A/N: YAAAY Chapters 12 and 13 are finally here! One is for plot and the other is pretty much solid Lemon! Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I did not create these characters or their Universe. I am simply putting them into my own scenarios!

That night, Ron dreamed constantly of being chased by masked, cloaked figures. He and Draco were running. They sprinted through an old, unkempt graveyard. The yellowed grass was knee high and swished around them as they took off through the unforgiving darkness. Draco was running just ahead, constantly out of his reach. No matter how hard Ron tried or how fast he ran, Draco was just out of his grasp.

They were then impenetrably surrounded by Death Eaters. Unsightly, shadowed forms loomed over him, seizing his arms and restraining him. Ron struggled, attempting to yank himself free. He could hear Draco screaming, not unlike they way he screamed in his memory of Lucius. Dozens of voices cackled as Draco was dragged away. Ron opened his mouth to release a scream, but no sound left his larynx. His voice was stolen by terror, arms outstretched.

'NO!' he shouted as he sprang up in bed, eyes darting around frantically, searching for signs of danger.

Ron was relieved to find himself on the top level of Fred and George's home. The sounds of jovial children drifted up the stairs, carrying through the entire place. He extended a frantic hand, groping between the sheets for Draco's slumbering form. When he found nothing, he rolled over and yanked the curtains open.

Instant relief flooded him. Draco was sitting at the desk. It seemed he was lost in throught and remained unblinking as the light illuminated him. He was in his muggle clothes. His white tshirt clung to his lithe frame. The black fitted jeans perfectly followed the curves of his muscular legs. Ron could't help but notice the Slytherin green stripes on his white runners. They stood out against Draco's otherwise neutral outfit.

'Bad dream?' asked Draco tonelessly.

'Yeah.' Ron sighed as he moved to the edge of the bed. He'd been hoping to find Draco in higher spirits. He observed Draco and found him just as shell shocked as the night before. 'You all right?' Ron asked needlessly.

'We should not be doing this.' Was Draco's quiet reply, 'We should go back to Hogwart's.'

Ron felt his throat constrict with the grip of tears. 'We... can't.' He protested, breath hitching. 'They'll take you away from me.' Draco didn't look at him. He could not hide from Ron, who felt the heat pricking his forehead.

I was never supposed to approach you. His thoughts said.

Ron grabbed the leg of the chair and dragged Draco across the floor with a screetch. Draco shifted his weight and teetered in his seat, eyeing Ron with excessive surprise.

Ron seized his forearm, pulling him until their noses were only inches apart. Ron's eyes bore into Draco's. Watery blue crashed into metallic grey.

'Listen.' Ron said firmly. 'I am going to do whatever it takes.' Draco averted his eyes. Ron frowned, his heart stinging with rejection.

I don't want them to kill you.

I am not afraid to die. At all.

Draco sighed in defeat, moving off of the chair to assume his place at Ron's side. 'I don't know why you are doing this.' He sighed, as an arm slipped around his waist.

'I told you last night.' Ron whispered, 'Because I can.' Draco released one, short laugh and shook his head. Ron could see the memory of them standing by the lake, when he had asked Draco the same burning question.

'Using my own logic against me? Fresh.' Draco said, voice finally donning a tone. It was a sarcastic one. Ron smiled, thankful Draco's numb stupor was feeble. 'You would do the same thing for me.'

Draco did not respond with assuring words but instead he kissed Ron's forehead. 'You really think we can outrun them?'

Ron shrugged, 'Always have. Always will.'

They were both startled by Fred pounding on the door. 'Oi!' He shouted, 'You two finished shagging, yet!? I've got something to show you.' Ron rubbed his temples wearily. 'Hang on, Fred.'

'Ugh!' Fred wretched outside the door, 'I was kidding! I didn't think you actually... GEORGE!' Ron rolled his eyes, 'He isn't even decent yet!'

Draco snorted and rose from the bed. 'You'd better hurry.' Ron nodded grimly, tugging his pants on. 'I'm glad I don't have siblings.' The Slytherin told him.

Ron stood in only his jeans. He watched Draco's keen eyes scan his heavily freckled abdomen. He noticed the corners of Draco's mouth poking up into a slight smirk. It is worth it to run. Draco's voice said. Comforted by that thought, Ron grinned, pulling his white t-shirt over his head.

