"Ron!" The word was a squeal, and a form in the doorway became a blur
charging itself at Ron.
He braced himself but still nearly stumbled under the armful of overexcited Hermione. He laughed and hugged her as tight as she hugged him. "Relax, Hermione! It's only been a month!"
She pulled back and smacked his arm, beaming. "So? Are you even taller, Ron? I swear you're going to be able to look Hagrid eye to eye before seventh year."
Ron looked down at himself reflexively, then made a face and smacked her back gently. "How are you?"
"Going a bit insane, actually. If we don't get our OWLS soon I'm going to explode!" She left his side when she caught sight of Ginny. "Ginny!"
"Hermione!" Ginny matched her voice volume and the two girls threw themselves at each other hard enough to hurt. Ginny laughed and hugged as if it really had been years.
"You look wonderful!"
"So do you! Oh, I have so much to tell you! Dean is being a perfect ass, and you have to help me handle him!"
"Is Dean here?" Hermione looked around in surprise, pulling away from her only slightly.
Ginny grinned. "No. He manages to be an ass over owl."
"Oh. Then that's easy to deal with."
"Neville's here, though," Ron announced, his eyes going to his quiet friend, watching the reunions from the kitchen doorway with a smile.
Hermione followed his gaze and beamed. "Neville! What on earth are you doing here?" She started for him.
Neville got caught in a hug, and his eyes were surprised as they caught Ron's over her shoulder.
Ron just shrugged with a grin.
Neville hugged Hermione back awkwardly, beet red. "Well. My Gran thought it would be safer."
"Yes, that's exactly what my parents thought. They're worried that they can't protect me, being Muggles and all. Dumbledore sent a letter home warning them properly of what was going on in the wizarding world. They panicked just a little bit."
"You got to see them for a month, though. That's good." Ginny grinned at her friend happily.
Hermione pulled away from Neville. "It was nice. I have to say I'm glad to be back here. Do we know when Harry's coming?" Her eyes got a bit more serious suddenly.
"No. Dumbledore keeps saying 'soon', but you know him." Ginny rolled her eyes.
"Well. I suppose he's only doing what's best." Hermione smiled at Neville warmly. "It's good to see you, anyway."
Ron found himself moving towards them, feeling strangely protective. "I can make some tea and you can tell us all about whatever exciting texts you've been reading all summer." He spoke to Hermione, but went to Neville's side and pushed him into the kitchen in front of him.
Neville went along willingly, smiling back at him.
Hermione and Ginny followed. "I'll have you know," Hermione was saying, "that I have only read three books this entire summer so far."
"Only four weeks of summer so far, and she's read three books," Ginny's voice was a grumble.
Ron laughed. "Trust me, for Hermione that's slacking."
They sat around the table and talked cheerfully. Hermione went on about a new Muggle music group she and a few other Muggle girls had gone to see, and Ginny pulled her into a conversation about one of the Weird Sisters, who was apparently dating Witch Weekly's Number One Bachelor Wizard on the Go.
Ron was glad to see Hermione. He really was. She was a good friend to him, and there had been a time not very long ago when she had made his heart beat oddly whenever she smiled at him.
Happy as he was, though, he couldn't stop himself from looking away from her every other minute or so. And he couldn't stop his eyes from going to Neville.
Neville didn't seem to mind, though - every time Ron looked over at him he looked back at Ron. And smiled.
Ron couldn't stop himself from returning it. Every time.
***
Neville was unhappy, but unsurprised, to feel himself jerk out of sleep. His heart was racing, and the echoes of distant voices were in his ears.
A hand brushed his arm, making him jerk.
"It's okay. Just me."
Neville's eyes focused.
Ron was there. He looked half-asleep, his eyes only slits, but he was there sitting beside him.
Neville took a breath, calming his heartbeat. His eyes closed heavily, and strange, blurred images filled his mind.
The nightmares were mostly those same blurred images. Voices speaking words he couldn't understand, and faces he didn't recognize. He couldn't have explained what the nightmares were about, or why in the last five or six years they had never changed once.
