It had been two months since Draco started seeing a mind healer. Eight sessions, today was his ninth. Three of his sessions were spent sitting in silence, he couldn't bring himself to talk. His mind healer Jennifer, as she told him to call her, didn't mind much. She even talked and opened up about a few things to make Draco more comfortable. And it did because, in session four, Draco started talking. Not a lot though. He only answered basic questions with basic answers.

"How was your day, Mr. Malfoy?"

"Good."

"Good, I'm glad." She'd say, even though she knew his day wasn't good.

"Jennifer?" He asked, his voice quiet.

"Yes, Mr. Malfoy?"

"Call me Draco. Mr. Malfoy is my father."

"Okay, Draco." She smiled. He couldn't recall a time in recent years when someone smiled at him.

Session five was boring. They just talked about his day but in detail. He even ate lunch that day. It was an apple but it was better than the meal replacement potion he drank daily.

In sessions six and seven he opened up about having nightmares. She tried to pry about what they were about but Draco couldn't talk about it yet and she respected his wishes. They just made small talk after that.

Session eight was the hardest. Hours before session eight Draco received a letter from his father and showed up to his appointment with a panic attack. He hadn't even opened the letter so he didn't know why he was having a panic attack. He opened up to her about his father during that session.

"You don't have to read it." She said, twirling her pen between her fingers.

"What?"

"The letter, you don't have to read it. You don't even have to open it, you could burn it."

"Why would I do that?" Draco couldn't help but feel angry at her. Of course, he had to read it! It was a letter from his father. He couldn't just burn it!

She didn't seem to be affected by his anger, instead, she gave him a comforting smile. "You felt a sense of panic when you received the letter, yes? From what I've gathered, it may be a good thing to let your father go."

Let his father go?! He couldn't… he would never! That was his father. Sure, Lucius wasn't the best father but he was Draco's father. Draco couldn't just get another one. That was his family. "Because you know so much about me." He replied sarcastically. She knew nothing about him.

Her smile didn't go away, instead, it widened. "I do not, you're right." She set aside her parchment. "But I do know that just because someone is family they shouldn't always be in your life. It's okay to love someone from afar." Draco could feel his blood start to boil. What did she know? She probably had a nice, loving family. She couldn't possibly know how he feels. "I had to cut off contact with my mother, years ago." She said. Draco suddenly didn't feel anger anymore. He didn't say anything either. He just kept glaring at her. "I was a bit like you. I wanted her approval and I did everything I could to make her happy. I got good grades, never got in trouble, and even married a man I met in high school."

He didn't know why she was telling him this.

"This is different." His voice was firm.

She ignored his comment and continued, "It was never good enough. I never had the best grades in my class, but I was close. Two students always got top marks and it drove her mad." Her eyes showed sadness for a second, if Draco hadn't been watching her he would've missed it. "My husband, even he wasn't good enough. He wasn't the captain of the quidditch team. He opened up a broom repair store after school. She had a cow, said he was throwing his life away running a silly little store instead of working in the ministry and that I was an embarrassment to be married to such a man. I realized no matter what I did, she'd never be happy so I stopped contacting her. I threw away all of her letters and at some point, I didn't even acknowledge the owls when they'd show up at my window. And you know what, Draco?"

He didn't see how this was relevant. "What?"

"I was so much happier. I didn't hear her voice in the back of my head anymore. My marriage got happier. I got happier. I started living for me."

"I am living for me!"

"Are you living? Or are you just surviving?"

Draco's mouth went dry. He was living! He was! Wasn't he?

The rest of the appointment was silent.

He sat down in his usual chair, bouncing his knee. George wasn't here yet and Draco tried to ignore the feeling of sadness. He didn't know what they were. Over the two months, the two had begun to form… a friendship? Acquaintanceship? He didn't know what it was honestly. He just knew that every week without fail he'd come in for his appointment, George would sit next to him and the two would talk. Talking to George was almost a therapy session in itself. In fact, the last two times the two both left their sessions at the same time and walked out of the hospital together while having a conversation.

