Disclaimer – Obviously not mine or I'd currently be working on Book 7 instead of posting fan fic. But special thanks to JK for such colorful characters that seem right at home playing amongst the fields called my imagination.
DEUCES WILDChapter 6 – The Turn and The Flop
After being asleep probably about twenty minutes, Ron awoke with a start as Hermione shifted her body against his and snuggled in closer. He was glad that he had been brought back to consciousness so that he could recast the sealing and silencing charms around the bed so that they didn't get any surprises from his roommates. However, when he had stared up at the canopy ceiling of his four-poster for several minutes and deemed it near impossible to fall back to sleep, he would've almost been willing to trade getting caught by his roommates with having to lay in bed with Hermione pressed against him while he recounted the events that had transpired over the last couple of hours.
Were things going to change between him and Hermione? Well, of course they would…they had…they'd shagged and just friends just don't do that, right? So what were they now? Was she his girlfriend now? No, he hadn't asked her to be his girlfriend and he was pretty sure that you had to ask someone to be your girlfriend for them to be, well, your girlfriend. So maybe he should ask her to be his girlfriend. He'd spent most of the last year and a half secretly pining for her. He'd even given her that bloody perfume that Ginny had suggested last Christmas, but instead of her seeing it as a 'hey I think about how good you smell all the time' kind of gift, she had said that it was unusual. What did that mean…unusual? What if she didn't want to be his girlfriend?
Suddenly he was hit with a thought that felt like cold water being thrown on him. What if she woke up and was furious with him? It was his potion that he'd given her for the hangover that had inevitably caused her state. What if she didn't want to speak to him or look at him ever again? Could he handle that? Could he handle Hermione not being a part of his life, one way or another? Well, the answer to that was no.
What if she told Harry what had happened and Harry was furious with him? He was sure that he'd officially hacked Seamus off at him, and there was no way that Dean would turn on Seamus. If Hermione and Harry were furious with him and Seamus and Dean didn't want anything to do with him, where would that leave him…with Neville and his bloody plants?
But, wait! What if Hermione simply acted like nothing had happened…like they hadn't lost their virginity to each other? Would he be furious with her if she just wrote off what had happened between them? Yes! So then how would he explain it to Harry? He and Hermione were always rowing about something and Harry being the good friend that he is to both was always trying to get them to make amends. Harry would want to know why they were fighting. What would he tell his friend?
What if she wasn't furious with him, but still didn't want to be his girlfriend? Could he still be just her friend after what they had shared? What if she just wanted to be friends who shagged? Would he want that?
And from there the questions kept circling through his mind. Were things going to change? Would Hermione be mad at him? Would she act like nothing important had happened? Could they still be just friends?
Ron was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even realize that sleep was taking over him again.
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As Hermione was starting to awake, she was fighting the call of consciousness. She was hugged up to one of her pillows and felt so warm and cozy and had just had the most amazing dream about her and Ron finally getting together and pledging their love to one another in words and in actions, so she was quite reluctant to open her eyes and face the harsh reality of life of being secretly in love with one of her best friends.
However, as she drifted further out of dreamland, she realized that her pillow was quite firm and was moving ever so slightly. She was also assaulted with the memories of cards and clothes and tears and toilets. Then suddenly there was the slight twinge of pain in the muscles "down there" and the harsh reality of what had truly happened between her and Ron hit her. Now she was even more reluctant to open her eyes. She didn't know how she was going to possibly be able to face Ron.
So she laid there a bit longer thinking about how much of a fool she had made of herself by getting pissed and then by seducing Ron after she had ingested that laced potion and then forcing him to have no choice but to shag her. She remembered him making a comment in fourth year about her coming across as a scarlet woman. Hermione knew that there was no way that Ron could look at her now without seeing her as a scarlet woman.
She worried that Ron would think less of her now. She remembered him saying that he thought about her when he would masturbate. Would he be so disgusted with her actions that he'd turn his thoughts toward another…someone with bigger boobs and a better body…someone like Lavender? What if it wasn't her actions, per se, that disgusted Ron but her performance altogether? He'd probably never want to do that with her again.
