I Swear This Time I Mean It ✔️

Chapter 9

Ronald Weasley was not a bad person. He could be oblivious, temperamental, and overprotective, but he was not a bad person. At least, that's what Hermione kept telling him. As he was metaphorically chewing over his thoughts, he needed something physical to chew on. It was then that he remembered Harry had given him a box of sweets, from a trip that Ron knew nothing about.

He missed his best friend terribly. The memories of the horcrux preying on all of his deepest insecurities were still fresh, and often kept him up at night. The thought of almost losing Fred at the hands of death eaters was too much to bear, and Ron could not wrap his mind around how Harry could become friends with someone of Malfoy's sort.

Ron was all for making new friends, when their intentions were pure. He had to admit that he had no idea what Malfoy, or Zabini and Parkinson for that matter, were getting at. It seemed as if Zabini was doing everything in his power to piss Ron off, and honestly? It was working.

Going to sleep early, waking up at the crack of dawn, leaving everything neat and tidy, even applying labels to things. The last straw was when Ron had woken up to see Zabini tidying up after him.

"You have no right to touch my stuff Zabini!", he had yelled.

"You're the one who told me that we would divide the room in half. I simply moved your things that had somehow spilled over onto my side of the room."

With gritted teeth, Ron had visited McGonagall early that morning before breakfast, laying out his concerns.

"Honestly Mr. Weasley, if Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy can get along, I don't see why you can't get along with Mr. Zabini."

"Some personalities just don't mesh well, Headmistress. You told us to make you aware of any problems as soon as we experienced any. This is me telling you beforehand that this will not be working out well. I understand that you'll probably want me to wait out your weeklong minimum timeframe. I'll do my best to keep level headed, but I'm starting to think that I should have agreed to room with Seamus."

"Thank you for coming to see me first Mr. Weasley. Keep your head up. Remember that things aren't always as they seem. On day one of my Transfiguration class, you thought I was a cat, and not your professor. Keep that childlike wonder alive, and you'll be surprised at what you find out."

"Thank you Headmistress."

Here Ron was now, sitting in his bed, head swimming after having played games with all of the eighth years for two hours. They had an hour or so until lunch, and he needed to do something. He had all intentions of snagging a piece of candy from Harry and going for a walk, when a folded up piece of paper caught his eye in the corner of the box.

"Ron,

I wrote this note in case, as usual, nothing went the way that I had planned for it to. So if you're reading this, then you didn't have a good reaction to finding out that Draco and I became friends. I can't blame you really, you don't know him like I do.

You have to try to see this from my point of view, Ron. I know that this has to be hard for you. He wasn't kind to me, Hermione, you, or even your family. He is working to make amends, and I wish you would give him the chance to show it. I know this is asking a lot of you, and I understand if you need time to figure out how you feel about everything. Your feelings are valid, even if they contradict mine.

If I had to guess, I'd say your mind is probably working like mine did in sixth year, when he was still Malfoy. You're probably thinking that he's up to something or that he did something to me. All he's done is been there for me, and made me happy Ron.

To understand how I'm feeling, you have to see where I'm coming from. If you think you're ready for that, come and see me. For now, I've included some pictures in this box from the times Draco and I hung out. Maybe if you can see him in a new light, like I had to, it will help.