A/N: See the Voice Of Alexian review for replies to last week's reviews.

Beta by Kristine Thorne

Chapter Summary Ron is left alone with Draco while Harry and Severus visit Will, how will he cope?

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Chapter Thirty-Three - Home Alone Day One

Harry and Severus had left so early that by the time Draco woke, Ron had been awake for three hours but was only just having his breakfast. Ron looked up at Draco when he saw the movement out of the corner of his eye, he only moved his head a little and it was obvious that he was still feeling very drowsy. Ron was hoping to get at least one quiet day before Draco was back to his usual self.

Ron pulled himself up onto his feet to get a better look, he saw a frown in Draco's expression but he didn't open his eyes.

"Are you in pain?" Ron asked, if it were that, he could be fed a pain potion and then he would probably just go back to sleep again.

Draco nodded slightly, without seeming to have a problem with whom the voice had belonged to. Ron sat down again and took the stopper out of one of the phials on the bedside table. He manoeuvred his hand underneath Draco's head and raised him up enough to take the potion. Draco managed to swallow it all and as Ron had hoped he would, he drifted straight off back to sleep.

Ron worked out how much time there had been between pain potions and decided that he could spend a few hours in the living room instead, he had the whole place to himself after all and he could always leave the bedroom door open just in case.

Ron went to the fireplace and called for Dobby, he ordered an owl down from the owllery, some food for later and whiskey and smokes, also for later. Dobby disappeared immediately to complete his tasks and Ron was left wishing that the little house elf had stayed a while to chat. Ron crossed the room and sat at Severus' desk, he took a quill and parchment and began to write.

He had the whole of the Headmaster's quarters to himself, he could eat and drink what he liked and he could do what he liked, Ron repeated to himself in his head. He looked at what he had been writing, all this so called freedom and barely hours into it he was writing a note to Harry.

The owl arrived and Ron sent the note anyway, it would be nice to know that the communication system worked wherever they had gone, just in case he had to send a message asking for help later on. He peered into the bedroom at his patient but he was still sleeping. Ron thought about reading his book but it didn't seem quite appropriate that he should spend this leisure time studying. He thought about playing wizard chess, but although the black pieces would play their own side if you wanted a game without an opponent, they always won, so it was completely pointless.

Ron considered flicking through the Psychic Healing textbook to the practical exercises at the back, thinking that he could learn a few new things on his own to impress Severus, until he realised that Severus' warning about 'marks' would probably include healing mistakes too. He wasn't meant to damage himself either so that ruled out the possibility of brewing a potion; he actually couldn't believe he was starting to get that desperate for something to do already.

After an hour of staring out of the window drinking coffee Ron asked for Dobby again, he asked for another owl and got Dobby to have a look round for an abandoned copy of The Daily Prophet, he wasn't bothered whether it was the right day's copy or not, it would serve as something suitably un-educational that he could read. When the owl came he sent it off with an order for a copy of the paper for the following five days, which would take care of the mornings if he slept in late and did the crossword as well.

Dobby came back with a copy of The Daily Prophet from the day before and Ron lay on the sofa to read it, he poured himself a glass of whiskey and promised himself that he would drink it slowly since it was before noon. Before he got through half of the newspaper his eyes began to droop and he soon fell asleep curled up on the sofa, the newspaper falling forgotten to the floor.

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When Draco woke he found that the room was dark, he turned his head over to the window and found that the curtains were closed. He could see beyond them that it was light outside but as it was the middle of summer that didn't help much in helping him ascertain what time of day it was. Something that he had noticed was that his bedroom wasn't always facing in the same direction so that he couldn't even work it out from the position of the sun.

It was like before when he had been on his own out in the countryside, he could rarely figure out with any accuracy how long he had been unconscious when he had a blackout. All he remembered of the most recent occurrence was going down the main staircase with Ron, a short minute or two when he had felt rather dizzy and then blackness. It had been daylight then, it was daylight now. If he had been unconscious for a short period he would have imagined that Severus would have been with him, he was after all back in his room within the Headmaster's quarters. Severus wasn't there though, he was on his own and he suspected that they had a silence charm cast on his room because he never could hear what was going on in the living room once the door had closed.