They left him feeling ill every time. That was all he knew for sure. They came out of nowhere every few months or so, stayed for two or three nights, and then left him again.
He hated them, but there wasn't anything much he could do about it.
Ron's hand moved up and down his arm slowly. "Hey. It's okay, Neville."
Neville just lay there for a long moment, enjoying the light touch on his arm, the low voice that sounded genuinely concerned.
They were luxuries he'd never had, and he wanted to be able to remember them later.
He opened his eyes again finally. "Sorry."
Ron's reply was muffled by a huge yawn.
Neville laughed. "You can't claim I didn't wake you up this time."
Ron grinned sheepishly. "Stop apologizing, anyway. Are you okay?"
"Yes. Feel stupid, but-"
Ron's grip tightened on his arm. "Don't do that. It's not your fault. Are you really okay?"
Neville had to swallow surprise. There was real concern there. Not just one person to another. Like a friend. A real friend.
He looked at Ron's tired face and sleep-flattened hair, and nodded honestly. "I'm okay."
"Yeah?" Ron studied him closely.
Neville flushed under the attention, and wondered if he was destined to spend the entire summer turning shades of pink.
***
Hermione giggled at Bill's over-the-top impersonation of Fred cowering from his mother after she'd heard the news of their rather unorthodox departure from school.
Beside her, Ginny was nearly doubled over. She had seen Bill tell the story before, of course, but she seemed to worship her two oldest brothers even more than Ron did, and she had this habit of laughing at everything they said that was supposed to be even remotely amusing.
Charlie was still fresh from Romania, and spent all his time whenever his family was around with a small fond sort of smile on his face. Especially with Ginny, whom he spoiled to no end.
Mrs. Weasley was laughing herself, and Mr. Weasley grinned widely despite his exhaustion.
The only one not laughing was Ron.
In fact, Hermione saw with surprise that Ron wasn't even paying attention to Bill. He was smiling, but his eyes were somewhere else. Somewhere behind Hermione, further in the living room.
She glanced back, curious. There was no one there but Neville, laughing along with everyone else.
She looked back at Ron, but his eyes were still looking that way.
Odd.
One last look confirmed nothing but Neville, and Bill's voice faded into the background as Hermione's thoughts kicked into gear.
That was a rather strange smile on Ron's face. Like Charlie's fond smiles, but.different.
Directed at Neville?
She looked at Ron again out of the corner of her eye.
He was grinning outright then, cheeks pink.
A quick look back at Neville confirmed that Neville had caught Ron looking and was now smiling back at him.
She looked away before they caught her, and turned her eyes back to Bill.
She and Ginny definitely had something to talk about that night before bed.
***
Ron fell on his bed with a grin. "Are you frightened yet?"
Neville sat on Ron's bed, full and happy and tired. "Of what?"
"My family. They can be a bit much, especially if most of them are in the same room. If Fred and George had been here there would have been chaos."
Neville laughed. "They're very loud."
"That's one word for it. I'll bet you never would have guessed that I was the quiet one."
"I still wouldn't. I've seen you louder than that before, at school."
Ron laced his fingers behind his head. "Well. Maybe not. The quietest was always Percy, but he." Ron's smile faded abruptly.
Percy's name hadn't come up all night. There had been some awkward moments when Charlie arrived and demanded to know where Percy was so he could batter some sense into him. But after their mum had begged him with tears on her face, Charlie let it drop.
Ron knew his brother. Percy had never once apologized to anyone about anything. He was arrogant enough about himself to think that nothing he could do was wrong enough to apologize for.
Still. Ron wished Percy would make some sort of an effort, if only for mum's sake.
Neville seemed to sense the changing mood. He sat there silently and let Ron go through his thoughts. When he spoke, finally, his voice was hesitant. "I thought the Ministry was back on our side."
Ron grimaced. "Yeah. Officially Percy has nothing to hold against us. But personally, he's a conceited git who won't come near us because he was wrong and we know it."
"That.I mean, there's a war going on now. Will that really keep him away even during a war?"
