Chapter Fourteen:
"What the hell was he playing at, targeting my sister all game!" Ron roared as he paced up and down the hospital wing. Ginny and Harry looked at each other from neighboring beds. Harry grimaced at the sight of her. She was covered in bruises, her black eye being the worst one.
"I'm fine, Ron, really," Ginny said, dabbing her eye with a rag soaked with potion. "I'm better off than Harry. I didn't break any bones at least."
"Yeah, mate, he didn't target Ginny the whole game. He found time to break my hand," Harry said, holding up his wand arm. His hand had so many bandages on it it looked more like a club than a part of his body.
"Didn't matter either way. We still beat him," Harry added, swinging his club-like hand in a hammering motion which was meant to represent 'beating' the Bulgarians in quidditch.
Fred and George let out guffaws at Harry's lame joke. Hermione just rolled her eyes. Ginny and Harry were both allowed two visitors for the time being so Fleur and the rest of the quidditch team were waiting out in the hall.
"So what, are you breaking up with him then?" Ginny said, deciding to lay back. Sitting up had become tiresome.
"I… I don't know," Ron groaned. "I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind either way."
"Oh, come on, Ronnie. We all know no matter how worked up you are you'll just end up bending over for him," Fred joked.
"Fred, that joke was uncouth and you will apologize," Hermione snapped. "Ron's bisexuality is not a punchline and what he does with his boyfriend is none of your business!"
Fred's eyes bugged. "I didn't mean like that, Hermione," Fred defended. "Honestly. I just meant Ron basically worships Krum. I mean bow down, not bend over… you know, like bowing before a king or whatever."
"Apologize anyway, Fred!" Hermione huffed. "Whether you meant it your not your joke was insensitive."
Fred looked to his twin for support but George's eyes snapped from an irate Hermione and back to his twin. "Go on then, Freddie," George said. "You didn't mean it but it was still homophobic."
"Yeah, I guess it was. Sorry, Ron. I'm better than that. I'll be better," Fred said.
Ron just waved him off. "Thanks but I didn't care either way. You're right actually. There's no way I can go give him a piece of my mind. I'll chicken out. The way he looks into my eyes… I'll just melt again like I always do. He leaves in less than a month and we'll be breaking up then anyway."
"I'll go with you," Hermione offered. "And if you chicken out I'll get you back on track. Or maybe I'll just chew him out myself."
"Thanks, Mione," Ron said, finally calming down. "Let's go now before it gets too late."
"Send Fleur in," Harry said.
"We'll go too so Angie, Ali, and Katie can see you," Fred said. He and George followed Hermione and Ron out of the hospital wing. A moment later, Fleur, Katie, Alicia, and Angelina all poured into the room. Katie was holding the Quidditch Cup.
"Oh my goodness, 'arry. Are you alright?" Fleur simpered, wrapping him up in a hug. The other girls all went to Ginny's bed.
"Er, yeah, I'm fine," Harry said, patting Fleur on the back with his club. The other girls all laughed at this.
"Two visitors per patient please!" Madam Pomfrey said shrilly as she reenters the room.
"I'm actually here for Harry, not Ginny," Katie said quickly as she left Ginny's bedside and sat near Harry and Fleur. Madam Pomfrey eyed her suspiciously before approaching Ginny.
"I apologize it took me so long to find my bruise remover potion," she said to her. "I'll have the house elves reorganize the store cupboard I think. Anyway, take this and your bruises will heal up within the hour. I'm still holding you overnight for your collarbone. The fracture needs a night to heal properly."
After Pomfrey left they all passed the cup around and talked about the game. Harry and Ginny had again been the undisputed stars of the show. Ginny had scored over half of Gryffindor's goals and Harry had allowed only four goals all game.
As the guests got ready to leave, Fleur kissed Harry squarely on the lips, lingering for several seconds. She then tousled his hair and stood up. "Sleep well, 'arry, Dear," she said before floating out the door.
In response to these actions Katie raised an eyebrow and Angie and Ali shared a glance. "Er, Harry, what the fuck was that? When did that start?"
"What are you talking about?" Harry replied.
"That!" Katie said, gesturing towards the door Fleur had just left through. "You've been swearing up and down all year you weren't dating Fleur!"
"Yeah, Harry, she definitely just kissed you…" Angie said.
"...and called you 'Dear'" Ali finished.
"That sure sounds like you're together," both girls then said in unison. Harry laughed. Those two were such close friends they often finished each other's sentences or even spoke in double-speak like their boyfriends, Fred and George.
"Friends can kiss…" Harry said defensively, his eyes reflexively flashing to Ginny on the other bed. This was not missed by the others.
