"Weasley!" Draco called out; spotting Ronald's red head as he was coming up the stairs.
Ron looked up and scowled; he didn't want anything to do with a Malfoy today at all. Talking with Malfoy would definitely ruin the great day he had been having. He paused, glanced about and clearly chose a direction as he trotted back down the stairs and hurrying toward another hallway.
"Thickheaded idiot, I only want to talk to you!" Draco growled, irritated by the redheaded boy's avoidance of him. Merlin, he only wanted to talk to him. He picked up his pace, nearly tripping as he reached the landing. He recovered with a curse and rounded the end of the hall just in time to see Ron slipping out the door at the center of the hallway that led to one of the outside courtyards. "Weasley!" he called out as he hurried after him. He seized the door and yanked it open, his wand in his hand. He'd had enough of cat and mouse; it was time to get this fool to talk.
He'd nearly caught him on the other side of the courtyard; he cast a simple sticking spell on the ground just ahead of Weasley.
Ron's left foot just caught the edge of it and he fell just outside the doorway. "Finite incantatum!" he instantly said and was released, scrambling to his feet just before Draco neared.
"Stop, you bloody idiot!" Draco snarled, throwing the spell again but the Gryffindor simply avoided it. They had exited the castle and Draco had had enough. He threw a petrification spell but the Weasel dodged that too, then suddenly whirled to stand his ground.
"Stupefy!"
"Protego!" the blonde said an instant before; the spell cast by the Gryffindor rebounded at such close range, hitting him instead. "Damn!" Draco grumbled, moving forward to stand over his stunned year mate. He paused a moment in thought, then used his wand to raise Ron from the ground and lean him up against a tree. "Look. I know you can hear me, and I swear I'll beat the hell out of you if I have to. I just want some answers. So don't be a typically idiotic ass and start doing stupid shit again. Understand?" he asked, taking Ron's fallen wand and slipping it back into Ron's wand pocket on his jeans. He took a deep breath, and then pointed his wand at Ron once more. "Finite Incantatum." He stated.
He prepared himself to set off in pursuit again but to his relief the Gryffindor stayed where he had been put, just pushed himself into a more comfortable position. "Since when do you want to talk to any Gryffindor?" he asked.
Draco sighed. "When it involves someone I care about I do. This certainly isn't my first choice."
"I can't promise I'll answer what you want, but I guess you can ask." Ron said guardedly.
"I've seen you hanging around that Durmstrang bloke…"
Ron's expression changed and the expressions on the redhead's face spoke volumes. First confusion, then a bit of anger. "I'm not going to be anywhere near him anytime soon."
"Why?" Draco asked.
"Just… I don't know." Ron shrugged. "I just don't."
"What's his name? What is it he asks you to do, Weasley?"
"His name is Gregor Ptriov. He didn't ask me to do anything we just talked, mostly about quidditch…"
"Then why does just bringing him up make you angry?" Draco asked.
Ron started to answer, then closed his mouth, looking thoughtful. "I guess its how weird he acted last time I saw him." He said quietly. "He sent me a note saying he was going to commit suicide or something if I didn't see him again. It didn't make any sense, we were just pals, not anything more."
"He was going to commit suicide?"
"He didn't quite say it, but that's the idea I got."
"I can't believe a Gryffindor didn't do anything about that."
Ron sighed. "I felt like someone else could handle it better. I asked Krum to talk to him. Must have worked, nothing has happened. No Durmstrang has died yet."
Draco frowned thoughtfully, thinking of all he had heard in the library, putting it all together. "So he turned to Blaise when you were too damned dense to figure things out." He murmured.
"What…?" Ron asked, frowning. "Figure what out?"
Draco stepped away from him. "Forget it. Obviously you're as clueless about this as you were about what that seventh year was trying to do." He said dismissively.
Ron was more confused than ever. "You're not making any sense, Malfoy."
He snorted at that. "And people wonder why you can't figure out potions. I'm amazed you can even cast a decent spell." He said with a bit of a sneer, moving off.