"Apparently the Ministry isn't entirely supporting Dumbledore. They're taking the stance that You-Know-Who's invasion of the Ministry was his first act since.since first trying to kill Harry when he was a kid, I guess. So he still pretends like he was right about everything, but we know he knows better."
"Just for that he won't even visit?"
"No." Ron sighed. "He's an ass. I don't think I want to see him anyway."
"But.I mean, he's."
"Not my brother anymore. He doesn't want to be, so good riddance." Ron glared at the wall, but Neville's cool hand on his arm brought his attention back to Neville. "I don't care. He never liked any of us anyway." His voice was sharper than he'd intended, defensive.
Neville frowned, but he didn't say any of the things Ron was expecting. Any of the chastising about family being important, or how Ron might regret it later.
He just looked sympathetic. "I'm sorry. He seemed nice in school."
"Nice?" Ron's eyebrows went up.
Neville blushed. "Oh. Well. Not nice, exactly, but he wasn't mean."
"He was pompous and horrible. And he only got worse at home."
"I'm sorry anyway."
Ron sighed at that. "Nothing for you to be sorry about." He flashed a wan smile. "But thanks."
Neville reached out and patted his arm.
Ron met his eyes and felt the same odd grip in his chest he'd been getting all day whenever Neville was there. It was a strange feeling, and he had to admit it was a little scary. Like how Hermione had made him feel once or twice - at the Yule Ball, and while she was distracting Umbridge away from torturing Harry.
Those moments he had looked at her and seen someone he could probably learn to love a whole lot. And that sent weird shivers through his stomach.
Those shivers were exactly what he had sitting there, with Neville on his bed, Neville's hand on his arm. Neville's honest concern and interest. Neville, who had been through so many horrible things and was so much stronger than anyone at Hogwarts ever gave him credit for.
Neville was more like Ron than Ron ever would have guessed. He seemed to feel so many of the same things, the things Ron had felt bad for feeling, or stupid. Things he thought were just him, because he was too horrid a person to stop feeling sorry for himself for one minute.
He looked at Neville closely. The somber knowledge in those hazel eyes, framed by long, light lashes. Dark blond hair that was long enough to be swept out of his face. Round cheeks and soft-looking skin and.
.and Ron was shocked to find himself thinking of Neville as beautiful. In the same way Harry was beautiful. To go through so much and still be a decent person. To want to look out for Ron even though he and his big family were so much luckier than either of them had been.
But Neville.Neville had something even Harry didn't have. Neville looked at Ron like he honestly thought there was no one more important at that moment than him. Him. Goofy sidekick Ron Weasley.
Harry was Ron's best friend, and certainly the most important thing in Ron's life. But even Harry had never been able to make him feel special, as if he was important himself, just with a look and an awkward pat of his hand.
Ron reached up with his other hand, without thinking about what he was doing, and brushed his fingers over Neville's hand, still resting on his arm.
Neville looked down at their hands, and Ron could see his throat working as he swallowed. But he didn't pull away. He just looked.
Ron swallowed down his own nervousness. Whatever it was that kept his stomach tied in knots around Neville lately was working overtime now. But it wasn't a bad feeling, really.
Not bad at all.
Neville broke the silence, his hand firmly there on Ron's arm. "Is it horrible for me to be glad I almost got killed?"
Ron laughed before he could stop himself.
Neville grinned sheepishly. "I mean.it's not like we weren't friends. But.but now.I guess because we." He let out a breath. "Sorry. I know what I want to say, but-"
Ron had this habit, this horrible habit of doing things without thinking. The same instincts that drove him to speak up when silence was better also made him act when he should keep still. His brain wasn't quite wired to his body the right way, so sometimes before his brain could kick in his body was already halfway to doing something.
As it was, it took so little time to lean over and shut Neville's rambles off by kissing him that he didn't even start thinking about it until he was already pulling back.
So Neville's obvious shock reflected perfectly the way Ron himself felt, though he was the one who did it.
A split second, and it was a memory. A strangely blurred memory of a quick, awkward touch of his mouth to Neville's.
