For Ginny's seventeenth birthday, Harry took her to the last Ministry gala of the summer. They'd been avoiding the parties since the incident and resulting media storm regarding the stained blouse. Harry hated dinner parties and only ever went because he felt obligated to go or because Ginny wanted to. She wanted to go to this one, since the negative pressed died down, so they were going.
Having gone present shopping for Ginny, Harry went to the Burrow to pick her up bearing a number of very expensive gifts. First was the jewelry, a fine set of pearl earrings and matching necklace. Second was a new broom, because her Hogwarts letter had proclaimed her Quidditch Captain for the upcoming school year. Third was a designer handbag she'd been dying to have.
At least I can be sure she'll like them, even if they did put such a huge dent in my vault, Harry thought to himself. All three items were on the list she'd given him and none of them were cheap. His vault had taken a serious hit when Leo's inheritance was transferred over to a trust fund. Now it was blatantly obviously just how little money he had left and that he really did need his job. If anyone else had asked for so much, he would've refused, thinking them greedy, but this was his Ginny asking and she'd never had anything nice before.
Ginny insisted Harry put the pearls on her the moment he arrived. The purse too was immediately opened and her beauty products dumped inside. Only the broom was allowed to stay at home unopened. The dress she wore was new too, having come from her parents. The shoes had been her present from George. Even the comb in her hair was an expensive present from Bill. She must've looked over her appearance a million times before she was satisfied that there wasn't a hair out of place; she was paranoid after the last gala, even though this outfit was new and therefore couldn't possibly be stained.
With all of Ginny's primping and preening, they barely made it out of the door on time. Harry was for once looking forward to speaking to the reporters, having prepared a short sound bite about having spent his own birthday last week with Teddy, Draco, and Leo. It was purposefully vague as to his passed non-relationship with Draco, but mentioned what a wonderful father Draco was to their son. He wanted to say it, both for Leo and as a favor to Draco, for being so reasonable as of late. He was hoping his words would make it into the papers and delay Draco from rushing ahead with the threat to marry Dane. Plus, he'd already come clean to Ginny about having spent the day with the boys at the lake, so he didn't think he could get in trouble for it.
Harry even had a snapshot to share with the press. Taken by Draco at the lake, it was of Harry holding Leo and Teddy, all three of them with identical smiles for the camera. It was clear from the photo that they'd had a blast swimming together. Harry said his bit and passed over the photo, but Ginny rushed him, because she'd just spotted Demelza and Dennis. After her week at Quidditch camp, she had a slew of ideas for the upcoming Quidditch season that she was dying to discuss. Demelza was sure to be one of her Chasers, as the witch had been when Harry had been captain. Thus they dismissed the reporters and made their way over to their friends.
Harry stood quietly by Ginny's side, only occasionally getting into the Quidditch discussion. After the war it didn't hold the same interest for him as it once had, although he was still fond of the sport.
It was Ginny who interrupted her own fervent speech. One second she was relaying the details of an awesome feint she'd perfected and the next she was silent, the first to notice the unexpected presence at the Gala. "What is he doing here?" she asked, a look of distaste on her face as she motioned with her head for Harry to look over his left shoulder. It was her birthday and she expected to have Harry to herself for this date.
Harry turned to see Draco on Dane's arm. This was surprising, because Draco was supposed to be taking Leo to visit his grandmother on the Black side tonight, not attending the last gala of the summer. "Don't know. Come on, let's go find out what he's up to," Harry said, turning back to Ginny.
Ginny huffed, rather put out by the fact that she wasn't the center of attention. But the way Harry had phrased it, casting suspicion on Draco, partially appeased her. She figured that Harry was about to be pissed at Draco for coming, which she was eager to witness. Thus she held out her arm and let Harry lead her closer to Draco. The two of them barely managed a quick parting, "See yah," to Dennis and Demelza, the Quidditch discussion already forgotten.
