Harry did not fall asleep that night. He listened to Ron's breathing, and enjoyed going over the details of what had just transpired.
Where do we go from here, he thought, what do I do.
There was a feeling inside him he could not quite pinpoint. There were things he knew, and through the still buzzed feeling in his brain, he sorted them out. He liked being around Ron, that he knew. He liked the way he could make Ron feel. That he could, basically, control Ron's feelings. He could make him nervous, he could turn him on, he could make Ron jealous, he could make him happy or sad. Just with a look in his eye or a simple few words. And there was something about that that was incredibly comforting to Harry.
To know that he had control of something, someone, helped Harry get through his days.
But he also knew he was being selfish. That he was making Ron need him, but what was Ron getting out if it, really? Anxiety over having to rely on Harry for every emotion? Ron had always been insecure and these days he seemed more confident than he ever had. Was that because of Harry?
Harry's stomach flip-flopped. What if this, whatever this game was that he was playing with Ron, came to an end? Harry certainly didn't want it to, not right now, when he could basically do anything he wanted to Ron, whenever he wanted. But was it going to last forever?
Harry looked down at Ron's sleeping figure. For a few seconds he ran his fingers up and down Ron's spine, considering. Could they hide this forever? Snogging and snagging in dark corners, trying not to be seen? It could be exciting at times. But what if they were caught? What would it do to them? He tried to imagine if Hermione found out, or Ron's family. Or Sirius. But he could not picture a reaction. From anyone. Not at the moment. He did have a feeling that his and Ron's friendship with Hermione would never be the same, but why? Because she would feel shut out? Or because she would be disgusted?
Harry sighed, and Ron pushed himself closer. Harry suddenly felt very tired. He wanted to close his eyes and just fall asleep here, but he knew he couldn't. He leaned down and kissed Ron's head, and lingered for a moment.
Maybe this has to end, he thought.
But not tonight. Or tomorrow. Ron had a big match tomorrow, and the team was relying on him.
'Please don't ever stop calling me that'
Ron's voice echoed in Harry's head as he crawled out of the bed. "Love." That's what Harry had called him. Three times. It had just happened, it had slipped out. But Ron…liked it.
Harry stopped walking halfway to his bed, frozen with realization. Did Ron…love him? Did he think Harry loved him? Harry walked over to the sink and splashed cold water on his face without even removing his glasses, he squeezed his eyes closed.
No, he thought frantically, no no no no no. What.. the hell…have I done…
[][][][][][][]
The following morning Harry and Ron woke up later than the others, and later than Hermione apparently. She was not waiting downstairs for them. The other stragglers in the common room told Ron good luck on the match, whom he thanked gratefully. As he and Harry walked down the hall, Harry managed to push all the thoughts he had had before falling asleep out of his head, and decided to make sure that, no matter what, he would make sure Ron had a good day.
"So," he said slowly, dropping his voice, "How are you feeling?"
Ron blushed slightly and continued smiling.
"Um," he replied quietly, "Sore." He admitted, "But I'm fine, really. Everything was amazing." He looked at Harry, "You're amazing."
Harry felt a small swoop in his stomach, but pushed it away quickly.
"You are," he told Ron, pretty truthfully, "Really, Ron. I hope you know that."
They entered the Great Hall to loud chatter and sat down by Hermione, Ginny, and the twins. The twins immediately turned to Ron and Harry, sly smiles on their faces.
"Well well well," Fred said, "Word is, one of you had quite the night."
Harry, who had just taken a drink of pumpkin juice, choked. "What?" he sputtered.
"Excuse me?" Hermione snapped.
"Yeah," George said, "Dean told Lee," he dropped his voice, "He woke up for a moment to drink some water and before he fell back asleep he heard some very suspicious noises."
"Moaning," Fred interjected, "And…bed creaking." He raised an eyebrow. "And your beds," he pointed to Ron and Harry, "Were the only ones closed."
Harry and Ron looked at each other.
