Paternity

Part Thirteen
Altercation

Harry stood in the doorway. \"Ready to go?\"

\"One moment.\" Snape stood and went over to a cabinet. He opened it and took out a small flask, handing it to Ron. \"This should help you with your nausea. Take it a few minutes before meals, justjust before bed. Use the lid to measure.\" He held up a finger. \"ONE capful at a time--no more, no less, otherwise it might have the opposite effect you\'re looking for.\"

Ron muttered something that might have been thanks and the two boys left. Harry glanced at Ron as they strode along the hall, headed back up to the ground floor. \"All right--what did he say to you?\"

\"Nothing,\" Ron answered shortly.

\"Bollocks. You were a tad freaked when I left, but now you\'re like a thundercloud about to toss lightening bolts. I know that Snape has that effect on people naturally, but this is sudden and extreme.\"

Ron ran a hand distractedly through his hair, leaving it in ginger spikes. \"I\'m just getting really, really, really, REALLY tired of people telling me what I ought to do.\"

Harry patted his shoulder. \"You need to ease off, Ron, because it\'s only going to get worse. Pregnant women...\" Ron shot him a look, and Harry corrected himself, \"Pregnant PEOPLE are advice magnets. Everyone on the face of the earth seems to have some idea of what they should or shouldn\'t do, and they\'re very free about letting you know them.\"

\"Yeah, well, I have the feeling that I may get free with telling them what they can do.\" He stopped in the hall and opened the flask, pouring a thin, amber liquid into the cap. \"Let\'s give this a try and see if I can keep anything down.\" He thrust the flask at Harry. \"Hold this. I may need my other hand free to hold my nose.\" He sniffed the liquid, then looked surprised. \"It smells like toast.\" He tossed off the drink, then smacked his lips. \"Harry, the world may very well be coming to an end. That was good for me, and it actually TASTED good.\" He took the flask and screwed the lid back on. \"I guess it\'s good that he warned me about not taking any more of it.\"

\"Good. I expect the house elves will try to stuff you silly to compensate for your being ill.\"

\"And believe me, I\'m ready to take advantage. I haven\'t been able to eat properly for ages. I feel hollow.\"

Professor Flitwick was the only teacher at the head table. The carafe of coffee sitting before him was untouched, and he was slumped back in his chair, eyes closed, snoring softly.

Harry was correct about the food. The elves provided as much for he and Ron as they did for the entire Slytherin table--and it didn\'t go unnoticed. There were sullen mutters as Harry and Ron tucked into several different kinds of eggs, as well as bacon, sausage, kippers, fried tomatoes and potatoes, toast, flannel cakes, fresh berries, and muffins.

They heard Draco, voice raised just enough to be sure that it carried to the Gryffindor table. \"Well, it\'s not surprising, and I suppose you can\'t blame them. I hear Potter\'s Muggle relations half-starve him, and Weasley... I suppose you have to be quick to grab enough food when you have such a horde of siblings.\"

Ron\'s hand tightened on his fork till his knuckles were white, and Harry put a calming hand on his arm. \"Don\'t let him provoke you.\"

It might have been all right, but Draco, as usual, had to keep pushing. \"Still, you\'d think with the first three or four out of the nest things might have eased up a bit. Hi, Weasley--did the charities cut back on the food baskets once your brothers moved out? I suppose it put a strain on that pittance your father earns, but cheer up--I expect Ginny will start popping them out soon enough, and then they\'ll resume...\"

Ron moved so quickly that Harry had no hope of stopping him. There was an eggcup by Ron\'s plate, and he hadn\'t touched the egg, too busy with the bountiful supply of more favored foods. Ron snatched the egg and, in almost the same motion, whirled and threw it.

Ron might be hopeless at Quidditch, but he would have done quite well at cricket. His aim was true, and his arm was good. The white sphere flew straight as an arrow, smacking Draco right between the eyes. It was a two-minute egg, and the results were pretty much what might have been expected. The egg broke with a rather spectacular splat, plastering Draco from hairline to chin with white and yellow goo and bits of shell. There was a moment of stunned silence. It was so quiet that they actually heard the soft plop of a glutinous chunk of half-congealed white dropping onto the tabletop.

Pansy was the first one to break the silence, and, surprisingly enough, the first one to retaliate. She was looking in horror at the bright yellow streak that now graced the front of her silk blouse. \"It\'s RUINED!\" There was a half-full goblet of pumpkin juice sitting before her, and she threw it with more will than skill. It didn\'t reach Ron and Harry, bouncing off the Hufflepuff table, but it landed just right to spray the two boys with sticky orange juice. It might have stopped there, except Draco wasn\'t about to let a girl take revenge that he considered was rightfully his. He was much more accurate with his grapefruit half, nailing Ron in the chest. Harry couldn\'t let that pass, so he responded with a handful of stewed prunes, using a sweeping motion that nailed several of the Slytherins.

