Interloping Enticement

...*chapter one

(ron's POV)

My 6th year at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was indeed an interesting one. Not interesting in a bad or good way... but I can certainly say that I learned a lot about things, most of all, myself.

    Whoa. I’m getting way ahead of myself. I tend to do that a lot.

    Really, I’m just a normal 16 year old guy. Oh, I’m a wizard from an old wizarding family. My pet rat turned out to be a dirty, dangerous man who was a servant to the most evil of all wizards. One of my best friends is The Boy Who Lived, and I get into heaps of danger and adventure each year at Hogwarts.

    Okay... maybe I’m not so normal. Pfft. Define normal.

    Anyways, the summer before my 6th year at Hogwarts was lazy. De-gnoming the garden, planning pranks with my twin brothers Fred and George, helping Dad try to make another flying car... I even asked my best friends Harry and Hermione to come visit for a week or so. Really, it was a usual summer in terms of the Weasley house.

    But what wasn’t usual was what I began feeling.

    It was kind of a tugging in the center of my stomach. It happened whenever I was in the company of Harry and Hermione. It felt as if a bird was trapped in my belly, fluttering around, desperately trying to get out. Isn’t that strange? At first I thought maybe I subconsciously didn’t enjoy their company and my gut was telling me to find new friends or something like that. But I exited that thought almost as soon as it entered. I don’t consider myself to be a tortured soul at all - but I sure felt like one that year.

    I arrived at Platform 9 3/4 just in time to meet up with my friends. It was strange that year because I was the eldest Weasley attending the school. Fred and George had graduated and Percy had graduated a few years before, so it was just me and my younger sister Ginny. I felt like I had a lot to live up to, being the eldest one in the family at school. But there really wasn’t anything special about me... Oh well, I figured it was time to do some soul searching.

    “Ron! Oh Ron, I’m so happy to see you!” cried an excited, female voice from behind me. I spun around to see Hermione Granger, my best female friend. She gave me a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek, which made that damn bird in my stomach violently flap its wings.

    “Ah, hey, Mione. Why are you so excited? We just saw each other a little over two weeks ago!” I said bashfully, fully aware that my cheeks were beginning to match the hue of my blazing red hair. (Damn!)

    “I’m not allowed to be excited to see my best friend!? That’s touching, Ron. Really,” she said, eyeing me curiously. I got over myself and put on a genuinely-happy-to-see-you smile. And then I noticed something.

    “Mione!! You’ve got a prefect badge!”

    “Jesus, Ron! I only told you about it at the end of last year. I love how you listen. I bet Harry forgot, too. Sometimes I think -...“ I rolled my eyes and tuned her out, scanning the crowd for familiar faces. I saw Parvarti Patil and her sister, and averted eye contact. We weren’t exactly each other’s favorite people. I saw my sister Ginny chatting it up with some burly 6th year Ravenclaw, and decided not to look at that either. I get a little overprotective. I was really searching for Harry, but I just ended up seeing my other classmates. Bah.

    “... by which time, I was named a prefect and you APPEARED to have shown happiness and enthusiasm for me, but I guess you couldn’t have been too enthused because you don’t even remember now!” I snapped back to reality, away from my thoughts. Hermione was still going on about how I didn’t remember her prefect-ness. Oh well, cut a guy a break! I can’t remember THAT much.

    “Oh yeah... Herm, that’s great. We’re all really proud of you,” I said, patting her on the head. She scowled. Uh-oh. Not a good way to start off the year.

    “Mione! Ron! Oy!” We turned around to see the remaining of the trio, Harry Potter, leaping through the crowd with his owl Hedwig in a cage. I was VERY happy to see him, and it wasn’t just because I wanted Hermione off my back...

    “Harry! Oh Harry, I’m so happy to see you!” cried Hermione. I rolled my eyes again. Must be the standard greeting for her. They hugged, and then Harry turned to me, grinning.

