Ron jumped up with a cheer. Within moments he was on the Hogwarts Quidditch pitch, wanting to congratulate his best friend Harry Potter. Harry had done another fine job of capturing the snitch. The rest of the Gryffindors were all trying to do the same thing, along with several Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. The Slytherins, whom Gryffindor had been playing, looked the very part of dejected.
Ron wiggled his way through the crowd, finally making it to the side of his dark-haired friend. Harry was trying to keep from being trampled by dozens of enthusiastic students. The rest of the Quidditch team was close by. Ron gave his brothers Fred and George, the team beaters, a thumbs-up. The two smiled at him before turning to a conversation with the rest of the team. Distracted momentarily, Ron almost knocked the Gryffindor seeker over.
"Harry, that was brilliant!" Ron gave his friend a pat on the shoulder after managing to steady himself.
Harry smiled and nodded a thank you as the Gryffindor team captain, Oliver Wood, came up beside him.
"Keep up the good work, Potter!" Oliver said, giving Harry a smile, "Ron." He nodded in Ron's direction, giving the red headed boy a glance that made his cheeks flush slightly. The reaction was instantaneous and unfathomable.
"Oliver," Ron tried to hide his blushing cheeks from the older boy, quite unsuccessful in doing so.
"Harry, we'd better... Harry?" Ron glanced about, noticing that his friend was no where in sight. Ron wondered where he'd gone in such a hurry.
Suddenly, he felt the texture of parchment as it was pushed against his palm. He watched the fleeting form of Oliver Wood as he lost himself amongst the now dispersing crowd.
Ron unfolded the parchment and glanced over the few words that had been scribbled on it. The short message was a little messy and smudged, indicating that it had most likely been written in a hurry.
"Meet me tonight at the top of the astronomy tower." Ron read aloud. He glanced up at the space Oliver had occupied only moments before with a questioning look at his face, "What in the world?"
-
Ron sat his half-empty mug of butterbeer on the first table he came to. He had seen Oliver leave a few minutes earlier and assumed it was time to go. Why would the keeper want to see him? Why couldn't he just say what he had to in the common room. Many were still actively celebrating the day's win over Slytherin, though the party was winding down somewhat. It wasn't so noisy that they wouldn't have been able to hear each other.
He borrowed Harry's invisibility cloak without asking. Harry would have wanted to know why he needed it. He normally would have been glad to be honest with his friend, but he didn't really have a good explanation. He made his way to the astronomy tower at a moderate pace. The lighting was dim, making the short trip just a tad creepier than it would have been during the day. Ron kept low as well as trying to keep a safe distance from anything he might bump into. Just a few more steps and the youngest Weasley boy had found his way to the proper door.
With only a small amount of trouble getting the door to open quietly, Ron soon found himself in the cool, crisp night air. The sky overhead was filled with marvelously bright stars. Ron didn't see Oliver anywhere. The only thing out of place was a single white rose lying on a marble bench near the balcony. Ron looked around for a moment or two before approaching the rose and carefully picking it up. He smelled the rose's sweet fragrance and then felt utterly silly. This whole thing must have been set up for some one else. It was just a mistake that he got that note. Oliver must have just been so nervous about giving it to it's recipient that he accidentally gave it to Ron instead. He placed the rose gently back in place and started towards the door.
"Don't go." A soft voice spoke. Ron jumped and turned around to find Oliver stepping out of a shadowed corner of the room.
"Sorry if I startled you," said the older boy, dusting off his robes a little, "I just. Wanted to see you when you came." He smiled sheepishly.
"You mean... This is really for me?" Ron pointed at the rose.
Oliver nodded, "I know it isn't much."
"It's beautiful." Ron blushed, "But... Why?"
"People always seem to see you as 'one of those Weasley brothers' or 'Harry Potter's best friend' like you're some kind of shadow or side-kick."
Ron pouted for a moment at that, "Thanks."
Oliver took a step forward, giving Ron that same look he had given him earlier on the pitch, "No, no, that's not what I mean." He was starting to blush himself, "What I'm trying to say is. Ronald Weasley, I know you're something special."
"Oh, Oliver." It was about all Ron could force from lips. Those lips, like the rest of him, were just a bit stunned by the other boy's confession.
Oliver picked up the rose and held it out to Ron gingerly. Ron reached out to take it, feeling flustered and confused. No one had ever even tried to say these kinds of things to him before. Oliver seemed so honest, so sincere, so open.
Ron's hand brushed against Oliver's as he took the flower. He was surprised at the softness of the other boy's skin. He would have thought that all that quidditch playing would have left him more calloused. Ron got another whiff of the rose's scent. Had it been this intoxicating moments ago?
"Oliver. I don't know what to say."
"Then don't say anything." Oliver closed the distance between himself and Ron with a pair of quick strides. He leaned down to give the red-haired boy a kiss. Oliver's lips felt as soft as the petals of the rose Ron still held in his hand. Without giving Ron a chance to say anything, without saying anything himself, Oliver was gone. Ron was left alone with his confusion, clutching the white rose to his chest.
"Ouch," Ron whispered after standing there for a few minutes in silence. He realized he'd been gripping the rose and had pricked himself on one of its thorns. He brought his pricked figure to his mouth and sucked on the tiny wound.
Ron got to thinking that he had better get back to Gryffindor tour before his absence became noticeable. There was also a chance that Harry would find his invisibility cloak missing and fly into a panic.
Ron turned on his heels and started the journey back to the Gryffindor common room, where cheerful voices would likely still be raised in celebration. He noted to himself when he got there that Oliver wasn't in sight. Ron ran up to the room he shared with Harry and the other boys in his year. He laid the rose delicately on top of the other things in his trunk before rejoining the party. For the rest of the evening he found himself anxious for his next meeting with Oliver. Ron didn't exactly know what Oliver had meant by all of it, but he was pretty sure he liked it.