Written for lj user softly_sweetly for the R_D fest exchange.

Draco Malfoy was not paying attention. Potter was filling them in on an increased occurrence of Muggle baiting and Draco chose to focus his attention elsewhere. He was on his fourth illustration of ways to kill Harry Potter when he heard his name.

"Malfoy, we'll need your expertise in this matter," Potter said, not trying to sound pompous but succeeding spectacularly. "I'll have the files sent to your department."

Across from Draco, Weasley straightened in his seat, his brow furrowed. "With all due respect, I don't need Malfoy's help with this. I'm fairly certain Malfoy doesn't know any more about Muggles than me. I'm in charge of this case, shouldn't I be the one to decide if I need help?"

Potter pushed up his glasses, massaging the bridge of his nose and looking put-upon. "Ron, the Minister has decided he would like this problem taken care of as soon as possible. He wants to send a team to work undercover, but we can't spare two Field Aurors at this juncture." Potter sat back down at the head of the long conference table and leaned back in his chair, his hands folded over his chest. "After careful consideration I decided to send Field Auror Weasley and Draco Malfoy, Head of Communications and Muggle/Wizard liaison for the Auror Department. I realize that this is a rather…unconventional pair…"

"And by unconventional you mean fucking insane," Draco supplied, throwing his quill gown on a freshly-drawn picture of Potter getting his face gnawed off by a kneazle. "Do you want me to kill Weasley?"

"Oh please Malfoy, like you could remember how," Weasley grumbled. "You've been behind a desk so long I'd forgotten you had legs."

The rest of the department watched incredulously, looking from Harry to the pair of bickering Aurors, preparing for the inevitable explosion. "Argue all you want. I'm not changing the assignment," Harry snapped the same moment Malfoy opened his mouth to shoot back a no-doubt scathing reply. "Pack your bags, you're leaving tomorrow for John O' Groats and staying indefinitely."

Draco gathered his quill back up only to snap it in half in his grip, spilling black ink all over his hand and a picture in which Potter had been drawn and quartered. With a sigh his looked back up to the real and unfortunately still breathing Potter, who was eyeing him over his spectacles like he was waiting on Draco to argue. Draco smirked when he noticed Potter's chin was drooping and it made him look fat. He Reparoed his quill and drew a morbidly obese Potter choking to death on treacle tart.

He felt a bit better about the whole situation when he looked up from his parchment to see Weasley staring daggers at what appeared to be his former best friend. "Meeting adjourned," Potter said, clapping his hands together like he was finishing up a pre-Quidditch game pep talk. Draco gathered his notes, careful not to get the spilled ink all over himself. "Ron, I'd like to talk to you in my office," Potter added under his breath, his eyes lingering on Draco so long that a blind man could have figured out the meeting was about him.

"What for?" Weasley asked petulantly. Obviously Weasley was much less perceptive than the average blind man.

Potter sighed that put-upon sigh. "You'll know when we get there."

Draco had exhausted his believable amount of loitering time and both Potter and Weasley were staring at him. "As always, it's been a pleasure," Draco said with a smooth smile that made Potter roll his eyes and Weasley turn a furious shade of crimson.

On his way back to his office Draco imagined Potter's eyes rolling into the back of his head and staying there. He had to stop long enough to draw this new demise.

---

Day One

"I hate Harry bloody Potter."

Draco looked up from his pitiful excuse for a bed and sighed, already annoyed by Weasley so much he wanted to cry. "Join the club, Weasley," Draco grumbled before setting off to unpack his suitcase. He frowned when he pulled out his favourite shirt and it was terribly wrinkled. "On second thought, don't join the club, you've not hated Potter long enough to be reliable."

Weasley threw himself on his measly bed, his arms flopped out to his sides. "If you could stop talking it would make it much easier to forget you're here."

Draco spelled the wrinkled from his clothes and rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "Fine, why don't you lay there and try to forget I'm here while I set the wards on this bloody shack."

