Ron Weasley was having a bad day.
Scratch that, for the past two weeks his school life was nothing but a frustrating compilation of incredibly bad days and the catalyst for his living hell was a certain annoying blonde Veela.
"Granger, you must be incredibly short sighted." The blonde drawled, walking with the Golden Trio across the freezing grounds from the Greenhouses.
"Why do you say that?" Hermione adjusted her scarf and peered inquisitively at the blonde, who was walking close to Harry, having stolen his Gryffindor scarf.
"Well, why else would you be dating Weasley?" Draco grinned at Ron maliciously.
"Fuck you Malfoy." Ron growled.
"Ron!" Harry chided him.
Harry had taken his bodyguard duty very seriously ever since Seamus' attempted rape, and now he and Malfoy were virtually inseparable. Ron supposed it was good for Harry because he'd had a crush on the blonde all year, but it also wasn't good for him. Not good at all. Prolonging Harry's time with the manipulative blonde would only hurt him more when he discovered what a git the Malfoy heir always was.
It agitated Ron to no end that Malfoy would take advantage of Harry's offer of protection so often. Sure, the blonde was probably scared, and sure he was in danger, but he could at least attempt to give Harry some time away from him.
And Harry, being the generous bloke he was always agreed to letting Malfoy come with them wherever they went, sometimes going out of his way to be sure Malfoy got to the places he wanted. Harry even went so far as to personally escort Malfoy all around Hogsmeade the other weekend, following Malfoy into robe shops and cafes. Ron got sick of it and spent his Hogsmeade trip in the Three Broomsticks with Hermione while Harry shielded Malfoy from the perils of the public.
Harry did that often actually, looking after Malfoy even when Ron and Hermione were too tired to accommodate the blonde. The two of them would disappear off to some unknown location and Harry would always return to the common room looking exhausted and confounded at the end of the day.
It made Ron feel sorry for him, being left alone with the precocious Veela so often. Ron had guilty moments where he thought he should be a better friend, pry Malfoy away from Harry, fling him back to his Slytherin friends, although it didn't seem they were much in the blonde's favour at the moment, and give Harry a break from guarding the pretentious snob.
"I don't see how my theoretical short sightedness would make me any more or less attracted to Ron." Hermione gave Ron a comforting look.
"Well, the first part seems obvious really. You wouldn't have to notice his face." Draco pointed out.
"Hey!" Ron griped.
"Or his ears." Draco added on.
"And the second part?" Harry asked with a sly look.
That was another thing about Harry. He was very good at humouring the irritating bastard. It was probably a side effect of the bizarre hold Draco had on Harry's psyche.
"Well, if you couldn't see very well, with Weasley's offensive hair colour it would definitely help with picking him out of a crowd."
"Hey!" Ron repeated louder.
"Although you should probably be careful Granger. If you just launch yourself at anything orange you may end up with a mouthful of his sister."
"HEY!" Ron growled, spinning to face the blonde and prodding a freckled finger to his chest. "That's enough from you."
Draco looked disdainfully down at Ron's accusing finger.
"You're touching me Weasley."
"I ought to slug you one, you annoying bloody prick."
"If I recall, 'slugging' someone else has never worked out favourably for you, has it Weasley?" Draco smirked smugly, his face tucked into Harry's scarf.
"Calm down Ron. He's just teasing you." Harry said placatingly, moving Ron's index finger away from his charge.
"Well it's bloody annoying." Ron replied. "Why don't you bog off to your Slytherin friends for once?"
"I don't want to 'bog off' anywhere. Besides, they're all at Quidditch practise and Pansy's writing an essay, so I can't stay with her." Draco explained, his nose wrinkling at the mention of Quidditch, a sore spot for him as he was no longer allowed to fly.
"Don't you have any work to do?" Hermione asked, following the conversation for Ron's sake.
"It's all already done." Draco grinned smugly, always keen for a chance to rub his intellectual prowess in the bookworm's face. "I'm apparently too distracting for Pansy's liking, even though I gave her my notes for the essay."
"You could still sit with her. You didn't have to come with us." Ron scowled.
"She told me to go away." Draco said innocently. "It's not like you have to be here either Weasley. If I bother you so much, why don't you 'bog off' as you so eloquently put it?"
Ron flushed and growled unhappily. He could just leave, and the offer was tempting, but he was out here in the first place on the advice of one of his guilty moments. Leaving Harry alone with the blonde must have been doing his head in, but knowing Harry, he wouldn't complain because he was a good bloke and did what he had to do.
"You can go if you want Ron. I can look after him." Harry said accommodatingly. He could see that Ron was uncomfortable around the blonde and was giving him a way out. He was such a good friend.
"We only need to pop in to see Hagrid and then we can go back to the castle." Hermione chipped in, no doubt trying to watch over Harry.
Draco pouted. He didn't like Hagrid now any more so than he did previous to Harry's friendship. The half-giant professor now seemed relatively more accepting of the Slytherin since the discovery of his Veela ancestry. He quizzed him relentlessly on his new Veelic nature as if he was a creature for his classes. Needless to say it irritated the blonde to no end, but he answered the questions to satisfy Harry's curiosity, Hermione's research and Ron's insensitive prodding.
"You shouldn't pout." Harry smiled down at the irritable blonde. "We'll only be a minute."
"We may take a minute. He will take a bloody hour and a half til he's done quizzing me." Draco scowled.
"Serves you right." Ron muttered mutinously.
"Draco, did you finish the Arithmancy diagrams?" Hermione asked him, cutting over the top of Ron's abrasive remark and changing the topic to school work. Hermione got along fairly well with the blonde because she could talk to him about the advanced subjects they both took.
"Yes. You didn't?" He smirked.
"No, I did. Did you get all of that translation for Ancient Runes?"
