Wednesday
Kathrine Bouvier stared at them from behind her desk with a surprised expression on her face. Draco suspected it was because of two reasons:
1) They had shown up out of breath because they had rushed up several flights of stairs. Draco thought they could have Apparated or used the lift, but when Ron had started running, Draco had done so too. Then they scared the woman half to death by violently knocking on her door with burning lungs.
2) They hadn't bothered to message ahead.
So yes, she looked surprised, which was a mild reaction to everything.
"Marriage?" Kathrine repeated. She blinked several times as if it was hard to understand (Draco didn't blame her) when Ron had finished their story. A story he'd pulled out of his arse, about how in love they were and needed to get married right here, right now. Well, not quite. First, they needed Kathrine's agreement to be a witness, and after that, they needed to perform the ceremony at the Ministry. "So let me get this straight. You haven't been to a meeting for two weeks. Now you are telling me you want to get married?"
"Uh, yeah, exactly." Ron slid the Ministry papers across the desk for Kathrine to read. "We decided this weekend. We can't wait." He cast a glance at Draco, giving him one of those famous Ron Weasley lop-sided grins. It warmed Draco more than he would like to admit, settling as a tender, cosy feeling in his belly.
"Yes." Draco nodded in confirmation. He tried letting Weasley do most of the talking—he was better at it.
"I see." Kathrine pursed her lips. For a long moment, Draco thought she saw right through them and wouldn't buy it. But then a wide smile spread across her face, the surprised expression turning into a triumphant one.
"I knew there was something special going on between you two!" she beamed, clapping her hands together. "You just needed a little time! I knew it; even a person with your background could find love, at last, Mr Malfoy."
"Yes. And who's a better witness than the woman who brought us together?" Draco said, shifting in his seat. He gave her what he hoped was a genuine smile and not something that looked like it was taken straight out of a Muggle horror film.
"I couldn't agree more." Kathrine leaned back in her seat, basking in her own glory. "I would be more than happy to attend your big day. It surprised me when you came here in such a rush; I haven't heard from you. I know you have another big day coming up, Draco," she emphasised 'big day,' before carrying on. "But everything has worked out with that entire ordeal, I assume?"
"Yes, everything," Draco lied.
"Brilliant! Then everything should be sorted then. Oh, but before I agree to this, there's something I would need from you two." She opened a drawer and pulled out a notepad and a quill.
"It would be absolutely heavenly if you could answer a few questions for me, please. Nothing dangerous (Kathrine chuckled a little at her own joke), just what made you fall in love with each other and...well, everything! New clients love success stories—which is understandable—they want to be as happy as you are now! Who wouldn't want that? It will help my business a great deal, too, and oh, of course, I haven't forgotten… I'd like to put you two on my wall. It will look great, I promise you..." Kathrine swelled with pride at her two boys, who had been so reluctant to get together. She cleared her throat. "Both my clients and I love a good testimonial. A small interview; it won't take long. And then, of course, the picture—can't forget about that, can we?"
Draco and Ron exchanged nervous looks. Okay.
Well, they could handle this. No worries.
"Okay, Mr Weasley, let's start with you," Kathrine began, turning in her seat, so she faced Ron: "When did you realise you had feelings for Mr Malfoy?" She looked at the redhead, her eyes full of expectation.
"Uh…" Ron looked a bit puzzled. Draco watched him, almost not daring to breathe.
Draco knew what he felt deep inside. But they had never discussed this. He didn't know what was going on inside of Ron.
"I just did one day," Ron finally answered with a small smile. "He's all I've ever dreamt of. A perfect match for me, that's all I can say."
Obviously, (or at least Draco thought so) Ron was exaggerating; he didn't mean what he said. Because… he didn't... mean it, right? Kathrine loved it, happily jotting down everything so fast the quill almost caught fire.
"And for you, Mr Malfoy?" Kathrine fixed her eyes on Draco now. "What made you fall in love with Ronald Weasley?"
He really is all I've ever dreamt of.