Draco turned his head towards the door and found that it had been left open, he could see beyond it into the room but he could not see that there was anybody there. He could see the corner of Severus' desk and an expanse of floor and that was it. There was no talking and he couldn't hear anybody moving around. It seemed strange that if there was at least one person sat on one of the sofas that there was no sound at all. He could not believe that in his condition they would leave him alone.

Another possibility was of course that Severus was in his potions room, though if he had been unconscious for a long while, Severus had been planning on taking Harry on a trip and his blackout might mean that they had been unable to go. Surely they wouldn't leave him on his own with Weasley after what had happened.

Draco thought of Severus and of what he now knew, if Ron was to be trusted with his information. Although he had to admit that Ron would not have known about the possibility of a Kin Bond if it had not happened to Harry. Severus' Kin Bond was not something that had been openly talked about outside of the Snape and Malfoy family circles, not since his brother's death anyhow.

Draco knew about it though, well he knew what his father had said about it before Christmas as he had been ranting on at home after what he thought had been Professor Snape had retired to bed. His father had been convinced that Severus must still have the swords and Severus had protested that he had not, that Dumbledore had kept them from him for all those years. They had searched the tower, but Dumbledore had seemed to disappear from the wizarding world, taking the swords and the Talisman with him. Though it hadn't been Severus who denied he had the swords at all, it had been Dumbledore all along, allowing the real Severus to take Harry Potter away. Now Draco knew that the real Severus had the swords, at least one of them anyway, Draco thought bitterly, as he had given the other away to the Potter boy of all people. It stood to reason that he had the Talisman as well.

Draco remembered that Ron had told him that Harry was pregnant, he laughed a little at that, he wondered if the silly boy had realised that it wasn't actually compulsory to reproduce for his Kin. He thought of Harry having to give birth at some point in the near future and that cheered him up a little.

The cheer only lasted for a minute though, he was on his own and he was hungry. He had always been rich and had got everything he wanted as and when he wanted it, now he had no money and no independence. Although he hadn't minded being taken into Hogwarts by Severus, it wasn't like that anymore, he owed as much to Potter's goodwill since if he hadn't wished it, he wouldn't have been allowed to stay, whatever Severus wanted. He was going to be living alongside them, knowing what they were doing when they went to bed at night, knowing that a Weasley was snoring on a couch just outside his room and worst of all, when he had had the blackout he realised that he must have collapsed in front of Ron, as if his pathetic attempt at fighting him hadn't been bad enough.

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Ron woke later that afternoon with a stiff neck and one leg hanging off the side of the sofa, he felt quite relaxed despite this, till he realised that he had fallen asleep on duty. He tried to sit slowly despite his shock, getting up too quickly would only set his balance completely off. He had to go check on Draco.

Ron grabbed the walker and made his way to the bedroom, he peered inside the door to find that Draco's head was turned to the side. Ron was fairly sure that he was still asleep but as he turned to go, his foot caused the wooden floor underneath the carpet to creak.

Draco turned his head to look at the doorway, "Oh, it's you." He said with obvious distaste.

"Well you had better grow to like it because I am going to be the only one here for the next few days." Ron announced.

"They went? Could this possibly get any better?" Draco grumbled.

"I have been thinking the same thing myself," Ron said with an amount of irritation, turning to go.

"I'm hungry," Draco quickly called after him, obviously deciding that continuing his distain wasn't worth risking his lunch over.

Ron went back in the room and ordered some food from the fire then took two pillows that had been left on the armchair and placed them on the side of the bed instead, Severus had left Draco lying down with only two pillows, he couldn't eat like that, he would give him a couple more so that he was sitting up.

"What are you doing?" Draco asked warily as Ron leant himself up against the side of the bed and took out his wand.

"What does it look like?"

"You are not levitating me!" Draco protested.

"Don't worry, if it goes wrong you'll only drop back down onto the bed," Ron said, it could have been reassurance if he'd said it in the right tone of voice but he hadn't.

