Chapter Five

Notes: WARNING! This chapter gets a bit racier than the others. There is something of a slash sex scene here (though it's not too bad, I don't think, maybe even disappointing, depending on your standards). Please keep this warning in mind as you read!

Harry dropped his cigarette onto the soft soil of the garden and stomped it with the toe of his dragon skin boot. He shrugged his shoulders and pulled his robes tighter around himself. It was summer, but the foggy, sunless mornings were still chilly.

He looked up at the Weasley house, a three story brick home with a wide range of property on all sides. Nice, but not too nice. It was, after all, what he expected from the Weasleys. Their name reached farther than Ron knew, as even Harry had heard of this long line of Pure-blood Wizards and Witches, well-to-do people who were infamous Muggle-sympathizers. And the current head of the family had worked at the Ministry of Magic for years. They were, in short, the perfect family for Harry.

He walked the path toward the house, knowing it was still too early for anyone else to be awake. He'd bided his time the past few days to determine how long they slept every morning. He knew exactly when each of them awoke, how long it took them to dress and make it downstairs, and where they each headed after breakfast. Timed just right, he could accomplish his goal this very morning. He still had to stay a few more weeks, even after that, to earn enough money to make it to his destination.

He had told himself that he wouldn't act until the last day, because if he got caught and fired before he made enough money, all his work would be for nothing. But Harry was too anxious. He was so close to that which he'd yearned for all his life that he couldn't wait any longer. He had to act today.

He walked silently yet quickly through the main hall, crept up the stairs to the second floor and down the narrow pathway to the last two doors, one on each side. In one of these was Mr. Weasley's study. Harry's wandering had enabled him to map out the entire house, but only these two rooms were continuously closed. It had to be one of them. And Harry had to get inside the study.

He quickly checked the one on the left first, having no time to waste on thinking it out. He pulled out his newly acquired wand, mentally thanking Ginny at the same time, and whispered "Alohamora!" The lock clicked and Harry walked on in.

It was not the study, Harry discovered, but what seemed to be a storage room. He turned swiftly, he didn't have the time to look around. But what was that piece of parchment sticking out of the third drawer down in that old dresser? Curiosity got the better of him, and Harry hurried over and pulled the parchment out. It was a letter, obviously written in haste, to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Harry only skimmed it, since he knew the time was drawing near when the Weasleys would begin awakening and making their way downstairs. He only caught bits and pieces, but the words "escape successful" and "we'll never be caught again" stuck out to him. Then that last line, scribbled with obvious determination and speed, would prove hard to forget: "When everything ends, you'll see us again."

"When everything ends?" Harry whispered to himself, "What the hell does that mean?"

He would've liked to have finished reading the letter, but judging from it's jumbled placement in the drawer, it was probably taken out and read often, as if a reminder to the Weasley parents that someone was still alive, still out there, still safe. There was no name at the end, no return address, and no real clues as to the identity of the writer, or what relationship they had to the Weasleys, but Harry could tell it was someone special to them. Taking the letter to read later would be dangerous, as its absence would probably be noticed before he could return it.

Harry replaced the letter, leaving a corner of it sticking out of the drawer, and left the room. He went to the other door and opened it the same way. He sighed in relief when he was sure it was indeed the study. He looked around the wall, which was lined with shelves and books. "All right, Mr. Weasley," Harry whispered, "where do you keep your Ministry files?"

The top shelf was all books, most looking very old. Harry thought they seemed like history books. Some even looked Muggle in nature. The second and third shelves were full of leather bound papers. Each had a label which had a letter of the alphabet. Harry scanned them with his eyes until he found the one labeled "P". He pulled it from the shelf and thumbed through it. It was mostly information on events, but a few people came up. The majority of the information was probably useless, old, and out-dated. It was probably public knowledge to those who'd been around at the time. Finally Harry came to a page with the heading "Potter, James", and pulled the open book from the desk into his lap. His eyes ran hungrily across the page. There wasn't much, but even the slightest bit of information seemed incredible to Harry.

"James Potter, wealthy Pure-blood Wizard and top-scoring graduate from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Sentenced to fifty years in Azkaban prison. See: Muggle-born Affairs, Evans, Lily."