His first kiss. Ron almost laughed. His first kiss after months of thinking about Hermione, or Fleur, or even Lavender Brown during his more strange moods.
Now, there it was. Sort of anticlimactic, really. It came out of nowhere and now it was gone.
All he had to do now was deal with it. Which could be harder than he was thinking.
Neville didn't move. He just sat there, his mouth an o of surprise, his cheeks turning more and more red with every passing second.
Ron felt the first hints of nervousness.
When Neville spoke finally, his voice was odd. "I.my Gran will come in a few days. We always.visit my parents the first weekend every month." He swallowed again.
Ron searched his eyes, seeing nervousness on Neville's face. He stayed quiet, waiting.
Neville smiled faintly, his old shyness all over him. "Do you want to meet them?" he blurted out finally.
Ron held his breath, surprised. "Yeah?"
Neville shrugged, his eyes dropping. "It's only fair. I've met yours."
But Ron knew it wasn't as simple as all that. He knew, and it made him feel as fluttery as that kiss. "Yeah. That would be great."
Neville met his eyes.
Ron realized his hand was still keeping Neville's in place on his arm. He moved his fingers nervously, tugging Neville's hand down and sliding their fingers together. "So you're probably not gonna hit me, then?"
"Hit you?" Neville grasped his hand firmly. "For what?"
Ron shrugged.
Neville grinned suddenly, his shyness fading away. He leaned in and kissed Ron, quick and light.
Ron smiled uncontrollably when Neville pulled back. His stomach was fluttering on overtime, and he felt warm all over. "Yeah, for that."
Neville laughed.
***
"Harry's coming!"
Neville and Ron stopped on the steps, surprised by the shouted greeting.
Hermione went up to the stairs, beaming. "Dumbledore owled your father! He said the aurors were picking Harry up today!"
Ron lit up and got moving again, meeting her happily. "Thank God! The last thing he needs is more time with those Muggles of his."
Neville stayed behind, moving more slowly. He grinned at the news when Hermione's eyes lit on him, but he just couldn't be quite as happy as the other two.
He felt something at the news, something alarmingly close to fear.
He braced himself but still nearly stumbled under the armful of overexcited Hermione. He laughed and hugged her as tight as she hugged him. "Relax, Hermione! It's only been a month!"
She pulled back and smacked his arm, beaming. "So? Are you even taller, Ron? I swear you're going to be able to look Hagrid eye to eye before seventh year."
Ron looked down at himself reflexively, then made a face and smacked her back gently. "How are you?"
"Going a bit insane, actually. If we don't get our OWLS soon I'm going to explode!" She left his side when she caught sight of Ginny. "Ginny!"
"Hermione!" Ginny matched her voice volume and the two girls threw themselves at each other hard enough to hurt. Ginny laughed and hugged as if it really had been years.
"You look wonderful!"
"So do you! Oh, I have so much to tell you! Dean is being a perfect ass, and you have to help me handle him!"
"Is Dean here?" Hermione looked around in surprise, pulling away from her only slightly.
Ginny grinned. "No. He manages to be an ass over owl."
"Oh. Then that's easy to deal with."
"Neville's here, though," Ron announced, his eyes going to his quiet friend, watching the reunions from the kitchen doorway with a smile.
Hermione followed his gaze and beamed. "Neville! What on earth are you doing here?" She started for him.
Neville got caught in a hug, and his eyes were surprised as they caught Ron's over her shoulder.
Ron just shrugged with a grin.
Neville hugged Hermione back awkwardly, beet red. "Well. My Gran thought it would be safer."
"Yes, that's exactly what my parents thought. They're worried that they can't protect me, being Muggles and all. Dumbledore sent a letter home warning them properly of what was going on in the wizarding world. They panicked just a little bit."
"You got to see them for a month, though. That's good." Ginny grinned at her friend happily.
Hermione pulled away from Neville. "It was nice. I have to say I'm glad to be back here. Do we know when Harry's coming?" Her eyes got a bit more serious suddenly.
"No. Dumbledore keeps saying 'soon', but you know him." Ginny rolled her eyes.