"You aren't setting the wards," Weasley snapped, sounding almost angry. He climbed out of bed, tripping over his overstuffed duffel bag as he made to block the doorway. "That's not your job, Malfoy. I'll set the wards and you can go be a liaison to the nice Muggle working behind the desk downstairs. Go talk to her until your tongue falls out of your mouth, that's what your job is."

"And what, your job is to wave your wand around and act tougher than you really are?" Draco hissed, his throat tightening from anger. "Fuck you Weasley, I've gone through the same training as you have. I'm an Auror too, you prick."

The skin between Weasley's freckles darkened with anger and Draco felt terribly accomplished despite his own irritation. Weasley closed his eyes, took one deep breath as he crossed his arms across his chest. "Your role in this mission is to be a liaison to the Muggle population. My job is to be the active Field Auror. Your options in this matter are to go downstairs and distract the woman answering the phones or stay in here and be generally useless. It's your choice."

"Oh, those are my options?" Draco replied, narrowing his eyes as he approached Weasley a few steps. "That's interesting. I wonder what will happen when I hex your nose off your face and go downstairs to put up wards that I trust?"

Weasley didn't miss a beat. "Owing to the fact that you just threatened to cause me bodily harm I have reason enough to incapacitate you so I can properly carry out my assignment. Then I'll report you to the Department Head."

Draco sneered. "You mean Potter."

"I mean Harry."

Draco wanted to be angry enough to hex Weasley's nose off, but he could only muster generally annoyed. With a sigh he growled, "Get the hell out of my way so I can go downstairs and pretend to be interested in the inane prattling of a Muggle teenage girl."

As he stepped out of the doorway, Weasley's smirk was positively Slytherin.

---

Most nights Draco couldn't sleep because of Weasley's terrible snoring. He wanted to throw his pillow at Weasley's head and sometimes he did. Weasley would wake with a start and Draco would pretend to be asleep, biting his lips to keep from laughing. After a few moments Weasley would hurl the pillow back at Draco as he grumbled, "Fucking Malfoy."

Sometimes Weasley slept terribly, flopping around in his bed like a mermaid out of water. This was one of those nights. "Oh for fuck's sake Weasley, if you can't fucking hold still I'll put you in a Full Body Bind."

"This bed is bloody uncomfortable," Weasley said, slapping his hands down beside him on the mattress. "It's like they made it out of rocks."

Draco flung his arms across his eyes. "Ask for a different room so you can toss and turn and stop keeping me up all night. Why the hell we're sharing a room is beyond me."

"Shut up Malfoy and go to sleep," Weasley snapped, flipping over on his stomach.

"Stop having seizures," Draco replied before he could stop himself.

"Jesus Fuck," Weasley snapped, kicking his duvet into the floor. "Why can't you just shut your mouth?"

Draco wanted to laugh but he was simply too tired. "I'm proud of you Weasley, cursing a Muggle deity is a step in the right direction when it comes to the acceptance of Muggles. It's wizards like you who make my tireless job worthwhile."

Weasley just growled and flopped back onto his back. Next morning Draco awoke to Weasley breathing shallowly, curled in a little ball like a child. As Draco draped the abandoned duvet across his shivering body, he understood why Potter always looked so put-upon.

As Draco gathered his things for a shower, Weasley's snoring started back up and Draco tried his best to be annoyed. He waited until he had showered and dressed before throwing a pillow at Weasley's head.

Neither one of them acknowledged the duvet.

---

Draco had run out of things to talk to the lovely receptionist at the inn's front desk about. This wasn't to suggest she had run out of things to talk about. She prattled incessantly about her cats and Draco really couldn't think of anything more annoying.

"…And Grizabella doesn't really like the new food I got her, no matter how much tuna I mix in," Catherine toned as she shuffled through a stack of receipts. "I really don't know what I'm going to do with the rest of the bag."

Draco yawned and rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "How overwhelmingly interesting," he toned, more than ready for Weasley to come back. "I'm sure you can figure that out eventually."

"I hope so. I'd really him rather not starve himself," Catherine sighed, her eyes brightening a bit as she looked past Draco. "Oh, hello Mr. Wesley," she cooed, sprawling over the counter in an attempt to display her breasts. "Did you have a nice afternoon?"

