The Traveling Sideshow

June 2, 1998

"Go on, catch me up," Harry slurred as he reclined against the back of his wooden chair, smirking vaguely at Ron as Ron furrowed his eyebrows.

Ron swallowed the rather hefty gulp of ale he had just tipped into his mouth and set his glass on the unpolished tabletop.

"Catch you up to what?"

"Don't tell me you haven't kissed her again..." Harry said a bit dramatically. "It's been a month!"

"Again?" Ron repeated slowly, a blush creeping onto his face as he started to cotton on.

"Since the Room of Requirement, git." Harry nudged Ron's shin with his foot under the table.

Ron made a slightly disgusted face.

"You want me to tell you about..." he lowered his voice... "snogging Hermione? !"

Harry raised his eyebrows, grinned, and leaned forward again to take a sip of his drink. Ron gaped at him.

"You're drunk," Ron stated as Harry leaned his chair onto the back two legs and nearly lost his balance.

Harry's eyes widened as he caught himself with his palms on the table. He laughed and shrugged.

"Walk me home... and tell me," Harry said as he stood and stretched, downing the rest of his drink as Ron shook his head.

"Lightweight," Ron muttered as he finished off his own drink.

"Give it ten more minutes, mate," Harry grinned. "You just take longer to get there."

"C'mon," Ron said, rolling his eyes as Harry forced his arms into his jacket.

They headed for the back door of the pub, and Ron pushed it open with slightly more force than was necessary. Harry raised his eyebrows at Ron as he walked through into the alley. But Ron swayed very slightly as he made his own exit, and Harry caught it, laughing.

"Not so fast," he said as Ron caught his eye. "Told you. Better hang onto me. You'll need some help down the stairs at the end of the alley."

"Wanker," Ron laughed, but he reached for Harry, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him against his side. "This way," he added as Harry started to pull away in the wrong direction, "or have you forgotten how to get home?"

Harry turned where Ron was guiding him, and he wrapped an arm securely around Ron's waist. Chuckling, they began their awkward attempt to maintain balanced and heading in a straight line while squeezed against each other.

"So, let's have it," Harry said.

And now, under the influence of the full effects of the ale and whiskey they'd been drinking all night, and with the ground beneath their feet as Ron tried to concentrate on remaining visibly unaffected, he found that he was speaking before he could consider further the bizarre circumstance of recounting to his best friend all of the kisses he had shared with their best friend...

"Ah... we got back to the Burrow and I... I found her on the landing outside my room. That's when I did it... kissed her."

Harry held up two fingers and nodded. The gesture caused Ron to shake slightly with suppressed laughter.

"Um..." Ron continued, grinning now, "when we were leaving for Australia, we were at the... the..." He struggled for the right word.

"Airport?" Harry supplied.

"Yuh!" Ron clutched Harry's shoulders tighter and laughed again.

"But I was with you," Harry said, confused.

"Uh huh, but you went to the loo and she kissed me."

"Bollocks."

They both shook with laughter this time, and Harry held up three fingers, tilting his head to raise his eyebrows at Ron.

"You're gonna run out of fingers, mate," Ron joked as he cautiously stepped off the edge of the pavement, down the uneven stone steps that curved behind two rows of tall buildings. Harry widened his eyes and almost tripped, but Ron caught him, hand slipping under Harry's left arm.

"Well, get on with it!" Harry exclaimed as they moved ungracefully down the remaining steps and onto rough pavement again.

"You went for a drink, she came to our hotel room..."

"I knew it!" Harry shouted triumphantly, kicking a stone loose from the pavement. It clattered against the brick wall to their left. "I caught you and you denied it!"

Ron rolled his eyes.

"What was I supposed to say when you came barging into the room?" Ron argued, blushing. "Oh, I'm sorry, would you mind leaving again so I could get back to snogging Hermione?"

"Sure," Harry said with a shrug. But before Ron could respond, Harry held up four fingers.

"Okay, okay," Ron laughed, thinking, trying to remember the next time... "Oh! On the beach, sunset."

"Romantic," Harry snorted, wiggling his fingers against Ron's side and causing him to squirm as he attempted to get away.

"Cut it out!" Ron bellowed as he yanked his arm from around Harry's shoulders and shoved Harry away from him. A few stories up, an owl hooted from a window ledge.

"Shhh!" Harry hissed, chuckling as he walked in a decidedly jagged line, scuffing his feet on random bits of rough gravel as he went.

