Chapter Nine



"I can't believe they've been forcing Malfoy on you." Grumbled Harry who was seated at the chess set with Ron. Ron, with the excitement of his friends visiting him, had enough strength and spare anger to play a match.

"Are you okay?" asked Hermione. "How have you held up without seeing everyone? Us?" Ron shrugged. He was too involved with the game to respond verbally. He was also battling whether he should or not tell his two best friends why he was like this. If he admitted to them that he was molested in such a fashion, they would pity him. He didn't want that from them.
    
"It's been horrible." He mumbled.

Harry and Hermione abruptly looked at Ron. They hadn't heard him speak in months. They hadn't seen him in about a month's time. He appeared so harmless. He seemed to have gained a few ounces but overall he looked bedraggled. But to hear him speak…it was blissful and shocking.

"Ron," whispered Hermione as she came towards him, "when did you start speaking?"

"A few weeks ago. My throat still hurts but I've been using it." He commented while studying the chessboard. "Muggle chess is so boring."

Harry scoffed. "Not boring enough. You're still beating me. Aren't you supposed to be disinterested?"

Ron shook his head in mirth. It was good to have them back in his life. What made it even better was that he could properly communicate with them.

His mind returned to Malfoy. Unfortunately, if it weren't for Malfoy, he would still be a damaged shell of his former self. He would still be wasting away, refraining from speech, continually harming himself. He hadn't cut himself in the few hours after his secret divulging, though that was because of the constant checks by Madam Pomfrey.

"How have you been dealing with Malfoy?" Hermione asked delicately. She knew Harry would ask sooner or later.

"He's still an insufferable git."

That wasn't all true. He could be caring…in his own, distant Malfoy way. Truthfully, Ron liked it when Draco was around. He even kept the fire lit because of Malfoy. He couldn't believe it but it was only yesterday that he had finally told his secret and Malfoy had risen to the occasion. Until today. This morning was horrible.

He knew exactly why.

It had nothing to do with Draco being a Malfoy or Ron trying to force out the old, passionate Ron. It had everything to do with the uneasiness of the situation. Ron was ashamed of what had happened. He didn't want Draco thinking any less of him. He was actually starting to like Malfoy. And that fact was even more unnerving because he was liking Malfoy in a completely new way…a way he always thought he could never feel again.

Draco was horrible but he was kind. He never thought anything less of Ron and he didn't try and walk on eggshell or speak to him in a soft, lilting voice that people only used when they spoke to babies or toddlers. The blonde git fought with him. He wanted to see Malfoy.

He told himself that Draco could never be his enemy any longer; he shared his nightmare with him, even explained the motivation behind his new eating habits. Ron also told himself that they couldn't be friends. They didn't have that in them. Friends trusted each other, were loyal to each other. They spoke in camaraderie. Much to his progress, and disdain, he wanted to be involved with Draco. He had decided that last night.

It scared him beyond belief that, after his repeated encounters, he could still want to be intimate with someone. A person only told their most personal, deepest secrets to their significant others, right?

"Ron! Are you listening?" someone shouted. Harry perhaps?

"Obviously not." Ron replied.

"I said what's going on? We're happy that you're talking again but why weren't you talking before? What caused you to remain silent until now?"

Ron shrugged his shoulders. It was the moment of truth. He knew right away that he couldn't do it. He couldn't tell his two best friends what happened.

"Was it your mother?" Hermione pressed.

Ron was shutting down fast. He shook his head.

"Ron, please don't do this." Harry warned.

Ron lowered his head and shut his eyes tight. He wanted to tell. It was for the best but he just wasn't' ready to have them know. Not yet. Beside, once he met up with his family, wouldn't Ginny tell?

"Come on. If you can't tell us, who can you tell?"

Draco, he thought.

"Harry, don't press him. It's obviously something traumatic that he's too afraid to tell us just yet." She placed a hand on Ron's shoulder, only to have him respond by moving away from her touch. He knew she wouldn't harm him but still. "You will tell us when you're ready?"

Ron nodded his head. Hopefully, Ginny would tell.

"That's all we need to know. We'll leave now. I believe afternoon classes will begin soon." Hermione headed to the door.

Harry seemed deflated. His own best friend, his first friend, couldn't tell him what was wrong. "Slytherin won yesterday. If we win at the next match, it'll be us versus them. I hope you'll be better by then. We really need you."

His two best friends left him alone. Guilt wavered through Ron as he wished that Draco would come back. If it weren't for his stubborn pride or his fear of leaving his room, he would actually go and pester him. Maybe even apologize again.

"When did I begin to think of him as a Draco?"


    
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"I've brought you all here because it is clear now what has happened to Mr. Weasley."

It was after dinner and the prefects were alert to any unlawful student activity. The Headmaster, Gryffindor and Slytherin Heads of House, and top (as well as only) Healer were convened once again in Dumbledore's office.

"I do not see why I must attend. Weasley is not my concern." Snape commented, contempt laced in his words.

"Mr. Malfoy is." Pomfrey said.

"Yes, but we must first deal with the serious matters at hand." Dumbledore shifted in his seat behind his desk and leaned
forward. "We have been informed that Mr. Weasley's behavior is directly correlated with dreadful events. It appears that our Mr. Weasley had been taken advantage of. We do not know how as of yet but it seems he was raped."

The room seemed too silent. The paintings hadn't commented; the teachers hadn't taken a breath. Dumbledore was solemn to know that one of his students was unwilling taken. It was despicable.

"When? Who? Do we know anything else?" McGonagall questioned.

Madam Pomfrey cleared her throat. "We only know what happened. Mr. Malfoy informed me last night along with Weasley's self-afflicted wounds."

"I don't understand why Weasley would tell Malfoy." Snape wondered aloud. "Those two are-"

"-not rivals. They are what I suspected. I haven't figured out why Mr. Weasley would snap on Mr. Malfoy the way he did but those two clearly have something going on."

"Pomfrey, enough with your fantasies of teenage romance. They are not lovers."

"Then explain to us, Severus, why Mr. Weasley would tell Mr. Malfoy instead of his friends who seem in the dark of all this." Minerva stated.

"Please let us not worry about that. Minerva, please inform Ronald's family. I want them here by Friday or Saturday. Whenever they can come is best for me. We will have them and Ronald together and perhaps he will tell them." Dumbledore proposed.

"Wouldn't that be harmful to Weasley? To tell that secret to his whole family at once?" Snape spoke.

"I'll be there. I want to observe him. Telling his family can benefit Ron. He needs to start the road to recovery."

"Yes, indeed. But on a lighter note, Mr. Malfoy may leave as soon as tomorrow, if he see fit." Poppy added, a knowing look on her face.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Snape questioned.

"It means: he may leave when he wants but he won't."

"Why wouldn't he? He's been cooped up in that Wing of yours for weeks. What could he possible want that's in that Wing?"

"Simple Severus. Ronald Weasley. You may protest but he'll stay. I believe it's for the best. Ronald has been speaking. And, as I understand it, his first words were spoken to Mr. Malfoy and they've been speaking ever since."

"That's good to know. Now you may all return to your offices." Dumbledore dismissed them. Pomfrey headed back to her Hospital Wing, Minerva to her office to write up letters to the Weasley family, and Snape to his dungeons.

They all hoped that Weasley would get better and that Malfoy could assist him.

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