Title: Demons

Author: staringmushrooms

Pairing: DM/RW

Rating: T

Warnings: slash, swearing

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter etc.

When Draco got off work that day, he hurried outside and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket. It was the address Weasley had given him right before he left the hospital. The building wasn't too far away, so he could easily walk there. He had changed to muggle clothing before he got off work, as to go unnoticed by muggles, and now he quickly made his way over there.

Ron lived on the third floor, in apartment 304. It was easy for Draco to find, so he made his way up the stairs and into the apartment. The door was unlocked, making it easy for him to get inside. The apartment seemed empty at first. "Weasley?" he called out, while unzipping his jacket.

A groan coming from across the room pierced the silence. "I'm here," a voice said, almost whispering.

Draco spotted him. He was curled up in a ball, covered in a striped blanket. His hair was sticking out at odd angles and his eyes looked tired. He looked terrible, to be honest.

"Hello," Draco said, looking at the floor. He wanted to get this over with as soon as possible.

"Hi," Ron replied while he sat up. The blanket covered his shoulders and most of his torso, making him look years younger than he really was.

"Yeah, I was just gonna check that everything was alright, and it seems to be, so if you don't mind I'll just leave now," Draco said. He really didn't want to spend any more time here than necessary.

Ron's face turned pale, making every freckle stand out. "You can't leave," he said, sounding terrified. "What if something happens and I'm all alone and…" he didn't finish the sentence.

"But I have to go home; I can't stay with you all night. Why can't you just send an owl to your mother or something?" Draco asked.

"I don't want to mix my mother up in all this. I really don't."

Draco sighed. "I'm not staying, so you better come up with something."

"Why can't you just stay? I mean – I don't wanna be alone." Ron whimpered, sounding more and more scared every second.

Draco had no plans of staying. "I'm not staying. Face it," he said harshly.

Then something he had never expected to witness happened; Ron broke down crying. Ron Weasley broke down crying. A burst of sympathy struck Draco.

"I don't want to be alone," Ron whispered. His already pale face got even whiter. "I don't want to be alone, I don't want to be alone," he continued hysterically.

Draco had made his way over to the redhead and squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. "You'll be fine," he said and turned to leave. But he didn't get far, as it only took Ron a split second to stand up and grab the other's wrist. The blanket fell off his shoulders and landed in a heap on the floor.

"Please don't leave me," he breathed. His whole body was shaking and his breathing was unsteady. Tears continued to roll down his cheeks but he didn't bother to wipe them away. To Draco, he looked scared out of his mind.

"Please."

And then, Draco did something he never thought he would; "It's okay, I'll stay" he said before he pulled the redhead into a hug. He could hear Ron sobbing against his shoulder, making the his thin cotton sweater wet. Draco patted him awkwardly on the back until the sobbing came to a halt. "Feel better now?" he asked somewhat roughly, not sure what to make of all this.

"Yeah," Ron answered, almost whispering. He quickly wiped a couple of tears from his cheeks with the sleeve of his sweater.

Displeased with himself, Draco slumped down on the couch. He had touched the Weasley. He had fucking hugged the Weasley. This wasn't going anywhere good. Nowhere good at all. He cleared his throat. "Well, If I'm staying I'm gonna need some food," he said icily, trying to sound like his normal, cold self.

"I can make some," Ron offered, his voice still shaky from crying. Draco shrugged.

"Fine by me," Draco answered coldly.

When Ron disappeared into the kitchen, Draco had a chance to take a better look at the room. The walls were white and empty, and stood in great contrast to the noisy city revealed by the windows. The couch Draco was seated in was placed directly in front of two large ones. The front door was right in front of him. It was fairly small and grey, with one of those cheap muggle locks. Weasley didn't seem to have much use of the lock though, as the door had been unlocked when Draco arrived. A black birdcage was placed to the left of it. A small, brown owl was sitting inside, drinking from a cup of water. Beside the cage was a simple bookcase. Every shelf was filled with books of different colors and sizes. That amused Draco; he'd never thought Weasley was one read much. On the other side of the entrance door was three doors. The two first probably led to a bathroom and a bedroom. The third door, however, was made of glass, so Draco could see straight through it. It led out to a small balcony. The only furniture there were two chairs and a tiny table, but that was all that fit.

Draco sighed, annoyed. Weasley was sure taking his time with the food. The door to the kitchen was beside the bookshelf. It was open, so he could see some of what was inside. He saw a small kitchen bench and a new-looking table with some chairs. Ron, on the other hand, wasn't in his line of sight.

Draco waited impatiently for the redhead to finish cooking, drumming his fingers on the armrest of the sofa. Some very long minutes later he stuck his head out of the door. "The food is ready," he muttered, before he retreated back in. Draco slowly rose from the couch. He regretted his decision of staying, but he couldn't really go back home without feeling like a dick. He strode into the kitchen and sat down on one of the chairs. Weasley carefully placed two plates of food on the table. They appeared to Draco as unappetizing, fat pancakes with meat.

"What is that?" Draco asked, eyeing the food with great suspicion.

"Bacon pancakes," Ron replied, shrugging. "They're really good."

Draco raised an eyebrow.

"How can you mix bacon and pancakes?" he asked doubtfully while the redhead got himself seated.

"I dunno," Ron answered. He sounded a bit more cheerful now, probably because he wasn't alone and he had something to occupy himself with. A small smile appeared on his face.

"But it's really good" He picked up his cutlery, so he could start cutting the pancake into small pieces, much like a child.

Draco shook his head internally, wondering how he'd gotten himself in this strange situation. He proceeded to cut off a piece of his own pancake, and hesitantly took a bite. His face remained oddly emotionless as he chewed and swallowed.

"It's surprisingly good," he said and took another bite of the pancake.

They ate their meal in silence. Without a word Ron cleaned of the table. He dumped the plates in the sink before he walked over to the table again, where Draco was still seated.

"Thank you for the food, or, you know… whatever," Draco mumbled.

"You're welcome, I guess," Ron answered him, awkwardly looking at the floor.

Draco got up from the chair, silently. He couldn't think of anything he could possibly say or do to make this less awkward. He walked back into the living room and sat down on one end of the couch. Ron took a seat on the opposite end. Draco thanked god that this was a big couch, or this would have been really awkward.

Several minutes passed without a word. Ron's owl kept tossing around in its cage, squeaking. Draco watched it for a while, until he finally cleared his throat and spoke. "Nice owl you've got there."

Ron turned around to look at him. "Thanks. He doesn't have a name yet, though," he shrugged. "Ginny wants me to call him Hubert, but I don't like that name."

And that was the start of a very long conversation. They talked about everything, forgetting who they really were. Forgetting that they had spent several years being enemies. Forgetting that Draco hadn't initially wanted to be there. For a moment, they even forgot why they were there together. They spent the entire night talking.

And by dawn they had become what most people would think of as friends.

That was a looooong wait. And the original of this was really crap, so lots of hugs and shit to the girl who beta'ed it. You deserve a big ass award with sparkles.