So...
I just realized there are A LOT of time skips and I'm so sorry if it's annoying or confusing...
Also, it's a bit longer than the other chapters because I got a little carried away with writing this and now I'm just hoping that it all makes sense 😅
AnYwAy, Happy reading!
• • • • • • • • • • •
4 weeks ago...
"Ron" Ginny scowled as she watched in disgust at her brother.
"What?" His voice was quite muffled since he had a few pieces of bacon stuffed into his mouth.
"You eat like a pig" she stated and turned her attention back to the rest of the family.
"I'm hungry" he pouted once he swallowed.
"You're always hungry" she rolled her eyes.
Ron shook his head and brushed off her comment - it wasn't the first time she had something to say about his table manners.
"Ron, Ginny, you two need to finish up and get your things ready" Molly smiled from across the table. "I don't want you to be late for the train"
They both nodded and excused themselves from the table.
Ron only had a few things left to pack. He was exited to see Hermione and Harry again. He packed the last few books and sweaters into his trunk and hurried back to the table.
"Where are Fred and George?" He asked, noticing they weren't seated at the table like before.
"They had to go back to the shop" Arthur stated. "Something about the "exploding" in exploding snap taken a little too seriously"
Ron snickered quietly. Ginny came in only a few moments later with her trunk.
"You all set?" Molly asked and eyed the two red heads infront of her.
"Yup" they both said in unison and made their way to the floo.
Meanwhile...
"Mum, I'm ready!" Blaise called once he finally reached the end of the staircase.
"Coming!" She yelled back and ran into the room with a bright smile, her robes swooshing behind her. "Have you got everything?"
Blaise nodded in annoyance and waited for her to finally stop straightening up his shirt. "Mum, if we don't go now I'll be late"
She rolled her eyes and pulled out her wand, immediately aparating them to the train station.
"Don't get into any trouble, okay?" Blaise's mother warned. "I don't want to have to repeat last term's incident"
Blaise blushed at the memory. "I thought we agreed you wouldn't bring it up!"
She rolled her eyes and gave him a stern look.
"Fine. I won't." He stated plainly. "Bye, mum"
Heading for the train, he heard a familiar laugh from across the floor... It was, unmistakably, Ronald Weasley.
"Mum, if you don't let me go we'll see miss the train!" Ginny yelped as Molly pulled her into another tight hug.
"You mean you'll miss the train" Ron laughed as he gathered his trunk and started making his way to the train.
The small halls were filled with buzzing students and large amounts of luggage pulling along besides them. Ron couldn't see Harry or Hermione so he settled down in the nearest empty compartment.
While stuffing his trunk out of the way, he heard the compartment door click open.
"Harry, mate, could you help me get this bloody trunk to stop falling?" He asked.
"Why didn't you just shrink it?"
Wait a bloody minute - that's not Harry. Ron spun around quickly and let go of the trunk, immediately causing it to fall back down.
"Should I..." Blaise trailed off, hoping his question was obvious enough for the red head.
"Please" Ron muttered.
Out of all people I just had to get stuck with Blaise Zabini. Ron groaned to himself as Blaise sat the trunk down.
"You should really shrink your luggage" Blaise stated amused. "It helps avoid situations like... This"
"Yeah yeah" Ron whined and slumped down onto the seat. "Why aren't you with Pansy and The Git?"
"Couldn't find them" he shrugged; completely ignoring the fact that Ron had just insulted his best friend. "What about you?"
"Same"
The compartment fell into a rather uncomfortable silence for a while. Neither of them wanted to talk to the other; what exactly were they supposed to say?
"I-" Before Ron could start the conversation, the door opened once again. This time revealing a very calm Luna and a flustered Neville.
"Hey, Ron. Mind if we join you? The other compartments have filled up" Luna said in her dreamy voice.
"Yeah, sure"
She smiled and stepped inside, Neville following close behind.
"So... What are you two talking about?" Neville asked awkwardly.
"Nothing" Blaise stated dryly.
"Have you seen the latest issue of Quibbler?" Luna asked, trying to start a non-awkward conversation.
The rest of the train ride was filled with pointless chatting and jokes. Occasionally Ron would steal a glance when he thought Blaise wasn't looking, coincidentally, Blaise would do the same.
When the train finally came to a stop everyone gathered their trunks and headed towards the exit.
"Hey, thanks for helping me with my trunk by the way" Ron smiled before making his way towards Harry and Hermione.
"There you are!" Hermione chirped and pulled Ron in for a hug. "I was worried you had missed the ride or something"
"No... I couldn't find you guys so I just settled with another compartment" he explained before Hermione finally let go. "Hey, Harry"
"Hey..."
***
"I swear that speech gets longer and longer each term" Draco stated once the feast had commenced.
Blaise let out a throaty chuckle and let his eyes trail across the great hall.
"Yo, Blaise!?" Pansy yelled while snapping her finger infront of him.
"W-what?" He stuttered once reality finally caught up with him.
"Are you alright? Why are you staring at the Weasel?" Pansy asked and looked over to the Gryffindor table.
