Disclaimer: Harry Potter not mine but you know which people do be. Ugga
ugg.
Real author: Uhhh riiiight....
Rating: PG-13
Author's Note: This contains slash. Yaoi. The romantic pairing of two of
the male gender. Get it? If you dun like that then go away. Shoo. ^_^ Also
it contains hints at yuri (the pairing of two girls) but not for a few
chapters.
Ok, not to mention that I started writing this two days before exams start
at ten at night. Why? Because I have no life and because I don't want to
study for Potions and Arinth- I mean Integrated Science and Algebra.
*whistles innocently* So if this is a little weird or you don't get
another chapter for like two weeks then you know why.
Oh, I have to say "his wand" a few times in this chapter, but it's
referring to, y'know, the wooden MAGIC ones. Get your minds out of the
gutter, you weird people!
Have you ever noticed that kitchen floors never creak?
So anyways... on with the show!
**Blue Raspberry**
Chapter One - Letters, Nightmares, and Chammomile Tea
Dear Ron,
Yes you can come get me! Thank god that Dumbledore said you
could! It's really very lonely without you and Hermione. I've sort
of been just keeping to myself over here. The way the Dursleys
work is "Do no harm, and no harm will be done to you." So far it's
been working.
In either case, be prepared for your mom to go crazy over
me because I'm still too thin. Yea, I know it, but what can you do
when you're living with a mental aunt and uncle and a cousin who's
as big as a barge? I bet I'd look a lot less thin if I just had
some clothes that actually fit me.
Yea, oh well. Remind me to get some at Diagon Alley. That
is... do they sell Muggle-type clothes there? I sure hope so.
Well, even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter. There's plenty of
Muggle shops in London that sell clothes and as long as your dad
dosen't come (think of the disaster THAT would be!) then I could
show you a bit of the world I lived in for eleven years.
Anyway, I can't wait to see you. So... er, come quick!
Harry
Ron read over the letter a fifth time and smiled hugely. 'He 'can't wait"
to see me!' He thought excitedly. 'I can't wait to see you either, Harry.
Just wait until tomorrow... then you'll see me and I'll see you...' "Nox."
he whispered to his wand, and laid back in the darkness.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry stared out the window of his bedroom. He was too... well, awake to
be asleep. It had been two days ago he sent Hedwig with his reply to Ron
with the instructions to "fly as fast as you can". That meant Ron should
get his letter tomorrow. He'd never known Hedwig to fly faster than that.
"Ron." he whispered into the night air. "I wonder what you're doing right
now. Could Hedwig be tapping at your window with my letter? Are you asleep
and waiting for it? Awake and waiting? What are you doing?" He glanced
over at his clock. It read 3:12 AM. Harry turned back to his window and
sighed.
He awoke later that morning when a giant black hawk pecked him lightly
through his hair. Harry was a bit taken aback. What in the world was a
giant bird like that... unless... He looked at it's legs, and as he
thought, a note was tied to one of them. Gently he untied it and it flew
to his desk.
"All I've got are owl treats. Sorry. I've never seen a magnificent bird
like you before." The hawk seemed pleased enough at the praise and flew
away. The note was in Ron's hadwriting, scribbled like it was the last
thing he could ever write and he only had five seconds to write it in.
Harry,
We're coming to get you!
Haha, that sounded like some crazed Muggle gang. Well, we
are, in any case. I sent the note with Siren, Bill's black hawk.
He's twice as fast as any owl (no offense to Hedwig or anything).
Oh, and Hedwig is staying here. She looked pretty tired out when
she arrived, so we set up a perch.
So, yea, pack as fast as you can! We're coming in a
ministry of magic car. Bill's driving. Oh, and don't worry about
making your trunk too heavy -- Fred and George are coming along.
Seeya then!
Ron
Harry stared at the note for a few moments longer, and then set to packing
the little he owned.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Ron? You awake, dear?" Mrs. Weasley called through the closed door of her
youngest son's room. There was no reply and she called again. After a few
more seconds of silence, she cracked the door open to see what was keeping
him. Ron lay on his back on his bed, wand beside him, head off the pillow,
one leg hanging over the side from the knee on, and clutching Harry's
letter to his chest with a content smile. She shut the door and turned
away, looking at the ground, and walked back down to the kitchen. "Bill,
could you go wake up Ron?" He looked up at her.