After that it was war. The Slytherins had the advantage of numbers, but Harry and Ron had more ammunition. The battle was waged in near silence, and Flitwick continued to burble and snore as food flew from both sides of the room. All of the foodstuffs had been used, and Draco was just picking up a serving plate, ready to skim it like a discus, when a hard voice rang out. \"HAVE--YOU--LOST--YOUR--MINDS?\"

All activity ceased. Flitwick snorted and sat up straight, blinking around and yawning. He blinked again. \"What...?\"

Snape and McGonagall were both standing in the doorway. Snape looked irritated, and McGonagall looked near horrified. Snape had spoken, but McGonagall commented as they stalked toward the front of the room. \"Professor, for the last time--drink your coffee BEFORE you sit down if you\'re on solo monitor duty,\"

They halted, staring at the slippery mess on the floor and tables, then Snape swept his gaze over the students, his eyebrows slowly climbing. Finally he said dryly, \"You know, I wouldn\'t have believed it possible to get that sort of distance with oatmeal.\"

Minerva closed her eyes. \"I have never in my life witnessed such a disgraceful display.\"

\"You didn\'t attend any graduation parties, did you?\" said Snape dryly. \"What brought this on?\"

Pansy pointed. \"It was Ron! He threw an egg at Draco for no reason at all.\"

Ron\'s face was flushed. \"He said something about Ginny. I just wish it had been a ten-minute instead of a two-minute. Maybe I\'d have cracked his thick skull.\"

McGonagall closed her eyes. \"This pains me terribly, but this cannot be allowed to pass unpunished. I must take points from my own house. Twenty points from Gryffindor.\"

\"How very noble of you, Minerva. I applaud your fairness, and I am prepared to follow your example. Twenty points from Slyth.\" .\" There was a dismayed murmur from the Slytherins, and Snape added, \"And another twenty from Gryffindor.\"

\"Severus...\" began Minerva.

\"It has been indicated that Gryffindor started the fracas.\" Snape looked at Ron. \"Do you deny it, Weasley.\"

Ron lifted his chin. \"No, and I\'d do it again.\"

\"Well, I won\'t penalize you for future intentions. Now, I suggest that you all repair to your quarters, clean up, and spend the rest of the morning studying the school handbook, paying particular attention to the rules of etiquette in the dining hall. Go on. The house elves will work themselves into fits of ecstasy clearing away this rubbish.\"

As the students began to make their way toward the door, Minerva said, \"And this had best be the end of this nonsense. Any further row will result in double demerits, and quite possibly a formal reprimand and messages to your parents. Oh, and DO try not to drip on the rugs.\"

Ron and Harry started out, and Snape said sharply, \"Go around, Weasley.\"

Professor McGonagall said absently, \"Oh, I hardly think it will make much difference, Severus, when you consider the state they\'re already in.\"

\"I\'m not worried about them tracking,\" he said, \"but he could slip and...\" Ron glared at him. \"...damage himself. Go around.\"

Minerva watched the two boys trudge around the other side of the table and exit, then she looked at Snape, her gaze shrewd. \"You\'re remarkably solicitous of their well-being today, Severus.\"

\"Caution is never out of place.\"

\"Yes, but you\'re more likely to let them fall on their bums and THEN point out what they did wrong. What\'s different today?\"

\"I couldn\'t say, Minerva,\" he said smoothly. He snapped his fingers and a house elf appeared before him, looking up expectantly. Snape just pointed. The elf turned and looked. His eyes grew big, and he squeaked in excited alarm. He disappeared so quickly that there was a popping sound as the air rushed in to fill the vacuum he\'d left behind. An instant later there were more than a dozen house elves working frantically to clean up the remains of the food fight. \"No.\" He turned, heading for the door. \"I really couldn\'t say.\"

~*~*~*~*~*~

Harry was examining a strawberry. \"I found this in my pocket. How the bloody hell did it get into my pocket?\"

\"Don\'t ask me--I\'m in no shape to contemplate the mysteries of the Universe, Harry.\" Ron bent slightly. \"Is there cereal in my hair?\"

Harry looked. \"Um... Just a little. It\'s mostly those tiny marshmallow thingies. I KNEW the elves magicked the cereal to put more of those in it. They also manage to stuff more chocolate chips into their cookies than is strictly possible, I think.\" Ron shook his head, letting bright green, purple, blue, yellow, and orange objects patter to the floor. \"Filch will have a fit over that.\"

\"No, he won\'t. Mrs. Norris will eat them before he sees them--trust me. She has a sweet tooth. I left half a chocolate frog for one minute in the library and when I came back, it was gone.\"

