HP Drizzle 2019 Fic Claim: A Conversation Long Overdue
Pairing: Draco/Ron Prompt: Snowed in at the Burrow during Christmas. Word Count: 6.5k Rating: Mature Summary: After Ron forgets to take his presents with him to the Burrow on Christmas Day, Draco braves a snowstorm to deliver them. Then the storm worsens, and with the Floo Network down, Draco finds himself stranded there. To make matters worse, Ron is acting odd, more so than usual, at least. It’s the worst time to bring up and prod at their recently changing friendship, but Draco’s not sure he wants to miss the chance to finally get some clarity about what exactly they are to each other now.
Tags: EWE, Post-Hogwarts, Friends to Lovers, Christmas at the Burrow, Snowed in
Read on AO3
Excerpt:
“You’re an idiot,” Draco hissed vehemently as he shook off a thick layer of snow.
“Shut up and get inside! Quickly!”
Ron didn’t wait for his compliance. He grabbed him roughly by the collar and dragged him inside. There was no time to protest. Ron slapped a hand over his mouth and started shuffling him out of the room and through a short hallway.
Inside the house was so hot it felt like Draco’s skin was burning on contact with the air after being stuck out in the cold. Inside his two coats, he started to sweat. He pawed futilely at the hand Ron still had clamped over his mouth as they ducked into what looked like a laundry room.
When the door shut behind them, it barely had an impact on the sheer volume of the voices shouting and singing through the house. Which only made Ron’s attempt to keep him quiet a waste of time, compounding the indignity of being silenced like a child.
It took more of his self control than Draco wanted to admit not to stamp his foot like one.
“Do you have them?” Ron hissed as he pulled his hand away.
Draco fixed him with his darkest glare, made possible only because the burning warmth inside the house had melted away the stiffness the cold had given his features.
“Really? You think I Apparated into a snowstorm and battled my way to the back of this bloody house only to arrive empty-handed? What do you take me for? Some sort of idiot? You’re the idiot for forgetting to bring your presents! You’re just lucky I hadn’t left for mother’s yet!”
“Shhhhh!”
Ron slapped his hand over Draco’s mouth again and looked worriedly at the door, as if Draco’s words would bring the wrath of Molly Weasley down on them at any moment.
Draco slapped his hand away and dug around in his pockets. He was sorely tempted to claim the wind had taken them, just to see Ron’s face. But if he did that then it would only backfire on him. Ron’s temper was long burning and stubborn.
When he drew the shrunken presents from his pocket, Ron made a broken sound of relief, more a sob than anything, and took them to shove into the pocket of his hideous button-up jumper.
“You’re a lifesaver,” he breathed, swaying close only to jerk back. He bit his lip and glanced around the room. “They’d have been brutal if they found out I left the presents behind. Would have started up all that rot about me being too hopeless to have my own place again.”
Draco mourned the lost kiss and tried not to show it. A few drunken liaisons didn’t make them anything. It didn’t entitle him to anything. But bugger it all, he’d just braved a snowstorm, he deserved a good snog.
