Title: Vivica, Chapter Sixteen
Author: frkwerewolf
Fandom: Harry Potter
Pairing: Draco/Ron, Lupin/Snape
Rating: R
Summary: Changes are in the air and Draco discovers something about himself that will change everything he knows.
Note on H/Hr: I'm taking care of the problem once and for all! I can't believe I had them almost getting together in here. How... disturbing!
Draco had a purpose. Sure, he was bound to meet the fist of Harry Potter again with this move, but at the moment he didn't care. He was getting restless. His Veela instincts were screaming to just take over and claim Ron once and for all. But Draco was a Slytherin and therefore could not just jump into a situation without plotting. He had made that mistake when he attacked Lupin and when he chained Ron to the bed. No, Draco was not going to go through that again. No more rushing to conclusions like a silly Gryffindor. After leaving Snape's chamber, Draco felt a little more assured that what he was doing was not going to destroy him. Taking his time, he slowly made his way out of the dungeons.
It would never cease to amaze Draco how he always managed to find things he had no intention of seeing. While looking for Ron, he incidently came across the arguement of the year between two members of the Golden Trio to date. Normally, Draco would ignore Harry and Hermione. Who wanted to know about those two anyway? Sadly, Draco had not been himself for quite some time. And therefore, he found himself hiding and peeking around the corner.
"Hermione-" Harry started, waving his arms as though that would help get Hermione to listen to him.
"Shut up, Harry!" Hermione practically screamed. "I'm tired of this! No! Don't you even dare think about interupting me, mister. Every time I turn around you are acting like a rabid dog taking order from your hormones. Will you just tell me what's going on?"
"I don't know what your talking about." Harry replied, turning toward the window.
"One moment your following me around like a lost puppy. Next your Ron's knight in shining armour." Hermione explained. "I think Ron would agree with me when I say we are getting some mixed signals from you."
"I don't like Ron like that, okay?" Harry told her. There was a pause and Draco could feel the waves of nervousness coming from Harry.
"And me?" Hermione asked, her hands on her hips.
"Well... Bloody hell, Hermione!" Harry exclaimed. "Maybe a little, okay? A little."
"Just a little?" Hermione smirked.
"Just a little." Harry repeated. "I just... I don't like this whole thing with Malfoy. Your my friend, not his. Ron's my friend, not his."
"And you don't want to share?" Hermione asked, teasingly.
"It is kind of stupid, huh?" Harry chuckled slightly.
"Harry... I'm going to be honest." Hermione said softly. "I don't like you like that. So, keep it just a little thing, okay? Your like my brother."
"I know." Harry looked over at her, smiling. "I understand."
Draco snorted to himself and sauntered into veiw. "Well, what have we here?"
"Go away, Malfoy." Harry growled.
"No, I don't think I will." Draco sneered. "You see, I think you just might have some information I want."
"And what would that be?" Harry asked, crossing his arms.
"The whereabouts of my favorite little redhead, of course." Draco winked at Hermione, who rolled his eyes at his behaivor.
"I don't know where Ron is. Even if I did I wouldn't tell you, now would I?" Harry glared.
"Last I saw him, he was still in the library." Hermione announced. Harry shot her a look. "What?"
"Thank you, Granger. Pardon me, I have business to attend to." Draco said, smiling slightly and walking in the direction of the library. Harry spun around to Hermione, his jaw hanging open.
"Why did you tell him that?" Harry asked, sounding miffed.
"Becuase he wanted to know." Hermione said evasively.
"Tell me the truth, Hermione." Harry narrowed his eyes.
"Look, this Veela thing is real, Harry." Hermione replied. "And Draco really does care about Ron on some... Strange level. They need to figure this out. And that's not going to happen by avoiding each other now is it?"
"But... I suppose." Harry relented.
Draco smirked as he half listened to the conversation. Despite being all the way down the hall, his hearing had picked up every word. Shaking his head, he turning down the next wing and walked quickly to the library's entrance. His eyes focusing on the cobblestone floor, Draco was not watching where he went. Thankfully, the musky scent that sent his mind into a spiral of desire hit his senses. Looking up, he found himself standing no more than a foot away from Ron Weasley.
