(no subject)
Written for hprwfqf on InsaneJournal here.
Title: The Pitfalls of Hero Worship
Author: Maple
Pairing: Harry/Ron
Challenge: Teenage Teddy is resentful of Harry and Ron's relationship
Summary: Teddy learns there is more to Harry and Ron than what he sees.
Word Count: 9300+
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Slash to be sure. Rimming, top/bottom - bottom/top, wet!Harry, angry!Ron
A/N or Prompt: I may have missed the point of the fuh-q-fest and my prompt and wrote a whole blasted story!
My thanks to mrstater who pondered Teddy-isms with me. My dear mrsquizzical for the many read throughs and corrections AND to gwen1170 and shocolate for the beta and Brit Picking!
~^~
The Platform hummed with anticipation as the Scarlet train from Hogwarts approached. The air was heavy with humidity from the rainy summer afternoon and the heat of bodies additionally burdened with umbrellas and macs.
Harry and Ron were at the rear of the bustling crowd, leaning under a brick archway where they went relatively unnoticed, camouflaged behind the bulk of their robes thrown over their forearms.
Taking advantage of this, Ron had one hand firmly cupping Harry’s buttock, massaging in circles.
“Ron?” Harry continued to look ahead at the train.
“Yeah?”
“What’re you doing back there?”
“Nuhthing,” Ron answered, a hint of a suppressed chuckle in his voice.
“Then why,” Harry turned his head to whisper, “have you got your - ooh!” Harry squeaked a particular firm squeeze.
“I’ve been wanting to do this all day, but you haven’t slowed down long enough.” Ron adjusted his hand up the back of Harry’s t-shirt, seeking Harry’s skin.
“I’ve been cleaning all day.”
“I know.”
“And doing the washing.”
“I know.”
“Roon …” Harry’s voice hitched higher and he lost his train of thought as Ron’s fingertips began inching downward. “… I do cool, macho Auror stuff at work with you all the time, but me cleaning on our day off, is erotic?”
“Does it really matter?” Ron asked, slowly removing his hand from Harry’s trousers as students were now exiting the train. “Anytime I have unfettered access to your arse is erotic.”
“Will you stop about my arse. He’ll be here soon.” Harry looked Ron with a stern face but it melted into an affectionate smile.
They were both excited about having Teddy to visit. The end of term excitement in the air was infectious as they pressed forward to find their charge.
“It’s been so long since I’ve seen him, if not for that hair I might not recognize him.”
Ron had been ill with Scrofungulus during Teddy’s holiday visit last winter. And when an overseas Auror dispatch was necessary the previous summer, Ron took the assignment so that Harry could stay home to visit his godson between terms. The result being, that he hadn’t seen Teddy Lupin for nearly a year and half.
Ron had continued writing notes to Teddy, enclosing them in Harry’s letters to Hogwarts, but noticed that Teddy’s post was always addressed to Harry alone. It seemed like a silly thing to mention, but it had bothered Ron on more than one occasion.
“Wonder if he still likes me …” Ron muttered.
Harry heard this and stopped; clasping a hand on Ron’s forearm he gave it a meaningful squeeze. “Of course he does! He’s just fifteen, that’s all.”
They’d been on the lookout for bright turquoise hair, so were taken by surprise when Teddy, now coiffed a conservative golden brown, stood before them.
“Hi Harry!” the boy said, his voice now as deep as their own, and dropped the end of his trunk.
“Teddy!” Harry pulled him into a hug, before pushing him away by the shoulders again. “Look at you! You’re grown!”
Teddy was now eye to eye with Harry, if not taller and was beaming with a blush at the acknowledgement of it.
“He’s not joking, mate. I wouldn’t have recognized you.” Ron moved to give Teddy into a brief hug.
“’lo,” Teddy said simply, shuffling out of Ron’s arms, grabbing his trunk at one end. “Thanks for coming to get me, Harry.” He seemed to be anxious to leave the station.
With the jostling crowd of raucous animals, fussing mothers and tetchy fathers, it was reasonable that their little reunion was somewhat awkward.
Ron took the other end of Teddy’s trunk and they began working their way through the crowd; Teddy by Harry’s side and Ron trailing behind.
“Well we are happy to have you,” Harry said. “Of course I was sorry to hear about your grandmother’s friend taking ill, but we’re still glad to have you stay while she’s off visiting.”
“Did you bring the car?” Teddy asked hopefully, as they passed through the gate into the Muggle train station.
Harry failed to stifle his grin as he looked back at Ron. “Actually, the car’s been a bit damaged. Ron flew into the tower of Dartmouth Castle.” He smirked at Ron again, who shook his head and glared.
He didn’t mention the fact that his head had been in Ron’s lap at the time, which contributed to Ron’s flying mishap. They were lucky that none of Ron’s bits ended up ‘a bit damaged’ as well.
Teddy however saw no humor in the situation and his face fell. “What did you that for?” he griped at Ron. “That was stupid …”
“Oi!” Harry reached out and cuffed him fatherly on the back of the head. “Mind your manners.”
“Sorry,” Teddy replied quickly, though it was said more to Harry than to Ron.
Harry looked back at Ron once more and they exchanged the same curious expression. He wondered if perhaps Ron’s trepidation about Teddy’s displeasure about them was accurate after all.
~
After their train journey home, they threw together a quick meal of steak and onions with jacket potatoes. Harry and Ron continued to smirk as they listened to Teddy’s telling of the great injustices he suffered, getting detentions for cheeking the Care of Magical Creatures Professor - he didn’t think the Jabberknolls were housed properly - and for protesting the lack of house points awarded to Slytherin House.
“I know Slytherins were all bad back in your day-”
“Not all,” Harry interjected.
“- but things have changed now! It’s just not right that their points should be so far behind the other houses!”
It seemed wherever there was a cause to point out inequity, Teddy was the loudest voice against the wrong; something that ironically managed to lose him Hufflepuff house points on a regular basis.
Hearing a teenager’s melodramatic take on life, compared to the magnitude of their daily job pursing dark wizards for a living was entertaining. Still, it was intriguing to imagine an existence of such relative ease, however seriously Teddy took the matters
“And add to that, I helped Abigail Aubrey in Transfiguration all year, only to get twenty-five house points taken away by Professor Longbottom! It’s utterly unfair!”
They knew when a story didn’t add up. Harry and Ron looked at each other before looking back at Teddy.
“Why did the Head of Gryffindor house take points away from you? Surely it wasn’t for tutoring?”
Teddy’s cheeks pinked and he squirmed, defying the manly posture he’d carried all afternoon. “Well …”
“Come on, man, let’s have it,” Ron said.
“I … He … might have caught us kissing in the Gryffindor common room.”
Ron laughed. “Ok, now hang on, kissing in another common room can’t be a twenty five point infraction. Neville’s a fairer bloke than that.”
“Yeah, if that was the case, we’d have owed house points by the end of sixth year,” Harry added. “What with all the snogging Ron did.”
“Oi!”
“Really?” Teddy’s head perked up, looking at Ron as if he’d only just appeared in the room. “Who were you snogging?”
Ron gave a wide, smug smile, stabbed a slice of steak and took a bite. Under the table he stretched out his leg, nudging Harry’s ankle with his long toes.
“Never you mind that.” Harry poked Teddy back onto subject. “I want to know about that twenty five points.”
“Oh, that. Well, it might have … ok, it was after curfew - but ”
“Aha!” both Ron and Harry exclaimed. “I knew Neville was reasonable,” Ron continued. “You deserved it then. And only a fourth year, at that. Better slow it down, kid, or you’ll be on your honeymoon before you take N.E.W.T.S.”
“But we didn’t break curfew so we could snog! Professor Longbottom gave us permission to stay late to study. -- She’s really rubbish at transfiguration.”
“And snogging was going to improve the girl’s marks, yeah?”
Teddy blushed further but didn’t back down from his argument. “That’s not the issue. We had permission to stay late to revise for her O.W.L.s the next day. The - the kissing happened after we’d finished studying. And since kissing is not against Hogwarts’ rules, and since we had permission to break curfew, losing points was completely unfair!”
“Don’t see the difference,” Ron argued.
“There is a difference!” Teddy said, looking so hot about the whole thing that neither Ron nor Harry could really take him seriously any longer.
“Mushrooms?” Harry offered Ron.
“Thank you.”
Teddy took a bite with a very audible ‘humph’.
The silence that hung over the table contained both Harry and Ron’s amusement and Teddy indignance.
“Hrg-hmm,” Ron cleared his throat, giving Harry a warning glance that he was attempting to regain the peace. “Her name was Lavender Brown.”
Teddy perked up with interest. Harry’s eyebrows shot upwards and he snorted.
“You just hush.” Ron told him with a pointed finger.
“I didn’t say a word,” he answered, pouring himself more pumpkin juice.
“She was this really fit girl, you know? Loads of blokes wanted to be with her.”
“Or already had been,” Harry murmured under his breath.
“Shut it,” Ron warned, equally under his breath.
“She was really all that?” Teddy asked, the unmistakable look of approval in his eyes.
“Oh yeah. She was beautiful! And you’ve got to understand, I was nothing at special at school. No one had taken notice of me before.”
“That’s not true,” Harry added quietly.
“Shh! And here was this gorgeous girl, wanting me. Wasn’t much in the way of personality, mind, but not a bad snog.”
Ron glared at Harry when he made a derisive sound into his drinking glass.
“I didn’t say a word!”
“Good! Cos you’ve got no room to comment anyway! You weren’t exactly subtle with Ginny, were you?”
“That’s right!” Teddy exclaimed. “You went together with Ginny a long time ago, didn’t you?”
“Not fond of the ‘long time ago’ part, but the rest is true.” He looked at Ron, adding “… I was young and didn’t know any better.”
Ron’s long toes found Harry’s leg under the table again and then pinched at his leg hair.
“That’s really cool! I thought,” Teddy said, looking back and forth between them. “I didn’t know you - I want to hear more about your time at school. Oh, and tell me about Professor Longbottom, too!”
So they spent another hour regaling Teddy with their tales while tidying the kitchen. They avoided mention of Voldemort and murders, all of which Teddy had heard before, but instead told him of the frivolous things that had made their teen years somewhat normal; Quidditch games, detentions, and bungled romances.
“Well, I’m off, fellas.” Ron stood behind Harry, giving him a playful shake of the shoulders. “Some of us have to work in the morning.” Harry had taken the week off to be with Teddy.
Then, with some uncertainty, he turned to Teddy and held out his hand. “Good to have you with us, Ted.”
Harry knew that Ron’s heart was in the hand he offered Teddy, and for a moment that twisted in Harry’s gut, it looked as if Teddy would rebuff Ron’s offer of kinship as he had at the train station. Instead, he shook Ron’s hand. They leaned into one another, bumping chests in a brief familial embrace.
It wasn’t really very late, so Harry suspected he knew exactly why Ron had gone to bed ‘tired’.
After making sure Teddy was sorted and comfortable for the night, Harry turned in himself.
“I was afraid I’d fall asleep before you came,” Ron said, smirking as he rolled over to face Harry. “He’s kind of a righteous little prig, isn’t he?”
Harry clucked his tongue but it was impossible to disagree. “Yes. But his heart’s in the right place. We had something to fight for at that age. Teddy’s kind of floundering, isn’t he?”
“Spoilt, more like.”
“Oh, shush. I was going to stay up with him, but he’s listening to a music concert on the wireless. The Antarctic Mokes - pfft,” Harry scoffed. “They’re no Weird Sisters.”
Harry dropped his trousers and sat on the edge of the bed with a sigh to pull them off.
“I know he’s been shirty with you, I’m sorry.” He dropped his chin to his chest while Ron rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s only because he hasn’t seen you much the past few years.” He pushed himself back up onto the bed.
“I’m ok if he’s not keen on me. As long as he keeps on hero-worshipping you, he’ll be alright.”
Ron Noxed the light and shifted so that he was lying between Harry’s legs on his stomach. They continued talking, having a laugh at Teddy’s combustible youth and scoffing the notion that either of them had ever been so tempestuous, knowing full well that they had been.
That’s the thing, Harry noticed, about living all of your life with someone who knew you when you were young; no denying your history.
All the while they talked, they were pressed against each other. Harry’s ankle wrapped about the back of Ron’s thigh, both sets of hands running a slow, steady path over the bodies that they knew so well.