Draco meant it when he said that. Or thought it. The words wouldn't come when Kathrine looked at him. He cleared his throat and said something that meant nothing Kathrine bought with no questions asked.
Ron kept talking about how happy he was. He kept looking at Draco. His facial expression was soft, and he had this goofy smile that made him look ridiculous. Ridiculously cute.
But he was lying, wasn't he? He must be lying. Draco couldn't get that thought out of his head. They got through the interview, somehow. They answered questions about everything from their first kiss to what they found most attractive about one another. Then Kathrine pulled out a small camera from her desk drawer, and they had to pose for a picture. The camera flash had been too bright—Draco was still seeing spots dance in front of him. But they survived the meeting, and she had agreed. Kathrine would sign the papers; they could get married any day they wanted, as long as it was before Saturday.
"That went so well!" Ron grinned when they were outside again, raising his arms above his head in victory. "Soon it'll be over!"
No, it won't, Draco thought. He had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, and he was angry with Ron without knowing why. He wished he could set those feelings aside because he should be happy. This was another step taken towards cancelling the arranged marriage; this was a good day.
Tonight they would have the rehearsal dinner, which was one of many things that troubled Draco. Perhaps this was why he was in a foul mood. And definitely not because of—
Draco had told Ron earlier about the dinner, and the wizard had immediately asked if there was something he could do.
Always eager to play the hero.
"I can't come, of course, but… If you want, I can wait for you; outside the restaurant. Follow you home, sleep over. Whatever you want," Ron said.
Draco sighed, nodding before he could change his mind. Yes, truth be told, it would feel safe to have Weasley close. "You can meet me in the Leaky Cauldron before the dinner starts, then. Make sure you stay out of sight. I don't want to risk father seeing you."
"Course," Ron replied. "And—Can I sleep over after? I reckon it'd be too late to—you know, get home…lots of—well, it's not really safe after dark…"
Draco's heart made a happy little dance when Ron asked about sleeping over. He nodded his confirmation before Weasley could finish his sentence and was rewarded with a smile.
Both Narcissa and Lucius had been silent about the meeting Lucius had requested to have with Draco. Draco had heard nothing since his mother came by his apartment. By this point, Draco was sure that Lucius only took his time because he wanted Draco to suffer. It felt like it, at least. His parents had always been private people; his father especially didn't share things easily with Draco. But the wedding was getting nearer, and Draco could feel that Lucius would want a word with him soon; felt it in every inch of his body.
Draco wished he could skip dinner and go home and do something indecent with Ron. Even though he thought it was hard to tell what Ron was thinking, Draco knew Ron must at least be physically attracted to him. There was something electric between them, and that something was steadily growing.
But it's only physical attraction… isn't it?
As if reading his thoughts, Ron, as soon as they reached the alley where they would Disapparate from, asked: "What're you going to do now?"
"Prepare for the dinner," Draco answered him with a shrug. "Take a shower."
"Oh." Ron bit his bottom lip, nodding slowly.
Draco studied him for a moment by the Apparition point. He used to hate when Ron did that, biting his lower lip. But seeing him doing that now, how it was clamped between his teeth… Well, at the end of the day, Draco was only human. A human with very wicked ideas.
"You know, maybe you need a shower too, Weasley..." Draco gave a smirk, enjoying the faint blush that returned so often in Ron's face. He gazed into Ron's beautiful blue, blue, blue eyes, knowing his own burned with fiery passion already. Ron came forward, closer to him, so close it was hard to breathe. And nobody could blame Draco that coherent thoughts were impossible at the moment. Ron was so good at doing what they did together. He was so delicious to sleep with that Draco could be angry as all hell with him and still want him. If a fake marriage with Ron meant constant, brilliant sex, Draco was more than happy to say yes.
At least Ron would be his for a while then.
"Yeah…maybe I do..." Ron said in a hushed voice, looking right at Draco, a desire impossible to deny awakening in his eyes. He looked like he wanted to say something more.
