----------Title: At a Price
Fandom: Harry Potter Fandom
Rating: Teen
Genre: Friendship Fic, Character Study
Main Characters: Ron Weasley, Harry Potter
Relationships: Gen
Warning: n/a
Word Count: 780
Summary: Two best friends but two different point of views.
Author Note: This was written for one of ML’s writing challenge green with envy, the main theme was to write about envy. Originally posted on ML on March 13, 2023.
It’s was always kind of funny how he’s always wanted what Harry had, the fame, the confidence, to having to compete with siblings, the attention Harry got with not only his own family but everyone, and how his friend also didn’t have to deal with the poverty that he had too.
It’s not that Ron didn’t realize that it came at a price for his best friend because he did. It’s just that he felt envious and maybe even a little jealous. Now Ron couldn’t control how he felt but could control how he treated his friend. He did his best to never let his own emotional baggage get in the way of his friendship because he cherished that more than anything he had.
These were his own issues that he had been working through in therapy, which helped. What also what helped was growing up and the war being over. He now had his own fame, his own name, and his own money. That only solved some things, but he was willing to do everything possible to improve himself. Not only himself but his relationships as well.
His therapist told him that he could not control others’ behavior but only how he reacted to it. This had been very helpful in his relationships with his family, especially his mother. Ron could not control how she treated Harry as more of a family member than him, but he could act better around his friend as it wasn’t his fault. Ron never cared that his family treated his best friend well, only that they didn’t treat him well. Which his therapist also pointed out.
He was able to become closer to his brothers and sister, which growing up, may have played a part, but his attitude played the biggest one. They were closer than ever, and it probably helped that none of them were in their childhood home, much to the dismay of their mum, but he could not let it control him like he would have in the past.
Ron was determined to remove this envy and jealousy from this life, as he now had no more place for it.
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It was always hard to not feel envious of everything Ron had and, at times hard not to feel outright jealous. Since Ron had everything Harry wanted growing up, what seemed to be a loving home, living parents, siblings, and warmth. Looking back, all that did come at a price for his best friend. He just didn’t see it then, but how could he with his rose-colored glasses on.
Looking back, he saw what was happening with his friend in a family that accepted him as a part of the family, yet not their youngest son, but he pretended not to. Since feeling like one of them was something he wanted so much. His younger self would have seen his friend as ungrateful when that wasn’t the truth and just an unfair assumption.
He couldn’t control his feelings, but he could treat his friend better. It wasn’t Ron’s fault that Harry missed out on having his parents in his life, nor was it Ron’s fault that he had his. One thing Harry was sure of was that he would not let his own trauma affect his friend anymore because it was one of the most important things he had.
After the war, he sought help by seeking a therapist and started working through his problems. He didn’t expect to dive so deep or deal with his abusive aunt and uncle or the death of his family, but it helped tremendously. Harry having his new founded family and love from them helped, but that didn’t solve everything. He wanted to better himself and his relationships the best that he could.
In therapy, he learned that he could not control other people’s actions, only his own. This was so helpful. Therapy helped him with the dynamic with his friend and the rest of his friend’s family, especially Molly. While Harry could not stop her rough treatment of her son and how she treated him well, he could treat Ron how he deserved to be treated and limit his time around Molly. Especially since his therapist pointed out that this is not how a mother should act toward her son.
Harry improved his relationship with not only Ron but all of his chosen family. While their love for him was a role in that, his actions had a larger effect. This was the closest he felt to Ron and Hermione since their first year, and he was committed to removing envy and jealousy’s role in his life. There was no room for it.
