Chapter 18: An Unbiased Opinion

O-o-o-o-o-o-o

Draco and Harry landed softly back on their feet and dismounted their brooms, both breathing heavily. Harry let the snitch in his hand go for a moment as it fluttered its wings before he grabbed it again, "That last one was close," he said.

"Yeah, yeah. Not quite good enough, though."

"You caught it a couple times," Harry clapped him on the back.

"Out of how many, Potter?" He wasn't a good loser and was doing his best to keep his tone joking and not frustrated.

"Out of a few," Harry grinned, "Shall we change and head to Hogsmeade?"

"Yes, I think my ego could go for a nice glass of firewhiskey."

They wandered the path, talking about their classes and students for a bit before they were settled at the Hogs Head with firewhiskey in front of them.

"So Malfoy," Harry cleared his throat a little, he'd wanted to get him alone and away from the castle before talking about what he knew, "I heard you've got some interesting news."

Draco took a sip from his drink as he stared at Harry for a moment before answering, "Granger told me this morning that she'd told you."

"A few weeks ago," he nodded, "I've been wanting to sit and chat but it's been a busy month back."

"Well you've got me here now."

"So what are your intentions?" He asked in a serious tone.

"Very forward question," Draco couldn't help but chuckle a little, "My intentions are to make her happy and show her how a relationship should be; care for her, share experiences with her, all of it."

"For now? For a while? Is this just a physical thing?"

Draco laughed harder this time, "Just digging into it, aren't you, Potter?"

"Someone's got to," he said with the hint of a grin on his face.

"Alright, well…" he tried to find the words to explain how he felt about their situation, "I hope that things progress in the way a relationship should progress. I won't deny the physical part is very nice, but ever since we've gotten to know each other, there's always been a lot more to it than that."

"What do you like about her? About her personality, her likes, dislikes, flaws? The real stuff."

He didn't even have to think about his answer to this one, "She's smart. She's funny in a very non-traditional way; quick and strong. She's opinionated and comfortable in who she is, even if other people are going to disagree with her. She's well read and intellectual; knows too much for her own good, really, and she's... deep. She asks questions people don't usually ask and she fucking… cares. And she doesn't judge you."

It was Harry's turn now to sip his drink and stare at Draco as he considered his passionate response, "Alright, it seems like you do see the real stuff. That's important. She's a special girl."

"Incredibly."

Harry paused another second, "And you're not going to hurt her." It was a statement, not a question this time.

"I wouldn't dream of it."

"Wonderful, then you have my approval," Harry's face broke into a broad smile.

"I wasn't aware I was vying for that," Draco said cheekily as he took another drink.

"You never really were but someone's got to play big brother so I'm giving it to you anyway," Harry raised his glass to him as a note of finality on the subject, "So how are you handling keeping things quiet? I don't think I would have known you two were together if she hadn't told me."

"It's been difficult," Draco said simply, "But she says she needs time and I'm doing my best to let her have that. But she knows my feelings on the subject."

The bitter undertone didn't go unnoticed by Harry, "I know it's probably frustrating," he empathized, "I see her side in a way; Ron's going to freak when he finds out and a little distance between them will make it marginally better. And she'll always be one to want to come off as professional in front of her colleagues and students. But I fully see your side as well; it must put a lot of questions into your head about why she wants to wait. And when you're excited about something it's normal to want to scream it from the rooftop."

"Do you think it's the right call to keep it quiet?" Draco looked down into his drink, intrigued by the outside perspective.

"I think a little time was probably a good idea based on the timing. Ron can be a little… ah…"

"Irrational?" Draco cut in.

