Just Like Magic

Draco Malfoy proudly sat down for dinner in the Great Hall. To him, this was one of the greatest days since he started Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Slytherin had just won against Gryffindor in Quidditch, one hundred and seventy to ten. Not to mention he beat one of the best seekers that Hogwarts has ever seen since Charles Weasley.

During the whole meal he couldn't help himself from giving Harry looks of victory. Anyone could tell that Harry felt he had left the whole team down. It was, in fact, the first Quidditch game he lost since he was on the team (and actually played). The only other times were when he was in the hospital wing, with good reason.

Then there was Hermione Granger, Harry's closest female friend in Hogwarts. Top-of-the-class, muggle-born sixth year Gryffindor. It killed Malfoy to think that such a Mudblood (as he would put it) could be ahead of him in all of his classes.

Hermione and Harry were talking to the third of their group, Ronald Weasley. Ron had red hair, a shabby robe and appeared to have no backbone whenever someone (mostly Draco) would bully him. Ron and Hermione would catch Draco's nasty looks just as often as Harry did, naturally comforting him and most likely telling him he'd beat him next time.

But this time, Hermione gave a somewhat of a suspicious look. As if they, or perhaps just she was up to something. A few minutes after that, Hermione, Ron, and Harry just got up and left the table. All three of them left, only glancing back at Draco once or twice.

They were up to no good and Draco had to figure out just what they were up to. He placed his napkin down to the right of him, turned to what seemed like his only friends, Crabbe and Goyle and only said two words, "Let's go."

"Why? Where are we going? I haven't finished my mashed potatoes," replied Goyle.

"I think you could live without them, Goyle. Potter and his friends are up to something. I want to find out what, and you're coming." Goyle stopped eating and stood up as soon as Malfoy did.

But Crabbe just sat there. "Well, are you coming or not?" asked Draco.

"But why do we always have to find out what Potter's doing all the time? I sometimes start to think you might have a thing for him." Goyle and a few other nearby Slytherin's giggled at Crabbe's joke.

Draco just sneered. "Funny, Crabbe. But are you coming or not?"

"I'm coming, I'm coming." Crabbe got up. Then he, Draco and Goyle all left the Great Hall.

"Now which way did they go?" Draco mumbled to himself. A look of anger crossed Crabbe's face.

"How do you expect to find someone when you don't even know what direction they went?" Goyle asked.

Draco just looked at him, "Honestly. Do you even think before you speak? I don't think so. If you actually do, you certainly don't try to make it obvious. We're trying to find Potter, remember? Now let's go this way."

Draco directed his two friends to his right. They walked down the long hall and later, when they came to a dead end, turned left. But then, they saw something moving in the shadows.

"Great!" Crabbe exclaimed, "It's Filch's cat! So not only do we not find Potter, we get in trouble. Great!"

"Don't you know anything?" Draco asked.

"Okay then," said Crabbe, "so what's your suggestion? How do you expect us to get out of here? What do you think we should do?"

They heard Filch not so far from them shouting, "Hello? Anybody there? I don't see the use of you going anywhere. You're getting in trouble either way."

Draco thought, for a split second, and then came up with an idea. "I think we should run."

After nearly ten minutes later of running from Filch, they thought they finally lost him. The only problem they had now was, they were lost themselves. They found themselves in a dead end hallway somewhere on the second floor. "Well," croaked Crabbe, "now what do we do?".

"Let's see what's in here," Draco said while pointing to a door to his left.

Before Crabbe or even Goyle could say anything Draco had already opened the door. Inside the room were nothing but a few abandoned desks and one gigantic mirror. More interested in the mirror than anything, Draco walked over to the right of it, and read what was written in the metal, just above the glass.

"Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on woshi?" Draco read out loud. "I wonder what it could possibly mean." After a moment or two of just pondering over what it meant, Crabbe jumped, showing Draco and Goyle that he, had indeed solved their puzzle.

"It's backwards. It says 'I show not your face but your hearts desire'."

Draco, impressed and astonished all at once that Crabbe finally proved to him that he certainly had a brain in that head of his, read the mirror backwards(just to check and see if Crabbe was right). "Why, you're right!" Draco exclaimed, "Now! Let's see what it says my heart's desire."

Draco, dusted off his robes, almost as if the mirror was to have some sort of opinion on the boy and stepped in front of the mirror. Almost instantly a look of shock came across his face and he jumped backwards, away from his reflection.

"What did it show you?" Goyle asked.

Draco swallowed, "Nothing. It showed me nothing! This mirror is just exactly what it is called, a mirror! Nothing more or less. Now, I say we go to our dormitories and not get in trouble for messing with this. . . rubbish!"

Even though Crabbe and Goyle had a feeling Draco was embarrassed by what the mirror showed him, they didn't question him and followed him to the Slytherin's dormitory's entry.