Ron shoved his hands into his pockets and grinned, shaking his head. After a brief silent pause, Ron glanced over at Harry, amused.

"I'm waiting..." he said. Harry raised his eyebrows, confused. Ron removed his right hand from his pocket long enough to hold it up in front of Harry, all five fingers extended.

"Ah!" Harry said, remembering immediately. He held up his own hand to match Ron's and nodded, waiting for Ron to continue.

"In her parents' garden..." Ron confessed, grimacing.

"In Australia?" Harry asked, looking rather impressed. Ron nodded. "George would be so proud." Ron laughed as Harry held up his left thumb now to join his right hand to make six.

"Then uh, in her room, here in London," Ron said, cringing again.

Harry just smirked and added another finger. Seven.

"Let's see..." Ron slowed down his walk as he concentrated. "At the Burrow, by the lake. Then again when I went up to see her in Ginny's room. Then on the landing outside my room again-"

"Slow down!" Harry shouted, putting much more effort than usual into counting properly as he extended three more fingers slowly to make ten. Widening his eyes, Harry held up two hands in front of Ron's face, turning and walking backwards in front of Ron to show him with emphasis. "And you're not done?" he asked Ron, incredulously.

Ron shook his head.

Harry blinked at him, hands still hovering in the air, as the two of them slowed to a stop at the end of the narrow alley.

"Told you," Ron shrugged.

"Have we at least made it to the party?" Harry asked.

Ron grinned, thinking about... the party. Three days ago. It had been great, celebrating a classmate's birthday after all they'd been through, and Hermione had come out to the pub early to join him and Harry. They'd spent most of the evening together at the same table, but when Ginny pulled Harry up to dance, Hermione had taken the opportunity to lead Ron down the old dusty stairs towards the store room and snog him against the wall... Best night they'd had so far...

"Ron?" Harry said loudly, poking Ron in the ribs.

"Hey!"

"Are you gonna answer?" Harry asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Yeah, yeah," Ron said, brushing past Harry and turning right into the wide, quiet street ahead, moonlight reflecting off the pavement. "Party," Ron added as he grinned back at Harry, eyes sparkling.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked as he jogged to catch up to Ron where he was now headed down the long sidewalk.

"Best not to you-know-what tonight, yeah?" Ron called over his shoulder just before Harry reached him. They fell into step next to each other, Harry moving a bit faster to keep pace with Ron.

"You mean apparate?" Harry asked loudly and Ron shoved Harry hard in the side with his elbow.

"Shut it!" Ron hissed. "This is a muggle street!"

"Oops!" Harry laughed.

They walked in silence, hands in their pockets, for a while before Harry looked up at Ron again.

"Were you done?"

"Mm?"

"The tales of snogging Hermione," Harry smirked.

"Ah. Yeah, that covers it, I think." Ron's ears felt warmer all of a sudden. Perhaps the cool night air was sobering him up a bit. He removed his hands from his pockets again and rubbed the back of his neck absentmindedly.

"Right, well-" Harry began, but he stopped short as he yanked his hand out of his pocket, dragging the lining out so it hung inside out next to his leg. "Bugger. Looks like I'm out of money."

Ron glanced over.

"And?" Ron shrugged. "We can go to Gringotts tomorrow." And with the thought of tomorrow, Ron yawned exaggeratedly.

"It is tomorrow, mate," Harry said as he looked at his watch. And it was obvious, suddenly. The sun had begun to rise ahead of them. Startled, Ron stared forward at the glowing horizon.

"I thought the pub closed at two!"

"Not for Harry Potter," Harry said, leaning against Ron briefly, jokingly, as they slowed their walk, approaching a silent street intersection.

"Shit, Hermione will kill me," Ron muttered, realizing too late that he shouldn't have said that aloud.

"You sound like an old married bloke," Harry teased.

"Ha ha," Ron drew out, glaring at Harry, "but this is different. I'm supposed to meet her this morning to help her prepare for all the job applications she wants to fill out. She's taking it really seriously... obviously."

"You're helping her prepare?" Harry asked in mock astonishment.

"Does it never end?" Ron asked, scoffing as Harry continued to smirk at him. "Wipe that thing off your face," Ron continued, gesturing to Harry's amused grin. "You look ridiculous."

"Well, we're already up," Harry continued, ignoring Ron, "and Gringotts will be opening in-" Harry glanced at his watch again "-an hour, so why not head down to Diagon Alley with me now and visit our vaults?"

Ron looked skeptical.

