Chapter 11:

In Which Draco is a Hero

Neville leaned against the bar. Life was good. Colors were bright, friends were dancing, and Hannah was working at the bar just behind him. She would occasionally rub her face in the back of Neville's hair and nip at his ear. The new year was shaping to be a good one.

He closed his eyes and soaked in the happiness. He couldn't remember the last time he felt so full, so complete, so loved. Hannah handed him an ale and Neville happily accepted.

"Hello, mate." Dean landed on the stool next to him. Neville grinned at his friend.

"Hey Deanie."

"You're chipper. Finally get laid?" Neville's demeanor became rigid as he looked at Dean.

"Don't be stupid. You know I'm not like that. Life has just been good lately." His defense coming out a bit harsher than he had meant.

"Slow down, mate. I'm not compromising your honor. How is life though? More specific than 'good'?"

"No worries. Well, things have been going really well with Hannah. I introduced her to my parents over Christmas and mum seemed to like her hair. Gran wasn't as big a fan, though. She wouldn't tell me why, exactly. She just sent me an owl a few days later saying she would respect my decisions, but that she… uh, isn't a fan."

Overall Dean wasn't that interested in Neville's love life, and the conversation quickly changed to quidditch prospects for the next year.

"Oh hey, Draco decided to show his swotty face. Oi! Malfoy! Come fill us in on your take on the Canons!"

Neville looked up to see Draco come through the door pulling someone through behind him. He was taken aback to see Pansy. He didn't think that she would come. She was wearing all black again, not even hints of color in her scarf. She was wearing a clingy long sleeved black dress that went all the way to the floor. As his eyes traveled back up he realized that Pansy actually had a fair bit of cleavage on display, but through a dark sheer material that dipped surprisingly low. It was also clear how her curves had become more defined over the years. She wasn't slender like Hannah, but her hips swang in a sinful way in that clingy material. Her emerald flower hung around her neck, boasting the only color she would ever wear. Neville took another lazy sip from his ale as he analyzed this paradox of a woman.

She had positively exploded at him earlier in the week. He really did understand that she didn't mean to, and was clearly upset that she hurt him. She had meekly come to him a few days later and apologized, and hadn't so much as looked at him since.

Neville was startled out of his thoughts when Hannah's breath caught in his ear;

"Hey baby. You look irresistible tonight, you know that, right?" She finished by nipping at his ear, causing Neville to blush a bright shade of red. Not that he didn't like it. He liked it a little too much, actually.

He turned back around to face the bar and caught Hannah's face before she had a chance to react.

"Not nearly as irresistible as your lips." He captured her in a deep lingering kiss that sent shivers through his body.

"Get a bloody room." Draco declared placidly as he swept Pansy close to the bar. "Pans, you know Hannah and Neville, obviously. And you've seen Dean Thomas in passing several times recently. But let me introduce you proper." Draco pulled Pansy around so her back was facing Neville and introduced her to Dean.

Dean, not being one to pass up on an opportunity to get better acquainted with a beautiful woman jumped to his feet and took her hand from Draco, placing a sweet kiss on her fingers.

"The pleasure is mine, I am sure." Dean gave her a killer smoulder which resulted in a light, genuine laugh from Pansy.

Draco draped his arms around her as he laughed.

"Oh, Pans. I haven't heard that lighthearted of a laugh from you in a while. It becomes you. Makes your face less pug-ish." Pansy swotted her way out of Draco's arms, laughing in a playful manner, just as Neville turned to watch.

"Don't be a twat. You know perfectly well that I laugh wholeheartedly at your face on a regular basis."

Neville was intrigued. He had never heard Pansy be so playful. At least, not since their school days. But that playfulness was usually rooted in cruelty. Now she was just bantering with Malfoy. Flirting. He watched as they spat witty replies back and forth and he had to wondered if they were here as a date. Malfoy certainly had his hands all over her.

"Glad to see that you could make it, Parkinson." He gave Pansy a lopsided grin as Hannah came around the bar to hang on his side.

"Yeah well, Drakie here talked me into coming." She patted her hand on Draco's chest as if marking her territory. Neville was generally confused at Pansy's apparent change in personality. Or would it be reverting to who she was more like in school?

"Merlin sake, Parkinson. I know you only use that nickname to torture me, but it really does torture me. And stop laughing Thomas, or I'll have your arse next rounds." Dean ducked as Draco took a swipe at the back of his head.

"Anyway, I poured us all a shot of firewhisky. Drink up. We have three hours till midnight and we need at least one shot an hour!" Hannah passed Neville a glass and threw back a shot.

"You missed one, Hannah. There's only four."

Hannah pointedly sneered at Pansy.

"My bad, Deanie. It was an accident, I'm sure." She said as she passed the remaining two to Dean and Draco.

