Chapter 28
It had gotten to Friday night, and there was a party atmosphere in the common room. The O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. students were looking to let off some steam after the intense two weeks that they had just experienced.
It was noisy and chaotic, the other years more than happy to join in the festivities. Bottles of Butterbeer and Firewhiskey were passed around, and Draco was tempted to partake of the latter, but knew he would regret it the next day.
He and Hermione had agreed to stay in their respective common rooms this evening; Hermione because she wanted to unwind with her house mates, him because he couldn't think of a good enough reason not to.
He was unsurprised when he was joined in the corner of the common room by Theo, who like himself was not quite part of the celebrating crowd.
"It's over!" cried Theo as he slung himself down into the lumpy chair next to Draco. He had obviously had a fair amount of firewhiskey already as his voice was a little louder than usual, and Draco wondered if he would become morose or aggressive as the evening went on.
"Yep, we are done." Replied Draco. "Two more weeks, and school is over for good."
"Have you decided what you're gonna do?" Theo slurred.
Draco hadn't told Theo about his plan to move in with Potter yet, and certainly didn't think that it would be a good idea whilst he was drunk and likely to become belligerent.
"Not yet," Draco lied. "Although I think that Granger's going to help me out." This was close enough to the truth so that when it became common knowledge that he was going to live with Potter (which it no doubt would as rumours spread like wildfire at Hogwarts) he could shrug it off as Hermione's solution.
"With finding a house in the muggle world, or are you going to stay with her family?" asked Theo, suddenly seeming much more sober.
"I don't know yet," hedged Draco, wanting to end the conversation. "Have you thought of anything yet?"
"No. I'm going to write to my aunt to see if she will allow me to stay with her until we get the results of our NEWT's. I figure that if I tell her all the jobs I am applying for she might take pity on me, or at least realise that I'm trying to better myself and let me stay a little longer."
Could it be that Theo was dropping the attitude and realising that he needed to try and move forward? Draco hoped so.
"I think that's a really good idea." He said. "Also, Granger mentioned that it may be worth speaking to McGonagall as the school may have some resources to help students who have nowhere to go after school like the fund for orphans or something."
"I hadn't thought of that." Said Theo grudgingly. "It couldn't hurt I guess."
Draco just hoped that Theo would remember this conversation in the morning, although he seemed much more sober now than he had a few minutes ago. Any further conversation about Theo's situation was interrupted by a very drunk Simeon Vaisey plonking himself down on a seat nearby.
Draco tensed, waiting for Vaisey to spew his usual vitriol, but instead he surprised him by slurring;
"Alright Malfoy?"
"Yes, not bad." Draco replied warily, exchanging a quizzical look with Theo. What did he want?
"S'come to tell you…" he tailed off, his eyes sliding out of focus for a moment before continuing. "We're having seventh year quidditch games next week… everyone can play. 'Parently all the houses are gonna do it…"
"Great." Said Draco. "That should be fun." He still wasn't sure why Vaisey was telling them this; he had not been subtle about his hatred for Draco and certainly didn't have any love for Theo either.
"You're actually a good flier, you know?" Vaisey clearly wasn't finished with the conversation, even though he wasn't getting much of a response. His ability to read social clues was plainly impaired by the alcohol level in his blood.
"Yeah, I'm not bad." said Draco, exchanging another 'What the hell?' glance with Theo.
"Should have had you on the team before…" he stated, as his eyelids began to droop. Within a couple of moments his head had dropped and he fell asleep, still upright in the chair.
Draco tried to hold in a laugh, but couldn't. What on earth had that been about? He didn't even have the chance to say that he had been on the quidditch team from his second to his sixth year, far longer than Vaisey himself!
Theo was also staring at Vaisey in bewilderment; why had he come over to speak to them when he had been keen to make their lives a misery all year? Draco wondered if leaving school was having a bigger effect on his peer group than he had expected. First Pansy and now Vaisey; was he to expect Weasley to come along and say "you're alright really…"?
Of course, that had already happened with Potter, so who knew!
"On that note," said Draco, "I think I'm ready to head off to bed." He was tired, and he was happy remove himself from the festivities before the crowd got too rowdy and/or melancholy.
"I'll come too." Said Theo, getting up to follow Draco to the dorms.
If what Vaisey was saying was true about the upcoming inter house quidditch matches then it should be a good final couple of weeks at school, a nice way to unwind before getting out into the world. Or at least, going to his grandparent's dingy house to hang out with Potty for a couple of months.
He was still not completely convinced of the wisdom of him going to live in Potter's house. It was a good solution for his little homelessness issue he'd admit, but as much as they had reached an uneasy truce they didn't really know or like each other so living together could turn out to be a disaster. He found himself chuckling at the thought that he and Potter may end up hexing each other to oblivion after spending a few days together.
"Night, Draco." Said Theo, closing his bed curtains.
