A/N: To our dear readers, we appologise for the major delay in the update we were a little preoccupied (translates to: both stupidly getting into an argument with our father the weekend after posting resulting in being confined to ourquarters for the next month, then sneaking down to find father had convieniently locked the door to the study which houses the computer with the story) But as Freddie said when he knew he was dying- 'the show must go on' . So we're back and nothing can stop us now (really means: our parents have gone away to Scotland to visit our grandparents for the next month cos it's father's birthday today. Which means there's no one stopping us from coming in here and posting more AND we have the estate all to ourselves for the next month...(both look at each other with evil glimmer in eye, grinning)). Oh life is grand. So let's not waste a minute more...
-CHAPTER FIVE-
First Draco Then Who'll It Be -Hermione?
The end of the summer holidays came too quickly for Harry's liking. The month at the Burrow had been the happiest of his life. He had spent a month with Ron, what a glorious month it was.
Mrs Weasley cooked a sumptuous dinner and Fred and George provided entertainment on their last evening. The next morning it seemed to take forever to get moving, but eventually they all piled into the old Ford Anglia and took off. They were running very late and arrived at King's Cross at quarter to eleven.
Harry had caught the Hogwarts Express the previous year. The tricky bit was getting onto platform 9 ¾ which wasn't visible to the muggle eye. You had to walk through the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Everyone had had their turn to run at the barrier but Ron and Harry, who were left to last.
"Let's go together." Ron said to Harry. Harry smiled and nodded; they held hands as they pushed their trolleys towards the barrier gathering speed. They broke into a run a few feet away and- CRASH!
Both trolleys hit the barrier and bounced backwards. Ron's trunk fell off with a loud thump, Harry was knocked to the ground and Hedwig's cage bounced onto the shiny floor and she rolled away.
"FUCK!" Harry screamed at the top of his lungs. There was a lot of muttering of 'ADD.' and 'Poor thing has terrets' as Harry pulled himself to his feet groaning. Ron was continually calling the barrier a 'mother fucker' and Harry scrambled to pick up Hedwig.
The crowd cleared and the two boys simultaneously put their hands on their crotches and looked down.
"Its ok, we're ok…" said Ron breathing a sigh of relief as they checked that they had both balls and a dick each.
"Why can't we get through?" Harry asked Ron.
"I dunno."
"Oh shit, we're gonna miss the train!" Harry watched the giant clock. He shoved his trolley angrily against the barrier. The bricks stayed solid.
"It's gone!" said Ron sounding stunned, "The train's left. What if Mum and Dad can't get back through to us? Oh Jesus Christ! What do we do now?" Ron was close to tears.
"It'll be ok, Ron," Harry brushed a tear away from Ron's cheek. He got a funny feeling when he looked into his friend's eyes. He had to be strong for Ron's sake. "I think we should go and wait by the car…" Harry put his arm around Ron's shoulders and led him towards the car park. Ron stopped half way.
"Harry! That's it! The car! We can fly it to Hogwarts!" Ron was smiling with excitement.
"It's illegal," said Harry sensibly.
"Underage wizards are allowed to use magic if it's an emergency."
Harry's feeling of panic turned suddenly to excitement. "Can you fly it?" he asked Ron.
"Yeah, no problem," said Ron wheeling his trolley around.
They got to the car and heaved their heavy trunks into the boot. Ron climbed in the front seat and Harry got in the passengers side. There was a minute where Ron was staring at Harry's crotch. He got very hot and sweaty and undid the top button of his shirt. He quickly snapped out of the daze when Harry coughed very fakely.
"Right…lets get this baby turned on, I mean…lets get it pumping some gas, I mean…oh…fuck it!" he violently waved his wand at the ignition and started the car.
"Anyone watching?" he asked.
"No, go now," said Harry.
Ron pushed a tiny silver button on the dashboard. The car around them vanished- and so did they. Harry could feel the seat vibrating beneath him, he couldn't see Ron but the vibrating was turning him on.