"Yes."
"Did you get the one on the second page next to Tinne?"Hermione asked.
"Yes, it was Saile, it was red willow." Draco explained.
"I didn't get it at first because it transitioned into the Celtic alphabet." Hermione admitted.
"The textbook had an error. The first edition one anyway." Draco said casually.
"Can I borrow your textbook to finish it?"
"If you give me your notes on the healing charms from last lesson." Draco said with a calculating smirk.
"You did brilliantly with those charms." Hermione pointed out pragmatically.
"I know. I just wanted to see if you'd give me your notes." Draco flashed a cheeky smile at the bushy brunette.
The fast paced banter was conducted heedless of the reactions of the other boys. Ron had just accepted that Draco and Hermione got along, and this was a grudging acceptance, as he didn't like how close the Veelic blonde was to his girlfriend. But Draco could keep up with Hermione in her intellectual and often confusing rants about higher magic, so Ron was happy to let him fill that post. It was better for her than to have Ron nod in all the right places and zone off intermittently.
They reached the threshold of Hagrid's hut and Harry knocked on the large wooden door.
"Let's make this quick, shall we?" Draco grumbled.
"Oh, hush you." Harry nudged the blonde, imparting some sense of good manners Ron hoped.
Hagrid hauled the door open, wearing oven gloves and a flowery apron. He beamed down at his guests. "'Arry! Yer just in time. Carrot cake's just come out o' the oven. And hello Ron an' Hermione. An' Malfoy too, I don't know, do Veela like carrot cake?"
"No we don't. Not particularly." Draco intoned crankily. Harry chuckled and escorted him through the door.
Ron followed, linking Hermione's arm and muttering to her.
"And this is on behalf of the Veela community is it?"
"It's still useful." Hermione rebutted, her eyes glinting and her fingers reaching for her quill and notebook in her pocket.
"How have things been Hagrid?" Harry asked jovially, giving Fang a pat and settling by the fire. Draco side-stepped the drooling dog and stuck close to Harry.
"Alright I suppose. Snow's gettin' thicker, an' the owls are needing charms put on them to stop them freezin' in the weather. They say it'll be a colder winter than most." Hagrid chatted, cutting thick slabs of a heavily iced carrot cake for his guests.
"It's been getting colder all year." Hermione commented. "I miss summer."
"I don't." Draco grumbled.
"Well of course you don't." Ron replied, rolling his eyes.
"Well Veela are winter creatures Ron. Summer's bad fer them, makes 'em drowsy." Hagrid explained, flashing a toothy grin at Draco, who frowned.
He seemed to be learning new things about his 'condition' every day, and most of the information fit in surprisingly well with his life. He did get lethargic and lazy during the summer holidays. His mother found it incredibly irritating.
"Gives them sunburn I suppose?" Ron asked bitterly, his own freckled skin standing in stark comparison to Draco's white, blemish free skin.
"Is that what happened to you then?" Draco snapped back. Harry put his hand on Draco's shoulder and pulled him back into the cushy armchair with him.
"You're so grumpy today. Here, try some carrot cake."
Draco took a bite on Harry's prompt, unaware of the jaw-locking reputation of Hagrid's confectionary, and the icing stuck his tongue to the roof of his mouth, effectively quelling the antagonistic comments.
"Ye'll all be leaving fer Christmas this year. It'll be lonely without you." Hagrid said nostalgically.
"We'll write you." Ron said cheerfully.
"You can visit us if you want." Harry said. "You'd just have to run it past ... er ... Ron's mum."
He looked sideways at Draco, who was unsticking his jaw and pushing the carrot cake gingerly away from him.
Hagrid gave Draco a look too, and replied.
"Right. I'll be sure ter do that."
"I've been wondering something." Hermione said, pursuing a taboo topic heedless of tact or regard. "What will Draco do in the holidays without seeing Harry? The bond will fluctuate, won't it?"
Draco blinked, curious. He exchanged a glance at Harry, and saw in his eyes a barrier of suspicion. Draco's life at the manor was never mentioned, as it was a touchy topic, a topic Hermione now breached knowingly.
"I thought it was stable now." Draco said vaguely, focusing on the second half of her sentence.
"The bond relies on constant contact. It's going to deconstruct with time apart. It's another condition of the curse, so the Veela can't run away. It's a very controlling piece of spell work, designed to restrict the Veela as much as possible. You may fall ill without daily exchanges."Hermione explained, her voice sympathetic.
Ron tried not to feel too bad for the blonde. If he considered what the curse did to him, he lost momentum in his crusade against the other boy.
"You could both stay at Hogwarts fer Christmas." Hagrid offered helpfully.
"I always go home for Christmas." Draco said superciliously, surprised that the giant would even suggest he abandon his tradition.
"Harry will need to visit then." Hermione continued blithely.
"He can't come to my home." Draco said abruptly.
"Why – oh." Harry realised belatedly.
"Well, how do you think you'll manage to fulfil the bond without him then?" Hermione remarked snippily.
"He can't come to my home." Draco repeated adamantly.
"Are you going to suffer through the holidays then? Is that it?" Hermione huffed and crossed her arms.
"Hermione –" Harry began placatingly, but was cut off by Draco.
"Don't endanger Golden Boy for my sake Granger, or didn't you realise?" Draco frowned at the bushy haired girl.
"Well, of course I realised." Hermione said scathingly. "But I hoped you would have gotten over it by now."
"I would have got over it?" Draco continued disbelievingly. "Believe me Granger; we are past the point of silly feuding. It's not me you should be worried about."
"But –" Hermione continued speaking, puzzled, and Harry cut her off in a small voice.
"It's Lucius, isn't it?"
Draco gave him a carefully controlled look but said nothing.
