Good Ol' Ronald
It had been two days since their fight. And Harry was incredibly over this silence between the two. Draco had stayed adamantly over his side of the Great Hall during meals, his fellow Slytherin's shooting Harry glares over their glasses of pumpkin juice. Not very discreetly either. He wanted nothing more than to stride over there, apologise for leaving their argument on such a sour note and snog his face off.
But he had decided to give Draco space. He didn't want to make things worse than they already were and aggravate him even more. However, he was seriously regretting not doing anything and it showed in everything he did . He would call his current demeanour apt for the situation. He would liken it to a suffering lover, tormented by his plight but nobly remaining silent to give his love a better life. His friends would liken it to a lost puppy.
When he'd complained moodily to Hermione, she had eyed him irritably over her Arithmancy book. "Just give him space and deal with it, or stop whining and go snog his face off." She had snapped. "Now leave me in peace!" Ron had just gotten his chess piece to brutally and violently attack his king until nothing was left of the chess piece but rubble.
Ginny had sent a very nasty bat bogey hex his way with a screech to "attack his face already". All in all, Harry didn't know what to do. The fact that Draco was going out of his way to avoid him was only achieving to make him more mopey. He felt none of the righteous anger or disdain he usually felt when he got into arguments with someone; that feeling of I'm right so suck it and go wail in a hole at your idiocy.
He knew why that feeling wasn't there. It wasn't there because he knew the only reason Draco had lashed out was because he was upset over his father's demeaning manner. He didn't want to subject Harry to any of Lucius' horrible conduct. He accepted Lucius' treatment of him because there was still a tiny part of him that believed he deserved it. But he didn't want Harry to deal with it because he believed that Harry was too good to be treated that way.
Harry sighed wistfully as he stared dejectedly at Draco across the Defence classroom. He didn't want his boyfriend to think of himself that way. Draco was so much better than his father told him he was. He was sweet, and kind and amazing and so much more compassionate than he gave himself credit for. Sure, he could be a prat and uppity and horrendously pure-blood sometimes but it was how he was raised and he was working really hard on not being like that.
He even called Hermione by her first name for Merlin's sake. Harry sighed woefully again. Ron and Hermione shared a meaningful glance over the top of his head. Which wasn't hard because he was half-lying on the table. Ron shook his head adamantly. Hermione glared at him, brows furrowed, mouth set in a determined line. Ron shook his head again but his conviction was wavering.
Harry didn't notice any of this silent conversation flying back and forth between his best friends, not even when Ron sighed loudly in a very aggravated breath and nodded grudgingly to Hermione. For the rest of the class, the trio were really a sight to see. Harry, lying dismally on his desk, Hermione, a beaming beacon of smug happiness and Ron, a grimace adorning his face, his flaming eyebrows pulled low into a glower.
Once the class was over, Harry was dragged by Hermione from his depressed reverie and out the door while Ron dawdled by his desk. Draco was doing the same, as Pansy and Blaise walked away, leaving him to his slow, depressed packing up. Ron sighed loudly and closed his eyes before going over to the young Slytherin and planting himself in front of his desk.
Malfoy looked up in surprise. "Weas-Ronald." He corrected himself. "What are you doing?" He eyed the fiery Gryffindor warily. Ron sighed again, as if this was a huge ordeal that could change the fate of the world. "Harry's a mess." He stated tonelessly. Draco stiffened at Harry's name, a flash of sadness darting across his molten silver eyes. On closer inspection, Ron noticed with surprise that the skin around the snakes eyes was slightly puffy and red and lightly shaded circles hung under them.
"He feels bad about the fight. He wouldn't even tell us what happened, so I couldn't fully blame you without feeling bad, but I know that it wasn't entirely his fault." He continued in the same carefully emotionless tone of voice. "It's obviously taken a toll on you too-" Draco's hands flew up towards his unusually messy hair "-and I'm just here to say, just go up and bloody talk to him already. He's my best mate and he's miserable. Work it out. For both your sakes." He added.
Draco was dumbstruck at the level of diplomacy the boy had shown. With a last sigh, Ron left the classroom. Both boys were left with an unsettled feeling of confusion as they realised that that was the first exchange they had ever had without trading insults. If a one-sided conversation could be called a conversation.
[Time skip where Harry drowns his sorrows in food and Draco, Blaise and Pansy theorize that Ron has been kidnapped by aliens]
Later that evening, Harry sat by the lake staring out at the dark water that reflected the clear, glittering night sky. He took a deep breath, enjoying the feeling of the cold night air flooding his lungs. He tipped his head back, inky black hair melding with the dark surroundings as he stared up in thought at the incandescent sky. Suddenly he was startled out of his brooding by muffled footsteps approaching him slowly.
His wide, surprised eyes snapped up to see Draco Malfoy standing there, his posture exuding an aura of hesitancy. "May I sit?" He requested quietly. Harry nodded wordlessly, shuffling over when Draco sat down gracefully on the soft grass. They sat in silence for a few moments, neither one of them sure of what to say. Finally, Draco broke the uncomfortable silence.
"Ronald spoke to me today." He started softly. Harry shot him a perplexed glance. He had not expected the talk to start this way. Draco chuckled slightly at his expression. "I know, I was confounded too." He said dryly before resuming his gentle, serious tone. "I want to apologise." He said in a rush, at the same time that Harry blurted it out. The two stared at each other, small wry smiles tugging at their lips.
"You go first." Harry acquiesced. Generous, as usual, Draco thought. "I was wrong to snap at you and be such a toe-rag." He admitted. "I was just…unsettled by the letter and unprepared to deal with it. And that's not an excuse to lash out at you." He added quickly. "I guess I'm just still angry at my father, and I don't know how to deal with all these emotions without insults and I don't know." He rambled on, still unsure of everything, as fourteen year olds tended to be.
Harry let him ramble on until he trailed off into panicky silence. "Dray, I should be the one apologising." He held up a hand to cut off Draco's protests before he even voiced them. "I should be." He insisted. "I know how strained your relationship is with your father, and I should've helped you through all these feelings instead of snapping at you when you lash out. It's normal to lash out when we don't know how to process things, or can't explain ourselves as best as we'd like."
Harry took a small breath before continuing. "You didn't want me to endure the type of treatment you went through but you probably would have went without me, making yourself endure all the horrible things your father would say."
Draco looked down at the ground guiltily, slender fingers fidgeting with a sprig of grass. Harry spoke slowly and surely, to ensure that Draco heard everything he said. He needed to let his boyfriend know how cared for he was.
"You don't deserve that kind of treatment. You don't deserve to be told that you are anything less than what you are. You are amazing. You're loyal, sweet, kind, honest and sure, you can be an absolute asshole sometimes but that's how you were raised and you're trying your best to not be like that. And you're doing great at it. Going against everything you've been told is hard, really hard, but you're doing amazing love."
Draco's eyes gleamed silver in the moonlight, glazed over with tears. Harry cupped his face in his hands, locking shining emerald eyes with watery silver ones. "I love you. All of you. Messed up family and all." He joked lightly. Draco laughed, voice slightly choked with tears, and sniffled. "I love you too." He smiled.