Eventually, conversation dissipated and they were consumed with each other’s touch. Taking their time, they kissed, enjoying the touch of each other’s mouth for the sheer pleasure of it. Letting a kiss fuel desire for each other, rather than letting it be diminished into a cursory exercise before getting to the sex.
‘The sex’ wasn’t wanting for attention. It was only last week that Ron had been bent over the arm of the couch shortly after they Floo’d home at nearly midnight, both foregoing food for fucking. And the week before, Harry found himself on his back, among the breakfast things, his knees hoisted high, talking filthy to Ron, as both of them worked up a sweat before going to work that morning.
It was easy to project the aggravations in their lives; Harry would scowl, Ron would joke, and they both had to put on various ‘fronts’ while at work.
But all of that fell aside leaving nothing but Harry and Ron. Here in their bed, with no reason to hurry, they took their time loving each other. Removing clothes; t-shirts and underwear, piece by piece, kissing a nipple a tummy, a thigh, along the way.
The focus here was to resist the habitual instinct to get hard and slick skipping right to the pleasure of thrusting cock and arse.
Harry brushed the fringe out of Ron’s eyes as he looked up at him. “When’s the last time I told you I love you?”
Ron chewed his lip to minimize a wide smile. “I think it was only yesterday, actually.”
Maybe that was true. The words tumbled out all the time. The frailty of life they saw on a daily basis made them certain to tell each other often enough.
“But this is different,” Harry said. To say the words while letting the worries of the world fall away, holding each other, looking in each other’s eyes and really, truly meaning it. “I do love you.”
Ron kissed him, lingering as if to absorb the feeling in Harry’s words as they clung on his lips. Ron nuzzled along his jaw; gravelling his own heartfelt, “love you, too,” all the while shifting up and straddling Harry’s lap.
Harry silently praised the conveniences of magic as Ron eased down onto Harry’s cock. Pausing together, they enjoyed the initial breathtaking pressure of their joining. Ron’s thighs flexed on either side of Harry as he began to raise and lower his body, taking Harry deep, and then deeper, inside.
“Dunno why we ever leave the house,” Ron gasped, placing his hands near Harry’s shoulders so he could leverage himself up, letting Harry create a more forceful pace from below. “… Should just stay home and do this all the time.”
“Think we could find a way to earn wages for fucking each other?” Harry chuckled. Their effusive affection from earlier was beginning to bubble over into giddiness.
“Yeah. Why not? … The birds in the office would pay to watch, I’m certain of it.” Ron nipped at Harry’s earlobe. “A few of the blokes too, I expect.”
Harry snorted and his rhythm broke. Ron lowered his weight onto Harry’s chest with a smile. Ron always looked pleased with himself when he made Harry laugh.
“Hey,” Harry patted the side of Ron’s arse and jerked his head. “Let’s shift, do this properly.”
Ron swore, sounding eager, and moved as Harry suggested, who wasted no time in getting onto his knees behind Ron.
They took their time positioned in this way. Moving together, getting their blood up, getting short of breath, and getting just to the edge of blissful climax, though not in a rush to have it end too soon.
“Lay flat out,” Harry whispered. Ron stretched his legs out behind him and Harry followed him down, not breaking their connection.
He thrust a few more times, both letting out a groan at the enhancement the change brought, but they felt the need now. Harry rolled them onto their sides. Holding onto Ron’s hip, they moved until finding a rhythm familiar to them.
“Yes! That’s it, Harry … nearly…” Ron began to gibber.
Harry reached around, careful to avoid Ron’s hand now rapidly stroking his cock. He cupped his palm over Ron’s sacs, which were constricted and tight against his body. So close. He closed his eyes, concentrating on his thrusting, the in, the out.
Sensation began welling up in him.
He felt Ron tense and something about the movement made Harry stop, fearing Ron was hurting. When he opened his eyes he realized there was light emanating into the room and he heard a thump and scuffling sounds behind him.
“Fucking shit,” Ron whispered.
“Sorry! I just - and I didn’t - god!” Teddy stammered as he stood up after apparently tripping over shoes inside the doorway.
“It’s all ri -Teddy, did you need?-” Harry struggled to say something at the same time, but was at a loss. He’d completely forgotten that the boy was even in the house, though half of his brain was lucid enough to reach for the sheet to shield his clammy arse from his godson’s view.
“No! Nothing,” Teddy said forcefully, backing out the door, pulling it shut with a loud slam that shook the wall.
It opened again. “Sorry!” came Teddy’s voice through the crack and he shut the door once more, gently this time.
Harry was literally frozen and slack jawed with mortification, until his brain finally communicated reality to his flagging cock. He and Ron uncoupled, both groaning this time with dis-satisfaction.
“I can’t believe that just happened,” Harry gasped. “I should go talk to him.”
Ron’s body shook with silent laughter, lying on his stomach with his face buried in his pillow.
“No, you can’t do that,” he said, lifting his head to take a breath. “The last thing he wants is to have to look you in the face right now.”
“I can’t just leave him. He’s going to be …” Harry wasn’t exactly sure what Teddy would ‘be’, but he was already stepping pantless into his jeans.
“Harry, honestly, you should just leave the kid alone. He’ll come out when he’s hungry and then he can just pretend nothing happened.”
Harry paused, turning his t-shirt right side out while he considered Ron’s suggestion. “I don’t know. I feel badly for him.” Then, grabbing his glasses off the nightstand, he turned towards the door. “Wish me luck.”
“When are you going to learn to leave things alone?” Ron complained.
~
He found Teddy in the kitchen, grinding both palms over his closed eyelids, a bottle of Butterbeer gripped in one hand. His hair appeared to have a glint of pale grey in it.
“Ted? You ok?” Harry spoke softly, but Teddy still jumped. “I’m so sorry, mate.”
“No! I’m fine. It’s fine. I’m sorry.” Teddy spoke fast, looking at Harry with round eyes before looking everywhere else but at Harry.
“It didn’t even occur to me to lock the door,” Harry tried to rationalize, but Teddy scrunched his face and shoulders and put out his hand.
“My fault!” Teddy edged around the table away from Harry. “I found more Butterbeer in the larder and wanted to know if was ok to drink, so I went up to ask.”
Harry pursed his lips, assuming this wasn’t the appropriate time to state that it should be obvious that anything in the larder was meant for consumption, or to wonder how Teddy could have already drank the half dozen bottles that were in the refrigerator. “That’s fine. You can have as much as you like,” he finally said.
The only sound was the blaring music from the wireless in the living room.
“I’ll leave you alone then,” Harry said. “If you want to talk about … anything, I won’t mind.” Harry made it nearly to the stairs before Teddy spoke.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked, the emotion in Teddy’s voice made Harry flinch. “About you and Ron?’”
Harry deflated. This had been coming for years.
“I truly thought you’d figured it out by now.” Harry answered.
But no, that wasn’t fair. They’d been elusive, hadn’t they? When was he going to learn to be honest at the start?
“How could I know that?” Teddy asked, full of sudden anger. “You never told me! I’ve heard things at school. People’ve said stuff but I didn’t believe them.’
“I’m sorry.”
“I defended you! I thought you two were like, like, brothers! Everyone always says you’re just one of the Weasleys. I thought maybe you were just too messed up from the war to get married or something!” Harry scratched on his arm, finding himself on the unfunny side of Teddy’s temper. “But you lied to me! My whole life!”
“We never lied to you,” Harry insisted.
“You sat there,” he pointed at the table, “telling me about your girlfriends! You must think I’m so stupid.” Teddy looked like a wounded owl stuck in cage, all ruffled and wide-eyed, ready to peck if you came near.
“But that was all true, I swear. No lies.”
“It’s him, isn’t it?” Teddy accused. “It’s his fault.”
“… Yes, it is. But Ron didn’t make me who I am. He just made me happy about it.”
Teddy made a dismissive noise in his throat.
“And I’m afraid I’m a selfish bastard, because I won’t even let you take that away from me.”
“But you don’t have to be,” Teddy waved at the ceiling upstairs, “like that, Harry. You’re famous, and you’re not that old. You could pull any woman you want.”
Harry tried very hard to smirk, but was fairly certain he failed. “I appreciate the vote of confidence, but I really wouldn’t be interested.” He paused, feeling guilty about what he was about to say. “We made a promise a long time ago to be …” Harry took a breath and rolled his eyes. “To be discreet with you.”
“Discreet? Ha!” Teddy scoffed.
“You weren’t meant to see that upstairs.”
“Well I did see! I know what he is now. Plays up the war hero bit, all the while he’s really - he’s the ‘wife’!”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“He using you!”
“He’s never!” Harry’s voice lost all trace of humor. “He’s one of the few that’s never cared about that, Ted. - And do not show disrespect to Ron. Understand me?”
Teddy took a step back, bumping into the refrigerator. The look on his face said that he understood well enough. “Who’d you promise to be ‘discreet’ to?” he asked.
Harry sighed. “… To your grandmother.”
“What? I don’t believe it. Why?”
“It’s true. Ron and I were a lot younger when we got together, and plenty of people didn’t like it. Your grandmother is a fine woman in many ways, but she still has her prejudices.”
“No way! She’s a huge supporter of Muggle-born rights!”
“Well of course she is. That’s easy to get behind! But she wouldn’t accept us. She didn’t want us to ‘expose you’ to our private life. She had ‘concerns’ that it might do you harm.”
Harry ran his hands through his hair. He was so thrown off by the discomfort of interrupted sex, hurt by Teddy’s reaction, and annoyed at the resurfacing feeling of shame that he’d long ago got rid of.
“We would never agree to something like that now. But back then I was willing to accept her terms just so I wouldn’t lose you.”
“Can’t you just … just please try to be normal, Harry?”
Harry recoiled and glared at his godson. The words offended him deeply, but Teddy’s saving grace was that he looked so genuinely shocked and hurt, and Harry owned a part of that.
Ron descended the stairs amid the silence fully dressed, and, Harry noted, with his wand in his back pocket. Clearly he’d heard them shouting as he looked between them.
“All right?” he asked Harry softly.
Harry shrugged and shook his head, rubbing his eyes under his glasses.
“I think enough has been said tonight,” Ron said. “We’ve all had a long day. What do you say we turn in?”
“I want to go home,” Teddy said, crossing his arms, fixing his eyes across the room.
“’Fraid you’re with us until Andromeda returns next week,” Ron said.
“I’m not a baby. I can take care of myself.”
“I’m sorry, Teddy-” Harry began to apologize, but Ron interrupted.
“- Then don’t act like a baby. Your godfather is responsible for you until your grandmother gets home. There’s no discussion about it.”
Teddy fumed, an echo of his father’s fierceness in his features as he glared at Harry.
“I don’t want to be here. With a, a liar!” Teddy seemed to struggle with some way to be hurtful. “And a, a pervert!”
“You had better watch your mouth, Lupin,” Ron warned.
“It’s ok, Ron,” Harry sighed.
“Right. It’s ok because he knows it’s the truth. His whole life is lie!” Teddy was losing himself in a rant. “Letting people think he’s a great hero. He’s the savior who always does the right thing. The truth is, you’re a fraud!”
“That’s enough out of you,” Ron said in quiet voice.
“You let everyone think you’re the great defender of the world, while you carry on your sordid, secret affair!”
“I’m warning you right now…” Ron’s words rumbled barely loud enough to be heard between Teddy’s taunts.
“Did my parents know what you were before they died for you?”
Harry knew it was coming, but Teddy certainly didn’t.
Ron reached out - people always under estimated his reach - and grabbed a handful of Teddy’s shirt. He yanked Teddy sideways and heaved him against the wall none too gently.
“Your mum and dad would be ashamed of you right now, that’s what!” Ron snapped at him.
“Fuck well off, why don’t you?” Teddy shouted, trying to kick out.
Ron snorted, and for all that Ron towered above him, Teddy was still struggling, puffed up and ready for a fight.
“I’m not scared of you!” Teddy yelled, though the pitch of his voice suggested otherwise.
“You ought to be,” Ron snarled.
Teddy pushed against him, his hair turning deep shade of cherry in his anger. He stopped struggling for a moment and appeared to swell, growing taller and broader.
“Nuh-uh! Nullus Abeo!” Ron snapped with a flick of his wand.
