AN: Merry Christmas – or other holiday of your choice – and happy new year.

This chapter is rather unseasonal for the northern hemisphere, but then again, given the weather, we could just as well be giving garden parties now...

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Harry remembered Macbeth again when he met with Draco in the gardens of Malfoy Manor during their garden party. He was surprised to see it was a relatively small one – not as much as the one at the Shacklebolts, but still, markedly more so than the one at the Burkes, Crouches or Shafiqs. It was not a gathering he would have called small only months ago, but he knew better now.

He also knew better than to comment on this to Draco, and instead, let himself be introduced to those he didn't know, but had known would meet here, thanks to the youngest Malfoy. The Bulstrodes, Gregory Goyle, and, most importantly, Theodore Nott, who, Harry had been told, was 'really quite decent and it was a pity he hardly ever went anywhere'. But apparently, an invitation to a Malfoy garden party was simply irresistible.

Harry really couldn't tell anything about Theodore, because the boy was very quiet. It didn't take long until he was almost alone with Draco and him, however. The younger children wandered away first, then the girls got into a fierce argument about something in whispers and retreated to avoid being overheard. Gregory and Vincent stayed, but since they talked almost as little as Theodore, it didn't make much difference. That was when Harry remembered Macbeth, and decided to try the topic in this company.

"It's cool, isn't it?" Draco said immediately. "Both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, I mean. And the witches, too – very Slytherin, I always thought them. I bet they really worked for Malcolm, and it was just their way of helping him get to the throne. I can't wait to see it in the theatre!"

"The witches might have been Slytherin, but Malcolm was definitely Gryffindor!"

"Not if he employed the witches!"

"I think," Theodore spoke probably for the first time since telling Harry it was nice to meet him, "that Macbeth was stupid to let himself be influenced by the prophecy. If he had just ignored them, everything would have been fine."

"Well, it's usually like that in books, isn't it? I mean, look at Oedipus!" Draco pointed out.

"True."

"I haven't read Oedipus yet," Harry admitted sheepishly.

"Oh, you should," Theodore said immediately. "Even though I like Antigone even better."

Harry could not help feeling that this was a very different reaction from the one he got from Ron and Neville. And the boys weren't even Ravenclaws! "How many Greek tragedies have you read?" He asked.

Theodore seemed to think about it for a moment. "About ten, I think?"

"Theo is headed to Ravenclaw," Draco commented snidely.

"I think not," the boy replied. "I definitely plan to ask for Slytherin. The fact that I can read doesn't mean it's the only thing I care about."

"What are the others, then?" Draco asked, grinning.

"Oh, leave him be," Harry muttered. "How many did you read?"

"A few. Certainly not ten! But let's go back to Shakespeare. Have you read anything else but Macbeth?"

Harry, who strongly suspected Draco never read any other Greek tragedy than Oedipus and was too embarrassed to admit it, let him get away with the change of topic and answered: "Only Much Ado About Nothing, but I didn't like that so much. And I'm starting Hamlet now."

"Much Ado is stupid," Theo said immediately. "Read Midsummer Night's Dream, that's much better."

"The Dream is great," Draco agreed, "but how do you like Hamlet? I thought it was a bit boring – he doesn't do anything, and then when he finally does, he mucks it all up."

"Hey!" Harry objected. "Don't spoil the ending for me!"

"He doesn't know what he's talking about anyway," Theo said. "Hamlet is great. It's my favorite Shakespeare."

"And how many of those have you read?" Harry asked, fearing the answer a little.

"Not that many, about ten as well. But I'm on it."

"Are you reading one now?" Harry wasn't too sure what other Shakesperean plays there were, beyond those they had already mentioned.

"No," Theo replied, "but I did Richard the Third yesterday."

Harry blinked. "What do you mean, did – you read the whole play in one day?"

"Well, yeah. They're really short."

Harry and Draco exchanged a look. "Let's talk about something else," Draco muttered, "or we'll really turn into Ravenclaws. Did you hear about Pansy and Zacharias' last argument? The one before today, I mean."

"No," Harry replied. "Do we want to?" He had learned already that such argument were usually vicious and pulled no punches, metaphorically speaking.

"Absolutely, because she got so angry that she used accidental magic on him!"

"Wow." Harry was impressed. "What did she do?"

"She silenced him," Draco replied, chuckling. "He just stood there gaping at her. And it was at her birthday party, too, so no one really chastised her too much, because he had been annoying her."

"He always does," Theo said.

"Well, to be fair, she annoys him just as much," Harry felt compelled to add.

