I do not own Harry Potter. This was written for: The Revenge Competition (prompt: perception), Favorite Era Boot Camp (prompt: warmth), Slash/Femmeslash Boot Camp (prompt: please), my own Favorite Character Boot Camp (prompt: apple), Character Diversiy Boot Camp (prompt: forgotten), and Pairing Diversity Boot Camp (prompt: glad rags).
"If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite, but in reality our perception is often clouded, by expectations, by experiences. Truth is a battle of perceptions; people only see what they're prepared to confront. It's not what you look at that matter, but what you see, and when different perceptions battle against one another, the truth has a way of getting lost and the monsters find a way of getting out."
If you thought about it, you would see it was all a matter of perception. At least that was what Ron said. And it truly was if you thought about it. The thing was, no one wanted to think about it.
It was the kind of thing were you could understand why nobody wanted to think about it, but it was also the kind of thing were everyone should think about it. They should think about Ron.
Ron could see the many different sides of him kissing, and liking kissing, Draco Malfoy. Draco. Draco with his soft blond hair and his cool gray eyes, with his pointed face and arrogant manner. Who he sometimes wanted to kiss and then slap at the same time, and who he always wanted to be held by. Draco himself was always a matter of perception, someone who the moment you think you have them figured out; you realize that's not the case at all.
Ron didn't know that he was too. Ron didn't know that he was almost impossible to please, that despite his temperament, if you needed to tell a secret to someone, but didn't want it to be told to everyone else, Ron was the person to tell, and that even though his brown eyes had warmth about them that was almost impossible to replicate, when they didn't, they were the coldest thing to look into. Ron didn't realize that for all he hated Slytherin's; he would be the perfect one. So maybe that was what made him fall in love with Draco, because he could see something of himself in Draco, and though Ron didn't think it, maybe that was what made Draco fall in love with Ron, because he could see something of himself in him.
No matter why they fell in love though, no one knew what exactly gave them the opportunity too. They all wondered though. What gave them their first chance to realize there was something behind the mask?
"Sometimes I just want to climb to the top of the Astrometry tower and jump. Just to see if I would fly."
"That's stupid."
What made see each other in that different light in the first place?
"Please leave."
"No."
"Why?"
"Because I won't let you be alone."
What made them fall in love?
A searing, burning kiss and a "Go to hell, Weasley."
Really, though, it was just a matter of perception and everyone had their own way of perceiving it.
Harry yelled.
"What the hell, Ron! How can you kiss Malfoy?"
"I don't know."
Hermione asked.
"Why? I want to know why."
"I wish I knew."
Ginny was unsure.
"I'm fine with the gay thing. But the Malfoy thing needs to be fixed."
"I'm not sure if I'm relieved or offended."
Neville stayed away from it.
"I'm not saying anything."
"Thank God."
Luna knew it.
"I'm not surprised. The glad rags said that you would find love soon."
"Aren't glad rags clothes?"
"And elf-like creatures that only eat apples."
". . . Okay."
George wanted it to be forgotten.
"Do you think Fred will wake up soon?"
"No. I feel like I'm about to faint myself. Why, I must ask."
"Who knows?"
Fred did.
"What happened?"
"I'll tell you when you feel better."
Percy just didn't care.
"I don't really care."
"You don't?"
"You're happy and he seems nice with you. That's good enough for me."
Everyone wondered, including Draco and Ron.
"Why are we doing this?"
"Because everyone says we can't."
Ron and Draco were all a matter of perception. They could be hateful, they could be sweet, they could be wonderful, and they could be destructive. It just mattered on you view, on what you saw. However you saw them though, you could never forgot them.
Review if you like.