"Oh." Hermione blinked. She had forgotten momentarily Draco's perilous parentage. Remembering their short and hurried visit to the castle when Draco was comatose in the hospital wing, she frowned, concerned now about Draco's home situation.
"Are you not allowed visitors, Draco?" Hermione asked, thinking his parents restricted him due to his Veelic condition.
Draco blinked. "Of course not. People visit all the time. Especially at Christmas."
"Then why wouldn't you be allowed to have friends over?" Hermione pressed.
"I'm not supposed to be friends with any of you." He continued, as if it were obvious.
"Why not?" Ron asked, offended.
"Well, you're a blood traitor and a Weasley. Granger's a mud – muggleborn." Draco licked his lips and corrected his language quickly, watching the reactions of the people in the room. "And Potter, well Father was furious when he first heard about the bond."
"Is that so?" Harry commented dryly, throwing an arm around Draco's shoulder. He wasn't the fondest of Lucius Malfoy either.
"Why was that?" Hermione queried in her best psychiatrist tones.
"Because it's Potter, isn't it? Father tore up Dumbledore's office when he heard. Accused him of selling me off as a trite reward for the Boy Who Lived. Threatened to bring the might of the ministry down on Dumbledore's head. Apparently it was only when he calmed down that he even began to consider the logistics of the situation." Draco told them casually, as if they talked about his parents all the time, but the strain was evident in his jaw that it was an uncomfortable topic for him.
"So he just accepted it? Once he calmed down?" Harry asked sceptically.
"Well, no. He had the family medi-wizards and healers take me home once I woke up and I stayed there for a day. Mother didn't want me going back to Hogwarts, she wanted to keep me at the manor, but after the healers noticed I was getting sick they sent me back to school." Draco explained.
"And do you want to get sick again?" Hermione jumped on the point angrily. "Because that's exactly what's going to happen if you don't maintain the bond with Harry."
"Let him get sick." Ron grumbled.
"Yer most important thing is yer health." Hagrid advised, pouring a mammoth mug of tea.
"My father ... I can't have Harry over. We'll just have to find another way." Draco shook his head.
"You could have Floo meetings, you know, exchanges over the Floo network." Ron suggested, going along with the conversation for Hermione's sake.
"Wouldn't work." Hermione rejected Ron's suggestion. "Magical signatures are displaced over the Floo network. Unless Harry Flooed into Draco's house to have the exchange it wouldn't work."
"Can't I just Floo to where Harry's staying?" Draco asked innocently.
The group exchanged significant looks.
"Oh right, so it's fine to send the 'Chosen One' to my home, but it's not ok for me to join him at his?" Draco griped bitterly.
"Well, why can't he come to your house then?" Ron asked crankily in response to the attitude in which the blonde voiced his question. Draco's attitude was really starting to annoy Ron.
"Because he's Harry fucking Potter!" Draco exclaimed. "Because he's vanquisher of evil, defeater of the Dark Lord, and owner of a long list of nauseating epithets. He can't come into my house."
"Why is that –" Ron began, rearing up in defence of Harry.
"Into my parent's house. What do you think they'd do? Welcome him in for tea and scones?" Draco continued grumpily.
"Well, would he let you go somewhere to meet Harry?" Hermione considered.
"Maybe, but probably not." Draco said.
"Blimey, you don't get to do much, do you? No friends over, can't go out." Ron gloated smugly, rubbing it in the blonde's face. Ron had his friends over practically every holiday.
"No. I can do all of those things." Draco defended his freedoms. "My father gives me anything I ask for."
"Spoilt brat." Ron grumbled.
"I am spoilt." Draco said proudly. "More so than you, Weasley."
"Let's not be fighting now." Hagrid tried to pacify the boys, and Harry followed his lead, pulling Draco back into the cushy chair with him, tugging him by the scarf.
"Well, maybe if you asked him he'd let you work out some sort of arrangement." Hermione suggested.
"Ah, when I say he spoils me ... he's a lot like Pansy and Blaise." Draco tried to explain his father to the curious Gryffindors. "Overprotective. Both my parents are really."
"But Harry's your protector, surely they can see he won't be a threat to you." Hermione insisted.
Draco frowned, introverting for a moment to consider his parents' reactions.
"We'll leave it for now." Harry said pacifying the blonde. "Figure something out later. Dumbledore will have a solution."
"He may have one already." Hermione said trustingly.
"He may not." Draco pointed out contrarily. Harry noticed Hagrid's eyes narrow at Draco's slight of Dumbledore.
"Hagrid, ah, here's the keys from McGonagall for you." Harry said loudly, cutting over the possible quarrel.
"Right. Well, ta. You'll best be getting off to the school now." Hagrid accepted the keys awkwardly. "Separate them fer a bit." He added, nodding at Ron and Draco's scowling face.
Ron was still scowling as they made their way back out into the cold. Hermione grabbed his arm and pulled him close to her.
"Don't take it personally Ron. Let it go."
"He's so bloody annoying. Why can't he just bugger off? He's bloody pissing me off." Ron fumed.
Draco descended the large wooden steps of Hagrid's hut with Harry's help, his hand extended to guide the blonde gently. He reached the bottom and adjusted the Gryffindor scarf around his neck with a smug grin.
"Cold?" Harry asked him, walking in step with him.
"Not really." Draco replied and smirked up at Harry.
"See, and that. That there. He's got his own bloody scarf, doesn't he? He's even got enough to give away." Ron grumbled, trying not to look at the fine demiguise scarf adorning Hermione's neck. Hermione touched the scarf absently.
"It's a Veela thing Ron. Let it go." Hermione advised him.
"How is it a bloody Veela thing? He's gone and nicked Harry's scarf!"
"It's his scent." Hermione said, sighing slightly.