"Hm? I thought you left to do that..." he saw the look on her face. "But
whatever. I'll be right back with the little rascal." He walked up to
Ron's room, confused, and knocked on the door. "Oh ickle Ronniekins, wakey
wakey!" There was a startled yelp from inside. "Can I come in?"
"Er, uh, yea!" Stuttered the reply. Bill opened the door. Ron was in his
boxers and a t-shirt, pulling on jeans. A crumpled peice of paper was
sticking out from under his pillow, and his wand lay on the bed.
"What were you up to?" Ron looked up at him, only one pants leg on.
"What?"
"Nothing. If you get ready fast enough, I'll take us all out to this great
Muggle coffee shop after we get Harry. I'll be in the parlor." With that,
Bill left. Ron was left looking into the open expanse of air past the
banister of the stairway.
"Did he see...?" He glanced over at his rumpled bed, Harry's letter
stuffed under the pillow, and his wand. "Nah. He couldn't have..."
Ten minutes later found Bill driving the Ministry of Magic car with Ron,
Fred and George in the back. Ron was staring absently out the window while
the twins admired the Muggle buildings. Ron thought he actually saw one of
the twins kiss the other's cheek at one point, but decided it was just his
eyes playing tricks on him.
"Hey Ron!" someone was shaking him. "Ron, we're at Harry's house!" He
snapped open his eyes. Fred had him by the shoulders and was jostling him
awake.
"Oh! Sorry, we're here? Guess I was a little more tired than I thought."
He got out of the car and walked up the front drive with Bill. He pressed
the doorbell, feeling very proud of himself for remembering that concept
from Muggle Studies class at Hogwarts. A large, purple-faced man answered.
"What do you want?" He asked gruffly, and looked at Ron. Then he took a
step back, apparently remembering him from the fireplace incident the year
before.
"We're here to get Harry." Bill answered when he realized Ron wasn't about
to anytime soon. The big man turned purpler.
"Who are you representing?" The brothers exchanged glances.
"The Weasleys. We're friends of his." He sqinted his eyes at them, and Ron
wondered if he was glaring.
"Fine. Go get him. He's not come down this morning so he's probably still
sleeping or blown himself up or something." He muttered the last part,
walking to the bottom of the stairs to monitor the entire process. Fred
and George knocked on Harry's door and took his trunk. Ron helped Harry
take the rest of his stuff and they left with polite thanks and apology to
the big man. Somehow, Harry managed to fit in the back of the car with the
three others and still not be too tight a fit. Ron figured that was most
likely because he was so inhumanly thin.
"Harry." he whispered and pulled the smaller boy into a hug. He felt
Harry's hands grip the back of his shirt and him bury his face in his
shoulder. A decidedly irregular pulse beat extremely fast under the hand
he had on the back of Harry's neck, but it slowed after a long moment and
Ron realized Harry was asleep. His beautiful green eyes were shut lightly,
and dark, unruly hair fell all over his face. Carefully, he moved Harry's
hands and leaned back, careful not to startle him, and finally took a
close look. He was paler than Ron thought even Malfoy was, and unnaturally
skinny. The muscles he had gotten playing Quidditch were defined even
while slack, where he could see them under the too-big clothes. Ron slid
his arm down to encircle Harry's waist. He felt individual ribs as he
brushed lightly over them. "My poor Harry..." he whispered even softer,
and took one of his hands, holding it on his own chest, and closed his
eyes.
George looked over to check on Harry and smiled. Ron was sitting there,
one arm around Harry's waist, the other holding one of Harry's hands over
the redhead's heart. Harry himself was sleeping, his head on Ron's
shoulder, looking sweet and so completely vulnerable. George nudged Fred
and nodded toward the pair. Fred looked and turned back to George,
covering his twin's lips with his own. George smiled crookedly.
"Now what was all that about?"
"I felt left out." Replied Fred in a mock-whimper, and kissed George again.
