GHOSTS
VI
Secrets

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this chapter sucks. sorry.

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"Ron?"
He blinked up at the ceiling, and tried to figure out why it was talking to him.
"Ron?"
Maybe it wasn't the ceiling. Maybe it was something else. The wall, maybe, or the floor, or...
"Dammit, Ron!"
He opened his eyes, and Harry was sitting on the end of his bed, looking more than a bit frustrated.
"Huh? Harry? What?"
"I need to talk to you."
"What. Um. Time?" Speaking was proving quite difficult, and Ron was actually quite proud of his efforts, considering what time it turned out to be.
"About three."
"In the -morning-?"
"In the morning."
"What in the world could you possibly have to say to me at three in the morning?"
"Where were you yesterday?"
"Huh? I spent the whole day with you, Harry, outside of classes."
"Yesterday at three in the morning?"
Ron's eyes opened almost comically wide. "I ... I ... Wh-what d'you mean, Harry? I was right here, of coure. At three in the morning, where else would I be? I get tired. I'm tired now."
"You weren't here. I know you weren't here because -I- wasn't here. I was leaving —"
"To go meet Hermionie," Ron guessed.
Harry blushed. "Yeah. But ... that's not the point. The point is, I was being extra-careful not to trip over your boots on the floor, because I've been doing that lately-"
"Not my fault."
"Right. Not your fault." He sighed. "And I realized they weren't there."
"Who wasn't there?"
"Your -boots-, Ron."
"Oh. Boots. Right."
"They weren't there, and I thought that was odd, so I checked to see if -you- were there ... and you weren't."
"I was too, Harry. You must've been mistaken."
"I'm not stupid. You weren't there, and it probably wasn't the first time, either. You've complained that your marks are slipping, and I -know- you're a good student, and you've been quieter lately, for you; you've even been nicer to -Malfoy-."
"I have?"
"Yeah."
Ooops. That wasn't in the plan.
"You're seeing someone, aren't you? Why didn't you -tell- me?"
"You didn't tell me about you and Hermionie," Ron pointed out, all too eager to change the subject.
"You knew."
"But you didn't -tell- me."
"I'm seeing Hermionie. There, I told you. Now it's your turn."
"I'm not seeing anybody, I told you. Don't you believe me?"
Harry turned and stared Ron in the eyes. "How can I believe you when you're lying to me? I -know- you, Ron, I -know- you. I can tell when you're lying. You're lying now."
Ron averted his eyes, and after a few incredibly tense seconds muttered, "Draco."
"D-draco?" Harry repeated, confused, and unwilling to believe what he'd just heard.
"Draco," Ron repeated, louder and more firmly this time. "Draco Malfoy. I'm seeing Draco Malfoy. I have been, for some time, seeing and sleeping with Draco Malfoy. Harry ... Harry, I'm in love with him."

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