"Get off my lawn!"
"Don't you give me that look!"
"You take that damned ball off my lawn!"
These are some of the things that teenage boy Harry Potter hears everyday. His neighbour, Molly Weasley, seems to hate children, even though she has seven. Because of Molly, Harry can barely go outside anymore without being yelled at, let alone play with a football. But he has finally thought of a plan to get revenge on her for all the time she's spoiled his fun, so he grinned as he sat down behind his computer and opened Facebook.
xxxxxxxx
When he woke up the next day, he decided to check Facebook to see if the first step of his plan was successful. He found that it was - Molly's son, Ron Weasley, had accepted his friend request and had even sent him a message already.
R: "Hey, what's up? Barely see you outside anymore."
Deciding not to scare him off by complaining about his mother, Harry quickly thought of an excuse that was actually somewhat true.
H: "Yeah, homework's been taking up my time. How are you doing?"
Ron replied almost instantly.
R: "Bummer. I'm fine, you?"
H: "Not too bad, thanks."
There were a few moments where Harry stared at his screen as Ron was typing a message.
R: "So, want to hang out sometime?"
A grin appeared on Harry's face again.
H: "Sure, my place? I'll be home alone tomorrow."
R: "Sounds fine, I'll be there somewhere around noon."
H: "Great, see you then."
Harry got up and walked to his window, where he stared down at the street. Two of Molly's other sons were just walking by, the twins Fred and George. Harry frequently heard Molly yelling their names aswell, which made Harry like them instantly. He turned around and decided he should clean his room before Ron came over tomorrow, as it was quite a mess. Books and notebooks were cluttering his desk, there were sweet wrappers on the floor, and crumbs in his bed. Sighing, he started piling up his books.
xxxxxxxx
The next day, Harry killed time by doing his homework. Ron hadn't sent him another message, which Harry took as a good sign, because he assumed Ron would let him know if he wasn't able to come over. Harry leapt to his feet when the doorbell rang, but it was just the mailman delivering a package, probably for his cousin Dudley, who had been complaining he didn't have enough video games. Harry made to close the door, when a voice shouting his name made him look up. Ron was walking towards him.
"Hey, come in," Harry said as he opened the door a bit more.
"Thanks," Ron said, looking around at the hall. He stood there looking rather uncomfortable, so Harry decided to show him the house.
xxxxxxxx
"And this is Dudley's bedroom," Harry said as they reached the end of the hall upstairs.
"Dudley's your brother?" Ron asked, peeking into the large bedroom filled with game consoles and stacks of video games.
"He's my cousin, I live with my aunt and uncle," Harry replied, hoping Ron wouldn't ask why he didn't live with his own parents.
"Always thought they didn't look the tiniest bit like you," Ron said as he retreated his head. Harry laughed.
"Want to play some games? Now that Dudley's out, we can use his PlayStation downstairs." Ron just nodded, so Harry moved past him in the small hallway, accidentally brushing against him.
"Sorry, this cursed small hallway..."
"No problem," Ron said, and Harry noticed Ron's ears turned a bit red. Deciding not to mention it, he continued his way downstairs.
xxxxxxxx
"You're too good at this!" Harry exclaimed as Ron's character beat up his own again.
"I give up, want a drink?" Harry asked, and Ron nodded, so he set off towards the kitchen. Looking at Dudley's many sodas, he decided his cousin couldn't possibly notice if there was some missing.
"Cotton candy soda OK?" he yelled towards the living room, and Ron shouted a "fine" back. He walked back once he'd filled two glasses, and placed them on the table.
"So, where are your aunt and uncle?" Ron asked as he took a sip of his soda.
"On holiday, but they never bring me along. They don't really like me," Harry said, taking a sip of his own soda. It was incredibly sweet, but good.
"Bummer. My mum never brings us along either, it's just her and dad."
"Shame, but at least it's a few days without them shouting at you or complaining," Harry said and Ron grinned.
They finished the rest of their drinks in silence, and decided to play some more video games after.
xxxxxxxx
"I should head home, I'm probably late for dinner," Ron said as his character shot down a weird looking creature.