~*~*~*~*~*~
When they arrived at the Burrow (Bill decided to save Starbucks for
another time when he got there and nobody in the back of the car was awake
except George) he looked into the backseat of the car. Fred was asleep on
George -- not an uncommon occurance -- but Harry and Ron were wrapped
together in an obviously more-than-friendly manner. He glanced toward the
house and his potentially homophobic mother.
"Ron." He whispered loudly, waking both his target and Fred, but not Harry.
"Oh. Are we home?" Ron whispered back.
"Yea." He looked at them. Harry had somehow twined his fingers behind
Ron's neck. "Maybe you should carry him in. He looks like he needs the
help."
"Mm-hm." Ron traced the dark cirlcles under Harry's eyes; present even in
sleep. "I'll take him up to my room." It was a challenge getting out of
the car, but Harry didn't stir once, and Ron managed to get one arm under
his friend's knees, the other under his upper back, and carry him without
problems.
Mrs. Weasley dashed out of the house and squealed, "Harry! Is he alright?
Is he-" Ron cut her off.
"Shhh mom, he's ok, just sleeping. I'm gonna take him up to my room so he
can sleep away from all the family-type noise." And to his surprise, Molly
Weasley just nodded and let him go. At the door of his room, Harry's grip
slackened. "It's okay." Ron whispered mostly to himself. "You can sleep
now and you'll be just fine. Nothing bad will happen to you, because I
won't let it. I promise." He got inside the room and closed the door.
"Ron?" croaked a voice. Harry's startlingly green eyes were half-lidded,
looking up at the boy who held him. "You promise? I can rest?" Ron laid
him gently down on his bed and took the wand and paper away to make it
more comfortable.
"I promise, Harry. I'll stay here and protect you. Now, sleep." Harry's
eyes shut again and he drifted off into an exhausted slumber.
~*~*~*~*~*~
A breeze drifted through the open window of Ron's bedroom. It was
mid-morning the day after Harry had arrived, and he was still sleeping.
Fred and George had each come to visit twice, Ginny and Bill once, and
Mrs. Weasley every other hour until Ron promised to go get her if there
were any changes in Harry's condition.
At the feel of soft, cool air blowing across his face, Harry woke up. He
felt more rested than he'd felt in weeks and his glasses were off, causing
him to wonder just where he was. Not the Dursley's or Hogwarts, that was
certain. So that meant... He sat up carefully and looked at the blurry
images of Quidditch players in bright orange robes. Glancing around
frantically, he located his glasses and pulled them on. Ron was dozing in
a chair near the window, tired from keeping watch over Harry so vigilantly.
Harry smiled widely. Ron's fire-red hair had fallen over his face and was
blowing in the very breeze that had awoken him. A tired, slightly nauseous
feeling was gnawing at his insides, but he pushed it to the back of his
mind and went on watching Ron. His crystal blue eyes fluttered open
beneath his hair and met Harry's green ones.
"Harry!" he called in a soft voice. "You're finally awake! You've been out
for about a day. Mum was worried sick about you. I-" he looked at his feet
and blushed scarlet. "I was too. Expecially after you fell asleep on me in
the car like that. I've never known you to be like that. Ever." Harry
smiled impishly.
"Sorry to worry you all. I just hadn't slept... and I suppose that with my
body running out of fuel sources, it took longer to recover than usual."
Ron nodded, shaking his hair out of his eyes; then stood and closed the
distance between, them, placing a cool hand on Harry's forehead.
"You feel a bit warm. I'll get mum to check you out. You gonna be okay for
a minute?"
"I should be." Ron nodded again and left. Harry just sat and looked
around. 'I can hardly beleive I'm here. Ron's here. And I haven't died
yet. There's no way I should beleive this is anything more than a
beautiful dream, and yet...' Ron had come back, his mother with him.
"Harry! How are you feeling, dear?"
"Much better, Mrs. Weasley."
"Good. Are you hungry? You're just so thin..."
"I'm not very hungry..." he glanced at Ron's huge, worried eyes, "...but I
suppose I should have a little something."
"Of course you should. I'll just fix you up a little something easy on an
unaccustomed stomach. I'll be right back up." She bustled out, leaving the
boys alone once again. Harry laid back aganst the pillows and Ron, after a
moment's hesitation, sat next to him on the bed and held one of his hands.