Within seconds the whole of London lay smoky and glittering below them. There was a popping noise and the car, Harry and Ron reappeared.
"Uh oh," said Ron, jabbing at the invisibility booster, "It's faulty." Ron steered the car into the wooly clouds. They dipped back down to check on the train every thirty minutes so they wouldn't get lost. They flew up above the clouds where it was a different world, blazing with sunlight in the blue sky.
"All we've gotta worry about now are aeroplanes," said Ron. They looked at each other and started to laugh, for a long time, they couldn't stop.
It was as though they had been plunged into a fabulous dream. This, thought Harry, was surely the only way to travel: past swirls and turrets of snowy cloud, in a car full of hot bright sunlight, with a fat pack of toffees in the glove compartment, and of course, eight hours alone with Ron. It would give them a chance to have a very important deep and meaningful.
"Hmm, the cheek of Malfoy in Diagon Alley!" Harry laughed. Ron's ears turned pink and he frowned, still staring ahead. There was a moment of tense silence. Harry tried to create more conversation; "You would have bashed him good!"
"YEAH! BUT YOU STOPPED ME! WHY DID YOU DEFEND HIM? I'VE SEEN THE WAY YOU LOOK AT HIM HARRY! I'M NOT AN IDIOT! I BET YOU'D RATHER BE BEST MATES WITH DRACO! INSTEAD YOU PRETEND TO LIKE ME WHEN YOU CAN'T TEAR YOUR EYES OFF FUCKING MALFOY WHENEVER HE'S AROUND!" Ron had an outburst. He almost lost control of the car.
"I DON'T FEEL YOU FEEL THE SAME AS I DO! LIKE SERIOUSLY HARRY! IS IT BECAUSE I'M NOT WORTHY OF THE BOY WHO LIVED? FIRST DRACO THEN WHO WILL IT BE HARRY? HERMIONE?"
"Ron…don't be like that…" Harry put his hand on Ron's leg. Ron quickly brushed it off. His face was dangerously red.
"I don't want to hear it Harry." Ron bitterly uttered. He focused on the direction, which he was driving, and didn't look at Harry again. Harry turned and looked out the side window. Tears silently slipped down his warm cheeks. He had never had a fight quite like this with Ron. Harry was so confused; he didn't know what he felt for Ron. Was it going to end their friendship? Harry's tears continued to spill down his face for most of the journey. It was an incurable pain trying to escape but he did not want to breakdown until he was alone. Ron had a point. Harry was extremely confused about what he felt, and for whom. He had been since the start of the summer. Harry came to the conclusion that he was going to sort out his feelings as soon as he had settled in at school. He had to! If he lost Ron he would have no one…
-------
"Can't be much further, can it?" croaked Harry, hours later still, as the sun started to sink into the floor of the cloud. Harry looked over hopefully at Ron.
Ron kept his focus directly ahead. He heard Harry sniff. He would not look over! He couldn't…not after what he had done. He let out a small sigh. God! He had been so stupid, Harry was his best friend and more and he had done nothing wrong. It had been stupid to even get jealous over Malfoy- whom Harry clearly had no feelings for- let alone tell Harry he was jealous and then to top it all off he'd lost it! Without giving Harry a chance to get a word in. Maybe I am right, he thought, maybe I'm not worthy of being his friend.
He felt a tear form in the corner of his eye. It rose over the lid and began to roll down his cheek. He raised his hand from the steering wheel to wipe it away but some one else got there first.
Harry collected the tear, it didn't matter what he did! No matter how hard he tried, it seemed Ron would hate him forever. He slowly moved his hand away from Ron's soft warm cheek.
"Ron, please forgi-" "Harry, I'm so sor-"
Both boys stopped mid sentence and began to smile. Ron laughed and started stroking Harry's leg. He looked over at his friend, Harry's smiling face looking back at him.
"Harry, what I said before-" he frowned as Harry's eyes began to widen and smile fade. "Harry? What is it?"
"RON STOP, STOP!"
"Harry, I've only just started explaining." Ron caught himself getting suddenly frustrated.