Ron rather thought that Draco should have been grateful that he wasn't trying to lift him by touching him; it was after all only a few pillows. He started to raise Draco up and the former Slytherin at least had the sense to shut up so that he wouldn't ruin his concentration. Ron wanted to do this well for all that he had said, he didn't want to give Draco any excuse to go telling tales to Severus. As soon as he had enough room Ron laid the pillows beneath Draco, straightened the mattress, and then slowly brought him back down onto the bed.

Dobby appeared with the meal and handed it directly to Ron, he placed it on the table then pushed the table over the bed.

"There you are, lunch is served," Ron said before he left the room and let Draco get on with it.

Ron began to think about having something to eat himself and was just about to get it from the hearth when he heard the sound of cutlery dropping down onto the table followed by some irritable mumbling, it was coming from Draco's bedroom.

Ron felt a bit guilty for behaving as he had, if the situation had been the other way round he would have been very annoyed and upset by it. Draco was lying in that bed through no fault of his own and Ron had been taking advantage of it to settle some pathetic score. He knew that the dropping of cutlery might mean that Draco was having trouble eating his meal; he had only just woken up after one of the attacks, the likes of which had been the cause of his problems.

Ron went to the open door, Draco had a hand up on the table but it was shaking and he was failing to grasp a hold of the fork again though Ron could tell that he was really trying. Ron decided that it was time that he forgot about school and the fight and House rivalry and start anew, behave like an adult just as Severus had demanded and hope that Draco would follow his lead.

Ron walked into the bedroom and without making a fuss about it he sat himself down on the armchair. He leant over and took a hold of Draco's arm in both of his hands, lowering it down from the table and attempting to soothe away the tension that had been building in the muscles with the effort. Severus had left him quite comprehensive instructions and he had read them through thoroughly as soon as they had left, before his breakfast even.

Draco remained silent but he didn't try to pull away from Ron, so he supposed that he must have been doing something right. Gradually the shaking eased away. After Ron had lain Draco's arm down on the bed he pulled the table over so that he could reach and began to cut up his meal into manageable bits. Draco had plenty of time while he did this to make a protest but he didn't say anything. So then as soon as the food was ready Ron resumed the role of spoon-feeding duties, giving Draco a drink of water at regular intervals as he went along. He could only assume, as Draco ate quietly, that he was so mortified that he had been stunned into complete silence.

After he was done Ron cleared the plate away and stood up, "Would you like anything else?" Ron asked.

"No," Draco said turning his head towards the window.

Ron went over and opened the curtains so that Draco could see out, "I'll leave the door open, shout out if you need anything," Ron offered as he left the room.

Ron wandered around the living room for a bit not really able to settle at much, he was hungry and the food was there for him to have but he was bothered by Draco's sudden silence. Since he had decided to be adult and make an effort he thought it would be a shame if his efforts came to a halt because Draco had decided that he wasn't going to communicate at all.

Ron knew of course what the problem was; he himself would have been fuming if he had had to be spoon fed by Draco, especially if it had been because of an unexpected setback. He read through Severus' instructions again and then it came to him what he should say.

Ron went to stand in the doorway to the bedroom, "You know, now that you're taking the potion Severus brewed for you I should only have to see to dinner, you should be able to manage breakfast fine tomorrow." Ron announced.

"Severus isn't going to brew it for me anymore, didn't you hear that bit?" Draco snapped.

"Well there's plenty left for now and don't worry about him, he was angry before and he's letting us stay here now, he told me to give you double tonight," Ron continued.

"I thought it was just because of... you know."

"No we're back for good, just no more trouble."

"Hmm," Draco said dejectedly, "I don't feel like it any more anyway."

"I'm going to have my lunch now," Ron said going back into the living room satisfied that at least he had got Draco talking in a semi civil manner although he hadn't turned to meet his face.

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Ron ate his lunch without feeling a lot of interest in it, suddenly now he had the whole of the Headmaster's quarters to himself he felt as if he should be eating something other than the usual things. After lunch he had a brief word with the librarian in the fire about the possibility of getting something interesting to read but it was a school library after all and even the Restricted Section seemed unappealing when he officially had access to it. He lay back on the sofa after he had given up on the library and then sat straight back up again when he had a thought. Severus' potions books were still relatively out of bounds and he hadn't locked the potions room door because Ron needed access to the potions supplies.

