Stepping out of the fireplace, Draco looked around at the vast hall. The other fireplaces that lined the wall seemed empty for now, but, with soot on the ground and a warmth lingering, it was clear they were just recently used. A wizard in uniform gestured him towards the stairs and as he walked toward them he heard several more cracks signaling the arrival of more people. He didn't bother turning to see.
Draco reached the top and paused, taking a deep breath. He had decided not to travel with Theo, Blaise or Pansy, who had most certainly asked him to accompany her as her date, weirdly enough.
He had wanted to take the time to really not think about what was going to happen. He'd done that for what felt like weeks upon hearing about the stupid law. He knew if he'd gotten ready and traveled with his friends they'd certainly have the law as their one and only topic of discussion all day. And he just couldn't take that.
But his plan hadn't worked. He'd spent hours trying to distract himself only to come back again and again to thoughts about the night's events. It reminded him horribly of a death eater plan from back in the war days... Now, at the top of the stairs, it felt like his shoulders held weights. And it would seem he wasn't the only one.
He stepped into the ballroom and saw it was filled with witches and wizards mingling around, some talking, some having drinks; all of them tense. He walked slowly, trying to keep anyone from noticing him. A Ravenclaw from his year that he vaguely remembered from Charms class stared at him over his drink, eyebrows raised. The Hufflepuff girl beside him quickly pretended like she wasn't staring.
Draco walked up towards the bar, but, seeing that the line was quickly growing, he made a detour and beelined behind the tender. He leaned over and saw the bottles of fire whiskey on the floor.
With a subtle wave of his hand one of the bottles flew up, poured him a glass, and then returned to the ground. With another wave the glass was in his hand. Draco put a galleon on the counter as a thanks, wondering why at a gala such as this they didn't come prepared with enough bartenders to handle the volume.
He walked over to one of the sets of French doors. The icy patio and lake outside made him wonder just where they were. The Ministry always picked secluded but beautiful old castles and manses to hold their ceremonies. They were always in some random place along the countryside, but, compared to here, it had been pleasant in London lately. People had been eating outside at the bar only days ago.
It was then he remembered who he and Theo had seen days ago and he scanned the room for Granger and her red haired friend. They must be a mess, he thought. He scanned the room and, instead of finding the ladies, Theo caught his attention, looking irritated.
He was standing in a corner by a fireplace, drink in his hand and Pansy chatting his ear off. Millicent Bulstrode and Gregory Goyle stood nearby, looking as annoyed as could be. Goyle's huge frame looked suffocating in his dress robes and he appeared like he wanted to punch a lot of people in the room.
Draco hoped Goyle wouldn't and also wondered what would happen if fighting really did break out. Did the Ministry plan ahead at all for that? Draco glanced around, trying to see if any aurors were hanging in the shadows, but he didn't see anyone. Pansy finally saw him and called his name. Reluctantly, he headed over, if only for Theo's sake.
"Draco there you are, can you believe this? Look at all these fucking people," she sneered with gritted teeth. She was scanning the crowd with distaste twisting her features, "all waiting for the same fucked up fate. We look like herded cattle ready to go to our death at the slaughterhouse."
"You could say that again," Draco said as he approached. He braced himself for the conversation ahead, wondering what sort of mood she would be in tonight. You never knew what you'd get from her and he figured that, in light of the circumstances, she'd be spiteful.
She had at least gotten over her school-age obsession with him and they had found solace in friendship during the dark times of the war. But that was not to say she didn't irritate Theo, Blaise, and Draco from time to time, what with her constant input on every little thing they did. She also had a bad habit of letting her sarcasm run on the verge of insult.
"Ugh, the last thing I need is to get paired with that red headed weirdo," she said then. Draco and Theo followed her gaze over to Ron Weasley, who was talking to Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood. Ron was dressed in expensive looking dress robes in his team's colors and he looked especially irritated. His arms crossed over his chest. Harry Potter and Hermione Granger were nowhere to be seen.
"Oh Pansy, that wouldn't be too bad. Box seats to every quidditch game, that's right up your alley," Theo reminded her, rolling his eyes behind her back.
Draco chuckled. "He's made quite the name for himself don't forget."
"That's the perk I'd get? Hanging around sweaty guys all day? Count me out. I put up with quidditch for your sake, Draco, and that's it."
