Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot! Everything else comes from the brilliant mind of J.K. Rowling, herself! Reminder: This is a Slash fic finnalllyyyy

Life After War
Chapter 10
Phrase of the year

"Are we meeting Hermione at the Burrow?" Harry asked, sitting on their couch and playing with his snitch as he watched Ron dart from bathroom to bedroom and back again.

"S'pose we will, yeah," Ron answered, his tone ringing in an annoyed and noncommittal way.

Harry felt the need to offer his support, but didn't quite know how to go about it. What he meant to sound supportive ended coming out as, "Er...Ron...I'm here, you know...if you-"

Harry was cut short by an annoyed and shirtless Ron standing in front of where he sat on the sofa. The redhead was giving him an incredulous and angered look, intended to convey his annoyance with Harry. Instead, it drew his eyes to the freckles on Ron's nose and made him smile at the way the redhead's brow was furrowed, forehead wrinkled, and the small specks of darker blues in his relatively light blue eyes. For a moment all Harry could do was stare at these small traits that made up his best friend's face and it made him smile and wonder how he'd never noticed.

"You're laughing?! Oh, shut up, Harry," Ron said, rolling his eyes in surrender and walking away.

Harry continued chuckling and shook his head.

"I know, we're sorry. Harry's beauty routine takes time," Ron told everyone as they all sat down for dinner at the Burrow.

Harry shook his head and let out a small laugh. "You are barking mad, mate."

Ron grinned and offered Harry a wink before they all settled down and tucked into their meals.

Harry sat between Ginny and Ron. Hermione and George sat across from them and Harry couldn't help but watch in curiosity as Hermione said something to George under her breath and then loaded his plate with assorted foods from the table. George pursed his lips slightly and shook his head. Hermione shushed him and then met his eyes. They shared a silent look and then George's face relaxed and he relented, taking a bite of food. Hermione's gaze turned to her own plate while her face lit up. When she looked up, she seemed surprised and blushed with embarrassment that Harry had seen the exchange.

"So we have the photo shoot on Saturday?" Harry asked, trying not to make a big deal out of the exchange he'd seen.

Hermione smiled. "Yes, so you and Ron should wear your best Auror's robes."

"What photo shoot will this be for?" Mr. Weasley asked.

"They're going to be on Collector's Cards for Chocolate Frogs, Arthur!" Mrs. Weasley explained with more enthusiasm than Harry had seen from her in a while.

Harry looked over at Ron and found that his friend was blushing a deep shade of red, while sporting a very large and very genuine smile. It brought a smile to his own lips.

"My best accomplishment," Ron said quietly.

The table broke out into several different conversations surrounding the exciting topic of the upcoming photo shoot. Harry watched and listened quietly while he ate his lunch. When he had dished out his second serving, Ginny brought him into a conversation that he hadn't quite been expecting.

"How have you been, Harry," she asked.

"I've been well, Ginny. How are you? How is Hogwarts?"

"The same...only different somehow. Strange without Dumbledore and without a looming or occurring war. Strange being the sole Weasley left," she answered honestly. She met his eyes and gave him the blazing look he'd grown accustomed to seeing on her face.

"Everything's changed," Harry said, repeating his words from the night he'd broken everything off with her months before.

"There, yes. Here, too?"

Again, her vague question left him wondering whether she was talking about life in general or the two of them as a couple. Either way, the answer was the same.

"Yes, Gin. Here, too."

She didn't break her gaze for a few moments. He took her hand. He offered her apology and sorrow, understanding and finality, all silent from his eyes to hers. Finally, she nodded ever-so-slightly and excused herself gently from the table. He tried not to notice the wetness in her eyes before she left, but it was a useless effort.

Harry woke with a start, his heart racing. He thought he'd had a bad dream, but realized that Ron was screaming from his room. Panicked, he raced out of his bed and flung the door open to Ron's bedroom. Ron was writhing on the bed, repeating "no, no, no," over and over again at the top of his lungs.

