Chapter 26

"I thought they took that rather well..." Ginny said with a smirk as Draco shut the door behind them. She chuckled as she spotted her trunk against the wall.

He came up and wrapped his arms around her. "There was a bit of a room shortage... hope you don't mind..." He said playfully.

She just grinned.

He kissed her shoulder, then went over, flopping down on the bed with a sigh. "I must admit... it was a bit of a relief to get the whole house taken care of at once... the gasping and staring every time my eyes change is getting tiresome... best to just get it over with all together."

Ginny grinned as she lay down beside him, propping her head up so she could look at him. "Isn't it Darien that has to deal with that?"

He furrowed his brow. "Um... ya... but..." He shrugged and fell silent, looking slightly puzzled.

"Um..." Ginny said, looking a bit reluctant. "I've been meaning to ask you about him... I mean... he's been pretty quiet for a while..."

"Getting bored with me already are you?" Draco asked with a smirk.

"No! That's not it." She said quickly, blushing, "It's just... I was wondering if... I dunno... maybe there was something wrong...?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "He's just still all depressed. His moping is starting to get irritating actually... Him telling me about the Demon was pretty much the first I'd heard out of him since I brought you into the Dungeon."

"Why is he depressed?" She asked, concerned.

"Maybe you should ask him." Draco said a bit uncomfortably, not really wanting to go into it.

"Can I talk to him?"

Draco's eyes went slightly unfocused for a moment, then he rolled his eyes again. "He's being stubborn." He said exasperatedly. "Hold on..." He laid back on the bed and closed his eyes, a look of concentration coming over his face. Ginny peered closer. It was almost as if she could see a silent struggle going on as his eyes moved under the lids, his jaw tensing and relaxing for a moment.

Suddenly the struggle ceased and he let out a sigh of exasperation. "He is such a bloody prat." He said, opening his dark brown eyes, looking irritable.

Ginny grinned, relieved to see him. She had almost started to think he had left. Then her smile faded. "You didn't want to talk to me?" She asked softly.

He sighed, rolling over and wrapping his arm around her, pulling her close. "It's not that... I just... haven't really been feeling like talking to anyone lately..."

"Is it something about me?" She asked worriedly.

"No." He said, then paused, looking indecisive. "Well... not really..."

She sighed. "It's about her isn't it?"

He couldn't look her in the eyes. "Ginny... please... I don't want to talk about it..."

"You're going to have to talk to someone about it sooner or later..." She said gently, snuggling up against him comfortingly.

"I just can't..." He said in a pained whisper. "Not yet... not with you..."

She sighed and nodded. "Ok... I'll wait..."

They held eachother in companionable silence for a few minutes before Ginny tentatively broke the silence. "I... I wanted to ask you something..."

He shifted back a bit so he could look at her, "What?"

"Earlier this morning..." She said, her cheeks coloring.

He blushed as a shy smile slipped over his lips, knowing without asking what she was talking about. "That was amazing..."

She blushed with pleasure, but pressed on. "Were you... there?"

"Well... I'm pretty much always there... not like I have eyes I can close or anything..." He said, looking highly embarrassed.

"No... I mean I know that... but... when... well... I saw something in Draco's eyes..."

His gaze suddenly became avid. "What?"

"It was like... little wisps of brown drifting through his eyes..." She said, trying to put what she'd seen into words.

A brilliant smile broke on across his lips. "Really?"

She blinked, surprised by his reaction, "Ya... What was that?"

"Sounds like we're starting to integrate on a deeper level... I knew he'd been feeling closer... Probably because he's finally openly accepted me..." Darien said happily.

"And this integrating is a good thing?" She asked, eyeing him with a smirk on her lips.

He laughed. "A very good thing..." He sighed, his smile fading a bit. "You have no idea what it's like to have your very soul torn apart... of course I'm not sure Draco and I will ever fully reintegrate... we are very different... and... well... we've both grown while we were apart..."

She furrowed her brow. "Grown?"

He nodded, "Souls tend to try to heal themselves... if part of one is removed, it will start to regrow over time. Given enough time it might even become whole on it's own again if it was only a smaller portion taken... we were nearly perfect halves when separated... but while we were apart our souls started mending themselves... It took him all that time to become whole enough to be born again... and it took me all those years just to regain enough sense of self to be able to rejoin him when he came back. Today..." he made a little frustrated sound, trying to figure out how to express it. "It's like we are now both quite a bit more than half a soul... together we are nearly a soul and a half now... that's why there is no room for the demon to get in... but that means fully combining just might not be possible..." He gave her a little flicker of a smile, "But... to tell the truth, I was... well... a little bit frightened of the thought of fully combining anyway..."

