Chapter 14: Apologies and a "Stolen" Item

"You should talk to Weasley, Harry," Draco muttered as Madam Pomfrey fussed over him.

"Frankly, I don't want to talk to him. He was being a git and I don't want to talk to him," Harry replied adamantly.

"Harry, he just wanted you to talk to him and tell him the truth about you and Malfoy. I don't see why you couldn't do that," Hermione responded.

Harry glanced over at her with a slight glare. "Because I knew he would react just as he did," he responded angrily.

"Listen, I'm not Weasley's number one fan, but I know enough to believe that all he wanted was his best friend to tell him the truth about what he did see. I also am deducing that you haven't always been honest with him?" Draco questioned.

Harry blushed and looked away. Draco was quite dead on. He shrugged his shoulders. "Yes, well, I knew he'd get weirded out when I told him," he insisted.

"And then he would get over it," Hermione finished.

Harry glared at her again, but it didn't affect her. She merely lifted an eyebrow and crossed her arms. Harry sighed loudly and stood up. "Fine, but I'll probably end up next to Draco in bed, unconscious because Ron will have punched my lights out," he replied petulantly.

Draco rolled his eyes, but grinned at him as he walked out of the infirmary wing.

XXXX

Harry was dragging his feet to go find Ron. He didn't want to talk to him. He was still pretty mad for what happened between them and thought that all they would do is argue more, but alas, Draco wanted him to talk to him and he couldn't help but do what Draco wanted.

He found Ron easily, sitting in the transfiguration classroom. He was practicing a spell, but it looked like he wasn't doing very well.

"Hey," Harry called out from the doorway. He saw Ron's shoulders tense, thus Harry tensed. Ron set his wand down and turned to look at him.

"What do you want?" he asked in a scathing tone.

Harry sighed and took a deep breath or several actually before speaking again. He wanted to get this done and over with painlessly and no argument. "I wanted to come and tell you the truth," he said calmly.

Ron stared at him a moment and lifted an eyebrow. "Now you want to tell me the truth?" he questioned.

"You called me out in front of the whole school. How could you expect me to tell you the truth about anything?" he demanded.

Ron blushed and shrugged. He lifted his chin though in defiance. "Well, I'm tired of you not telling me the truth. What do you expect?"

Harry narrowed his gaze and crossed his arms. "When was the last time I didn't tell you the truth?" he questioned.

Ron looked away as he thought about it. "Yeah, well, it's not like you've always told me the truth," he replied.

Harry frowned and then rolled his eyes. "Fine, you want the truth. I'll tell you, but you're not going to like it," he warned.

Ron stood up defiantly and gestured for him to continue. Harry took a deep breath again. "Draco and I are sort of seeing each other," he responded. He stared Ron down, waiting for him to respond.

Ron stood there returning the look. He moved his mouth several ways, but he couldn't quite form any words. Harry waited and found that he was holding his breath. Finally, Ron looked away with a blush. "You're kidding me right? You and Malfoy are a…. thing?" he asked in disbelief.

Harry nodded. "Yes. We've only been seeing each other a few days, but we are seeing each other and I'm going to continue seeing him whether you like it or not," he said confidently.

Ron frowned. "I…how…why?" he stuttered.

Harry shrugged. "Well, Parkinson told me that Draco had a crush on me and I thought that, well, I could say the feeling was mutual. So I sent him a note and we met up in the Room of Requirement and we kissed and it was brilliant and now I can't seem to stop wanting to be around him," he explained his voice sounding more smitten as he went along.

"I see. Well, I don't like it, you're right, but I guess I can't really judge too much because it's your life and your choice. Just, if he hurts you, I will not hesitate to do more than punch him," he responded.

Harry grinned at him. "I know. Thanks for letting me explain and listening," he said almost shyly.

Ron shrugged and blushed slightly. They stood awkwardly for a moment unsure of what their next move should be. Finally, Harry extended a hand to Ron who reached out and they shook. Then they hugged awkwardly and gave each other manly pats on the back before stepping back from one another. Ron looked at him peculiarly. "You're not, you know, like going to have a crush on me are you?" he asked in embarrassment.

Harry looked up in alarm and shook his head quickly. "No way. Definitely not. I am only into Draco and no one else," he replied assuredly.

"Oh, okay good. Phew. I was worried about that," Ron responded.

Harry chuckled. "Well, I did have a dream about you though. It was very disturbing," he mentioned.