It was possible that the romance of the situation was getting to her. In her research she had read the vast chronicles of Veela romantic fiction, and although she tried to remain non biased, the dramatic and often descriptive accounts tended to influence how she saw Harry and Draco's changing relationship.
"Says those books." Ron grumbled. "How do we know he's not just nicking Harry's scarf for the sake of it? What if Harry gets a cold because of the git?"
Hermione disliked Ron's assuming challenges, and so she turned and called to the two boys straggling along behind them in the snow.
"Harry, are you cold?"
"No." Harry yelled back, his voice rather high. Draco laughed and Hermione gave them a quizzical look. Ron turned to observe the two as well. Harry's cheeks were actually red, so Ron grudgingly accepted that Harry was quite warm.
"His cheeks are red." Ron mumbled. "Fine, whatever."
"I told you so." Hermione grinned and pried Ron's jacket open, sliding her mitten-ed hands into the warm cocoon within.
The snowy landscape made the two boys stand out, even though the white complexion and tonal qualities of the blonde Malfoy suggested that he would be most at home in the snow. Where Harry's cheeks were pink with heat, Draco's skin was one smooth shade of white, the exposed look of his skin intensified because of the slightly luminous glow his skin exuded.
Harry shot a sheepish look at the blonde, who had walked ahead of him and murmured something back at him. Harry laughed in return, grabbing the ends of the scarf from around Draco's neck and pulling the Slytherin back to him.
"Bloody git." Harry teased the blonde, rightly so Ron thought, peering at the two from over Hermione's tussled nest of bushy hair.
"If you choke me, I'll fire you!" Draco exclaimed, his hair ruffled by the tightening scarf.
"You aren't even paying me." Harry snickered, wrapping the scarf around Draco's forehead lazily while the Slytherin swatted at his hands.
"And I won't if you keep this up." Draco twisted out of the grasp of the scarf, his hair flying in abstract directions.
"Good, because I do this for personal gain." Harry grinned, looping the scarf back around Draco's neck.
They were becoming much too friendly for Ron's liking. This casual joking was a frequent occurrence, and this bothered Ron, as Harry was guarding Draco as a job. Now it seemed that he was becoming fast friends with the devious Malfoy, and that did not bode well in Ron's book.
He looked down to his girlfriend, who was hugging him under his jacket. Hermione didn't seem to mind, but Ron comforted himself with the fact that Hermione was helping Draco because he was a Veela. Not because he was a good looking Veela who had snogged his girlfriend. Because as a Veela he represented a cause and Ron knew Hermione loved her causes.
Distracted from his reverie by the swift gale of air shifting above him, Ron looked up to see a familiar Slytherin flying above them.
"Well, if it isn't our long lost Draco." Theodore Nott grinned and swooped down close to Draco and Harry, circling the two boys. "Stolen by the Gryffindors I see."
"Well, if it isn't Theodore Nott." Draco replied dryly, looking passively up at the flying boy, making no move to get out of his way, forcing Theo to manoeuvre around him. "Aren't you supposed to be at practise now?"
"I am practising. As second seeker it's my job to locate shiny things with wings." Theo grinned and looped a figure eight in the sky. After the dismal performance of Flint's little brother at the last Quidditch match, the Slytherin team began training up its players to fill various positions on the team. Theo had the duality of being both Seeker and Chaser for the Slytherin team.
Harry had warmed slightly to the eclectic humour of the swarthy Slytherin boy, as Theodore was one of the only Slytherins who continued making a determined effort to remain friends with Draco. Tensions were fraying between the once inseparable silver trio, as after their row in Snape's office Blaise was not in Draco's good books. Pansy had become somewhat of a middleman between them, as Draco usually wouldn't listen when Blaise tried to talk to him. This made for a fragile situation in the Slytherin networks, and Theodore was the only Slytherin who carried on as usual, regardless of the new feuding.
"I'm no snitch." Draco bent down to clump snow in his hands and lobbed it at the tail of Theo's broomstick with uncanny accuracy. "What a poor attempt at seeking."
Theo swooped his broom down and circled Harry this time.
"So, ignoring Draco, how goes the guard work Potter?" Theo smiled winningly. "Has he sent you mad yet? I think Pansy's cracking."
"Oh, I'm made of strong stuff. Still sane." Harry replied bracingly. Theo's circular flying was unsettling him slightly, and he jumped next to Draco as Theo looped around him.
"That implies you were sane in the first place, something I find to be terribly boring, no offence intended." Theo said dryly.
"None taken." Harry replied, equally as dry in humour.
"Personally I feel sorry for you. Spend too much time with cutie over here and he'll have you wrapped around his little finger." Theo sighed and dangled from his broom, hanging from it much like a sloth.
Draco raised his eyebrow and held up his little finger expectantly. He smirked at Harry.
"Get to it then."
"You wish." Harry replied, holding his own little finger out for Draco close to Draco's hand, but not near enough to touch. He looked expectantly at Draco, expecting the other to oblige.
"Oh, poor move Potter."
Theo regarded this curiously, and circled round to hover behind Ron and Hermione.
"Do they do this a lot then?"
"Who are you?" Ron asked the Slytherin incredulously, a reoccurring joke between them. He could get along alright with Nott. Mainly because Nott could easily get under Draco's skin, and always had compromising information on the blonde.
And in thinking that, Ron had an idea.
"Well, I'm Theodore. It's nice to meet you. I'm sixteen years old, a bit of a baby really, and I really, really like Quidditch." Theo answered in a juvenile fashion.
"Hang on a tic." Ron said, still in the throws of his revelation. "I've got a proposition for you."
"Well, we've just met, but ok." Theo replied giddily.
Over the way, Harry had linked his little finger around Draco's and was twisting it in a game of mercy.
"Ow, you beast. What are you doing?"