"Night," replied Draco, getting into his own four poster. He lay on his back, staring up at the familiar green canopy above his head, just thinking about all the times he had done this over the years whilst feeling a full gamut of emotions.
He had lain here smug and excited before his first house quidditch match, frustrated and horny before he was dating Pansy, annoyed when Granger had gotten higher marks than him in the exams, and his most vivid recollection of all, feeling desperate and terrified throughout his sixth year as he resorted to more and more desperate measures to find a way to fulfil Voldemort's orders to murder Dumbledore.
It really was the end of an era for him, his entire life was changed, never to be the same again, and as he lay there once again, he realised that he could not regret who he had become. Of course, he regretted the damage he did, those whose lives he had endangered or been responsible for ending and the families that were destroyed. He regretted not being braver and changing to the right side sooner, but he was ten times the person now than he had been even a year ago. All in all, he was feeling both relieved and excited that school was over; it was time for a fresh start!
The party in the common room heralded the start of two idyllic weeks for the seventh years. There were no classes, although each of the heads of houses gave their students help and advice on job applications and what they planned to do next.
Draco scheduled his interview with Slughorn not expecting much. Slughorn had made it clear even when his family name did hold weight that he wasn't interested in Draco, so now that he was openly reviled he didn't expect it to be any better. Still, he went along with an open mind in the hope that Slughorn would have something useful for him.
"Enter!" answered Slughorn's sonorous voice when Draco knocked on his office door at the appointed time of 11.45 on Tuesday.
Draco entered the office, in which every surface was covered in pictures and curio's and sat down in the seat opposite his professor. Slughorn was wearing a burgundy velvet waistcoat that strained over his expansive stomach, and a disapproving expression.
"Good morning, sir." Said Draco, determined to get the meeting off to a good start.
"Morning Malfoy." He said brusquely. "What are your plans after school?"
"I'm going to apply to St Mungo's to become a healer and to Gringotts too. Although St Mungo's is what I really want." Said Draco.
Slughorn looked surprised at this answer, taking a moment to formulate his reply.
"Both admirable careers, young man. I wonder if you have thought carefully about the level of commitment it takes to become a healer, though. I think Gringott's might be a better bet…"
Draco wasn't surprised at Slughorn's response; he knew that his previous conduct did not show him in a good light for being someone who helps others. In fact, his previous personality would have been more suited to working for Gringott's, but now, it was healing for him.
"I'm certain about St Mungo's." he told Slughorn firmly.
"Alright," said the professor, his large jowls wobbling in disapproval. "I would recommend that you mention your decent performance in potions, transfiguration, charms and defence against the dark arts in your application."
Draco nodded, waiting for him to continue. Surely he was going to get a little more than just a list of grades he needed? He already knew that just by reading the leaflet!
"Any other questions?" asked Slughorn, leaning back in his chair and clasping his hands together over his vast belly.
"No. Thank you, sir." Said Draco, forcing himself to smile politely as he got up from the chair.
What a waste of both their time! Was it just him who got this type of careers advice or did all the Slytherin's have an equally pointless interview, he wondered. Thank Merlin that he had manged to redeem himself in the eyes of Professor McGonagall enough for her to give him a reference. If he had to rely on "Old Sluggy" he would never get a job!
After this latest slight against him, Draco felt in need of some company that didn't think he was unworthy scum, so he went searching for Hermione, checking their usual haunt the library before finding her in the courtyard playing wizards chess with Longbottom.
"Alright?" he asked them, settling himself next to Granger and looking at the board. He could already see that Longbottom was winning by the number of pieces left in play and he couldn't imagine that Hermione could gain the upper hand in order to win.
"Hi," said Hermione, reaching out to squeeze his thigh in welcome without breaking her focus on the game. After another couple of moves, Hermione laid down her king with a huff, Longbottom putting her in checkmate.
"Good game, Hermione." Said Longbottom, starting to set up the pieces again. "Do you want to play, Malfoy?" he asked, pleasantly surprising Draco.
"No, you're alright. You'd trounce me!" said Draco, who had never bothered to practice the game enough to get good at it. He was surprised that Longbottom was a proficient player if he was honest, as he had never considered Longbottom to be a strategist. Then again, he had never thought that Longbottom was much of a hero either, but was proven wrong there too.
"Ok," said Neville, unable to completely hide the smugness that he was better at something than Draco.
"Did you have your interview with Professor Slughorn?" asked Hermione, helping Neville set up the board again.
"Yes." Said Draco, waspishly. "Although I don't really see what the point was of it. The only advice he gave was what subjects I needed to show I have done, and questioned whether I should reconsider applying to St Mungo's."
"Oh," said Hermione, seeming disappointed for him. "Well you already know that McGonagall will write you a reference, so at least you don't have to ask him for that!"
"Are you playing in the quidditch match later?" asked Longbottom, now that he had finished putting the pieces back onto the chessboard and they had shuffled themselves back into their proper positions.