"Yeah, that's a good word. Irrational," Harry gave an uncomfortable laugh, "But I think there's a point of diminishing returns, you know. It's been a couple months now and I'm not sure what amount of time would be appropriate vs. unnecessary. I certainly lean towards thinking enough time has passed, personally. But it's probably hard to pinpoint that and I'm sure that's all she's trying to decide. I can tell you she's very happy with you, Malfoy and I'm sure she wants it out there as much as you do. If I know Hermione at all, I would guess if you've made your position clear on being ready to put it out there, it's probably heavily on her mind to make that happen."

Draco sighed, "I do hope so. But I said what I needed to say about it and I'm doing my best to let her decide now. Weasley's really going to be an ass about it, isn't he? I keep hoping she's overestimating his reaction for my own public humility."

"He's got a temper," Harry said with a crooked smile, "But he calms down once he processes and talks about things rationally after the fact."

"Well I'm not going to let him make her feel like she's done anything wrong. He didn't treat her right and she deserves someone who does."

"He's still my best mate," Harry said with a wry smile, "He didn't deal with their relationship well, though. He sees that now. They just weren't right for each other and being together brought out the worst in them both. I appreciate that you clearly want this to be something positive for her."

"I'm not sure I'll ever bring out the best in her, either," Draco said, almost surprising himself at his honesty. It was something he'd thrown around in his head but never fully grasped. She obviously brought out the best in him and made him want to be better. But did he do the same for her? He couldn't imagine he did. He couldn't see himself as anything more than a bad influence on a good person.

"I don't think that's fair of you to say," Harry frowned, "She's seemed really happy the last month, freer than she has been in a long time. She smiles and it meets her eyes like it didn't when she was fighting with Ron all the time. And ever since the Dueling Club started she's seemed really involved with the students and her job. She's a wonderful version of herself. Breaking things off with Ron helped, having time to clear her head and refocus on herself helped. But I'm guessing you play a big part in it too."

"I just don't see it the same."

"Malfoy, you've grown and changed and I think you bring a lot more to the table than you give yourself credit for," Harry said seriously, "You've made a great impression on Hermione as well as on the students. I've heard from a lot of them that they really enjoy your classes and the club. Plus, your friendship has meant a lot to me, as well. You commiserate on some of the things about my past that others don't understand, Ron included, and I'm incredibly grateful for that."

"Thanks, Potter," it felt nice to hear someone say those things, "Do you think others will be supportive?"

"If they're not at first, they will be eventually. I think once anyone takes the time to get to know you they'll be perfectly supportive. I consider you a good friend now, I hope you know that."

"Same to you," Draco nodded, "Hopefully they'll give me that chance to prove myself as well."

"How are things with your mother, by the way?" Harry asked, thinking back to their last conversation about how Narcissa had written him and seemed lonely at the manor by herself.

"She spent Christmas with the Parkinsons and I think it helped a lot, actually. They've always been friends but I don't think they realized what she's been going through since I've been gone. When my father was sent to Azkaban she was devastated but we had each other to lean on and it made it a lot easier. I think she finally opened up to them. Difficult thing for her to do; she likes to pretend everything is perfect all the time but I just don't think she can do it anymore if she wants to heal. They've been spending more time with her since then."

"Maybe you should invite her to Hogsmeade one weekend, introduce her to Hermione. Obviously I'd always be willing to come with you as well to see her. I always feel like more faces and more interaction lightens the mood a bit."

"You want to hang out with my mother, Potter?" He joked.

"In a way, she saved my life," Harry shrugged, "If she needs some company right now, I'd be more than willing to spend some time helping you distract her."

"And in a more literal way, you also saved mine," Draco sighed.

"Yeah, you're still paying for that, aren't you, Malfoy," Harry grinned at him.

"At least I get some drinks out of it."

"Have you told her about Hermione yet?"

"Not fully," Draco nodded slowly, "I told her I'm dating someone and she was thrilled. She asked for details and I told her I didn't want to jinx anything and that I'd like them to meet eventually, after a little time. You know, make sure Granger doesn't run away first."

"What do you think she'll say when you blindside her with Hermione?"

