A Beautiful and Terrible Truth

Chapter 6

Two months later…

I smiled over at Ron, who was looking at me with a huge smile of his own. My breath caught in my throat when a piercing image of Draco came to mind. I couldn’t believe that I had done it, but there was something that was so intriguing about it.  When Marcus told me the we would be spending almost the entire summer on the beach from our childhood, I didn’t think that he would be bringing Ron along, but I was so glad that he did. If it wasn’t for him, I would’ve been all alone and depressed all summer long, but what had happened, I wasn’t expecting and neither was he.

On our first day on the beach, he took me for a walk all by ourselves. The grin on his face told me that he had other things on his mind, but I shrugged it off as we played in the waves. Thinking back to when he completely shocked me, kind of put butterflies in my stomach…

“Court,” he smirked as I splashed him in the face. “I need-“ he then splashed me back before grabbing me around the waist and tackling me into the shallow water.

All the breath was knocked out of me as the waves tickled my body as the crashed over us. I placed my hands on his chest to push him up, but he didn’t move. His face got all serious as his beautiful brown eyes stared into my blue ones. I bit my lip as I felt my cheeks begin to turn red, not that he could tell that I was blushing. I was probably all red from the slight work out we were getting. Sparks then flew as he gently placed his hand on the side of my face. I didn’t know what to think or do. I was too shocked to tell him to get off of me or that I didn’t want him to touch me, but maybe I did want him to touch me because I placed my hand over his.

“Ron,” I whispered.

His eyes traveled down to my lips before traveling back up to my eyes. “Court, I have something to tell you, but I don’t want to make anything weird between yes. I want us to either be what I want or we act like this never happened.”

“Like what never happened?” I swallowed some salt water, which stung my throat, but I didn’t pay it no mind. I had my full attention on Ron, who was starting to scare me just a tad little bit.

“This,” he said, kissing me full on the lips.

He tasted of sunblock, salt, and syrup from the pancakes that Alex had make us just before we were shoved outside. My brain was telling me to shove him off. I shouldn’t have been kissing him, or letting him kiss me. My heart told me to kiss back, but my lips just stayed perfectly still under his. Heart against mind is never a good thing. So, why did I end up kissing him back?

He pulled away much too soon. “Court, I really like you. I know that I told you – and everyone else – that we could never be more than friends, but I never really meant it. I think that you could have a right good future with me, that is if you choose to let your non-existent one with Draco go.”

“Non-existent?” I asked, not sure what exactly he meant by it.

“Merlin’s beard, Courtney. You and Draco are never going to be together again,” his eyes seemed to look deeper into mine. “I know that you loved him, but you need to move on. He’s betrayed you in more than one way because he’s a death eater, and you know that. How can you be so forgiving when he can’t get out of it? That he won’t get out of it?”

Tears pricked my eyes. “He’s doing-“

“What? The best he can?” Ron’s breathing was getting ragged as his anger grew. “If he was doing the best he can and he really loved you, do you think that he would still be in that fucking house, Courtney? Tell me that? How noble is your Draco? Would he be willing to do anything for you or would he just stay close to mummy and daddy, obeying every word that they say?”