Ron, bless his ginger little soul, wanted to 'have a talk.' Which Draco found absolutely hilarious. One, all Weasley's were a complete joke, and two, he knew exactly what the Gryffindor was going to say. Honestly, these boys were so predictable it was embarrassing. But Draco agreed anyway, and not for Hermione's benefit either, the way Ron had said. He was doing this strictly for himself. Because damn was this going to be good.

So when class ended, he followed the redhead all the way to the ROR, neither of them saying much about anything. When they got in, Draco tossed his bag carelessly on the floor, plopping down with an easy grin on one of the armchairs that appeared. Ron, on the other hand, took the couch, setting his bag down carefully by his side. He folded his hands, resting them on his knees, staring at Draco. He didn't speak.

Was he serious?

"You gonna say something or what?"

"I assumed you'd say something." Ron said calmly, "Or do you have nothing to say for yourself?"

"Careful there, Weasley. You sure you can handle all this without Pothead by your side?"

"His name is Potter. You think you'd have a bit more respect considering—"

"Considering, what, exactly?" Draco leaned forward, "We're not friends."

"But we do have a mutual…acquaintance." Ron retorted hesitantly.

"Acquaintance?" he snorted, "That all she is to you guys?"

"Come off it Malfoy. She'll mean more to us than she'll ever mean to you."

Draco waved his hand, already growing tired, "Is that all you wanted to say?"

"No."

"Then get to it, will you? I'm a busy guy."

Ron looked him dead in the eye, his gaze sharp. Draco would give him that much, at least. He wouldn't have thought him man enough to stare him down.

"I want you to break up with her."

He could only blink. "Come again?"

"It's different when it comes to guys. No one really cares. But her name is being smeared. You're dragging her through the freaking mud, Malfoy! Think about that for a bit! All those nasty rumors about you two. How do you think that is for her? For once in your goddamn life do something decent."

Draco folded his hands, tapping his lips with his pointer fingers, "And this act of decency as you call it, would be…me breaking up with her."

"Yes." Ron nodded.

"Because the rumors are that bad."

"Exactly."

It was silent for a bit, tension holding the two boys in place.

"You don't seem convinced."

"Don't quit your day job, Weasley. You'd make a horrible lawyer."

"So you won't do it?"

"What makes you think I would?"

Ron just about lunged for him, "Because, you bastard! Haven't you heard what everyone's saying? All the rubbish about you two fucking and god knows what else! She's being passed off for a whore!"

Ah, he had him. "Rubbish, you say?" Draco mused, smirk already tugging at his lips.

Ron inhaled.

"I can't help but wonder if you thought this through. If I left her now then she wouldn't just be a whore, but a washed up one. Used and thrown away. It'd only confirm the rumors further. But I'll tell you what I think, Ronald," he said, sitting up a bit taller in his chair, "I think you did know that already. I think the purpose of this little chat was to find out just how much my girlfriend and I have done together."

"Watch it Malfoy—"

He chuckled, "Does that bother you? Which part, I'm curious. The fact that I called her my girlfriend? The fact that I have fucked her, thank you very much, or the fact that you never got to?"

Ron sat frozen, all words escaping him. "You bloody bastard! How fucking dare you? Have some fucking respect—"

"It's hard to, with a girl like her. Bloody annoying isn't she? Always bossing everyone around. Surprisingly submissive, if you know what buttons to push—"

"Enough—"

But he continued as though Ron hadn't said anything at all, "And a fucking animal in bed, let me tell you. Hard to imagine she was a virgin before me—"

"Merlin you have no—"

"Oy, does Lavender beg? Bambi's a beggar. Fun to hear those whines, am I right? I'm weak though. Always give her what she wants. I mean, she's my woman, a man's gotta provide—"

He didn't think the bloke would actually have the balls to punch him, but Draco found that out the hard way. Not that it was that hard of a punch to begin with. And it's not like it hurt or anything. But still. A punch is a punch.

He scoffed, wiping his bottom lip. "You sure you wanna do that, Weasley?"

