Reunion

Trial And Error

by Icarus

Ron walked across his bedroom, which was clean for once, and carefully shut the drapes. Draco lit a small candle on the battered wood dressing table next to the bed, then set his wand beside it. The bedspread was a soft, deep green, a colour they rarely saw because Ron almost never made the bed. He saw no point to it, since it would just get messy again.

There was a small amphora-shaped jar made of cut glass with a red-wax seal, set on the table. Snape had meticulously sealed the Amanuensis potion, said it had to be kept fresh. There were a number of identical bottles in the drawer. He had been humiliatingly clinical in his explanation of how to use the potion, but, well, it certainly didn't feel 'clinical' now. Ron felt like he was about to do something very, very naughty.

Draco looked up at Ron meaningfully, with a half-smile that spread into an embarrassed snicker. Ron blushed.

"Oh Merlin," Ron said. "Don't make this any harder than it already is."

And at that, Draco laughed outright. Ron put his face in his hands and moaned. He gave up on trying to completely close the curtains, and aimed his wand at the window behind them: "Sabile!"

The windows were now painted black. "There. No one's gonna see through that." He was surprised to feel a breath at his ear. Draco was behind him, unbuttoning his shirt.

"Last chance to change your mind..." Draco murmured. "We could just have sex tonight."

"Will you stop saying that?" Ron pressed back in Draco's warm chest, though he was still wearing too much to feel anything more than body heat. "At a certain point you just have to make up your mind, and do it. The decisions made, that's that."

"You're sure?"

Ron growled.

Draco let go. "All right. It's just this is a big step." He backed off to let Ron finish unbuttoning the shirt, and began undoing his own. A swath of pale chest was revealed as he worked at the buttons. Draco's hands, Ron realised, were shaky. He was more nervous than Ron.

Ron brushed Draco's hands away, undid the last few buttons for him, and then slid the shirt off his shoulders. He almost dropped it on the floor, but remembered Draco didn't like that and draped it across the bed instead.

"It's all right, Draco," Ron said, "chances are it won't work anyway."

"But if it does..."

"Then it does."

Ron ran his hands through Draco's hair and maneuvered him backwards to the bed. "But if you stay this nervous, nothing's going to happen tonight for sure."

He held Draco at arms length and studied him, trailed his thumb along his angular jaw. Draco's eyes were dilated. The man was as scared as if this were his wedding night. All right, Ron could admit it was something like that.

"Shhh," Ron said. "This is nothing you haven't done before."

Draco looked up at Ron with eyes that said that couldn't be more untrue. Ron kept talking to distract him. "What was it like with your wife?" He slid Draco onto the bed, pale against the dark green, his hair haloed in the candlelight.

Draco swallowed. "Well... I, we'd been married a week or so, and my father, he told me enough was enough, I had to sleep with her. And so I explained to her, about... me... and she said that Lucius had already told her. Before we were married even, and that it was fine, she would - she would do everything."

Ugh. No wonder Draco was nervous. Ron lay down next to him and quietly stroked his chest. This might be more difficult that he'd thought, for entirely different reasons. That warm protectiveness he felt so often around Draco surged.

Draco went on, staring at the ceiling. "Well, I - there was nothing I could say to that. So." He cleared his throat. "She had a Fertility charm, and all these hoo-doo voo-doo things that looked like they could have belonged to Trelawney -" Draco snorted. "- all over the bed, over the headboard, on the walls. Ah. I - had some trouble getting it up, because I kept thinking one of the tiki dolls or whatever-the-hell they were would fall on me. Though I prayed that they'd work so I wouldn't have to go through this again."

"Then she started wanking me with these teeny, soft icky hands. And - ugh. It wasn't working." Draco sighed. "All I could think of was how annoyed Lucius was going to be, and thinking about your father in bed really isn't the best thing either."

Ron groaned appreciatively, and buried his head in the pillow. "Oh Merlin, Draco..."

Draco winced. "And she was really sympathetic, too, which was just dandy." He looked over at Ron with a guilty glance. "So I tried thinking of something else. And I, well, came back to life.

"Thank Merlin one of those tiki-things worked, because I never had to do it again." Draco chewed his lip thoughtfully. "I think she was grateful, too."

"I can imagine." Ron leaned up on an elbow. "So what did you think about?"

Draco's smile spread, lighting his eyes. "Well. It was only a few months after you and I'd split up." Ron smiled at that.

Draco stretched like a small lion and then leaned on an elbow. He kicked off one shoe, then the other with two small thumps. "What was it like for you?"

"Me? My wedding night?"

"Yeah."

