A/N: I'm so sorry that I haven't posted anything in such a long time! So much has been going on that it's hard to keep up with it all. So, here's a brand new chapter for you guys! Thank you everyone that has left a review! Please read and let me know what you think!
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"That was really odd yesterday."
Ron looked up from his cereal, a few flakes falling out of his mouth and a small line of milk dribbling down his chin. It must not have looked very attractive because Hermione looked away from him in an instant. The red head didn't care, though.
"What was?" Ron questioned after he swallowed his food and wiped the milk away. Hermione rolled her eyes at him.
"Malfoy, who else? He just seemed… to polite, that's all." Hermione replied, crossing her arms over her chest. Harry let out a sigh next to Ron while Ron coughed.
"I think you're over analyzing stuff again." Harry mumbled. Ron nodded his head in agreement.
"Yeah. Who cares if he was being nice? It's good for a change." Ron replied, pushing his bowl away from him. He wasn't hungry anymore.
"I know, it's just… weird." Hermione said again, trailing a bit at the end. Ron really wanted to scream at her. He knew that Draco was just being nice because he was there, not because of anything else. But then Ron felt conceited thinking that. And then he would wonder why he thought that, and it would just go in a big never-ending circle of confusion.
"It's almost like you want him to me a meanie." Harry quietly said again, a hint of a pout in his voice. Hermione's face flushed bright red in anger or something – Ron didn't really care – and her eyebrows knitted together in a tight V.
"No, that's not it at all! I'm just saying, that's all." Hermione screamed at them. Again, Ron really just wanted to scream back at her and cover his ears and bitch like a little kid. But that wasn't mature.
"Whatever, 'Mione." Harry mumbled before taking a long drink of something. Ron wasn't paying attention. Hermione continued to sit in her seat and glare at Harry for the rest of Breakfast. The rest of the day was filled with Hermione bitching at Harry, Harry acting innocent, and Ron being stuck in the middle.
You've got to love friends.
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"Hermione, it's my only free period of the day. I'd love to spend it not listening to you nag at Harry." Ron impolitely snapped at Hermione. With that, he quickly stood up from his seat in the library, gathered his things in a messy fashion, and stormed out.
Ron was tired of hearing Hermione's voice. All day, all she did was talk. When Ron says that, he means it. All she did all through classes was talk. And at lunch all she did was talk. And during passing periods all she did was talk. It was driving Ron insane. And now, the last period of the day, which was his free one, Ron was forced to sit in the library and listen to her talk. He would have ripped out his hair right then and there, but then he remembered that he had legs and a voice, too.
So instead, the red head was storming through the hallways away from the library. He knew that he couldn't go to the Common Room because that was the first place Hermione would look for him. And then she would want to talk. And Ron knew that he couldn't go to the classroom because Harry would look there, too. Even though Harry didn't know what classroom, he knew that the classroom was on the floor. So that was an automatic no.
Ron slowed his pace a little, sighing to himself and running his free hand through his hair. Wandering the halls would be a good thing. He'd never really had a chance to do that. Ever. It wasn't exactly a good idea since god knows what lived in this place, but Ron thought that he'd give it a shot. He started to quicken his pace again, turning sharply down a hall he didn't recognize.
Why was it so horribly awkward running into Malfoy yesterday? Ron thought to himself. It had been bugging him all day. It's weird, being happier around him than my own best mates right now. Why am I happier around him? It's not like we're that close. The only thing sticking us together is his guitar. Which he won't talk about. God, this is getting way too confusing. I just wish Hermione would stop talking about Malfoy. Because one of these days I know that I'm going to start word vomiting all over the place and something will come out and Malfoy will hate me. Why do I care if Malfoy hates me? What do I care? I need to stop asking myself questions.
Ron's mind ran in circles as he continued down unfamiliar hallways. It would go around and around in circles, never ending. And the sad thing was, he was rethinking the same things over and over. It was just about to drive him crazy. He stopped in his tracks, leaning all of his weight against the cold stone wall. His legs were bent at an awkward angle that made them look broken and it was beginning to hurt a little, but Ron didn't care. His thoughts were giving him a headache. He pressed a hand against his forehead, his eyes lazily fixed on the ground.
Everything was starting to become too much, and Ron wasn't really sure why because there was nothing wrong.
Using his legs, Ron pushed himself away from the wall and ran his hand through his hair. It was beginning to get cold and Ron wasn't sure where he was. He went to take a step, and at the same exact time a door on the other side of the hallway flew open. Another person with dashing blonde hair and uncertain footsteps came stumbling out.
"Eh, Malfoy?!" Ron exclaimed. He couldn't help it. Draco was the last person that he thought that he would see. The other boy was casually dressed. Black super-tight skinny jeans, a black shirt with some sort of logo on it, a black jacket with a small heart-shaped symbol up by the armpit, and old, dirty looking Converse on his feet. In his hand was his beat-up tan guitar. It was all very strange, but seemed to fir Draco all too well.
Draco flinched backwards for a second and blinked several times. His brain took a lot longer to register that it was Ron, not anyone else. He seemed to relax when it finally hit him.
"What're you doing down here?" Draco calmly said. Ron took a step back and stared blankly at Draco.
"Down here?"
"You're heading in the direction of the Slytherin Common Room." Draco flatly said, his eyes never leaving Ron. Ron took another step back, his eyes wide and bulging almost.