Teddy gave a strangled cry as if he’d been kicked in the shin and immediately shrunk back to normal size. He looked up at Ron with round eyes.
“Auror, remember?” Ron thumped himself in the chest with the fist that gripped his wand. “I know how to keep Metamorphs from out sizing me.”
“Ron,” Harry pleaded, not wanting to break unity with him, but not at all comfortable with his two most treasured people at each other like this.
“It’s about time, Ted,” Ron menaced, leaning his face into Teddy’s. “That you decide whether you’re a kid or a man. A kid who talks to Harry like that is going to get acquainted with the broad side of my belt. A man is going to meet the wrong end of my fist.”
Harry held his breath and clenched his jaw.
The threat hung heavily in the air for a moment before Teddy wilted, his face fixed in a determined pout and he dropped his eyes to the floor.
Ron paused and then stood back, though Teddy remained against the wall of his own volition.
“You can finish your music program and then go upstairs,” Ron instructed in an even voice. “And you’ll have to apologize to your godfather if you want to eat again.”
Teddy looked up at Harry, as if expecting - hoping- that Harry would say something to contradict this order. Harry returned a resolved look, trying to use his ‘Auror face’, but it pained him to do so.
He felt like he was betraying Teddy, or worse … Remus.
Letting out a deflated exhale Teddy skulked into the living room and sat with a huff on the couch.
“I’m going to bed,” Ron grumbled, giving Harry a beckoning look.
Harry followed Ron upstairs, waiting until they were out of earshot before speaking.
“Was that really necessary?” Harry hissed.
“I’ve been through far too much with you, to let anyone get away with talking to you like that now, Harry.”
Ron unbuttoned his jeans.
“You didn’t mean that belt thing, did you?”
“What? Oh, that. ‘Course not. Teddy knows that.”
“How could he possibly know that, Ron? I didn’t know if you were serious!”
“Come on. That was just like when kids say ‘My dad is gonna kill me’. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“Well I meant it when I said it! And Teddy never had anyone to threaten to kill him.”
Ron, now in his t-shirt and underwear, wasn’t going to bite into Harry’s attempts to argue about this. Instead he slid his hands around the back of Harry’s neck, looking down at him under long ginger eyelashes.
“Don’t turn this into an orphan ‘thing’. There’s no comparison between his childhood and yours. Your uncle was a foul prick who mistreated you. Teddy’s a pampered brat.” And with that, he kissed Harry’s temple, mischievously knocking his glasses askew, ending any possibility of further argument.
And Harry had been diffused.
Ron climbed into bed and threw his t-shirt on the floor. Then he rolled onto his side curling his pillow between his shoulder and head. “Come to bed, Harry. He’ll be fine in the morning.”
Harry hesitated.
“Look, Teddy just needed to see that I’m not a great poofter, who lured his precious godfather into a life of buggery. This way, he can give himself permission to show me some respect.”
Harry snorted. “Said the baby brother.”
“That’s right,” Ron yawned. “I got put in my place more than once by my brothers, didn’t I?”
“And you hated it.”
Ron ignored the comment and continued. “And besides, the little bastard ruined my chances to finish what we started earlier, didn’t he?”
“Yes,” Harry answered, shucking his jeans.
“Figured as much,” Ron muttered.
Harry climbed into bed with a lot of huffing and spooned himself against Ron’s chest, lying still for a while before speaking again. “I don’t want him to hate us, Ron.”
“He won’t,” Ron said. With one last reassuring squeeze around the shoulder, Ron’s arm became heavy and he drifted asleep.
Harry wasn’t so fortunate. He stayed in place until Ron’s breathing became deep and rhythmic, before inching out from under his long arm.
He watched the minutes tick by, sitting against the headboard with his arms wrapped around his knees. Over an hour passed before he heard Teddy go to his room. He sat there listening to Ron snore, wondering, as always, how he could sleep after an altercation.
Ron murmured in his sleep. Harry looked at him, his fringe hung in his eyes and his lips forming a slightly parted bow from his cheek being squished on the pillow.
“Defender of my honor, aren’t ya, love?” Harry whispered.
He and Ron had been mocked on many occasions in the past, but it had been so long since they’d experienced it within their circle of loved ones. And never in their own home.
Ron hummed again, this time ever so slightly humping the mattress.
Harry sniggered and stretched out to lay close, facing Ron. “I know what you need.”
He slipped his hand into Ron’s underwear, careful not to catch any ginger hair in the elastic and found the warm, stiff erection he expected to find.
“Something for my hero,” Harry whispered. He squeezed, adjusting his grip so that the tender skin settled comfortably under his fingers. He began to pump and Ron got harder in his hand.
Harry closed his eyes, focusing on the quick short strokes that Ron liked. He knew he could toss Ron off in a less than a minute if he did it just right. He strictly wanted this for Ron alone, as he wasn’t even hard himself.
He knew Ron had to be awake when his breath caught and he moaned, arching his body and then another moment later, he came. The spurts were so warm Harry barely felt the release as it made a mess over his hand.
Ron groaned and then peeked his eyes open, looking a question at Harry with furrowed brows.
“Looked like you needed it,” Harry said, reaching for his wand to cast a cleaning over them.
Ron stretched and rubbed his face. “You w-want?” he asked through a yawn, rather unseductively placing a hand on Harry’s hip.
“No. I’ll keep. You sleep.”
“You sleep, too,” Ron mumbled, grabbing Harry’s hand and rolling over with it, so that Harry was forced to spoon up to Ron’s back. “No more thinking,” he grumbled again. “Sleep.”
~^~
Harry woke later in the morning than he had wanted, and felt an achy flood of emotions rush back to his brain. He felt slightly - and pathetically - cheerless that Ron was already gone to work and he wanted his ginger teddy back in bed with him. He flopped over onto Ron’s side and shoved his head under Ron’s pillow, burrowing under the blankets.
The sun through the eastern window was already warm and it was simply too hot to remain under the blankets. His effort to absorb Ron-ness was also stymied as his full bladder and empty stomach conspired against him.
He didn’t know what to expect from the day ahead. The silence in the house was foreboding, with Teddy, now an unknown variable, lurking upstairs. Harry wondered if his Boggart would now take on the image of that angry look in Teddy’s eyes.
Harry found his hunger was quelled easily enough with a little porridge and juice. His heart wrestled with his head over resurfacing feelings of ‘wrongness’ that he’d long since dealt with. He varied between anger at Teddy, anger at Andromeda and mostly anger at himself for ever agreeing to Andromeda’s unmerited request.
Ron had never liked the idea of being anything other than honest, but as it was a matter that concerned Teddy, he’d left the decision up to Harry.
Teddy shuffled into the kitchen, and Harry could see from the boy’s body language that he was reluctant as well. He stood near the table fidgeting and Harry looked up at him, hoping he wouldn’t see hate and disgust in Teddy’s eyes.
He didn’t. Instead, he looked as worse for wear as Harry felt, and must not have slept very well either.
An obtrusive rumble from Teddy’s stomach broke the silence prompting him into speech.
“I’m … I’m, I didn’t mean …” Teddy fumbled for words. Harry then remembered Ron’s final word the night before.
“Wait. You don’t have to apologize in order to eat,” Harry said, going to the stove. “I’ll still feed you.” He quite remembered being starved for punishment and he’d never do that to another human being.
Teddy slumped into a chair with a little sigh of relief. “I am though. …Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that stuff.”
Putting a plate of toast and jam on the table, Harry wondered what the proper response was; ‘good’ seemed antagonistic, but ‘that’s alright’ would be letting him off easy.
“Would you mind -er, lifting the spell that Ron put on me?” he asked in a small voice, patting down his slept in and still cherry colored hair.
Harry bit his lip. For a moment he identified with Mrs Weasley and thought maybe he ought to make him wait until Ron got home, but he decided against that.
“Finite Abeo,” Harry said.
Teddy shuddered and his hair ebbed into the golden brown he had yesterday. “Thanks.”
“So, what happened to the turquoise?” Harry asked, cracking eggs into a frying pan, assuming it would take more than toast to satisfy Teddy’s appetite.
Teddy shrugged. “Dunno. It’s kind of flash, isn’t it?” he said while crunching toast.
“Not necessarily. It’s who you are. You certainly weren’t being ‘flash’ when you were a baby.”
“But that’s it though, isn’t it? I’m not a baby anymore. I have to grow up now.”
“Who told you that?”
Teddy didn’t answer but observing Harry’s lingering stare, he relented. “Victoire.”
“Ah. Reckoned as much. Are you spending any time at Shell Cottage this summer?”
“Don’t know. She hasn’t invited me. I don’t think Bill likes me, anyway. … Don’t think she likes me anymore either.”
Harry knew this wasn’t true. They all loved the boy, but this fifteen year old version of Teddy wasn’t easy to talk to. “What makes you say that?”
“She quit talking to me after Christmas. She told me she thought I was just “trying to get attention by being ‘colorful’ as she put it,” Teddy said, affecting the girl’s trill perfectly. “But then when I changed to brown, she still wouldn’t talk to me.”
“Maybe it wasn’t really about your hair?” Harry suggested.
“Maybe,” Teddy said, sounding relieved that someone was taking interest. “I didn’t do anything different. … Abigail Aubrey always said she liked my hair.”
“Oh, did she? … I think I see what Victoire’s problem was then.”
“Huh?” Teddy looked puzzled.
Harry huffed, trying to remember being baffled by the world at that age. He wouldn’t trade his adulthood for his school years for anything. “It’s not very nice to be disliked for something you can’t help, is it, Ted?”
Teddy shook his head. He drooped, looking duly shamed, and Harry hoped he understood they were talking about more than just ‘hair’.
“Well, girls are weird, mate,” Harry said. “I’m afraid I never figured them out.” Teddy smirked. When Harry realized the implication of what he’d said, he sniggered as well. “Guess that much is obvious though.”
“But you … you figured out Ron?” Teddy asked in a quiet voice.
“Yes, I did. Ron is something I understand.”
After Teddy finished eating enough breakfast for three Weasleys, Harry told him they were working in the garden. He’d been prepared for another pout, but Teddy didn’t put up any argument.
It was another humid day, which had them red in the face and dripping with sweat within half an hour. Aside from de-gnoming by hand, they weren’t actually doing much physical labor. Teddy watched and learned from Harry, and soon was casting the spell to enchant the hedge trimmers, the cleaning charm to remove mold from the pavement, and banishing the leaves out of the gutter.
Harry ignored the moral obligation of being an Auror, to discourage breaking the use of Underage Magic law, but he was happy to seize the opportunity to connect with his godson again.
When Harry used Aquamenti to wash the mud off the siding of the shed, Teddy tried and tried with out success to do the same. He ended up drenching himself when a mushroom cloud of water exploded out of his wand.
Harry nearly pissed himself laughing. For a moment, Teddy looked he might sulk about it, but his dignified shell cracked and he laughed with Harry.
“I’ll have to practice that again,” Teddy warned, raising his wand and taking aim.
“Oh, no,” Harry said, backing up. “ … No you don’t!”
But he did.
Teddy could only produce an embarrassing burst of water from his wand, but it was still enough to soak Harry to the skin.
After that, it was war.
“You do realize,” Harry shouted over his shoulder, Teddy in pursuit. “That I know about - argh- twenty six spells that would end you right now!”
“So? I’m not even a qualified wizard yet - gotcha again - you owe me a handicap!”
Just as Harry rounded the corner of the house, Ron exited the kitchen door. Harry dived behind him for defense.
“Look out! Teddy’s gonna-”
The blast of water meant for Harry hit Ron full in the face, before Teddy, looking mildly horrified, realized it was him.
Harry strained with bouts of silent, breathless laughter behind him, while Ron blinked the water from his eyes.
“Sorry! I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it was you!” Teddy spluttered, trying his level best to be sincere, but once he realized that Ron wasn’t going to kill him, he turned purple with repressed laughter.
“I came home for lunch,” Ron said, wiping his face. “Thought I’d wet my whistle.”
Harry let out an undignified snort as he lost himself to laughter again.
Ron smiled at Harry and shook his head, appreciating the laugh but clearly thinking Harry was off his knut.
“You’re enjoying your holiday, I see,” Ron said.
“Very much,” Harry answered, wiping his eyes. “But look at all the work we’ve done!”
