A/N – Thank you, thank you. I'm really surprised and glad that people like this pairing, and this story.
To Onyx and S – Don't misunderstand me. Ginny wasn't trying to say that Sirius was unimportant to Harry. Not at all. What she was saying is that there are other people in his life who love Harry and care for him. She was saying that Harry hadn't lost all his family, because there was family all around him if he would just open his eyes and see them.
Hope that takes some of the irritation away. J
To SparkySparkles – Right on! I was cheering Ginny on as well, even as I was writing it. I'm a dork like that. Hope you like this. J
Sarah – Glad you like it! Harry does need to wake up, doesn't he? G
Lady Wolfshead – Darling. Thanks so terribly much. I'm really glad you found the story, and that you like it. Ron and Neville are sorta cute together, huh? That was how this chapter started out – pure fluff. But of course plot had to sneak its way in. And don't worry. I would never hurt Neville. Much.
C.L. Thanks! Hope you got to work on time. LOL. I get enough flack for corrupting people because I write slash. I don't want to get blamed for unemployment as well. G
And, of course, my dear PadawanMage! I promised you fluff, and fluff I give to you. I really hope you like it.
Here's the next chapter. Enjoy! And thanks again! Your reviews mean the world to me!
***
Ron looked up at the soft knock, and he smiled uncontrollably. It would only be one person. "Come in."
Sure enough Neville came in slowly. Instead of just Ron's guard there were two of the aurors outside the door, waiting.
Neville shut the door with a nod to them. "Gran is a bit paranoid, I think. But she won't be talked out of us sleeping in separate rooms. She says it's not safe putting all eggs in one basket, whatever that means."
"So you're just here to tell me goodnight?" Ron stood up, wrapping his arms around Neville comfortably and smiling down at him.
Neville grinned up at him. "Something like that." He pushed Ron lightly away, knocking him back against the bed and down to sit on the mattress. "You're very tall, you know."
Ron hummed his agreement. "It didn't seem to bother you before."
Neville moved to stand between Ron's legs. He had to look down now, but just a little. Ron really was very tall. "This is better."
"Mmm." Ron reached up and fidgeted with Neville's shirt. "Neville."
"Yes?" Neville leaned down a bit.
Ron met his eyes with a smile. "Thank you for today. Thanks for introducing me to your parents."
Neville's smile faded into something more serious. "Do you know why I haven't ever brought any of you there before?"
Ron shook his head silently.
"I was afraid. I was really scared that anyone from Hogwarts who met them would…I don't know. Laugh or something. Or treat them badly. I was scared I would end up embarrassed of them. That I would have to apologize for how they are. I never want to do that. I'm not ashamed, no matter what my Gran says. I'm not. They were legends, you know? Really powerful and important. And they're the way they are now because they were too strong to give the Death Eaters information. That's nothing to be ashamed of."
Ron nodded his agreement.
Neville sighed. "But I already trip over myself so much at school, and apologize for every stupid thing I do. I was really scared that I'd do the same thing in front of them, because of them. I don't want to do that. Ever. Does that make sense?"
"Yeah." Ron reached up and touched Neville's cheek lightly. Neville really was much stronger than Ron had ever known.
Neville smiled finally, the curve of his cheek filling Ron's hand and making him smile wider. "So…thank you for understanding. You were so great with mum, and…"
Ron shook his head. "Don't thank me for that. I'm glad it went well. I think she knows you, you know. I mean, maybe not the way she should, but she knows you. She looks at you different than she looked at anyone else. And she reaches for you. Only you." He felt bad for Neville and had since the day he found out about Neville's parents. But Neville didn't seem to need pitying words or someone to listen while he went on about how unfair life was.
Neville accepted things and made the best of them. That took strength.
Neville blinked bright eyes at him. "I…I think so too. She gives me something every time I go."
"The gum wrapper," Ron remembered from his first time seeing Neville's mother in the hospital, back when they had been visiting Ron's dad.
Neville nodded with a fond smile. "I have dozens of those now. Sometimes she gives me buttons or crayons or anything else she can find. Once she gave me a spoon she must have kept after a meal. She seemed really proud of that one."
Ron smiled. "You still have it?"
He nodded. "In a box along with everything she's ever given me. It's with my things in Sirius Black's house, but usually it's right in here under the bed, where Gran won't find it. She thinks it's silly."
"In here? Is this your room?" Ron looked around in surprise.
Neville nodded. "Gran wants me to stay close to her tonight. So she's in the room next door to you, and I'm across the hall from her in my uncle's room. We should be safe no matter what, but. Like I said, she's paranoid."
"Oh." Ron looked around closer, noticing for the first time the little things that spoke of Neville's presence there. A stack of books on a shelf, a few growing plants in pots. A cage that must have been used for Trevor, Neville's frog, when they were at home. Poor Trevor was now shut up in a smaller traveling cage, in the small back entry of the Black House with Pig and Hedwig's cages, and Crookshanks' smelly things.