"Eh?! I'm in the dungeons?!" Ron exclaimed again. His mouth hung wide open, his eyes glued to the floor. Since when had he wandered down to the dungeons? He couldn't remember when. All he could remember was leaving the library, his thoughts going in circles, and now.
Draco laughed to himself. It was enough to snap Ron out his confused state. He looked back up at the blonde. Draco had his free hand covering his mouth, like he was trying to cover up the laugh that escaped. Too late.
"What time is it?" Ron slowly asked. He was afraid that it was nine or something, since Draco had his guitar. If that much time had passed, then maybe he should get his head checked. Just maybe.
"It's almost dinner time." Draco responded, a ghost of a smile still on his face. Ron felt himself flush slightly. Not that much time had passed, but enough to make him a little concerned about his mental state.
"Oh…" Ron trailed off. Now that he ran out of things to talk about, it was awkward.
"So, what're you doing down here?" Draco quickly said. He picked up that awkward taste in the air, and he didn't want that right now.
"I… don't really know." Ron replied, flashing a goofy smile and scratching the back of his head. Draco smiled to himself and shook his head.
"Well, I'm off." Draco quickly said, turning on his heel and taking a few steps forward. Before Ron could even think, he reached towards Draco to grab him. Good thing he's a big klutz and missed him. Just by an inch, though. Draco turned around, sensing that Ron had started to follow him.
"Where… where're you going?" Ron said, fumbling over his words. He took a step back away from Draco. He was way too close for comfort.
"I'm going to play." Draco replied matter-of-factly, lifting his guitar and jabbing it at Ron slightly. As if he was making a point. Ron blinked a few times, knitting his eyebrows slightly.
"But it's only dinner time." Ron repeated Draco's earlier answer. Draco made an incredulous look at the red head and rolled his eyes slightly.
"I know that." Draco replied, clearing his throat slightly. It felt unattractive. Ron shifted his weight on his feet.
"But we don't usually meet up until closer to nine. It's only five-thirty." Ron said. He hoped that he didn't sound dumb, but he probably did. Draco rolled his eyes.
"I know that. I go early to practice." Draco said, giving Ron another incredulous look. The red head looked at the ground. He felt really dumb now.
"Care for some company?" Ron asked without thinking. He really wished that he would stop word vomiting. It was starting to kill him on the inside a little bit. Just a little. Draco stared at him for a second, and then jerkily started to move to the side. It looked like he was trying to dance or something.
"Yeah, but aren't you hungry?" Draco questioned, raising an eyebrow at Ron. The red head intently shook his head 'no'.
"If I go to the Dining Hall, I'll see Hermione. And I don't feel like listening to her talk anymore today, because all she did was talk all day. Then I yelled at her and left Harry in the middle of it, so he's probably not all the happy right now either." Ron said in a rush of words. It didn't really answer Draco's question. Maybe it did. Ron didn't care. He just didn't want to go to the Dining Hall.
"Ok…" Draco trailed, staring at Ron with a hard look. Like he was expecting him to continue on.
"So can I come with you?" Ron questioned again, feeling his face go bright red and his ears burn. Maybe all of this was so awkward because this was the first time he'd really talked to Draco outside of that classroom. And yesterday didn't count because Harry and Hermione were right there. Maybe right now didn't count, either, because anyone could come around the corner. Ron tried not to think about that last part or he'd become really paranoid.
"Um, sure." Draco said, nodding his head slightly as he turned and started to stalk off down the hallway. Ron stumbled after him, quickly catching up with the blonde. It wasn't that hard to do when you're a reasonable amount taller than the other. Whatever.
"How are we getting there?" Ron quietly asked. Draco turned towards him and raised an eyebrow. Like he was calling Ron an idiot, even though the red head knew that he wasn't.
"The stairs?" Draco replied, turning down a hall in a complete opposite direction of the Grand Staircase. Ron stumbled over himself, almost tripping, to catch up with Draco in the other direction. How embarrassing.
"But that's the wrong way." Ron said once he was caught up with the blonde again. He sure was fast for someone so small. Draco stopped in his tracks, turning towards a door. The hallway looked abandoned and like no one used it anymore. It was dirty and gross smelling. Quickly and almost silently, Draco turned towards the door and pushed it open. He stepped through it, turning slightly to wave Ron through it as well. The red head took a nervous step inside. Just inside the doorway was a platform. Ron looked all about him and saw a staircase. It didn't move like the Grand Staircase and was barely big enough to hold both Ron and Draco. It just zigzagged upwards until Ron couldn't see it anymore.
"It's a bit of a chore, but a great work out." Draco said, chuckling to himself. Ron's head snapped back to the blonde.
"How'd you find this?"
"Exploring." Draco replied, looking away from Ron and down at the ground. Ron looked away from Draco and back at the sky of staircases.
"Amazing." He said under his breath, smiling to himself. Draco cleared his throat again, taking a step upwards. He looked back at Ron, like they were about to embark on a journey or something.
"You sure you want to come? It's a long walk." Draco said. Ron nodded his head.
"I'm sure." He replied. Draco smiled before turning back around and starting to climb up the long and winding staircase.
"All right then."
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God, that was a lot longer than I thought it was and nothing happened. TRUST ME. Next chapter some stuff is actually going to start happening. I just wanted a chapter where they were interacting alone outside of the classroom. It was fun to write. And to picture Draco in an outfit like that. Anyway, please leave a kind review! Let me know what you guys think!