But wait! Did she want to do that with him again? She definitely had not planned on kissing Ron anytime in the near future let alone losing her virginity to him. She had definitely thought about both a lot but never saw any real hope of either of them ever happening. But both had been amazing that her body couldn't really wait to do either with him again…and soon.
But would he want to do it again? Would he want more than just friendship between them now? What if he just wanted to be…oh what was that term her cousin had used in her last letter from America…oh yeah…what if Ron just wanted to be her friend with benefits. Her cousin Rose had said that was when a guy, or a girl for that matter, doesn't want a commitment of a relationship. They also don't want to deal with the emotions of a relationship, just the physical feelings.
Hermione screamed in her head.
This was ridiculous and she knew it, so she decided to do the one thing that she was really good at…research, and just what is research really….asking questions! So Hermione took a deep breath and let it out slowly before she opened her eyes to see if her bedmate was awake.
She was pleasantly surprised to find Ron still apparently asleep. His head was slightly tilted in her direction and his mouth was slightly open as his breaths were slow and even. He looked so peaceful and downright sexy that she hated to wake him, but she was not going to drive herself crazy lying there in his arms and trying to make sense out of where they were headed.
She took in his appearance one last time and stored it away so that she'd have it in case she never got to experience this again, then she closed her eyes for a few seconds before pushing herself up on her left elbow.
"Ron," she whispered.
No reaction.
"Ron," she whispered a little louder.
Still no reaction.
"Ron," she said just a bit louder but also ran the fingers of her right hand gently through the fringe of hair that lay across his forehead.
This time he stirred a bit and let out a contented sigh at which Hermione smiled.
She looked him over once as she decided her next move. Her smile turned a bit mischievous. She really couldn't believe that she was about to do what she was going to do, but then again, in her eyes, her and Ron were on a whole new playing field, at least until he told her that he didn't want to play anymore.
She scooted up a bit so that her mouth was nearer to his ear. Then she slid her hand under his T-shirt and across his abs as she said, "Ronnnald," in a sing-song voice with her voice quiet because of the proximity of her mouth to his ear.
Ron's eyes shot open and Hermione couldn't tell if his look was one of surprise, fear or something else altogether.
"Hermione?" he yelped, but she put her index finger of his lips to shush him. She wasn't sure if the charms were still up around the bed and really wasn't sure what time it was, but was positive that it was late enough in the morning that his roommates were now awake. The last thing she needed this weekend was to get caught in a boy's bed.
Hermione was just getting ready to suggest, in a hushed tone, that they get up and go somewhere that they could talk when she saw that fire flash behind Ron's eyes…the same fire that was there earlier when he had said that she could go find Seamus over his dead body.
Then the world quickly shifted and she was once again on her back being pushed into Ron's bed by Ron's body nearly on top of hers. She was a little startled until his lips descended on hers again and then she was in heaven. Her heart leapt for joy.
Ron was kissing her on his own free will!
She was really just starting to enjoy the feel of his mouth against hers, his tongue gently caressing hers, when he pulled back gasping for air.
He once again looked shocked and scared and confused as he searched her eyes. She didn't know what he was looking for in them, but she nearly melted when he closed his eyes and moaned her name.
"Oh, god, 'Mione."
She grasped the back of his neck and was pulling his lips back to hers when…
"For Merlin's sake, Weasley, you're gonna go blind if you keep at it!"
Hermione was startled when Ron suddenly threw himself off of her and lay panting on the bed next to her.
"Sorry about that again, mate."
"Just be thankful it wasn't Seamus in here to catch you," came Dean's voice from the other side of the curtain. "He's already been up here once this morning screaming at your curtains 'cause he couldn't get to you. You better watch your back for the next couple of days!"
Hermione worked really hard to stifle the laugh that was threatening to escape. 'Seamus would've had a lot more to scream about if he'd been able to get through the curtains this morning!'
"Thanks, mate! He's not around now, is he?"
"No. It's just me and…" Hermione didn't know if Ron caught the pause, but it didn't go unnoticed by her. "Just me mate and I'm on my way down to breakfast. You best hurry if you want to eat this morning."