Draco snapped his fingers. "Now, what was the password? Oh, never mind. I remember. Ashwinder!" With that, the stone wall slid open and Draco and his companions walked in. "Well," Malfoy said, "I am bloody tired. I think I'm going to go to sleep now. 'Night you two."

The next day in potions class Draco was being less snot-faced to Harry and his friends, and even greeted them as they entered. Ron, more shocked than all three of them, just nodded and avoided eye contact, despite Malfoy's failed attempts.

Every other five minutes or so Ron would shoot Malfoy a look, showing Draco that he knew he was up to something. Draco did nothing more than blush and look down, to play with his robes.

"What do you think he's up to?" Ron asked Hermione.

"Ron, he's Draco Malfoy, he is always up to something."

"But this has to be big if he's being nice to us," Ron stated. "I'm talking to him after class." Hermione looked almost confused to hear this come out of Ron's mouth, but said nothing. Ron wasn't the type to confront anyone, not Draco Malfoy at least.

After class Ron did go up to Draco. Right in the middle of an obvious joke Draco was telling Goyle and Crabbe Ron grabbed Draco. "What do you-" Draco turned around. "Oh, hi." Ron speaking to him. . .alone none the less, apparently startled Draco. He shifted the weight of his bag, so it was even more on his shoulder and he stood up straighter than he had before. Ron could've sworn he saw his cheeks even blush a little.

"What are you up to Malfoy?" Ron said firmly. Draco looked a little confused by this, and told Crabbe and Goyle that he'll meet up with them later on. Ron didn't take his eyes off Draco and repeated himself. "What are you up to? I have never seen you nice to me, Harry or Hemione since we first came to Hogwarts. The only time you were nice to Harry was the first day, when you tried to befriend him. So what's the big idea?"

"Turning over a new leaf, Ron," Draco said simply.

Ron was shocked to hear Draco call him by his first name for a change. "A new leaf? And why exactly should I believe you of all people. You Mr. Draco Malfoy. Mr. 'You'll soon find out that some wizarding families are better than others'. I should believe that you of all people are turning over a new leaf?"

"I didn't say you had to believe me did I, Ron?" Draco said calmly. "I just said that I'm turning over a new leaf. Whether or not you believe me, I am still going to continue to be nice to you and you're friends, Harry and that M- girl Hermione."

Ron sighed. "I don't know what you're up to, Malfoy. . ."

Draco turned and looked directly into Ron's eyes and said, "Trust me, I am up to nothing. Here, take a walk with me." They started walking down the corridor.

"Well then," said Ron. "What made you change your ways?"

"It's a long story," started Draco. "Last night, I saw you and your friends leaving the hall. I suspected something, honestly. Crabbe, Goyle and I went searching for you guys. We just escaped trouble and ran into this room, with this mirror in it-"

"The mirror of Erised?" Ron asked excitedly. "I know all about that mirror. It shows you what your deepest desire is, you know. Well, you looked in it right?"

"Yes, you can say that," Draco suddenly appeared to be slightly uncomfortable.

"What did you see then? What is your deepest desire?"

There was a very long and tense pause, and then Draco suddenly looked at Ron and said, "You." Then he turned to Ron, who grew nervous as soon as he said that and abruptly grabbed him, pressed him against the nearest wall, and kissed him.

Ron had never been more shocked in his entire life. But still, Draco eased his tongue into Ron's mouth as he parted his lips and he returned the favour. He placed his hand lightly on to Draco's back and drew him closer to him.

They might've stood there kissing for at least five minutes. Pausing here and there to gaze into one an other's eyes, but that's about it. Until Draco realised something. "We can't do this."

"Wha-"

"I mean, we can't do this, not now at least. Not in the middle of a hall that we take the risk of people actually walking by and figure out what we are doing, which won't take much figuring, you know. We have to do this somewhere more private . . During dinner, tonight. We could eat fast and then meet outside the Hall and you can come with me to the Slytherin Dormitories. No one is ever there at that time. We could be alone. Just you and me."

"Right," replied Ron. "Just you and me. . ." Ron trailed off going in for another kiss. Draco stopped him this time, though.

"We shouldn't take anymore risks right now."

"Okay," Ron said, now assured that Draco wasn't up to anything bad. He felt he could be a little more open about his feelings now.

"So, don't say anything, okay?"

"Okay, Draco." With that they both walked their ways to their next classes, already late.

The rest of the day seemed like forever to Ron. He didn't even pay attention during Transfiguration class, and wound up accidentally turning a frog into a tadpole, rather then what the were supposed to turn it into a bar of chocolate. So while the rest of the class was happily eating their chocolate, Ron was trying to figure out how he could change the tadpole back into the frog and start over.