    “All right, Ron?”

    “All right! How are you, Mate?” I asked, genuinely happy to see him again.

    “Oh, torn to pieces. I just had a heartbreaking farewell with the Dursleys. They told me I was more of a nuisance than usual, and asked if I was old enough to get my own apartment and live on my own. Honestly,” Harry said, feigning a troubled expression,” I do not know how I will go on without them this year.”

    “Well, at least you’re here now. The train is about to leave! We had better go save ourselves some good seats, if there’s even any left!” exclaimed Hermione, and she zipped off onto the train.

    “I left out part of my story. The Dursleys wouldn’t bring me here, and wouldn’t give me any Muggle money for a cab, so I used what little we learned about Apparating last year, and illegally Apparated here from Privet Drive. If Hermione knew that, she’d go nutters. But amazingly enough, Apparition isn’t as hard as they let on. I made it here mostly in one piece!” said Harry, laughing to himself a little.

    “That’s insane! You, my friend, are insane,” I chuckled.

    “I know, huh?” Harry flashed a quick wink with his brilliant green eyes and darted up the train steps.

    Whoa. That bird in my stomach flew circles in my rib cage. It was just the excitement of getting back to school and seeing everyone, I told myself. You are just overwhelmed with emotion and happiness, because you are happy to be back. Err... yeah, that’s it.

    The train ride to Hogwarts was an uneventful one. Harry, Hermione, and I sat in an empty cart and caught up with what had been happening lately. Of course, we had seen each other just a few weeks prior, but hey, it was a long train ride. Hermione was explaining how she was taking some sort of difficult class, and I let my mind wander once again. It wandered straight to that wink that Harry gave just before we climbed onto the train. It wandered to how that wink made me feel. What the hell was that about? Before I could delve into that thought any deeper, the train came to a halt, and before I knew it, we were walking up the grand steps to the Dining Hall. The Sorting Ceremony and Feast were all kind of a blur to me. I was anxious to get up to my dorm, lie in my four-poster bed, and lose myself to my thoughts. I’m no thinker, I don’t daydream a ton, but I just really needed to think some things over.

    Finally, we were released, and able to go to our dorms. I felt bad, but I was secretly glad Hermione was tied up leading Gryffindor First Years around. I didn’t really feel like listening to her anymore. Harry and I walked up to our dorms together with some other guys, Neville Longbottom and Seamus Finnegan. We were all tired, so we didn’t say much. When we arrived in our room, we all pretty much hit the beds, and fell asleep.

    All except me.

    My mind was alive with so many thoughts, so many wonderings. I had spent all night watching Harry, noticing little things I had never noticed before. He had filled out a lot more over the summer, gotten a little more muscular in his upper body. Perfect for Quidditch, I had thought. But why was I thinking that? Why couldn’t I have been noticing how much prettier Hermione had gotten, or how her new haircut had made her look simply delicious?

    Maybe I had been noticing that?!

    So confused... I was so confused. And classes hadn’t even started yet! I decided I needed a good nights sleep because I would need to be alert the next day, and not just for classes! I rolled over and closed my eyes.

    But that was only for about five seconds. I felt someone watching me, and my suspicions were right. I peeked over my shoulder, and saw Harry Potter sitting near his window, staring at me intently.

    “Damnit, Harry... don’t you know people can feel others staring at them? You’re making a racket,” I said, half kidding. He didn’t answer. He just nodded slowly, and looked out the window. This was odd behavior for my best friend... or maybe it wasn’t. We’re an odd couple of guys.

    “Do you ever get so confused that you feel like nothing makes sense?” said Harry quietly. He looked pained. I got out of bed, and walked sluggishly over to where he was sitting.

    “Yeah... but I think it’s just a passing thing, Harry. You’re probably just getting used to being here again and you know... adjusting. Or something,” I babbled.