"Nooo!" Katie said, jaw agape. "You two kiss as well! Ginny and Harry just smiled guiltily.
"Don't tell my brothers, would you?" Ginny said, biting her lip.
"Yeah, I reckon they'll kill me," Harry said, scratching the back of his head with his club.
"Freddie would find it funny," Angie said with a smirk.
"Georgie would think the same," Ali added.
"Ron would kill you," Katie laughed.
"He's who we're worried about," Ginny said. "Tell Fred and George if you like, I don't mind."
Katie scratched her chin and took a step towards Harry. "So, you're not dating Fleur… and you're not dating Ginny… but you kiss them both because, as you say, 'friends can kiss'. So, like, are there others?"
"Yeah," Ginny answered. "I kiss another one of my friends almost as much as I kiss Harry. She's in Ravenclaw. Not sure you know her…"
Harry was surprised by this statement though showed none of it on his face. Not that she had another kissing partner, he'd known that. He just hadn't known who it was and he definitely hadn't expected them to be a girl. It would seem that Ginny, like Ron, flew on both sides of the broomstick. Now he couldn't help but wonder who the Ravenclaw girl was.
"Not you, Gin," Katie said, rolling her eyes. "Harry!" She took another step towards Harry.
"Maybe. Why?" Harry joked.
"Because…" Katie said, hesitantly, now within a foot of Harry's bedside. "Because I'm your friend… aren't I, Harry? We're, er… more than just teammates, right? We're friends?"
Harry's jaw dropped. He looked towards Ginny but she was no help. She was giggling uncontrollably.
"Er, yeah Katie, we're friends," he replied, just as hesitantly.
"Well, in that case…" Katie smirked before leaning in and delivering short yes sensuous and fervent kiss. Harry froze for just a moment before instincts took over and he was responding with just as much ferocity and energy. The kiss lasted much longer than Fleur's kiss had. It was nearly fifteen seconds before Katie pulled away.
"Sleep well, 'arry Dear," she said in a hilariously over pronounced imitation of Fleur's French accent. And with that, Katie spun on her heels and exited the hospital wing.
Harry glanced around the room. Ginny was biting her lip, her eyes darting back and forth between Katie and Harry. Harry had no idea what she was thinking but she was blushing very red.
Angie and Ali's jaws were slack as they shared yet another sideways glance. "Er, good night," Angie said, backing away.
"Yeah, sleep tight," Alie added. They both spun around and nearly sprinted to the hall. Harry thought it was likely they were off to interrogate Katie or tell the twins everything… probably both.
Harry turned back to Ginny. He had to lean forward just a bit to look around the Quidditch Cup which sat on the bedside table between them. "Er, sorry about that," Harry said automatically.
"Harry, that was so hot," Ginny said, twirling her hair around her finger. Before either of them could say any more, Pomfrey returned. She instructed them to sleep and turned out the lights. They waited until they were sure she was gone before either of them spoke.
"Wish we didn't have to spend the night," Harry said, laying back. "My hand healed up in five minutes. I can feel it. And your collar bone wasn't even as bad as my hand so I'm sure you're all good now. All your bruises are gone anyway. I know breaks and fractures healed with magic need to set for a while, but if we weren't here I'd be taking you OH HELLO THERE!"
"Where would you take me, Harry?" Ginny smirked. She was on his bed kneeling with one of her knees between his legs and was working on unhooking his pants.
"Oh, er, a cupboard or something," Harry said, already unable to think clearly. Ginny had his cock out and was licking and letting it.
"I've never seen you when you weren't hard, Harry… oh, nevermind," Ginny giggled. Harry had not been turned on when she had initiated, but had only needed a few seconds before his body was responding to her ministrations.
"Ginny, if we're caught-" Harry began.
"We'll hear anyone coming," Ginny said with a moan. She was rocking her hips against his shin and taking him deep into the back of her throat with vigor.
"Ginny slow down or I'm gonna cum already," Harry hissed. "Also, I'm going to have a hard time reciprocating with my hand like this."
"That's fine, Harry," Ginny smirked. "I've been horny since Pomfrey woke me up. Did you notice I had a hand under my covers the whole time the girls were here? I've been masturbating since my brothers left and I came when Katie kissed you. And if you let me keep jumping your leg I think I'll cum again."
"I… well okay," Harry said before letting out a moan. "Oh fuck! Ginny, you're making me cum. I can feel it building. I'm gonna cum."
