Disclaimer: They're all JK Rowling's, I could never come up with something so wonderful. *Pouts*
10.
The first snow fell on the day of their first Hogsmeade visit for the term. Ron was wrapping the maroon scarf his mum had knitted for him around his neck, eager to get going. Hogsmeade visits used to be his favourite times of the school year, and this year was no different. He scurried down the stairs to the Common Room, skipping the last three steps in his impatience to get going.
The landing would have been perfect, had it not been for the person standing at the base of the stairs, whom Ron ungracefully tackled to the floor as he tripped over him, both of them ending up on the floor in a heap of limbs and winter clothing.
"You really know how to make an entrance," he heard Harry mumble from somewhere underneath him.
Blushing, Ron pushed himself off of Harry only to realise he was now straddling the smaller boy. Having come to the same realisation, Harry was blushing even more furiously than Ron and he quickly got to his feet. Seeing how Ron had been lying on top of Harry, the redhead was sent tumbling to the floor once again, landing on his back with an "oof".
Harry seemed at loss as to what to do for a moment, just looking down at Ron with an endearing blush covering his cheeks.
"Don't mind me," groaned Ron. "I'll just lie here and catch my breath for a moment."
This seemed to pull Harry out of his indecisiveness and he reached down, grabbing Ron's hand and pulling him to his feet with an embarrassed:
"Sorry about that, mate."
Ron stretched his back, moaning slightly.
"No worries. I guess I kind of deserved that. Where is everybody?" Ron looked around, realising the Common Room was empty except for him and Harry.
"They've left already. I was waiting behind for you," the dark haired boy answered.
"Well, that was nice of you," Ron commented, making his way to the portrait hole that lead out of their Common Room.
Harry followed him a bit hesitantly, opening his mouth as if to speak, then closing it again. He repeated this several times, before Ron turned to him with a sigh.
"What is it?"
Harry looked at him in confusion.
"What do you mean 'what is it'?"
"Well, you obviously want to tell me something, so spill it," Ron replied.
Harry flashed him a nervous smile.
"It's nothing really. Ginny just asked if we could meet up at the Three Broomsticks," he uttered quickly.
Ron arched an eyebrow questioningly.
"Yeah, we could do that, I guess," the redhead said slowly, not at all understanding Harry's nervousness.
"No, not 'we' as in 'us'. She meant 'we' as in…as in just her and I," the bespectacled teen said, glancing furtively at Ron.
"Oh. Oh, I see. Did she tell you why she wanted to meet just you?" Ron questioned, while the familiar feeling of jealousy gnawed away at his insides.
"No, she said she just wanted to talk. Is that…is that okay with you?" Harry asked apprehensively.
No! Ron wanted to shout. No, it's not bloody okay. You're supposed to like me, not my sister. Me, not her!
But he didn't say that. Of course he didn't. Instead he just took a deep breath and attempted a smile.
"Yeah, why wouldn't it be? You can meet up with whomever you want. And either way, I'm meeting up with Blaise, so…"
"Oh, okay," Harry returned with an odd tone he got in his voice whenever Ron mentioned Blaise. "Well, that's great, so I guess we're both busy then."
"Yeah," Ron agreed, hoping he sounded convincing. "Yeah, it's really…really great."
The walk to Hogsmeade had been awkward. Hermione had tried to get them both to talk by constantly asking them questions about Quidditch, only getting single worded answers from the two boys, rendering her silent as well after a while.
Now he and the bushy haired girl were standing in the bustling candy shop; Honeydukes. Ron was glancing distractedly at the long rows of colourful candy, feeling too sick to his stomach to actually buy something, seeing how Harry had just left to go and meet up with Ginny.
"Okay, what's going on?" Hermione voiced in a very annoyed tone.
"Nothing," Ron mumbled.
"Yeah, and I'm Victor Krum. Seriously, what was all that? I've never felt such tension between the two of you, not even when you were fighting during the Tri-Wizard Tournament in Fourth Year," Hermione pressed on.