"You'd get to travel, I know you'd love that," Draco said, remembering what Granger had said about not enjoying that luxury of dating the youngest Weasley. He figured he'd leave out the part about not getting to see the sites or anything.
"I thought you heard the travel wasn't all that fun," Theo said under his breath with a smirk. Draco elbowed him in the ribs.
Pansy turned back to the boys. Upon seeing Theo trying to stifle his laughter, she eyed them suspiciously.
"Oh relax Pans," Draco replied, seeing her sneer. "With all this bullshit going on in the Wizengamot I'm sure you could use your best snooping skills to find who's behind it all and pay them to pair you with someone better."
While he was completely joking, Pansy seemed to contemplate this as a viable option. "You know Draco, sometimes you have such good ideas," she smiled.
"Mrs. Pansy Malfoy has a lovely ring to it, doesn't it? We'd make one of the best pairs out there, even if you didn't care enough to be a good husband," she said laughing.
Draco blinked, wanting to vomit. Theo couldn't hold back his laughter. "I would rather spend life married to some daft woman like Romilda Vane or a Hufflepuff like Ernie Macmillan than be paired with you," Draco said with bite in his words. Pansy stuck out her tongue, looking childish.
"Watch it Draco," she said. "With comments like that I wouldn't have guessed you'd steal away potential partners from Theo here," she gave a wicked smirk.
Theo rolled his eyes. "Please leave me and my sexuality out of this. Thank you." Theo exchanged glances with Draco; they had agreed not to tell Pansy anything about Theo working on the Goblet or his little tweaks to include same-sex couples. It was not information she would do well with anyway.
"Fine," Pansy said. "But it's not like this shit isn't rigged. You said it yourself the Wizengamot's falling to shit Draco, and they want mixed bloodlines."
"Now Pansy, don't sound so insensitive. Your pureblood pride is showing," Theo tsked.
"I don't want to be paired with some of the muggles because they're annoying and dumb, not because they're muggles. But of course all us bad purebloods will be paired off, one by one, to good little muggleborns just to make sure that blood is mixed around."
She tilted her head, annoyed. "I'll end up with some idiot like Michael Corner who can't see his way out of a cauldron. Millie over there will probably have unfortunate luck and be paired with Zacharias Smith. Obsessed with blast-ended skrewts that one."
"You know Potter is half-blood. Maybe the Wizengamot will really shake things up and you'll be paired with the Chosen One," Theo laughed. Draco smiled over the glass he was bringing to his lips.
"Oh yeah? And which one of the Slytherin men is lucky enough to be paired with the queen of the Golden Trio, miss know-it-all Hermione Granger herself?" Pansy slated, looking smug. "Now who's laughing?"
Draco decided not to think too much on the words Pansy just said. She had never liked Hermione Granger, probably because she had always been jealous. School never came easy to Pansy and her parents were less than thrilled every time they received her average marks.
"Actually, Granger might be an easy pull, you'd never have to see her. She'd hide away with her books and law work!" Pansy was practically cackling.
Draco was getting tired of hearing her talk. "Pansy shut it. Have you made an effort to grow up at all in the last eight years since the war ended? This isn't school yard chatter anymore, this is our lives."
Pansy's eyes grew wide. He knew the comment would hurt her; she struggled more than most to show she had changed. Her sarcastic bitchiness hadn't just been part of being a Slytherin; that had been part of her personality all along and it made it hard for even her friends to put up with her sometimes. But tonight she wouldn't relent.
"Getting a soft spot for Granger, aye? Maybe you would make a good match for her after all. You always did look jealous of Viktor."
Draco felt even more tense than when he walked into the place. His voice grew colder, "well if this thing is rigged like you say, then I won't be paired with Granger in a million years. The Wizengamot would be too scared I'd torture her despite my efforts at rebuilding a respectable life."
"Merlin this whole thing is creating more conflict than unity," Theo said between his friends arguing.
"Maybe that's exactly the intention," Draco stated. He had been thinking about this the past few weeks and knew it was the right time to voice his concerns, "it's not like Shaklebolt to be so irresponsible."
Pansy sighed, putting their differences aside. "Alright, alright. You have a point. You're not the only one still trying to make amends from the war and this whole thing reeks of ex-death eater," she said seriously. "It's like someone wants to see chaos break out again."
