On the fifth day of Christmas (09)...
Sunburn (Ron/Draco)
Ron glanced up from his desk, littered with papers. It was early July, the office quiet with so many of his co-workers on vacation. A fan circled slowly above him, the only noise in the room.
"You're late," he said curtly, not even bothering to look at the time. He was about to return to his report but Ron had to be a double take. Malfoy was defiantly late but maybe there was a good reason for that. "You're sunburned," Ron said, frowning at the usual mass of pale skin, which was now marred with red blotches.
"Excellent observation, Weasley," Malfoy snapped back at him. Ron shrugged and returned to his work. They worked in silence, but every time Malfoy shifted, he made a small noise of pain. Ron sighed, it was clear that this sunburn was causing Malfoy some pain but he was too stubborn to do anything about it. No, Ron thought, it was something else.
"You've never had a sunburn before, have you?" he asked slowly. Malfoy's head shot up.
"I'm quite capable of taking care of it, thank you very much for your concern," Malfoy sneered at him. But his face looked less sure, so Ron pressed on.
"You've got aloe then? You applied it properly?" Ron questioned.
"Yes," Malfoy hissed, but then softly moments later, "Maybe". Ron shook his head and made his way over to Malfoy's desk. Being a redhead, in a house full of redheads, Ron had learned a thing or two about sunburn.
"Shirt off, and give me the bottle," he commanded. Malfoy continued to sneer at him.
"Are you mental? I'm not stripping in front of you!" he shrieked. Ron sighed again and muttered a quick spell and Malfoy's shirt zipped off over his head. "I'm not even going to ask why you know that spell. This is sexual harassment in the work place. I could report you, Weasley." Ron just gave a small 'hmm' and snatched up the bottle. At this age, their threats to each other were nothing more than a reflex, nothing was ever meant seriously.
Ron squirted a fat glob into his hand and worked the aloe onto Malfoy's back. Malfoy kept his face screwed up, but as Ron continued to work, his whole body began to relax. When Ron turned him to work on his chest, he saw that Malfoy has closed his eyes. Every time the cold gel was spread to a new area, Malfoy let out a little gasp and sighed a little.
"I still hate you," Malfoy said suddenly, opening his eyes. Ron laughed bemusedly.
"Malfoy, I think we can both drop that charade," Ron replied, continuing his work.
"I feel like I'm supposed to hate you," Malfoy corrected, dropping his eyes.
"We're not kids anymore," Ron said, "People grow up. The war ended a long time ago." Ron finished up, carefully applying some to Malfoy's face. He stepped back to admire his handiwork, and gave a nod.
"I know," Malfoy said even more softly. He didn't say thank you but Ron didn't expect him to. They went back to their work and their day went on as normal. When it was time to go home, Ron pushed his papers together and stretched. Every day felt long in the summer, when the air was stifling and the paperwork boring.
Ron put on his coat and turned to give a nod farewell to Malfoy. Malfoy nodded back as usual and Ron headed out the door.
"Weasley," Malfoy said, calling after him. Ron paused, his hand on the door handle. "If you are free on Friday, we should go out." There were unspoken words, unsaid promises. Ron smiled, not turning back.
"Yeah, that would be nice," Ron said and left. And Ron was glad for sunburns and long boring office days.
Wrote it cause I can. Not much slash, oops? Always love them. And cause it's my birthday, so why not celebrate it with my first OTP? In conclusion: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!