Ron looked at him with a horrified expression. "Do I want to know?" he whispered.

Harry shook his head and laughed. "Let's just say I had to go see Draco in order to get it out of my head," he teased.

Ron's eyes widened comically which only served to make Harry laugh even more. "That's just, that's just not right, mate," Ron muttered.

"You're telling me," Harry agreed. "How long is your detention?"

"Well, McGonagall said that if I apologized to you and Malfoy that I could be done with it," Ron responded.

"Well, you've apologized to me and now you can go apologize to Draco," Harry reasoned.

"I think I actually have to say I'm sorry so Harry, I'm sorry for shoving you and yelling at you and getting mad at you," Ron apologized.

Harry grinned. "Apology accepted," he declared. Ron stood and followed Harry out of the classroom and up to the infirmary. Outside the doors he hesitated.

"I don't know if I can apologize to him," he muttered as he blushed slightly.

"Well, I don't think you'll get out of this if you don't," Harry reminded him.

Ron sighed loudly and frowned. "Alright, fine, but I am doing it unwillingly," he reminded Harry.

Harry chuckled and pushed the doors open. Draco was lying on the bed still with Hermione and Pansy on either side. They looked up as Harry and Ron walked in. Draco and Ron stared at each other for several seconds before Ron opened his mouth to speak.

"I'm sorry I punched you in the face, Malfoy. I hope that you can forgive me," he said flatly. Harry rolled his eyes next to him and looked over at Draco who had one eyebrow raised.

"Mmmhmm, so enthusiastic Weasley," he commented.

Ron narrowed his gaze and frowned. "Yeah, well, do you forgive me or not?" he asked.

"Did Harry forgive you?" he responded.

Ron looked over at Harry and then back at Draco. "Of course he did," Ron said confidently.

"Alright then, I forgive you. And did he tell you the truth?" he asked. Ron nodded. "And your thoughts?"

Ron looked at him thoughtfully and then grinned menacingly. "If you break his heart, I break your head, capisce?"

Draco's eyes widened slightly, but he nodded in affirmation. "And I would let you," he responded. He looked directly at Harry when he said this and smiled to himself when Harry blushed deeply.

The other three looked between the two realizing that they were invading on a rather personal moment. Pansy stood up and kissed Draco's head before she walked out followed by Hermione who was dragging a confused Ron. Harry looked after them and then turned to look back at Draco. He smiled.

"You sure know how to clear a room," he teased as he took a seat next to him. He rested one hand close to one of Draco's hands and twitched it nervously. Draco reached out and linked their fingers together. Harry blushed once again.

"Well, as a Malfoy, it is one of the first lessons we are taught. One must be able to clear a room successfully and with little effort," Draco replied in a tone that sounded eerily like his father.

Harry's eyes widened in horror and he shook his head. "Let's not use that voice again, okay?"

Draco chuckled and nodded. He was about to speak again when Madam Pomfrey bustled into the room. She gave Harry a stern look which caused him to instantly slink away from her patient.

"Mister Potter, Mister Malfoy needs to rest up a bit so I suggest you go busy yourself elsewhere," she ordered.

"Yes ma'am, of course," he said respectfully before he smiled at Draco and rushed out of the infirmary. Draco watched him go a bit sadly and then turned to look at Madam Pomfrey.

"Is it really necessary that I need to rest?" he asked.

"Of course it is. That was a pretty big hit you took there. Better to be safe than sorry," she said in a motherly tone.

Draco groaned and pushed himself into the mattress. "Fine," he muttered. She smiled at him before she turned around and walked away.

Draco sighed as he looked around the infirmary, boredom already setting in. He flexed the hand that Harry had been holding and heard a crunching noise. He looked down at his hand and turned it over. There was a piece of parchment there. He grinned as he reached his other hand over and opened up the parchment. He stared at the short note in Harry's familiar scrawl and read it over several times. His smile broadened after each read. I have something of yours that I think you just might want back. Shall we call it a tie and meet up so I can return it to you? Draco folded the note back up, contemplating how he could get out of resting so he could meet up with Harry for some more appealing R & R.

A/N: So I tried to respond to your reviews, but it didn't work and now I can't get the author's note at the top. Ugh, all well. Anyway, this chapter is another filler as many of you were a bit concerned about the interaction between Ron and Harry. I hope this chapter makes everything better :) Drarry goodness in the next chapter and I am so looking forward to it :D