Relax Upon Your Rules, Part 6
Chapter 6. In which it turns out amoeba really do have the observational ability of well, amoeba...
Draco was trying his best not to hyperventilate into the fruit punch; he was only marginally succeeding.
Ron had just walked in and oh my friggin' dark lord, he looked utterly, totally fu- er, loveable. *cough*
He snickered slightly hysterically into his now empty glass. Hiccupping softly, Draco vaguely wondered what fruit was in the punch, it tasted...interesting. With a happy smile, he helped himself to some more.
~~~
Three feet away, Seamus watched the red-faced, giggling Slytherin. He opened his robes as casually as he could, and glanced at the empty bottle in the inside pocket. Perhaps he'd overdone it.
Behind him, and slightly to his right, Professor Snape narrowed his eyes as he shifted his steely gaze between Draco and Finnigan.
He had been quick to notice the Irish boy's rather intense interest in Mr Malfoy's current state, followed by the Gryffindor's surreptitious examination of the inside of his robes. It didn't take a genius to work out the connection.
With a subtle shift of his wrist the empty bottle, that had been concealed up Snape's own sleeve, slid into his palm; it was but the work of a moment to drop it unseen into the pumpkin lantern at his elbow.
He glanced again towards the refreshment table; Draco was sniggering now and wagging his finger at the bowl of punch.
Oops.
Snape walked quickly towards the exit, perhaps it was time for a stroll outside.
~~~
Ginny glanced at her watch again. Damn, what was Draco doing?
She glared over at the Slytherin. He appeared to be giggling and talking to the punch bowl. Ron had been here for at least fifteen minutes and it was already nearing 8pm.
Oh, this wouldn't do.
Grabbing hold of her date's arm, Ginny proceeded to drag him over to stand behind a swaying Draco.
Swaying?
Looking around, it didn't take Ginny long to locate Seamus; she had been fairly certain that he wouldn't be far from Draco's side. She frowned suspiciously at him.
~~~
Sensing eyes boring into him, Seamus looked up to be met by the furious glare of Ginny Weasley. Oh dear, he had a feeling that there was going to be some rather creative explaining in his very near future; Seamus desperately tried to don an air of wounded innocence.
~~~
Ginny narrowed her eyes as she noted the look on the Irish boy's face. Just as she'd suspected - guilty as hell. Well, at the very least she was going to demand a refund.
She looked back to Draco. The blond boy was staring raptly across the room now. Following his gaze, Ginny wasn't surprised to discover the object of his intense scrutiny. She found herself smiling at the look of devout adoration in the Slytherin's eyes.
Sod it. Who cared when it happened, as long as it happened?
Ginny slipped her hand into Blaise's (and with a bit of luck, Ron would be so preoccupied with Draco, that he would totally fail to notice who was her date for the evening).
~~~
Ron was shuffling nervously from foot to foot as he stood next to the buffet table.
He'd gravitated there by instinct as soon as he'd walked in; there was something very comforting about the sight of so much food. Of course, the fact that Ron had been unable to actually partake of any of it, was a clear indication of where his thoughts - and stomach - currently lay.
He glanced again at Harry who was standing next to him, staring across the room at Draco. For a wistful moment Ron allowed his eyes to rest on the punch bowl next to the Slytherin and sighed (sadly it was probably too shallow to mount a successful suicide attempt).
A movement at Ron's side drew his attention; Harry was tipping his head towards Ron while glaring over at Draco. Poor Harry. He was obviously trying to warn the blond boy not to approach him while he was standing next to Ron. All at once Ron felt ashamed. He was being so selfish, just because he also had feelings for the Slytherin git he was forcing his best friend to hide his own attachment.
Well, no more. Ron could be the bigger man (even if he was probably going to cry about it later like a great big girl).
Taking a deep breath, he turned to face his friend. "It's okay, Harry. I know you like Malfoy and I understand. I er, give you my blessing." He ducked his head, unable to meet the other boy's eyes.
~~~
Harry scrunched up his face in thought. What?
Realisation dawned suddenly; reaching over he smacked Ron hard on the side of his head.
"You total fuckwit_"
But before Harry could say anything more, Ron was whisked away from him.