"Well. I suppose he's only doing what's best." Hermione smiled at Neville warmly. "It's good to see you, anyway."
Ron found himself moving towards them, feeling strangely protective. "I can make some tea and you can tell us all about whatever exciting texts you've been reading all summer." He spoke to Hermione, but went to Neville's side and pushed him into the kitchen in front of him.
Neville went along willingly, smiling back at him.
Hermione and Ginny followed. "I'll have you know," Hermione was saying, "that I have only read three books this entire summer so far."
"Only four weeks of summer so far, and she's read three books," Ginny's voice was a grumble.
Ron laughed. "Trust me, for Hermione that's slacking."
They sat around the table and talked cheerfully. Hermione went on about a new Muggle music group she and a few other Muggle girls had gone to see, and Ginny pulled her into a conversation about one of the Weird Sisters, who was apparently dating Witch Weekly's Number One Bachelor Wizard on the Go.
Ron was glad to see Hermione. He really was. She was a good friend to him, and there had been a time not very long ago when she had made his heart beat oddly whenever she smiled at him.
Happy as he was, though, he couldn't stop himself from looking away from her every other minute or so. And he couldn't stop his eyes from going to Neville.
Neville didn't seem to mind, though - every time Ron looked over at him he looked back at Ron. And smiled.
Ron couldn't stop himself from returning it. Every time.
***
Neville was unhappy, but unsurprised, to feel himself jerk out of sleep. His heart was racing, and the echoes of distant voices were in his ears.
A hand brushed his arm, making him jerk.
"It's okay. Just me."
Neville's eyes focused.
Ron was there. He looked half-asleep, his eyes only slits, but he was there sitting beside him.
Neville took a breath, calming his heartbeat. His eyes closed heavily, and strange, blurred images filled his mind.
The nightmares were mostly those same blurred images. Voices speaking words he couldn't understand, and faces he didn't recognize. He couldn't have explained what the nightmares were about, or why in the last five or six years they had never changed once.
They left him feeling ill every time. That was all he knew for sure. They came out of nowhere every few months or so, stayed for two or three nights, and then left him again.
He hated them, but there wasn't anything much he could do about it.
Ron's hand moved up and down his arm slowly. "Hey. It's okay, Neville."
Neville just lay there for a long moment, enjoying the light touch on his arm, the low voice that sounded genuinely concerned.
They were luxuries he'd never had, and he wanted to be able to remember them later.
He opened his eyes again finally. "Sorry."
Ron's reply was muffled by a huge yawn.
Neville laughed. "You can't claim I didn't wake you up this time."
Ron grinned sheepishly. "Stop apologizing, anyway. Are you okay?"
"Yes. Feel stupid, but-"
Ron's grip tightened on his arm. "Don't do that. It's not your fault. Are you really okay?"
Neville had to swallow surprise. There was real concern there. Not just one person to another. Like a friend. A real friend.
He looked at Ron's tired face and sleep-flattened hair, and nodded honestly. "I'm okay."
"Yeah?" Ron studied him closely.
Neville flushed under the attention, and wondered if he was destined to spend the entire summer turning shades of pink.
***
Hermione giggled at Bill's over-the-top impersonation of Fred cowering from his mother after she'd heard the news of their rather unorthodox departure from school.
Beside her, Ginny was nearly doubled over. She had seen Bill tell the story before, of course, but she seemed to worship her two oldest brothers even more than Ron did, and she had this habit of laughing at everything they said that was supposed to be even remotely amusing.
Charlie was still fresh from Romania, and spent all his time whenever his family was around with a small fond sort of smile on his face. Especially with Ginny, whom he spoiled to no end.
Mrs. Weasley was laughing herself, and Mr. Weasley grinned widely despite his exhaustion.
The only one not laughing was Ron.
In fact, Hermione saw with surprise that Ron wasn't even paying attention to Bill. He was smiling, but his eyes were somewhere else. Somewhere behind Hermione, further in the living room.
She glanced back, curious. There was no one there but Neville, laughing along with everyone else.