Weasley tugged at his jumper more out of habit than anything, as he wasn't wearing one of the too-small jumpers his mother showered him with. "It was fine, Catherine," he replied, and Draco tried his best to catch Weasley's eye.

Catherine screeched with laughter for no apparent reason, tossing back her hair and hitting Draco in the face with it. "Please, call me Cathy."

Weasley smiled tightly. "I'll remember that," he said before turning to Draco for the first time. "We should get ready, yeah?" he asked, his freckled face artfully blank.

"Ooh, where are you off to? I'm in the mood for a good time," Catherine said, and Draco cringed when one of her breasts came dangerously close to flopping out of her blouse.

Weasley scratched the back of his head, oblivious to her expanse of cleavage and obvious come-on. "Sorry, it's a business meeting."

Catherine wilted and pouted, but said, "Another time, then."

"Most definitely," Draco replied, offering up a sickly smile. Catherine sneered, but Weasley didn't see her. He brushed past Draco towards their room. "I'll see you later Cathy, give your cats my best," Draco added. She started to argue but Draco didn't stop long enough to turn back to her. He trailed behind Weasley, who was fishing the room key out of the pocket of his worn blue jeans. "She wants you so bad her knickers could catch fire at any moment."

"What are you on about?" Weasley asked at he shook a bit of lint off the keychain.

The door swung open and Draco went into their room before Weasley, who was muttering something about stupid Muggle locks as he tried to get the key back out of the door. "I'm talking about the fact that Cathy down there must have a kink for gingers. I've spent more time with her than I've spent with my own father and she's rubbing all over her desk like a cat in heat the second she lays eyes on you."

"Yeah, well..." Weasley said, blushing as he sat down on his bed. "She's warned me on several occasions to watch out for you. She said she could tell you were...I think she said gayer than Elton John's arse."

Draco wrinkled his nose. "I'm never listening to her whinge about her cats again, the miserable cow."

Weasley snorted, cracking his neck before laying back. "You don't have to talk to her, you know."

"Yes I do, it's my job," Draco said with a sneer. "You go wander around and do whatever Potter's told you to do and I talk to Muggles. That's why we've been assembled into the crack team we currently find ourselves in. As you can plainly see, we've been terribly effective. We've been here who knows how long and we've accomplished fuck all. I'd say that's a step in the right direction."

Weasley didn't say anything. He simply covered his eyes with his forearm. The evasion annoyed Draco and he snapped, "You know what, Weasley? I don't think you've been doing anything. I think you leave here and spend all day at the pub laughing about how clever you are to leave your uncontrollably gay partner behind to talk to a crazy bint about her stupid cat."

"You seem to control yourself well enough," Weasley replied, his tone even but his eyes burning. "You haven't molested me in the middle of the night, which I'm terribly grateful for."

Draco rolled his eyes when Weasley started to laugh. "Well I'm going to molest now just because you don't expect it."

Weasley shook his head and sat up, once again avoiding Draco's gaze. "You don't scare me, Malfoy. Never have."

Draco just grabbed his jacket and put it on. "Come on Weasley. Apparently I can't leave this prison without an escort and I'm starving."

"Stop complaining Malfoy, it could be worse," Weasley replied, leading out of their room.

"I highly doubt that," Draco muttered as he followed his partner, who was no doubt leading them to the only pub he ever had led them to during their stay.

Draco didn't realize at the time, but he would soon regret believing that it couldn't get worse.

---

There was really only one way to describe why he was now referring to Ron by his given name: he was pissed.

They stumbled back to the inn after they had been turned out of the pub, and Draco wasn't sure he had stopped talking all night. Furthermore, he couldn't recall what they had been talking about.

"Why'd you become an Auror, Draco?" Ron asked, holding himself surprisingly well after six pints. "I always wondered why you picked Muggle liaison, of all things."

Draco tripped over a kerb but righted himself before Ron had noticed. "I wanted to be an Auror to piss off my father and anyone else I could in the process."