"Oh." Ron thought. "Well. It wasn't the greatest sex we'd ever had, but it wasn't the worst either. I dunno. Afterwards, when I woke up the next morning I just thought, 'Wow. I'm going to wake up next to this woman for the rest of my life.' It was an amazing thought." Ron's voice was dreamy. "A little scary, too."

"Anyhow, she usually puts this green stuff on her face -- she has great skin, Fred and George were totally jealous of me -- but she didn't wear it during our honeymoon. She was beautiful. So I asked her, if, sometimes, she could not wear that stuff. You know, after we got back. I just wanted her to look like that every now and then!" Ron said defensively. "Right there, in the middle of our honeymoon, we had the worst fight ever!"

"I suppose if we weren't married I wouldn't've said anything, but I wasn't asking for much!" Ron huffed a sigh and sank into the pillow, ran his hand through his hair. "After that she claimed I ruined our honeymoon." He stared up at the ceiling. "Eleven years I heard about that."

"Tsk," Draco clucked and shook his head. "That was a very stupid thing to say."

"Don't tell me you think I ruined our honeymoon?"

"No. She did," Draco's brow arched, "by expecting you to be anything other than tactless."

"Thank you. But I'm not tactless, I'm honest."

Draco simply smiled. The candle made a soft outline of his shoulder as he rolled on his side towards Ron, and leaned delicately on his palm. "So what about when you two -?"

"Our eldest?" Ron flushed. "Um. We were going to wait, you know? Get me settled in my job, buy a house first, those little practicalities. Well, I'm not sure what night it was exactly, but she came back from our honeymoon pregnant." He grinned. "Apparently that was my fault, too."

Draco laughed, as Ron reached behind him and brought up the red glass jar.

"Ready?" he asked with a slight smirk, his eyes intent; Draco's smile slipped a little, but Ron didn't wait for an answer as he broke the seal and tipped the jar back.

He made a face as he swallowed. "Fuck, that's vile shit. What does Snape do, add worm guts for texture?"

Draco's chin tucked in defensively; it was not a good look for him, his chin was slightly weak to start. "Thanks for the warning: no kissing."

"Fuck you - oof!" Ron doubled over suddenly, his arms balled around his stomach. Draco caught him as he buried his face into the comforter.

"Are you all right?"

"Ugh. Just feels like a stomach - augh - ache, that's all." Ron groaned into Draco's knee, muttering curses. "Just - stop." He breathed heavily and slowly began to relax, panting. "Wow, I feel dizzy."

"Probably Severus put in a mild aphrodisiac to compensate for the discomfort."

Ron breathed deeply several times, still holding his gut as he sat up. Very carefully. "Not as bad as I expected actually. Worse than a kick in the gut, better than polyjuice."

"Polyjuice?" Draco looked impressed. "That was one kinky wife you had there."

"Don't ask."

Draco casually hazarded a guess. "She wanted to sleep with Potter?"

Ron squirmed and muttered, "And people call me tactless... Just help me get these trousers off?" The bed squeaked as he unbuckled his belt, toeing his socks off. "I want to see what this looks like."

Then he fixed Draco with a glare. "And don't you dare tell Harry about that. Ever."

"You were so whipped, Weasley."

Ron stretched out naked, his skin flushed with either embarrassment, the aphrodisiac, or both. Draco eyed him up and down as he shucked his own trousers and slid down beside him. He didn't look any different, but Draco knew better.

"So what do you think of the new, improved Ron Weasley?" Ron tittered, his hand reaching to stroke between his legs. He felt around, peering down his chest over himself. "Damn. I was kind of hoping for, um, you know - everything. All the equipment down there."

Draco shrugged and sidled closer. "We could increase the dosage. But if this works, you'd be stuck with 'secondary sexual characteristics' as Severus so elegantly put it."

Ron squinted over at him.

"Tits."

"Forget it," Ron said. "I just wanted the multiple orgasms. Well, that and the oral sex, girl-style."

"Life is so unfair."

Ron continued to explore, and Draco's hand followed, traced circles on his hips and thighs. His skin was dewy with sweat from the aphrodisiac, and a soft scent lifted from him. He didn't seem too different....

Ron found the spot and his eyebrows lifted in surprise.

"So that's it?" he said. "Just an extra hole?"

Draco's fingers traced further. "Well, the insides are quite a bit different, naturally."

Ron frowned slightly. "I suppose the angle's a little better," he moved experimentally, lifting his hips - very attractively. Draco's eyes darkened in appreciation at the flex of a rather broad, but firm stomach. "But what's the big deal? I mean, everyone goes on about this 'woo, sex club' potion."