    He smiled. “Maybe that’s it.” He propped his chin on his hand and gazed thoughtfully towards the stars. “You know when you know someone, but you think you’d like to know them even more, but you feel like you know them so well that you think that they’d think that they didn’t know you at all if you told them how you felt?”

    “Oh wow, Harry... That was... friggen confusing.” We both laughed and then he looked at me seriously.

    “I guess what I’m trying to say is, my feelings for someone have gotten stronger, and I don’t really know how to tell them, how they’d react, how everyone else would react... I guess I’m just scared in general of taking the next step in the relationship,” he said slowly.

    I was dumbfounded. Harry and I never, ever talked to each other about love advice, so I really had no idea what to say. And I felt strange... the feeling reminded me of jealousy, but that couldn’t be it?

    “Ron?”

    “Oh... right. I’m sorry, Harry. I mean, what is this really about? Because-...“ I stopped mid-sentence. I realized what it was, and everything made sense. (Or so I thought.) “Harry, are you talking about Hermione?”

    Harry looked surprised, and then turned away. I turned away myself. I felt strange again, and this time I KNEW it was jealousy. And the only reason I could come up with was that it was because I liked Hermione too. I liked Hermione. How simple of a solution to my mysterious feelings as of late. His voice snapped me back to reality.

    “Yeah... yeah, that’s it. I like Hermione.” Ah, ha! I knew it. He went on, “But who wouldn’t? She’s smart, clever, funny, and gorgeous, and we’ve been through everything together. It was only a matter of time before...”

    “Before what?” I asked, pangs of jealousy searing through me.

    Harry looked away again and shrugged. “I don’t know. I should get to sleep. Big day tomorrow. Good night, Ron.”

    And to bed he went. I was left standing there with my eyes wide, in complete bewilderment. Harry liked Hermione. And so did I. I think. Maybe. I mean, I must have. What else could those pangs of jealousy have been?

    I went to bed that night a very confused man... er, boy.

***

    I woke up the next morning to an empty room with three empty four-poster beds. I was dumbfounded. All the beds were made and there was no sign of activity. I frowned. Was I dreaming? And then I glanced at the clock on my night stand and saw that it was way later than I would have liked it to be.

    “CRIMINY! Bullocks! Ah, bugger me!!” I kept exclaiming, and a whole lot of words that you wouldn’t want to repeat in front of your mum. Everyone was already down in the dining hall. I was horrified. I pulled on my school uniform quickly, grabbed my wand and ran downstairs. I nearly beheaded Nearly-Headless Nick.

    “Master Weasley, if you intend on doing that every morning, please let me know in advance so I can plot my morning stroll on a different route, alright then?” said Sir Nicholas, patting his head back on his shoulders.

    “Ah, sure, sorry Nick, ah, Sir Near Nickly- I gotta go!” I said breathlessly. I barged through the great doors and saw that everyone was halfway through breakfast. I scanned the room for my friends and saw Harry and Hermione sitting down the end of the table, having a conversation, sitting very closely.

    Damnit.

    Feeling too awkward and rude to shove in on them, I grabbed a seat next to Seamus and Dean Thomas and grabbed a bagel.

    “You look like death,” said Seamus.

    “Did you fall out of bed this morning?” asked Dean.

    “Ha, ha. No, I’m just running a bit, er, late. You know,” I muttered, stuffing a cold bagel ungratefully into my mouth. I glanced down the table and caught Harry’s eye. He looked at me oddly, but still I got that flutter in my stomach. He shrugged and turned his attention back to Hermione, who smoothed his unruly hair down and straightened his collar.

    What was that all about?

    I had almost no time to ponder that. It was time for Transfiguration 6. Ah, rapture. After a dreadfully boring class and trying to stay awake while wondering what my two best friends were up to, I hung back a bit, hoping to walk back with Harry and Hermione I watched in disbelief as they both walked right past me, arms casually round each other’s waists. I frowned at them and jogged to catch up.