Blaise's eyes widened slightly. He didn't even notice he was staring at him. "Um..."
Meanwhile with Ron
"This is so good" Ron moaned as he took a bite from his chicken.
"Why do you always have to make eating sound so sexual?" Harry remarked, letting out a slightly uncomfortable laugh.
Ron pondered over his question for a moment and shrugged, immediately continuing to eat.
Hermione, for once, didn't have her nose in a book, instead she was looking around the hall to see if there were any exchange students for the term - surprisingly she was met with dark eyes glued to the read head infront of her.
"Ron, why is Zabini staring at you?"
Ron started chocking on his food and stared at her with wide eyes. "What?"
"Don't look!" She scolded before Ron could turn around.
"Am I missing something...?" Harry asked cluelessly before looking over at the Slytherin table.
Ron looked at Harry and then at Hermione, silently asking if he was still staring.
"Okay you can look now"
"Seriously, AM I MISSING SOMETHING!?"
***
The rest of the week passed by quickly. Classes hadn't changed much and homework was given out like candy.
Pansy, Draco and Blaise were sitting in the common room discussing their new potions partners.
"She is so bossy!" Pansy groaned and fell back onto the couch.
Blaise shook his head and let out a stifled laugh. "At least you're not paired with someone who keeps flirting with you"
"Was it just me, or did the Weasel look pissed when she started flirting...?" Draco asked, finally showing some interest in the conversation.
Blaise's head snapped up towards Draco and frowned. "What are you talking about?"
"When what's her face started flirting, Ron looked pretty pissed" Draco shrugged.
"Maybe he just likes her and was jealous?" Pansy suggested.
"Probably. Or..."
"Or...?"
Meanwhile
"Can you believe it!?" Ron yelled angrily. "She basically threw herself at him!"
Harry looked at Ron with a confused look plastered all over his face. "Ron, she was just flirting."
Ron let out a scoff followed by a sigh.
Harry frowned."Look, Ron, normally I understand exactly what you're talking about... But what are you so worked up about? It's not like they're together or anything."
"That's not the point, Harry" he sighed and plopped down onto his bed.
"Then... What is?"
Ron sighed once again. "I don't know"
***
"Ron, if you keep making faces it's going to get stuck like that and you'll have to live the rest of your life looking like-" Hermione sated and mimicked his expression.
"I don't look like that" he huffed.
"SuRe" she teased.
After a few moments of silence Hermione slammed her book on the table, causing Ron to flinch.
"Seriously, what are you looking at!?"
Ron nodded his head towards the table near the window where Blaise and another blonde Slytherin were seated. She was viciously twirling a string of her hair and forcing a laugh every now and then.
"Are you-" Hermione started, while looking between Ron and the blonde girl.
"What!? No!" Ron yelped.
"Oh yes you are" Hermione laughed.
"Don't you think if I was I would know?"
Hermione pouted and gave him a sympathetic look. "Ronald Weasley, you are one of the most oblivious wizards I have ever met... And we hang out with Harry, so that's saying something."
Ron gaped at her statement and stared at her for a while. "I am NOT oblivious"
"Keep telling yourself that, sweetie"
Blaise's head snapped towards Hermione.
"Sweetie"? He pondered. Are they dating?
"Blaise, are you listening?" The girl asked in her high pitched voice.
"No"
She sighed and started talking again, but Blaise wasn't paying attention. His focus was stuck on Hermione and Ron.
***
"Pansy, it's not funny!" Blaise growled.
Pansy kept laughing and eventually started clutching her stomach. "I- I can't! You- You think Granger and-"
She began laughing again.
Blaise was everything but amused.
"Pansy, this is supposed to be a serious conversation. Why are you laughing?"
Pansy wiped the tear from her eye and looked at Blaise. "You know she's already in a relationship right?"
"WHAT?" Blaise yelped. "With who!?"
"Not Ron Weasley, that's for sure"
***
"Oh; Blaise..."
Just as luck would have it, the next day Ron and Blaise were early for their first period - meaning, they were the only two outside of the classroom.
"Hello to you too"
Ron rolled his eyes and looked around the halls awkwardly.
No one. Ron sighed. Just perfect.
"How've you been?" Blaise asked, desperately wanting to get rid of the silence.
"Good. I've been good." Ron shrugged. "You?"
"Good" he nodded.
"That's good"
...
"How are things between you and... Uh..." Ron started. He wanted to ask about Blaise's relationship with that blonde girl, but realized that he didn't know her name.
"Who?" Blaise asked confused.
"You know... That blonde girl..."
"Oh, you mean Vivian?" Ron nodded. "She's annoying as hell. I really don't see how Snape could think we'd make good partners."
"Wow" Ron laughed shyly. "I thought you'd be happy about being pared with your girlfriend"
Blaise looked at Ron for a while, looking for any signs that he was joking...
"Oh Merlin..." Ron stated once he realized. "She's not your girlfriend, is she?"
"Nope" Blaise answered, popping the "p" slightly.
"I'm so sorry! I thought-"
***
The rest of the day was followed with stolen glances from both Blaise and Ron whenever they had classes together.