"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked seriously, looking into his
friend's brightly green eyes. He watched as silently, the eyes took on a
desperate quality, and deep-set in them was fear. Harry shook his head no,
not breaking eye contact. "Well what's wrong?" He asked gently.
"I..." he stared back into the crystalline blue eyes, heart beating fast.
"I don't know..." The door creaked and the two jumped apart, uncertain of
what was about to happen. Mrs. Weasley, carrying a tray with a bowl of
soup and cup of tea on it, was followed by the twins.
"Now Harry, eat as much of this as you can. It's the best thing for you
right now besides chicken soup."
"Ron, you go take a shower or something. We'll watch over Harry for you."
Fred said, and winked. Ron gave them a worried look but left anyway. The
moment he was out of the room, the twins looked at him, mischevious smiles
plastered on their faces.
"What?" Harry asked cautiously, not liking the look they were giving him.
"Eat." George ordered. "Talk is for later." Harry followed orders. George
sat in Ron's vacated chair while Fred walked about, apparently conferring
with the posters on the walls. Finally he turned back to the black-haired
boy.
"Are you sure you two should be in here with the door closed without a
chaperone?" He asked. Harry just about dropped the teacup and looked up at
Fred.
"Excuse me?" he asked in a voice more confident than he felt.
"You. And Ron. Should you be in here without somebody watching?" Harry
managed to turn a brilliant shade of red.
"What are you implying?" The twins smiled at each other devilishly.
"Oh... nothing." George said and told Harry to eat already.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Ron turned over in bed and checked his watch: 1:27 AM. He groaned inwardly
and covered his eyes with his arm. That lasted not long, for across the
room, Harry whimpered. In a matter of seconds, Ron had gotten up and
halfway crossed the room to Harry's bed. He looked at his sleeping friend
and stopped. He was on his side with his face turned upward, clutching the
sheets to his chest.
As quietly as he could, Ron tiptoed the rest of the way to Harry and
brushed the messy black hair out of his face. Illuminated by the
moonlight, the other boy's skin shone silver, and his hair took on an
almost indigo quality. Tears left sparkling trails on his cheeks. Ron's
breath caught in his throat and he backed hastily away before literally
running out of his room and down to Bill's. He knocked twice and the door
was opened.
Bill looked like he hadn't even gone to sleep yet, and Ron wouldn't doubt
it. One-thirty was early for someone like Bill.
"Ron?" he whispered. "What's going on?"
"I, you see, I just... it was the moonlight, I swear-" Bill cut him off.
"Would you like to come in?" Ron nodded and walked past his older brother
to sit on the bed. Bill closed the door and went to sit next to him. "Now,
what is this all about?" Ron took a deep breath.
"You see, I couldn't sleep and Harry was having a nightmare and the moon
was shining on him all slivery and... and..." he swallowed. "I think I
just almost kissed Harry." Bill nodded and put a comforting arm around his
little brother's shoulders.
"Ron, Ron, Ron..."
"What, what, what?" He asked glumly.
"If you want this to go anywhere, don't let mom know."
"It's not that..."
"What is it then?"
"It's just that... it's Harry! He's been my best friend for almost five
years, I'm not supposed to get a crush on him! Plus, he grew up in the
muggle world. They think stuff like this is basically the spawn of the
devil except a select few. Not to mention that he's... he's the famous
Harry Potter. The boy who lived! I'm just Ron Weasley. The boy from an
exceptionally poor family who hasn't done anything important at all."
"Ron, now listen closely. I'm not going to say I've been in exactly the
same circumstance, but... it was close. The first thing you have to know
is that with boy-boy relationships, whether you're Harry Potter or Ron
Weasley dosen't matter. Only what kind of person you are and what you do
matters. The second is that I bet you'd be surprised at how easily he'll
accept the wizard way of looking at things. Third, take it slowly, and
keep your cool. Don't tell anyone that would be problematic. But most
importantly - remember we all love you, no matter what. Ok, bro? Now maybe
you should go back to bed."
"I can't sleep..."
"Then, chammomile tea?"
AN: Yahoo! I finished a chapter! It took me an entire month, but I did it!
Tune in (in about a month, hehe) for chapter two of Blue Raspberry. Ja ne!
ugg.