"Yes!" said Draco excitedly. Madam Hooch had organised the whole year quidditch match for that afternoon just as Vaisey had predicted, and Draco was interested to see how it worked out. He had no idea if there would even be enough people wanting to play in order to form two teams.
"What about you?" he asked in return.
"No. Not my thing," he said wryly. "I'll be watching though!"
He turned to Hermione, but she quickly said,
"Don't look at me! I might not hate flying quite so much as I thought, but I certainly don't want to do it in front of the entire year group and make a fool of myself being unable to take my hands of the damn broom to catch the quaffle!"
Draco laughed, enthused about the upcoming festivities that afternoon.
After lunch, the seventh years started filing down to the quidditch pitch in dribs and drabs either to spectate or sign up to play in the match. Draco went over to where Madam Hooch was taking names and adding them to a bowl to draw from to make teams. It looked like the teams were going to be drawn entirely at random, which could get interesting if too many egos were asked to compromise.
By the time Madam Hooch called them to order there were twelve players, so enough to make two slightly smaller teams. From Slytherin there were no surprises; Harper and Vaisey along with himself. Same with Gryffindor; Potter, Weasley, Finnegan and Thomas. Hufflepuff; Ernie Macmillan, Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott. Ravenclaw; Michael Corner and Terry Boot.
"Right!" said Madam Hooch, clapping her hands together. "Two teams, with only one beater each!" she tapped the bowl and it spewed out two lists of names.
"Team 1 is Macmillan, Abbott, Malfoy, Potter, Corner and Boot! Go and grab a broom and work out what positions you are going to play!" she called stridently, and the students quickly found their new teammates.
"Right!" said Macmillan, with his usual pompous air. No doubt he had already voted himself captain, thought Draco snidely.
"So we need to decide what positions we are all playing! I think you will all second my notion to vote Harry as our seeker." He gave a sanctimonious little nod towards Potter and Draco barely refrained from rolling his eyes. Time for someone else to take the reins on sorting out positions or they'd be here all day being polite to one another!
"Ok," he interrupted. "So Potter as Seeker. Do you want Keeper, Corner?" Michael Corner was the Keeper for Ravenclaw, so it seemed a logical appointment.
"Yep." He confirmed happily. "Terry is a good Beater too…" He added, nudging his fellow Ravenclaw.
"So that leaves the rest of us as Chasers." He summarised. "Everyone happy with that?"
He looked around at the other players for agreement, most nodding or shrugging their acquiescence. All except MacMillan who was obviously most put out at Malfoy wresting control of the team from him.
"We should have a vote to make sure…" he started to say, but was interrupted by the other team cheering and charging towards the pitch with their brooms.
"Come on," yelled Abbott, racing over to the broom shed to get the best broom she could.
They all followed behind her, Potter grabbing his Firebolt, whilst the others pilfered the Slytherin house team's Nimbus 2001's. Malfoy hadn't played Chaser in a proper match before, but had practiced the position a few times in the past. He was quite excited to give it a go!
His team and the other team faced off against each other, waiting for Madam Hooch's whistle. At the shrill blast, the teams kicked off, and they were in the air. The Quaffle was tossed up, and the Bludgers and Snitch were released.
The game started off feeling a little clunky, a lot of the players in different positions to what they were used to and working with different people. It took Draco a few minutes to get to grips with watching the Quaffle instead of scanning for the Snitch.
It was good fun though, and he found that Abbott was fast, and could throw and catch the Quaffle well whilst on the move. MacMillan was less so, but still was trying hard to stay with him and Abbott at they marked the other teams Chasers.
The first goal was scored against them by Thomas, who had been a pretty good chaser for Gryffindor in sixth year, so hardly surprising really. Still, Draco really wanted to win so it was time for his team to get their heads in the game!
He saw an opportunity to face off against Susan Bones and managed to ruin her catch so he could steal the Quaffle, then quickly passed it to Abbott. She started to streak down the pitch, leaving MacMillan for dust and Malfoy tailing her.
He saw Harper smash a Bludger towards her, but she stayed on her course and it missed by inches. Why on earth had she not been on the Hufflepuff house team, wondered Draco. He watched her take a shot at the goal hoops with bated breath, punching the air when it sailed past Weasley's outstretched hands.
The teams were now on one goal each, and as far as he could tell there had been no sign of the snitch yet, but he had to hope that Potty would live up to his reputation.
The match carried on, both teams fairly well matched. In the end however, Potty and his superior broom triumphed, catching the snitch after 55 minutes of play.
Malfoy and the rest of his assorted team players got back to the ground, whooping and cheering, all house rivalries forgotten. As Draco was getting slapped on the back and congratulating the others he realised what a great idea these matches were to get them out of the separate houses mind-set, readying them for going out into the world of work. Did this happen every year and he just didn't know about it or were the inter-house matches something new?
Looking round at the rest of the year, both on the pitch and up in the stands, Draco was very aware that this was it; school was finished.