Ron never thought he would enjoy Boarding School, in Scotland, much less when all of his older siblings had already gone through it. He was just one more Weasley son attending Hogwarts, he would never be special there. But then, then he met Harry, his best friend Harry, and everything changed.
They had gone through school, and now Graduation was upon them and he would lose Harry. Because Harry still had a stupid idea of joining the police force, and Ron didn't know what he wanted to do. He just didn't want to lose Harry. That was the only piece on his chessboard that he couldn't lose.
"Ron! Are you listening to me?" Harry shook his shoulder.
"Sorry, sorry, I was -"
"Daydreaming about a new chess move?" The other man teased.
"You can't create new chess moves, you can only organize them in different ways," Ron said, for like the hundredth time. He was starting to think that Harry was constantly teasing him about it, but if only he knew the truth.
"Yeah… I know, you tell me all the time. But the reason I nudged you awake was because Neville said that Pansy and her friends are planning a secret party on the Dungeons, like a goodbye party. Shall we go?" He asked.
"Sounds fun. When is it?"
"Tomorrow night. We need to sneak down, but Neville says he knows an old, unused, kind of secret passage." Harry winked. "I'm sure it's very useful when he and his girl want to meet."
Ron chuckled, but deep in his heart, he was jealous that even a plant nerd like Neville had been able to find his special other. "Sounds great. Do we need to get something? I think I still have half a bottle of that nice Irish cream I stole from Bill."
"Don't!" Harry covered his mouth with his hand. "Don't you dare bring it! It's too good to waste on such a party with so many people."
Ron rolled his eyes. "Then what? It's not like I can bring it back home! Mom will kill me!"
"We can finish it! And we don't have to share it with everyone. Just a final toast to our school education…"
Ron's heart was beating so fast, he thought it might be skipping some beats. He swallowed. "We? Just the two of us?"
"I mean… I'm sure Dean and Seamus won't mind some, and Neville. And even Hermione, but… if it's not enough for us reds, I think it can just be the two of us."
"Harry, for fucks sakes! We're not reds! None of us even supports Liverpool!"
"Shut up, fucking Gunner!" Harry chuckled, getting to his feet, and offering a hand to help Ron up.
Ronald took his hand, even if he didn't need help getting up, he never minded that Harry would wait for him, sought him. Ron knew that it was because he didn't like to be alone and because he slept better if someone else was in the room. Ron only met his aunt and uncle, a couple of times, but he hated them with passion.
A little bit later that night, they were laying in bed in silence, Neville was softly snoring, and so were Dean and Seamus. Ron was almost asleep but there was a thought just rooming free on his brain. "Harry?"
"Mhmm?"
"Are you asleep?" He asked
"Almost… Why are you awake?" Harry asked back, opening the red curtains that separated their beds. The other man was laying on his side, he reached for his glasses on the bedside table, but his green eyes moving around, and Ron only could see them clearly because the git had forgotten to close the blinds before going to bed.
"I'm thinking… what will happen to us once school ends?" He asked. "For real?"
"What do you mean?" Harry sat up, his legs dangling to the side of the bed. In the summer they usually only slept on their pants and nothing more. And Ron could see the toned muscles from all these years playing football. Just like his, even if the red-headed was more of a goalie.
"Are we only friends because we go to school together?" Ron asked, taking a deep breath, he needed to know the answer to that question.
"What? No! Ron! We are friends! Real friends! We are not just friends because we go to school together! Because we lived together for 7 years! No! Not me and you, Ron! We're much closer than that!" Harry said, a flow of words leaving his mouth as the young man got out of his bed and sat on the edge of Ron's mattress.
Ron chuckled, as silently as he could, once Harry placed his hands on Ron's shoulders and shook him, hard. "Stop being a fool and saying stupid things. We will never stop being friends! Okay?"
"Okay. Okay, I believe you." Ron sighed. "Even if we live on opposite sides of the country. You will be in London, what if I stay here in Scotland?"
"Do you want to stay in Scotland?" Harry asked, laying down in the opposite way that Ron was. His head beside Ron's feet were under the sheet.
"No… No, I do not. I want to go to London as well, like you." Ron whispered. With you.
"Then come… No! Before you say something about your parents not having enough money to help you settle there, you can come with me. To my godfather's house." Harry said. "Please… I don't really fancy going alone either… It will be hard enough to be on Police Academy."
"So you want to come home after a day and just hear me complain?" Ron asked, laughing.
