A/N: thank you one again for the lovely reviews. i'm thrilled that you all like the story so much, definitely keeps me motivated to continue writing.

-- chapter 1 -- chapter 3.1 -- chapter 2 -- chapter 3.2 --

- January 25 - 1997 - Sixth Year -

"'Heard McGonagall did a bit o' sword fightin' back in the day. Watcha think?" Seamus asked, making me almost spit out the black pudding I'd just eaten.

"Bloody Hell, Finnigan! We're trying to eat here!" Harry exclaimed, giving him a look of disgust as he put down his fork.

"No kidding! Merlin, I'm gonna 'ave that one in me head for months now!" Dean chimed in.

"Nightmares for weeks! Honestly!" Neville looked as though he were going to puke.

"What?" Seamus had that vacant, confused look on his face he always got when he said something vulgar he didn't realize wasn't funny. We all glared at him and Harry changed the subject.

"Did anyone notice Brown's skirt's getting a bit too short to be legal?"

"Great legs, that one. I wouldn't mind a go at her." Dean smirked as he took a bite of food.

"Yeah, as long as she shut her mouth," I muttered, eating another bite. I was just about to try and change the subject again, when Hermione came to eat and did it for me.

"Don't you boys ever talking about anything but sex? Honestly," she muttered as she sat next to Harry and spooned a few ladles of pudding onto her plate. Everyone looked down at their plates, not about to argue. Hermione had been in one of those moods ever since Snape had given her essay on sleeping potions an unsatisfactory mark, despite it being three feet longer than asked for.

After dinner, Harry and I headed back to the common room while Hermione went back to the library to 'read'. I found it hard to believe that she hadn't already read every book in the library by then, but I digress. When we climbed into the portrait hole, everyone was gathered around the bulletin board. It appeared that another Hogsmeade weekend was planned for two weeks from that Saturday. Harry and I sat down at a table in the back corner, away from the excited group, and took out our transfiguration homework. After half an hour of work, I felt eyes on me and looked up to see Harry starring at me with a grin to compete with a Cheshire cat.

"What? Do I have something hanging from my nose?" I reached up instinctively to check, but Harry only laughed.

"No, I was just thinking of something."

"And that was?"

"Hogsmeade."

"Yeah, it's a wizarding town, great shops, Butterbeer. What's your point?" I cocked an eyebrow at him before going back to my essay on the challenges of transforming an eagle into a broom.

"Are you gonna ask Hermione to go?"

I didn't look up from my paper. "Hermione always comes, why would we ask her?"

I heard him sigh and looked up to see him rolling his eyes, "No! I mean are you going to ask her to go with you? As in on a date… finally."

And understanding immediately dawned on me, making me a bit anxious as I looked right back at my paper, "Don't know what you mean, mate. Why would I want to take Hermione out on a date? We're just friends."

He sighed again and reached over to pull the paper out from under my hand. I gave him a cross glare, but he just shook his head. "I know you like her, Ron. You don't have to lie to me just because she's our best friend. I'd be ok if you got together with her. Relieved, actually."

I sighed and rubbed the back of my neck, avoiding his eyes. I knew this was eventually going to come up, and I was ready to tell him, but that didn't mean I liked having to do it. "Look, mate, there's… there's something I need to tell you. There's uh… you see… it's just that…" My words were sputtering apart like a fallen chess set and I couldn't meet his confused gaze. I was worried that he would react badly; that he would think that I liked him, or something. Which wasn't true, at all, obviously, I was shagging bloody Draco Malfoy for fuck's sake. But still, I was worried. I saw his face turn into a wide grin from the corner of my eye.

"You're nervous about asking her, right? Think she won't say yes? Don't worry, she likes you. I can tell. She's just waiting for you to finally knock up the courage and ask."

I sighed again and fiddled with a bit of torn parchment, "That's not it, either, mate. I um… I don't like Hermione. At least not like that…"

"Sod it, Ron, you do, too! You can be truthful with me, there's no reason for you not to be."

"I know that, I am being truthful. I don't like Hermione. Well, I do like her, but just as a friend. Romantically speaking, she's not exactly my type." I glanced up to see him lean back in his chair and fold his arms over his chest with a look of skepticism.

"Not your type, huh? Why's that?"

"She's um…" I bit my lip and looked down again. I could feel my hand shaking slightly and my foot was going into spasms against the floor. I took a deep breath to calm down and then I looked back up into his eyes, praying to Merlin that he understood. "She's not the right gender."

Confusion creased his brow, "What do you mean she's the wrong gender, I don't follow…"

I took another breath and stopped my shaking hands, "Harry, I'm gay." His eyes turned into saucers and I thought his chin was going to hit the table. I muttered a curse to myself and looked back down. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, I just... I wasn't really ready and I didn't know how to bring it up. Please don't hate me. I'm sorry."

I glanced up at him through my eyelashes. His mouth had closed and his eyes had returned to their normal size, but he seemed to be very uncomfortable, squirming in his chair. "I… I don't know what to say… You're not telling me this because you…"

I cut him off with a hand flung into the thickened air between us, "NO, I'm not attracted to you. Don't worry. I just wanted you to know because… well… I guess it's just something I thought you'd want to know."

"It is, but… Merlin."

I looked down again, "It's ok, if knowing this makes you uncomfortable, you don't have to hang around me anymore. I just wanted you to know because you're my friend and you're always telling me to tell you the truth. I'm sorry."

