Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

I know that many people don't like Ron. But I love him. I love his honesty, I even love his temper. Sure he isn't perfect, but he tries his best. But next to Hermione he will always stand in the shadow. So that's why he really needs a new partner. And yes in this fanfic it is Draco everybody! I know that this pairing isn't famous unfortunately. But I just love them together, okay? So here it is:

Chapter 1

Ron has always been the best friend, the sidekick. That was his role, his destiny. And he was fine with it. He would never be as smart as Hermione or as brave as Harry. Even now in his thirties he still lost his temper quite easily and he still lived as a bachelor. At least he had a good job now. But after war, after the time of grieving, it was difficult for him to find his spot for a long time. Before the war he just wanted to get acceptable grades and a girlfriend. In war he just wanted to survive. But he never really thought about his future. He was too dumb to work for the ministry or as an healer and he was sick of fighting so being an auror wasn’t an option either. For some time, he worked in the shop. But he always felt like trying to fill out the space that Fred left. And he felt like a failure, because he knew he would never be good enough and it left him being bitter. It took a long time for him to leave, because he was used to feel like a failure. Even though nobody (except Malfoy) said it to his face, he just knew it. He wasn’t just wearing the second-best wardrobe. He just was the second best. Even to Hermione. Hermione who looked gorgeous in her wedding dress right now. Hermione who worked as a great lawyer, who got even more beautiful and who was in love… but not with him anymore, if she ever has been in love with him anyway. Looking back, he realized that it has been never about him, but about Harry. They were meant for each other. If he would have been in a romcom he would be the second lead. The nice guy who tried to be with the main actress. And everyone who watched the movie knew all along that he was just there for the entertainment. But he would never be the right fit. Ron nipped on his firewhiskey. He just wanted to leave. This wasn’t his world anymore. None of it. But he would try to remain happy. He knew how to do it. He was used to it. To play the nice friend. The friend who was happy for the bride and the groom. Whenever he was together with his family and his old friends he felt like he acted on autopilot. He couldn’t change the way they saw him anyway. Whenever he ate something they talked about him shoveling down his food at school. Whenever he tried to bake or to cook in mum’s kitchen she would throw him out of the kitchen because he might burn the house (it happened ONE time goddamnit and he was 12 years old when it happened). It didn’t matter that he was famous now in the muggle world as an awesome baker. That he owned a bakery that was always full and that was praised highly in almost every food magazine. It didn’t matter that he owned a nice apartment and that he was standing on his own feet. He was still the lanky best friend. The (not so) small brother who never got it right. And he was sick of it. God he wanted so desperately to go home… His dog probably missed him…
“they look great together…” Ron looked to his side to meet his mothers’ eyes.
“yes, they are perfect for each other”, Ron tried desperately to remain calm, but his grip on the glass tightened. Because he couldn’t ban the flashbacks. Couldn’t forget the night when he caught both of them cheating. But of course, they were fucking perfect for each other. And hey, they just didn’t want to hurt him. Because it was so much easier to realize that the woman you loved and your best friend have been dating behind your back for months. While he was thinking about marrying her and having kids together. He even bought a wedding ring for her. Sure he was never perfect but he tried his best to be a good boyfriend. He worked his ass off so that Hermione could study. He wasn’t smart enough so he could at least provide for her, right? He would always be there for her when she had a breakdown. He would always try to remind her how beautiful and how perfect she was. Along the way he didn’t even realize that he was the only one giving compliments. That he was the only one trying to work on the relationship. But let’s be honest: in the back of his mind he always knew that he wasn’t good enough. Nobody ever thought that.

Ron entered his apartment and almost immediately his dog Toben greeted him loudly. He laughed and petted his head. At least someone who loved him dearly…

He looked around the apartment and took a deep breath. Finally, he was home again. If somebody had told him in the past he would live as a muggle he would have laughed at his face. But it was the best thing that happened to him. In the muggle world nobody knew him. He could start brand new. He wasn’t the lanky best friend who helped to fight against Voldemort. He was just Ron…

And it felt good to be “just Ron”.

“wow, you didn’t fight? And you don’t look drunk. Good job, Weasley…” Okay maybe he wasn’t just Ron for everybody. At least not for his flatmate.
“Shut up, ferret.”
“So you are spending a few hours in the wizarding world and we are already giving each other nicknames from the past. Kinda cute isn’t it? But let’s stop, before I throw up. Tea?” Before Ron could even answer Malfoy headed to the kitchen. He knew him too well. Ron grinned and followed his blond friend. No wonder Malfoy, no Draco, knew that he loved to drink tea when he got agitated. They already lived together for eight years. It was like having a wife, just without the intimate part of course. It was funny how life all played out. Several years ago, he despised Malfoy. He wished him nothing but the worst.
But after he broke up with Hermione he met Draco in a bar. It felt like a week ago. Seeing Draco being drunk, broken, alone and so skinny. Ron lost his girlfriend but Draco lost almost everything. Sure, he was still rich. But his good reputation was gone and almost everybody wanted to see him dead. Ron has been one of them too. But on this night his hate towards Malfoy swindled while his hate for his own folk raised. He grinned while watching Malfoy getting the tea ready. On this night he just told him to run away together. Nothing else. He thought that Malfoy would have laughed at his face. But he just watched him. He seemed to know that Ron was also broken and alone. He didn’t ask him anything. He didn’t insult him. His only answer was “Okay”.

Of course both of them hadn’t had it easy in the muggle world. But Malfoy had enough money and he could change it into muggle money and Ron had his uncle Herbert. Nobody in his family liked to speak about him. Because he couldn’t perform magic. But Ron always remained in touch with him. He was the only one in his family who could understand him it seemed. And he helped the two of them to live in the muggle world and to learn how to fit in there. Ron would help his uncle in the bakery. He learned early on that he was not only good at eating but that he also enjoyed to bake. It made him feel calm. Happy. And Malfoy was always good at handling money. He helped with the financial part and the marketing. And he began to study Management. He wasn’t working together with Ron anymore. But as a top manager in the high ranks. It was kind of funny. A Malfoy always seemed to attract money. It just didn’t seem to matter where. Ron on the other hand owned his own bakery now and planned to open another one. He didn’t earn a lot of money, but it was just natural for the both of them to live together anyway. That's why they could afford a nice apartment in Notting Hill. Because Malfoy was still a snob. And Ron had to admit that he kinda liked it. Even though he would never admit it. They have become a team. It was weird. In the past they hated each other. Now it felt like they were joined by the hips. Malfoy just seemed to get him. And he never felt worthless next to him. Ron laughed. It was so weird, because in the past Malfoy always tried to humiliate him. How could life work out like this?
“What are you laughing about? I hope it is about the ugly wedding dress.” Draco sat down on the kitchen table and Ron joined him. Waiting for his tea to cool down.
“No, unfortunately she looked gorgeous… Like the perfect bride.” Ron looked down and tried to hold down his tears. Fuck, why did it still hurt that much?

Malfoy on the other hand looked at Ron. He just couldn’t understand it. Ron was the perfect one. Not Hermione, not the boy-who-just-could-not-die-damnit. He always has been. Sure he had his weaknesses. But Draco loved these weaknesses. He loved his temper, he loved his honesty. He loved the fact that Ron still tried to be good friends with them despite Hermione cheating on him… But Draco couldn’t tell him that. Ron wouldn’t believe him anyway.
“How was it to see them after so many years?”
“weird… Ginny is famous now. She is one of the best quidditch players. Harry has become a great auror. My brothers are living great lives…”
“And how did they react when you told them about your career?”
“They didn’t ask.”
“Of course they didn’t…”
“What do you mean?”
“Ron! You are living with me for eight years and I have never seen your family. And that’s okay with me, but they don’t even seem to be interested to know where and how you live. You are only visiting them on Christmas and weddings and you always come home drunk and insecure. I mean you helped Ginny when she was starting as a quidditch player. You paid for her hospital fees. But she doesn’t even seem to try to give you back your money! Noo I am pretty sure that she just belittled you again. Didn’t she?” Ron shivered. How did he know? She only told Ron that Hermione and Harry were perfect for each other and that she wondered how Hermione could ever have something with him. But he was used to it, to be honest…
“And Hermione and Harry probably didn’t even talk to you. I mean to even invite you to this wedding is just a shit move.”
“Leave it okay?” Ron was even too tired to get agitated. He just wanted to sleep and to forget everything. “I go to bed now.”
Draco watched him go and sighed. It was the same every damn time. After every family gathering Ron seemed to be less bright, less cheerful. Draco would have loved to shout at his family. But they didn’t even know that they lived together. So Draco tried his best instead to be there for Ron. HE was his new family. Ron just couldn’t get it unfortunately. He knew that Draco was gay but he didn’t know that Draco loved him. And he would never know that. Because as long as he didn’t know Draco could at least live together with him. Because Ron would never see him as something more than a friend…

Chapter Text

Ron looked proudly at his new creation. Draco and him travelled through Asia a few months before and he just fell in love with the sweet potato cake there. It took him some time to recreate it, but he got it right finally. At least the lack of sleep this evening was worth something… “Draco, come here! You will taste the best thing ever on this planet!”
“What, a dick?” Draco was still groggy and definitely not a morning person. Thank you very much. Normally he could just ignore the noises from the kitchen, but even he would wake up from this shouting. Like the rest of London probably. So, he headed to the kitchen and tried to ignore the mess. He really should hire someone to clean their apartment. He was sick of cleaning everything!
“eeh don’t talk about stuff like that in the morning, okay?” Ron looked also like a mess right now. But a cute mess, Draco had to admit. Whenever he talked about something slightly sexual Ron immediately blushed, which was kind of adorable. He also got flour all over his face and hair. How did he even manage this?
“And you shouldn’t bake even on your free day. Like honestly, I need my beauty sleep. This perfect appearance doesn’t come from nowhere.” And indeed, even right after waking up Draco still looked perfect. Ron had to admit that. In comparison to him he always looked like he came straight out of a men’s health magazine. No wonder he had so many lovers.
“Try it!” Draco sighed. He couldn’t say no anyway. Whenever Ron created something he was the first tester. He liked it, but it also meant a few extra minutes on the treadmill. So he just opened his mouth for Ron to feed him and when he took the bite he just had to moan (unfortunately he didn’t see the Ron’s face getting even redder). Gosh this cake was like heaven.
“The sweet potato cake, right? But it is even better than the one in Japan.”
“Really? Thank you Dray!” Ron looked like he won in the lottery and that made Draco grin even more. Yes, the cake was the bomb but to see Ron happy again was even better. Toben really seemed to want a piece of the cake too. The whole morning he wouldn’t leave Ron’s sight and now he looked up with his big puppy eyes and all. Ron smiled and gave him a little bite too. The cake didn’t contain chocolate so it was okay, right?

Draco looked lovingly at both of them. He never wanted to have a dog, but after another devastating Christmas Ron and him saw this black poodle in the shelter and one look at Ron was enough for him to get out his money. He didn’t have only the dog on his leash…
“Okay, but now you should really take a shower. You stink from the firewhiskey last evening and I don’t even want to know where else I could find the flour.”
“Ahh please you like me stinky”, Ron was faster than Draco and hugged him tightly.
“Get off me you troll.” Ron only laughed, but he took off to the shower. He knew that Draco would hit him otherwise. He was like a bitchy woman sometimes. And he had to admit… he really needed a bath.