When he opened the door, Fred and George were waiting on the stairs. Ron could only see the tops of their ginger heads poking up over the rail, extendable ears positioned at the crack under the door. With a devilish grin, Ron picked up the ear and screamed into it. 'What in the HELL are you DOING!?'

After a startled cry from both of the twins, a series of thumps and bangs could be heard echoing up the stairwell. Draco stifled a laugh and Ron looked to his side just in time to catch Draco's full smile. His heart skipped several beats in a row.

When they reached the lower level, Fred and George were picking themselves off of the floor. 'You two really need to quit your eaves dropping.' Ron grinned.

'You're one to criticize us.' George said, 'You're running away!'

Ron laughed scornfully, 'And you're one to talk about running away yourselves! Need I remind you of last year's endeavour?'

'And look how it turned out!' Fred roared, gesturing to the two story flat above their three story Shop.

Cocky, aren't they? Draco thought with a smile.

'What is it you two wanted to show me?' Ron was pleased to see Fred holding a heavy piece of parchment bound with Charlie's seal. Old fashioned fucker.

'We've got your reply from Charlie.' George told him. Ron snatched the parchment from Fred's hand, eyes scanning the page.

He's coming for us tonight. Ron informed Draco who shifted uncomfortably. Ron reached fearlessly for Draco. Pulling him close to his body and hugging him tightly into his chest.

Fred and George both averted their eyes. They neither poked nor prodded him. It was as though they were trying to pretend the pair had suddenly become invisible. Ron was thankful for their respect. It was an opportunity to taunt him like no other and he watched them completely ignore it. And the Twins basically lived for his tourment. He offered them a thankful nod over the top of Draco's head. They didn't know all of the details of Draco's Crucio memory, but they knew enough.

As he read on, his eyes widened, 'He's taking us to Romania on Norbert!' Ron exclaimed. 'Charlie's idea of security.' He hadn't seen the Dragon since it had been a tiny youngling and barely harmful. Now it seemed that the creature had grown large enough to support the weight of three people.

'You mean the beast that...' Oaf. '...Hagrid smuggled in?' Draco asked in mild irritation.

Ron rolled his eyes and continued to read. 'Charlie is brilliant with Magical Creatures. I guess Norbert is one hell of puppy dog, now.' Draco snorted and shook his head. 'Beastly.'

As night began to fall, the shop quieted quickly. Ron waited anxiously for Charlie's arrival. Draco hadn't stopped pacing since noon, when they had gotten the news Charlie was coming to take them to Romania.

I don't know if you realize, Draco thought at him from the loft over the front Shop. That since I ran... they will probably kill us when they catch us. Ron topped the stairs approached Draco with a frown. Your dad wouldn't really kill you, would he? He thought grimly.

Close enough.

'Merlin, you two are quiet!' George roared as he flicked his wand, flipping the sign of their Shop from "Open" to "Closed."

'Huge improvement on your part, Ron.' Fred continued. 'Well done.'

He had begun to fry bacon again. Ron could not refrain from grabbing handfuls of it, in spite of Draco's disapproval. It was too delicious to ignore. He crammed his mouth full until it literally would not hold anymore.

No more than an hour later, a monstrous rumbling sounded from the roof followed by horrid scraping. Several shingles fell, crumbling as they hit the ground. 'Looks like Charlie's here.' George laughed, leading them to the attic. Dust hung so thick in the air it appeared as a brown mist. White sheets had been draped everywhere, covering peculiar shapes Ron could only assume were old furnishings. Ron was impressed to find a small latter leading up to a trap door. 'This is our favorite spot...' Fred said as the reached the roof of their shop.

Ron was impressed. You could see entirety of Diagon Alley. The few tiny shops that remained open cast an dim orange glow over the cobblestone street. The massive pillars which supported the foyer of Gringott's Bank looked over the entire Alley like a great ivory guardian.

Norbert the Dragon commanded the most attention. The huge winged lizard cooed, emerald scales glinting in the night. Norbert eyed Ron, bearing a fangy smile. He was pleased to see the Dragon recognized him, flicking his tongue in Ron's direction. 'Hi, Norbert!' He said cheerily to the dragon, who winked. Charlie slid off of his back and strode toward his brothers with a broad grin.

