Fred and George were dead men.

Dead. As in buy two caskets, dig a hole in the ground, and throw dirt--fistfuls and fistfuls of dirt--into it, after those no-good, lousy git-for-brothers he�d been cursed with had been properly buried deep enough. And Ron certainly hoped it would be bloody well deep enough, all right.

This wasn�t exactly the first time that Ron had got into a fix thanks to his �loving� older brothers. In fact, it seemed his entire life had been one disaster after another that they�d managed to put him in, but this one was entirely different. This was far worse than anything they had ever done to him--including the time they�d turned his teddy bear into a spider and traumatized him for the rest of his life. No, this one was downright unforgivable.

And Ron had already decided that if Hermione decided to divorce him because of this, his brothers had better watch their backs, because he was going to haunt them for the rest of their lives.

�It�s a simple bet, Ronniekins,� Fred had said to him.

�And,� George made sure to add, �just think of it--there�s two of us, so if you win, you get double the payoff!�

Ron should have known better than to trust either of them, of course, but it was just too tempting. It had seemed so simple; that had been the beauty of it. The Cannons had managed to recover after Harry had been forced to retire from the team last season, and had been steadily gaining momentum in the last few months. By contrast, the United was a team on a downward spiral, ever since their star chaser, Zachary Lewis, had been traded to the Magpies last season. So when Fred and George had approached him with this �simple bet� on picking the winner of this ordinary, no-frills regular season game, it had been a no-brainer. The Cannons, of course. Only a ruddy fool would have gone with any other choice.

But as it turned out, Ron had been the ruddy fool. And worse, now he was a ruddy fool in need of a cash inflow--and soon. His one year wedding anniversary was tomorrow, and unless he came up with five hundred Galleons in the next twenty-four hours, he could kiss that jewelry box he had been eying for Hermione�s present goodbye.

Who would�ve thought the United would actually pull through like that??

Blimey, he wished he were dead. That might actually be a less cruel fate than having to see his wife�s disappointed face when she learned that she would not be getting a present because her husband had stupidly gambled away money on a �sure thing.� He was going to get Fred and George for this, if it took him the next fifty years...

But now there were far more urgent matters at hand; plotting Fred and George�s untimely demises would have to wait until later. First things first, he had to figure out where in bloody hell he was going to get this money. His next paycheck wouldn�t come till the end of the month, and he didn�t really want to turn to his parents for something like this (although Mum would no doubt feel sorry for him and convince Dad to help him out before proceeding to pitch into the twins--who would rightly deserve it, of course). No, that just wouldn�t feel right, though. He was a married man now, and somehow, the idea of asking his parents to help him buy his wife�s anniversary present just seemed so, well... pathetic.

Right then, so Bill and Charlie had to be ruled out, as they were thousands of miles away and would never be able to get him the money in time. And he supposed there was always Percy, but then Percy might not even give him the money, just so Ron would learn a lesson about gambling (never mind that he was already learning his lesson the hard way).

So that left... Harry.

Knock knock.

Where were they, anyway? It was five o�clock on a Saturday evening, so there was no way Harry and Ginny could be at school. And it was still fairly early, so they couldn�t be out, having dinner at Hogsmeade (besides which, Ginny, who was six months pregnant, had apparently lost her taste for restaurant food). Wherever they were, he wished they would answer the door soon. As it was, he was going to be incredibly late getting home tonight, and unless someone came to his rescue in the next five minutes, he was going to be done for.

The door swung open finally, and in his haste, Ron inadvertently caught a very surprised Ginny off guard by shouting, �About bloody time!!!�

�Ron!! God, don�t you know not to frighten a pregnant woman like that? You could have sent me into labor...�

�Sorry,� he mumbled, then reached forward to kiss her on the cheek in apology. �Harry around?�

She rolled her eyes. �In the study-�

Ron didn�t even wait for her to finish before he took off for the study, knocking loudly on the doorframe, and startling Harry into knocking over his bottle of ink all over his desk, where the indigo ink spread slowly over the blanket of papers.

