Chapter 15
"Did you get a chance to think about the holiday plan?" Draco nods and swallows a piece of green apple. "Yes." Harry looks at him impatiently while Hermione smirks into her mug. Always that suspense, keeping Harry waiting and on edge. "I'll come." He says after another bite and a sip of tea. Harry sighs making Draco raise his eyebrow. "Shouldn't have invited me if you didn't want me there, Potter." Harry frowns and laughs softly. "I didn't mean it like that, I'm glad you've decided to join me, well us. We'll have fun. We could take our brooms so we can fly over the fields." "Ron and I will be staying with you from Thursday to Sunday in the first week." Draco nods and sips his tea. "Do you have to be so posh when you're drinking tea?" Draco turns to look at Ron who rolls his eyes. "Excuse me?" "You do that pinky thing, and the swirling without sound thing." Draco shows a bemused smile and looks at his hands while they do exactly what Ron just summed up. "Old habits, I'm afraid." Ron huffs and sips his coffee loudly, making all of them laugh. "We'll leave right after dinner then." Draco nods. "Whatever you say."
The day didn't last that long, they only had classes in the morning. With the afternoon free for studying. Their owls started the next day, which reminded Draco of how fast the time had gone by. Hermione had given them all a study schedule and made sure that everyone was following it. Eventhough Draco had told her multiple times that he didn't use schedules she, of course, insisted on him trying at least once. So there they were. Studying in the library together. Both Hermione And Draco being free tutors to Harry and Ron. They really didn't seem to know a lot. Though whatever they did know surprised him, because it was always the difficult stuff. Studying with the golden trio wasn't as bad as he'd always pictured it. It's a good thing to have Harry and Ron there. They ask a lot of questions which gives Draco and Hermione the opportunity to explain what they know to someone else and revise their material that way. He wasn't going to admit out loud, but he liked his new friends. Liked hanging out with them and living the life he'd always watched them live.
"I can't believe the owls are finally over!" Hermione happily says. Ron grubs his eyes tiredly and yawns. "I can, I've been sleep deprived for weeks." Harry nods in agreement while Draco sucks on his spearmint. "I'm just glad we don't have to study as much anymore. Learning stuff is fun but not when it takes up the entire day." Harry points to Draco and nods. "Preach." Ron chuckles while Draco looks at him bemusedly. "You need a lot of sleep, Potter. You're saying weird things again." Harry laughs and rubs his head. "I do indeed." Draco noticed how, when Harry didn't get enough sleep, he always started to laugh more often and say silly things the later it got. It's pretty adorable and he always jokes about it making Harry blush. "Let's go pack our bags and meet each other later?" Ron asks, rubbing Hermiones back. She shivers and nods while Harry hums. "Okay." They go their room rather quickly, making Harry turn towards Draco with a raised eyebrow. "I hope they'll cast a muffliato." Draco says. Harry laughs and shakes his head in disbelief. "Yeah, I hope so too. Though since it's Hermione I'm sure she'd cast seven if she could." Draco raises eyebrow while looking at their door. "Does he make her scream that loud?" Harry frowns and bursts out laughing again. "No, just to make sure it actually works." Draco chuckles and shakes his head. "Yeah, you're right. She would." They stood there awkwardly staring at each other for a little while before Draco cleared his throat. "I'll start packing, before Weasley nags my ear off for not being finished yet." Harry frowns. "You pack by hand?" Draco hums. "I told you, my mother doesn't want me to be a lazy husband." Harry smiles while adoration is clearly visible in his eyes. "That's So cute." Draco chuckles and shakes his head. "While you do it the magical way, try to get some sleep in the free time yeah? You're talking nonsense." Harry blushes and laughs softly. "Sorry, Yes. I will." He goes to his room and Draco does the same. "Packing for a two week holiday with the golden trio... what on earth happened to our lives?" He mumbles while folding his clothes and fitting them nicely in his trunk.
