"Where's Ron?" Hermione asked when Harry slid into the empty spot next to her in the Great Hall.
"Dunno," Harry replied, pulling his plate to him, grateful that Hermione had already piled food on it for him, "He wasn't in the locker room when I left."
Hermione glanced over at the Ravenclaw table. Harry followed her gaze. Michael was not there. He was probably already waiting in the library for Ron. Though Ron did not know he was, allegedly, supposed to be meeting his boyfriend there.
Harry had devoured half his plate before Ron finally showed up, looking very frazzled. He was still pink in the cheeks, and his hair was mussed. He took the spot on the other side of Hermione, not daring to look at Harry. He pulled his plate forward, then pushed it back away.
"Ron," Hermione said gently, her face lined with worry, "Are you alright?"
"Eh?" Ron replied, looking up quickly, "No, yeah…no…I-I'm fine."
Ginny, who was sitting across from him, raised one eyebrow and cleared her throat. She leaned forward and said in a low voice,
"That didn't convince anyone." she paused. "Did something happen with you and Mike?"
"What?" Ron asked hoarsely, "No!" He exhaled sharply through his nose. "I'm fine. Just a lot on my mind."
Ginny snorted and leaned back. "Yeah you have a lot on your mind. Okay."
Ron frowned, his brow furrowed. But he didn't respond. The air around them filled with tension. Harry slowly began eating again, wondering what Ron was thinking about what had happened between them. He had definitely seemed to enjoy it. After he pushed Harry away he had allowed him to kiss him again. He had pulled Harry into a kiss. He had gotten aroused.
But, technically, he was still with Michael. Though, Harry knew that was going to come to an end. Inwardly, Harry beamed.
"You're here?" an angry voice asked.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione turned in their seats. Michael was standing behind them, looking very unhappy. Ron stood quickly.
"Hey," he said uncertainly, "Yeah I'm…here."
"I was waiting in the library for you," Michael snapped, raising his palms, "Why didn't you show?"
Harry choked on a piece of cabbage and quickly reached for his cup of pumpkin juice. Ginny gave him an odd look.
"What?" Ron was saying. Then he looked frustrated and worried, as if realizing what Harry did. "Oh. Damn. I-I'm so sorry. I just forgot, love." He stepped forward and grabbed Michael's hands. "Please forgive me," he whispered. His eyes glistened and he pursed his lips, as though holding back tears, clearly it was not only "forgetting" to meet Michael that he was apologizing for.
Harry's stomach dropped, and he felt clammy. He realized…Ron felt guilty. And if he felt guilty, that meant he must have still had feelings for Michael, even after kissing Harry. He had even called Michael 'love.'
"Just…" Michael was saying with a sigh, "I've barely seen you all day."
"Well come on, let's go for a walk by the lake, alright?" Ron's voice was stronger, but was quivering by the end of his statement.
After Michael agreed they headed for the door. Ron did not give Harry a second glance.
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Harry did not see Ron until much later that night. He stayed in the common room hours after Hermione retired to bed. The fire in the fireplace had died, and only the logs gleamed dimly. Harry stared at it, waiting. He was confused, and needed to know why Ron was off with Michael. He hoped it was because Ron was ending things. And they were arguing. But something inside him said that probably wasn't the case.
Finally, the portrait opened. Harry didn't need to turn around to know it was Ron. He heard a sigh, and soon Ron was standing in front of the fireplace, staring at him with a hurt expression. Harry stared back at him. He wasn't going to be the one to speak first.
The clock behind Ron's head ticked loudly. And finally Ron spoke.
"I have a boyfriend."
Harry's jaw clenched, but he still didn't say anything. He didn't trust his words now.
"I just don't understand…" Ron continued, his voice cracking, "Why now? Why…after all this time when I've been single…why now? Why…when I have someone." His voice was wobbling now, he stopped and took a deep breath before continuing. "He loves me. He treats me well. He makes me feel good about myself. Mike…he…he makes me happy. And I just cheated on him."