�Oh, bloody hell--Pugaro!!!� Harry frantically waved his wand over the papers and the ink slowly receded. He turned back to Ron, annoyed. �Don�t. Do. That.�

�Sorry, mate,� Ron said, �but this is an emergency.�

Harry�s face broke into a maddening grin. �Don�t tell me...�

�Harry, I need your help. Desperately. Please, please, I�m your best friend in the whole world...�

�One of them, anyway,� he said. �Ron, you didn�t forget your anniversary, did you?�

�Of course not!!� Ron said, flabbergasted. He was insulted. Did Harry really think he was that insensitive? �What do you take me for, you git?

Harry was near scarlet from the strain of holding in his laughter at this point. �All right, I�m sorry, I wasn�t thinking. So what do you need my help for?�

�Er...�

Ron hadn�t quite anticipated how difficult this part would be. Blimey, how he hated asking for money. But he would pay Harry back at month�s end, anyway, so he supposed this shouldn�t really be that big a deal, should it?

�Look, what it is... is that I�ve run into a bit of a... cash flow problem.�

Harry arched an eyebrow. �Sorry?�

�A cash flow problem. As in, I�d been planning on buying Hermione�s present today, only... due to unforeseen circumstances-�

�Oh my God, please don�t tell me you took Fred and George�s bet!!!�

Ron narrowed his eyes. �Ginny, not now, all right?�

But there was no stopping her once she�d started. �Ron, what in the world were you thinking??�

Was there no end to his misery??

�Well, let�s see... The first place team playing the last place team--wonder which one I would have gone with?�

She tossed an issue of The Daily Prophet his way. �I guess you didn�t read today�s paper then,� she said. Ron felt his stomach plummet twenty feet at that moment. �The Magpies traded Lewis back to the United today, Ron.�

Unwillingly, Ron looked down to read the headline. The United Scores A Coup: Lewis Back In The Fold. Great. Just great. Just bloody, leaping great.

�So anyway, Harry,� he said, hoping he�d at least get some sympathy from his best friend, since his sister seemed too busy laughing at his sheer stupidity, �how about it, mate? I�ll pay you as soon as my paycheck comes in. I�m desperate, Harry. Desperate.�

It took Harry a few seconds to answer. Ron knew he waited extra long just to make him sweat it out a little more, but then Harry finally smiled.

�Oh, all right,� he said. �Let�s go...�

�You certainly pulled out all the stops for your first anniversary,� Harry said. �A five hundred Galleon jewelry box?� He made a low whistling sound, as if completely awed. �That�s going to be pretty difficult to top every year, mate...�

�Uh huh, yeah...�

In truth, Ron wasn�t really listening. He was too busy trying to find that damn store he and Hermione had passed by a few months ago, which had had the jewelry box on display and caught Hermione�s attention right away. He had filed it away as a mental note at the time, but most unfortunately, he couldn�t seem to retrieve that mental file at that moment.

�Five hundred Galleons--what�s this thing made out of, anyway? Solid gold?�

�Austrian crystal,� Ron said absently. From the corner of his eye, he saw Harry giving him a rather amused grin. �What? That�s what Hermione said it was, all right?�

�Sure, okay,� Harry said, though the grin remained fixed on his face.

�Blimey, here it is!� Ron said, seeing the familiar awning, from which hung a sign, The Hidden Treasure Chest. �I wasn�t going mad after all, I did remember it right!�

Excited, he burst through the door, with Harry in tow, but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw who was at the counter, waiting for the owner of the store to approach him.

�Right then, Mr. Malfoy,� the owner said, �sorry to keep you waiting...�

Malfoy clucked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. �You should be.�

Ron caught the eye of the store owner and offered him a sympathetic smile, then he turned beside him to Harry and muttered, �Just my luck...�

It seemed his voice was loud enough to carry over to Malfoy, though (either that, or he really was part-bat, as rumor had it, and his bionic hearing had picked up the new voice). He turned around and eyed them haughtily, saying, �Well, well... look what the cat dragged in... You sure you didn�t just stumble into the wrong place, Weasley? This is a first class jewelry store, after all...�

First year anniversary... First year anniversary... Hermione would kill him if he spent their first year anniversary in Azkaban...

