Always

After dinner, I made my way upstairs and gathered my things to take a quick shower. After my shower I sat on my bed in our room and began to read my book. I had only meant to read for an hour or so before going to find the others, but I got lost in the story and let time get away from me. I felt the bed shift lower by feet. Without looking up, I lifted my legs so he could place them on top of his lap.

“Care to join the rest of us darling? Or is your fictional world just that much better than us?”, Ron joked, smiling at me over my book. I glanced up at him and stuck my tongue out.

“Hmm… no world is better than you”, I joked back, looking back at my book. “Let me just finish this chapter, I only have like a paragraph left, and then we can go”, I replied, grabbing the old picture of Ron and me as babies that I use as a bookmark. Finishing my chapter, I placed the picture in the book and set it on the bedside table between our beds. Reaching for Ron’s hands, I let him lift me off the bed. I gave him a kiss on the cheek before I headed downstairs, Ron following closely behind me.

“Ahh there she is!” George exclaimed, coming over to gather me in his arms in a big hug. “Come to join the land of the living?” he joked.

“Yeah, yeah whatever”, I laughed, hugging him back. Of course, I couldn’t stay mad at him. I shouldn’t have even gotten mad at him in the first place. Everyone always made the same jokes, George just seemed to be the tipping point that day.

“Mum said her, and dad were going to bed, and she said she was placing a silencing spell around their room”, Fred said, reaching behind his chair to grab a couple bottles of whiskey and rum.

“And of course, for extra safety, Hermione placed an additional silencing spell around the living room. We promised Mum no messes though”, Ginny said, plopping down on the floor next to Harry. I saw her reach her hand towards his so that their pinkies were linked together. They were sweet together. I glanced at Ron out of the corner of my eye and watched him wrinkle his nose at the small show of affection between his little sister and his best friend.

“Hey guys, I’ll be right back. These shorts are bothering me”, I said, excusing myself from the group. As I made my way upstairs, I noticed the girls following me. Once the door to our room was shut, Ginny started in with the questions.

“Soooo… What is going on with you and my brother? You both left earlier and never came back”. Leave it to Ginny to notice too much.

“I… it’s not… I just…”, I trailed off, pulling one of Ron’s t-shirts over my head, letting it linger a moment before pulling it fully down so I could breathe in his scent. Fall and home.  “Of course, I like Ron. A lot. But I just… What if we decide to go into this and lose our friendship? Or what if we don’t last? I guess I’m just scared”. I turned to reach into his dresser where I knew he kept his comfiest pants. Pulling out a pair, I pulled them up and finally turned around.

“Have you tried talking to him about all this? He would do anything for you Katie, but he’s also my brother. I don’t want to see him hurt by you leading him on”, Ginny reached for my hand, giving it a squeeze before turning to head out the door. We made our way downstairs to the living room. George was sitting in one of the chairs, Fred was on the floor in front of the coffee table, Harry was on the floor in front of the other chair, which Ginny filled, Harry leaned back against her legs. Blaise was sitting on one end of the couch, Ron on the other side. Hermione moved to the floor in front of Blaise. I plopped down on the couch between Blaise and Ron. I elbowed Ron in the ribs.

“Nice clothes”, he whispered in my ear. His breath sent chills down my spine. I felt my breath hitch, heat started to rise up my neck.

“What can I say, they look better on me”. I laughed, covering my blush. I reached my hand out for the whiskey. I took a swig, the liquid burned going down, but tasted good. I passed the bottle to Ron. “Aren’t we a little old for drinking games?” I asked the group.

“Yes, but it is fun. So that is what we are doing”, George said.

“Fine then. What are we playing?” I asked.

“Let’s play, never have I ever. We haven’t done that in a while”, Ginny said. She grabbed some cups and poured rum in each of them. “Oh, and I should mention, I asked Blaise for some truth potion from his shop. Your drinks are spiked”, she grinned devilishly after we had already taken sips.