"Why?" She asked, surprised. He had always seemed to want to be a part of Draco more than anything.

He blushed and dropped his eyes. "I... was afraid of losing myself... and... though Draco won't admit it, I've felt the fear in him a time or two... especially lately..."

"Oh..." She said softly, "I hadn't really thought of it that way... I don't want to lose you. Either of you..."

He smiled and brushed his fingers over her cheek. "No matter what happens... I am sure of one thing... whoever we end up... we'll love you. I can't see that ever changing." He said sincerely, then leaned forward and gently kissed her lips.

She pulled him closer, her soul singing in her chest at his words, deepening the kiss. For several minutes they just lay there, enjoying the feel of their bodies pressed together, lost in the kiss. When it finally ended, Ginny smiled at him. After a moment, a mischievous look crossed her face. "Do you suppose... the same thing would happen to your eyes...?"

A broad grin sprang to his lips. "I don't know... sounds like something we should look into..."

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"Let's at least get you settled in before lunch." Blaise said, letting Ron lead him as they left the common room. "Your things are in my room... but I know of a spare room if you'd prefer..." Blaise said with a smirk.

Ron grinned. "Wouldn't want to have to log my stuff around too much..."

Blaise chuckled, holding Ron's arm a bit tighter.

When they got into the room, Blaise made his way over to the bed, sitting down. "They said they would put it in here..."

"Ya..." Ron said, spotting it against the wall. "It's right here."

"You might want to hang up your robes so you don't go around looking like something the kneazle dragged in." Blaise said with a smirk. "There should be room in the wardrobe."

"Ok..." Ron said, opening his trunk and pulling out his robes, which had been folded and placed on top. He threw them over his arm and made his way over to the wardrobe. He opened it, grabbing a couple of loose hangers and hanging his robes.

"You should think about getting some Slytherin robes... I think you'd look tasty in green..." Blaise said flirtingly.

Ron chuckled, looking down the row of robes trimmed in green. There were some other clothes at the end... mostly green... but something odd caught his eye. He pulled out one of the garments and looked at in confusion. It was a long green silk dress. What was THAT doing in his wardrobe?

"No fondling my clothes unless I'm in them roomy." Pansy said as she came in.

He looked over at her, then blushed, quickly returning the dress to the wardrobe, noting the other female clothing behind it as well. He closed the wardrobe and looked over at her questioningly. "You two share a room?" He asked, surprised.

"Most nights." Pansy said with a smirk. "I was rooming with Millicent the first couple years, but... I tell you, that girl snores like a dragon with a sinus condition! And silencing spells can only last so long..." She said rolling her eyes mirthfully. "Snape doesn't care if we change rooms... and Blaise always has a warm bed..." She said mirthfully, leaning down and kissing Blaise.

Blaise quickly got ahold of her and pulled her down on the bed, making her giggle.

"So... how long you two been... sharing a room?" Ron said, going over and leaning against the bedpost near them, watching as Blaise began tickling Pansy mercilessly, sending her into fits of giggles.

Blaise paused, looking thoughtful. "I'm not sure... Let's see..."

Pansy smacked his shoulder, "Since fourth year. You'd think that wouldn't be too hard to remember!" she said with a smirk.

Ron looked at them, stunned. His feeling of being an interloper in their relationship suddenly multiplied. He had no idea they had been so close for so long... "Oh..." He said softly.

Blaise turned towards him, hearing the uncertainty in his voice. "What's the matter? You knew we'd been together..." He said, puzzled by Ron's reaction.

"Well... I knew you'd... well... been shagging for a while... but..."