"You've done a rather good job of that," Ron added, punctuating it with a belch.

Draco couldn't help but grin. "I do try. As for the Muggle bit, it was for a specific person who no longer finds my devotion to learning Muggle culture as endearing."

"You can't win them all," Ron slurred as he fought with the door.

"Tell me about it," Draco grumbled, leaning heavily against the wall and closing his eyes. "Why did you become an Auror, because Potter did?"

"Well," Ron started as he remembered he needed a key, "Yeah, I guess that's why. As long as Harry needs my help, he's got it."

"How noble," Draco chuckled, letting out a sigh of relief when the door opened. "God I'm knackered," he said, stripping off his clothes all the way to his bed. He crawled beneath the sheets in just his pants.

Ron had stalled in the doorway, trying to put the key back in his pocket. He missed and they clattered to the floor. "How are you so fit?" he groaned, his mind stuck somewhere close to when Draco had taken off his shirt. "You don't do anything but shoot sarcastic remarks at people and you look better than any Auror I've seen."

Draco stretched languidly beneath his quilt and yawned. "It's called breeding, dear Weasley. Breeding is what separates..."

But he was interrupted. Or rather, he was silenced by Ron rather clumsily throwing himself on top of Draco as he passionately kissed his nose.

"What the ifuck/i are you doing?" Draco snapped, sobering up very quickly. "Get off me, you freckly freak!"

"You feel as nice as you look," Ron purred, and Draco couldn't help but applaud his act of control on their walk home. Even when he was off his tits, Ron was a good Auror. He was not, however, skilled in the act of seduction. Draco could feel Ron's undoubtedly freckly prick digging into his stomach and he was infinitely grateful for the quilt between them.

"Ron, please get out of my bed and leave me alone," Draco said very slowly, gently pushing the other man away from him. "You're going to be absolutely horrified with yourself in the morning and I'd rather not have to deal with your sexual crisis on top of everything else."

He was met with silence. Then a snore. "Fuck," Draco hissed before rolling the remainder of Ron's body off of him.

Draco lay back to back with his partner, the rhythmic sound of Ron's snores lulling him to sleep.

---

He was having the first erotic dream he had had in years. He was terribly warm and comfortable, and there were warm fingertips trailing down his thighs. He was afraid to open his eyes, afraid he would wake up and the heavy arousal pooling in his stomach would disappear.

Draco's muddy mind cleared the instant he felt a warm, wet mouth overwhelm his cock.

Every nerve in his body was burning and he knew he wasn't dreaming. He was awake. "Stop," Draco gasped, his eyes flying open as his hands shot into Ron's sleep-mussed copper hair.

"'M not drunk anymore," Ron said, his voice rough and breath cool as it ghosted over Draco's erection. "You're still hot."

Draco kicked the closest body part of Ron's but it didn't do much good at stopping the other man's mouth from returning to its prior activity. "You can't just go around sucking cocks just because the person is hot and you'd like to give it a try."

Ron sat up, furrowing his brow in confusion. "That's not what I'm doing, you idiot."

"Then what the hell are you doing?" Draco screeched, tugging his quilt over his near-painful erection.

Draco could feel Ron's embarassment coming off of him in hot, vicious waves. He tried to respond three times before any sound came out of his mouth. "I thought the only way you'd not hit me was if you were asleep."

"That's fucking insane!" Draco said when he couldn't think of anything else to say. "And terribly creepy. You didn't think we should possibly talk about having sex before doing it? I don't even find you attractive, not to mention you're straight."

Ron let out a frustrated sigh. "How many straight men have you had wake you up with a fucking blowjob, Malfoy?"

"That's none of your business," Draco snapped, ignoring the slow grin that was growing on Ron's face. "That doesn't address the fact that I don't iwant/i you to suck me off."

Ron scrubbed his face. "That's why I didn't ask you." He retreated to the end of the bed, still in his rumpled clothes from the day before. Draco pretended he didn't see Ron's erection through his jeans. "I knew you'd never believe me when I told you I fancied you, so I thought I would just show you."

