Bloody Tone of Surprise

First, and most important to the fest, was the fact that Tumblr would not let me log in. At All. Nada. And then, Oh joy of joys, it did! Except it would not let me make posts, click on my mail, or really do anything useful whatsoever.

And then it locked me back out.

It’s time for the third annual Romione Sin Fest! Last year, you all might remember that an art category was added—something I definitely want to continue this year. And while there’s a lot of material that can be gotten from the main theme of 7 Deadly Sins, this year I’m adding a new twist; the 6 Virtues! For those that want something lighter of more positive—or that have an interesting twist they want to try out. The virtues are:

Honesty Strength Courage Kindness Sacrifice

I hope to get a lot of submissions this year! They’re open now, and I’ll be starting to post them on August 1st.

The holidays are quickly approaching, and what could make the season more joyous than a new romione fest? Nothing. But this just isn’t any holiday themed fest! No, this one has a THEME! (Getting fancy, I know.)

Ever wondered what it would be like if the Yule Ball had gone differently? Or sixth year Christmas? Well, now is the time to write it out, because this year our theme is Alternate Yule! For those who prefer canon only, I’m also accepting related missing moments, or ‘dream’ fics!

Here’s the rules:

1. This is strictly Ron/Hermione! They can only be paired with each other–aside from the obvious Lavender clause, naturally–but please nothing explicit in that regard–that isn’t what we’re here for!

2. No rape, abuse, or anything of a nature that might offend readers. 

3. When submitting, please include the title, rating (all welcome!), and category for your fic; Yule Ball, Sixth Year, Missing Moment/Dream, and summary. 

I’ll be accepting submissions starting now, and posting will begin on December 14; as with my other fest, I’ll accept fics as long as they keep coming in!

First off, Molly is a witch, who studied transfiguration in school for years. She’s also an established seamstress.   So why not use transfiguration to fix up his robes, why not use her sewing skills to get rid off some of the lace and designs and extra stuff and make it something a teenage boy would want to wear?  Hell, She even mentions that Arthur has dress robes, why not let Ron borrow those since Arthur is described as tall and lanky like Ron and I’m sure he would fit them, and if he couldn’t they could shrink them instead of going out and spending money on terrible Robes that I know for a fact that Molly knew Ron wouldn’t like.

Why would she send her son out to  a formal ball, where foreign wizards and diplomats and important Ministry Officials would be attending, looking like a hot mess. Why would she do that to him? That is the equivalent of my mom sending me to prom in a sack.  Which she didn’t. My mom worked around the budget to get me a new dress and shoes, which is why I’m on Molly so hard for this because there is no excuse. She has magic. You do not intentionally send your child out to an important event like that looking like crap, especially if you have the means to fix it.

And what makes it even worse is that apparently none of the other Weasley kids went to the ball looking like something straight out of the 1800’s because you best believe Ron would have complained about it. We even hear about them from Harry during the ball and he doesn’t say anything about their robes being as bad as Ron’s so we can assume they had perfectly acceptable robes. There are some very unfortunate implications behind that.

And that comment on him going to the ball naked, and how it would be a good laugh was way beyond what is okay for a parent to say in that situation. It completely devalues Ron’s legitimate feelings of looking like a joke and feeds into his insecurities.

It makes no sense. I can’t think of any logical reason why Molly would do something so wrong.

Because at the end of the day Molly made a conscious decision to go out and buy those robes for Ron. At the same time, she buys Harry robes that she knows he would like, and that she put a lot of thought into getting apparently because she comments on how she got them, so they would match his eyes, while simultaneously sending her son out with horrendously ugly robes with no thought put into the embarrassment Ron would feel or about the environment she was sending him out to because she knew  exactly what he would be need those robes for and yet she didn’t stop to think ‘ well maybe since this is such a big event I could make them look presentable’. Molly didn’t even try for Ron.

I think she honestly didn’t think they were that bad- and then ignored Ron’s complaints because she always does. She is always harried, and simply doesn’t listen when the kids complain about something as ‘silly’ as preferences of color of sweater, or food, or dress robes. I get it- they’re poor and have had to make do with whatever they have on hand- but she takes it a step further and truly ignores Ron the most of anyone.