\"Are you sure it wasn\'t Crabbe or Goyle?\"

\"Pretty sure. She was just hopping down off the table, she had a shred of paper in her teeth, and her belly was squirming like she was about to drop kittens.\"

\"I\'ll have to remember that for the coming year. Maybe she can be bribed.\" They were outside the upstairs boy\'s lavatory. Harry said, \"Look, you go in and get started. I\'ll go get clean clothes for the both of us.\"

Ron crossed his arms and said, \"Afraid ickle Ronnie might strain himself?\"

Harry rolled his eyes. \"Stuff it, Ron. I\'m just trying to be a mate, so don\'t be paranoid.\"

Ron looked sheepish. \"Yeah, sorry Harry. Draco got my dander up, but I shouldn\'t take it out on you. Thanks.\"

\"It\'s all right. Won\'t be long.\" Harry jogged on toward the Gryffindor tower.

Ron went in and peeled off his goopy clothes. Har Harry was puzzled by the strawberry in his pocket, Ron was utterly mystified by how a toast crust had made its way into his Y fronts. He was just grateful it had been dry, since the house elves had supplied orange marmalade that morning, and he wouldn\'t have enjoyed having to search his gingery pubic hair for threads of peel. He started the shower, stepped inside, and cleaned himself briskly.

He was rinsing off when Harry returned. Ron peeked around the curtain and said, \"Won\'t be but a tic.\"

Harry was stripping off. \"That\'s all right. I\'ll just use the next stall.\"

\"What? Have TWO showers going at once? Filch would probably pay to have a curse laid on us for wasting water, and Hermione would scold us for making work for the elves.\"

\"Well, I don\'t want to wait,\" complained Harry. \"My arms are sticking to my side.\"

\"Who said you have to wait?\" Ron twitched the curtain aside. \"Come on.\"

Harry smiled slowly, laying his glasses on the counter. \"You\'re barking mad, Ron, you know that, don\'t you?\"

Ron gave him an innocent look. \"Just because I\'m trying to conserve water?\"

Harry approached. \"And energy. You\'ll conserve energy.\"

Ron\'s smile was wicked. \"Sod that. I\'m looking forward to EXPENDING some energy.\" Harry stepped into the shower, letting the spray hit his back. Ron pointed at a pale purple skim of thickish liquid on Harry\'s chest. \"What\'s that?\"

Harry looked down. \"Dunno.\"

\"One way to find out.\" Ron ran a finger through the film, flicking Harry\'s right nipple at the end of the path, then popped his finger in his mouth. He smacked his lips. \"Blueberry syrup.\"

Harry nodded. \"That\'s right. Pansy managed to land a handful of pancake on me. It was like getting hit with a lump of sludge. The girl will never keep her figure if she keeps using that much syrup.\"

\"Let me get that off for you.\"

Harry reached for a bar of soap to hand over, but Ron gripped his arms, bent his head, and began to lap the syrup off Harry\'s skin. Harry\'s nipples were hard a long time before Ron finally reached them. He spent a long time sucking and nibbling, switching from side to side, till Harry finally moaned, \"Ron, I swear, if you don\'t stop torturing me and DO something...\"

\"I tha that,\" grumbled Ron. \"You keep griping, and I\'m not going to swallow that strawberry.\"

Harry frowned, puzzled. \"What strawberry? I tossed it.\"

Ron sank slowly to his knees, fingers trailing down Harry\'s torso, then ghosting up the rigid length of his cock to encircle his flushed glans. \"That one.\" He cocked his head. \"D\'you think there\'s any chance of my having cream with my strawberry?\"

Harry laughed so hard his knees went weak, and he had to lean back against the tiled wall. \"Oh, God, Ron. Do you kiss your Mum with that mouth?\"

\"Harry, PLEASE! Talking about my Mum is a sure mood killer.\"

\"So distract me.\"

\"Right.\" Ron bent forward, swallowing half of Harry\'s erection in one swoop. They both learned that a shout really COULD echo in a tiled room. Ron was just as happy that Harry had ended up against the wall. It made it much easier to pin him and hold him still. Harry was quite sure he was going to go mad if Ron didn\'t stop. Then he was absolutely POSITIVE he would go mad when Ron STOPPED. \"Ron!\"

Ron slithered up his body, kissing him. \"I love you, Harry, but I\'m about to drown. Every breath I can draw seems to be about half water, and you REALLY don\'t want me to start coughing while I\'m doing that, do you?\" He grabbed a bar of soap and worked it briskly between his palms. \"Don\'t worry. I\'ll get you clean and get you off at the same time. Just hold still and don\'t be grabbing me. I\'m going to be busy, and I\'d rather not have either of us slip and crack our skulls.\"

