Harry was more confused than ever. Not only was Malfoy being nice to him, but he also stuck up for him against Harry's former best friend. Why was Malfoy doing this? Why was he being so different? Harry didn't understand the changes in his ex-enemy, but he filed the changes away to ponder about later.
He headed down the tower on his way to his first class of the day. As he was walking down the hallway, Malfoy walked up next to him and started walking with him.
"Good morning, Harry." Draco said pleasantly.
"Um.. Good morning, Mal- Draco. What are you doing here?"
"Walking to class. What does it look like I'm doing?" Draco joked in response.
"I get that. But why are you walking with me?"
"I thought we could be friends. If you would like that of course."
"Th-That sounds good. I don't have any friends anymore. Ron's being a prick, the other Gryffindors listen to everything he says and Hermione… well you know about Hermione." Harry faded off sadly.
"Yeah.. I know about all of that. And I don't think it's right. They all loved you when they needed you to save there asses, but as soon as you do they blame you for all of the war casualties. I've never seen people with so little loyalty. And here I was thinking all you Gryffindors were going to be the best of friends till the day y'all died."
"Yeah. Guess not…" Harry whispered. "But knowing all that, why do you want to be friends with me? The one person everyone in Hogwarts hates."
"Well, for one thing, you're not the only one everyone hates. For another, I don't think you deserve what you're having to deal with. Nobody deserves to be treated like you're being treated right now, but especially not you. YOU deserve to be treated with respect, with admiration, and with love. You deserve to be surrounded by people who love you and who appreciate you. You deserve to be able to do whatever you want with whoever you want and not have to worry about being judged. You deserve to walk these halls proudly. You deserve to be the best, act like the best, and associate with the best. You deserve better than what you're dealing with right now." Draco had a passionate gleam in his grey eyes when he was done talking.
"Wow." Harry said, standing against the wall outside the transfiguration class room. "You really believe that don't you?"
"With all of my heart. You are an amazing wizard Harry. You saved all of us." Draco stepped closer. "You saved me." He said the last part quietly, making sure nobody heard him.
"I just… did what everyone expected of me."
"No. Killing Voldemort was what everyone expected of you. But saving me… nobody asked you to do that. Nobody asked you to come back for me in that fire. Nobody asked you to risk your life for me. I've never said this to anybody before but… thank you. Thank you for all you have done for me." Draco leaned in and brushed his lips against Harry's.