"Okay. Thanks and sorry again."
After the sound of the door to the dormitory being closed filled the room, Hermione was just about to ask Ron if he noticed that Dean had acted a little odd, when he quickly sat up and pushed himself toward the edge of the bed.
"I suppose we better get you out of here. I'll just knick Harry's invisibility cloak for you to use and you can give it back to him later."
Hermione was a little distressed at how cold Ron's tone had been. She wondered if he was starting to regret what had happened between them, last night, this morning and already again after awaking just minutes before.
"Ron?" her voice was quiet and cracked from the emotion that filled it.
"Come on. We need to get you out of here while we're alone, so no one sees you. I'll toss you your clothes and you can dress while I get the cloak out of Harry's trunk."
As he started to pull back the curtain so he could get out of bed, she gently grabbed his arm. She wanted the moment they had been having before Dean interrupted them back, but more than anything she wanted to know that they were going to be alright.
"Are you alright, Ron?"
"Fine. Never better." Again his words were cold and he didn't even bother to look at her.
"Are we alright?"
He sat silent for a moment before he said, "Come on, I really don't know how much time we have to get you out of here." With that, the curtain was pulled back and he was out of bed. She watched him disappear around the corner of the bed that was still covered by the curtain and seconds later he returned with her clothes. He gently set them on the bed near her, again without making eye contact, and disappeared around the corner of the bed.
She could hear Ron shifting around in the room and muttering under his breath as she quickly grabbed her jeans and pulled them on. She was just about to pull the T-shirt of Ron's that she'd been wearing up and over her head so she could throw on her own, when she was shocked to hear the voice of her other best friend.
"Looking for this?" Harry had asked. She screamed from the shock, but luckily Ron had shouted at the same time. She quickly clasped her hand over her mouth.
"Harry, what the bloody hell do you think you're doing sitting in your bed with that bloody cloak over you?"
"Well, mostly, I've been avoiding Seamus this morning. He seems to be right hacked off at you for some reason but since he couldn't seem to get to you, he's been pestering me." There was a slight pause before he continued. "But more recently, sitting here listening to you and Hermione talking from behind your bed curtains."
Hermione felt her stomach drop and her heart shoot up into her throat. Oh god! She felt like crying. How were they possibly going to explain this to Harry? She didn't even know what was going on between them, so how would she be able to answer Harry's questions, because she knew there would be questions!
"Morning, Hermione!"
She could feel her face heat up from the blush. She willed herself not to get sick all over Ron's bed as she shifted so that she could look out from behind the bed curtains and over at Harry.
"Good Morning, Harry." She tried her best to sound nonchalant and as if nothing was out of the ordinary. However, he voice came out squeaky and filled with guilt.
She nearly did get sick when Harry laughed, winked at her and said, "Well not nearly as good as your morning apparently."
She could feel the blush intensify and knew that she was currently putting the legendary "Weasley blush" to shame. She was searching her mind for a response when Ron spoke up.
"What exactly do you mean by that, Harry?" Hermione couldn't tell if he was scared or angry by the tone of his voice.
Hermione watched as Harry gave Ron a knowing smile and asked, "What it means is what exactly are you doing with our Hermione in your bed this morning?"
Hermione couldn't help but smile as the situation sank in.
Harry wasn't mad or upset; he was teasing them. He was guessing that what had happened in Ron's bed was actually what had happened, and he seemed to be happy about it. Hermione's biggest fear ever since she realized that her feelings for Ron were different than those she had for Harry was that Harry would be upset or feel left out if Ron, in reality, returned those feelings and they became a bona fide couple.
For the second time since waking the second time that morning, Hermione's heart leapt with joy until Ron spoke.
"Exactly what are you implying, Potter?" Hermione couldn't understand why Ron was so angry all of a sudden. She watched as Harry threw his hands in the air and was just about to speak again when Ron cut him off.
"That we were shagging? Do you really think I'd do that?" Hermione was certain what his voice held this time…disgust! Her worse fear that morning had just been confirm. She disgusted Ron.