"Ron. Think about it." Draco leaned over him; his lips were parted, pink, and his eyes were slightly glazed. "Use your imagination." Draco gave him a sultry look.

"It's used for group sex, of course."

Ron goggled up at him. "Have you ever used it?"

Ron's hand had stopped, so Draco took over. Oh, he was very ready. That certainly hadn't taken long.

"Not on myself." He smiled, warmed with the memories. "The positions do get very creative."

"I'll bet," Ron said, in a weak voice. His eyes were huge. Draco had almost forgotten what a straitlaced 'married' life Ron had led since their schooldays. Not that he hadn't been married, too; but there was a difference between 'married' and Married.

Draco let his hand slide away and rolled on top. He nudged his hips forward, and whispered in Ron's ear: "For us," he said as he pressed on; Ron sighed, "the basic missionary position is exotic."

Ron nodded, but he mouthed empty words as Draco moved before he could speak. "Nice." And he moaned, chin lifted. The next word huffed in Draco's hair.

And it was strange. Draco knew every part of Ron Weasley; there should have been a firm round of flesh there; this was so strangely smooth for a man.

Ron's forehead creased.

"Everything all right?" Draco slowed.

"Just... weird, that's all. Feels weird. I keep wanting to lift my legs up a little higher, and I don't need to," he laughed, the breath of it brushed fine hairs from Draco's face, tickled where his hairline started to recede.

"Yeah. I know what you mean."

"I can barely feel you -"

"Hey, now -"

"No, I mean it's all cush-cush."

"Hmm." Soft. Yes. It felt like he was fucking someone else. Draco decided he'd best ignore it.

Ron fell silent, thoughtful, as Draco resumed a steady, rocking pace. There was no sound but the rhythmic squeak of the bed.

"I think you can go a little rougher," Ron added.

Draco paused, leaned over Ron with a heavy sigh. "Have you any other requests while I'm at it?"

"I'm just saying."

The squeak resumed, slightly louder for a moment. Then it lapsed into the same steady pace.

The sound was interrupted with a sigh.

Then Ron said:

"Weird."

With a cautious flicker of a glance, Draco ignored him.

"So different..." Ron puzzled in an abstracted tone. "I swear you feel smaller."

"God damn it, Ron!" Draco slowly sat up on the bed between his legs. Ron leaned on his elbows.

"I'm sorry! I'm just bored!"

"Bored? Bored! That is not what a man wants to hear when he has a job to do!"

"Well I feel like a fucking brood-mare! Like I'm doing my 'wifely duty'!"

Draco's mouth opened and shut for a moment, wordless. He spread his hands, then dropped them, looking Ron up and down again. Nothing had changed in the last five minutes that he knew of.

"Technically, that's exactly what you agreed to," he said finally.

"Well... I -" Ron fell back to the pillow, limp. "Never mind. Let's just get to it." He spread his legs slightly.

"Oh, now that's enticing," Draco sighed, sarcastic. Ron looked at him with heated defiance from the pillow.

"Ron. Why on earth did you take the potion if you weren't ready? We didn't have to do this tonight; there's no full moon requirement or anything of the sort. You've been pushing me all week."

Ron sat up, cross-legged, and was silent a moment, plucking at the edge of the comforter; not looking at him. "We've been putting it off. For weeks."

They had. Draco cringed every time they opened that dresser and heard the rattle of those unopened little jars, and avoided Severus, knowing he'd ask about the success of his potion. Though it hardly mattered - he'd just blame Ron if it failed, and give them both an I-told-you-so. But Severus would never understand their not trying it immediately.

Still that was normal, wasn't it? It was a lot think about. Fatherhood. Ron.

"Let's just stop fucking around with this and do it. I'm sick of being in limbo."

"You've been putting it off, too."

"Yeah. Well, I'm not any more." Ron still wasn't looking at him.

Draco's eyes drilled into him, suspicious, his father's irrelevant warnings spinning through his mind. But if Weasley had wanted his money he wouldn't have left ten years before. "Why now? So suddenly."

Ron glanced up at him. "I just want things settled." Weasley had that grumpy pout that he'd always enjoyed, but had learned was a precursor to stormy weather. It was still cute, however.

"Settled." Draco tried not to smile. This was rocky territory, he knew.

"Yes, settled!"

Annnnd there was the cloudburst....

"Damn it! I've been dangling for weeks on end, I don't know what's gonna happen, everything's going to shit and I just want one thing, just one thing to go right!" He huffed, and Draco waited. If he had learned nothing else living with Ron years ago, he knew to keep his mouth shut during a tirade. It was almost pleasantly familiar.