At last, dinner time came. Ron's anxiety grew just to the even thought of seeing Draco's handsome face again. He sat with Hermione and Harry, and immediately after not mentioning it all day Hermione asked him, "So what happened between you and Draco? Did he say anything?"

Ron hesitated and took a few extra seconds to respond, "No, nothing at all. He just told me that he's going to try and be nice from now on." Harry tried not to laugh.

"I sort of believe him," said Ron.

"Well, I certainly don't. Whenever Draco is the slightest bit of nice he must be up to something," said Hermione.

Ron slightly smiled the instant he noticed Draco entering the room. They exchanged looks, and Draco then sat down. "Maybe. I don't know, but I believe him."

About ten minutes later Draco met up with Ron, as promised. Ron told Harry and Hermione that he suddenly felt sick and that he was going up to bed early, so they shouldn't worry about him. Draco just simply told Crabbe and Goyle that he had to study for a bit. They didn't question him or anything.

The walk to the Slytherin dormitories was quiet. Draco and Ron didn't speak any other word than "Hello". "Here we are," Draco said, "Ashwinder ." The stone wall slid and they walked into Draco's common room. It was quiet and empty; just as Draco expected it to be. "My bed is just this way." He directed Ron to his bedroom, where Draco felt it was safe to kiss Ron now.

It seemed like an eternity since he last touched Ron and put his hand through his short, red hair. He slowly went in to kiss Ron, forcing him back. Ron was now lying down when Draco stopped, and asked Ron if he was sure he that this is what he wanted to do. Ron just slowly nodded and went in to kiss Draco again.

Draco slowly undid Ron's robes. Putting his hands inside he felt overwhelmed with happiness that he could finally be one with the one he loved. He then whispered "I love you," into Ron's ear.

Ron whispered back, "I love you too." Then immediately, Ron went on to suck on Draco's neck, making him moan slightly.

Draco stopped Ron for a second; sure that he had heard a noise. "Hello?" he called out to the dorm. There wasn't any answered.

He looked down at Ron, and grinned. Ron knew what he was about to do.

But just as Draco was about to go down on Ron, they heard a noise coming from the common room. Draco jumped back and shouted toward the door. "Who's there?" Ron panicked and gathered up his things. He and Draco studied the door, almost expecting someone to barge right through it, but after a few minutes (that seemed like a lot longer) no one came.

Draco got up and moved to the door to open it. "Anyone there?" he called out.

"Oh hey, Draco," said a voice inside the common room.

"Crabbe? Goyle? What are you two doing here early? I told you that I wanted to be alone," he looked inside the room again and gave Ron a look that told him to hide. Judging by the sound of the footsteps, Crabbe and Goyle were coming closer, and he was too close to being caught. So he dived underneath Draco's bed.

Ron gasped; he had just remembered that he left his robes thrown across Draco's bed. But knew it was too late for him to get them now, so he sat there and hoped for the best. Apparently, Crabbe and Goyle were now in the room and he was an inch closer to being caught.

"Well? Are you going to answer me or no?" Draco asked.

"Well.. we were full.. So we decided to come up. What's the big deal anyway?" Crabbe replied.

Draco's face dropped. "Wait, so everyone else is at the Great Hall. . . right?"

"Yeah, what's the big deal?" Goyle said while plopping himself onto his own four-post.

"Um.. nothing.. nothing at all. Just um.. could you leave me alone for a while?"

Crabbe walked around studying the room. "You're not keeping anything from us? Are you Draco?"

"You know, Crabbe. I missed the days when you had less than half a brain. Whatever happened to those days?" Crabbe said nothing. "See? That's the Crabbe I grew to know. Now, the two of you. Out!"

Crabbe and Goyle left and shut the door with no more than a few curses under their breath. Ron slid from underneath the bed once he heard the door slam, gasping for air. "Um.. Ron.. I'm sorry. I didn't think that those two dunderheads where going to come up here so early."

Ron nodded. "It's not you fault. Who could've predicted something like this?"

At that moment they heard more voices coming from the common room. More people were coming up from dinner. Ron grabbed his robe from off the bed and put it back on, straightening out his tie. "Great! Now what are we going to do?"

"Just.. don't panic, Ron. There has got to be a way for you to get out of here without being caught."

"Like how?"

"I know!" Draco grabbed his cloak. "Wrap this around you. You could walk out through the common room without attracting too much attention."

Ron looked uneasy about this plan, but he decided to go for it anyway, it was the only plan they had. "It's worth a shot, I guess."

So, Ron covered himself with the cloak, and walked through the Slytherin common room. A few Slytherins questioned it, but Draco just said it was an unlucky first year with a bad rash("Some tall first year if you ask me," commented Pansy Parkinson). Either way, Ron was out of the Slytherin common room. They thought they were in the clear until. .

"Malfoy?. . . Weasley?" Professor Snape loomed over them. "Dare I ask why the both of you were exiting the Slytherin common room? Or no. . . better yet, Weasley?"