Theo considered this, knowing he had already spoken with a very suspicious Granger earlier in the night. With her thoughts about all the witches and wizards they'd worked with on the Goblet, things really weren't adding up.
And then he remembered reading the Daily Prophet this morning and seeing another muggleborn disappearance. It had only got a small mention on the second page. "I've been suspicious for longer than I care to admit, but what death eaters would want to mix bloodlines? That was never really on their agenda," Theo was skeptical.
"Not like this at least," Draco eyed Theo with a knowing look. Something from their past was playing on his mind and he knew Theo was thinking it too. Having been a part of the death eaters for so long, it was easy to see how this twisted law looked all too familiar.
Theo sighed, "I do hope you're wrong Draco. The last thing we need is another… whatever this is."
Draco nodded, bringing a creeping silence to them all. Draco looked around, pretending not to let it bother him. But how could he forget the thoughts of old death eater plans and stupid ancient laws taunting his mind all week? He downed the rest of his glass and smoothed his features into an emotionless void.
"Okay can we calm down?" Pansy said quickly, changing the subject. "We have bigger things to tackle tonight. Seriously, who will we be paired with? Aren't you guys the least bit worried our future spouses aren't going to be friends and then it will be that much harder for us to see each other?"
Theo shrugged. "Well, this Goblet thing is going to pair us with people we can tolerate, at least that's supposed to be the point of it. Hopefully, they'll at least remember each other from Hogwarts, maybe had some classes together…" when Pansy started frowning, Theo changed his approach, "we'll find time to see each other Pansy, I promise."
"Yeah Pansy, you don't have to worry. You'll be paired with Fluffy, that three-headed dog. I always wanted a pet and the hound could use a nice bitch," Draco said with a laugh.
Pansy swatted at his arm. "You asshole. You are going to eat your words and then some. Just you wait until that Goblet is ready to spit out your name, Draco Malfoy, and you'll be pissing your trousers!" With that she downed the wine in her glass and took off for the bar without saying anything more.
Draco and Theo watched her leave, feeling rather relieved. Pansy could always see under Draco's façade and Draco didn't like that. He shook his head to try and clear it all away. He needed to keep a level head.
But it didn't work, so he downed the rest of his glass and excused himself from Theo. He needed some space, some fresh air to really get his mind off of things, but it was much too cold on the patio for that. Instead, he headed to the bathroom, hoping some water to the face would at least relieve the anxiety filling his mind.
…
After Harry had made sure there was no one else in the bathroom, he finally broke. He leaned over the sink, his hands shaking. He was trying so hard to keep it together, for all his friends and for the love of his life, but it was starting to really break him.
He had seen Ginny being taken away from him twice in his life. Second year, before he really knew how much she'd mean to him, he watched as Voldemort's sixteen year old self had drained her life to supply his own. And then again, during the war, when he spent nights in anguish in the tent with Hermione and Ron, hoping beyond hope he wouldn't hear her name on the radio in the list of the dead.
It had been torture being away from her then, not knowing where she was or if she was still living, still fighting. And then, when he did get to see her again at Hogwarts, it had felt surreal, everything hanging by a string. Yet at least he knew she was alive. Until he realized he had to die. The hardest part of giving his life over to save everyone had been knowing he wasn't going to be with Ginny ever again.
But in the strange world of magic, his death had saved everyone. He got to live. He had managed to survive and save everyone, a noble feat. But now, how could he manage having her ripped away from him for a third time? And this time, marry another? He slammed a fist down on the sink, rattling the faucet. He almost didn't hear the door open.
When Harry took a breath, he looked in the mirror only to see Draco Malfoy staring at him wide eyed. They stared at each other for a minute before Draco stepped fully inside and closed the door. It didn't take long for Draco to comprehend what was going on, all the sights were there. It was obvious Harry was upset and Draco really felt for him.
"Potter," he said with such overwhelming sympathy in his voice that confusion took over the upset features of Harry's face.
"Malfoy?" Harry responded, not really sure what was going on. It had been years since they'd seen each other, Draco's trial probably being the last time. But, even then, Malfoy had been reserved, melancholic. He was different from the aggressive teenager he had been. Harry wondered what time had done for Malfoy now….