Harry went to the side of the bed and put his arms around Ron's shoulder's to calm him. "Wake up, mate. Ron, it's alright, wake up," he whispered softly. Sweat drenched Ron's face and hair and his back was sticky through his night clothes. This was the third nightmare this week. Harry had been wondering how long these had been occurring. They could have been going on for weeks and Harry would have had no idea as he had been working at night.

Slowly, Ron started to come out of it. When he opened his eyes, they looked at Harry with such intense fear that it made Harry's stomach turn. He held on to his friend tighter and sat on the bed to get closer until Ron had a chance to come back to reality. After a moment, he felt Ron's whole body relax.

"I'm sorry, Harry," Ron offered, ashamed and embarrassed.

Harry shook his head. "Git. As though you can control what you dream about."

Ron sighed heavily. "I'm going to get a glass of water."

Harry followed his friend out to their kitchen and they sat at the table for a few moments over cups of water. Harry couldn't tare his eyes away from Ron. He felt defeated. He needed to find a way to help his friend. It was killing him to see the redhead in this state so often. It was killing him to see such fear and emptiness in those blue eyes. He wanted more than anything to take the pain away.

"Hermione and I broke up."

Harry was slightly startled with this out-of-nowhere comment. He gave Ron a silent look of question to signal him to continue.

"Actually, mate...really, we...well, we sort of broke up a while ago. We agreed through letters that it was sort of done, at least for the moment. But then, when she came back and we actually saw each other, we realized it was more than just for the moment. More like...indefinitely," he grumbled.

"I'm sorry, Ron," Harry offered, not quite knowing what else to say.

Ron met Harry's eyes and his face scrunched up on one side as he shrugged it off. "I'm not. Not really, anyway. We were bound to muck up our friendship if we stayed together. I just...I thought it was going to be different. Maybe it would have. But now, too much has changed."

Harry smirked. Wasn't that just the statement of the year.

They sat in silence for a little while and then Harry reached out and grabbed Ron's hand. Ron didn't pull away. Minutes passed while they both sat staring at their hands, resting together on the table. Eventually, Harry put their cups in the sink and grabbed Ron's shoulders to signal that it was time to go back up to bed. Ron stood, but made no move toward the door. Instead, he turned to face Harry and looked him in the eyes.

Pained, scared, tired blue eyes met curious, sorrowful, deep green ones. And then lightly and slowly Ron leaned in and pressed his lips to Harry's.

It was over practically before it had begun. Ron pulled away and Harry noticed that his friend was pale and shaking. Ron swallowed hard and then turned and ran into their bathroom, slamming the door behind himself. It took Harry a moment before he was able to digest what had just happened. Then he took a deep breath and started towards the bathroom.

"Ron," Harry said calmly and quietly. "Ron, come out of there."

When there was no response, Harry knocked on the door lightly. After a few minutes had passed, Harry said more forcefully, "Ron, honestly, come out of the bloody bathroom."

Nothing. So Harry resigned himself to sitting guard, deciding to just wait for when Ron came out to go back to bed. He summoned his snitch and played with it for a while, waiting quietly and as patiently as he could. After over half an hour of waiting, a tapping sounded at Harry's bedroom window. He glanced in through his doorway and saw a small brown owl sitting on his window sill. He turned his attention back to the bathroom door and glared at it, wishing said door would cower at his expression and fling open so that he could see his best friend. When nothing happened, he sighed heavily and shook his head, standing slowly and going to his window.