Blaise sighed and reached out, managing to get ahold of Ron's sleeve and pulled him down onto the bed beside him. Once he had him down, he rolled over, pinning Ron. He ran his hand up Ron's chest, getting oriented so it wasn't too awkward to find his lips. He kissed him tenderly, trailing his fingers down his cheek. When he broke the kiss he remained close, his nose brushing Ron's. "Pansy is amazing..." He said softly, "One of a kind... I can never seem to get enough of her... but we both know we aren't enough... I'm not enough for her, and she's not enough for me... I, quite frankly, can't fulfill her desires on my own, no matter how hard I try... and there are things that I want that... well... she's just not equipped with..." He grinned, "You fulfill both our needs quite nicely... you aren't intruding... I know that's what you think... I've seen it in your eyes when I'm with her... I hear it in your voice now..." He sighed, caressing his cheek tenderly. "You're the missing piece, Ron... together, we three make one hell of a couple..." He said with a mischievous smirk.

A smile found it's way onto Ron's lips. He lifted his head, kissing Blaise.

They broke apart as Pansy cleared her throat loudly. "Sorry boys, but we have to get out there. They'll be leaving for lunch any minute, and if you two keep that up, you're gonna get all aroused, and then I'm gonna have to molest you, and we'll all end up missing a meal... and you both need your strength. So save it for later, ok?" She said, smirking mischievously.

They chuckled and relented.

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A/N - there will be some SLASH shortly. If you don't like it, skip ahead to the next chapter. I didn't say until now so you wouldn't skip the entire chapter :) You don't have to stop reading right away, but I didn't want to break into the scene. It's pretty safe until they go to bed :) If you are skipping the smut, please drop down and read the end A/N.

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By the time Slytherin Dungeon was sealed up for the night and the students were filtering off to their rooms, Ron had made serious progress towards being the new Slytherin champion at Wizard's chess. He had to admit that the Slytherin's chess set was much more entertaining than the ones he'd used before. With their set, the pieces didn't just smash eachother apart... they drew tiny wands and had impressive little Wizard duels.

Ron looked up as he spelled the pieces back together and into place for the next game. Pansy was smirking down at him. "We're all very impressed, but it's bed time. Give it a rest, Ron."

He blushed and smirked, nodding. He got up and looked around. "Where's Blaise?" He asked, not even having noticed he was gone as engrossed as he'd been in the game. Goyle had been a shockingly good opponent. He would have never thought the tall, husky boy capable of playing tic-tac-toe, let alone chess! He was quickly getting the impression that Draco's large friends weren't quite as thick as they let on.

"He's already in the room. He headed back a little while ago. I think he's trying to be independent." She said, smirking.

Ron sighed. "They'd better be able to put him back to rights soon... he's not going to be able to do much class work without seeing where he's aiming his wand..." He said sadly.

She gave him a little smile. "Don't worry. There's a cure, and sooner or later we'll get all of the ingredients for it... even if Snape has to turn Fudge into a salamander for a while to get them!"

Ron grinned. He could picture Snape doing just that. His once most dreaded teacher wasn't nearly as bad from this side of the Dungeon door. Of course it probably helped a lot that he wasn't constantly standing next to Harry. Still, Snape may be sarcastic and scathing at times, but Ron got the impression that he cared about his Slytherins just as much as, if not more than McGonagall cared for her Gryffindors.

Pansy looped her arm in his as they slowly made their way back towards the room. She looked over at him contemplatively as they walked.

"What?" Ron asked, noticing the stare.

She gave him a little shy smile, "I was just wondering... would... would you mind if... um... when the twins come by again..."

He blushed, catching her meaning. "Blaise doesn't have a problem with it?"

She grinned. "We have a very open relationship... we have a strict 'don't ask' rule, but usually end up telling eachother afterwards anyway." She said with a wicked smirk, but then it faded, "But... I mean I didn't know how you'd take that..."

He thought about it for a minute then shrugged. "I guess if you really wanted to..." He said uneasily, "I mean it's not like you really owe me any loyalty or anything..."

She grinned. "I really like you Ron. We both do. What you think matters to me. If you say no I won't."

He sighed. He knew from her tone that she really wouldn't if he said no... but there was a hint of sadness that told him she wouldn't be happy about it. He rolled his eyes, "Fine. Shag them all you want... just... don't tell me any details or anything. They're my brothers. That'd be bang out of order!"

She giggled. "Deal."

He opened the door as they reached the room. He looked around when they entered, but Blaise was nowhere to be seen. "Must be in the bathroom." She said, going over to fish out her night things.