Draco and Dane were surrounded by a group of reporters, who had quickly caught on that this was the first time since the war that Draco was being seen at a Ministry function. They were all jostling for position and shouting their questions over each other, vying for the attention of the couple. Draco kept quiet, smiling on Dane's arm as he posed for a pair of photographers. Dane waved and returned greetings, but it was too hard to distinguish any individual questions to answer them.
When Dane grew tired of posing for photos, he held up a hand, motioning for silence. The reporters obliged, the surrounding crowd following their lead and hushing as well. Harry and Ginny, having worked their way through the crowd, now stood just behind the reporters, their attention held by Dane as they waited for the wizard to speak.
"Draco Malfoy has agreed to come out with me tonight to announce our engagement to the world. He has accepted my proposal and we have agreed on the terms of the marriage contract. Our mothers are eagerly planning the ceremony, to be held next month," Dane announced. Then he leaned down and kissed Draco on the lips, for show.
Always being one to revel in the attention, Draco deepened the kiss and gave the crowd a bit of a show, letting his hands rest on Dane's arse.
"Did you know about this?" Ginny hissed in Harry's ear. It was quiet, besides the sound of a few whistles, cat calls, and the click of cameras, so she had to whisper in order to prevent her voice from carrying.
Harry shook his head, his eyes glued to the scene in disbelief. Sure in the wee hours of Friday morning Draco had said he was going to move forward with Dane and had threatened to be married before the end of the summer, but the engagement coming so quickly still came as a shock. After all, that fight had occurred less than seventy-two hours previously.
The reporters erupted in questions, while the flashbulbs from the photographers went off in rapid fire. The noise and flashing lights only calmed when Draco raised his own hand for silence, before saying, "I am very pleased to be marrying Dane Ndiaye. I cannot wait until he is the Mr. to my Lord Malfoy. He will make a fine husband and father."
"Mr. Ndiaye will be taking the Malfoy last name then?" one reporter asked.
"I will," Dane confirmed, his voice booming a bit the way his uncle's voice tended to. Seeing that Harry's attention was still fixed on Draco and not her, Ginny's jealousy began to rear its ugly head. She tugged on the crook of his arm, getting him to take a step back, away from Draco and Dane. Harry turned for a moment to look at her, but seeing no obvious reason for her tugging on him, his attention returned to Draco.
"Is there any basis to the suggestion that Lucius Malfoy made regarding Leo Malfoy and you, Dane?" another reporter asked.
"I have no problem with it, although that is not my call to make. All decisions regarding Leo's upbringing are to be made by his parents, Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter," Dane answered, looking to Draco to fully answer the question.
"Harry Potter and I are on the same scroll of parchment when it comes to our son. He is here tonight. Why do you not ask him what he thinks?" Draco asked, nodding his head in the direction where Harry could be seen behind the reporters. "I am sure he will be able to answer for the both of us."
The reporters and photographers turned in mass then, flashbulbs blinding Harry and Ginny.
"Auror Potter, what do you think of Lucius Malfoy's suggestion?" the same reporter repeated the question, but to Harry this time.
"What suggestion? I don't always follow all of the news," Harry admitted, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.
"It was in this morning's Prophet; an interview from Lucius Malfoy himself," Ginny whispered into Harry's ear. Even she had read it. It was mostly about how Lucius was choosing to remain in hiding in the aftermath of the war, since his freedom was not guaranteed by the current administration. He was convinced that the situation would end soon, because he and the current Minister for Magic were about to become in-laws. There was also a brief mention of Leo and what Lucius thought should be done with his beloved grandson.
"He suggested that once Mr. Ndiaye and Mr. Malfoy marry, Dane will adopt Leo and raise the child as his own," the reporter filled in.
"Over my dead body! I'll kill him or anyone else who tries to take my son from me!" Harry's outburst was spontaneous and out of his mouth before he even realized what he was saying. He felt he could kill Lucius for suggesting this, what with the way adrenaline was rushing through his system. His heart was suddenly pounding and his face red in anger.