"Then you'll have something to take Hermione out to lunch with, or whatever," Harry added, and Ron sensed that Harry had discovered a new way to convince Ron to do whatever he wanted... and Ron was slightly ashamed at the realization that this line of manipulation was likely to work nearly every time.

Ron sighed.

"Okay, I guess I could use a bit more," he admitted, patting his pocket and listening as a few stray coins clinked together dully.

"Too right," Harry said, and they turned right, cutting down a muggle side street.

"Speaking of work," Ron began, "reckon we should start thinking about applying for Auror training?"

They hadn't even discussed it yet, not since the end of the war, but somehow Ron knew that it wasn't a question of whether or not they would... just when they would.

"Yeah," Harry said, shrugging lightheartedly.

They scuffed their feet as they meandered slowly down the dark road towards the lightening horizon, and finally, Harry spoke again.

"Was thinking of taking a little vacation, no where too elaborate... just something to put a bit of time between... everything... and the next chapter, you know?"

Ron nodded, though Harry wasn't watching him. They turned down another street, disappearing into shadow.

"Shall we Disapparate from here?" Harry asked.

Ron removed his wand from his pocket without answering, and they turned, disappearing with two cracks at very slightly staggered intervals.

When they reappeared next to each other in the alley next to the Leaky Cauldron, Ron began speaking before they had even pocketed their wands, as if their earlier conversation had never been interrupted by changing their location.

"I think I'd like that, a holiday. Maybe we could go to Hogsmeade for a weekend? Or we could camp on the beach... we've still got the tent." Ron shrugged. The truth was, he had no money for a holiday, though he'd like to do something to provide a bit of a break from the hectic lives they had been living since... well, since they'd met.

Harry opened the door to the Leaky Cauldron and stepped in, leaning back to hold it open as Ron hopped up the stone step into the pub after him.

"Do you think Hermione'd come along?" Harry asked as they moved through the empty pub towards the back door, waving vaguely at a young tired looking man behind the counter who was wiping the inside of various sized mugs with a rag.

"Sure," Ron said, thinking very fondly of going away with Hermione. "She'd come."

"What about her applications?" Harry asked as they pushed through the back door into the alley.

Ron shrugged once more.

"Reckon I could convince her to put them off for a week or two."

Harry smirked at Ron as he tapped the bricks in the wall to open the archway into Diagon Alley.

"I wouldn't let her know you think so," Harry said as he stepped back, allowing the arch to fully open. "I have a feeling if Hermione knew you thought you could convince her of anything, she'd refuse to let you win just to prove a point."

Ron shoved Harry through the archway into the alley.

"So this is what I get for waiting so many bloody years to talk to Hermione about..." Ron motioned vaguely as he stepped up next to Harry, walking through the deserted alley towards Gringotts at a leisurely pace.

"Worth it?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrows as he leaned against Ron briefly, forcing him to step sideways.

"Most definitely." Ron shoved his hands into his pockets as his ears burned. He could have made another joke, but he was honestly tired of pretending he didn't care for Hermione even half as much as he really did.

They continued in silence as the sky turned slowly to a beautiful light pink. Ron had hardly noticed the shift from night to day, though they had been walking through it all this time. It was always a shock to discover how bright it suddenly was outside, as if the world knew that people needed to be lulled into a major change, unable to cope with an abrupt shift.

They found themselves standing in front of the bank, doors still locked. Harry consulted his watch.

"Ten more minutes," he said, turning and sitting on the front steps to wait.

Ron joined Harry and they enjoyed the glow of early morning and the silence of the empty alley until wizards and witches began to filter in, opening shops and stands. And before they knew it, they heard the clink and clatter of the many locks of Gringotts being undone. They turned inward, glancing over their shoulders as the goblins inside worked on the locks, finally completing the job and bustling back to their posts at the little desks and counters within.

Harry stood and stretched, approaching the doors as Ron followed closely.

"And just think, most of the other reasonable people of the world are still tucked into their beds," Ron said as he followed Harry inside.

"You mean most of the other unemployed people of the world."

Ron grinned as he followed Harry through the entrance hall and up to the counters beyond. Perhaps being unemployed for a while longer had its merits...

"Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley to go down to our vaults, sir," Harry said, fishing his key out of his pocket and placing it on the counter. He turned and held out his hand for Ron's key which Ron finally located within the depths of his own patched and repatched jeans pocket.

"Right this way," said the goblin, taking the keys and hopping down from his stool.