'Brothers!' He said, opening his arms and clapping Ron on the back. Charlie hadn't changed at all. Standing at six feet, he was tall and very heavily built. His muscles bulged from beneath his shirt. He had a dragon tooth stuck where Ron knew a hooped earring had been pierced through years ago, when Charlie went to Hogwart's in the '80s. The tooth was much cooler.

He scooped Fred and George up in his other arm, squeezing them until they begged for air. Ron remembered how close he was to Fred and George as kids. Charlie adored the twins when they were young. By the time Ron was seven or eight, Charlie had moved out and joined a pack of Dragon Tamers. Now he lived on a reserve in Norwegia, specifically created to meet the needs of Dragons. To keep them healthy and away from muggles who would probably perform ghastly experiments on them.

'Fred and George tell me you're in a lot of trouble.' Charlie said, eyeing him up with phony suspicion. Ron knew already Charlie had been informed of the situation in as much detail as they could manage to fit in one hastily written letter.

'Yeah.' Ron said hesitantly, deciding to humor his brother. who he hadn't seen since his fourth year. 'A bit, I guess.'

'Well, don't worry.' Charlie said with an assuring smile. 'Mum and Dad know nothing of the situation.' He approached Draco. 'And this must be your...' Charlie fell silent, struggling with the words. After a while he gave up and extended a hand, 'Hi! I'm Ron's brother Charlie.'

Draco took his hand stiffly, giving it a slow shake. You look a lot like Charlie. His cheeks were bright red. Ron took that as a compliment.

'Sorry we can't come along.' Fred said. 'We've got a busy day, tomorrow. We need to finish up that Bacon Candy.'

'Send me some when it's finished!' Charlie said, hugging his younger brothers one more time before mounting Norbert as though a fellow riding a Dragon was something that occurred every day.

'Would you mind if I took my broom?' Draco queried tentatively, summoning it with the Accio spell.

Ron eyed Draco nervously. 'Don't you think we'll be flying too far out in the open? Norbert breathes fire. On your broom you've only got your wand...'

Draco grimaced distastefully. I really don't want to ride on that thing... Charlie smiled, 'It'll be all right if he flies close enough.'

Fred and George were snickering in the background. 'Yeah, Ron. Give the boy his space.'

Ron fixed a glare on them, 'Draco is in a lot of danger right now.'

'By the way!' Fred said, producing a bottle wrapped in brown paper, 'We got you two a parting gift.' He shoved it into Draco's hands who blinked. 'It's a bottle of the Lime Flavored Alcohol,' George told them, as Fred picked up his sentence in perfect time. 'The only one that's perfected.'

Draco sent an awkward, yet grateful expression toward the Twins. 'I don't know what to say. Thank you.'

Draco unscrewed the cap and chugged half the thing down right there. Ron felt warmth spread through his chest as Fred and George clapped him on the back in a brotherly fashion. 'Atta boy!' They said in unison. Draco handed off half the bottle to Ron, who screwed the cap on. Maybe siblings aren't so bad. He thought.

'Climb on, Ron!' Charlie interrupted as Draco stubbornly mounted his broom. As Ron watched Draco, a terrible sensation gripped him deep in his gut. His dream flickered somewhere in the back of his mind. He shook the image away. The time for paranoia had long passed.

Ron took Charlie's hand, mounting Norbert behind his brother. 'Thanks again, guys.' Ron called to Fred and George. 'Any time! We'll send your broom back to Hogwart's for you!' They shouted back as Norbert flapped his wings with a great Whooosh! and took off into the night.

Norbert's flight was smooth. If it wasn't for the air that whipped passed him, whistling in his ears, he would never have guessed they were flying. Ron was thankful for the dragon's warm skin, he had nearly become an icicle before he reached London last night. He eyed Draco, who was shivering on his broomstick.

'You're really serious about this, little brother?' Charlie asked smoothly.

'Serious about what?' Ron asked absent-mindedly, focused on keeping a close eye on Draco.

Charlie turned to him with a half smile. 'Are you sure you want to take a risk like this?' Charlie asked bluntly. 'Fred and George left no details undisclosed.'

Ron sighed and rubbed the pressure points between his eyebrows with one hand. 'Perfect.'

'Don't be mad at them, Ron. We're all worried about you. You pick dangerous friends. First Harry Potter. Now the Prince of Death Eaters.'

Ron laughed slightly, shrugging a shoulder. 'Draco just... happened.'

