But It Was Just A Test!

"Hey Malfoy."

Ron steadily walked closer to Malfoy as the Slytherin threw a surprised look at him. The blond boy collected himself and gave a small smile towards his boyfriend's best friend. He raised an eyebrow at Ron who was nervously shifting from a foot to another.

"Harry...Harry told me to tell you that he-"

The smile disappeared from Malfoy's face. He frowned when he heard Ron stuttering his words and Ron witnessed an unidentified emotion flashing in his silvery eyes.

"That he what, Weasley?"

Slightly surprised by the rise in Malfoy's voice, Ron toughened up his act and bluntly voiced out the news.

"That he needs some space and he wants to break up with you." There you go, you nasty little ferret, thought Ron. I finally did it. He saw Malfoy's face looking blankly at him, his eyes betraying as it blazed passionately with that unidentified emotion again.

"And he sent a messenger for that. Rather cowardly of him, isn't he?"

Ron's blue eyes flashed as he hastily thought of a reason for Harry's absence.

"He had a date with someone else. Colin Creevey to be exact. At... at Hogsmeade. Looks like you are not that important to him, Malfoy." Ron added nastily. He watched Malfoy face's unveiling nothing as he wore that frighteningly blank mask again. Ron was almost anxious by the total lack of emotion that Malfoy was showing.

That git have no feelings at all. Maybe Harry is better off without him.

"Well," he paused. "There are plenty of other fishes in the sea. One's gone, ten more to come. Now if you will excuse me, Weasel, I've got places to go."

With that, Malfoy brushed past Ron without even a second glance as he passed. Ron stood satisfied for a couple of minutes and was just about to walk back to his room when he heard a soft sound inside one of the unused classrooms in the hallway. Ron took out the invisibility cloak that he had "borrowed" from Harry and threw it over himself. He walked to the far end of the corner and went into the room. The sight of what greeted him gave him the shock of his life as he blinked a few more times to make sure his eyes were not playing tricks on him.

For inside, he saw Malfoy slumped down the corner of the room with tears pouring down his pale face. His face was contorted with pain as his mouth gave out soft moaning sounds and sobs. A wave of shock and guilt thrashed into Ron as he silently witnessed the unexpected scene in front of him.

Bloody hell. He really does care for Harry.

He gently pried the door open and quietly walked away, his body hidden beneath the cloak. Ron could still hear Malfoy's quiet sobs as he slowly traced his steps back to the Gryffindor Tower.

***

Safely back into the room, Ron bumped into Hermione who was walking towards one of the seats at the fireplace with some books in her arms.

" 'Mione!"

Hermione gave a warm smile towards her boyfriend and best friend. Her smile faltered when she saw the anxious look on Ron's face and she immediately put a hand on his shoulder.

"What's the matter?"

"I need to talk to you. Come on; let's sit at the chairs over that corner. Thank God this room is empty." He pulled Hermione towards the end of the room and without delay sat down on one of the red chairs underneath the painting of the golden lion. The lion gave a soft purr as Hermione sat down beside Ron.

Ron began by explaining about worrying over Harry's relationship with Malfoy and how he feared that the Slytherin would probably hurt his best friend. He told her about lying to Malfoy and spying on him with Harry's invisibility cloak, which he had taken without Harry's permission.

Basically he told everything to Hermione, whose face was turning redder with every account. He immediately fixed his eyes at the ink spot on his shoes so he could avoid witnessing her increasing anger. He felt a cold chill of fear and embarrassment rushing through his veins as he felt her glare boring into his head. Ron finished his story with a big gulp and he looked up to see Hermione gritting her teeth in a most menacing way. The room was met with silence for a few minutes before Hermione opened her mouth and gave a big shout to Ron.

"Ronald Weasley! How can you be so bloody stupid?"

Ron winced when he heard her use the word bloody. Hermione rarely swore except during times when she was really angry. Like now.

"But it was just a test! Now I know for sure that he really does love Harry."

"So you think that gives you the right to pull that cruel prank on both of them, didn't you? Didn't you even stop and think how you could hurt Harry as well? They have been going out for six months now and don't you think the time factor alone is reasonable enough for you to trust Harry's judgment? Thank God Harry's out with Sirius now or he would definitely feel betrayed by your stupid actions."