Ron gulped. "Yes, sir?"

"What were you doing in the Slytherin's common room? The last time I checked you did not belong in my house. That would be a gold and scarlet tie you are wearing, is it not?"

"Uh.... Yes, sir.. It is."

Snape, looking rather annoyed, turned to Draco. "You found him snooping around in the common room I assume?"

"Um... Yes, yes I did, Sir." Ron's jaw dropped at what Draco had just done. Well, what did you expect, exactly? He's a Slytherin, remember?

"Well then, I see there is no need for you to be here. Go back in, I will surely give Slytherin twenty five points for this."

"TWENTY FIVE!?" Ron shouted, but Snape ignored his comment.

"Yes, Professor Snape," Draco said and then walked back to the common room.

"As for you," Snape turned to Ron. "You still have not answered my question."

"Well.. I uh... I I," Ron stuttered.

"I suppose you think you could do just about whatever you want here in this school, and not be punished for it?"

"N-No sir."

"Well, we'll have to see what Professor McGonagall thinks about this. As for myself, I will take twenty five points from Gryffindor for this sheer action of stupidity. Come with me, Weasley."

When they arrived at McGonagall's office, she was already there, grading exam papers. She looked up at Ron and Snape as they entered the room. "What happened?"

Ron gave a worried look as Snape replied, "Mister Weasley here was in the Slytherin common room. If it wasn't for Mr. Malfoy who knows what trouble he could have caused." Ron clenched his fists, making his knuckles turn white.

McGonagall put down her quill as she got up from her chair. "Is this true, Ron?"

Ron looked like he was about to be sick. "Yes Professor"

"How did you find out that he was in the common room, Severus?"

"He was leaving with Mr. Malfoy, to my office I suppose."

"When was this? Just now?"

"I brought him here as soon as I spotted him."

"That would have been just after supper, and I don't recall seeing either Mr. Weasley or Mr. Malfoy at supper for too long, Severus. I don't think it was entirely Ronald's doing in this, somebody gave him the password. Or, might have helped him get in. Are you sure it was Malfoy who caught Mr. Weasley?"

"That is what he told me, Minerva. You can't possibly think that Malfoy would associate himself with Weasley? That he would help him get into the Slytherin common room. After all, just what would he possibly have to do in the Slytherin common room?"

"That is exactly what I think. But what his business was in the common room, well, maybe he could help us out with that one," she said while looking at Ron while expecting an explanation.

"I... I.. uh.."

Just as he was about to make up a story, Dumbledore walked it. Oh great, he thought to himself Dumbledore will know everything. "Now what is all this fuss about?" Dumbledore asked.

"Mr. Weasley was in the Slytherin common room tonight. If it hadn't been for Draco Malfoy, he might have done a few things he would have regretted."

"Really, Severus? But why is Draco not here? Wouldn't you have interest to his side of the story? I would believe it is unfair to the both of them to only get one side of the story, when it might not even be what truly had happened."

"I will go get Malfoy, Headmaster." Snape left the room, leaving Dumbledore, McGonagall and Ron alone, with Ron fearing the worse.

Not even five minutes later did Snape return, with Malfoy(already in his pinstriped pajamas) right by his side. Ron and Draco exchanged looks. Ron could tell that Draco felt responsible for what has happened, but this didn't matter, Ron was going to get in trouble and he knew it.

"Now Draco," Dumbledore said, "Could you tell me what exactly happened with Mr. Weasley over here. This is becoming so troublesome and I am sure that we all want to go to bed. So I am asking you to keep it short as possible."

"Well," Draco said while looking at Ron again, "I came up from dinner early, to do some extra studying for the Potions exam tomorrow." He paused, looking at Snape to get an approving looking. "And I got up to my room, and I opened the door..."

Ron was fuming, he couldn't believe this was actually happening, he just about had enough.

"And then I saw Weasley in there, going through my things! I don't know what he was doing in there, but he was going through my thing!"

Ron had enough of this. "You're a filthy liar! I did nothing of the sort!" he blurted out, making his shout a lot louder than what he meant it to be.

Snape was shocked. "I do believe, Mr. Weasley. That you are in no position to be shouting, and interrupt someone while they are speaking. This is very serious, Mr. Weasley."

Ron turned red and looked down at the floor and said, "I apologize, Professor."

"What is your side of the story then, Ron?" Dumbledore asked.

"I.. um.. Draco tricked me into going in there!" Good one, I am sure they will believe you on that one, Ron thought to himself.

McGonagall sighed. "As much as I'd like to think you have a good explanation to be in another house's common room, you haven't given us any type of credible evidence in your defence. Thirty points will be taken from Gryffindor and you will have a week's detention. Be grateful that it isn't more."

