Hello, I present the seventh chapter of Unbending, my first fan fiction.
All characters are J.K. Rowling's, not mine. I just control the situation.

After a few moments of deliberation and a hard stare from Ron, Harry stood with a sigh and carefully slid his pajama pants and boxers down and stepped out of them. The nasty bruising on the thin teen's thighs were the only thing keeping Ron from openly staring and also causing him to. Turning an ugly shade halfway between gray and green, Ron twirled his finger in the air, gesturing for Harry to turn around.

As he turned, the red head caught sight of marks and scratches that he was sure matched the fat fingers of Dudley. Letting his eyes trail farther, he saw the cuts ended only a little ways beyond where his friend's waist band sat. From there the skin of his buttocks was only marred by bruises, until the curve where his legs met his body. Thin, shallow, parallel slashes ran down the length of the bony limbs, each cut starting on the inside of the thigh and ending on the outside. The ones at the top were already healed, nothing more than pink scars.

"What are those from?" Ron asked. Puzzled, he reached out, carefully running a finger gently over the top one, just under Harry's left cheek. He didn't notice the shudder that ran up the thin boy's body.

Harry had the suddenly odd feeling of blood rushing to two places at once. He shifted awkwardly and muttered something about a new pocket knife.

"A new pocket knife... Let me guess, your bloody sod of a cousin wanted to have a go at the back of your calves with his brand new toy? This just gets better and better."

Ron pushed gently against the inside of the battered leg, causing Harry to shift his weight to the other and hold his leg out slightly. He followed the scar with his finger until it ended. Harry shuddered again, more blood rushing south. Ron noticed this time and removed his finger thinking he had hurt him.

"Sorry."

"It's fine."

"Ummm..." There was a few moments of awkward silence.

"Uh, you can sit and I'll finish wrapping you up."

Harry obliged, trying to keep his back to Ron as much as he could. After sitting down, the red head grabbed a bottle of ointment and started gently dabbing at the black haired boy's shoulders.

"Does it hurt?"

"No. Actually, it feels great."

Ron grinned for what felt like the first time in hours, "Good. The bottle says its good for bruising too."

When he made it to the end of the cuts he asked Harry to stand again.

"Why?"

"It said it's good for bruises. Come on Harry, you can't be that thick?"

"I'm not!"

"Then stand up! You can't lay down cause you'll get it on the sheets and I still don't know what I'm gonna tell Mum if she sees this! She'll go mental!"

"Fine." Harry stood up, fidgeting a bit. He still hadn't relaxed, the gentle prodding and the relief, the soothing strokes of warm fingers and the easy breath feathering across the back of his neck was something he had never felt before. It was warming something inside him and, for the first time in his life outside of Hogwarts, he felt completely and utterly safe.

When the tall teen moved around to stand in front of him, green eyes met blue for a second then Ron glanced down. Blushing he dragged his eyes back up, focusing on the bruising around Harry's collarbone. Glancing at the dark haired boy's face their eyes met again. Gazes locked, he raised his hands and started to message the ointment into the abused skin, fingers making small circles. More ointment, then the broad, calloused palms lay flat against the thin chest, still moving in calming circles. Sliding up, he messaged Harry's shoulders then started tending his arms, one at a time. Holding one of the smaller hands in his own he looked down at it, rubbing circles on the back with his thumbs.

"My hands aren't bruised." Harry said quietly.

"I know."

The shorter teen pulled his hand free and, when the red head looked into his eyes again, he placed them on either side of the freckled face. Standing on tip toe he whispered "Thank you." against Ron's lips before pulling him into a heated kiss.

A/N: Well, we're winding down. I'll tell you now, if you want a lemon chapter you gotta let me know, or I'll keep it fluffy-ish. Also, let me know where I could improve or if you liked it.
Thanks for reading!