    “What’s the rush? I know Hermione may be psyched about the start of class, but Harry, come on, why aren’t we lingering behind like usual?” I said with a charming expression.

    “Oh, hey, Ron,” said Harry, looking pleased and confused. It seemed to be a common emotion around here. “I was just walking with Hermione... We didn’t see you come in.”

    “Look at you, Ron Weasley. You’re the perfect picture of someone who overslept after not getting enough sleep. Honestly, if you two were up all night, secretly flying on broomsticks again, or getting into some other kind of trouble...” Hermione trailed off, looking at the boys suspiciously.

    “Forget it, Mione. I was just lying awake most the night because I... was nervous about starting class today. For whatever reason. Honestly,” I reassured her, seeing a skeptical look dancing across her face.

    “Well, you should go take a nap or something. We’ve quite awhile before our next class begins. See you later, guys,” she said fussily, and pranced off to the library. I looked at Harry warily.

    “So... you waste no time, huh?” I said, half kidding.

    “What? OH! Ohh... Look Ron, I think we need to talk.” said Harry, looking very bothered. He rocked back and forth on his feet for a few moments and then looked at me with those piercing green eyes. (Why was I noticing those eyes so much recently?) “But not here. And not now.”

    “Oh. Okay,” I said slowly, desperately wanting to know what was on his mind. “So I think I’m going to go take that nap that Mione was raving about.”

    “Okay... I’m going to go sit by the lake.” And with that, Harry gave a small smile, and turned towards outside. I wanted to follow him (why!?), but my better judgment and heavy eyelids were begging me to head to my bed. Which I did.

    But I thought about what he wanted to talk about for the rest of the day.

***

    It’s an odd feeling, it is, to suddenly realize all the attractive qualities in your best friend. I am not talking about Hermione. Oh believe me, I wish I was. It would have made things a lot less complicated. But no. I was looking at Harry Potter in a whole new light. I was seeing things in him that made me melt, made my mouth water. It was horrifying, and I felt like everyone was onto me. I felt like everyone in the school knew that I was fantasizing over how soft his skin was, and how wonderful it would be to just stare into his eyes without speaking four hours.

    Harry wasn’t helping to stop the sudden infatuation either. He would parade around me, without a shirt on in the dorm, he would ask me to help him with certain things on his Quidditch uniform, and he would casually brush his arm against mine while eating dinner or somehow find a way to have our feet touch under the table.

    I can’t say I didn’t enjoy every minute of it all. No, no, I was relishing the fact that the object of my recent desire was showing more of an interest in me. And I knew it wasn’t all in my head.

    “Ron,” Hermione said one evening as we were studying together and Harry was at Quidditch practice. “Can I ask you something?”

    “Sure, Mione,” I said, absentmindedly doodling a small picture of a figure riding a broomstick.

    “Well, this isn’t exactly easy to say,” she said slowly, closing her book. Uh-oh, this discussion was going to need my full attention. I gulped. “Harry told me something a couple weeks ago and it was rather surprising news. You must forgive me for being so vague about this all, Ron, because I am not sure if you know what I’m talking about, and if you don’t then I really don’t want to give it away either.” She stopped, and stared into space for a moment.

    “You’re forgiven,” I said uncertainly.

    “What? Oh... right, then. Well, your lack of certainty makes it clear that you don’t have the faintest what I’m talking about.” She said, looking a little perplexed.

    “Mione, are you and Harry seeing each other?” I blurted out, surprising myself and startling Hermione.

    She started at me for a few seconds and then smiled. “Why?”

    “Oh Christ, Mione, I mean, you’re both always together, you avoid me at all costs, you’re always whispering about something. If you two are trying to torture me in some way, please stop now, because it’s working and I don’t care for it much... you know?” I blushed. Not often do I like my soft under belly exposed. I sighed. “I just want it to be the way it’s been for the past five years or so.. Us three. Always together. The Hogwarts Trio.”