Harry reached into the inner pocket of his robes and pulled out a tiny cylinder glass tube. He clutched it in his hand. So, my father was sent to Azkaban…

He closed the book and pushed it back onto the shelf. He traced his way back and found the book labeled "E". He pulled it out and flipped through to the page titled "Evans, Lily". This page had more writing, but it was very faded and smudged, and Harry could only make out the first few words. "Lily Evans, Muggle-born female, registered to James Potter."

"Registered?" Harry muttered, focusing his eyes on the following words but making out none of it. "Damn it! It's too smudged!"

His mind raced as he replaced the book. She was registered to my father? Registered? That couldn't mean she was his…

Harry's thoughts broke off. The door to the study had flown open, and Ron was standing in the doorway. "Just what the hell are you doing in my father's study?!"

Harry looked at Ron, then at the books on the shelves. The "M" book, for "Muggle-born Affairs" blared at him from it's place. Shit.

"This is your father's study?" Harry asked, as if he had no idea.

Ron folded his arms across his chest, a knowing look on his face. "Don't try to lie your way out of this. You've been caught red-handed. You had to do magic to get in here in the first place, and I'm not even going to ask where you learned it. As soon as I tell dad, you'll be out of here."

Harry frowned. He considered his options. He could dash out of the room, run right into Ginny and tell her Ron forced him at wand-point to go into their father's study and dig around, so that he could frame him for pilfering and have him thrown out. But that story had many holes in it, and Ginny would probably spot them. He could do some fancy spell work and stun Ron until he could get out of the study, then erase Ron's memory of this morning. But would Ron draw faster than him? And if Ron saw Harry reaching for his wand, would Ron hold back? He didn't know the boy long enough to make a judgment that left so much at risk, and after all, it was perfectly legal for a Pure-blood to execute a Half-blood in their employment.

Shit! Harry thought again. He had only one option left, and that was to persuade Ron not to tell on him. He slumped his shoulders, doing his best to look ashamed of himself. "I know. I know you caught me. I know I shouldn't be in here."

Ron blinked, surprised at this sudden display of humbleness. "So, what are you doing in here?"

Harry lowered his eyes. "Well, the truth is, I wanted to find out about my sister."

Ron's eyes went wide. "You have a sister?"

"Yeah, she's a couple years younger than me, but I lost her a few years ago. I was hoping your dad may have some information on her in his files, since he works for the Ministry and all."

Ron looked at him with very questioning eyes. "Why didn't you just ask him? He would've told you."

Harry thought Damn it! Who would've guessed this guy had any brains? "Well… I… I haven't talked much to him, and I was afraid he'd think I was a pest and wouldn't look into it."

Ron looked extremely suspicious. "But why didn't you-"

Ron was silenced very suddenly when Harry rushed forward and pressed his lips against his. Harry pushed him against the nearest wall, the way Ron had done to him only days ago upstairs. Harry held the kiss for a long time, nothing moving except for tongues. Forget! Harry mentally commanded, Forget about all this, damn it!

Ron was too shocked to even move. He just stared at Harry, who's eyes were also open. But somehow, it didn't feel embarrassing or even awkward. It just felt good.

Harry finally broke the kiss and looked up at Ron. "You don't want to have me thrown out, do you?"

Ron was still frozen. He opened his mouth again but nothing would come out. There was nothing to come out.

Harry went on. "Look, I know you're a nice guy. A little rough around the edges, but still a nice guy over all. You don't want me living in a pile of trash in the dark side of London, do you?"

Ron was still silent, staring at Harry.

"And I also know that you're attracted to me. I mean, let's face it," Harry said, gesturing with his eyes toward Ron's crotch, "it's pretty damn obvious."

Ron regained his voice. "You're right, I guess. Ginny would probably never forgive me if I had you thrown out."

Harry grinned. "See? It works to both our benefit to simply keep this whole thing to ourselves. I've already looked through the files, and there's nothing in there on my sister. I've done what I wanted to do, so I won't be coming back in here. I swear."

Ron sighed. "Okay. I won't tell anyone."

