she didn’t blow up the stadium, or put tails on all the… ‘football’ players.”
Dean and his dad didn’t look at all convinced. They shared a look which told him they were going to protest. Anger surged in Ron.
“No!” he said. “I promised Rosie I’d come here with her and I’d rather… I’d rather live the rest of my life without magic than break that promise to her.” He didn’t even give either wizard time to answer. Turning his back on them, he returned to his seat, taking Rose with him.
Rose returned to her seat, solemn and defeated. She cried. “I’m going to be expelled from Hogwarts before I even start!”
“No you won’t,” Ron assured her. “Things like this happen all the time. You aren’t to blame, Rosie. Kids your age have done a lot worse. Trust me.” He still felt angry at their suggestion he take her home. This was something she’d been looking forward to for weeks. He’d be damned if he took her home over a flying ball.
To get her mind off what had just happened, Ron asked her further questions about the game. With each passing minute, her mood lifted and she was soon explaining everything that was happening, a play by play commentary. Ron was actually very impressed by her knowledge. She seemed to know most players on both teams and could name their strengths and weaknesses.
“You’d make a good strategist for Quidditch one day, Rosie,” he told her, his chest filled with pride.
“I don’t want to do it for Quidditch, Daddy.”
“Of course not.”
A whistle blew and the players all started leaving the field. Ron frowned. “It’s over?” he said.
“No, silly!” Rose laughed. “It’s just halftime. They’ll be back soon.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Maybe we can get an ice-cream while we wait?”
At that, Ron laughed. “Alright, but you’ll have to show me how to use the Muggle money your mum gave us.”
The second half of the game was much more enjoyable for Ron. Rose rested her head against his shoulder and they watched it together. It was enjoyable.
“See, you don’t need brooms,” Rose said as the final whistle blew, acting as if she had won a long standing argument. “All you need is your feet. Other than that, it’s almost exactly the same as Quidditch.”
Seeing how happy being here made her, Ron couldn’t argue with her. She was happy because they were here, and he was happy because he was with her. It was because of him she had been given the chance to experience something that she loved. The joy he felt in that moment compared to nothing which he had ever felt before.
“I’m so glad they won!” Rose gushed as they exited the stadium with the rest of the crowd. “They’re now second on the ladder. They could really win this year!” She spoke with the enthusiasm Ron did with his siblings over the Quidditch teams. “Thank you so much for taking me, Daddy. I had the best time.”
“It was my pleasure, Rosie,” Ron replied, grinning. “I’ll take you as many times as you want to go.”
Rose’s eyes widened. “Really?”
“Absolutely. I had fun, too.” And it was the truth. Football wasn’t for him, but he had loved spending time with Rose. He always loved spending time with Rose. They didn’t spend enough time together.
Rose beamed up t him, slipping her hand into his. “You’re the best Daddy ever,” she said.
In that moment, it no longer mattered to Ron that she didn’t like Quidditch. It didn’t matter that she had covered her bedroom walls with unmoving pictures of Muggle celebrities. It didn’t even matter that she had insisted on going to a Muggle school until she started Hogwarts.
All that mattered to Ron was her happiness, and he was just pleased that he could contribute to that.