by: HiBob
Disclaimer: I own nothing, I even rent my computer.
Warning: Final Chapter
Chapter 9: All Good Things
He awoke to the smell of food. "I do hope you are hungry," said a familiar voice. Del opened his eyes on a grinning Madam Pomfrey, who was holding a tray. "Yes, please," he said softly, and raised himself to a sitting position. Madam Pomfrey placed the breakfast tray in front of him, and ordered him to eat. He did eat, but slowly, his hands shaking slightly. As he ate, the doctor told him that his shaking was a nervous reaction to what he had been through, and shouldn't last long. "You are fine, now. What you need most is to regain some trust in yourself. And don't be embarrassed about anything that happened. You handled yourself better than most adults in the same situation." The last part was not true, but a little lie helps when you need to build confidence. By the smile that appeared on Del's face, it worked.
When Del finished breakfast, the tray vanished, and Madam Pomfrey leaned over and removed a letter that had been pinned to the shoulder of Del's pajamas. She explained that it was in case he returned during the night. This way her counterpart would know why he suddenly appeared in the infirmary. "Are you in the mood for visitors," she asked, "I told Albus it would help you to talk to people, and he gave me the authority to call for any student. If there is anyone in particular, I will make them very happy by getting them out of class." Del told her he would like to talk to Draco, and he should also talk to Hermione and Ron after all they had tried to do for him. Then he added Hagrid to the list. When Madam Pomfrey asked who he would like to talk to first, he asked for Neville.
Neville felt strange walking into the infirmary. He had been the center of attention all night and day, as the story of how he saved the school made its round. Students who had never bothered to talk to him, greeted him. Others pointed at him when he walked by. One girl even ran up and kissed him. When he was called out of class, everyone started whispering his name. Hr heard one student say he was probably going to get an award.
He walked in on Del as the boy was putting on a pair of slippers. "Hello," he said awkwardly. Del looked up. He started to smile but it turned into a frown, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you in class like that." Neville forced a smile, "It was worth it, really. Snape stopped me on my way to breakfast and said 'Good Morning.' Everyone stopped and stared at us. It was great," he concluded without much enthusiasm. Neither boy said anything for a while. Then Del turned to Madam Pomfrey and asked if they could be alone, at which she nodded and left.
"Neville was my best friend," Del said suddenly, embarrassed at having to talk about somebody when he was talking to them. Neville took it in stride, after all, it had been happening all morning. "The two of you are the same, Neville," said Del, searched for the words to explain himself. "Most of the people I've met are different from the ones I knew. Because different things happened to them, they became different people. You haven't. I saw that yesterday when you made the potion properly. You had that same look that...." Del stopped as the memory of his friend brought fresh tears to his eyes. Neville pulled out a handkerchief and handed it to Del saying, "My Gran always." "Makes me carry one," said Del with a surprised laugh, "I know, you told me before." Wiping his eyes, Del became serious. "Neville, when I told them the story of how, 'he', died, I didn't tell them everything. He said one more thing to me." At this Del stood up and leaned over to whisper into the other boy's ear. "DARE to be Great," he said, as he slipped something into the pocket of Neville's robes. Del would already be gone when Neville had a chance to be alone to check what was in his pocket. It was an invisibility cloak.
Draco came by briefly, said hello, made some small talk and left, saying they would talk later. The fact that Ron and Hermione walked in at that point explained his attitude. Vincent Crabbe stayed behind, he had to ask why Del reacted to playing Tag. "It was father who is to blame for that," Del explained as Madam Pomfrey joined the three students standing around him. "Father always likes a show. When I first came to Malfoy Manor, he told me he would do something about my leg. I had a bad accident when I was six. I had broken my leg in seven places. It never healed properly, and I always walked with a limp. Father had the Doctors to examine me, and arranged for the final corrective spell to be cast just before I entered the dining hall for my surprise birthday party. I was told that he wanted me to meet some of his business associates. I walked in the room to a round of applause and was led to a cake with nine candles and my name. Then someone asked me if I would like to be adopted. He then passed a wand over the cake and the name Dursley changed to Malfoy. I was stunned and didn't know what to do. My leg was cured, I had a party just for me, and I was given a family as my present. That was when you (looking at Vincent) came up and hit me in the back and shouted 'Tag.' I turned around and ran after you before I knew I was running." Del smiled as he remembered that day. "We played for hours, it seemed. I felt like I could have run all day."
Vincent thanked him. When he left to join Malfoy and Goyle for lunch, Madam Pomfrey told Del he could dress and join them if he wished. 'We'll walk you down to the Great Hall, if you want," Hermione offered. "I would like that, thank you," Del replied. "Are we friends?," asked Ron, noting the change in attitude. Del smiled at Ron saying, "where I come from we don't usually have friends in other houses, we have what we call Truce." "So, we won't be friends then," Ron said. Del laughed, "Do you really want to be friends with someone from (mockingly) Slytherin?" Ron returned the laugh saying, "Truce, it is," and the two shook hands.
Del turned around to get his robes to get dressed when he heard Hermione suddenly yell his name. He turned back, but she and Ron weren't there. Turning his head, he saw Draco smiling at him, with father standing behind him. He was home.
FINIS
A/N I want to thank every one who has read this, especially those who reviewed it.
It was a lot of fun writing it, and I do appreciate all of the comments, even bad ones.
P.S. Quite a few people like to put quotes at the beginning of the story. Here's one for the
ending
"Think where man's glory most begins and ends,
And say my glory was I had such friends." -W.B. Yeats