Total Control

He waited in the shadows patiently. The trap was set and no one would be bothering them now. He had made sure of it. The accident in Potions today had landed half of the seventh year Potions students in the Hospital Wing. He hadn't wanted to hurt his friends and housemates, but his goals were far too important to chance any mistakes or interruptions. No, no one would be interrupting him. No one would be seeking either of them out. He would be safe from the prying eyes of prefects; he had been named Head Boy before term had started. And, most importantly, because everyone was in the Hospital Wing, his victim would be alone.

He heard footfalls echoing through the hallway and, for a moment, his stomach twisted in nervous excitement for what would come next. He calmed down, reminding himself that the person walking through the hallway to the nearby common room might not be who he was waiting for. The sound of the footsteps grew closer to him and he saw, through the dim light of the dungeon, the pale blonde hair that could only belong to one student at Hogwarts. And this was the student he had been waiting for.

"Imperio!" he shouted, stepping out of the shadows, and watched the pale grey eyes of Draco Malfoy change from shock and surprise to the flat, unconcerned look of someone under the Imperius Curse.

"Total control," the man everyone had assumed to be Mad Eye Moody had said in Ron's fourth year Defence against the Dark Arts class. Even now that he knew the true identity of their teacher, the lesson had fixed itself into his brain. He had thought a lot about the Unforgivable Curses privately that year. He thought of his important position as the best friend and right-hand-man to Harry Potter and saw the value in learning at least how the curses worked. Harry didn't need to know. No one needed to know. They wouldn't understand, especially after the pain the curses had caused his friend. But he knew he could protect his friend with these curses and that that was more important then following the flawed laws of the Ministry of Magic. So secretly, he had researched the curses, especially the Imperius Curse, and learned all he could about them. Initially, he hadn't planned on using them. He had simply wanted to know enough to take an active role in protecting Harry, but things had changed. As their seventh year at Hogwarts began, Ron couldn't help but notice that Malfoy had a tendency to watch Harry's every move and this made Ron furious. Out of what he recognised as spite, Ron began to plan. Tonight, he would put all he had learned about the curse into action. He needed to see if he could work the spells on a person and Draco Malfoy had seemed as good as anyone to experiment on.

"Follow me," he commanded silently and Malfoy followed him - a little too closely for his comfort, but he attributed the other boy's obedience to the effects of the curse. He led him through the quiet hallway and into an empty classroom. He had chosen this room specifically. He had discovered it while exploring the dungeons with Harry's invisibility cloak and the Marauder's Map. He went back to the room when he could to see if anyone ever used it and watched the map when he couldn't be there in person. In two weeks, he had never seen anyone but himself enter the room, and as soon as he was convinced that no one else knew of this room, the room where he would execute his plans was chosen. He stopped beyond the doorway of the classroom and Malfoy collided into him. Pushing Malfoy back, he swore under his breath as he closed the door, casting a Locking Charm. He also cast a Silencing Charm on the room; he had been cautious in choosing this room, but he still couldn't take any additional chances.

"Sit down," he said, gesturing to the nearest chair and pulling himself up onto the desk at the front of the room.

Ron glanced at Malfoy, whose eyes were fixed on the floor, brow furrowed. He opened his mouth to speak but paused when he realised he did not know what to say. He had been planning this for so long that now that he was in the moment, he wasn't sure where to start or what to do next. He had spent so much time planning the actual act, he hadn't given much thought to what he would actually do when faced with the actual person he had planned to place under the Imperius Curse. He thought back to the day their Defence Against the Dark Arts professor subjected them to the Curse. He recalled the look of unquestioning compliance on Neville Longbottom's face before the ungraceful boy had sprung into a series of flips and tumbles he never would have been able to accomplish were it not for the curse. He also remembered the expression he'd seen on Harry's face as he fought against the curse. Ron supposed a first step to this experiment would be to determine Malfoy's resistance to the Imperius Curse.

"Look at me," he ordered and Malfoy turned his grey eyes on him. He gazed into the other boy's eyes and saw the same compliance he had seen in Neville's eyes year before.

'So he's not resisting it. He must not be as powerful a wizard as he always claims he is,' thought Ron with a hint of relief. It would be much easier for him if Malfoy didn't fight back.

He started out slowly, asking Malfoy to do small things: touch his nose, jump up and down.... But now Ron was bored. This wasn't nearly as entertaining as he had expected it to be. Sure, it was amusing to see the aristocratic boy willingly embarrass himself, but it wasn't enough. He needed to try something more, something truly humiliating, something the other boy would never do under normal circumstances. Something that would test his abilities with the curse. He needed to treat Malfoy like he would never dream of treating anyone else. And, it would be all right. It would be justified. This was Malfoy and he deserved everything he got.

"Take off your robe," Ron said and watched as the loose garment slipped off Malfoy's shoulders. The clothing underneath Malfoy's robe seemed to be kept much neater than Ron's, he noticed. Malfoy's shirt was still crisply pressed despite the fact that it had been worn all day. He wondered if Malfoy had used some kind of a charm to keep his clothing neat throughout the day.

"Your tie," Ron said, eyeing the green and silver strip of fabric. "Take it off."