�You don�t say, Malfoy? Well then, I s�pose I did luck out, didn�t I?� He turned to the owner. �Hello there, Mr. Garrity.�

�Hello-�

Malfoy pounded his fist on the counter. �Excuse me,� he said, �I believe I was here first.�

Mr. Garrity cleared his throat nervously, looking back and forth between Malfoy and Ron, as if expecting them to break into fisticuffs soon. �Er... yes,� he said.

Ron felt Harry tug at his sleeve. �You sure you don�t want to go someplace else?�

�No way,� Ron said. �This is where that jewelry box is that Hermione�s got her heart set on, and I�m not budging just because he�s here.�

As soon as Ron said the words, he realized what a mistake it had been to speak so loudly, because the next thing he heard Malfoy said to Mr. Garrity was, �Shopkeeper... I think my wife would enjoy a nice jewelry box to go with this nice diamond bracelet I�m buying her...� He turned his head ever so slightly, just enough to still see Ron in his periphery, then, watching Ron�s face carefully, said, �That crystal one...�

Ron felt his eyes pop open, a reaction Malfoy must have spotted instantly.

�Yes, that crystal one should do...�

�There�s only one,� Ron said to Harry in a desperate whisper. �Now what??�

�Hold on,� Harry said. He strode up to the counter, ignoring Malfoy�s triumphant little smirk. �Mr. Garrity...�

�Yes?�

�Is there another one of those crystal jewelry boxes?�

Mr. Garrity shook his head and laughed. �Oh no, I�m afraid not, sir... it is one-of-a-kind. An heirloom.�

�Ah,� Malfoy said, �even better, then. My wife really will be impressed.�

Ron was starting to panic now. He had less than twenty-four hours to get his hands on this jewelry box, and short of snatching it from Malfoy�s clutches, he wasn�t quite sure what his plan of action should be now.

�Just wrap the bracelet up, shopkeeper,� Malfoy was saying to Mr. Garrity. �No need to wrap up the box. I think I�ll just carry it around like this.�

With Mr. Garrity now busy securing Malfoy�s purchases, Malfoy was free to put his full concentration on Ron, and he wasted no time in beginning the taunting.

�Oh I�m sorry,� he said, with a tone of mock apology, �were you eying that box, Weasley?�

Ron didn�t say anything. But his clenched jaw spoke volumes for him.

Malfoy let out a condescending laugh. �Dear oh dear, I guess I just assumed you�d never set your sights on such a thing. I mean, how could you afford it on your measly Auror salary?�

First year anniversary, first year anniversary... Do not want to spend first year anniversary in a jail cell...

�Tell you what,� Malfoy said. �I�m in a particularly generous mood today. Why don�t I just give it to you?� He came up to Ron, who eyed him suspiciously, then extended his hand, with the jewelry box gleaming right in front of Ron�s face. �What do you say? No hard feelings?�

Ron was actually about to reach for it, when without warning, Malfoy suddenly jerked his hand away, and the box crashed into the ground, shattering into a thousand pieces.

�You bastard!!!�

�Oops!� Malfoy said. �Guess I wasn�t gripping it hard enough... Oh, shopkeeper--I believe we�ll need a few dustpans here...�

Ron dropped down to his knees and plunged into his cloak for his wand, waving it helplessly over the pieces, screaming, �Reparo!!! Reparo!!!�

�Oh dear...�

Mr. Garrity came running out from behind the counter. �I�m sorry, Mr. Weasley, I�m afraid simple charms won�t be enough to fix it... Its design was too intricate... We�ll never be able to put it back together...�

Ron stared at the gleaming bits of glass, his throat dry, and his vocal chords absolutely useless. Then he felt Malfoy move towards him and look down on him.

�Gee,� he said, �better luck next time, Weasley...�

The hollow sound of his laughter echoed in Ron�s head all throughout the trip home.