His lips parted as if he was about to speak, but Ron never got the chance because Draco thought bugger it all and pulled the idiot closer by his shirt to kiss him. He desperately needed to, if anything, to relieve the growing tension in the air. Draco couldn't care less that they were in the alley and could be spotted by anyone walking by or using the same spot to Disapparate from. Ron didn't seem to care either, for he kissed back with increasing eagerness. Draco pressed him up against the wall, wild with desire and longing. Merlin, he wanted Ron, needed him. Right now. When they parted for air, both breathing hard and staring at each other, all Draco could say was: "Yes, Weasley, I was right. You do need a shower."
Ron's body was so hot, both from the water and well, just hot. Draco could never get enough of him, could never get enough of the heady rush, the heat, everything about him.
Draco's hands gripped Ron's shoulders so tightly he was sure to cause bruising. Draco knew he would happily leave bruises on every inch of Ron's long body if required. He wanted to mark him, become a part of him, anything. He wanted Ron more than he had ever wanted anything in the world. Ron was his, his, his and nobody else's.
The only time Ron ever was Draco's was in this situation. Wet, naked bodies pressed together, hearts beating fast, eager hands working to bring them both to the beautiful place they both craved.
And then again.
Again.
And again.
Draco never wanted it to end.
Ron drew a long moan from Draco's lips as he kissed him hard. Draco's eyes slipped shut; he was lost in the feeling of their naked bodies being connected like this. He loved it; how it was impossible to tell where Draco began and Ron ended.
Draco had his back against the wall tiles, with his legs almost wrapping around Ron's waist. He was half supported by the hard wall he was pressed into, half supported by Ron, who did his best to hold him up with strong arms. Draco had half-hoped Ron would fuck him when they ended up together in the shower. Instead, Ron had taken both their cocks in hand, which was just as great and exciting. Ron could touch a hair on Draco's arm, and he would most likely lose it in a similar way as he was losing it now. Ronald Weasley had power over Draco in a way nobody else had.
Draco's eyes were closed, and he was pretty sure Ron's were too. He didn't need to see, didn't need to do anything at all, not that he could. Draco's pulse was in his ears; all he heard were their breaths as they were panting in the minimal space between them. He was so dizzy from the shower's warmth—and Ron, Ron, Ron. The redhead stroked them both while pushing himself harder and harder against Draco, so Draco was pushed harder into the wall. It hurt a bit, especially his tailbone, which took the worst beating, but he didn't care. Draco dug his fingers into Ron's back, bumping his head as he tilted it back without thinking. This motion exposed Draco's throat, which Ron took as an opportunity to give Draco a bruise on his neck. He took the skin between his lips and sucked hard. Draco would have to remember to conceal it with a charm later on if Ron left a mark.
Ron was busy squeezing Draco's arse with one hand, while the other worked between them to bring them both over the edge. He sank his fingers into Ron's hair, pulling him in and kissing him hard once Ron tore himself away from his throat.
Draco needed to see him, to see Ron's face, Ron's blue, blue, blue eyes. He opened his own, instantly meeting Ron's. A high-pitched kind of whining sound escaped Draco as his gaze fell upon the cute wrinkle between Ron's brows; he wanted to kiss it. Draco gripped Ron's hair even more tightly, and with a wildly beating heart and lips against Ron's, he was finally brought over the edge. He almost always came first. When he did, Ron usually wouldn't give up until Draco had come at least twice, sometimes three times. He always paid more attention to him than he did to himself.
Draco trembled, completely boneless, when Ron spilled with a groan between their bodies.
"Oh, fuck…" Ron breathed hard, his face buried in the space between Draco's neck and shoulder. His grip on Draco loosened a little, but he still held him close. "I… love… you..."
The words just slipped out. Ron didn't seem aware that he had said them in his postcoital bliss so he didn't try to take them back. The words were spoken so low that they could have gone unheard, but Draco heard them clear as day. He reacted right away, body stiffening and his fingers still resting in Ron's hair, gripped more tightly than he'd ever done before. Just for a few seconds. Then Draco relaxed, releasing his grip as Ron helped him steady himself. Then Ron kissed him, slow and wet under the hot water spray. The water washed their joint fluids away.
