"What was that?" Severus asked after Harry had fallen back to sleep.
Lucius shrugged indifferently. "The boy was in pain. I am capable of feeling you know,"
Severus scowled and looked away.
Lucius stared at him for a moment, before clearing his throat.
"I have had some of the best wizard lawyers on his case since our little discussion about Harry's inheritance. Dumbledore however, is blocking me at every turn. The amount of people that man has wrapped around his little finger exceeds even the influence the Darklord had before his fall. I don't like to feel incompetent, Severus," he said with emphasis on his final sentence.
"So you claim it is your failure that prompted your earlier 'niceness'?" Severus drawled snidely.
"Of course," Lucius said tossing his hair elegantly over one should. "What else would it be?"
Severus merely smiled enigmatically.
When Harry awoke again, he was refreshed and seemed to not remember the previous night's events. He was eager to be out of bed, eager to forget the start of his summer and move on. What worried Severus was whether or not he truly wanted to move on, or whether he simply wanted to forget. He knew it was not an issue that could be lightly tossed aside, and that Harry needed to talk about it whether he himself realized this or not. Harry seemed content to sit at the window, looking out over the vast, sprawling grounds of the mansion. He was quiet, but smiled and laughed softly with Draco on occasion.
"We're having a party in a week. All of Father's colleagues will be there," Draco told him confidentially.
"Really?" Harry asked, feigning interest.
Draco looked around, ensuring they were alone. "Most of those who are coming were big supporters of You-Know-Who back in the day. All of them managed to worm their way out of convictions though, and it does Father's reputation well to be seen associating with them,"
"I don't understand. How can your father associate with these people? Especially if he knows that they haven't given up on supporting You-Know-Who?" Harry asked almost suspiciously.
"I've grown up in the wizarding world. Our very existence is about maintaining secrecy from the Muggle population. I guess being Pureblood is about lies, and how the rest of the wizarding world perceives you. Besides, should the Darklord return, it would be better for my father to be on good terms with his supporters. It just makes it easier, that's all," Draco replied defensively.
"And what about me? What if You-Know-Who returns, and comes after me? Who will your father support then? The most politically correct idea at the time?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.
Draco's face softened slightly. "Malfoys maintain loyalty, no matter what the cost. My father will support you, no matter what the cost,"
Harry looked him fully in the face.
"That means a lot to me," he said seriously. "It really does,"
By the time the party started, Harry was well healed, in body if not in mind. He had successfully fended off Severus' attempts to 'talk' about what had happened, by promising to speak about it when he was ready. A week of exploding snap and wizard's chess had cheered him up considerably, along with Draco's quiet and understanding company. He had never before realized how much another person could come to mean to him, and he knew he depended more upon Draco than either of them fully understood. It had been decided that Harry would attend the party as himself; there were so many ministry members attending that should any zealous Darklord supporting attempt anything, they would have a hard time getting to Harry directly.
Other members from Harry and Draco's year were also in attendance, although they were mainly fellow Slytherins and a few Ravenclaws. Draco had already explained to Harry that his father had asked him to get closer to his fellow Slytherins, to try and understand whether any of their views differed from their parents, and Harry had agreed to help.
He was standing alone, taking a moment to compose himself after what seemed like a whirlwind of introductions and faces, when a peculiar girl spoke to him. She had long, pale blonde hair, and wide questing eyes.
"You don't seem to be enjoying yourself much," her voice had a tinkling quality and held no malice; in fact she seemed more interested in one of the Malfoy's many gold rose bushes.
"You know, gold roses are Bartle bugs favorite food," she commented dreamily.
Harry grinned, and decided it was best not to ask what Bartle bugs actually were.
"I'm sorry, I don't think we've been introduced. I'm Harry Potter, and you are…?" he held out his hand formally.
"Luna Lovegood," she smiled and placed her hand in his briefly. "I'll be starting Hogwarts this year,"
"Oh really? Do you have any idea what house you'd like to be in or anything?" Harry asked making conversation.
"Oh Ravenclaw I expect, but all of the houses have their good points. My parents were both in Ravenclaw, so I expect it would be nice there," Her eyes returned to their dreamy state as she spoke of her parents.
"Are your parents here too?" Harry asked looking around as if to see two equally dreamy adults staring at rose bushes.
"My father is here, but my mother died two years ago," she smiled slightly.
"I'm sorry," Harry said, and he meant it. Luna seemed very different from the other people his age he had met today.
"It's all very sad, of course, but it's much better now. I've still got Dad, and he's great," she pointed at a man who seemed to be batting at the air around the hair of a very snobby looking lady who was trying to distance herself from him.
"Erm, what's he doing?" Harry asked trying not to laugh.
"Swatting away the Wrakspurts, I suspect. There's usually a lot at parties like this one," Luna replied.
At this point Draco appeared, looking slightly flustered.
"Oh Harry, there you are. The dancing is about to begin, and for some reason the adults seem to think it's 'cute' if the 'children' start the dancing,"
"What?" Harry gasped. "You mean with a girl?"
"No with a frog. Of course with a girl! I've already asked Pansy, but there are plenty of other Slytherin girls…"
Luna was still standing there, watching Draco curiously
"I don't know any dances though," Harry said weakly.
"They aren't very hard, Harry. You just sort of stand there and sway," Luna said.
Draco seemed to have just noticed her.
"Oh hello Luna," he said dismissively. "Now Harry…"
"Luna, would you like to dance?" Harry asked impulsively. He grinned as Draco's jaw dropped.
He could almost feel the disapproving eyes as they danced, but for once Harry did not care. Luna smiled again as the first dance ended.
"No one has asked me to dance before. It was fun," she said serenely as she walked off to rejoin her father.
"I don't get it Harry," Draco said watching her. "You could have danced with anyone, why her?"
"I guess because there isn't anyone else here like her," Harry said laughing.
"Too right, Harry, and that's not a bad thing," Draco said, laughing back.
A/N- There we go, another chapter. I thought I should do a nice angst-free chapter following the angsty start of the story. I didn't really intend for Luna to show up, but she did and I enjoyed writing her. It wasn't a pairing decision either, since I haven't really thought that far ahead regarding pairings. I'm getting mixed reviews regarding the minor slash in this story; what is your opinion? I hadn't intended on making slash essential to the plot, so for those of you who are worried this will turn into full blown slash, it won't. Also, thanks heaps for all your reviews, they are very encouraging! Next Chapter; More about the party!