Penname: Page of Cups
Email: AndromedanPrincess@hotmail.com
Title: Everything Changes
Pairing: Ron Weasley/Draco Malfoy
Rating: R
Summary:
Caution: Boy on boy love. If you came this far and it is not your cup of tea, go make cocoa.
Disclaimer: This story contains characters, locations, and other random things created and/or owned by J.K. Rowling, Bloomsbury Publishing, Scholastic, Inc., etc. Since no money is being made, no infringement is intended. Section 102(b) of the U.S. Copyright Act states that copyright protection does not extend to ideas, procedures, concepts, principles or discoveries, but the actual words used to express those things. I know. I'm researching my copyright abilities.
Chapter Nine: Truce
Ron didn't know where he was heading or what he was heading to as he stalked down the corridor, waiting for Malfoy to catch up and hoping that Hermione wasn't smart enough to figure out what Malfoy was about to allude to. The last thing he needed was for Hermione to concoct the clever (and unfortunately true) theory that it was Ron who had sucked Draco's cock. They knew he had been seeing a Slytherin, after all, even if they did think it was a girl. Vaguely wondering if Malfoy was even following him at all, Ron took a turn and stopped to find himself standing in the very familiar prefects corridor. Funny how if he let his feet walk that this is where he ended up.
"You could have waited for me, Weasel," said Draco, slightly pink in the face from the effort it must have taken to catch up.
"You could have not almost told my friends about our very compromising situation."
"I wasn't going to tell them," said Draco, sneering. "Why would I want anyone to know that I've been buggering you for a month? Anyhow, Potter and Granger didn't even get it. Now, I really think we should take this someplace more private before Goyle sees us again."
"Goyle's seen us?" said Ron, looking horrified.
"He saw you leave my room our last night together."
"You make it sound like it was a very long time ago."
"When you're avoiding me, it seems like it is."
"Has Goyle - er - told anyone?"
"Goyle won't tell a soul."
"And you believe him?"
"I have his word and I trust him. That's all you need to know. If it were Crabbe who knew, then you could start sweating. However, someone like Crabbe or even worse could come by and since you brought us here of all places, I suggest we take this discussion to my room. Honestly, what would you say if Peeves were to float by and hear this?"
"Tell him that you'd speak ill of him to the Bloody Baron."
"Fair enough, but honestly, Weasley. Some people just can't be bribed like that."
Glancing at the door to the Head Boy room, Ron nodded. He really didn't want anyone to hear them discussing their sexual past and even though the last place he wanted to be talking about such things was the Head Boy room, it looked like there was no where else to turn to. Cursing his feet for being so careless, Ron followed Draco, who muttered some constellation (or maybe it was a star) and followed Draco through the door.
"Doesn't this bring back memories," said Draco, cheekily, as the door shut behind Ron and he casually undid his cloak to drape it over the back of an armchair.
"Yes, it really does. Especially one where I walked out on you. Don't be so daft, Malfoy. I was in here three days ago. Stop talking about this like I've been fighting with you for weeks. Well, I have been fighting with you for weeks but that wasn't in the context I meant."
"Weasley, I'm hurt. Don't you miss me?"
"Not at all. Why did you want to talk to me? What was so important that you had to mess with me to get me here?"
Draco did have a reason for talking to Weasley, didn't he? Even though he had said it in jest to Weasel, Draco felt he did miss him immensely. Then there was the fact of the feelings that Goyle was foolish enough to call love. Perhaps it was mostly the grief from treating a former friend in such a manner that was undeserved. He had been more mature about this boy when he was a child of three. The big one, though, was the fact he was acting just like Anthony and turning into his father. He needed to make things right with Weasley. He didn't love him because Draco didn't love people but there were feelings and Weasley couldn't hate him.
"I wanted to talk to you because I don't like the way things ended with us."
"Neither do I but it happened and unless you want to use a time turner and kill me before I walk out on you, you're just going to have to accept that."
"Weasley, don't you get it? I don't want it to be over."
"I must have been a really great hole."
"Weasley -"
"Isn't that what you said I was, Malfoy? Just another hole? Well, this hole has had enough with you and your games. Take them somewhere else, Malfoy."
"Fuck you, Weasel. I'm trying to say something here so stop fucking insulting me."