"I don't know what you want me to say," Draco finally said as he rifled around in the bed for his pants. "What did you do with my pants?"

Ron ignored the question. He may not have heard the question at all. His eyes were on Draco's lap and he was licking his swollen lips. "Why are we talking about this? Just...say leave me alone and I'll give you your pants back and I'll go back to my own bed. Tell me that if you want me to leave."

"Are you asking so you have an excuse to be mad at me? I really don't know what you want from me. What are you trying to make me do?"

Ron clambered out of bed, pacing furiously. "Fuck Malfoy, not everything is a vast conspiracy against you. You really overestimate the amount of planning I put into this."

Draco pressed his lips together, watching Ron pace for a few silent seconds. "You really need to promise me you aren't using me. On any level. You don't have to, of course, but I have this problem with trusting people. Deep down there is a part of me that wants to trust people but I've been burned too many times to logically do so." Ron had stopped pacing and was listening to Draco exclusively. "So I want you to look me in the eye and promise me you'll tell me the truth from now on. I can't promise you that I'll believe you, but I want to be able to call you a liar and cite this incident as proof."

"You're the most paranoid person I know," Ron groaned, but he sat back down on Draco's bed. "I'm not going to lie to you. I haven't lied to you."

Draco didn't respond for a moment, he just leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. "I lied to you. You're not too disgusting, even with your freckles. And you're probably really hairy."

Ron laughed, his warm blue eyes sliding over Draco's face. "But let me guess, that doesn't mean you still don't hate me?"

Draco laid back, folding his hands behind his head. "You can suck my cock if you want."

Ron flushed, but responded without missing a beat. "I don't need your permission."

"You've proven as much. Do you want me to suck your cock?"

This time the other man faltered for the briefest of moments before stuttering, "N-no, no thank you."

Draco smirked. "What, you'd rather fuck me?" When Ron didn't answer right away he added, "You can fuck me if you want."

"That's not one of those things that you can do if the other person doesn't want to," Ron said. "It's not about if I want to fuck you."

Draco rolled his eyes. "I have to say that having sex with you was not on the list of things to get accomplished today, but I'll add it in. I would very much like to have sex with you, Ronald Weasley, and if you would be so obliged would you be so kind as to penetrate me with you freckly penis?"

"It's not freckly!" Ron snapped, and Draco couldn't help but laugh. "Since you put it that way, I would. Be so kind, that is. I'm going to stop talking now."

"It hasn't seemed to help you," Draco agreed. "Take off your clothes."

Ron did as he was told. His hands were steady as he pulled his jumper over his head. He was, as Draco had predicted, hairy. He also had a pierced nipple, which Draco raised an eyebrow to. "I was pissed and Harry dared me to," Ron said as Draco tugged at the ring gently. "He's a bad influence at times."

"Glad someone thinks so," Draco said as he unfastened Ron's trousers and pulled out his erection. "You didn't lie, you aren't freckly."

"I don't usually wave it around in the sun, so it hasn't had an opportunity to freckle," Ron breathed as Draco spat in the palm of his own hand and started to pull Ron back to full hardness. "Fuck…"

Draco kissed Ron to make him stop talking. It was fairly effective. Draco continued stroking until Ron whimpered in his mouth, then he pulled away. "Take you trousers off while I find my fucking wand."

"Don't get your wand, just…" Ron said quickly, putting a hand on Draco's hip to keep him from climbing out of the bed. "I can do it, if you want. I can…prepare you."

"No," Draco said flatly, wrinkling his nose. "I'll do it. Didn't I tell you to take your trousers off?"

Ron sighed as he watched Draco moisten his fingers in his mouth before starting to stretch himself. "You're a bossy bitch, aren't you? That doesn't really surprise me."

"Stop talking."

"I can't, I'm nervous."

Draco gently spread the fingers in his arse. "I'm preparing my arse so you can fuck me, you imbecile. There's nothing at this point to be nervous about. All you have to do is put your dick in my arse and move a little bit. There's not too much to fuck up from then to now." When Ron's eyes darkened Draco grinned and turned over on his stomach. "Now fuck me."

