CHAPTER 17

That evening when I got back, he wasn't there. I sat up till late, studying. When it was almost midnight and he still hadn't arrived I decided to go back to the Cottage. As it was, I was hardly getting much of the work done wondering where he was. When I got there, I was greeted by Dippy. It was evident he wasn't there either.

"Dippy, do you know where Master Draco is?"

She didn't have to answer. Malfoy chose the moment to come through the floo. He just had a second before he noticed me and almost immediately a smirk crossed his face. He threw his robe on the armchair. His walk was predatory. I couldn't believe he was actually planning on finding out if I was ticklish. I had thought that was just a joke.

"Malfoy, what are you doing?" I asked, taking a tentative step back.

"You are a smart witch. I thought you would have figured that out by now."

As he kept advancing, I kept walking backwards. I knew I wouldn't need even a second to draw my wand, it was a big reassurance. I knew the exact moment he would pounce; one year on the run does that to you. I took a leap to the right running off to the other side of the room, drawing my wand out in the process. These things would be so normal with my friends that I wouldn't give it a second thought. But it felt almost surreal that it was none other than Draco Malfoy running after me and not to kill me, but for fun. I stood behind the armchair on which he had discarded his robe and huffed in annoyance.

"What are you doing?" I hissed at him.

"Behaving like an average teenager, I guess. You tell me." He shrugged and replied.

He hadn't drawn his wand, so it wasn't possible for me to attack him either. It really wasn't fair to hex someone when they did not have their wand drawn at you. He wasn't particularly a threat, per se. "How the hell am I supposed to know what teenagers do? I haven't had a normal teenage, have I? I was on the run for a year to save me and my friends from a psychopath. I don't know how people my age have fun. Normal teenagers do not end up being married to a complete stranger after a bloody war, neither do they have to worry about carrying a child and study for their N.E. at the same time!" I don't know why I lost my temper. I should have been prepared for this since he had told me about his intentions. But I did loose it, maybe because I still wasn't used to him being so carefree around me. I couldn't even comprehend how he could behave so normally with me, whereas I was finding it difficult to acclimatise myself to the situation with such ease.

The change was immediate and very visible. When I had started talking he had been smiling. I could see his smile slip and his posture become rigid at the mention of the war.

"I am sorry." It was almost a whisper. He turned back abruptly and walked towards the other room. I sighed and closed my eyes. I really hadn't meant it that way and I certainly didn't expect him to react like that. I stood there looking at the closed door helplessly. If I was true to myself, I knew I had made a small mistake and I would have to apologize for it. Had it been anyone else, I wouldn't even think twice before saying sorry. But I didn't really like apologizing to him, but that's where I had always been different from him. I squared up my shoulders and walked up to the door.

After softly knocking on the door once, I pushed open the door. Malfoy was sitting on the bed with his elbows propped up on the knees and his head in his hands. I stood on the threshold for a second wondering where and how to start. It was not easy apologizing to him after all. I took a steadying breath, walked into the room and sat on the bed beside him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that." I wanted to say more, but he cut me in between.

"Its not your fault." Then he slowly pulled himself up. "I…. I was just trying to do something normal, something that I thought people of our age do. You said we needed to know each other and I thought it would work, starting with small and simple things. Throughout my life I have been told how to behave, how to speak, think, react that I don't know how not to pretend. I've known we are superior to others, but we aren't better than scum today. I knew that the Malfoys always deserved the best of everything, that I was special. But I don't even know who I am today. I don't know how to be myself or what I want, what I should want. I did that because I thought… I don't know. I guess I just wanted to know you through simple things."

I couldn't help staring at him and wondering if this was really happening because never in my wildest dreams I would have ever imagined Malfoy, of all people, to be vocal about such things. It made sense, I guess, when he put it that way. He was a victim of circumstance, just like us. The only difference was that we were on the other side and had to deal with it, while he had to face things from those people who he thought were his allies, whom he looked up to, and respected. If I could think without being biased for a second, I would have to agree that it was a worse situation than ours. We knew we had to face certain things, that we were the targets. But how do you feel when the people you move around dictating everyday suddenly starts treating you like the dirt on their shoe. He would have never anticipated being treated like that, especially with an upbringing like his.

I didn't know what to say. This was the first time he had expressed himself so openly in front of me. I could understand that it couldn't be an easy feat. I knew it, because I wouldn't want to express my weakness in front of him. And it was a weakness for him. The fall that he had taken was a high one. I had disliked most of his pureblood beliefs and those very beliefs had left him in a limbo.