He turned his attention back to Neville. He straightened up a bit, bringing them closer together, and he smiled. "I wonder what my mum will say when we tell her we're boyfriends now."
Neville's eyebrows went up. "Do you want to tell her?"
Ron nodded immediately. "Maybe…maybe before we go back to Hogwarts. I think she'll tell us we're too young, but I don't think she'll be mad or anything. She really likes you."
"I like her too." Neville glanced back at the door. "I should probably get to my room. Gran is strict about bedtimes."
"I imagine she's strict about everything."
He nodded.
Ron grinned. "Do I get my 'goodnight' first?" He tugged at Neville as a hint.
Neville leaned in and rested a hand on Ron's shoulder, moving in for a kiss.
Ron made a happy little noise and slid his eyes shut. Such a little thing – two mouths touching, not even the wet, dirty kind of kisses Fred and George talked about. But it was enough every time to make him all warm and happy and light-headed.
When they got ready for more, for that wet and messy stuff, Ron wondered if he would be able to handle it. This was so good already, and Fred and George said this was nothing.
He silenced his thoughts and focused on Neville, on the warm weight of his hand and the soft press of his lips. Ron slid his hands down Neville's shirt and lay them flat against Neville's stomach, on the soft skin he loved to feel right there at his waist.
Neville smiled against his lips, getting more comfortable with Ron's touches every single time.
It made Ron feel even lighter and better. Despite everything he did wrong with everyone else, he seemed to be doing right with Neville. Neville felt better about himself, he didn't have the same self-conscious reservations he had at first.
Ron was doing right by Neville, and that made him feel really good. It was a strange feeling, almost pride, but it only added to how great Neville made him feel otherwise.
Neville's fingers brushed through his hair, and Ron made a low noise of happiness. He pulled back after another long moment and licked his lips with a hum of pleasure.
Neville grinned. "I have to go."
Ron nodded and leaned up to brush a quick kiss on Neville's smiling mouth. "Okay. I'm really glad to be here and everything, but I can't wait to get back to the house. I like sleeping with you there."
Neville met his eyes. "Me, too. You come and tell me if you have a nightmare or something, okay?"
Ron reached for his hand as Neville drew back, unwilling to let go quite yet. "You, too."
"I will." Neville squeezed his hand tightly. He bit at his lip with a smile. "I have to—"
Ron tugged him suddenly, wanting to sooth that little spot where Neville's teeth had pressed into his lip. He underestimated his strength a bit, though, and brought Neville down on top of him, sending them both sprawling flat on the bed.
Neville laughed, burying his head in Ron's shoulder to muffle the sound so the aurors outside didn't hear anything. "Ron."
Ron waited until Neville looked up. He shifted under him until Neville was in the perfect spot for another kiss.
Neville settled in happily and kissed back, bracing himself with his hands on the bed on either side of Ron's chest.
Ron felt something hard digging into his neck, and he pulled back long enough to reach under and hold up a small bottle of bluish liquid.
Neville was breathing a bit hard. "What's that?"
Ron grinned. "Some of that Quietus potion the twins made. I've been carrying it around waiting for a good time to get them back for that day with the coffee. Must have fallen out of my bag." He reached down and shoved it into his pocket and looked up again instantly. "Where were we?"
Neville laughed. "I was leaving."
"Is that what you call it?" Ron tugged him down. "Leave some more."
Neville giggled against his lips as they kissed. "I…" He dug his hands under Ron's loose shirt and his hands were warm on Ron's skin. "…have to…"
Ron remembered wanting to sooth Neville's lip and grinned. He pulled back enough to swipe the spot with his tongue.
Neville's protests and giggles silenced. He held himself up and blinked, surprised. "You licked me!"
Ron grinned, then wondered if maybe he had gone a bit too far. His grin faded.
And Neville grabbed his shirt and came down. "Do it again," he whispered before kissing Ron again firmly.
Ron relaxed and obeyed more than happily, bringing out his tongue to lick over Neville's lower lip again.
Neville breathed in shakily and returned the favor, licking hesitantly.
Ron shivered and felt hot all over at the same time. He folded his arms around Neville and held him tightly as he kissed him again. This time he opened his mouth during the kiss at the same time as Neville, and instead of licking they were suddenly locked in one of those kinds of kisses Fred and George had told him about.
Neville moaned quietly against him, and Ron's mind spun. He held Neville tight, enjoying his weight and his lips and his tongue and his hands and everything else way too much.
They pulled back after a lifetime that was probably only a couple of minutes long, and they were both panting.
Neville was flushed, his eyes wide in wonder. "Wow."
Ron swallowed and licked his lips. "Yeah." When Fred and George had talked about it, it seemed so gross. But…
Wow.
Neville sat up suddenly, looking reluctant. "I really have to go. Gran will—"
"I know, I know." Ron sat up as Neville stood, and reached for his hand. He laced their fingers together, his heart still racing. "I do love you, you know. Even if I'm too young."
Neville moved back to him instantly and kissed him again hard. "Me, too."