�Don�t you... like it, Ron?�

It seemed Hermione had been waiting for his response for a good two minutes now. Ron looked up and met her eyes, which were filled with expectation. He balanced the pensieve in his lap, still speechless that she had found the perfect gift for him.

Still guilty that he had messed up this badly.

�You said you wanted one,� she said softly. �I thought... you�d be pleased...�

�I am!� he said. �Really, I am... I can�t believe you got me something I�d wanted so badly...�

A tentative smile formed on her face. �You mean it?� she said. �Because I agonized over this, I really did... I wanted our first anniversary to be perfect, Ron. I wanted my gift to you to be perfect.�

�It is,� he said, reaching over to kiss her. He figured he�d better get all the kissing in now, because in a few moments, when he handed her the only gift he could come up with at this short of a notice, kissing would likely be the furthest thing from her mind.

�Mmm, good, I�m glad,� she said into his mouth. Her arms were still wrapped around his neck, and her breath on his face made him dizzy beyond belief.

All right, here goes nothing, he thought. Time to face the music.

�H-Here...�

He handed her an envelope. She was clearly caught by surprise, eying it in curiosity, before she finally took it from his hand. She was smiling; he knew she would be, because she was the kind of person who wanted to make sure the person giving the gift never felt badly, no matter how awful the present.

But this, he thought, was going to test her.

�It�s... a card,� she said.

�Er... yeah...�

His mind was reeling. Perhaps he should have stuck in a promissory note of some kind--just to let her know that her present was forthcoming, and that he hadn�t forgotten, and he hadn�t just completely fouled up their first ever anniversary by being a thoughtless, insensitive arse.

Slowly, she opened it up and began to read. He had charmed it to read itself to her, and he sat back, watching her face as it slowly went from what could be classified as anger, to absolute amazement.

There was a time
When I thought I knew
Everything about this great big world
Until I met you
Into my life
Like a brand new sun
Now I find my home inside your eyes
Wherever you are
It's hard to say it
Cause I hide things so good
But you make me say it
Like only you could

I love you
More than any man could ever say
I need you
Baby, let me count the ways
And I'll be here
I believe in everything you do
So how did I get by without you

For the longest time
Playing games of solitaire
Taking my wine
But now I'm with you baby
And I can dream out loud
You're as pretty as a picture
And you make me so proud
It's hard to say it
Cause I hide things so good
But you make me say it
Like only you could

I love you
More than any words could ever say
I need you
Baby let me count the ways
And I'll be here
There's nothing in this world I couldn't do
So how did I get by without you

You love me
Now I know that I'm the lucky guy
You've got me
And there's nowhere I can hide
So I'll be here
I believe that all my dreams came true
So how did I get by without you

In the morning light
To see you wake up next to me
It's a beautiful sight
Now everything's alright

I love you
More than any words could ever say
I need you
Baby let me count the ways
And I'll be here
I believe in everything you do
So how did I get by without you

You love me
Now I know that I'm the lucky guy
You've got me
And there's nowhere I can hide
So I'll stay here
I believe in everything you do
So how did I get by without you

�Oh Ron...�

�This isn�t the end of it, I swear!!!� he said. �Your present is coming, truly--I didn�t forget, I promise. I was all ready to get your gift, but then Fred and George tricked me into a stupid bet, and then Malfoy had to go and ruin everything, and-�

He never got to finish the story, nor make sense of it. She had already interrupted him with a long, breathtaking kiss.

�You were saying?�

�I, er... I was just saying what I had to go through to try and get your gift,� he said. �It�s coming, though. In just a few days, if you can wait...�

She smiled. �This was already perfect, Ron.�

�Really?�

�Really.�

�So... I went through all that trouble, and... and you liked this too?�

She brushed a stray lock from his forehead. �Poor darling,� she said, �you went through a lot of trouble for me?�

�Yeah,� he said, then he smiled and leaned in for another kiss. �But I guess... it was all worth it.�

He thought he felt her mouth make the shape of the words, �I�ll make sure of that...�

Author's note: the words to Ron's poem are actually lyrics to a song called "How Did I Get By Without You" by John Waite...