Ron grinned. The Dungeons were more extravagant than he'd ever have thought. Of course, since it was under ground, no one outside had any idea just how expansive it really was. Each room had a large bathroom, and from what he'd heard and glimpsed in passing, most of the rooms were only single or double occupancy. Of those, few other than the ones for the youngest students had more than one bed, though all of the beds in the single bed rooms were nearly twice as wide as the one he'd had in Gryffindor. When they said Snape was open minded about room sharing, they hadn't been exaggerating!

Ron spun around as he heard something smash in the bathroom.

"Bloody hell!" Blaise's voice growled from the other side of the door.

He hurried over, opening the door. Through the light steam that swirled around, he spotted a shattered bottle on the floor, obviously having been knocked off of the shelf below the towel rack. Blaise was standing in the open shower stall, drying his hair with a towel, his movements a bit irritable as he muttered to himself.

"I got it." Ron said, pulling out his wand and casting a repair spell on the bottle, then a cleaning spell to get rid of the spilt liquid. Shampoo from the look of it. He set the mostly empty bottle back on the shelf.

"I could have gotten it." Blaise said.

"Ya, well I was just getting it out of my way. You're not the only one who needs a shower." Ron said smirkingly. He didn't want to point out the fact that Blaise didn't have his wand around that he could see, and would probably have cut his feet on the widely scattered glass shards had he tried to get out of the shower to get it without being able to see them.

Blaise had to smile. "Ya ya..." He said, wrapping the towel around his waist and picking his way carefully out the door, dragging his fingers along the wall for guidance.

When the door was closed, Ron sighed. He couldn't help but feel guilty still. What if they couldn't make the cure? He shrugged it off. Best not to even think about that.

He quickly doffed his clothing and took his shower. When he had finished with his nightly routine he tossed his clothes in the little hamper, taking only his wand with him. Since he hadn't grabbed his nightshirt he padded into the bedroom in just a towel.

Pansy looked over from where she was draped across Blaise's lap on the bed and smirked at him. She gave Blaise one last kiss, then slipped off the bed, walking over and wrapping her arms around Ron's neck, pulling him down slightly so she could kiss him. When she let him up again she smirked. "You boys have fun. Night!" She said, releasing him and heading towards the door.

His eyes widened in surprise. She was only wearing a small lacy nighty and she was leaving the room? "Where are you going?"

She turned back towards him as she opened the door. "Ah ah ah! Remember, no asking!" She said playfully, then flounced out the door.

He smirked after her, going over to his trunk. He couldn't believe she was running out on his first official night there. He wondered who she was going to see, but quickly ended that train of thought. It had to be a Slytherin, since the House was sealed... and he really didn't want to know which other ones she might be shagging!

"What are you doing?" Blaise asked from the bed.

"Just getting something to wear." Ron said, picking through his trunk.

"Why?" he asked with a smirk.

Ron looked over at him. He was laying back in the bed with his arms folded lazily behind his head, a light blanket covering him to the waist, but it was pretty obvious he had nothing on underneath. Ron chuckled. "I guess you have a point. Just habit." He said, tossing his towel over his trunk and taking his wand over with him, placing it on the bedside table. They may be sealed in and taking every precaution possible, but he still didn't feel safe without his wand within easy reach.

He slipped under the covers and Blaise moved closer. Ron kissed back eagerly as their lips met. Luckily, the aches in his body had mostly worked out over the course of the day. Even if he hadn't been hurting the night before he hadn't really wanted to do anything, still being a bit thrown off by what had happened... and he was glad Blaise and Pansy hadn't tried anything with him... but he felt the urge returning in full force now.

He was almost instantly at 'full attention' when Blaise started running his hands over him. Blaise had always liked touching, but without the use of his eyes he seemed intent on 'seeing' him with his hands. Ron didn't mind in the least, reveling in the feel of the warm hands exploring his body. Blaise pulled off the blanket, but he didn't notice the slight chill of the room at the moment. He let out a little moan of pleasure as Blaise caressed him.

Blaise smiled, tilting his head up and finding his lips again. Ron deepened the kiss in anticipation as Blaise reached across him, finding the bedside table and opening the drawer. If the Room of Requirement was any indicator, he had no doubt what he was reaching for. As Blaise's hand withdrew from the drawer he deepened the kiss more, exploring Ron's mouth with his tongue. Ron gently sucked on the tongue, pressing up against Blaise, by now achingly aroused.