Harry obeyed, but it wasn\'t all that easy. Ron\'s hands were EVERYWHERE, but they finally settled on two general areas--cock and ass. Harry went up on his toes as Ron\'s fingers slid down the crease of his ass. Ron continued firmly stroking his lover\'s prick, hand moving easily in the thick lather. He noticed Harry\'s sudden tension, and said quietly, \"Harry, if you don\'t want that, just tell me. I don\'t want to do it if you don\'t want it. I just thought--you\'ve made me feel so good. Aren\'t you curious about what you can make me feel?\"

This was Ron, and Ron would not knowingly hurt him. \"Yeah, Ron. I want that.\"

\"Then just relax.\" His left hand slowed its stroking. Ron squeezed one buttock, then pushed into the split till he could trace down the bottom. He located the other boy\'s hole and began to massage it firmly.

It was incredible. Harry could FEEL the tight ring of muscle softening, relaxing as Ron increased the pressure. Then, on one circuit, he pressed even harder, and the rounded tip of his finger pressed at the center of the crinkled skin, spreading it open for a moment. Harry\'s eyes flew open at the burst of sensation. He had an almost uncontrollable urge to push back.

Ron was watching him carefully. \"All right?\"

\"Keep going. Please?\"

\"Yeah. Pretty good, isn\'t it?\"

Harry slapped him gently on the top of the head. \"I wouldn\'t know. I haven\'t had enough to be able to tell.\"

\"I can take care of that. This will probably hurt a little bit, but if you\'re patient, it gets so much better. Here goes.\" He pushed slowly, and didn\'t stop till he was seated deeply. \"Okay?\"

\"Give me a minute.\"

\"Just tell me when you\'re ready for me to move.\" Ron kept masturbating him. Harry had softened slightly, but he hadn\'t lost his erection. Ron figured that the continued pleasure couldn\'t do anything but help, and he was right.

Slowly the tightness that had settled in Harry\'s shoulders eased away. \"Okay.\"

Ron began to move his hand slowly and shallowly. Harry had an intense look on his face, as if he was concentrating on something very hard, trying to figure out some sort of puzzle. Ron leaned against him, kissing the slight frown, loving how serious he looked. \"Hold on, Harry. I\'m going to try to give you something.\"

Harry was watching Ron\'s face with faintly amused bewilderment. \"What? The soap?\"

\"Bend your knees a little.\" Harry did. \"More. I don\'t think it will be easy in this position.\"

Harry squatted slightly. \"What won\'t be easy?\"

\"Grab my shoulders.\" Even more puzzle, Harry gripped Ron\'s shoulders. \"Hang on.\" He pushed deep, crooking his fingers.

Harry had to fight the urge to go up on his toes again. It didn\'t really hurt, but the slow building pleasure was beginning to be over ridden by discomfort. And then... Then Ron touched a new place inside him, and rockets seemed to go off. Harry\'s grip tightened so much that it was almost bruising. \"Oh, I think that\'s it.\" He rubbed the spongy little bump he\'d found, and Harry, whimpering in pleasure, let his head fall back till it thumped against the wall. Ron increased the rhythm of his strokes, sliding his finger half out of his lover\'s clinging back passage, then thrusting in again, making sure he touched the prostate again. Harry banged his head back against the wall again. \"Jesus, Harry! Don\'t go knocking yourself out. I\'ll never be able to catch you.\"

\"Oh, GOD, that feels good, Ron!\"

\"Now you know one of the reasons I love you. Are you close?\"

\"Yes.\"

\"Good.\" Ron moved quickly, twisting and pumping with one hand, squeezing and pulling almost roughly with the other. Harry\'s balls clenched, then his ass clenched around Ron\'s thrusting finger as the dark haired boy climaxed, spattering the tiles with a rope of milky sperm which quickly thinned and washed away in the pounding spray. Ron released the other boy\'s still hard cock and wrapped his arm around Harry, holding him as he trembled. He gradually pulled his other finger free, moving slowly, so as to cause no pain. Then he put his other arm around Harry, holding him.

Harry was gasping. As he regained his breath he said, \"Ron, do I really make you feel like that?\"

Ron nodded. \"Yeah. Even more than that, Harry. When you\'re inside me, it\'s like...\" He shook his head, frowning. \"Hermione\'s better with words than I am.\" He sighed. \"It\'s like you fill a place inside of me,\" he gave Harry a severe look, \"and if you mention the obvious, I\'ll have to hurt you.\" Harry smiled slightly, but said nothing, so Ron continued. \"You fill an emptiness that I didn\'t even know I had till we were together the first time.\" He pushed a heavy fall of dark hair up off Harry\'s forehead. \"I think I\'m starting to understand that saying--my other half.\"