Ron continued, "You know, for a long time, I had been living under someone's shadow. First it had been all my brothers, who had achieved anything a student could possibly achieve in Hogwarts, Prefect, Head Boy, Quidditch Captain, a dozen of O.W.L.s, you name it... Then it was you, the Boy who lived…the youngest Quidditch player in a century, the wizard who had defeated Voldemort two times in his first two years in Hogwarts, I tried… and I truly was happy for you for the most part, but a little jealousy had always been there even though I had tried so hard not to show it. The two times I had let it got the better of me, I ended up doing something I regretted. I have been feeling rather jealous again lately and I want to be honest with myself before letting history repeats itself… even though I doubt I would let myself do anything remotely as stupid as before."

Of course Harry knew what Ron was referring to when he talked about the two times he acted out of his jealousy: their fallout after Harry had become the fourth Champion in the Triwizard Tournament and the time Ron had deserted them in the forest during their quest to destroy the Horcurxes. He had been angry at him both times at the time but in retrospect, it was extremely understandable why his friend would succumb to his jealousy that he could not truly fault him for what could only be considered as human nature. Ron had always seemed so easy-going, especially after he had quit being an Auror and gotten married with Hermione, that Harry knew to give him his full attention when he was willing to open up about his feelings.

"Even I have to admit I was being rather immature and irrational when I first got jealous this time around, when the ponytail got so involved with the investigations alongside with you guys the times Albus and Sc...his boy got missing… while I was basically completely outside the loop. Then it was at the Extraordinary General Meeting when he joined you lot on stage before I had even thought of doing so. But then it only got worse when he showed up in Godric's Hollow and there wasn't even a hint of awkwardness between you two, it almost felt like he belonged there more than I did... and both you and Hermione seemed protective of him regarding his illegal ownership of the Time Turner. You know that I have tried to show him my dislike for seeing him there and of course that didn't work well. I felt ridiculously jealous and insecure that he actually seemed to work and get along well with both Hermione and you. So, when I heard that you visited him with Albus on Christmas morning of all days, it made me think that you two seem to be legit good friends now… or are you?"

It was so rare to see Ron so insecure that Harry tried to articulate his feelings and opinions of Draco as accurately as possible. "It's my hope to become better friends with Malfoy in times but I couldn't confidently call him a real friend until this morning. The visit was initially all about the boys but he had shown a different side of him today that told me he deserves a second chance."

"Would you think of me as a terrible friend if I said I'm relieved?"

"Of course not!"

"Well, I'm relieved. You know mate, I could never be as forgiving as you or Hermione. Strangely enough, of all the bad things Malfoy had done, it was not all his insults to my family or even his almost murder of me that I don't believe I could ever get over with, it was his repeated uses of that word to Hermione."

"It makes sense, and you're right, you do have a stronger reason to continue to dislike him after all these years with the poison… and with Hermione."

"Hmm… and I could never be as noble as you are either."

"Noble?" This threw Harry a little, Ron had been right there by his side in so many of their "adventures" that to him, he was as much a hero as most people believed Harry to be.

"Yes. I would not have minded to let him die in the Fiendfyre inside the Room of Requirement at all if it's not for you."

"But you didn't… I think in a way, to risk your life to help even though you did not want to do so made you even more admirable. It doesn't make you any less of a hero for not wanting to risk you survival to save an enemy."

"Hero… I like the sound of that, I have never seen myself in that light. It's easy with you and Hermione… but not me." Ron had always appeared so confident with himself that this was somewhat a surprise to hear.

"You are featured on the Chocolate frog cards, what more of a confirmation do you want?"

Harry had expected Ron to laugh but he only managed a very weak one, before saying, "What I am trying to say is that, I don't think I can ever see myself becoming friends with Draco Malfoy, at least not at this stage.

"I would not expect you to."

"That being said… even I have to admit that he is different from the way he used to be." These words had appeared extremely difficult for Ron to let out, but they confirmed that Ron had indeed had a change of opinions about Draco, making it easier for Harry to try putting in words in Draco's favour.

"Yes... When he showed up at my office with the Time Turner, he was trying to make me search in time with him regardless of how long it would have taken. If you could see the determination and desperation in his eyes…"

"Which made him an idiot…" "Ron, that's not the point…"

"A loving and dedicated father but a complete ignorant idiot indeed." Someone else might be confused about whether this was meant to be a compliment or an insult, but knowing his friend, Harry knew it was perhaps the biggest compliment Ron would ever be able to pay Draco.

"So do you mean that you are okay about me making friends with Draco." Harry liked calling Draco by his first name, and now that Ron appeared to actually feel okay about this friendship, he no longer felt the need to revert to the uses of Draco's last name for Ron's benefits.

He let out a little snicker through his nose and said, "Mate, when do you ever need my permission to make friends with someone? And apparently, you two are already friends." He did not sound bitter but not too happy either.

"True, I don't need your permission, but I don't want this to come between us to create a rift either. I have decided to become his friend whether you like it or not, but I'm asking you how you feel about it out of respect."

Ron actually took a moment to consider, before saying with a shrug of his shoulders, "I'm okay, if that's what you like." Harry breathed out a relieved sigh, before Ron said, "On one condition though, that the ferret can never replace me as your best mate."

Harry laughed affectionately, "Now bro, I don't believe anyone could ever replace you."

"That's true, I'm one of a kind." They were laughing easily now. "I don't think you have ever called me bro before, or have you? Strange to think that technically, we are brothers."

