Title: Bedtime Habits
Author: JJCookie16
Disclaimer: I don't own or make any money from the posting of this story.
Rating: M
Pairings: Yaoi HarryxRon
Warnings: Book 6 and all books previous
Authors Note: This will be a get-together fic, eventually. So if you don't like yaoi couples please don't read. And I am taking some serious writer's lisence and ignoring all the books after 6, because I started this story a long time ago and now I'm finally finishing it and posting it.
Summary: The summer after Dumbledore's death, Harry is having some trouble coping with his feelings of loss. Finally back at the one place he can call home besides Hogwarts, Ron is determined to help his friend find solace.
Chapter 1:
Harry was numb, well not completely, but for the most part he couldn't feel anything except for the warmth coming from the Wesley's fireplace. And to be perfectly honest with himself, he was glad of it. His summer with the Dursley's had been hellish to say the least and he was relieved to finally be somewhere he felt like he belonged. There had been too much time to think while at the Dursley's, about everything that had happened this past year and about Dumbledore being gone. Luckily though the Burrow was always a hive of activity and it was quite easy to get caught up and swept away in everything going on.
It was these quiet times though, after dinner and before bed when the house was slowly relaxing and falling asleep that Harry hated the most. He was sprawled out on the couch, wrapped up in one of Mrs. Wesley's warm afghans, Ginny had fallen asleep in an over-stuffed armchair and Ron was poking at the logs in the fireplace. Harry was studiously examining the reflecting firelight off Ron's shaggy red hair and trying to ignore the thoughts that were crowding in his head.
"Harry, you alright there?" Ron concerned gaze pulled him from his concentrated stare.
Blinking rapidly and flushing slightly, Harry nodded and burrowed further under the afghan. "Yeah, guess my thoughts just got away with me."
Ron just sighed, wishing Harry would open up to him more and turned back to breaking up the logs. He knew Harry had a lot on his mind lately, but he'd not said a single word about any of it and it was starting to worry Ron. Hermione kept insisting that it wasn't good for Harry to keep everything bottled up, but short of tying him up and forcing Veritaserum down his throat, Ron wasn't sure how they could get him to talk.
Just as he was about to start in on him again, Fred and George slipped quietly into the living room with a bundle of blankets and pillows in their arms.
"Thought we could all bunk down here tonight," Fred suggested, quickly laying out his armload on the floor. George followed suit and soon the twins had an inviting looking nest built. Gently picking Ginny up and ensconcing her in the blankets between the twins, they then motioned for Harry and Ron to join them.
"Used to do this all the time when we were little, remember Ron?" George asked.
Ron nodded, smiling at the memory. "Yeah, especially in the winter when it was too cold upstairs."
Harry tried to imagine all the Wesley siblings crowded down around the fire, trying to sleep in the dead of winter and keep warm. He figured they probably looked something like a bunch of puppies, all curled up together in a mound of blankets and pillows. The thought warmed him though, and he felt privileged to be sharing in a part of it now.