Real author: Uhhh riiiight....
Rating: PG-13
Author's Note: This contains slash. Yaoi. The romantic pairing of two of
the male gender. Get it? If you dun like that then go away. Shoo. ^_^ Also
it contains hints at yuri (the pairing of two girls) but not for a few
chapters.
Ok, not to mention that I started writing this two days before exams start
at ten at night. Why? Because I have no life and because I don't want to
study for Potions and Arinth- I mean Integrated Science and Algebra.
*whistles innocently* So if this is a little weird or you don't get
another chapter for like two weeks then you know why.
Oh, I have to say "his wand" a few times in this chapter, but it's
referring to, y'know, the wooden MAGIC ones. Get your minds out of the
gutter, you weird people!
Have you ever noticed that kitchen floors never creak?
So anyways... on with the show!
**Blue Raspberry**
Chapter One - Letters, Nightmares, and Chammomile Tea
Dear Ron,
Yes you can come get me! Thank god that Dumbledore said you
could! It's really very lonely without you and Hermione. I've sort
of been just keeping to myself over here. The way the Dursleys
work is "Do no harm, and no harm will be done to you." So far it's
been working.
In either case, be prepared for your mom to go crazy over
me because I'm still too thin. Yea, I know it, but what can you do
when you're living with a mental aunt and uncle and a cousin who's
as big as a barge? I bet I'd look a lot less thin if I just had
some clothes that actually fit me.
Yea, oh well. Remind me to get some at Diagon Alley. That
is... do they sell Muggle-type clothes there? I sure hope so.
Well, even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter. There's plenty of
Muggle shops in London that sell clothes and as long as your dad
dosen't come (think of the disaster THAT would be!) then I could
show you a bit of the world I lived in for eleven years.
Anyway, I can't wait to see you. So... er, come quick!
Harry
Ron read over the letter a fifth time and smiled hugely. 'He 'can't wait"
to see me!' He thought excitedly. 'I can't wait to see you either, Harry.
Just wait until tomorrow... then you'll see me and I'll see you...' "Nox."
he whispered to his wand, and laid back in the darkness.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry stared out the window of his bedroom. He was too... well, awake to
be asleep. It had been two days ago he sent Hedwig with his reply to Ron
with the instructions to "fly as fast as you can". That meant Ron should
get his letter tomorrow. He'd never known Hedwig to fly faster than that.
"Ron." he whispered into the night air. "I wonder what you're doing right
now. Could Hedwig be tapping at your window with my letter? Are you asleep
and waiting for it? Awake and waiting? What are you doing?" He glanced
over at his clock. It read 3:12 AM. Harry turned back to his window and
sighed.
He awoke later that morning when a giant black hawk pecked him lightly
through his hair. Harry was a bit taken aback. What in the world was a
giant bird like that... unless... He looked at it's legs, and as he
thought, a note was tied to one of them. Gently he untied it and it flew
to his desk.
"All I've got are owl treats. Sorry. I've never seen a magnificent bird
like you before." The hawk seemed pleased enough at the praise and flew
away. The note was in Ron's hadwriting, scribbled like it was the last
thing he could ever write and he only had five seconds to write it in.
Harry,
We're coming to get you!
Haha, that sounded like some crazed Muggle gang. Well, we
are, in any case. I sent the note with Siren, Bill's black hawk.
He's twice as fast as any owl (no offense to Hedwig or anything).
Oh, and Hedwig is staying here. She looked pretty tired out when
she arrived, so we set up a perch.
So, yea, pack as fast as you can! We're coming in a
ministry of magic car. Bill's driving. Oh, and don't worry about
making your trunk too heavy -- Fred and George are coming along.
Seeya then!
Ron
Harry stared at the note for a few moments longer, and then set to packing
the little he owned.
~*~*~*~*~*~
"Ron? You awake, dear?" Mrs. Weasley called through the closed door of her
youngest son's room. There was no reply and she called again. After a few
more seconds of silence, she cracked the door open to see what was keeping
him. Ron lay on his back on his bed, wand beside him, head off the pillow,
one leg hanging over the side from the knee on, and clutching Harry's
letter to his chest with a content smile. She shut the door and turned
away, looking at the ground, and walked back down to the kitchen. "Bill,
could you go wake up Ron?" He looked up at her.