"The last time we found ourselves in a position such as this, the circumstances were much different," Malfoy said with a small smile remembering their 6th year at Hogwarts and the unfortunate encounter they shared.
Harry's smile was weak, he looked more ashamed than anything. "I never really did apologize for that," he managed, his thoughts flashing between the past and the imminent future before them. He thought of the utter stupidity of his sixteen year old self. He closed his eyes and shook his head.
"Don't apologize Potter," Draco said seriously. "We were younger, naïve and playing at a man's dangerous game. There's much more to be concerned about now that school rivalries and curses found in ratty old textbooks are behind us…" he looked away, his anxiety coming back. Why did he just say that to Potter of all people?
Draco waited, trying to gather some semblance of comfort for not only himself, but for someone he had never really considered a friend. Maybe it was because of the circumstances and all the bad thoughts, or maybe it was just because it was much too hard to keep on hating, or even it was because he didn't want anyone to see him falling apart on a bathroom sink either.
"Look, I know I'm not the person you need or want to hear this from, but I know how you must feel. The Weasley girl means more to you than I think most people can comprehend and I've seen that look before. It's a look my mother used to have for my father, as he started to drift off the deep end. And you can imagine how frequent that got as the war progressed."
Harry did not know why Draco Malfoy was choosing to tell him all this, but somehow it seemed to make a difference. He felt like he was seeing something in Malfoy he hadn't seen before: a person.
Harry watched as Malfoy put his hands in his pockets, his face a blank mask. "Don't give up on her just yet Potter. You of all people deserve to be happy."
Harry turned to face Malfoy directly, blinking at the confusing man who used to be one of his biggest rivals. "Malfoy I- thank you. Seriously." Malfoy gave a nod and a minute of silence passed between them, both unsure of what to do or say next.
"Well, can't say I was expecting anything like this from you, Malfoy. Maybe you have changed," Harry managed, hesitating on his last words. "Hermione did say… nevermind." He looked to the man in question for a sign of confirmation.
Malfoy tried not to smile at the mention of Granger talking to Potter about him. He shrugged instead. "I've grown up. Time has taken its toll on me, on all of us really. It was time I started changing with it."
Harry eyed Malfoy, the tension of the room outside feeling like it was seeping into the bathroom despite their calm conversation. "I'm hopeful this isn't some front Malfoy," Harry said with a small tone of warning in his voice.
Harry blamed it on feeling the worry of the night coming back to him then, but it didn't hurt for someone like himself to still be weary of ex-death eaters. And to let them know it.
Malfoy held up his hands. "I assure you, with the situation at hand, I have no reason to be cruel any longer," he walked to the closest sink and turned the knob, letting the cold water run. "We need to be better than the past, not be close to repeating it."
He leaned on the sink then, staring at the strained look of his eyes. He wished Potter would just leave already. They'd had enough cozy talk for one night. Maybe Draco had changed, but that didn't mean he had to become best friends with the Chosen One.
Harry's eyebrows raised, looking impressed with the calmness and maturity he was seeing. "You could say that again."
Another moment of silence passed and Harry headed for the door.
Harry opened it and looked back, "you know, you are going to surprise a lot of people tonight Malfoy, that's for sure." Draco was getting annoyed.
"Oh, don't go all sappy on me Potter, the last thing I need is you and the Golden girls hanging around me like we're all pals. I'm still a Slytherin, I'm still me."
Harry rolled his eyes but nodded his thanks once again and was finally out the door.
Draco took out his wand and waved it to lock the door. When he was alone, he splashed cold water on his face a couple times before staring back at his reflection once again. This time, he could see the anxiety pooling in his eyes. His brow was creased annoyingly. He was glad it hadn't shown to Potter.
But where the fuck had all that sappy shit come from? he thought, staring at his own mouth. He was still surprised at the conversation they'd just had. He was starting to think there was a guilty part of him that felt obligated to say it, like he wouldn't get another chance in this lifetime. It probably wasn't enough, all the shit he put Potter through.. At least it was something, he reasoned shutting off the water.
He took a few minutes to calm himself, enough so that by the time he emerged no one would be any wiser to the conversation he had or the fear he was feeling. His features revealed nothing. Besides, no one would believe that of Draco Malfoy anyway.