"Yeah, well, it's not really any of your business, Hermione," Ron retorted, feeling himself getting equally annoyed.
"Is that your new tagline - 'it's none of your business'?" she questioned, imitating Ron's deep voice.
"Ha, ha. Very mature. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have somewhere else to be," Ron groused, suddenly recognizing sounds of condescending laughter coming from further down the aisle.
He strode off, leaving a frustrated Hermione behind. Blaise Zabini seemed to be in the middle of insulting Pansy Parkinson when Ron grabbed hold of him with a:
"We're going to the Three Broomsticks," Ron dragged the dark boy out of the store and into the small snow storm that had started to build up.
"Well, that was sudden," Blaise said, slipping slightly in the snow as Ron dragged him along towards the Three Broomsticks. "I thought you were hanging out with your precious Gryffindorks today?"
"Well, change of plans," muttered Ron, as they entered the welcoming warmth of the small and cosy pub.
He let his gaze sweep across the pub and found Harry and Ginny sitting huddled together in a secluded corner just chatting away in what seemed to be a simply friendly manner.
"Oh look, it's your sister and the Golden Boy," Blaise said, spotting the two. "You want to go over and say 'hi'? Because I really don't see why you would need me for that…"
Ron grabbed Blaise's arm once again and dragged him off to a table that granted him full view of the couple in the corner while at the same time making sure that they would not spot him. Ron sat down in one of the chairs and Blaise plopped down in the chair opposite the redhead with a look of utter confusion on his face.
"So, I guess this means you don't want to say 'hi'?"
"No, I don't want to say 'hi'. My sister and my best friend have made it perfectly clear that they do not wish to be disturbed," Ron replied curtly, trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice.
"Oh, they're having the big let's-get-back-together-talk then? This could be interesting," Blaise sniggered and turned around to steal a quick glance at the couple. "Well, not much going on there yet. So are, we expecting snogging or slapping?"
"I don't know," Ron looked away from the table to place a quick order with Madam Rosmerta, the pub owner, who had been approaching their table.
"But wait, if they want to be alone, then what are you doing here? Are you chaperoning your sister?" Blaise asked curiously.
"No. She can date whoever she wants, I don't care," Ron's response was dismissive, tensing up as the couple he was staring so intently at suddenly moved their heads closer together.
"So what, you're chaperoning Potter?" Blaise asked with obvious amusement. "Oh…"
Ron did not like the unexpected change in Blaise's tone and suddenly all his attention was focused on the dark boy sitting across from him, who had realisation written all over his face.
"What do you mean, 'oh'?" Ron asked insistently.
Blaise started grinning like a mad man.
"Of course, I can't believe I didn't realise it before."
"Realise what?" Ron asked, his heart now beating wildly with anxiety.
"You're in love with Potter!" Blaise exclaimed.
"What? No I'm not!"
"Yes, you are! Oh, this is just too funny," Blaise said, as he burst out laughing.
"What's so funny?" asked Ron exasperatedly. "And will you keep it down?"
Blaise took a deep breath, trying to compose himself.
"Seriously Ron, if I knew you were this much fun, I would have urged you to make up a fake crush on me much sooner," the Slytherin chuckled.
"Yeah, well, you're really making me regret it," Ron muttered.
"Aw, don't be like that, you're hurting my feelings," Blaise pouted. "But, on to more pressing matters; Potter?"
Ron tried to force the blushing away from his cheeks.
"I'm not in love with Harry," Ron mumbled quickly, glancing around to make sure no one was around to hear.
"Sure you're not," Blaise said with a roll of his eyes. "Ron, has anyone ever told you that lying isn't your strong suit?"
"Yeah," Ron answered. "But that's not the point. I'm not in love with…with him."
"So why are you glaring at your sister like you wished for her to drop dead this right moment, then?"