Her eyes immediately filled with tears and all thoughts of not getting caught left her mind. Her only thought was that she needed to get as far away from that bastard as possible. Her own T-shirt forgotten, she bolted out of the bed as a strangled sob escaped her. She only slightly registered both Ron and Harry calling after her in concerned voices as she bolted out the door and down the stairs. She didn't register the shocked looks or the whispered voices as she rounded the corner in the Common Room and sprinted up the stairs to the girl's dormitory. When she reached the landing to the sixth-year dorms, she locked herself in the loo and cried her heart out.
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To say that Ron was shocked when he awoke later, from a slumber he didn't even realize that he had fallen into, to Hermione's soft hand running across his stomach and her even softer voice dancing across his ear would have been the understatement of…well…of the hour the way his weekend had been progressing. Had he not already been lying down, you could've knocked him over with a feather.
When she gently pressed her finger to his lips to shush him, the shock immediately switched to desire. She looked absolutely stunning in the light reflected through his crimson curtains, and the feel of her finger against his lips made him want it to be her lips more than anything. Without giving it a second thought, he quickly flipped her over on her back and had his lips pushed to hers. He decided that he could definitely get use to kissing Hermione, not to mention waking up with her next to him.
He was really starting to enjoy the feel of her lips and her tongue when the reality of the situation hit him and he pulled away gasping for breath.
He frantically searched her eyes for any sign that she didn't hate him or that she really wanted him or that he had just made the next to the biggest mistake in his life by kissing her again. What he saw there was everything that he was feeling and it nearly sent him over the edge. He closed his eyes and couldn't help the moan that escaped as he pleaded with her in his own way.
"Oh, god, 'Mione."
When she grasped the back of his neck and began pulling him back toward her, surely for more snogging, his blood started rushing toward a certain appendage and he was quickly debating whether he should stop and talk to her to see what she wanted from all this or whether he should just close his eyes and act when…
"For Merlin's sake, Weasley, you're gonna go blind if you keep at it!"
'Oh Bloody Hell!' Ron shouted in his head. The charms had obviously dissipated and he'd been caught yet again by his sister's boyfriend. He quickly threw himself off of Hermione and lay panting on the bed next to her.
He figured that he better make some reply to his roommate before the curtains were thrown aside and he was caught in an act much worse than wanking. "Sorry about that again, mate."
"Just be thankful it wasn't Seamus in here to catch you." He didn't even want to think about that right now. "He's already been up here once this morning screaming at your curtains 'cause he couldn't get to you. You better watch your back for the next couple of days!"
"Thanks, mate!" Ron was suddenly faced with the reality that he may have to face Seamus with Hermione still in his bed. He needed to know for sure what he was up against. "He's not around now, is he?"
"No. Its just me and…just me mate and I'm on my way down to breakfast. You best hurry if you want to eat this morning."
Ron couldn't help but be thankful for small favors. "Okay. Thanks and sorry again."
As he lay listening for the sounds that would indicate that Dean had left the room, the harsh realism of what had happened between him and his best mate earlier and what had almost happened again hit Ron like a ton of bricks. He'd not only taken something very special from her because of his damn potion, but he'd almost taken advantage of her again just to fill his own needs. He was the lowest of low for even considering taking advantage of his best friend, and he knew that would be what he was doing…taking advantage.
Because as much as he had hoped that it was desire he saw in her eyes, he knew that even if she wanted him, she shouldn't want him and he wasn't going to allow her to settle for him. He'd find some way to apologize to her for everything later. Right now he just needed to get her out of his bed. So after the sound of the door to the dormitory being closed filled the room, he quickly sat up and pushed himself toward the edge of the bed.
"I suppose we better get you out of here. I'll just knick Harry's invisibility cloak for you to use and you can give it back to him later."
He knew that he was probably sounding pretty harsh, but her really just needed her gone so that he could figure out how to fix the mess that he had created. His heart broke when she spoke.
"Ron?" her voice was quiet and cracked from the emotion that filled it.