~~~
One minute, Ron's head was reeling from Harry's unprovoked attack - tetchy bastard - the next, he was on the dance floor.
Then his head stopped spinning. And Ron was finally able to recognise who it was that had their hands around his waist. Who it was that was smiling shyly at him. Who it was that had caused all Ron's other senses - save blessed sight - to fade away. And suddenly Ron wanted to build a house in those eyes and move in.
~~~
Harry watched the two boys and smiled.
Hermione walked up to him and slipped her hand into his. Turning, he smiled down at her and squeezed her hand.
"Well, looks like they finally got there," Hermione said.
The dark haired boy nodded, "About fucking time."
"Language, Mr Potter!" Madam Pomfrey shook her head sternly as she waltzed by in the headmaster's arms. Dumbledore spun her around and winked at Harry and Hermione before moving them swiftly across the dance floor.
"He's pretty nifty on his feet for an old geezer," Harry said conversationally.
~~~
Draco's hand was tangled in Ron's hair, while his tongue had put a down payment on Ron's mouth and was mapping out where the furniture would go. The blond's other hand had somehow found its way inside Ron's robes and under his shirt.
It was beginning to dawn on Ron that he may have had hold of the wrong end of the stick.
In fact, there appeared to be a definite possibility that he may have had his wires crossed all along.
He was also beginning to suspect that it may well have been him and not Harry that Draco was looking at all those times after all.
In short, it was starting to look like Ron was indeed a total fuckwit.
Oops.
Seems he really did have the observational ability of an amoeba.
He took a moment to reconsider recent events.
Ron had been standing on the dance floor where he'd so recently been dragged by Malfoy, staring transfixed at the other boy when Fate - the evil, conniving bastard - had decided the time was ripe to throw a Seamus Finnigan into the mix. And so the Irish git had waltzed into view, a giggling Lavender Brown at his side (for never let be said that Fate was without a sense of humour).
Seamus had leant over, thumped Draco on the back and shouted, "Well, kiss him then, you prat!" Then, with a wink at Ron, he'd waltzed off with Lavender, who'd left an unladylike snort of laughter in her wake.
[Seamus would later face disqualification.]
Ron's other senses had come back to him pretty soon after that. Both boys had immediately dropped their hands to their sides and looked away, blushing madly.
Luckily, for the sake of Seamus' future grandchildren, some of that famous Gryffindor courage had somehow managed to fight its way kicking and screaming to the surface (seems there's nothing like a near death experience to teach you the importance of seizing the moment).
"Er, maybe - erm - would you, y'know - er, maybe, want air, outside. I mean, that's - er, where it is - fresh air, outside. If you want it - air that is!"
(Okay, seize may have been a bit of an exaggeration).
And well, courage, may have been a slight embellishment too - seeing as Ron hadn't actually been able to look at Malfoy as he spoke; seeming instead to address his enquiry to the pumpkin decoration above his head. Even so, it had been a little disconcerting when the orange head had grinned back at him and started to nod enthusiastically.
Ron had been even more startled when Malfoy had reached up and punched the pumpkin, shattering it into pieces with a snarled, "Bugger off, shorty, he's mine!"
And then, Ron hadn't even had time to blush, as the blond had grabbed his hand and started to drag him from the room.
He did, however, find the time to squeeze in a rather spectacular all-over flush, when the entire Hall had heralded their departure with a loud chorus of cheers, whistles and catcalls; the loudest of which - 'go get him tiger!' - in a voice that had sounded suspiciously like Harry's.
Bastard.
~~~
The shouts and laughter had faded as they reached the entrance and stepped out into the night air. Turning to the left, they had walked down the winding path that led through the rose garden. Sounds of whispers and giggles had emerged from a variety of bushes.
All at once Ron had become conscious of the fact that Draco was still holding his hand. He'd blushed at the thought, but had made no attempt to remove it.
A soft voice, an answering laugh, low and full of secrets had floated towards them and Ron had been transported back to that first Yule Ball. He remembered how he'd ended up outside with a boy then too.
Bloody hell! Ron had never thought about it before but had people thought that he and Harry had gone outside to find a convenient bush too? Oh dear Merlin, he hoped not. Shaking his head Ron had snorted with laughter.