Ron released his hand, but grabbed his arm as Neville backed away again.
Neville laughed. "Ron. I have to go."
"I know!" Ron sighed, taking in Neville's face one last long time before letting him go. He smiled at the sight – Neville was red-faced still, his hair ruffled. His lips even seemed darker or something.
He was beautiful.
Neville's eyes seemed to reflect the adoration Ron felt, and it made Ron warm all over, even without Neville's body there to heat him. "Good night."
Ron smiled softly, watching him go. "Good night."
The door shut softly behind Neville, and the low voice of the aurors outside sounded briefly before things fell silent again.
Ron sighed and threw himself down on the bed. He couldn't quite get the smile off his face, though he honestly didn't try very hard.
***
Neville settled down against the pillow with a sigh, smiling to himself happily.
It was so hard to believe that someone could look at him the way Ron did. That he could feel so strongly about someone the way he felt about Ron. That something so big could come from out of nowhere and leave him flat, and make him so happy and so nervous and scared and…and happy.
He already missed the soft sound of Ron's breathing, the dip in the mattress beside him that meant Ron was there. The safety of knowing if anything happened, Ron would wake him and comfort him and just be there.
Still. He had the memory of Ron's lips on his and Ron's hand unwilling to let him go, and that was enough to let him drift off to sleep fearing nothing at all. Even nightmares.
***
Harry was silent at dinner, which was nothing unusual, but this time instead of being lost in his own depressing thoughts he was watching everyone.
And he saw it, plainly. The doting little touches Mrs. Weasley couldn't resist, and the worry in her eyes. The way Hermione sat close enough to brush his arm now and then, as if to reassure herself that he was there and okay.
They way the others spoke, including him in the conversations with the occasional 'isn't that right, Harry?' or something like it, and then going on without making him answer out loud.
Ginny, sitting across from him. She looked at him a lot, studying. But she smiled every time he met her gaze, and once or twice he pulled himself out of his mind enough to smile back.
Ron, if he were there. How he had tried so hard to help in whatever ways he could think of. How he tried to intercept his family, to keep Harry from having to speak when he didn't feel like it. How he tried in his uncertain way to cheer Harry up.
Ron when Harry had lashed out at him for no reason, attacking those attempts to cheer him up. How he knew Ron would be there beside him even after those harsh words, because he cared about Harry too much to walk away when Harry was being a git.
Family. He hadn't ever really felt it before, which was probably why he didn't recognize it from the start. He had always thought of the Weasleys as Ron's family, who he was just borrowing for a while. But it wasn't true.
If he and Ron had some sort of fight or something, the way they had fourth year, Mrs. Weasley wouldn't stop doting on him. The twins wouldn't stop giving him grief about every little thing. Ginny wouldn't stop…caring about him.
And Hermione was there regardless. She had been there fourth year, and even when Harry took to ignoring her she was there the moment they needed her help.
Family.
He would need a bit of time, maybe, to get used to the idea.
Still. He reached under the table and brushed a hand on Hermione's arm and smiled at her when she turned to him.
She smiled back, hope in her eyes.
When he looked ahead again, Ginny was watching. A moment later a hard kick on his shin made him drop his fork. "Ow!"
"Harry? What is it, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked instantly.
Harry gaped at Ginny as he reached down and rubbed his leg. "Ginny kicked me!"
"Ginny! Behave at the table! How many times do I have to…"
Her voice went on, but Harry wasn't listening. He stared at Ginny incredulously.
She looked away from her mother and grinned, her eyes twinkling.
Harry grinned back after a moment, laughing quietly.
Family.
***
A hand on his arm, a tight and harsh grip, drove him out of sleep and fully awake in the blink of an eye.
Ron tried to sit up, but another hand shoved him down. "Be still!" A voice whispered harshly.
Ron's mind was a blur, but he could focus enough to tell that whatever was going on here wasn't good. But was this an auror keeping him safe, or was this what he had to be kept safe from?
There was a noise from the door, a low knock. "You alrigh' in there?"
Ron knew then. He sat up, pushing off the hand that held him. "There's someone—"
An open-handed slap cut off his words, slicing against his cheek with stinging strength. "Keep your mouth shut," the voice hissed into his ear.
A woman? Ron struggled to stand up. "What's going on?"
The sound of the doorknob being turned was followed by cursing and more frantic turning.
Locked. But he didn't…
Ron turned to his intruder. "Who are you? What's going—"
His eyes were drawn through the darkness to a slight shimmering coming over the small unlit lamp beside the bed.
"Ahh. Come here, Longbottom." The invader was a dark form against more darkness. There was no light coming into the room from anywhere, and he couldn't see more than movement.
A strong hand grabbed his wrist and pulled him up, and his hand was forced to touch the slightly glowing lamp.
Ron felt a sick tug in his stomach, and the darkness around him blurred and moved and changed.
A portkey.
Longbottom?
He knew with sudden sick dread that he was in a whole lot of trouble.