"You never stop for a moment with me. It's always my mother's weight, or my father's salary, or my choice of friends. Honestly, who would want to be friends with Scar-head and the Mudblood, right? They're just so caring and nice it's probably like an infection to you. Or maybe you want to bring up the fact I'm insignificant and no one remembers my existence. There's always the fact I was stupid enough to let you fuck me when I knew how you were. Here's one you haven't used. Why don't you pull out the cards about my poor, dead sister, and my Death Eater brother?"
Draco gaped at Ron, his face flushed to the roots of his hair in a violent, purplish red color that Draco had never seen him turn. The way it clashed with his hair was horrible and Draco didn't want Weasley to look like this ever again, especially not at his own prodding.
"Stop sending my letters back," was all Draco could say.
"Stop insulting my friends! Stop insulting my family! Stop taking every cheap shot you can possibly come up with! Leave me alone, Malfoy. I've had enough of you and I don't want to see you again. I actually cared for you. I actually thought that just because we were once friends that you could still be a nice person."
"I can be a nice person," said Draco, abandoning all reason. Ron snorted what he thought of that comment. "I mean it. Look, Weasley, you need to calm down." Taking a deep breath, Draco tried to collect his thoughts. "I can see that I clearly do not bring the best out in you. Go back to Gryffindor or somewhere and just calm down. When you can think straight - if you want to talk this out, come by sometime before midnight. The password is Betelgeuse. We can work through this, Weasley."
Ron didn't reply, staring blankly at Draco as a frown tug on his lips. The purplish red color was still vibrant on his skin making his freckles look a sickly orange. Trying not to wince at the sight, Draco cracked open the door to the Head Boy room and stood by the doorway, looking expectantly at Ron.
"By midnight. Otherwise I'm going to assume you want nothing to do with me ever again."
Cutting past him without so much as another word, Ron left the Head Boy room and Draco leaned against the door. His head rolled back to smack against the wood and he left out a low, exhausted sigh. What had he done and if Weasley did come back, what was he going to do? Even Neville Longbottom could see that a relationship between Ron and Draco would never work out. Deciding titles would have to go away and that would have to be enough for Ron if he should ever again ask, Draco began to ponder what Goyle had said before.
Going by what Goyle said, he already was in a relationship with Weasley. Granted, it was a twisted one that involved a lot of brutal sex, but it was a relationship all the same. It went against all the Draco Malfoy laws to be in another relationship. Come to think of it, it went against all of the Draco Malfoy laws to be fancying Weasley. So this was what happened when your childhood best friend grows up to be bloody gorgeous. You fall in love with them.
Draco didn't even bother to chastise himself for thinking of the word love in association with Weasley. It was futile to tell himself otherwise. He had somehow managed to fall in love with Weasley and even though he could never admit it and it would be something he only said in his sleep (if what Goyle said was true), but it would always be there. If Weasel didn't come by tonight, he was going to have to slap himself silly.
~*~
After calling the fat lady words that Ron would never dare to utter within a fifty kilometer radius of his mother, she finally opened the portrait hole and allowed him to enter. He was sick of her telling him not to fight because he would fight if he bloody well wanted to and as he scrambled in the common room, he dumped the contents of his bag out onto a table and began to work.
"How did things go with Malfoy?" asked Hermione.
"Fine," Ron snapped as he started finishing a Charms essay.
"What did he say to you?" asked Harry.
"What is your obsession with Malfoy? Why do you always have to know every single thing he's ever said to me? He didn't say much, actually, since you so desperately need to know. I did most of the talking. You can go tell your diary that now while you draw little hearts around yours and Malfoy's names."
"Ron," said Harry.
"Leave him alone, Harry," said Hermione, laying a hand on his shoulder.
Hermione gave Ron an odd look before pulling Harry away and they went back to their own work. A few hours later, Ron refused to leave his assignments and so Harry and Hermione went to dinner alone, making sure to bring food back for him. Since Harry didn't have Quidditch that night as they had beaten Hufflepuff the week before and were taking a break until after Christmas, they returned to the common room together and cautiously wandered over to Ron. He was now working on Divination, doing it the right way, and trying to complete it in full.
"We brought you some dinner," said Harry, offering the food to him. Ron didn't even look up as he scribbled an equation down on the parchment, still as angry as he was when he first entered Gryffindor Tower.
"Er - Ron, are you okay?" said Hermione, sitting down next to him.