Malfoy had stopped walking then and looked up at him questioningly.
Ron had blushed and shrugged. "Er, just remembering the first Yule Ball and how I ended up outside with Harry."
The Slytherin's eyebrows had nearly disappeared into his hair.
"Oh, not like that!" Ron had hastened to explain, his ears now flaming.
Malfoy had looked at the other boy's horrified face and burst out laughing.
Sighing in relief, Ron had joined in.
The sound of crunching gravel ahead of them had suddenly shifted their attention elsewhere. Looking up the path, they'd both stopped laughing abruptly. Professor Snape had been walking towards them.
Oh, fucking great.
Ron, had instinctively made to remove his hand from the other boy's, assuming Malfoy would be reluctant to have his head of house catch him holding hands with the 'enemy'. But to his surprise, the Slytherin had only gripped his hand tighter and taken a step closer to his side. Something warm and fluttery had started to happen in Ron's stomach then and his mouth had curved up in a smile.
Right, he thought, bring it on, you greasy git.
As the black-robed figure drew near, both boys had moved closer still, until they stood shoulder to shoulder, hands clasped tightly.
Snape had opened his mouth...
"Good evening, boys."
Ron's mouth had dropped open in shock. Glancing to his left, he'd seen that Malfoy had been taken by surprise too.
Before either boy could respond, the Potion's master had drawn level with them and leant down to speak in Malfoy's ear.
Ah, Ron had thought, here we go; surely, here come the snide remarks about associating with riff raff.
But once again he'd been left stunned by the professor's actual words.
"Don't keep him out too long, Draco, remember he's still recovering."
Then, with a rather wicked grin at both boys, "Oh, and I believe the last bush on the left is still available."
And with a last wink at Ron, he'd walked off whistling.
Whistling!
For a moment, neither boy had been able to speak. Polyjuice, Imperius, bludger to the head, spiked pumpkin juice - all had ran through Ron's head in an attempt to explain the ex - Deatheater's bizarre behaviour.
Finally, they'd turned to look at each other, both still wide-eyed with shock. Malfoy had been the first to find his voice; shrugging, he'd grinned up at Ron. "So, shall we go check out that bush?"
Ron had rolled his eyes, face ablaze, but he hadn't objected as Malfoy had dragged him towards the bush in question.
~~~
Which pretty much brought them to where they were now - tongues ransacking each other's mouths, hands mapping out whole expanses of warm, unexplored territory, hormones ricocheting off bushes, walls, bodies, anything, everything, including a couple of fireflies that got too close and imploded on impact - aah, Ron sighed, fireworks...nice.
"But you must have heard."
"No, really I haven't."
While Ron's mouth and hands continued what they were doing, his brain paused to take in the words that floated through the bush. Those voices sounded worryingly familiar.
"Well, it's true. Apparently, Draco Malfoy is - a - vampire."
Ron's tongue went into shock; while Malfoy chose that moment to disentangle his own tongue and glide it along Ron's jaw and onto his neck.
"No!"
"Yes!"
The Slytherin, oblivious to everything save the taste of the boy in front of him, sucked greedily at the heated flesh beneath his mouth.
Ron whimpered.
Draco was flattered.
It probably would have ended in tears except The Boy Who Had Really Good Timing chose that moment to kick Seamus Finnigan up the arse.
"Ah, Fuck, Harry! What was that for?"
A redhead and a blond emerged from the undergrowth to see what was going on.
And there was Seamus and Harry and Dean.
Seamus was clutching his backside looking affronted. Dean looked embarrassed, Harry exasperated. Looking over at the boys in the bush, he gave an apologetic shrug, "Sorry Ron, Draco. I should have kept my eye on the Irish bastard."
Then scowling at the other two Gryffindors he said, "I'll take them inside now, and let them explain to Professor Snape how they very nearly caused him to lose his winnings in the sweepstake."
And with a final wink at Ron - what was it with blokes winking at him tonight? - Harry started to shepherd a disgruntled Seamus and Dean back towards the entrance.
Ron and Draco looked at each other for a moment.
Sweepstake?