Just when Ron thought that things couldn't get any worse, Dumbledore asked Ron and Draco to come up to his office for a moment or two before they went back to their dormitories.

When they arrived at Dumbledore's office he gestured to the both of them to take a seat, making Ron think that they would be there for a little over a few moments. "Now boys," Dumbledore started, "You know very much that I know exactly why Ron was in the Slytherin common room."

Ron and Draco's gasped and exchanged very worried looks. I knew it I knew it I knew it I knew it I knew it! Ron kept repeating to himself. "You. . you do?" Ron asked. Draco was uncomfortably fidgeting in his seat.

"Of course I do. You know very well enough that I do know everything that goes on in this school. Everything, Mr. Malfoy." He gave Draco a look that made Ron wonder.

"So... what are you going to do? Tell our parents? What then? Why'd you bring us up here for?"

"I brought you two up here, Mr. Malfoy to let you both know that you should not be worried about things like that. You act like you two are the first to be, well. . . you know, here at Hogwarts. The school is very old you know. You act like you're the only two now, as well."

"You mean," Ron started, "there are more 'couples' here?"

"Who are they?" Draco leaned forward in his chair, more interested and relaxed now

"Yes, there is, Mr. Weasley. And Mr. Malfoy, I don't share things like that with other students."

"Is that all you have to say to us, Headmaster?"

"Yes," Dumbledore said, "you may go now. But to bed, please. I'm sure you both are tired."

"Yes, sir," Ron and Draco said simultaneously as they walked out of his office.

During their walk down from Dumbledore's office neither boy said a word to each other, until Ron finally broke the silence, "Fifty five points and a weeks detention. All thanks to you, Draco. I trusted you. I thought that you..." He brought Draco into an empty hallway where they could talk.

"I what? What're you going to say? You thought that I loved you? Is that it?" It was like Draco transformed into a complete different person, the person Ron knew the day before. He started to see the Draco Malfoy he first met, and he didn't like it at all.

"What are you trying to say, Draco? Did what happened tonight meant nothing to you?" Ron retorted.

Draco almost looked offended, almost, but not quite. "Mean nothing to me? Of course it meant something to me! Otherwise I wouldn't have let it happen. I have a reputation that I have to keep, Ron."

"A reputation?! So right now I am serving a week's detention and more than fifty points is going to be taken from my house so you could keep your filthy reputation!? In case you haven't thought about this before, Draco you didn't exactly get me out of the common room in a way you would have if you found me 'sneaking around' in your stuff. I'm hurt, Draco. Really, I am."

"Filthy reputation? Ron, I thought you'd understand. Besides, I panicked. I didn't know what to say so I went with the first thing out of Professor Snape's mouth. Clearly you didn't have such a great story yourself, either. 'He tricked me into doing it!'" Draco laughed. "Come on, you could have came up with a better story than that."

"Like you did?"

"Not like what I did. Ron. I know I did a stupid thing tonight."

"Don't need to say that again."

"We both did."

Ron's heart dropped to the floor. "I knew you thought nothing of what happened tonight."

"Ron! How many times do I have to tell you?! It meant everything to me! You mean everything to me."

Ron, feeling a little better, said, "then prove it."

"Fine then," Draco started, "maybe I will." Draco, once again pushed Ron against the doorway to an empty class room and kissed him.

Ron felt around for the doorknob, hoping the door wasn't locked, which it wasn't and he and Draco went into the room, still kissing. They then did what they were going to do in the Draco's bedroom earlier that night.

Ron was awaken by the first ray of sunlight peering through the window, with Draco still sleeping next to him. As much as he would have liked to sit there and just admire his lover while he slept, it was only a matter of time (if they even had any) until the halls would be swimming with students. "Draco, wake up," he whispered.

Draco sprung up and looked around. "What time is it?" Draco asked.

"I don't know," Ron replied, "but whatever time it is it doesn't matter, and even though it's a Saturday I reckon it'll only be minutes until someone catches us. . . again."

"Oh great! Whatever made us sleep in this room!" Draco said while hastily fixing his tie.

"I don't know," replied Ron, "it was really stupid of us. Saturday or not we're bound to be found. We must've been all caught up in the moment."

"Stupid? Yes. Caught up in the moment? Definitely. Bound to be found? Perhaps not. We could just leave. . . and hope not to be found. It can't be that late. Let's go."

Draco looked out the door first, and checked to see if anyone was in the halls. He saw no one. "Ron," he said, "we should go opposite directions, us being seen together would be far too suspicious."

"You're right. Well then, I'll go to my common room. . When are we going to meet again?"

Draco took a moment to think. "You know, we could use this room. It's not too hard to find. . Plus, it doesn't look like it's commonly thought about either. We could meet here after everyone has went to their dorms."