Ron hung his head down. He was humiliated beyond words and he could feel tears stinging his eyes.

"I'm sorry, 'Mione."

Hermione huffed angrily. She put both of her hands on her hip as she continued to lecture her already mortified boyfriend.

"Don't apologize to me. It's Draco who deserves the apology. You had better explain everything to him and Harry immediately after dinner. Hopefully it wouldn't be too late." Hermione picked up her books and quickly left the common room leaving Ron looking dejectedly at her retreating back.

***

"Just k off, Potter!"

The dining hall grew silent as all eyes (except for the Slytherins) were focused on a very angry Draco Malfoy who was seated at the corner of the Slytherin table. The Slytherins however were glaring murderously at Harry who was standing behind Malfoy looking very hurt and adorably confused. Crabbe's eyes glittered dangerously at Harry whilst Goyle's hand was pounding on the table threateningly.

Ron watched everything from his seat at the Gryffindor's table. He felt his dinner stuck in his throat, the carrots and potatoes filling the space as it blocked his esophagus. He was so in shock that he didn't feel the painful slap Hermione gave him.

"Look at the damage that you have done," she snapped as her right hand gripped hard on Ron's upper arm and roughly pulled him up with her. "Now let's get Harry out of here before any of the Slytherins hurt him more." They quickly walked to the Slytherin's table and to Harry, who was still talking softly to Malfoy's back.

"Why are you doing this, Draco?"

Malfoy blatantly ignored him and stabbed hard at the carrot on his plate. He turned to talk to Blaise Zabini; who was really enjoying Harry's discomfort and jealousy as he leaned closely towards Malfoy, their faces almost touching.

Hermione put a hand on Harry's shoulder. She could feel his body shaking as she pulled him gently out of the hall, with Ron following at their backs.

Outside the hall,

Harry's eyes were filled with hurt and confusion. Hermione was busy glaring at on and rubbing Harry's back to comfort him. Their walk back to their common room was tense as their climbed the stairs and stopped by the Fat Lady's painting.

"Harry love, what's with the sad face?" the Fat Lady asked, her eyes going as big as the scone in her hand. She leaned hungrily near Harry, expecting juicy news to spread to her friends tonight.

Harry just hung his head down and shook his head. He didn't want to blow things up. He knew what a big gossip the Fat Lady is.

"Nothing's wrong. I'm just confused."

Hermione gave a soft sigh as she rubbed her best friend's back. She looked over at Ron whose head was bent as low as Harry's.

"You won't be as confused once Ron explain inside, Harry." Harry looked up at Hermione with surprise. She nodded once to Harry and gave the password to the Fat Lady who was pouting in disappointment.

"Well, no gossip for me then, but I hope things will become better for you, dear."

She swung the painting aside and the three of them climbed in. Hermione gripped Ron's arm firmly and steered him towards Harry.

"H-H-Harry. I meant to tell you this earlier but you were back later than I'd expected. And... And I tried to explain things to Malfoy too but the Slytherins wouldn't let me go near him. I'm so sorry Harry; please don't hate me for this. I was only doing it for your own good..."

Ron gulped nervously and went on to tell the whole story to Harry. He was just about to finish when he saw Harry raise a hand and he immediately flinched, for he was expecting his best friend to punch or hex him in anger. Ron gave a slight shiver as he ended his explanation.

"But it was just a test, Harry and now I know for sure that he does care about you."

But never would he expect that raised hand was not to cause him physical pain but to stifle the laughter that was coming out from Harry's mouth. He gaped whilst Hermione had that bewildered look on her face. Was Harry going mad? They both thought.

"Colin Creevey? I "broke up" with Draco for Colin Creevey?"

Hermione got the joke and gave a wide grin whilst Ron just looked confused.

"But... but he wasn't that bad Harry... I mean, he practically worships you and he is the Hogwarts' king of photography."

Harry practically choked on his laughter as he heard Ron's explanation.

"But he's still Colin, Ron. Sheesh, I think I'd better go and clarify things with Draco."

With that, Harry was off to the dungeon leaving a befuddled Ron clutching a very amused Hermione standing in the middle of the Gryffindor's common room.

