A/N: Thank you SO much to the people who reviewed the last chapter! I really, really appreciate it. :)
Hope this chapter is okay!
"What did Professor McGonagall want?"
Harry looked at Hermione who was curled up in a comfy armchair, engrossed in a book. "Draco Malfoy is going to give me private lessons for Potions," he said dully.
The book fell to the floor with a thud as Hermione stared up at him in shock. "You…really?"
"Yes," said Harry heavily, sinking into a seat beside her, "really."
Hermione was silent for a few seconds, struggling to come to terms with the news. "It…it shouldn't be too bad," she said weakly.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Of course not. It will be great fun."
"I didn't say it would be fun," said Hermione. "But it won't be terrible. It will be better than it would have been before."
Harry shook his head, unconvinced. "He's going to love the fact that I'm so bad at Potions. I won't hear the end of it."
"If it was the old Draco, maybe," said Hermione, bending down to pick up her book. At least it distracted her from the conversation for a few seconds as she smoothed down the crumpled pages in evident concern. Harry sighed wearily.
"I really can't be bothered with this. Stuck with him, trying to teach me Potions…"
"Look, Harry," said Hermione consolingly, reaching forward and taking his hand, "Draco has changed now. He isn't the same person as he used to be – you've admitted that yourself!"
"Yes, I know," said Harry impatiently. "But that does not mean that I suddenly want to spend time with him."
"What's this?" asked Ron from behind them. Harry assumed he had just entered the common room, as he certainly hadn't been there before. "Why is my girlfriend holding my best mate's hand?"
"You can tell him, Hermione," said Harry heavily, rising to his feet. "I'm off to bed."
Xxx
It was a few days after Harry had received the news about the lessons that he and Draco finally spoke to one another. It was Draco who made the first move, approaching him one evening when Harry was alone, sitting in the corner of the common room and frantically trying to do his Charms, Transfiguration and Defence against the Dark Arts homework at the same time. Harry could see the blonde advancing out of the corner of his eye, and raised his head to look at him, fixing a bright smile to his face and deciding that he might as well be civil. Draco stared at him for a few seconds as he came to a halt in front of him, an expression of bewilderment crossing his face before he altered it into a tentative smile in return.
"Well," said Draco, clearing his throat, "I, er, I was going to ask you about those lessons…" His voice trailed off, his pale cheeks flooding with colour as he shifted nervously on the spot.
"Oh, yeah," said Harry, putting down his Charms textbook. "Well, why don't we arrange to meet this Friday for a lesson? We could meet in…well, where are we supposed to be having these lessons?"
Draco blinked. "I…in one of the Potions classroom, I think."
"Right," said Harry, mentally cursing himself for being so stupid. Where else did he think they were going to meet? He glanced up at Draco, who was biting his lip nervously. "I'll see you there, then," Draco said in a rush.
"See you," Harry replied, watching him as he turned and hurried over to Theodore Nott, walking as though he couldn't get away faster.
Xxx
Harry reluctantly pushed open the door of the classroom, feeling a rush of uncertainty mingled with a strange sense of nerves. Draco was sitting inside, a large amount of books spread out in front of him.
Harry cleared his throat to announce his presence and Draco spun round in the chair. "There you are!" he burst out.
"Yeah..." said Harry, eyeing Draco with caution. "Er, sorry I'm late, I couldn't find the room. I kept going into all the wrong rooms, you see…" He stopped, aware that he was babbling.
The corners of Draco's mouth twitched. "It's okay." He turned away to rearrange the books in front of him, fidgeting in his chair.
Harry moved over to sit beside him without much enthusiasm. It was Friday evening, and the last place he wanted to be was stuck in a Potions classroom with Draco Malfoy. He watched as Draco placed the books carefully in a pile, with a strange suspicion that Draco was trying to take as much time as possible, to put off the moment when he would have to speak to Harry.
"So, what are we going to do, then?" asked Harry briskly, unable to stand the silence any longer.
Draco jumped slightly, as though he hadn't expected to hear Harry's voice and had forgotten that he was with someone else. "Well, I thought that we would look over these books, about the Potion of Dreams that we're practising in class now. That is, if you don't understand it?"
"No, I don't really," said Harry awkwardly.
A few years ago, Draco would have sneered at this and probably made some snarky comment before spreading the news around the school that Harry was terrible at Potions. Now, however, he merely nodded and smiled a genuine, friendly smile, which Harry didn't think he'd ever seen cross his face. It was strange how much nicer Draco looked when he smiled like that, instead of sneering or smirking like he usually did. Or used to, Harry corrected himself.
"Anyway, we need to look over this," said Draco, passing a book across the table to Harry. "I asked Slughorn and he said it would be helpful. You'd have seen it before, of course…"
Harry nodded, resisting the urge to sigh with difficulty. He had seen this book many times, unfortunately. It was a complicated and boring book Slughorn had given to every member of the class, which was supposed to help them with their homework. Sadly, only Hermione seemed able to decipher what it was the book was actually asking you to do, as there were many words in it that no one had heard before, and the print was so small you had to strain your eyes to read it.
Draco seemed to read Harry's thoughts. He met Harry's eyes across the table and smiled slightly. "I know it's boring."
Harry smiled back. "Yeah, very boring. The only person I know who likes it is Hermione."
Draco laughed nervously. "She's clever though. She strikes me as one of those types of people who will read anything you put in front of them."
"Definitely!" said Harry feverishly. "I think she's probably read every book in the library by now. She's great at doing research."
Draco's smile widened. He appeared unable to believe the fact that he was having an actual, civil conversation with Harry. Harry himself couldn't blame him, as he felt exactly the same way.
"So you and your other friends don't like studying?" said Draco.
Harry shook his head. "You mean Ron?"
Draco nodded, twisting his hands together in evident discomfort. "Yeah, him. Ron," he added slowly, as though trying to get used to saying the name.
"So, do you understand any of this book?" asked Harry, indicating the book lying in front of him.
"A bit," said Draco uncomfortably. "Not really, though. Hermione probably understands it better than I do." He said Hermione's name tentatively, rather like he had just said Ron's name, almost as though he was afraid of saying it.
"I don't mind if you don't understand it completely," said Harry honestly. "It's quite an achievement to understand any of it at all, to be honest."
Draco's cheeks coloured slightly, and he cleared his throat. "Well, shall…shall we get on?"
Harry nodded, feeling remarkably more comfortable compared to a few minutes ago. At least Draco hadn't mocked or jeered at him yet; in fact, he had actually been quite nice so far. Harry couldn't quite get his head around a friendly Draco Malfoy, but it was certainly better than the alternative.
The rest of the time passed relatively quickly. To Harry's surprise, he got on with Draco much better than he had expected. Of course, they weren't talking much about anything other than Potions, but it was a definite improvement compared to what Harry had been expecting. He left feeling quite cheerful, and there was a spring in his step as he nodded goodbye to Draco and left to go in search of Ron and Hermione. Yes, he and Draco weren't best friends, and never would be, but Harry hoped that they might at least be able to get through these lessons without any major arguments. Hopefully.
A/N: The Drarry will soon begin, in case you're wondering when it will start! :) As always, I'll really appreciate any reviews!