From then on, the morning was a blur and Ron didn't leave to do his day's work until well into the afternoon. Draco was still in bed, staring at a pack of crisps lying on the floor and wondering if he was hungry enough to get up and get them.

He decided not.

It wasn't until it felt like his stomach had turned on his entire body did he crawl out of bed and have a shower, dressing to go downstairs and to if he could talk Catherine into getting him some food from the kitchen.

When he made it downstairs Catherine was playing a game of Solitaire on the computer lazily, listening to an annoyingly saccharine male singer croon about how much he loves his girlfriend. "I'm hungry," he stated, and she jumped violently. As she glared at him he said, "Could you possibly scrounge something up for me?"

"Just go down to the pub," she snapped, righting herself before returning to her game. "You can walk."

"I'm…" Draco stopped short of saying iI'm not supposed to leave the Inn by myself/i, because out loud it sounded ridiculous. "Fine, I'll go to the pub. Thanks for all your help, you really exemplify the highest grade of costumer service."

Catherine snorted. "Bitch."

Draco just rolled his eyes and made for the door, so pissed he could have cursed her hair to fall out. Except that would break the first rule of his position as Muggle Liaison: Don't Curse Muggles. He was still fuming when he ran straight into Ron, who was grasping a grease-stained paper sack that smelled suspiciously of fish and vinegar. Draco started to smile but Ron looked positively livid.

"What the ihell/i are you doing out of the inn?" Ron hissed, pulling out his wand with his free hand before shoving Draco back towards the doors he had just exited. "You aren't supposed to leave alone! Goddammit Draco, are you idaft/i?"

"Oh fuck off," Draco said, trying to brush Ron's arm away, but the grip was too tight. "I was hungry and dearest Cathy suggested I go down to the pub, it's wasn't like…"

"CATHERINE!" Ron bellowed, shoving the bag of food into Draco's hands as he stormed up to the front desk. Catherine looked terrified. "You know your orders! You aren't to let him leave, how ibloody/i hard is that to do? I know you don't like him but that doesn't mean he should idie/i because of it!"

Draco narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Wait, what…"

"If he was going to die he would have by now," Catherine said in an attempt at steadiness. "Auror Potter left word that…"

"WHY DIDN'T I KNOW THIS?" Ron bellowed, ripping the letter out of her hands before she had properly picked it up. He read it and the anger started to drain from his face. "Shit, they got him. We can go home."

"Which is why I let him leave," Catherine said as she began to tear up.

Ron let out a sharp breath through his nose. "Don't cry. I'm sorry I was upset, but you've got to understand, I need to know these things."

"So do I," Draco hissed. "What the ifuck/i are you talking about?"

Ron paled as he turned back to Draco, who was still standing in the doorway clutching the paper bag in a white fist. "I…well," Ron started. "There was a threat. On your life. That's why we came here, not because of Muggle baiting. I was assigned to keep you here in this safe house and make sure no one could get to you and have the opportunity to kill you. Apparently they caught him today."

"Who?" Draco asked, breathless.

Ron crossed his arms. "I'm not at liberty to say."

"Fuck you," Draco snapped, throwing the food at Ron's feet. "I can't know who was trying to ikill/i me?"

Ron swallowed around a lump in his throat. "All I can release is that he was a Death Eater sympathizer."

Draco sneered, his entire body burning with anger. His voice was shaking when he said, "And you didn't tell me iany/i of this? We've been here for nearly a imonth/i and you haven't said a fucking iword/i?"

"I couldn't, there was protocol, and…"

"iFuck/i protocol," Draco said, pulling out his wand. "How idare/i you, you arsehole. How dare you treat me like one of your fucking iclients/i."

"Draco…"

Draco pointed his wand at Ron's head and Ron fell silent. There were a few tense seconds of silence, the only sound Draco's shaking breaths as they stared at one another. After looking at Ron became too much to bear he turned his wand on himself, Apparating back to his flat in London. The Auror-enhanced wards on it crackled as he passed through, but he barely noticed. Instead, he went through the process of breaking everything in his flat that he could fix with his wand. He went to bed with his stomach still growling and the sun still up, but he didn't sleep. Instead he spent all night trying to convince himself that he couldn't go to sleep because he wasn't tired, not because there weren't bone-rattling snores coming from a questionable bed beside him.