While Ron took a shower, Draco tried to sleep again, but it was useless, anyway, because the doorbell woke him up the second he closed his eyes. Damnit.
“I am going!”
Draco opened the door and controlled the urge to close it immediately.
“Pansy…”
“It is great to see you, too.” He would never get rid of her. She even found him in the muggle world a few years ago. Like honestly, every detective looked like a beginner next to her. He looked down on her and sighed. And she also brought the child from hell. Her daughter was only one year old, but she already had mastered the bitchy face. Just like her mom. Genes were really strong indeed.
“Do you want to let me in or should I freeze to death.”
“I would love to see you freeze to death, but it is summer Pansy…”
Of course, she wouldn’t listen to him. Instead she just wiggled her way into the apartment. Draco didn’t even have coffee yet, damnit.
And of course, as soon as she entered the apartment her child cried and shouted. Even Toben, the friendliest dog on earth was nowhere to be seen. Draco thanked the universe again for being gay. How could ANYONE want to have kids?
“Coffee.”
“Oh yes, that would be great.”
“I didn’t ask you. I just want to have coffee for myself…” Draco ignored the state of the dirty kitchen and concentrated on making the coffee, while Pansy tried to calm down her child. What was her name again? Draco thought for a minute… No idea…
“So what brings you here?”
“the wedding of course. I thought you would like to have the article.” Pansy fished out the newspaper and showed Draco. Just great. He would have to hide this damn thing before Ron came out of the shower. But he still risked a look. Ron was right. Hermione looked gorgeous. But the title… Draco snapped the newspaper out of Pansys hand and read the article. It showed also a picture of Ron with his firewhiskey in his hand. “Even the forever sidekick Ron Weasley attended the wedding…blabla… Friends of him told the press that he lost all of his magic after Hermione Granger left him. He now lives like a muggle alone and devastated…” Draco didn’t even want to read any further. Just great… Honestly, he had never wanted to live along with muggles. He had despised them in the past and even now he had problems to interact with them. But articles like that, showed him that it was the right decision to leave the wizarding world behind. What the fuck did they even know? He remembered the articles about himself after the war. The talk behind his back and the straightforward people who just tried to hex him every time he got out of his apartment. He never wanted to leave the wizarding world. But this was just a great reminder of his dark past. And of Rons experiences. Because after the breakup he got all the bullshit. Draco remembered people talking about Ron and Granger. And everyone was on Grangers side. Even though she has been the bitch who cheated on him. Gosh he hated people.

Chapter Text

Draco looked up, when he heard Ron getting out of the bathroom. He hid the newspaper in the cupboard as fast as he could. Pansy just looked at him quizzical. Luckily Ron loved kids, so he didn’t see anything. Instead he grinned from ear to ear seeing Pansy and this... creation of hers…
“Hey Sophie, you look so adorable” Sophie it was… aha…
Ron wanted to give the child a hug but immediately she tried to bite him so he backed down. Draco sipped on his coffee. Wow, this child was definitely from hell…
“She has a great character already, hasn’t she?” Pansy looked full of love at her daughter, while Draco just tried not to gag. Ron on the other hand looked confused. Normally every child loved him but this one… obviously not. Ron had tried to get close to her every time they met. But even he failed.
“So, what brings you here, Pansy?” Before Pansy could say anything, Draco looked at her with a murderous face. Luckily, they grew up together so she knew how to react.
“Oh you know… I was in the area and we haven’t seen each other for quite a while.” Ron looked at her even more confused and Draco rolled his eyes. Or not. “We just met two days ago.”
“yees, but it is always a pleasure to see you two. And Sophie missed you”…not. Draco looked at her deeply. Pansy was beautiful and rich, but in the intellectual department she lacked quite a bit.
“Oh, and I wanted to ask Draco about his new flame.” She winked at him. Okay, at least that was an acceptable answer. He didn’t really like to talk about his partners, because they didn’t really matter to him anyway. He just needed them for sex. That was it. But Pansy loved to talk about them. Maybe it was a woman thing?
“You have a new partner? What’s about Sam Winchester?” Ron looked quizzical at him.
“He tried to kill me after finding out about me being a wizard.”
“Oh…”
Draco still had to shudder about the thought of him. It was such a shame. Because he had been a beast in bed.
“I am sorry to hear that.” Draco looked Ron in the face and tried not to sigh. Ron was really sorry for him. That was it. When Draco had told him that he was gay, Ron took it really well. Of course, he looked shocked at first, but then he shrugged it off. He just had one rule: Draco was not allowed to bring his flames into the apartment, but neither was Ron (even though Draco wasn’t sure if he even had any sex). Other than that, he showed no signs of jealousy and it drove Draco crazy. Because it meant that he didn’t feel anything for him, right?
“And who is it now?” Pansy looked at him interested. Honestly, he should have a talk with Blaise. Maybe they needed a little bit more fun in bed.
“No one right now to be honest. I want to go out next weekend.”
“Maybe Ron could go with you?” Ron spew out his coffee and blushed deeply. “What? Why?”
“Ron, you need someone. You can’t live your life hiding away.” Draco wanted to murder her right now and then. How dare she…
“I am happy with my life.”
“You live with Draco like a married couple… Without the fun part. You need someone Ron.” Pansy didn’t know how much Draco loved Ron. And she was one of Ron’s best friends, so it was only natural for her to say this. But still. Draco felt betrayed.
“Pansy, leave him alone. Just drink you damn coffee.” They changed the subject but Draco could clearly see that Ron was thinking hard. And he didn’t like it one bit.

In the evening they sat on the couch together watching something on Netflix (Draco needed a long time to figure out the TV and the internet, but he just loved it now). Draco looked at Ron, who snuggled with Toben. He could clearly see that Ron was thinking about something else, so Draco kicked him with his foot.
“A penny for your thought”
Ron took some time to react, but then he just sighed. “Maybe I really need to go on.” The whole world seemed to crash down in that moment. “What do you mean?”
“I found the article. You are bad at hiding things…”
They just lived together way too long.
“And I think I really should open my heart to another woman” Woman he said…
“Ookay”
“Would you go to a club with me?” Ron looked at Draco pleading. “I don’t know how to do it alone.”
Fuck… Draco felt his heart shutter.

Chapter Text

“I HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR!”
Draco rolled with his eyes while he tried to read a document from work. They wanted to go out today. But Ron was a nervous wreck and Draco just wanted to give him a sleep potion or at least a punch. Normally Draco liked to go out. Who wouldn’t? You get a lot of free drinks and maybe one or two hot guys with it. But right now, he just wanted to hide under his blankets. The whole week Ron behaved like a different man. He was nervous, fidgety and stressed. Even the smallest thing got to him. If Draco wouldn’t know better, he would have thought Ron was PMSing.

Ron seemed to be really desperate to get a girlfriend, suddenly. And that was the worst of it all. Draco could live with eight different moods in a day. He got used to it really. Even though this week seemed to be the worst time of all eight years. But worse was the thought of Ron being with someone. Someone who wasn’t Draco. Draco sighed. Even though it hurt like hell, he knew that he had to help him. He was first and foremost his best friend. He should concentrate on that. So, he went slowly but surely to Ron’s room… which was a mess. He didn’t even know that the redhead even had that many clothes… but wait… “Is that my T-Shirt?!” and some of the pants even seemed to live on their own?... no, it was just Toben trying to flee.
“Sorry…”
Draco sighed deeply. “What exactly have you been doing for over two hours? Have you been in a fight? Are you already drunk? But honestly no explanation, could explain this!” Ron was standing in the chaos of the room looking like a mess. His hair remembered him of a short Hermione Granger version, the T-Shirt was at least one size too small and even worse, ORANGE (like honestly? How could anyone think that this could be a great colour?) and his underwear… never mind…
“I am sorry that not everyone looks like a fucking model even in the morning!” At least Ron’s skin looked similar to the T-Shirt now.
“I know that I am hot, okay? No need to tell me. And now sit.”
“What exactly…?”
“shh shh sit.”
Draco looked at all the clothes while he was sending glares in Ron’s direction whenever he tried to move. In the end he decided on a simple outfit. Ron didn’t need a lot. He was masculine to begin with. Even though he ate a lot of sweets being a baker, he also worked out extensively. His shoulders have become broad, while his waste was small and his butt… Okay, Draco really shouldn’t think further. So, he just handed him grey pants and a green T-Shirt, that would show a lot of his chest. He also had a leather jacket that would look good on Ron.
“Now change into these clothes and then we try to make the best out of your hair.”

While Draco brushed Ron’s hair, he could just sense his stress.
“Don’t be so nervous, okay? We are just going to the club.”
“I am just thinking…”
“What?”
“What if no one likes me? Or the girl I am into is laughing about me?” Draco stilled in his movements. Sometimes he forgot how vulnerable Ron was. He liked to show his bright, bubbly side to everyone. But in reality, he was just like a kid who tried desperately to be loved…
“you are a catch, okay? You are warmhearted, funny and the kindest person I know. And you can bake. So, if anyone treats you badly? I will hex her. I am still a wizard, okay? And not one of the nice one, as you know.” Ron laughed and Draco felt his heart pounding. There was no better sound than that.
“okay, okay. I will remind that.”

Normally Draco would go to a gay club, but together with Ron he decided for a normal more high end club. Because he still had style and so should Ron. Before the door they met up with Blaise and Ron’s co-worker John, a young man in his twenties. He was chubby, but a nice fellow and he and Ron were a great team so Draco hoped that him being there would calm Ron down a little bit. But unfortunately John seemed to be as nervous as Ron. Was something in these pastries, or what? Blaise on the other hand looked like he owned this place. He was dressed in a purple shirt and grey pants. An outfit which would have looked bad on almost every other person. But Blaise looked like he was born for this outfit. Draco on the other hand wore black leather pants and a simple white shirt. He also wore a collar around his neck and had put on little eye make-up. He knew that showing his feminine features would make him even more attractive. And he could already see men looking him up and down. But right now, he just wasn’t interested in anyone of them. His whole focus laid on Ron. “You okay?” Ron looked even more pale than normally. “I am fine, let’s just get this over with?” Draco looked him deep in the eyes. He knew that Ron hated affections in the public, but he still held his hand for a second and grinned at him. Trying to make him feel a little bit less nervous. Ron grinned back at him. So, it worked at least a little. “Sooo, let’s have fun guys! Honestly the chicks are amazing!” Blaise entered the club like a lion looking for his prey. Draco should definitely talk with Pansy. Ron’s and John’s eyes on the other hand seemed to be getting bigger and bigger. “I think I will throw up…” First comment from John and then that. This would be a long night…
“I’ll get the drinks”

After half an hour and lot of shots, Ron and John seemed to have the time of their life. They danced on the dancefloor like to little boys and Draco tried to hide his grin. The club was full of good looking men and women, but no one looked as good as Ron. Okay, maybe he was a little biased. “So why exactly are you trying to help Ron finding a woman, when you are utterly in looove with him?” Draco looked anxious at Blaise. “You know that?” “Everyone knows it. Except this dumb red head, of course.” Just great. “He deserves love.” “And why shouldn’t it be you?” “He likes women… not men… not me…” “hmm… But maybe he doesn’t? I mean he isn’t the brightest. Maybe he just needs a little push in the right direction?”
“And maybe I wouldn’t be good for him.” Draco sighed. Ron needed a good person, a kind caring woman, who loved kids as much as him. Ron needed a family. A real family. And Draco couldn’t provide it for him. It was as it was. Even as a wizard he had his boundaries. He looked at him again and suddenly his whole world seemed to slow down. Ron wasn’t dancing like a little boy anymore and John wasn’t there anymore. Instead Ron had a woman in his arm. A sexy curvy woman, who was looking at him hungrily. And Draco just wanted to kill that bitch!

Chapter Text

Ron couldn’t believe his luck. The whole week he has been nervous as hell. He couldn’t even eat, if that wasn’t a big sign. But now he was on the dance floor holding a sexy woman in his arms to Liam Paynes song strip that down. Like how did this happen? She looked up at him with her grey eyes and even the music seemed to disappear. He was dancing with her for three songs already and she still seemed to be interested in him. To be honest that was the longest time he has ever danced with a woman. After the disastrous yule ball he had tried to avoid parties and clubs. He still remembered the whispers behind his back. About his bad appearance. About his bad looks and his awkward attempt to dance. About his disastrous relationship with the girl he was with, or better to say about his disastrous relationship with every female he had been hanging out with yet.