"Now you're really getting sad," He muttered as he crossed the room, quietly to himself so that Draco wouldn't feel tempted to agree with him.

Ron had only been in the potions room a few times and he felt extremely nervous going in there without Severus' presence. He paused once he was in front of the bookcases, he didn't know if the books would be spelled in some way so that Severus would know that he had removed one, even if he put it back very carefully. He then decided to take one anyway, he had a good defence, he was supposed to be learning psychic healing and Severus always maintained that the two were related, he ought to be impressed that he was now taking an interest.

Ron looked along the spines, reading the titles, he didn't want anything too mundane, he wanted something that would describe the unusual stuff, the stuff that perhaps only a Death Eater might seriously consider brewing rather than only the antidote for it.

It didn't matter what he chose, he was reading to pass the time not because he had any intention of brewing anything. He imagined that blowing up Severus' new potions room was amongst the things he might get thrown out of the window for.

One book caught his eye, it had no title on the spine at all, Ron picked it up and managed to get it through to the living room whilst still holding onto the walker, it took a while and as strong a grip as he could manage.

Ron poured himself a drink and opened the book at the first page, the text inside was all handwritten and what was more it was almost all written in Severus' own hand. Ron smiled with glee; this was Severus' own personal collection of potions recipes and instructions. It might very well contain potions that could not be found elsewhere. Ron found that all of the entries were dated as he flicked through and there was a considerable portion of the book available for future discoveries.

Ron flicked back again until he reached the potion that Severus had brewed for Draco, he thought he might copy it out before they got back just in case Severus had been serious. Ron turned back a few more pages to the last entry before that. It dated back to the day before their graduation, the writing wasn't quite so neat but a note stated 'for bringing about the most painless and efficient conclusion to life'. Ron looked up for the name of this most morbid potion and read 'Blissful Death'.

"Well Harry certainly has been a very positive influence I have to say," Ron mumbled to himself as he flicked back further.

The entries dated all the way back to shortly after Harry's birth, the writing altered to an extravagant script in later years from a small and neat handwriting at the beginning when perhaps he had been trying to impress Dumbledore or had needed to be able to read the ingredients many times rather than just knowing them. No matter where he looked though Ron didn't find anything as horrible as the Blissful Death. He was interested to scan over the entry for Truth Serum however, though that seemed to have been written down during a particularly untidy period for the Potions Master.

Ron went to the desk and copied out the recipe for Draco's potion before returning the book to the bookshelves. He didn't want to read any more, he felt creeped out more than anything else. He returned to the sofa and had another go at the crossword while he drank some more whiskey. Drinking the whiskey seemed to be working against the likelihood that he was going to get far with the crossword so it wasn't long before he fell asleep. When he eventually woke again Ron officially gave up on the crossword and began to think about his dinner.

"Really need to get the food situation sorted out," He muttered to himself as he was crawling across the living room floor to the desk rather than bothering to stand. He hunted through the drawers of the desk. "Severus has been ordering clothes for Harry by owl, there has to be one in here somewhere."

When Ron had the book he was looking for he crawled back to the sofa. The cover of the book bore the words 'Tawny Pages - For All Your Owl Ordering Needs'. Ron flicked through the book to the Takeaway food section and scanned the numerous adverts for somewhere that did something a little different to the normal wizard fare. It wasn't long before he saw just the thing, 'Muggle Gourmet Takeaway, Express Apparating Owl Ordering and Delivery available, simply tap this advert with wand for instant service.' Ron had just become a much happier man. He had money, enough to get the odd thing from time to time anyway, they had stripped the bodies of all the Death Eaters after the battle, it was the least they had deserved after the fight they had put up. He took his wand and tapped.

Almost instantly an owl appeared on the coffee table holding a menu in its beak, Ron didn't ponder too long on how the delivery owls could apparate into the Hogwarts grounds and people couldn't, it was probably for the same reason that the house elves could. Instead he took the menu and began to construct his considerable order. Once the owl had taken the order it disappeared again with a hoot and a bang. Ron sat back and waited, although the delivery was instant the food had to be cooked the Muggle way and so he would have to sit tight for just under an hour. He hoped that Draco liked tandoori pizza, he had ordered enough for them both since he thought that Draco needed fattening up.

