Happy Days. Chapter 2. After the party

Harry shook his head slightly to get some pumpkin pie off his hair. Somehow, he found it amusing. Even if professor McGonagall said they should clean the mess without magic, he wasn't too worried. After all, there were about 30 people in the room and he was accustomed to cleaning by hand, which he had the Dursleys to thank for. Besides him, Hermione stood still, firing angry glances at the twins, who already started planning what pranks they should use on Filch.

Hermione loudly cleared her throat.

"Okay, everyone, we should be able to tackle this down soon enough if we work together. For starters, let's clear all the broken furniture away. I'm sure we'll be able to mend it as soon as professor McGonagall will allow us to use magic. Until then..." and she continued giving orders to the somewhat dumbstruck Griffindors.

Turning his back away from the girl, who was now grouping their classmates and giving them further instructions, Harry looked around the room, searching for Ron. He finally found him in a corner, mumbling furiously as he inspected his torn robe. A snitch had attacked him, tearing his robe in several points and scratching him across the chest. The robe revealed now his strong arms as he awkwardly twisted his head and pulled his robe to inspect the damage. Harry's eyes wandered along his well toned arm muscles and then back to his chest, white skin reddened where the snitch cut him. Harry stood there, hungrily studying Ron's body, until the red haired boy felt his presence and suddenly looked up. Harry was startled, lost in thought as he was, thinking at the various ways in which he could take care of Ron now, how his hands would caress Ron's chest, feeling his heartbeat against his fingertips and his breath hot along his neck…ah.

"Umm…" he staggered, feeling caught doing something prohibited.

"Hey mate, what are you doing, standing there like that? Look, those bloody things destroyed my robe. Mum's gonna kill me for sure." said Ron, finally letting go of the material in his hands with a sigh. "She's gonna make us help, is that right?" he continued, glancing towards Hermione, who was now urging two unwilling second years to move a table which missed two legs from the center of the room.

Harry gave a soft laugh before answering.

"'Suppose so, never got away from something like that, have we?"

"Well, she'll have to wait a bit this time. I gotta change…and I think you should do the same, eh?" Ron pointed out to the rest of the pie Harry had gotten off his hair earlier, which was now sliding down on the robe.

Harry nodded, patted his mate on the back and walked towards their bedroom. It was really quiet in there, the commotion from the common room now a distant chatter. With a thud, Ron threw himself on his bed and disposed of the useless robe. Harry's breath caught in his throat.

You pervert, stop starring…he thought to himself, but couldn't bulge an inch from where he was standing, idly playing with the clean clothes he had just gotten out of his trunk. Yet again, his gaze traveled across Ron, across his broad shoulders, then down his back, to that lovely arse he'd have loved to feel.

Damn, Hermione's right, I have to do something or this'll kill me.

But could he really trust what the girl thought was the truth? Harry couldn't deny Hermione's observation skills, but he was still so, so afraid of rejection, of loosing Ron and their friendship and he just knew he couldn't stand it if hatred were to fill Ron's eyes.

He gulped, breathed deeply and took a few steps to where Ron was now messily searching for the second sock of a pair he intended to wear. Harry leaned forward, reached inside Ron's trunk and easily found it, a sock with a red "R" sewed on it.

"Thanks Harry" quickly said Ron, taking the sock from his hand and hiding it behind his back, hoping Harry didn't notice the letter his mother sewed on.

When Harry remained silent, Ron's shifted his gaze away from the socks, searching his friend's face. He met his eyes and saw something that made his chest tighten. There was hunger there, and lust and love. After all these years of being beside him, Ron now easily identified any emotion that took hold of his friend, but this feverish look took him completely by surprise. And made him feel hope, which he immediately tried to control. Trying to calm himself down, Ron breathed heavily, not taking his eyes off Harry. Both of them could now feel the tension between them, almost palpable and so hard to brush aside. Thoughts whirled uncontrollably in his mind as Ron tried to think of something to say. Harry himself opened his mouth a couple of times, intending to break the silence, but closed it, without any result.

Harry felt uneasy and he knew that he had waited for too long. He'd hate himself if he stopped now and returned to merely observing and lusting over his best friend. He brought his hand to rest upon Ron's arm and with the other slowly caressed his cheek, which made the redhead gasp slightly in surprise. When Harry didn't move, Ron put his hand over Harry's, squeezing it, not knowing what else to do. Without noticing, they'd leaned forward, so close that their noses could almost touch. Ron tried saying something again, but before he knew what was happening, Harry crushed their lips together.

It wasn't a proper kiss, mainly because Harry was too scared to move or to open his eyes. However, Ron's eyes fluttered open in shock and he leaned backwards, breaking their touch. He stood there, his mouth open and hand still gripping Harry's, watching as the other boy got a strong shade of red and scrambled in the space between their beds.

"I...uh…I didn't…" was all he could muster, waiting, terrified of what would happen now.

Ron seemed to gain his composure a bit, as he gulped a few times and set a determined look on Harry's face. Ron sincerely didn't have any clue of what to do next, happiness and worry creating a storm in his head. But he knew things couldn't be left like this, so he let himself fall on the floor, facing Harry, who was now watching him uneasily. Ron leaned forward, so close that Harry felt his hot breath on his lips.

"Can I…?"

Ron didn't finish his question, but Harry nodded, even though he felt too dumbstruck to understand what he had just agreed on. But a moment later Ron's lips were shyly pressing against his and he tried to reciprocate, parting his lips slightly, allowing Ron to catch his upper lip between his. They started kissing slowly, scared that the other would pull back any moment, scared of what had to come next. So they continued kissing, caressing each other's lips, eyes closed, breath hot and heart beating fast. At one moment, Harry moved slightly and broke their kiss, which made Ron's heart throb painfully, but only for a second, because Harry shifted himself more comfortably, his new position allowing his hands to wander along Ron's back and arms as their lips now crashed passionately, tongues touching and making them shiver in pleasure.