"Yeah. You're all purple," said Harry, not bothering to hide his grimace. "You look really bad, Ron."
"Fuck off," he said through gritted teeth.
"Ron, you do realize you're actually finishing homework," said Harry.
"Yes. Do you realize I'm actually finishing homework?"
"Is this a trick question?"
"I think he wants you to leave him alone," said Hermione, softly.
"Well look who caught up."
"Ronald Weasley, do not talk to me like that," said Hermione, crossly, taking his homework away from him. "I have had it with your attitude these past few weeks. I want to know what is up with you and I want to know now. Don't give me that nothing bullshit again! You have been nasty and rude to us since the beginning of the term and we've taken it in stride but I will not put up with it anymore."
"You want to know what's wrong with me?" screamed Ron, standing up from where he was seated to knock his chair over in the process. "Where should I begin? My sister died less than two years ago. My brother is a Death Eater. My dad is a joke at the ministry. My mum is having a hard time coping with Ginny and I've had to keep this thing about Percy from her because she can't even take losing Ginny. On top of all that, I am now known as the dead girl's brother in addition to Harry Potter's friend. You know, the tall kid with the red hair. What's his name? Oh, that's right. Tom. That's not to mention my marks are suffering because of all this. Then, last month, someone finally noticed me and I've been seeing him ever since only to find out that all he wanted me for was sex. I shouldn't have expected more from a Slytherin but I tend to get weak when someone looks at me instead of past me. So, there you go, Hermione. Take your fucking pick."
"I didn't know, Ron," she said, softly.
"You never bothered to ask. All you ever ask is if there's something wrong. You should bloody well know what's wrong after all these years. If you don't, maybe you haven't been as good of a friend as I thought. None of you ever ask what you can do to help."
"What can we do, Ron?" Hermione practically pleaded. Across from her, Harry was staring at Ron as if he had just sprouted wings.
"I don't know, Hermione," he said, feeling too drained of energy to think. "Right now I need to be away from you. I need to collect my thoughts. I'm sorry for yelling at you."
"It's okay, Ron. Really. Take a walk or something. Take as long as you need."
As a peace offering, Ron gave Hermione a hug and a kiss on the cheek before giving Harry a quick hug and left the room. Harry turned to Hermione, his mouth hanging open, and said, "Did Ron say he was seeing a him?"
Hermione's eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open, looking to the portrait hole that Ron had just gone out of.
~*~
Now in the hallway roughly around the time when those with Quidditch practice would be coming back and curfew was about to take effect, Ron was left with three options. He could wander the halls and possibly run into Filch, Snape, or Peeves. Then there was option number two of returning to the common room he had just left. Finally, there was hidden option number three. He could go to the Head Boy room and talk through whatever he was supposed to talk through with Draco.
Fifteen minutes later, Ron found himself in an empty prefects corridor and approaching the Head Boy room.
"Betelgeuse," said Ron, smiling appreciatively as the lock clicked to signal it was open. Turning the handle, Ron slid into the room and softly let it click shut behind him. He wandered into the familiar room, looking around for Draco. The bathroom door was slightly ajar and the lights were out so Ron discounted there. The bed was empty and then Ron found the top of a tell tale head of blond hair peeking over the back of an armchair.
Walking around to the front of the chair, Ron couldn't help but smile. Draco was curled up in a ball, his knees pressed to his chest. A bottle green blanket was wrapped around his body and his head was slightly tilted back against the chair. He was fast asleep. He had combed his hair down and it fell just above his shoulders.
Unable to bring himself to wake him, Ron took the chair opposite Draco and sat down. He picked a book sitting on the table between the chairs. It was a Potions text and Ron briefly admired the binding and thickness of the crisp pages before setting it back to the table. Ron's textbooks never looked like that. Then again, Ron's textbooks had probably come to him after they had four or five previous owners.
Sitting across from Draco like this, it was hard to be angry with him. Ron felt bad for exploding at Hermione but he often did things this way. If something was bothering him, Ron bottled it up inside until it pushed him so far he exploded. He really needed to do something about that but he was exploding at everyone today. First it had been Draco when, in retrospect, he seemed to sincerely want to work things out. Then it had been Hermione and Harry, who only ever honestly wanted to help.
"Weasley?" came a soft voice and Ron jerked his head to look into Draco's eyes.
"Hey, Malfoy."
"What time is it?"
