Many songs and even more drinks later, the group stumbles out of the bar, Draco leading the way with Harry beside him. Draco's flat is the only one within walking distance, and no one's quite sober enough to Apparate, so the plan is to drink copious amounts of water, eat some pasta (a remedy for drunkenness Harry's never heard but Pansy swears by), and loaf around till the fuzziness subsides. It only takes a few minutes of flirting to get to Draco's, where everyone squeezes into the sitting room. It's not small, but there are eight of them, and only two couples. Ginny happily deposits herself onto Neville's lap, Ron and Hermione inch closer to each other, and Harry, Draco, Pansy, and Theo are left to the couch and wingback chairs. Harry gets lucky and winds up next to Draco on the couch, though from the way Pansy's looking at the two of them, he's not sure it's an accident.

Draco calls a house elf in and instructs him to make some spaghetti and fetch them all a glass of water. The house elf nods and hurries away.

"You know, Draco—" Hermione starts. Ron cuts her off with a kiss.

"No one wants to hear it right now," he says. "Let's just relax and eat some spaghetti, OK?"

"Fine, I suppose," says Hermione, looking pleased despite herself as she allows Ron to kiss her again.

"You two are disgusting," Ginny says, leaning back against Neville.

"You should talk," says Ron. "Can't keep your hands off him, can you?"

Neville blushes, Ginny gestures rudely at Ron, and Pansy sighs deeply.

"If only Antoine were here," she says. "We'd show you how a real couple behaves."

"If Antoine were here, he'd be making the spaghetti along with the house elves," says Theo in a dry tone. "Honestly, are you planning on lifting a single finger after you're married?"

"For beckoning purposes only," she says without hesitance, and everyone laughs. It'd be funny under normal circumstances, Harry thinks, but right now, through the haze of three pints and two glasses of straight bourbon (Draco insisted), it's absolutely hilarious.

"So, Harry," Pansy says. "What's your love life looking like these days? The Prophet hasn't said anything interesting about you since you dated that Irish Seeker. What was his name again? Liam, right?"

Suddenly, everyone's looking at Harry. He gratefully accepts a glass of water from the house elf, who's returned with their beverages and two loaves of bread. After taking a sip, Harry says, "Yeah. Liam O'Leary."

"And that was, what, two years ago? What have you been up to since then?"

"A whole lot of swings and misses by an endless array of eligible men and eager women," Ginny says, smirking. "It was Oliver Wood most recently, right? You attract Quidditch players. You always have."

"It's true, isn't it?" Ron says, sounding as if he's discovered something marvelous. "Cho and Ginny during school, and I know something had to have happened with Charlie's friend who came and visited with him the summer after eighth year. And then there was—"

"Ron, dear, I don't think it's really necessary to catalog Harry's romantic past," Hermione says. Harry shoots her a grateful look; so does Draco, if Harry's not mistaken. "To answer your initial question, Pansy, Harry is single, and the Prophet can't say much about that, other than calling him a shut-in with possible psychological problems."

"Spaghetti for Master Malfoy and his guests," the house elf announces upon rushing back into the room.

"How do they do it so fast?" Ron asks.

"Malfoy house elves are the best kind," says Draco, handing the elf a Galleon. Hermione's eyes widen.

"You pay your house elves?" she asks in disbelief.

"What can I say? I'm a very giving person." Draco winks at her, and Hermione smiles broadly back at him. She nods at Harry, who reads it as some sort of approval. Why she thinks he needs that right now, Harry's not sure, but he'll take it nonetheless.

"I don't know if it's going to make me any more sober," Ron says. "But this is amazing. Where'd you find that elf?"

"He's been in the family for years," says Draco. "And he's not for sale."

"How'd you get to keep him, anyway?" asks Pansy. "I thought for sure your parents would want Minky with them in France for sure." Harry's read the Prophet enough to know that after Lucius Malfoy finished his two-year stint in Azkaban, he and Narcissa moved to Lyon.

"I think it was an apology for not taking me with them, though I never expressed any interest in going," Draco says. "I was already doing the job Blaise does now at the Ministry, and I already had this place. Why would I leave?"

"What does Blaise do, anyway?" asks Theo. "He's never said."

"Paperwork," says Draco. "Reams and reams of tedious, mind-numbing paperwork. There's good reason he hasn't explained it."

"Ron, as soon as you're done, we should go," Hermione says. "I'm absolutely knackered."

Ron nods. "I'm good, I think. Thanks for the food, Malfoy. It's been a surprisingly good night."

"Now you understand why Slytherin parties were the subject of so much gossip," says Draco. "Goodnight."

The rest of the group sounds off with a chorus of goodbyes. Ginny and Neville are next to leave, and Harry's left with a trio of people who, a few years ago, he would've never expected to spend time with willingly. Now, it just feels natural as Pansy talks about her upcoming trip to visit Antoine and Theo complains about his parents' insistence he marry a Greengrass daughter.

"They're both lovely, and I mean that," he says. "But I wouldn't say no to meeting someone on my own. How'd you worm your way out of a pureblood marriage, Draco?"

"You already know the answer to that question," says Draco. "I told my parents I was gay, my father expressed his disapproval for a few years, my mother spoke sense to him, and that was the end of that. And the end of the Malfoy line, I suppose."

"You could adopt," Pansy says.

"I'm not really much for kids, especially on my own."

"You wouldn't have to be on your own."

"Well, it's not an immediate possibility, anyway." Draco waves his hand, as if to shake off the subject. "Pansy, aren't you meeting the Greengrasses at 9 tomorrow morning for whatever it is the three of you do together?"

"Yes," she says. "What's that matter?"

"Well, it's nearly 3 in the morning."

Pansy swears and Apparates without another word.

"I may as well be going, too," Theo says, standing and stretching. "It's been a pleasure. See you in the office." Harry lifts his hand in a wave, Draco tells Theo goodnight, and Theo disappears with a crack, leaving Harry and Draco on their own.