A/N wow….all I can say is wow. I want to thank everyone who has reviewed to my story thus far, I'm so excited! I'm glad you all enjoyed it! So enough of my ramblings and on with the third installment of So This Is Love?
Cool yet warm, breezy but still, alert yet blissfully unconscious, Harry thought he was going to vomit. He could not decide on anything anymore, nothing seemed right; it was all one big, bloody mistake.
After leaving a dumbstruck Ron behind in the dormitory Harry had walked down to the lake and sat and waited. For what, answers maybe? An angry Ron coming to find him? Unfortunately neither came. He stayed up all night just staring out across the water, his chin on his knees, as thoughts filtered though his mind. Even as the warming sun slowly peeked over the horizon he had not reached a conclusion yet. The birds where singing there happy early morning songs but they could not penetrate through the heavy clouds of guilt and pain in Harry's heart. Leaning against the tree trunk he stretched his legs out, the sun warming up his stiff body.
Why did everything have to be so complicated? He wanted Ron, oh Merlin knows he does, yet he ran when Ron advanced. He shouldn't have, now everything was ruined between them, their friendship and their chance at love. Harry could picture the seemingly unbreakable connection that he and Ron had shared snapping before his eyes. He moaned and grabbed his head in his hands. It was too painful to think about.
As the sun rose higher another thought entered his head, Quidditch. It was the Gryffindor verses Slythern match today. Harry shook his head, it was going to be disastrous. He had not slept all night and had too many other things to worry about. But he could not let his team down. They where counting on him as a captain to set an example and if he did not show up because of personal problems, he would lose their respect.
Grudgingly Harry stood up, stretched, and headed down to the Quidditch pitch to get changed. He arrived before any of his teammates, even before anyone had left the Great Hall most likely. Sitting on a bench already in his gear left nothing else for him to do but think and wait. They can be a deadly combination. Thankfully Ginny arrived not to soon after he did, cutting off his thoughts.
"Hey Harry, how are you this morning? I didn't see you at breakfast?" she asked pulling out her gear.
Harry shrugged, "I wasn't hungry."
She looked at him strangely, "What's the matter? You're not nervous are you?" she teased.
He smiled, "No, not that," I just ruined my chances with your brother is all.
She shook her head but said no more. A few minutes later the rest of the team came in, all nervous for their first match.
"I can't wait! This is going to be so much fun!" exclaimed Andrew, a small second year boy with brown hair, their chaser.
"Oh, I'm so nervous I might just lose my breakfast," cried their other chaser, Emily, a petite little redhead girl. Harry smiled comfortingly,
"There's nothing to worry about, just play your best," Harry knew that Slythern's team this year was not as good as it used to be. They had all younger players too but they did not have the talent Harry's team had. Time for his good luck pep speech,
"Alright everyone, I know this is your first game, except for you Gin, so I don't want you to be nervous. I have the best team I've had in awhile. We've practiced and practiced and I know I've driven some of you crazy but this is what we were waiting for, a chance to crush Slythern like the scum that they are!" This was followed by many cheers and hoots of laughter. Distantly Harry heard the whistle blow telling the teams to come out onto the field. Ushering them out he took a deep breath, momentarily forgetting last nights events, and followed his team out to the deafening roars.
"GRYFFONDOR SCORES AGAIN! SCORE IS NOW 4-0 GRYFFONDOR!" screamed the announcer as Andrew scored his second goal. His grinning red face was hard to miss as he waved towards Harry who applauded his goal.
Since the beginning he had been scanning the crowd for Ron. But unfortunately he had not shown up for this match, his original seat next to Hermione was vacant.
"GRYFFONDOR 5-0!"
Harry smiled to himself as yet again Andrew scored a miraculous goal. Emily quickly followed with two of her own.
Staring off in the direction of the Slythern goal posts Harry noticed the snitch hovering above the middle hoop. Without thinking he sped offat top speed towards the goal. Feeling the cold airwhip across his face he was dimly aware of the crowds increase in cheering, (and booing). Unfortunately for Harry, he also did not notice that Draco had been watching him and was quickly on his tail. Reaching his hand out to grab the snitch, inches away, it was flung aside as Malfoy knocked it away in an attempt to grab the snitch for himself, but it was gone.