"It was Ron!" Ginny exclaimed, "Look at his neck!" she pointed at the hickey below his ear. Harry's heart thumped loudly inside his ears.
Dean had heard.
"Well now!" George said with a laugh, "Who was it? A feisty one, eh?" he tilted his head to get a better look at the, now very obvious, red mark on Ron's neck.
Ron looked very flustered, but seemed to recover quickly, and shrugged, but didn't say anything.
"Ron," Hermione snapped, "You are a prefect!"
"How was she?" Fred asked, ignoring Hermione and grinning.
"Who was she?" George added.
"No one special," Ron responded carefully, "Just…" He shrugged again.
While Hermione and Ginny gaped at him, the twins whooped gleefully. Harry just stared. He was stunned. They had gotten away with it. Though Harry feared that the only reason they had was that the Firewhisky had made Dean too groggy and tired to investigate further.
Just then, Lavender and Parvati passed by.
"Good luck today, Ron!" Lavender thrilled with a small wave.
The group fell silent as they continued on. Ron hopped on the opportunity and shot the twins a look. They looked shocked.
"Well," Fred said, clearing his throat, "Here's to the new Hogwarts quidditch champ." He raised his goblet, "No offense Harry."
"None taken," Harry said with a laugh, raising his own goblet and beaming at Ron, "Looks like it has it's perks for some."
Soon Ron and Ginny got up to join the team in the locker room while Fed and George pestered Harry for details. Harry simply said he hadn't known or seen anything. His stomach felt full of rocks. But he just tried to focus on the match and how well Ron would fly that day.
Soon he found himself filing out the door with the rest of the students, ignoring Hermione's irritated noises. The entire Gryffindor house was buzzing with excitement, and even the Hufflepuff congregation looked nervous, chattering about how well Gryffindor had been flying, and rumors that Ron had not missed a single goal in any practice yet. Even the Skytherin's did not have much to say.
Harry was soon in the stands cheering loudly. He was, in fact, impressed. Not only was Ron making impressive saves, Ginny was not a bad flier either. Though Harry had seen the snitch about 3 times when she had not, he didn't have to worry. The score was 270 – 10 in favor of Gryffindor. At one point, Harry actually managed to catch Ron's eye, and even from the distance he knew Ron was smiling back at him. Harry thought he saw Hermione give him a quizzical look, her brow furrowed, but he ignored it.
Gryffindor was cheering so hard the stands were shaking. The Hufflepuff's looked extremely put out, their team looking shaken. And then finally two things happened: Ginny had spotted the snitch at the same time as Hufflepuff seeker, all eyes were on them as they zoomed toward one of Gryffindors goal posts, Ron was keeping an eye on Hufflepuff chasers. And just before Ginny had laid one finger on the snitch, a loud crack echoed through the air.
Several loud screams filled the air and suddenly Harry's head filled with silence. Ron was falling. The back of his head hit one of the goal posts. Every flier on the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff team were zooming toward him. Madame Hooch as well. Harry could hear continued shrieks and screams but they sounded miles away. Things seemed to be going in slow motion. Then, he realized they were. Dumbledore was standing in his seat, wand raised. Ron had hit the ground, but slowly.
As Madame Hooch landed and Madame Pompfrey came rushing onto the field, the rest of the team came rushing forward, Ginny in the lead. Madame Hooch tried to shoo her away but she was soon on her knees next to her brother, hands covering her mouth. Even from far away, Harry could see the blood pooling in the sand on the field behind Ron's head.
Hermione was tugging into Harry's robes. He looked at her, there were tears in her eyes but she spoke shakily,
"They told us to go to our houses. We should-"
"We're going to the hospital wing!" a voice called nearby, "You coming or not?"
The twins were standing a few feet away. Harry nodded numbly and grabbed Hermione by the hand so she wouldn't get pulled into the crowd. She was sniffling. The four of them pushed their way through the crowd of students. They were silent on the way to the hospital wing. Yes, quidditch injuries were common, especially being hitting by a bludger, but they had all seen him fall, seen him hit his head, seen the blood.