"How elegantly said. I think Harry has summed up my sentiments nicely. I do have this one thing to add: Father, I will let him," Draco warned, turning the attention of some of the reporters back to him.
Now the attention of the reporters and photographers were split between Harry and Draco, although neither of them had any additional comments.
"Harry!" Ginny called, finally getting her fiancé's attention as she continued to tug on his arm.
Harry looked down at Ginny, noticing the angry expression on her face. He doubted that she was upset for the same reason he was. "What?" he asked.
"Come with me, now!" she practically barked the command.
The fact that he had just threatened Lucius Malfoy's life finally dawning on him, Harry nodded and agreed to go. He followed Ginny out into the relative privacy of the outer gardens that surrounded the restaurant. Still they cast a number of spells to prevent eavesdropping, before either of them spoke.
"What the fuck was that about, Harry?" Ginny asked angrily.
"Which part? I wasn't expecting any of it. Draco wasn't even supposed to be here tonight," Harry replied.
"How about the part where you told the Daily Prophet and all of the other papers in existence that you are going to kill Lucius Malfoy over a harmless suggestion?" Ginny asked. Truthfully it would make her very happy if Dane were to adopt the little brat, because it would get Leo out of her and Harry's life. It was a win-win scenario as far as she was concerned. She'd never for a moment thought that she might be on the same side as Lucius in anything, but in this, she unexpectedly found herself in agreement with the evil git.
"He had no right to say that!" Harry scrubbed his face with his hands as some of the anger seeped out of his sails. He was so worked up that he failed to notice that Ginny had called the offensive suggestion harmless. "But I probably did overreact a bit."
"A bit? You think?" she asked sarcastically.
"Yeah, a bit. It just took me by surprise, is all. Look, I'm sorry I made a scene; I'm ruining your birthday, aren't I?"
"Yeah, you are."
"I don't mean to. It's just that this all came out of left field and I wasn't expecting it. I don't even know where Leo is right now. Merlin, I hope Dromeda or your mum has him. I really need to find out. They should be about to start serving the appetizers. How about you go in and start without me? I just really need to ask Draco where Leo is. Then I'll be in and we'll spend the rest of the evening celebrating your birthday. No more Draco and Dane, I promise."
"There better not be," Ginny said, before nodding, huffing, and taking off in the direction of the door. Mostly she was letting Harry have this chance to talk with Draco, because she still assumed that Draco would be getting yelled at. She secretly hoped this started a huge fight between the wizards and caused Harry to remember what a prick Draco was.
Harry followed, but only until he ran into George and Angelina on the patio.
"Harry, Ginny just ran past us. She seemed pretty pissed by the look of her," George said.
"Yeah, well what else is new?" Harry asked sarcastically, before an idea popped into his mind. It would be better if he wasn't seen ushering Draco away from the party into the secluded garden. "Listen, I need to speak to Draco. Could you two go in there and ask him to come out here to talk to me? I want to find out where he left Leo and then I'll deal with Ginny," Harry said.
"Of course, Harry," Angelina agreed. George, by her side, nodded.
Harry sighed in relief. He watched as George and Angelina entered the restaurant, looking through the glass door to see them heading straight over to Draco. He saw Draco glance at the door, before heading in his direction. Knowing that Draco was on his way, he went deeper into the gardens and recast the spells to prevent eavesdropping, just in case. Draco soon joined him, raising an eyebrow in silent question of what was going on. Harry wanted to know the same.
"What are you doing here?" Harry asked, going with his first question first.
"I am on a date, same as you," Draco said, glancing back towards the restaurant, where he'd left Dane. "I thought that was obvious."
"Yeah, but you told me you were taking Leo to visit your grandmother tonight. Where is he?"
"At Grandmother Black's house, like I said."