"Hm? I thought you left to do that..." he saw the look on her face. "But
whatever. I'll be right back with the little rascal." He walked up to
Ron's room, confused, and knocked on the door. "Oh ickle Ronniekins, wakey
wakey!" There was a startled yelp from inside. "Can I come in?"
"Er, uh, yea!" Stuttered the reply. Bill opened the door. Ron was in his
boxers and a t-shirt, pulling on jeans. A crumpled peice of paper was
sticking out from under his pillow, and his wand lay on the bed.
"What were you up to?" Ron looked up at him, only one pants leg on.
"What?"
"Nothing. If you get ready fast enough, I'll take us all out to this great
Muggle coffee shop after we get Harry. I'll be in the parlor." With that,
Bill left. Ron was left looking into the open expanse of air past the
banister of the stairway.
"Did he see...?" He glanced over at his rumpled bed, Harry's letter
stuffed under the pillow, and his wand. "Nah. He couldn't have..."
Ten minutes later found Bill driving the Ministry of Magic car with Ron,
Fred and George in the back. Ron was staring absently out the window while
the twins admired the Muggle buildings. Ron thought he actually saw one of
the twins kiss the other's cheek at one point, but decided it was just his
eyes playing tricks on him.
"Hey Ron!" someone was shaking him. "Ron, we're at Harry's house!" He
snapped open his eyes. Fred had him by the shoulders and was jostling him
awake.
"Oh! Sorry, we're here? Guess I was a little more tired than I thought."
He got out of the car and walked up the front drive with Bill. He pressed
the doorbell, feeling very proud of himself for remembering that concept
from Muggle Studies class at Hogwarts. A large, purple-faced man answered.
"What do you want?" He asked gruffly, and looked at Ron. Then he took a
step back, apparently remembering him from the fireplace incident the year
before.
"We're here to get Harry." Bill answered when he realized Ron wasn't about
to anytime soon. The big man turned purpler.
"Who are you representing?" The brothers exchanged glances.
"The Weasleys. We're friends of his." He sqinted his eyes at them, and Ron
wondered if he was glaring.
"Fine. Go get him. He's not come down this morning so he's probably still
sleeping or blown himself up or something." He muttered the last part,
walking to the bottom of the stairs to monitor the entire process. Fred
and George knocked on Harry's door and took his trunk. Ron helped Harry
take the rest of his stuff and they left with polite thanks and apology to
the big man. Somehow, Harry managed to fit in the back of the car with the
three others and still not be too tight a fit. Ron figured that was most
likely because he was so inhumanly thin.
"Harry." he whispered and pulled the smaller boy into a hug. He felt
Harry's hands grip the back of his shirt and him bury his face in his
shoulder. A decidedly irregular pulse beat extremely fast under the hand
he had on the back of Harry's neck, but it slowed after a long moment and
Ron realized Harry was asleep. His beautiful green eyes were shut lightly,
and dark, unruly hair fell all over his face. Carefully, he moved Harry's
hands and leaned back, careful not to startle him, and finally took a
close look. He was paler than Ron thought even Malfoy was, and unnaturally
skinny. The muscles he had gotten playing Quidditch were defined even
while slack, where he could see them under the too-big clothes. Ron slid
his arm down to encircle Harry's waist. He felt individual ribs as he
brushed lightly over them. "My poor Harry..." he whispered even softer,
and took one of his hands, holding it on his own chest, and closed his
eyes.
George looked over to check on Harry and smiled. Ron was sitting there,
one arm around Harry's waist, the other holding one of Harry's hands over
the redhead's heart. Harry himself was sleeping, his head on Ron's
shoulder, looking sweet and so completely vulnerable. George nudged Fred
and nodded toward the pair. Fred looked and turned back to George,
covering his twin's lips with his own. George smiled crookedly.
"Now what was all that about?"
"I felt left out." Replied Fred in a mock-whimper, and kissed George again.