“Wow,” Ron said, looking around the newly trimmed, mold and pest free yard. “Magic makes the job easier, doesn’t it?” he added with an accusing eyebrow, betrayed by a slight twitch in the corner of his mouth.
Teddy none too subtly hid his wand behind his back, and Harry, not looking the least bit like an Auror who could hex your face off, blinked, trying his best to look shame-faced.
Harry and Teddy exchanged looks and tried not to laugh.
Ron snorted, ruffled Harry’s soggy head and went inside. “Is there food?” he asked.
“I think I should change,” Teddy said, ducking passed them and running upstairs.
“So you two are getting on?” Ron said, casting a drying spell on Harry.
“Yeah,” Harry said, foregoing the drying spell and taking a tea towel to Ron’s face and hair.
“Did he apologize to you? Is he behaving himself? Do I need to-?”
“No!” Harry shushed him with a kiss. “Yes, he apologized. And he’s trying. He’s a kid, Ron. It’s takes awhile for them to absorb something new.”
“Well he better ‘absorb’ quickly,” Ron said, opening the larder. Harry put his arms around Ron’s waist and hugged against his back but Ron flinched and gasped.
“What’s wrong?” Harry asked.
Just then, a delivery owl flew into the still open door and squawked as it landed on the table.
“That’ll be Hermione’s owl,” Ron said. “I told her I’d make it home before it got here.”
Harry scowled at Ron as he took the bird’s letter and sent it on its way. Ron looked sheepish, opening a cider as Harry unrolled the small parchment.
Harry,
I’m so sorry. Ron is fine. He’ll be home soon.
Hermione
“What happened?” Harry shouted. All fun from the water fight and reconciliation with Teddy was forgotten.
“Somebody tried to hex her as she went into her office. She’s fine.”
“Because they got you instead?”
Ron shrug-nodded.
“Let me see,” Harry demanded.
“No, it’s -”
“Show me. Now.”
Ron huffed and rolled his eyes and made a dramatic show of putting his cider down, tossed his robe on a chair and began to unbutton. He turned around as he pulled his shirt off his shoulders. Harry gasped when he saw the irritated pink skin that marked a disjointed pattern like broken slate over Ron back.
“Oh, Ron!”
“I’m fine.”
“Sit - don’t talk - sit.”
Doing as he was told, Ron sat while Harry retrieved a jar of salve from the windowsill.
“Parvati’s my partner while you’re gone. She knew the counter-curse. Just needs a few more hours for it to go away.”
“What happened?” Teddy asked, entering the room with a weary expression.
“Somebody decided to give their opinion of Hermione’s legislation today,” Ron explained.
“This is not a joke,” Harry told him, rubbing a dollop of salve over Ron’s shoulder blade. He hissed and arched away from Harry’s hand. “I’m sorry,” Harry said, patting Ron’s arm with his clean hand.
Ron reached up to squeeze it. “S’ok.”
Harry could feel Teddy’s eyes on them, but he didn’t look up. He continued to rub the ointment over the fading hex marks while they talked.
“I don’t understand. What’s Hermione to do with anything?” Teddy asked.
“Well …” Ron looked up at Harry for approval before continuing. “Hermione’s proposing new werewolf rights measures in the Wizengamot next week. She’s been receiving threats, so she’s getting Auror protection until then.”
Teddy looked at the marks over Ron’s back with a sort of horrified awe. “So you jumped in front of a hex for her?”
Harry couldn’t resist the proud smile that crept over his face. Ron just couldn’t help doing things like that.
“Yeah. It’s not something I like to do. I‘m just doing my job.” Ron shrugged. “Ouch!”
“Sorry,” Harry whispered again.
Teddy squinted as Harry rubbed the glistening cream along the last irritated mark of the hex. “Did it hurt?” he asked.
“Didn’t tickle.” Ron tried looking over his shoulder to see the marks for himself and then gave Harry a wistful smile. “But I’ve had worse.”
“That you have,” Harry said.
Teddy looked at Ron for another minute. “You’ll just go back to work, now? Go on protecting Hermione, knowing it might happen again?”
“Well, no. Next time I’ll try to jump out of the way.” Ron tried to joke, but Teddy didn’t seem to have any more of a sense of humor than Harry at the moment. “It’s my job. I’d do it even if it weren’t Hermione, but I believe in what she’s doing. There’s a whole new generation of lycans that were bitten during the war, and they need more legal protection.”
Harry lifted Ron’s shirt back onto his shoulders. “But you’re home for the rest of the day?”
“Of course.”
“Why is that?” Teddy asked.
“Department mandate. Any time you get injured on the job, you have to take a day off. Just in case there are some kind of horrible after effects.”
“Really?”
“Yes. But he’s fine,” Harry said, washing his hands at the sink.
Teddy sat still and quiet, looking very thoughtful while Ron told of the apprehension of the attacker and how they’d altered Hermione’s security details.
“You all right, Ted?” Harry asked. “Hungry, again, no doubt.”
“Famished, yeah.” He glanced up at them, before frowning at his hands again. “Just thinking. … I’m such a tool. You must hate me.”
“I don’t hate ya, kid.” Ron sipped his cider, wiping his lips while he considered the boy in front of him. “I think maybe you got the impression I didn’t care what people thought about Harry, eh? … But I’ve been looking after him for a long time. I get pretty punchy if anyone has a go at him.”
Teddy nodded solemnly. “I’m … sorry. I let you down.”
“Well, I know a little something about letting your friends down.” Ron looked at Harry, who shook his head. You never let me down. “Maybe now we can look after Harry together.”
Harry snorted. Teddy smiled.
“Grandmum was wrong about you. She shouldn’t have done that, and I’m going to tell her, too!” His cheeks tinged pink as he looked up at them.
Ron nodded and chewed his lip to hide a grin. “You look a lot like your dad with your hair brown, did you know that?” he asked, changing the subject.
“I’ve seen pictures. People say I’m more like my mum though.”
“You wear your heart on your sleeve and say what you think,” Harry said. “In that respect, you’re like your mum. I’ll bet you’re going to be a prefect though, just like your dad … And Ron.”
“That’d be cool,” Teddy said, sitting up taller. “Do you think it’d be respectable for a prefect to have colored hair?”
“Don’t see why not,” Ron said, running a hand over his own brilliant ginger.
Teddy shook his head and his hair erupted into a violent shade of blue-green. “That’s better,” he said with a smile.
“There you go!” Ron said. “Never be afraid to be who are, Ted. Now, who’s gonna cook?”
Teddy shook his head.
“Me either,” Ron agreed and they both looked at Harry like hungry Quintapeds.
“Why should I have to cook?” Harry asked.
“I dunno. … New rule!” Ron announced. “The shortest person in the room cooks.”
“No way!” Harry protested.
Ron stood up, and Teddy quickly followed him, making their height over Harry obvious.
“Oh fine, now they conspire against me,” Harry grumbled.
~
Harry felt like the Crup who ate the Chizpurfle now that his two favorite boys were getting on again.
Long after eating and listening to the end of a Quidditch match, Harry followed Ron upstairs, shutting the bedroom door behind him and locking it for good measure.
Harry was struggling to pull off his jeans, and since he’d tried to pull down his underwear at the same time, they’d tangled.
“What?” Harry asked, looking up at Ron who had stopped talking.
“Just watching the show.” Ron smirked.
His jeans finally pulled free of his heel, and Harry stood and admired Ron. He was topless, still wearing tactical trousers and boots, and hair curving around his face in soft waves.
Harry was equally half naked, but felt ridiculous in a baggy t-shirt with only his bits exposed below the hem.
“You can’t be looking at me like that now,” Harry whined.
“Yes, I can,” Ron said, advancing a step, while Harry retreated one. “I can smell you.”
“Sorry, I must be rank,” Harry said, turning towards the shower.
Ron took the long steps quickly and caught Harry, pressing him against the dresser. “No … I can smell you,” he said into Harry’s ear with a rumble. He dipped his head and licked at Harry’s neck. “You’re salty, I like you salty.”
“I thought you liked me chocolatey,” Harry whimpered, arching his back.
“I like you naked.” Ron took Harry’s shirt and pulled it off.
“We can’t! Not with Teddy downstairs.”
“I don’t care, he owes us. You know what it’s like after a fight. I got so hard this morning, and you weren’t there and then I came home to find you dripping wet. … fuck.”
Ron kissed Harry’s shoulders, while placing his hands over Harry’s and planting them flat on the dresser in front of him. Ron opened his trousers and pushing them off while he leaned over Harry, keeping him in place.
“Oh,” Harry said. “Oh,” he repeated in a moan, surprised when Ron dropped to his knees behind him.
Ron wasted no time in parting his cheeks. Harry felt the tingle of magic wash over him just before Ron pressed his tongue forward. Not for the first time did Harry appreciate that Ron’s unknown talent wasn’t wasted on something like double-jointed elbows but was bestowed on his long tongue’s merciless aptitude.
Harry gasped, and pushed back against the intrusive intimacy. “Oh, fuck … we can’t.”
But in spite of his verbal protest, he parted his legs further, lowering onto his elbows. He tried not to be loud, but every third swipe of Ron’s tongue over his tender flesh caused him to moan out loud.
When he couldn’t stand it any longer, he turned and straddled Ron’s lap, where he sat back on his heels on the floor.
“Need you now,” Harry whispered. He raised his chin for Ron to kiss his neck, grinding his arse over Ron’s cock, pressing his own into Ron’s belly, trying to feel everything at once. “Now … more.”
“Yes,” Ron agreed. He held himself steady with one hand while Harry raised and then lowered himself in slow, pulsing movements until he was filled.
They’d been holding their breath and sighed, clinging to each other’s already damp bodies.
Harry began to rock and grind.
“Fuck, yes, s’perfect,” Ron groaned, his hands roving Harry’s back, hips and thighs, eventually setting on Harry’s waist to pull him harder.
“Uh - more,” Harry gasped, trying to gain even more friction as he rocked and tightened his muscles.
Ron slid his hands up Harry’s back and curled them over Harry’s shoulders, then pulled down while he thrust up.
For all the time and tender lovemaking they’d shared the night before, now they were after something different.
“More,” Harry demanded.
Ron growled and the depth of the rumble told Harry he was about to get exactly what he asked for.
Harry felt the strong, lean thighs underneath him flex. Ron kneeled up, still holding him, and leaned forward so that Harry landed on his back with a thump, and Ron slammed into him with an ‘umph’.
“Yes!” Harry raised his legs high, wriggling and adjusting to the new position. “More.”
“Merlin, man. Give me a second and I’ll give you more than you can handle,” Ron muttered.
Harry almost chuckled at being called out for his own, pitiful begging, but then Ron pushed up, hooking Harry’s legs over his upper arms so that he could no longer control or resist any movement.
He was panting for breath when Ron, now having Harry fully at his mercy, stared him in the eye, communicating confirmation.
“More,” Ron said. The word was a warning, not a question.
He pulled back and slammed into Harry, deep and hard. His body jarred, his teeth clacked as there was no soft bed underneath them to cradle their bodies. Only the hard carpeted floor that held Harry firmly in place to bear the intensity of each thrust, which he cursed and worshipped at once.
His hands slipped over Ron’s sweaty back, leaving Harry nothing to hang onto as he continued to be assailed with each violent plunge into his body.
Embarrassing whiny grunts were forced from his mouth. ‘Ron’ was the only English word that Harry could formulate and he called it out over and over again.
“I want you to come while I fuck you,” Ron ordered, in a constricted, deep voice.
The breathless, frantic pace continued while Harry was unable to do anything but absorb it. Stroking himself with a hard, determined grip, the coil of need sprung free and he came. Barely audible grunts punctuated the strands of come that covered his chest.
He recovered just in time and opened his eyes to watch Ron. With his eyes squeezed shut, he licked his lips and bit his upper lip. The pace of his hips slowed. A few long, slow motions, and his body quivered. Silently and beautifully he came, his hair sticking to his wet forehead.
There was nothing that didn’t ache as control of his legs was returned to him while Ron slipped free of his body and collapsed on top of him. The ache was delicious though and left a smile on his face, feeling as though he’d just perpetrated the perfect crime.
“You asked for it,” Ron whimpered, sounding more kitten than lion now.
“I did,” Harry admitted. “And I got so much more.”
~^~
Thank you for reading this ridiculously long story!
