Forty minutes later, the group had disbanded. Draco, Pansy, Theo and Blaise made their way down to the Slytherin common room.

"Told you Potter would fall of his broom," Blaise said smugly when they were out of
earshot from the others. "You owe Draco ten galleons, Pans."

"He did?" Pansy asked, amazed.

"When I knocked him off with a spell right into Draco's arms."

"Rather perfectly planned, I think," Draco told her, smirking.

"That doesn't count," Pansy huffed.

"Yes, it does! The bet was to make Harry fall off his broom!" Draco protested.

"You didn't though! Blaise did!"

"It was my plan though!" Pansy crossed her arms and glared at him.

"It doesn't count."

"Oh, come on Pansy, ten galleons to you is nothing." "And it's even less to you, so leave it alone, you're not having it." Draco huffed.

"I suppose I'll have to work harder then."

"Speaking of which, you know what I fancy?"

"What?" Draco was a little nervous of what she was going to suggest.

"A shopping trip to Paris. I fancy a makeover." Blaise and Theo groaned but Draco's eyes lit up.

"If we can get a haircut, too." Pansy hugged him in excitement.

"I'll go to McGonagall tomorrow and sort it for this weekend!"

"I'll ask my mother to send over some of her fashion catalogues if you like. I need to send her a letter anyway."

"Definitely!"

Pansy and Draco discussed at length what they were going to get in Paris. They eventually roped Blaise into coming too but Theo steadfastly refused. He'd rather spend the day with thestrals, he said, and that was really saying
something since he hated them.

"What were you talking to Granger about, then?" Draco asked, conversation had dried up. Pansy moved her magazine to look at him. She was lying across one of the sofas with her legs on Draco's lap.

"Oh, nothing much. She just asked about school work. Nothing new. I'm not sure whether I like her much, but it'd be nice to talk to a girl for a change." Draco hummed. None of the girls they'd been friends with has come back to Hogwarts. Pansy herself had to convince her parents that while she was a girl and didn't need the qualifications to start a family, she wanted to be at least as educated as her future partner. Plus, she wasn't by any means ready to settle down and wanted to be a teenager for a bit longer, before responsibility got in the way.

"Granger is alright. Much better than she was. She's actually got quite a Slytherin streak." Pansy raised an eyebrow in question. "Very determined." Draco accioed a piece of parchment, a quill and book to lean on. He wrote a quick letter to his mother, telling her about the quidditch match and asking her how she is. He was so thankful that her illness was beginning to get better.

"Ask her for the magazines," Pansy reminded him. Draco nodded and added it, told her he'd see her soon and signed it.

When suppertime came around, Draco nipped off to the owlery to send his letter. The family's eagle owl, Aquila, was asleep, head under her wing. Draco stroked her gently to wake her and gave her his letter. She hooted softly at him and flew off. Draco walked back to the castle slowly, enjoying the evening air and rare chance of solitude. His day had been fantastic, and he smiled remembering Harry's happiness and how he'd socialised with everyone. He felt himself go warm when he remembered Harry's body close to him and how he'd poured him tea. Draco was still sad about his mother and traumatised over the war, but he actually felt happy and secure. He didn't have to worry about arguing or fighting with anyone in his year, he didn't have to stress over being the best or keeping face. He could just relax. And next weekend he'd go to Paris, get a haircut and woo the pants off Harry. He grinned.

Xx

Draco flopped down on his bed. His feet were aching from spending the day walking around both muggle and magical Paris. He was following Pansy around for the most part, being a good best friend and telling her she looked horrible in pink and best in v necklines. He'd picked up a few things too, like a beautiful silver and emerald pendent with matching cufflinks. He also bought a few shirts, slim fit instead of regular, and the nicest pair of trousers he'd seen. His biggest thing though was getting a haircut. He and pansy had both chosen drastically different styles from their own. Pansy's dark, shoulder length hair was now shorter, with a sharp diagonal angle from the back of her head to the front, landing just below her jaw. Draco had decided to go against the Malfoy tradition and have a short back and sides hairstyle, with longer hair on top. He was very pleased with it and could not wait for everyone to see it. For now, though, he wanted to just lie on his bed and relax.

He'd enjoyed the change of scenery, and even tolerated the muggle shops. 1999 muggle fashion was interesting to say the least, but the stranger items, such as jeans with wide bottoms and painfully bright colours, weren't in the high-end shops they went to. To get there, they used a portkey McGonagall made them. Draco was glad he still had a passport and was old enough to go wherever he wanted on weekends. The headmaster was a little dubious but allowed them to go as long as they were back at a certain time.

Draco pulled himself up and walked to the bathroom. He needed a hot shower. Draco relaxed under the hot water. Lightening charms were hard to keep up and only did so much, so his muscles were a little sore from carrying bags. He washed himself slowly with his favourite citrus soap. He was a little startled when he put his hands to his head and felt the unfamiliarly short hair, but he knew he's get used to it quickly. The stylist had used potions on it, and he'd had the opportunity to make them long lasting, but Draco liked styling his hair to his preferences, so he'd not chosen that. He washed his hair thoroughly to remove all the traces of them. His thought about how Harry would react to it. Would he like it? Would he even notice? Draco really hoped he would. In an ideal world, Harry would stare at him open mouthed and then push him against a wall and kiss the life out of him. The chance of that was small but he could still dream.

Draco had spoken to Harry a little during the day. It sounded like they were talking down a long tube at each other and Draco had to focus all his energy on it, but it was surprisingly easy considering they were 1020 miles apart. Harry mainly just wanted to know where he was and if he was okay. Draco loved that Harry checked up on him regularly. It was one of the many things Draco liked about him.

Draco eventually left the warm water and got himself dressed for supper. He chose nice but comfy clothes he already had and styled his hair. it took him a while to copy how the stylist had it, but it ended up looking good. A little more practice and it'd be perfect. Draco smiled at his reflection and went downstairs to join his friends.