    Hermione smiled again, this time a little sadly. “Things change, Ron. Things change. People grow up. They realize things. They change... boy, do they ever change.” She gathered her things, muttering under her breath. But it wasn’t angry muttering; it was sort of a sad, confused muttering.

    “You’re leaving? Now? But we’re right in the middle of something... Mione, come on,” I knew I was whining. But I had to know if I was being phased out of the Hogwarts Trio.

    “I need to get some sleep, Ron. And you should too. Don’t forget our Charms quiz tomorrow.” She began to walk away, but her pace slowed up a bit. She turned her head ever so slightly over her shoulder. “By the way. The answer to your question is ‘no’.”

    I watched her disappear into the darkness of her dorm corridor. She knew something I didn’t. I know she did. Why did she look so sad? Ah, so many questions unanswered. I plopped myself down in a chair in front of the fireplace. It was really late and I didn’t care. Soul-searching is a lot more important than some dumb Charms quiz. I thought and thought until my head hurt and I only came up with one solution I was willing to admit.

    I wasn’t jealous over Hermione. My jealousy had nothing to do with her. I knew I might have been jealous OF her, but I knew my feelings for her were only friendship. I was almost right back to where I had started, minus that one thing. I think deep down I knew the answer, but I was not ready to admit it yet.

    The portrait entrance the Gryffindor common room opened and in poured the House Quidditch Team. They looked beat and very happy to be home at last. Harry, their captain, was missing. I imagined he was returning the Quidditch balls to the game shed.

    As soon as I had finished that thought, I saw him climb through the portrait into the common room. I sighed with relief. Was I actually worried about him?

    “What the hell are you still doing awake, Mate?” he asked me, kicking off his shoes.

    I gestured to my homework. “Three guesses. Apparently we have a Charms quiz tomorrow.”

    We both shrugged. He tossed himself in the big chair right next to mine, and sat in silence for a few minutes. I desperately wondered what was going on in his head. I noticed how great he looked in his Quidditch robes, and scolded myself for even having that thought. “Well”, I said. “No studying in the world can help me, so I’m just going to try to sleep. Good night.”

    “Night,” Harry said softly. He looked up at me from under his beautiful mass of raven hair. “I’ll be up shortly.”

    “Kay...” I said, feeling very awkward for some reason. I turned my heel and started up the stairs, cursing myself for not saying more to him. I wanted to tell him something. But I wasn’t sure what it was yet. But I knew I wanted to. I put on my pajamas and crawled into bed, but I didn’t fall asleep. Instead I laid awake, and watched for my best friend to come up.

    Harry came up shortly after, as he said. First he walked to his window. He was illuminated by the moonlight, and I could see his slender body line through his robes. His hair shined. He stood tall, looking like the Seeker he was, as if he expected a Snitch to fly by the window at any moment. I had a sudden revelation.

    He was... beautiful.

    Next, he shrugged off his Quidditch robes. After, he pulled off his shirt, and then I lost sight of him as he walked away holding his pajamas. I laid silently, nervous, excited, happy, scared, startled, and all because of my one little revelation. I had no idea what to do with it. I didn’t know if I should hold it in, or shout it from the rooftops. I just wanted him to know, I didn’t care about the world, because at that moment he was my world.

    He came back, dressed in his pajamas, and stood by his window again. He yawned and stretched, and I could see some of his stomach as he lifted his hands tall over his head.

    Whoa.

    I must have been breathing heavily, or maybe he felt me looking at him, because he just then looked over at my bed. I couldn’t hide what I was doing. I was caught, propped on my elbow, gaping at him.

    “Ron?”

    “Uhh... I couldn’t sleep and I saw there was activity over there, and I was just watching... and...” I trailed off unnecessarily explaining myself, knowing no excuse in the world could cover it.

    “Oh,” He said. He slowly walked over to my bed and put his hands on his hips. “I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep either.”

