𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐎𝐘 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐃 ━━ harry potter

chapter fourty-eight

A/N: MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONEEE!! here's a quite long chapter as my christmas gift for you 💋💋 hope you enjoy, love yaaa

Ben was incredibly glad to find out that everyone had already gone to bed when he arrived at the boys' dormitory. He and Thomas had skipped dinner, and had spent hours talking.

They had spoken about what had happened in far more detail, but they had also ended up talking about unrelated things, something which had helped Ben relax and forget about everything for a while.

That night, he surprisingly fell asleep very quickly. He had expected it would take him forever, but it seemed he was way too tired to even overthink.

The next morning, Ben left the Gryffindor tower before his dorm mates even had even woken up. As Thomas had suggested, they had breakfast together very early, before the majority of the school went downstairs for breakfast. Then, he walked around the corridors, and waited until everyone had already entered their classrooms before entering, too. He sat as further as he could from his friends, who watched him leave the class right after the bell had rung, without waiting for them.

He didn't like what he was doing. He wasn't proud of himself for avoiding them. But he couldn't help it.

Now it wasn't only the fact that he was scared of being seen with them, but the fact that he knew he wouldn't bear looking at Harry now.

What if he tried to talk about what happened? What if Ron mentioned what he had seen? He assumed Harry told him everything after Ben had run away like a coward. He wondered if Hermione knew, too.

After classes, he and Thomas hung out in the exact same spot they had talked in during the previous night. He was the only person he wanted to have around then.

However, after Thomas left to finish some last-minute homework, and Ben went to the Gryffindor common room, he found it empty, except for Ron, who was sitting on the couch, eyes fixed on the entrance as he pretended not to be tickling between Crookshanks' ears.

Ben nearly had a heart attack when he saw him there. "Merlin, Ron!"

"Oh, so you still remember my name, that's nice to know!"

Ben gulped as Ron got to his feet and approached him.

"Erm... What?"

"It's just that it seemed you had forgotten about us," he said, very seriously. Ben didn't reply. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

"I don't know what to."

"Are you avoiding all of us or just him?"

"I'm not avoiding any of you," he stammered, trying to get past him, but failing. "I've just been busy this afternoon. Thomas came up with a new idea for a comic, so..."

"Ben, please."

He breathed in, deeply. "I don't want to talk about what happened yesterday."

"He thinks he has ruined your friendship."

"He hasn't," he replied instantly, "I'm the one who has. I'm the one who kissed him, after all."

"You haven't ruined anything by kissing him, Ben. But you might actually ruin it if you keep avoiding him."

"I'm sorry, but-"

"Why are you making this so complicated?" asked Ron, sounding so confused it seemed his mind was about to explode. "I know he's in love with you, because he has told me, and you're very clearly in love with him, too... So I really don't understand what's the problem!"