"But you didn't say you weren't going to be with him! You just left him alone with your grandma? The woman who gave Bellatrix Lestrange to the world? I thought we agreed that her visits with Leo need to be supervised!" Harry protested.
"She is not alone; my mother is there. I left Leo with my mother, who is on the list of people Leo is allowed to be left alone with," Draco countered. "And I will leave here early, so that I will be back in time for his feeding, like I always am on date nights."
Harry was not thrilled about the idea of Narcissa having full grandmother privileges, but Draco was insistent. After their big fight, they spent Friday night going through their lists of friends and relatives, establishing who was trustworthy when it came to their son and who was not. Narcissa had been in Leo's life since the beginning, Draco thought his mother could be trusted, and according to him, she had never done anything to hurt the baby or showed any signs that she was anything other than a doting grandmother. The one time Harry had seen her since the war, she had been nothing but good with Leo, although he hadn't stuck around to see her interact with his son for long. Dromeda had though, and she backed Draco whole heartedly when it came to her sister being a good person. So Harry had reluctantly agreed. But then Harry hadn't thought that this issue would come up so quickly, because in the two plus months he'd known he was a father, Leo had never been left alone with Narcissa without Dromeda or Draco around. Now she was and her barmy mother Druella Black was in the mix as well.
"What is your mother doing here? She was just here to visit two weeks ago."
"Harry, I think it is time I come clean on this: Leo and I have not gone two weeks in either of our lives without seeing my mother. She used to visit me every weekend at school. Lots of us in Slytherin had regular visits from our parents. Wizard parents are free to visit whenever they like; my father was the only one who insisted on making a show of his visits by prancing around the school."
"Seriously? She was visiting you all during school?" Harry asked disbelievingly. Sure Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had come to the school on occasion, but that had always been associated with serious injury. He'd seen other students, especially the purebloods, being called down from the Common Room because their parents were there, but it wasn't weekly even for the kids with regularly visiting parents.
"Yes. She did visit a bit more often than the typical parent, which was why I was so embarrassed by her. I had her floo into Professor Snape's office and meet me in the dungeon for our little visits. A lot of students were embarrassed by their parents and did the same. The elves just set up one of the larger rooms with tea and biscuits and left us to it and Snape would leave the floo open during visiting hours. But yes, she was there every Sunday morning like clockwork."
Hermione had noticed once that a lot of the pureblood students, especially the Slytherins, seemed to have somewhere important to be Sunday mornings. During their first four years at Hogwarts, there were always at least a dozen of them among the few students who didn't sleep in on Sunday mornings, getting down to breakfast as soon as the Great Hall was open for Breakfast. Then those students would be out of sight and never in any of the common areas, like the library or down by the lake, until lunch time rolled around. Ron had suggested that the Celtic students were probably attending religious worship down in the dungeons, just like the Church of England Students were welcome to do with Professor Flitwick in the Charms' corridor. Ron's idea had fit at the time, although it didn't account for the drop off after Voldemort's return, which was particularly noticeable when the school was under such tight security sixth year. But now Harry began to think that it wasn't Celtic worship that had the pureblood students up on Sunday mornings, but pureblood parents secretly flooing into the dungeons.
"Did she have to stop sixth year or something?" Harry asked.
"No, but parents without the proper security clearance, like my mother, had to wait for us in Hogsmeade. That discouraged a lot of the parents, but not Mother."
"Yes, well she hasn't been keeping that schedule since you've been staying with me. I'm home Sunday mornings and I've only seen her the once."
"That is because she comes when I tell her you won't be there. There are no classes to work around, only you, so there is no reason for her to come on Sundays. She typically comes on weekdays while you are at work," Draco replied.
"Every week?"
"Yes. She has yet to miss a one. She loves us. I know that might be a bit hard for you to understand, because of your history. Obviously those muggles did not love you, but does Molly Weasley not wish to see you at least once a week?" Draco asked.
"She does," Harry confirmed.