Before Draco could get a chance to retaliate, Ron fumbled through his robes, pulling out his wand in a flustered mess, shaking it at him. "Don't try anything funny!" he shouted.

Draco held his hands up in feigned concern, and every bit of irritation he could muster. "I dare you."

"I'm serious! You think you're all that. One day Hermione's gonna wake up and realize you're nothing but a coward!"

Ok. Now that pissed him off.

He pulled out his own wand with ease, pointing it directly at the ginger. "Think about what you're doing would you? You're only gonna get hurt."

"You think you're so confident! I have a few tricks too, you know!"

"Look, you get hurt, I won't hear the end of it. You won't hear the end of it."

"What do you even want from her? Do you honestly expect anyone to believe that you actually have her best interest in mind?"

Draco shrugged, "I don't expect much out of anybody, to be honest."

"Oh come off it you ferret!"

"Why do I need an ulterior motive? Is it because I'm a Slytherin? That's generalization, Weasley. I'm offended." He threw his free hand over his chest dramatically.

"You don't take anything seriously, do you?"

"Not really, no."

Ron's expression sharpened. "Don't you think she deserves better than that?"

Draco raised his eyebrows in genuine surprise. Ok, so the little twit could play. But Ron was grossly overestimating himself if he thought he could out-wit him. He shook off his answer with a scoff. "Like who, you?

Ok, granted, that wasn't the smartest possible retort he could come up with. But it was enough to knock the redhead down a few notches.

"No," he shot back, "I'm not doing this for personal gain. But it doesn't take much to be better than you, does it? For fucks sake it's right there on your arm—"

Oh, he snapped. Like hell he was gonna hear this from Ronald Weasley, of all people.

With a reaction too quick to fully consider, Draco's arm was against Ron's neck, making him fall back against the couch. Pinned in place between the couch and Draco's forearm, the Gryffindor was choking. And for a split second Draco thought that if the bastard ran out of air then he wouldn't even be sorry. "Don't fucking start with me." he warned.

Ron shoved him away, but only because Draco let him, muttering something about how he really was a crazy bastard. "You better not handle Hermione that way—"

"Like hell." He bit back.

"Fine, Malfoy," Ron said, brushing himself off, "If that's how you want to play, then how about a duel?"

Draco raised an eyebrow, before looking him up and down. "You can't be serious."

Ron's expression didn't falter.

The blonde couldn't help but laugh. "Really? You said it yourself didn't you? You sure you wanna duel a former Death Eater?"

Ron's glare narrowed, his wand raising again so it stood just beneath Draco's nose. "If I recall correctly," he said, with irritating calmness, "Your side lost that fight."

Draco just about snapped his wand in half. A duel suddenly sounded like a great idea. "When."

"Friday. After classes."

"Don't be a little bitch and back out."

"I could say the same to you." Ron said evenly.

At the very least, Draco thought, he could return the punch he'd given him earlier. And he'd return it tenfold. Which suited Draco just fine.

The Gryffindor made to leave, but paused just as he'd opened the door. "Oh, yeah," he said, turning around with a pleasant smile on his lips, "Have fun explaining this to Hermione."

Draco froze.

No, that was a joke. There was no way this had been Ron's intention all along. The redhead couldn't have actually played him. He wasn't smart enough for that. At least, he didn't think he was.

Potter, on the other hand…

Bastards.

Fine, Draco thought, if that's what they wanted, then he'd give it to them. But they were idiots if they thought Hermione was actually going to side with them on this one.

Because when it came down to it, she'd stand by him. They were a motherfucking couple after all. At least, he was pretty sure they were. Yeah, of course they were. And she'd back him up because it's what couples do, right?

Rubbing the scar on his left arm, Draco suddenly wasn't so sure.


A/N: Hi all. So basically shit happens, school sucks, and life is hard when your computer breaks and you lose basically everything on it :'D That said hope ya'll enjoyed the update lol. Now that I'm on summer break I hope to make it more regular! Thanks for sticking with it ^^

Guest: Gahhh thank you so so much!