i woke up this morning to see that this story had hit 6,000 reads, and while i was writing this, only about a dozen away from 7,000! this feels like a huge milestone to me and has been a bright spot in an otherwise cloudy week :) thank you all so much for your support. 🥰💕

Greek Tragedy, The Wombats

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Ron was back on his bullshit. He had been doing so well with keeping up with his school work and improving his grades, but today, he hadn't had the energy to leave his dorm in the morning. As much as staying in bed made the sinking feeling in his chest feel even worse, like maybe it was about to cave in, he couldn't peel himself up from out of the covers. It wasn't that he was depressed – he was emotionally exhausted.

He'd had a bad last few days, in all honesty. That raging anger inside him had started bubbling under the surface again when for the last few weeks, he hadn't really been feeling it at all, wrapped up in the blissful new-ness of his affair with Cassiah. He hated that feeling.

For almost a week, Cassiah had been busy with prefect meetings and studying for some sort of important Divination exam that he was unaware of because she was taking a much more advanced level class than he was. As a result, Ron hadn't seen her at all. Not in the way he needed to, anyway. He'd only seen her in class or passing in the hall – if he was lucky.

A nagging thought kept repeating in his head, and he wanted it to shut up so badly, but it wouldn't go away. Could all of this be related to the fact that he hasn't seen Cassiah? And if it was, what did that say about him? He hated the idea of his happiness or stability being tied to another person, which is why he always hated it when Cassiah had suggested when they were still dating that they got along better when they were having sex. He liked to think that humans had more control over their emotions than to have them be tied to one other person, but... He didn't want to think about that, or he'd never get out of bed, and he'd decided on going to his afternoon classes.

He heaved himself up out of bed and began rummaging through his drawers, pulling out the bad where he hid his weed jar. He wrinkled his nose as he realized he'd already smoked almost all of it in just two days – a large portion of it this morning, while he had the pleasure of having the room to himself. Whatever. He'd pay Hagrid a visit later, or maybe that Hufflepuff girl who always cut him a pretty good deal. Her stuff wasn't great, but hey – it was cheap and less of a hike than going all the way to Hagrid's.

Ron settled back into the nook in front of the window sill. He shivered in the cold air coming from the open window – he hadn't bothered to close it last time he smoked. Granted, he knew he'd be back soon enough, and the hundreds-year-old windows were a bloody pain to heave open even for Ron.

He watched the first-year students struggling around on their brooms, chuckling slightly, and smoked a bowl (okay fine, two) before finally cleaning up his room a bit and grabbing his book bag before heading to class.

Just as he rounded the final corner on the way to his "first" class of the afternoon, he saw a flash of dark hair and green robes. He took off running, shooting straight past the classroom he needed to go to in order to catch up with her.

"Cassiah," he said, his heart pounding with the exertion of sprinting but trying to control his breathing so she wouldn't know he'd booked it down the hallway just to talk to her. He slung an arm around his shoulder as he fell into step with her and asked, "I haven't seen you in days. How have things been?"

She stopped walking, staring up at him with fire behind those hazel eyes. "Maybe you haven't seen me because you haven't asked," she retorted.

Ron was completely caught off guard by her hostility. He definitely hadn't been expecting her to be mad at him. He was just trying to give her space because she had that big test coming up.

"Cassie, I-I'm sorry," he stammered, "I just didn't want to bother you since I know you're busy–"

"Save it, Ronald," Cassiah rolled her eyes, unamused, "Pansy and Blaise and Draco have still invited me to hang out even though they know I might be busy. It's about being a nice friend and offering anyways. Guess you wouldn't know anything about being my friend anymore, though, considering that we never hang out as friends now that you're getting your dick wet."

Ron instantly felt guilty. He had no idea she'd been feeling this way – like he'd just been being her friend until he could get what he wanted. Or, what she thought he wanted. Well... He certainly wanted it, but not only it. Whatever.