    He was looking at me so seriously. His green eyes were reading my soul, telling me a thousand things but I couldn’t hear any of them. I couldn’t comprehend what this beautiful person standing there was trying to silently tell me.

    “Maybe we should talk? About that thing you said you needed to talk about...” I mumbled, half wishing I was fast asleep, the other half wishing I was finding out what was on Harry’s mind.

    He sighed and looked to the ceiling. “I guess so. I mean, yeah. We should.”

    “Are you mad at me, Harry? Because if you are, I -...“ He put a hand to my lips. Oh, sweet silky skin. He didn’t remove his hand right away, but he slowly dragged his finger down my chin. I shivered.

    “I’m not mad at you. I don’t know what I am at you,” said Harry, chewing on his lower lip. “I feel like we aren’t the way we used to be, and I feel like it’s my fault. Maybe it is. I wouldn’t be surprised... Every time I get close to someone or something, it goes away.” He turned away, looking pained. I wanted to reach out and hug him and tell him I wasn’t going anywhere. I wanted to tell him I loved him in every way possible. I wanted to take his hand, and tell him not to be scared anymore because I wouldn’t let anything happen to him.

    “Harry, just say what you want to say. Please. I want to hear it.” I looked at him seriously with sincere eyes.

    He smiled and laughed a little. “Ron, you’re my best friend in the whole world. You know that. Everyone knows that. If I ever lost you, I think I’d lost a huge part of myself, and I wouldn’t be the same. You know me better than anyone could ever come close to, and I’m so very glad I have you.”

    I smiled. What else could I do? He continued.

    “This isn’t easy. Jesus, it’s hard. I’ve hated myself for even thinking these thoughts, but how could I hate them? They’re such wonderful and pure thoughts, I’m just so confused, Ron. You have to understand what a state of confusion I’m in. I’m totally lost, and I have no map to follow.” Harry sat down on my bed and put a hand on my knee.

    I gasped, more out of shock then anything else. He was inching closer and closer to me, my heart beating faster and faster. I didn’t want to fight it, hell no, but I really didn’t know exactly what to do, either.

    So, I did the first thing that came to my mind.

    I leaned in, cupped his chin in my hand, and kissed his lips full and hard. I kissed them for a long time, and he kissed them back. I felt an amazing warmth flow through me, I felt more comfortable than I’d ever felt in my whole life. I felt like I had never known what anything meant until that one precious moment.

    After a few minutes, we both pulled away slowly, breathless and sweating ever so slightly. I knew what I had done was not wrong - well, not wrong at the moment. I knew we both wanted it. But the next task was, what happens next?

    He smiled at me shyly. “Well, everything I wanted to say to you was just said in that... you know... kiss.” Harry ran a hand through his messy hair and sighed peacefully. He leaned back on my bed with his arms behind his head, as he often did when he was contemplating something important.

    “Harry,” I started to say, but he sat up and kissed me full on the lips again. Oh, who cares what I was about to say, I was engulfed in the most satisfying kiss with the most delectable person on the planet, I was sure. He knew me so well and I knew him so well that we knew how each other moved. He moved quickly, as a Seeker should, and I took on the more submissive role, as a Ron Weasley should. We pulled away again after a few minutes, this time gasping for air and looking disheveled.

    Suddenly I became very aware that there were three other people in the room who were thankfully fast asleep. I drew the curtain closed on my four poster bed and Harry and I sat facing each other, faces lit by the faint moonlight pouring through the cracks in the curtains.

    “You were saying?” asked Harry, with a coy little smirk.

    “Uhhh... I honestly don’t remember.” And I really didn’t. I scooted closer to him, and rubbed his thigh. “Why don’t you tell me exactly what it is you were going to say before I uhh... I uhh...”

    “Kissed me?”

    “Yeah. Right.” I smiled.