Ron snickered. "Way before midnight."
"How long have you been here?"
"Long enough. You were asleep."
"You should've woken me up."
"No. I like you when you're asleep. You don't say much."
"I didn't think you'd come."
"Neither did I."
"Why the sudden change of heart?"
"I got into a row with Hermione and this was the only place I could think of going besides the common room, my dorm, and detention."
"I'm glad you came."
"So now that you're up," said Ron, choosing to ignore Draco's statement, "what was it that you think we should talk through?"
"Er - Weasley, I don't want to lose you. I can't tell you where we stand and I can't give you a title. I don't know myself. All I know is I like what I have with you, and I'm not just talking about the sex. I'd really like to keep something going between us."
"Why didn't you just tell me that you didn't know?" said Ron, sounding slightly annoyed.
"I don't know. My first instincts are to make people angry with me. You aren't just a hole. I really do notice you."
"That's nice to know," said Ron, devoid of emotion.
"I want to kiss you right now but I feel like you'd mistake my intentions and I just don't have the energy to fight with you tonight."
"Do you have the energy for something else?" said Ron, wriggling his eyebrows.
"Weasley," said Draco, appreciatively. "And here I thought you would mistake my intentions if I kissed you."
"Discontinue referring to me as your hole and I'll be more than pleased to accommodate you."
Ron stood from his chair and crossed over to where Draco was still seated. Pulling the blanket away to reveal Draco in only a pair of sweatpants, which hung low on his waist, Ron said, "That makes things easier."
Cupping Draco's cheek, Ron lowed his body into Draco's lap and leaned forward to capture his lips. His palm lay flat against Draco's chest and he could feel the pulse start to speed up beneath his fingertips. Running his tongue over the length of Draco's bottom lip, Ron then slid his tongue into Draco's mouth. He lightly nipped at the bottom lip with his teeth and then proceeded to kiss him fully on the mouth.
Kissing his way down Draco's chin and neck, Ron wrapped his arm around Draco's body to feel the way his shoulder blades shifted as Draco moved in the chair. Gently gliding across Draco's torso with his tongue, Ron could already feel his erection poking him in the stomach. Draco's fingers were in his hair as he breached the band of his sweatpants and Ron slipped his index finger under the band to gently pull them down.
"Ron," moaned Draco, shifting his hips.
Ron tried very hard not to bite Draco before he paused, his eyes going wide. Draco didn't seem to notice the slip, only that Ron had discontinued action and his eyelids slowly opened to reveal big, grey eyes. Reaching for Draco's hand, something Ron never did, he wrapped their fingers together and went back to what he had been doing.
Draco had his fingers twined in Ron's hair as his sweatpants were removed and he felt Ron's lips encircle the head of his cock. Soft whimpers of Ron's name slipped from his mouth as Ron worked to bring him to a climax, but Draco refused for it to be over yet. Ron was still fully clothed as Draco commanded him to get on the bed.
That night was the first time Ron had been in control the entire time, the first time he had taken instead of being taken. After their release, Draco lay on his back, staring at the ceiling and trying to catch his breath as Ron rolled out of bed.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
"Getting dressed," said Ron, looking through the discarded robes for his trousers.
"You know, Weasley, you could stay tonight if you wanted to."
Ron's newly discovered pants fell from his fingers and hit the floor.
"What?"
"You could stay if you wanted to."
"But people will notice if I don't come back all night."
"So what?" he said. "I'd - er - like it if you'd stay."
"Yeah," said Ron, walking back over to Draco's bed and pulling the sheets back to crawl underneath. After a few moments, Draco shifted over to Ron and grabbed Ron's arm to pull it around him. "Are you forcing me to hold you, Malfoy?"
"Yes," he said, yawning.
"Okay." Ron pulled Draco to him, unaccustomed to being in the back end of spooning. He glanced at the back of Draco's head before leaning forward to place a kiss on his cheek.
"I remember," said Draco.
"What?"
"Child care and poor Sulyn Donnely."
"Who was Sulyn Donnely?"
"The black-haired girl who watched us. She always had to break up all the fights we got into."
"We got into? I never got into fights. That was all you."
"Yes, but you were the one who sparked them. I was always saving your arse. Crabbe would pick on you and I bit him. Do you know how long it took me to get that foul taste out of my mouth?"
"No."
"Neither do I. I was three. I probably didn't notice a difference."