"NO RON! THE CAR! OH MY GOD! THE TREE! WE'RE GONNA HIT THE TREE!" Harry lunged for the steering wheel, but was too late-
CRUNCH!
With an ear splitting bang of metal on wood they hit the thick tree trunk and dropped to the ground with a heavy jolt. Steam was billowing from under the crumpled bonnet; Hedwig was screeching in terror, a golf ball sized lump was throbbing on Harry's head where he had hit the windscreen and to his right Ron let out a blood curdling scream as something smashed into the side of the car.
Ron gasped staring through the windscreen and Harry turned around just in time to see a branch as thick as a python smash through it, showering them both with shards of glass. The tree was attacking them.
"Run for it!" shouted Ron, but was stopped by a branch crashing down on the roof right above him, wedging him between the seat and ceiling.
Harry, who had made it safely out, turned to find his friend cowering in his seat, another branch landing directly on top of him, crushing the frame of the car around him tighter.
"Harry!" he screamed.
But Harry was already there. "Ron, Ron! It's ok!" he yelled swinging open the door. CRACK! The next branch collided with Harry's ribs. He doubled over in agony, wincing. He bit his lip and stood up. He ducked the next limb as it came whistling through the air towards him and climbed into the passengers seat.
"Ron, take my hand!" he cried to his friend. Ron reached his arm through the tangle of metal and firmly grasped Harry's hand. Using all his weight Harry pulled as hard as he could. Ron screamed. "Harry! IT'S NOT WORKING!" But Harry kept pulling despite his friend's pain. Slowly, Ron's body began to squeeze out from its iron prison. He was almost there…Harry pulled harder still. Ron gave one last cry of pain and slipped out from between the mass of metal.
Harry hadn't expected Ron to come free so easily and had been applying a lot of force; the sudden escape sent them both toppling backwards across the lawn and out of the tree's reach. Ron rolled into Harry's lap and blushed.
"You saved me!"
"Yeah, I guess I did," said Harry lying back on the grass and shutting his eyes, Ron still sitting on him.
A sudden rumbling filled the air. Harry sat up. "Ron, the car!" he watched as the car: dented, scratched and steaming rumbled off into the darkness. "We can still catch it!" cried Harry.
"No Harry, it doesn't matter. As long as you're safe, I'll be happy."
"You mean as long as we're safe," said Harry, placing his hands on Ron's shoulder.
"Yeah," laughed Ron, doing the same to Harry.
The two boys, Ron still sitting on Harry's lap, sat in the middle of the lawn and, as Harry noted, their faces were extremely close. A strange look appeared in Ron's eyes.
"What is it?" asked Harry grinning.
Ron's smooth reassuring lips on his own was the silent reply. Harry began to tremble, Ron merely pulled him closer. Harry drew back, unsure if he should be letting himself do this.
"It's ok, Harry. I understand if you're not ready." Ron got to his feet, slightly disappointed and went to fetch their trunks, which had been thrown across the lawn.
Harry stayed where he was, the realization of what had just happened dawning in him. He touched his lips, and a shiver sprang through his body. Ron had been so gentle…
"Ron!" he called jumping to his feet and running to his friend. Ron turned and Harry cupped his face in his hands, kissing him swiftly. He stepped back grinning. Ron stepped closer ready for more but Harry stepped back again, "Later," he whispered.
Ron smiled sheepishly. He reached for Harry's hand and gave it a squeeze.
"Well, hello boys," came a voice from behind them. Ron quickly let go of Harry's hand and the two of them spun round. There, his black robes rippling in the breeze, stood Severus Snape.
A/N: Bit of a cliff hanger there from the Aussies. Muhahahaha! One of the few good chap endings. Well dear readers please review because elsewise we won't know if you want to read more. So give us a review of what you think and if you want more or not.
We also realise we put this down as a Harry/Draco fic so for those of you hanging out for that do not worry, now that we're at school Draco comes into play (at last), in the next chapter actually... more incentive to review for more.