"No, Ron, it's ok, it's just… It's a bit of a shock, you know? Here I was thinking you were bonkers for Hermione and I was completely wrong. You'll have to give me a minute to wrap my brain around it."

"Take your time. But can I get my essay back or is it being held for ransom?" He looked down at it and then grinned and handed it back. I returned the smile and went back to my homework, glancing up at him occasionally. He was starring off at a group of third-years playing chess by the fire. An half an hour passed between us in companionable silence.

"How long have you known?" I was startled to hear his voice, not expecting to hear it again until it was time to go to bed. I set my quill down and sat back in my chair.

"I started getting inclinations last summer."

"And it took you this long to tell me? Why?"

"I didn't know how you'd react and I wasn't really sure of it. I hadn't been with anyone, but I knew I was attracted to boys. It was kind of like I knew it, but I wasn't ready to believe it yet, you know what I mean?"

He nodded and began ripping up a blundered astronomy chart distractedly. "Have you.. Have you um… Have you been with anyone since you… you know, since you figured it out?"

I looked down at my hands, a bit in shock, not expecting the question. I didn't think he would want to know, but then it did make sense. He was my best mate and we always talked about girls. Why should this be all that different? But could I tell him the truth, that I was shagging his second worst enemy? And what about Draco? He would burn me at the stake as soon as he got wind of anyone knowing that wasn't either of us. I had to keep the tryst secret, there was no other option. Even if Harry was accepting of my sexuality, there was no way that he could possibly accept my disjointed relationship with Malfoy. Bugger, I could barely accept it. "No. I don't really feel comfortable with asking anyone… I wouldn't even ask girls out properly, and I knew they were at least interested in my gender. How am I supposed to ask a guy? How many awkward situations could that turn into?"

"Very true. Anyone you're interested in, though? Maybe we could ask around, see if they might be interested… in purely hypothetical terms, of course."

I smirked. I couldn't help myself. The only name that came to mind was Malfoy and Harry would not have been pleased. "There are a few, but I already know that they're straight."

"Right, there aren't many open guys at Hogwarts, are there?"

"No, and if it's alright, I'd like to remain… closed. If that makes sense."

"Closed from what?" came Hermione's voice from behind me. Panic rushed through me and rendered me unable to form a coherent response, let alone open my mouth to give it. Harry must have sensed this because he turned to her with a smile as she sat down to my right and dropped a stack of books on the table.

"Fred and George sent him a package of samples and some order forms to pass out for the shop." Good one, Harry. Much better than what would have come blubbering out of my mouth.

"Well, you can't do that, you know that. Not as a prefect. I can't believe they would try such a stunt, they aren't even here anymore and they're still trying to cause mischief. You sent it back, right?" She looked absolutely scandalized and I nearly exploded with laughter in relief.

"Most of it. Thought I'd slip a few things into Malfoys bag during potions. Wouldn't mind seeing his ears turn purple and grow to the size of his head." Hermione just rolled her eyes and opened a book, asking us what we thought of the rumor about Snape sleeping with Millicent Bagnold.

- October 15 - 1997 - Seventh Year -

Breakfast was a peculiar bit of wasted eggs and fleeting glances. I hadn't had much sleep the night before, my mind whirling with the same images that had haunted me all week of him and his possible partners. Harry had to drag me to the shower and then turn the cold water on me while I was still fully dressed in order to wake me up. When I got back from the shower, Pig had left a 'present' on my pillow along with a letter back from the twins that exploded into tiny spiders in my hands as soon as I'd finished it. Thankfully they disappeared into thin air, but only after I'd nearly wet myself in fright. I'd been stabbing at my biscuits for a good while, eating very little because of my foul mood. Hermione had already stopped asking what was wrong, knowing I wasn't going to answer; but Harry kept poking me every few minutes to get me to perk up.

It was one of those pokes that caused me to look up just as Malfoy walked into the Great Hall. Normally, I would have only looked him over and turned back to breakfast. I hadn't really acknowledged his presence in over a week, the memory of that bloody mark still burning in my mind every time I looked at him, but that day was different. He didn't walk in alone. Pansy Parkinson was clinging to his hand and grinning as though You-Know-Who had triumphed over Harry or something (not that he's going to, the bloody bastard). When they sat down together, she turned and kissed him right on the lips, tongue and everything. I could see the smirk on his lips as he returned it, his eyes not closed, not watching her, but glued to mine the entire time. My brain was yelling curses at me to look away, but I couldn't, not until she pulled away and began to eat, her hand still hidden in his lap underneath the table.

I immediately looked back at my food, felt sick, and shoved the plate away. Hermione turned to me with concern and felt my forehead. "Are you alright, Ron? It's not like you to not finish your plate. Do you need to go to Madam Pomfrey?"

I shook my head, "No, I'm fine, I'm just not in the best mood. Bad morning."

"And he didn't sleep last night."

My head shot over to Harry, "How do you know I didn't sleep last night?"

He stole a bite of my forgotten eggs and frowned at me, "I could hear you tossing and turning all night. And you didn't say a word."

"What do you mean I didn't say a word?" I didn't give him a chance to respond before another thought came to my mind, "Did you not sleep either?"

He shook his head and took another bite from my plate, "I had another dream and I decided it would be better if I just stayed up." I felt relief at his response because all conversation was focused on him and not me, but then furrowed my brow. Why hadn't I heard him wake? I sighed and rubbed my eyes, realizing that maybe this whole mess with Malfoy was more of a problem than I thought it would be.