Title: The Pitfalls of Hero Worship
Author: Maple
Pairing: Harry/Ron
Challenge: Teenage Teddy is resentful of Harry and Ron's relationship
Summary: Teddy learns there is more to Harry and Ron than what he sees.
Word Count: 9300+
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Slash to be sure. Rimming, top/bottom - bottom/top, wet!Harry, angry!Ron
A/N or Prompt: I may have missed the point of the fuh-q-fest and my prompt and wrote a whole blasted story!
My thanks to mrstater who pondered Teddy-isms with me. My dear mrsquizzical for the many read throughs and corrections AND to gwen1170 and shocolate for the beta and Brit Picking!
~^~
The Platform hummed with anticipation as the Scarlet train from Hogwarts approached. The air was heavy with humidity from the rainy summer afternoon and the heat of bodies additionally burdened with umbrellas and macs.
Harry and Ron were at the rear of the bustling crowd, leaning under a brick archway where they went relatively unnoticed, camouflaged behind the bulk of their robes thrown over their forearms.
Taking advantage of this, Ron had one hand firmly cupping Harry’s buttock, massaging in circles.
“Ron?” Harry continued to look ahead at the train.
“Yeah?”
“What’re you doing back there?”
“Nuhthing,” Ron answered, a hint of a suppressed chuckle in his voice.
“Then why,” Harry turned his head to whisper, “have you got your - ooh!” Harry squeaked a particular firm squeeze.
“I’ve been wanting to do this all day, but you haven’t slowed down long enough.” Ron adjusted his hand up the back of Harry’s t-shirt, seeking Harry’s skin.
“I’ve been cleaning all day.”
“I know.”
“And doing the washing.”
“I know.”
“Roon …” Harry’s voice hitched higher and he lost his train of thought as Ron’s fingertips began inching downward. “… I do cool, macho Auror stuff at work with you all the time, but me cleaning on our day off, is erotic?”
“Does it really matter?” Ron asked, slowly removing his hand from Harry’s trousers as students were now exiting the train. “Anytime I have unfettered access to your arse is erotic.”
“Will you stop about my arse. He’ll be here soon.” Harry looked Ron with a stern face but it melted into an affectionate smile.
They were both excited about having Teddy to visit. The end of term excitement in the air was infectious as they pressed forward to find their charge.
“It’s been so long since I’ve seen him, if not for that hair I might not recognize him.”
Ron had been ill with Scrofungulus during Teddy’s holiday visit last winter. And when an overseas Auror dispatch was necessary the previous summer, Ron took the assignment so that Harry could stay home to visit his godson between terms. The result being, that he hadn’t seen Teddy Lupin for nearly a year and half.
Ron had continued writing notes to Teddy, enclosing them in Harry’s letters to Hogwarts, but noticed that Teddy’s post was always addressed to Harry alone. It seemed like a silly thing to mention, but it had bothered Ron on more than one occasion.
“Wonder if he still likes me …” Ron muttered.
Harry heard this and stopped; clasping a hand on Ron’s forearm he gave it a meaningful squeeze. “Of course he does! He’s just fifteen, that’s all.”
They’d been on the lookout for bright turquoise hair, so were taken by surprise when Teddy, now coiffed a conservative golden brown, stood before them.
“Hi Harry!” the boy said, his voice now as deep as their own, and dropped the end of his trunk.
“Teddy!” Harry pulled him into a hug, before pushing him away by the shoulders again. “Look at you! You’re grown!”
Teddy was now eye to eye with Harry, if not taller and was beaming with a blush at the acknowledgement of it.
“He’s not joking, mate. I wouldn’t have recognized you.” Ron moved to give Teddy into a brief hug.
“’lo,” Teddy said simply, shuffling out of Ron’s arms, grabbing his trunk at one end. “Thanks for coming to get me, Harry.” He seemed to be anxious to leave the station.
With the jostling crowd of raucous animals, fussing mothers and tetchy fathers, it was reasonable that their little reunion was somewhat awkward.
Ron took the other end of Teddy’s trunk and they began working their way through the crowd; Teddy by Harry’s side and Ron trailing behind.
“Well we are happy to have you,” Harry said. “Of course I was sorry to hear about your grandmother’s friend taking ill, but we’re still glad to have you stay while she’s off visiting.”
“Did you bring the car?” Teddy asked hopefully, as they passed through the gate into the Muggle train station.
Harry failed to stifle his grin as he looked back at Ron. “Actually, the car’s been a bit damaged. Ron flew into the tower of Dartmouth Castle.” He smirked at Ron again, who shook his head and glared.
He didn’t mention the fact that his head had been in Ron’s lap at the time, which contributed to Ron’s flying mishap. They were lucky that none of Ron’s bits ended up ‘a bit damaged’ as well.
Teddy however saw no humor in the situation and his face fell. “What did you that for?” he griped at Ron. “That was stupid …”
“Oi!” Harry reached out and cuffed him fatherly on the back of the head. “Mind your manners.”
“Sorry,” Teddy replied quickly, though it was said more to Harry than to Ron.
Harry looked back at Ron once more and they exchanged the same curious expression. He wondered if perhaps Ron’s trepidation about Teddy’s displeasure about them was accurate after all.
~
After their train journey home, they threw together a quick meal of steak and onions with jacket potatoes. Harry and Ron continued to smirk as they listened to Teddy’s telling of the great injustices he suffered, getting detentions for cheeking the Care of Magical Creatures Professor - he didn’t think the Jabberknolls were housed properly - and for protesting the lack of house points awarded to Slytherin House.
“I know Slytherins were all bad back in your day-”
“Not all,” Harry interjected.
“- but things have changed now! It’s just not right that their points should be so far behind the other houses!”
It seemed wherever there was a cause to point out inequity, Teddy was the loudest voice against the wrong; something that ironically managed to lose him Hufflepuff house points on a regular basis.
Hearing a teenager’s melodramatic take on life, compared to the magnitude of their daily job pursing dark wizards for a living was entertaining. Still, it was intriguing to imagine an existence of such relative ease, however seriously Teddy took the matters
“And add to that, I helped Abigail Aubrey in Transfiguration all year, only to get twenty-five house points taken away by Professor Longbottom! It’s utterly unfair!”
They knew when a story didn’t add up. Harry and Ron looked at each other before looking back at Teddy.
“Why did the Head of Gryffindor house take points away from you? Surely it wasn’t for tutoring?”
Teddy’s cheeks pinked and he squirmed, defying the manly posture he’d carried all afternoon. “Well …”
“Come on, man, let’s have it,” Ron said.
“I … He … might have caught us kissing in the Gryffindor common room.”
Ron laughed. “Ok, now hang on, kissing in another common room can’t be a twenty five point infraction. Neville’s a fairer bloke than that.”
“Yeah, if that was the case, we’d have owed house points by the end of sixth year,” Harry added. “What with all the snogging Ron did.”
“Oi!”
“Really?” Teddy’s head perked up, looking at Ron as if he’d only just appeared in the room. “Who were you snogging?”
Ron gave a wide, smug smile, stabbed a slice of steak and took a bite. Under the table he stretched out his leg, nudging Harry’s ankle with his long toes.
“Never you mind that.” Harry poked Teddy back onto subject. “I want to know about that twenty five points.”
“Oh, that. Well, it might have … ok, it was after curfew - but ”
“Aha!” both Ron and Harry exclaimed. “I knew Neville was reasonable,” Ron continued. “You deserved it then. And only a fourth year, at that. Better slow it down, kid, or you’ll be on your honeymoon before you take N.E.W.T.S.”
“But we didn’t break curfew so we could snog! Professor Longbottom gave us permission to stay late to study. -- She’s really rubbish at transfiguration.”
“And snogging was going to improve the girl’s marks, yeah?”
Teddy blushed further but didn’t back down from his argument. “That’s not the issue. We had permission to stay late to revise for her O.W.L.s the next day. The - the kissing happened after we’d finished studying. And since kissing is not against Hogwarts’ rules, and since we had permission to break curfew, losing points was completely unfair!”
“Don’t see the difference,” Ron argued.
“There is a difference!” Teddy said, looking so hot about the whole thing that neither Ron nor Harry could really take him seriously any longer.
“Mushrooms?” Harry offered Ron.
“Thank you.”
Teddy took a bite with a very audible ‘humph’.
The silence that hung over the table contained both Harry and Ron’s amusement and Teddy indignance.
“Hrg-hmm,” Ron cleared his throat, giving Harry a warning glance that he was attempting to regain the peace. “Her name was Lavender Brown.”
Teddy perked up with interest. Harry’s eyebrows shot upwards and he snorted.
“You just hush.” Ron told him with a pointed finger.
“I didn’t say a word,” he answered, pouring himself more pumpkin juice.
“She was this really fit girl, you know? Loads of blokes wanted to be with her.”
“Or already had been,” Harry murmured under his breath.
“Shut it,” Ron warned, equally under his breath.
“She was really all that?” Teddy asked, the unmistakable look of approval in his eyes.
“Oh yeah. She was beautiful! And you’ve got to understand, I was nothing at special at school. No one had taken notice of me before.”
“That’s not true,” Harry added quietly.
“Shh! And here was this gorgeous girl, wanting me. Wasn’t much in the way of personality, mind, but not a bad snog.”
Ron glared at Harry when he made a derisive sound into his drinking glass.
“I didn’t say a word!”
“Good! Cos you’ve got no room to comment anyway! You weren’t exactly subtle with Ginny, were you?”
“That’s right!” Teddy exclaimed. “You went together with Ginny a long time ago, didn’t you?”
“Not fond of the ‘long time ago’ part, but the rest is true.” He looked at Ron, adding “… I was young and didn’t know any better.”
Ron’s long toes found Harry’s leg under the table again and then pinched at his leg hair.
“That’s really cool! I thought,” Teddy said, looking back and forth between them. “I didn’t know you - I want to hear more about your time at school. Oh, and tell me about Professor Longbottom, too!”
So they spent another hour regaling Teddy with their tales while tidying the kitchen. They avoided mention of Voldemort and murders, all of which Teddy had heard before, but instead told him of the frivolous things that had made their teen years somewhat normal; Quidditch games, detentions, and bungled romances.
“Well, I’m off, fellas.” Ron stood behind Harry, giving him a playful shake of the shoulders. “Some of us have to work in the morning.” Harry had taken the week off to be with Teddy.
Then, with some uncertainty, he turned to Teddy and held out his hand. “Good to have you with us, Ted.”
Harry knew that Ron’s heart was in the hand he offered Teddy, and for a moment that twisted in Harry’s gut, it looked as if Teddy would rebuff Ron’s offer of kinship as he had at the train station. Instead, he shook Ron’s hand. They leaned into one another, bumping chests in a brief familial embrace.
It wasn’t really very late, so Harry suspected he knew exactly why Ron had gone to bed ‘tired’.
After making sure Teddy was sorted and comfortable for the night, Harry turned in himself.
“I was afraid I’d fall asleep before you came,” Ron said, smirking as he rolled over to face Harry. “He’s kind of a righteous little prig, isn’t he?”
Harry clucked his tongue but it was impossible to disagree. “Yes. But his heart’s in the right place. We had something to fight for at that age. Teddy’s kind of floundering, isn’t he?”
“Spoilt, more like.”
“Oh, shush. I was going to stay up with him, but he’s listening to a music concert on the wireless. The Antarctic Mokes - pfft,” Harry scoffed. “They’re no Weird Sisters.”
Harry dropped his trousers and sat on the edge of the bed with a sigh to pull them off.
“I know he’s been shirty with you, I’m sorry.” He dropped his chin to his chest while Ron rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s only because he hasn’t seen you much the past few years.” He pushed himself back up onto the bed.
“I’m ok if he’s not keen on me. As long as he keeps on hero-worshipping you, he’ll be alright.”
Ron Noxed the light and shifted so that he was lying between Harry’s legs on his stomach. They continued talking, having a laugh at Teddy’s combustible youth and scoffing the notion that either of them had ever been so tempestuous, knowing full well that they had been.
That’s the thing, Harry noticed, about living all of your life with someone who knew you when you were young; no denying your history.
All the while they talked, they were pressed against each other. Harry’s ankle wrapped about the back of Ron’s thigh, both sets of hands running a slow, steady path over the bodies that they knew so well.