---

Draco didn't go back to work the rest of that week. It wasn't until the following Monday rolled around that he showered, dressed, and went back to the Ministry of Magic. Nothing had changed during his absence, but he hadn't really expected it to. The doorman was still surly and rude, the woman who checked in the wands was overly polite to make up for it, and Potter was still a pompous prick.

"Malfoy, I'd like to have a meeting with you as soon as you're free," Potter said as he knocked on Draco's slightly ajar door.

"No one's ever free, Potter," Draco said with a sneer, but stood. "Let's get the bloody meeting over with. I'm terribly behind as it is." Potter nodded at led Draco up to his office, where Rom was waiting for them. "Fuck me," Draco sighed, but sat down. "Weasley. Pleasure to see you, as always."

"Draco," Ron said in a tone that was too pitiful for Draco to even acknowledge.

Potter sat down in his oversized leather chair and leaned forward on his elbows, steepling his fingers and looking from Draco to Ron, frowning deeply. "Draco, I'm sure you can understand the situation we were put in. We needed to insure your safety without you trying to convince us that you didn't need our help. We took the threat very seriously when I'm not sure you would have." Draco sneered but didn't argue. Potter continued, "As such, I would personally like to take the blame for whatever mistruths Auror Weasley may have supplied you with to keep you in the dark regarding the situation. He was under strict orders and had no personal vendetta against you."

"I am sorry," Ron said meekly. "I wanted to tell you, but I couldn't. Literally. There was a spell."

Draco checked with Potter, who nodded. "Standard Secrecy Spell. Hermione performed it before you both left. Catherine Lumley, the Junior Auror we placed as the innkeeper, was also under this spell. It was broken as soon as the perpetrator was caught, so Junior Auror Lumley felt it safe for you to leave the Inn alone."

Potter fell silent, looking at Draco like he was expecting another question. Instead Draco pursed his lips for a moment before asking, "Is that it?"

Potter adjusted his glasses even though they didn't need adjusting. "I…well, I suppose so."

"May I go?"

Potter leaned back in his chair and it emitted a loud squeak. "Of course." Potter paused before adding, "It was Gregory Goyle. Who threatened you. He had set traps for you in a number of places, with the help of a few other faceless Death Eaters. Ron didn't even know about his identity, I'm sure…"

"iGoyle/i?" Ron whispered. "Fuck…"

Draco nodded and stood, leaving the office as quickly as he could. He wasn't sure why he was surprised that it was Goyle, he had let Crabbe burn. The running footsteps behind him alerted him to the fact that Ron had followed him. He didn't have to turn around. "Stop following me around, you fucking idiot," Draco called over his shoulder.

"I just want to talk to you," Ron said, grabbing hold of Draco's wrist. "You can't be mad at me, surely you understand…"

"I can be mad!" Draco hissed, whipping back around. "I'm mad because you lied to me, and you promised you wouldn't."

"I knew that would come back to bite me in the arse," Ron muttered. "Lying isn't wrong when you have to so you can keep the other person safe."

Draco pressed his lips into a thin line. "It is when you promised you wouldn't lie."

"Oh for fuck's sake Draco, you talk in fucking circles! Why can't you just understand that I'm sorry and…"

"Stop talking," Draco sighed before leaning in and covering Ron's mouth with his. He drew the other man's tongue into his mouth and wrapped his arms around his neck, not caring that they were standing in a rather busy corridor in the Auror Department of the Ministry of Magic.

It was Draco who pulled away, even though Ron tried to follow him. Draco made sure their eyes were locked before he said, "You're forgiven, now go do your job."

"Can I see you tonight?" Ron whispered fiercely, his blue eyes sparkling with what could only be lust.

Draco smirked. "If you're good I may even molest you."

---

End