~*~*~*~*~*~
When they arrived at the Burrow (Bill decided to save Starbucks for
another time when he got there and nobody in the back of the car was awake
except George) he looked into the backseat of the car. Fred was asleep on
George -- not an uncommon occurance -- but Harry and Ron were wrapped
together in an obviously more-than-friendly manner. He glanced toward the
house and his potentially homophobic mother.
"Ron." He whispered loudly, waking both his target and Fred, but not Harry.
"Oh. Are we home?" Ron whispered back.
"Yea." He looked at them. Harry had somehow twined his fingers behind
Ron's neck. "Maybe you should carry him in. He looks like he needs the
help."
"Mm-hm." Ron traced the dark cirlcles under Harry's eyes; present even in
sleep. "I'll take him up to my room." It was a challenge getting out of
the car, but Harry didn't stir once, and Ron managed to get one arm under
his friend's knees, the other under his upper back, and carry him without
problems.
Mrs. Weasley dashed out of the house and squealed, "Harry! Is he alright?
Is he-" Ron cut her off.
"Shhh mom, he's ok, just sleeping. I'm gonna take him up to my room so he
can sleep away from all the family-type noise." And to his surprise, Molly
Weasley just nodded and let him go. At the door of his room, Harry's grip
slackened. "It's okay." Ron whispered mostly to himself. "You can sleep
now and you'll be just fine. Nothing bad will happen to you, because I
won't let it. I promise." He got inside the room and closed the door.
"Ron?" croaked a voice. Harry's startlingly green eyes were half-lidded,
looking up at the boy who held him. "You promise? I can rest?" Ron laid
him gently down on his bed and took the wand and paper away to make it
more comfortable.
"I promise, Harry. I'll stay here and protect you. Now, sleep." Harry's
eyes shut again and he drifted off into an exhausted slumber.
~*~*~*~*~*~
A breeze drifted through the open window of Ron's bedroom. It was
mid-morning the day after Harry had arrived, and he was still sleeping.
Fred and George had each come to visit twice, Ginny and Bill once, and
Mrs. Weasley every other hour until Ron promised to go get her if there
were any changes in Harry's condition.
At the feel of soft, cool air blowing across his face, Harry woke up. He
felt more rested than he'd felt in weeks and his glasses were off, causing
him to wonder just where he was. Not the Dursley's or Hogwarts, that was
certain. So that meant... He sat up carefully and looked at the blurry
images of Quidditch players in bright orange robes. Glancing around
frantically, he located his glasses and pulled them on. Ron was dozing in
a chair near the window, tired from keeping watch over Harry so vigilantly.
Harry smiled widely. Ron's fire-red hair had fallen over his face and was
blowing in the very breeze that had awoken him. A tired, slightly nauseous
feeling was gnawing at his insides, but he pushed it to the back of his
mind and went on watching Ron. His crystal blue eyes fluttered open
beneath his hair and met Harry's green ones.
"Harry!" he called in a soft voice. "You're finally awake! You've been out
for about a day. Mum was worried sick about you. I-" he looked at his feet
and blushed scarlet. "I was too. Expecially after you fell asleep on me in
the car like that. I've never known you to be like that. Ever." Harry
smiled impishly.
"Sorry to worry you all. I just hadn't slept... and I suppose that with my
body running out of fuel sources, it took longer to recover than usual."
Ron nodded, shaking his hair out of his eyes; then stood and closed the
distance between, them, placing a cool hand on Harry's forehead.
"You feel a bit warm. I'll get mum to check you out. You gonna be okay for
a minute?"
"I should be." Ron nodded again and left. Harry just sat and looked
around. 'I can hardly beleive I'm here. Ron's here. And I haven't died
yet. There's no way I should beleive this is anything more than a
beautiful dream, and yet...' Ron had come back, his mother with him.
"Harry! How are you feeling, dear?"
"Much better, Mrs. Weasley."
"Good. Are you hungry? You're just so thin..."
"I'm not very hungry..." he glanced at Ron's huge, worried eyes, "...but I
suppose I should have a little something."
"Of course you should. I'll just fix you up a little something easy on an
unaccustomed stomach. I'll be right back up." She bustled out, leaving the
boys alone once again. Harry laid back aganst the pillows and Ron, after a
moment's hesitation, sat next to him on the bed and held one of his hands.
