I'm sorry this took so long! I was really busy and I had to work out the next few chapters. Hopefully I'll have more up soon now that I've got them planned.
~*~
22. A Gift And A Plan
-Ron-
Ron felt like he was on top of the world these days. He was doing OK in school, his Quidditch was really good, and best of all, he had a fantastic boyfriend. A boyfriend who he was now in love with.
Being in love was good but Ron also found it kind of scary. It made his stomach fluttery. Also, he was sort of worried -- what if he loved Draco but Draco didn't love him back?
Ron was split between two impulses -- one was to tell the Slytherin that he loved him. The other was not to say anything for now. That seemed like a better idea. He didn't want Draco to freak out and leave him or anything. But Ron knew he'd have to be careful not to just blurt it out when he was with Draco.
So that was Ron's decision for now. But he still wanted to do something for Draco, something that would show his feelings, but not in such a blunt way. Ron thought that he could get Draco a gift.
Ron didn't have a lot of money, but he had some. He didn't want to wait until they had a Hogsmeade day, so he looked in a catalog from Owl Order Gifts. They promised delivery within 4 hours on a regular business day.
He leafed through the pages but nothing really seemed right. He didn't want to get Draco a stuffed toy or a self-stirring teaspoon or a badge with Best Boyfriend Ever on it. Most of the gifts were either really tacky or too expensive. Then Ron turned the page and there it was -- a thin silver ring that looked like a snake eating its own tail.
It was perfect for Draco. Ron thought how nice it would look on Draco's pale hand. It was the same silver as Draco's eyes. But it cost 3 Galleons and Ron only had 4 Galleons for the whole semester.
Ron thought for five minutes and then decided that he didn't care about the money. He wanted to get a special present for Draco and that's what he was going to do. He would just go without treats for himself. He sent off the order in time so that he'd receive it at suppertime.
He would give it to Draco that night when they went to their room after patrol. Ron couldn't wait to see Draco. He had also been thinking about going further with Draco. They had really only been mostly kissing so far and Ron thought that it was time for more.
Ron could hardly wait to see Draco.
-Draco-
Draco could hardly keep his eyes open. He'd had to stay up until 3 AM working on Zabini's homework. He was worried that he hadn't done a very good job. Not that he cared about Zabini's grades, but he didn't want the other boy to get angry at him, not until Draco had figured out a way out of this mess.
Whenever Draco thought about Zabini, his hands clenched into fists and his stomach started hurting, he got so mad. Zabini was keeping Draco from seeing Ron very much, since Draco didn't have much free time now, and that made Draco madder than ever. He was trying to devise a plan to get Zabini, but it was hard when he was so tired he couldn't think.
Draco drank three cups of coffee at breakfast and that helped him to stay awake in his classes. He didn't really pay attention, though, since he was still pondering the Zabini problem.
He started to make some notes about it. He either had to find out a secret about Zabini, trick Zabini into doing something terrible so that Draco could hold that over his head, or make him too afraid to tell.
If Draco could get hold of some Veritaserum, then he could give it to Zabini and ask him about his secrets that way. Maybe he'd be able to sneak some out of Snape's office.
Or Draco could make it look like Zabini had some really terrible personal habits, like he shagged sheep or something. It would be hard to get a sheep into the dormitory. But maybe he could work something with Flobberworms.
If this were the old days, Draco would just get Crabbe and Goyle to beat up Zabini. That would be the most efficient solution. The only flaw was that Crabbe and Goyle were Zabini's henchmen now so that was right out.
Draco decided that the Veritaserum was the best idea. Now he just had to work out the sub-plan of getting into Snape's office to look for it. Only the coffee had pretty much worn off by then, so he decided to work on that bit the next day.
At supper, Draco had more coffee so that he could stay awake for patrol. At least he'd get to see Ron soon. He looked over to the Gryffindor table and gave Ron a slight smile. Ron smiled back a little, hardly at all, but his eyes stared into Draco's like two blue beams of light and Draco knew that Ron couldn't wait either.
After supper, Draco rushed to get his homework done. He finished just in time for patrol. Then, just as he was getting ready to leave, Zabini came up to him with more assignments for Draco to do.
Draco almost punched Zabini right in the face, but instead he just took the list and glared once before he left. The list was long again -- homework for three classes, including an essay that was 12 inches long.