***

The next morning, Harry was woken by a shrill scream coming from Ron's bed. He quickly jumped out of his bed and ran towards Ron, joined by Neville, Dean and Seamus, his other roommates. Ron, who was half cowering underneath his blankets, pointed a shaky finger to the upper corner of his bed. The four of them turned to see a huge reddish brown spider resting cozily on the top of Ron's pillow. The spider gave a friendly wave at Harry who was peering closely at the markings on top of the spider's back.

"Hey, that symbol looked familiar. Hold on, isn't that the image of the Malfoy's crest?"

Ron looked confused for a moment before his face began to contort with rage.

"MALFOY!" he screamed as he trashed and threw his arms and legs in anger. He looked both ridiculous and adorably cute, like a four-year-old tantrum throwing boy.

Seamus, Dean, Neville and Harry snickered loudly as Harry took the spider away from Ron's bed and freed it outside the window. He walked back towards his own bunk and was just about to jump back in before he heard Neville squeaking the fact that Ron had peed onto his bed. Harry turned to see Neville pointing towards a wet spot on Ron's blanket.

Ron, red faced and humiliated, immediately jumped from his bed and headed for the bathroom all the while shouting curses towards Malfoy and promising Neville to never date his sister again. Grief stricken and shocked at Ron's resolution to not let him court Ginny, Neville quickly went out of the room to follow his roommate to the bathroom.

Harry however, was already rolling on the floor with Seamus and Dean, their hands clutching their stomachs painfully as their mouths exploded with endless laughter.

***

"But it was just a test!" Malfoy replied mischievously. "Now I know for sure that you really do fear spiders."

Red faced and angry, Ron heard Hermione snickering beside him. Harry opened his mouth to say something but thought better of it and grinned instead. With an impish smile painted on his face, Malfoy raised an eyebrow and wrapped an arm around Harry's waist. Harry snuggled closer to his boyfriend as Hermione did the same to Ron.

"You know, now that Draco had retaliated with a joke of his own, I guess that makes the both of you even." She turned to look at Ron and saw him with a resigned look on his face. He gave a soft sigh and bit his lower lip gently before calling out to Malfoy, who was busy pinning Harry onto the wall and kissing his neck.

"Malfoy, I'm sorry."

Malfoy was giving him a rather patronizing look and raised an eyebrow. Harry blushed from Malfoy's blatant display of affection and gave a warm encouraging smile to Ron.

Ron continued.

"I know I was acting like a git and I've hurt your feelings so I hope you will forgive me." He looked pained as he uttered the last words.

Malfoy feigned a look of surprise.

"Hurt my feelings? Whatever do you mean?"

Ron's face burned as he reencountered the part of how he had spied on him in the unused classroom and found him sobbing his life away. Malfoy's reaction surprised him most as he found the blond Slytherin leaning heavily on Harry as he laughed loudly with tears pouring down his face.

"I knew it. I knew you were going to spy on me in that classroom. Hell, I wasn't the second cleverest student (after Hermione, of course) in this year for nothing."

Ron's jaw dropped lower.

"You knew I was going to spy on you? Was that a trick? But...but I saw you crying, Malfoy."

"Moi, Crying? Indeed I was but those tears were actually tears of laughter. I decided to go on with your little plan and act heartbroken to liven things up a bit. Poor little Weasel. You could never fool me even for a minute."

Ron's mouth opened and closed like a dying goldfish in need of oxygen.

"You know what gave you away? When you said Harry went on a date with Colin Creevey. Really Weasley, you should know better. Harry would never dump me for that camera clicking brat."

With that, Malfoy dragged an amused Harry away and left Ron with Hermione, who was still giggling madly at Ron's scandalized expression.

"Next time Hermione, remind me to mind my own business."

Hermione wrapped an arm around her boyfriend's shoulder.

"Gladly Ron, gladly."

Ron gave a loud sigh and pulled Hermione closer to him as both of them walked out of the castle. They were strolling peacefully down to the edge of the lake when Ron spoke.

"What's wrong with Colin Creevey anyway?" He saw Hermione giving him a weird look and he quickly shrugged his shoulders.

"Oh, but never mind."

Finis***