"That's alright, I should make something too," Harry said, and at that precise moment, his stomach decided to growl loudly. Ron laughed, and his laugh was contagious, so Harry laughed along.
"Thanks for having me over, I had a blast," Ron said as he got up. Harry got up too.
"Oh I can show myself out, don't bother..."
"It's alright, we've got a tricky door." So Harry walked to the front door, Ron following him.
"Well, see you," Ron said after Harry had opened the door.
"Take care," Harry replied. Ron walked past Harry, and their shoulders accidentally brushed. Harry thought he could just make out Ron's ears reddening before Ron was too far away.
xxxxxxxx
They met up a few more time next week, and talked about how horrible Harry's family is, used nearly all of Dudley's game consoles and even dared to open the freezer and eat an entire can of Dudley's least favourite ice cream.
"You know, mum had a bit of a reaction when I told her about you," Ron told Harry as they were sitting outside, sipping more cotton candy soda.
"Really? Why?" Harry asked, trying to sound surprised. But on the inside, he was laughing. His plan had succeeded. He had successfully befriended the son of the woman he disliked most.
"Dunno. Said something about her stupid lawn, she's always obsessing over it. We can't walk over it, can't accidentally land our footballs on it, I bet we can't even look at it in a few days," Ron replied, and Harry laughed.
"Yeah, I'm familiar with your lawn too. I mean, my football lands on it quite often, which usually results in your mum screaming at me," Harry added, after seeing Ron's confused look.
"Oh, I thought she was just yelling at Fred and George," Ron said, and leaned forward to place his glass on the table, just as Harry leaned forward to do the same. Their hands touched. Harry froze, but Ron quickly retreated his hand.
"Sorry, mate," Ron said. But Harry barely registered the fact that Ron was talking to him. He was in trouble, big trouble. Because his heart just gave a tiny leap when he touched Ron. He can't possibly - can he? No, he couldn't. It wasn't allowed, his aunt and uncle made sure both he and his cousin knew that. So he quickly shaked the feeling.
"No problem," Harry said, even though it kind of was.
Harry forced himself to act normally the rest of the day, and was glad to know he succeeded, as he didn't receive any funny looks or comments from Ron. So it was when he finally closed the door behind Ron that he allowed himself to sigh deeply.
xxxxxxxx
Harry didn't check Facebook that night, or the next morning. He just busied himself with his homework, and cleaning the house. But he had to log on to Facebook that evening, because he had to ask his classmate something about the chemistry homework. He feared Ron would have sent him a message, but there were none in his inbox. Feeling slightly relieved, he opened the chat with Neville Longbottom and asked his question.
Before he went to bed, he allowed himself to check his computer one more time. Sure enough, he had a message from Ron.
R: "Mate, are you here? I need to talk to you."
Harry sighed. He only hoped it wasn't too bad.
H: "Yeah, what's up?"
R: "Mum's going crazy. I don't know about what exactly, probably something to do with Fred and George, but it's worse than usual and to be honest, I'm a little scared right now."
H: "What can I do for you?"
R: "Well, if it's possible, could I come over? And, well, possibly stay the night?"
It felt like Harry's heart was in his throat. But he couldn't just leave Ron there, all alone and afraid.
H: "Of course. Just ring the doorbell when you're here."
R: "Thanks a lot. Might take a bit, don't want her to notice me leaving. See you in a few."
Harry was typing a message, but he noticed Ron was offline already. So he got up, checked if Dudley's bedroom was fit to have someone sleeping in it, then went downstairs to wait for Ron.
About a quarter of an hour later, the doorbell rang. Harry jumped to his feet, and then mentally yelled at himself for doing that. He walked at a normal pace to the door. He opened the door, and it revealed Ron who was quite red in the face, and even his eyes were a bit red. Instantly feeling sorry for Ron, Harry opened the door and stepped back to let him in, mentally preparing himself for the night to come.
xxxxxxxx
"Thanks so much again, this really means a lot to me," Ron said, as they were sitting on comfortable cushions on the floor in the living room. It was now 11pm, but neither one of them felt tired yet.