"My mother is the same. Are you going to have a problem with this? Because I thought we already talked about this? We do have a dinner to attend and fiancés to return to."
"We did." Harry rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "Alright, but I'm just worried about your grandma. Your mum can handle her, right?"
"Yes, of course. I told you: my mother has one and only one flaw. Not being able to handle Grandmother Black is not it," Draco confirmed.
Harry nodded, but asked, "And your engagement? How is that happening so soon?"
"Like I told you the other morning Harry, we already had a workable contract. All that was needed was for me to cross out the nonsense my father likes to insist upon, even though it is none of his business. That I had finished two days ago. Yesterday, we ran the revisions past both of our attorneys and agreed that tonight was the logical option for making the announcement. These things do not take much time. Now do you have any more questions, or may I return to my fiancé? Maybe yours will not notice when you take off, but I assure you, mine will."
"No, go on back," Harry replied. With that, they went back, separately, into the building and found their seats at the long tables, where the rest of the guests were already eating.
After dinner, Ginny made a big production over the gifts from Harry, letting everyone know he had gotten her the jewelry and handbag. If they complimented her new items, she mentioned the broom at home, the dress from her parents, and the things from her brothers. She made sure everyone knew it was her birthday and was relishing the attention. She took a glass of wine or champagne every time an elf came around with a tray, so she was quickly passing tipsy and heading towards drunk.
Soon Harry grew bored of the talk of birthdays and of Ginny's new Nimbus two thousand and seven. He was rather glad when Neville came up to him and asked about Leo. Before, it was like the subject was taboo among the other party guests, with no one daring to mention Harry's son or the fact that Draco had shown up tonight with Dane, both of whom were currently out of sight. But once Neville had the gall to say something about Harry's child with another man in front of his date, it was like the taboo was lifted and a floodgate of Leo related questioned poured in from a number of different party guests. Like all new parents, Harry was eager to talk about it. Ginny, however, was less eager.
"Leo, Leo, Leo! That's all you people talk about! This is my seventeenth birthday! Why can't just this one day be about me? Why is it always him and Draco Malfoy!?" Ginny screamed when she had had enough.
Harry wished she wouldn't have, since there were photographers and reporters present. Even if there weren't, an outburst like that from his fiancé was sure to make the morning paper.
Right on cue, a crowd formed, the cameras flashed, and a reporter started asking questions. Ginny turned a shade of pink that clashed with her hair, covered her face with her hand, and pulled Harry with her away from the crowd, into the garden. The pushier witches and wizards followed, but Harry sent them a scathing look that stopped them. The morning paper would report that they worried the Savior had lost his temper and would kill them all with an Expelliarmus too.
The pair kept walking until they were so deep in the shrubbery that they thought no one would find them. Harry was embarrassed beyond belief and in no mood for any more of her shite. In the two weeks without her, he'd managed to forget how awful she was and wasn't ready to fall back into their earlier holding pattern of him giving in to her.
"What the fuck is wrong with you tonight?" Harry asked, after casting a quick Muffliato. He hadn't even the patience to cast the rest of the wards that were needed to keep people from listening in.
"Me? What is wrong with me? What is wrong with you?" Ginny asked, her fury equal to his.
"What is wrong with me is that my fiancé is a horrible, stuck-up bitch, who hates my son! Draco hasn't done or said anything to you in weeks and Leo is a baby. Why can't you just be civil?"
"Why can't you let Dane adopt Leo? Then the brat will be out of our hair."
That was going entirely too far and it was all Harry could do to keep from slapping her. His voice was seething in anger as he exclaimed, "That's it! We're through. This is over, Ginny."
"You're breaking up with me? You're the one who has signed away your inheritance to the Malfoys and you are breaking up with me? You are leaving me for a pair of Malfoys, one of whom is marrying Kingsley's nephew?" Ginny asked incredulously.
"Yes, I am," Harry confirmed.
As it turned out, they weren't as far from everyone as they had thought. At that moment, George and Angelina found them, George with a large flask of muggle vodka in hand.