"Fuck!" Draco said as soon as he was out of the common room. He was going to have to skip staying with Ron after patrol. He hoped that Ron wouldn't be mad at him.
Patrolling with Ron was lots of fun. They laughed and joked as they walked through the hallways. Sometimes they'd give each other a gentle push, as though they were having a mock fight. Ron was in a really good mood, Draco noticed. The redhead was laughing a lot and teasing Draco with a smile.
Draco looked at Ron and wanted to push him up against the wall right there and kiss him until they had both melted together. He thought about how Ron's lips felt when they were pressed against Draco's and how Ron's strong arms would wrap around him. Draco almost decided to throw away Zabini's homework list, but he knew he would regret that.
After they were done the patrol, Ron started to walk to their special room. But Draco stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Ron," he said, "I'm really sorry, but I can't stay tonight. I have too much homework to do."
Ron looked crushed. Draco immediately felt terrible. "I'm really sorry," he said again. He hoped Ron would believe that.
The Gryffindor sighed. Then he took Draco's hand, after looking around to make sure no one else was in the hall. "OK, but can we talk for five minutes?"
Draco nodded and squeezed Ron's hand. He wondered what Ron wanted to talk about.
Ron got slightly pink. He pulled something out of his pocket. "I ... I got a present for you." He put a small box into Draco's hand. "It's just a little thing but it reminded me of you."
Draco felt a rush of happiness when he heard this. He knew that Ron liked to be with him and make out with him, but this seemed to mean that Ron really liked Draco a lot. Draco opened the box and found a thin silver ring of a snake that was eating its tail.
"Of course, if you don't like it you don't have to keep it," Ron said and turned even redder.
Draco took the ring out of the box. It was pretty and it shone in the light. "I love it," he said to Ron. He put it on his finger and it tightened to fit. "Thank you so much, Ron."
The hall was still empty so Draco leaned in and gave Ron a sweet kiss. Afterwards, they both had big grins on their faces. It took all of Draco's willpower to leave and go back to the common room. He kept looking back and Ron while he went and Ron kept looking back at him.
While Draco was doing Zabini's homework, he kept looking at the ring on his hand and smiling. Things could never seem completely bad when he had such an amazing boyfriend as Ron.
~*~
22. A Gift And A Plan
-Ron-
Ron felt like he was on top of the world these days. He was doing OK in school, his Quidditch was really good, and best of all, he had a fantastic boyfriend. A boyfriend who he was now in love with.
Being in love was good but Ron also found it kind of scary. It made his stomach fluttery. Also, he was sort of worried -- what if he loved Draco but Draco didn't love him back?
Ron was split between two impulses -- one was to tell the Slytherin that he loved him. The other was not to say anything for now. That seemed like a better idea. He didn't want Draco to freak out and leave him or anything. But Ron knew he'd have to be careful not to just blurt it out when he was with Draco.
So that was Ron's decision for now. But he still wanted to do something for Draco, something that would show his feelings, but not in such a blunt way. Ron thought that he could get Draco a gift.
Ron didn't have a lot of money, but he had some. He didn't want to wait until they had a Hogsmeade day, so he looked in a catalog from Owl Order Gifts. They promised delivery within 4 hours on a regular business day.
He leafed through the pages but nothing really seemed right. He didn't want to get Draco a stuffed toy or a self-stirring teaspoon or a badge with Best Boyfriend Ever on it. Most of the gifts were either really tacky or too expensive. Then Ron turned the page and there it was -- a thin silver ring that looked like a snake eating its own tail.
It was perfect for Draco. Ron thought how nice it would look on Draco's pale hand. It was the same silver as Draco's eyes. But it cost 3 Galleons and Ron only had 4 Galleons for the whole semester.
Ron thought for five minutes and then decided that he didn't care about the money. He wanted to get a special present for Draco and that's what he was going to do. He would just go without treats for himself. He sent off the order in time so that he'd receive it at suppertime.
He would give it to Draco that night when they went to their room after patrol. Ron couldn't wait to see Draco. He had also been thinking about going further with Draco. They had really only been mostly kissing so far and Ron thought that it was time for more.
Ron could hardly wait to see Draco.
-Draco-
Draco could hardly keep his eyes open. He'd had to stay up until 3 AM working on Zabini's homework. He was worried that he hadn't done a very good job. Not that he cared about Zabini's grades, but he didn't want the other boy to get angry at him, not until Draco had figured out a way out of this mess.