"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked seriously, looking into his
friend's brightly green eyes. He watched as silently, the eyes took on a
desperate quality, and deep-set in them was fear. Harry shook his head no,
not breaking eye contact. "Well what's wrong?" He asked gently.
"I..." he stared back into the crystalline blue eyes, heart beating fast.
"I don't know..." The door creaked and the two jumped apart, uncertain of
what was about to happen. Mrs. Weasley, carrying a tray with a bowl of
soup and cup of tea on it, was followed by the twins.
"Now Harry, eat as much of this as you can. It's the best thing for you
right now besides chicken soup."
"Ron, you go take a shower or something. We'll watch over Harry for you."
Fred said, and winked. Ron gave them a worried look but left anyway. The
moment he was out of the room, the twins looked at him, mischevious smiles
plastered on their faces.
"What?" Harry asked cautiously, not liking the look they were giving him.
"Eat." George ordered. "Talk is for later." Harry followed orders. George
sat in Ron's vacated chair while Fred walked about, apparently conferring
with the posters on the walls. Finally he turned back to the black-haired
boy.
"Are you sure you two should be in here with the door closed without a
chaperone?" He asked. Harry just about dropped the teacup and looked up at
Fred.
"Excuse me?" he asked in a voice more confident than he felt.
"You. And Ron. Should you be in here without somebody watching?" Harry
managed to turn a brilliant shade of red.
"What are you implying?" The twins smiled at each other devilishly.
"Oh... nothing." George said and told Harry to eat already.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Ron turned over in bed and checked his watch: 1:27 AM. He groaned inwardly
and covered his eyes with his arm. That lasted not long, for across the
room, Harry whimpered. In a matter of seconds, Ron had gotten up and
halfway crossed the room to Harry's bed. He looked at his sleeping friend
and stopped. He was on his side with his face turned upward, clutching the
sheets to his chest.
As quietly as he could, Ron tiptoed the rest of the way to Harry and
brushed the messy black hair out of his face. Illuminated by the
moonlight, the other boy's skin shone silver, and his hair took on an
almost indigo quality. Tears left sparkling trails on his cheeks. Ron's
breath caught in his throat and he backed hastily away before literally
running out of his room and down to Bill's. He knocked twice and the door
was opened.
Bill looked like he hadn't even gone to sleep yet, and Ron wouldn't doubt
it. One-thirty was early for someone like Bill.
"Ron?" he whispered. "What's going on?"
"I, you see, I just... it was the moonlight, I swear-" Bill cut him off.
"Would you like to come in?" Ron nodded and walked past his older brother
to sit on the bed. Bill closed the door and went to sit next to him. "Now,
what is this all about?" Ron took a deep breath.
"You see, I couldn't sleep and Harry was having a nightmare and the moon
was shining on him all slivery and... and..." he swallowed. "I think I
just almost kissed Harry." Bill nodded and put a comforting arm around his
little brother's shoulders.
"Ron, Ron, Ron..."
"What, what, what?" He asked glumly.
"If you want this to go anywhere, don't let mom know."
"It's not that..."
"What is it then?"
"It's just that... it's Harry! He's been my best friend for almost five
years, I'm not supposed to get a crush on him! Plus, he grew up in the
muggle world. They think stuff like this is basically the spawn of the
devil except a select few. Not to mention that he's... he's the famous
Harry Potter. The boy who lived! I'm just Ron Weasley. The boy from an
exceptionally poor family who hasn't done anything important at all."
"Ron, now listen closely. I'm not going to say I've been in exactly the
same circumstance, but... it was close. The first thing you have to know
is that with boy-boy relationships, whether you're Harry Potter or Ron
Weasley dosen't matter. Only what kind of person you are and what you do
matters. The second is that I bet you'd be surprised at how easily he'll
accept the wizard way of looking at things. Third, take it slowly, and
keep your cool. Don't tell anyone that would be problematic. But most
importantly - remember we all love you, no matter what. Ok, bro? Now maybe
you should go back to bed."
"I can't sleep..."
"Then, chammomile tea?"
AN: Yahoo! I finished a chapter! It took me an entire month, but I did it!
Tune in (in about a month, hehe) for chapter two of Blue Raspberry. Ja ne!