CHAPTER EIGHT
Ron's POV
Frustrated he ran a hand through his flame red hair, "I already told you! I don't know where he his!"
The look on his mother's face told him she wasn't buying it. Harry honestly hadn't told him though. In the letter he just said stop looking. He had to be a nutter to think they'd stop. What if You Know Who found him? Ron sighed.
"Don't talk to me in that tone," She said, like him she had flame red hair.
"I'm sorry mum," He said quickly.
Molly Weasley was like a bull. Either get the hell out of the way or get run over. Ron learned that at a young age. Fred and George made sure of that.
"Well if he sends you any more letters honey be sure to let me know."
Her slightly aged face was pulled into a motherly smile. He smiled back as convincingly as possible. If she would just let him be he could finish writing his letter.
"Yes mother."
She gave him a kiss on the head and then turned away to continue observing the knives chopping up parsley. Ron made his way back through the kitchen, his deep blue eyes briefly glancing at the magic clock. Fred and George -his prankster brothers- were still away from home. They'd been living at the joke shop but after some people broke in it mum wouldn't stop crying until they agreed to spend the summer at home. Also they wanted to stay updated on Harry's situation. He couldn't help feel a little annoyed with Harry. Or more like insulted. Why not come here? He coulda hid him from mum even if she didn't want him to stay.
Taking the stairs two at a time he quickly got to his room, only stopping to bang on the ceiling so the ghoul would stop moaning. When the door was safely shut behind him he let out a deep sigh. Time to get back to work.
Clearing off the clothes piled on his bed and dresser he began searching under the mattress. His hand slid across the map he had hidden and he quickly pulled it out. It was aged and yellow but the magic was still strong. The map showed all of the UK and actually changed with the land. Already he had X'd out some areas that Harry couldn't be. For days now he had been wracking his brain trying to figure it out. The one thing he was good at was strategy so he was trying his best to figure out what most likely happened to Harry.
After scratching off the more obvious ones he was beginning to look at the less obvious places. Several wizard dwellings were around the area and the one that bothered him most was the Malfoy Manor. But he knew that if Harry was there he would have been delivered to Voldemort and they would all know. Hesitating only a bit he crossed it off with his quill. If only Hermione was here already this would be going way faster.
Which actually reminded him that she should be showing up soon sometime today. He had told her briefly in a letter what he was doing. Under pretence of being scared and worried over Harry she had gotten permission to stay here for the rest of the summer. Or at least until they found Harry. Hermione was better at the whole brainiac thing than him so she could probably help a lot.
Absently he scratched his freckled face and tried to rule out a few more places. Harry didn't know how many wizards lived near him so almost all of those dwellings were scratched off. It just wasn't making sense. Why was nobody able to find him?
He stayed that way for almost three hours, lying on the floor staring at the map slowly adding more places that he couldn't be. The smell of something sweet was drifting upstairs though and his grumbling stomach convinced him to take a break. His head was sorta sore. He wasn't used to doing this much work. Carefully putting the map back in it's hiding place he put his quill and ink back on his dresser. After throwing his clothes back onto his bed in disarray he got up and stretched. Several muscled in his back cracked and loosened up his joints.
Stifling a yawn he pulled his door open again, only briefly glancing out at the cloudy sky. Taking the stairs slowly this time he began to wonder if Harry was even still alive. No, Dumbledore would have known about that. Still he couldn't help feel the sinking feeling in his gut he was akin to nowadays. Even when he had been feeling ignored because of Harry's popularity he had never wanted him to leave.
"What're you cooking?" He called as he walked into the kitchen.
"The sweet buns just came out," Mum said, "You can have one but leave some for your father."
He grabbed one of the sweet buns, "He isn't back yet?"
"They're holding him back a little bit because someone decided to enlarge a Muggle\s head three times the size. It's lucky the poor man's neck didn't break."
Slowly he ate the sweet bun. He sat on the edge of the table silently staring at the clock. At that moment the twins' hands flew to traveling. A loud crack sounded through the room and he almost choked on his bun.
"Hey Mum," Fred said.
"And Ron," George finished.
They were both grinning at the look on his face. LIke usual they were wearing fancy robes that stood out. Both of them had on deep red robes with streaks of yellow and gold going through it. Their hair was messy like usually and the trademark Weasley flame red.
"Do you have to do that every time?"
"Yep," They said, both walking over to give mum a kiss on the cheek while snagging a bun.
Like Ron, they pulled out chairs and sat down. It was silent for a while, only the sound of mum humming under her breath. He finished his bun and prepared to return to his mapping.
"So any news on Harry yet?" George asked before he could take his leave.
"No." Ron said.
"Oh alright," Fred said, nibbling his bun.
"Yeah that makes sense. Not like you would know," There was the smallest hint of a smirk in George's voice.
"Bugger off," He hissed under his breath and got up.
Ignoring their laughing he walked up the stairs as quickly as he dared. Having those two around would make things way more difficult. When he got into his room he flopped down on his bed. Where are you Harry?
It wasn't time to mope though and he retrieved the map again. The black 'X's all stood out in sharp relief to him. Every blank space gave him a sense of unease. For a while now he'd been feeling uneasy looking at the map. It was like he could tell something was missing.
A loud crack rang through the room making him jump.
"What's that?" Fred asked, grabbing the map.
"Give it back!" He yelled, trying to grab it.
Fred just tossed it to George who looked it over. His eyes widened.
"No way, you're actually making a map?!" The disbelief was bordering on an insult.