They reached the hospital wing where the entire team, including Ginny, were standing, looking forlorn. Ginny rushed up to her brothers.
"They won't let me in," she said with a crack in her voice, she looked very pale, "I tried…they won't…there was so much blood…" she cupped a hand over her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut, then fell against George who pulled her into a hug.
Harry was numb. He felt like this was his fault. For considering what he had been going to tell Ron tonight, after he had enjoyed his celebration. After her had had a good day, being a quidditch champion. A hero.
A herd of footsteps approaching made him look up. The Hufflepuff team was approaching. Harry felt Fred and George stiffen next go him. George released Ginny and stepped forward.
"Which one of you did it?"
"Fred," Katie said warnings near them, "Don't. It was an accident."
A boy Harry knew as Michael McManus stepped forward. "It was," he said apologetically, "I was just trying to get near Ginny, to distract her. I knew we were losing but…I wanted us to get the Snitch, to end it, you know. Is he…is he okay? I wanted to apologize."
Harry's vision blurred. Before anyone could stop him he had bolted forward and plunged his fist into Michael's face. Over and over again. Yelling broke out and two sets of arms were suddenly pulling him back.
"Let me go!" He bellowed, not seeing who it was.
"Potter!" shrieked a voice.
All the yelling stopped. Harry was panting, Michael was clutching his face as he rolled over onto his knees, a teammate of his tried to help him to his feet.
"Get off," Harry snapped, yanking one of his arms from Fred, it had been the twins to pull him off.
Hermione tentatively stepped forward and put her hand on Harry's shoulder. Professor McGonagall rushed forward and looked around.
"Potter, my office," she quipped. "Now. The rest of you, to your houses."
"No," Harry replied flatly, "I'm not leaving."
"Me either," Fred, George, and Ginny added in unison.
"I understand," McGonagall told them firmly, "But the fact of the matter is…I haven't been able to see him, but I expect Mr. Weasley's injuries to be…fairly severe. He will be in good hands, and as soon as I get any update, I assure you I will let you know."
"No," Harry repeated, "I'm not leaving until I know."
One stern look from McGonagall told Harry that he could argue, but he would not be getting his way. After a few moments the hallway cleared. The Weasley's, Harry, and Hermione hovered near the door, trying to peer through the window, but wherever Ron was, he was hidden by curtains.
[][][][][][][]
Harry walked through the portrait hall of Gryffindor tower about 20 minutes later, feeling numb to every emotion he should be feeling. Fred, George, Ginny, and Hermione were near the fire. Fred pacing, George and Ginny sitting in silence, and Hermione pretending to read, but her gaze drifting as she stroked Crookshanks head.
"What'd you get?" George asked hollowly.
"Three days detention starting tomorrow," Harry replied bitterly. He examined his bruised knuckles, "Worth it."
"Harry," Hermione admonished, "You-"
"Don't start," Harry snapped, "Not now." He plopped down in a chair next to her.
It was about an hour later when Colin Creevey entered the common room and walked over,
"They're said you can go to the hospital wing now!" He said, heaving a large breath as though he had ran, "He's awake, I think. I only saw for a moment but-"
Their group all got to their feet and rushed out before Colin could get another word out. They sped toward the hospital wing and burst through the door.
"Shh!" Madame Pompfrey hissed, "There are students trying to heal in here."
Harry slowed his pace. Madame Pompfrey, Professor Dumbledore, and Professor McGonagall were standing near Ron's bed. Ron was in his bed, half sitting up. One of his arms was heavily bandaged, as was one of his legs, and a bandage was on the back of his head. He looked very pale, and uncomfortable. He tried to smile weakly.
"We'll give you fifteen minutes, then he needs to rest," Madame Pompfrey said sternly. The adults walked away toward her office.
