Jingle Bell, Ron

Part VI

Christmas passes uneventfully. He receives his yearly sweater from his mother and a mountain of chocolate from Harry and Hermione. His siblings gift him a visit to the castle and they spend the day catching up.

The rest of the week is also quite dull. Despite Blaise's attempts to throw him off his trail he keeps discreet tabs on him which he's sure Blaise also knows about.

Oh, well. All he does anyway is read that book for the rest of the break. Nothing too exciting.

Now, Ron is enjoying his free class in the dining room before he has to attend class in about half an hour. He wonders why the elves haven't taken down the christmas decor yet while he bites down on a pastry.

"Hey, Weasley."

Ron blinks at Blaise as he sets his bag down and takes a seat beside him. It's kind of hard to ignore the small pause of silence in the dining hall, but he manages with Blaise grinning at him with his lips stretched wide. "Uh, hey."

The Slytherin feigns innocence, taking a slice of sponge cake and forking through it.

"Uh, can I...?"

"Can you what?"

"Can I help you? Do you need something?"

"Nothing that you can give me. At the moment," Blaise winks, chewing. "And, no. You also cannot help me. At the moment."

This time, Ron narrows his eyes. "Alright, now you're just taunting me."

"Clever Weasley," he pinches Ron's chin for a second. "I've come to tell you the regular stalkings need to stop. Momentarily, if anything. I so do enjoy you hovering at my neck."

A deeper scowl covers Ron's face. He angrily stabs his roast duck.  "It's not hovering or stalking if you know that I'm doing it. And besides, all you do is sit at the library and read the same book. At this point it'd be easier to just sit and wait."

"Now, there's a solution worth trying out. Chin up, Weasley. Our days together aren't over."

Ron watches him quietly as he licks his fork and stands, walking away. "Yeah, not likely."

He huffs.

"You can't get rid of me that easily, Zabini."

"It would be wise for you to listen to him."

Draco is just standing by the table, gripping his book bag to his chest. Ron really tries to ignore the cold looks from down his table after another break of chatter in the hall. "It would be wise for me to not associate with Slytherins, but here we are."

He can tell Draco appreciates his humor when he rolls his eyes. Ron keeps his eyes on him as Draco decides to take a seat next to him after promptly ignoring the stares from his own table. He exhales. "While I don't appreciate your blatant disrespect towards my house, I will have you know we are more than what you think of us."

"And what do you assume I think of you?"

"That we always have something to hide," Draco replies quickly, picking up a small bunch of grapes.

"Don't you?" Ron huffs again, shaking his head. "I don't remember a time you or any other average Slytherin were ever truthful about your intentions."

"You did not just refer to me as average."

"As a matter of fact, I don't remember a time when a Slytherin didn't just use anything or anyone for their own gain. So, yeah. I think you always have something to hide."

Draco rolls his eyes, presses his lips and he looks away from Ron toward the entrance of the dining hall. Harry and Seamus stumble in pushing each other like toddlers and laughing. Hermione, who is seated at the end of the table, catches Harry's sleeve and shoves a piece of parchment to his chest. She starts talking animatedly and all Harry does is scowl.