I think she also doesn’t really realize- she’s not a stay at home mom with 7 kids at home anymore? Her life has changed significantly- she really did use to have 7 kids all at home at the same time- that’s a LOT of kids. At that point, she relly did not have time to deal with preferences on much of anything because at that point- be happy you’re fed, clean, well educated, clothed etc. She’s a great mom in so many ways, but sometimes she lets that harried attitude continue, even when she’s no longer the busy mother she used to be. Granted, she’s getting older, but….

 That’s one thing that what makes me the most put out sometimes- she’s always ‘such a busy mom’- but… her kids have been out of the house for 9 months of the year for 2 years by the beginning of Goblet of Fire.

She’s legit busy in the summer- or on holidays when she’s feeding everyone- but Ron’s 4th year… What exactly did she have on her plate leading up to the Yule Ball after the kids are back in school? She wasn’t in the Order at that point.

 So she’s dusting an empty house, looking after chickens, doing property maintenance, and knitting sweaters and fixing 1-2 meals a day for 2 people, and lunch for herself. I mean, it’s not nothin’ to maintain a large property- but She had MONTHS to consider what Ron thought- and try to fix the robes then send them to him. She didn’t even try to do that because she dismissed it in hand at the moment, and probably never thought of it again. 

And it all comes down to the whole ‘I’m a busy mom stop complaining, at least you have robes’ thing- as well as a bit of JKR loving to make Ron the butt of jokes. I disagree that her joke about him going naked was out of line, though. Like, it’s funny. 

In the end, Molly (and everyone in the series) continually don’t really consider Ron’s feelings on anything, never apologize, and continually devalue him. It’s a theme- and Molly, for all her wonderful traits, is established as a huge insecurity for him even from the first chapter we meet him. 

The text mentions that Molly can knit, including with Magic.

But can Molly sew?

I dunno ‘bout y’all but sewing is a whole different animal from knitting. I was quite fortunate that my Mum knew how to do both - which saved plenty of quid when making both prom dresses for me in secondary. (I never was a size you could buy off the rack when it came to women’s dresses. Toss in my quirky style ideas then and… yeah, ain’t happening unless it was custom made, which my Mom did and I am so thankful for it. And I’m not even talking about the alterations made on my wedding dress.)

So Molly has the Twin’s robes and Ginny a Dress and Ron a set too.

Maybe she didn’t have the confidence to make fancy dress robes. Maybe the material (good wool by the yard and velvet and mother of pearl buttons and cutting the fabric the right way and measuring inseams and across the waist and shoulders) or the knowledge on how to do those things. (Master Tailors aren’t cheap, at all, even in the ‘90s!)

Even when my Mom made my dresses, she needed 2 months (I admit - she worked a f/t job too!) before such so I could have my dresses ready - but it also cost about $30 and labor to make them. (As opposed to hundreds of dollars but I digress.)

So Molly, who does have a farm to run (the chickens won’t feed themselves!) while Arthur is at work, could look at the situation and say, “I don’t know how to make fancy robes. How about I buy them?”

(Are renting formal suits a thing in the UK? Inquiring Dragons want to know if that’s only a US thing.)

Since Dragon is old, let me tell y’all that low-end dress robes from the era weren’t cheap - in the least. We’re talking 20-50 galleons each. That would be costly for 3 sets of robes and a dress, of which 2 certainly were only going to be worn once.

I dunno ‘bout y’all but can you come up with $500 (600GBP) for dress clothes worn maybe once? (That is the low end of the scale I mentioned.)

The twins, being shorter and stockier, are probably easier to find, robes wise. 5′9″ and maybe 170 so 42R and 36/32 trousers….probably pretty easy to find. They might get more wearing use out of them, or can dress them down into suits.

Harry? 5′0″ and 100lbs… 32s and 28/28. (I think his needed some adjusting but making a purchase wouldn’t be out of the reach here. Gladrags probably didn’t have a problem fitting him.)

And Ron? Bless the lad. 5′8″ and 125lbs. 34L and 28/32.

(All of these are pulled out of my scaly arse!)

The twins needed robes, being sixth years. Ginny needed a dress since Neville invited her to the Yule Ball. (Bless his beautiful heart!) Ron? Ron needed robes, too, but finding them might have proven problematic. Making them might be been problematic. And maybe all that was left after her running around trying to find it was… a grotty traditional one that she didn’t bother to adjust so it wasn’t to natty looking.

But when Ron complains, she gives cheek back. His complaining she’d see as being ungrateful which probably isn’t true but it’s still an insult.

Should she have gone to more trouble for Ron? Sure. But the theme of ignoring his needs or wants feeds into the narrative.