"You know you're my friend, Cassie, c'mon..." he tried to soothe, but she just raised an eyebrow at him, unimpressed. They'd been friends for six years – long enough for Ron to know that while Cassiah loved words of reassurance, actions were more important in gaining her trust.

"Come to my kick-back tonight after the game against Ravenclaw. My dorm," he invited her, but it was more of a statement than a question.

"Ron, I don't want your pity invite, since you clearly didn't intend on inviting me in the first place."

"It's not a pity invite. I genuinely want you there," he pleaded.

She squinted at him, wrinkling her nose a bit. Ron knew how insecure she got about things like this, and was internally kicking himself for not inviting her in the first place. He just hadn't thought she'd want to come. It was bound to be just the guys getting crossed, and maybe one or two girlfriends of guys and close Gryffindor girl-space-friends that Cassiah didn't know.

Cassiah pursed her lips. "It doesn't count since I had to force you to invite me," she said finally, "I'll see you around, Weasley." She turned on her heel and left, probably headed for the library.

Ron knew he should follow her, but he couldn't afford to miss another class today. Plus, he thought to himself, this little argument wouldn't ruin his friendship with Cassiah. Now that she'd told him what was wrong, he could do better, and that would be that.

But what if he was wrong? What if Cassiah thinking that Ron was taking advantage of her – even if that wasn't his intention – was enough to make her cut Ron out of her life again? He suddenly felt a little queasy and more than a little scared. He wasn't sure what exactly Cassiah meant to him right now, but he knew that having her in his life made him feel better – more at ease.

He needed her, even though he didn't want to say that out loud to her and put that weight on her shoulders. He was a heavy guy for a girl like her to have to carry, both literally and figuratively. She takes care of everyone else in her life, he didn't want to add to that like he did before.

____

When Cassiah returned to the common room after spending hours in the library after class, she was still flustered by her encounter with Ron earlier. She hadn't meant to spout off at him like that, but she also would have thought that he'd respond better after knowing her for all this time. Ron knew more than anyone about her insecurities, about how she always worried about people the second that their energy towards her shifted.

The worries came from a good reason, from real-life experiences, she reminded herself bitterly. He'd proven her right before, even though he'd promised that he wasn't ever leaving her... And now Ron was proving her right yet again. Is it really paranoia if you're always right?

As she rushed down the dimly lit hallway towards her room, she was ruffling through her bag, looking for her key. She didn't see him coming until they collided, smashing into each other.

"Draco, I'm so sorry. I'm just in a rush–"

"Cass, I've been meaning to talk to you–"

They both spoke at the same time and then broke into quiet, exasperated laughter.

"Um," Cassiah cleared her throat after a moment, itching to get into her dorm and put her books away, "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Yeah, yeah, of course–" Draco started, but Cassiah cut him off.

"Actually, can it wait until later? I'm kind of in a rush to get somewhere."

She turned to head forwards into her dorm, but Draco grabbed the sleeve of her robe, bringing her to a stop again.

"Not really. It won't take long, I'm just..." he pursed his lips, shuffling his feet awkwardly, "Look, don't take this the wrong way, but I'm worried about you, Cass."

Cassiah wanted to laugh it off and tell Draco he was being ridiculous, but the seriousness in his blue eyes let her know that he wasn't going to just drop this. "Why?" she asked, furrowing her brow in confusion.

He was taking way too long for Cassiah's tight schedule. She was already running late. Draco didn't seem to care though as he nodded slowly to himself. "It's not a big deal. You just seemed so happy to be seeing Ron again, but you two haven't been hanging out all week long, and you're spending all your time with us Slytherins..."

Cassiah's face must've morphed into an expression of hurt because Draco rushed to explain, "Not that we don't want you there. We do. But this is how you were acting when you and Ron weren't talking at all and things were bad between you two, so I just wanted to check in. N' make sure you're okay, y'know?"

She instantly relaxed. She thought he was gonna say he and Pansy needed space as a couple. Or worse, that he knew she and Ron were doing it on the down-low.

