Chapter seven
Ron woke up with the image of Crystal glued to the inside of his mind. He tried to shake it out. It didn't work. Right next to her picture was the one of Harry's face and the smirk when Hermione had mentioned what a 'thing' Crys had for him.
Everytime. Ron thought, every single time I like a girl she turns right to Harry. First Cho, then Hermione, now Crys. Can't he leave any for me? What is it about him that is just so appealing? Ron's train of thought ended when Harry himself awoke and tumbled out of the bed next to him.
"Ron?" he mumbled through the curtain around Ron's bed, "You in there, mate?"
Yeah," he pulled the curtain aside, "I'm here. What time is it?"
Harry looked at his watch, "Ten."
Ron nodded.
After they were both dressed they walked down to the Great Hall and sat down at the Griffindor table. Each of them piled some food on his plate and began to eat.
"So," Harry said through his mouthful of toast, "Do you want to go out and fly around for awhile today before practice tomorrow?"
"Can't," Ron responded simply. He swollowed his food and continued, "I've got to study with Crystal today."
"Oh yeah." Harry said, "So, got a date yet?"
"To the ball? Don't think I'm going."
"Hermione's not going to let you get away with that and you know it."
"I know. But maybe she'll get another nice date this time," he cringed at the thought of Krum, "and she'll forget all about us."
Harry was silent.
"What do you know that I don't?" Ron asked his best friend suspiciously.
"That Hermione's already got a date to the ball." he finished quickly and lifted his pumpkin juice to his lips to take a long gulp.
"Who!"
"You don't know him. He's a-"
"It's you isn't it?"
"Well, yes." He gave in, "But we're not dating again. That's through. This is just to get us both through the dance without suffering."
"Without suffering," Ron said at a level that only he could hear himself at, "Lucky you."
When Ron came up to the Room of Requirement that evening for his study session with Crys, he was nervous. There was no avoiding it. He had no idea what to expect. He turned the heavy knob and entered.
Crys was sitting, ready for him, books strewn across the floor and the sofa she sat on with her back to him. He had no idea why, but his heart skipped a beat when he saw the small of her neck below where her dark hair was pulled into a ponytail high on her head.
"Hey, Teach." he said.
She turned around smiling, her hair swung in it's ponytail behind her. "We should get started." she said.
Ron walked over and around the couch as she stood up.
"So try this one," she pointed to a hex in a textbook lying open on the sofa, "You should probably give your wrist more of a flick,"
He tried it. It was perfect. She pointed to another. Same result. And so this went on for fifteen more hexes.
"Are you ever going to be happy with my ability." he asked her while sitting down.
"Probably not." she admitted, sitting next to him.
"But you know I didn't need help now, right?"
"Yes but why would Professor Neslon tell me you needed it when you didn't?" She looked perplexed.
"Maybe she felt like giving you a false detention because she couldn't think of anything good." Ron sat up against the back of the sofa and put his arms along the back.
Crys rolled her eyes and mirrored him, leaning against the back, her neck right in the nook of his elbow.
Ron's heart began to beat faster. They sat like this for about five minutes before Ron convinced himself to make the first move. He started his index finger moving in circles on her bare shoulder. The circles were evenly spaced and seemed to be counting down. 5...his heart sped up a bit...4...Crys flipped her hair over her opposite shoulder...3...the clock struck eight...2...Ron blinked his eyes to try to bring himself back to Earth...1... They both seemed to have known what was coming, and executed it quite well.
At the exact same moment Crys spun around and flung her leg over Ron's lap so that she was kneeling with a knee on either side, Ron latched his fingers around the back of her waist and pulled her closer. Without a single word their lips crashed together and Crys's hands began to wander all through Ron's rather long, red hair. As the kiss deepened Crys gave up trying to kneel and wrapped her legs around the back of Ron without seperating her lips from his once. Eventually his lips slowly slipped away from hers and trailed down her neck. When he hit one point, just below her ear, she shuddered. She put a hand on the side of his face and guided his lips back to her own. No sign of weakness. She smiled into his mouth as she felt his tounge slowly but surely creeping through her soft lips. She accepted and greeted his tounge with her own as she pushed him onto his back on top of the cushy sofa. She laid on top of him and pressed her body closer to his, Her hips grinding into him with every move she made. She heard him groan into their kiss and slowly pulled her lips away from his. She smiled down at him and rolled over on the wide couch until she was on her side facing him with his arm around her shoulders and hers spread across his stomach.
They laid there in silence for a moment before Crys was flung onto her back and Ron suddenly on top of her.
All of a sudden Crys was torn from sleep when the clock struck eleven. She blinked a few times before realizing that she and Ron were out over two hours past cerfew. They had to get back to Griffindor Tower, and fast.
She gently nudged his shoulder to wake him.
"Ron," she whispered, less than an inch from his ear, "Ron, wake up. We've got to go now." He only barely stirred.
"Ron!" she whispered louder, "Wake up!"
"What? No." he mumbled and shut his eyes again.
This was not working. She started to nibble on his earlobe. She slowly worked her tounge into the motion until he was fully awake and turned his face towards hers. He softly kissed her.
"We have to go." she whispered.
"Why? What time is it?" he asked her softly.
"It's past eleven." she said.
"What!" he sat up suddenly.
"Yeah!" she responded, "I tried to tell you but you didn't want to hear it."
He wasn't listening. "What we need is Harry's invi-" Halfway through the word an invisibility cloak appeared in front of them.
Crys smiled at him as he pulled the cloak around himself and invited her to join him. She snuggled up close to him as he pulled it around them and they set off slowly down the corridor.
They walked for a long time, at least a half hour before they reached the Fat Lady's Portrait. She was reluctant to let them in so late, but she did. They came out from under the cloak and pulled themselves up through the portrait hole. When they got inside they found two pairs of eyes resting on them from beside the fire.
"They'll be back any minute now, they can't stay out much longer." Hermione said, not beleiving her own words.
"They probably could." Harry responded, "We should go find them. What if something happened?"
"If they're not back in twenty minutes we'll go." Harry nodded.
Fifteen minutes later Harry ran upstairs to get his invisibility cloak.
"It's gone." he said from halfway down the stairs.
Hermione stood up, "What?"
"The invisibility cloak is gone. It's not in my dorm. You don't think Ron took it do you?"
"No, he didn't have anything but his wand when he left."
"Something must have happened. Invisibility cloaks don't just dissapear."
"Well actually, Harry..."
"You know what I meant."
"Something must be wrong."
"Let's go."
"Without the cloak?"
"What if they're hurt?"
"Alright let's go."
Just than the portrait swung open and swung shut.
"Ron is that you?" Harry said.
Ron and Crystal emerged from under the cloak.
"God!" Hermione's voice raised, "You two had us worried sick!"
"You sound like my mother." Ron mumbled.
"What have you two been up to?" Harry asked eyeing their mussed hair and giddy smiles.
"Don't answer that." Hermione said quickly.
"We fell asleep." Crys said.
"Together?" Harry gaped.
"Oh stop it you have more sense than that, Harry." Hermione nudged him, "They would not do anything like that, they hardly know each other."
Ron's ears turned that familiar shade of red and Hermione's doubt of her last words grew.
"You didn't."
"No." Crystal said in a very clear tone, "We did not. Nothing happened." Liar. she thought.
"Alright we believe you," Hermione ended the conversation, "It's late we have class tomorrow."
She and Crys headed towards the girl's staircase as Harry and Ron headed towards the opposite one.