But who could blame him? Women were just so complicated. And he was a simple man. He needed clear words and no in-betweens. While he had been together with Hermione he learned quite a few things about the woman’s mind. At least Hermione’s mind. But even then, he must have been disastrous. If not, he would still together with her, wouldn’t he? With Draco on the other hand it was easy. Sure, Draco could be bitchy sometimes as well but he adapted to Ron’s life. He seemed to sense whenever Ron was overwhelmed or whenever he just didn’t understand what Draco meant. And then he would try to formulate his words differently. In the beginning it happened quite often that he didn’t understand Draco or his emotions. Both of them had a lot of baggage to carry and a lot of past hate for each other. So, had there been fights? Oh yes, a whole lot. Draco had Ron’s fist in his face quite often while Ron had to endure many mean words from the slytherin. But they worked through it. And now he could even sense Draco’s bad mood from another room.

Aand why exactly did he think about Draco, damnit? He tried to get his thoughts and his eyes back to the girl in his arms. Maybe he should go further than dancing? Was he even allowed to? But at the same time, did he even want to go further? He shook his head. Of course, he wanted to get further. He didn’t kiss anybody for eight years! Okay, there was one incident with Luna, but he desperately wanted to forget it. It has been wet and just disgusting. They were way better off as friends…
Okay, get a grip, Ron. You are a man, not a pussy. Just try it. You are in a club right now, aren’t you? Somehow his inner voice sounded a lot like Malfoys. And he was often right, so Ron took a leap and kissed her.

A second into it and he was already disgusted. She must have smoked before and her hands gripped his head like she wanted to eat him. Fuck…
When the kiss ended, she looked happy at least. But Ron felt dirty. Somebody tapped his shoulder and he looked right into Blaise’s face. Thank god! Could he read minds?
“Hey, sorry to bother you two lovey birds, but Draco isn’t feeling well. He is in the toilet right now. Can you look for him? I would go myself but I have to deal with drunken John over there.” Ron looked over his shoulder just to see John who seemed to throw up, right on the dance floor. If that wasn’t sexy…
“Of course I’ll look for him. You can bring John home. We’ll take a taxi” In his mind Ron thanked Blaise sincerely. He just looked apologetic at the girl. “I am really sorry, but my friend needs me.”
“Sure I would do the same for my friend… So bye?” At least she didn’t ask for his number. So she probably didn’t like the kiss as well? Ron wasn’t surprised. Maybe the girls haven’t been bad kissers, but him? Even with Hermione he didn’t really enjoy the kissing part, if he thought about it.

But first things first. He had to look out for Draco. He didn’t even drink that much. What had happened? When he arrived at the toilet he had a new problem. The disgusting sounds of two men making out. He just hoped it wasn’t Draco. He didn’t want to see him making out with anybody. It just felt wrong.
“Draco?”
“Ron?” Okay, at least Draco’s voice came from another direction. Ron immediately sprinted towards the door and got into the toilet stall. “Hey, I heard you aren’t well?” Ron looked at the blonde but he didn’t seem to be sick. Normally he got really, really pale when he was sick. And when he threw up he looked red like a tomato. But there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with him at the first sight. It was quite the opposite. Draco looked way to good to be true.
“What exactly are you doing, Weasley?”
“I am looking for you”
“Ron, I know that you haven’t been in many clubs before. But there is no reason for two men to be together in a toilet stall. Except of one…”
“What for?” Draco looked at him like he was the dumbest person on earth again. Like what did he do wrong now? He only came here, because he wanted to help him.
“You are really asking me this question?”
Ron nodded.
“To fuck Weasley! Like honestly!” And right at that moment he heard the two men moaning again… Okay it was really a stupid question. Ron got red like a tomato, while Draco grinned. “don’t make fun of me.”
“I don’t, you big baby” But Ron could clearly see that Draco tried desperately to hold down his laugh.
“But why aren’t you dancing with this blonde girl? She was sexy.” but she isn’t as sexy as you… Ron shook his head. He shouldn’t think something like this. He wasn’t allowed to think something like this. But Draco did look sexy. Ron really loved the eyeliner around Malfoys eyes. Draco even looked handsome in the morning. But tonight he just looked awesome. And just fucking irresistible.
“She kissed like she wanted to eat me.” Draco just couldn’t hold his laugh any longer.
“You poor boy. You want to go home?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I should try something with another woman? I just want to have at least one nice kiss once in a while.” Draco looked confused at him.
“I mean, I should at least try it, because maybe I am the bad kisser? I never had a good kiss. Ever.” Ron waited for an answer, but Draco seemed to be deep in thoughts.
“You know we are already in a toilet stall and I am a great kisser… You want to… try it?” Ron knew that he shouldn’t say yes. He shouldn’t kiss a guy. He mustn’t… but… it was between friends, right? Even though Malfoys lips looked so much more inviting than any lips before.
“okay…” Malfoy took a deep breath. Slowly he leaned into the kiss. Ron felt like he had to wait forever, but then he felt Draco’s lips on his and they felt as soft as he had imagined in his dreams. Draco deepened the kiss after a short while and Ron couldn’t hold down a moan. Automatically Rin gripped his hips and closed the already small distance between them even further. Fuck, he wanted to feel him more. Taste him more…

Chapter Text

Weeks had passed since the kiss. For Draco it felt like an eternity. Since then Ron seemed to work even longer hours. Draco couldn’t even remember the last time they had seen each other. And it hurt like shit. He even wished that it had never happened. Even though it had been wonderful. At that time it felt so right. But already on their way home Ron seemed to be only brooding. And since then it had never stopped. Draco even thought about calling Potter to get an idea how to get him out of this mindset. But no, he was too proud for this. And he wasn’t even allowed to talk to any of Ron’s friends or family. Because they didn’t even know about their friendship. Before the kiss he had been happy about that. Now he felt like a dirty little secret. And he hated it.
Draco sipped his coffee on his couch. He knew that Ron was out, getting drinks with his friends and he tried to stay awake, because enough was enough! He had tried to be considerate for too long. And he knew that Ron was way more honest, when he was drunk. Maybe not his best move, but he was still a Slytherin after all. He was over being the saint in this household.
“Your dad is an asshole, Toben.” Toben looked up and barked.
“Nice to have at least someone to understand me.” Draco looked up at the watch. It was already 2 am. The asshole took his time. Another hour and Draco swore under his breath. He really wanted to sleep. Even Toben was laying comfortably on him, sleeping loudly. Another hour and the blonde fell into deep sleep.

Ron was coming home at 5 am. He looked at the clock and groaned. He had to listen about his co-workers new girlfriend for hours nonstop and he just wanted to sleep. Talking or hearing about love was really hard right now. When Ron looked down he gasped surprised. Draco was laying there, almost unconscious with Toben on his lap. The picture was so adorable that he really had to fight the urge to take a photo. He tried to be extra careful and quiet, coming closer. Draco was handsome. There was no denying it. But seeing him asleep without the perfectly combed hair, was almost too much to handle. Ron had tried to avoid Draco as much as he could and he knew he acted like a damn coward. And he knew that his behavior hurt the blonde. But it hurt him as well. A lot. He just didn’t know what to do. He was already dumb to begin with, but in any kind of romantic relations he was damn right horrible. Did he enjoy the kiss? Yes. Did he love his friend? Ron sighed and brushed a strand of hair out of Dracos face. Yes, so much that it hurt. Since when? He didn’t even know. His first dreams about the Slytherin began at school. He was still young, unsure about everything and really hopeless and alone with his feelings. In the wizarding world, nobody really talked about homosexuality. It was frowned upon. And his family… He really loved his parents and his siblings and he would do everything for him. But, it was no secret how they thought about homosexuality. Draco didn’t know, but his uncle avoided his family not because he was a squib, but because he was gay.
Ron remembered their conversations about him behind closed doors. He also remembered his sister Ginny, who had suddenly avoided one of her former best friends at school. Just because she had outed herself. Ron had tried to help her friend back then, when she was bullied. By his own sister…

He always had been attracted to guys. But fortunately, he also liked girls. So, he tried to find his luck with women, not with men. He just didn’t want to be a failure, again, after failing so many times on different matters, before. He loved his family after all. But… after all these years he began to ask himself, if it was worth it. And after that kiss… it was even harder to think straight (quiet literally, really). He would have never guessed that Draco would be interested in him. He was so handsome, so intelligent. He deserved so much more than Ron could have ever given him. And he didn’t want to make him feel like a dirty little secret. But then, he was already treating him like this, wasn’t he? Ron sighed again and decided to carry Draco to his bed at least. Otherwise he would groan the whole next day about his back and Ron wanted to talk with him about other things than that. Maybe… or maybe not about their relationship? Fuck, he didn’t know. What if Draco really liked him? What if he really wanted to come together with him? Before the kiss Ron had only dreamt about being together with him, but now there was a possibility to make this dream come true. Did he really want to slip this opportunity, just because he was afraid to stand up against his family? He was such a great Gryffindor… Ron laid Draco down on his bed and gave him a kiss on his forehead. “sleep well”, he whispered. He would try to sleep. He had to get a clear mind, before the next day.

Chapter Text

Ron woke up early in the morning. He already heard Draco rumbling in the apartment. Today was the day. He would confess his feelings. Ron made himself ready, but he got interrupted by Draco himself who waltzed into his room. By his side an… Ron had to blink several times… house elf.
“What is the house elf doing here?”
“What is a Weasley doing here, master?” Both of them asked at the same time, making Draco grin a little bit, until he remembered the reason behind the visit of his mother’s house elf.
“My mum is in St. Mungos, I have to head over there.” Ron was awake immediately.
“What happened?”
“I don’t know. Poppy isn’t allowed to tell me and I don’t want him to hurt himself in order to find out.” Draco really had changed a lot.
Ron sighed, the conversation about the kiss had to wait. Draco’s mother was way more important right now.

“I have to go, now.”
“I’ll come with you”
Draco looked at Ron. Confused. The redhead sighed. “I know that I have been acting like a brat the last couple of weeks but you are still my best friend. I won’t let you handle this on your own. I can stand outside, if you don’t want your mother to see me. But I want to be there for you. Like you have been there for me for all those years…”
Draco tried hard not to cry. It wasn’t the time to be sentimental, right now. But it felt so good to hear those words from Ron.
“Okay.” Draco wanted to say so much more than that. But he couldn’t. And Ron just nodded.
“Poppy, please tell my mother that I will visit her immediately.” Poppy nodded and left them, but not without taking a last look at Ron. “And Ron… let’s get back to the wizarding world.”

They used the floo powder and landed directly in St. Mungos. It felt strange being there. Almost like being on a filmset. It had been years since Draco had set his foot into the wizarding world. He felt more like a Muggle than a wizard nowadays. Draco had to laugh bitterly. He who had despised Muggles from the core of his heart, was behaving more like a muggle than a wizard, now. Good thing his father didn’t have to see that.
Ron stopped one of the nurses: “I am sorry, but we are searching for Narcissa Malfoy. Can you help us?” The nurse looked confused between Ron and Draco, before she masked her feelings: “Of course, please follow me.” She must have recognized them. But fortunately, most nurses were too practical to waste their time gossiping. And Draco was thankful for that. He had learned to hide his feelings from a very young age, but inside he felt all kinds of emotions. His heart was beating fast out of fear for his mom. At the same time, he felt the stares from the people around him and it made him nervous. People would always recognize him and Ron. He looked too much like a Malfoy after all and Ron… Well Ron had been a part of the golden trio. Even after all those years he was still in the newspaper.
“Here we are. Do both of you want to visit her?”, the nurse asked carefully.
“No, it’s just me.”
“I am waiting for you here. Please take all the time you need. I have my Nintendo switch with me, playing Animal crossing”, Ron winked. Draco tried to smile. But it was just a weak one and a little reminder how different they have become, at least judging from the confused look on the nurse’s face, who just whispered: “Nintendo Switch?” But Draco had to focus on way more important things. He took a deep breath and opened the door.

Fortunately, his mom had a room by herself. Draco went to her bed. He had a hard time keeping a straight face. His mother was so skinny. But still, when she smiled at him it felt like coming home.
“Draco… oh my Draco.” He hugged her tight, afraid to break her bones.