"I'm not, I'm just watching, you know, making sure…" Ron began to explain, regretting that he had not just played along with the entire 'overprotective brother' stunt.
"You're making sure your sister doesn't steal away the person you're in love with," Blaise stated.
"Yeah," Ron admitted, shoulders slumped in defeat.
Lying never had been his game.
"Merlin, it's all kind of incestuous, really," Blaise laughed. "You being in love with Hermione at first, then realising you're really in love with the Golden Boy, all the while he's getting it on with your sister."
"I was never really in love with Hermione, I just thought I was, and I didn't realise I was in love with Harry until after I realised I was gay, and my sister and Harry haven't really got anything on, but other than that you're pretty straight on," Ron said, surprised at how easy it was telling Blaise all of this.
There was no fear of ruining a friendship, no dire seriousness, like it had been telling Hermione. For once, Ron was happy for Blaise's inability to take anything seriously. It actually made this entire ordeal seem less foreboding.
"So, how long are you going to keep up this charade of you liking me and us being together in a kind-of-not-at-all way in front of people?" Blaise asked casually.
Ron blushed. He and Blaise had never really talked about their pretend relationship since the night of the Halloween feast, and the redhead found it rather practical to get to hang out with a new friend, while at the same time making everyone else believe that there was something going on between them.
He had never actually told anyone the status of their relationship; he simply didn't have to since everyone just assumed they were dating.
"I don't know," Ron answered truthfully.
"Because, I like you just fine, but our pretend-dating is getting in the way of me getting some around the castle. And since you're not putting out, I'm in a bit of a dry spell at the moment, and I don't do dry spells. So, maybe you should just grow some balls and tell Potter you like him, so you and I can stop pretending and just be friends, and I can go back to getting laid.
"Besides, that would hopefully stop those bigoted pea-brained Sixth Years to stop calling me names and trying to rough me up, which would mean that I would stop getting detentions for hexing their sorry arses into next week," Blaise explained, as casually as before, but Ron knew that this was Blaise admitting to something that bothered him quite a bit.
The Slytherin had mentioned the Sixth Years before, just calmly telling Ron about one of them taking a swing at him in the Slytherin Common Room. Blaise had made it into some kind of funny story about how he had made that other boy grow blisters the size of apples, which had then burst, oozing pink, glittery pus that had smelled like rotten fish. Ron had laughed about it then, but now he realised how it must feel for Blaise, not being able to feel safe in his own House and having nobody on his side. The redhead suddenly felt very privileged for having such accepting friends.
"Sorry mate," Ron mumbled. "You know, you really should tell McGonagall about that, maybe she can arrange for you to get transferred to another House or something?"
"First of all, I've told you not to call me 'mate'. I'm not your Quidditch buddy, and I happen to like my name just fine, so please feel free to use it. Secondly, telling McGonagall would mean letting them win, and I'm not going to give them the pleasure. I have as much right to be there as they have. Being gay doesn't make me any less of a Slytherin," Blaise said, with a steely tone in his voice.
Ron sometimes admired Blaise's stubbornness. The other boy never wavered in his conviction that he had the absolute right to be whoever he wanted to be, and if other people didn't like it then it was their problem. Maybe it was the Slytherin in him.
Ron, on the other hand, sometimes wondered if he would have had the guts to be as open about his sexuality as he was if his friends and family hadn't been so supportive.
He sometimes thought that if any of the people he cared the most about had reacted badly to his coming out, he probably would have just stayed in the closet, lying his way through life as to avoid disappointing those close to him. Ron could think of nothing worse than being alone and rejected.
"Yeah well, if you ever need any help, you know where to find me," Ron said earnestly.
"Yeah, I know pet," Blaise said dismissively. "But I really don't feel like feeding your Hero Complex. Speaking of which, your lover boy is making his way over here with your sister," Blaise informed, nodding his head to indicate the mirror hanging above Ron's head.