"That's alright. I try not to drink much anyway." Pansy threw Dean a sparkling smile and clung closer to Draco, laying one hand on his chest. "If you need to be inebriated to have… fun" Pansy squeezed Draco's arse with her free hand. "Then how do you know you're actually having fun?"

Pansy was exhausted.

She really wasn't planning on coming out tonight, let alone staying out so late. But Draco appeared in a whirlwind, took her shopping, he even curled her hair for her. She would have considered it bizarre if she didn't know Draco so well. The guy had a sixth sense. He always seemed to know when she needed his encouragement. They'd spent the day being silly and shallow. And while Pansy wouldn't really want to be who she was in school, ignoring the issues of the world brought back a sense of her personality that she felt like was buried under concerns.

As the night had worn on, however… Pansy was beginning to wear out. She thoroughly enjoyed dancing. She had blocked out Neville and Hannah from her mind and took advantage of the close friendship she had with Draco. There was nothing romantic between them, but they both knew it was a lift to Pansy's spirits to parade around with him. It inflated her long extinguished ego to show people that the wizarding world's most eligible bachelor and no. 2 auror in Britain was spending his time with her. She had danced with Draco and Dean for what felt like hours.

Blocking out Neville and his girlfriend only lasted so long, though. He kept trying to get near her to make sure that the air was clear from earlier in the week, and as the night went on he was becoming more and more drunk. Fortunately Draco was a wonderful wingman and played blockade throughout the evening.

It was around 11:30 when she finally fell into a booth and watched the festivities around her. Somehow an entirely sober, and 7 months pregnant, Ginny Potter was still going strong on the dance floor with her husband. Dean was leaning against the bar talking to Draco. Neville… Pansy caught a flash of him and had to look away. All of the confidence that had been filling her the entire evening rushed out of her in a moment. It wasn't fair that he had that much power over her. He was pushing Hannah into the far wall, snogging her senseless.

Pansy had her wand in her hand without even remembering grabbing it. She wasn't going to hex them. But she wanted to. In third year she'd hexed a girl for flirting with Draco, and in fourth she hexed Draco for snogging someone other than her. She wasn't that person anymore, but that didn't mean she didn't have the urges. Damn Longbottom. Damn him to hell.

"You look tense." Dean Thomas slipped in the booth across from her and handed her a butterbeer. "I figured you'd want something after all that exertion." He offered the drink with a wink and cheeky grin.

"Thank you. And I'm fine, just tired from all the dancing. Having two fine partners does that to a lady you know." Pansy tried to speak more upbeat than she felt, but Dean called her out.

"You're Not alone, you know. A lot of us pretend to be happy and live like normal only to be crushed by reality as soon as we slow down."

"Am… Am I that obvious?" She was a bit taken aback by his accuracy.

"Not really. But I am a trained and experienced Auror. And I make a habit of observing beautiful women in particular."

Pansy hid her blush behind her butterbeer. It had been awhile since someone had legitimately flirted with her. She couldn't remember how she was supposed to respond. Witty repartee came naturally when she was with Draco, but she didn't know how to handle Dean Thomas.

"Do you.. Uh… make a lot of arrests? What does the day to day life of an Auror actually look like?"

She spent the next half hour conversing with Dean until Draco arrived lazily levitating three flutes of champagne announcing that the countdown was beginning. This was it, the new year was finally upon them.

It was set to be an interesting year, for sure.

"I should go home now, Hannah." Neville's head was foggy. He knew he had had too much to drink, but the reality of the headache he'd be waking up to in the morning was hitting him.

"Aw, Nevie. Just stay with me. Stay the night." Hannah pouted her lips as she pulled Neville closer to her, trying to unbutton his shirt but being hindered by his sweater vest.

It was tempting. Neville looked down at Hannah, her dress giving him a full view of her cleavage. Really, not much was left to his imagination. Neville didn't remember her showing so much earlier in the evening, though. Maybe she had a sweater on? It was getting hard for Neville to focus while he was drunk, and Hannah was pushing her breasts out at him while trying to unbutton his shirt. He began to close his eyes and just inhale her scent. Most people had left the party. But Neville still felt conscious of having an audience.

"I… Should sleep at the school."

"Aww, nev." She pushed herself closer into him. "There's no need for you to wake up at the school, you can go back in the morning.

The thought was so tempting. But Neville was not a stranger to the wizarding world. Hannah had grown up mostly in the muggle world with her muggle mother. Things were very liberal and progressive in the muggle world. But her a reputation damage would not be easily mended.

No. If he really cared for Hannah the best thing for him to do is to return to the castle before long.

"I'm sorry, love. I need to go." Neville peeled himself away from her before she could tempt him even more. Even through the haze of firewhisky he knew that if he hesitated any longer he would make a decision he would long regret. He kissed her on the nose and promised to visit her on the next weekend. And with that he flood back to Hogwarts.

This year was off to a beautiful start.

A/N

Sorry again for the long wait, but things are starting to come together!

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