After the hug she took a long look at him. Smiling.
“You look great. So much better than the last time I have seen you.” The last time had been more than eight years ago. Draco hated himself for not seeing his mother for such a long time. Of course, he tried everything to provide for her. She was one of the reasons he worked so much, after all. But he should have been there for her in other ways as well. Not only financially, he recognized looking at his mother, who looked so much older than he remembered.
“But you don’t. What happened?” Narcissa laughed bitterly. “I am getting old, Draco. That’s all. But don’t worry. I am fine, now.”
“Don’t lie to me, mother. Please.”
Narcissa didn’t say anything for a long while. She seemed to struggle to find the right words. She didn’t want to see her son sad. But at the same time, she had to be honest. She regretted all the lying in the past. Even now, she could see how hard Draco tried to keep up a poker face. Even though it was just the two of them in the room. Poppy left not long ago, getting some of her clothes. It broke her heart seeing him like that. She and her husband had tried so hard to keep up a certain image. But it didn’t make them happy. Ever. It only destroyed her family. So, she decided to be honest: “I have cancer, son.”
Draco had to take a seat, feeling dizzy suddenly. He knew what that meant. But he had to make sure. He had to ask: “But, they can heal you, right? They must have a treatment for you.”
“You can’t heal everything, son.” Draco’s whole world fell apart.

Ron took a seat outside the room. He tried to play and to ignore his surrounding, but he failed miserably at it. He would never get used to the stares. He wasn’t a monkey in a zoo, god damnit. But still the most important thing for him was Draco right now. Ron only had to endure the stares, but Draco had to endure the hate that was coming with it. Even in the hospital people stared at him with such a hate in their eyes and they seemed to be terribly confused to see them walking together, side by side. Whatever, Ron didn’t care anymore. They were strangers anyway.
“Ron, what are you doing here?” Fuck… Okay, he had to correct himself. He wasn’t only surrounded by strangers anymore. He looked straight into Hermiones eyes. Bad luck seemed to follow him everywhere.
“Nothing that should interest you.”
“Hmm… I visited a friend of mine. She is working as a healer, here in St. Mungos.”
“Okay?”, Ron didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t in the mood to do small talk. Most of all with his Ex.
“But your family is alright?”
“hmmpf.”
“You still don’t like to talk a lot, do you?”
Ron rolled his eyes. It seemed to be hard for her to not criticize him, every time they saw each other.
“But whatever, do you want to hear the news?” Why did she act like they were still friends? Ooh yeah, because he never dared to correct her. He always tried to play nice. He didn’t want to be a burden to his family, who loved Hermione and Harry. Probably more than they ever had loved him…
“Narcissa Malfoy is in the hospital. She has cancer or something like that. So maybe we can see Draco Malfoy after a long time. Nobody knows where he is. Can you even imagine?”
Ron gulped: “She has cancer?” He prayed that it was curable. Poor Draco. Even though he didn’t talk a lot about his mother Ron knew that he cared deeply for her. He couldn’t even imagine how hard it must be for him to hear the news.
“yeah, but back to the important news: Draco Malfoy. I am really curious what he is doing right now. Do you think he still looks that good? But… probably not. I mean he must be really poor, after they took all of his inheritance. Serves him right.” Ron lost it and stood up.
“He is a person, Hermione. Not just a VIP that you can gossip about.” How could she talk like that about him? Hermione looked confused, like at least half of the other witches and wizards around them.
“Ron, don’t act like a hero, okay? I know that you hated him. All of us did.” Right at that moment Draco came out of the room. Ron almost bumped into Hermione when he approached the blonde. She on the other hand just whispered Dracos name.
“As you can see I still look gorgeous, Granger. You on the other hand are still ugly.” Draco sneered. Ron knew that Draco would play the role of the enemy perfectly. He would even insult Ron, just to hold up the act and to help him keeping his image. But Ron was over it. Draco didn’t deserve this, after hearing about his mother’s sickness. “Let’s go home, Draco”, Ron said holding up his hand for Draco to grab it. The blonde looked at him, trying to make sure that Ron really meant it. Ron nodded. He was more sure than ever before. Draco smiled and took his hand. “Okay, Ron. Bring me out of here.”
“What’s going on Ron?”, Hermione asked horribly confused. But both of them turned their back on her and tried to find a fireplace to get out of the hospital. Back to the muggle world where they belonged.

Chapter Text

“Hey, you want some hot chocolate? Family recipe.” Ron peeked through Draco’s door. The blonde went right to his room after they arrived at their apartment. Ron wanted to give him some space after the bad news. But after four hours he decided enough was enough. And hot chocolate was the cure for everything, wasn’t it? Or at least it helped to feel a liiittle bit happier.
Draco looked up. His eyes were red. He probably cried a lot. It broke Ron’s heart to see him like this.
“Thanks…” Ron put the mug on the night stand and looked around uncomfortably. What are you supposed to do in this kind of situation? He was used to be there for his friends. But Draco was good at hiding his emotions. To see him like this was rare. Standing in the same room was already an accomplishment.
“Can you hug me? Just for a moment?”, Ron almost didn’t hear Draco.
“What?” Did he have a fever or something? Draco hated skinship.
“Forget it…” Draco mumbled. The red head could see the blush on his pale cheeks.
“You are such a weirdo.” Ron snickered, but he didn’t wait long to pull Draco close to him. Because he loved skinship, “I give the best hugs, you know?”

Draco inhaled Ron’s smell and snuggled closer. His future and past self would probably laugh about him. But… since the hospital he felt different… somehow. He remembered his mother’s words.

“You know, it is good to be strong and independent… but when it comes to the worst it is important to have someone by your side. And I know that we haven’t talked enough about it. But I hope that you have someone other than me, to be there for you.” Narcissa looked up at him und hold his hands. Draco really had to fight his tears. His mother didn’t know that he was gay. As a pure blood it was frowned upon. The blood line was more important than any feelings. Even his mother and father had never really loved each other after all. And under different circumstances that kind of marriage would have been his destiny, too. He knew that his father had wanted him to marry Astoria Greengrass.

Sometimes at night Draco asked himself how it would have been. Would they already have kids? Would they love each other, just in a different kind of way? He didn’t know. But maybe it would have been easier in some way.
“Love hurts… it doesn’t always make you happy”, Draco whispered. Narcissa sighed.
“True. It hurts and it is messing with us. But I think it is also worth fighting for. Don’t give up. You are a Malfoy after all and a Black. And that makes you to one of the most stubborn people. Believe me, I raised you. I know it.” Draco and his mother hugged after their talk. Growing up Draco got everything he wanted. But he learned early on not to wish for deep talks or any kind of hugs. A Malfoy wasn’t allowed to. He wasn’t a servant after all, his father always said. But he realized how much he craved it, suddenly. And Draco was done with fighting his own feelings.

Draco put some space between himself and Ron. It was hard to think straight thoughts in his arms.
“I know that this isn’t the right moment. But I think we should be honest with each other” Draco was done hiding, too. “I like you Ron. A lot.”
“You what?” Ron looked confused at him and shocked. What a great start… But there was no going back: “Life is short. I realized that today. And I am done with wasting my time. I love you, Ron. And I know that you don’t share the same feelings. But I have to confess, because it hurts. I thought that it was enough for me to be your friend. But it isn’t. It fucking hurts to see you with other girls. You don’t even know how much I wanted to hex this girl in the club. And the kiss… You probably already forgot about it. Maybe you were even disgusted. But for me it was everything.”
“I wasn’t disgusted… it was the best kiss I ever had”, Ron confessed. Now it was Draco’s turn to look shocked. He didn’t expect that answer. Ron laughed. “You know it is kind of funny how this confession turned out, because I wanted to be the one to confess to you. And I was so sure that you would turn me down.”
“But you aren’t gay. You never look after guys.”
“Why should I look after guys when I have you by my side? All of them look like nothing compared to you.”
Draco blushed, feeling his heart fill with joy. He knew that he was handsome. But hearing it from Ron in this kind of situation felt better than any compliment before.
“And I am not gay. I am bisexual. But I always tried to be normal, you know? I wanted to make my parents proud of me. And I know that they will be disgusted seeing me together with a man. But, today… I realized something, too. I am done hiding for people, who don’t understand me. And I am done hurting the person I love the most, just to be someone I am not.” Draco knew how much family meant to Ron. And he could imagine how hard it must have been for him to keep his feelings to himself. Why didn’t he open up to him earlier?
“You don’t have to tell your family.” Draco loved Ron too much. He would never force him to do something he wasn’t ready for.
“I don’t know, if I can already tell them about you. But I promise you, that I will work on it and I will try my best to make you happy. Even though I will probably suck at it. I know that this doesn’t sound really romantic, but I want to be honest with you. It will be a challenge. Are you really up to it?”
Draco grinned: “I love challenges.”
Ron smiled warmly and looked longingly at Draco’s soft lips: “How about starting with the first one?” Draco hold his breath and nodded. He waited so long for this. When Ron went in for a kiss he happily obliged. And the kiss felt better than any kiss in his life, before. It felt like finally coming home.

Chapter Text

„I think we should move to Thailand.“
Draco looked up from his newspaper and sighed. Ron was getting ridiculous. “We don’t move to Thailand just to flee from your family. Forget it.”
Ron and Draco had been together for a year and the blonde cherished every minute of it. Both of them had broken off every contact to the Weasleys and Ron’s oldest friends, after some “wonderful” messages from Harry and Hermione, telling Ron to come to his senses after creating a scene in the hospital (and a great article telling the magical world about their scandalous secret love affair). But Ron’s family was as stubborn as him. They have found their apartment a few days ago. Since then one owl after another had interrupted their sleep. And Draco had still difficulties to hear properly after an howler or two.
“We could also move to the US. Or France?”
“I have a crazy idea. Why don’t we just talk to them? Like, you know, normal human beings?”
“You don’t know my family. They would kill us!”
“My father would have killed us. Thankfully he is dead. Your family on the other hand will just scream at you and disown you. From whatever, as poor as they are.”
“Hey! Don’t insult my family.”
“They ARE poor. And you are the one who is ignoring them.” That was a first. Ron really didn’t know how to answer. Draco was right. Ron was the one who decided to break off every contact, not his partner.
“You even put up defensive spells all around this apartment. We are protected more from them than any death eater before.”
Ron knew the answer. His mother would have found a way to break in otherwise. He inherited her stubbornness after all.
And he didn’t want to face her. At all. When he heard a knock on the door Ron nearly jumped out of his seat and Toben flee. Draco sighed. This was really getting ridiculous.

“Who’s there?”

“It’s me, Blaise!”
Ron found his Gryffindor courage back and almost ran to the door. He opened it forcefully and looked nervously behind his friend. “Don’t knock at the door like that!”
Blaise seemed to be totally unbothered and let himself in: “You want to have a code or something? Honestly you two are ridiculous. You can be happy to have a friend like me, who endures your craziness.”
“Oh, come on, we aren’t crazy”, both shouted. Blaise hung up his jacket before glaring at them angrily: “Last time I tried to get into your apartment with the floo, you hexed me! I couldn’t poop for days. Do you even know how painful that is?”
“Why are you even visiting?”
“Wow, I am also so happy to see you guys…”
“We aren’t happy to see you.”
“Sarcasm Weasley! Honestly, are you getting dumber the older you get?”
Draco rolled his eyes. These two were still behaving like cat and mouse sometimes.
“We ARE happy to see you. Are you fleeing from pregnant Pansy and the kid again?”
Blaise stood still, before he nodded. Just as expected. Draco sighed.
“Okay, from a 1 to 10? How bad is it?”
“Do you have firewhiskey?”
“Wow, only a 5. That’s something.”
Draco couldn’t understand Blaise. He feared for his future to be honest. One kid from Pansy was enough to feel like hell, but two? Maybe they should buy a bigger apartment with a guestroom. He didn’t want Blaise to get insane after all. But at the same time, it was just perfect timing for him to come over.
“Ron, could you prepare the firewhiskey for him? I want to show Blaise the renovation of my office”
Ron just gave him a little side-glance, but didn’t think much about it. Draco was still a Malfoy after all. Status and a beautiful office to show off meant a lot to him.