It was strange, being led through Gringotts after their last adventure here, taking the little cart through familiar twists and turns, paths they had once blazed down rather unceremoniously on the back of a dragon.

"Here we are," said the goblin as the cart came to a clattering halt. "Mr. Potter."

There was something sort of irritated in the way the goblin addressed Harry, and Ron was sure it had something to do with the little adventure he had just been recalling...

While Ron stood back, Harry stepped into his vault, and promptly gasped.

"What?" Ron asked, wincing as he feared the worst, that perhaps Harry had been robbed. But as Ron stepped up next to Harry, close enough to see over the top of his head into the vault beyond, his eyes widened to perfect circles. "I knew you were rich, mate, but really..."

"There's been a mistake!" Harry exclaimed, staring in without blinking, eyes shining and reflecting the sheer volume of gold that filled every available crevice of his vault. He finally turned back to face the little goblin who was waiting on the other side of the door. "Someone's used the wrong vault or... or made a deposit into the wrong account!"

The goblin looked mildly offended at Harry's implication that someone at Gringotts had made a mistake.

"I assure you, what's in this vault belongs to Harry Potter," the goblin stated firmly.

"I don't understand..." Harry said slowly.

"I can say that someone did make a deposit into this vault yesterday," the goblin continued, clearly bored with recounting such information.

"Who?" Harry demanded, almost suspiciously.

"Someone from the Ministry of Magic. Reward money," the goblin said.

"Reward money? !" Harry asked incredulously.

"Blimey..." Ron breathed. It actually made sense. After all, Harry had brought about the demise of the most dangerous wizard of all time. Of course he would be rewarded for it.

"But what for?" Harry asked, clueless. Ron laughed.

"What do you think?" Ron said, through a chuckle. "You did just save the world, mate."

"No one said anything about reward money," Harry commented rationally.

"But why would they?" Ron asked, somewhat rhetorically. "You'd have just turned it down if they'd filled in you on their intentions beforehand, yeah?"

Harry shrugged helplessly, but it was plain to see that Ron was right. Harry would never have accepted so much money if he had had the choice.

"I don't need all this," Harry said, looking back in at all of his newly acquired gold. Ron rolled his eyes.

"Harry, your vault is full to bursting, you'll never actually need to work again really, and you're going to complain about it?" Ron gazed in at the gold, eyes still wide.

"You take it then," Harry said, "you and Hermione. You two deserve it as much as I do."

"No way," Ron said firmly, and Harry glanced over at him, surprised. "Harry, I may be poor, but I still have my pride."

Harry smiled but shook his head.

"Well," Ron began after a moment, "fill your money bags and let's get going. Hermione's expecting me at ten and I'll need a shower, at the least, and a change of clothes."

Harry nudged Ron roughly, teasingly, in the arm before stepping forward and collecting a small amount of gold from his vault. When he stepped back again, Ron stared down at him, eyebrows raised.

"That's all?" Ron questioned as he surveyed Harry's moderately filled money bags.

"All I need for now," Harry shrugged as he stepped back out of the vault. "And I haven't given up the idea of splitting the money three ways, at the very least. No way I'm keeping that kind of a fortune for myself after all the two of you went through for me."

With no desire to continue discussing Harry's massive fortune or the fact that Ron knew he could never in a million years accept such a sum from Harry, reward money or no, Ron stepped wordlessly into the cart again, preparing for the ride down to his own vault.

Harry followed suit, and the goblin steered the cart through sharp turns, sudden drops, and finally, another abrupt stop in front of Ron's vault.

They clambered out and waited as the goblin opened the vault. Ron busied himself with straightening out his rumpled money bag, trying to guess how much he'd need to take versus how much he probably had left inside. But just as he was contemplating the lowest possible price of a small holiday, his face was hit with a brighter gleam than he had anticipated. He stepped forward, eyebrows furrowed... and his jaw dropped.

"Oh my God..."

Harry tried unsuccessfully to peer over Ron's shoulder and eventually opted for shoving him to the side so he could see in as well.

"Woah!" Harry exclaimed, eyes alight with gold once more.

Ron was rendered absolutely speechless at the sight before his eyes. His vault, previously sparse with pieces of silver, occasionally flecked with a small amount of gold, was now full to the absolute top, not a single spare bit of space left unadorned. He was suddenly, instantly, as rich as Harry!

"Reward money?" Harry asked, turning towards the goblin again for confirmation. He nodded once before tapping his feet in an impatient manner.

"This is... this is..." Ron started, but he couldn't even think of another word to continue with.