"Yeah, now give it back," Ron pulled it out of his hands roughly.
"Are you looking for Harry?" Fred asked.
"Bloody hell! JUST GET OUT!" He yelled.
"No way!" George said.
"We want to help," Fred agreed.
"What?" He had expected them to tell.
"Mum and dad would probably skin you if they knew you were going against Dumbledore."
"But that's what makes it fun."
They both looked at him expectantly, "So what do you say?"
"Ah, yeah, sure," He said, surprised.
"You all done fighting?" A familiar female voice asked.
Turning he saw Hermione standing in the doorway. Her bushy brown hair had gotten longer and those brown eyes smarter but it was still the girl he knew.
"Hermione!" Ron yelled, running over and giving her a hug.
A bout of laughter erupted from behind him. Quickly he let go, turning red.
"So do you have any ideas of where Harry could be?" Hermione asked, all business no play.
Quickly he tried to compose himself, "Not really. I just have the feeling we're not looking in the right places."
"Mhm," She took the map from his hand and began looking it over.
A prickle of shame crawled down his spine. They were all treating him like an idiot. The twins walked over and gave a few comments. She actually answered them. Annoyed he sank into a gloomy silence. He's not an idiot. He just had a hunch they were wasting their time. Time ticked by and they made little process. Eventually he just walked away from their huddle on the ground and sat on his bed. If they weren't going to help him he'd just figure this out himself. Still, their chatter made him more and more annoyed by the second.
"IF YOU WANT TO KNOW SO BAD WHY DON'T YOU JUST ASK HIM?!" He burst out.
They all looked over in surprise.
"That might work . . ." Fred said grudgingly.
"He ran away, why would he trust us?" George countered.
"Maybe . . ." Hermione began but lapsed into thought.
"Maybe what?" Ron asked, calmed down a bit.
"We could always put a tracking spell on Hedwig . . ."
At that moment the snowy owl was in his room actually. She hadn't gone back to Harry yet. He had planned to send her back later with a letter. But now that he thought about it that was actually a good idea.
"Alright, can you do one?" He asked.
"Of course," She said, almost in an offended tone.
Ron got up and went and got Hedwig. Hermione pulled out her wand. She cast a spell he didn't recognize.
"That should do it."
"Can I send a letter?" He asked.
"If you want."
Quickly he walked over to his desk and grabbed his quill and some parchment.
Dear Harry,
We're searching for you. I'm not gonna lie. And we're not working with the adults. Hermione and I were the only ones originally but Fred and George got in on it too. We just wanna know where you are and if you're safe.
Ron
He gave it a look over checking for any flaws and then handed it to Hermione. She fastened it to Hedwig's leg while he opened the window.
"Take this to Harry," Hermione told the snowy white owl.
Hedwig hooted once and then took off through the window. He watched her go wondering if Harry would reply and tell them his location. Hopefully he would.
"Do we keep looking over the map or do we just wait?" Fred asked.
"Looking over the map is pointless right now," Hermione said, picking it up, "We've already marked off most areas. Right now we should just wait."
"Then I'm going to look through our old junk," George said.
"Yeah," Fred agreed, "I want to know how much mum threw away."
At that moment someone knocked on the door. With a loud crack Fred and George disappeared. He glanced at Hermione and then assumed a regular looking position on the bed. She sat near him and turned her body so it looked like they had been talking.
"Ron sweetheart please help-" His mother had opened the door but stopped.
"Oh." She looked at them with a slight smile, "I won't disturb you."
What's she talking about? Ron looked at Hermione and realized they were probably a bit too close. And on a bed. No way she didn't think that they were . . ..
"Mum wai-" Too late, she had already left.
POV Change
Harry's POV
Blushing he shrugged Draco off as the blonde once again tried to kiss him as he was getting dressed.
"Knock it off Dray," He said, zipping up the pants he found in the dresser.
They had no clue what time it was down here but he hoped it was morning. It should be because he felt well rested, but he also didn't know when he went to sleep.
"You sure are shy for a guy who just lost his V card," Draco mused, pulling on the matching other pair of jeans, "Shouldn't you be over little kisses?"
"Sh-shut up!" He turned red thinking of last night.
"By the way are you sore?"
"A bit," It did sorta hurt but not as much as he expected.
Draco wrapped his arms around him from behind. His hot breath blew across his ear making him shiver.
"Can't be helped I guess," He murmured, kissing his neck.
"Get off. I gotta get dressed," Harry said, still blushing.
"And if I don't want to?" Draco asked, sucking lightly on the skin.
A small gasp escaped. He tried to pry him off but he just grabbed his hands. Kisses continued to rain down on his neck. His heart was already racing. Draco's scent was filling his nose and he closed his eyes.
"Please?" He asked, not knowing if he meant it or not.
Dray sighed and released him, "If you gotta."
Quickly he slipped on the grey T shirt as did Draco. They both matched but it was the only available clothing. It was time for them to start their new life. He wondered what it would be like. Almost apprehensively he placed his hand on the door knob. Everything was changing. And so would he.
A/N OMFG it's been forever! Or at least it feels like it. I've been so damn busy with exams and EQAO. Now I've got English though so yay for that. Failed Gym though *cries inside* and probably Business and Math. I really shoulda attended more. Anyways I'm going to try and get it back to a chapter a week (roughly). I really love this fic and can't wait to dive into all them feelings.
Reviews, Favs, and Follows are greatly appreciated! ;)