Ron stormed. "I would rather leave my job because I'm pregnant - and stuff that in the face of Louisa's friends - than be fired."

"Louisa's friends?"

"Yes. She's still friends with half the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. You know how it is, office parties, the company picnic? She was a hit. People joked that she was completely out of my league."

Ron pulled the sheet over him and cuddled under it. He bit his lip mournfully. "I screwed up this week. Nothing bad, but, people are making a big deal of it. Mostly her friends."

Draco made a noise of understanding and tucked under the sheet. "I'll bet she hasn't exactly enlightened them on her affair."

"Ha. Probably compares us over tea."

"Hardly. You have no political weather sense, Ron. She wouldn't have their sympathies if they knew. I'll bet you haven't told them a thing either, have you?"

"It's none of their business," Ron growled.

"One 'overheard' fire-call can take care of that...."

"I won't slander her!"

"Your moral sensibilities have handed her the playing field."

Ron rolled on his side, his back to Draco, and said quietly, "I just want to quit. I'm sick of the whole mess. Just want it over and done with."

"Then quit. This dump can't cost more than a Knut a month, if that." Draco suddenly recalled that Ron probably didn't have two Galleons to rub together, as usual.

Ron shook his head. "Huh. Try three hundred Galleons."

Draco scanned the cheap, faded wallpaper and cracked ceilings and thought it was three hundred Galleons too many, but.... "I can cover it; that's not a problem."

"No!"

"Ron, I spend more than that on shoes."

He opened his mouth to speak, then gaped. "Three hundred for shoes?"

"No, two thousand." He saw Ron's expression and scowled. "They're very nice shoes."

"Huh. They'd better be able to fly," Ron observed and wrapped his arm behind his head. "We've been through this before. No."

"That was ten years ago, Ron."

"I won't be your toy. Not then or now. I didn't want an apartment or that stipend. I wouldn't take your phony job at that Malfoy company either -"

"It was a real job."

"- I didn't want to move into some wing of Malfoy Manor -"

"Well, theoretically that was our long-term goal. The way father felt about my sex life and you, it wasn't really feasible in the immediate -"

"And I wasn't your charity project!"

"Christ. It was just some clothes, Ron! What was wrong with my buying you gifts?"

"It was an entire wardrobe."

Draco made an exasperated noise. "You took it like it was some sort of grand gesture. I was window-shopping in Paris and happened to pick up one or two items that I thought would look good on you." Draco's mouth made a hard line. "My father did that for my mum all the time, and she never walked out on him." There was a petulant silence, and he added, "They weren't even major designers."

"It's how you keep a prostitute. Right down to the secrecy."

Draco squirmed at that. "My father didn't approve. You just don't know what it's like when your father holds all the strings." He rolled over onto his back, quietly thinking this through. Years ago he would have walked out by now, slammed the door. But he was older and it seemed far too much trouble. He sighed and rolled his head towards Ron.

"So. You won't let me buy you anything now. But you're willing to let me cover all the expenses if you get... oh, this sounds so strange... pregnant."

"Of course. I'll be doing something for you then."

"I'm not paying you for some sort of 'services rendered,'" Draco said with distaste.

"No," Ron said, "it's just, I dunno, traditional or something."

"I will never understand you, Weasley."

He licked his lips, and trod carefully around the next subject. "At least... let me chip in for the groceries. I've been staying here, but I really haven't been paying my fair share."

There. Ron couldn't object to that. He hoped.

For three long heartbeats, Ron said nothing. Then he turned to Draco with a small smile, and Draco let out a silent sigh of relief. "All right. That's fair, I reckon." Ron finally relaxed, leaning back on his elbows, and his smile spread into a rueful grin. "But we'd better make this work soon, before I'm fired. I've got see their faces when I apply for maternity leave." They both laughed. "Louisa's gonna be so cheesed off. Not a damned thing she can do about it either."

Draco chuckled and kissed his warm shoulder. The sheets rustled, white and clean, as he edged closer, pressed against moist skin. Ron still smelled sweet, so very sweet. "Then we'll have to get started, won't we?"

He rolled on top, his hips cradled between Ron's knees.

Ron's eyes shone up at him, round and innocent. "You can go a lot harder though. I might be some kind of brood mare, but I'm not a fucking girl."

"Darling," Draco said smoothly, his eyes flicked up and down Ron's torso. He really couldn't resist this one. "I fear this potion affects your cycles for the wors-" Pillows tumbled the floor as Ron leaped on top, pummeling and swearing at him. Draco curled into a laughing ball.

Sometimes Ron was all too easy.

Finis.