"Cum down my throat, Harry. I'm ready for you." Ginny continued to choke on his cock as she jumped his leg. Harry grabbed a handful of her hair with his free hand and teased her by pulling gently. Harry knew Ginny liked a bit of pain. He waited until his climax and pulled the hair from her scalp in earnest. Ginny moaned around his cock as they both bucked their hips and rode out their orgasms.
No sooner had Ginny pulled his cock out of her mouth when they heard a door opening down the hall. In a panic, Ginny sprang up and dove back into her bed.
Harry, still mostly hard, had no chance of putting his stiff cock away with just his off hand. He instead pulled the sheet over his body, creating an obvious and suspicious tent. As Pomfrey came out of her office, he quickly rolled onto his side and rested his club over his erection which was not abating quickly enough. They both feigned sleep.
–
The next morning Harry and Ginny were released from the hospital wing. Luna and Fleur met them at the infirmary door and they made their way to the great hall. Harry wondered absentmindedly where Hermione and Ron were. He had expected them at the infirmary door as well.
The group ate breakfast at the Ravenclaw table. Fleur fussed over Harry while Luna fussed over Ginny as the Gryffindors both assured their friends that they were, in fact, completely fine now. Halfway through breakfast, however, something clicked in Harry's head.
Ginny had said just yesterday that she snogs a girl in Ravenclaw. He had wondered who this mystery girl could be but at the time he couldn't think of any likely candidates. At this very moment, however, Luna was running a finger concernedly across Ginny's collar bone where it had been fractured all while maintaining a fierce eye contact as Ginny reassured her she was fully healed. It was now obvious to Harry that Luna was this mystery girl.
Fleur parted the group to study magical beasts for the final task. Harry offered to help her but Fleur gave him a wink and said he would be more of a distraction than a help. Harry, Ginny, and Lunaade their way to the seventh floor and then Luna and Ginny peeled off to go to Ravenclaw Tower. Harry entered Gryffindor Tower alone wondering again where Hermione and Ron could be.
When he got to his room, he saw the curtains around Ron's bed were pulled tight. It was nearly ten o'clock. Suddenly worried why Ron would still be asleep (Ron never missed breakfast), Harry pulled the curtains away.
"Ron?" Harry said tentatively.
"Eeep!" A screech came from the far side of the bed.
"Ahh!" There was a bellow from this side.
Harry glimpsed two heads hurriedly burrowing under the covers. Laughing, Harry pulled the covers away. "Relax, it's not a prefect, it's me. Also, what's going on? Why weren't you two at breakfast? Keep each other up all night?" Harry joked.
"Harry, I'm so sorry. I… it's not what it looks like. We didn't do anything." Hermione said timidly, sitting up and covering herself with the sheet.
"Hermione, we snogged for like twenty minutes, I wouldn't call that nothing," Ron retorted, also sitting now. "Er, hang on, gotta piss." Ron rolled out of bed and ran, shirtless but wearing his pajamas bottoms, to the restroom.
Harry frowned. "Hermione, I'm not mad about whatever you two did last night. You can snog or shag whoever you like. But I am upset you were trying to say that nothing happened. That's a lie. You don't need to lie to me."
"Y… yes, Sir," Hermione said looking down. "Sorry, Sir."
"Is Ron 'Sir' as well?" Harry smirked.
"No, Sir. Only you," she replied, still avoiding his eyes.
"Come here," Harry said, arms wide. Hermione jumped up from the bed revealing she was wearing one of her tank tops she often used as an undershirt. She'd also borrowed a pair of pajama bottoms Harry knew belonged to Seamus. Seamus was the smallest boy in their dorm so his clothes would fit her best.
Harry and Hermione hugged and he kissed the top of her head. "So, let me guess… Ron's confrontation with Victor went poorly, he and Ron broke up, you stayed to comfort him, and you ended up snogging after the other boys went to bed… is that about it?
Hermione nodded. "Yes, that's all correct, but that's not the half of it. I'll let Ron tell you."
Ron returned and found a shirt as Hermione also left and went to use the restroom.
"Hermione says you guys kiss a few times a week," Ron started. "But, like, just as friends. How long has that been going on?"
Harry struggled to keep his face from giving away that they did much more than kiss. If Hermione hadn't mentioned it, he wasn't going to. "Yeah, we do kiss sometimes. We told you we practiced kissing once."
"Yeah, I remember that obviously. She helped me practice for Tracey after all," Ron replied.
"Well, that's when it started," Harry said. "We didn't tell you as we didn't know how you'd react."
"Fair enough. I would have freaked out a couple months ago… but now, after Tracey and Victor, it's kinda not that big a deal to me somehow. Do you care if I, er… if she and I kiss sometimes too?"