"It's a muggle game. It's called mercy."
"I'm not playing a muggle game."
"You just did."
"Did not."
"Does that bother you as much as it bothers me?" Ron asked the Slytherin conspiratorially. Hermione looked up at them both curiously.
"Oh, certainly. Getting Draco to play muggle games, putting him in that garish Gryffindor scarf. I disapprove whole heartedly." Theo replied swiftly.
"I think it's good that he's starting to acclimatise to muggle things." Hermione chimed in. Theo ignored her.
"I mean, his dad would flip if he saw how casual he was around Potter."
"He would, eh?" Ron mused.
"My dad would too if he knew I was talking to you guys. Eurgh, Weasley cooties!" Theo recoiled and giggled.
Ron rolled his eyes and surveyed Harry and Draco as they elbowed and fake-slapped each other.
Theodore Nott was full of wonderful ideas, Ron thought. He often pondered why Draco would hang around Harry so much. The Slytherin was meant to be against Harry and everything he stood for. They had four years of bitter rivalry to act as a barrier to any possible friendship. The level of tolerance they showed each other was unusual and disturbing.
And now Ron pondered why Draco's attitude had suddenly changed. Was it possible that there was something more than the magical convenience of the bond to consider?
"I think maybe we should do something about that." Ron voiced his blossoming plan.
"I think it's good that they're friends now." Hermione commented innocently, snuggling closer to Ron's chest. "It makes the bond so much easier to work with."
"I wouldn't care if they bonded all over the shop, if only Malfoy wasn't always such a tremendous git." Ron continued his musing. "But Harry won't do a thing about it. There's nothing stopping Malfoy from walking all over Harry."
"I think Harry holds his own well enough." Hermione said slyly in a peaking voice.
"Yeah, he's definitely got Draco under his sway." Theo commented and flew airily around the Gryffindors. "Not an easy thing to do, I can assure you. Draco likes to sway to his own beat."
"Hmmm. I still don't know." Ron pondered and tucked his chin over Hermione's head, stroking her thick mass of hair. "I want to do something so Malfoy isn't a git to him. Harry's too accommodating, you know?"
"Oh, I know." Hermione grinned into Ron's chest.
Hermione, in typical Hermione fashion, had niggled the story out of Harry after seeing the boys together in Snape's office. She was the only outside party to be privy to the new relationship, as it was now one of Hogwarts' best kept secrets. A secret, clandestine, forbidden romance, if you will, Hermione thought and refrained from sighing. Those romance novels had a bad effect on her.
Hermione looked sneakily at Ron, an amorous glow in her eyes as a result of recalling the romance novels, and found Ron staring back at her. Hermione smiled, caught, and leaned in to Ron, placing a soft kiss on his lips. Ron enjoyed the kiss for a few seconds, deepening it.
He opened his eyes briefly and saw over Hermione's shoulder that their kiss drew the attention of all the other boys on the pitch.
All except one.
Harry and Theo were staring curiously at the kiss, but Draco was looking at Harry with the same sort of wistful look Ron had caught in Hermione's eyes earlier. The Veela's gaze drifted across Harry's face and lingered on his lips. Draco ran his tongue unconsciously over his lower lip.
Aha! Ron thought. He had him now. The most amazingly impeccable answer to the Malfoy problem, sent to Ron by the providence of blackmail.
Malfoy fancied Harry.
Malfoy was crushing on Harry.
It was almost too good to be true. It was ironic for Harry, considering how often Ron had heard Harry sighing over the blonde, but it was brilliant for Ron.
Malfoy fancied Harry. Malfoy's dad hated Harry. Therefore the one thing Ron could hold above Draco's pointy blonde face was foreclosure. Information was power, as Hermione often liked to say, and right now Ron felt he could take down fucking Voldemort, his information was so good.
Ron pulled away from the kiss with a wide grin on his face.
"You don't kiss him much, do you Granger?" Theo grinned sardonically.
"The concept of 'don't kiss and tell' is foreign to you, isn't it Theo?" Hermione retorted, blushing.
"I'm a client-confidentiality person, actually." Theo tipped his head arrogantly, positively leering into the distance.
"Clients. You wish." Draco chimed in, ridiculing Theo's statement.
"People should start paying me, honestly, I'm that good." Theo bragged, a hint of emphatic sarcasm layering his last words.
"Sure, sure." Harry rolled his eyes, as he often did when Theo turned the topic to sexual conversation. Needless to say Harry's eyes were getting a lot of exercise.
"It's true. Can you imagine how many galleons I'd have made if I charged for my exceptional talents?" Theo continued heedless of the disbelieving looks. "I'd be richer than Draco."
"You're saying that if you were a prostitute, you'd be richer than me?" Draco scoffed, meandering along in the snow, following the path up to the castle, as the other students followed, Theo trailing lazily behind them on his broom.
"People pay for quality." Theo nodded. "I see it as a dual investment. I get what I want – loads of sex, which is mutually beneficial to both myself and my customers. And I get money too."
"And you think this is a good idea?" Draco frowned at the boy.
"Bloody Slytherins." Ron muttered and shook his head.
"It's probably just Theo, really." Hermione replied, taking in the less-than-impressed expression on Draco's face.
"You don't? My god, I'm surrounded by virgins." Theo stated dramatically.
"Who's a virgin?" Ron stated angrily.
"Pretty sure Draco is." Theo nodded to the blonde.
"Am not! Just because you think whoring yourself out for money is a good idea doesn't mean that anyone who disagrees with you is automatically a virgin!" Draco protested. Harry eyed the blonde with renewed interest.
"But he jumps when I do this to him –" Theo said, running his hand inside Draco's cloak. "Watch."
Draco jumped and slapped Theo's hand away. "Cut it out, you!"
