Murmurous Summer-Symphony Chapter four: A Tired Diamond

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters. They belong to J.K Rowling. I'm simply playing with them for a while.

Warning: This is going to be SLASH, that means a sexual relationship between two men, so if that thing bothers you, don't read this fic. Okay?

"I really don't like that man." Neville sneered when the car drove past them.

"I think we all gathered as much." was the sarcastic reply he got from Harry. Neville had the decency to look embarrassed.

"I just wanted to make sure that no one took advantage of him." He tried feebly to explain.

"I think Snape is old enough to take care of himself, Neville." Ron told him. In truth he thought what Neville had done, had been a good idea, but he really didn't want to think about in any longer.

"Hey, come on. Let's go inside and watch some TV, eh?" he asked his friends.

They all nodded their consent and followed him inside.

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The time was now officially three in the morning, and Ron still hadn't gone to sleep. He simply lay in the bed and listened for footsteps. When was the man getting back? he thought angrily to himself.

Ten minutes later he could hear someone coming up the stairs, and then someone pulled at the door handle. Fuck! Snape didn't have a key.

Quickly Ron got up from the bed, and unlocked the door. The light was still on in the hallway, so he had a clear view of the other man. Snape looked very tired and his hair was rumbled together. A surge of anger passed trough Ron as he thought that it was probably Daldry's fault.

As they stood there Snape suddenly collapsed. Ron quickly grabbed the man and carried him to the bed near the window. "Sorry. Didn't mean to wake you, Mr. Weasley." Snape rasped. "Hey, don't worry about it, okay? Now, Snape, I need to know. Are you hurt? Should I call someone?" he was truly concerned for the other man; Snape looked like he had a fever.

"I'm fine, Mr. Weasley. I just need to sleep." this was said, while he tried to roll onto the other side, but Ron could hear that Snape let out a groan of pain. "To Hell you are. What did he do to you?" Ron was really angry now, as he started to remove Snape's t-shirt. Ron gasped as he looked at the mans now bare chest. There were bruises everywhere! "What happened?" he breathed out. Snape looked away, and tried to cover himself with the white sheets. "Nothing that you need to concern yourself with. Now, just let me sleep." He snapped.

"Get up." Ron ordered. Snape looked at him as if he had lost his mind, but Ron simply barked out the order again, and eventually Snape complied. They stood close to one another, and Ron noticed that he was a couple of inches taller than the professor. Snape also seemed to notice this, and looked surprised.

"What?" Snape asked. "Why all this fuss?"

"It's not fuss, you idiot. You're hurt, and you need to get some ice on those bruises. Take off your clothes and take a shower. I'll be right back." He didn't look back to see if Snape did what he had told him to, but Ron had the feeling that right now, Snape was not the one in control.

He quickly ran down the flight of stairs and walked to the reception were a pretty girl with blond hair sat. "Sorry to bother you, but can I have some ice?" he asked. She looked up from the magazine she was reading, and simply stared at him.

"Ice?" she asked.

"Yeah, ice. You know, frozen water." he said. Why couldn't the damn girl move it?

"One moment, sir." She said and got up. A couple of minutes later she came out with a bucket of ice and handed it over to him. "Here you go, sir. Have a pleasant night."

He didn't want to look closer into her last words as he ran up the stairs and came to a halt in front of the door.

Damn! He hadn't taken the key with him! He knocked the door. "Snape! Open up, it's me!"

The door opened and Snape stood in the doorway. Ron had a sudden flashback to earlier when Snape had walked around the room only clad in that bloody towel. Ron looked down the almost naked form of his former professor and then back up, only to blush when Snape raised his eyebrow.

"I've got ice." he croaked out and held up the bucket.

"Then by all means, do come in." The door was held open and he walked towards Snape's bed.

"Lie down." He told the professor, who simply stared at him.

"Why?" Good question, but Ron didn't have the answer to that. In fact, Ron could just as well have handed the ice over to Snape, but for some reason he didn't want to do that. "Stop complaining and get your skinny arse over here." Woops.

Snape thankfully referred from saying anything about the comment, and did as Ron told him, and lay down while getting under the sheets.

"Now just stay still," Ron told him and got up to fetch his own towel. He found it on the floor.

"What are you planning on doing?" The mistrust in Snape's voice was clear.

"Wait and see," he snapped at the man.

The bucket of ice stood next to Snape's bed. He sat down next to the prostrate man, fished for a handful of ice and wrapped the towel around it.

"Just hold still," he whispered and gently brought the now cold and slightly wet towel to the bruises. Snape hissed at the contact and tried to get away, but Ron grabbed the professor's arm and shushed him.

"I'm not a child, Mr. Weasley." Snape sneered at him.

Ron rolled his eyes. " Then stop acting like one and hold still while I'm trying to help you."

"I don't need your help. I can take perfectly good care of myself."

Ron gave him a stern look at that. "Like you did tonight?"

Snape fell quiet after that.

"What happened?" Ron knew he was pushing his luck with the other man, but he had to know.

"I don't think you want to know that." Snape cast his eyes downwards and look very fragile at that moment.

"Let me be the judge of that." He said.

"I," Snape began, but a knock on the door prevented him from going any further.

Ron swore loudly as he got up from the bed and opened the door slightly to peek out. "What?" he barked.

A startled Harry met his eyes. "Oh, sorry, Ron. Just wanted to check if you were all right. You looked kind of down before we went to bed, and I couldn't sleep because of it. You're not too worried about Snape are you?"

Harry tried to look past his friend, but he couldn't see anything; Ron was simply too tall. "Is he back yet?" Harry whispered.

"Oh, for fucks sake, Harry! Yes, he's back. Now, do you mind?" Ron whispered back at him.

Harry gave him a knowing look and a crooked smile before answering. "Sure, Ron. I'll leave you two alone."

"It's not like that, and you know it," he said hotly, trying not to raise his voice too much. He didn't want Snape to hear this conversation.

"If you say so, my friend. But it's not fun living in denial." Harry told him, threw him a wink and walked down the hall to his own room.

Ron was stunned. He didn't want Snape! Okay, so the man wasn't bad looking, but that didn't mean anything. He closed the door and turned around. Snape had fallen asleep and the moonlight bathed him in silver. Ron felt his chest tightening, and he knew he was lost.

He sat down on his own bed and took his time to look at the other man properly. It looked like his skin was glimmering with silver pieces in the light, and the black hair was spread across the white pillow like spilled ink. Beautiful, Ron thought.

What had happened to Snape that night? If Daldry had so much as laid a finger on his professor, Ron was going to teach the man a lesson.

He lay down and willed himself to fall asleep. Maybe everything would make more sense in the morning.

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