Little did he know that Draco wasn’t behaving very Malfoy-like this time. Blaise didn’t even have a lot of time to look around, before the blonde grabbed his shoulders.
“You have to help me.”
“Are you switching roles with Ron now, playing the drama queen? Or are you back to teenager Malfoy? I still remember when you had the wrong haircut. You sulked for a whole day and bit my hand, when I tried to cheer you up.”
“It was a serious business, okay!?”, Draco rolled his eyes. This dude had to bring this up every damn time.
“And this is even more serious.”
“What is it about? You want to finally hex your co-worker who tries to flirt with Ron every time he visits you?”
“No, even though he still deserves it. But let’s be honest I am way more handsome than him. Ron doesn’t even notice him.”
“I wish I would have your self-confidence”, Blaise whispered.
“Believe me, right now my confidence isn’t that great.”
“Why?”
“I want to propose to Ron.”
“WHAT?!”
That was a first. Draco was even blushing: “I thought this through and I can’t imagine to be with anyone other than him. Even though he is annoying, chaotic and clumsy. For me it makes him even more adorable.”
“Wow, you are really in deep, thinking that makes him adorable.”
“I know… it’s just… I don’t know how to propose properly. Maybe on Christmas? But I don't know, isn't that too clichée? For my family a proposal involved a big event with firework, a lot of champagne and a bunch of guests. But I don’t even know that many people anymore and Ron isn’t really the kind of person, who likes that much of attention. And then there are his issues with his family and friends. I know that he is still suffering from the reaction of his friends and the articles. I mean they are making him the bad guy now, the slut that is intriguing against the big hero Harry Potter. These people are nuts. Since a year we only went to the wizarding world once and it was the worst experience.” Draco shook his head, trying to get rid of the memories.
“Please, first of all take a deep breath… okay, better now?" Draco nodded and he seemed to be more calm, at least a little bit. Blaise continued: "Honestly I think Christmas would be a perfect time, how about proposing at the Christmas party on the 24th? I can help you with the planning”
“True… it would be a perfect timing. And all of our close friends would be there.”
“Do you already have the engagement ring?”
“Yes, you want to see it?”, Draco almost ran to his desk: “Luckily Ron sleeps like a dead person. It was pretty easy to get the right size, at least.”
Draco showed Blaise the ring. It was perfect for him. It didn’t involve a lot of jewelry. It was just a golden engagement ring with their names carved in on the inside.
“I would have loved to buy something extravagant, but I know he would kill me for that.”
“It is beautiful.”
“Yes, isn’t it?”, Draco was grinning from ear to ear and Blaise just had to grin back automatically. He pulled his best friends into a big bear hug. Blaise would have never said it out loud, but it made him so happy to see his friend that carefree. Since the war Draco had suffered a lot. All of them did. There was a time, when he was sure they could never be happy again. They didn’t share a lot of deep talks, but he knew and cherished the fact that he was one of the very few people, that were allowed to see Draco’s weak and vulnerable side, that he tried so hard to hide normally. He was so damn proud of him and fuck, he loved Draco and Ron so much.

They didn’t even recognize Ron coming in, until he cleared his throat. Both of them immediately jumped apart, while trying hard to hide the engagement ring. Ron raised his eyebrow: “I like you Blaise, but please remember that this is still my man.”
“s-sorry.”
“And why are you looking so shocked?”
Draco looked up with wide eyes.
“shocked? Who is shocked?”
“And everyone is saying I am the weird one”, Ron murmured.
“I warmed up some chili. Wanna join?”
Blaise stomach answered immediately and started growling. Ron and Draco laughed out loud.
“Honestly without us you would already have starved to death”, said Ron.
Blaise smirked and sat down at the dinner table with them. The chili smelled heavenly.
“True, can I call you daddy then?”, he smirked while he was stuffing his face.
The answer was a slap in the back of his head from Draco and the disgusted face of Ron: “Gross Blaise. Just gross. Why can’t we have one normal evening?!”

Will Draco succeed in proposing or will the chaotic energy from everyone and everything hold him back? You will see ;)

Chapter Text

“You know we could buy a tree, almost beside our apartment?”
“Yes”
“But you want me to drive in the pouring rain to cut down a tree that we could get, right heeere?” Draco was throwing his hands up and showed at the sign.
“Yes” Ron seemed totally calm. That was always a bad sign, because he was up to something stupid, but stubborn enough to win every discussion.
“Whyyy?”, Draco got whiney. He understood Ron’s dislike for everything magical this year, but he WAS totally exaggerating.
“I just want to have a cozy muggle Christmas. Like in the muggle movies. Cutting down a tree and decorating it, baking cookies… All the stuff, but the muggle way.”
“You are getting even more ridiculous than your stupid dad.”
That was a low blow and Draco knew it. Immediately Ron’s face got red. Bad sign, really bad sign.
“I AM NOT LIKE MY DAD!”
“No, you are not…” yes, you totally are and as stubborn and dangerous as your mum, Draco thought. But he was too tired to argue. “Let’s get into the car, shall we?”
Draco got a driver’s license shortly after settling down in the muggle world. He didn’t drive a lot, but sometimes it came handy. Like today… at least for Ron.
When they finally tried to start the “romantic” journey, Ron stopped him.
“We have to wait for Pansy and Blaise.”

Draco looked at him shocked. “Please tell me that you are joking.”
“No, I am not. Pansy and I talked about it. Her little girl will love it. It will be like a little family activity.”
“We are NOT a family. Her “little girl” will probably kill all the trees around her. That’s her only definition to have fun. To destroy.”
“You are exaggerating.”
“I wish.”
Draco looked around. There they were. The family from hell. Pansy, Blaise and Sophie got into the car.
“Fuck, the weather is bad. Are you sure you want to cut the tree, today?”, Blaise asked, while trying to get the water out of his hair.
“Just try to imagine that it is snowing and not raining”, Ron said.
“No imagination can be that great”, Draco muttered. Only to get an angry look from both Ron and Pansy.
“This will be fun. I am sure of it.”, Pansy answered. “A little bit Christmas music and everything will feel cozy and great immediately.”
“If you think so…”

The car drive wasn’t so bad after all (Michael Bublé made everyone happy). But when they got out of the car it was still raining and even though they found a beautiful tree almost right away, the axe in Ron’s hand didn’t look very promising.

“Are you really sure about it? We can still drive home?”, Draco asked.
“I am sure. I will cut the tree.”
“Are you really sure? You know how many band aids you have to use, alone for cooking?”
“Believe me. I can do it. I have watched enough Christmas movies to know how to do it. And it is not that hard to do. Believe me.”
“Which movie?”
“Christmas Vacation, for example...“
Draco looked at him in disbelief: “They didn’t even use an axe. That was the whole point!”
“They didn’t?”

Blaise took a step back and held Sophie tight: “Just to be safe”
Draco rolled his eyes.
“Okay, just try it.” He couldn’t hold him back anyway. But as soon as Ron tried to cut the tree, he already had to look away. After some time he seemed to get the hang of it, even though nothing seemed to happen.
“Why doesn’t this tree want to fall already!”, Ron whined.
“I don’t know much about muggle stuff. Maybe they do something different?”, Blaise had found a mulled wine while waiting and nipped on it.
“What like a ritual?”
“Maybe a little dance?” Blaise did a crazy dance.
“True, the tree might fall, just to look away from that disastrous scene”, Draco answered sarcastically. Pansy nodded, while Sopie laughed and imitated her dad. Draco had to admit that it was a liiittle bit cute. But he would never say this out loud.
Ron on the other hand looked at the tree with a red, angry face: “Noo, I am making everything right.”
“Maybe it just needs a little bit time. You want me to help you?”
“NO, I can do this by myself. I don’t need your help every time.”
“oookay”
“problems in paradise.”, Blaise whispered.
“Shut up”, at least Draco and Ron were a team when it came to insulting them as a couple.

“By the way, where did you find the mulled wine?”, Draco whispered to Blaise.
“Wait a minute, I will bring you some.” They should enjoy the day at least a little bit, right?

Draco and Blaise had almost finished their mulled wine and Pansy and Sophie their hot chocolate, but Ron was still struggling.
“It won’t fall down, just because you kick it.”
“The axe doesn’t work obviously.”
“You can do it.”
“I hate trees.”
Ron swore and began to use his axe again. Draco on the other hand sneakily got out his wand and looked around. He knew that he shouldn’t use it, but he also didn’t want Ron to feel even more stressed or to even hurt himself. And he was wet and cold. So, while nobody was watching he whispered a tiny little spell and the tree fell immediately.
At first everyone looked at the tree in disbelief, until they shouted: “We did it!”
“Finally!”
“I can get out of the rain!”
“Hallelujah.”
But Ron was the happiest of all. He looked at his partner, full of pride and began to hug him:
“I did it!”, he laughed and kissed Draco. “I did it.” And Draco began to feel better as well. As long as Ron was happy, he could endure this craziness.

After celebrating, Pansy suddenly froze and looked at the tree, again: “Just a little question… How do we get it home?”
“…”
“I didn’t think of it”, Ron shouted. And the stress began again. Draco corrected himself. He hated Christmas the muggle way.

Chapter Text

“So, we have the Christmas tree.”
“Yes.”
“and the stand.”
“indeed.”
“And the decorations?”
“way too much of it, actually.”
Ron totally ignored Draco’s comment and looked happily at the tree on the balcony: “Perfect, then everything should work out.”
“Please don’t say this.” Draco looked at Ron accusing.
“What do you mean?”
“Every time you say it, something goes wrong.”
“What could possibly go wrong this time?”

Of course something did go wrong.
“How does this tree not stand properly?!”
“I don’t know, Ron. You are the ‘expert’ here”, Draco looked at his partner, who struggled with the Christmas tree. Getting it into the apartment had already been a task in itself. They totally underestimated the size of the tree. But the big problem was the Christmas tree stand. It just didn’t want to work properly. Or the tree sucked. Or they were both just idiots. By now Draco was sure the third option worked best for them.

While Ron struggled with the tree, Draco tried to get Toben out of the way. The dog seemed to be attracted to the new thing way too much. Draco lost count on how many times Toben almost got crushed under it. This dog was cute, but it totally came after Ron in being stupid.
“Please let us use magic. I can’t watch this anymore.”
“You are not helping, Draco.”
“No honestly Ron, we’ll kill our dog by this point.”
“Please don’t say that! Wait, Toben what are you doing there? TOBEN!”
Draco was sure to get grey hair early on in his life. Maybe after these holidays… Thankfully they would get some help with this problem, at least. Ron didn’t know it yet, but after the disastrous other day, Draco just had to intervene. He knew that his partner just wanted to distract himself from his family problems, a task that wasn’t easy when it came to Ron and his love for Christmas. But he couldn’t let this chaos going on.

Somebody knocked on their door and Draco sighed in relief.
“Finally.”
“Who is it?”, Ron tried eagerly to hold the tree while getting Toben out of the way.
“Some help. Just wait for it.”
Draco almost ran to the door and hugged the old man.
“Henry, you don’t know how much I missed you.”
Ron’s uncle laughed: “Wow, I think nobody has ever greeted me that excited.”
“Come in. You know something about Christmas trees?”
“What’s the problem? Bugs? Or is the Christmas tree stand not working? I brought one with me.”
Draco almost cried.
“You don’t even know how much I love you.”

“Heey, first Blaise, now it’s my uncle? What’s going on with you Draco?”, Ron laughed and hugged his uncle.
“Just kidding. I love you so much for helping us.”
“I never thought there would ever be a time a squib like me could help, but here I am. Just show me the tree.”

Henry always reminded Draco of Santa Clause, just with red hair. He was smaller than Ron and more on the heavy side, but he was the best when it came to do some handiwork and he was the most heartwarming person, Draco had ever met. Without him they would have never been that successful. He had believed in them, when no one else did.

