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15. Standoff
-Ron-
Ron spent all of Tuesday in a muddled state. He was partly mad at Draco and partly felt bad about the prank he had done in class and totally was wanting to kiss him. He didn't know exactly what he was going to do when they went on patrol together.
At supper, he was getting pretty nervous. So he didn't eat very much. Hermione noticed. "What's the matter, Ron?" she said. "You've been acting kind of strange."
"Nothing," Ron said. He tried to eat more so he wouldn't seem strange.
"Are you sick?" Harry said.
"No! I'm fine!" Ron took a big bite of mashed potatoes.
"It's a girl, isn't it?" Harry said. Ron choked for a second and almost sprayed his mashed potatoes all over Harry. He swallowed and glared at Harry.
"It's nothing!" Ron wondered if he should tell Harry and Hermione about his being gay. Not at supper, of course, but later on. It would feel a lot better if he could tell someone about his situation. He still didn't want to tell them about Draco, but since that was only part of Ron's secret, he could leave it out.
But there wasn't any time before the patrol. He only had about 45 minutes and he knew that a conversation about being gay would likely take longer than that.
So Ron just tried to eat and concentrated on looking as normal as he could. He asked Harry a question about Quidditch and Harry went off on that for about 20 minutes.
After supper, Ron went back to the common room and sat in front of the fire for a little while. There wasn't really time to do anything else. He wondered how the patrol would go. Draco was probably really mad at Ron now, so Ron would have to be on guard against him.
He went to where he was supposed to meet the Slytherin. Draco was there, with an unpleasant look on his face. "Hello, Weasel," Draco said.
So that was how it was. The part of Ron that was mad at Draco took over. "Shut up, Ferret," he said, with an angry look.
-Draco-
Draco wanted to just skip the patrol, but that would cause problems, so he went anyhow. When he met Ron, he thought that Ron looked like just as much of a jerk as he had been the day before. He was really mad at Ron. The sticky orange potion had been really hard to get out of his robes and Draco thought there was still a bit of a stain on them. And three of his books had orange patches on the covers now.
He had used the trick of taping parchment over them that Ron had showed him, but he wasn't grateful for it, because it was all Ron's fault that he had to do this now. And a zero grade for that potion was no laughing matter.
So, they started off the patrol and just walked around in silence for a while. But it was a cold, angry silence and it just made Draco feel more mad at Ron. And mad at himself for getting tricked into thinking Ron was nice.
Then they found two Slytherin first years who were out too late. "Go back to your dorm," Draco said. They looked scared by Draco's cold voice and they ran off.
Ron yelled after them, "And 20 points from Slytherin!"
Draco stared at Ron. "20 points just for being out late? You bastard!"
Ron glared back. "Just shut up, Malfoy. If they're going to break the rules, they have to take the consequences."
Draco couldn't believe what he was hearing! He laughed in a mocking way. "Coming from you, that's really funny, Weasel. You break the rules all the time and hardly ever have to face any consequences."
"I said SHUT UP!" Ron gave Draco a shove.
Draco shoved Ron back. "Don't mess with me, Weasley," he said.
"Maybe I'll leave you alone if you PAY me," the redhead said, with a sneering look.
Now Draco was madder than he had been all year. He pulled out his wand at the same moment as Ron brought his fists up. They were stuck in a standoff. Ron's face was so white that his freckles looked almost bright red. His blue eyes were blazing as they looked at Draco. Draco looked back, with the same intensity. They stared at each other for about half a minute.
Then Draco dropped his wand on the floor and kissed Ron.
~*~
15. Standoff
-Ron-
Ron spent all of Tuesday in a muddled state. He was partly mad at Draco and partly felt bad about the prank he had done in class and totally was wanting to kiss him. He didn't know exactly what he was going to do when they went on patrol together.
At supper, he was getting pretty nervous. So he didn't eat very much. Hermione noticed. "What's the matter, Ron?" she said. "You've been acting kind of strange."
"Nothing," Ron said. He tried to eat more so he wouldn't seem strange.
"Are you sick?" Harry said.
"No! I'm fine!" Ron took a big bite of mashed potatoes.
"It's a girl, isn't it?" Harry said. Ron choked for a second and almost sprayed his mashed potatoes all over Harry. He swallowed and glared at Harry.
"It's nothing!" Ron wondered if he should tell Harry and Hermione about his being gay. Not at supper, of course, but later on. It would feel a lot better if he could tell someone about his situation. He still didn't want to tell them about Draco, but since that was only part of Ron's secret, he could leave it out.
But there wasn't any time before the patrol. He only had about 45 minutes and he knew that a conversation about being gay would likely take longer than that.
So Ron just tried to eat and concentrated on looking as normal as he could. He asked Harry a question about Quidditch and Harry went off on that for about 20 minutes.
After supper, Ron went back to the common room and sat in front of the fire for a little while. There wasn't really time to do anything else. He wondered how the patrol would go. Draco was probably really mad at Ron now, so Ron would have to be on guard against him.
He went to where he was supposed to meet the Slytherin. Draco was there, with an unpleasant look on his face. "Hello, Weasel," Draco said.
So that was how it was. The part of Ron that was mad at Draco took over. "Shut up, Ferret," he said, with an angry look.
-Draco-
Draco wanted to just skip the patrol, but that would cause problems, so he went anyhow. When he met Ron, he thought that Ron looked like just as much of a jerk as he had been the day before. He was really mad at Ron. The sticky orange potion had been really hard to get out of his robes and Draco thought there was still a bit of a stain on them. And three of his books had orange patches on the covers now.
He had used the trick of taping parchment over them that Ron had showed him, but he wasn't grateful for it, because it was all Ron's fault that he had to do this now. And a zero grade for that potion was no laughing matter.
So, they started off the patrol and just walked around in silence for a while. But it was a cold, angry silence and it just made Draco feel more mad at Ron. And mad at himself for getting tricked into thinking Ron was nice.
Then they found two Slytherin first years who were out too late. "Go back to your dorm," Draco said. They looked scared by Draco's cold voice and they ran off.
Ron yelled after them, "And 20 points from Slytherin!"
Draco stared at Ron. "20 points just for being out late? You bastard!"
Ron glared back. "Just shut up, Malfoy. If they're going to break the rules, they have to take the consequences."
Draco couldn't believe what he was hearing! He laughed in a mocking way. "Coming from you, that's really funny, Weasel. You break the rules all the time and hardly ever have to face any consequences."
"I said SHUT UP!" Ron gave Draco a shove.
Draco shoved Ron back. "Don't mess with me, Weasley," he said.
"Maybe I'll leave you alone if you PAY me," the redhead said, with a sneering look.
Now Draco was madder than he had been all year. He pulled out his wand at the same moment as Ron brought his fists up. They were stuck in a standoff. Ron's face was so white that his freckles looked almost bright red. His blue eyes were blazing as they looked at Draco. Draco looked back, with the same intensity. They stared at each other for about half a minute.
Then Draco dropped his wand on the floor and kissed Ron.