“Ginny, you are too devious. I think your brothers had a terrible influence on you”, Hermione joked, taking a sip of her drink. “Who wants to start?” she asked.

“I’ll start”, Blaise said, looking around the room. “Never have I ever… lived in this house” he finished. Everyone except him took a sip of their drink.

“Never have I ever kissed anyone in this room”, George said. Slowly, one by one, Ginny, Harry, Ron, and myself drank. Even more slowly, Hermione and Blaise then took a drink. Most of us either gasped or shouted.

“WHAT? YOU GUYS KISSED? AND YOU DIDN’T TELL ME?”, Ginny shouted at Hermione. “When did this happen?”, she asked more calmly.

“It’s new”, was all Hermione said back. The game went on for a while. Each of us taking blows and saying things we knew would make the others drink. Eventually the game switched to truth or dare once we ran out of things to drink to. Harry was dared to kiss Ginny, which was a cheap dare since they are dating. George was wearing a shirt that belonged to Ginny. Fred was in only his boxers. He was dared to be naked by George, but Ginny stopped that. All of us were dared to reveal how many people we’ve slept with. Only Ron and I admitted to being virgins.

“Last round Georgie, I don’t think I can drink anymore”, I sighed.

“Fine then Katie, truth or dare?” George asked.

“Dare. Why the hell not?”, I giggled, a true sign I was drunk.

“I dare you to kiss Ron”, he said smugly. I should have seen this coming. They would always try to force us together. Little did they know we have been sharing plenty of kisses lately. I turned so that I was straddling Ron, I placed my arms around his neck, my fingers tangled in his hair, pushing him close to me. I leaned down to whisper in his ear.

“Want to give them a show?” I asked sweetly, placing a soft kiss below his ear. He wasted no time and grabbed my face to kiss me. He ran his tongue across my lower lip. My lips parted to give him more access. His hand moved to my back, pushing me closer to him. Our mouths were moving in sync. I ground my hips down, I could feel him through his sweats. I had to suppress a moan. I was regretting this decision at this point, suddenly aware that we had an audience. I broke apart from him, my breathing ragged. I looked into his eyes and forgot to breathe. I stood up suddenly.

“It’s been fun guys, but I’m beat. Goodnight”. I rushed back to our room before anyone could respond, and sat on the bed, my hands covering my face. I heard Ron enter the room quietly and sit down next to me on the bed a few moments later.

“I’m sorry I left so quickly. I suddenly became aware that we were being watched and I just… I don’t know”. I sighed. He pulled me to his side.

“Don’t be sorry Kat, I just wanted to make sure you were okay. If I’m being honest, I forgot they were there too”, he replied with a smile, leaning down to kiss the top of my head.

“Was everyone still down there? I’m hungry”. He laughed at me, pulling me to stand up.

“No. Everyone followed me upstairs. Let’s go get a snack”. He held my hand, our fingers laced together as we walked down the stairs. I grabbed the jar of cookies mum made earlier and set them down in front of him.

“Mwilk?” I asked Ron, my mouth full.

“Mm wes pwese”, Ron responded, shoving more cookie into his mouth. I handed him glass of milk and downed it immediately. Milk was dripping down his chin.

“Come here ya fool”, I laughed at him, wiping the milk with the bottom of my shirt, his shirt. The skin from my stomach was showing. He had his hand on my waist, his thumb grazed the skin showing there. My breathing hitched and I leaned down into his touch, his face buried in my chest. “Ron. I…” I trailed off, my voice barely a whisper.

“Come on, let's get up to bed before we get caught”, Ron said. I followed him up the stairs and watched as he climbed in his own bed. I wanted to ask him to sleep with me, but instead I pulled back the covers on my own bed and climbed in.

“Goodnight Ronald”, I yawned, my eyes closing.

“Goodnight beautiful” he replied, his snores soon filling the room. I was going to talk to him once we got back to our apartment. This tension was killing me. I wanted him fully. I fell asleep, the feeling of his lips on mine, replaying in my mind.