As promised Henry helped them out and the tree was finally secured and ready to decorate. At first Ron tried to help, but it was clear from the start that the kitchen was the best environment for him, at least after he destroyed the first Christmas tree stand. How did he do it? Draco just didn’t know. It was like a gift no one had ever asked for. So instead Ron made some cinnamon hot chocolate. The whole apartment smelled heavenly by the time Henry and Draco finished the task. He handed them two mugs and gave the old man a kiss on his cheek: “Thank you so much, Henry.”
“No need to thank me. Draco sounded so desperate on the phone, I just had to head over to your apartment immediately.”
“It wasn’t that bad”, Ron looked angry at Draco.
“Babe, it was bad. Don’t deny it. I love your desserts and your cooking, but let’s be honest we are both just not good at handiwork.”
Ron hummed: “Okay, maybe we need a little bit more experience…”
“No! No more experiences… I’ve had enough for this year”, Draco whined and hugged Ron from behind. “Please? Please?”
Ron laughed: “We’ll see. Let’s just decorate the tree.” Finally something even Draco wanted to do. He kissed Ron on the cheek “Okay let’s start.”

Decorating was way more fun than Draco had imagined. They drank way too much hot chocolate and the decoration was probably over the top. But for Draco this tree looked way more beautiful than any fancy Christmas tree in the mansion he grew up in. Just decorating it and spending time with Ron and his uncle felt really great in itself. As a kid he always dreaded the Christmas time. It only meant attending awful events where he had to sit still and proper. And his parents never really had time for him. They had been way too much involved in charity work and event planning. With Ron on the other hand he could just be himself. There was no image to be hold.

He went over to Henry, who tried to hold Toben on the couch (this dog loved the Christmas tree decorations way too much): “This is the best Christmas tree, isn’t it?”
The man laughed and looked at the Christmas tree and Ron, who tried to put up the Christmas lights: “Yes it is.” Both of them remained silent for a while, until Henry spoke up again: “Ron really reminds me of his mum. She used to try everything just to forget about the real underlying issue.”
“So you see it, too”, Draco answered.
Henry nodded: “He loves his family. It must be really hard for him this Christmas without them. It was one of his favorite times of the year.”
Draco sighed and looked at his partner. He knew how hard he tried to deny his feelings. “I just don’t know what to do. I don’t want to force him to do anything, but honestly, we can’t go on like this.”
Henry laughed: “You are probably right. You two can never be Muggles.”
Draco grinned: “Never.”
“But sometimes love also means to step up for your partner, when he can’t do something by himself”, Henry continued. Draco nodded and tried to answer but both got interrupted by Ron. Did he get stuck between the lights and the Christmas tree? “Aaand I think it is my time to help him with the lights, now…”, Henry stood up and ran to Ron, who looked like a little kid, ready to get scolded again.
Draco grinned at the sight, but he couldn’t forget Henry’s words. He was right. He petted Toben and watched his loving, but chaotic partner. He knew he had to help him to get in contact with his family again. They just had to talk with each other, because the ongoing silence between Ron and his family didn’t work obviously. But he also feared to lose him along the way. Would Ron hate him for getting involved? Or would he leave him, if he got close to his family again? He sighed. This would be a hard task. Even the tree disaster seemed to be such a little problem in comparison. But he wanted to enjoy that evening first, at least after helping Ron with the Christmas lights. They deserved some joy in their life.

Later in the evening Draco and Ron lay in the bed. Henry had stayed for a while to watch some Christmas movies together and to eat some cookies from the Café. They got to bed quite late, but they couldn’t sleep, both in their own thoughts, until Ron spoke up: “I know that you used a spell to cut the tree”
Draco froze.
“Can you also use one for the tree to not fall again? I’m still not sure about it and I really don’t want to kill Toben…” Draco looked shocked at Ron, who hid his face on his shoulder.
“Come again?”
“Maybe I was exaggerating a little bit.”
“you are apologizing? For real?”
“Not apologizing, just discussing.”
“yeah, sure…”
“Hey, I am serious here.” Ron got on top of Draco and started to tickle him. Draco laughed out loud. This little… He knew how ticklish he was.
“Hey, th-that’s not fair!”
“Say the right words.”
“I am s-s-sorry, you just want to discuss, of course you do!” Ron looked at Dracos face. Both of them knew, that Draco was right. But he still let Ron win. He was the rock by his side. No one-sided feelings. No manipulating. Fuck, Ron loved this man so much. He held his face and kissed him deeply.
“Thank you for enduring my craziness.”
Draco laughed and answered: “Don’t worry, I am used to it, by now.” and gave him another little kiss. “And it would be way too boring without it. But please let us use a little bit of magic. One of us will die otherwise. I just know it.”
“a little bit will be okay, I guess…”
“great and now get off me. You are heavy.”
“Noooo, you are so warm.”, Ron hugged Draco and lay right on top of him.
“honestly, what did you eeeeat?”
“You can be lucky I am not a woman. I would have killed you otherwise for these words.”
“You could also suffocate me, it ends the same way.”
“Hey! Not everyone can be a stick like you.”
“I have a great figure. You want to see it again, you want to see it?” Draco pulled his t-shirt over Rons head and hold him close.
“Draco!”
“Say that I have a nice figure, say it!”
“You have the best figure ever.” Ron muffled while trying to wiggle out of Dracos arms. Draco let him and laughed about the look of ruffled red hair and Ron’s angry face.
“Love you, you big dork.”
“Love you too, you ferret.”
“all these adorable, romantic nicknames I get.”
“Hmmhmm… Get used to it.”
Draco helped Ron with his hair and gave him a kiss.
“By the way, you can also see me naked in another… fun way.” Draco wiggled his eyebrows. Ron just rolled his eyes.
“No, we have to be fit for tomorrow. Did you forget? We want to bake.”
“You really want to bake tomorrow with everyone?”
“Yes of course. What could possibly go wrong?”
“You want me to make a list?”
“Draacooooo!”

Chapter Text

Draco was nervous. When did love become so complicated? He looked at the burrow across the street and sighed. Never had he imagined to go there on his own. But it had to be done. A year had passed since the incident at the hospital. Since then Ron hadn’t spoken a word with his family or his former friends. And he was treated like an outcast by the whole magical world. From one second to another it didn’t matter anymore that Ron had been one of the people who saved the world. He became the guy who joined the dark side.

Draco was used to this kind of treatment. Ron wasn’t. And even though he didn’t like to show his hurt, Draco knew his boyfriend well enough to notice that he missed his family. And Draco loved Ron, so there was no going back. Draco crossed the street and knocked on the door. The stupid Gryffindor side from his boyfriend seemed to rub off.
Ginny opened the door and was surprised at first, but she recovered quickly: “What do you want, Malfoy?”
Great start already. She didn’t seem to be in the best mood. So, nothing seemed to have changed, really.
“Just let me in. I need to talk to your parents.”
“You are not welcome here.”
“I’m not here to fight. I just want to talk with them about Ron.”
“Maybe you should just release him.”
Draco really had to fight the urge to punch her in the face, but he tried to remain calm. At least something good that came from his education as a child: “This is between your parents and me.”
“Ron is my BROTHER. This matters to me too.”
“Oh really, he matters to you, now?”, Draco couldn’t hold it in anymore. “What about the money he lent you, that he never got back? What about his breakup with Hermione, when he felt miserable and cried himself to sleep every night? Where have you been all that time? I can go on, if you want to.”
That was too much. Ginny took out her wand: “Don’t interfere with our family.” Draco rolled his eyes. This bitch: “Believe me. I promise that I don’t want to hurt you or your family. I’m doing this for Ron. Not for you.”

“STOP. Stop this fight, okay? Let him in, dear.”
Draco looked behind Ginny and found Molly Weasley. She looked way older than he remembered.
“Come in, Draco Malfoy. Ginny, please go upstairs.”
“But, MUM! I’m not a child anymore.”
“Go upstairs. This is my last warning”
Ginny throw Draco another angry look, before she left. Draco let out a sigh. At least one less person.
“Please follow me.”
“Sure.” Draco looked around. The burrows looked cozy, but he still felt really cold and nervous. He knew that they saw him as an intruder, a bad person. He had to be cautious. Draco found Ron’s dad already at the dinner table in the kitchen.
The old man just looked up and stared at him: “Where is our son?” Mrs. Weasly sat down as well, Draco didn’t dare to do the same.
“I’m not holding him hostage, if that is what you think. I am here to talk to you about him.”
“We tried to get in contact with him.”
“I know, I still can’t hear properly. Thank you for the howler, by the way.” Draco tried to lighten up the mood a little, but it fell on deaf ears.
“I just want to see my son. Is that so hard to understand”, Molly held a big mug. Her hands shivered.
“It isn’t. He’s just… too much has happened.”
“Yes, you happened. What did you do to him?”, Molly looked at him accusingly. Okay, it was pretty clear that they saw him as the enemy.
“I did nothing. I lo- I like him and I want the best for him.” Draco tried hard to hide his feelings. It wasn’t his place to out his boyfriend. There were a lot of rumors about Ron’s sexuality, but he had only told a few of his friends about his bisexuality.
“Maybe you think that you like him, but he doesn’t need you. He needs his family.”
“I know that he needs you, that’s why I am here. If you just would let me explain-”
“We don’t need an explanation from you. Just.give.him.back.”
Did they even listen to him?
“He is not a toy. He makes his own decisions and I will support him no matter what.”
“What do you want then?”, Mrs. Weasley shouted.

Draco really wanted to run away as fast as possible. Instead he took a long breath in. He had to understand them. He had been a death eater before and one of Ron’s biggest enemies. And even though they had spent a long time together, they didn’t know about it. But it still hurt. Ron was his partner in crime, the man he intended to marry. And he still had to defend himself and lie about their relationship. But he didn’t back down, he couldn’t: “I want you to meet him tomorrow.”
“What?” That took them by surprise.
“You heard correctly. I will try to get him here, to talk to you. Because I know that you are important to him. But he is stubborn and I can’t promise, that he will talk to you. But I will do my best to get him to meet you.”
They looked at him doubtfully. “Why should we trust you?”, Mr. Weasley asked.
“Because you have no other option”, Draco didn’t wait for their reply, he just went to the door instead and added, “We’ll arrive in the morning around 10 o’clock. Be prepared.” He had to get out of there. He ignored their voices calling him back.

Draco got home quite late. He looked at the time. He hoped that he didn’t miss the whole baking session with Ron and their friends. Ron greeted him with a kiss: “Hey, how was work? I hope that everything went well? Your bosses are just crazy to let you work overtime.” The blond went in for a big hug immediately.
“I missed you so much.” Just seeing his partner made him feel good and cozy, already. He just hoped that he made the right decision. Even lying to him about his work already felt bad enough. And he felt so damn tired.
“Was it that bad?”, Ron laughed, “but don’t worry, we already have finished one tray of freshly baked cookies. You can try them, if you want to.”
“I would love to.”

Draco followed Ron into the kitchen. It was absolute chaos. Sophie and Blaise seemed to have fallen into a pot of flour and Toben didn’t look any better. Draco had to hide a smile. These people…
“What happened? Did you have a fight with the ingredients?”
“Look, look!”, Sophie showed him a bunch of ugly cookies. Blaise grinned proudly: “She made them herself. Okay, she needed a little bit of help, but she did a great job, didn’t she?”
“She did. It looks great, Sophie.” Wow he was even happy to see this little devil, who smiled at him like a little sunshine. Maybe there was hope for her to become a nice witch after all. Ron on the other hand looked at the floor, blushing: “sorry, it looks messy in here. I’ll clean it, I promise. Cookies?”
Draco laughed: “It’s okay, really. How about some extra sprinkles on the cookies?” Sophie immediately agreed with a giggle and Pansy, who enjoyed a virgin cocktail, nodded: “You can never have enough sprinkles, that’s a rule.”
“I kinda disagree, but in this case I think it’s a great idea”, Ron said. Draco gave him another hug. He was home again, finally. Ron looked deeply into his eyes and whispered: “Is everything okay? You really look down today.”
“Yes, I’m just tired.”
“You know that you can talk to me, right? I know that I can be a little over the top, sometimes. But I’m here for you whenever you need me.”
“I know, don’t worry.” Draco smiled. He just wanted to enjoy the evening with his loved ones. He needed all of the strength and love to survive the next day.

