Always

I walked into the apartment I shared with Ron. “Honey I’m home”, I shouted. It was quiet and most of the lights were off. My cat Jynx was running between my legs. I picked him up and nuzzled his face. Ron pretended like he didn’t like him, but I’ve watched them cuddle a few times, and Ron always made sure to leave him some scraps, and for Ron that is a pretty big deal.

“Where is Ronald?” I asked him, placing him back on the floor. I grabbed a can of soda from the fridge and popped up to sit on the counter. I pulled my phone out and shot a text message to Ron to find out where he was. Placing my phone on the counter I took a sip of my drink as I waited for a reply.

Me: Where are you? Just got home.

Ronald Bilius Weasley <3: Stayed behind to help the boys. New ideas. Promise to bring you home something sweet. Don’t wait up. XX

Me: Don’t stay too late. Be Safe <3.

Sighing, I jumped off the counter and threw my now empty can in the recycling. After taking a quick shower I padded my way into Ron’s room to steal a pair of sweatpants and shirt. I grabbed my book from my night table and curled into my favorite spot on our small couch and turned on the TV to some cartoon. I must have fallen asleep reading, as I jumped at the sound of the front door closing.

“Oh shoot. Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you Kat. What are you even doing out here?”, he asked as I lifted my feet so he could sit on the couch. He pulled my feet to his lap and started to rub them. I let out a small moan with how good it felt.

“Ug. That feels so good. I… wanted… to see you”. I replied between groans. He moved to my other foot.

“Missed me then huh?”

“Always”, I replied, turning around, and motioning for him to rub my shoulders. He huffed a laugh before moving my hair out of the way. His fingers grazed my neck and caused me to shiver.

“If you missed me, then why am I the one doing the rubbing?” he joked, kissing the back of my head.

“Because you love me that’s why”, I said, jabbing an elbow in his ribs. He responded by poking my side. I moved to get away from him, but he grabbed me by my waist and pinned me to the couch, tickling my sides. I laughed and snorted. My body jerked and my legs came up and bucked him in the groin. He moved away and doubled over.

“Ow Kat! Damn it, that hurt!” He yelled. I covered my face with my hand to hide my laugh.

“I’m so sorry Ron! But that is what you get for tickling me!” I laughed. He grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch and put it over the both of us.

“What are we watching tonight?” he asked, grabbing the remote.

“No idea. Someone came in late and woke me up, remember?”. I glanced at him from the corner of my eye as he flipped through the channels. He moved his red hair away from his eyes.

“Our normal show then?” he asked, putting the remote down on the coffee table. I moved closer to him. He moved his arm so that I could cuddle into his side. I inhaled as I rested my cheek on his chest. He always smelt so good. Like fall and home.

“Are you smelling me again?” he asked with a chuckle.

“Well stop smelling so good then”, I replied. My phone buzzed lightly from the table.

Ginny: Going to the lake tomorrow with my brothers, Harry, Hermione, and Blaise. You coming?

“Gin wants to know if we want to go to the lake tomorrow with everyone”? I asked Ron, looking up at him.

“Yeah. Sounds fun. We haven’t gone in a long time”. He moved his hand to the back of my head and started playing with my hair.

Me: Yeah, we’re in. What time?

Ginny: We want to make a day of it. 11?

Me: Sounds good. See you then. Goodnight

Ginny: Nite.

“I am going to fall right back to sleep if you keep playing with my hair like that.” I leaned into his touch. His chest vibrated with laughter under my cheek.

“So then fall asleep” he replied matter-of-factly, pulling the blanket back over my arm. I leaned up and gave him a light, quick kiss on the mouth. I’m not sure how long it took me to fall asleep, but I don’t remember anything after he said that. I awoke the next morning, a warm arm wrapped around my waist. I rolled over and poked his side to wake him up.

“Nooo. Go away!”, he grumbled.