She looked back at Ron, but his eyes were still looking that way.
Odd.
One last look confirmed nothing but Neville, and Bill's voice faded into the background as Hermione's thoughts kicked into gear.
That was a rather strange smile on Ron's face. Like Charlie's fond smiles, but.different.
Directed at Neville?
She looked at Ron again out of the corner of her eye.
He was grinning outright then, cheeks pink.
A quick look back at Neville confirmed that Neville had caught Ron looking and was now smiling back at him.
She looked away before they caught her, and turned her eyes back to Bill.
She and Ginny definitely had something to talk about that night before bed.
***
Ron fell on his bed with a grin. "Are you frightened yet?"
Neville sat on Ron's bed, full and happy and tired. "Of what?"
"My family. They can be a bit much, especially if most of them are in the same room. If Fred and George had been here there would have been chaos."
Neville laughed. "They're very loud."
"That's one word for it. I'll bet you never would have guessed that I was the quiet one."
"I still wouldn't. I've seen you louder than that before, at school."
Ron laced his fingers behind his head. "Well. Maybe not. The quietest was always Percy, but he." Ron's smile faded abruptly.
Percy's name hadn't come up all night. There had been some awkward moments when Charlie arrived and demanded to know where Percy was so he could batter some sense into him. But after their mum had begged him with tears on her face, Charlie let it drop.
Ron knew his brother. Percy had never once apologized to anyone about anything. He was arrogant enough about himself to think that nothing he could do was wrong enough to apologize for.
Still. Ron wished Percy would make some sort of an effort, if only for mum's sake.
Neville seemed to sense the changing mood. He sat there silently and let Ron go through his thoughts. When he spoke, finally, his voice was hesitant. "I thought the Ministry was back on our side."
Ron grimaced. "Yeah. Officially Percy has nothing to hold against us. But personally, he's a conceited git who won't come near us because he was wrong and we know it."
"That.I mean, there's a war going on now. Will that really keep him away even during a war?"
"Apparently the Ministry isn't entirely supporting Dumbledore. They're taking the stance that You-Know-Who's invasion of the Ministry was his first act since.since first trying to kill Harry when he was a kid, I guess. So he still pretends like he was right about everything, but we know he knows better."
"Just for that he won't even visit?"
"No." Ron sighed. "He's an ass. I don't think I want to see him anyway."
"But.I mean, he's."
"Not my brother anymore. He doesn't want to be, so good riddance." Ron glared at the wall, but Neville's cool hand on his arm brought his attention back to Neville. "I don't care. He never liked any of us anyway." His voice was sharper than he'd intended, defensive.
Neville frowned, but he didn't say any of the things Ron was expecting. Any of the chastising about family being important, or how Ron might regret it later.
He just looked sympathetic. "I'm sorry. He seemed nice in school."
"Nice?" Ron's eyebrows went up.
Neville blushed. "Oh. Well. Not nice, exactly, but he wasn't mean."
"He was pompous and horrible. And he only got worse at home."
"I'm sorry anyway."
Ron sighed at that. "Nothing for you to be sorry about." He flashed a wan smile. "But thanks."
Neville reached out and patted his arm.
Ron met his eyes and felt the same odd grip in his chest he'd been getting all day whenever Neville was there. It was a strange feeling, and he had to admit it was a little scary. Like how Hermione had made him feel once or twice - at the Yule Ball, and while she was distracting Umbridge away from torturing Harry.
Those moments he had looked at her and seen someone he could probably learn to love a whole lot. And that sent weird shivers through his stomach.
Those shivers were exactly what he had sitting there, with Neville on his bed, Neville's hand on his arm. Neville's honest concern and interest. Neville, who had been through so many horrible things and was so much stronger than anyone at Hogwarts ever gave him credit for.
Neville was more like Ron than Ron ever would have guessed. He seemed to feel so many of the same things, the things Ron had felt bad for feeling, or stupid. Things he thought were just him, because he was too horrid a person to stop feeling sorry for himself for one minute.
