Chapter 14

Draco woke up on Saturday morning, thinking about what he would be doing later that day. 3:00 - Andromeda. 4:30 - Astoria. Okay - I have it set.

He walked downstairs to get his breakfast. "Did you sleep well?" Lucius asked.

"Better than the other night," Draco said, really feeling much better than he had yesterday morning.

"That's good to hear," Narcissa said, as Draco grabbed a handful of blueberries.

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Malfoy the peacock still glared steadily at him, but Gardenia actually ate the food which Draco held out to her. Draco slowly reached his hand out and touched her, but the second he placed his hand on her feathers, she jumped back, startled. Still have some progress to make, I guess…. He put the rest of the food on the ground, and she started eating it. Malfoy screamed at him.

"I'm not doing anything!" Draco said. He turned around and handed Cloud a carrot, then he pet him. "Your son likes me." Snowdrop came over to them, and Draco also gave her a carrot and started petting her, too. Soon, all the younger peafowl had joined and were now eating carrots and letting Draco pet them. Gardenia came back over, and Draco held out his hand with carrots, which she took. He didn't reach out his hand to pet her again, though, because he didn't want to startle her again. He just needed to be patient with her. Of course, Malfoy was the one he needed to have the most patience with - he was still standing off to the side, glaring at him.

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Draco was about to start heading to the Leaky Cauldron for his meeting with Andromeda, when Narcissa spoke from behind him, "Where are you going?"

He jumped at the sudden voice, "Uh-" he could at least be honest about one thing. "I'm… going on - a date - with that girl I met at the Leaky Cauldron."

"Oh, how wonderful," Narcissa's eyes lit up. "You two have fun, then!"

Draco waved goodbye and walked out the door. First, I have to talk with Andromeda.

Stepping into the Leaky Cauldron, unease prickled inside him. It was the same feeling he always got when he walked inside a building. People would always just stare and glare at him. Andromeda will be here soon. He sat down at a table and stared out the window so that he could watch for her - and would have to look at anyone else.

When he saw Andromeda apparate, he looked toward the door, waiting for her to come in. When she opened the door, he waved at her to come over to him.

"I'm going to get some butterbeer," Andromeda said. "Would you like anything? I'll go ahead and order it for you, if you'd like."

"Um, sure, I'll just have some tea."

With their drinks now on the table, Andromeda sat across from Draco. "So, how have you been?"

Draco pulled his tea closer to him, "Um - decent, I guess." He began sipping his tea, which was helping him stay calm.

"Do you have any plans for the future? Even smaller ones are okay - I'm not pushing anything."

Draco set his tea down, "Well-" he said. "I'm - going on a date at 4:30 today, so I'm going to have to make sure I get there in time when I leave here - it's in Hogsmeade," he added.

"I can apparate you there, if you want," Andromeda offered.

"That would be great, thanks."

"Best wishes to both of you, by the way. What's her name?"

"Astoria," Draco said.

"Hmmm, can't say I've heard that name. Do you, by any chance, know her surname?"

"Um - I'm not sure, but she did seem kind of familiar. She said she was in Slytherin. I just can't seem to remember her. She's two years below me."

Andromeda nodded, "You better keep me updated!"

Draco smiled awkwardly, "Of course." He noticed Andromeda egan to look solemn, and he figured he knew why. He wanted to say something, but he didn't know what she needed to hear. "Sorry," he blurted out.

She looked up at him, a little shocked. "For?"

"What happened…. It must be so hard for you."

"Yeah…. I'm going to be looking after my grandson today, since-" she swallowed. "Both of his parents…."

"What's his name?" Draco felt like it was a good idea to change the topic.

"Teddy - at least that's what we call him. Teddy Lupin," Andromeda said, getting ahold of herself once more. "Maybe you can meet him sometime. You're family, too."

"Yeah, maybe. That would be cool."

After they had been talking for about an hour, Andromeda asked him if he wanted to get going. "Do you still want me to apparate you to Hogsmeade?"

"Yes, thanks."

They apparated to Hogsmeade, and Andromeda said goodbye. "Have a good time," she said before disapparating.

I have to find Madam Puddifoot's. Draco walked through the village. A few other people were out, and they were staring at him. Draco just tried to ignore them, suppressing the unease creeping along his spine. He took a turn onto High Street, and he eventually came upon Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop. He stepped inside and saw that only a couple of people were there, who, thankfully, weren't paying attention to him.

"Hello sir," said the woman behind the counter, Madam Puddifoot, Draco guessed. "Can I help you?"

"Er - I'm waiting for someone," Draco said, taking a seat at a table, and nervously fingering through his hair.

He heard the door open and looked up to see Astoria, her brown eyes meeting his gaze. He stood up to greet her.

"Do you want to get a drink?" she spoke first.

"Oh - sure," Draco said, and they walked over to the counter.

"I'll have some coffee with sugar and cream," Astoria said happily.

"Er - I'll have that, too," Draco said, and Astoria giggled.

They stood silently, waiting for their coffee, and when they got their drinks, they sat at a table.

"So how have you been these past years after graduating Hogwarts?" Astoria asked.

"Um - okay, I guess?" Draco said, not really wanting to tell the whole truth. "There's been - a lot going on…" he sipped his coffee. He hadn't ever tried a drink exactly like this before, but he really liked it.

"I can understand," she laughed a little - Draco really liked her laugh - "What types of things do you enjoy doing? I really like gardening. I love flowers and watching butterflies!"

"My family actually keeps peacocks, so I like watching them," Draco said.

"Oh, that's cool. Peacocks are beautiful! Though some can be a bit-"

"Aggressive," Draco finished her sentence, thinking of his peacock, Malfoy.

Astoria laughed again, "Yes."

Draco remembered he needed to ask her surname, "What family are you from?"

"I'm a Greengrass, why?"

"I was just wondering. You know my family, don't you?" She nodded, smiling. "Your sister is Daphne, right? I do remember her." Draco decided to move on from the subject of his family. He was happy that she didn't seem to care about his family history.

"Yes, Daphne is my sister," Astoria said. "You don't still care about blood status, do you?" she questioned.

Draco winced at her sudden question. He knew that she probably only wanted to know because he had asked about her family. He shook his head, "I haven't thought about that stuff much since…" he didn't want to complete his sentence, and Astoria seemed to understand, as she was nodding her head.

Draco really enjoyed talking to Astoria. She was sweet, funny, and didn't bring up anything about the war. But, he was still really nervous, and the coffee wasn't helping. "Er - I have to use the bathroom."

When he got back, he talked to Astoria for a while longer, before they decided they needed to be going home.

"I - had a really nice time…" Draco said.

"Me too," Astoria said cheerfully. "We should go out again sometime, after I graduate."

"Yeah, of course," Draco said, feeling very happy.

He went home with a smile on his face. Narcissa noticed and started smiling, too. "I take it your date went well, then?"

"Yeah," was all Draco said. "Are you - making dinner?"

Narcissa laughed, "I'm making your father's favorite soup!"