"That sounds like a brilliant idea. . .Well. . Till then." Ron shifted his weight uncomfortably. "Bye." Ron gave Draco a good-bye kiss and they went down opposite directions of the hall.

That day, like the day before was long and dragging. More long and dragging, if anything. He got up to his dorm right before anyone was waking up. If he and Draco woke up maybe even a minute or two later, Seamus Finnigan would have already been up and he would have had to explain himself. That day, Ron, Harry and Hermione paid a visit to Hagrid. Whenever the subject of Draco came up, Ron suddenly got quiet. Whenever he did have to say his name he had to try extra-hard to call him "Malfoy" instead of "Draco" which is what he was getting used to doing.

Being that the Great Hall was especially hard, Ron tried to keep minimum eye contact with Draco. Somehow, that didn't exactly work and they wound up looking at each other a lot more than both of them intended to. Ron never realized how much Hermione and Harry brought up Draco until that day, it made him think about Draco even more. It also made him wonder if Draco was also thinking about him.

After dinner, Ron made sure he was one of the last people to leave the Great Hall. He asked Hermione and Harry to be left alone, and Hermione actually commented on his "strange" behavior but that was about it.

He knew exactly what room to go to, it wasn't too far from his house, actually. Ron entered the classroom, he got there first so he sat down at a chair. What if he didn't remember what room? What if he got caught? What if he changed his mind? All sorts of questions like these ran through Ron's mind.

After what seemed like an hour (which was really only about five minutes) Draco opened the door. "Sorry I'm late," he said, "I just wanted to make sure the coast was clear for me to come here. It also looks like Crabbe and Goyle are growing brains (if I dare to use their names and the word "brains" in the same sentence) and are surprisingly starting to suspect something."

Ron laughed. "That's impossible! Crabbe and Goyle couldn--"

Draco stopped Ron in the middle of his sentence to kiss him, something they both had been wanting to do. Then, once again they did what they did the night before. Only this time, they went back to their dorms, before falling asleep in the classroom..

Ron and Draco continued this for nights after nights, without getting caught. But by now Hermione and Harry were starting to get concerned and it was becoming harder and harder to shake them off. Ron considered telling them what was actually going on, because he felt that it would make things easier for him.

"They're my closest friends, Draco! I promise you they wouldn't tell a soul!"

"You can't be too sure of that, Ron. I'm Draco Malfoy, in case you may have forgotten. Whether or not you trust me. . . I doubt they ever will."

"Whether or not they trust you, I trust them. They wouldn't tell anyone! Anyway, this has been going on for nearly two weeks now! How much longer you expect us to keep this up for? Another two weeks?"

"I guess I never thought of it that way. . . I mean, Crabbe and Goyle unexpectedly aren't getting any smarter and aren't suspecting anything. Maybe. . . Maybe you should tell them."

"I'll tell them tomorrow morning. I'll get Harry up early, and Hermione. . she's always up early. I could talk to them in our common room or something."

The next morning, he got up early to wake Harry up. "Harry.. Harry get up."

"But Ron, it's so early. Let me sleep." Harry rolled over on his bed.

"Harry," Ron started, "I need to tell you and Hermione something. It's sort of important."

"Fine, fine I'm up." Harry got dressed and then they went into the common room. Where, as expected, Hermione was there, by herself, studying for the Herbology test they were having in three days.

Harry and Ron took seats by Hermione. "You two are up early," Hermione said.

"Ron said that he needed to tell us something important."

"What is it Ron? Is it the reason why you have been acting so.. So. . differently?"

"Yes. . . Well. . I don't know how to put it."

"Are you ill?"

"No, no I'm not sick. I. . . " Ron paused and when he finally spoke it was the lowest audible whisper he could mutter. "I'm in love with Draco Malfoy." Hermione and Harry were both equally shocked.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Harry shouted.

Ron looked down at his shoes. "That's why I've been acting so strangely. After dinner I would go to meet him in one of these abandoned classrooms."

"Ron," Hermione started, "out of all people I would have never expected you. Harry, maybe. But never you!" Harry gave Hermione a sharp look.

"You're not going to tell on us are you? I kind of don't want the whole school knowing about. . well. . Us."

"Ron! I can't believe you'd think that me and Harry would tell anyone about this!"

"But honestly," Harry said, still trying to absorb what had Ron just told him, "Draco Malfoy! of all people. . ."

"Dumbledore already knows, I don't think any of the teachers do. Never mind the students. I have your word that you're not going to tell anyone? Right?"

"You have my word."

Harry looked like he was going to be sick. "This is just too much to swallow. My best friend and Draco, unbelievable. But you have my word."

"I'm glad I can trust you two," Ron said, "So now you know where I go nearly every night."

"To meet up with Draco," Hermione stated.

"Exactly."

"I still can't believe this," Harry said while still staring at Ron with disbelief.