"I think deep down she'll be proud. After the war she kept talking about how she wanted to show the Malfoys were progressive and not stuck in the old ways preaching about bloodlines. But I know it will be a shock. We were all there when… well… you remember. At the Manor."

Harry nodded, "Do you still think about it often?"

"It keeps me up at night all the time, Potter," he downed the rest of his drink and set the glass aside, "Especially now that I see the scars from it on a normal basis."

"I'm sure she's told you she doesn't blame you," Harry said, "She's told me that."

"Of course she has," he couldn't look him in the eye right now. Harry was easy to talk to, but it didn't take away the guilt he still felt, "But just because she doesn't blame me doesn't mean that I can't still blame myself. I just sat there…"

"And you would have been killed if you didn't," Harry reasoned.

"I should have taken that chance."

"You wouldn't be here for her now if you had."

"Maybe I was never supposed to be here with her. Maybe she'd have figured out Weasley wasn't for her and moved on with someone better than the likes of a Malfoy," it never took long to get to this dark place when he started thinking about that night at the Manor; about his time as a Death Eater.

"I won't even give that idea a fraction of my time," Harry shook his head, "You've made mistakes. You answered for those mistakes to the Wizengamot. You lied to Bellatrix to save the three of us that night and you didn't want to leave our side during the battle. You can't keep letting the mistakes you made in the beginning outweigh the choices you made in the end. The ones that mattered."

Draco leaned back in his chair and let out a deep breath, "You make it hard to brood, Potter."

"Good," Harry gave him a smug smile and flagged down the bartender for another round.

O-o-o-o-o-o-o

"In honor of Valentine's day this weekend, we'll be practicing the Jelly-legs jinx," Draco said to the ever-growing members of the Dueling Club on the next Tuesday evening. A scoreboard hovered above the desk at the front of the large theater room showing the monthly dueling score of Professor Malfoy - I vs. Professor Granger - II.

"Something to make you all a bit weak at the knees," Hermione quipped and the students laughed at their teamwork. You could tell the room used to be a theater from the stage at the other end. Where they set up the seven dueling stations clearly used to be the audience seating, which had been removed ages ago by the looks of it.

"It's been a while since we did this one, so everyone should do a quick review of the flashcards at your stations before you dive into it and if you've got questions, we'll be walking around."

The chatter in the room picked up again as everyone split into the group for their year. Now that they had some extra space, they were able to run the groups all at once again.

"Speaking of Valentine's Day," Draco said in a low voice as he raised his eyebrows at her suggestively.

"Are you doing something with someone special?" She asked nonchalantly.

"I was thinking I'd like to," he nodded, "Do you have an international portkey license?"

"Yes, I actually do from my trip to Spain over the summer. It's good for two years."

"Wonderful. I'm going to take you to Paris for the night on Saturday."

Her eyes widened in surprise, "Those portkeys are expensive, Draco."

"I've already bought one so it'd be a shame to waste it," his eyes shined back at her.

"Well I wouldn't want you to feel like you threw the money away," she grinned back, feeling very excited. Paris was one of her favorite cities and seeing it with Draco where they could hold hands and get away from everything for a day sounded like a dream.

"The portkey leaves at 8 in the morning," he winked at her as he pushed away from the desk and wandered off towards the first years who were getting started on their curses and protection charms as she looked after him with a coy smile.

Hermione walked over to the sixth and seventh years, where the matchups had gotten more and more competitive by the meeting. Fiona was attacking against Christian Crabbe, who egged her on as she considered him with a smirk on her face.

"Come on FiFi, give me your best shot. Don't worry, no one's going to laugh when you miss. What are you waiting f—,"

"Locomotor Wibbly!" She called and Christian wasn't fast enough to switch gears from jeering to defense to protect himself as it hit him dead on and his legs began to wobble uncontrollably.

Their classmates whooped and whistled as Christian staggered around, Fiona crossing her arms over her chest with a very pleased look on her face. Hermione did her best not to laugh before performing the counter-curse.