"See." Theo said pointedly.
"Anyone would jump at that." Harry said, his eyes narrowed when Theo slid his hand into Draco's cloak.
"But not everyone." Theo grinned. He flew down closer to Draco and tugged at the Gryffindor scarf around his neck. "And what's this then? Are you turning traitor from your house, to one with such an appalling colour scheme, hmmm?"
"It's not traitorous." Hermione informed the airborne Slytherin. "Inter-house relations are a positive goal. Dumbledore and the sorting hat have been saying that every year."
"But the colours!" Theo waved his hand to Draco, who was looking casually at the scarf. "Those colours don't suit!"
"Every colour suits me. It's Weasley these scarves don't suit." Draco commented dryly.
Ron merely smiled, a change, as he usually blushed and got angry. "Whatever Malfoy. Whatever."
Draco blinked, surprised by Weasley's calm deference.
"Why are you so happy all of a sudden?"
"Granger kissed him." Theo explained.
Draco looked Hermione up and down and shrugged. "I don't see the draw personally."
"Yeah, I bet you don't, you evil git." Ron grumbled under his breath. Ron found it hard to remain civil to the blonde when he was rude about Hermione. Ron didn't want Draco complimenting his girlfriend though, so he didn't advocate a 'be nicer' campaign.
"Come on, enough horsing around." Hermione chastised the boys gently. "Let's get back inside, shall we? It's freezing out here."
"You should go get changed Theo." Draco told his friend, who floated along with them in his Quidditch gear.
"Strip down? Soap up? Anything for you Draco dear." Theo batted his lashes girlishly and gave a tittering wave. He left quickly however as he saw the angry squint of Harry's eyes and the clenching of his fists.
"Bloody Theo." Harry scowled, but adjusted his features in response to Draco's concerned look.
"He doesn't mean any harm, and I don't think he could, even if he tried."
"He better not try, that's all I'm saying." Harry grimaced, thinking of it.
The group walked through the castle passageways, Harry sticking very close to Draco, glaring at the students who showed more than a passing interest.
"Oh, can we pop into the library quickly?" Hermione queried.
"What for? You've done that entire essay just last night, you genius girl." Ron tucked her under his arm and pulled her in for a rough hug.
"I know." Hermione said. "And thank you." She smiled. "But there was something I wanted to look up. Do you think there are travel guides in the library?"
"What like?" Ron asked, confused.
"You know, travel guides of wizarding holiday destinations."
"Planning a holiday Granger?" Draco asked lightly.
"Sort of." She replied. "I'm looking for wizarding establishments in Europe. Hotels and things like that. For people who only have galleons to use."
"Ah, is that for ..." Ron realised.
"Yep. In Luxembourg this time." Hermione replied.
"What's in Luxembourg?" Draco asked.
"The Veela family I'm protecting. They're on the run." Hermione explained.
"Who are they?" Draco asked, curious.
"Danelle. I'm corresponding with Luc Danelle. It's very dangerous for them."
"To correspond?" Harry clarified, this being the first he had heard about Hermione's Veela family. Hermione had talked about them before, but always skirting over the real details, never telling them the things that bothered her.
"I know the Danelle's." Draco said. "Pierre and Jacqueline. They have a daughter who's my age."
"Marie?" Hermione tensed.
"Yes. Marie. She goes to Beauxbatons; she's friends with Theo's fiancée Yvette. That's how I met her actually, they do everything together." Draco reminisced.
"Does Yvette have any Veela blood?" Ron asked curiously.
"No. She's very French though. She's got brown hair and wears a ridiculous amount of red lipstick. Probably why Theo likes her, they're both massive drama queens." Draco babbled.
"Have you heard anything from Marie or Yvette, Draco?" Hermione asked him tentatively.
"No. But Theo probably has." Draco considered, realising how tense the people around him were. "Why, has something happened to them?"
Hermione looked nervous before blurting out the whole story. She had kept it mostly a secret up til now. There must have been something really bothering her.
"Yvette and Marie went to school at the start of the year and they disappeared before second term. I've been fishing around for information, they haven't gone back to their families, and all anyone could tell me was that there were ministry officials at the school two weeks later. Luc Danelle has been frantic, and the family took it that their daughter was kidnapped by the ministry. They left their house to go looking for her, but someone broke through the wards of their house when they were gone and now someone's tracking them."
"Could it be Marie?" Draco asked quickly.
"Different magical signature." Hermione shook her head. "They're in Luxembourg now under false names. They've been polyjuicing into the Lassés, Yvette's family for about a month now, but they think they were spotted in St Ives."
"No, but this is bad." Harry said abruptly, looking at Draco with a worried expression.
"Luxembourg's not so bad. I happen to know of a very good hotel there they can stay at. They can use my family's suite if they want." Draco offered helpfully.
"No, I mean bad for you." Harry reiterated.
"How -?" Draco frowned.
"Ministry officials at Beauxbatons. Disappearances. Kidnapping." Harry started pacing, his fingers twitching as if he longed to grab something and shake it.
"Harry. Harry." Hermione stepped towards him, placating him while Draco stared on, the situation dawning on him. "We have Dumbledore. He won't let anything happen."
"I want to go see him. See if he has a plan in place. For this and for the holidays." Harry said, focused and determined.
"Why? Do you – you think -?" Draco faltered, the reality of the situation dawning on him.
Ron put the pieces together.
"You think the ministry will interfere at Hogwarts?"
"They've done it before." Harry said angrily. "They just love going over Dumbledore's head. Just because the rest of the ministry's corrupt."
"Harry, I know you think they'll go after Draco –"Hermione tried to calm him down.
"Why do you think that?" Draco asked, frantic.
"But they'll have a lot to go through." Hermione calmed him. "You know we'll keep them away from Draco at any cost. We'd do that for you Harry."