Hermione and Harry kept their word, Draco and Ron met almost every night in that same classroom. If they didn't fool around, they talked. They saw as much of each other as they possibly could, but finally, summer vacation came.

"We could send each other owls can't we? Just. . sign them different names? There's always next year. Oh the summer will be too long!"

"Next years our last year here, too, Ron. What will we do after school?"

"We could tell people after school? It wouldn't matter after schools over if we see each other or not."

Draco shrugged. "We could worry about it then, I suppose. But tomorrow's the last day. . and I won't be able to see you for the whole summer. Promise you'll write me every day?"

"I promise," Ron replied, "just as long as you promise the same thing to me."

"I promise," Draco said as he went in to kiss Ron .

That summer, Ron decided that it was indeed, the longest summer of his life. Even when Harry came over towards the end, time seemed to even go slower than usual. Ron ran into Draco in Diagon Alley, they tried their best to keep from each other, but eventually they wound up snogging in the back of a crowed bar, until Hermione walked in on them. They then made plans to meet up with one another, on the first night of school, in what they now called, their room.

September first finally came, and the feast came and went as well. This time Ron was the late one, but Draco didn't seem to care. As soon as Ron closed the door behind him, Draco practically leapt onto Ron, kissed him, and whispered into his ear "I love you Ronald Weasley." As if it was the first time, Ron whispered it back, and they did what they were waiting so long to do again.

But they wound up waking up in the same situation that they did the first time they stayed in that room, only they probably had already missed their first class. "We could ummmm," Ron hesitated, "one of us could go and one could pretend like we're sick?"

"Ron, we both know better than that. No one will buy that. Besides, what if it's Potions? You know Professor Snape would never let us get away with that. Definitely not you, at least. Either way I reckon we leave this room now before we're any later."

They walked out of the class room. . Right into Dumbledore. "You two again. Whatever am I going to do with you?"

"I... I... crud."

"What was that, Ron? You will have to speak louder than that if you want me to hear you."

"Nothing, Headmaster."

Dumbledore looked at them thoughtfully, before finally speaking. "You two spent the night in that room again?" He pointed to the door that was still left slightly open. Ron gulped Again? Oh no he knows! He knows about everything! "Don't trouble yourself, Mr. Weasley. As much as I disapprove of you two spending the night in one of these rooms. I'll let this go one more time. I will also take you to your first period classes, Potions. You have that class together. I almost forgot, here are your schedules."

Dumbledore handed them their schedules and escorted them to their class. Snape looked peeved that the two students were late, but before he could say anything, Dumbledore did. "These students were with me, Professor. I hope you do not mind and excuse these boys, just this once." Ron was pretty sure that Dumbledore winked at him, but ignored it.

"Very well," Snape said, who obviously would've taken points from Gryffindor if Dumbledore had said nothing. Dumbledore left the room, and Ron and Draco took their seats.

"What happened?" Harry whispered, "You didn't come back up to the dorms last night.. Oh.. never mind... Don't answer that." Harry shuddered.

"We overslept, that's all."

"I told you its okay, you didn't have to tell me." Harry finished off the sentence a little louder than he wanted and Snape overheard. He took five points from Gryffindor, and threatened to take more if he heard another word out of Harry the rest of the period.

The school year flew by, with Draco and Ron meeting every single night in the very room. They once ran into a Hufflepuff, but Draco quickly covered it up with a memory charm. When Christmas vacation came Ron had to go to Romania with his family, so he and Draco promised, just like they did in the summer, to owl each other everyday.

Graduation came, and they promised each other that they would see one another whenever they could and keep in touch. They kept that promise, and met in Diagon Alley at least once a week and sent each other an owl every day. Their relationship grew stronger everyday, and eventually Draco and Ron told their families. Ron's family, to make a long story short, was completely disgusted. Draco told his mother, Narcissa but not his father, Lucius, who was in Azkabam for the rest of his life for serving the Dark Lord.

Narcissa Malfoy wasn't nearly shocked, and when Draco told her she was actually happy for her son. The Weasleys got used to Ron being gay, and being with a Malfoy. Fred and George, of course, teased them about it. But by the time Ron was nineteen, Fred and George were always too busy working on their joke shop, so Ron hardly heard anything about it.

Then, on Ron's twentieth birthday, Draco proposed to Ron and they got married the next spring. They preferred not to have so many people at the wedding, so only their family was invited (with the exception of Harry and Hermione, Draco didn't talk to Crabbe and Goyle anymore). They went to Aruba for a week for their honeymoon. Ron, took his father's place in the Muggle Artifact Office, and Draco like his father (before he was fired) became a governor.

The Holidays they spent with both their families and friends. Harry worked at Hogwarts as the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. Hermione landed herself a job as the Transfiguration teacher at Hogwarts when she was thirty two, after Dumbledore died at the age of a hundred and sixty seven Professor McGonagall was appointed Headmaster, the first female Headmaster since the school was built.