Ron moved forward, as far in as he could get without knocking into the mountains of coins before him, and he surveyed his newly acquired fortune with unbelieving eyes.

"Bet Hermione's vault's been filled as well," Harry commented from a few feet behind Ron. "Guess they already split the reward between us. Blimey, good thing. It obviously would have never fit in just one vault."

"Harry," Ron breathed as he continued to stare forward, unblinking.

He had never imagined even seeing this much money in one place at one time. He felt a sudden odd mixture of joy and embarrassment. Somehow, the weight of the gold was pressing against him in a way he had not expected. It was brilliant, yes. He would never again have to worry about being poor. But... what did that mean? He would never allow himself to become like the Malfoys had been, bragging about their wealth, looking down at those who didn't have it. No. Of course he wouldn't. But now he had to weigh his options. He wanted to provide for his whole family, wanted to be sure they had all they ever wanted. He was suddenly in a position to do that, yet he knew how they'd feel for him to offer it. He'd been on the other side. Moments ago, even. Could he ever convince them to accept it?

"You okay, mate?" Harry asked, smiling despite himself. "It's brilliant, isn't it..."

"I'm... I don't know, actually," Ron said honestly. "Bloody hell..."

"Harder than you thought, being rich?" Harry teased.

But Ron remained unfazed by Harry's joke, still staring at his fortune with his lips slightly parted.

"Look, you've enough in here to last ten lifetimes," Harry began, "so let's just... have some fun. We wanted a holiday, right? Well, let's take one. Then, when we come back, we can deal with the complexities of being rich and famous."

Ron glared down at Harry, but was soon smiling.

"You're right," he said slowly. "Damn..."

"Fill those money bags," Harry ordered brightly.

But all of a sudden, out of nowhere, something occurred to Ron, something... very nearly terrifying... exciting... overwhelming.

"I think I've just had an idea..." Ron said slowly, softly, eyes wide for another reason now.

"You think?" Harry asked, and Ron sensed the impending completion of a joke... "How can you be sure? Can you remember ever having an idea before?"

"Shut up," and Ron narrowed his eyes at Harry, trying to instantly dismiss the joke and focus back on the insane things that were building up too quickly in his mind. "Harry," he continued, his tone drastically changed, something absolutely thrilling lurking under the surface as he spoke, "get as much gold as you can carry."

"Are we about to go on a reckless shopping spree?" Harry asked, his eyes gleaming with excited amusement.

"Better," Ron breathed, and he set to work filling his money bag, his pockets, tucking coins under his belt... "Come on, Harry!" he exclaimed as he realized that Harry wasn't moving.

"But what-" Harry began.

"I'll explain later. Come on!" Ron shouted excitedly as he slipped coins into his socks and shoes.

Looking clueless, Harry began to copy Ron, filling his pockets with as much gold as they could hold. And finally, when they had collected as much as they could possibly carry, they stood up straight, facing each other, weighed down immensely by the small fortune they were now carrying. Ron grinned, his face bright, but not only from the glow of the gold. They exited, but stared in again as they waited for the goblin to lock up.

"We didn't even make a dent," Harry commented as he surveyed Ron's vault contents.

"Back to your flat," Ron said almost breathlessly. "We've got an hour before I have to meet Hermione. I'll explain everything there."

They rode in giddy silence back through the maze of tunnels and paths deep underground and finally emerged in the lobby again, walking with a distinct chink-chink-chink as coins shifted against each other.

Ron opened the front door and was hit in the face with the brightness of the day. He mused on the fact that every door they'd opened over the past half hour had resulted in a gloriously golden influx of light, shining in their eyes, nearly blinding them.

"To my flat, and better make it quick," Harry said out of the corner of his mouth. "We've doubled our weight with all this bulk," and he tried to conceal as much as he could by tightening his robe around his body, bunching it here and there.

"Right," Ron said, collecting his own robe around himself as they made their way through the morning crowds of Diagon Alley. They reached the archway in record time and were soon standing just outside the back door of the Leaky Cauldron.

Harry retrieved his wand with some difficulty, as it was trapped to his leg by the weight of the gold in his outer pocket, and he turned on the spot. Ron followed immediately, reappearing just outside of Harry's flat. Harry was already fumbling in another blocked pocket for his flat key.

"Got mine here," Ron said as he yanked his copy of Harry's key from his gold laden back pocket, much faster than Harry could find his own key hidden beneath the folds of his robe.