"Wait, I can't be the only person at Hogwarts with Veela blood. Why are you talking like they'll only be after me?" Draco asked, grabbing onto Harry's arm as the dark haired boy paced, pulling him to a stop.
"Draco ..." Harry looked down at the blonde with conflicted eyes.
"The Veela room doesn't open for anyone else." Hermione told him. "All the other children of Veela blood have left the school. Didn't you notice that?"
Draco shook his head. Thinking about it, he only knew one other person with Veela blood at the school, and that was Blaise. But Blaise couldn't be affected by the curse, so obviously he hadn't left.
"So people have been leaving, but where would they leave to?" Draco pondered.
"Fleeing from country to country mainly. Areas where Veela research hasn't spread, although it's becoming hard to do. Unless people leave for the colonies or some remote island, but even there Veela laws are in place from eons ago when Veela were hunted like game." Hermione worried.
"But am I safe at Hogwarts?" Draco asked, this question being his priority.
"You will be." Harry said. "I'll go see Dumbledore now."
"I'll come with you." Draco offered.
"No, you should stay here with Ron. Hermione can come with me. Dumbledore can give you some answers." Harry told Hermione.
"I don't want to stay with Weasley." Draco pouted.
"Do you mind Ron?" Hermione asked him.
"Nope." Ron said amiably.
Harry, Hermione and Draco all stared at him, dumbfounded.
"I'm fine with it." Ron said. "Got something to discuss with him anyway."
Hermione gave Ron a sceptical look, then added a safeguard. "Alright, but wait for us in the library. Where people can see if you decide to start duelling each other."
"Now there's an idea." Draco smirked.
"Be good please." Harry told Draco, pointing his finger at the Veela.
"I'm always good." Draco purred, his Veela side flaring.
Harry blushed and ducked his head. "Right. Well. Bye. Bye Ron."
"Have fun." Ron said, waving, as he watched the two disappear down the corridor. Draco squinted disbelievingly at the ginger Gryffindor.
Ron continued waving until he was certain Harry and Hermione were gone, and Draco opened his mouth.
"What are you -?"
Ron grabbed Draco by the wrist and towed him into an empty classroom beside the library, locking the door behind him and flinging the blonde into the classroom.
"Weasley! What is this? What are you doing? Don't lock me in here." Draco asked, startled and imperious in his demands, a hint of panic showing through.
"Right." Ron said, and stepped closer to the Slytherin.
"Get away from me!" Draco shrieked, backing away.
"Shut up, you prat. I'm not going to rape you, like I'd want to." Ron scoffed and continued advancing on Draco.
Draco eyed him suspiciously, reaching for his wand.
"Expelliarmus." Ron flicked his wand casually and Draco's wand spun away from him.
"Hey!"
"Now." Ron pushed Draco back into the teachers desk behind him and planted his hands on the desk on either side of Draco's torso. "You and me have some things to discuss."
"I don't have anything to say to you Weasley." Draco sniffed, his posture tense.
"How 'bout an apology?"
Draco snorted with bitter laughter. "Not this again."
Ron pushed the desk backwards, sliding the wood legs across the floor and Draco stumbled back, shrinking against the desk. Draco flinched and Ron flexed his biceps threateningly.
"I'll try again. A bit of manners wouldn't go amiss so you're going to apologise to me."
"No."
"You'll apologise, because I know your secret, and I won't hesitate to tell every last person in this school if you don't be nicer to me."
Draco blinked, and Ron could see the flash of dread that flashed through Draco's grey eyes.
"What secret?"
"You know what secret." Ron replied, loathe to admit it even to himself.
"No I don't."
"Don't play dumb with me." Ron intoned in his best interrogation voices.
"I'm not playing dumb. You should know me by now that I never play dumb. That's more your game." Draco drawled in response.
"Your secret." Ron said. "The secret you'd want kept secret above all else."
Draco stared Ron down, saying nothing.
"You know. That secret." Ron pushed, trying to get a response from the blonde.
"What secret? For all I know, you could just be fishing, Weasley, and you are amazingly stupider than you look if you think I'll just blurt it out." Draco frowned.
"You fancy Harry, alright. That secret, Malfoy." Ron blurted out in angry tones. He was less than pleased to say it.
Draco's mouth opened into a silent 'o' of understanding.
"Yeah, I spotted your little crush. Always looking at Harry, hanging round all the time, like you couldn't be with your Slytherin buddies. I know your game." Ron sneered, pressing his advantage.
"And?" Draco asked crossly.
"What?" Ron responded, baffled.
"And?" Draco repeated. "What of it?"
"What, you're not denying it?" Ron asked.
"Hundreds of people fancy Potter. Do you blackmail them all like this?" Draco asked snippily.
"No, but –"
"So why do I get the special treatment then?" Draco queried, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Because you've got the most at risk." Ron said angrily. "Start being nicer to me Malfoy, or I swear to god –"
"What? You'll tell Harry?" Draco laughed. "You are a terrible criminal Weasley."
"I can tell your dad, that's what." Ron stated, and watched the colour drain from Draco's face.
"Why would you?" Draco asked him in a quiet voice.
"Because you're pissing me off! That's why!" Ron pushed away from the table and paced about the room, throwing his hands in the air. "You're a rude git to me and my girlfriend, and you keep taking advantage of the fact that Harry's about the only one who puts up with your whiny arse."
"You think I'm taking advantage of Harry?" Draco asked, an odd look on his face.
"He's a generous bloke, and he thinks it's his job to protect you. But he doesn't have to bloody wait on you like a house-elf!" Ron scowled. "And as his friend, yeah, I'll intervene, and get you to bugger off for a bit."
"And you want me to be nice to you?" Draco said in a disgusted voice, as though he were reluctantly weighing his options.