"I mean… we can have a pint as well." Harry winked. "Please consider it! Sirius is travelling with Remus, and I don't want to be alone."
"Thank you, Harry. I'll write to my mother in the morning. Informing her of our plans. She's been annoying me so hard about everything, about the future, about how I can't play chess for a living." Ron said.
"Molly loves me," Harry said moving back to his bed. "And of course you can. Teach chess, play chess, win competitions. Believe in yourself."
"Sometimes I think she loves you more than she loves me!"
"Don't say that, Ron. She pities me more than she loves me, because of my parents dying in that terrible car accident and the way my aunt and uncle treated me. She loves you because you're her son, and that will never change. She's so proud of you, head boy." Harry said.
Ron smiled. He loved Harry, in ways that he would never be able to tell him. Harry made his heart skip a beat, in more ways than one, but this was one of the reasons why Ron had fallen for him, because Harry James Potter always knew the right thing to say and could always soothe Ron fears.
"I love you, Harry…" Ron whispered, as he fell asleep, and he would never be sure if the I love you he heard back was real or a dream.
Neville told them that they needed to be discreet about leaving for the party, because it was a secret, and it wasn't like they could all leave the dorm together. So they had decided in groups of three.
"Hermione… you look… good?" Ron said, watching her adjust the little blue dress one more time, and then stroke her hair. Did her hair seem less bushy than usual? Had she done something to her hair? And Ron couldn't remember Hermione ever wearing such colourful lipstick.
"Is that a question? Or a compliment?" She asked.
"A compliment? I just…" Ron looked at Harry for help, but the other man just looked at the ceiling, offering no support.
"Thank you, Ronald. Not even you can ruin this night for me. Our last party! The end of our education. I'm quite excited." She said, wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Mione, there, there," he said awkwardly patting her back. "Don't go cry on me, this is a white shirt, and it's new… I don't want it to get ruined by makeup."
"Oh, Ronald. Sometimes it seems you have the emotional range of a teaspoon." She whispered, holding tighter. "C'mon, Harry, join the hug."
Harry chuckled but soon after, Ron felt the other man wrap his arms around both him and Hermione, squeezing gently. "I love you. You made this last 7 years incredible. The best I ever had!"
"God, don't tell me you're emotional as well, dude!" Ron sighed. "I'm going to London as well, we will be together! We can have dinner every day!"
"Really?" Hermione asked, pulling away and looking up at him, her brown eyes still shining and her makeup a little ruined.
"Yes, whenever you want, just need to ring us." He assured. "Now go and freshen up your… face."
Hermione smiled before rushing to the bathroom. Ron sighed and Harry patted him on the back. "You're a great friend, Ron. Never doubt that."
"You're great as well, Harry. I lo-" Ron shut himself before he said something he shouldn't. "Thank you for letting me bunk with you on your godfather's house."
"I would much rather have you there with me than being all alone. It's such a big house, with all those scary family portraits. We need to bring some posters!"
"Oh, and football shirts! We can have our own little football room, where we can watch all the games." Ron was excited. Sharing a house with Harry, even if it was just as best friends, as roommates, was one of his dreams come true."
"I'm ready, boys! Let's go!" Hermione said, opening the door of the common room.
They followed her through the halls and secret passages, until they reached the dungeons. The party was already going as they slipped inside, closing the door behind them. And there were no doubts that Slytherins knew how to organize a party. Harry got him a beer and they cheered the end of the term.
"Aren't you glad we kept your bottle for ourselves?" He asked.
"So glad, it would already be gone by now." Ron winked, giving a little kick to a bucket full of empty bottles.
"Absolutely. Want to dance?" Harry asked.
"Are you sure?"
Harry nodded and so both of them moved to the dance floor. The dance floor was not that large, so they were standing and dancing very close, chests almost hitting each other. It was so dangerously close, Ron could just lean down, and a kiss would be inevitable between them. But fuck if Ronald would let something so silly get in the way of their friendship. Blaise Zabini moved through the crowd, telling people to make way as if he was the King. He pushed Harry against Ron's chest. Harry's hands wrapping themselves around his arms to steady himself before they collided and fallen on the floor.
"Are you okay?" Ron asked.
"Yeah! It's a little crowded! Let's get another drink!" Harry said, pulling him away from the dance floor. They found an armchair, and while Ron sat on the seat, Harry leaned against the side, half seating on the arm of the chair.