Harry stood and stepped toward Ron, who made no indication of moving away from him. He stopped only a few inches from Ron's face. Harry could hear Ron's breath coming out shakily. He searched in the dark for one of Ron's hands. Their earlier entanglement had proven that Ron was fairly powerless to Harry's touch. When he grabbed it, Ron inhaled sharply, but did not pull away, or move in any way.
Harry glanced around the dark room and then guided Ron to a far corner, unseen if anyone were to come down this late. He backed Ron against the wall and placed a hand on either side of him, blocking him in. Harry realized that even though Ron was slightly taller and larger than Harry, in these situations he seemed much, much smaller.
"Did you tell him?" Harry whispered,
"No," Ron replied, "I couldn't…"
"So he's not hurting about it then."
"No," Ron said again, "But I am."
Harry sighed in exasperation. He brought his mouth very close to Ron's ear. "You never told me to stop." He brushed his lips across Ron's cheek and then to his lips. "You want this."
Ron did not respond, and did not move, but he was breathing heavily. Harry kissed him again, slowly. For a brief moment Ron reciprocated, but then pulled away and put his hands on Harry's chest.
"Stop."
It was like he had hit him. Harry froze, but stepped away.
"What?" he asked. He had not expected this. But as a cloud moved away from the moon, light briefly passed over Ron's face, and Harry saw that he still did not look angry, just confused, and Harry knew there was still room for opportunity. "Ron," he said gently, "What is it?"
"It's just…" Ron said slowly, "Just tell me why…why now?"
Harry let out an airy chuckle and stepped forward, once again closing the gap, and placed his hands on Ron's hips. "Because," he murmured, gently sliding his thumbs under Ron's waistband, "I didn't realize how badly I wanted you until someone else had you."
He let Ron ponder this and took advantage of his pause to kiss him on the neck. Soon he felt Ron's hand underneath his shirt, gliding up his side. Harry smirked and trailed kisses along Ron's jaw, to his lips, where it was Ron who immediately deepened the kiss.
Good boy, Harry thought. Things were back on track now.
Harry gripped Ron's waist aggressively, just short of being sure he would bruise him, and Ron bit Harry's bottom lip, much harder than he had earlier. Harry chuckled again, surprised that he actually enjoyed it. Ron moved from Harry's lip to kiss a spot near his jaw, then to his neck. Harry adjusted to where one of his legs was between Ron's, pushing his thigh against Ron's groin. He felt Ron pause and exhale heavily on his neck, the hand on Harry's waist tightened it's grip and Ron's hips rocked underneath Harry's vice-like grip, clearly trying to create some kind of friction. Harry tightened his grip even more.
"Ah ah," he chided teasingly, "Not after you made me wait for you all night." He released one hand from Ron's hip and raised it to grasp his chin, looking him in the eye. "You," he whispered, pushing himself even closer into the flustered red head, "You can beg." He pushed his thigh harder, and Ron whimpered.
"Please," he whispered.
"Hm," Harry said, dropping his hand and replaced it on Ron's hip, "I don't know…" he slowly moved his thigh from side to side for a moment, relishing the whining noise Ron made.
"Fuck," Ron whimpered, "I-I…please, Harry."
Harry smirked, and then forcefully guided Ron's hips into a rocking motion until he was doing it on his own then grasped Ron behind the head, pushing him back into a kiss. For several seconds Harry enjoyed the way Ron struggled to kiss him and keep his breathing steady, then he snaked his hands around Ron in a tight hug, knowing his friend wouldn't last much longer. Ron buried his face into Harry's shoulder, muffling his moans.
"That's right," Harry whispered, "You know who you belong to. You know you're mine." He took advantage of Ron's exposed neck and went back to the spot he had worked on earlier, but biting harder, then gently sucking on the sensitive skin. Ron was shaking in his arms now. "Go ahead," Harry murmured against the raw spot, "Get off on me." And it was only a few seconds after that when Ron went silent and pushed back to take a breath, resting against the wall.
Harry loosened his grip and let Ron gather himself, inwardly celebrating another victory. He took a step back and stared at Ron until he knew his friend felt uncomfortable then he said steadily,
"You will break up with him."
He didn't wait to see the expressions on Ron's face. Instead, he just strode across the room, heading straight for the stairs, leaving Ron, yet again, a flustered, confused wreck.