Eventually, conversation dissipated and they were consumed with each other’s touch. Taking their time, they kissed, enjoying the touch of each other’s mouth for the sheer pleasure of it. Letting a kiss fuel desire for each other, rather than letting it be diminished into a cursory exercise before getting to the sex.
‘The sex’ wasn’t wanting for attention. It was only last week that Ron had been bent over the arm of the couch shortly after they Floo’d home at nearly midnight, both foregoing food for fucking. And the week before, Harry found himself on his back, among the breakfast things, his knees hoisted high, talking filthy to Ron, as both of them worked up a sweat before going to work that morning.
It was easy to project the aggravations in their lives; Harry would scowl, Ron would joke, and they both had to put on various ‘fronts’ while at work.
But all of that fell aside leaving nothing but Harry and Ron. Here in their bed, with no reason to hurry, they took their time loving each other. Removing clothes; t-shirts and underwear, piece by piece, kissing a nipple a tummy, a thigh, along the way.
The focus here was to resist the habitual instinct to get hard and slick skipping right to the pleasure of thrusting cock and arse.
Harry brushed the fringe out of Ron’s eyes as he looked up at him. “When’s the last time I told you I love you?”
Ron chewed his lip to minimize a wide smile. “I think it was only yesterday, actually.”
Maybe that was true. The words tumbled out all the time. The frailty of life they saw on a daily basis made them certain to tell each other often enough.
“But this is different,” Harry said. To say the words while letting the worries of the world fall away, holding each other, looking in each other’s eyes and really, truly meaning it. “I do love you.”
Ron kissed him, lingering as if to absorb the feeling in Harry’s words as they clung on his lips. Ron nuzzled along his jaw; gravelling his own heartfelt, “love you, too,” all the while shifting up and straddling Harry’s lap.
Harry silently praised the conveniences of magic as Ron eased down onto Harry’s cock. Pausing together, they enjoyed the initial breathtaking pressure of their joining. Ron’s thighs flexed on either side of Harry as he began to raise and lower his body, taking Harry deep, and then deeper, inside.
“Dunno why we ever leave the house,” Ron gasped, placing his hands near Harry’s shoulders so he could leverage himself up, letting Harry create a more forceful pace from below. “… Should just stay home and do this all the time.”
“Think we could find a way to earn wages for fucking each other?” Harry chuckled. Their effusive affection from earlier was beginning to bubble over into giddiness.
“Yeah. Why not? … The birds in the office would pay to watch, I’m certain of it.” Ron nipped at Harry’s earlobe. “A few of the blokes too, I expect.”
Harry snorted and his rhythm broke. Ron lowered his weight onto Harry’s chest with a smile. Ron always looked pleased with himself when he made Harry laugh.
“Hey,” Harry patted the side of Ron’s arse and jerked his head. “Let’s shift, do this properly.”
Ron swore, sounding eager, and moved as Harry suggested, who wasted no time in getting onto his knees behind Ron.
They took their time positioned in this way. Moving together, getting their blood up, getting short of breath, and getting just to the edge of blissful climax, though not in a rush to have it end too soon.
“Lay flat out,” Harry whispered. Ron stretched his legs out behind him and Harry followed him down, not breaking their connection.
He thrust a few more times, both letting out a groan at the enhancement the change brought, but they felt the need now. Harry rolled them onto their sides. Holding onto Ron’s hip, they moved until finding a rhythm familiar to them.
“Yes! That’s it, Harry … nearly…” Ron began to gibber.
Harry reached around, careful to avoid Ron’s hand now rapidly stroking his cock. He cupped his palm over Ron’s sacs, which were constricted and tight against his body. So close. He closed his eyes, concentrating on his thrusting, the in, the out.
Sensation began welling up in him.
He felt Ron tense and something about the movement made Harry stop, fearing Ron was hurting. When he opened his eyes he realized there was light emanating into the room and he heard a thump and scuffling sounds behind him.
“Fucking shit,” Ron whispered.
“Sorry! I just - and I didn’t - god!” Teddy stammered as he stood up after apparently tripping over shoes inside the doorway.
“It’s all ri -Teddy, did you need?-” Harry struggled to say something at the same time, but was at a loss. He’d completely forgotten that the boy was even in the house, though half of his brain was lucid enough to reach for the sheet to shield his clammy arse from his godson’s view.
“No! Nothing,” Teddy said forcefully, backing out the door, pulling it shut with a loud slam that shook the wall.
It opened again. “Sorry!” came Teddy’s voice through the crack and he shut the door once more, gently this time.
Harry was literally frozen and slack jawed with mortification, until his brain finally communicated reality to his flagging cock. He and Ron uncoupled, both groaning this time with dis-satisfaction.
“I can’t believe that just happened,” Harry gasped. “I should go talk to him.”
Ron’s body shook with silent laughter, lying on his stomach with his face buried in his pillow.
“No, you can’t do that,” he said, lifting his head to take a breath. “The last thing he wants is to have to look you in the face right now.”
“I can’t just leave him. He’s going to be …” Harry wasn’t exactly sure what Teddy would ‘be’, but he was already stepping pantless into his jeans.
“Harry, honestly, you should just leave the kid alone. He’ll come out when he’s hungry and then he can just pretend nothing happened.”
Harry paused, turning his t-shirt right side out while he considered Ron’s suggestion. “I don’t know. I feel badly for him.” Then, grabbing his glasses off the nightstand, he turned towards the door. “Wish me luck.”
“When are you going to learn to leave things alone?” Ron complained.
~
He found Teddy in the kitchen, grinding both palms over his closed eyelids, a bottle of Butterbeer gripped in one hand. His hair appeared to have a glint of pale grey in it.
“Ted? You ok?” Harry spoke softly, but Teddy still jumped. “I’m so sorry, mate.”
“No! I’m fine. It’s fine. I’m sorry.” Teddy spoke fast, looking at Harry with round eyes before looking everywhere else but at Harry.
“It didn’t even occur to me to lock the door,” Harry tried to rationalize, but Teddy scrunched his face and shoulders and put out his hand.
“My fault!” Teddy edged around the table away from Harry. “I found more Butterbeer in the larder and wanted to know if was ok to drink, so I went up to ask.”
Harry pursed his lips, assuming this wasn’t the appropriate time to state that it should be obvious that anything in the larder was meant for consumption, or to wonder how Teddy could have already drank the half dozen bottles that were in the refrigerator. “That’s fine. You can have as much as you like,” he finally said.
The only sound was the blaring music from the wireless in the living room.
“I’ll leave you alone then,” Harry said. “If you want to talk about … anything, I won’t mind.” Harry made it nearly to the stairs before Teddy spoke.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked, the emotion in Teddy’s voice made Harry flinch. “About you and Ron?’”
Harry deflated. This had been coming for years.
“I truly thought you’d figured it out by now.” Harry answered.
But no, that wasn’t fair. They’d been elusive, hadn’t they? When was he going to learn to be honest at the start?
“How could I know that?” Teddy asked, full of sudden anger. “You never told me! I’ve heard things at school. People’ve said stuff but I didn’t believe them.’
“I’m sorry.”
“I defended you! I thought you two were like, like, brothers! Everyone always says you’re just one of the Weasleys. I thought maybe you were just too messed up from the war to get married or something!” Harry scratched on his arm, finding himself on the unfunny side of Teddy’s temper. “But you lied to me! My whole life!”
“We never lied to you,” Harry insisted.
“You sat there,” he pointed at the table, “telling me about your girlfriends! You must think I’m so stupid.” Teddy looked like a wounded owl stuck in cage, all ruffled and wide-eyed, ready to peck if you came near.
“But that was all true, I swear. No lies.”
“It’s him, isn’t it?” Teddy accused. “It’s his fault.”
“… Yes, it is. But Ron didn’t make me who I am. He just made me happy about it.”
Teddy made a dismissive noise in his throat.
“And I’m afraid I’m a selfish bastard, because I won’t even let you take that away from me.”
“But you don’t have to be,” Teddy waved at the ceiling upstairs, “like that, Harry. You’re famous, and you’re not that old. You could pull any woman you want.”
Harry tried very hard to smirk, but was fairly certain he failed. “I appreciate the vote of confidence, but I really wouldn’t be interested.” He paused, feeling guilty about what he was about to say. “We made a promise a long time ago to be …” Harry took a breath and rolled his eyes. “To be discreet with you.”
“Discreet? Ha!” Teddy scoffed.
“You weren’t meant to see that upstairs.”
“Well I did see! I know what he is now. Plays up the war hero bit, all the while he’s really - he’s the ‘wife’!”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“He using you!”
“He’s never!” Harry’s voice lost all trace of humor. “He’s one of the few that’s never cared about that, Ted. - And do not show disrespect to Ron. Understand me?”
Teddy took a step back, bumping into the refrigerator. The look on his face said that he understood well enough. “Who’d you promise to be ‘discreet’ to?” he asked.
Harry sighed. “… To your grandmother.”
“What? I don’t believe it. Why?”
“It’s true. Ron and I were a lot younger when we got together, and plenty of people didn’t like it. Your grandmother is a fine woman in many ways, but she still has her prejudices.”
“No way! She’s a huge supporter of Muggle-born rights!”
“Well of course she is. That’s easy to get behind! But she wouldn’t accept us. She didn’t want us to ‘expose you’ to our private life. She had ‘concerns’ that it might do you harm.”
Harry ran his hands through his hair. He was so thrown off by the discomfort of interrupted sex, hurt by Teddy’s reaction, and annoyed at the resurfacing feeling of shame that he’d long ago got rid of.
“We would never agree to something like that now. But back then I was willing to accept her terms just so I wouldn’t lose you.”
“Can’t you just … just please try to be normal, Harry?”
Harry recoiled and glared at his godson. The words offended him deeply, but Teddy’s saving grace was that he looked so genuinely shocked and hurt, and Harry owned a part of that.
Ron descended the stairs amid the silence fully dressed, and, Harry noted, with his wand in his back pocket. Clearly he’d heard them shouting as he looked between them.
“All right?” he asked Harry softly.
Harry shrugged and shook his head, rubbing his eyes under his glasses.
“I think enough has been said tonight,” Ron said. “We’ve all had a long day. What do you say we turn in?”
“I want to go home,” Teddy said, crossing his arms, fixing his eyes across the room.
“’Fraid you’re with us until Andromeda returns next week,” Ron said.
“I’m not a baby. I can take care of myself.”
“I’m sorry, Teddy-” Harry began to apologize, but Ron interrupted.
“- Then don’t act like a baby. Your godfather is responsible for you until your grandmother gets home. There’s no discussion about it.”
Teddy fumed, an echo of his father’s fierceness in his features as he glared at Harry.
“I don’t want to be here. With a, a liar!” Teddy seemed to struggle with some way to be hurtful. “And a, a pervert!”
“You had better watch your mouth, Lupin,” Ron warned.
“It’s ok, Ron,” Harry sighed.
“Right. It’s ok because he knows it’s the truth. His whole life is lie!” Teddy was losing himself in a rant. “Letting people think he’s a great hero. He’s the savior who always does the right thing. The truth is, you’re a fraud!”
“That’s enough out of you,” Ron said in quiet voice.
“You let everyone think you’re the great defender of the world, while you carry on your sordid, secret affair!”
“I’m warning you right now…” Ron’s words rumbled barely loud enough to be heard between Teddy’s taunts.
“Did my parents know what you were before they died for you?”
Harry knew it was coming, but Teddy certainly didn’t.
Ron reached out - people always under estimated his reach - and grabbed a handful of Teddy’s shirt. He yanked Teddy sideways and heaved him against the wall none too gently.
“Your mum and dad would be ashamed of you right now, that’s what!” Ron snapped at him.
“Fuck well off, why don’t you?” Teddy shouted, trying to kick out.
Ron snorted, and for all that Ron towered above him, Teddy was still struggling, puffed up and ready for a fight.
“I’m not scared of you!” Teddy yelled, though the pitch of his voice suggested otherwise.
“You ought to be,” Ron snarled.
Teddy pushed against him, his hair turning deep shade of cherry in his anger. He stopped struggling for a moment and appeared to swell, growing taller and broader.
“Nuh-uh! Nullus Abeo!” Ron snapped with a flick of his wand.