"Brothers as well as best mates." There was something that had bothered Harry for a while that he did not dare to address until now. "By the way, Ron, I don't think it's fair for you to call Draco 'the ferret' though. He was definitely being an arse at the time but Barty Crouch Jr. had no right to turn him into a ferret at all. You would be pissed if someone call you 'slug' or something behind your back that reminded you of a humiliating incident after all these years…"

Ron looked visually deflated, "I see how it's, so you are defending him against me already…"

"That's not true, I'm saying this because this is… childish and… mean…"

"I guess." Harry did not know what to say now, he hated destroying the peace and understanding that had taken them quite some time to reach but it would have been wrong for him to just stand by to let Ron called Draco, who had changed so much over the years, insulting names.

"But I can call him ponytail, right?"

Harry was relieved that Ron was not truly pissed. He thought "ponytail" over and decided it was a rather objective nickname, not malicious like "the ferret". "Well, sure… if you want to."

"Good… I don't know about you but I remember thinking 'that ponytail is absolutely ridiculous' the first time I saw ponytail sporting that look. Like seriously, what was ponytail thinking? It still hasn't grown on me at all after all these years." Ron seemed to need no warming up using this nickname.

"Hmm… I guess." Harry remembered being surprised by that look when he had first seen it because all things had indicated that Draco would like to break through the mould Lucius had shaped him into that it had not make sense to him for him to take up a look that made him look more similar to his father than ever. However, Harry had actually thought it suited his former rival really well and made him look very stylish that he thought it wise to keep his mouth shut.

"I take it you didn't think it looked ridiculous at all." he said drily. "Anyway, there's something else I would like to ask you."

"Oh, what is it?" Harry was actually very glad to be moving on from this topic.

"So you are getting along well with the Malfoy boy now, huh?" Harry would not consider this "something else" when they were still talking about the Malfoys and he could totally see where this was going.

"Not as well as I hope, I hope he could feel as comfortable around me as I had felt around your parents in my teenage years someday. The truth is, I still owe him an apology."

"Why? What did you do? He didn't seem angry at you on the platform at all." Ron said with a puzzled look.

"No, he has actually been extremely polite and sweet when I saw him…" Thinking about how excited Scorpius was this morning almost brought a smile to his face, "but that doesn't mean he does not deserve an apology for the way I have treated him. Separating a motherless and bullied child from his only friend was downright cruel and giving an apology is the least I can do."

"If you put it that way, I guess you do." There was an awkward silence as Ron seemed to debate if it was a good time to ask his question. "Mate, I do not want to appear insensitive or anything, but seeing that you do seem to get along fine with Scorpius, I'm hoping you can tell me if you think there's a chance Rose would get together with him."

"Really, Ron? You seriously think it's a good idea to gossip about your daughter's relationship with me while hiding out here when all our family is gathered for Christmas? Wait till Hermione hears about it."

He panicked and said, "No, you won't!"

Harry shrugged and said, "Maybe I will."

"No, you won't. And don't pretend you won't do the same if Lily is the one looking all mischievous sending a present to a boy she befriended recently, a boy who happens to have the biggest crush on her for years… Don't get me wrong, I do think that the Malfoy boy is a good kid, as far as Malfoy goes, and his actions during the Time Turner incidents were absolutely admirable…"

"But?"

"But he's still a Malfoy and still ponytail's son." Ron blurted out as if this was the most scandalous thing.

"I fail to see that as a concern at all."

"So you would feel okay if say… Lily or Albus starts dating him?" Ron challenged.

That was a strange way for Ron to phrase the question but he took a moment to consider, the possibility had never occurred to him but he thought it would be hard-pressed to ever find a child as kind as Scorpius was. He might feel differently if this was actually happening but he thought, his biggest worry when it came to the future partners of his children would be how much they would love his children and Scorpius' sensitivity told him that he would be more capable of loving another person than the majority of kids his age, actually the majority of all people, so he said, "I think so, if anything, I don't believe it would be easy to find a boy who would treat my child as well as he would, which is one of the most important things in a relationship, ahead of someone's name or who he is related to... that is, if he ever become a partner to one of them."

His friend laughed nervously, "Easy, father-in-law, I didn't realise you like the kid that much."

"I am just giving my honest answer to your question."

"Yes, my bad. Anyway, we have hidden away from everybody long enough, let's get down. In any case, I'm truly glad that things are going well between you and Albus." Ron seemed eager to end that topic now that he realised he could not get Harry to his side, without receiving a real answer to his Rose question.

"Hey Harry?" They were halfway down the stairs when Ron tried to talk with him again.

"You wouldn't by any chance have invited ponytail to tonight's party, would you?" Harry turned to look at his friend and could tell that he looked genuinely concerned.

"What do you take me for, Ron? Of course I would not have invited someone into your house without your consent."

Ron laughed with relief, before saying, "I don't know, 'cos I got the impression that you enjoyed your morning there a lot."

"I did. But friendships take time, we made real progress this morning but I would prefer not to rush it. It may be hard to believe but he has appeared glad for my visit, not just Albus. Anyway, I doubt he would have said yes even if I have asked. He actually seemed … rather shy..."

"You know, if I hear you talk about him like that enough I may actually be brainwashed into liking him." This statement briefly made Harry felt hopeful before he realised that Ron was joking, but the fact that he was not objecting to Harry's friendship was enough for Harry to count his blessings.

A/N: Thanks for the reply, please comment if you like =)

PS: I'm glad that some of you have enjoyed my thoughts about the play.