Malfoy's pale, long fingers moved to his tie, loosening it and pulling it away from his neck.

"Bring the tie to me," Ron said as an afterthought and Draco stepped forward. His hands brushed Ron's as he handed his controller the tie. Ron turned the tie in his hands. It felt odd, different. Softer than his own Gryffindor tie. Visually, it wasn't much different from Ron's, despite the colour. This tie was simple and yet elegant. It wasn't a hand-me-down like his was.

'He probably wears a new one every day,' Ron thought begrudgingly. 'Yet another example that proves everything I own is rubbish.'

Draco was still standing in front of Ron, looking expectantly at him, apparently awaiting the next command. Malfoy's shirt looked even crisper from up close. Ron stared, nearly transfixed, at the spot where the collar met the smooth-looking skin of Malfoy's neck.

"Unbutton your shirt," Ron commanded, still staring at the contrasting textures of Malfoy's neck and the shirt collar. Malfoy's hand reached for the topmost button and Ron watched as even more of Malfoy's impossibly pale skin was revealed with each unfastening.

Before he knew what he was doing, Ron was reaching out and gently resting the palm of his hand on the other boy's bare stomach; the Slytherin tie was still in his other hand. Slowly, he moved his hand up Draco's abdomen, caressing and revelling at the feeling of someone else's warm skin beneath his fingers. Tentatively, Ron placed a hand behind Draco's neck, pulling the other boy closer, and placing a soft and quick kiss on his lips. Ron didn't know what had possessed him to kiss Malfoy. Malfoy was arguably his worst enemy and not to mention a boy. He had never meant for anything like this to happen, but here he was touching and kissing Draco Malfoy and all he knew was that he wanted more. He paused for a moment before touching his lips to Malfoy's a second time, a little more demandingly this time. Ron felt a brief moment of hurt when Malfoy did not respond to the kiss before he realised why there had been no response.

"Kiss me back," Ron said breathlessly before kissing Malfoy again, hoping Malfoy would grant his wish.

And he did. This time when Ron pressed his lips to Malfoy's, instead of feeling still lips, he felt the sensation of the warm and open mouth of his enemy. Ron lost himself in the kiss: their tongues battling for dominance, their bodies pressing together in search of even more contact. He had never experienced anything like this before. Sure, he had kissed a few of the girls in his House, but he had never felt like this before. He couldn't imagine ever feeling as good as he did now. He'd never known anything to feel this right.

And with that thought he realised that this - kissing Draco Malfoy and enjoying it - was wrong. It was a mistake. It went against everything this experiment had been meant to test. He remembered where he was and the ethics he was violating by being here. He pushed Malfoy away from him and the other boy fell to the floor. Malfoy looked up at Ron and he noticed a hint of resistance in Malfoy's eyes. He had to leave. He hopped off of the desk and hurried to the door.

Before he could get the words out of his mouth to end the locking spells, before he even knew what was happening, he had been shoved against the wall and Malfoy was glaring at him with a fury that frightened him.

"Don't ever do that to me again," Malfoy said, his voice shaking. Draco kept glaring at him for a while - eyes seemingly searching for something intangible in Ron's eyes - before leaning forward and capturing his lips in a fierce kiss.

Ron was caught off-guard. 'What's going on?' he thought. He couldn't understand how he had gotten himself in this position - pressed up against a wall by Draco Malfoy, whose lips were assaulting his own. He could do nothing to react except to stand perfectly still and let Malfoy kiss him.

Malfoy broke the kiss and raised his eyebrow at Ron. "Kiss me back," he said, before kissing Ron again. Ron hesitated for a moment before letting his wand drop to the floor then bringing his hand to Malfoy's stomach, pulling Draco closer to him. Ron still didn't understand what was happening, but he was so wrapped up in the sensations of Malfoy's lips moving against his own, that he barely cared anymore. Suddenly, he realised that Malfoy had stepped away from him. Ron opened his eyes to see where he had gone and he saw Malfoy standing in front of him smirking.

"I didn't take off the curse," Ron said, quite confused.

"Is it possible that you're even dumber than I thought you were?" Malfoy said incredulously. "Did you honestly think that I wouldn't be able to throw off the Imperius Curse? Did it ever occur to you that my father might have thought it important enough to train me to resist it? Honestly, if you wanted a snog, all you had to do was ask."

Ron gaped at Malfoy, dumbstruck. This was definitely not how his experiment was supposed to work. "What...?" he stammered.

"I wanted to see what you were up to. Besides, you not too hard on the eyes and not a terrible kisser either," Malfoy said as he gathered his tie and robe. He strode purposefully up to Ron, invading his personal space. "I'd suggest that you don't talk to anyone about what happened here. You wouldn't want the whole school to know that you've been experimenting with Unforgivables or that you aren't as straight as you've always claimed you are, now would you?"

Ron felt his face heating up from both humiliation and anger. Before he could respond, Malfoy placed a quick kiss on his cheek. The gesture made Ron uncomfortable and he pressed himself harder against the wall behind him in an effort to escape.

"See you tomorrow, Weasley," Malfoy said with a smirk before striding to the door, removing the locking and silencing spells, and stepping through the door, leaving a very confused Ron Weasley behind.