Third Wheel
Granger had her way. Weasley Christmas would be held at Hogwarts. Worse than that, Draco was expected to eat dinner with Potter and Weasley tonight.
He’d been cordial with them since the funeral. Potter had seemed almost approving of the relationship blooming between him and Hermione.
That didn’t mean Draco wanted to pretend like they were all of sudden chummy.
“You don’t even have to stay for dessert,” Hermione says from her seat beside them. They’d become partners in all of their classes by now.
“And miss out on the chocolate cake?”
She smiles, obviously pleased with his willingness to stay for the entire meal.
Draco wants to prove that he can get along with the wonder twins.
It’s just much easier in theory than in reality to tolerate them.
“Don’t fill up, and you’ll have another kind of dessert waiting for you,” she whispers.
Draco blushes, looking around at his classmates to make sure nobody overheard.
From the lack of smugness on Theo’s face, her words remained between them.
Draco ignores Binns as he lectures about some millennia-old conflict and feathers kisses up Granger’s neck.
She shies away from his light lips and he’s pleased to see her cheeks redden as well.
“Where are we supposed to sit?” Weasley asks at the doors of the Great Hall.
Draco resists rolling his eyes and leads the way to the Gryffindor table, finding an empty space close to the end.
The two lions sit across from him and start filling their plates.
He’d never admit it, but he is a little nervous.
“So,” Potter says, reaching for his Pumpkin juice.
They just stare at each other.
“I promised Granger I wouldn’t just sit in silence for an hour, so we’d better figure out something to talk about.”
“Granger? You are sleeping together and you can’t even use her first name?” Weaselby asks.
His jaw ticks.
“Is that really what you take issue with? My use of her surname?”
“Ron,” Harry puts his hand on Weasley’s arm.
“What? You are saying you don’t think it’s weird he is all of a sudden over his blood superiority? You don’t think he’s just using her until he gets bored?”
“Don’t talk about me like I am not here. And don’t for a second think that I could ever get bored of her. I was raised on hateful ideals, I know. But I have admitted it. And I’ve actually learned about my failures,” he somehow manages to keep his tone even.
Weasley opens his mouth but Draco can’t just keep his mouth shut.
“And don’t talk about Granger like that. If for even a second you believe that she would allow anyone to use her, perhaps you don’t know her as well as you claim.”
Both boys stare at Draco, a little offended, but mostly shamed.
“You obviously care about her,” Potter says, calming his friend beside him with a stare.
“I do.”
“It was… good… of you. To be at the funeral,” Ron admits, sort of.
Draco did a lot more than just be at the funeral.
“She seems alright,” Potter says, with almost a question in his voice.
Guilt bubbles up in Draco. He could admit that he’d been monopolizing her time. They spent nearly every day together. She sleeps in his room more often than she sleeps in her own.
They get her for meals, but that’s about it.
“She is. She still gets nightmares. Has trouble focusing sometimes. I think that has more to do with the war though.”
They go quiet again.
Draco wants to suggest they ask to spend time with her. But it isn’t his place.
“Mum said you’ll be joining us for Christmas,” Weasley changes the subject.
“Yes. Although I promised Theo Nott I’d have breakfast with him on Christmas morning.”
“Invite him,” Potter says.
Weasley gives him a weird look, but Draco ignores it.
“I’m not sure he’d be comfortable.”
“Right. Yeah,” Potter nods, seeming almost disappointed.
Draco wants to laugh. If Theo knew Potter invited him, he’d be positively giddy.
“We don’t celebrate Christmas, that's all I mean,” he explains.
“You don’t?” Potter asks.
“Our families celebrate Yule. Early magical communities used the end of the year to rid their communities of dangerous creatures. Muggles called them Pagans. Now it’s just a family gathering that falls around Christmas.”
“Why do you celebrate Christmas?” Potter asks Weasley.
“Not sure. Probably some old family member liked the tradition,” Weasley shrugs.
Draco swallows a sneer. Of course his family did things just because they liked him. Draco was evolving, but he still believed in the importance of tradition.
Potter laughs and Draco smiles.
“So what are you going to get Hermione for Christmas?” Potter asks.
Draco’s smile falls from his face.
“I’m not sure. I can’t leave the castle so I’m more limited than I’d like to be.”
“She’s probably grateful for that,” Weasley says.
“Why?” Draco asks.
“Just that if you can’t leave, you can’t get her some ridiculously expensive present she doesn’t want.”
“You really think I know nothing about her,” Draco snaps. Who does the Weasel think he is?
“You could write her something,” Potter interjects.
Draco takes a deep breath and drops his glare.
It’s a good suggestion.
“Perhaps. Thanks, Potter.”
“Sure. You know, last year we didn’t really get to do Christmas. I was pretty excited when Hermione asked to have it here. So thank you,” Harry says.
They finish their dinners without killing each other, and Draco skips out on dessert, leaving the two lions to talk about how it went. He doesn’t exactly feel like he has their blessing, but he does feel like they can accept that he and Granger aren’t just a moment in time.
He finds her in his room, wearing delectable emerald lingerie set under a fluffy white cardigan.
She is curled in a ball with a book in her lap. She must have gotten cold waiting.
Crossing the room, he bends and kisses her softly on the cheek.
She grins and closes her book, arching a brow at him.
“They’ll have the tables put back together in no time,” he jokes.
She swats at him and then pulls him down by his school tie, kissing him slowly.
“Uh uh uh,” he tuts, pulling back.
“What?” She complains, pouting adorably.
“If I just had to spend an hour with them, so do you.”
“What are you talking about?” She asks, swinging her legs off the bed to look up at him.
“You hardly ever see them, lately. And they miss you. So, unfortunately, you are not welcome in this den of iniquity until you spend a few hours with your best friends.”
It’s hard for Draco to say, but he knows they need each other just as much as she needs Draco. They’ll always be in her life.
“I have been spending an awful lot of time with you,” she concedes, blushing as she realizes most of her wardrobe and a few dozen books have taken over Draco’s room.
“They’ll probably be done with dessert in a few minutes. You could go find them,” Draco says, sitting beside her.
“A few minutes?” she asks, turning so she can put her arms around Draco’s neck from beside him.
He nods.
“Then there is still time for your dessert,” she kisses his shoulder, reaching for the knot in his tie.
Draco must admit, sometimes doing the right thing comes with its own reward.