“I can’t go away. You’re in my bed, good sir.” I laughed, moving his hair away from his face.

“Still your fault. You were the one who didn’t want me to leave once I put you in bed.” He sighed, throwing his legs over the side of the bed.

“What can I say? You’re like a big warm, comfy, space heater”, I shrugged and got out of bed. I grabbed my bag and went to pack some items for the lake. After which I went to the kitchen and packed a small cooler with a few beers and other drinks for us. “SHOULD I PACK SNACKS?” I shouted to Ron through the apartment. He came out a moment later, his shirt sliding down his body. I felt heat creep up my face and stuck my head back in the fridge as if I was looking for something.

“I mean… I always want snacks but I’m sure there will be plenty at Mum’s house if there isn’t room”. He walked over and peaked in the cooler. I grabbed a few packets of crisps and threw them in the cooler as well to tide him over until we were able to eat lunch and dinner. I looked over at him to see him smiling.

“Ready to go”? I asked, grabbing everything from the counter and reaching my hand out for him. He took my hand as we walked into the floo together.

Molly greeted us at the after arriving at her house. “Oh, good dear’s, you’re here. Now everyone else already grabbed their old rooms, so Katie dear you’re rooming with Ronald again. I’m sure you don’t mind. Hurry along and get dressed, everyone is about ready”. Molly kissed my cheek and went back to the kitchen. I didn’t really think twice about it. I always shared a room with Ron, and so once I lived here, it just became our room. There were many nights we would stay up late talking and laughing, sneaking down to the kitchen in the middle of the night for midnight snacks.

I turned and saw Ron’s twin brothers looking at me. Grins plastered to their faces.

“Shut up”, I frowned at them, following Ron upstairs to our room. Ron and I have always been close. People always assumed we were dating. I suppose I could see why. We were practically glued at the hip. We spend all our free time together at school and away from it. I often slept in his room at school or wore his clothes. I did have a crush on him, but I was too nervous to act on it. I didn’t want to risk losing him as a friend if we ever dated, so I never allowed it to go that far. Everyone knew, and the twins liked to tease me about it. They were the older brothers I’ve never had.

“Mum said we were still rooming together”, I said as I plopped face down on my bed in
the corner of the room. I threw my pillow at his head.

“You know she would die if she heard you call her that. You know she has been planning our wedding for years”, he grinned devilishly, before throwing the pillow back at me. While the pillow was still over my face, I felt weight push down on me, his arm pinned mine down with ease.

“Don’t you dare Ronald Weasley! I will kick you in the dick again if you do”, I yelled. I heard him laugh as he removed the pillow from my face. He still held my hands down with one hand. He was just staring at me. I felt him start to lower his face to mine when we heard a knock and the door started to open.

“Hey guys,” Harry announced himself. Ron quickly moved away from me. Harry knew better than to say something.

“We’re about to head down, are you guys ready?” Harry asked, hand still on the doorknob.

“Yeah, just need to get changed, we’ll be down in a minute”, I replied, smiling at him. He backed out of the room and closed the door. I went over to my bag and pulled out my suit that I packed. Ron was grabbing a pair of trunks that were still in the dresser. I cleared my throat at Ron, and he turned around so I could change. Having pulled on my suit, I told him it was his turn and turned around so he could change. I heard him gulp as I threw on an oversized t-shirt over my suit.

“All set”, Ron said, clearing his throat. We smiled at each other and headed down to the living room where everyone was gathered.

“Ready everyone?” George, one of the twins asked. The younger one if you asked his other half, Fred. We all smashed together on the small golf cart that would take us down to the lake in the back of the property. How we managed to get eight people on a cart that was meant for at the most four is beyond me. Must be magic.

The twins immediately dove right into the water, splashing each other. Hermione and Ginny sat off to the side, tanning in the warm sun. I was sitting on the edge of a rock, with my feet dangling off and into the water. My head was tilted back, feeling the warm sun across my face. I felt Ron come up and sit behind me. He moved to where I was between his legs and placed his chin on the top of my head.