Ron had gone home after their shower, with the promise of showing up later that night in the Leaky Cauldron. With a roll of his eyes, he also promised to dress nicely, even though he wouldn't show himself in front of Draco's parents and the Greengrass family.
Draco liked when Ron dressed like that. It was sexy.
Smiling to himself at the thought that Ron in Muggle suits was hot as hell, Draco unlocked the door to the Leaky Cauldron and stepped inside. He waved his wand to turn on the light, his heart almost skipping a beat when he realised he wasn't alone.
"Hello, Draco," Lucius said with a lazy drawl. He stood by the bar counter, dressed to the nines as per usual. He looked as though he had been waiting for a while.
Draco had no idea how he had got past the wards.
"Father... I did not—" Lucius put a hand up to silence him before Draco could finish his sentence.
"Expect to see me before the rehearsal dinner? No, I did not plan to see you before either, my son, but some things cannot wait, I'm afraid." Lucius was calm, but Draco wasn't daft. He heard the hint of anger in Lucius' voice. It was the same exasperation his father had felt the first time he'd seen Potter, Weasley, and Granger when Draco was a boy. When Lucius spotted Arthur Weasley. Any Weasley.
It made Draco's heart speed up its pace, and he cast an anxious glance at the door. Weasley would be here soon, and Weasley couldn't come, not now when Lucius was here.
"I know your mother has informed you I wanted to speak to you," Lucius said matter-of-factly. "I was planning to do it at tonight's party, but it's better this way. More private, don't you agree?"
"Y-yes, I suppose you are right. It is more private, " Draco said, steeling himself for, well, he didn't know what exactly. His hands balled into fists at his sides, despite him trying not to. He hoped Ron would be late. Very late. Draco didn't want to explain to his father why Weasley was here when he wasn't supposed to be. "If you don't mind me asking, father, how did you know I was planning on coming here before the dinner?" Not once had Lucius come here since Draco bought the place.
Both men looked at each other, neither moving. Draco still stood by the door, tense, and Lucius stood by the bar. They kept a polite distance from each other, as they had done ever since the Battle of Hogwarts ended. Not only a physical distance but a mental one, too.
Lucius did not respond to his son's question. Instead, he gestured to the open area, his arm moving over the dusty, old furniture that had seen better days. "I am disappointed in you, Draco. This place could have been lovely by now. You could have sold it to the highest bidder, and it would have been thriving as the most popular pub in the whole wizarding community. With Astoria's hand, it could have been even more popular than it used to be. Instead… it appears your mind has been elsewhere."
I doubt it, Draco thought, but he didn't say it.
"Is that so surprising, father? You and Mother are going to marry me off to a woman I don't love." Draco crossed his arms over his chest. A part of him hoped his father would soften his gaze, bring him into his arms and tell him how sorry he was and call the wedding off right away. But that wasn't Lucius Malfoy. And Draco knew better than to keep on hoping.
"I was hoping your defiance at the family dinner was nothing more than an act," Lucius drawled, his voice cool as ice. "But I happened to have business in Diagon Alley today. And I saw my only son, the heir of the Malfoy fortune, walk into a deserted alley with a certain young Ronald Weasley. I can only imagine what took place there when I left. Your mother seemed to have failed to talk sense into you this weekend, which I do not blame her for. Now it's my turn to talk sense into you. Our ancestors know you need it."
Draco narrowed his eyes, anger building up inside of him too. He took a few bold steps forward. "What are you going to do, father? Nothing you say will make the fact that I am gay disappear. I am gay, and I have been all my life. Homosexual, if you will. I tried explaining it to you. I knew you wouldn't believe me if I told you without proof, and Weas—Ron—is my proof. He's my partner and I lo—we enjoy each other's company very much. He's the one I want to spend my life with—not Astoria Greengrass!"
