Title: All I Need You To Be
Author:
thursdaystormPrompt: #
S62 "cloud watching" by
reeby10Pairing(s): Draco/Ron
Word Count: 1448
Rating: PG
Warning(s): None
Disclaimer: Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.
Notes: Huge thanks to
lockel for beta-reading! :)
Summary: Draco and Ron go cloud watching. Teenagers being fluffy.
As he stepped outside, the warm summer air embraced him like a much-needed hug.
Leaving the castle behind him, Draco gleefully skipped down the stone steps that connected Hogwarts with the Forbidden Forest. The path led him down the large hill, so he watched his feet as not to stumble and fall. As much as he wanted to run, he knew it would be no good to trip over his own feet and land in the grass. He just had to be patient and take it one step at a time.
At about halfway between the castle and Hagrid’s hut, he stopped and turned towards the lake. He left the steps and swiftly strolled through the grass, his robes waving behind him. Quickly he glanced at the piece of parchment he had hidden in his robes. It flapped slightly in the summer breeze.
5 o’clock, our meadow by the lake.
-R.
He smiled at Ron’s handwriting. To anybody else it might just be a simple note; to him, however, it was so much more.
He crossed the grounds, keeping an eye out for Ron. As he turned around, he saw the castle looming in the background; due to the distance, it had gotten significantly smaller, indicating that Draco couldn’t be far anymore. In front of him was a vast area of grass, with a few bushes and some small trees closer to the lake.
"Draco!" a voice called out joyously. He turned around and saw a certain redhead waving to him from underneath a tree not far away. Another smile crept up on his face. Sheepishly he looked at the ground and made his way over to Ron.
"Hi," he said when he finally reached him.
"Hi," Ron replied, cheeks blushing. "You got my note."
"I did."
For a moment, they looked at each other, unsure of what to say. Draco laughed nervously.
"I just-" Ron mumbled. "I thought we could spend some time together." He shrugged.
Draco nodded. "Of course." After all, there was nothing he’d rather do.
Ron scratched his head and motioned for Draco to sit down. "I didn’t bring any blankets. Sorry."
"That’s fine," Draco replied as he sat next to Ron and stretched out his legs on the ground. The patch of grass they were sitting on was dry and perfectly comfortable; he had no complaints. The sunlight felt pleasant on Draco’s skin, with only a few stray branches casting their thin shadows over them. "You know I love this place."
"Me too," Ron replied. "It’s so quiet here. So different from the castle."
"Especially on a spring day like this one."
Ron reached inside of his robes and pulled out some toffees. "Want some?"
Draco slowly reached for Ron’s hand and carefully picked one.
"They’re not Ton-Tongue Toffees from Fred and George. I promise!" Ron chuckled. "These won’t make your tongue swell."
Draco chuckled as well. He had hesitated because he was being polite, not because he’d suspected one of Ron’s brothers’ inventions. "Thanks, that’s nice of you."
He unwrapped his toffee and popped it into his mouth. The sweet taste immediately spread across his tongue and he hummed. "Delicious."
"You can have as many as you want," Ron said with a full mouth. "Actually, I didn’t know how many you’d want, so I brought a bunch," he admitted and reached inside his robes again. After pulling out the entire bag, he reached for a second one and put it all between them.
Draco laughed out loud, whereas Ron just looked confused.
"Why are you laughing?"
Draco pressed his lips together to stop himself. Damn Weasley. He was just being too cute. "I’m sorry. It’s just… You brought two entire bags? How much did you think I was going to eat?"
Ron frowned. "I wanted to make sure we had enough." He unwrapped another toffee and stuffed it into his mouth. Draco found it adorable how Ron was taking care of him, and he leaned back to lie down properly.
"So, how was your day?" Draco asked after a while. It felt nice to stretch out his limbs and feel the ground underneath him. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Ron lying down as well, munching one more toffee. Draco rested his hands on his tummy and stared at the blue sky. All the way up there, white, fluffy clouds were slowly passing by.
"The usual," Ron sighed. "Somebody got bitten in Hagrid’s class, there are a billion rolls of parchment to write for homework, Hermione knew every answer to every question ever..."
Draco laughed again, let his arms fall beside him and turned his head to face Ron.
The sunlight turned his hair the most wonderful shade of red. It was glowing and shiny, and Draco just wanted to run his hands through it. Ron squinted every time the branches moved in the wind and the sunlight hit his eyes. As he scrunched up his nose, Draco got lost in the freckles that were covering his skin. How could one person be so adorable?
"This… this is my favorite part of most days," Ron said suddenly and turned to face Draco. "Watching the clouds with you."
With a sudden burst of courage, Draco reached for Ron’s hand and intertwined their fingers. Ron immediately closed his fingers around Draco’s and they turned back to stare at the sky. The clouds were passing by so slowly that Draco wondered for a second if they were moving at all.
Draco didn’t need to say anything; Ron knew how much Draco loved their little rendezvous out here. Whenever one of them had a bad day or was simply missing the other (which was basically every day at this point), they’d write a note and meet here to watch the clouds.
It had started most innocently when Draco had run into Ron while strolling by the lake one evening. At first, they had insulted it each other, as it came naturally to them. However, after Ron comparing Draco to a particularly enormous, oddly shaped cloud, their insults turned funny, and eventually, neither of them could stop laughing. A few days later, they had repeated their meeting, after Draco had spent every evening since wandering the grounds, looking for Ron. When, one day, they had met under a perfectly blue, cloudless sky, it had become evident that it wasn’t just about the clouds. Against all odds, they actually enjoyed spending time together.
Feeling Ron’s hand in his, Draco smiled blissfully. Besides some hand-holding and a few awkward hugs, there hadn’t been much physical contact between them, no matter how much Draco was yearning for it. If it were up to him, he’d never let go of Ron’s hand again.
"I missed you yesterday," he confessed after a while with a small voice. Ron had had Quidditch practice, and, like the dramatic person he was, Draco had come to their meadow alone, torturing himself by staring at the clouds without Ron. "I… I hate it when you’re not around."
He didn’t dare to look over at Ron at first, but he suddenly felt a pull on his hand and then watched Ron stretch out his arm for him. Draco moved over and snuggled up as closely to Ron as possible, pressing his body firmly against him, while Ron pulled him in.
"Oh, Draco… I feel terrible," Ron whispered woefully and pressed a soft kiss on Draco’s hair. Draco reached for Ron’s hand again and squeezed it tightly. "I missed you, too, you know?"
Above them, the clouds were dancing by. Draco tried hard to focus on them with his head full of thoughts. "Ron?"
"Yes?"
"I want to be with you."
"I want to be with you, too."
"No, I mean seriously. Actually be with you," Draco explained. "I don’t care what our friends think. I want to be with you at Quidditch practice and... everywhere! And not miss you all the time."
"Are you sure?" Ron asked and Draco got up, looking confused.
"Of course I’m sure," he said and looked at Ron.
"I mean, I’m just Ron. I’m not famous or anything," Ron mumbled, more or less to himself. "I’m not-"
"Stop right there!" Draco interrupted. "Ronald Weasley, I’ve told you a million times before," he tried to look as stern as possible. "I don’t want the Golden Boy. I just want Ron Weasley. That’s all I need you to be."
Draco lay back down again, grabbing Ron’s hand.
"Well," Ron said next to him. "Then I’d love to be yours, Draco Malfoy." For a brief moment they grinned at each other, then they turned back to watch the clouds.
This was it. Lying in the grass. Holding hands with Ron. This was happiness for Draco.
Now he just needed to figure out how he’d get Ron to kiss him.