Nothing Left to Give // Drarry

Chapter 25- Tied Up

Before he could slip his second shoe off, I began to make work of his own neck, moving to sit atop his thighs in a rather precarious position on the edge of the bed. I felt his fingers ripping at my buttons as well, both of us eager for skin-to-skin contact. Once my shirt had been ripped off, I gave up on his, opting to place small-mouthed kisses further down his chest, feeding into the quickening redness of his alabaster skin.

He kicked his feet onto the bed, leaning back on his elbows to get more comfortable. I tried my best to remain in position, but I nearly fell off when he made me move. Laughing gently, he grabbed my hips, urging them back into position. Moving down with him now, I felt my hand slide under my pillow, glancing at the edge of my invisibility cloak.

Draco didn't hear it, of course, he didn't, but now I had. It hadn't occurred to me until this exact moment how glad I was that we had waited for this until at least one of us could hear, even if that choice was purely coincidental.

It was faint at first, so faint that I couldn't be bothered to break away from his warm mouth and hands playing all the right places. Then, as the noise increased, I sat up. Footsteps.

"Shit, shit, shit," I muttered, panting, hoping they would notice the tie and walk away. Then I saw it, and as quickly as I saw it, I grabbed ahold of the invisibility cloak. The tie was on the inside handle, not the outside.

Draco's muffled shouts could be heard under the crumbled cloak I had shoved onto his head, fitting more like an ill-tailored hat than a gift from Death himself. As the door to the dorm flung open, I hastily rolled away, falling off the bed. Draco, utterly confused, whipped the cloak off his head just in time to stare down a blubbering Ronald Weasley.

"Oh, for fuck's sake," Ron said, exasperated, "I mean seriously, it's my dorm too. I just don't get..." his voice trailed off as he turned around and hurried back down the stairs, his words becoming mere mutters towards the end.

Scrambling, I grabbed the fallen cloak and began to move towards the door to explain. After a few steps, I turned around to face Draco. He seemed so sweet in that moment, if a little lost. He had his knees tucked under his arms, one eyebrow quirked in a way I had become more than familiar with. I walked back over to sit on the edge of the bed. Leaning in, I pecked a chaste kiss on his lips, leaning my forehead against his.

"I'm going to tell him. Right now. Give me an hour, and I'll be here," I signed, taking the time to look into his eyes. He nodded, and I stood, exiting the dorm just in time to see him plop his head down on the bed.

Luckily, Ron had only made it to the common room before his emotions overtook him, and he had to sit down. Equally lucky, everyone was still at breakfast. I sat in the chair next to him, each the same chairs we had done homework in since first year. I glanced over at him, his eyes transfixed on the floor.

"Look, Ron, I can explain," I said, signing the words as I spoke. It felt weird that now Draco wouldn't just be able to understand my conversations, so I continued to sign even though I could hear just fine now. I also thought it was rude that everyone else in a room could listen to any conversation except him.

Ron scoffed, "I think I saw all I needed to see." He turned towards me now, meeting my eyes. "I just... why didn't you say anything? I mean, with everything in the Prophet and all the rumors about you two, you could have told me ages ago..." His eyebrows knitted, and he looked down again.

I sighed and tilted my head to the ceiling, "Are you honestly going to say you would have been fine knowing I was with someone who basically hated us for seven years? I just don't believe that. I needed to know it was serious enough to tell you. I could have lost my best friend for a simple pash if we weren't serious."

"Ok," he started, "maybe you're right. I just... I don't know, Harry. I was fine with you wanting to shack up with a bloke; that's not the issue. To be honest, now, I can't find it in me to be that upset with Malfoy. I mean, I lost my brother for crying out loud; hanging onto something like that feels so... so small. I think I just feel like I'm losing you... like I missed my best friend for a whole school year. I feel... I don't know, replaced, maybe? It's so silly..."

Maybe he was right; I had sort of neglected my friends this year. But it was just so easy when Draco was right there and understood everything I was going through.

I cupped Ron's shoulder, quickly getting him to turn towards me. "Listen, you are my best mate. Nothing will ever change that. It's been so hard having to hide from you. That morning when you found us together, I was so scared of what you would say, and you just spit back exactly what I was afraid to hear. We've just been surviving with Hermione as a buffer; I want my best friend back."

Ron began to pop his knuckles, slowly moving from one finger to the next. After the tenth finger wouldn't crack, he looked up, "I spoke with Ginny. She told me you guys made up..."

"Sort of, I suppose, still a little pissed about that Prophet article," I said, watching as Ron's eyes began to gleam slightly. "I just need you to know that Ginny and I are over; we aren't getting back together. "

"I... yeah, I figured. Would've been cool though, eh? Being brothers and all," he chuckled, regaining some of his usual self.

I smiled, "From what I can tell, we've been brothers since that first day of school. If anything, marrying Ginny would've felt wrong, especially for that reason."

"'spose you're right," he mumbled. He stood up, cracking his neck and shaking out his hands. After a moment, he looked my way, "Does he... does he love you? Treat you well?"

I paused. Did Draco love me? I really had no reason to think otherwise, but it was just such a big step. Were we even the people to make that commitment? I answered, "Yes, he treats me well."

Ron nodded in understanding, "Do you love him?"

"Yes," I said with little hesitation, "of that I am certain."

"Then, that's all that matters to me," I said, catching my eyes one last time. Then, wordlessly, he left the common room.

A/N: Hey guys! Sorry it's been so long. The motherboard on my laptop died so I had to write this on my school-managed Chromebook. Hope this is worth it.