"Shove off Malfoy!" Harry yelled angrily as he pulled his broom around, Malfoy sneered.
"Why potty? You want to impress your boyfriend?" Harry's eyes widened, did he know? He quickly glanced towards the stands and noticed a red headed boy yelling out obscenities next to Hermione. His heart leapt, Ron was here.
Malfoy followed his gazed and laughed harder, "So it's true then huh potty? You and the weasel are a couple! I always knew-"
All of a sudden Malfoy's laughter was cut short as Harry lunged off his broom onto his, his fist coming in contact with his face. He could hear his nose breaking and gasps from the audience.
"MR. POTTER! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?" screamed an outraged Madame Hooch, "THIS IS THE MOST UNDIGINIFIED MANNER OF PLAY I HAVE SEEN YET! AND FROM YOU NO LESS POTTER!" She succeeded in pulling Harry off of Malfoy's broom but not before Malfoy could seek his revenge. He lunged towards Harry punching him full in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Doubling over in pain, Madame Hooch lost her grip on him and he plummeted hundreds of feet to the ground.
Someone screamed from the stands.
Harry knew he was in trouble. Dread soon over came the pain in his stomach when he relizedthat this might be the end, no chance to apologize to Ron. Stars kept dancing in front of his eyes and he wildly tried to grab at them hoping that if he could catch one, he would stop falling. Harry faintly heard his teammates yelling at him frantically trying to stop his decent, but someone else got to him first.
"ACCIO HARRY!"
Harry felt his body come to a sudden halt and then fly off in another direction. He vainly tried to grab onto something and managed to catch one of the dancing starts before he went hurtling towards the stands and landed with a hard thump onto someone else.
"Harry? Harry are you ok?"
"Hermione?" Harry's eyes swam in and out of focus.
"Oh good, your alright. Ron you could have killed him!" She turned to him and smacked him over the head. He heard someone snort over the yelling of the crowd,
"He would have died if I hadn't stopped him!" He retorted.
Harry sat up, "Is the game still on?" he asked squinting at his friends ignoring the throbbing pain in his head. He heard Ron laugh,
"No mate, you caught the snitch!"
Harry looked down at his hands; indeed he had caught it in his dramatic fall. He broke into a grin,
"Well I guess I did then didn't I?" He laughed. Ron helped pull him up and the crowds cheers grew louder. He held his hand up triumphantly, the tiny gold ball flapping helplessly against him.
Later that evening, after much celebration and congratulating on their first win of the season (and the breaking of Malfoy's nose) Harry retired up to bed. He was exhausted, 48 hours of no sleep was taking a toll on both his body and mind. All he wanted to do was crawl in between his soft sheets. However, sleep did not come easily. Although things have been temporarily patched between himself and Ron he was still worried. It could have just been the excitement of the game that Ron was still talking to him; he did not want to get his hopes up. The only thought that comforted his was that it was Saturday. He still had tomorrow to work things out with Ron.
But not even that thought helped, his dreams were still plagued with worries and he soon gave up on sleeping when he noticed angrily that his alarm clock kept flashing 4 am. Slowly he got out of bed, slipped on his robe, and snuck quietly downstairs to sit in front of the fire. It usually helped to lull him to sleep. After at least ten minutes he felt his eyelids drooping to the heat of the crackling fire.
"Harry?" He jumped. Any thought of sleep was gone from his mind as he whipped around to see a pajama clad Ron rubbing sleep out of his eyes.
"What are you doing down here?" Harry asked cocking his head at him.
He shrugged, "I could ask you the same thing. I couldn't sleep and I noticed that you were gone," he trailed off.
He walked over to the chair Harry was sitting on and pulled up a seat next to him, warming himself by the fire. It was a few moments before either of them spoke, Ron went first,
"So what did Malfoy say that made you jump at him? Don't get me wrong I bet that slimy git deserved it. It was bloody brilliant," he then added, "This is twice now in the past two days that you have fallen off of your broom Harry. I hope you do not plan on making this a habit because I might not be able to catch you next time."
Harry smiled and blushed, "I wish Madame Hooch hadn't shown up so quickly. I was looking forward to really hitting him," he subconsciously rubbed his stomach.