"This is yours?" Harry nods and looks around the bungalow. "It is, Sirius left me it." Draco looks down briefly, knowing full well who had cost Harry's last relative his life. "That's really nice of him." He softly says, looking around the seventies style home. "It looks really nice." Ron rolls his eyes which makes Hermione scold him. "I know I might be used to mansions, Weasley, but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate other things." Ron hums and looks around, avoiding his gaze with red cheeks. "You can have the spare room at the end of that hall over there. I'll show you were it is." Harry says, levitating his trunk to follow him in the air, while walking towards the hall on the left. Harry spells his trunk to go in the first room on the left and then opens the door two rooms away from his own room. That is going to cause problems. "The bathroom is in between our rooms." He softly says while looking around the room. "Is there something I should know about this room?" He hesitantly asks, noting the change in behavior. "Sirius used to sleep here." He shows a little nod and looks around. "Harry if this is too much I can just go back-." "No, no it's okay. It's not your fault." Draco breathes in deeply while nodding. "I know it isn't but she's still related to me..." Harry takes a sharp breath and nods. "Yes. But she's not you. You didn't have anything to do with this, you weren't there." Draco nods in understanding while Harry's voice goes up a little in pitch. "I can sleep on the couch?" Harry scoffs. "I'm not letting you sleep on the couch Draco." Harry sighs and looks around. He'd never had anyone sleep in this room before, he knew that it would be Draco since Ron and Hermione sleep on the right side of the house. He'd prepared himself for this but for it to actually happen really was something else. "We could swap rooms?" Harry looks up and frowns. That wasn't the worst idea. "I don't mind sleeping wherever you'll have me, Potter. Just don't force yourself to make decisions while they clearly don't sit well with you. And before you start any apologies. I totally understand, I don't blame you. Just let me know what you decide, wether it be to spend the holidays without me, or having me sleep on the floor outside on the field. I don't care, okay?" Harry blinks away his tears quickly and clears his throat. "Yeah, okay. I'll think about it. You could, uhm out your stuff in my room until I've..." Draco nods and puts the trunk next to Harry's door. "Can I use your kitchen?" Harry frowns but nods absentmindedly, so Draco walks back into the kitchen to look for an apron. "Is He Okay?" Draco shakes his head but then hears a little chuckle do he looks up with a frown. "He meant you." Hermione says, pointing to him in his apron. "Oh." Draco looks down And smiles weakly. "I'll be making you something my mother used to make when things got hard. Not to worry Weasley, I won't poison you." Ron rolls his eyes but smiles nonetheless. "I trust you on that, for once." He winks before going to Harry to talk to him. Hermione rests her head on her hands and watches him peel some bananas. "Don't blame yourself." Draco sighs and shrugs. "I mean it, Draco. Harry knew what he was doing when he asked you to join us." He hums and cuts them up in little squares. "I know that, I just feel bad. I can't escape what I did, no matter how friendly we might be at school, ik the real world... it'll always be like this." Hermione sighs. She understands what he's saying, but it wasn't his fault. Not this time, and honestly not ever. He was a pon, could he really be held responsible for his actions? "You didn't do this."She says while nodding at Sirius' room. "No but she sure as hell dragged me down with her didn't she?" Hermione hums and walks over to him, opening her arms and looking up at him with a soft expression on her face. "I won't tell, I promise." She softly says with a playful wink. He chuckles lowly and hugs her tightly. "We all wish we could turn back time and undo things, but no matter what we'd change, you can't prevent being born. Neither can Harry. We were all babies when this war started. None of us could've prevented it. You threw Harry his wand on the courtyard. What more could anyone have possibly asked of you Draco? None of us wanted you to risk your life and you did when you threw him that wand. If Voldemort's side had won, it would've cost you your life, and who knows what would've happened to your family. You are the most loyal person I know, when it comes to family and friends. That one move, is what you should be remembered by. It's what I'll remember you by whenever the war is brought up. To risk your life, as well as your families, over a wand... it's the least Draco Malfoy thing you could possibly do. And yet, you did it. Don't let your demons win, we all did things we aren't proud of and they all happened because we weren't in control. We were the soldiers fighting older peoples war." Draco breathes in deeply while a single tear rolls down his cheek. He holds her tightly and nods in her neck. "Thank you, Hermione. You're really great to have as a friend." She smiles and rubs his back. "So are You, Draco. Now show me what you're going to make because I'm curious." He chuckles softly and wipes his cheek subtly before starting on the dry ingredient mix. "It's a marble fruit cake. My mother always altered the recipe and the thing was to find out what ingredients are in the cake. We used to do this whenever I was having a hard time. She made it for me when I got my orders to kill Dumbledore... She hadn't done it since I was twelve because I insisted I was 'too cool' for it." He shakes his head with a little chuckle. "We'll then how about I'll let you make that cake and we'll eat it together before Ron and I leave?" He nods with a grateful smile and nudges her playfully. "Thank you, Granger." She nudges him back with the brightest smile he's seen on her, and nods. "Welcome, Malfoy." She says with a wink, before walking off to Ron and Harry. "Don't go to kitchen..." is all he hears before her voice became too distant and he focussed on cutting the fruits with a fond smile on his face. He had friends, different but real friends, who liked him. Even Weasley did, though he'd never tell. He chuckles and shakes his head at those thoughts. Yeah, he'd never tell.