He looked at Neville closely. The somber knowledge in those hazel eyes, framed by long, light lashes. Dark blond hair that was long enough to be swept out of his face. Round cheeks and soft-looking skin and.
.and Ron was shocked to find himself thinking of Neville as beautiful. In the same way Harry was beautiful. To go through so much and still be a decent person. To want to look out for Ron even though he and his big family were so much luckier than either of them had been.
But Neville.Neville had something even Harry didn't have. Neville looked at Ron like he honestly thought there was no one more important at that moment than him. Him. Goofy sidekick Ron Weasley.
Harry was Ron's best friend, and certainly the most important thing in Ron's life. But even Harry had never been able to make him feel special, as if he was important himself, just with a look and an awkward pat of his hand.
Ron reached up with his other hand, without thinking about what he was doing, and brushed his fingers over Neville's hand, still resting on his arm.
Neville looked down at their hands, and Ron could see his throat working as he swallowed. But he didn't pull away. He just looked.
Ron swallowed down his own nervousness. Whatever it was that kept his stomach tied in knots around Neville lately was working overtime now. But it wasn't a bad feeling, really.
Not bad at all.
Neville broke the silence, his hand firmly there on Ron's arm. "Is it horrible for me to be glad I almost got killed?"
Ron laughed before he could stop himself.
Neville grinned sheepishly. "I mean.it's not like we weren't friends. But.but now.I guess because we." He let out a breath. "Sorry. I know what I want to say, but-"
Ron had this habit, this horrible habit of doing things without thinking. The same instincts that drove him to speak up when silence was better also made him act when he should keep still. His brain wasn't quite wired to his body the right way, so sometimes before his brain could kick in his body was already halfway to doing something.
As it was, it took so little time to lean over and shut Neville's rambles off by kissing him that he didn't even start thinking about it until he was already pulling back.
So Neville's obvious shock reflected perfectly the way Ron himself felt, though he was the one who did it.
A split second, and it was a memory. A strangely blurred memory of a quick, awkward touch of his mouth to Neville's.
His first kiss. Ron almost laughed. His first kiss after months of thinking about Hermione, or Fleur, or even Lavender Brown during his more strange moods.
Now, there it was. Sort of anticlimactic, really. It came out of nowhere and now it was gone.
All he had to do now was deal with it. Which could be harder than he was thinking.
Neville didn't move. He just sat there, his mouth an o of surprise, his cheeks turning more and more red with every passing second.
Ron felt the first hints of nervousness.
When Neville spoke finally, his voice was odd. "I.my Gran will come in a few days. We always.visit my parents the first weekend every month." He swallowed again.
Ron searched his eyes, seeing nervousness on Neville's face. He stayed quiet, waiting.
Neville smiled faintly, his old shyness all over him. "Do you want to meet them?" he blurted out finally.
Ron held his breath, surprised. "Yeah?"
Neville shrugged, his eyes dropping. "It's only fair. I've met yours."
But Ron knew it wasn't as simple as all that. He knew, and it made him feel as fluttery as that kiss. "Yeah. That would be great."
Neville met his eyes.
Ron realized his hand was still keeping Neville's in place on his arm. He moved his fingers nervously, tugging Neville's hand down and sliding their fingers together. "So you're probably not gonna hit me, then?"
"Hit you?" Neville grasped his hand firmly. "For what?"
Ron shrugged.
Neville grinned suddenly, his shyness fading away. He leaned in and kissed Ron, quick and light.
Ron smiled uncontrollably when Neville pulled back. His stomach was fluttering on overtime, and he felt warm all over. "Yeah, for that."
Neville laughed.
***
"Harry's coming!"
Neville and Ron stopped on the steps, surprised by the shouted greeting.
Hermione went up to the stairs, beaming. "Dumbledore owled your father! He said the aurors were picking Harry up today!"
Ron lit up and got moving again, meeting her happily. "Thank God! The last thing he needs is more time with those Muggles of his."
Neville stayed behind, moving more slowly. He grinned at the news when Hermione's eyes lit on him, but he just couldn't be quite as happy as the other two.
He felt something at the news, something alarmingly close to fear.