Routine

A/N: Thanks to belovedranger, for her brilliant beta work and suggestions.

I’ve heard people say, namely Ron and Harry, how predictable and boring following a routine can be. I’ve heard them complain about doing the same thing every day. There are those who claim that with a routine there is no thrill… nothing new or exciting to look forward to.

Of course, my rational, organized mind had to disagree. A routine is useful and functional. It helps prioritize; it gives each activity its proper time. It avoids confusion about what you should be doing, it doesn’t allow for time wasted, and it certainly gives your life a comfortable structure.

I quite like knowing that every morning my alarm goes off at 6:30. This gives me plenty of time to shower, get dressed, prepare for the day’s lessons, and still have time for a non-rushed breakfast.

I enjoy the luxury my routine gives me when I arrive exactly fifteen minutes before each class begins. It gives me the chance to pick out my favorite seat, and save the seats next to me for Ron and Harry. I can take out my book, and have my parchment, quill and ink ready to take notes.

I like knowing that I have Potions class twice a week at ten o’clock on the dot. That I have Transfiguration class everyday after lunch, Charms every Tuesday and Thursday at nine, and Ancient Runes at three in the afternoon every Wednesday and Friday. With my schedule all set, I can easily pencil in sufficient time to study and do homework, Horcrux research time, and even allow myself a bit of a free period – which I must plan for ahead of time.

Not to say that there aren’t times, many times, when Ron and Harry interrupt my perfectly scheduled day with a sudden idea to go off on some elaborate escapade.

Nowadays, it is no longer the kind of childhood adventures we used to have during our first years at Hogwarts, when we didn’t know any better. There are no midnight duels to attend to, no empty bathrooms where we build a highly secret potion, not even a three-headed dog that we have to fool.

Now we know what’s at stake, what’s out there to destroy us… or to be destroyed. I have to follow them, of course I do. I’m not about to let them go off by themselves… especially not during this time of war. That is the only time when I don’t mind altering my perfectly set-up routine, only for them… for my best friends.

Even on the weekends when Harry, Ron and I go off to some secret place in hopes of finding one of Voldemort’s elusive Horcruxes, I insist on keeping a set routine. We must first arrive quietly, and observe our surroundings making sure no one around us is suspicious. Then we must settle in before looking for any signs of Dark Magic, and finally if we do find what we’re looking for, we must logically try to figure out the best way to destroy that trapped part of Voldemort’s soul.

So until very recently I was perfectly happy to live with a set routine. I didn’t need unnecessary thrills, or unexpected adventures – I liked the stability my routine offered. That is until the day a blue-eyed, red-headed, stubbornly spontaneous Weasley changed my mind.

The day Ron and I became more than friends my whole word got turned up-side down, and surprisingly it made perfect sense.

At first, I would easily blush when Ron would wink at me from across the Common Room, or when while walking down the student-filled corridors he would put his arm around my shoulders and steal a quick kiss. I knew there was nothing wrong with it, but I just wasn’t used to his shameless flirting. The depth of his affection was now out in the open, and he wasn’t holding back.

With Ron in my life as something more than my best friend, I was no longer was able to keep a steady routine. I learned that it was perfectly all right to stay in bed twenty minutes longer in the mornings if that meant remembering how soft and warm his lips had felt the last time we had kissed.

I learned that getting to class just as it was about to start wasn’t so bad, especially because Ron had pulled me into a dark corner to nuzzle my neck and to kiss me deeply. I learned that it’s much more pleasing to pencil in “Ron” time instead of homework time, and now I find myself making more and more time for Ron. I just can’t keep away from him.

I learned to enjoy having lunch under our favorite beech tree instead of in the crowded Great Hall. I learned that I’d rather study in the cozy armchair next to the fire with Ron sitting next to me, than in the cold and often empty library. And most importantly, I learned that new thrills and unexpected adventures with Ron at my side is exactly what I had needed.

So I no longer keep a detailed minute to minute routine. I now enjoy the daily surprises -some sweet, others more playful - that Ron brings to my life. I tend to become easily flustered when during class Ron lets his hand drop under the desk to trace small circles on my thigh. I turn to find a knowing look and his irresistible lop-sided grin. He’s impossible… and adorable!

I like his kiss in the morning and the way he cups my face and runs his thumb along my lower lip just as he’s leaning in. I like how his teasing is now more personal; it has grown to a fun banter instead of the awful rows we used to have. I like that after his Quidditch practices we stay out in the grounds to take a walk around the lake.

I like that Ron comes first, even before lessons, homework, or even the horcrux hunt. He gives me hope, a reason to be a better person, to fight tirelessly and triumph. All that’s certainly better than the comfortable structure of my former routine, however perfect it may have been.