"Ron?" Harry asked after a few minutes of silence.
"Yeah…"
"I… I'm not even that drunk, but seeing all these couples on the dance floor, and the two beers and the shot are not helping. But there's something I need to tell you." Harry said, looking into Ron's blue eyes. They were almost the same height, sitting in the armchair like that.
"I know, when you need to bring a girl or someone home… I will take a walk or go to the pub! Don't worry!" Ron laughed, even if inside he felt everything but happiness. He just hoped that it didn't show on his face.
"No… I… I didn't mean it like that" Harry sighed. He had ditched his glasses for contact lenses to wear during the party, but Ron was sure that if his friend was wearing his trusting glasses, he would be rubbing them clean with his shirt at that moment. He always did that when he was nervous.
"I'm not following, Harry. If that's not what you meant, what could you possibly mean?" He asked, placing another popcorn into his mouth.
"I will just say this once, and we can forget it. I just need to say it and then we can move on like it never happened. It won't change a thing! We will still live together in London!" Harry kept babbling.
"Harry, just say it!" Ron said, shaking him by the shoulders.
"I like you!" The words rushed the other man's mouth so fast, that Ron almost missed them.
Ron's heart beat faster, but he knew better, Harry was just his friend. He had briefly dated his sister, he would never like Ron that way. "Okay, Git. Was that it?" He asked, "I like you too."
"No, Ron. No… I really really like you! I-"
At that moment, everything stopped, and Ron's heart skipped another beat. Harry, Harry was saying that he felt more than friendship for him, was that it? The red-headed covered the other man's mouth with his hand, silencing him.
Ron could see that Harry was panicking through his green eyes, so the taller man took his hand and brought him to the dance floor. "Ron, let go. I think I'm going back to the dorm."
"No, no! Just listen to the song, you git!" Ron replied, wrapping his arms around Harry, locking him in place.
So come on, spin me around
Now I don't wanna go home
'Cause when you hold me like this, you know my heart skips, skips a beat
I know I should, but I can't leave it alone
And when you hold me like this, that's when my heart skips, skips a beat
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
"Are you listening to it, Harry?" Ron asked, barely a whisper above the music. The other man nodded. "That's what I feel for you, with you. When I'm around you, my heart skips a beat. I love you, Harry James Potter! When you hug me, it's like all the world vanishes, it's just me and you. And I always loved home, but I would spend every holiday in Hogwarts with you." He confessed.
"Does that mean?"
"Yes, Harry, I love you too!" Ron said with the biggest smile on his face. He couldn't believe this was happening. It was a dream come true!
Harry wrapped his arms around his middle, pulling him closer than Ron ever thought was physically possible. His hands moved even without him thinking about them, his right hand to Harry's hip and the left one cradling the black-haired man's cheek. "Well… this is awkward," Harry said after a while.
"Why?" Ron asked. Because to him, it felt just perfect.
"Because if I had said it before, we could have had moments like this earlier." He confessed.
Ron laughed. "True… but, well, we can only enjoy all the moments from now on."
"I like that plan," Harry whispered. "Are you okay with everyone knowing?"
"Yes, there's no going back." Ron realized, looking above Harry's head, and watching the room, so many eyes on them, but no one seemed very surprised, most people around them were smiling. And cheering.
"Are you two going to finally kiss or not?" Hermione asked, appearing out of nowhere and holding into Theodore Nott's hand. "I've only been waiting for you two to do it for years."
Ron rolled his eyes as the young woman laughed, pulling Theo away from the dancefloor.
"Better late than never," Ron whispered, leaning down to kiss the top of Harry's curls. It was something that he had always wanted to do, kiss the top of his head, and smell the peppermint scent left by his shampoo.
"Indeed, but I don't think that's the kiss that Hermione meant. "It's also not what I was expecting, but I will take it. If you need kisses on the cheek and shoulder before a real kiss, I don't mind waiting a little bit longer." The shorter boy whispered.
Ron's heart skipped another beat hearing those words. Kissing Harry, he never thought he would be able to do that. "Okay." He whispered and leaned down, just brushing his lips against the other man's. They were softer than he had been expecting and he couldn't wait to kiss Harry away from all these students.
"Shall we go to our dorm?" Harry whispered, leaving a path of kisses from Ron's lips to his ear.
"I like that idea, very very much," Ron replied, making his way to the exit door. He didn't even care if they got caught, he had kissed Harry Potter, and everything was perfect.