Everyone pulled up a chair aside from Ginny, who sat gingerly on Ron's bed.
"How are you feeling?" she asked, grabbing a glass of water and handing it to him, then adjusting hos blanket so their were no wrinkles. Harry felt she might gave been subconsciously channeling Mrs. Weasley.
"Bad," Ron said hoarsely, "Really bad. Everything hurts…what happened?"
Fred frowned at his twin, then looked at Ron.
"You don't remember? You got knocked off your broom by a bludger. Took a bad fall, little bro." He looked concerned.
"Oh yeah," Ron said, rubbing his temples, "They told me that. My memory is all…all foggy."
"It's okay," Hermione said soothingly, "You hit your head. It's normal."
"What's the last thing you remember?" Harry asked tentatively.
"I'm not sure," Ron said, shifting his weight and wincing, "I…kind of remember flying…and…some of yesterday." He looked at Harry very suddenly. Harry felt a swooping stomach in his gut.
"Well…that's good," Harry said.
Ron shifted again, wincing, he turned slightly green. Ginny glanced over her shoulder toward Madame Pompfrey's office. "Do you need something?" she asked Ron, "You're in pain."
"No," Ron assured her, "I just…thank you guys for coming but I really just want to rest. Is that alright? You guys can come back in the morning." Then he turned over to the side of the bed and vomited.
Immediately Hermione ran to Madame Pompfrey's office while Ginny rubbed Ron's back, looking concerned, the twins and Harry hung back, hovering. Madame Pompfrey rushed out of her office and shooed them out.
"He'll be better tomorrow," Fred said aloud as they all headed back to Gryffindor tower, "But damn. He doesn't look good at all."
The others nodded in agreement.
[][][][][][][]
That night Harry sat alone in the common room under the guise of doing homework. He looked at the clock just as it ticked to midnight. He quickly put his things away and ran up the stairs, quickly and quietly he stowed it away and grabbed his invisibility cloak and the Marauders Map.
It took him roughly 5 minutes to make guys way to the hospital wing. Thankfully, Ron was the only one in the room. Quietly, Harry pushed the door open. He felt bad, as Ron was asleep, but he had to see him. Harry removed the cloak and stowed it on a chair, then carefully sat on Ron's bed. Ron stirred for a moment then blinked his eyes open. He was still pale and had dark circles around his eyes.
"Hi," he said groggily, then glanced around, "What time is it?"
"Late," Harry admitted, "But…I really wanted to see you."
"You did?" Ron asked, rubbing one eye, he yawned.
"Yeah, I was worried," Harry told him, frowning, "How are you feeling?"
"A little better, I think," Ron struggled to sit up, "Everything hurts. I think my memory is coming back a bit. It's just yesterday is hard. Like the match. And…Harry?"
"Yeah?" Harry asked carefully. He thought he knew what was coming.
"Did we…?" Ron trailed off weakly.
"Um…yeah," Harry responded, rubbing the back of his neck anxiously, "You remember that then?"
"I thought it was a dream at first," Ron said with a laugh that turned into a cough, "Everything else though…is still there. I still remember that all. Which…I'm glad." He smiled.
"Oh," Harry breathed, he smiled back, "Me too."
"Are you?" Ron asked with a frown, "You look…I don't know. Weird."
"No no," Harry said quickly, "I'm glad. I am. I was just worried about you." He could not make Ron feel worse. Not right now. Not while he lay broken in the hospital wing. That conversation could come later. Much later, as far as Harry was concerned.
"I'll be okay," Ron assured him, "Madame Pompfrey says I should be able to fly again next week. Just in time to beat Slytherin." He smiled weakly. "Now…are you going to kiss me or what?"
Harry chuckled softly. Then leaned forward and kissed Ron gently on the lips, then on the forehead. He could hear Ron sigh softly, like the kiss had given him some relief. Harry pulled back slightly and stared at Ron, and then words came out before he could stop them,
"I'm glad you're okay, love."