He swallowed hard and tried his best not to show any emotion at all for fear of breaking down in front of her. "Come on. We need to get you out of here while we're alone, so no one sees you. I'll toss you your clothes and you can dress while I get the cloak out of Harry's trunk."
As he started to pull back the curtain so he could get out of bed, she gently grabbed his arm.
"Are you alright, Ron?"
"Fine. Never better." Again his words were cold and he didn't look at her for fear of crumbling.
"Are we alright?"
He sat silent for a moment. Were they alright? Could they possibly be alright after what had happened between them? Was she asking for more from their relationship than just friendship? Why? Why would she want him?
"Come on, I really don't know how much time we have to get you out of here." With that, he pulled back the curtain and was out of bed on his way to retrieving her clothes out of his trunk. When he placed them on the bed next to her, he refused to look at her…he couldn't.
He then quickly went to sifting through Harry's trunk mumbling to himself.
"Oh, come on, mate. It's Sunday morning. What could you possibly be doing with your cloak at this moment? It's just got to be here."
With a swoosh of material, Harry was suddenly sitting in the center of his four-poster staring at Ron. Startled, Ron shouted, "Bloody Hell!"
"Looking for this?" Harry had asked.
"Harry, what the bloody hell do you think you're doing sitting in your bed with that bloody cloak over you?" Ron was too concerned with trying to calm his heart rate that it didn't even occur to him that his and Hermione's short conversation after Dean had left had been in normal voices.
"Well, mostly, I've been avoiding Seamus this morning. He seems to be right hacked off at you for some reason but since he couldn't seem to get to you, he's been pestering me." There was a slight pause before he continued. "But more recently, sitting here listening to you and Hermione talking from behind your bed curtains."
Caught. They were caught. Ron was shocked speechless. He knew that Harry would assume that him and Hermione had shagged, and rightfully so. However, Ron didn't want to share this part of Hermione with Harry. He knew his friend wouldn't want details or anything like that…Hermione was too much like a sister to him; however, Ron suddenly didn't want anyone to know what he had done with Hermione because then they would think of her as a "sexual being" and then he'd have to start knocking all the randy blokes out and branding them as gay.
As Ron was processing all these knew thoughts and feelings, Harry spoke. "Morning, Hermione!"
Ron could hear the unease in her voice when she replied. "Good Morning, Harry."
Ron's eyes nearly bugged out of his head when Harry laughed, winked at her and said, "Well not nearly as good as your morning apparently."
Ron didn't even turn to look at Hermione, but he knew that she had to be beet-red from embarrassment. He was suddenly quite angry at Harry for even assuming that he would take advantage of their best friend, even though Ron really had. Plus, Ron needed the words sex and Hermione to be the furthest from being strung together.
"What exactly do you mean by that, Harry?" Ron bit out.
Ron could've knocked Harry's pearly whites down his throat when he replied, "What it means is what exactly are you doing with our Hermione in your bed this morning?"
'Oh, Merlin! He knows. Harry knows we shagged! Cannot let him think that! Must remove all suspensions from his mind!'
"Exactly what are you implying, Potter?" Ron decided to let anger be his prevailing emotion at the moment. Harry threw his hands in the air and was just about to speak again when Ron cut him off.
"That we were shagging? Do you really think I'd do that?" Ron had truly intended for it to sound as if he, Ron, would stoop as low as to take advantage of their best friend. However, he was a little afraid that the words came out as more disgusted than anything. When Hermione was suddenly sobbing and running from the room, he knew that his fear was confirmed.
"Hermione?" Both Ron and Harry called after her with deep concern.
After she was clearly heading down the stairs, Ron was startled when Harry turned to him and said, "Well, aren't you going to go after her?"
Defeated, Ron plopped back down on the edge of his bed. He had yet again succeeded to send his friend fleeing in tears. "What's the use? She's probably headed up to her room so there's no getting to her right now."
Ron watched as Harry sat down on the edge of his own bed facing toward Ron and apparently waited for Ron to say more. He was replaying all the events over and over in his head and realized that he had really messed things up this time. He had her right where he'd always wanted her. He'd even blatantly admitted to thinking about her when he wanked, so she knew he wanted her. However, when the truth hit him that she actually wanted him, too. He panicked and he'd really messed up any chance he may have had with her.
