Requested by lil_emoo

            "Get out of here, ferret."

            "I really don't care about what you say, Weasel."

            "Shut your trap and scram."

            "Where did you learn those cheap words from? Your father ought to scrape up some money to buy better words for you. Well, not that your family actually has too many Galleons to use now, do they?"

            Ron was standing in the doorway to Potions, his ears the famous Weasley red, face crimson with trembling rage.

            "Keep my family out of this, Malfoy." Ron growled, and Hermione latched onto his arm. She tugged gently. Harry watched from the side, body trembling, but face a mask of no emotion at all.

            "Your fat mother and your father are nothing, Weasel. They shouldn't have had you, nor your other good-for-nothing brothers." Ron growled dangerously.

            "Well, your mum's so cowardly that she only serves as a slave to your dad. Is that why you were born, Malfoy? Did your daddy force your mum to have you and she couldn't keep it from happening?" Ron spat back. Draco began to shake, and his face grew red.

            "Shut up about my mother, or I'll —"

            "Or you'll what? Run off to tell your daddy?"

            "... My father will certainly hear about this." Draco replied, his voice wavering. And to the trio's surprise, he turned right around, and stroded away from the hall. The crowds of students began to break, leaving the dumbfounded trio behind.

            "What was that all about?" Harry asked, his face wearing a very puzzled look. "Why did he just walk off?"

            "How dare he!" Ron exclaimed, his ears becoming red once more. "Why does that ferret —" Ron stomped on the ground as he said the word. "— always need to insult my family?"

            "He's just a coward, Ron. Let it all pass. You know he's always like that." Hermione replied with a sigh, shaking her head with her expression so twisted that it almost seemed like sympathy. "He'll grow bored of it sooner or later."

Ron muttered several unintelligible words under his breath as he marched away, telling the other younger kids to scram, who had made quite the crowd. They all scattered in different directions, dropping books and wands. Hermione cast him a frown, crouching to pick up a first year's Potions book for her, and at the same time wondering where Ron was going off to, and secondly — why Draco Malfoy had acted like he never had before.

...

            Ron turned the corner to the hall and hid behind it, trying to control himself, keep his mind sane. The thing that would stretch his patience to a minimum would be someone insulting his friends and family — he couldn't have that. "That bastard." Ron mumbled as he continued down the hall, bookbag clutched tightly in his hands. He was just about to head up the stairs to the common room when he heard a small noise from behind his back. He immediately turned around, hand grasping his wand in instinct. And there came the sound again — a little clearer this time. A sniffle, and something that sounded like a stifled sob. Ron raised his eyebrows as he eyed the boys' bathroom, hand loosening from his wand. Curiosity suddenly sparked in him as he began to approach the door, eyeing it somewhat suspiciously. "Another bloody first year crying for their mum, I suppose." Ron muttered as he pushed open the door with one hand. And whom he saw at the sink was somebody who Ron had thought would never see crying.

Draco Malfoy leaned against the sink, hand grasping glossy white so hard that blood was being drawn. His face was covered in tear marks, fresh ones still seeming to run down his cheeks and dripping into the sink below him. He sobbed once more, shutting his eyes as he squeezed some tears out, white-blonde hair disheveled and messy. Ron stood at the doorway, unmoving, startled and dumbfound. Draco Malfoy, crying publicly in the boys' bathroom, not even trying to hide it.

Ron then did something that he never thought he'd do. On pure instinct (maybe it could have been caused by Ginny, whom Ron used to cuddle up with whenever she cried), Ron walked over to the boy and embraced him, arms curling around his neck. The boy immediately stopped crying, gasping at the sudden contact. But instead of pushing Ron away like he expected, Malfoy turned to Ron and lay his head on his shoulder, sniffling. Very awkwardly, Ron began stroking Malfoy's hair, running his finger through the golden locks.

They didn't say anything for a while, before Draco choked on a sob and opened his mouth to speak. "... I hate my life."

            "I'm sorry." Ron said quietly, letting Draco bury his nose into his neck. "I'm sorry I wasn't there for you all this time."

            "I don't think I can live like this anymore, Ron." Draco said. "What should I even bloody do?"

            "... I'll take care of you from now on, I promise - I'm sorry about all the stupid thing I said earlier." He replied softly. "For now, just let it all go."

So they stood there in each other's arms, holding each other as they both reminded themselves of harsh reality and the world that they were living in, but also being reminded that they had one another, and this could all be a start of something new and great.