Snippets of Desire

The “plans” turned out to be dumping them in the middle of the Room of Requirement and simulating a Death Eater attack. Just the two of them versus a seemingly endless number of masked and robed killers. Harry wondered if the point of this exercise was to spell them into exhaustion. He had lost track of the number of curses he had thrown, the time that had passed, how many opponents he had destroyed. His whole body was beginning to shake as he pulled deeper and deeper for the magic.

Snape wasn’t helping. He and Tonks floated above them in a clear sphere and he was engaged in what he called “character building”. It had been his favorite activity all summer long and comprised of showering endless insults on both Harry and Ron so that they could learn to control their temper. It was an infuriating activity, as Snape meant it to be, but Harry had learned to tune him out. Ron was less successful at it and Harry could see him beginning to lose his temper. Ron’s curses were less crisp; he even missed a couple of times as he choked back his anger at the endless list of insults.

Harry gnawed on his lip as he fired off another curse. He needed Ron to keep it together or they were never going to succeed at whatever this test was. He really wished Snape would shut the hell up. Ron was seconds away from losing his temper and having an apoplectic fit in the middle of a battle and Harry couldn’t deal with it. Firing off a series of curses rapidly he gained them a little time and space. He pressed his body against Ron’s back and leaned forward to whisper in his ear.

“Stay with me Ron. Please.”

Ron turned and met his eyes and something like lust flashed through Harry’s body. Then they were moving in tandem, each curse falling over the next to create a wave of magic and power. Ron’s eyes flicked up to Snape and Tonks and then back to Harry’s. Harry started to grin. Ron had a plan and Harry already knew he was going to like it. They began shifting their position…not towards the sphere, that would be too obvious…but back and to the left.

Again Harry laid down a blitz of curses to give Ron the time he needed. Ron dropped to one knee and fired off a blast at the ceiling above the sphere. A huge chunk of plaster fell, crashing into the ball. Snape and Tonks yelled in annoyance and as they adjusted their magic to deal with the unexpected bits of ceiling, Harry made a slicing motion with his wand. The sphere popped and the two instructors plummeted to the floor. Ron cried out a spell to cushion the space where they would land. Within a breath, Harry yelled a spell and invisible ropes wrapped themselves around the pair mid-air, binding them firmly. Ron reached out and touched Harry’s shoulder and Harry understood what he was saying. With a swift motion, he jerked a cloak over the two prone bodies, one that would leave them unable to do wandless magic, and unable to see or hear the world around them. He and Ron would let them out when they were damn good and ready. The faux-death eaters around them vanished with a pop. Next to him, Ron let out a whoop.

“That was awesome!” Ron cried out in excitement. Harry turned to look at him and wished he hadn’t. He was sweaty and his face was flushed. Ron grinned at him and Harry felt his stomach plummet and twist. Ron took a step and Harry knew he was going to hug him. That couldn’t happen…because he would not be able to stop himself from kissing him and then Ron wouldn’t be his friend anymore and then his whole world would crumble. Ron took another step and Harry turned and fled.