"You alright mate?" Ron asked concerned, "He didn't hurt you did he?" anger flashing in his eyes.
"No, I'm alright, its Malfoy remember? What damage could he do?" They laughed.
"So, what did he say?" Ron asked pushing the subject. He watched as Harry squirmed slightly in his chair.
"Err…nothing really," Ron raised a brow, "Alright, well, he was making fun of you…well us actually," Harry lowered his eyes. Ron leaned back,
"So there's an 'us'?" Those words hurt more then he could have imagined.
He shrugged, "I-I don't know?" he looked up at Ron who was staring right back at him with his arms crossed.
"You need to make up your mind Harry. I can't do that for you," he stared into the fire, "You know it really hurt when you took off yesterday. I didn't know what to think. I wasn't even going to come to the game but Hermione talked me into it. She said that you were just afraid, is it true?" He turned back to Harry.
He sighed, "I don't know, maybe-"
"Yes or no"
"Yes," he hid his head. He could feel Ron's eyes boring into his back. He felt a sudden weight next to him as Ron made room for himself on the small chair. Harry felt suddenly very aware of himself and his breathing quickened.
"You don't have to be afraid, I wouldn't hurt you," Ron whispered.
Harry's heart swelled, "I know you wouldn't, it's just that it's hard for me, you know? I'm not used to this feeling," Harry regretted saying it as soon as it left his mouth. Stupid Harry, just stupid! Now I sound like some self-pitying sap. He tensed when he felt Ron drape his arm over Harry's shoulders.
"You make it very hard for a person to be mad at you, you realize that don't you?" Ron smiled.
Harry took a deep breath and turned his face towards Ron, his face inches from his, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to leave yesterday. I was kicking myself all last night," his breath was warm on Ron's cheek making him shudder.
"It's alright, I don't blame yo—"He was abruptly cut off as Harry closed the distance between them, his soft lips coming in contact with his own. Harry pulled back, searching Ron's eyes for a response. All he received was a surprised grin.
"Are we good?" he asked hesitantly.
"Yeah, we're good," and Ron leaned in for another kiss, just as sweet and innocent as the first only lasting a little while longer.
Ron woke up abruptly as someone tapped sharply on his head, "You're just lucky that I wake up early," someone scolded him. He opened his eyes and looked up at his sister who was standing above him, her arms crossed and a smile on her face. "Romantic fire eh?" she giggled. Ron smiled and looked down at Harry's sleeping form, his legs over the edge of the chair with his head resting on Ron's chest.
"Very," he leaned back into the chair not caring if anyone saw them. Ginny nudged him again.
"Come on, get up," this time she tapped Harry on the head, gentler then what she did to her brother. Moaning something incoherently and snuggling closer to Ron he fell back asleep. Ron blushed and nudged Harry,
"Come on Harry, wake up sleepy head." This time he opened his eyes and sat up quickly.
"Ow," he moaned rubbing his neck. He then noticed Ginny standing there and blushed.
"Aw you two look so cute!" She giggled and ran quickly out of the room as a pillow was hurled in her direction.
"We should get up, could look suspicious," Ron said standing up and stretching, groaning in satisfaction as he heard his bones crack in several places. He turned to look at Harry who was still sprawled out on the chair, "Aren't you getting up?"
Harry shook his head, "No, to tired," Ron laughed and dragged his friend off of the couch. "Let's go, you can sleep in your bed," he helped him up the stairs and they snuck quietly into their room making sure not to disturb their roommates. Harry instantly fell asleep as his head hit the pillow, his dreams carrying him off into a peaceful sleep.
Feeling very much awake, Ron got dressed and headed down to the Great Hall for an early breakfast. Spotting his sister with a bowl of cereal and The Daily Prophet he headed over. He couldn't get the grin off of his face. As he sat down Ginny looked up at him with a smile.
"So are you and Harry ok then?" She asked even though she already knew the answer.
Ron did not answer but the twinkle in his eye betrayed him.Grabbing a piece of toast and marmalade he flipped open the Prophet and pointedly ignored his sisters laughter.
"Sometimes, the best way to mend things is with a simple kiss to show you care."