"I'm okay, Draco. Just busy this week," she offered him a tight smile and patted him on the shoulder, "Thanks for checking in on me, though."

She turned and headed into her room to discard her books and her robe, but she didn't miss the look on Draco's face. He was definitely suspicious. He knew there was more to the story, even if he didn't know what.

And Cassiah found herself hating that Draco was right. Things were off between her and Ron, and once again, there was nothing she could do about it but wait and see if he'd change his mind.

_____

Ron exhaled a thick cloud of smoke, watching it disappear into the thick air of the dorm room he shared with the other Gryffindor guys. He leaned over to pass the bong to Dean, and when he turned back around Harry was waiting for him with a new drink in hand. Ron smiled at his best friend and gladly took the cup from him, "Thanks, mate."

"Of course," Harry said in reply, "It's just Firewhiskey and whatever mixer Seamus bought when he went into Hogsmeade today."

"Sounds nasty," Ron answered, wrinkling his nose as he swirled the contents of his cup.

Harry snorted, pushing his glasses back into place from where they'd fallen a bit. "It is," he confessed with a chuckle.

Ron raised his cup to his mouth and took an experimental gulp. He swallowed hard, his eyes widening as he looked back over at Harry and mused, "Strong, too, apparently."

All the boys were sitting around on the floor of their dorm room. Seamus had some girl with him that he met in his Defence Against the Dark Arts class, and Neville was flanked by Luna, who looked like she was probably tripping balls, in Ron's opinion. He wondered what she'd taken, and if she was selling.

He was shaken out of his thoughts again but Harry's voice. "Ron," he called, "Is Black coming tonight?"

Ron shook his head, fighting off a blush but he could tell he was failing based on the burning sensation on the tips of his ears. He cleared his throat. "Uh, no. Why?" he asked.

"Just wondering. I haven't seen her all week," Harry replied, shrugging and taking a long sip of his drink.

"Yeah, no. She's been busy studying this week," Ron admitted, "Plus, she probably wouldn't want to come anyways because she'd be afraid of running into my sister."

Harry made a slight choking sound, spluttering over the sip he'd just taken as Ron looked over at him. He gave Ron a sheepish grin and admitted, "I wish Ginny was here."

"Shut the fuck up, mate." Ron could tell Harry was tipsy if he was talking to him about his feelings for his little sister.

All of a sudden, Ron saw Seamus's face light up from across the circle. Finnigan's eyes were trained on the door, but Ron was sitting so that his back was to it, and he couldn't see.

Just as he was turning, he heard Seamus's voice from across the circle. "Merlin, Black! What the hell are you doing here?" he crowed, and Ron watched as Seamus rose to his feet to go greet Cassiah and give her a hug.

Harry looked at Ron with eyebrows raised, and suddenly Ron felt his heart rate rise, and not in an excited way, for the most part – in a pissed way. He clenched his jaw. Now he looked like a bloody idiot for not knowing Cassiah was coming when she was his friend – his ex.

He listened to the chatter of his friends greeting Cassiah from his seat next to Harry. "Ron didn't say you were coming! What a nice surprise!" Dean was saying.

"Hey Luna," Cassiah said, waving shyly to the only other girl she knew in the room. If only Luna was on planet Earth at the moment, Ron thought with amusement.

"Hello, Cassiah," Luna replied, offering Cassiah a small smile from behind her big, signature sunglasses. Ron wasn't sure why she was wearing them inside.

Ron glanced around the circle, expecting Cassiah to take a seat next to Luna, but found that there was no space anywhere, except for... Right in between him and Dean, of course.

Be nice, he reminded himself. She's still your friend, even if she's being difficult right now.

"Hey, Cassie," he said, looking up at her and patting the space on the carpet next to him. She plopped down on the floor next to him. As she was sitting, Neville leaned over Harry to pass Ron the bong again. "I didn't think you'd come," he added, feeling calmer and smiling softly at her as he took the bong from Neville.