Chapter Text

Ron couldn’t believe his eyes. Was that a joke? They wanted to do some shopping before the Christmas eve party, but instead they landed here.
“Draco, we are…”
“At the burrows, exactly.”
“But, why?”
“I talked… with your parents.”
“You did what?”
“Ron, listen… don’t get angry okay?”
Ron tried to run away: “No, I don’t want to talk to them. Don’t get involved in this.”
But Draco was stubborn as well. He ran up to him and turned him around angrily.
“Look at me. I am not blind Ron. You can lie to yourself, but not to me.”
“What do you know?!”, Ron shouted.
“I know that you look at your family pictures secretly, whenever you think I am sleeping. I know that you have nightmares sometimes. About your family not accepting you. You talk in your sleep, you know?”, Draco’s grip on his shoulder grew stronger, “I really don’t want to do this either, Ron. But I know that you are too stubborn for your own good. And I know that you will regret it in the future. Let’s be honest, this whole Christmas-muggle-ordeal was mostly to forget about them, wasn’t it? Because it hurts too much to be reminded of them.”

Fuck, how could Draco know him so well? “Stop, okay? Just stop.”
Draco hugged him tightly. “You don’t have to do this. We can also go back to our apartment. I would never force you to do anything. But I think it will help you.”
Ron thought about it deeply. He inhaled Draco’s scent. He didn’t want to admit it, but his partner was right. He was acting like a coward for a long time now. Fuck he really didn’t feel like a Gryffindor at all, anymore. It was about time to confront his own family and all the things that came with it. All his insecurities, his past…
“Okay, I’ll talk to them. But you have to come with me.” Ron hated himself for asking this, but he just didn’t want to do everything on his own, like it had been in his relationship with Hermione before. Draco smiled. “Of course, everything you want. And don’t forget this.” Draco suddenly showed Ron a bag with his pastries.
“I think they should know about your achievements for a start.”
Ron just had to smile. He really did think about everything.

Standing before the door of his parent’s house felt so unbelievable surreal. It didn’t feel like coming home anymore. And he had to admit that he had felt like this for a long time. Even before the hospital visit and all the rumors that followed.
He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. There was no going back now. They had to wait a few seconds before Ron’s mum opened the door forcefully. She beamed at her son. Ginny and his dad stood behind her.
“Ron, I can’t believe this. Oh, my little boy”, Molly gave her son a big hug. He almost felt like crying. It had been such a long time.
“Hey, mum.”
“You look so skinny. Are you even eating enough?”
“I do, mum. Don’t worry about it.” It seemed like nothing had changed, until…
“What does he want here?”, Ginny hissed.
Ron looked at Draco, who seemed to be even more pale than usual. Did he make the right decision to bring his boyfriend with him?
“He is here, because I asked him to. Can we come in or do you want to leave us outside in the freezing cold?”
“No, no, come in, dear. Both of you”, Molly nodded at Draco and led them into the kitchen. Luckily only his parents and Ginny were present.
“I made some hot cinnamon chocolate. You want some?”
“Sure, I even brought some pastry that I made.”
“Oh, Ron. I don’t know. I love you, but you can’t bake”, Molly answered automatically. Ron froze.
His father laughed: “True, do you remember the time he almost burnt the kitchen? It was a disaster.”
Draco, who sat beside Ron, hold his hand under the table and squeezed it.
“I think you should try his pastry. He owns a bakery and it is quite popular, you know?”
Ginny just looked at him with such a disgust: “You want to poison us, Malfoy?”
“I don’t…”
“Let’s not talk about it, shall we? We have to talk about so much. Here is some hot chocolate”, Molly interrupted. Ron knew that she just tried to stop a fight, but he felt so invisible and small again. He looked at the clock. Just five minutes had passed. Wow, that was a record. He tried to stay calm and took a sip from the hot chocolate. In the past he had loved everything his mother made. But this one missed a little bit of cinnamon and vanilla extract. But what did he know? He couldn’t bake after all. At least when it came to his family.
“So what are you up to? Why didn’t you answer our letters?”, his dad asked.
Ron sighed: “I just needed some time for myself after the incident at the hospital.”
“What happened anyway? Hermione told me you acted totally hysterical”, of course Ginny had to comment everything.
“Hysterical?”
“Yes, I mean we all know that you can’t control your temper. But that was just too much, wasn’t it?”
Ron really didn’t know what to say.
“Yes, because everything this ugly woman says is true”, Draco answered sarcastically instead.
“What do you know? It was your fault after all”, Ginny just couldn’t stop. Ron remembered that day. Draco, who had tried to stay strong after the news. His mum suffering…
“It was my own decision to react the way I did. I’m not a little child anymore.”
“Why are you acting like it then?”
“Ginny.”
“No, mum. Somebody has to say this. Just grow up already. Hermione and Harry are expecting a child, I’ll marry the man of my life and everyone else is going on with their life. But you are still hiding in the muggle world. Can you even do magic anymore?”
“They are expecting a child?”, Ron wondered. Hermione had never wanted a child with him. That should have been a warning sign.
“Yes, in January. See? You don’t even know about that. Everyone is talking about it, while you are just hiding, feeling sorry for yourself.”
“I am not feeling sorry for myself. I am working on myself. If you would just try the pastry…”, Ron tried to get the pastry out, but Ginny stopped him. She just took the package and threw it against the wall: “No one wants to eat your pastry. Wake up, already.”
Ron just couldn’t believe this. His mum tried to stutter excuses, while his dad just sat there, until he began to speak: “I love the muggles as well, Ron. But Ginny is right, even though she was a little bit mean. You need to come back to your senses. Do you really want to live on like that?” Everyone stared at him. Ron felt overwhelmed. Did his family really think, that he was that irresponsible? They didn’t even try to understand. Was he really just hiding?

Draco looked at his boyfriend. He felt trapped. How could this bitch throw these words at his face without even thinking about his feelings? Draco had enough, finally. He just couldn’t listen to this bullshit anymore. He stood up instead and stared at them full of hate: “ENOUGH. Ron is doing very well on his own. He is the owner of one of the most famous cafés in London, he is kind to everyone and yes, he is a little bit chaotic. But that’s his charm. And it doesn’t mean that he is weak. He fought so hard for his new life by himself and he never tried to burden you with any of his problems. You said that you wanted to talk with him. But you don’t even listen to anything he says”, Draco shouted, “I thought I would help him by bringing him here. But I remember now all the times he came home drunk after your gatherings, because he felt unloved and unworthy. And this meeting just showed me why. I did a mistake.” Ron looked up proudly. Oh, Draco…
“Don’t get involved in this, death eater!”, Ginny just didn’t want to listen, did she. But now it was time for Ron to stand up: “Don’t talk to him like this. I warn you.”
“You are crazy, Ron. You can’t trust him.”
“No, you are wrong. You are the one I can’t trust anymore.”
“Please just calm down. We are a family”, Molly tried to intervene. But Ron had enough. He took Draco’s hand, who looked at him surprised.
“No, he is.”
“What do you mean?”
“I have a wonderful boyfriend by my side, who loves me the way I am and is even standing up for me, when I am not able to. You told me about Hermione’s and Harry’s child to hurt me. But you can’t. I am happy that we broke up. Because it helped me to find my true soulmate.”
The atmosphere grew heavy. Everyone stared at him. Even Draco, who whispered a tiny: “Are you sure?” until his mum found her words back: “You are not gay.”
“True, I am bisexual. But that doesn’t really change anything.”
“Ron, come to your senses. He probably hexed you”, Ginny said.
“You should come to your senses, not me. Leave us the hell alone and don’t send me any more letters or howlers or you will regret it.” The whole burrow was shaking. Ron really didn’t joke around. The air around them grew heavy, the room got darker. “Don’t forget that I helped to defeat Voldemort. I was never weak. You just let me believe it. But that’s over.”, he nodded at his boyfriend and ignored their stares. It was time to go. Their opinion didn’t matter to him anymore: “Let’s get out of here, Draco.”

They didn’t even wait for an answer and apparated to their apartment as fast as possible. Both of them stared at each other, until Draco broke the silence: “I am so sorry. I wanted to help you, but I made everything worse.” Ron just shook his head: “Are you kidding? You helped me immensely. Thank you for standing up for me. Because of you I could say everything that needed to be said for a long time”, Ron kissed his boyfriend, “I never thought that Ginny could get such a red face.”
“True”, even Draco had to grin. This image would be ingrained in his mind forever. But there was one important topic he had to address: “I am happy for you. But are you really sure that you won’t regret telling them about us?”
Ron looked at him confused: “Why shouldn’t I have told them?”
“Because the whole wizarding world will know about it by now.”
“Perfect, I don’t have to repeat myself all the time, then.”
“But-“ Ron hold a finger against Draco’s mouth to stop him.
“No buts, I wanted to tell them about us anyway.”
“You are only bisexual. You could change your mind…”
“Gosh, you can be so stupid sometimes.” Ron looked lovingly at Draco and cupped his face in his hands. “Don’t you understand? YOU are my family, Draco. You are my home. I love my parents and my siblings, but too much has happened. It will never be the same. And that’s okay. Because I have found you. And I won’t ever leave you. You are stuck with me, Malfoy. Get used to it.”
“But we won’t have children.”
“I already have Sophie and I don’t even want to know how her little brother will be like. But I am sure we will spend a lot of time with them…”
“It’s not the same.”
“You are right. But you are the love of my life. And if that’s the only price I have to pay, then it is worth it. 100 percent.” Draco tried to say something, but Ron shut his mouth again, this time with a kiss. “Don’t say anything anymore, okay? I had a long time to think about it. I made my decision and I’ll stick with it. I’m stubborn after all, have you forgotten that?”
This guy… “So bossy, I kind of love it”, Draco laughed. He didn’t even think before the words came out of his mouth: “Will you marry me then?”
Ron blinked: “What?”
“I won’t ever be able to give you children, but you can have as many dogs as you want and I can promise you, that I will be always there for you. You don’t have to answer me right away, but –“
“YES!”
Now it was Draco’s time to look at him confused: “You don’t want to think about it?”
Ron shook his head and beamed at him: “Why should I? I planned to propose to you anyway.”
“What, when?”
“Pansy and I organized something for Christmas, the 25th. I even bought a ring… Wait a minute…” Ron ran into his room, while Draco just stood there, unable to move an inch. He wanted to propose to him? But Draco was the one, who…
Ron came back and got down on his knees. He held an engagement ring in silver in his hand. It had a snake as the symbol: “Draco Malfoy, do you want to marry me? I will always be there for you and at least I can promise you, that your life will never be boring. And we WILL have a lot of dogs. It’s too late to back down now.”
Draco laughed and nodded his head: “Yes, I want to.”
Ron stood up and gave him the ring. It fit perfectly. “Do you even know how hard it was to get the right size? You roll around in your sleep a lot.” Draco just couldn’t stop staring at it: “It’s beautiful.”
“I’m glad you like it. Can I kiss you now?”
“Hold on.” Draco fumbled in his jacket and took out his small present.
“What is it?”
“I wanted to propose to you on Christmas eve. Sooo…”, Draco showed him the engagement ring. Ron’s eyes grew bigger. “Do you want to marry me, Ron Weasley?”
“Bloody hell… I can’t believe this.”
“Wow, that’s the reaction I wanted”, Draco rolled his eyes.
“No, it’s… it’s beautiful. I love it.” Ron took the ring as well and hold it for a long time, until he put it on.
“I just can’t believe this. A minute ago I felt like the most worthless being on earth, but you turned everything around”, Ron didn’t wait any longer and kissed the blonde deeply, “You don’t even know how much I love you, ferret.”
“I love you, too. So much.” They stood there for a long time, just holding each other. They weren’t perfect, but they were perfect for each other and that was the only thing that mattered.