Harry smiled again, his eyes seeming somehow more brilliant in the patches of sunlight now pouring in through the window. "Let me show you some gratitude."

He reached up and pulled Ron's face down to his, then kissed him again. This time it was softer, slower, more deliberate. Ron seemed frozen again, but still had his voice.

"No, you don't have to do this…"

Harry took a breath. Maybe Ron was stupid after all. Why did he make such a big deal out of everything? It's not like Harry hadn't done this before. He'd done many things with many people, male and female, over the years. And occasionally it was even by choice. He'd never denied that Ron was a fairly good looking guy, with that soft red hair falling all the way past his chin, a smooth face, and a tall but lithe frame. If only those freckles weren't there, Ron could be considered very handsome. He was certainly far better than most of the men Harry had been with.

Harry reached down to the hem of Ron's pajama top and moved his hands inside it, up Ron's torso and to his chest. "I'm not going to make an offer like this again, Ron. If you want me, take off these clothes. If you don't, just say the word. I mean, why not? We're both hard now and…"

Ron stared at him. "We can't…. not in here. Someone will see us."

Harry looked up at a clock on the wall. "Don't worry, the next person to wake up will be Ginny, and that's in half an hour. She doesn't even stop at the second floor when she's walking down to the kitchen."

Ron wondered about this in the back of his mind, but right now he was concentrating more on Harry's hands, which were making their way back down to the waistband of his pants. Ron shuddered slightly when Harry's hands moved down inside them. "All right."

Harry's eyes darted to Ron's. "Wait… you're not a virgin, are you?"

Ron shook his head. "Of course not! I've just never… been with a guy…" Ron was blushing.

Harry laughed. "A straight guy, huh? What is it with me then?"

Ron frowned. "No fucking idea."

Harry found Ron's cock and wrapped his hands around it. "Whoa…" he whispered, moving them back and forth.

Ron's eyes had slid shut, but he opened them again. "Whoa what?"

Harry grinned. "It's true what they say about tall guys then."

Ron's face became red again. "Oh…. I guess so. I mean… I didn't really have anything to… you know, compare it to."

Harry leaned in close, his lips close to Ron's ear. "We'll fix that."

Harry began lowering himself to the ground, pulling Ron with him. Soon Ron was on his back on the floor and Harry was leaning over him. He pulled down Ron's pants, shot a glance back at Ron's face, then wrapped his mouth around Ron's cock.

Ron's whole body stiffened. He'd never felt like this before. He'd had this before, but it felt so different somehow. Harry seemed like an expert, and Ron wondered idly if he should be impressed or disturbed by this. Suddenly Ron found himself imagining Harry as a child, cowering in an alley way while a gang of Pure-blood Wizard thugs approached, eager to use him for whatever they wanted.

Ron suddenly felt sick, and he reached down and pushed Harry away from him. Was he no better than people like that? Was he using Harry, his servant, for sex? Sure, Harry had initiated it, but he'd said something about showing his gratitude. Was he only doing this to keep Ron from telling on him?

Harry looked at him, emerald eyes glowing in the shadows between rays of sunshine. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Ron stared back. "I can't do this. I'm sorry, Harry. I just… can't. I won't tell my father about this morning. I promise."

Harry was silent for a few moments. "I know you won't. You already said that."

"Yeah, well, I wanted you to be sure. I have to go back upstairs. Ginny'll be awake in a few minutes and she'll wonder why I'm up so early."

"Why are you up so early?"

Ron was pulling up his pants and looking sheepish. "I, er, had a bad dream. Couldn't get back to sleep."

Harry looked strange. "You're still hard. Want a hand-"

"I can take care of it," Ron said quickly.

"Well, I'm still hard."

Ron blinked at him. "Sorry, I really have to get upstairs." And he was gone.

Harry absently stood up and scratched the back of his head, wondering what had just happened. Great, he thought, walking out of the room and closing it behind him, now I have to go upstairs and jack off.

Notes: To be continued! :D As I've said before, feel free to contact me by e-mail or AIM (archichan) if you have any questions/suggestions/complaints/etc. I DO listen and I most definitely DO care! ^_^