20 Feet { Blarry }

Chapter 12

By Monday of the next week, things had settled fairly well for Harry. With Ron's help, he was able to spend much more time in Gryffindor Tower, and as he spent time a little time that evening catching up in the common room, while Blaise studied or slept in his bed, Harry realized that as much as he was beginning to like Draco and Professor Snape's company he'd missed the raucous antics of his fellow Gryffindors. Seamus and Dean were particularly refreshing to watch as the Irish boy once again managed to blow his eyebrows off of his face. Luckily, he'd mastered the hair-growth potion by his third year, but the resulting beard and shaggy mane that accompanied his newly re-grown eyebrows was just as entertaining as the initial explosion. Ron sniggered at the shaggy animal now prancing around their common room on all fours, and Harry laughed alongside him.

"Missed us didn't you," Ron said, bumping Harry's shoulder.

Harry nodded cautiously; he didn't want to give Ron the wrong idea. Yes, these were his friends, and he was glad to be able to spend more time with them, but that didn't negate all of the things he'd said to the redhead on Saturday, and it didn't change that fact that his boyfriend was waiting for him just upstairs...in his bed. Harry blushed with just the thought. Ron hummed as he watched Harry's face and changing emotions, "He's never far from your mind is he," he asked, noting his best friend's tinted cheeks. "Is he, you know, down here right now," Ron whispered, looking around suspiciously. Harry shook his head, "No, he's in our dorm." He watched as a question clearly crossed Ron's face.

"We can separate a farther now," Harry answered, beating him to the punch and lifting his feet up as furry kitten, chased by a grinning first-year boy followed by a crying young girl raced by their couch. "We're not sure how far we can separate as we really don't want to test it much more than this, but for right now I feel sort of okay." Ron nodded; he remembered Harry's description of the pain they often felt upon separation, and he didn't blame them at all. He wouldn't test it either if it were up to him. He tuned back in as Harry continued speaking.

"As it is, it feels strange to be even this far from him after all of this time, and it's only been an hour, but Snape agrees that we need to exercise the bond like a muscle, so we're doing the best we can. Soon, we'll be testing it officially with Snape, so we'll see how that goes." Harry knew that much of their progress was due to their increased intimacy, and he was grateful for the positive effects it was having, but he was a little embarrassed that Snape would know, or at the very least, assume that they were doing a lot more than they were given the results. The Gryffindor knew that while they were certainly very earnest in their playing - as Harry liked to refer to it - it was the quantity rather than the intensity that had yielded such progress.

Blaise wasted no opportunity to push Harry up against a wall or drape him over a table or pull the boy into a deserted classroom, corridor, alcove, or bathroom, and that's not even including what they got up to every night and every morning behind the privacy of their bed curtains. Simply thinking about it had Harry's spine tingling and the various love bites scattered across his body heating up with the sensation of phantom lips and fingers caressing them. "-Arry, Harry, Harry!" Ron shouted regaining Harry's attention as well as many of their housemates'.

"Oh, sorry Ron," Harry apologized sheepishly, swallowing and shifting in his pants, thanking his horrid relatives, not for the first time in the last few weeks, for foisting his overweight cousin's hand-me-downs onto him. "That's alright," Ron waved away his apology, "I just wanted to let you know that Hermione and Ginny have just come in, and if you'd like to avoid them then that window of opportunity is closing fast." Harry turned to look towards the portrait entrance and groaned, noticing the exact moment when both girls spotted him. He never quite felt like more of a sitting duck than he did at that moment.

"Harry Potter don't you dare get up," Hermione said and stomped through the room, glaring at the younger children in their way. Ginny sidled up and squished between Ron and Harry, making both of the boys groan. Harry looked really put upon, literally as the girl was nearly sitting in his lap, and Ron was rolling his eyes with an exasperated but tolerant older brother expression.