Teddy gave a strangled cry as if he’d been kicked in the shin and immediately shrunk back to normal size. He looked up at Ron with round eyes.
“Auror, remember?” Ron thumped himself in the chest with the fist that gripped his wand. “I know how to keep Metamorphs from out sizing me.”
“Ron,” Harry pleaded, not wanting to break unity with him, but not at all comfortable with his two most treasured people at each other like this.
“It’s about time, Ted,” Ron menaced, leaning his face into Teddy’s. “That you decide whether you’re a kid or a man. A kid who talks to Harry like that is going to get acquainted with the broad side of my belt. A man is going to meet the wrong end of my fist.”
Harry held his breath and clenched his jaw.
The threat hung heavily in the air for a moment before Teddy wilted, his face fixed in a determined pout and he dropped his eyes to the floor.
Ron paused and then stood back, though Teddy remained against the wall of his own volition.
“You can finish your music program and then go upstairs,” Ron instructed in an even voice. “And you’ll have to apologize to your godfather if you want to eat again.”
Teddy looked up at Harry, as if expecting - hoping- that Harry would say something to contradict this order. Harry returned a resolved look, trying to use his ‘Auror face’, but it pained him to do so.
He felt like he was betraying Teddy, or worse … Remus.
Letting out a deflated exhale Teddy skulked into the living room and sat with a huff on the couch.
“I’m going to bed,” Ron grumbled, giving Harry a beckoning look.
Harry followed Ron upstairs, waiting until they were out of earshot before speaking.
“Was that really necessary?” Harry hissed.
“I’ve been through far too much with you, to let anyone get away with talking to you like that now, Harry.”
Ron unbuttoned his jeans.
“You didn’t mean that belt thing, did you?”
“What? Oh, that. ‘Course not. Teddy knows that.”
“How could he possibly know that, Ron? I didn’t know if you were serious!”
“Come on. That was just like when kids say ‘My dad is gonna kill me’. It doesn’t mean anything.”
“Well I meant it when I said it! And Teddy never had anyone to threaten to kill him.”
Ron, now in his t-shirt and underwear, wasn’t going to bite into Harry’s attempts to argue about this. Instead he slid his hands around the back of Harry’s neck, looking down at him under long ginger eyelashes.
“Don’t turn this into an orphan ‘thing’. There’s no comparison between his childhood and yours. Your uncle was a foul prick who mistreated you. Teddy’s a pampered brat.” And with that, he kissed Harry’s temple, mischievously knocking his glasses askew, ending any possibility of further argument.
And Harry had been diffused.
Ron climbed into bed and threw his t-shirt on the floor. Then he rolled onto his side curling his pillow between his shoulder and head. “Come to bed, Harry. He’ll be fine in the morning.”
Harry hesitated.
“Look, Teddy just needed to see that I’m not a great poofter, who lured his precious godfather into a life of buggery. This way, he can give himself permission to show me some respect.”
Harry snorted. “Said the baby brother.”
“That’s right,” Ron yawned. “I got put in my place more than once by my brothers, didn’t I?”
“And you hated it.”
Ron ignored the comment and continued. “And besides, the little bastard ruined my chances to finish what we started earlier, didn’t he?”
“Yes,” Harry answered, shucking his jeans.
“Figured as much,” Ron muttered.
Harry climbed into bed with a lot of huffing and spooned himself against Ron’s chest, lying still for a while before speaking again. “I don’t want him to hate us, Ron.”
“He won’t,” Ron said. With one last reassuring squeeze around the shoulder, Ron’s arm became heavy and he drifted asleep.
Harry wasn’t so fortunate. He stayed in place until Ron’s breathing became deep and rhythmic, before inching out from under his long arm.
He watched the minutes tick by, sitting against the headboard with his arms wrapped around his knees. Over an hour passed before he heard Teddy go to his room. He sat there listening to Ron snore, wondering, as always, how he could sleep after an altercation.
Ron murmured in his sleep. Harry looked at him, his fringe hung in his eyes and his lips forming a slightly parted bow from his cheek being squished on the pillow.
“Defender of my honor, aren’t ya, love?” Harry whispered.
He and Ron had been mocked on many occasions in the past, but it had been so long since they’d experienced it within their circle of loved ones. And never in their own home.
Ron hummed again, this time ever so slightly humping the mattress.
Harry sniggered and stretched out to lay close, facing Ron. “I know what you need.”
He slipped his hand into Ron’s underwear, careful not to catch any ginger hair in the elastic and found the warm, stiff erection he expected to find.
“Something for my hero,” Harry whispered. He squeezed, adjusting his grip so that the tender skin settled comfortably under his fingers. He began to pump and Ron got harder in his hand.
Harry closed his eyes, focusing on the quick short strokes that Ron liked. He knew he could toss Ron off in a less than a minute if he did it just right. He strictly wanted this for Ron alone, as he wasn’t even hard himself.
He knew Ron had to be awake when his breath caught and he moaned, arching his body and then another moment later, he came. The spurts were so warm Harry barely felt the release as it made a mess over his hand.
Ron groaned and then peeked his eyes open, looking a question at Harry with furrowed brows.
“Looked like you needed it,” Harry said, reaching for his wand to cast a cleaning over them.
Ron stretched and rubbed his face. “You w-want?” he asked through a yawn, rather unseductively placing a hand on Harry’s hip.
“No. I’ll keep. You sleep.”
“You sleep, too,” Ron mumbled, grabbing Harry’s hand and rolling over with it, so that Harry was forced to spoon up to Ron’s back. “No more thinking,” he grumbled again. “Sleep.”
~^~
Harry woke later in the morning than he had wanted, and felt an achy flood of emotions rush back to his brain. He felt slightly - and pathetically - cheerless that Ron was already gone to work and he wanted his ginger teddy back in bed with him. He flopped over onto Ron’s side and shoved his head under Ron’s pillow, burrowing under the blankets.
The sun through the eastern window was already warm and it was simply too hot to remain under the blankets. His effort to absorb Ron-ness was also stymied as his full bladder and empty stomach conspired against him.
He didn’t know what to expect from the day ahead. The silence in the house was foreboding, with Teddy, now an unknown variable, lurking upstairs. Harry wondered if his Boggart would now take on the image of that angry look in Teddy’s eyes.
Harry found his hunger was quelled easily enough with a little porridge and juice. His heart wrestled with his head over resurfacing feelings of ‘wrongness’ that he’d long since dealt with. He varied between anger at Teddy, anger at Andromeda and mostly anger at himself for ever agreeing to Andromeda’s unmerited request.
Ron had never liked the idea of being anything other than honest, but as it was a matter that concerned Teddy, he’d left the decision up to Harry.
Teddy shuffled into the kitchen, and Harry could see from the boy’s body language that he was reluctant as well. He stood near the table fidgeting and Harry looked up at him, hoping he wouldn’t see hate and disgust in Teddy’s eyes.
He didn’t. Instead, he looked as worse for wear as Harry felt, and must not have slept very well either.
An obtrusive rumble from Teddy’s stomach broke the silence prompting him into speech.
“I’m … I’m, I didn’t mean …” Teddy fumbled for words. Harry then remembered Ron’s final word the night before.
“Wait. You don’t have to apologize in order to eat,” Harry said, going to the stove. “I’ll still feed you.” He quite remembered being starved for punishment and he’d never do that to another human being.
Teddy slumped into a chair with a little sigh of relief. “I am though. …Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that stuff.”
Putting a plate of toast and jam on the table, Harry wondered what the proper response was; ‘good’ seemed antagonistic, but ‘that’s alright’ would be letting him off easy.
“Would you mind -er, lifting the spell that Ron put on me?” he asked in a small voice, patting down his slept in and still cherry colored hair.
Harry bit his lip. For a moment he identified with Mrs Weasley and thought maybe he ought to make him wait until Ron got home, but he decided against that.
“Finite Abeo,” Harry said.
Teddy shuddered and his hair ebbed into the golden brown he had yesterday. “Thanks.”
“So, what happened to the turquoise?” Harry asked, cracking eggs into a frying pan, assuming it would take more than toast to satisfy Teddy’s appetite.
Teddy shrugged. “Dunno. It’s kind of flash, isn’t it?” he said while crunching toast.
“Not necessarily. It’s who you are. You certainly weren’t being ‘flash’ when you were a baby.”
“But that’s it though, isn’t it? I’m not a baby anymore. I have to grow up now.”
“Who told you that?”
Teddy didn’t answer but observing Harry’s lingering stare, he relented. “Victoire.”
“Ah. Reckoned as much. Are you spending any time at Shell Cottage this summer?”
“Don’t know. She hasn’t invited me. I don’t think Bill likes me, anyway. … Don’t think she likes me anymore either.”
Harry knew this wasn’t true. They all loved the boy, but this fifteen year old version of Teddy wasn’t easy to talk to. “What makes you say that?”
“She quit talking to me after Christmas. She told me she thought I was just “trying to get attention by being ‘colorful’ as she put it,” Teddy said, affecting the girl’s trill perfectly. “But then when I changed to brown, she still wouldn’t talk to me.”
“Maybe it wasn’t really about your hair?” Harry suggested.
“Maybe,” Teddy said, sounding relieved that someone was taking interest. “I didn’t do anything different. … Abigail Aubrey always said she liked my hair.”
“Oh, did she? … I think I see what Victoire’s problem was then.”
“Huh?” Teddy looked puzzled.
Harry huffed, trying to remember being baffled by the world at that age. He wouldn’t trade his adulthood for his school years for anything. “It’s not very nice to be disliked for something you can’t help, is it, Ted?”
Teddy shook his head. He drooped, looking duly shamed, and Harry hoped he understood they were talking about more than just ‘hair’.
“Well, girls are weird, mate,” Harry said. “I’m afraid I never figured them out.” Teddy smirked. When Harry realized the implication of what he’d said, he sniggered as well. “Guess that much is obvious though.”
“But you … you figured out Ron?” Teddy asked in a quiet voice.
“Yes, I did. Ron is something I understand.”
After Teddy finished eating enough breakfast for three Weasleys, Harry told him they were working in the garden. He’d been prepared for another pout, but Teddy didn’t put up any argument.
It was another humid day, which had them red in the face and dripping with sweat within half an hour. Aside from de-gnoming by hand, they weren’t actually doing much physical labor. Teddy watched and learned from Harry, and soon was casting the spell to enchant the hedge trimmers, the cleaning charm to remove mold from the pavement, and banishing the leaves out of the gutter.
Harry ignored the moral obligation of being an Auror, to discourage breaking the use of Underage Magic law, but he was happy to seize the opportunity to connect with his godson again.
When Harry used Aquamenti to wash the mud off the siding of the shed, Teddy tried and tried with out success to do the same. He ended up drenching himself when a mushroom cloud of water exploded out of his wand.
Harry nearly pissed himself laughing. For a moment, Teddy looked he might sulk about it, but his dignified shell cracked and he laughed with Harry.
“I’ll have to practice that again,” Teddy warned, raising his wand and taking aim.
“Oh, no,” Harry said, backing up. “ … No you don’t!”
But he did.
Teddy could only produce an embarrassing burst of water from his wand, but it was still enough to soak Harry to the skin.
After that, it was war.
“You do realize,” Harry shouted over his shoulder, Teddy in pursuit. “That I know about - argh- twenty six spells that would end you right now!”
“So? I’m not even a qualified wizard yet - gotcha again - you owe me a handicap!”
Just as Harry rounded the corner of the house, Ron exited the kitchen door. Harry dived behind him for defense.
“Look out! Teddy’s gonna-”
The blast of water meant for Harry hit Ron full in the face, before Teddy, looking mildly horrified, realized it was him.
Harry strained with bouts of silent, breathless laughter behind him, while Ron blinked the water from his eyes.
“Sorry! I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it was you!” Teddy spluttered, trying his level best to be sincere, but once he realized that Ron wasn’t going to kill him, he turned purple with repressed laughter.
“I came home for lunch,” Ron said, wiping his face. “Thought I’d wet my whistle.”
Harry let out an undignified snort as he lost himself to laughter again.
Ron smiled at Harry and shook his head, appreciating the laugh but clearly thinking Harry was off his knut.
“You’re enjoying your holiday, I see,” Ron said.
“Very much,” Harry answered, wiping his eyes. “But look at all the work we’ve done!”