George handed over the flask to his sister, saying, "Here, this'll help," which Ginny took and gulped.
Harry eyed Angelina expectantly, wondering what she'd have to say about this latest public fiasco. She eyed him back, before motioning with her head for him to follow her away from the Weasley siblings. He did, grateful to get away from Ginny. They found a bench and sat. He was sure Angelina was going to ask him what that scene was all about and he didn't particularly want to talk about it, but anything was better than staying there with Ginny and talking about it.
"How are you feeling, Harry?" Angelina asked kindly.
That was unexpected. Harry blinked, his retort dying on his tongue. Angelina was his friend, not some bloody reporter or another Potter fan. "Embarrassed," he admitted.
"I bet right now you wished you'd begged off another one of these stupid galas," Angelina replied.
"Right now, I'd even prefer taking Draco to one of these things than being here with Ginny."
"He does seem to be the epitome of grace and poise tonight." Angelina paused studying Harry's face, before continuing, "Things are that bad with Ginny, huh?"
"You saw it; bloody awful. I don't think I can ever show my face at another one of these parties. Do you think I'll look like a callous prick if I don't show up to the one year anniversary of the war gala?" Harry had already received a request for him to be the keynote speaker for the event that was nine months away.
"You don't think it will be held in your honor, like the last one?"
"Oh, I already know it will be. Doesn't mean I want to go though."
"I'm sure this will blow over. Just lie low and there will be some other scandal for the papers. They'll forget all about you and Ginny, you'll see."
"I hope you're right, Angelina," Harry said.
They were silent a moment then, noticing the sound of rustling. Soon George and Ginny could be seen walking towards them, George's arm draped over his sister's shoulder. Ginny looked calmer, although completely plastered, with a twig in her hair and her shoes scuffed with leaves.
"Hey Harry, I'm going to take Ginny home now. Can you see Angelina back to the party for me?" George asked.
Not wanting to go back to the party himself, Harry blanched, despite the relief of having Ginny taken off of his hands.
"No, that's okay, I'm going home. It's getting late anyway," Angelina fibbed. It was still incredibly early for anyone to be leaving.
Harry was grateful for the fib. He nodded and said, "Me too."
George left first, taking Ginny by side-along. Angelina followed shortly after and Harry wasted no time in apparating away.
Having had such an awful time at the gala, Harry returned home early for once. He was even sober too, since unlike Ginny, he hadn't wanted to give the papers any reason to write about him.
Draco was surprised to see Harry home so early. He'd slipped out earlier, in order to retrieve their son for Leo's usual bedtime feeding and other rituals. He'd just changed the baby's nappy and dressed Leo in a fresh pair of pajamas when Harry appeared in the doorway. "What are you doing home?" he asked in surprise.
"The gala was boring. I could ask the same of you," Harry said, unsure if he was interrupting something, although it didn't look like it. Still he couldn't help looking around him for signs of Narcissa Malfoy.
"It is like I told you before: the gala was a bit long and Leo still needs his feedings. Dane understood that I had to go. I was just putting Leo to bed. Are you actually sober, or are my eyes deceiving me?"
"I'm sober."
"Then do you want to read Leo his story tonight?"
"Yeah, that'd be great," Harry said, picking up the book on the top of the stack.
Draco turned to the soiled nappy, vanishing it to the laundry area for Kreacher to deal with. Then he sat on the rocker and waited.
"The Brave Little Lion," Harry read, holding the cover out so that Leo could see.
"Nion," Leo repeated, smiling. He obviously knew this book.