"You are blocking my sun, sir". I nudged his side with my elbow.

"But your head is so comfy" he replied, poking my nose. I nipped at his finger. Laughing, he gathered me in his arms and jumped in the water. I resurfaced, sputtering water out of my mouth.

"You are in so much trouble Ronald Weasley"! I shouted at him, jumping to try and dunk his head under the water. He laughed, picking me up and throwing me back in the water again. I slapped at his chest, and he grabbed my wrists. I stopped breathing for a moment, lost staring into his blue eyes. Fred broke up the moment by pulling Ron back by his shoulders and pushed him into the water again. I climbed out and went to sit back on my rock, letting the sun dry the water on my skin. I started to fall asleep in the sun when I felt a familiar head of hair on my lap. Without opening my eyes, I started to run my fingers through his hair. He hummed in response. We stayed like that for a while, I could feel the sun starting to turn my skin red. I leaned forward to grab the sunscreen from my bag, not paying attention to the fact that by leaning forward, I was putting my breast in Ron's face. I heard a whistle from the water.

"Yeah! Ronnie boy"! Fred yelled.

"Finally getting some action over there"? George added in. I felt my face flush, anger rising up to my neck and to my cheeks. Ron moved from me instantly. I stood up, grabbed my bag, and turned on my heel, walking back to the house. I didn't respond to their stupid comments, afraid I would say something that I would regret later. I threw my bag down inside the door and plopped down on the couch. I closed my eyes. I was tired and I was frustrated. Why couldn't they just let us be. I heard the door open and close gently. I opened one eye and peeked at the head of red hair looking down on me.

"WHAT"? I snapped, throwing my head back over my eyes.

"Don't do that Kat, I didn't do anything." Ron sighed and sat on the arm of the couch.

"Well, you didn't defend us either". I sat up and moved my feet off the couch, so he could sit down properly.

"You didn't stay long enough to hear me Kat. You should know by now that I would never let anyone do anything to you". He was looking down at the floor. I stood up and began pacing the floor behind the couch.

"I know! I'm sorry. I'm just so... FUCK! I'm frustrated! Why can't anyone just let us be... us?" I sighed, wiping a tear away from my face.

"Kat..." Ron began, but I cut him off.

"Why can't I just hug you because I want to hug you, or cuddle you because I want to, or kiss you because I want to? Why does it always have to be forced upon us? Why does it matter to anyone but us?”, I asked, looking down. Ron moved to my side and pulled my chin up to meet him.

"You want to kiss me?", he asked, a smirk playing on his lips.

"I... that's not...", I sighed.

"Of course, I want to. You’re good at it. I just... I love what we have Ron. I don't want... I can't... what if I lost..." I sighed and tried to look away from him again, but he wouldn't let me. He placed a soft kiss on my forehead and then led me back to the couch.

"Lay with me"? I asked. I moved to lay on my side and pushed against the back of the couch to make room for Ron. Ron laid down and I threw my arm over his waist, and he put an arm around my shoulder, his fingers playing with the base of neck. Our snores soon took over the room. I woke to noises around us but didn't open my eyes or bother to move.

"Oh, Arthur, quick, grab the camera so we can get a picture before they wake up". Molly was whispering to Arthur and moving around us. I heard the click of the camera and opened my eyes so that they would know I was awake. Sitting up, Ron's arm fell off my shoulder, the jolt waking him up. He sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Oh, sorry dears, I didn't mean to wake you. You just looked so adorable together on the couch, I just had to get a picture." She fussed at us, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

"Is dinner ready? I'm starved"! Ron asked, standing to stretch.

"Of course, you are" I grinned at him.

"Yes, yes. Come on, the table is already all set" Molly cooed and walked away to the kitchen. We headed to our seats and began eating our meal, the other joined shortly after.