“Wow,” Ron said, looking around the newly trimmed, mold and pest free yard. “Magic makes the job easier, doesn’t it?” he added with an accusing eyebrow, betrayed by a slight twitch in the corner of his mouth.
Teddy none too subtly hid his wand behind his back, and Harry, not looking the least bit like an Auror who could hex your face off, blinked, trying his best to look shame-faced.
Harry and Teddy exchanged looks and tried not to laugh.
Ron snorted, ruffled Harry’s soggy head and went inside. “Is there food?” he asked.
“I think I should change,” Teddy said, ducking passed them and running upstairs.
“So you two are getting on?” Ron said, casting a drying spell on Harry.
“Yeah,” Harry said, foregoing the drying spell and taking a tea towel to Ron’s face and hair.
“Did he apologize to you? Is he behaving himself? Do I need to-?”
“No!” Harry shushed him with a kiss. “Yes, he apologized. And he’s trying. He’s a kid, Ron. It’s takes awhile for them to absorb something new.”
“Well he better ‘absorb’ quickly,” Ron said, opening the larder. Harry put his arms around Ron’s waist and hugged against his back but Ron flinched and gasped.
“What’s wrong?” Harry asked.
Just then, a delivery owl flew into the still open door and squawked as it landed on the table.
“That’ll be Hermione’s owl,” Ron said. “I told her I’d make it home before it got here.”
Harry scowled at Ron as he took the bird’s letter and sent it on its way. Ron looked sheepish, opening a cider as Harry unrolled the small parchment.
Harry,
I’m so sorry. Ron is fine. He’ll be home soon.
Hermione
“What happened?” Harry shouted. All fun from the water fight and reconciliation with Teddy was forgotten.
“Somebody tried to hex her as she went into her office. She’s fine.”
“Because they got you instead?”
Ron shrug-nodded.
“Let me see,” Harry demanded.
“No, it’s -”
“Show me. Now.”
Ron huffed and rolled his eyes and made a dramatic show of putting his cider down, tossed his robe on a chair and began to unbutton. He turned around as he pulled his shirt off his shoulders. Harry gasped when he saw the irritated pink skin that marked a disjointed pattern like broken slate over Ron back.
“Oh, Ron!”
“I’m fine.”
“Sit - don’t talk - sit.”
Doing as he was told, Ron sat while Harry retrieved a jar of salve from the windowsill.
“Parvati’s my partner while you’re gone. She knew the counter-curse. Just needs a few more hours for it to go away.”
“What happened?” Teddy asked, entering the room with a weary expression.
“Somebody decided to give their opinion of Hermione’s legislation today,” Ron explained.
“This is not a joke,” Harry told him, rubbing a dollop of salve over Ron’s shoulder blade. He hissed and arched away from Harry’s hand. “I’m sorry,” Harry said, patting Ron’s arm with his clean hand.
Ron reached up to squeeze it. “S’ok.”
Harry could feel Teddy’s eyes on them, but he didn’t look up. He continued to rub the ointment over the fading hex marks while they talked.
“I don’t understand. What’s Hermione to do with anything?” Teddy asked.
“Well …” Ron looked up at Harry for approval before continuing. “Hermione’s proposing new werewolf rights measures in the Wizengamot next week. She’s been receiving threats, so she’s getting Auror protection until then.”
Teddy looked at the marks over Ron’s back with a sort of horrified awe. “So you jumped in front of a hex for her?”
Harry couldn’t resist the proud smile that crept over his face. Ron just couldn’t help doing things like that.
“Yeah. It’s not something I like to do. I‘m just doing my job.” Ron shrugged. “Ouch!”
“Sorry,” Harry whispered again.
Teddy squinted as Harry rubbed the glistening cream along the last irritated mark of the hex. “Did it hurt?” he asked.
“Didn’t tickle.” Ron tried looking over his shoulder to see the marks for himself and then gave Harry a wistful smile. “But I’ve had worse.”
“That you have,” Harry said.
Teddy looked at Ron for another minute. “You’ll just go back to work, now? Go on protecting Hermione, knowing it might happen again?”
“Well, no. Next time I’ll try to jump out of the way.” Ron tried to joke, but Teddy didn’t seem to have any more of a sense of humor than Harry at the moment. “It’s my job. I’d do it even if it weren’t Hermione, but I believe in what she’s doing. There’s a whole new generation of lycans that were bitten during the war, and they need more legal protection.”
Harry lifted Ron’s shirt back onto his shoulders. “But you’re home for the rest of the day?”
“Of course.”
“Why is that?” Teddy asked.
“Department mandate. Any time you get injured on the job, you have to take a day off. Just in case there are some kind of horrible after effects.”
“Really?”
“Yes. But he’s fine,” Harry said, washing his hands at the sink.
Teddy sat still and quiet, looking very thoughtful while Ron told of the apprehension of the attacker and how they’d altered Hermione’s security details.
“You all right, Ted?” Harry asked. “Hungry, again, no doubt.”
“Famished, yeah.” He glanced up at them, before frowning at his hands again. “Just thinking. … I’m such a tool. You must hate me.”
“I don’t hate ya, kid.” Ron sipped his cider, wiping his lips while he considered the boy in front of him. “I think maybe you got the impression I didn’t care what people thought about Harry, eh? … But I’ve been looking after him for a long time. I get pretty punchy if anyone has a go at him.”
Teddy nodded solemnly. “I’m … sorry. I let you down.”
“Well, I know a little something about letting your friends down.” Ron looked at Harry, who shook his head. You never let me down. “Maybe now we can look after Harry together.”
Harry snorted. Teddy smiled.
“Grandmum was wrong about you. She shouldn’t have done that, and I’m going to tell her, too!” His cheeks tinged pink as he looked up at them.
Ron nodded and chewed his lip to hide a grin. “You look a lot like your dad with your hair brown, did you know that?” he asked, changing the subject.
“I’ve seen pictures. People say I’m more like my mum though.”
“You wear your heart on your sleeve and say what you think,” Harry said. “In that respect, you’re like your mum. I’ll bet you’re going to be a prefect though, just like your dad … And Ron.”
“That’d be cool,” Teddy said, sitting up taller. “Do you think it’d be respectable for a prefect to have colored hair?”
“Don’t see why not,” Ron said, running a hand over his own brilliant ginger.
Teddy shook his head and his hair erupted into a violent shade of blue-green. “That’s better,” he said with a smile.
“There you go!” Ron said. “Never be afraid to be who are, Ted. Now, who’s gonna cook?”
Teddy shook his head.
“Me either,” Ron agreed and they both looked at Harry like hungry Quintapeds.
“Why should I have to cook?” Harry asked.
“I dunno. … New rule!” Ron announced. “The shortest person in the room cooks.”
“No way!” Harry protested.
Ron stood up, and Teddy quickly followed him, making their height over Harry obvious.
“Oh fine, now they conspire against me,” Harry grumbled.
~
Harry felt like the Crup who ate the Chizpurfle now that his two favorite boys were getting on again.
Long after eating and listening to the end of a Quidditch match, Harry followed Ron upstairs, shutting the bedroom door behind him and locking it for good measure.
Harry was struggling to pull off his jeans, and since he’d tried to pull down his underwear at the same time, they’d tangled.
“What?” Harry asked, looking up at Ron who had stopped talking.
“Just watching the show.” Ron smirked.
His jeans finally pulled free of his heel, and Harry stood and admired Ron. He was topless, still wearing tactical trousers and boots, and hair curving around his face in soft waves.
Harry was equally half naked, but felt ridiculous in a baggy t-shirt with only his bits exposed below the hem.
“You can’t be looking at me like that now,” Harry whined.
“Yes, I can,” Ron said, advancing a step, while Harry retreated one. “I can smell you.”
“Sorry, I must be rank,” Harry said, turning towards the shower.
Ron took the long steps quickly and caught Harry, pressing him against the dresser. “No … I can smell you,” he said into Harry’s ear with a rumble. He dipped his head and licked at Harry’s neck. “You’re salty, I like you salty.”
“I thought you liked me chocolatey,” Harry whimpered, arching his back.
“I like you naked.” Ron took Harry’s shirt and pulled it off.
“We can’t! Not with Teddy downstairs.”
“I don’t care, he owes us. You know what it’s like after a fight. I got so hard this morning, and you weren’t there and then I came home to find you dripping wet. … fuck.”
Ron kissed Harry’s shoulders, while placing his hands over Harry’s and planting them flat on the dresser in front of him. Ron opened his trousers and pushing them off while he leaned over Harry, keeping him in place.
“Oh,” Harry said. “Oh,” he repeated in a moan, surprised when Ron dropped to his knees behind him.
Ron wasted no time in parting his cheeks. Harry felt the tingle of magic wash over him just before Ron pressed his tongue forward. Not for the first time did Harry appreciate that Ron’s unknown talent wasn’t wasted on something like double-jointed elbows but was bestowed on his long tongue’s merciless aptitude.
Harry gasped, and pushed back against the intrusive intimacy. “Oh, fuck … we can’t.”
But in spite of his verbal protest, he parted his legs further, lowering onto his elbows. He tried not to be loud, but every third swipe of Ron’s tongue over his tender flesh caused him to moan out loud.
When he couldn’t stand it any longer, he turned and straddled Ron’s lap, where he sat back on his heels on the floor.
“Need you now,” Harry whispered. He raised his chin for Ron to kiss his neck, grinding his arse over Ron’s cock, pressing his own into Ron’s belly, trying to feel everything at once. “Now … more.”
“Yes,” Ron agreed. He held himself steady with one hand while Harry raised and then lowered himself in slow, pulsing movements until he was filled.
They’d been holding their breath and sighed, clinging to each other’s already damp bodies.
Harry began to rock and grind.
“Fuck, yes, s’perfect,” Ron groaned, his hands roving Harry’s back, hips and thighs, eventually setting on Harry’s waist to pull him harder.
“Uh - more,” Harry gasped, trying to gain even more friction as he rocked and tightened his muscles.
Ron slid his hands up Harry’s back and curled them over Harry’s shoulders, then pulled down while he thrust up.
For all the time and tender lovemaking they’d shared the night before, now they were after something different.
“More,” Harry demanded.
Ron growled and the depth of the rumble told Harry he was about to get exactly what he asked for.
Harry felt the strong, lean thighs underneath him flex. Ron kneeled up, still holding him, and leaned forward so that Harry landed on his back with a thump, and Ron slammed into him with an ‘umph’.
“Yes!” Harry raised his legs high, wriggling and adjusting to the new position. “More.”
“Merlin, man. Give me a second and I’ll give you more than you can handle,” Ron muttered.
Harry almost chuckled at being called out for his own, pitiful begging, but then Ron pushed up, hooking Harry’s legs over his upper arms so that he could no longer control or resist any movement.
He was panting for breath when Ron, now having Harry fully at his mercy, stared him in the eye, communicating confirmation.
“More,” Ron said. The word was a warning, not a question.
He pulled back and slammed into Harry, deep and hard. His body jarred, his teeth clacked as there was no soft bed underneath them to cradle their bodies. Only the hard carpeted floor that held Harry firmly in place to bear the intensity of each thrust, which he cursed and worshipped at once.
His hands slipped over Ron’s sweaty back, leaving Harry nothing to hang onto as he continued to be assailed with each violent plunge into his body.
Embarrassing whiny grunts were forced from his mouth. ‘Ron’ was the only English word that Harry could formulate and he called it out over and over again.
“I want you to come while I fuck you,” Ron ordered, in a constricted, deep voice.
The breathless, frantic pace continued while Harry was unable to do anything but absorb it. Stroking himself with a hard, determined grip, the coil of need sprung free and he came. Barely audible grunts punctuated the strands of come that covered his chest.
He recovered just in time and opened his eyes to watch Ron. With his eyes squeezed shut, he licked his lips and bit his upper lip. The pace of his hips slowed. A few long, slow motions, and his body quivered. Silently and beautifully he came, his hair sticking to his wet forehead.
There was nothing that didn’t ache as control of his legs was returned to him while Ron slipped free of his body and collapsed on top of him. The ache was delicious though and left a smile on his face, feeling as though he’d just perpetrated the perfect crime.
“You asked for it,” Ron whimpered, sounding more kitten than lion now.
“I did,” Harry admitted. “And I got so much more.”
~^~
Thank you for reading this ridiculously long story!