After a minute, Blaise backed off slight and moved his head over a bit, his cheek lightly brushing Ron's. "Ron..." He said softly.

"Ya?" Ron asked, surprised by the slight hesitance in Blaise's normally confident voice.

"Would... you like to... shag me?" He asked, his voice sounding even more hesitant.

Ron let out a little laugh. "I'd think that would be pretty bloody obvious." He said, grinning. Was he actually worried Ron wouldn't want him without Pansy there? They had already been together alone once before.

Blaise's head drifted back a bit more and Ron saw a little smile on his lips. "I don't think you understand what I'm asking..."

Ron looked at him, puzzled, then his eyes darted down as he felt Blaise caressing him again, but this time his hand had warm oil on it. Ron's eyes went wide as it clicked in his head. Blaise had always been the one technically doing the shagging...

Ron felt unexpectedly jittery at the prospect. Sure, he'd shagged Pansy a number of times now... but for some reason this seemed worlds different...

Blaise turned over, laying on his side facing the other way. Ron felt rather awkward and nervous at first... he was so afraid he was going to hurt him... but Blaise didn't say a word.... and then suddenly he was in. He pressed in slowly, then shifted around a bit so that his body was spooned up flush against Blaise. He let out a groan. He worked his right arm under Blaise and wrapped it around his chest, the left slipping around his waist as he pulled Blaise tightly against him.

Then he started moving. If it had been Pansy, he probably would have been shagging her hard and fast as aroused as he was... but with Blaise he found himself going very slowly, still holding Blaise tight as he kissed his shoulder and the back of his neck. For some reason this just seemed so much more intimate than it did with her, and he didn't want to rush it.

He listened carefully for any indication he wasn't doing it right, but all he heard from Blaise was his breathing, faster and deeper than normal... and the occasional soft moan. He had folded his arms over Ron's, holding it to him.

For the longest time they just remained like that... reveling in the slow, intimate melding of their bodies. Ron wasn't sure how long it lasted... time seemed to stand still... but he was sure it was the longest he'd ever taken to peak.

At long last he felt the familiar rush coming on. He sped up some, then thrust in hard, spending himself with a shuddering groan. Blaise's breath caught in his throat and he trembled in Ron's grasp. Ron just lay there for a minute, feeling the sensations flowing over him as his head spun. He'd never felt closer to another human being than he did in that moment.

As he started to come back down a bit, he nuzzled against Blaise. He started to move his hand down to caress Blaise, but Blaise quickly grabbed his wrist and pulled it away as another hard shudder went through him. Ron shifted up, looking over him and grinned. Blaise hadn't needed any extra help...

Ron slipped his hand out of Blaise's grasp and managed to reach his wand. He disengaged himself as gently as he could, then cast spells to clean them and the sheets. When he was done cleaning up and had put his wand back away, he looked over at Blaise in concern. He still hadn't turned over or said anything.

"Blaise?" He asked gently, "You ok?"

Blaise rolled over, slipping his arms around Ron and holding him tight, just silently nuzzling up to him. Ron was getting increasingly disconcerted by his silence, but didn't press it. He couldn't help but notice that Blaise's cheeks felt a bit damp. He just held him until Blaise had drifted off to sleep.

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A/N - sorry I didn't go into the Slytherin's reaction to Darien more... couldn't think of how to do it without being wretchedly redundant. I'm sure there will be some more effects from this later... unfortunately, you all are catching up with me... you read faster than I write apparently ;) I will still try to update frequently, but I may have to drop it to every other day unless I get my second wind :) To think, I only had like seven chapters written when I started posting this... and I thought it would end soon or I wouldn't have started posting it... it just kinda took on a life of it's own! I blame it on Blaise! ;) Too bad it appears to be getting into the time of year when sinuses get all wretched (grumbles) So I'll have to get some good meds and see if I can actually get some alone time with my computer this weekend ;) This chapter was a little longer than usual, but I trusted that wouldn't be too off putting for you all! For the diehard D/G fans, I may have some mainly R/B/P chapters in the near future, but don't worry, I haven't forgotten about D/G!!! (or is it D/D/G???) Sorry I didn't write their smut into this chapter, but I don't like to... well basically repeat... I mean I only write the smut if it is somehow different... Unfortunately I doubt I will be writing an in depth scene with P/F/G... how can you get those two in bed without going over the NC-17 line??? ;) I do love twins...