Whenever Draco thought about Zabini, his hands clenched into fists and his stomach started hurting, he got so mad. Zabini was keeping Draco from seeing Ron very much, since Draco didn't have much free time now, and that made Draco madder than ever. He was trying to devise a plan to get Zabini, but it was hard when he was so tired he couldn't think.
Draco drank three cups of coffee at breakfast and that helped him to stay awake in his classes. He didn't really pay attention, though, since he was still pondering the Zabini problem.
He started to make some notes about it. He either had to find out a secret about Zabini, trick Zabini into doing something terrible so that Draco could hold that over his head, or make him too afraid to tell.
If Draco could get hold of some Veritaserum, then he could give it to Zabini and ask him about his secrets that way. Maybe he'd be able to sneak some out of Snape's office.
Or Draco could make it look like Zabini had some really terrible personal habits, like he shagged sheep or something. It would be hard to get a sheep into the dormitory. But maybe he could work something with Flobberworms.
If this were the old days, Draco would just get Crabbe and Goyle to beat up Zabini. That would be the most efficient solution. The only flaw was that Crabbe and Goyle were Zabini's henchmen now so that was right out.
Draco decided that the Veritaserum was the best idea. Now he just had to work out the sub-plan of getting into Snape's office to look for it. Only the coffee had pretty much worn off by then, so he decided to work on that bit the next day.
At supper, Draco had more coffee so that he could stay awake for patrol. At least he'd get to see Ron soon. He looked over to the Gryffindor table and gave Ron a slight smile. Ron smiled back a little, hardly at all, but his eyes stared into Draco's like two blue beams of light and Draco knew that Ron couldn't wait either.
After supper, Draco rushed to get his homework done. He finished just in time for patrol. Then, just as he was getting ready to leave, Zabini came up to him with more assignments for Draco to do.
Draco almost punched Zabini right in the face, but instead he just took the list and glared once before he left. The list was long again -- homework for three classes, including an essay that was 12 inches long.
"Fuck!" Draco said as soon as he was out of the common room. He was going to have to skip staying with Ron after patrol. He hoped that Ron wouldn't be mad at him.
Patrolling with Ron was lots of fun. They laughed and joked as they walked through the hallways. Sometimes they'd give each other a gentle push, as though they were having a mock fight. Ron was in a really good mood, Draco noticed. The redhead was laughing a lot and teasing Draco with a smile.
Draco looked at Ron and wanted to push him up against the wall right there and kiss him until they had both melted together. He thought about how Ron's lips felt when they were pressed against Draco's and how Ron's strong arms would wrap around him. Draco almost decided to throw away Zabini's homework list, but he knew he would regret that.
After they were done the patrol, Ron started to walk to their special room. But Draco stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Ron," he said, "I'm really sorry, but I can't stay tonight. I have too much homework to do."
Ron looked crushed. Draco immediately felt terrible. "I'm really sorry," he said again. He hoped Ron would believe that.
The Gryffindor sighed. Then he took Draco's hand, after looking around to make sure no one else was in the hall. "OK, but can we talk for five minutes?"
Draco nodded and squeezed Ron's hand. He wondered what Ron wanted to talk about.
Ron got slightly pink. He pulled something out of his pocket. "I ... I got a present for you." He put a small box into Draco's hand. "It's just a little thing but it reminded me of you."
Draco felt a rush of happiness when he heard this. He knew that Ron liked to be with him and make out with him, but this seemed to mean that Ron really liked Draco a lot. Draco opened the box and found a thin silver ring of a snake that was eating its tail.
"Of course, if you don't like it you don't have to keep it," Ron said and turned even redder.
Draco took the ring out of the box. It was pretty and it shone in the light. "I love it," he said to Ron. He put it on his finger and it tightened to fit. "Thank you so much, Ron."
The hall was still empty so Draco leaned in and gave Ron a sweet kiss. Afterwards, they both had big grins on their faces. It took all of Draco's willpower to leave and go back to the common room. He kept looking back and Ron while he went and Ron kept looking back at him.
While Draco was doing Zabini's homework, he kept looking at the ring on his hand and smiling. Things could never seem completely bad when he had such an amazing boyfriend as Ron.