"I'm fine with all that, but won't Tracey be mad?" Harry said.
"Mate, Tracey dumped me… right after Victor did," Ron said just as Hermione reentered the room.
"Oh no! She didn't take his side, did she?" Harry asked.
"No, she took Ron's side," Hermione said as she returned. "Ron and I found Victor in the great hall at the end of dinner after we left you in the hospital wing last night," Hermione began.
"I gave him a piece of my mind, but he snapped at me and said a bunch of mean things," Ron said. "Called you and Ginny wimps and called me a pussy for getting upset about a game. I… kinda shut down, so Hermione took over."
"I raised my voice at him and started listing off several reasons why he was being terrible," Hermione continued. "Most of the great hall was watching at this point but I didn't care. When I was starting to lose steam, Daphne stomped over and slapped him and then she started in on him as well. Tracey came and held Ron's hand but, as you know, she's quite quiet and timid so she just let Daphne talk for her."
"Victor looked quite shocked," Ron said. "He really didn't think he'd done anything wrong. Hermione was his first friend at Hogwarts. Tracey, Daphne, and I are all his current closest friends, or at least we were. He eventually said he was done with all of us and then stormed off."
"Okay, I don't get it," Harry spoke up. "When and why did Tracey dump you then?"
"Well, after Victor left, the whole room was kind of staring at us," Ron said. "Daphne and Tracey pulled me and Hermione out of there and we went to the dungeons. There's this alcove with torches and desks that the Slytherins use as a study nook, like the study nook over between Gryffindor and Ravenclaw Tower."
"That's when we noticed Tracey was crying," Hermione said. "She said she was so sorry but she had to end things with Ron… because she's betrothed."
"What?" Harry half shouted. "Betrothed? Since when? With who?"
"With Adrian Pucey and since yesterday morning," Ron supplied. "Her parents signed a marriage contract," he added lamely.
"Ron held it together until we got back up to the tower," Hermione said. "Neville saw something was wrong and asked him what was up. Ron burst into tears and ran up here. Neville, Dean, Seamus, and I all raced after him. You know… I've always found it funny that prefects don't mind boys in girls dorms or girls in boys dorms as long as it's not after curfew. It's technically against the rules. You know, in Hogwarts, A History…"
"Focus, Mione," Ron interrupted.
"I… oh, right, sorry," Hermione blushed. "Well long story short I hugged him, the boys all hugged him, and then I hugged him again. I told him I'd stay the night if he needed me to. The boys all said they cover for us. We all played gobstones for a few hours and then went to bed. I got in bed with Ron and just held him. Long after the boys were all asleep I could tell Ron was just pretending to sleep. I reminded him that I love him and… well, we ended up kissing for a while. That calmed him down enough to fall asleep."
"You'll get through this, Ron. We'll help you," Harry said. "And you know I love you too."
"You gonna kiss me as well then?" Ron joked.
"Not unless you ask me really nicely," Harry smirked. Ron's reaction to this sentence was not what Harry had anticipated. For Harry it had been an obvious joke, but Ron sort of blushed and looked away.
"I, er… I wouldn't hate that," Ron said, still averting his eyes.
Thoughts were racing in Harry's head. He'd kissed plenty of his friends. A kiss would really matter to Ron, especially right now. But Harry didn't like boys… did he? And if he didn't like boys, why was he considering it?
"How about a hug," Harry said awkwardly, cutting the tension in the room. When they embraced, instinct took over and Harry leaned up to kiss Ron on the cheek. He wasn't sure if he'd liked it or not. He wasn't really sure why he'd done it. That is, until he pulled away and saw Ron smiling. "I love you, Ron. Don't ever forget it."
"I… thanks, mate," Ron smiled. "I love you too."
When Harry pulled away, Hermione swooped in and also gave Ron a hug and kiss on the cheek. "I love you, Ron. We're both here for you."
"Love you too, Mione," he said quickly.
They all traded glances for a moment. They'd all said 'I love you' before, but this time felt different. It felt more intimate.
"Daphne's also betrothed to Blaze Zabini since about a week ago by the way," Hermione said to Harry suddenly, trying to help the awkwardness pass. "Also a marriage contract. So your trips to the cupboard with Daphne are probably over as well unless you want Zabini after you. Daphne said she's been wanting to tell you all week but decided to tell you after your quidditch match so as not to throw you off your game. She wasn't sure how much you liked her. She said we could tell you but she wants you to come find her some time to talk. I think she wants to make sure you still consider her a friend even without the physical aspect of the relationship."
"I'll find her later and let her know I still want to be friends and sit