"Not at all, just glad there's something I could do," Harry said truthfully. He was never able to do something for someone before, and if he was honest, it was quite the amazing feeling.
"Did you find out what your mum was going crazy about?" Harry asked, hoping he wouldn't make Ron feel worse.
"Not a clue. I've never been able to go out before when she was like that, so it's quite a relief that you allowed me to come over," Ron said, looking up at Harry, whose heart jumped again.
"I always try to keep quiet, you know," Ron continued, "but Fred and George are constantly causing trouble. It's like they're immune to her. Actually, one time she yelled at me for wearing two different socks."
"Sorry to hear that," Harry said, not knowing what else to say. But apparently Ron thought it was enough, because he smiled.
"Tired yet?" Harry asked, and Ron shook his head.
"Want to watch a movie?" Harry proposed.
"Sounds good," Ron said, and Harry got up.
"I'll go make some popcorn, you can check the dvd cabinet," (he pointed at the large cabinet standing next to the television) "and see if there's something you like."
xxxxxxxx
When Harry positioned himself on the couch again and placed a big bowl of popcorn in front of him, he looked at Ron to see if he'd found anything. Ron held up a dvd, but Harry couldn't make out the title.
"Sure, just put it in the dvd player, if you press that big button on the left, it'll turn on, and then the button on the right, that'll open it," Harry said, helping himself to a bit of popcorn and grabbing the remote from the table. He pressed a few buttons to turn on the tv, and to switch to the dvd player. Ron sat down next to him again, and Harry was glad to see that Ron kept his distance.
"Ready?" Harry asked, looking sideways at Ron.
"Yeah, ready," Ron replied, and Harry pressed the big "play" button.
"Hope you don't mind horror movies," Ron said, and Harry's heart sank. He absolutely hated horror movies. He now regretted not asking what movie it was, but it was too late to turn back. So he just sighed slightly, and leaned back on the couch.
xxxxxxxx
Somewhere in the middle of the movie, something scary happened that made Harry jump. It wasn't until he felt Ron's hand on his shoulder that he calmed down.
"You all right mate?" Ron asked cautiously.
"Yes- no- I mean- I'm not really a fan of horror movies," Harry admitted, and noticed Ron's hand was still on his shoulder. Ron seemed to have noticed this too, because he quickly removed his hand.
"Why didn't you say so?" Ron asked.
"Dunno, guess I didn't just want to be much of a..." but the last word was nearly inaudible.
"A what?"
"A wimp," Harry admitted. Ron laughed.
"I don't think you're a wimp. I mean, you've survived your aunt and uncle, you shoot down all sorts of mutated beings in the games we play," Ron said, and smiled. Harry smiled too and muttered a "thanks".
"Are you all right, by the way? I mean, in general. You acted a little odd the last time we saw each other," Ron asked. Harry mentally cursed himself. So, Ron had noticed...
"Well, I've been worse," Harry replied truthfully.
"You know you can tell me anything, even though we've only known each other a short while," Ron said, looking at the popcorn bowl and then realising it was empty. And Harry honestly wished he could tell Ron this.
"Thanks," Harry said. "Same goes for you," he added. Ron smiled, then yawned.
"Want to head to bed?" Harry asked, yawning too.
"I think that's a good idea," Ron said, so Harry got up, and Ron followed.
"You can brush your teeth first," Harry said, and pointed towards the small bathroom that was opposite his own bedroom.
"Thanks," Ron said, and he took some stuff out of his bag, then headed into the bathroom. Harry walked into his bedroom, sat down on the bed and started fiddling with a few loose threads on his blanket.
"All yours," Ron called a few minutes later, so Harry got up.
"Suppose I should sleep in Dudley's bedroom?" Ron asked, putting his stuff back into the bag.
"Suppose so, yes," Harry replied. He mentally yelled at himself again, for he had just imagined him and Ron sharing a bed. Ron nodded, and walked off to Dudley's bedroom. Harry headed into the bathroom, and the first thing he did was splash his face with cold water. Then, he brushed his teeth and headed to Dudley's bedroom, suddenly not feeling tired anymore.