Draco couldn't say those words. The 'I love you'. Of course he couldn't say them. That three-word phrase might slip easily out of Ron Weasley after sex, but not so easily out of Draco, no matter what the circumstances. Especially not when he wasn't sure where they stood.
Regardless, Draco was sure of one thing. This was not an act. This was him finally speaking the truth and nothing but the truth.
Lucius' laugh was flat and hollow, spooky in the empty bar. The tension was visible in the air.
Draco felt as though he had swallowed his own heart; it was beating so fast and so high up it hurt. His voice wavered a little, and he hated it. It couldn't waver. Not now. Not ever.
"Yes… I saw how much you and Mr Weasley enjoy each other's company in the alley today, Draco," Lucius said. His eyes went dark and dangerous. "Whatever you do in your private time is none of my concern. But, you are not about to shame us all when your mother and I have worked so hard to get us in favour with the Greengrass family. We, that includes you, Draco, need them to get this family back on its feet. You are to marry the Greengrass girl whether you like it or not! The family's reputation depends on it, and Weasley's son can't stand in the way!" Lucius' voice rose at the end; it was clear that he no longer could hide the anger in his tone.
Draco, too had trouble holding back. Lucius had no right to spy on him—them—like that. His father couldn't keep deciding everything in Draco's life—this needed to stop. It had already gone too far.
"No, father. You cannot decide who I can and can't spend my life with! It should be my choice and no one else's! The only thing you want to do is to marry me into the Greengrass family so you could attend—what father?! Silly parties and balls?! That's all you think about!"
That and money.
My life is not for sale.
Draco was about to turn on his heel and storm out of the pub because he had enough. He was leaving, and that was it. No more complying or pretending.
"Your defiance knows no limits." Lucius drew his wand faster than Draco could react. His father pointed it at him, and Draco froze. "This is for your own good, Draco. Your mother didn't want me to do it, but I see no reason not to. Don't be afraid, my son. This won't hurt. My intention is not to harm you; I just want to do what is right for our family. One day you might do the same."
With his wand raised, Lucius took a few steps closer to his son. Draco couldn't move; his feet wouldn't obey. His own wand wasn't with him, and he scolded himself for not bringing it along tonight.
"I'm not cruel to you, Draco," Lucius was back to speaking with Draco in a calm, even tone. "I won't take everything away from you. What you do in your spare time when you're married is none of my concern. But Ronald Weasley is. When this is over… he won't be a threat to our family anymore." In a low voice, Lucius muttered the incantation: Obliviate.
Lucius wanted nothing more than for Draco to forget about Weasley. If he disappeared, Draco could go through with the wedding as planned. There was so much at stake here.
But Lucius Malfoy didn't get very far with the spell. Draco might have forgotten his own wand at home, but Ron hadn't.
And Ron was quick-witted.
Draco hadn't locked the door.
Thank Merlin, he hadn't locked the door.
"EXPELLIARMUS!" Shouted Weasley from behind Draco, sending Lucius' wand flying out of his hand.
"You were trying to hurt him!" Ron accused, pointing to Lucius with his own wand. "Your son! If you're not careful, I might send you to Azkaban!"
"Leave us!" Lucius shouted, reaching for his wand, but Ron summoned it before he could find it. He caught it effortlessly in his hand.
"No," Ron said, a little calmer now, but clearly still fuming. "Don't you fucking dare use a charm on Draco. Or I'll curse you so hard that…" Ron quieted for a second, as if he wanted to say something particularly nasty but stopped himself just in time, "that you won't be able to use your wand ever again! Are we clear?"
"Dear me, if the Ministry could hear you talk now..." Lucius said, sneering at him. "You play in dangerous waters, Weasley. Just like your—"
Ron took a firm grip of Draco's waist and walked backwards with him out of the pub with his wand still pointed at Draco's father.
"Shut up, Lucius," he said intelligently, slamming the door shut.
Ron then chucked Lucius' wand in a nearby rubbish bin before Disapparating both him and a shaken Draco away.