Harry,
I understand that the hour is quite late and I must've woken you. I apologize for this. I am writing to send you on a mission. It may be more productive to approach this in a more professional manner, however I am afraid that on this occasion, I must surrender my position as Minister in order to ask you to do a very personal favor. That being said, I must ask you very sincerely to keep this confidential. No one, not even Auror Weasley, can know of this mission. It will be tedious work, Harry, and very dangerous, but it must be done and it must be done tonight. If you receive this letter and agree to help me, please come straight to my office so that we can discuss the mission in private and face to face. I'm sorry, but I must request that, if possible, Mr. Weasley not even be informed of your absence. This needs to all happen as fast as possible.
Very humbly in need of your services, K. Shaklebolt

Harry read through the letter twice more before closing his eyes in frustration, rubbing his forehead, and changing into his Auror robes. He walked quietly and carefully into the front room and Apparated to the Ministry of Magic. He walked swiftly to Shaklebolt's office and knocked firmly on the closed door. After a moment, the door opened and a look of pride worn by the Minister himself shined down at Harry, making him grimace and shift uncomfortably.

"Sir?" Harry asked as he followed Shaklebolt into his office, sitting down in a chair Shaklebolt gestured to.

Shaklebolt paced around the room while he spoke, an action that both distracted as well as worried Harry. When he spoke it wasn't calmly or slowly like usual, but rushed and tense.

"Harry, I've got to say I'm so glad you've come. That's not to say that I didn't expect you would, I knew very well that you would, I'm just relieved and grateful to you, Harry, very grateful. Harry, I've got to ask you to go a mission that only you will be involved in. I would create a larger team, but this is a very touchy subject, and it has a lot people very uncomfortable. But I'm hoping you will put this past you and help me right was has become very wrong."

Harry shifted, nervous about what was to be next out of Shakelbolt's mouth. The Minister stopped pacing and made his way purposefully over to a seat next to Harry. He faced him and met Harry's eyes with his own, pleading silently as much as he was verbally.

"Severus Snape suffered the death of a dark man; a main role in Voldemort's army; a man whom is only discussed negatively. I know that Severus may have made some bad choices in his life and I know that he was, by no means, an angel. I'm aware that you did not have a good relationship with him, and I do not blame you for that, Harry. I assume that you know that he was doing the right thing. His intentions were pure. I'm afraid that, as one of Severus' oldest friends, it is hard for me to stand by and see his name tarnished. There is a way that we will be able to fix it, though, Harry. We need to get to the Shrieking Shack. I need your help. And it has to be done tonight."

Two days and way too much fighting and commotion later, Harry wiped at his face, trying to clean himself up a bit before leaving the Ministry to Apparate home. He swatted distractedly at his robes in a slight attempt at ridding them of soot and dirt. He righted his glasses onto his face, wanting badly to use a thousand spells to put himself back in order, but feeling much too shaken up and in a hurry to get home. The only thing he could think about was getting home, settling down with a glass of firewhiskey and recounting his last two days to Ron. He had a very pulling urge to be at home with his best friend. He felt uneasy and a bit nauseous, but he pulled out his wand and Apparated home.

He was not entirely shocked to find himself in front of the door to his neighbor's flat, being that he felt a touch off and realized his magic would reflect that. He walked to the correct door and did not hesitate to walk in, needing to see a set of bright blue eyes that might help to calm his uneasy mood. His heart dropped when he walked into the sitting room.

Ron was pacing in front of the fire place, his hands at the sides of his head as if trying to isolate himself from the world, his face screwed up so tightly that Harry wondered if it hurt. Standing nearby as though trying to console him, Ginny and Hermione were watching the devastated redheaded, holding their arms stretched out slightly toward him. George and Mr. Weasley were seated on the sofa, both of them leaning forward with their arms on their knees and their heads in their hands. Harry heard the slight clatter of someone putting together a tray of tea in the kitchen and knew immediately that it was Mrs. Weasley. Harry paused for only a moment to take it all in. And then instinctively he walked towards Ron.

Hearing the door close and the footsteps that followed, Ron looked up. His eyes were scrunched up in pain, his body tense. The moment he saw those green eyes, his shoulders drooped in relief. His chest caved in and he let out a breath so full of fear that it pulled at Harry's heart. But the pain that had set up residence in Ron's tortured face had begun to subside, being replaced by a sort of calm and peace that removed every ounce of unease and anxiety from Harry's body and mind.

