Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling nor am I part of the wonderful and talented mangaka quartet known as CLAMP.

Title: Sakura

Pairing: RWxDM

Chapter Rating: PG

Warnings: Slash, Angst

Spoilers: HBP. Also some spoilers for Tokyo Babylon.

Year Six: Chapter One

Dear Draco,….

Ron paused, his quill hovering over the piece of parchment, lips pursed together in frustration. Even after one whole month he still couldn't think of what to write—what he could say.

He shifted uncomfortably as the rickety old chair squeaked in protest and the old lamp flickered as if it too wished to be left alone at such an ungodly hour. Behind him he could hear Harry's soft even breathing as he slept thankfully undisturbed. Ron once again held back a groan as he was reminded of the others presence.

The idea of having to share his room with Harry again was enough to make him sick when his mother had informed him that he would be spending the summer with them again. Now that he was there it was all Ron could do to keep himself from throwing the other out the window half the time.

Carefully Ron leaned back in his chair and brought his quill up to brush against his lips. He didn't know why but doing that always helped him think—or at least he'd liked to think it did.

He knew Draco would love to get one of those sappy love letters overflowing with poetry and I love you's but Ron wasn't very good at coming up with those sort of things. Draco was always into corny things like that though. Ron could never figure out why.

He looked back at the blank parchment. All of the events from the year before played trough his head again. It was like watching the same horrible train wreck over and over again. Ron couldn't help but think that maybe his relationship with Draco had all just been a terrible mistake—that it shouldn't have happened. The only thing it had seemed to have done was make both their lives miserable.

Ron clenched his jaw, biting the inside of his mouth in the process. He didn't like thinking that way. True the whole thing started off with what Draco probably thought was going to be a sick twisted way to fuck with his head but it had still meant something to them. Ron was different—changed in a way he didn't even fully understand yet and there was no doubt in his mind that Draco felt the same way. If it just wasn't for the way the world was Ron knew that they'd have been happy.

Maybe if Ron had just left everything alone—had just stayed out of it Draco wouldn't be avoiding him. All Ron was trying to do was protect the others from Harry's stupidity but Draco just saw it as some sort of betrayal.

That's where he was. Knowing all of that he was stuck trying to figure out what it was Draco would want to hear—or read in this case. Dipping his quill into the ink bottle on the desk Ron began to write the first word, slowly so as not to blotch it in any way. Even if it was pointless to say he at least wanted it to look perfect.

As he examined it he started to think that maybe everything that happened wasn't the only thing to cause the collapse in their relationship. Draco had said it himself after all. That sooner or later they would have to go back to the way things used to be even though logic told them that it would be impossible for that to happen now. Ron knew that there wasn't anyway that Draco could ever go back to being just Malfoy in Ron's mind—no way that everything they'd been through could just be erased from his mind.

He continued to the second word.

The more he thought about it the more he came to realize something about Draco though it was really something he had discovered a long time ago. Draco Malfoy was a complicated person. Ron knew that everything Draco did—everything he said, was carefully thought out and planned. Nothing he did was spontaneous even when he was angry. Ron had always thought that that was what was the most different between the two of them.

The same was true now. The two of them were where they were because Draco planned it that way. All Ron had to figure out was why. Why had Draco dragged the two of them down this road? Or was Ron completely wrong and they were the first spontaneous thing Draco had done?

He looked over his simple message, wondering now if it was the right thing to tell Draco or if it would even be enough to change the way things were now. After a month of stressing over it he felt that it was the best he could do for now—and it would have to do. He carefully signed his name and folded the parchment.

Rummaging through the piles of unanswered letters Ron found a small stick of red wax. Pulling the cover off of the lamp he used the candle flame to melt a few drops onto the parchment to seal it. Blowing on the red dot gently to cool it he stood up and walked across the room to where Pig was sleeping silently in his cage.

Taking the entire cage before the tiny owl was able to fully wake up he then exited the bedroom and made his way down the stairs. It was still too early for either of his parents to be awake so he moved quickly before Pig was able to start his usual frantic flapping. Once he was standing on the porch he placed the now completely away Pig on top of an old pile of newspapers and slipped the letter in through the bars of the cage.

It took a couple seconds for the excited bird to grab it but when he finally did Ron leaned in close and said, "Now you listen good Pig. This letter is for Draco you hear me." To Ron's astonishment Pig actually managed to calm down enough so that he was just sitting on his perch—still twitching with excitement of course. "I don't want you to give it to anybody else. Make sure he gets it." The little owl gave a loud hoot, seemingly not at all muffled by the parchment in his mouth, which Ron took to mean he understood.

Standing straight again Ron opened the cage door and almost immediately Pig came flying out. Flying in random circles for a minute he let out mouthfuls of squeaks before flying off in what Ron hoped was the direction of the Malfoy Manor. Ron watched him go. Sitting down on the porch steps he watched as the little owl quickly became a small speck in the lightening sky.

He continued staring long after Pig was gone, the sky growing lighter with the coming of dawn. He could just about make out the first glimpse of the sun coming over the horizon when he heard the door behind him open and someone step out. He didn't have to turn and look to know that it was his mother.

"Oh it's you Ron," she said letting out a small sigh. "Good heavens what are you doing awake this early in the morning?"

"Couldn't sleep," he said, never taking his eyes from the rising sun. His mother stepped away from the door and sat down beside him, letting out a groan as she did. Ron didn't question her about it. He knew his mother didn't like talking about her age and all the aches that came with it. She took a moment to rub her knees.

"Any particular reason why not?" she asked.

"Just thinking about stuff," he said.

"Ah." He knew she wouldn't question much farther than that. After all, it didn't take a genius to figure out what sort of stuff he'd be thinking about. She sat there with him for a while, both of them silent as they watched the sunrise. Finally she broke the silence.

"Would you like to talk about it?"

He sighed and shook his head. His mother smiled and looked back at the horizon.

"It'll be alright," she said finally, letting out a tired sigh. "Things will get better."

"Will they?" He didn't mean to sound so defeated. He turned to look at his mother and she too turned to look him in the eye. Her smile was sad.

"I'd like to think so," she said placing her hand on his and held it there for a brief moment before she let out another tired sigh and stood up. "Well I guess I'd best be getting my day started if I want your father to eat a decent breakfast before he goes off to work." She turned back to the front door as Ron stood to follow her. He stopped for a second though and took one last look at the sunrise.

In his mind he tried to picture Pig making his way to Malfoy Manor and Draco's reaction when he read his tiny message. He felt his lips moving to silently repeat the words to himself. I'm Sorry.

Behind him he heard the door slam shut as his mother entered the house.

--

A/N: Well several months later and after what feels like about one hundred rewrites here it is.