Chapter Text

„Do you like it?“
„Are you crazy? I love it.” Draco looked around. Ron’s café looked like a winter Wonderland. He had made the café look bigger and put a big Christmas tree in the middle of the room. It shined thanks to a lot of tiny Christmas lights and was decorated with gingerbread men, candy cane cookies and tiny figures, that moved around. He also put candles on every table and nicely packed cookies. The whole café smelled heavenly and the music was calm and chill. It just had a wonderful cozy vibe.
“You really outdid yourself.”
“Yes, after I realized the hard way that I am better at performing magic than handiwork it became a lot easier and joyful”, Ron laughed. Both of them looked around and enjoyed watching the first guests in the café. John and his girlfriend tried some winter coffee and red velvet cake. They talked with Narcissa and Henry, who was dressed like Santa Clause. Some kids from the neighborhood looked at him with wide eyes.
“I can’t wait to tell everyone about our engagement”, Draco said. His mum already knew about it. She had found out about their relationship in the end of summer. Since then she supported them with all of her heart. She had learnt about her past mistakes and loved her son just the way he was. When she had heard about their engagement, she had cried happy tears and just hugged her son and her new son in law. For Ron she was already like a second mum. But they wanted to tell everybody else at the party.
“Me neither. I’m just surprised that Blaise didn’t tell me anything about your plans to propose. Normally both of them are not the best when it comes to hold a secret.”

As if on cue Pansy, Blaise and Sophie came in. All of them were dressed nicely. Sophie wore a little pink dress. Her dad und mum both decided to wear something in dark blue. Pansy looked very pregnant. They expected the baby in a week.
“Wow, this looks amazing”, Blaise said. Sophie on the other hand just ran to the window decoration. This year Ron had made a gingerbread train with chocolate and gummi bears, which drove past a great winter landscape made out of marshmallows. It was a tiny bit of magic involved, just enough to make the muggles happy. But not enough to make the ministry of magic suspicious.
Ron went after her: “You like it?”
“Yes, I want to ride the train.”
Ron laughed: “Maybe another time.”
Draco on the other hand showed Blaise and Pansy the engagement ring: “By the way, you don’t have to do anything anymore.”
“You are? Oh.my.god!”, Pansy shouted. Ron looked behind him: “Hey, we wanted to tell them together.”
“Sorry, I couldn’t contain myself”, Draco grinned. Ron gave him a slap on the shoulder. “You can’t keep a secret, can you?”
“Not that one at least.”
“I am so happy for you guys”, Blaise hugged both of them.
“Gosh, I am so happy I even peed myself”, Pansy said. Ron laughed and looked down. But his face soon turned to look anxious.
“Paansy…”
“What?”
“That’s a lot of water.”
Draco’s eyes grew bigger, after he followed Ron’s gaze.
“Did you really just pee yourself?” Now it was time for Pansy to look down. She went pale.
“Fuck, I think my water broke…”, Pansy looked down and then up again. Every conversation stopped and the guests stared at her. Blaise shouted: “What? It’s not time yet.” Pansy rolled her eyes.
“Oh, really? Maybe you just tell him, Blaise and he decides to stay in my belly”, Pansy answered sarcastically.
“This day went too well. I should have known something was coming up…”, Draco whispered. Ron on the other hand just looked at the water on the floor. This was a disaster: “Don’t you dare to get it in my CAFÉ, Pansy!”

“How about some help, instead of shouting at me, guys!”, Pansy shouted back.
“Okay, okay, we can do this. We already did it the first time. We can get through this”, Blaise went up and down.
“Does she get a child or Blaise?”, Henry whispered at Draco, who just shrugged his shoulders: “You’ll get used to it.” Only Narcissa seemed to stay calm: “Maybe we should get her to a hospital?”
“Great idea. I’ll apparate there. You’ll come with me Blaise or do you want to cry a little more?”, Pansy looked at her husband.
“Of course, just give me a minute, I –“ Blaise rolled his eyes and fell on the floor. Ron couldn’t believe this. “Blaaaise!”
“DID HE REALLY FAINT?!” Pansy looked at her husband. This was just typical for him. Instead she looked at Draco and pointed her finger at him: “You’ll come with me!”
“Why me? The only good thing about being gay is, that I don’t have to endure this.” Draco really seemed to be unlucky. But Pansy didn’t want to hear any more excuses and grabbed him by the collar: “Don’t you dare to say no to me. This fuck hurts and I’ll make you feel my pain otherwise.” Noooo, why? But Draco knew that he wouldn’t get out of this, so he just answered: “Okay, I’ll go. Ron, you’ll follow with Blaise and Sophie once he gets conscious again?”
“Got it”, Ron nodded. He already sat on the floor and tried to wake Blaise up.
They were in St. Mungos in a second.

“I’ll look for a nurse. Don’t go away.”
“Don’t worry I'm too distracted by the contraction right now.” Draco looked at Pansy. She looked so much in pain right now. Damnit, why did Blaise have to be such a Weakling? This was not what he had signed up for.
“Okay, I’ll be back in a minute.”
Draco found a nurse in one of the patient’s rooms. She didn’t seem to be too happy about being disrupted, but he explained the situation and she helped them to fill out all the forms and get a room. When they finally sat down, Draco already felt like two days had passed. He was so thankful for being gay.
“Do you need anything? Water? Ice? Food?”
“A healer would be good for a start…”, Pansy answered weakly. At least they were lucky in that part. A healer came in immediately and brought a new surprise.
“Luna Lovegood?
“Draco Malfoy? What are you doing here?” Draco wanted to ask the same. This girl had looked high for the whole time at school. He wasn’t really sure about her new profession. But he tried to keep his mouth shut. Lovegood on the other hand didn’t seem to mind to speak upfront: “Why are you with a pregnant woman here? Aren’t you gay?”
“Wow, the rumors are going around really fast.”
“Hey, the pregnant woman needs some help here! Could you speak about his sexuality a little later?”, Pansy’s gaze went furious.
“Oh, I’m sorry, of course. Are you her husband?”
“What? No!”
“But I am”, Blaise ran into the room. Ron followed behind him with Sophie in his arms. Finally. Draco looked relieved at Ron.
“Thank Merlin, you are here.”
“Oh, Ron, hello. Are you gay?”
“What?”, Ron looked confused.
“Let’s get out of here, babe”, Draco interrupted. He didn’t want to have that conversation and Pansy really did need help.
“We’ll wait outside with Sophie, okay?”

After a few hours they still waited in the hallway. Sophie slept on Ron’s lap, Draco sat next to him. The blonde was trying hard not to fall asleep as well.
“Do you think we’ll ever get to enjoy an uneventful and cozy Christmas?”, Draco asked.
“Probably not”, Ron answered, “You can go home, if you want to. We’re not her husbands anyway.”
“No, I’ll stay.”
“Then put your head on my shoulder and sleep a little bit.”
“But –“
“No buts. You look exhausted.” Draco was too tired to disagree and let his head fall on Ron’s shoulder. He fell asleep immediately. Ron smiled warmly. Having his fiancé by his side and Sophie on his lap felt cozy somehow. He would have liked to avoid all the chaos that came with the holidays and pregnant Pansy. But he was so thankful for his little family at the same time. He thought about their teenage years. If anyone had told him, that he would be engaged to Malfoy and best friends with two of his enemies he would have laughed at their face or even hit them. Now he couldn’t imagine being away from Draco for even a day.
“Ron?” He looked up.
“Harry?”
Ron hadn’t seen Harry for a long time. He didn’t change a bit. But honestly what was it about hospitals that he had to meet someone from his past every damn time?
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m visiting Luna. I wanted to give her a little present…” Harry couldn’t avoid to look at Draco, who still slept like a baby: “So, it’s true? You are together with Malfoy?”
Ron smiled and showed his ring finger: “Engaged to be correct.”
“Oh”, Harry seemed to be lost for words. “I am happy for you… I guess…?”
“Thank you.” His former best friend seemed to be overwhelmed. Ron sensed that he wanted to say something, so he waited. He had lots of time anyway. After a while Harry finally took the courage to speak: “I’m so sorry, Ron for what has happened. I had a lot time to think about everything and I have been a horrible friend.”
“True”, Ron answered. Harry went pale and looked down.
“I wish I could have been a better friend. I shouldn’t have slept with Hermione or at least I had to tell you – I.”
“It’s okay, Harry.”
“What?”
“Thanks to you two I came together with Draco. And let’s be honest: Hermione and I weren’t meant for each other anyway. I always felt like a looser next to her for the whole time. But this guy made me realize that I don’t have to become a better person, but that I’m great the way I am”, Ron went on, “I am happy for you. Really. Even though I can’t ever be friends with you again, it really means a lot for me that you’re apologizing and I'm wishing you, Hermione and your child all the best.”
Harry was lost for words again.
“Merry Christmas, Harry.”
“Merry Christmas, Ron. I wish you all the best, too. Both of you.”
Ron grinned: “Don’t you have to go back to your wife?”
“Oh yes. True.“
Ron laughed. He really hadn’t changed.

Harry turned around to go away, but he had to take a last look at the couple. He watched Ron kissing Malfoy’s forehead. He looked more content than ever before. Harry had felt guilty for a long time and he would always regret his actions. He lost a friend that would have been there for him, always. And he hated himself for his actions. But at least Ron was happy, now. With the unlikeliest person ever. He smiled and apparated back to his wife, his eyes stayed at the couple for the whole time.

Ron couldn’t contain a smile. It felt good to have spoken with Harry. Without Hermione, his family or even conscious Draco by his side. And he felt fully ready to leave his past behind, now. It was about time to create new moments to remember. As if on cue he saw Blaise, who went to them, while holding a baby in his arms. All of his stress seemed to be forgotten. He was beaming instead: “I thought that you would want to see this little guy, too.”
“Oh my god, let me take a look at him!” Ron sprang up and woke Draco and Sophie up abruptly. They didn’t need a long time to follow Ron.
“He is adorable!”, even Draco had to admit that.
“That’s your brother, Sophie”, Blaise bent down to let her see him, “That’s Hugo Scorpius.”
“Hugo Scorpius?”
Blaise grinned: “Pansy and I remembered that you two talked about these kid names and we thought it would fit him. I hope that’s okay? You will probably be like his other fathers anyway.”
“It’s wonderful, Blaise”, Draco stuttered. Ron looked at his fiancé. “Are you crying?”
“I’m not. Why should I? He will probably be a little mean brat.” Ron grinned. This guy would never admit his weaknesses.
“Of course, I forgot that you hate kids…”, Ron said, “You are holding Sophie’s hand, by the way.”
Draco looked down at Sophie, who beamed at him. Damnit.
“Maybe she isn’t as bad as I thought.”
“Of course…” Everyone knew that Draco loved this little girl anyway. It was too late for pretending.
“Can we see Pansy as well?”, Ron asked. Blaise nodded and told them to follow him. They went in and congratulated her as well. Blaise kissed her forehead. She seemed to be exhausted.
“I look terribly, don’t I?”
“What are you saying? You look beautiful”, Draco answered, “I’m proud of you.”
“Me, too. And your little son Hugo Scorpius is just adorable.”
“Do you like his name? We weren’t sure about it.”
“It’s perfect”, Ron and Draco answered at the same time. They looked at each other and laughed.
“I’m sorry for ruining your Party.”
“What are you even saying? I’m so happy to see this little guy.” And Ron meant it. Yes, this wasn’t planned. But it was the best surprise gift ever.
“Merry Christmas everyone and let’s celebrate a lot of Christmas parties from now on.” Draco swung his wand and glasses with (non-alcoholic) champagne and orange juice appeared. He gave everyone a glass and looked at them proudly: “Let’s give a toast to this Christmas and us. To another thirty years. At least.”
Everyone took a sip and Ron went to his fiancé and gave him a loving kiss: “Merry Christmas, ferret.”
“Merry Christmas, Weasel.” They stayed like this for a long time just eating and celebrating and they had to admit that this was the best Christmas party that they would have ever wished for. They couldn’t wait for the next one.

I hope you liked this story. And again: MERRY CHRISTMAS! I know that it was just a little fluffy story without anything happening really. And I did a lot of mistakes, because I'm not fluent in English. But in these stressful times I hope that it gave you a little bit of happiness. Thank you for reading it, for your comments and your likes. I appreciate it. A lot.