Ron snickered.
"You also killed spiders for me and kicked my brothers in the shin."
"It was the only body part I was big enough to reach," said Draco.
"You were my hero."
"Shut up, Weasley. You don't have to make fun of me."
"I wasn't making fun of you."
"We made a great pair, didn't we?"
"Yeah," said Ron, forlorn. "We did."
"Shame about what happened with my father. We could have ruled this school."
"What did happen with your father?"
"I was punished. It was no big deal."
"I had been worried about you. When your father came to pick you up. Then Sulyn told me that you weren't coming back anymore. I lost my best friend."
"You weren't the only one."
"I thought we were going to be friends when we came to Hogwarts. I couldn't wait. Mum looked really sad when I told her. Once I got to school, I understood why."
"I didn't remember," said Draco.
"I know."
"Still, it is a shame. You, Potter, and I could have dominated this place."
"Harry, too?"
"Well, just because I don't like him doesn't mean he wouldn't have been a valuable asset to our group. Actually, I don't know who I like and who I don't like. I recently discovered I've turned into a cross between my father and Anthony Tice. I'm working on reforming that."
"Anthony Tice? Wasn't he in Fred and George's year? Slytherin?"
"He was two years ahead of us."
"Yeah. I heard about him from the twins and Lee Jordan. Real player. Is that what you were talking about?" Draco slightly nodded after a moment of hesitation. "Did you know him or something?"
"Kind of. I saw him in the common room and at Quidditch."
"Fred and George told me he dated someone in our year. Cheated on him all the time and all but killed him when they broke up."
Draco nodded. "Yeah. That was me."
Not knowing what else to say, Ron said, "I'm sorry. I didn't know. I wouldn't have mentioned it if I had."
"Don't worry about it," said Draco. "If I didn't want people to know, I wouldn't have mentioned his name."
"Was that really you?"
"Yes, but the beating when we broke up wasn't as bad as you made it sound. I got a few hits in myself and he barely came off looking better. I was fine a few days later."
"That I'm glad to hear."
"Weasley?"
"Yeah, Draco?"
Draco seemed stunned.
"You said my name."
"You said mine earlier. I'm repaying the favor."
"I said your name?"
"Yeah. Um - during - you know . . ."
"Oh. Well, uh, I like it. When you say my name, that is. I don't like my name. It's kind of stupid. For one, every girl calls me Drakie or Drake and I hate it. Second, the people who don't use Drakie or Drake use some sort of serpent or dragon pet name."
"Not a big fan of those, either?"
"No," he said, flatly. "I think my father did this to spite me. He doesn't like his name, either. He used to say it made him sound like a pouf. Now, I couldn't care less what he thinks."
"I promise not to call you Drake, Drakie, or any sort of clever serpent or dragon name."
"Thank you."
"For us, Draco practically is a nickname. I usually call you Malfoy."
"I'd prefer Draco. Separates me from him."
"Honestly, I prefer Ron."
"Separating from your family, too?"
"Yes."
"All right, Ron. I think I can try to arrange that. May as well after so savagely calling you my hole."
"Thank you. Now what were you going to say before we began this discussion on names?"
"I was going to say that I was glad you stayed."
"I am, too."
"Ron," said Draco, trying the name out on his tongue.
"What?"
"Nothing."
No more than five minutes later, Draco could hear Ron's breathing even out and light snores coming from his direction. He didn't know what was going on here but this was better than the fighting. Draco figured that as long as he kept his mouth shut about the love thing, they just might be okay. Calling him by his first name should be enough, anyway.
Closing his eyes, Draco found that sleep came quickly when in Ron's arms.
Okay. So this wasn't out as soon as I anticipated. I'm trying. Really.
Once again, written before I read OotP. Sorry for inconsistencies.
May have mentioned before but am now advertising…
Need a beta for a story I'm working on. I'm currently writing chapter 15 and there should be about seven to eight more. I'd like two or three betas, and all of them need to have the time for it. While not my longest story, it's definitely my most involved. I need dedicated readers to give me detailed feedback on mechanics and story line. As I'm getting on in the story, there are things I need to push myself through.
It's a Draco/Ron with boy!Blaise/Harry as a minor pairing. The story is more focused on the plot than any pairings. It will be rated R. For information on plot or any other questions, you may email me at AndromedanPrincess@hotmail.com.