The redhead was staring at him, a pensive look on his face. Draco opened his mouth to talk, but nothing came out. All he could do was stand there and look at the perfect creature before him. The thoughtful look in those eyes. The spray of freckles across that face, centering in on the nose. A nose he wanted nothing more than to nibble on.
"Uh, Malfoy?" Ron raised an eyebrow. "Your moaning."
"Sorry." Draco whispered, blinking the fog out of his mind. "I... I wanted to talk to you."
"See, now this is the proper way to start a conversation." Ron's mouth twitched, wanting to smile. "You know, without the chains?"
"I like chains." Draco said dumbly, his eyes now focusing on Ron's lips. Grey eyes widening, Draco felt his face flush from what he just said. A look of shock and humor appeared in Ron's eyes. "I mean... Dammit, this isn't going properly."
"No, it's not, is it?" Ron asked. "Come on, Malfoy."
"You can't order-" Draco stopped mid-complaint. Sighing, he followed Ron through the halls of Hogwarts and soon out the front door. They ended up sitting on the grassy side of the lake, the squid having taken over the other side in order to sunbathe. They sat in silence for the longest time. Ron kept ripping blades of grass from the ground, examining them, before tossing them away and repeating the process. Draco was almost content enough to simply watch him. But again, the thoughtful look kept appearing on Ron's face and he was dying to know what going through that head.
"What are you thinking about?" Draco asked, brushing one of the random blades of grass off his shoulder.
"Veelas." Ron said simply.
"And?"
"And scent." Ron replied. He looked over at Draco, then out at the lake. "About how Veelas chose their mate by scent. I read one of those books in the library. It said your attraction is almost solely based on scent."
"I believe that's true, yes." Draco told him.
"Well, what kind of relationship is that?" Ron asked, sounding slightly aggitated. "What kind of relationship could two people have when the only thing keeping them together is how they smell? Or in this case: How I smell? You don't even like me, Malfoy!"
"I don't." Draco replied honestly. Ron looked back at him, one eyebrow raised. "At a certain level I still think of you as a poor mudblood lover. But I can't help that. I was raised to think that way. But the rest of me? I think the part of me that doesn't listen to Daddy Dearest or the babble of pureblood society just might like you."
"Be still me beating heart." Ron said with sarcasm. "That doesn't answer my question."
"Look, it's like an agent." Draco told him, waving his hand as he talked. "It simply pushing us to who we are meant to be with. It makes us desire and crave being near that person. But it's up to us to make it work."
"Is that why your being nice to Hermione? So you can get on my good side and try to make it work?" Ron asked.
"In all honesty, I rather like the witch." Draco smirked. "She's got a sense of wit worthy of any Slytherin. Too bad she uses to help you lot along."
"You flatter me so." Ron rolled his eyes.
"I try." Draco replied, picking dirt from under his fingernail. "So, Weasley, when do you want to have wild, sweaty sex?"
"What?!" Ron exclaimed, scrambling to his feet.
"I was just joking, sheesh." Draco grinned wickedly. The smile dissapeared and Draco gave a dramatic sigh. "Come on. I'm being nice here. We just bonded and everything. Don't you like me yet? I want to get this relationship moving already."
"You are impossible." Ron replied, his body relaxing. But he didn't sit down. "I'm not going to just jump into your bed, Draco."
"I love how you say my name." Draco suddenly said, wistfully.
"See, now, it's things like that," Ron pointed, "That's creeping me out. It's just not like you."
"And how do you know what I'm like around other people?" Draco asked simply. "You only see what you want to believe when it comes to me, and you know it."
"I..." Ron trailed off as he turned to stare at the lake.
"Don't take it so seriously, Ron." Draco told him. He stood, brushing the dirt off his pants. "I'll talk to you later."
"Yeah, right." Ron mumbled, not looking at him. Draco took a deep breath, taking in Ron scent once more, before turning and heading back to the castle. Ron looked back over his shoulder at him, unable to keep his eyes from trailing down Draco's backside. Shaking his head, Ron returned to staring at the lake. "One step at a time, Ron. One step at a time."