Cassiah's gaze was stone-cold. She raised an eyebrow at him in a challenge. "I'm here for the free drugs, not you, Weasley," she stated matter-of-factly and plucked the bong out of Ron's hand before even letting rip it once.

He scoffed, his hand still poised to hold it in his grasp as he sat there, jaw dropped in shock. He hadn't expected her to be so hostile. She never had been this way with him before.

"Might wanna close your mouth, Ronald, or the flies will get in," she said as she exhaled smoke, which traveled in a trail up to his face. He barely even heard what she said, though, too mad about her attitude and too entranced by how hot she looked blowing smoke into his face.

The combination, while infuriating, was doing something for him...

He decided to ignore it and turned back to Harry to chat idly about the game earlier – which they'd won, by the way. Ron had his best game yet of the season earlier that night.

"We need to be drunker than this," he murmured to Harry, refilling his cup with Seamus' concoction from earlier. "Hell, we deserve to be drunker than this," he amended, laughing softly.

Harry nodded vigorously. "Totally agree," he said, and then raised his voice to the whole group, "We're gonna play a game!" His announcement was met with shouts of approval from the whole circle of friends until Neville asked,

"What game?"

Ron and Harry just stared at each other, completely unprepared for such an obvious question. Ron was just opening his mouth to answer and suggest something fun – maybe Ride the bus – but Cassiah's voice came out instead.

"Never have I ever," she declared with so much confidence that no one even questioned it. But Ron knew better. Cassiah hated that game. There was undoubtedly a bloody good reason why she was suggesting it, and he was willing to bet it was targeted at him.

"I'll start," he spat out, sounding a bit over-eager, but he didn't care. If she was going to play dirty, it was all he could try to do to beat her to the punch and get ahead of it while he could.

"Never have I ever..." Ron pursed his lips as he thought before he felt a mischievous glimmer reach his eyes and said, "Been friends with a blood purist."

The room went dead silent with realization, all eyes on Cassiah until she finally forced a laugh. "Fair enough," she said with a smile only Ron could tell was fake, "I do live with a lot of them, unfortunately." She took a swig of her drink, shivering slightly as she tasted how strong it was.

"Alright," Cassiah wagered, repositioning herself to fold her legs to one side, unknowingly leaving Ron with a few of her toned legs in those knee-high stockings and that skirt. Bloody hell. He gulped.

"Never have I ever," she said, looking around the circle playfully before locking her eyes dead on Ron. He shifted under her gaze, knowing that he was fucked. "Had a daddy kink."

"Oh, shut the fuck up," Ron fired back automatically.

Harry snorted from next to him and his face flamed bright red as he realized that he'd fell right into Cassiah's trap. Yes, she'd targetted it at him, but everyone would have thought she was just kidding if he didn't let his temper get to him and say something back.

She'd been counting on that, Ron thought. For his anger to out himself – because she'd promised when he told her to never tell anyone that herself.

"Weeell," Dean said, eyes wide as saucers as he cleared his throat awkwardly. "Now that I know more about Weasley in bed than I ever, ever cared to–" he shot a playful, teasing glance at Ron, "I'll go next."

Ron brought his cup to his lips and took gulp after gulp of his drink, ignoring the way it burned in his throat and the way the liquid was spilling out of the side of his cup and dripping down his neck and onto his white t-shirt. When he drained his cup and took it away from his face, letting out a burp.

He caught Cassiah's eyes on him. He stopped, locking eyes with her for a second before looking away and wiping at the Firewhiskey on his chin with the back of his hand.

The game continued around the circle with much less malicious questions – never have I ever: hooked up in the Astronomy tower, secretly tasted one of the potions from class, done acid. Okay, maybe the last one was a call-out, he decided. Either way, Ron still ended up putting four out of five of his fingers down.

But Ron wasn't going down without getting Cassiah back, first.