It's Only Love

After several more minutes of intense kissing, Harry pulled away from Ron, slightly breathless at all that had happened: an emotional Ron confessing his love, the joy Harry felt when he heard those words, not to mention being discovered by Fred and George while both were in each others arms. All in all, it definitely made for an eventful day. With his hand still on Ron’s neck, he slowly started running it through his thick crimson hair. "Always wanted to do that," Harry whispered. Ron closed his eyes in pleasure and sighed at the feeling of Harry’s hand massaging the back of his head. When he opened his eyes again, Harry saw that they were wet. His hand came up and gently brushed away a small tear from Ron’s cheek. "Ron, what’s the matter?" Harry asked, worried. Ron sniffled a bit for a minute before wiping his nose on his sleeve.

"I just feel so...so terrible!"

"Why?" Harry asked, incredulous.

"Because...because you took the chance and confessed what you felt to me. And me, so slow on the bloody uptake; I just stood there and stared! What you had to go through to do that...to open your heart when you didn’t even know how I’d react!" Ron said in a rush.

Harry closed his eyes and sighed. "Ron..." he started, but was interrupted.

"I mean, could I have been more of a prat?"

"Ron..."

"What a bloody git I was!!"

"Ron..."

"Hermione was right!"

"Ro-onnnn..."

"I mean, what do you see inmmph!!" The rest was lost as Harry grabbed Ron’s neck and pulled him into a kiss. As the kiss deepened, Ron wrapped his arms around Harry and held on desperately. Breathing hard and moaning, they both slowly laid down, side by side, on the dilapidated couch. Harry broke off gently and stared at Ron, his green eyes staring into brown.

"What’s done is done, Ron! I told you I’d rather have you as a friend than nothing at all. Remember when you told me you needed some time to think things out?" Ron nodded. "Either way, I would’ve waited for as long as it took. Especially for you." Ron looked up in surprise. "You’re worth it," Harry said with a slight blush. Hearing this, Ron’s lip began to tremble. Harry leaned over and slowly kissed away the tears that were still flowing. "Shhhh, Ron, shhhh," Harry whispered. "No more tears." He slowly rubbed the back of Ron’s neck to calm him down, but instead got a mild shudder from him. He looked at Ron questioningly.

"Sorry," Ron said, embarrassed, "my neck is pretty sensitive."

Harry narrowed his eyes at his friend, and a small smirk played in his lips. "Oh, really?" he said in a playful voice. To Ron’s delight, Harry started to slowly kiss him from his chin down his jaw, stopping just below his ear. Ron’s breath caught in his throat as he could felt Harry’s hot breath on his neck. He shivered; he could feel Harry rain small kisses down the length of his neck, right down to his collarbone. He’d never felt so alive until this point with: every nerve tingling, his heartbeat thundering in his ears, and the sweet sensation of Harry’s scent so close. Something akin to the feeling of hot butterbeer flowing through his veins shuddered through his body. Harry, who could feel Ron’s pulse quicken as well as hear his barely suppressed whimpering, was beside himself as he slowly ran the tip of his tongue up and down Ron’s neck.

"Ha...Harry...,"moaned Ron. With every nerve on fire, he could do nothing but run his hands up and down Harry’s back. He gasped suddenly as he felt the skin of his neck get bitten here and there. Groaning heavily, Ron bit his lip, wrapped his arms around Harry’s neck, and pulled as close as possible to his neck. "Uhh...don’t...stop...please!" He cried. As you wish, Harry thought as he continued to bite and suck on Ron’s neck with reckless abandon. Suddenly, Ron’s arms tightened so quickly that he almost choked Harry. With a cry and a shudder, Ron went quiet.

"Ron?" Harry asked worriedly, as he felt Ron’s limp body sag towards him. He immediately looked up and saw that Ron wasn’t just immobile, but unconscious! He tried gently slapping him to wake up, but Ron remained stubbornly out cold. Oh, for Merlin’s sake! Ron fainted? "Just like a guy...," he muttered as he got up from the couch and gently laid Ron on his back. He pulled a box over from George and Fred’s stash of odds and ends and sat down. Gazing down at Ron’s unconscious form, Harry actually chuckled. Ever since he became aware of his feelings for Ron, he’d become more attuned to Ron’s habits: how he ate, sleep patterns, etc. He was especially interested in how Ron slept. Did he dream a lot? Did he talk in his sleep? If so, what did he say? But most of all, Harry wanted to just see what Ron’s face was like as he lay in slumber. When you’re asleep, all your defenses go down, you become vulnerable, and any masks you have slip off and your true face comes out. Harry so much wanted to see Ron’s true face, that he’d been sorely tempted late at night to silently go to his bed and pull back the hangings on his four-poster just enough to gaze in at him. But common sense had to rear its ugly head and tell him that the last time something like that happened Ron woke up to see a haggard and psychotic-looking Sirius Black wielding a knife. Harry could still feel a chill down his spine as he remembered the sound of Ron’s scream of fright. He had rushed over to Ron’s bed the moment he woke and could still see him shivering and holding on to the torn hangings. At that moment, his only thought had been to hold Ron and tell him everything was okay. What had stopped him was that he didn’t know how he’d react. It was later discovered that Black had been after Peter Pettigrew, the true traitor to Harry’s parents, not Ron. Pettigrew had been hiding under the disguise of Scabbers, Ron’s rat. What had scared Harry the most was that at the time of the break-in, he thought Black was that close to killing Ron. When that was settled in his mind later on, he realized that he couldn’t be without Ron in his life. At that point, he had to face the fact that what he felt for his best friend was love. More than a friend, more than a brother, Ron was something much, much more. He looked back at Ron’s face and liked what he saw there now. He looks so peaceful, he thought, and beautiful. A hand came up and gently brushed aside a few strands of soft, red hair covering his brown eyes. Idly, he wondered when he would ever hold Ron while he actually slept, but smiled and shook his head. One thing at a time, Potter, one thing at a time. What will come will come. With a sigh, he brought Ron’s hand up and kissed it gently. A moment later, Ron slowly stirred and opened his eyes.