Their first few conversations didn't consist of much, mainly George doing all the talking. He talked about his day and other mundane things. But in week six something changed. He talked about the shop and the new products he just put out. At first, Draco showed no interest but as time went on he went from pretending to be interested in being genuinely interested in the new products George put out. Draco would glance over and see the sadness in George's eyes, even if the rest of his face looked happy. It still hurt Draco to look at him so he tried to keep the glances at George to a minimum.

This week Draco was determined. He was determined to actually talk to his therapist. He needed to. He bottled up his emotions so much that last night he broke all the windows in his apartment from the breakdown he had, he couldn't control his magic during those breakdowns. It wasn't the worst one he's had, but he wanted it to be the last one he had. He was tired of this. He was going to change.

A few moments later George walked in, flashing Draco a smile, and sat down next to him. He wasn't sure if it was week four or five but George started sitting closer and closer to Draco until they were next to each other. He still found this whole thing weird but he didn't mind it. It kind of comforted him. He wouldn't admit it out loud.

Just like he wouldn't admit that he started going to his appointments extra early just to get a few more minutes to talk to George. He suspected George did the same because, in week six, George was there fifteen minutes before their appointment.

"Hey, Malfoy. Got you something." He said as he reached into his pocket, pulling out a pin that was upside down so he couldn't see what was on it.

Draco cautiously took the pin and flipped it over. "Are you serious?" He asked, laughing. It was an old Potter Stinks pin. The exchange was so random that he briefly forgot about Cedric's death. "You've kept it after all these years?"

"Of course I did." He smiled, leaning back into the chair. "Figured you could use a laugh after last week's session."

Draco tensed slightly. Of course, George knew the last session was hard for Draco. He had practically been in tears when he left his appointment. "Thank you." He said, slipping it into his pocket. The pin should've reminded him of death and tragedy but to Draco, it was the last time his life was normal. Before the Dark Lord came back. He couldn't help but smile. Maybe this Weasley wasn't so bad.

"Don't be such a sap, Malfoy." George teased. He then began to talk about what happened at the shop today. "These two kids came in, bought up almost all of the stock, and get this? They didn't even make it out of the store before setting off all the fireworks and explosives! It was mad! The place was a total mess! Their parents were so angry." He laughed, "The kids, though. They looked like they had the time of their lives! It almost reminded me of me and-" he cut off his sentence before looking down. Draco felt his heart break for him. "It was nice to see kids being kids again." He said softly, smiling again but it didn't meet his eyes. Draco felt the need to hug him.

It went silent. Draco didn't know what to say or what to do. Should he apologize? Should he hug George? He didn't know.

"Hey, Weasley?" He said after a few moments of silence.

"Yeah?"

"Call me Draco." He figured a lighter topic but be beneficial right now.

It was a thing Draco started doing lately. He did listen to his therapist, he was cutting his father off. He figured a good start to that was having people call him by his name. Mr. Malfoy was his father and Draco was nothing like him anymore. He was Draco. He will always be Draco.

"Okay, Draco." The name sounded weird coming from George but Draco liked it. It felt like he was being addressed. "Call me George then, we might as well be on first name bases."

"Okay, George."

Did this mean they were friends? Draco hoped so. As much as he loved Pansy, Theo, and Blaise a part of him enjoyed the thought of having more friends than just them. More friends who didn't know everything Draco went through but still didn't consider him evil. Someone who treated him normally despite everything.

People forgot Draco fought the same war they did, even if he appeared to be on the wrong side. His heart was never truly there. It had always been on the good side.

The tension was still there, but a little less. George's sadness was radiating off of him and into Draco.

"Hey, George?"

"Yes, Draco?"

"I'm sorry." Draco looked at him, really looked at him. He hoped George could see his sincerity. "For everything. I know it doesn't-"

George chuckled and Draco raised an eyebrow. "It's water under the bridge now." He said, nudging Draco with his elbow. "Let's get drinks after? I feel like I'll need a few."

Draco nodded. "I could go for a drink."