Then, nodding sagely, Ron said, "It would explain the whistle."
~~~
Harry had just managed to shove Dean through the door when Seamus broke away from him. Looking back towards Ron and Draco he shouted, "Be careful Ron - don't let him get those nasty fangs anywhere near your pr_"
He was cut off abruptly. Hand secured tightly over the struggling boy's mouth, Harry shouted back down the path, "Er, sorry about that guys."
And with one final nod, the dark haired wizard dragged the protesting Irishman, back into the building.
"You know," Draco turned to face Ron, "I could arrange for Mr Finnigan to meet with a tragic accident, just say the word."
The other boy seemed to consider his words carefully, "Tempting, very tempting, but then who would we have to burn come Bonfire Night?"
Both boys started to laugh, but Ron's laughter soon turned into a coughing fit. Draco was immediately full of concern. "Are you okay?" he asked, one hand stroking circles on Ron's back.
Ron wiped tears from his eyes with the back of his hands. "Yeah, I'm fine." he gasped.
Draco wasn't convinced. He looked at the other boy closely. He was still too thin, having yet to regain the weight he'd lost while ill, and the blush of red on his cheeks from the recent bout of coughing, only served to emphasise the paleness of the rest of his face. There were also tell-tale creases of fatigue around his eyes.
Draco mentally kicked himself for having kept Ron outside for so long, suddenly aware of the bite of cold in the air. Shit. If he got sick again because of him, he'd...
But his thoughts were cut short by a pair of warm lips caressing his cheek.
"It's okay, Draco. I'm not made of glass." The redhead smiled and took hold of the other boy's hand.
Draco smiled back, shaking his head, "I know, it's just when you were ill, I was so scared, and_" Again he was cut off by the taller boy.
"I know. But it's okay now. I'm okay now - better than okay." And he winked at Draco (thinking it made a pleasant change).
Draco found it completely irresistible and pulled Ron into a hug. Kissing him on the ear he said, "Okay I'll stop fussing, but we should go in now. You look tired, and it has turned cold, and these dress robes are too thin, and..."
Ron kissed him quiet.
Not long after, they walked back into the Great Hall.
Gradually, the room grew silent, nudges of elbows silencing the last stragglers. Both boys seemed to notice at the same time, dragging reluctant eyes away from each other, they turned to face the waiting crowd.
Bugger.
Draco felt ill. I knew it, he thought, they hate me. I am so dead.
A loud Irish voice cut through the silence.
"And about bloody time!"
Suddenly, the room was filled with whistles and applause.
Not quite believing what he was seeing and hearing, Draco glanced nervously over at Pansy and the rest of the Slytherin crowd. And found his sight blurring as he realised that they too were all clapping and cheering pretty damn loud.
A squeeze of his hand brought his attention back to the boy at his side. He turned to Ron, stupid grin all over his face.
Ron winked, and as one they turned to face their schoolmates. With great solemnity both boys bowed.
The hall erupted.
~~~
Half an hour later, Draco (or mum, as Ron had taken to calling him) decided it was time for the other boy to go to bed.
When Ron half-heartedly started to protest, the Slytherin launched into a lecture involving amongst other topics - 'recovery from a serious illness', 'the need for rest,' and 'the danger of a relapse', that left Hermione positively speechless in admiration.
Ron said goodnight to his friends, feigning regret but actually grateful for Malfoy's insistence; he really was worn out. And he was rather looking forward to his goodnight kiss.
Once outside the Great Hall, and having ignored Seamus' parting shot - "Be gentle, Draco, he's not been well!" - Malfoy rather gallantly, held out his arm to Ron and asked, "May I walk you home?"
Ron rolled his eyes and thumped him soundly on the arm, "Bugger off, Malfoy! I'm not a girl!"
Draco frowned and rubbed his abused arm. "Yes, I had noticed that small detail, Weasel!" Then, noticing the blush that now adorned the other boy's face, he smiled and said, "Oh okay, you big, lanky git - can I walk you to your dorm and snog the face off you?"
Ron grinned and enthusiatically nodded his approval, "I think that might be acceptable."
And he took hold of Malfoy's hand and dragged him up the stairs.
Part 7