A/N: Wow, I just realized that this is the 16th chapter. And nothing has happened. I want to speed this up, but at the same time I don't want to because it's already at a good pace and I want to fit everything in that I want to. Please let me know what you guys think about the pace of this.It's kind of important. The song used is Dare4Distance by NeverShoutNever. Anyway, please enjoy the story!
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Draco stared at his feet as he walked through the halls, his brain totally fried.
It was currently lunch, but Draco didn't feel like eating. He never did whenever he was thinking. Plus eating just got in the way. Maybe he had an eating disorder. Draco didn't really care. Thinking right now was way more important than his health.
It had been good to see the read head the night before. Actually, it had been great. Being help up in his room with nothing but a portable radio had killed Draco a little on the inside. But seeing Ron last night had lifted his spirits. It really did.
Why was that? Every time the blonde saw Ron, he just had to smile. Draco didn't like it, even if it meant that he could be himself for a few hours. It was just weird to him that one day you go from being enemies to being some sort of friends. Not that Draco minded it. It was just odd to him, that's all.
But what troubled Draco more was the fact that Ron accepted it so fast. Normally he would have pictured the red head throwing a fit and a few punches. Not just rolling over and accepting it. Draco didn't really mind, to be honest. He didn't mind anything about this situation. It was just weird. And not totally normal. Draco wasn't one to complain, though. And he was sure that the red head was thinking something along the same lines.
Draco slowed his walking to a halt, staring out a window with a view of the lake. He looked at the faint reflection of himself. Pale messy blonde hair, round pink lips, sickly-pale skin and a facial expression that could kill. He didn't like it. Not at all. And as Draco stared into his pale grey eyes, he thought about his guitar. The guitar that he didn't want Ron to ask any questions about, but he still played it for the other boy anyway. How stupid was he? Of course Ron would ask something. Eventually, if not soon. Draco knew that Ron was big on keeping promises, but curiosity also killed the cat. And Ron was a Gryffindor.
He sighed and looked away from himself, a knot tying itself in his stomach. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea, playing for Ron almost every night. And the more Draco tired to fight himself on this subject, the more he found reasons to keep playing.
Ron likes the music. No one has since him. Draco thought to himself, knitting his eyebrows together. Besides, I can get all the practice I need and have feedback right away. It's not a bad situation at all. There's nothing wrong and nothing will go wrong. And if Ron asks anything about the guitar, I can make something up or bullshit my way out of the question or something like that. Draco thought. Yeah. That sounded about right. His face relaxed, his eyes becoming heavy and tired feeling.
Taking a brisk step forward, Draco continued down the hall, ignoring his reflection in the windows and trying not to think for once. This proved very hard to do. Increasing his pace, Draco sharply turned the corner at the end of the hall. Which resulted in him running right into someone.
"I'm sorry." Draco immediately said, getting his balance back after a second. He looked up from his feet. Right into the eyes of Harry Potter and gang. Fuck.
"What?" Hermione blurted out like she had never heard anyone say "sorry". Ron just stared at Draco with wide eyes.
"Well, shove off you three." Draco mumbled. He didn't really feel like talking to them at the moment. Except for Ron, but that was difficult considering Harry—fucking-Potter was standing right there. Augh.
"Shove off yourself, Malfoy." Harry replied without really thinking. In a swift movement, he and Hermione stormed past him. Draco felt them brush by, but didn't really see them. All he could focus on was Ron.
The red head looked like he desperately wanted to smile at Draco. Or say hello. Or something. Draco just wanted to be nice to him. But they both knew that it wasn't a good idea. Not only would Hermione freak out, but Harry would, too. And Draco didn't even want to think about Harry's reaction. And Draco didn't want to ruin their friendship.
Wait, what? When did that happen? Draco blinked and looked past Ron. Since when did he start to care about others so much? Each and every day since a year ago, Draco had started to become more and more like his fake self, and it had started to feel right. And then wham. Ron walked into the classroom.
"You coming, mate?" Harry called a short distance behind Draco. The blonde knew that he was talking to Ron. The red head blinked several time and looked over at Harry, then back at Draco. He shifted his weight, gave this awkward inward smile that looked more like a frown, and nodded his head.
"Bye." Ron mumbled, just loud enough for Draco to hear. With his back turned towards Ron's friends, Draco gave a small smile that probably looking more like a grimace and nodded. Ron awkwardly stepped aside from Draco and over towards Harry and Hermione. Draco turned with him, watching the three friends walk off together down the hall. Hermione looked upset, Harry looked like his usual self, and Ron looked like… Ron. Confused and sad and pouty.
Once they had disappeared from Draco's sight, the blonde sighed, running a hand through his greasy-ish hair. That had been more stressful than he had thought.
His heart had never pounded so fast.
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Ron lay on the floor this time, his back hurting. It had been a long day and he wasn't used to doing so much stuff at one time. Draco sat on the floor across from him, criss-cross-applesauce style. His guitar was in his lap as Draco listened to that green iPod, only one headphone in, and randomly would strum a note or two. Ron just stared at the ceiling.
"I'm sorry about Harry." Ron suddenly said his voice cracking slightly. Draco stopped playing, his gaze going straight to what he could see of the red head's face. Which was only his chin, his nose, and a little bit of his eyes. The blonde laughed slightly.