When the meal arrived Ron went into Draco's bedroom and took two glasses of milk from the hearth, he put them both on the table. Draco was asleep still in the sitting position he had left him in. Ron moved around the bedroom to close the curtains not being careful about how much noise he made. He didn't want Draco to sleep too long now or he would be awake all night.

It was the smell of the pizza that woke Draco in the end, Ron had opened the box and placed it on the table, it wasn't too far from Draco's nose and smelled like it was going to be very nice.

Draco opened his eyes and looked rather shocked, "What is that?" He asked.

"That is tandoori pizza," Ron answered feeling rather proud of himself.

"You're not going to make me eat all of that!" Draco protested.

Ron couldn't help being amused, "It's a muggle dish," He explained, "My brother Charlie told me all about them, you have to share it by pulling segments out of the box with your hands."

Draco didn't look convinced so Ron lifted a piece out of the box and held it for him to take a bite. Draco's eyes widened in surprise, as he tasted the hotness of the tandoori, and Ron had to give him a drink of milk.

"All right?" Ron asked after a few seconds.

"Yes, I think so," Draco answered and took another bite when he was offered the pizza again.

Ron had to wonder if Draco was mostly upset with Harry, since he had been making an effort he seemed to have given up with the insults. Maybe though, Ron also thought, it was because he was being a bit drunkenly optimistic and Draco was resigned to being stuck with him. After all, what was Draco going to do if he went in the huff with him?

Ron gave Draco a bit of a rest from eating and stuffed a slice of pizza down his neck too; he had to admit that it was extraordinarily nice. They kept taking turns and Ron eventually managed to eat two thirds of the pizza with Draco having the other third. By the finish Ron was feeling very full and Draco seemed to have had as much as he wanted.

"Oh dear," Ron groaned, feeling as if he could talk more freely in front of Draco when he had had a few drinks.

"That will be how you put the weight on," Draco criticized but without his usual edge, again Ron had to think that Draco might know that he was a bit drunk.

"Nah, I managed that just by eating twice as much as everybody else, of course the curse thing played its part."

"Hmm," Draco answered, obviously not sure how to reply.

"You need to put a bit on, we'll be having more of this until Severus and Harry come back," Ron announced closing his eyes for what he intended to be just a few minutes.

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When Ron woke again it was dark outside and Draco had fallen asleep with remnants of pizza at the corner of his mouth. The takeaway box was still stinking up the bedroom and Ron realised that they had both fallen asleep before he had thought to give Draco his potions. He knew that unfortunately he would have to wake him, he reached out and took Draco's hand in his; it was such a shame to disturb him when he looked so peaceful and untroubled. Ron frowned to himself; he had to be drunk still.

Draco suddenly opened his eyes and Ron was still holding his hand.

"What are you doing?" Draco asked suspiciously. He didn't move his hand away but Ron had to assume that was because he was reluctant to try to move at all.

Ron let go of Draco's hand, "I was trying to wake you up," He explained even though it was a bit of a lie, "I forgot to give you your potions, you need them if you're going to be better tomorrow."

"Fine," Draco answered wearily, "But hurry up I'm tired."

Ron had all the evening potions set out on the bedside cabinet so he administered them one by one.

"Do you want to lie lower?" Ron asked.

"Just leave me like this," Draco answered obviously not wanting to be disturbed with levitation again.

Draco closed his eyes straight away and Ron extinguished the light he had lit to give the potions. The living room had never been illuminated that evening and he would have to stand just to go to the sofa to lie there. He was still feeling a bit tipsy and his balance was probably so wrecked that he would have to crawl anyway. He had been having a perfectly good sleep where he was and he was reluctant to move so he merely curled up a bit and closed his eyes again.

TBC Soon

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Coming next week - Chapter 34 Summary - Harry and Severus visit Will at Sgoil Dhubh but will everything go to plan? Er no of course it won't, because Will has something in his freezer and he's still not happy about it.