"Want to sleep, or hang out some more?" Harry asked, leaning against the doorframe.
"Well, I just got an idea, but I don't know- probably not, why would-" Ron muttered.
"If you won't tell me, you'll never know," Harry said, and smiled.
"I was just thinking, maybe we could try that truth or dare game?" Ron asked quietly.
"Sounds good to me," Harry said and walked into the bedroom, sitting down on the bed. He noticed it was way more comfortable than his own. Ron turned to him.
"All right, truth or dare?" Ron asked.
"Truth," Harry said, and Ron seemed to think for a moment.
"What's your favourite game?" Ron asked at last.
"The one where you shoot all the aliens, I don't remember what it's called," Harry replied truthfully.
"Truth or dare?" Harry asked.
"Dare."
"I dare you to hop around this room on one foot," Harry said, smiling, as Ron's face fell.
"Sorry, you don't have to," Harry said quickly, but Ron had gotten up already, and soon he was hopping around the room, while Harry laughed. His cheeks hurt from laughing when Ron sat down on the bed again.
"Your turn."
xxxxxxxx
They played the game for a while like this, until they were both visibly getting more tired. Ron was leaning against the wall now, and Harry was sitting in front of him.
"Truth or dare?" Harry asked.
"Truth."
"Who was your first kiss?" Harry said, almost instantly regretting this. Did he even want to know?
"No one. Unless you count those wet kisses that my great aunt Tessie always gives," Ron replied, and Harry felt relieved, but just nodded.
"Truth or dare?"
"Truth."
"Who do you like?" Ron asked, looking straight at Harry, whose heart started racing. Some people might be able to hide this kind of stuff from their friends forever, but he could just feel he wasn't one of those people. Their friendship would probably be ruined if he told the truth, but he just had to, he couldn't hide it.
"Will you promise not to laugh?" Harry asked quietly.
"I promise," Ron said, failing to hide the curiosity from his voice.
Harry muttered a nearly inaudible word.
"Sorry, what did you say?" Ron asked.
"You. I like you," Harry admitted, and felt his face becoming hot instantly.
"I'm sorry, this was a bad idea," Harry said quickly, and got up. Ron called his name, but Harry kept walking until he was in his own room, and threw himself down on the bed, ready to start crying. But just a few seconds after that, Ron entered his room too.
"I'm not going to laugh at you, Harry," Ron said as he sat down on the bed.
"In fact, I'm going to tell you something. I first noticed you the day we moved here. It was a year ago, almost to the day, and you were outside, sitting in your front yard. I remember you looking up at us, as we were moving boxes from the truck to our home. I was instantly charmed by you. The day you sent me a friend request, my heart raced. The moment you asked me to come over, my heart made a jump. Felt more like a somersault, really. The day I saw you up close, I couldn't help but notice your amazing green eyes, how beautiful they are. Over the next week, I grew to like you more and more. The moment you told me you liked me - just now - my heart felt as if it were exploding. With joy." Ron fell quiet, but Harry smiled, and it felt as though his own heart was performing a somersault.
"Ron, truth or dare?" was all Harry said.
"Dare?" Ron said cautiously.
"I dare you to kiss me." Harry's heart and mind were racing now, and he felt his stomach become hot as Ron moved over to Harry and tentatively grabbed his hand. Harry froze, but Ron was still moving closer, and Harry slowly closed his eyes when Ron's face became blurred, and the next thing he knew was that their lips touched, and he knew he hadn't ever felt this happy. It took a while before Harry realised he should kiss back, and when he did, Ron's other hand moved through his hair. After what felt like a way too short time, Ron pulled back, slightly out of breath.
"Woah," Ron said. Harry couldn't help but laugh, he felt so relieved, so filled with joy.
"Just so you know, for someone who hasn't kissed before, you're a really great kisser. I think. I haven't exactly kissed someone before, either. That is, unless you count the licks my aunt Marge's dog gave me," Harry said, and they both laughed.
They spent the rest of the evening cuddling and stealing kisses, and they eventually fell asleep, with Ron's arm around Harry's waist, and the faintest hint of a smile still on Harry's face.