"Wha...what happened?" he asked, woozily. Harry couldn’t even try to suppress a grin.

"Well, from what I can tell...you fainted."

Ron, who was rubbing his neck, looked sharply at Harry. "I did not!"

"Did too," Harry said firmly. "How else do you explain being out cold?" Ron opened his mouth, closed it, and just frowned at the ground. Harry knew not to make an issue of it or even make fun of him. In his experience, Ron could be pretty sensitive, but that was one of those traits that endeared him to Harry. Plus, they were both treading new ground here in their relationship. Less than an hour ago they considered themselves friends, now they were intimate. But that didn’t make them less sensitive to one another. Seeing Ron staring at the ground got Harry thinking. He’d never kissed anyone (well, not in the way he was thinking,) and since Ron was his first, he was more than a little curious.

"You...didn’t like it?" he asked, hesitantly.

Ron’s frown immediately dropped and was replaced by a crimson tinge to his cheeks. "I didn’t say that...," he muttered, looking away again. "I just...wasn’t expecting it." He glanced back with a rueful smile. "Didn’t know you could do that to me."

Now it was Harry’s turn to turn red. Eyes widening, he turned away with a cough. "Ron...this is all so new tome...what I feel for you...kissing, everything," Harry stammered. Ron grabbed both of his hands and pulled him close.

"Harry, I know! I’m the same way! Worse, even! For Merlin’s sake, I didn’t even realize my feelings until half an hour ago." He reached over and caressed Harry’s cheek. "But I meant what I said earlier, there is no one I would rather discover stuff with than you." Then he frowned. "I’m still worried about everyone else though. How will my parents react? The rest of the school?" His eyes went to the end of the tunnel. "You saw how George reacted." His eyes then widened. "Aw crap, what about Malfoy?" he said with a good amount of dread. He put his head in his hands and swayed back and forth. "I am in such deep trouble!"

Harry kneeled before Ron and gently pulled his hands away, revealing a miserable face. "And I told you, we are in trouble. No matter what anyone says, I will be there. Not even Malfoy could keep me from facing it with you." Ron perked up a bit when he saw the intensity in Harry’s gaze. Harry grinned, "Besides," he said offhandedly, "we did discover one thing today: your neck is a definite hair trigger."

Ron glared and brought up a fist in mock-menace. "A word to the wise, Potter. If you want an active, conscious partner, consider my neck off-limits!" Seeing Ron there, face flushed in the near-darkness of the tunnel, trying to look threatening, was just too much for Harry. He started laughing so hard he fell off the box on which he was sitting. Ron, trying so hard to hold it in, burst out laughing with his friend as well. The tunnel echoed with the sound of laughter, and both boys hoped no one could hear them. Afterward, both panting hard from laughter, the two remained there just looking into each other’s eyes. After a moment, Harry slowly got up, kissed Ron gently on the forehead, and keeping his face close to Ron’s, stared into his eyes. Ron brought a hand up and cupped Harry’s cheek, shivering a bit at the passion he saw there. His eyes traveled up Harry’s face to the scar on his forehead. With his gaze fixed back on Harry’s eyes, his hand went up and slowly traced the jagged lightning bolt. Harry half-closed his eyes and his breathing started to quicken. He so much wanted to shut off his wand and lose himself with Ron in the darkness, but realized that too much time had passed. With a sigh, he grabbed Ron’s hand.

"We should...stop. Someone will start to worry about us," he whispered. "You able to walk?" he asked innocently, not resisting the urge to pull on Ron’s coattails a little from his previous condition.

Ron just rolled his eyes. "You nibbled on my neck, Harry, not my legs," he said sarcastically. With that, he pushed off the couch and got up, but stopped suddenly halfway.

"Uh-oh!" he said with a small grimace.

Harry stared at Ron. "What now?" he asked, exasperated. Ron’s grimace turned to distaste as he slowly looked down to his crotch, thankfully covered by his robes.

"I think I know why I fainted...," he said. He started to blush so furiously that his cheeks became redder than his hair. Harry followed Ron’s eyes to the area in question, and after a moment, his eyes widened in comprehension.

"I think I have to change my pants," Ron said miserably.