He buried his face in his hands as he groaned. "Fuck, Harry. I've really messed up this time."
Harry paused for a moment before asking, "What happened, Ron?"
Ron knew that Harry was his best mate and up until this point they'd shared everything with one another for the most part, so Ron took a deep breath and let it out in a long sigh before he picked up his wand and shut and locked the door to the dormitory. Then he proceeded to tell Harry about Hermione getting pissed and Seamus trying to get in her knickers. He told Harry about how he had silenced Hermione and tossed her in a cold shower to sober her up. Then he told him how they had kissed and how it was everything that he had expected, but then she had started vomiting from the liquor. Ron explained how he had put Hermione in his bed to protect her since he couldn't very well get her to her own room, and how he'd given her his Hangover potion and how the twins had sent him, Ron, one with a Lust Potion in it as well. Then he struggled to get the information out, but he told Harry that they'd shagged, but without the details, and that they were going at it again when Dean heard him moan.
Harry sat silent for a long time after Ron had stopped speaking. So long, in fact that Ron was starting to feel very uncomfortable. He was just about to tell Harry to say something, anything, when his friend spoke.
"How long?"
Ron was a little confused. Surely, Harry wasn't asking how long it had lasted, was he? "Er, huh?"
"How long have you fancied Hermione?"
Ron could feel himself starting to blush. To think it himself was one thing, but to hear it said so blatantly by someone else made Ron feel more insecure but giddy all at the same time.
"A while now."
"Do you love her?"
"Yes." Ron didn't hesitate at all. The cat was out of the bag, so to say, so he figured there was no point in lying about his true feelings now.
"Did you tell her that?"
"Yes." Ron saw Harry's eyebrows shoot up in amazement. "But I think she was already asleep."
"Well, tell her Ron. As soon as you see her again, you tell her that you love her and that you're sorry for being a gigantic prat about all that has happened and beg for her forgiveness."
Ron scoffed a bit. "I don't think it's going to be that easy, mate. For starter's do you have any idea what yesterday was?" Harry just shrugged her shoulders. "It was her birthday. It was her seventeenth birthday and no one remembered. So everything else that happened was just like the icing on top of the birthday cake."
"Oh, shite, Ron!"
"Yeah, I know. I'm sure that she's feeling pretty worthless while at the same time being beyond hacked off at me. I've been avoiding her for weeks now because of these feelings for her and I missed her birthday while in the whole away in the worst detention of my life."
Ron suddenly stopped. 'Worst detention of my life…detention…Madam Pomfrey…Professor Sprout…Contraception…'
Ron quickly put his head between his knees and grabbed the sides of his head as he began to hyperventilate. "Oh, fuck, Harry!"
He felt the bed shift where Harry had apparently came over to see what was wrong with him. "Ron, what's wrong?"
As if trying to pound either information in or information out, Ron started pounding his forehead over and over again against his balled up fists. Harry quickly grabbed his shoulders to still his movements as he asked again what was wrong.
Ron sat up to look at his friend. "I'm an idiot, Harry. A buffoon."
"Okay, why?"
"I didn't even think about it. McGonagall and Pomfrey were right…never thinking of consequences."
"Ron, you're not making any sense. What is wrong? Why are you an idiot?"
"Because I got Hermione pregnant!"
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Please Review!
A/N – Well, I think I'm down to just one more Chapter to go…maybe two if I decide to put in an epilogue chapter with other characters recount of what had happened at during the poker game and speculations of what had happened afterwards from Ginny's POV…like she's being filled in on what she missed out on by being sick.
Well hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the others. I'm quite proud that I managed to get it out so quickly with working nearly 60 hours last week (when you add in commute time). I hope to get the next (and possibly final) chapter out by next week.
Also, for those who haven't ever hear the old wives tale apparently too much masturbation is supposed to make you go blind…hence Dean's comments to Ron the second time he thinks he's catching his roommate wanking in a few hours time.