December 1999
"Harry."
He was woken to his name and the feel of a rough jaw brushing over his shoulder.
"Harry."
"Mm?" He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and blindly groped for the man next to him. "What time is it?"
"A little after seven," Charlie said. "If you want me to not be here when Ron gets home I'm going to have to go now."
He thought about it for a few seconds. "Stay."
There was a thrill in this - waking up naked next to an equally naked man. He couldn't see Charlie smiling but felt the satisfaction radiating from him. Harry rolled over on to his back and an arm was casually thrown across his stomach.
Like that, he fell back to sleep.
Later, when he woke again, he was alone and the sounds of the shower in his adjoining bathroom drifted through. He stretched and smiled to himself as Charlie started singing... on impulse he walked through and sat on the edge of the bath to watch hot water sluice down pale, freckled skin.
"Someone's in a good mood this morning."
Charlie jumped a bit, turned, and raised a cheeky eyebrow at the sight of Harry sitting on the cold tile.
"Wouldn't you be?"
"I am."
"Good."
He left the water running as Harry passed him a towel then stepped into the vacated space. Harry took his time, reluctantly washing Charlie's smell off his skin and rinsing his hair until he was sure it was clean.
If he was in any other mind, with any other man, last night would have been disappointing. They hadn't made it as far as actual sex; clothes had been removed, kisses - many kisses - had been exchanged and the thought of Charlie's lips on his skin still sent a little tingle through Harry's spine.
But as far as the actual act of sex was concerned, they'd stopped before getting that far.
Harry had tried to figure out whether or not that mattered and couldn't quite decide.
It wasn't that he didn't want to have sex with Charlie... the opposite was true, it was more about taking their time. After all, it had taken them long enough to get to the point where they were naked in bed with each other, the rest would happen eventually. He was sure of that.
Charlie wasn't in the bedroom as he dressed but the smell of bacon told him the other man was still in the flat. The domestic scene was completely unintentionally arousing as Harry stood, dressed now, in the doorway to the kitchen watching Charlie grill bacon and scramble eggs in formal trousers and an unbuttoned shirt.
He crossed the room in a few quick strides and grabbed hold of Charlie's waist, leaning in to plant kisses on his neck. Charlie twisted and leaned back, welcoming the first 'good morning' kiss and gently swaying in Harry's arms.
True to form, Hermione and Ron Apparated straight into the hallway rather than announcing themselves through the Floo or front door.
"What the - ow!" Ron said, his sentence abruptly cut off with a sharp elbow to the ribs from his fiancée.
"Good morning, Harry, Charlie," Hermione said sweetly.
"Are you together now?" Ron asked as he crossed to the coffee maker and started to poke it into operation.
"You set us up!" Harry exclaimed. "Don't sound so bloody surprised."
"It's been less than twelve hours," Charlie said and when Harry turned back to the source of the warm, deep voice, he was disappointed to see that the shirt had been re-buttoned. "Give us a bit longer to work things out, Ron."
"I don't want any surprises," Ron mumbled as the coffee maker started to produce fragrant steam. "If my brother is going to be making breakfast in my flat not wearing any clothes, I need some warning."
"If I were you," Hermione said, pulling her boyfriend into a hug, "I'd get used to it."
A/N: I know, I know, I'm queen of the cockblock. Sort of.
It's very hard for me to get my head around the fact that this is the only fanfic I'm working on at the moment. It feels very wrong. Not since... fuck, This Mortal Life have I only had one fic on the go. How do you guys feel about some Remus/Sirius stuff?