They Would Never Know

by allyyyyy

Growing up a Weasley, Ron was resigned to knowing there were things he could not have. It never occurred to him to think that the things that he needed most were the ones of no monetary value.

Title: They Would Never Know
Author/Artist: allyyyyyy
Length: 1,192 words.
Pairing: R/D, Implied Ron/Hermione
Rating: PG-13, I suppose. I'm terrible with ratings.
Warnings: Just your normal slash piece because is there anything else to write?
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Summary: Growing up a Weasley, Ron was resigned to knowing there were things he could not have. It never occurred to him to think that the things that he needed most were the ones of no monetary value.
Concrit?: If you feel compelled, I'll take it like a man.
A/N: This was written in the middle on the night and was only re-read by me. I haven't written anything fanfiction-y in such a long time so be slightly gentle. I was just pleased to have written something again. :)

There he stood across the room, mingling amongst the Wizarding World's brightest and all Ron could do was stare. All Ron could do was scowl that the façade he wore was fake, that the laughs that left his mouth were not true and that the briefest of touches he placed upon one of his companions did not sear their skin like he knew it could. His laugh, fake as it was, did not sink into their soul and awaken something inside of them that had long since died. His eyes did not spark and shine and beckon them into their depths until they could do nothing but drown in the metallic silver, grateful for even the chance. No, what they saw was not real. What they saw was a pretty production done up to look like the real thing but missing the essential bits that both suffocated Ron and breathed new life into him all the same. They would never be able to look at him like the redhead did and he wanted to feel sorry for them and gloat all the same.

Never would they feel the cool caress of skin upon skin, gliding with little effort as perspiration accumulated on the surface and was attacked by an autumn wind. They would never get the chance to tell him that they would catch their death out there when the rain started to fall. He would never tell them that they sounded much too much like their ickle mothers and that they needed to just shut up and kiss him. They would never get to wash through tongues inside his mouth, sweeping across the warm cavern, twining against a worthy opponent and conceding defeat. Their bodies would never grow weak as he settled against them just right, his hips rolling forward just enough that you could almost see stars flashing behind your eyes but not enough that it stopped you from throwing him off of you and covering him with your own body. They would never get to see the malicious glint that formed in his eyes when he was manhandled and possessed in a way that only Ron knew.

They would never get to wake up to the sun peeking through the windows and a naked body standing before the open window, hair still in disarray and looking more perfect than Ron believed possible. They would never receive that smile as he turned from the window and caught them staring, a smile that burrowed deep into you and caused you to fumble through things only hoping to see it once more. They would never watch the barriers stack back up as he fixed them with a gaze that said more than his words ever would. They would never feel his mouth devouring them as he offered a silent apology for what he could not do. They would never feel the cold envelope them as they stumbled into an empty flat, alone and aching.

But it was a two way street. They held so many things that Ron would never get to have.

Never would he get to stand amongst them and feel those piercing eyes upon him, affection shimmering back in them before all to see. Never would Ron be on the receiving end up a palm placed casually upon his forearm as another regaled them with a story that neither cared to hear. Ron would never be allowed to understand the innocence and bliss of such a casual touch. Ron would never get to hear his name fall carelessly from those lips unless it was in a dimly lit bedroom. He would never be acknowledged as anything more than what he'd always been.

It gripped him fiercely as he wondered which he might prefer. Could he trade the nights of darkness, of bodies grinding against one another, strangled pleas choked out against the flesh of his neck? Could he surrender that precious moment when as the moon washes into the room, another body presses against his, an arm covering him in a feral sign of possession, two perfectly formed lips dropping a kiss upon his chest, the only promise he would ever receive?

As Hermione sidled up beside him and questioned the things shining in his eyes, he forced a smile to his lips. She would never know that he was too afraid to leave her. She would never know that she was the reason that he wondered through his day lost and defeated. She would never know that his greatest relief came when an excuse fell from his tongue and he could leave her side which he occupied dutifully for more passion than she could ever give him.

He would never tell her that she was his sickness and his cure. She would never know he fled her side the moment he could to be with another and returned for her benefit as well. He could never tell her that she held him back. She would never know that she kept him from doing things that illuminated his soul and ensnared his heart.

He gave her but a few words and she was content to walk off and retrieve their things before they would leave for the night. The party was sucking the life from him and in her own way, Ron knew she say it. He let his eyes surrender and swallow the sight of the blonde once more and thought of all the things he would never know.

He would never know that he was the most intense creature Ron had ever met and that his presence kept the redhead's fire burning deeper than it ever had. He would never know that it broke his heart every time he crept from the crisp sheets, assembling his clothes on his body and refusing to meet silver eyes. He would never know that Ron could not look at him for then he would not be able to leave. And he would never understand why he had to. It didn't matter either for he did have to.

Both of them knew why they could not be around one another in the presence of another. Both of them could feel the desperate fool to latch onto one another and refuse to let go. They both could feel the ache in the pit of their stomachs as they watched one another across a crowded room. And they both knew they were the only two that could ever know the truth.

Hermione returned much too quickly and followed his gaze towards the blonde in the center of the room whose piercing gaze had wandered towards the pair. She shook her head, assuming her husband to be a childish fool and nearly shoved him towards the door. Words of petty rivalries never dying crept into his ears but he did not truly hear them. He slid his arms instead into the arms of his jacket as they moved towards the apparation point. She would never know why he did not protest her words. She would never see the slip of parchment in the pocket of the worn jacket and Ron would never tell her.