I Can't Make You Love Me

A New Look

The two boys were wrapped up in a combination of the sweaty red sheets and each other's limbs. Harry rested his head on Ron's chest as he ran his hands through his lover's black hair. He enjoyed simply hearing the beating of his heart and feeling the rise and fall of his chest. Harry had never felt so blissful and happy. . .

"Ron?"

"Yes, Harry?"

"That was amazing."

"Don't give me all the credit." He kissed Harry on the top of the head. "You are so beautiful, did you know that?"

A blush rose to Harry's cheeks. "I love you," was all he could get out.

"I love you, too."

Harry woke up gasping for air. Never had he had a dream that was quite that . . . real. Even his visions didn't hold that much intensity. Was it a trick? A vision from Voldemort? Had he fount out Harry's feelings for Ron? The thought made him even angrier than Draco using Ron. He could be in real danger, all because Harry loved him so much. . .

He stopped there. He loved Ron. This was the first time he had actually thought about it . . . His feelings for him, that is. Harry knew he felt something else for Ron, but he hadn't been able to put his finger on it . . .

He got up from his bed and walked to the window to think about this more. Harry stopped to see Ron thrashing in his bed again. He wasn't shouting like last time, he was just panting and holding his mattress so tightly his knuckles turned white. Ron suddenly sat up straight, breathing deeply.

"Harry? What are you doing up?"

"I had a dream. . . I just need time to think."

"Me too."

Both boys looked at each other for a moment, then smiled somewhat mischievously.

"Join me, then," Harry sat in the window.

This time Ron sat next to him instead of across from him. "Do you want to talk about your dream? Was it another premonition?"

"No. No . . ." Harry looked away. "Just a dream. I can't remember most of it anyway. You know how dreams are."

"You're lying."

Harry just gave a shrug as a reply. He wasn't about to tell Ron the truth.

After a while, Harry's eyes began to close and he rested his head on his friend's shoulder. For a moment Ron went stiff with fear. He couldn't decide what exactly to make of this. What if Hermione was right . . . ?

Ron walked into the common room to see Hermione, Luna, Ginny, and Zadia all sitting together. Hermione and Ginny sat on the couch while Luna sat in a chair and Zadia had found a comfortable place on the rug.

"Ron!" shouted Zadia. "Sit with me! It's quite comfortable down here."

He walked over and sat next to the girl on the rug.

"I love your hair. Can I play with it?"

Ron arched an eyebrow. What an odd question. . . "I guess. . ."

"YEEEE!" Zadia quickly conjured up a brush and some hair ties. She began brushing through Ron's now past shoulder-length hair. "Tell me, got a boy-toy yet?"

"Huh? You know I'm—?"

"Yes. I polish my gay-dar regularly."

The other three girls giggled amongst themselves. Ron shot them all a glare.

"You like The-Boy-Who-Lived-Another-Day, right?"

His ears went pink. "Well, um. . ."

"Don't worry about it. We're all good girls who will keep your secret as long as you want us to. Right ladies?"

Hermione, Luna, and Ginny all nodded agreement.

"Mind if I braid it? You'll look like an Irish Edward Elric!"

"Okay. . . Who?"

She pushed a graphic novel titled Full Metal Alchemist under his nose. A boy with a blond braid was on the cover, fixing his gloves. Some shorter strands of hair framed his determined face. A suit of armor stood behind him.

"I have a mad crush on him," commented Zadia. "We're a lot alike, really. . .You read it backwards." She added as he opened the book. Zadia reached over his shoulder and turned the pages to the back of the book. "Start here."

"Oh, er. . . Thanks."

Once Zadia finished, Ron had a whole new hair do. His bangs and some shorter strands fell around his face while a short braid went down his back. She had even gone so far as to add a few highlights that were a lighter shade of red using her wand. Ron admired her work with a mirror he had conjured up.

"I look . . . good!"

"Of course you do. Don't sound so surprised. I'm just that good."

He admired his new reflection with a smile. Hopefully, Harry would like it, too.

"Oh Merlin. . ." sighed Ginny. "Another Bill. Mum will be thrilled."

"Ron?"

All the heads in the room jerked up to see Harry enter. He stopped and stared at his friend with an odd look in his eyes. It was a look Ron wasn't really used to getting from Harry, but he liked it in a strange way.

"You did something to your hair?"

"More like Zadia did something to it," said Ginny.

"Oh stop," Zadia said acting flustered.

No one else noticed that the two boys hadn't looked up from each other. In a way it seamed they were off in another world that only the two of them knew about. . .

"I take it you like the knew hair style?" said Ron.

"It looks good on you," Harry smiled. Of course anything looks good on you, but. . .

"Thanks, Harry."

Harry just smiled in reply. "We had better go. Snape will kill us if we're late again. Are you walking with me, Ron?"

"Of course," Ron smiled and got up from the floor.

Zadia winked at Ron as he grabbed his books. He gave her a wink back and went to follow Harry. Both boys left without as much as a good-bye to the group of girls.

"Who's next up to Zadia's Hair Boutique? I'll make you bag the man of your dreams!"

Ron just couldn't get to sleep that night. Even if he had another dream about Harry, it wouldn't be enough right now. He just wanted to stare at him for a while as he slept. It was a beautiful thing to see Harry sleep, his lips slightly parted, his glasses not covering his emerald eyes, the way he would breathe . . . Ron just laid there and let his eyes wander over his friend's sleeping form.

No one would take Harry away from him.

Ron suddenly saw a bed jerk from across the room. The curtain opened and Neville poked his head out. Ron closed his eyes just enough that the other boy couldn't see he was awake, much like he usually did when he wanted to watch Harry. Neville seamed to be looking straight at Ron's bed, for reasons unknown to him. He slowly got up and crept over to Harry's bed. Ron growled inwardly. Neville hadn't been watching him, he wanted to watch Harry. This had to be his culprit, his competition. . .

Neville knelt down beside the bed and looked at the object of his affection. Admiring the way he slept, as Ron had been doing earlier.

Ron closed his eyes all the way and turned over on his back. He even gave a sleepy moan to make the other boy think he was about to wake up. Neville immediately panicked and made his way back to his own bed, leaving Ron to boil in his rage.