Frozen in place, his eyes locked with Ron's, he jumped slightly when he felt Ginny wrap her arms around him. He tore his eyes away from Ron's to examine Ginny. She wasn't crying, but she held her blazing look and kissed him on the cheek. She wiped at his chin a little, probably to remove a bit of dirt. She stepped away and walked quietly into the kitchen letting Hermione take her turn, hugging him tightly and whispering, "Oh, Harry, we were so worried," before also kissing his cheek.

"I'm alright," he murmured to her lightly.

He was passed forwards to George, who gave him a hard pat on the back, and then Mr. Weasley, who hugged him tightly and mumbled about how worried they were, indeed. While still in an Arthur Weasley hug, Harry heard a loud shriek and a cry. He looked into the doorway of the kitchen to find Mrs. Weasley mid-sob, her eyes swollen and blood-shot and her apron covered in tea.

Harry walked over to her swiftly and allowed her to truly hold onto him, knowing it would help her feel a bit better and letting her soothe him as well. "Oh, Harry, dear, you gave us such a scare. I couldn't bare to think of what could have happened..."

After several moments in her embrace, Harry asked quietly, "Mrs. Weasley? I'd like to go say hi to Ron, now, if that's alright."

She sniffled and smiled. "Of course, dear, of course. We'll just go fix the tea. Arthur can pull up a few more seats for the kitchen, so just come in when you're ready dears," she told him, glancing at Ron as well.

Harry was going to wait until everyone had filed into the kitchen, but he could feel his nausea sneaking back up his throat and knew he just need to be with Ron. As soon as Mrs. Weasley let him go, he found himself making his way to Ron, who still stood frozen in front of the fireplace. When he got to the redhead, he stood carefully in front of him.

"Hi," Harry said lightly, offering a small smile.

"Hi," Ron replied, not amused. "Have you got any idea what you have put everyone through the past few days?"

Harry grimaced. "I know, Ron, I'm sorry. It wasn't on purpose. It was from Shacklebolt, though. Non-negotiable," he explained, trying to rid any thoughts that Ron might have about Harry leaving because of their kiss.

Instead of replying, Ron just stared at the ground with a look of anger, but Harry could see the relief in his eyes. He reached out and grabbed Ron's chin lightly, pulling at his pouting lip. Ron looked up at Harry and visibly relaxed, his body slouching slightly. He wiped at the bridge of Harry's nose. Slowly and carefully, Harry pulled Ron into a hug, wrapping his arms around the taller man's middle and sighing with contentment when he felt Ron's hands on his back in return. Ron rested his cheek on top of Harry's hair and let out a long breath.

Confused with how he felt and everything that was happening, Harry pulled away after a few moments and looked up at Ron. They shared a look, baring themselves to one another. And before either could stop it, they had kissed. It was short and small, just Harry's lips touching Ron's for a fraction of a moment, but it was enough.

After they pulled away, they avoided each others' gaze and turned toward the kitchen. Once they had sat down and had a few sips of tea, Harry recounted his night for them. He told them about going to the Shrieking Shack and how they had discovered a few Death Eaters in hiding, waiting for them to arrive. He told them about all of Snape's belongings that had been boxed and hidden inside and about how they had gone about retrieving memories about Snape from those Death Eaters. He told them about his trip back into the castle to find the memory that Snape had given him before he died. He apologized for the intended one night mission that had lasted nearly two days. Toward the end of the night, before everyone prepared to go back to their respective homes, Ron reached out and placed his arm around Harry's shoulders. Together they walked their guests to the fireplace and shared hugs and goodbyes. If anyone had noticed those intertwined hands or peaceful calm that had settled into green and blue eyes, they didn't mention it. It could all be discussed at another time.