    “Ron, it’s a lot of things. I don’t even know when it all started. It might have been over the summer when I realized that I care for you in much more than a friendly fashion. I started thinking about you in ways that no boy should think about his male best friend. It scared me, Ron. Just what I needed, you know? Another thing to make me different, to make me stand out. I’ve stood out all my life; I don’t really need it anymore. But I didn’t care. I wanted to tell you how I felt. But I couldn’t... I didn’t want to ruin the best friendship I’ve ever had in my life.” He looked over at me shyly, and I kissed his forehead.

    “You should have told me, you nutter,” I said, playfully nudging him.

    “Easier said than done. Think about it, Ron. If you had felt this way for so long-“

    ”I HAVE felt this way for awhile.”

    “Okay, point proven. You never said anything to me either, now did you?” he said triumphantly.

    I was defeated. “Go on...”

    “I had to tell someone, get someone’s opinion.” He laughed a little. “I told Mione about my feelings.”

    Suddenly everything made sense. I groaned, and Harry looked at me questionably. “I thought you two were seeing each other and I was the odd man out. I put myself through torture for weeks,” I explained. He laughed.

    “I can see where you would get that. But no, the girl basically cried when I told her. She thought it was so sweet-...“

    ”It is.”

    He blushed and we shared a kiss. A sweet, short kiss. “I’m just glad that the person I really wanted to know about it, does now.” He picked up my hand and squeezed it lightly. His face was framed by the moonlight and it gently reflected off of his glasses, making his eyes shimmer. “Ever so glad.”

    “I’m glad you told me. But I think I would have brought it up sooner or later if you hadn’t.”

    “Well Ron, you were really the one who broke the ice.”

    I nodded and kissed his sweet lips. I couldn’t believe how lucky I was. I was thinking I had been losing my best friend since school started, and I was actually gaining him in ways I didn’t think I ever would. I felt happier than I’d ever felt in my life. I felt like telling everyone how incredibly elated I was.

    But then I had a thought.

    “Harry,” I began. Harry was rubbing my shoulders, making me feel amazingly tender. “Harry, what are we going to tell everyone else?”

    His hands dropped from my shoulders and I rolled over to look at him. His face had gone pale and his eyes were wide. “I... I didn’t think of that.” He collapsed and stared at the ceiling on my bed. I knew he was thinking about his Quidditch reputation, his school reputation, and even the constant jeers from Malfoy we would receive. I knew he was thinking about his not wanting to stand out any more than he already did. He had panic in his eyes.

    I held him close. “I don’t think we should worry about that right now. We’ll keep it a secret?" He nodded. "Yes, we’ll keep it a secret. No one will know. It will be our wonderful, amazing secret. Ours.”

    “Ours,” he repeated.

    He relaxed and laid back down on my pillows. I sat up next to him, stroking his hair, tracing his lightning scar with my fingertips. How sweet he looked. I knew everything was going to be just fine. He reached up and pulled me down to lie with him. We laid together for awhile, just touching each other, feeling each other in our arms, and gazing at each other. I felt him falling asleep in my arms, and it felt wonderful.

    It was perfect. I knew this was perfection.

    “Ron?” said Harry in a small voice, very sleepily.

    “Yeah, Harry?”

    “Thank you.”

    I didn’t really know what he meant exactly. I didn’t think it was right to ask him. I don’t think he really had anything specific in mind. I just knew that I was one of the constant people in his life, and he was grateful for that. I wasn’t going anywhere, ever. I hoped he knew that.

    I said a silent prayer in my head for it to always be like this. For it to always be perfection. I knew it was asking a lot, but I just had to be selfish about this one thing. Harry was my treasure, my partner, my inspiration, my love. I owed everything to him. I felt myself drifting off to sleep. I knew my Harry was already asleep. I felt his steady breathing and heartbeat against my chest, I felt the warmth of him in my arms, and I knew it would be there when I woke up. I knew somehow that he would always be there for me, and I for him.

    Perfect.

*end chapter one*

***