"Thanks," Harry said gratefully, ceasing in his strained efforts to fish his key from a pocket now so full that the seams were likely to rip open at any moment.

Ron unlocked the door and they stumbled inside. Harry leaned against the back of the door to shut it again, watching as Ron moved to the center of the sitting room and began dumping heaps of gold from his pockets and socks to the floor. Chuckling, Harry joined him, and they created a hefty series of piles that covered the rug and coffee table.

"We're going on an adventure!" Ron announced, straightening up as he removed his belt with a rip and a flourish. Coins rained down on the rug, some rolling off and across the hardwood. Harry laughed.

"Our whole life's been one big adventure, Ron," Harry said with a grin.

"But this is different. This time we're in charge!"

They stared at each other, Ron's heart beating furiously as he waited for Harry's okay.

"What about Hermione?" Harry asked, thus beginning the bit Ron had been waiting for, the 'ask all the questions, get all the answers, and finally say yes' bit...

"She's coming with us, of course," Ron said as if it was more than obvious.

Harry looked somewhat skeptical but didn't comment yet.

"What about Ginny?" Ron asked, raising his eyebrows. It was Harry's turn to be teased. But Harry just shrugged, looking too confident for a proper teasing...

"She knows what she wants. She's got a plan for her life and I know it's important for her to see it through. She's already been scouted by the Harpies, remember? She wants that. And she deserves it."

"But what about, ya know..." Ron trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You mean, uh, me and her?" Harry asked with a slight blush.

Ron was much too pleased with this result. There. He'd finally gotten to Harry.

"We're okay," Harry said slowly. "We've... had a talk. She knows how I feel. And she understands why I left. And... when we come back again, she'll have her life sorted and she'll be ready for things to go back to how they were... with us."

Ron eyed Harry carefully. But he knew it was true, in a way. Ginny and Harry were somehow meant to be, and they'd work out, no matter what happened in between. But then it occurred to Ron... Harry's phrasing had been that of a man who had already decided his fate.

"When we come back?" Ron repeated.

Harry shrugged.

"You're saying yes," Ron stated, pulse quickening.

"Looks like I am." Harry grinned. "Now, back to the little predicament of Hermione. You really think you'll be able to just walk up to her and tell her we're leaving town for God knows how long and she'll simply pack her bags and follow us?"

Ron suddenly felt a bit less confident, now that Harry had put it that way.

"I've got a better idea," Harry said with an undertone of mischief.

"What?" Ron asked a bit warily.

"Kidnap her."

Ron blinked at Harry. Surely he hadn't heard him right.

"You heard me," Harry chuckled, amused at Ron's appalled expression.

"She'll murder us in our sleep!" Ron blurted with a shudder. Harry tried unsuccessfully to hide his snicker.

"Look, you said you wanted an adventure..." Harry began. "So, let's have one, a proper one, one with intrigue and excitement and action and..."

Harry's voice simply trailed off into the unknown. Excitement bubbled with renewed vigour in the pit of Ron's stomach. His grin formed of its own accord.

Kidnap her!

Why was Ron's heart beating so fast? Why did this prospect exhilarate him more than he could possibly say?

Overwhelmed, he dropped to the sofa heavily. Harry joined him, collapsing up against Ron. Their breathing was ragged and staggered, both taking in the thrill of the limitless possibilities they now faced.

"If..." Ron began, shaking his head as he realized what he was agreeing to... "if we're going to do this, we've got to have a plan. And... I've got to have a shower first."

"And a change of clothes," Harry said with a smirk, recalling Ron's words from earlier.

Ron looked over at Harry, met his eyes and held his gaze. What passed between them was electric, sealing their fate in a fraction of a second, flames lit behind their eyes.

"This... could be fucking brilliant," Ron said, eyes still locked on Harry's.

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Harry replied. "I'll pack."

He stood immediately, but looked back down at Ron with a mischievous grin, an expression Ron was sure he would get used to over the next... however many days, weeks perhaps, that they were off on this next chapter of their lives.

"I don't want to see you again until your hair's shampooed and a rucksack's over your shoulder," Harry said, and with that, he left the room at a jog, disappearing down the hallway towards his bedroom.

Fucking brilliant.

Ron's grin widened until it was approaching painful.

He stood, removed his wand from his pocket with trembling fingers, and Disapparated with a crack.

A/N: Um. Oops? This story posted itself! I couldn't stop it! I tried! *headdesk* However, a huge thank you to emmacmf for beta'ing this thing for me! You are totally awesome :)