"What are you apologizing for?" Draco responded, turning back to his guitar. Ron sat up on his elbows, feeling slightly overweight in the position. His stomach was pushed into a bulging bulge that didn't look very attractive. Whatever.
"Because he shouldn't have said that." Ron said with an emphasis on the "DUH" part. He even made a 'duh' looking kind of face. It almost made the blonde laugh.
"So? I was mean, too. Besides, Potter doesn't know any better. How could he know that we're… something? Friends? Enemies that like music?" Draco replied, sounding very serious. It made Ron laugh, though, and he wasn't quite sure why.
"Friends… I like the sound of that." Ron mumbled to himself. Draco felt his nerves bundling together in a tight knot. The kind of nerves that probably shouldn't be there right now, but Draco couldn't help it.
"Ok, we're friends. Or something. Whatever you want to call it." Draco awkwardly replied. Ron smiled to himself.
"Really? Because I've been thinking about that a lot. It must sound weird to hear, I know. But… it's the kind of subject the eats a person a bit, you know?" Ron word vomited, staring at Draco with his eyebrows slightly knitted together. All Draco could do was nod his head.
"Yeah…" He trailed, not really sure what else to say at the moment. It was horribly awkward and uncomfortable for him.
"Got anymore song down?" Ron suddenly said, not getting the memo "What an awkward moment". Draco smiled slightly to himself and nodded his head.
"Yeah, just got it down the day before break ended. Want to hear it?" Draco questioned. Ron nodded his head, sitting up so he, too, was sitting criss-cross-applesauce. He felt like they were in kindergarten or something.
"Go ahead and play." Ron said. Draco nervously nodded his head.
"I got
the concept and came to the conclusion
That the top floor was just
an illusion
To the fact that I go this break in my back
That I
can't get out; I can't figure out how
You appeared right in
front of me
Before your march down south a university
Is where
you spend your daylight
But we're both just waiting for this
Friday night
Although the distance is daring
We both know
how to drive
Wo-o
We can't make-up for the lost time that
we both apologies for
I can't stand the fact that this extremity
is the center of my day
I see where your coming from
We've
been on the same boat since day one
I see how you like to run
Back
to the things that got you here
Although the distance is
daring
We both know how to drive
Wo-o
We can't make-up
for the lost time that we both apologies for
I can't stand the
fact that this extremity is the center of my day"
Draco broke into a short little solo. Ron just sat there, staring at Draco with such sad eyes as the blonde played. It made Ron wonder what kind of crap someone had to go through to get this much emotion out of them. It made him sad, really.
"Mondays
I sleep away
Tuesdays I lay awake
Wednesdays are the
worst
Thursdays I reminisce
Fridays I see your face
And I
can breathe."
The notes slowly faded off as the echoed slightly in the room. Ron kept staring at Draco, even long after the blonde had looked up and was staring at him as well. It didn't feel weird or awkward or uncomfortable like it normally did. It actually felt kind of… normal. At least to Ron.
"How do you play like that?" Ron asked, his eyes never leaving the blonde. Draco blinked a few times.
"Play like what?"
"Play like… if you don't put all your emotions into it, the world will fall apart. Like, you understand the lyrics on such a personal level that no one else really does." Ron replied. His eyes finally left Draco, now glued to the floor. That wasn't the way he wanted to articulate his thoughts, but it sounded good enough. Draco stared at him, his mouth parted slightly.
"You're word vomiting again." Draco said. And that was all he could say. Anything else would lead him down a path that he wasn't ready for. And he was sure that Ron wouldn't want to hear it.
"I do that a lot." Ron replied with a groan, laying back on the ground and covering his face. The one time he tried to sound cool, he ended up sounding like an idiot. He hated his stupid big fat mouth sometimes.
"Yeah, but everyone does. I'm sure even Mr. Perfect-Potter does it, too." Draco replied, not trying to sound mean. He meant to have it be sarcastic though. He didn't expect Ron to laugh at it.
"Yeah, actually, he does. It's kind of funny sometimes." The red head said with a laugh. It was funny, actually. Now that he thought about it. And he couldn't help but laugh.
"See, everyone does it. One of these days I'll crack and do it, too." Draco mumbled. He pouted slightly as his legs went numb. Yay.
"I can't wait for that." Ron replied with another laugh. Before he knew it, he was laying flat on his back, his eyes staring straight at the ceiling and the room filled with his own laughter. Draco was almost worried for a second, but then he remember that this was Ron he was dealing with.
"What's so funny?" Draco huffed, leaning closer to Ron. The red head calmed his laughter down to giggles.
"I can just picture you, going on and on about something weird like cats or guitars or even how big Snape's nose is or something. And you'll keep going on and on about it without realizing it and it'll be hilarious." Ron replied, ending with a giant fit of laughter. Draco scowled at him for a moment, but before he knew it he was laughing, too. He could picture himself doing that as well. And it was quite funny.
So the two boys sat together for a while, the air filled with fun laughter and small banter back and forth. And Ron couldn't stop laughing and rolling on the floor. And Draco couldn't stop scowling and then smiling shortly after.
And neither of them could stop from having fun.
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Wow, I did this in less than an hour. I wanted to get it done, though, because I'm going to go see Where The Wild Things Are tomorrow and I might not have had enough time to finish this before I went to my dad's. Hopefully this is 2000 words. I wasn't really keeping track. Any who, please leave a review! I love them!