Chapter Eight
Draco Malfoy's Admirable Traits
March 29, 2001
There's a knock on the door and when I look up, Malfoy's already inside my office with a brown paper bag in hand.
"I brought lunch," he says as he places the bag on the edge of my desk. He starts clearing the table, stacking up papers and pushing them with my quill to the side to make room for the food.
"Have you done anything illegal lately?" I say suspiciously, narrowing my eyes. I'm sitting in my chair and crossing my arms across my chest.
"I'm not bribing you for anything Granger. I thought of inviting you for lunch earlier but you looked really busy–"
"You were here?" I say in surprise, interrupting him mid-sentence.
"My point exactly. So I decided to bring lunch to you," he says just as he gets two Chinese takeout boxes from the bag, places one in front of me and sits down in what has become his usual chair.
"You really are a thoughtful friend Draco Malfoy," I say in astonishment at the truth of my words.
"Surprised are we Granger? You should know that I posses many admirable traits," he says, smirking while giving me some chopsticks.
"Except humility obviously," I say, rolling my eyes at him.
When I take my first bite of the meatballs, I realize just how hungry I am and how much I appreciate Malfoy's presence from time to time. Over the months that we've become friends, Malfoy has taken the habit of entering my office unannounced. The first few months, I assumed he'd rather have me as company seeing as the other Aurors aren't really friendly with him (They don't even acknowledge him when we're in the lifts). Apparently, they find it hard to trust a former Death Eater with their lives. Unsurprisingly, I hear from Ron that he's not the most agreeable person either. During missions, he almost always argues about the plan. But in the nine months that he's worked here, people have grown tired of throwing him dirty looks. I even catch some of his co-workers nod at him. Yet Malfoy continues to visit me in my work space. On most days, he just annoys me – dropping shallow insults every now and then or ranting about Ron and his "stupidity". On rare times like this one, he brings lunch.
"Enough about me and my great personality, not to mention looks," he says to which I scoff, "Tell me Granger, who are you bringing to the Ball?"
"What Ball," I ask while enjoying the taste of meat, noodles and bits of vegetables in my mouth.
"The Celebratory Ball, ring a bell?"
Ah, the Celebratory Ball. Every year since after the Battle at Hogwarts, the Ministry hosts a party commemorating the triumph of good over evil. The Minister opens the event by praising the bravery of those who fought and lived to tell the tale and those who have fallen fearlessly for today's freedom and equality. Harry gives a little speech then the dancing starts.
"Oh I'm not going," I say as I take the last bite of my third meatball. "This is delicious by the way."
"Why aren't you going? Is this because the Weasel's bringing someone else to the Ball?"
"How do you know that?" I say, not even knowing that Ron finally asked Hannah out.
"I heard him practically gushing about it to Potter earlier today. What, it's been two years? Get over him Granger. I'm telling you right now to save you from future pain. Weasley's obviously gay."
I laugh so hard I nearly choke that Malfoy has to conjure a glass of water for me and clap my back. He returns to his seat after I finally get a hold of myself.
"I should be insul–," I cough, "–ted that you're calling my ex gay, Malfoy."
"Really Granger. Have you seen the dress robes he wore in fourth year?" Malfoy says so seriously that I begin to crack up laughing again.
"Now that I think of it, if I were the same Hermione Granger in school and you were still that bouncing ferret, I'd think you're so childish and just annoying right now. Well you're still childish... except your jokes are now actually funny."
"Seriously Granger, don't try to change the subject here. You can't just not go to the Ball," he says clearly ignoring my earlier statement which involved the word ferret.
"I've been to the last two Malfoy and I don't need any more than the usual attention," I finally say, "I'll just say I'm not feeling well or something. Besides, I have better things to do."
"Lucky for you, you're a War Hero. You can get away with anything. Unfortunately for me, Mother and Father both agree that we should keep appearances – show that we are supporting the side of good now," he says.
"A few years from now and people will eventually get over it," I say as a matter-of-factly.
"Who cares about what people will think or say. I don't need acceptance from strangers," Malfoy says nonchalantly.
For once, I agree with him. But I don't tell him.
"But you're still going aren't you?"
"It's entirely most likely."
-o-
The truth is, Malfoy does anything for family. He can try to ignore the fact that his actions can result to his schoolmates' deaths and stomach the thought of killing the one person who showed him mercy just to protect the people he loves. His strong loyalty – not only to his family but also to his friends – is Draco Malfoy's most admirable trait.
A/N: If you've noticed any errors in grammar or anything, don't hesitate to tell me! I'm posting this chapter without anyone else reading it first. I'm new at this writing thing here so I'm not sure how betas work so yeah.. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
And if you haven't, try reading my other fic called Healing Souls. :)