Ron looked in the mirror. He looked all right. His red hair was nice and neat, gelled back though a few strands were loose. He was wearing a suit, Muggle, but a very nice one that would suit the restaurant they were going to. It had been Draco's idea for them to officially meet the other's parents as a boyfriend in a neutral place full of Muggles so that way if their father's started to argue and fight, they would think twice before pulling out their wands. Ron loved Draco for the idea, but honestly, if Arthur Weasley and Lucius Malfoy got mad enough at each other, Muggles be damned. They were going to fight. Ron would just take away their wands before hand so that way all they had to use were their fists.

"Are you ready, love?" Ron heard Draco ask from behind him. Ron sighed. "As I'm ever going to be."

XooX

The restaurant was beautiful. French, elegant enough for the Malfoy's, and Fleur had given Molly and Arthur a taste for French food. Their table was in a place were they could see everyone, not many people could see them. It was close enough to the kitchen, but not to close. No friends or family who just wanted to be there for "moral support" and not because they thought it would be funny at all were there.

Ron knew the minute it looked like it was going to be a nice dinner, there was no way in hell that it would be.

Lucius and Narcissa were already there, looking annoyed that Ron and Draco had dared come here ten minutes before the time said, and probably only a few minutes after themselves. Ron began counting the reasons why he loved Draco in his head.

XooX

Ron looked at Lucius and Narcissa, who glared back at him. What had he ever done to them to deserve this wrath? All he did was in fall in love with their son! Was it because of the gay thing? Draco would have figured it out with or without him.

Ron smiled weakly at the elder Malfoy's, scanning his mind for something clever to say. He couldn't think of anything. Why couldn't he think of anything?

Luckily, Draco stepped in to help. "So Mother, Father, how have you been?"

They finally looked away from Ron and Narcissa answered her son. "We're good Draco. We're going to France in a week, didn't you get our owl?"

Draco nodded stiffly. Ron didn't like him when Draco was with his family. He changed into the old Draco, the Draco that Ron remembered hating when he was younger. It was even worse now because Ron now knew the kind Draco, the sweet Draco. Sometimes when Ron remembered his first year, he could barely correlate the two. He liked it like that.

Molly and Arthur finally got there a minute after the agreed time. In the Weasley family, you would just get a slight, by loud, telling off before a hug saying that everyone was glad you had manage to come. Apparently in the Malfoy family though, arriving a minute late was met with a chilled silence that made anyone in a hundred foot radius get chills. Ron was positive. Everybody in the entire restaurant shivered a bit as soon as his parent's got here. It wasn't just a cold breeze.

Molly and Arthur made their way to the table, tight smiles on their lips. Ron had a feeling they had been purposely late.

Why did parents have to be so difficult? They were worse than children.

"Hello there, Ron," Molly told her son warmly. "Draco." was said with not nearly as much and she didn't even bother saying anything to Lucius or Narcissa, choosing just to ignore them. Arthur just gave all three Malfoy's an angry glare.

Ron felt his stomach drop and he was certain that he looked green. He had wanted Draco to feel accepted into his family, and he had wanted to be accepted into Draco's. An unwise dream, but weren't all dreams like that? Besides, if he and Draco were going to make this relationship last, their families needed to learn to make their peace and to not hate each other. Evidently though, a blood feud that had lasted generations couldn't be broken by two boys falling in love.

Ron looked at the table. It was rectangular, with Ron at one end and Draco at the other. Narcissa was sitting on Ron's left and Arthur on his right. The tension was palpable. Ron mentally sighed. This dinner was actually turning out better than he ever expected.

That was sad.

XooX

He had been wrong. He had been so wrong. He had never been more glad to be wrong.

While most people wouldn't consider a dinner spent (mostly) in terse silence and (mostly) in jerky sentences a success, Ron considered it a big one. Especially with what he saw when they let their guard down.

He had paid attention to everyone's little moment's. He had seen Lucius' mouth quirk up when Molly told a story about something that Ron had done as toddler to George. He had seen Arthur get a little impassioned about something that Narcissa said and the slight argument that had passed between them was actually pretty civil. Ron was so happy, that even the accomplished smirk on Draco's face looked pretty damn hot.

And Draco had been wrong. He did have faith in Draco. Most of the time and in most areas. Just not this time and in this one.

But Ron should really learn not to speak to soon.

XooX

It happened when the cake came. Arthur had shown his rare snide side and made a comment about Lucius' long hair. It was nothing that no one hadn't thought before, but even Ron knew it wasn't the kind of thing that you just say.

Lucius stared at Arthur for a second before the punch came that sent Arthur into the waiter and therefore into the cake. The returning punch came fast and then a full-out brawl took place.

It took a call from the police to stop them, and as Ron looked at his father's bloody nose, and Lucius' bleeding cuts, at Molly and Narcissa arguing, at Draco, Percy, George, and Harry give their statements to the police, all he think was 'Why?' Why did his family have to be like this? Why did they have to destroy this one piece of happiness in his life, making it unrecognizable?

He felt like leaving. He wasn't needed here. He could just go. So he did.

XooX

Draco found him with on a park bench in downtown London, silently crying. He sat down next to Ron, who in turn laid his head down on Draco's shoulder. They didn't speak, they didn't even look at each other. They just sat there for the better part of an hour, lost in their own thoughts. When they spoke again though, Draco was the one that went first.

"I can't believe Percy, George, and Harry spied on us in that restaurant."

Ron gave a soft smile. "I can. I just can't believe that we didn't see them before the fight."

Draco nodded. "Dinner was a. . . ."

"Disaster."

"At the end, but it went okay in the beginning."

"Yeah. I just. . . . I just so mad at them for fighting. I thought they we were breaking through to some new ground. But then my dad just had to say something and then . . . and then everything just blew up. Why does everything blow up?" Ron whispered

Draco got up then. Ron looked at him, curiosity in his eyes. Draco stood still for a minute, clearly nervous about something. Before Ron could ask what is though, Draco made his decision.

Draco got down on one knee. Ron opened his mouth. Draco began to speak. Ron didn't hear the words. Draco finally asked the one thing that Ron did hear. (Will you marry me?) Ron replied with the one word that had bounced around his head from the minute Draco got down one knee.

"Yes."