Harry opened the book and read, "There once was a pride of lions and an awful mean vulture. The pride of lions worked all night capturing a bit of meat to share, but then the vulture stole it away. There was a beautiful golden lion, whose coat shone in the afternoon sun. But she was a lazy lion, who loved to nap. When the vulture came, she snored on. There was a wise old tawny colored lion, who was the smartest of them all. But she was smart enough not to risk her life and ran away with her tail between her legs, leaving the vulture to her meal. There was a mellow yellow lion, who asked, 'What is all the fuss? Isn't there enough for all of us?' When there wasn't, she let the vulture have her share too. Then there was the little silver lion and she was the most daring of them all. She roared as loud as she could and said, 'Go away, vulture, this share is mine!' The vulture was so scared it flew away, leaving the brave little lion to eat her meal in peace."
"Nion, nion," Leo said, when Harry finished reading.
Harry looked over to Draco and asked, "Really? That's the story? I thought something called The Brave Little Lion was going to be good."
"It's a children's story about lions, what did you expect? Something about Dumbledore saving the world?"
"Yeah, that would've been better."
"Well then you go find it for him. I haven't seen one like that. Excuse me for only finding boring books about lions," Draco retorted.
"And why is it that the Slytherin is always the best character in all of your stories, even the ones about lions?"
"What Slytherin character? There's no such thing as a Slytherin lion."
"The silver lion? Silver is a Slytherin color? And the Gryffindor one is always stupid or lazy."
"What are you on about now, PaPa? I haven't bought any story books about the Hogwarts houses."
"The gold lion is lazy? Gold if a Gryffindor color," Harry drawled.
"It's also a shade a lion might be: golden yellow."
"And another thing, in his favorite story about the ducks, the red duck is the one with the shoddy spell casting."
"Guck?" Leo asked hopefully.
"You are really reading into these children's stories aren't you? And here I was thinking the story was about four pretend ducks."
"Guck, guck!" Leo repeated.
"In all of your stories it's the same thing: the red or gold character sucks and the silver or green character is the winner. In that one about the tortoise and the hare, the tortoise is green and the hare is reddish brown."
"When was the last time you saw a red tortoise and a green hare?"
"Guck!" Leo screamed, turning the word into a cry.
"Oh here, Leo, calm down Sweet Lion," Draco said, handing over the stuffed duck from the shelf.
Leo clutched the duck happily.
"And what about in that story with the evil red sorcerer and the heroic green kid who saves the day?" Harry asked.
"That story is about you, you imbecile! You have green eyes. The Dark Lord had red eyes. What is wrong with you tonight? Did you strike out with your Weasley, so you came home in a bad mood to take it out on us?" Draco asked, hitting the nail on the head.
Harry deflated as he realized that was exactly what he had been doing. "The green kid did have a scar on his head, didn't he?" he admitted.
"Yes, he did. That is the last time I buy a book about you; I am sticking to the free ones your Granger sends. Here I was thinking it was the least pretentious of the Savior books, because it didn't refer to you by name and drew you as a baby goat."
"Sorry. Look, I did have a bad night with Ginny. I shouldn't have blown up at you like that; they're only stories."
"That's right, they are. I'd like to point out that even the muggles agree that green is the color of good and red evil. Just look at those flashing lights they put up all over town. And, if you haven't noticed, benign light magic is often green, while dark spells are red. So that is where these books are getting their color assignments from."
"Alright fine, you win, Father," Harry conceded, although he still thought it was a bit of a coincidence that the silver lion was brave, while the golden one was lazy.
"Thank you, PaPa. Now you have Leo all wound up again, so you better read the one about the ducks. And do not go insulting the red duck by calling him a Gryffindor again. I don't want you tainting his favorite story with your petty house rivalry," Draco said handing over said book.
Harry took it and read. Then he made Draco teach him the first few lines of the German lullaby about the prince, to make his earlier outburst up to Leo.
Author's Note: Happy Christmas! I hope you enjoyed this present I am giving to all of you readers. Obviously, the public fight won by a landslide, so there you have it. But just because Harry has gotten rid of Ginny, doesn't mean he's worked up the courage to ask Draco out. Hermione will finally come home next chapter and she will help with that.
Please leave me presents in the form of reviews!