"C'mon, Malfoy. Just come with us this one time. Don't you want to be part of the team?"
Shallow words from shallow people, and they did nothing to persuade the reticent young man to go along with their good time adventure after a long two weeks of training.
It's not that Draco didn't like their company, for the most part. He just couldn't be distracted from his goal.
After his father's death at the Final Battle and his mother's battle to regain her social status, Draco knew that ultimately the resurgence of the Malfoy name had to come from his actions and decisions. So he had joined the Aurors and promised himself (Lucius) that he would make good on all things Malfoy and prove that his father had been the best man he could have been; at least at the end of all things.
He mostly kept to himself because he knew that none of his fellow trainees really understood what he stood for. He still believed in blood purity, just not the insane way Voldemort and his followers had tried to pursue it. He almost welcomed it when a Muggle-born girl liked him; it made it easy for him to turn her away. None of them would understand, except perhaps for the bane of his existence, Ginevra Weasley.
They'd all been in training for three weeks when a new student came, all brash words and even brasher actions. She was a menace to all in one way or another. She'd shamed them all with her enthusiasm, support and kindness. Draco tried his best not to shudder every time she gave a hug to a team member and to avoid the embarrassing act when he could. But those times he couldn't avoid? They were the highlight of his day that he wouldn't even admit to himself.
"It's okay mates, I'm sure the bloke needs his alone time." Snickers from some of the others had no effect upon the blond. "Let's go before they decide to withdraw our leave for the night."
As the others gathered their books to leave, a soft hand snuck under the table and squeezed his knee in some sort of comforting touch.
"Draco and I have things to do. You lot have fun."
Draco decided the opportunity to drink up her presence in a more intimate manner was the best he could do in this life.
