Whispering

"Ron...Ron!"

"Hmm..."

"Ron! Wake up!"

"Wha--what do you want, Harry?"

"I dreamed about him again."

"About Sirius?"

"Yes. I just keep seeing him...falling through that veil..."

"Harry--"

"There was nothing I could do...He just...fell through."

"Harry--"

"Now he's gone. And, in my dreams, he just keeps on falling through...like he's asking me why I didn't do anything."

"Harry, come here."

"...Move over.

I'm tired, Ron. I am tired of seeing him die night after night. I am tired of Voldemort haunting my life. I am tired of being the Boy Who Lived. I am tired of it all."

"I know, Harry."

"You don't know--"

"I know what it does to you. I hate it, too."

"But, you can't know what it feels like to know that any day you wake up may be the last day you are alive."

"And, you can't know what it feels like to have your best friend go through all of that and not be able to do anything about it.. Harry...I am tired of it, too.

I am especially tired of you waking me up every night because you have nightmares."

"What??"

"You are the Boy Who Lived. You have faced Vol--Voldemort how many times? And yet, you crawl into my bed at least 3 times a week."

"My apologies. Seems to me that you invited me in."

"Invited you in? I don't think so."

"No, you are right--you demanded that I 'come here.'"

"Well--"

"I guess I will just have to go talk to someone else when I am shaken up by the image of my godfather dying. Goodnight."

"Harry! Harry, where are you going?"

"I am going to see whether Neville's bed is a comfortable as yours is."

"Harry! Come back here! Harry!"

"See, there it is again! You are demanding that I come to your bed. You really must decide what you want."

"I want you--"

"Ouch! Punching me is not the answer, Ronald!"

"Ergh, you sounded just like Hermione then!"

"I have been practicing. Now then, what was it that you were saying? You want me..."

"I don't want you going to Neville for comfort, that's for sure."

"Oh? And why is that? Jealous?"

"Not even possible. No one has ever thought I was a squib. But, you are mine."

".....Yours?"

"Mine...My best friend. Neville can get his own troubled ninny of a best friend. I have mine, and Neville may not have him. You are mine."

"Ah. I see."

"What's with the disappointment? Do you want Neville as your best friend?"

"Well, no..."

"Because I am not sharing. I deal with enough with Hermione."

"You don't like Hermione??"

"Of course I do!"

"Wait--do you fancy Hermione?"

"No! I mean, I did, but not anymore."

"Who do you fancy, Ron?"

"I fancy going back to sleep, if you don't mind. We do have potions tomorrow, and I would like it if I do not fall asleep in Snape's class."

"What about me? What about my nightmares??"

"You seem fine to me--you want to know who I fancy. I think you just wanted to gossip, not talk about Sirius..."

"Ron, I do not want to gossip."

"You could have fooled me. We could go get Parvati and Lavendar, if you like. I am sure they know all the dirt--and they probably have their own theories about who it is I fancy. None of them are probably right, though."

"I do not want to gossip, Ron. And, who do you fancy?"

"Goodnight, Harry."

"No. Ron...I can't...I can't go back to sleep."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I guess I can, I just don't really want to. I don't want to see it again."

"You'll be fine, Harry. You go back to sleep, and you sleep fine for the rest of the night, every other time."

"No, actually I don't. I am just pretending to sleep. You always fall back asleep...I just sit up and watch you."

"You watch me?"

"Er...I watch you sleep because I am jealous--you're sleeping, I'm not."

"Oh. I see. Well...why don't you...stay here."

"..."

"Why don't you stay here with me and sleep in my bed tonight?"

"You have never offered that before."

"Well...I never knew you couldn't get back to sleep."

"Do you think it will help me?"

"It couldn't hurt, could it?"

"Okay then. Well...Goodnight, Harry."

"Good night, Ron."

"Ron?"

"Yes, Harry?"

"Wait...Okay. I want to be able to look you in the eyes, so you can't lie to me about this one. Who is it that you fancy?"

"What if I close my eyes?"

"Don't--that's cheating."

"Why do you want to know so bad?"

"Why won't you tell me? You have never kept anything from me before."

"What do you want to hear from me, Harry? That I still fancy Hermione? If I say that, will you let me go to sleep?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I know it's not the truth."

"Well, if you know so much, then you don't need me to tell you. Goodnight, Harry."

"Don't turn away from me. Ron--"

"...."

"What? What did I do?"

"Nothing. It's just...I just..."

"What?"

"Now I won't be able to get back to sleep."

"Why not?"

"..."

"Why not?"

"You."

"Me? What did I do?"

"It's not what you did. It's you. I can't stop...I can't stop thinking about you already. And now, you have...you grabbed my hip to roll me back over and I won't be able to stop thinking about that and the fact that you are here in my bed right beside me and I just...I don't know, Harry."

"..."

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything. I know you think I have gone round the bend, but it's the truth."

"..."

"I am sorry. That was a very selfish thing for me to do. You just wanted someone to listen to you about Sirius and I went and hit on you. Oh, Merlin. I can't believe I just said that..."

"That's just...that's just a lot of information to take in at once. I didn't know you...you know...felt that way. I mean, you used to fancy Hermione."

"Well...things change. Listen, let's just forget about it, okay? I promise not to watch you in the shower or anything, alright?"

"No, it's not that, Ron."

"I understand if you just want to get back in your bed and all. I'm sorry."

"Would you stop apologizing, already? You didn't do anything wrong, Ron. Had you told me that you fancy Draco, then I would have to slap you around some--knock some sense into you, you know?"

"No. No feelings for Draco--well, except for pure, intense hatred. Other than that...nothing."

"Right, well...Ron...."

"Whoa! Hang on! What are you doing?"

"What? I thought...I mean, you just told me that you think about me. I thought that you would want--"

"I do not want pity or whatever it is you are doing right now."

"This is not pity."

"Then what is it, Harry?"

"I don't know, Ron. It's what I want to do. I do know that."

"I don't believe you. You never...before, you know?"

"Neither did you. Ron...I don't know what this is, but right now, I really, really want to kiss you. I haven't felt like this since I met you. I haven't been harboring feelings for you since we met on the Hogwarts Express. This is new, and I don't understand it, but you feel it, too. And, what I want to know right now is will you please kiss me?"