Bitter Chocolate - (A 'Veronica Weasley' sequel) || Draco Malfoy

22 - His Best Friend

"Hey, where do you think you're going?"

Arms snaked around my middle preventing me from moving any further off the bed and I shivered blissfully as I felt heavenly lips seductively nibble the bare skin on my shoulder.

"To the bathroom," I sighed, my lower back arching in immediate desire. I wriggled my body round to face him, pressing my lips firmly against his. "I won't be long, I promise."

"Good," he smirked, desire already rife in his beautiful dark slanting eyes.

I couldn't remove the smile from my face as I left Blaise lying tangled in the sheets. We had just spent an amazing night making endless love and, after a few hours of restful slumber, we were ready for more.

I had to give it to Blaise; the man had stamina.

"So, what do you say, Weasley?" He murmured breathlessly in my ear later that morning after rolling off of me and gathering me to his chest. "Want to give this a go? You and me?"

The second he said this, I stilled; my mind going instantly to Draco and Bambi.

"Fuck them, Ronnie!" He cried, immediately reading my thoughts. "They're getting fucking married! And him - he's never treated you anywhere near as well as you deserve. I'll treat you like a queen Weasley, I'll look after you and I'll never ever hurt you."

"Blaise," I trembled, my chest hardening uncomfortably. "I'm terrified we're just going to complicate things and create more hurt."

"How, exactly?" Blaise asked, an angry frown creasing his brow. "How is two single people who get on and have fucking amazing sex wanting to make a go of things complicated? We could make each other happy!"

"Two single people who are in love with other people!" I exclaimed, panic making my heart pound uneasily.

Blaise was asking for a relationship. I didn't do relationships; hadn't been close to ever having one other than what I had had with Draco.

"They don't want us, Ronnie. They've made that perfectly clear. You and me though, we could be good for one another."

"Blaise, steady on!" I cried, my heart already twisting painfully inside my chest at his words. "This is all suddenly going too fast."

"That bastard has really done a number on you, hasn't he?" Blaise sneered.

"And what about you?" I asked glancing up at him. "If Bambi was to phone you up right this second and tell you she's not going to marry Draco because she wants to be with you, would you honestly say 'no thanks, I've moved on with someone else'?"

His jaw immediately clenched and I didn't miss the giveaway flicker in his eyes.

"Exactly." I continued, when he failed to answer me. "My point is, Blaise, don't start making promises you can't keep. It's how things start getting messy and people get hurt. And I've had enough hurt to last me a lifetime."

"I really do like you, Ronnie," he murmured, softening his demeanour and tenderly brushing my hair back behind my ear.

"And I like you too, Blaise," I breathed, my lips twitching in a smile as I cupped my hand to his cheek, "but let's just tread carefully, please?"

"Spend the rest of the day with me?" He asked, cocking a questioning eyebrow, "that's not too much, is it?"

"Depends on what you have planned," I asked, slyly looking up into his glinting eyes.

"Well let's just say you won't be needing clothes," he murmured huskily, before hungrily connecting his lips back to mine.

*****

Draco pressed a gloved finger to the buzzer at the bottom of his best friend's apartment building.

If he could in fact still call him that, Draco mused sadly. Even though Blaise had agreed to see out being his Best Man, Draco had the hollow feeling inside that he had lost the person he had always considered his closest friend.

Draco's anger at having discovered that Blaise had not only slept with Ronnie but was also in love with his fiancée had abated. He realised he was being a complete and utter hypocrite. He had no right to care that Blaise was in love with Bambi, not really. Not when he himself was so desperately still in love with Ronnie.

But it had complicated things. Didn't Blaise realise how important it was for him to marry into the Peverell family? That this was an opportunity to finally make things better for his parents?

His mother had wept with joy when the engagement was announced; smiling for the first time since she had returned from Azkaban. Draco had done that - he had finally done something to make his mother happy and to give her hope and joy again after that horrific place almost destroyed her.

And he had promised her, when she was inside, that he would do everything and anything he could to make things better for them again; even if it meant denying his own happiness.

He was a Malfoy; the last remaining one, and it was all down to him to make sure the name was carried down with dignity.

And that meant marrying Bambi.

But he didn't want to loose his best friend. So here he was, on the first day of the new year, hoping to be able to make amends, maybe even to try and get him to understand why it has to be this way.

And, he thought with a horrific twist of his heart, that he would even give his blessing to him and Ronnie dating. Maybe even ask him to look after her.

Because he wanted Ronnie to be happy, he truly did.

He hurried up the stairs after Blaise buzzed him in, hope fluttering in his chest that things might just work out in the best way that was possible, after all.

As he reached the apartment door, Draco saw that Blaise had left it ajar for him, so he sloped in, closing the door behind him.

"Blaise?" He called, looking around the empty apartment. He wasn't in the sitting room, and he wasn't in the kitchen.

Suddenly he heard a giggle coming from Blaise's bedroom. A female giggle.

And Draco's heart stopped remembering that Blaise had gone to Potter's party with Ronnie the night before.

And he knew then, that this was Blaise's revenge.

"Blaise, stop it!" Ronnie's voice cried out between laughter. "I've literally just got out of the shower!"

Oh please, no. He suddenly couldn't bear this.

He moved to leave, but unfortunately, in his haste to get out of there, he smacked his shoulder on the kitchen door.

The giggling from the bedroom instantly ceased.

"What was that noise?" He heard Ronnie saying as he bit into his hand to stop himself from yelling out.

"It's nothing baby, probably just vermin." Blaise said, a little too pointedly.

Draco dived across the apartment, desperate to get to the front door. But he was too late.

"Draco?!"

Slowly, Draco turned around, and he felt a horrific sickening tearing in his stomach as a horrified Ronnie stood in the hallway outside the bedroom door, wearing nothing but a towel. Blaise sauntered out smugly behind her, clad only in a pair of straining boxers; a wide smirk plastered across his face.

"Nice of you to drop by, mate." He drawled, his eyes glinting in wicked glee as he draped an arm languidly over Ronnie's shoulders. "Come to wish us a happy new year, have you?"

Draco said nothing, instead turning his back on the gut wrenching sight and flew the fuck out of there.

*****