Charlie laughed in understanding, 'Oh, I know. We just don't want to see you hurt.' Ron saw Draco peering at them as he flew just outside of Norbert's wingspan. Ron knew he was listening in on their thoughts.

'I went through something similar, you know...' Charlie said. Ron no longer had any need to consciously activate his legilimency. It was unyielding now and pictures flowed forth from Charlie's mind to his. There were memories of a thin framed boy, with chestnut brown hair and clad in the blue and bronze of Ravenclaw. He was grinning, light glinting off of his pearly white teeth. 'So I know what you're going through.' Ron felt sorry for his brother, who he realized now he didn't know very well. 'What happened?' he asked curiously. 'Yunno. He's a relative of the Nott family...'

Charlie did not need to elaborate. The Notts, he knew, were right in with the same gang as Lucius. 'Oh... I'm sorry, Charlie.'

'Don't worry!' He said with a jovial laughter that left Ron feeling assured, 'It was a long time ago. And besides, I have my dragons. Among other things.'

Ron was about to smile and inquire about the "other things" when there was a loud crack in the sky that left an eerie silence.

'Fuck!' He heard Draco curse to his right. The night sky was invaded with a lime green luminance. Eventually the light accumulated into a mist. After a few moments of swirling, the mist formed the shape of a cackling skull. A ghostly serpent slipping between it's teeth. It was flicking it's tongue as it probed the air searchingly.

Norbert screeched, rearing his head and beating his wings threatoningly through the thickened air. 'Ron.. this isn't looking good.' Charlie told him, yanking the leather bindings that controlled the Ridgeback.

Ron saw Draco bank right on his broom, his eyes fixed expressionless on the Dark Mark. He hovered beside Norbert who was still screeching fiercely. Several dark figures passed directly through the Dark Mark, disturbing the frightening green mist.

Streams of red soared past them. Thankfully the bastards had terrible aim. Norbert began spitting fire viciously through his screeches. Menacing red bolts flew past them again.

'Ron!' Charlie shouted, shooting defensive streams of silver. 'Grab hold of Draco!'

Ron turned immediately toward Draco, his arm outstretched. He saw Draco's broom wobbling. Norbert's flame had ignited the tail of his broom and it was nearly completely incinerated. It lurched beneath him. Ron had seen a broom behave in such a manner only once. When Quirrell was bewitching Harry's broom way back in First Year.

'DRACO!' Ron heard himself scream in terror as he watched Draco's broom fall out from beneath him, sending the Slytherin plummeting toward the Earth below. Without a thought, Ron made a flying leap off Norbert's back. Charlie screaming his name as he fell after Draco.

He was numb to the ground beneath, his only concern being Draco's flip flopping figure. Thinking fast, he straightened his body like a pin. Head first, he dove. Air thundering in his ears. He fell for what seemed like an eternity, reaching desperately for Draco. He fell farther still, gaining speed and Draco was only feet away.

'Crucio!' he heard the spell spoken in a bone chilling hiss. He did not need to turn to see who was casting the spell. Lucius voice was poison.

It hit Ron's body and he felt as though he'd been engulfed in flame. A thousand knives skinned him alive and he choked on his own voice. Pain seared through his insides. His intestines were acid, melting his flesh. His bones were hot iron and his eardrums exploded.

Draco...

Finally, Ron's hand clasped around Malfoy's ankle. He gripped it with all he had.

Just as it did, Ron heard a loud crack that thundered and echoed off of the surrounding landscape. Draco had Apparated them to roughly five feet above the ground. Just as the pain of the curse ceased and Ron was able to breathe again, he hit the ground with a great force. One that knocked the wind out of him but was definitely not fatal.

Draco. He thought. Draco are you alive?

Yes.

Relief washed over him.

When he opened his eyes, he was not expecting the gruesome scene before him. Draco had splinched. There was a huge void where his left bicep once was and Ron could see bone through the inch thick gash in his arm.

Ron thought he could see the severed flesh lying a distance away. Draco lay in a pool of his own blood which continued to grow. A scarlet river flowed from his body toward Ron.

Ron choked on his sobs that had began immediately after opening his eyes.

Draco was motionless, his grey eyes void, fixed on the Dark Mark above. I can't move. My limbs are all frozen. Ron heard him think.

As Ron examined Draco further, he couldn't help but notice the Dark Mark on Draco's arm mirror the one in the sky as it writhed and wriggled on his flesh.

And from there, Ron's vision went black...