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Crush Depth

Ron carried Rose home. She'd fallen asleep on Molly's lap while the family caught up with Harry, and he with them. They'd told him that Percy still hadn't mended his break with them after all this time, and Charlie announced his intention to propose to his girlfriend when he got back to her. Harry had promised to come to dinner with Rose next Sunday, something that had Bill and Charlie protesting vehemently as they'd have left for work by then. Harry hadn't hesitated to give them his Floo address and Ron had a feeling he'd be seeing his brothers and sister every night this week at Harry's house, and probably his parents too. He only hoped that Harry wouldn't be overwhelmed by the sudden influx of Weasley's.

Once home - and Ron was already thinking of the Hutch that way, even though he'd only spent three nights under its roof - Ron helped his friend put Rose to bed while Hermione got changed and then they joined her in the master bedroom. Ron ended up in the middle this time, on his back with Hermione and Harry using him as a pillow. Harry had knotted a hand in Ron's tee, and was snuggling in warmly.

"Back to work tomorrow," the green-eyed man muttered sleepily, "You never said which University gave you my address."

"How many Universities do you work for?" Hermione sounded faintly curious, too close to sleep to be more active about it.

"Four," Harry sighed and then snored softly. Ron grinned into the darkness, liking his life a lot at that moment. Sleep found him easily, as did the sun the next morning. He was still on his back, with Hermione curled against his side, and Harry using his chest as a pillow, and arm and leg thrown over him. This presented a small problem for Ron, who was about half hard. He didn't want to drag up old mistakes, and trying to take his relationship with Harry beyond friendship would be less than wise.

Harry stirred, and slowly pulled away, moving so as to avoid disturbing the others. Ron was relieved that his Auror training had included a component on deception. He could pretend to be asleep, or unconscious or dead with perfect realism. He needed that training now so he wouldn't grab Harry, roll the other man beneath him and introduce him to the benefits of friction. When the door closed behind his friend, Hermione lifted her head, her bright eyes informing him that she had been awake for a while as well.

"How long has this been going on?" she didn't have to elaborate, having woken with Ron in the field and felt this particular portion of anatomy poking her before. They had come to an agreement that they would be impersonal about that sort of thing with each other, though they were never disrespectful. Any change to their private relationship would require a lot of mutual effort now.

"Leave it, Hermione," Ron felt his face heat, and tried to roll away. She moved to pin him down, and he froze, not wanting to wrestle her just this moment.

"How long have you had a crush on Harry?" she persisted, and Ron sighed, giving in. Better she knew about it now, rather than later. It might even be nice to talk to someone about it for a change.

"Since he woke in the hospital wing," Ron sighed, "I kissed him and then ran away. If I wasn't such a coward then, things might have been different now."

"Since our sixth year?" Hermione looked stunned and let go of him. He sat up and after a moment she did too, leaning against his shoulder companionably. Ron decided that he might was well give her the whole sad story.

"I've loved him a very long time, Hermione," he rubbed his palm over his drawn up knee, "Even when I was with someone else, I missed him, we both did, but I loved him too. When I first saw him again… well never mind."

"Ron, you have to tell him," Hermione turned so she was cross-legged and facing him, "You can't just try and deny this."

"I'm not denying it," Ron told her, "I know exactly how I feel about Harry, and I'll channel that into being the best friend he would ever want. But in case you missed the evidence, Hermione, he's straight. I'm not. There's no way he'd …"

"Ron, you are so thick sometimes," Hermione interrupted, "Last night at your mums, who did Harry choose to sit with? He consistently sat in the same chair as you. When you put your arm around him he'd snuggle in closer. He did everything but sit on your lap, and he would have if you'd indicated that was what you wanted! Everyone saw how he spent the night cuddled up to you, there was barely a meter between you two all night."

Ron wasn't sure what to say to that. He had spent the night glued to Harry, but he'd never thought that Harry had spent the night glued to him. Hope dawned for a moment, but he ruthlessly squashed it.

"He doesn't know I'm gay," the whisper couldn't have been heard by anyone else, but Hermione understood him perfectly. Ron was not ashamed of his orientation, but he was afraid that Harry wouldn't understand.

"Tell him, Ron," Hermione said firmly, "Trust him. Give him a chance, ok?"

She slid out of bed as the water in the shower stopped and collected clean clothes, stepping out into the landing to give him some time to think. Ron rubbed his head and wished there was a spell to make his thoughts stop spinning. It all came down to the risks he was willing to take. Would Harry still want him around if he knew, or would his friend ask him to leave?

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