Title: The Pressure of Perfection

Author: mintapotter

Overview: When Draco's own problems are spinning out of control, he needs more than ever to reach out. But what if the one person that could help him is the one he keeps pushing away?

Warning!SLASH! Guy/Guys! If you no likee, you no readee.

A/N: Thank you are at the bottom again...

Please enjoy!

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Chapter 9 - Disorderly Conduct

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Ron is sincerely the weirdest, most unexplainable creature I have ever met.

Twice today has he been berated by a teacher for forgetting his homework, he dropped a vial of essence of tulip in Potions (among the most expensive of essences) and managed to fall asleep in Divination.

Twice.

But after all that, after the last of our classes and supper, he's the exact opposite.

He slipped into my room a little after 10, remembering to lock the door and charm the room quiet. He had stolen Potter's invisibility cloak, and managed not to trip over or disturb a single sheet of my homework methodically spread out on the floor.

"Hey you. Why are you working on this already?" he whispered even though the room was charmed silent, kissing the crown of my head before joining me on the floor.

He really was like the perfect anti stress drug. I could actually feel the tension flowing out of my shoulders.

"I have two other reports due the day after tomorrow, and this one is the hardest so I'm doing it tonight. It's called time management, a little something you know nothing of."

He tried to give me a withering look but couldn't pull it off, settling back onto his elbows and sighing.

"What if I were to tell you that I was doing this one tomorrow morning and the other two tomorrow night? What would you say to that?"

I scoffed at him, waving my wand at the open book before me and colour coding the chapters and pages for future reference. "I'd say that you wouldn't pull it off in a million years, and that you should try and get some done tonight."

"And what if," he leaned in closer to whisper in my ear, "I had much more interesting plans for tonight than doing a stupid report? And what if I said that they just might include you?"

Ok, I tried my very best to keep a straight face and retort something smart, or perhaps witty. But when you've got a voice that deep and alluring whispering something like that in your ear, it's hard to resist.

I smiled.

"I knew that you'd like that plan much, much better." He smirked at me, pushing my shoulders slowly to the floor and kissing my neck softly.

"How is it that you're so good and put together for this, and can't keep the rest of your life straight?"

He ignored my question for a moment, laughing lightly while still kissing a trail down to my collarbone.

"You calm me down. I think your compulsive organization rubs off on me when I'm around you for too long."

"Well your constant state of disarray hasn't rubbed off on me a bit."

He raised his eyebrows, cocking his head to the right.

"So I suppose the fact that you just subconsciously pushed all your work into a pile has nothing to do with that, does it?"

I looked over in disbelief and true to form all my precariously stacked and labeled sheets had been muddled together thanks to my stretching leg and arm.

"Oh. Point for you then."

He laughed again, louder this time. I sat up off the floor, rolling my shoulders to try to get the muscles to relax. Ron, ever mindful, noticed and snuck up behind me, scooting until he sat directly behind me.

"What in the world has you so stressed out today?"

His fingers were the epitome of magic, his hands strong as they carefully pushed and pulled my muscles into subjugation. I could feel the warmth from his body radiating behind me, my mind going blissfully blank just from his touch.

"I don't know. I can make a mountain from a molehill I guess. And I can't stand not talking to you all day, pretending not to care all the time. It's tiresome."

He sighed behind me, his hands slowing on my back and pulling me back until I was leaning against him, my back pressed into his chest.

"I know. But Harry and Hermione are already so weirded out that anything else I do is suddenly suspicious. I can't mess this up. I won't."

I nodded my response, my heart feeling heavy all of a sudden. Ron might be my pillar of sanity, this thing I could lean on and count on to be there when my own mind wasn't reasonable. But he needed me too, and that was something that hurt me to know. He counted on me even when I was unstable and could barely take care of myself.

"I'm sorry." I whispered, his arms tightening instantly around mine.

"For what Drake? Nothing's your fault." I could feel the rumble of his voice go right through me, back to front. I was so warm and tight and close to him that I closed my eyes and tried really, really hard to block out what I was so sure of that I'd fuck up.

"Well…you always come around and keep me half sane, and then I give you nothing in return. Well, except something to worry about all the time. I mean, you can't even trust me not to hurt myself half the time, so I'm sorry I'm not a better person. You deserve better."

Ron sighed behind me. "That's not true Draco. I wouldn't be here if you weren't wonderful, which you are. And I'll say it as long as I live, you're worth it. You're worth all the sneaking out at eleven at night, and all the worry and everything. And my whole life I was pretty sure that you were the one who deserved better than me. You made that point quite clear long ago." His voice swindled off into time, he and I both remembering the kinds of comments that used to pass between us.

"You see! I hurt you and I'll never be sorry enough for that, never. And I don't think that anymore Ron, I don't. I never really cared I just… I was a fuck up, ok? Still am, on that matter."

Ron let go of me, standing up and I was sure he was about to walk right out my door, leaving me very cold and very alone on the dungeon floor. And with everything considered, I couldn't blame him. But he did nothing of the sort, instead sitting directly in front of me so I had to look him in the face.

"Draco, please just listen to me for a minute." He grasped my hands, warming them within his own. "I don't blame you for anything. And I don't hate you for anything you've done. And I really do think that you're beautiful and perfect in every way and that you're much too hard on yourself sometimes. And I want to help you get over that, no matter how long that takes. Because you, of all people in the world are really worth it. Alright?"

Ron's blue eyes were so sincere that even though I didn't want to believe what he was saying, I had no choice but to. Everything about him, from his lopsided smile down to his freckles was so sweet that I couldn't help but think that maybe he was right about something. Maybe I was worth his time, maybe I really wasn't as ugly as I had myself out to believe.

Well, crazier things have happened.

"Alright." I responded finally, a grin spreading quickly across his face.

"Perfect. Good luck on all this," he swept his hand over my pile of papers, "and I'll see you for breakfast in the morning. Good night."

He swept himself off the floor and helped me up by my hands at the same time, pulling away for a moment only to come back in for the most grandly inappropriate goodnight kiss of my life. I believe they were supposed to be chaste but affectionate affairs? I could already recognize his taste on my lips, already yearning for that amazing tongue and those passionate lips. His hands tangled my hair and pulled me in closer, his eyelashes tickling my own eyes and cheeks.

Safe to say, Ron left nothing to be wanted in that department.

"See you." I murmured breathlessly as he disappeared under the cloak with a very sly smile and slipped back out my door, leaving me more than a little dizzy and exponentially more so wanting him to come back.

"So," I muttered to myself, stepping straight through my previously organized pile of papers and towards my bathroom to get ready for an early sleep, "if that's the payoff for being a little disorderly and a tad late…count me in."

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A/N: Thank you to: Megalicious Moony, MimiTaylor, Siren713, Yoshi12, Midnight808, &brionyjae. Your reviews always make me smile guys!

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mintapotter