During dinner Blaise couldn't help but wonder why his eyes always trailed back to the red head; or why his heart would speed up slightly whenever he thought about him; not to mention why he felt jealous when he thought him and Hermione were in a relationship...
"Draco?"
"Yeah?"
"How'd you know you were gay?"
Draco started chocking on his pumpkin juice and started at Blaise. "W-what? Where did that come from?"
"I just... I was just wondering..."
Draco raised a brow and looked back to the Gryffindor table, a slight blush creeping onto his cheeks. "I guess, um... Well..."
"You just knew?" Blaise asked, knowing that if the answer was "yes" it wouldn't help much.
"I guess...?" Draco slurred. "Why do you ask?"
Blaise shrugged and looked at the pail liquid swooshing in his cup...
***
"Ron. What's going on with you lately?" Harry asked as they made their way to class. "You know you can talk to me if something's bothering you, right?"
"Yeah I know" Ron sighed.
"So... What's up?"
"Let's just say that emotions are complicated"
"No argument there" Harry chuckled.
***
"Draco is absolutely useless once Potter enters the bloody room" Pansy groaned while walking out of class.
"You can say that again" Blaise chuckled.
Before they could turn down the hall towards their next class, Blaise felt a tug at his arm.
"Ron?"
"H-hey... Can I talk to you for a second?"
Blaise looked over to Pansy - or rather where Pansy was standing about three seconds ago.
"Yeah sure" he complied and followed Ron towards an empty hallway. "What's up?"
Ron couldn't hide his flustered fave anymore. Somehow, Hermione had figured out that it wasn't the blonde girl that Ron was pining over... And convinced him to talk to Blaise.
"Do you wanna hang out after school?" After Ron saw Blaise's wide eyes he immediately regretted this. "I mean, you don't have to! I was just thinking that we could go out as friends or-"
"Ron... Ron. RON!"
Ron finally stopped rambling and looked up at Blaise.
"I'd love to hang out" he smiled shyly.
"O-okay, great!" Ron chirped. "After school at Hogsmead ?"
"Sounds great!"
***
"Please!?" Pansy whined desperately as she sprawled out across his bed.
"No"
"C'mon, I won't tell anyone!"
"No" Blaise repeated. "I'll be back later, okay?"
Pansy groaned and nodded. "Fine."
Blaise smiled and hurried out the room an towards the main entrance before aporating to Hogsmead.
It wasn't long before he spotted Ron between the crowd of people...
They spent the rest of the afternoon talking and wondering around, occasionally stopping to get something to eat or drink. Much to their surprise, they had a lot more in common than they thought.
"We should probably start getting back..." Ron stated before taking another lick at his ice cream.
"Yeah" Blaise said absentmindedly. His focus was glued onto the patch of chocolate ice cream stained onto Ron's cheek.
"What are you looking at?"
"You have a little something over here" Blaise chuckled and showed Ron where the blotch of chocolate was.
Ron's eyes widened and he frantically tried to wipe it off, a crimson blush seated on his cheeks from the embarrassment.
"Is it off?"
"Yes" Blaise laughed and shook his head. "You're adorable"
Ron stopped wiping his face and stared at Zabini. When Blaise finally realized what he had said he stopped laughing.
"Uh... I mean..."
***
Blaise and Ron pretty much tried to ignored each other after they got back to Hogwarts.
It was currently Sunday night and the Golden trio were seated in the Great hall, neither of them really interested in making conversation.
"I think it's safe to assume that the date went bad" Hermione stated out of the blue.
"Ron went on a date!?" Harry yelled, quickly catching the attention of a certain Slytherin.
Blaise looked up from his plate.
Did he get a girlfriend or... Was our "hang out"- oh crap... A million questions and theories began swimming around in his mind.
"It wasn't a date, Hermione" Ron hushed. "But yes. It went bad."
Dinner continued without another word said between them. When it finally came to an end, Ron was pulled aside from the crowd of students.
"What the bloody-" Ron looked up to the figure. "Blaise?"
"What the hell are you doing?" He resorted once he finally regained his balance.
"Okay, let me just say that I like you. Don't ask me why or how, because I won't be able to answer any of those. I know you probably don't feel the same, for all I know you could be straight-" he cut himself off. "Oh shit. Are you straight? I just embarrassed myself, didn't I? Crap. I'm sorry-"
"Blaise, shut up you're rambling!" Ron hushed him. "I like you too"
"Y-you do?"
"Well... Yeah..."
Blaise stared at Ron for a while before letting out a relieved sigh.
"Thank Merlin"
Ron let out a chuckle and pulled his hand away from Blaise's - which he only now realised that they were holding hands the entire time.
"We have to get going or Filch will catch us past curfew..." Ron mumbled. "So... Good night? I guess..."
"Night..."
***
During classes they would constantly look at each other when an opportunity was given and spent most of their free periods in an empty classroom. No one seemed to notice them sneaking off or hanging out so they agreed to keep it to themselves until they made things official.
Unfortunately, hiding their "relationship" would become much harder...
"Harry, calm down!"