One night, after Voldemort's second return, when Draco and Ron were at the age of thirty, he came looking for Draco. "He knows you're here!" Ron exclaimed. "We've got to get you in a safe place! In a hurry!"

Draco sighed and sat himself down on their black leather couch. "It's no use. He's coming in hope that I will work with him. Just like my father did."

"But you won't! Oh, Draco. I'm so worried! If only Hermione was here- she could help us!"

But Ron knew it was hopeless. Voldemort was coming and he was coming that night, whether or not Draco wanted him there. "So what are we going to do?" Ron asked.

"Wait," Draco replied, "that's all we can do. Wait."

Ron saw a tear drip down Draco's cheek, and wiped a tear from his. "You can't just give up. Not like this! I won't let you."

Draco completely ignored what Ron was saying. "Ron, take this." He handed Ron an envelope. "Don't read it. Leave now. When you come back. . and when I'm gone, I want you to read what is in that envelope."

"But I can't leave you."

"You must. Please, just go."

"But I can't!"

"Leave! Now!" Draco hissed, sounding a lot angrier than what he was, in fact he wasn't angry at all. Just hurt. "Please," he said in a calmer voice, while he got up and grabbed Ron by the shoulders. "Do it for me. Do it for yourself. If you stay here you aren't safe."

Ron, feeling helpless as ever, sighed and said, "I'll go."

Draco said, "I love you." grabbed Ron, and kissed him. It was the longest, most passionate kiss they ever had shared, or at least it felt like it.

When Ron backed away, a genuine look of sadness was in his eyes as his gazed into Draco's and replied, "I love you too."

With that, Ron left their house and never looked back.

When Ron returned to his house the next morning, he didn't find Draco gone. It was worse than that, he found his friend, his lover, his husband dead on the floor, wide-eyed and lifeless.

Ron screamed at the top of his lungs, dropped to the floor and knelt next to Draco, crying over him.

Ron woke up, in his large half-empty King sized bed, that he once shared with Draco. It was a dream. He thought, A dream that really happened, a memory. But it was a dream. Ron sat up in his bed, tears rolling down his cheeks, he looked down to his pillow, where there was a puddle of tears absorbed by the pillowcase. "That was five years ago. Ron, you have to get over it," he told himself. But that dream reminded him of the letter Draco gave him.

Ever since that morning, he left that letter tucked away in a drawer in his desk, he let himself forget about it. He thought it would be too painful to ever read the letter, so he put the desk away in the attic. He had forgotten about it since then. It wasn't until now that he wanted to read that letter, to finally read what it said.

Ron lifted himself out of bed, walked through the door and pulled down the entrance to the attic. It was no later than five in the morning. The sun wasn't out and it was especially cold in the attic. He crept to the desk, and with the key he left on top of the desk, unlocked the drawer and pulled out the envelope. Ron closed the drawer and left the attic, not even taking a peek inside the letter, still too afraid to open it to see what it says.

He brought the envelope to his bedroom and sat down at the edge of his bed. He lit a candle on the table beside his bed and looked at the envelope. The back of the envelope was sealed with a bit of green wax, with a "M" imprinted in it. On the front was his name, written in black ink in Draco's handwriting. Just seeing the outside was enough to make Ron cry again.

He slowly and gently opened the envelope, making sure not to tear it. He took out the letter and placed the empty envelope on the table. He unfolded the letter and began to read it.

Dear Ron,

If you are reading this it means that I am, in fact, dead. You have to understand that there was no one in this world that I loved and cared for more than you. I don't know what would have happened if I let you stay in the house the night that Voldemort paid his visit. He would have killed you too, or would have killed just you. Leaving me to hate myself for the rest of my cursed life. Knowing you, it must be years after I died. By now, I expect Harry has defeated the Dark Lord yet again.

Ron let a tiny smile escape him, this was true. Only weeks after Draco's death, Voldemort was defeated by Harry once again, and hasn't been seen since. But it wasn't the time to think about that, Ron had to finish this letter before he could back to sleep again.

Look, Ron I'm sorry I had to leave you, but what else was I to do? I don't want you mourning over me forever, either. I loved you, I still love you. . If I'm not worm food. I just want you to be happy.

-Love you always,

Draco

Ron let out a big sob, and then another, letting a teardrop fall onto the piece of paper before he folded it again and put it back into the envelope. He put the letter onto the table and blew out the candle.

Ron sat that in the dark for a while, just sitting there crying. He wanted to tell Draco how he felt, how much he cared for him. But he knew that Draco knew that, so it gave him some reassurance. He laid himself down and put his head on to the pillow and thought to himself. It was so real, so real. It was like one minute he was really back again, and then I wake up and he was gone. Like magic.

Just like magic.