"It wouldn't kill you, but your dad probably would."
Draco's mouth picked up in a smile. He knew his dad would sooner dance naked in front of Dumbledore than ever raise a wand against him. He may be angry for a while, but he would definitely get over it if he could see that Harry was something Draco wanted. Weasley's blackmail was falling short, but it gave Draco an idea.
"I do like ... living. Perhaps we could reach some arrangement that wouldn't be too ... terrible." Draco considered for a moment.
"Smart decision Malfoy. First, you be nicer to me, and you treat Hermione better, agreed?" Ron set the terms of their bargain with a victorious smile.
"That sounds doable." Draco nodded haltingly. Ron removed his arms from where he braced them on the desk, giving the blonde space now he was willing to negotiate.
"Second, you stop hanging off of Harry."
"But I need to be close to Harry. It's an unfortunate side effect of being bonded, Weasley." Draco argued sarcastically, unable to refrain from sneering at the ginger boy.
"Even so, you should stay away from him. Stop following him around everywhere and hang out with your Slytherin buddies. You've been driving us all mental."
"I don't drive Harry mental." Draco said smugly, a lavicious grin twisting his face.
"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you." Ron said, hoping to implant some sort of barrier between the blonde and his best mate. Harry's feelings be damned, Ron wouldn't hand his best friend over to Malfoy without putting up a fight.
Draco paced away from the desk and stood by the window, surveying the frozen grounds below.
"What do you mean?" He asked in an unreadable voice.
"Harry's been sick and tired, always hampered by your company." Ron fabricated. "He comes back to the dorms every night absolutely knackered from having to put up with your whinging mood swings and bratty behaviour. He's really getting fed up with you Malfoy."
"Is that so?" Draco asked, still staring out the window, his back to the ginger Gryffindor.
"He doesn't even like you Malfoy. Just give up." Ron said in a sombre voice, issuing his coup de grace on the Slytherin. Ron hoped Malfoy would fixate on someone else if he thought Harry didn't like him, or else just abandon hope of every putting his pale patrician hands on Ron's best mate.
Malfoy seemed shaken by Ron's last statement, as the Gryffindor could see Malfoy's shoulders shaking. Was the git crying? No, it couldn't be. Ron cleared his throat and moved towards the door.
Unbeknownst to Ron, Draco was actually repressing a manic fit of laughter when Weasley so blatantly lied about Harry's feelings. Why, the ginger was trying to split them up without even knowing that they were already together. If Weasley knew what he and Harry got up to on a daily basis, he would not so much as eat his words, but regurgitate and consume them again.
Draco grinned, then schooled his features into a more solemn expression. He could play with this advantage.
"Malfoy?" Ron asked after the blonde grudgingly, because as much as he hated the boy, he didn't mean to make him cry.
"No, no Weasley. You're right. Harry deserves better than me, even if he did like me." Draco shook his head, and pretended to wipe tears from his eyes. His position by the window shielded his actual activities, which included licking his fingers and smearing them across his cheeks. See if Weasley apologised for that.
"Yeah. Yeah well, if you weren't such a git all the time, perhaps you'd be a bit more deserving." Ron said awkwardly, trying vainly to keep up the pretence of animosity before it crumbled in the face of the Veela boy's shimmering eyes.
"I don't deserve Harry. Maybe nobody deserved Harry. He's too noble for us all." Draco continued in a patriotic voice.
"Yeah, he can be self sacrificing a lot." Ron rubbed the back of his neck, edging towards the door. Hormonal Veela, eurgh, it was almost as bad as hormonal women.
"He's so brave. And strong. And selfless. And handsome. And good." A good kisser, Draco mentally tacked on, turning on his glow and hamming his performance up a little to capitalise on Weasley's guilt later.
"Look, I know you really like Harry." Ron admitted with a wince. "But you can be so damned annoying. I – he won't want to have you around if you're always like this."
Draco sighed in a resigned fashion. "I know. So what should I do? Be nicer?"
Ron paled when he realised he was breaching the twilight zone and giving Draco relationship advice as to how to go after his best friend. Ron intended to cut that train of thought down, but then Draco turned around with shimmering flushed cheeks and watery eyes.
"How do I win him over Weasley?"
"Ah ... you be nice to his friends, and less of a smarmy git. After that it should be ... er... you know." Ron responded robotically, as if there was no conscious thought backing his words.
"Smooth sailing?" Draco asked, his tone reverting to ice cool and business like as he left Weasley frowning at his own admittances and went to retrieve his wand.
"Ah." Ron looked up when he realised Draco was again in possession of his wand.
"I'm not fucking pathetic Weasley, and you are the last person I'd go to for relationship advice." Draco said sharply, walking to the door of the classroom. "If you thought me being nicer to you and your little girlfriend would affect whether Harry liked me any more or less, you really are as dumb as I say you are."
Draco unlocked the door with a flick of his wand and paused, looking back into the classroom to address Ron before retreating.
"Oh, and Weasley." Draco paused, a faked expression of contrition crossing his features. "Now that we've had this chat I regret terribly how I've treated you. In the interests of any possible relationship with Harry, you have my deepest condolences, and from now on I can assure you we will be the best of friends. I promise."
Draco flashed a winning smile at Ron before closing the door and darting off. Ron frowned, puzzled for a while as he stood in the empty classroom, vaguely aware of how he'd just been rambled. Malfoy was such a fucking prick, and this wouldn't be the end of it, whatever 'it' was as far as Ronald Weasley was concerned about it.
Ron angrily kicked the teacher's desk and let loose a choice barrage of expletives.
Draco could have Harry over Ron's dead body. Ron swore to thwart the wily blonde, if it was the last thing he would ever do.
This transgression meant war.