"Yeah, but who wants to be fair? It's Smith," Draco pointed out, and they all laughed.

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It was during dinner after the party that Alduin turned to Harry and said: "You seem to have got really friendly with Draco Malfoy."

Harry smiled a little embarrassedly and shrugged. "He is certainly full of himself, I know what you meant, though he isn't as bad as Zacharias Smith, but, well, he's really, I don't know, smart? I mean, I can talk to him about things."

Alduin laughed. "Now if Mrs. Longbottom heard you, she would certainly say that that I was making a Ravenclaw out of you."

"But it's true! Him and Theodore Nott both."

"You should try talking to Daphne Greengrass, too, if I am to limit myself to your future school mates."

Harry grimaced. "Daphne, well..."

"Don't you dare saying that she is a girl, Harry," Miss Burke laughed.

"Well, she is!"

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Does that mean you cannot talk to her?"

"No, though it is a little weird. She also doesn't like Abdulaziz."

Alduin grinned. "The feud Abdulaziz has with her sister, and consequently Daphne has with him, is not your concern, Harry. They will sort it out between themselves. You don't need to have a tête-à-tête with her, do you? But I think that talking with her and Theo together with Draco could be very interesting."

Harry sat in thought for a moment, and then he asked: "Why does it matter to you?"

Miss Burke laughed again. "He got you here!" She said.

"Yes," he admitted sheepishly. Then he explained: "You see, Socrates Greengrass, son of the current head of the family, was my father's good friend. I didn't ask the Greengrasses for dinner, because I've never been too close with Socrates' first son, and his second son and the girls' father, Hesiod, was in Slytherin even though his father was a Ravenclaw, and he married a Slytherin wife, and I didn't want to send too many tongues waggling, since everyone knows the dinners I give are mainly to introduce you to people. But we are on good terms, nonetheless, and he complained to me that Daphne doesn't really have many good friends in her age group. I mean, you have met a good portion of the girls already, haven't you? Who do you think she should talk to?"

Harry had to concede it was true. The idea of Daphne spending too much time with Hannah or Millicent was absurd, and Pansy could be really unpleasant when she wanted. He promised to at least try.

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They went for dinner at the Burkes later in the week, and Alduin thought that at the very least, Alexandra's mother should be happy with the development. She proved herself to be very much so when she started to chat to Harry about Draco almost as soon as they came. Alduin resisted the urge to monitor the conversation, and instead turned to Mrs. Daniel Burke. The old lady was sitting in her usual armchair, blinking lazily at the family gathering.

"Have you heard from Mrs. Bagshot recently?" He asked.

"Oh yes, she wrote the most rambling letter to me just a few days ago. It is really much easier to speak to her in person – it's a pity she no longer feels equal to Flooing, and that I don't either."

"How is she, apart from that?"

"Old and ill, but who of our generation isn't? At least the weather's better now, so she feels better as well. She complained about people neglecting her."

Alduin sighed. "I really should come to visit..."

"Yes, you should," the lady said directly.

"Alexandra has been keeping up a steady flow of conversation over letters, I believe. They found a number of common interests."

Mrs. Daniel frowned at him. "Yes, she told me about it. Their detailed discussions about medieval Scotland are all well and good, but you aren't married yet. You cannot pretend that she takes care of the letters for your family. Besides, Bathilda is your personal friend – or was your father's, anyway. She deserves better. You spend all of your time pushing Harry Potter together with Clarissa's thrice-damned great nephew, instead of paying attention to old ladies who are your friends and might die any day."

"I'm not sure what Alexandra's mother told you," Alduin replied, finding refuge from shame in anger, "but I certainly don't spend all of my time pushing Harry together with Draco. He spends most of his time with Neville Longbottom, and Ronald Weasley as well."

Mrs. Daniel's lip curled. "Not much better, is it? Exchanging Death Eaters for idiots..."

Alduin privately though that for all her scorn, Mrs. Daniel had some things in common with Mrs. Longbottom.

"Don't think I'm stupid just because I'm old," the lady continued. "I've heard rumours about the youngest Longbottom, and everyone knows about the Weasleys. You should pick better company for the Boy Who Lived."

"Well, there are no Ravenclaws his age," Alduin pointed out. "And I have introduced him to Abduaziz Shafiq and Edmund Burke."

"Hmpf. Better than nothing, I suppose. If all of my children and grandchildren and so on didn't insist of reproducing so late, Daniel and Placidia could have been old enough to be friends with him."

Alduin had no idea what to answer to that, and was saved by Mr. Burke coming to fuss over his mother. Mrs. Daniel was formidable, but should only be taken in small doses.