"I was going to do it, Professor," Fiona said earnestly, "I just thought he deserved another minute to teach him a good lesson not to be a prat."

"I think you did teach him a good one," Hermione said with a grin as Fiona and Christian crossed the room, Fiona poking him in the stomach a few times as she passed as he laughed and whispered words of warning for their next encounter back to her.

Fiona turned and winked at Marielle who was next in line and smiling back at her, proud to see her take down Christian's ego as much as anyone else. Marielle was up next against Gabriel and gave a great shot that he defended just in time.

Hermione nodded at the group, "Doing great, everyone," and wandered onto the seventh years.

As they left the room that evening after the meeting, Draco threw his arm over her and pulled her close to kiss her head, since it was now after hours and no one would be around to see.

"So are you going to tell me what we're doing in Paris?" She asked, grabbing his hand that was dangling over her shoulder.

"Absolutely not," he said incredulously, "Have you ever been to Wizarding Paris?"

"No," she said with surprise, "I didn't really think about there being a separate part of Paris for the Wizarding World. I've just been to the muggle part. The Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame and such."

"I'm not spoiling any of it for you, then, it will be magical," he smiled down at her, even more pleased with his decision now that he knew he'd be able to share a new experience with her, and she sighed.

"You're dramatic sometimes, you know."

"You wouldn't have me any other way."

"It's true," she laughed, "I don't know why, but it's true. Something about your confidence is as endearing as it is annoying."

"That's because it's genuine," he said matter-of-factly.

She leaned her head on his shoulder with an amused eye roll and they continued on their descent from the third floor to the Entrance Hall, talking casually about French food.

As they came to their split that evening, Draco looked down at her with a gleam in his eye. He knew things weren't the easiest for them right now, but every moment he spent talking, bantering, touching, this girl, the world felt more right than he'd thought was possible for his life. He felt an impulse in that moment to let three more words escape his thoughts, an impulse that seemed amplified each time they locked eyes. And a part of him wanted them to come out; wanted to let go of every inhibition he had as a Malfoy to keep his feelings locked away and guarded and utter those words. But he had to know she felt the same and with her hesitation to let their secret out to the world, the timing and the moment weren't quite right. And for that reason, he held the words inside; not stifling them, just keeping them in his own mind to feel and embrace until another time when he either found the perfect moment, or they pushed themselves out on their own.

He leaned down and kissed her soundly, squeezing her hand a little tighter before he let her go, "See you tomorrow, Granger," he said with a grin.

"See you tomorrow." The look in his eyes made butterflies jump in her stomach like a schoolgirl. It was a feeling only he could give her; A feeling of excitement and passion and adoration for the man looking back at her. A feeling she loved.

As she walked back to her room that evening, she started considering how she would tell her friends. She'd taken time to reflect on her conversation with Draco and came to the conclusion that she didn't want to wait another month. She wanted it to be sooner. So they could live in the open and he could see she was serious about him. Because she was. She just also had those lingering hesitations along with a growing feeling of guilt that she held towards both Ron and Draco. She had a complex of always trying to do things the right way, but the fact of the matter was that life just wasn't that simple. Sometimes there are multiple right or wrong ways to do something. And although giving her relationship with Ron space from the announcement of this one felt right in some regards, in another, being honest about everything felt more right. Something that had clicked after listening to Draco and realizing how it was affecting him.

She wished she'd broken things off with Ron years ago so she could have avoided the internal debate. But she hadn't, and like Draco had said, she couldn't live her life around others. Life had happened; they'd connected, the feelings had grown and she wanted to be with Draco. Wanted to experience life together. She just had to determine how she would tell them. She'd give herself time just to decide on that. A week maybe, no longer, and then she'd face her fears head on and this would all be behind them. Her mind was set and the beginning of their future together was finally on the horizon.

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