Ron looked up to see Harry making his way over through the crowd, Ginny hanging on his arm. He felt his stomach drop, he really didn't feel like talking to them right now, especially not since Ginny had a huge, self-content grin plastered all over her face that could really only mean one thing.
"Hi guys," Harry said as he reached their table, glancing furtively at Blaise. "We nearly didn't see you. Why didn't you come over and join us?"
"We didn't see you either," Ron lied, realising immediately what an obvious lie it was.
Harry just gave him a weird look, but didn't say anything about it.
"Okay. Did you get anything from Honeydukes?" Harry asked, in a light tone that even Ron could hear was forced. He cringed from the weird tension that was suddenly in the air. He and Harry had not really made up since that weird talk in the castle before the walk here, and although they hadn't really been fighting, the atmosphere between them felt as if they had.
"No, not really," Ron said, hoping he sounded more casual than Harry had. "I didn't feel like buying anything."
Ginny snorted.
"You not buying anything at Honeydukes? Hell must have frozen over."
Ron just gave his sister a cold stare, ignoring the fact that she had probably just made the joke to relieve some of the tension between the mismatched foursome.
"Yeah, well, if you'll excuse us, Blaise and I have somewhere else to be," Ron said, standing up.
"But you haven't even finished your butterbeers," Harry commented.
"I don't really feel like drinking butterbeer at the moment. I'll see you back at the castle. Come on Blaise."
Ron grabbed the darker boy by the hand and dragged him out of the pub in very much the same manner he had dragged him in there. Ginny and Harry were just left staring after them, confusion apparent on their faces.
Outside it was snowing even more than before, and Ron shivered slightly as he let go of Blaise's hand.
"What was that all about?" Blaise asked.
"Did you see the smile on Ginny's face? They're obviously together again," Ron said annoyed. "She always gets what she wants: the grades, being the captain of the Quidditch team, the friends, and every boy she's ever wanted, including Harry. She's just so bloody precious and I can't stand it!"
"Seriously, Ron, you're more dramatic than a fourteen year old girl who just got stood up by her date to the Yule Ball right now. What happened between you and Potter? The tension between you was so thick that even an emotionally retarded teaspoon could have picked up on it," Blaise asked.
"I really don't want to talk about it," Ron muttered, shoving his hands deep into his pockets.
Blaise shrugged.
"Fine. I'm not really that good of a listener anyway," he said. "Shall we go back to the castle? I don't think I can handle you going into another emotional hissy fit over seeing your sister with Potter again."
Ron just nodded and stayed silent all the way back to the castle, listening to Blaise going on about some cute boy in Ravenclaw he had his eyes on. They were both virtually walking snowmen as they entered the castle, and Ron's ears were going numb. He blamed Blaise as much as the cold.
"Well, this was fun, we should do this again sometime," Blaise said sarcastically as they approached the stairs leading up to the Gryffindor tower.
Ron just shrugged.
"You know, you really should just tell him how you feel, Ron," Blaise said with a sigh.
"You're starting to sound like Hermione," Ron muttered.
"Yeah, well, I've always liked her. She's feisty."
Ron just looked at the dark boy, an eyebrow cocked in surprise.
"She is. Anyway, I must be off to the library. Odds are, that cute Ravenclaw boy is there. But really, tell him. Now," Blaise said seriously.
"Yeah, yeah," Ron grumbled dismissively. "Go make googly eyes at what's-his-face now."
"I never make googly eyes, Ron Weasley."
And then, with a small hesitation, Blaise reached up and placed a small, very un-Zabini-like, peck on the redhead's cheek, making him blush. Blaise drew back with a giant grin on his face.
"See you around, pet," Blaise smiled, and then he was off.
Ron started climbing the stairs to the Gryffindor tower, a small smile playing on his face and a feeling of gratefulness at Blaise's small gesture of affection and comfort. He really couldn't have picked a better fake-crush for himself.