I sat there, quietly beside him. I could tell him that, yes, what he had known all his life was wrong. But I didn't. I didn't feel the need to. He understood that. I could tell him to move on and embrace this new life, but it wasn't as easy to do. And I didn't want to patronise him, because I understood that someone who had lost his pride would react well to it. So I gave him what he needed, a distraction.

"I am, you know." I said after a few minutes of complete silence. He turned to look at me with a confused expression. I smiled. Of course he didn't understand what I was talking about.

"Ticklish." He stared at me confused for a second more before comprehension dawned. He gave a small smile. Silence fell between us again, though it wasn't pressing down on us this time.

"So… can I find out how much?" he asked, his eyes twinkling with mirth. I was glad my tactic had worked but it left me with only a second to run before he moved.

Five minutes of running around and we were back to the same armchair, in the same position.

"Really, Malfoy? I already told you I was ticklish. Do we really need to go through this?"

"Yes, because I want to find out how much." That fraction of second that took to close my eyes and sigh, he was already standing in front of me.

It really was useless trying to escape him. He was far stronger than me and frankly I don't remember the last time I had laughed so hard, at least not in the last two years. By the time he stopped we both were flushed. Even Dippy had come to see what was going on and had left us alone, smiling on her way back to the kitchen.

"My sides ache." I said panting.

"Mine too." We were both giggling occasionally. Sitting outside our room with our back to the wall, it was probably the first time I felt happy here.

The next morning I woke up early. The previous evening I had hardly managed to study much, so I had a lot of catching up to do. When I came out of the bathroom, it was to find Malfoy sprawled on the bed. I couldn't help the smile from gracing my lips at the memory of the previous night. We really had broken some kind of barrier.

I was almost out of the room when the idea struck. I quietly tip toed back to the bed. I had to struggle a little to find his wand from under his pillow and not wake him. For a moment while looking for his wand, I almost thought that I had woken him up but thankfully he just stirred once, then fell asleep again. Taking his wand I kept it as far away as possible so he wouldn't be able to reach it easily. I once thought of tying his hands to the headboard, but then decided against it. It would probably be going a little overboard. Then it was time to wake him up, after all where was the fun if he didn't know he was about to be attacked. I just prayed that he was ticklish, or this would backfire on me. That much I was sure of.

"Malfoy." Merlin, who would have ever thought, that one day I would wake him up with a smile on my face. When he only stirred, I poked him twice and frankly it was fun. Malfoy turned his sleepy eyes on me.

"Granger? What's wrong?" he asked stretching.

"Nothing, it's just that it's my turn now." I said wriggling my fingers in front of his eyes.

"What?" By the time his sleep addled brain registered what I was about to do, I had already started tickling him. One thing is definite that I will never forget the sound of his laughter. It was so carefree and wonderful that I felt bad that I had never heard him laugh before, that probably he'd never had any reason to laugh like this.

He thrashed around the bed, trying to get away from me. I wasn't planning on letting him go. But in the process of stopping me, he grabbed my hands and flipped me on my back. He pinned my hands down and just panted. His face was flushed. This was the second time when I had seen so much colour on his face.

"You will pay for this Granger. I'll make you pay for this." He panted.

"When was the last time you laughed like this?" I could help but ask. I just wanted to know.

He looked at me for a moment before releasing me and fell back on the bed and stared at the ceiling for some time before answering.

"I don't know. I don't remember." His voice was hardly a whisper. "I have never laughed like this before, never done something like this, never felt like this."

It was strange how different we were, how different our childhood had been. The only similarity we had, was the fact that we were both single child to our parents. Everything else was different. My mom and dad worked but I could never complain that I didn't get their attention. My childhood was a wonderful time. His was obviously not so. He may have had the luxuries and his parents did love and care about him. But all that his life was built with had crumbled with the final fall of Voldemort. His beliefs had failed him, the very foundation of his thoughts had shifted.

"You have the experience now. So, how was it?"

He turned to look at me, smiling like a fool. "It was awesome." I smiled and got up from the bed.

"Come on, let's get some breakfast. After that I need to study. I won't pass my exams by sitting and laughing with you."

"Okay Granger. But you will still pay." I stopped with my hand on the door knob and turned to find him smirking at me. Though there was a minute difference. It wasn't snobbish, it was playful. Maybe that was why I thought of indulging him. "You are on, Malfoy." I replied returning the smirk.

I just finished reading the article J.K. Rowling released on Draco and am ecstatic to realise that when I started writing this fanfic, that was exactly how I wanted to show Draco's life as. So all those who've read the article, you will see Draco exactly like that after the war. And I hope that my story will be able to potray Draco's changes after the war as J.K.R wrote in the article. :)

This is specially for graciousness, yes that scenario seems very tempting n true who doesn't love snarky Draco. I assure you, he'll make an appearance... soon. ;)